--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rushe wandered aimlessly around the street, looking for her red-head demon, Lituus. Not only to find him, but she is in need for answers. Things began to confuse her as all these unanswered questions starts roaming around her head all at once. Is he truly the Prince of the Underworld? Why didn't he say anything to her? Do these assassins relate to him at all? She stopped and stared at the ground, thinking of the outcome. Was it because he couldn't trust her? Rushe shook her head at the thought. No. Don't think negatively to yourself, Rushe. She slapped her cheeks a few times and continued on her search. Yes. That's right. For now, all you need to think about now is finding Lituus.
Meanwhile....
"So this is where she lives....huh," Vetis said aloud to himself as he sat on a nearby branch afar from the gates where the guards were standing. Gazing at the mansion, Vetis was fascinated with the architectural designs of it in order to make the house look spontaneous, bright, and luxurious compared to his dark and devious castle back in the Abyss. He rummaged inside his pocket and searched for the photo of Rushe that the purple-haired demon, Natalia, gave him. When he got it out, he took a few seconds observe the girl in the picture again to get the image onto his head. "So this is Rushe... not much of a looker... I don't know why that woman wants me to kill her so badly... but I don't think it is that bad... After all, I do need a little bit of an entertainment around here..." A demonic smile came upon his face as he looked back at the mansion while holding the picture close to him. "Rushe... I hope you can make things a little bit interesting for me after being summoned here in this world..."
With a sudden chill in the back of his neck, Faeron quickly sets his coffee aside and looked out from the window. Everything was quiet and peaceful. He could see the sky looking blue as ever with the birds chirping happily in the middle of the day. It did not seem that anything was wrong, but he felt uneasy for some reason. "Faeron," his wife, Collette, questioned him as she noticed his face looking pale and sweaty as ever. "What's the matter?" He did not respond respond. Fareon quickly got up from his seat and make his way towards the window. Colette, Link, Knil, and the servants that were in the room already watched as he gazed at the window. He had this very disarming look on his face as he glance outside from every direction, trying to look for anything unusual walking about the streets, but nothing was there. Something's not right here... I just know it.., Fareon thought. This made her worry. Silence filled the room. A few minute later, without turning around, he said to his servants, "Tell the guards to bring in more of their people to secure the area around the mansion. And while you're at it, instruct a few of them to search for Rushe. She is required to come back to this house immediately." The both bowed. "Yes sir."
"Yes, sir!" As they all departed, Colette came up to him and asked, "What is going on, Faeron? Why are you sending the guards out all of a sudden?" He stood silent by the window with a stern look on his face. There was another long pause in the room. No one said anything, not even Link and Knil who were still standing there. The twins knew that something must be up in order for Faeron to put more security on the mansion along with bringing Rushe home all of a sudden. Colette began to worry as she wrapped her arms around his. "Faeron...," she softly said to him. Just as she was about to ask him to have a cup of tea with her to calm him down a bit, she felt his body jolt when he look further onto the window with an unpleasant expression. She followed his gaze to the direction he was looking and saw a small figure hanging in front of the gate. "A boy..?" Just when she said something, Link and Knil both came up to the window and looked below. "Who the heck is the boy," Knil said as he squint his eyes a little more to get a better view of him.
"I don't think I have met him...", Link observed the boy a little closely. Something about him does not seem right.
"Do you think he is one of Rushe's friends", Knil looked at Link.
"I don't think so..."
As the guards spread out the entire house, Vetis, still sitting on top of the tree, notice the surprising increase on the security. "Hoh~ This is new." He chuckled. He jumped out of the tree, landing his two feet down the ground and approach his way towards the gate where two men were guarding the entrance. When the guards noticed him, they blocked the gate with the weapon they were holding, making both of the weapons to cross against each other with a "clink" sound. One of the man looked at him and said, "Halt! No one should pass this gate unauthorized."
Vetis smiled at them. "I just came by to say hello to Rushe. Now if you can allow me in, that would be grea--" "No one is allowed in right now unless there was a further notice of a guest by one of the family member of the household", interrupted the second one. Vetis soon lost his patience. Although he didn't really convince the guards to let him through, he did not like the fact that this was going no where. "I see... Well, if that's how it's going to be..." Quickly stepping a couple of feet back from them, he pulled back his cape and took out his hunting knife that was under his belt. Charging at full speed, he stabbed one of the guards that was in front of him before he was able to react to it in time. He pierce the guard's body through the sword until he could no longer see the edge of his dagger anymore. As he removed the weapon from the body, the guard collapsed on the ground, unable to move as the blood slowly ooze out of his body from where he was laying. The sight of the blood was such a delight to see. A chilling expression crept across his face as he stared at the other guard that still seemed to be standing stiffly in front of him. "You're next," he said to him.
