In a dimly lit hall, sitting around a round table, the Arms of Obelisk converged for their usual gathering.
Waiting patiently, Magnus, having recovered his lost arm, kept whistling as he read through a blueprint, his tone jovial.
This action of his, surprisingly, seed to bother no one as they patiently awaited their boss’s arrival.
Rigurd, calm as usual and thankful for the peaceful ambience, quietly brooded as he folded his arms across his chest, his eyes closed.
Evie and Ashildr, simply sipped their tea, their teacups making clinking noises as they poured another round, all while discussing sothing between each other’s minds using mana sense.
Quinn, on the other hand, ever the outlier, was hell-bent on wanting to tick soone off as his red eyes delightfully glead in mischief.
"So Magnus. It must really suck to have had your ass handed to you by two brats huh" he rested his face on his palm, his tone laced with mockery.
"If you’re looking to piss off, then you’re doing a pretty shit job of it" Magnus casually replied, his rry deanor unperturbed.
"That being said, those little shits do have to be killed off at so point. They keep interfering in our plans it’s slowly beginning to get out of hand. Right Rigurd?" Magnus ignored an annoyed Quinn and said to the man with his hair tied in a man-bun sitting a few ters away from him.
To this, Rigurd simply let out a low grunt of approval as he slowly opened his eyes.
’Very soon too. I’ll make sure of it’ he thought to himself.
"Rigurd~. When you’re done scheming yeah, rember to let in on the fun" Quinn’s lodic tone graced the man’s ears.
Pretending as if he didn’t hear those words, Rigurd returned to his brooding self while Evie, always uncomfortable around Quinn, shivered in disgust.
Picking up on that reaction of hers, Quinn was about to double down on his antics when Morrigan’s cold, emotionless yet authoritative voice, cut through the air.
"Alright, let’s begin" she said, her form coming into being as golden particles swirled around on her chair.
"Magnus. How long would it take you to rebuild the Railgun?" she imdiately questioned as she settled onto her seat.
Scanning the blueprint in his hands, his lips pursed, the brown-haired man replied after a short while;
"A year maybe. Lesser if all goes well boss" he replied, a confident expression on his face.
’Good. Just in ti…’ Morrigan mused.
"Alright then. See to it that it gets done" she then replied, her voice commanding.
"I will" Magnus gently lowered his head and bowed even as he sat.
’Ashildr. How’s the fissure outbreak issue in Qilos Republic?’ Morrigan calmly asked her sister, speaking directly into her mind.
’It’s starting to happen again Morrigan. Much faster this ti…’ the red-haired lady replied, her expression unchanging.
’That’s… odd…’ Morrigan’s golden eyes seed to show no emotions despite her understanding of the dire situation.
’I see. Alright. I’ll do sothing about it.’ she responded to her and then spoke to the blue-haired lady whose bright blue eyes waited in anticipation for her orders.
’Evie, I’ll leave you in Ashildr’s hands. Do whatever she tells you to do for the anti’
’Yes ma’am!’
Hearing that, the Leader of Obelisk then turned her gaze towards the man with obsidian-black irises and said;
"You may proceed with your plans Rigurd"
"I’ll make the most of it" he imdiately replied, his expression resolute.
There also seed to be a strong hint of malice expertly hidden beneath his eyes.
"And Quinn. No civilian casualties. That’s a line you must never cross" she said, her cold, indifferent gaze sending shivers up the man’s spine.
Having had her short eting with them, taking notes of all of their actions, Morrigan then dismissed everyone, and in the blink of an eye, the entire hall was empty once again.
***
"A month-long break after the whole fiasco huh. That’s quite generous of them" Flynn stated, a curious expression on his features as he contemplated a bit further.
’Still… I don’t know what it is but… sothing’s off…’
’And please, will you stop ringing in my head… whatever the heck it is you are…’
"Yeah. We’ll all be resuming next week" Ivelia on the other hand, simply replied, her hands playing with her partner’s long silvery-green locks of hair.
"Wanna cut it?" Flynn casually offered, disregarding his forr thoughts.
"Nope. I like it just the way it is" she smiled, liking the lengthier locks.
"Your eyes are now similar to mine" she gently stated while gazing at the dimly glowing ring of blue at the edges of his irises.
Flynn simply chuckled at that whilst responding;
"I guess it is..."
"So what was it really like, living on… Earth?" Ivelia then asked, her head leaning on Flynn’s chest as she snuggled up to him.
"Very peaceful if I’m being honest. Save for the usual terrible cris people seem to always love committing in every world, it was really peaceful" Flynn smiled in response.
"But even then, it must’ve been so hard for you and Aiden to survive without your parents back then" the orange-haired lady quietly said, a hint of sadness in her tone.
Hearing her say that, Flynn was almost about to try and downplay their experience on earth but then, at the very last minute, decided not to.
There was no reason to hide anything again from Ivelia again, and neither was there any rit to him doing so.
