25.
The Ambition of a Queen
Gahn opened his eyes.
"It is about time you awake. I knew it would help if I placed you here." Radi's voice was heard.
Here?
He felt it. Radi's Magika was encasing both of them in an illusion, but there were no changes to the area that he could see. They were in the same spot they had their battle. Clumps of grass had been pulled up from their fight, but other than that the scenery was the same as any other part of Demon World.
"When is the last time ya used your own Magika? I can feel it brimming out of ya. Ya didn't used to be so sloppy. I taught ya better than that," Gahn said and crossed his arms.
His arms. He looked at them and saw they were healed. It was too soon. At the least he would still have second degree burns. Gahn uncrossed his arms and flexed his mended hands. He hadn't even taken out the melted silver from his knuckle bones.
He looked at Radi. "Ya have a healed me in the illusion, huh?"
"Yes," she answered and titled her head while she pointed at him. "That and a bit more."
Gahn looked down at himself again. He was shirtless, taught and toned muscles smooth and free of any wounds or burns. His jeans were as impeccable but also unbuttoned and unzipped. The flaps were folded down but they hugged his hips tight enough to prevent anything from being shown. He was about to zip up his pants when he noticed they lacked a zipper and a button. Gahn looked at Radi. She gave him a half smile.
He grinned. "I know I'm adorable and irresistible, so I forgive ya for being unable to control yaself."
She walked up to him. He noticed her sheathed sword by her hips. Even though they were in an illusion, anything that happened here was real. If she killed him, he'd wake up dead. Not that she could catch him in there. She was oozing too much of her Magika for him to not sense what she would do next.
"I always adored it when you had your hair down," she said.
His hand shot up to his scalp to feel his locks intact. The loose ends swept his shoulders. "Yeah. Too bad most of it is actually burned off now."
"It will grow back. More importantly, I pulled the silver out from you hand." Radi grabbed his palm and traced his knuckles with her finger.
He enjoyed her touch more than he should have.
"You were healing well enough, but you were taking too long to regain your consciousness. I instead created the illusion to have you completely healed in order for you to awaken." Radi released his hand.
Gahn shook his head. "But I put a blade through ya throat."
"You thought as so for I created another illusion. One that manipulated the grass beneath your feet to appear as myself. I was the one that stabbed you, my love."
The growl that escaped him surprised him. "Don't call me that."
She snickered. "It is that which distracted you. I recall a time when you once loved me. You do recall me saying that, of course? It distraught you well enough for you to not even notice my Mahou's release."
He shoved her with his shoulder as he walked past her. "What do ya want?" he said.
"I want to tell you that, unlike you, I did not have a desire to kill you."
He let out a staccato laugh. "Yeah. Of course not."
"I do not lie. I wish to speak to you."
Gahn turned around and saw she had crossed her arms, right hip thrust out. He scowled and scratched the back of his neck. Radi was the only woman that made him frustrated and excited at the same time. How was she still able to do this even though this was the first time he'd seen her in over dozens of decades?
"What do ya want, woman?" he asked. "Ya attack me and almost kill me only to say ya want to talk to me now?"
She let out a haughty awh. "I almost killed you? I recall it was your blade that was about to decapitate me."
Again he rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't supposed to," he mumbled.
"Yet you were quite true with your intentions."
He thought he saw sadness flicker through her face, but it was gone when he blinked.
"You were not supposed to have abandoned me that day," she said.
Gahn knew exactly what she was talking about. "Ya weren't supposed to have betrayed Master Auronmar."
Radi threw her arm out as if swatting something out of midair. "Auronmar is not the true Dark Blood. It was my lady that was blessed with it upon her birth. He received it after wedding her."
"It was that crazy bitch that threw our world into disorder. Do ya see what it fell into? Black skies? Everything looks the same now. Thanks for the boring world I now live in."
"You were supposed to stay with me! We were to rule together. We were to be the next Dark Bloods even if it meant I had to slay my lady herself!"
