BODY

Genres: drama, speculative fiction, fantasy, LGBTQ+

Content warnings: transphobia, misgendering, non-consensual body modification, blood, violence, misogyny

I

In spite of the lessons' unholy schedule, Moon had managed to arrive early these past few days. She sat on the same chair as ever, bored out of her mind, because even then… the teacher hadn't arrived. Everyone else was shooting the breeze among themselves.

"So, in the end, are you gonna quit or not?" said Emily to one of the other girls.

"Um, I'm not sure," said Billie, then she yawned. "I'm not a fan of the schedule."

Most of them had to wake up before 4 AM to be able to make it, so Moon could understand.

"Welp, at least the week is over," Emily said again. "We survived the bullshit! So anyway, what are you guys' plans for this weekend?"

Before anyone could have the chance to reply, someone had interrupted them.

"You guys know Python isn't gonna come, right?" said Enoch, barging into the classroom. "Y'all should better leave. I'm out. Who wants me to take them home? This time I'm free."

"How do you know he's not coming?" Emily asked.

"He literally just sent an email," Enoch replied.

Moon took out her phone and checked. Indeed, he had sent an email saying that he couldn't come for vague reasons.

"Of course," Amethyst murmured from behind while frowning at her phone.

"It's still dark…" said Billie in despair.

"Okay, girls. Who's coming with me?" Enoch asked again.

Before Moon could say anything, Emily spoke. "Nuh uh, you drive like crazy. Come on, Moon, we're going with Amethyst."

Enoch stuck out his tongue at them. It was a shame, because Moon did want to go with him. Instead, she was pulled outside and dragged behind her classmates. They all hopped into Amethyst's car and she started driving as she and Emily chatted away.

Moon limited herself to stare outside the window while propping her chin up with her wrist. She really liked the scenery of the path, and it was quite pretty during dawn. However, something on her peripheral vision caught her attention so she turned her head to the front.

"What's that?" she said with a hoarse voice. She hadn't really used her voice that morning, and now they were ignoring her.

"I'm tired of that guy. How much you wanna bet he's a creep?" Emily said.

"He probably is," said Amethyst.

"I could be sleeping at home."

They didn't like professor Python too much —most of them did not. But now Moon could only hear them chatting as the landscape became more and more unrecognisable. What she had seen in front of her at first was a street sign, but it didn't look like one. In fact, she wasn't really sure how she knew it was a street sign, but every time it was harder and harder to tell things apart.

"Oh. I can't recognise anything on this street," Amethyst said all of a sudden, her face pale.

"Ah. No! Did we fall into the monsters' realm?"

"Not yet!"

As soon as she said that, Amethyst hit the brakes and the three of them rattled violently inside the cabin. Moon was at the edge of her nerves, so she screamed when something hit the window next to her.

"Moon! Careful!" Emily yelled as well, but the window had been broken.

They were also hit on the other side. The creatures hitting the windows and slithering over the glass looked like people but, at the same time, they didn't. They were human looking, but not really one of them. Moon tried to avoid being taken away, but there wasn't a way to escape so eventually, she got grabbed by her feet.

Her classmates tried to pull her back towards them with tears in their eyes, but that was everything she saw before her consciousness faded.

When she woke up again, the strong smell of blood was the first thing she noticed. There was some pain, but it… felt far away. It was as if she had been numbed from the neck down. At first, the darkness was pitch black, until a yellowish light was casted onto her.

She would've looked up to see where the light came from, but what she saw first left her cold. Her chest was open, the muscle tissue visible to the eye and she could, quite literally, see her own ribs poking out. Any breast tissue had been completely destroyed.

While struggling to breathe, she looked up and saw a pair of golden eyes. That's where the light came from.

II

Professor Python was having one of the worst weeks of his life. Surely the streets were dangerous nowadays at any time, but this would've most likely not happened if it had been later in the day. The darkness invited the monsters to lurk between humans, and those girls had been thrown right into the claws of danger because of him deciding not to show up. Sure, it could have happened earlier, but...

