“It’s frightening to behold,” Forrus nervously said.
“S-So what?” Rulo shakily contended. “M-Master is stronger than that… r-right?”
“I doubt it,” Daemon simply said while glancing around at the destructive wave washing against the dome of energy they were incased in.
Sasha stared with unblinking eyes at seeing the amount of power the angel possessed, watching as the city of Ruhelia was literally wiped away all around them along with the dark monsters that had taken up residence in it. Her gaze then turned to Valentina who was glaring at the reptile girl as she slowly lowered her arm.
“Those that touch my big brother will die,” Valentina condemned. “Remember that while you serve him as the pathetic bug you are.”
The monstrous storm of light and smoke raged around them while the angel’s barriers protected those behind them from even the powerful winds that were blowing by. Inside the glowing shield all eyes turned to Valentina as she stared down Sasha with discontent, not a word being spoken as the muffled roars from the destruction began to slowly die down. The blinding light from the epicenter of the blast gradually faded behind the billowing haze that swirled around the ravaged landscape, the sky returning to its dark and starry appearance as the angel’s attack subsided.
“Now then, I’m glad we all understand each other,” Valentina stated, turning her back to Sasha and twirling her giant hammer to the side. She began walking towards Daemon while her weapon glowed softly, both ends of the magical object shimmering as they slowly disappeared into sparkly dust.
“I hate to admit this, but I can get a little violent if my big brother is threatened,” she continued as she approached the swordsman with her weapon vanishing from her hand. “But as long as you all understand how this works we won’t have a problem. You are going to do as he says to the letter like the obedient pawns you are, you are going to help him with his most important and dear quest, and you are not to even think about having him in any way other than the one who commands your meaningless lives. He is your better, you are nothing, and I…”
Walking up to Daemon she lightly flicked her hair back behind her shoulder, a serene smile on her face as she had her head lowered with closed eyes. After a pause she quickly darted forward and snuggled against Daemon’s chest with him staring over her shoulder with a dull expression on his face.
“Am his cute little sister!” Valentina squealed in delight as she again hopped up and down while pressing herself against Daemon. The other girls stared at her in disbelief as the angel giggled with lightly fluttering wings.
“Isn’t that right, big brother? I’m yours and yours alone, forever and ever and ever! Hee hee, I love you so much! Yes I do!”
Sasha, Rulo, and Forrus watched Valentina with stunned faces, all of them feeling both rage and dread for the angel while none of them moved forward this time to remove the overzealous girl from their swordsman. Tabitha and Scay remained silent in each other’s arms as they saw Valentina laughing and talking sweetly to Daemon who didn’t say a word while the angel continued bouncing against him. And Hollia questioned whether she was dreaming or not with everything happening around her, eyes going from the desolate landscape surrounding them that was once her kingdom to Valentina and Daemon as she didn’t know what to feel or say about any of what she was seeing.
“Yay! I’m so glad I got to see you again!” Valentina joyously hailed. “It’s been so long since I saw you last, I missed you so much! I thought about you every night, in such naughty and un-sister like ways. Did you think about me too? Were you fantasizing about me as well? What did you think about with your little sister? Tell me, big brother!”
“Valentina?” Daemon dryly spoke up.
“Yes my love? What is it you want to confess to me? Tell me the sins you’ve been dreaming about with your darling and innocent little sister.”
“Get off me.”
Valentina blinked then quickly hopped back with a weak laugh while rubbing the back of her neck. Daemon showed a dull expression towards her while the other girls kept a close eye on the angel in silence. Crossing his arms he glanced around to see the smoke and haze flowing away from the area while the glowing barriers remained strong, the sight of what was once Ruhelia now being that of a smoldering patch of land with nothing standing anywhere.
“Once again you’ve overdone it, Valentina,” Daemon lectured shaking his head.
“What do you mean?” Valentina innocently asked holding a finger to her lip.