Gahn stared at Radi. This was new. He remembered the day when Radi came to him, distraught over something Blethinette had done, but it had been a ruse. It had led a massacre. His hands closed into fists. It had led to him doing something he never thought he would.
"Damn it, Radi!" he spat. "Was that what it was all about? Ya weren't happy with what we had?"
"What my lady did would have come to pass all the same. Why allow others to claim what I could have? What we could have had? Gahn," Radi said and took a step towards him, "you did not wish to be with me?"
Gahn sighed. This woman!
She raised her eyebrow at his silence, and he knew she was waiting for an answer.
"All this weird plotting. Ya just as crazy as Mundus. Reyna told me enough of him to know," he said.
"Mundus," she said slowly. Her eyes darted down, and that was all Gahn needed to know.
"Ya slept with him, didn't ya?" he exclaimed.
She scowled. "I have needs!"
"Damn it, woman. Out of all the guys to sleep with? Why couldn't you have gone for Cerus? He's buff and cute. Even Erian'd be better than Mundus!"
He recognized the question in her silence. Gahn sighed.
"No, I didn't sleep with Reyna. I should have. Ya really killing me here, Radi, but don't think I didn't satisfy my needs either."
She smiled and Gahn almost kissed her. It was the two faint power levels he felt phasing through Radi's illusion that stopped him. He sensed them first since Radi didn't acknowledge them until her eyes flickered to the space behind him.
He let out a grunt of pain. Gahn's arms felt like they were being boiled and his nostrils were filled with the scent of burnt flesh and hair. He was somehow laying on the ground now. The grass underneath him felt like tiny swords prodding his burns, but Gahn managed to sit up.
"Warn me next time ya going to break the illusion, huh?" he said.
Radi leaned down towards him. "I am sorry, Gahn."
"I should've known it," he replied.
"I spoke the truth when I said I wished us to be together. The only lie I spoke was when I said I used to love you."
The two essences approached them. Gahn recognized them as Cerus and Erian—not surprising—but when he saw them, there was something in Cerus' eyes that wiped the cocky smirk he had to greet them.
~*~*~
The only thing that was subduing Mundus' rage was the fact that he could feel Reyna's sleeping essence nearby. Though he knew she had mastered in suppressing her Magika—Gahn's trick Mundus never learned from him—when she slept, it bubbled to the surface. He'd rather be in there with her, possibly stroking her hair or possibly poking her cheeks to get her to wake up, but instead he was trying to push down his desire to follow and strangle that insufferable mortal boy, Dante.
"Mundus," Verden snapped.
"As I spoke before," Mundus said, focusing on the question he had just asked,"I do care for Reyna."
"Then what are you doing? Presenting her with that flower? That's not something you push on someone."
He stared into his grey eyes. They were his father's eyes. He remembered what Reyna had said yesterday. She had called them brothers.
"How is this information known to you? How have you, once a human, been bestowed with the Dark Blood power?" Mundus asked him questions of his own.
Verden seemed to drop his frigid stance. A stance that reminded him of his mother.
"An Upper named Neeri told me," Verden said. His words were quiet.
Mundus' eyebrows shot up. "Neeri? We are...we truly are brothers."
He sighed. "I didn't want you to know. You weren't supposed to know. You were just supposed to leave. I only let you stay here because I was going to seal your memories about us all before you left."
"I believe you are the one disappointing Reyna as of now by denying her request."
Verden glared at him. "You're the one not true to your own damn feelings."
"I—"
"No."
Mundus felt his brother's Magika rising, evidence he didn't care about Reyna's request. He was going to seal his memories. Mundus launched to the left to avoid Verden's advance, but the half demon kept up with him. He pinned Mundus up against the wall with a hand to his throat.
"And how is our dear mother?" Verden asked him, eyes brimming red. "How many humans has she killed?"
Mundus almost said it. The reason for his worldly travel when he had been back in the human world, but Verden was not the one to be told about it. He would not believe him even if he did. "I do not care for her," Mundus answered instead.
