Chapter Text
The blinding light faded as the boys stared at the small flower in the middle of the circle they had formed. Zex stood a few feet away, looking around frantically.
He clenched his fists. “What the… Where did she go?”
Leif looked up at the others. “What the crap was that?!”
Noi kept his gaze to the floor, eyelids heavy. “We’re back on Daemos…”
Leif saw Zex through the window between Rhys and Pierce’s heads. He teleported to him, grabbing his throat. “What did you do?!”
Zex teleported onto one of the branches of a nearby tree. “The human must’ve reacted differently to the teleportation.” He sniffed the air, trying to find her. “Her existence is on our astral plane. She’ll be mine.” He teleported away, grinning.
Asch bared his teeth. “Bastard!”
Rhys slowly turned back to the group. “Let him look.”
Noi looked at Rhys, eyes wide. “Huh?!”
Pierce stepped towards Rhys. “We need to find her!”
Rhys nodded. “Of course. Ava is our priority. However, she will be safe on Daemos as long as my magic lasts.”
Leif raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Ava is smart. Let’s just hope she’s calm about the situation. As long as she can lie, she will be safe. Let’s just hope we find her before anyone else does.”
Asch felt a wave of dread wash over him. “What do you mean…?”
Ava opened her eyes, groggily looking around. The room was dark and dusty. She attempted to sit up but the shackles held her down. Wait, shackles?
The door opened and a Daemos man walked in. He looked similar to Asch but slightly older and with a different hairstyle. “Ah, you’re awake.”
“Who are you…? What is this place?”
“My name is Rhal. I am one of the Princes of the Kingdom of Daemos. This is the castle’s dungeon.”
Ava’s eyes widened. Is he related to Asch? “Dungeon…?”
“I wasn’t sure where else to put you, so I put you in one of the cells. You’ve been getting medical treatment, so you might be disoriented.”
“I see…” Ava’s mind was full of questions. Why haven’t I been killed? Where are the boys? Do I even want to see them after what they did? What’s going to happen to me? What if–
A familiar voice yelled, muffled by the large doors to the dungeon. “That son of a bitch is done for, I swear to the gods!” The yelling was followed by multiple pairs of footsteps stomping through the halls of the castle.
Ava turned her gaze to the floor, furrowing her eyebrows. It’s them…
Her moping was interrupted by Rhal, who had also been distracted by the noises outside the door. “Looks like Brother has returned. I’ll take my leave now. Someone will come by with food in a short while.” He hastily made his way across the long corridor of the dungeon. Ava heard the doors loudly shut as she looked around the cell, noticing that the shackles around her torso had been unlocked. She sat up and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that was poorly mounted to the wall, doing a double take. I… I have horns…?