The Demon King's Cowardly Vessel

Nothing made sense to him anymore, definitely not human logic and explanation as to the growth of a body. 

"I"m coming to that," Warlock said, slightly annoyed by his impatience. He tried to arrange the thoughts in his mind before saying, "Think about it, the conscious part of your soul, the current you basically, suddenly received a boost in strength, but without the full memories, this part of your soul was confused. It didn"t have the memory of sending Ashton away, only that it saw Ashton falling off the cliff. 

"Since we have established that your emotions affect your soul, I think we can deduce that what you saw affected this conscious part of your soul, and in its" grief, it didn"t want to move on from the last time it saw Ashton… And with the boost of power, its" grief was then able to affect the physical part of your body… Hence, locking your body at the state of the then 12-year-old you." 

"This is… a little farfetched, isn"t it?" Juin asked, not believing this theory at all. 

Warlock scoffed, "There are a lot of things in this world, and many other worlds, that are farfetched… A year ago, you probably wouldn"t even believe in the existence of demons, but now, you are housing him…" 

Warlock pointed at Lucifer using his chin. "And your best friend"s father is a seer… You saw someone who could control the wind---"

"Alright, alright, alright!!!" Juin sighed as he waved his hands in front of him. Warlock was right, he would be an idiot if he still believed that everything was as before. With a dejected expression, he mumbled, "I understand now…" 

Warlock tapped his fingers on the desk as he continued, "When you finally recalled everything, the conscious part of your soul did as well�� The burden that was on both you and your consciousness was lifted, and both of you could now move on instead of living at that point in time. That"s the reason why you have been having your growth spurt now…" 

Juin thought hard about everything. His brain felt like it was about to explode, and there were so many questions in his mind at the moment. 

"There"s something that I"m still confused about…"

"What?"

Juin looked at Warlock and asked tersely, "Who put the shackled soul in my body? Was it you?"

"Bingo!" Warlock admitted outrightly. Now that Juin chose to follow the supernatural path, there was no reason to keep it for him. 

"But why?" Juin frowned. "Why me?"

Warlock shrugged. "He chose your body… The soul, I mean." 

"Then why shackled it? Or me? Am I still me? Who am I?" Juin asked nervously. 

Warlock sighed and waved a hand nonchalantly. "The soul within your body is extremely strong, and the shackles are necessary in order to contain it."

Warlock then told him the whole story, from when he found baby Juin and how the soul that he was carrying with him chose the body as a vessel. He left out the part about how Juin and Lucifer were related to each other, as well as the soul"s true ident.i.ty. If Juin"s emotions were truly related to the red-eyed Juin, the main part of the soul, then it was not a good idea to provoke him, at least not until the conscious part of the soul was strong enough to deal with it. 

"So… I"m not real?" Juin asked with a dejected expression as he looked at his palms. 

"You"re still you," Warlock said in a gentle voice. "The baby"s original soul was gone that day. Dead, actually. It"s the shackled soul within you that"s keeping this body alive. And in other words, you are the soul."

"This is confusing…" Juin sighed as he scratched his ear. 

"Don"t think too much about it. When it comes to soul, there"s no deep research in it… Just know that the soul within your body is strong. No, wait. Souls. They are both extremely strong souls, yet your body is able to contain it without having side effects." Warlock looked at Juin"s body up and down, wondering if Juin"s physical body was the special case here or if Hades" soul actually strengthened his physical body. 

"We saw in Jim Mack"s memories… Apparently, they came after me because I was a "perfect vessel"."

Warlock nodded. "A perfect vessel indeed…" 

In his mind, he thought, "So perfect that you can actually house the souls of two demon kings without breaking down…"

"So…" Juin hesitated for a moment before asking, "are my consciousness the consciousness of the soul within me? That I am the soul and the soul is me?" 

Warlock thought about it momentarily before nodding. But a second later, he shook his head. "It"s a little bit more complicated. You both have the consciousness and no."

"I"m confused…" 

"I placed the shackles on the soul within you in order to protect him and everyone else, but the Goldenglow Shackle is not 100% foolproof, not against a demon king such as the one in you," Warlock admitted truthfully. And in his mind, he thought, "And not without taking my life…" 

"And?"

"When the soul merged with your body, it was able to release a small part of it to merge with the physical body. So, think about it, if the soul were fully locked and shackled, how would it be possible for your body to move around? Humans think that the brain is the main control room, but to use demons, the souls are the real control…"

"Then, why did you say no?" 

"Because you are only part of the soul. Part of the consciousness of the soul within you leaked out from the Goldenglow Shackle, and this is just a small part…" 

Juin thought about it for a while with his eyebrows furrowed. "Mr. Warlock, I have a question…"

Warlock nodded as he stood up to get himself another drink. As he poured another cup of gin and tonic for himself, he said, "Ask ahead." 

Juin watched and waited until Warlock finished mixing the drink before asking in a small voice, "If the main part of the soul woke up… Would… Would I be swallowed by it?" 

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