The Magika that oozed out from Verden immobilized him as an illusion crept through Mundus' body. "Did you really come here for Reyna?"
He growled. "Yes."
"What about Ayame? Now that you know she's here, what of her?"
For some reason, this question was harder to answer. Her distraught and almost frightened face from when he saw her yesterday, the way she would tilt her head in confusion, and her strange obsession with Lina's hair crossed his mind. It was all wrong.
"She is not the Ayame I knew," Mundus spoke.
"Verden! What's going on?" Dante said as he appeared before them. There was something in his hands. The boy gave Mundus a look before a grin broke out on his face.
The demon prince was grateful he still had the ability to sneer.
"Don't worry about it, Dante," Verden said. "Just go back and make sure no one comes up."
"No! Let this one go. Master needs this one!" Lina's voice floated up to them. "Let go of this one's hair!"
Her words were followed by the sounds of scuffling and a shriek that could have been Lina or Ayame's
"What the hell is going on?" a third voice asked.
"Reyna," Dante said.
She stood a few feet away from them. Though sleep still rubbed her face, the glare she shot Verden was as fierce as it could be.
"Your Magika woke me up. I thought you weren't going to erase his memories," she spoke in an icy tone.
"This one is coh—ah!" Lina's scream was cut off by what sounded like a tackle.
"Dante, please take care of that," Verden said.
The boy hesitated, eyes shifting between Reyna and Mundus. "Sure," he replied and tossed something at Reyna. She caught it, and Mundus realized it was her clothes.
"I was coming up to bring them to you. Anna was trying to add stickers to it." Dante's tone was indifferent.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
Mundus looked at Reyna as she watched Dante walk away. Her simple gesture bothered him more than it should have. He could recognize the longing she had in her eyes.
"Verden," Reyna spoke, shifting her sight to him, "let him go. You promised."
Verden sighed and to Mundus' surprise released him. "I didn't exactly promise you anything," the half demon said as the red left his eyes.
Mundus stepped away from the wall and popped his neck. The floor drew his sights; it was embarrassing to have Reyna save him. Yet, he knew if she hadn't intervened, he wouldn't have his memories anymore. Verden had full control and mastery of his Dark Blood power, something Mundus still struggled to obtain. He was more powerful than him, not that Mundus would ever admit it out loud.
"You're an idiot. Little brother," Verden said.
Mundus felt him hit him upside the head. He looked up to glare at him, but the half demon's back was what he saw as he walked away.
Little brother he called me...
He turned his attention to Reyna. Her anxiety was evident on her face, probably at the fact that she was alone with Mundus. There was no possibility he was going to allow her to escape this time.
"I'm gonna go change," she said and pointed to her room.
Mundus crossed his arms. "I suppose I can allow such."
Her eyebrows bunched together. "What? I need your permission to change clothes now?"
He shrugged and grinned.
She rolled her eyes and headed to her room, closing the door behind her.
Mundus lost his smirk. Reyna should have been the one to whom he told it, but even if he did, she wouldn't believe him either. He had hoped to show it to her after she had eaten the flower and left with him. However, that didn't happen.
The door opened and Reyna stepped out in jean shorts and a spaghetti top. Her hair was also combed and her adorable face was now an alert red from a face wash. She glanced at him and sighed.
"I'm sorry about that," she said. "Verden I mean. I'm also sorry about blurting out you guys were brothers."
His smirk returned. "You are forgiven."
"You always were a jerk," she said and gave his shoulder a shove.
Mundus didn't miss the smile on her lips and it caused his to grow.
Reyna pushed her growing hair strands behind her ears. "You should leave now before Verden changes his mind about taking your memories away. If he even thought about not doing it in the first place."
The thought of parting with Reyna unsettled him. "No."
She appeared as if she had expected that answer. "Mundus, I..." She paused and played with her hands.
"I doubt your fingers can speak, Reyna," he said.
She stopped and frowned at him. "Ha. Ha. Jerk. I should punch you again."
"I honestly do not wish for you to."
