CHAPTER 2.2

CENT REALIZED that if anyone looked at her lime-colored eyes, that person would die. It was as if death would come knocking on that person's door. Since she could not control that ability, she chose to obstruct her eyes from anyone. Thus, her hideous bangs came into being.

Loud knocks snapped Cent out of her reverie. "Milly? Are you alright, dear?"

It was Sister Tasha. She was pretty worried about Cent's behavior since the latter stopped attending classes and was now planning to skip her birthday. Though tiny, Sister Tasha prepared a personally baked Chiffon cake for Cent, the celebrant's favorite.

Cent walked away from her window, but she did not open the door for Sister Tasha. Instead, she walked near the door. "Leave me alone, please." I don't want to hurt you too.

"All the more reason for me to stay, dear. Open the door, please."

Sister Tasha became her guardian when she was abandoned by her real parents. The thought that maybe, her parents were looking for her was wishful thinking. Sometimes, Cent would think she was an abomination hence why she was abandoned.

"Go away," said Cent before she materialized as a flock of black butterflies, leaving the confines of her cramped room. It was her birthday today, and she dreaded what ability she would get.

THE LOCAL ice skating gym just two blocks from the foster shelter became Cent's second home through the years. She would always trespass when the rink was not in use, or no one was renting it. The seventeenth birthday gift she got from Sister Tasha was a pair of secondhand skating shoes that Cent treasured the most.

"Oops," Cent mumbled as she manifested her human form again. The enormous ice rink was empty, which made her smile. "Go get it," said Cent to the shadows that had been noisier than usual. They obeyed her words like the Holy Grail as the smoky shadows transferred from her shadow to the shadow of the benches and to the other shadows located in the rink. Since Cent hid her baggy skating shoes at the back of the locker.

Cent remained still, bathing the darkness that engulfed the eerie skating rink. She saw how her pair of skating shoes looked like it was floating towards her as the shadows brought them to her. "Thanks."

She moved with ease as she closed her eyes while following the hymn of a nostalgic lullaby. A melody that etched upon her very core, in her nightmares, this song would guide her out of its darkness. If anything, she could almost hear the sweet voice of a woman. But Cent was sure that she did not hear such a woman's sweet voice.

Memorized in her heart and mind, Cent moved as she followed the notes of the lullaby. She did the triple axle with her eyes close, followed by a double axle. On the skating rink, she felt that she was free and that, for once in her life, her existence mattered. Like a bird being freed to the forest, Cent let loose. She danced and hummed without minding the eyes of the people around her. I don't want this to end.

She was about to perform the triple axle only to be stopped midway by the stabbing pain in her head. "Fuck," uttered Cent as she navigated on the rink to make it through the benches but was stopped by the excruciating pain in her back. Cent tripped on the ice, her body rolling like a potato, and was stopped when her back hit the glass surrounding the rink.

The world around her felt ethereal. Cent stopped feeling the coldness of the ice or the feverish heat of her skin, like her skin was breathing some steam. Cent would not be surprised if she saw her body on fire, her chest was heaving with difficulty breathing, and her eyes were blurred. Her back throbbed together with her forehead. The gravity pulling her body down felt like it doubled for her, as if there was a force that kept her from moving.

Is this my end? Is this some sort of limit? Figures. I read this type of plot in Chinese web novels wherein a character got the ability in exchange for a limited time. Well, that sucks. But at least I got to rest. No more hiding my eyes. No more wishing to fit in. 

Staring at the ceiling was the only thing that she was left to do as she waited for death to come. Instead, a silhouette appeared.

Who are you?

"DUKE ZEL, it is time to cast the spell of awakening to the princess." Gukasho, a millennium-old goblin and the butler of Grand Duke Beelzebub the Glutton, warily disturbed the great green-eyed demon. The latter was invested in staring at the lonely figure dancing on a rink.

Gukasho knew how the Grand Duke of the Malevolent World spent his free time watching his daughter, which he had to abandon. He did not know if what he felt was sympathy, but Gukasho knew that Duke Zel had an attachment to the Halfling named Maleficent. Grand Duke Beelzebub, the demon of gluttony and the only demon with wings among the seven great demons, was the second most powerful being in the Malevolent World next to King Lucifer the Prideful.

"Do we share the same blood with that being? I do not see any traces of evil, Gukasho. She looks so human, like Aurora."

Aurora? Oh yeah. The human who besotted the great picky demon. Aah, that Aurora.

Gukasho cleared his voice before answering carefully. "She is, my lord. We were both there when the nun took her in. So please, my lord, we have already stalled enough. Please conduct the spell awakening the princess, or King Lucifer will send a Naraka to her." We don't want to add more fuel to your dispute with the king. The thought of those narakas crawling here in the middle world is fearful enough. 

The narakas were the type of demon in the demon world that served only King Lucifer. Gukasho hated interacting with them since those creatures only wanted one thing, human flesh. They fed on the flesh of the women. And knowing the king, he would surely spark a fight with the Grand Duke Beelzebub the Glutton by sending a woman-eating demon to her Halfling daughter.

The Grand Duke continued observing the Halfling. "My lord, please do not forget the number one rule of the Halflings. They should stay in the middle world until their eighteenth birthday; after that, the demon father must take the Halfling. "

The purple-colored goblin turned white as he paled when his red eyes met the warning on those shining green eyes. "Do not cite the four laws to me. I was there when it was sealed. Know your place, Gukasho."

The loyal goblin immediately kissed the Grand Duke's feet for forgiveness. "Forgive this impudent demon, my lord. I only worried for the princess. Should she become late in the entrance ceremony, Headmaster Kirk would punish her greatly."

Gukasho's vision flipped. "My lord!" His eyes widened when he saw his headless body in the hands of the Grand Duke. The infernal color of his flame, which was identical to his eyes, sparked, threatening to burn his body into cinders. "Forgive me, my lord! I only cared for the princess!"

Gukasho lost count of how many times his limbs and head had been severed from his body. And he realized that the Grand Duke's temper became unstable when the princess was the one being talked about. Now he realized why the fourth law was made, the recently made law by King Lucifer in consideration for the Grand Duke when he refused to let go of the Halfling.

King Lucifer created the fourth law of the Malevolent World, which is to never show love to your children.