The Demon Queen

Building the Upper Moons

"He's quite dull, isn't he?"

"He's obedient. That's all that matters."

"True."

"You have me, Sakura. There's no need to seek a playmate in one of our servants."

That was what was said when we talked about Akaza. He wasn't the most exciting demon to be around, but he was very obedient and very strong. He easily met the expectations Muzan had for him.

There was, however, one strange surprise about Akaza.

"I can't eat women," he said one day.

Kokushibou seemed surprised by Akaza's comment. All of his eyes perked up with intrigue.

Muzan snickered a little. "It doesn't matter to me who you eat or don't eat. Just devour some humans when you can to become stronger."

"I think I kind of agree with Akaza," I said after a short thought.

Kokushibou's eyes blinked.

"I don't like the texture much and there's usually too much fat content," I said. I then smirked. "And Muzan sometimes gets a little jealous when I enjoy eating another man, so --"

Muzan pushed a finger to my mouth. "Shh! Not in front of them!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kokushibou smile. That was good.

But Akaza? I could swear that his face never changed. I didn't think about it much, I only noticed. It had nothing to do with me, anyway.

For what felt like quite a long time, we were not threatened by the Demon Slayer Corps. It became safer and safer to go out at night and enjoy ourselves. Kokushibou and Akaza were wonderful at killing any top slayers that dared attempt to get closer to us. As well, other lower demons were not to be overlooked. They, too, were very useful in keeping the Demon Slayer Corps at bay.

A couple more demons joined our "top servant" rank, which Muzan decided to call the Upper Moons, inspired by Kokushibou's Moon Breathing technique that influenced his Blood Demon Art. One of the new Upper Moons, Hantengu, was an ex-thief and con-artist, but was controllable. His loyalty as a demon was easily secured and refastened by reminding him that we saved him from execution. Another demon, Gyokko, was a very talented pot-maker, but unfortunately took up a severely deformed body after his transformation.

"This one is mortally stunted in the brain to be thinking of fish of all things after I told him to clear his mind," Muzan had grumbled.

I could hardly bear looking at Gyokko. He grew small mouths where his eyes had been, one of his eyes were on his forehead, and the other eye was where his mouth had been. It truly disgusted me. However, I quickly realised that his pot-making hobby could serve as a nice benefit to us.

"Don't tell me you like those shabby pots of his," Muzan had said to me when seeing me arranging a bunch of them on shelves in a room at the castle.

"These can sell for some good money. He gets quality material for these, and the designs are fitting to what's in fashion right now." I handed him a pot. "Look at this. Someone will buy it."

Although Muzan was skeptical at first, it turned out that I was right and Gyokko's pots did sell for a very generous price. Muzan's opinion of Gyokko changed after that, and he even started to spew lines to Gyokko in affirmation of his physical attractiveness.

"How fortunate I am to be Master of such a handsome and creative demon," Muzan would say.

The flattery Gyokko felt and expressed as unanticipated for a large man with a scaled body and such a twisted facial deformation. The fish man truly believed he was artistically beautiful, and luckily for me, definitely seemed to prefer Muzan's praise over mine.

That way, I could shut up and stay out of the way, avoiding to look at Gyokko whenever possible. Kokushibou and I exchanged a lot of agreeing glances about Gyokko and his warped vision of himself.

After having to get used to such a grotesquely-deformed demon, I never would have expected the next demon to make a lasting impression on us to be, in my eyes, the physical image of a perfect being.