Fortunately, two of them were alright, albeit quite shaken by the experience, to the point that one of them had threatened to quit entirely, which prompted the school to push the course's schedule a bit later. Now, this conflict in his own schedule was also causing chaos in his life, but at least things were settled now.

Unfortunately, one of the girls… His student had been disappeared for more than one week at this point, and Python ended up biting his nails to the flesh when he thought about the fact that the most likely possibility now was that she was dead.

All of this was really overwhelming, but… but… but he had to put his shit together!

"Hello. Remember that tomorrow is gonna be our first field activity," he said while setting his computer on the desk.

The energy in the classroom was, as always, very grim. His students looked like they were attending a funeral, and Python felt the same way.

He sat down and started his computer before continuing speaking. "By now, all of you should have your uniforms and safety equipment. You won't be allowed into the ship if these aren't sorted out…"

His computer was unbelievably slow, so he trailed off as he waited for the thing to power up then to show his notifications.

"Remember, it can be paid in installments, and…" Whatever he was saying, it all escaped from his mind when he read one of his unread messages that he had received on his way from his house to the school. "What?!"

According to this email, Moon was not only alive, but she was in the institution right now, and they were requesting Python's presence in the director's office. In an instant, he closed it again and bolted out of the room.

When he went into the director's office, he felt he could faint. Moon was standing with her back turned to him, but when she heard the door she turned around. The thing that shook him out of his stupor was Moon's unexpected bright smile the moment she saw him.

"Professor Python," she said. "It's been a while. Well, it was only a week but…"

"She's going to continue the course," the director said. "So make sure she's up to date before field work."

Python stared at his student up and down. He was so glad that she was safe, although she looked different. Specifically in an aspect that he, as a gentleman, would never dare mention.

"C-come over here," he said, beckoning her to follow him, and the smile never really disappear from her face.

When they were back in the classroom, there were a few more students.

"So they changed the schedule? Finally," Moon commented. "I thought I wouldn't find anyone."

She was chatty and bubbly now, though she still somehow had the same gloomy demeanour, with droopy eyelids and a face that screamed sleep deprivation.

A few people turned in their direction, and they all seemed startled out of their drowsiness at the sight of her.

"Moon?!" Enoch said, hitting Emily on the shoulder to call her attention. "Look!"

"Ugh, what?!" she said, then her eyes landed on her classmate. "M-Moon?!"

Just like Python, they all had kind of assumed she was dead. Attacks like this were, unfortunately, not uncommon, and most of the time victims came out either severely injured, or they were straight up never seen again. Moon, however, looked like she was in one piece at least.

By now, her demeanour had dampened a bit but she still greeted her classmates. "Hello guys."

Professor Python cleared his throat before talking. "Take a seat, Moon. We'll talk after class."

III

Moon didn't really pay attention to the class, instead just enjoying coming back. She enjoyed the simple act of having come out at all. Most of her classmates weren't paying attention either in her opinion; they were mostly either fidgeting with stuff from their desks or squinting at her. Emily and Billie kept talking to her.

"But are you really good to come to class?" Billie asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Weren't you injured anywhere?" Emily asked.

Moon hesitated. She frowned at nothing. "… No."

"How?" said Emily, while Billie threw her a tragic look. "Like, woah. Going to the other side. It's dangerous, I had nightmares for days, normally people end up terribly, you were so lucky—"

She finally noticed Billie hitting her with her elbow which made her stop in confusion. "Shouldn't you have stayed in the hospital for a while more? You don't have to come if you're still unwell."

Billie's tone was irritating, but Moon knew that she most likely didn't mean anything offensive. So she ignored her to avoid thinking about how much that sounded like she was being kicked out.

"Well, she's right, we saw how she was grabbed…" Only then did Emily notice. Moon had somewhat hoped none of them would and instead would just carry on with their lives, but she was actually glad they knew.

Emily stumbled on her words briefly, finally settling for a generic phrase. "Well, we have to keep faith that we can always move forward."

"Hm."