And so, as a result of that, he simply pulled her a bit closer and quietly replied;
"Yeah. I guess it was…"
Twirling another lock of his hair, this ti as her ear was now placed directly on his chest, Ivelia listened to his gentle yet rhythmic heartbeat with her eyes closed.
Him saying it exactly how it was, a stark contrast from his usual habit of not wanting to worry her, was, in a way, really comforting yet sad to hear.
Holding that position, Flynn and Ivelia simply enjoyed the peaceful ambience that was shared between them, the crickets and the soft, pale hue of the moon spilling over into the room.
…
…
…
In another room in the mansion, one where Aiden and Caroline currently were, the ruby-eyed lady, dressed in her nightgown, snipped a few more of Aiden’s locks.
"Almost there…" she said, pleased by the progress she had made.
Beneath their feet, was a long fabric of black linen, sparsely littered with shiny-black and snow-white strands of hair.
A standing lamp was switched on by the side, its fluorescent lights purposely dimd but bright enough to ensure visibility.
Originally, Aiden had wanted to do it himself but Caroline had offered to help, a gesture he didn’t seem to mind.
"I was so sure Duchess Selena would’ve been against you staying over for the night" he comnted as he watched her crouch to his eye level, her gaze focused on the rest of his overgrown hair.
Lightly smiling at his words, Caroline then said;
"Fun fact though babe; She said I could stay over for the rest of the week"
"Really?" Aiden asked, genuinely surprised by this new information.
"Yeah" Caroline simply replied with a thin smile.
And just like that, a few minutes of silence followed with only the light snipping noises of the scissors filling the room.
"There. All done" Caroline placed the scissors on a small stool just beside them.
Picking up a mirror, she then positioned it in front of him and asked;
"How’s that?"
"It’s perfect. Thank you" the young man gave his genuine appreciation.
Returning the mirror, Caroline gently kneeled, her ruby-red eyes staring straight into Aiden’s erald green eyes.
"I see your eyes every ti and yet I still find it so captivating. Isn’t that amazing?" she warmly smiled as she said.
"Well, you’d be surprised to know that yours have the sa effect on " Aiden responded with his honest thoughts, causing Caroline’s smile to widen even more.
"You know, hearing about your ti on Earth, I can understand why you’re the way you are Aiden" the lady then said, her thumbs tenderly rubbing his face.
"But at the sa ti, I believe that even if you never had a first life, you’d still be such a fantastic human being…" she continued.
"Kind, respectful, humble and brave… those were all qualities you had before you recovered your mories. Those were the things I must’ve fallen in love with when I t you for the very first ti"
"Those are the things I still see in your eyes even after everything you’ve been through…" she concluded, her eyes reflecting just how much she cherished the young man before her.
Unable to respond to those words, overwheld by just how deeply genuine her words were, Aiden tried to hide his bashful blush, an action Caroline couldn’t help but find exceptionally cute.
"Say Aiden…" she spoke again, this ti her face moving closer to his.
"Yeah?" Aiden quietly replied.
"On earth, did you by chance have anyone you loved… romantically I an?" she tentatively asked, her face inching closer by the second.
"No. None at all. You’d be the first, in two worlds…" Aiden softly replied, his erald-green eyes honest and his voice barely above a whisper.
"That makes the happiest lady in the entire universe" she said with a whisper of her own, finally giving him a soft, sweet kiss.
There was comfort and reassurance in the gesture shared between the two and Caroline, after gently pulling away a few seconds later, quietly said;
"I’ve missed doing that babe"
"So have I. Sorry I made you wait an entire month though" Aiden quietly replied.
"It’s fine. As long as you always co back to us. To . It’s fine" Caroline gave a warm, reassuring smile as she gently rubbed her thumbs on his cheeks.
***
Red.
Skies red as the blood moon, grotesque-looking creatures populating its entire expanse.
And truly, there was a blood moon.
A sum total of three.
Each bigger than the next.
Along with that otherworldly sight, a pervasive, unsettling atmosphere, hung in the air.
In addition, the bloody terrain, littered with the dead bodies of multitude of creatures being feasted upon by these grotesque creatures, led up to an ominous, imposing castle, towering above everything else in the distance.
In this castle, the architecture sophisticated yet disquieting, sat a king upon his throne, eyes closed as two of his generals stood on either side of his throne.
Suddenly, as if hit by a revelation, the king on the throne opened his eyes, sclera black as the darkest night.
’I can sense his energy concentrated there...’
’Which ans he’s gotten even weaker if he can’t maintain the entire plane properly...’
Despite no visible iris in the figure’s eye socket, there was a genuinely malicious glint that could be noted as the lips on his humanoid visage, parted into a terrifying grin.
’What are you protecting Amael?’ the unsettling, humanoid creature mused.
And then, with a cold, emotionless, raspy breath, Beelzebub, The Demon King, pointed in a certain direction of the sky and ordered;
"There. Force open a fissure and send the Inferno Dragons in that direction."
"Yes, My King" the two generals imdiately responded, disappearing in an instant and doing as they were ordered.
Reviews
All reviews (0)