Reyna giggled but a sad expression overtook her face. She came up to him and hugged him. Mundus was surprised for the second time that morning. He didn't like surprises, but this one was an exception. Her face was on his bare chest and he could feel the warmth of her cheeks. His arm wrapped around her waist and he cradled her head.
"Just go, Mundus," she said, her speech muffled as she spoke into his chest.
Her words cut him, but he only held on to her tighter.
Shrieks and curses were heard downstairs, but Mundus felt the reason for it before he even heard them. He and Reyna parted. Her face showed she also sensed the same presence he did. They rushed down the stairs.
The first thing Mundus noticed was a dress tail, topped by dark purple hair, curled on the living room floor. His jaw clenched. How had she found them?
Standing by Blethinette were Cerus, Erian, and Radi. Their backs were towards him. Further away from the scene, sitting against a wall, was a wounded Gahn. The humans whose names he didn't bother to learn were frozen. That mortal boy was sneering at the demons before him, but Verden's face was a cold mask. The only sound that could be heard was the little human girl's sniffling.
It wasn't till Mundus saw what Blethinette had in her hands that he understood everyone's stillness. Two human throats were in her grasp. One was that blonde woman and the other was one of the younger male humans.
"Mother." Lina was the first to speak. She left Ayame's side and came up to Blethinette. Mundus could see the worry and anxiety in her face was like that of a child caught stealing cookies before dinner.
Blethinette didn't look at her, much less answered her. She turned around and saw Mundus. Her red and green eyes were wide, mismatched irises like painted circles on white stones.
"This is why you left me, dear?" she said. Her voice was low and monotone.
"Mother." Mundus began to walk to her, but her yell halted his steps. It was a cracked, decrescendo shriek that rattled her throat.
She cracked a smile. The humans in her grasp released choked groans as she spoke. "I will not take it anymore. I will not take it anymore, dear."
Blethinette whirled around to face Verden, dragging the two mortals to comply as well. "You should not be with life. You were to die. You were a disgrace to our blood. You are a disgrace to our blood! Why are you still alive!"
Verden bared his teeth.
"No," his mother said, voice airy and soft. "No. No." Again she whirled to face Mundus. "Dear, why?"
The silence that followed was too delicate for anyone to break.
"Dear." Blethinette's tone fell into indifference, yet her wide eyes never seemed to have blinked. "I will not allow her to live any longer."
She enclosed her hands into fists, crushing through the delicate human necks in her grasp. Crimson stars exploded next to her, sloshing her pale cheeks with red splatters. She did not blink as the blood splashed over her eyes as well.
The thud of the male head falling to the floor was softened by the wet carpet, but Mundus was sure it was the loudest sound in the world at the moment. In Blethinette's other hand, hanging from strips of flesh like stretched rubber bands, was the female human's head. Her golden hair wavered and shone as the skin began to snap off. All eyes followed it as it fell, rolled, and nudged the other head.
The gasps and screams that erupted were abundant, but Mundus heard Reyna's the loudest. "You fucking crazy bitch!"
A low, rolling rumble erupted through the room. Its growl shook the walls and rattled the loose objects on the walls and tables. It quieted everyone; there were many confused and scared faces searching for the alien sound. It returned, sharper and louder.
Ayame bristled and rushed to Verden's side. She grasped his shirt and dug her head into his shoulder. "No. Not the rain!"
"Rain?" Reyna whispered. "I've never seen rain here much less a thunderstorm."
Darkness engulfed the living room for a second before it gathered in the middle of the room in the form of a black silhouette. Inaudible whispers graced the air in a crescendo flare until all the voices found unison within one another.
"I warned you, Blethinette," the Shadow Spirit's voice said. "The balance has been broken. The deaths that have been reaped upon Divine's name can no longer bear their weight."
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Author's Note: I stayed up all night to finish this chapter. It may have more typos and missing words and weird sounding sentences than usual. Yay.
Dedicated to CohenEstep for voting and supporting my stories! Thank you! ^-^