This Crayfish Is Not Edible

With a solemn expression, Xia walked into the house. It had almost twenty floors and a huge moat surrounding it.

A man dressed impeccably stepped closer and bowed.

"Master, this is my Butler...ehhh a butler is equal to a privileged servant. He takes care of this mansion's management and finance." Bao Hu quickly explained.

Xia nodded, but still his eyes lingered on his unconscious lover. He studded closer and softly held his limp hands. "Baby, everything will be okay. I—I will find something.. I will definitely hela you." he whispered.

Without a word, Bao Hu lifted Long to a guest room on the second floor. He wanted to toss him on the bed but..... 'This is my master's lover' he thought and laid him carefully him on the bed.

"he should be fine. Why don't we have an elaborate tour of the house master," Bao Hu whispered cheerfully.

Xia glared at him and plopped down next to Long. "I'm not going anywhere,"

The demon sighed and left the room. Taking a final glance at him, he slowly closed. 'I can't change your choices, master, but I can only do as much as I can to help,'

He slowly studded over to his room and to his table. in the small hidden drawer was the thing his master had given to him to safeguard. His master, Hong Lian, gave only one instruction. "Open it when it's time,"

The time never came, so he never did.

"is it the time to open it?" he whispered and pulled out an ornate onyx box from inside. He blew the dust off of it. A small lotus and a vividly carved Ikuchi.

a knock disrupted his caustic thought

the butler walked in with his refreshments as usual. The tray in his hands trembled when he saw the box in the demons hands.

"Is it time at last?" He whispered hoarsely.

Bao Hu nodded solemnly. this box was the last thing his master gave him before his death. it was like he somehow predicted all that was going to happen. "Its the only thing I have of him," he whispered sadly.

"But your master is here now. that thing does not matter,"

This brought a small smile on Bao's face. "Yes, he is," he whispered nostalgically.

With the box in hand, he slowly walked over to his master's room. "Master.....you....wanted to have this," he whispered and carefully handed it over.

Xia took it over with a frown. "My dad gave this?"

"No YOU did," Bao whispered with a small smile.

"what do you mean 'I' did?" Xia whispered with his eyes narrowed. 'obviously I did not give this to him,' he thought and peered at the ornate box.

Bao stood awkwardly next to the door. "In your past birth you gave this to me and told me to open it when time comes. I—I think it's time," he whispered. He took a small glance at his master once more and tears pooled in his eyes. 'He really is back,'

Xia watched him with his eyes narrowed. 'Why is smirking and crying the next second?' he sighed the next second. 'I think....he is thinking about his real master. What was my past life's name again? Who was I? and Long.....who was he?'

He placed the box next to his lover and softly kissed his forehead. "What is in it?" he whispered softly, scratching the delicate-looking Ikuchi craved on it.

"I don't know," the demon lord shrugged.

"You didn't open it?" Xia whispered skeptically.

"Well, you told me not to open it so I didn't open it."

Xia nodded but in his heart he thought, 'he seems too loyal to my previous birth,' "was Icarus also my subordinate?"

Bao Hu shook his head. "No, Icarus was your father's." he whispered. He then glanced at the robe xia was wearing. "I see that he gave you the lotus silk robe. It's made of golden lotus fibers woven together so...so intricately. master, you used to joke that it's called the {robe that never gets wet}," He said and chuckled out loud.

Xia awkwardly laughed along to the dry joke. 'Gosh, looks like I was a person who lacked a sense of humor. That would have sucked. ahh I should not get distracted,' he shook his head. "Regardless, Can you tell me when Long will wake up?"

"He is weak. His body is trying to cope with his condition. It will take a while...."

Xia could not understand his vague answer at all. "How many days?" he interrupted his long-winded speech.

The demon lord pouted.

"Please tell me how many days? I want to know if he is fine," Xia whispered with a deep frown.

"Probably a day or so. Master.....are you angry with me? I know what I did was wrong, so please forgive Me." Bao Hu whispered softly smile.

Xia hesitated. His mother had always told him to be kind and forgiving, but this time….. he was not able to forgive him soon. "What you did to Long was not fair. He does not deserve that much hate."

The smile fell from Bao's face.

Watching his dull face, xia sighed. "But.....maybe in time I can forgive you."

Boa Hu cheerfully hopped over and hesitantly sat on the dressing table nearby."Master, aren't you going to open it?"

"Curious?" Xia whispered with a blooming smile

"Yes, it's been in my possession for ten thousand years, so curiosity is an understatement,"

Xia chuckled softly and opened it. The box creaked and groaned. There laid a pair of headwear. One in blue and one in black. Little worn around the edges, but still shimmering and gleaming.

Bao Hu gaped. His eyes teared up uncontrollably. With trembling hands, he picked the blue head piece. "This....used to yours, master."

Xia picked out the black one and caressed it. It was quite coarse to the touch, with a robust design engraved on it. 'This one.....its looks familiar. Where have I seen it?'

'ahh right, in that weird vision. I saw Long wearing this.' it was during the battle with the corpse butterfly that he saw that fearsome vision.

It was a vision of his lover being killed by a mysterious man, right in front of his eyes.

His entire body shuddered just remembering it. 'Was it real then? Was it Long's past life that I saw?' he thought.

Right Then all the warnings uttered by the two demons made sense. Icarus once said, 'History is repeating itself,' and Even Bao Hu did not want him to have anything to do with Long.

"Bao Hu, in my past life...Long also was there right? How—How did he die?" the retreating fear returned with a vengeance. With his trembling hands, he held his lover's limp hands and kissed it softly.

Bao Hu stumbled to find words to explain it. "He—he was killed by his own race. The dragon's they did not want him associating with a demon. So they....."

"So they killed him...." Xia mumbled. he peered at his Dragon. 'From all the clues, he could piece together that he was a demon Lord's son, thereby a demon himself. His blood might not be the purest, but it still was containing demon blood. Would Long be hurt because of me again? Because of my lineage,' he thought and bit the insides of his cheek.

"I won't let it happen..." Xia softly Mumbled.

So Xia took care of his lover with dedication and love. The wait began. The days went by like a passing cold. Without moving, Xia waited.....and waited.....But the dragon never arose.

It was as if he was in an eternal sleep.

As the fourth day hit, Xia got anxious. "You said he would wake up in a day," he shouted to Bao Hu. He softly wiped his lover's forehead with a damp towel.

The demon Lord sighed. "Even I'm not sure what to do."

"Then please summon a healer. please...." Xia begged. He was unsure why the demon did not do so in the beginning. He trusted his words and waited this long. But his lover did not wake up still.

"We don't have any healers here, master....." Bao whispered awkwardly.

Xia Che dejectedly plopped down next to his dragon. "How do I help him? how..." he whispered.

Suddenly the small headbands on the side table rolled about. And from the black one, a small red ruby popped out. It rolled about and dropped onto the carpeted ground.

Xia picked it up and held it up to the light. the Ted light shone brightly into his eyes, like that of a red sunset. He did not have that much time to admire before the Demon lord plucked it from his hands.

Bao Hu started breathing rapidly. "Oh my god, Master, that is a blood ruby.' he whispered in awe. He then glanced at the black head band of the heavenly dragon. 'Master, did he know that he was going to die? Did he also know that he would be reborn again?'

"This can help your lover,"

"How?"

Note-

Ikuchi–a legendary sea monster that looked like a fish/eel.. It was larger than a whale andn would strangle ship and sink them.