"You left the Advisor there?"
Ratu shudders, staring at the door that leads to Advisor Ryu's room. "It's more accurate to say that they let me leave." Quieter now, she mumbles beneath her breath, "Setan."
I move to the front. Kane hovers, still invisible, at my shoulder.
"I only need Alef." Ratu and Arno look at me strangely. From their fatigued expressions, their nightly travels have made them too tired to protest. Alef, on the other hand, steps forward, feet planted wide apart. "It shouldn't take long to sort out this prison blunder."
"I am eternally loyal to the Emperor," Alef hits his chest a couple times for emphasis, "soon, you all shall see I was right in being wary of..." he looks towards me, "interlopers."
I open the door, "after you, Alef."
He nods. "My pleasure."
I walk in soon after, and Kane follows last. "You didn't think I'd stay behind too, did you, milady warrior?"
I shut the door behind me. "Why would I leave you behind, milord?"
Kane frowns at my dripping sarcasm. Alef, on the other hand, beams, oblivious to the god's presence. "Of course, I'm far too valuable to leave behind. It's good that you realize how important I am now, witch."
We turn to the scene at hand, a slumped figure, like an abandoned straw doll on the floor. Ryu's body lies limply on the ground, his flesh carved with multiple lacerations along his old brotherly-inflicted brands. Dried blood crusts over the split-skin wounds. I step closer, unsheathing my scimitar to roll his unconscious body over with the flat of my blade.
As soon as his skull hits the ground, his eyes snap open.
They're solid red, glowing with a gruesome inner light.
Red. Aziz's favorite color.
"What is this sorcery?" Alef turns to me, his eyes growing even wider as they narrow in on Kane. "When did he get here?"
The coward panics, bolting to the door. Kane waves towards it, and the whole frame shudders, the exit wormed through with darkness. Alef backs away from the wood, a wise choice, as it's now covered in tiny, black-tipped thorns.
"Demons, all of you!"
"Close," I hiss as I draw the back of my arm against the blade's edge, the mirror in my other hand. Alef scrabbles at the opposite wall. Aziz's puppet jerks upwards as my blood spills on the glass reflection. My ghouls shriek. Laughter. "Gods, actually."
***
Champions,
I'm actually really loving this "Ode as a badass" aesthetic thing I've got going on.
Ah, it's the little things... like demonic possession.
Don't worry, good always wins over evil.
...depending on your definition of good.
-Sophia