“This was Hollia’s home.”
“Hollia?” the angel repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Who’s Hollia?”
Everyone turned to the centaur that was gazing around at the sight of her kingdom having been wiped out before her eyes. As the glowing barriers around them vanished Hollia stood still with her hair gently ruffling in the wind. The city was no more, the hillside with her palace had been completely destroyed, the wicked monsters who had taken over were dead, nothing remained in what was once the centaur homeland. Speechless she beheld the total absence of anything after the angel’s attack before resting her eyes on the holy maiden. Slowly she walked up to the angel with a few tears forming in her eyes, seeing Valentina watching her without any hint of interest while the others waited to see how she would react to her home being completely annihilated before her.
“Thank you,” Hollia finally said with a shaky breath.
“You’re thanking her for destroying your home?” Forrus questioned.
“I’d rather Ruhelia be removed from Eden than be given to those who slew my sisters and family with such malice.” Hollia then knelt down on her legs before Valentina with her spear held low at her side. “You killed those that took my home from me, you did what I had prayed to have happen to those horrible fiends. Thank you so much, you truly are an angel.”
“Such kind words,” Valentina mused with a slight smile. “I do so love to see those beneath me knowing their place in life. You are welcome, though I do not believe I enacted for your benefit in the least by slaying those troublesome pests. However your gratitude is noted.”
Hollia lowered her head in respect while Valentina watched the centaur with an amused smile. The angel then turned her sights back onto Daemon and giggled as she stepped closer to him.
“By the way, big brother,” she cooed playfully. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh really?” Daemon flatly replied.
Valentina smirked and held a hand up at her side, a bright glow coming from her palm while two casting rings formed above it. Everyone watched as two bright glows appeared from the rings before a cerulean band of emblems spread out around them, focusing the lights that then took the shape of two very familiar looking artifacts.
“It can’t be,” Sasha gasped.
Daemon took full notice of seeing Valentina levitating two of the key fragments in the air, the unique pieces gently spiraling in place with their indentations giving off glowing trails of blue light.
“Two?” Rulo said in awe. “She has two of them?”
“It appears so,” Forrus cautioned.
“Tabitha, look,” Scay marveled.
“Where did she get those?” Tabitha questioned as she narrowed her eyes at the relics.
“What in Eden are those things?” Hollia wondered as she backed away from the angel.
Daemon carefully eyed over each of the relics, seeing very clearly they were the real things, before noticing the smug grin on Valentina’s face as she saw she had his full attention now.
“Well, actually,” she chuckled with a flick of her fingers, causing the fragments to gently spin around in a circle above her hand. “I have two surprises for you.”
“I must admit it is a surprise to see you having those,” Daemon carefully replied. “Where may I ask did you find them?”
“Far, far away, big brother,” Valentina answered as she watched the spinning artifacts with a gleam in her eye. “I’ve been searching all over for these things, just as
you have. They’ve been a little difficult to track down, though I think it’s been worth the trouble. Beautiful, aren’t they? Aren’t you proud of me for finding these all on my own? Will you praise me now? Please, big brother?”
Daemon remained silent as Valentina giggled with a curious smile at him. She then glanced back to Sasha and eyed the pouch she had at her hip, the reptile girl noticing it then quickly backing up a step while turning to her side.
“You’ve only gotten one so far?” Valentina wondered. “Oh, big brother. Have these incompetent worms been slowing you down? Perhaps I was wrong about them, maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to hinder you any further.”
“They’ve done nothing of the sort,” Daemon replied.
“Actually,” Forrus said raising a hand before pointing to Tabitha. “Those two were slowing us down for a while. They’ve been more trouble than anything to his cause.”
“What the fuck?” Tabitha snapped at her. “I helped you all before and you know it!”
“We don’t need you and your crazy friend holding us back. My lord does not require the help of a filthy neko such as yourself.”