It occurred to Moon that, although she liked her lessons and she still wanted to be part of a crew, she found her classmates insufferable.

Python had fallen silent a while ago and seemed to be considering something. He eventually clapped his hands and spoke again.

"The field work gets delayed until Thursday," he said with a grin. "Now you all can leave."

He didn't say anything else, which eventually the entire classroom took as a sign that the class was indeed over. The only person that remained sitting was Moon, who stood up and went towards her professor's desk once everyone had left.

"What do I need to do to get up to date?" she asked.

"Oh. No no, you're an amazing student," the professor stammered. "I'll give you all the material you missed so you can review it by Wednesday. Is that okay?"

Moon grinned. "It's more than okay. I have nothing but free time now."

"Oh." He seemed a little taken aback. His eyes jumped toward her chest then quickly went up again. "Okay…"

He gave her a stash of papers and grinned at her as she walked away, clearly nervous to see her again. Before she went too far though, he called out to her.

"Wait! How did you come here?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"By car or…?"

"Oh. On foot."

His eyebrows shot up. "Foot?! Aren't you scared?"

She gave him a wide smile. "Of course not."

IV

"If that happened to me," Billie said, "my life would be over."

She played with her hair while she looked down, avoiding the gazes of her downcast classmates.

"If that happened to me," Emily said, genuinely upset, "I would kill myself. Someone should do something about this. I don't know, close the door to the dimension or something."

"They already tried, you know that," said Enoch, who was just… sitting around.

He had been quiet this ever since Moon came back, only ever commenting whenever the topic of conversation involved her.

"Well, so they're just gonna sit around? That's disturbing," said Billie, profoundly distraught.

What happened to Moon could have happened to her, and that was enough for her to not want to go outside ever again. Were the monsters truly this dangerous? She… had no idea.

And in the middle of all that there was Christian, who seemed to be at a loss.

"Moon? Which one is that?"

"The curly haired girl," Enoch answered.

Christian blinked. "She's the one that got lost?! And what happened to her? I don't understand what you guys are saying."

The entire group stared at each other, shifting uncomfortably on their benches.

Billie frowned. "Well, I mean, I'm not sure—"

"She came back all flat," Enoch said.

"Yeah, I assume a one of the monsters attacked her," Billie continued. "That must have been pure agony…"

Christian scratched his head in confusion. "I'm sorry, I still don't understand. What do you mean by flat?"

Enoch stood up in a quick motion that startled him. He took off his shades and talked to his face. "They mutilated her. Now she doesn't have boobs."

Christian grimaced, as well as many of the others. "Those things have claws. They must have attacked her on the front," someone who hadn't spoken befire said.

"Oh… poor Moon," Billie said. "They ruined her life."

Christian shivered in horror. "Damn, is she okay?"

"I mean, she came back to class on Monday—"

"Of course not. She looks pale as fuck, and I think she's in shock or something," Enoch said, and he looked more angry than anything this time. "Did you see the dark circles under her eyes?"

Enoch kept going and a brief argument broke out. Christian shoved his hands in his pockets and once again took refuge in his silence.

#

"Professor," Moon said at some point, startling him out of his daze.

Python had been reading all the quizzes without really paying attention, not even realising the one he was currently in was upside down. Moon had been reading silently in the classroom as well after she finished studying, when she had suddenly spoken.

"Yes…?"

She stared at him directly in the eyes, which he found unnerving. "I already got a uniform."

"Oh! Good. You can start without any problems."

"… It's an old men's uniform, though."

Python's throat went dry. "Um…"

"It was what I could get my hands on," she said with a grin.

"Moon, you had… plenty of time."

"Well, professor, I swear I couldn't get it on time. I slept on the assignment, then I got lost for a week, I just didn't have time to book the seamstress, that's all…"

Suddenly, Python decided to take a different approach.

"Have you considered our mental health resources? An attack can be a traumatic experience and we… uh…"

All traces of her playful smile had disappeared from her face and she was staring daggers at him instead. However, the words came out of her mouth in a polite tone.

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm alright. Thank you," she said.

