“I am not sure about others, but for me, it was. The only kindness I have ever gotten was from my parents….. Why am I even saying all of this….” Cinder did not know why she was speaking like this to someone who was supposed to be her enemy. She did not know why she felt like she could say all this to Desaray in the first place.

Desaray lowered her guard a bit and sat down next to Cinder. “It is sometimes good to confide in others. While I know it has been a long time for you, even after a long time, letting out your worries and grievances to those who are willing to listen is also a good thing.”

“Is it really that good?” Cinder did not know. She had been alone since her parents died. When she turned into a demon queen, she wanted nothing more than to burn the world. They sent people to kill her, but since they couldn’t, they sealed her instead. 

“It depends, I guess. For me, I find it nice to be able to confide in the people close to me. I do not wish to cause them trouble, but even so, they are willing to sit and listen. But I know it is hard to be heard when everyone wants nothing to do with you. What you went through is not fair. It is not fair that you were only wanting to live, but those around you wished you were dead when you did nothing. If I was in your shoes, I would have done the same. They harmed you for no reason. You were just a young girl. You did not ask to be orphaned.” Desaray really did not feel  Cinder had a fair chance at life. She could picture the young girl struggling to live every day. Even if they did not help her, they did not need to go so far as to take away her few resources. The cruelty of the other world was not something Desaray was used to, but hearing about it made her sigh in disbelief. 

“You…. You understand me!?” Cinder’s eyes welled up with tears. How long had it been since she last cried? How long had it been since she had talked to anyone like this? The tears would not stop falling. She couldn’t help it. All the pain and suffering she had felt over the years was now spilling out of her like a dam breaking.

Desaray sat at the side, not knowing what to do. She knew her aura did not affect Cinder, but she still was afraid to touch her in case it did something to cause them to have to fight once again. So, instead, she sat there quietly, allowing Cinder to cry out her anguish. At least with her by her side, she was not alone. Cinder hugged her knees and sobbed for almost an hour before finally gaining control of her emotions. “I…. Ummm…. I will go….”

Cinder stood up and floated in the air. She had only gone about ten feet or so before she stopped and turned to look at Desaray: “Th…. Thank….. Thank you…”

Desaray raised an eyebrow as she watched Cinder create a portal and disappear. She did not know how she felt about the poor girl. She could only hope that maybe now Cinder will slowly learn to live a better life instead of trying to destroy the world.

Desaray returned to the city, where she was greeted by both Yi Ling and Lily. “Welcome back, Mama!”

“Oh? Look at the buns!” Desaray saw the two buns on each side of Lily’s head and thought they were the cutest things!

“How was it?” Yi Ling asked. She couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

“I am not sure. Only time will tell, but we do have some major issues we need to deal with. We need to move your people to the kingdom as soon as possible. Those who are willing to come are all welcome. I will have Juna bring you back to China later to try to organize things. I will be working on setting things up here by getting some new villages set up outside the city. Well… I guess this is now the capital city. Anyway, we will be busy for a while.” Desaray did not know what else to do. She only knew that if a demon queen did attack, she would have to work extra hard to deal with things. She just hoped she was strong enough to fend off any demon queens that appear.

“I will get on it.” Yi Ling was glad she could bring her people here. She had only been here a short while, but she could tell the people of this kingdom were very good people. 

“I hope that lady I met a while back is okay….” Thinking of the Demon Queen of Death, who can control the undead, worried Desaray a bit. There were humans who had turned undead who were not bad people. She did not wish for them to be controlled by such a person. 

“Mama?” Lily looked up at her Mama with a worried look.

“It’s nothing. I think we will need to make a section of our territory be able to accommodate the undead. I have a feeling that in the future, we will end up needing to take in many refugees.”