“Your lord?” Valentina repeated with a glance to her. Forrus jumped a bit and shook a little as the angel turned to face the lycan with a sharp eye. “That sounds rather devoted to refer to him that way. I wonder why I don’t like hearing such things as that coming from you.”
“Maybe because she wants to be Daemon’s pet doggy,” Tabitha sneered at Forrus.
Valentina’s eyes gave off a brief glow as her lips curled into a scowl. She began approaching Forrus with a quiet growl, hands flinching slightly at her sides while she gave off a violent aura of death.
“Wait, I never said anything of the sort,” Forrus pleaded.
“Kneel,” Valentina ordered.
“You misunderstand, I only-”
“I said, kneel,” Valentina ordered in a cold tone as she stepped up to her.
Forrus trembled in fear then slowly knelt down before the angel.
“Valentina, enough,” Daemon ordered as the holy maiden lifted her hand towards the lycan’s face.
“Bad dog,” Valentina condemned as a powerful surge of energy radiated from her hand against the trembling wolf.
“Please, I meant no disrespect,” Forrus shakily begged.
“Valentina, I said enough,” Daemon sternly repeated as he marched over to her.
“Nobody is my big brother’s pet except for me,” Valentina scorned as the air rippled away from her. Forrus stared with wide eyes as she felt the raw energy rolling against her, fur standing on end along her back as it felt like a suffocating cloud of power was pressing against her body.
“Stop this now,” Daemon ordered grabbing the angel’s hand. Valentina continued to glare with fury at Forrus while her arm wasn’t able to be budged in the slightest by the swordsman.
“I cannot, big brother. I cannot allow this mutt to live with such delusions as being your pet. I was perfectly clear earlier, I know I was. She needs to be taught a lesson. They all need to be taught this lesson. Nobody will be with my big brother but me! Now, repent!”
“Wait!” Forrus screamed as the light turned a sharp white, her life flashing before her eyes as the angel’s magic radiated with a frightening aura.
“What is wrong with you?” Tabitha shouted out. “They just took those artifacts!”
Valentina jumped then quickly looked back to see Tabitha and Scay sitting back up on the ground nearby while the two fragments were now gone. The angel gasped with horror while the other girls were keeping on guard from her still.
“Wha… what? WHAT?” Valentina roared with a burst of radiant light coming from her.
“While you were threatening her those other bitches ran by and stole them,” Tabitha scoffed as she stood up again and dusted off her shoulder. “They just barged through and swiped them. How could you not notice this? And why the hell did you leave them out in the open like that?”
“WHO TOOK THEM?” Valentina shrieked as a torrent of wind erupted around her.
“They went that way,” Scay said pointing away from them into the darkness.
Valentina screamed as she formed her magical hammer again, the holy maiden shooting off along the ravaged street with a furious roar and dust blowing away from her. Daemon and the girls watched her flying away with clouds of dust and haze billowing behind her then turned to Tabitha and Scay as they giggled at seeing the angel leaving so quickly. Scay winked at Daemon then moved aside her tail, revealing the key fragments lying tucked in the dirt beneath her.
“You stole them from her?” Rulo asked in amazement.
“You stole from an angel?” Hollia gasped.
“I’m just doing my job,” Tabitha said as she aimed her swords together behind her. The others watched curiously as she opened the searing rift into her treasure trove with the ends of the blades, her eyes remaining focused on the faint glow of where Valentina was further away as the angel searched for the supposed thieves with vicious roars.
“What is that?” Sasha questioned as they saw the circular portal opening behind Tabitha. From one side it appeared as a wavy distortion of air while from the other it acted as an opening into the neko’s hidden vault.
“Scay, hurry,” Tabitha urged while holding the gateway open with her blades.
“Right,” Scay agreed as she quickly tossed the relics into the treasury.
“What is this I’m seeing?” Rulo asked in puzzlement.
“Yours too,” Tabitha ordered Sasha.