"….."

It was too late when he finally realised the way she had taken it. He had said it out of habit thinking of the final pictures, but he couldn't care less about what uniform anyone wore. He didn't mean to insinuate anything related to her wearing the men's uniform.

"U-uhm right. Well, you know, it's fine, actually. Just get on the men's side for the picture."

She smiled again. "Okay!"

V

The day where they went to the ship for the first time was wonderful. It was a clear sky, calm ocean, and no demonic clouds on sight. His students all walked behind Python as he absentmindedly pointed around.

"So this is the deck," he said. "If you're part of the group assigned to the deck then you'll have to be here even when the weather is spiky. Don't worry Billie, it's usually the guys who get assigned."

Billie let go a sigh of relief, but Christian frowned in disappointment.

"You can only smoke here, by the way. No smoking under any roof. New rules."

Moon was behind the group nibbling on the mouthpiece of her pipe, and that made her stop and tuck it into her pocket. Python noticed that some of her classmates looked at her up and down a few times before concentrating on what he was saying.

Today's class was only about showing them around the boat and stuff. From now on, they would just come into the ship, and then they'd get some actual work to do. The guys were grouped all together so Python addressed them to tell them what to do now. Then, he went to talk to the girls.

"You are… group 2," he said. "You're going back inside with me. We'll wait for Melinda and she will tell you about protocol."

Once in the accommodation area, they sat next to each other in the lounge. As always, Moon caught Python's attention; she sat down facing a different direction while nibbling on the mouthpiece of her pipe again. It was as if something was making her anxious.

"The boys said they were gonna go, all except Christian," said Billie.

"Hm." Emily glanced back at Moon. "Are you going Moon?"

"To where?" she replied.

"We're eating out after classes."

Moon looked around, and her face struck Python as one of mild disinterest. "Nah."

"Do you have to take care of your son?" said Billie, changing seats to be next to her.

"Nope. I left him with his lunch and everything, he can take care of himself."

Emily frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"When are you bringing the new uniform, Moon?" Billie asked.

"… This is my new uniform."

Python rested his head on his hand. He felt this conversation would become really awkward before the other teacher arrived.

"You got a men's uniform?" Billie asked. "And they let you wear that?"

Moon shrugged. "Python didn't say anything."

"And when are you gonna get a normal one?"

Moon looked at Python and she smiled. "Never. I like this one."

"Huh?"

"It's very comfortable!"

After she said that, Billie shrugged. Emily was staring at them with a blank expression. At that moment, the other instructor arrived.

Python didn't see any of the girls that day until later, when he saw Moon playing with her son in the park. They ran around with her trying to catch him. At one point, they made eye contact, and waved at him from afar.

#

The next time he saw them in the classroom, Moon was sitting in the middle of the classroom in the front row. She was wearing the skin tight shirt of their uniform and had her eyes hooded by her cap. She was chewing on the mouthpiece of her pipe.

"Moon, you can't smoke here," he said, half-heartedly.

"I'm not smoking, sir," she replied.

Her classmates were chatting animatedly, almost everyone participating as the weekend was approaching and they all seemed to have plans for the holidays, but she wasn't saying anything. Occasionally, they side eyed at her; although Python refused to acknowledge it, he knew it must have been the shirt. Moon had a perfectly flat chest and her demeanour and posture made her look like a man.

She kind of reminded him of his son.

There were still around fifteen minutes before the class ended, so Python had kind of zoned out. His attention focused on the voices flying by right when Emily was talking.

"… okay, then let's make it a group of men and a group of women," she said. It seemed like they were playing a game. Right in his presence. Okay.

"Huh? But we're uneven," Enoch said. "You guys have more members, that's unfair."

"You would have an advantage anyway," chimed in Billie.

Christian ignored her. "Then Moon is gonna be in our team," he said. "That way we look uniform and everything."

Moon pulled down the brim of her cap, further obscuring her face.

"Ah, of course," said Emily, in a bit of a derisive way. "Come on, Moon. When are you gonna buy your uniform? You look like a dude."

