"Before the great Fall, before HE ruled hell in fire and chains, before he was betrayed and bound for the good of the universe. Before all that, we each had our different languages."
Ran sat forward in interest as he listened to her speak. He had no doubt he was about to learn something great.
"Unlike you mortals who, as you must know from the scriptures of the Jews… who had a single language which later became a wagonload of languages, the Assarians had a lot of languages. It was when HE fell things changed. Before then the Feys had power over this realm, it had been a realm of beauty and glory, trillions of stars had numbered the sky. But with HIM came the abyss and the end of everything good. The Feys were made to retreat and become reclusive, so when he did something to unite all languages as one and deny people the power of the tongue, only they resisted to a measure."
Ran, cocking his head to the side, completely enraptured by the conversation, asked, "What is the power of the tongue?"
"Have you ever heard the saying that 'words have power'?"
"Yes."
"Well, imagine this. In Kurana the language of the anglodom is the most supreme, isn't it?"
"Indeed."
"Now, imagine you could speak it and saying a word as common as 'I command you' and saying it with the right intent, would give you control over the person it was said to."
"That is scary, but powerful. So everyone lost theirs except the Feys?"
Mukoku nodded. "And even the Feys don't speak Feyling often."
Gaining a thoughtful look Ran marvelled at how one could gain power from something as simple as learning a language.
"So should I learn Feyling I'd…"
He paused as Mukoku began to laugh. He watched her, unimaginably puzzled, as she threw her head back and let out howling laughter that echoed through the infernal landscape the Wraithwagon sped through.
He fixed her with a look that expressed his irritation well enough. He had no idea why she was laughing at him and did not like it.
"Are you done?" He asked her when her amusement abated to just a series of giggles.
"I should have your tongue for taking that tone on me," she said, still giggling.
"And your words about not being able to harm me?" He retorted.
She shrugged indifferently. "I could have been lying."
She was smiling, but he knew she was just trying to mess with him. He had a feeling he'd have known if she was lying and would always know if she ever lied to him.
The why of it was beyond his knowledge, but he knew it to be so—instinctively.
"Now why were you laughing? I can't remember anything I said that could have been interpreted as a joke," he sniped at her, making her look at him as one would a pet cat in a fit of rage—with sickening adoration.
"Oh, Kaito Ran. Do you know what it takes to learn Feyling? It was the most sacred of tongues before the Fall. The requirements for learning it are almost insurmountable. You must be of Fey blood, then even as a Fey you must be infinitely pure—take that as the Fey equivalent of someone who's never gone against the order, intent, and principles of the decalogue. Finally, only a Fey can teach Feyling."
Ran sighed. "Why didn't you use Fey blood to heal me? I bet I wouldn't have lost my purity."
She sneered at him. "Fey blood doesn't heal, it purifies and might have killed you by causing too much purification, especially as you had no kin. Now, it would act as a counter to the essences in you and try to fight them, which would definitely kill you. You need to get over being upset about this, Ran."
He shrugged. "It's just that almost everyday I come across things I could have done if I was still a pure mortal."
She patted him on the shoulder. "If you wish for a hack in mastering your kin quickly then there's another option aside Feyling."
"What?"
"The language of the celestial Realm."
Now it was Ran's turn to laugh. He gave Mukoku a look that conveyed the words 'are you serious?'
"And how do you suggest I go about learning that?"
She gave him an unimpressed look. "You should make a greater effort to acquire knowledge, Kaito Ran. You aren't as learned as you should be to survive in Naraku. Of course you can learn the language that came before Babel. You can learn it by becoming a monk or a prophet, or from your guardian angel if you choose to become a saint."
Ran stared at her open-mouthed as she said this.
He was surprised to put it mildly.
"So in other words, impossible?"
She smirked at him in false kindness. "At least you have more of a chance with this one than Feyling."
"I want to ask if there are more options but I feel like you'd just keep throwing disappointments at me, so to reiterate my first question—where are we headed?" He asked, getting tired of her antics now.
"And like I told you, to one of the most evil Princes of Hell."
He wondered who this prince was. He'd read about some truly evil Princes in hell. Of the ones he knew there was Belladros the Arch-Carnifex, Xin the Prince of Souls, Mormon the Master of Greed, Henaki the Bloodborne, Kogama the Prince of Darkness, also Vuda the Prince of Rage.
There were so many more princes than he knew, more than there were vices and sins for every faith in Kurana, so many princes than queens. There were fewer queens.
Of those he knew, for an evil list he'd nominate Belladros, Henaki, and Kogama. But for all he knew Mukoku might just be talking about a prince that's not even in the Demon Encyclopedia.
"And does this evil Prince have a name or history?"
"He definitely does—a name that would make you freeze, a history that would strike terror to your deepest core."
Giving her a look of doubt, Ran voiced what he was feeling. "I doubt that."
The look she gave him made him shiver. He really was not going to like what he was about to hear.