“What?”
“Throw yours in there as well otherwise that angel is going to take it from you.”
“I’m to just give it up to you upon command?” Sasha growled at her.
“It will be safe in there, whereas right now it’s ripe for the plucking from that angel the minute she comes back. Don’t argue with me, throw it in now.”
Sasha growled as she clutched the pouch at her hip, eyes quickly darting to where Valentina’s light was piercing through the hazy clouds in the distance then back to the circular gateway Tabitha had forged with her katanas.
“I’m trying to help you,” Tabitha implored. “If you don’t hide that in there then she’s going to go after it, it will be one more we’ll have to hunt down for Daemon should we lose it. Now hurry!”
Sasha glanced to Daemon then back to Tabitha as she narrowed her eyes. With great reluctance and a heavy growl she snapped off the pouch and ran over to the neko, tossing it into the rift next to the other relics. After she did Tabitha yanked her swords forward, letting the rift crackle and close behind her before it vanished entirely.
“What did you just do?” Daemon asked.
“I told you, my job,” Tabitha repeated with a smirk back at Forrus. “By the way, thank you for providing the distraction I needed. I hope she didn’t frighten you too badly.”
“What?” Forrus questioned before she stood up and growled at the neko. “You mean to say you set her after me so you could steal those from her? She was going to kill me!”
“Where did you send those fragments to just now?” Sasha demanded.
“They’re safe in my personal stash,” Tabitha promised before winking at Daemon. “Don’t worry, they’re still yours. I only get paid if you get them all, remember? At least now nobody can take them from you, and you have three instead of just one. A simple thank you would be appreciated for all this.”
“She’s going to kill you when she comes back,” Hollia warned while watching where Valentina’s furious screams were heard. “What were you thinking stealing from her like that?”
“I didn’t trust her,” Tabitha explained. The group turned to her as she looked down and sheathed her blades behind her. “She may be an angel but she came off more as a demon than anything else. The thought of her having those fragments didn’t sit right with me.”
She glanced to Daemon and saw him watching her in silence with a blank expression on his face.
“W
as I wrong to act as I did? Is she another one of your helpers on your quest? Was she collecting those for you?”
“No, she was not,” he answered shaking his head.
“She said it was a surprise for you, she seemed to want to show you those things. What did she mean by that?”
“In her eyes it’s a playful race to collect them all first,” Daemon reasoned with a shrug. “She may have helped me by giving me this blade to make my search easier however our goals are not the same. I wish to keep the seal in place. She does not.”
“Seal?” Hollia repeated.
“She wants to open the City of Eden?” Tabitha cautiously asked.
“City of Eden?”
“She wants the power held within those walls,” Daemon explained. “Despite the strength she possesses now she still wants more. She knows what’s in that city and has no fear of it, she only wants to obtain the power that is behind that seal for her own use.”
“What are you talking about?” Hollia asked.
“She’s just like that succubus,” Sasha hissed. “Only seeking power for themselves without thinking of what the hell they’ll be unleashing into the world.”
“Um, question,” Hollia said raising her hand.
“So she wants to damn us all to hell by opening that seal,” Tabitha summed up. “I see I was right to take advantage of the moment when I did.”
“You must really want that gold to steal from an angel,” Rulo mentioned with a smirk.
“It’s not just the gold,” Tabitha defended, and then turned to Daemon with a careful eye. “Personally, I’d rather have you possess those fragments than her. You may be a monster, but you’re not half as terrifying as that angel is.”
Everyone watched the neko as she kept her eyes on Daemon with a solemn look on her face and her tail gently waving behind her. She smirked slightly and shrugged then casually dusted off her thigh from when she had dropped to the ground earlier on purpose.
“I’m sorry, what are you all talking about?” Hollia asked looking around at everyone.
“Hold that thought,” Tabitha replied as the group saw the glow from an enraged angel closing in through the dusty haze.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII Page 37
