Two stately Lords of Ark City, holding on to the prestigious positions as senators who decided policies for hundreds of thousands of people, were lying on the cold, hard floor of a training arena. Their faces were bruised, and every so often, their bodies would twitch in a lovely mix of discomfort and pain. These two people were victims of their own jokes — karma didn’t need to operate through oblique methods the whole time, after all.

Said dispenser of karma, Gemini, was squatting down and poking one of the twitching Lords with a tree branch. There wasn’t much to that action — just like he’d felt compelled to, err, train them well, the act of poking someone’s sides with a tree branch was second nature to him.

And yet, he couldn’t dispel the worry that continued to churn within him. The mix of dread and tension was still coursing through his system, even after the rather strenuous warm-up he’d conducted with the two Lords on the floor.

“I’m still feeling antsy,” Gemini complained. “I’ve beaten these two buggers up, but it hasn’t done anything to alleviate this…”

“It’s not like you expected that to work, though,” Lila pointed out. Gemini’s girlfriend — he still didn’t know how he managed to work up the courage to confess, but love was one hell of a stimulant — was busily mimicking Gemini, tree branch in hand as she prodded at Senator Harlinder’s side.

The world turned a little bit brighter at her words, and the Constellation, despite himself, grinned. “You’re right. Maybe I should go and get some rest. This unease might have vanished by the time I wake up tomorrow.”

“All that was for nothing?!”

“Senator Guo Ming, you’re awake.” Gemini poked at his sides experimentally a few more times, and the senator got up from the ground reluctantly. The man felt his face for a moment, and then grimaced.

“Do you have a grudge against me?” He asked. “Why did you aim for my face?!”

“It was an excellent training target,” Gemini replied in all seriousness. “The primal demons don’t care about where they hit either.”

“But this is a training session!”

“And that makes a difference how?” The Constellation waved his hands impatiently. “It is infinitely better to train with a partner that uses cheap tricks, rather than to face said tricks on the battlefield for the first time. Forget that adage about experts having dignity — you aren’t facing enemies who care about that.”

The senator’s face warped, like that of a man who had taken a bitter pill. Somehow, Gemini could see a tint of grudging agreement show up on his face, and the Constellation nodded in satisfaction. After spending so much time in Ark City, he’d seen and overheard a few instances where the beastfolk were going on and on about honour and fair fights — neither of which were remotely helpful in their current situation.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all that prevalent around the younger generation. Something along the lines of fighting dirty had somehow taken root amongst the most gifted of their generation, something that was a constant complaint he overheard whenever Gemini spent time with Lila walking around the city.

Speaking of walks… Gemini got up and walked towards Lila. His heart skipped a beat, but his face was the epitome of confidence as he walked towards her and extended a hand, which she took.

Behind Lila, Senator Harlinder stuck a tongue out at Gemini, and then feigned yet another round of vomiting again. The Constellation felt a vein throb in his temple, but in light of his girlfriend’s presence, he stayed his fist and acted his actual age. Lila, who was observing Gemini’s changing expressions with a hint of entertainment, laughed, and his embarrassment faded away.

“Shall we get something to eat?” Gemini asked.

“I’ve been waiting all day for you to say that,” Lila replied. “Let’s go to the stands in the northeast!”

The two drifted off, leaving the two twitching senators behind. Gemini could feel their gazes on his departing figure, and he immediately understood that they disapproved of his choice of food. They had subtly hinted to the Constellation before that eating at food stalls didn’t really suit his status, but Gemini never really cared about it in the first place. He preferred something humbler, and the food stands served good food anyway.

And it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to bring her to some classy restaurant either, but the two of them were so uncomfortable that they left halfway through the meal…leaving a distraught chef and waiter behind.

His face flushed at that embarrassing memory.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling ill?” Lila asked.

“No, it’s just me recalling something cringey,” Gemini replied.

“Oh, like when you remember your grand aspirations of world domination as a kid?” Lila asked. “Seems like humans and demons aren’t all that different.”

“It’s not like you haven’t seen my body before,” Gemini muttered. “Other than gender and a missing eye, there’s no difference!”

“Well, you don’t have a core though,” Lila replied. “Still, I can’t believe you actually one of those legendary humans! We hear stories about how strong they are from young, and I can’t believe I—”

Her face flushed, a sight that made the Constellation turn away too, as he filled in the blanks on his own. His face was uncomfortably warm, as warm as the hand in his own. Who said you’d get used to being romantic after a while? If I ever return to Earth…

“Mum, look!” A child passing by piped up. “Their faces are very red!”

“Shush! Don’t be rude!”

After a moment of awkward silence, in which his cheeks cooled off, Gemini and Lila found themselves in an alley full of food stands, each of them packed to varying degrees. Evidently, the aroma had also taken Lila’s mind off her embarrassment, and the two exchanged gentle smiles with each other as they moved towards the same stand.

The sounds Gemini could hear in his heard grew abnormally clear for a moment as they walked forwards, and then his vision swam. Everyone else, save for Lila, swayed on the spot, and then collapsed onto the ground. A heart-rending pain had Gemini in its grip, and as tears streamed down his face, the Constellation felt an awful loss in his heart.

“Gemini!” Lila’s voice was faint, as though as there was a river between them. Gemini himself didn’t know what was going on, but with all his might, he turned to look at Lila’s face, committing her features into his memory.

Darkness claimed him soon after.