Billie's eyes went wide with horror. "Psst!" she said, and Emily seemed to realise her offence. However, Moon went in a completely different direction.

"Thank you," she said. Then she finally looked up with a smile.

"S-sorry…" Emily was noticeably embarrassed. "I just wanted to know if you had already bought it and were waiting for it, I didn't mean it that way, okay? Actually, I wanted to know how much it was for all of you, my seamstress is a fraud…"

The smile disappeared off her face. "I've said it ten thousand times before. I already have my uniform, and I'm wearing it right now."

Emily frowned at her. "But that's a men's uniform."

Moon… frowned at her too. Python didn't recall any situation in which she showed even a bit of discomfort in her expression.

"Well, what if I'm just a man?"

"How are you even allowed to wear it?"

"Because I am a man."

The class fell silent as realisation sank in. Moon was obviously embarrassed, her— well, his face red with shame, but he stood his ground and simply crossed his arms.

"You think you're a man now?" Emily said.

"Yes."

She sighed. "Man… Look, who cares? What a weird thing to be stubborn about. No one cares if you dress like a lesbian."

Moon stared at her with eyes wide in disbelief, then he sat back down as everyone observed. Python had never felt more uncomfortable in his entire life. Not long after, the class was over, and Python thought it was over for the day. But after gathering all his stuff and going outside, he encountered him again face to face on the alley next to the institute.

Moon seemed a bit absentminded, and he was smoking his pipe, blowing rings of smoke into the air.

"Oh, hey!" he said. "Look, I can smoke here, right? I'm not inside the school."

"I don't actually care," he said, and pulled out a cigarette as well.

Moon laughed loudly as if that had been the funniest thing he had ever witnessed. "What time is it?"

"Are you high? What's that?"

"Let me invite you to some drinks, professor. Can we play a game too? Nobody wants to play with me because they say I wipe them in every game I choose."

"Let them choose, then."

"No, because then they wipe me." Well, he couldn't tell if he was high or not. "So, what do you think?"

"Oh? Yeah…" Normally, the last thing he wanted after work was staying out lingering, but he kind of enjoyed Moon's company and it had become a bit awkward after he signed up for the course. Also, he wanted to talk to him earnestly. "Sure. Let's go on my car."

#

The game he had chosen was chess, and he had indeed won every single match. Moon swirled his drink with a straw, and his smile didn't disappear. It was a very different energy from this morning.

"Who do you leave your kid with in the meantime?" Python asked.

"His stupid dad," he replied. "They get along very well. Another match?"

"… Can we choose a different game?"

"No!"

"Okay…" Python leaned back. "… Are you… gonna change your name?"

He waved his hand in front of him. "Nah. Just don't call me Moon. It sounds girly to my ears."

Python nodded. He had gotten used to calling him by his nickname, but he would have to get rid of that habit. "And are you gonna talk to the school?"

"Already submitted the papers."

#

The end of the module arrived, and from what he could tell, the students were planning to do something that day. It wasn't even close to the end of the course, but they were like that; people constantly found reasons to celebrate, or they just straight up made them up. Python had been sort of watching over Monarch; most people's attitudes didn't change, at least not outwardly. In both a good and a bad way. Mostly in a bad way.

"… Moon," Emily said. He looked up with a blank expression. "Are you gonna participate?"

There was a pause, then he dug into his pocket. "Yeah," he said, and handed her a crumpled bill.

As always at the end of the class he read a book, or more like he pretended to read a book as he inevitably got distracted by the peculiar energy in the classroom. As most students zoned out or started talking among themselves, in the past Monarch had usually joined in, albeit as a spectator. Now he had stayed sitting in the front row, where he usually sat down every day. The students' chat was loud, but sometimes it would fall into a whisper Python couldn't hear, and they kept throwing glances at their classmate in the front row.

Python often found himself drowning at this scenario. He had the feeling that Monarch had gone from being a regular student to being another monster.

"… Billie, help me hand these out…" said Enoch as he brought a bag.

