My Inner Demons S2 Continued

Pop Goes The Horns

~With Asch and Noi~
          Just as the words left Asch's lips, a frantic, small figure crashed into Noi from behind.
          "Oh shi- NOI?"
          Noi gasped, "Princess Ava!!! Oh my gosh, I thought you were dead? Are you okay? Where were you?"
          "You were supposed to meet us outside." Asch scowled.
          Ava returned Noi's hug, her voice muffled by his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Lady Bish caught and imprisoned me."
          Asch went still, "Are you hurt? I'll kill her-"
          "As much as I hate her, I'd much rather get home then die while trying to get revenge." Ava interrupted.
          "They would never let you die, dear."
          Ava turned around, forgetting who her traveling companion was. Queen Melodie. Asch's mother. Ava turned to Asch, her eyes wide with an apology, but he only looked at the woman in confusion.
          "Who is this Ava?" Asch asked.
          Of course Asch wouldn't remember Queen Melodie, Ava realized. He was only a baby when his mother's death was announced to all of Daemos.
          Queen Melodie huffed, "You'd think the boy would have a little respect for his-"
          "AUNT!" Ava shouted, then turned bright red when everyone looked at her, "Um, yeah, your aunt was imprisoned with me but helped me escape."
          Noi and Asch, who had wound up on either side of Ava, each put a comforting hand on her shoulders.
          "I'm really glad you're okay, princess." Noi said sincerely.
          Ava turned bright red, "I- you- you know what I really think it's time to go where are the others?"
          "Right here." Pierce said from behind the group. He gave a small smile to Ava. He was not a man of many words, so the gesture meant a lot.
          Ava smiled back before jumping back with a yelp. Leif had teleported right in front of her.
          Ava expected a snarky comment or snide grin, but Leif just bundled her in his arms and hugged her tightly, bending his neck down to bury it in her hair.
          He was shaking.
         "Hey, hey hey hey, I promised that I wouldn't leave you. Remember? At the grocery store? I keep my promises."
          Leif quickly composed himself and stepped back, clearing his throat, "I'm just, uh, really glad you're okay, Ava."
          "And on behalf of us all, I would- I would truly like to apologize for... everything." Rhys said, stepping around Leif to look Ava straight in the eye.
          "I..."
          "What is the meaning of this?"
          The whole group whirled around to the new voice. It was the king.

~~~

          "What is the meaning of this?" The king demanded. Then he spotted Queen Melodie.
          Ava thought she knew what love was, and hate. But the emotions she saw in that moment, raging through the king's eyes, reminded Ava that she was among demons.
          What other creature could feel so many powerful emotions at once without shattering?
          For a second the king's eyes watered with recognition at his bride, but they soon hardened and turned as black as coals.
          "Melodie? You're supposed to be dead." The king's voice was gravelly and flat.
          The old queen covered her face with her hand and stared at her husband, "Brackon I..."
          "She didn't die! Lady Bish imprisoned her for a decade and she only now escaped! Lady Bish bribed mind controlling people to wiggle into your brain!" Ava shouted.
King Brackon's eyes flicked to Ava, "Foolish demon. You dare insult me like that? I am a descendant of the Prince of Darkness, who destroyed worlds at will and created life for fun. If you think I will not crush you into dust you will regret it."
A beat of silence followed before Ava's horns thought it would be a good time to pop out of existence.
King Brackon roared in surprise and fury and called for his guards, but at that point Ava and her Daemos companions were already running.
Without looking back but hearing lots of footsteps following them, Asch led the group up a narrow flight of stairs, one that was partly concealed by a velvet curtain.
The guards thundered past their hiding spot.
"I used to hide here a lot when I was a kid. I hated my lessons." Asch whispered in Ava's ear. Ava shuddered.
"Asch... what did your father mean when he said he was a descendant of the Prince of Darkness?"
          Asch did not answer.
          For what felt like hours, but was really just a few minutes, the Daemos hid behind the curtain. Eventually, the thundering footsteps faded away and they all breathed a sigh of relief .
"I'm sorry about the spell, Princess Ava. I had to modify it a bit because you were human, but it must've made the spell weaker." Rhys says grimly.
Ava puts a reassuring hand on Raul's forearm and turns to Asch, "It's going to be a lot harder to escape this place now that I'm not disguised as a Daemos. Is there a secret exit? Like in the movies, how there's always a hidden passageway-"
Ava noticed the strange looks she was being given, "Sorry, human th- oh my gosh."
          "Are you alright?" Pierce asked.
          "We forgot Que- er, we forgot Melodie! We must've lost her in the chaos of the guards." Ava cried out.
"We don't have time to go back. Guards will be swarming the palace. She can take care of herself, especially if she has royal blood. And to answer your question, there aren't any hidden exits that I know of. We're the strongest kingdom in Daemos, so there was never a need for one." Asch said arrogantly, "But if anyone were to know where a secret entrance is, it would be Raul. We should find him."
"But going out to look for him means putting Ava in danger!" Noi protested.
"If we can't escape then we'll all be dead anyways." Leif snapped.
"Stop." Asch commanded the squabbling knights, "Raul was tailing Lady Bish. Rhys, you followed him shortly afterwards. Do you know where they went?"
Rhys shook his head, "They were moving faster then I expected. I couldn't find them, so I split off on my own and found Leif and Pierce."
          Leif and Pierce nodded in confirmation.
          While the Daemos all tried to come up with a plan, Ava studied them individually. They were all in full battle mode, which was so different from the Socky-loving, apartment-destroying people she knew. She kept forgetting, unwisely, that they were war-hardened demons who had killed many.
          Lost in though, Ava jumped when a warm hand gently touched her back. Pierce.
          "Were you listening to the plan, Ava?" Pierce asked.
          Ava flushed with embarrassment, "Um, yes, but just so I know that you guys know, you should repeat it one more time."
          "The palace is made up of several "layers," per say." Rhys explained, "The outer wall is guarded by indebted common folk, and the middle wall in guarded by common soldiers. The third wall has a complex rotating schedule and ever changing patterns. Don't even get us started on the actual palace defenses."
          "We'd never get through all of the defenses." Leif continued.
          "So if we can't get through the defenses, we have to go over them." Noi finished eagerly.
          "There are towers connected each watchtower between the separate walls. They aren't in use anymore, so we can use ladders to build bridges across." Asch said.
          "Are you okay with that?" Pierce asked.
          Ava nodded determinedly, "Whatever it takes to get me home."

Okay, I literally was working on this chapter for only like an hour, so I'm sorry if it seemed rushed!! The next chapter will be very exciting and will have a dash of romanceeee😚😚💜 I've brainstormed so many ideas and I can't wait to weave them into the story!💜💜💜💜