Chapter 21
On the night of the fifth day, Lilith scouted ahead whiles Nemisis lay staring at the sky, rumbling about some cool mythical things from earth to Young Gnario. Ahead, Lilith saw a flood of lights. She told the dragon to land in the dense forest below.
The dragon landed. Lilith and Nemisis got off, and it turned into a strand of light that entered the diamond in his chest.
"Why did we stop in the middle of a forest late at night?" Nemisis asked.
"Well... I... kind of have a bad reputation with them." Lilith replied.
"And you are telling me now?"
"I know its late, but wanting to fly there on a Dangsa race dragon."
"Dangsa? you mean chaos, as in how the local tribe on earth say it?"
"Interesting, never knew humans would accept such a thing."
"What do you mean by that?" Nemisis looked confused.
"Well, well, well, if it ain't the prodigal daughter herself," said a voice from the bushes.
A tall dark figure emerged, his glowing green eyes. "What's with the look? Surprise to see me?"
Lilith hid behind Nemisis. The figure stop walking. His brown skin was covered in dark scales that resembled those of a snake.
He looked at Nemisis, "Don't tell me you managed to lure this poor soul... he doesn't even have a soul." He got closer, circling Nemisis as he inspected him.
"He looks human but its not human. Now tell me why would a Demon Lord be hiding behind you? Perhaps, you are the one who summoned the Chaos Dragon, a disgraceful race of the Dangsa family."
Nemisis looked at him then at Lilith, "Ok wait, so you are a Demon Lord?" He paused, "I thought you were Demon General. Why are you even hiding behind me? Aren't you suppose to be powerful?" Nemisis looked at the stranger before him, "Who are you?"
He looked at Nemisis in disgust, "How arrogant of this thing to talk to me. Lilith, why don't I show him some manners."
"I wouldn't if I were you." a voice said from behind. "He is our guest Zorath and I guess you don't want to die like this."
Zorath went down on one knee and gave slight bow to the figure beside him-Princess Merula.
"I am sorry my Princess, but does that mean this thing is what defeated Mavet and took one of the dragons? Is he the one who had Lilith and even the Alphar under his command?"
"Just look. She cowers behind him. That alone should have been enough. Your arrogance might get you killed." the Princess said.
Zorath looked at Nemisis.
He is a Xercise, such a strange family, he thought.
"I am sorry for the harsh reception," The Princess apologized with a slight bow. "If you may follow me, I have a place prepared for you. You might be tired, so how about we discuss everything tomorrow."
At the Serpentia Palace, Nemisis is sat on a bed and Lilith sat on a chair beside a table.
"Ok, how about I let them get you a room?" Nemisis asked.
"No no no I'm fine, I will just go back to your realm." she replied shaking her head.
"Why are you so scared?" he asked.
"Well, I kind of have a history here."
"Yeah, you told me that earlier, and I guess it's not a good one. Come on, come sit here." He patted the space next to him.
Lilith hesitated, then slowly moved toward him. As she sat down, Nemisis gently guided her head onto his lap and began caressing her hair.
"Now tell me what you did." he asked.
"Well," she begun, "in my early years before I met my teacher, I came here wanting to rule them, I was forcing it upon them,"
"At this stage I won't be surprised by such a behavior," Nemisis commented.
"It was going all as I planned, but then she showed up." Lilith pointed at a relief carving of a feminine figure on a wall.
"Aurora," she continued. "She fought against me, humiliated me and tormented me. She hung my body on the Palace arc. The whole Kingdom saw me, dirty and starving.
Kids threw rocks at me. Birds and insects harassed me for thousands of years."
"Wait, thousands of years? How old were you then?" Nemisis asked.
"Just an infant." she replied.
Nemisis' eyebrows furrowed, "An infant! Wait how old were you then?"
"Half a month, I guess."
"Won't that be a traumatizing experience."
"It was. My teacher helped me get over it, but I guess not all was overcome."
"Well, that's for sure. What happened next?" Nemisis continued caressing her hair.
"I managed to escape before my final punishment. Later, I heard they called me the Daughter of Aurora because it was like a mother correcting her child."
"Oh that's why he called you the prodigal daughter. But still why the unease."
Nemisis stared at her shivering body and sighed, "You know what? You can go."
"Thank you" she whispered, then turned into a strand of light and entered the diamond in his chest.
Nemisis stared at the relief carving, "I wonder what kind of horrors she went through."
Next day, at a ruined Colosseum, Nemisis stood at the center with the Princess, who was looking around searching for something. The King and Queen sat at the Pulvinar.
"Where is she?" the Princess asked.
"Oh you mean Lilith, I sent her to my realm to rest for a while," Nemisis responded.
The Princess was quiet for a while then, "Okay, this is the beginning of your journey. To find what your grandfather requested, you must seek audience with one of it's friend that lives here with his people."
Just then, a man appeared behind the Princess, he looked dirty and was shirtless, with a dirty cloth covering his eyes.
The Princess gave a slight bow, "Lord Haitt, welcome."
Nemisis stared at the man, then at the Pulvinar. He noticed the royal family was standing not out of concern, but out of respect. It was as if their authority meant nothing at the moment.
Haitt nodded his head and the Princess quickly stepped back, creating a distance between her and them.
"You must be the one he talked about," he said. "Before you can gain an audience with Xoth Aurelio, you must first duel with me."
"Hey, can't we talk this over-"
Haitt rushed in with a punch, Nemisis moved out of the way. Haitt kept on coming with more punches, and Nemisis continued dodging. Before he could realize it, his back hit the Colosseum wall. Haitt punched him the the guts, causing him to cough up blood and hunching over.
He then begun to punch his gut at rapid speed. His hands blurred out of existence, each punch lifting Nemisis higher into the air. When they were above the Colosseum, Haitt performed spinning kick, but before it could land on Nemisis's back, Nemisis vanished, reappearing behind Haitt with a punch of his own.
As he was about to connect the punch with Haitt's face, Haitt vanished, reappearing behind him also ready with an attack of his own. This act of countering each other continued for ten more exchanges before Haitt successfully landed a punch at but was blocked by Nemisis's sword.
Haitt dashed backwards to create some distance. "That sword."
His eyes widened when he saw a crimson scythe hovering around Nemisis along with the sword. The handle of the scythe had the design of a skeleton creeping around it, it hand held the blade which radiated a dark aura.
"I am sorry Xoth, but I can't let this fun slide by". Haitt whispered.
He then unwrapped the cloth. He opened his eyes, which were filled with pointy teeth and had a grey irises moving around, before finally focusing on Nemisis.
[ In the dark void exists a being.
But don't be fooled-
For this being is the void itself...
and beyond even that.
The darkness is merely its presence.
Then-
a bloody red eye opened.
2/9 eyes are opened ]