"Okay!" she said, after she finally peeled her eyes off Monarch's head, where she was about to bore a hole in.

"Right. Who do I owe?" said Emily. "Moon?" He pointed at him.

"Yes."

Emily gave him some change in his hand, and Monarch frowned.

"Hey?"

"Yes?"

"There's money missing," he said. "This is change for a five cons bill, I gave you twenty…"

Emily turned towards him again.

"You gave me what?"

Monarch raised his voice. "I gave you twenty."

"… You gave me a five one."

"No. I gave you a twenty. And I need that money."

"Fuck off. You gave me five."

Monarch stood up from his seat and Python was starting to get a little nervous.

"Emily!"

"Do you want me to give you fifteen out of my own pocket?! Fuck. Off!"

At that moment, Billie gave him a turnover. He slapped her hand away, causing her to drop it to the floor. Judging by his face, he clearly hasn't intended to do that.

"Oh, awesome," Emily said with a laugh. "Now you don't get to eat. Idiot."

"Oh… Um. I'm sorry," said Billie, equally uncomfortable. He was kneeling down, when she spoke again. "Moon, are you gonna eat that from the floor?"

Emily laughed. Her laugh was very loud, exhuding only mockery. From his point of view, Python could see Monarch blushing furiously.

"No," he said, straightening up again. "… Don't call me Moon."

"What?"

He raised his voice. "Don't call me Moon. My name is Monarch."

"Oh, r-right."

Emily shook her head. "Now a name offends you?"

"… My real name is Monarch, though…"

"I… don't understand why even argue about this," said Christian in a low voice, though it was enough to be heard, being only low in comparison with the shouting voices.

"She doesn't want us to call her Moon because it's too girly and she says she's a man," said Enoch from where he was. "Did anyone ask for the chicken one?"

"Ah, you guys… are so mean…"

He turned around after saying this, only to hear racuous laughter. Mainly from Emily, but some others were clearly containing themselves.

"Look, Mo… M-Monarch… What happened to you was awful and can mess up with anyone's mind." Billie put a hand on his shoulder. "It can be hard for self-acceptance. I know I would struggle with it. Is that… also why you straighten your hair now?"

Monarch stared at her wide eyed. "My hair stayed like that after the incident," he replied. "… What in the fuck are you talking about?!" He finally turned towards the rest of the class. "Y'all are trying to diagnose me with crazy instead of treating me like how I've always been!"

"Like how you've always been?" said Emily. "You mean like a man? You have a fatherless son. Is that the kind of thing someone who has always been a guy do? Opening legs to the worst man ever? I think you did go cra—"

She was cut off by the crisp sound of a slap. Practically everyone gasped, and Python finally stood up from his seat.

"Monarch!" he yelled in horror.

He had slapped her across the face, hard enough to draw a bit of blood, and now he was staring at his hand, his face awash with horror.

Emily's eyes filled with tears as if she was about to cry, and she brought a hand to her mouth. "… Fuck… bitch…"

"I… I'm sorry, I… didn't mean to hit you this hard…"

"That's enough!" said Billie. She and others had put themselves between them. "Get out of here!"

Monarch left the classroom very awkwardly. The class was over anyway. Python tucked his book back into his bag without bothering with the bookmark, while people circled around Emily.

"She plays dumb," she said. "What a bitch."

Then she broke down into tears.

As Python was gathering his other stuff in order to leave, he heard another student from the front row talking to someone else. "I'm gonna be honest, man," he said. "She grosses me out a little bit."

"Who? Moon?"

"Yeah."

#

Python had been vaguely looking for him in the hallways. He had received an email already, but he was more concerned about Monarch's well being. He turned around a wall after crossing the inner courtyard, and there he found him. He wasn't visible from there, but Python could see him with his head hanging low and sniffling as if he had been crying.

He entered the director's office knowing that he was going to be fired, and frankly, he was glad. His students were unbearable. Emily was there too. It was a very awkward moment, until Monarch entered the office as well.

"Ah, good afternoon…" the director said. "Emily told us about what happened during the class."

"Why is he here? He could assault me again," Emily said, and Monarch flinched away.

The director's affable expression disappeared. "Assault?" she said. "I thought it had been a mild altercation."

"We were arguing and he slapped me."

The director stared at Monarch, then at Python.

"Professor Python?"

"Ah…! Yeah…" He cleared his throat. "… I saw it."

"And you let the situation escalate like this?"

"…."

The director turned towards Monarch. "We don't tolerate violence against women."

Emily turned to him as well with a smile. "Yeah. It looks really bad if a man beats a woman, doesn't it?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows. "That's not something a gentleman does. He would fight someone on his level."

"I know. I'm sorry, I did something terrible," he said.

"Ah." Emily seemed mildly unsatisfied.

"All right," the director said. "I'm afraid you can't continue the course."

Emily's eyes went wide with shock. "Huh?!"

"Director—" Python started.

"And you'll be barred from enrolling again as well…"

"What?!" Emily said.

The director ignored her. "Very unfortunate. But this behaviour can't go unsanctioned."

"… Is there… nothing that can be done?" Python asked, gathering the few atoms of courage he had. "It's unfair. You must know the distress she— I mean, he was going through. You must know what Emily told him!"

Emily went pale, and he would've continued, but Monarch shook his head subtly. The director went on anyway.

"Nothing justifies physical violence," she said. "Plus, Professor Python, please stay. You two can leave."

This finally got a reaction out of Monarch. "You're not gonna fire him, right?"

The director said nothing, and from what they knew, she wouldn't until they left.

#

Monarch walked along the shoreline until he found the bench that he knew must have been there. He sat down, then leaned in until he could see his reflection on the water. He still had trouble getting sleep sometimes so that day he had dark circles under his eyes; his hair looked like a bird's nest if he was being honest, his scarred chest would probably scare people off if they saw it naked like this, and even though he couldn't see it from this angle, he could feel his belly pushing up against his chest, something that he could hide with his breasts before. He hadn't like his appearance this much before, though.

The reflection on the water became turbulent and he leaned back as someone emerged from the water right where he was looking. The first thing that he saw were the horns. The demon stood up slowly while water dripped all over him.

"Hi," Monarch said with a smile.

"Hello," the demon said back. "You are Monarch, aren't you?"

"Yes. And you are…?"

"My name is Heosphorus." He looked up at the sky. "You know who I am, though. Did you know dawn was the best time to see me?"

"Yes. I thought you seemed familiar."

The demon scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry. I what I could, but it wasn't my best." He started walking out of the water. "I thought I'd offer to fix it for you. Though…. it seems you're okay?"

"Absolutely. I'm quite satisfied with the result." Monarch moved to the side so he could sit next to him. "Why wasn't I eaten by beasts though? But instead I got saved by one of you."

Heosphorus frowned. "I'm not like that thing. I am a surgeon, okay? I'm just like you. Other demons might not care but I do. I don't want more humans thinking we're monsters!"

"So that's the thing you care about? Your reputation?"

"No!"

"I'm teasing! Come on, sit here."

"Hmph." Heosphorus went and sat next to him. "… You got kicked out of the school, right?"

"Yes." Heosphorus grimaced, so he clarified. "I'm glad. Poor professor Python, though."

"What are you gonna do now?"

Monarch stared into the water.

"… I've always wanted to be a helmsman."

# #

Python had recently arrived to the town he hadn't seen in ten years, and somehow managed to get in time for the bicentennial. Of course, it was nice in theory, and it wasn't like he hated it, but the celebration meant it was loud and the streets were a mess.

He had half wanted to come and half been dragged by his cousin to the nautical parade, and not only it was pretty and actually tolerable, but he had also seen a few familiar faces in the staff of the ship where he was. His past students Enoch and Billie greeted him effusively as he fumbled the social interaction just like how he did every time, while Emily pretended to not have seen him. However, both he and she hung half overboard to take a better look once they saw someone at the helm in one of the floats.

Monarch looked up and spotted them immediately, saluting with his cap.