The guard click his tongue and tried not to sound too uneasy about this situation. Showing no mercy, he tightened his grip on his weapon and charged at the suspicious intruder. Vetis sighed as he effortlessly dodges the guard's attacks and quickly attacked him from his chest, piercing his heart. The guard slowly lets go of his sword, unable to move it any longer and slowly limps over to the kid. Vetis pulls his knife away and kicked the fallen guard to the other side. He took a minute to lick his bloody hands, tasting the iron going down his throat. Even though it wasn't much, he was able to change into his demon-developed form that enables him to use his powers into an extent. His appearance became different too. In fact, he's more adult-like than what he was before with demonic eyes that gives out an evil aura. Vetis smiles out of satisfaction as he was no longer in his small and vulnerable side anymore. With his power coming back, he was able to enjoy himself even more.
Without wasting time, he makes his way inside. Once he entered through the gate, he looks up at the window from above and sees a man, with a woman beside him and two twins, looking down at Vetis from down below. He gave out a welcoming smile, which looks more dangerous than a warm greeting. Colette gripped Fareon's arm a little tighter. "Faeron..." Faeron knew he was not an ordinary creature by the way he fight and the change of appearance. By the looks of things, it seemed to be the work of a demon. Link and Knil were thinking the same.
As Vetis was closing in the front door, maids, butlers, and other servants appeared out of nowhere, blocking the entrance. "Please leave, sir. You're trespassing our master's property," the maid that was closest to Vetis said to him. He chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I don't really take orders from anybody."
"Then you leave us no choice, sir..." With a deep breath, she rummage in her skirt pocket and took out a metal stick that looks pretty small and harmless, but with a big swish, it enlarges itself into a staff. The others followed in, taking out their own weaponry as well that was hidden underneath their clothes. "My, my. To think that your master hires servants that has a fighting combat as well," Vetis exclaimed.
"Looks can be deceiving," said the maid.
Vetis chuckled. "So it is... Well then...Shall we begin?"
Group after group, each servants would try to take on him in any possible way to find an opening, however, that didn't seem to be possible as Vetis was able to dodge most of the attacks that were coming towards him. One by one, a servant will be on the ground, motionless, with blood oozing out from the floor. After stabbing the last servant, he pulls his sword back and whack it to the side to get some of the blood off of it. Looking at all the bodies laying still on the ground, he smiles and said to himself, "Foolish creatures. They weren't worth my time. Oh well.. At least I got some entertainment while I'm here..." Carrying his sword by laying it to his right shoulder, he begins to walk towards the stairs, where the blood of the elves lie.
----
"This is bad. I don't think any of the servants were able to fend him off. His strong presence is growing near and is slowly coming this way," Link said as he walks towards the door. Knil followed along side him.
"Where are you going, Link? It's dangerous," Colette says to him.
"Knil and I are going to keep him from getting any closer to this door. I really don't know what his purpose is for coming here, but it could lead the both of you in danger."
"But--"
Link looked at Colette and saw expression filled with worry. He sighed a little bit, smiling as he walked up to her. He knelled down with his right hand pressed against his left chest. Knil did the same thing as well and followed his lead.
"Ms. Colette... I am very grateful of your wonderful hospitality. As we do the same thing for your daughter, Rushe, we would do anything to protect you and your husband as well. Let us do this deed to thank you for everything you have done for us." Without even further listening to her reply, Link stood up along with Knil beside him. They both exchanged glances, nodded at each other, and walked their way towards the door. After the door was shut, everything was silence.
----
After reaching the end of the stairs, Vetis felt the presence of two elves coming towards his way. Once they blocked the way towards the door that was five feet away from them, Vetis noticed that their appearance were identical to each other. One of them said to him, "Who are you? What is your purpose here?"
He looked at the both of them and chuckled. "Twins, huh...," he muttered to himself. He stares at them with those malicious eyes of his. He tapped the flat part of the sword a few times repeatedly and adjusted his comfort as he said, "What my purpose here is seeking a very unique creature from the noble family. My other objective is none other than kill those from a noble family in the Elf world. Since the both of you don't really seem noble, I will deal with the both of you later on. For now, you are free to hold back your ground and avoid fighting me before I kill the both of you."
"Ha! I would like to see you try," Knil said as he pulled out his sword and waits for Link to do the same.
Links looks at the man in front of him and said in a serious tone, "Although you may seem to have a strong wave energy emitting off of you, we will not back down... even if our life depends on it. We vowed our life to protect this family."
"Hmph! Foolish creatures... If that is what you desire, I won't hold back...!" He jumped back and fired multiple of fire-shots at them, but they were able to dodge all of them in time. With the twins at both sides, left and right ends of the opponent, Link and Knil charged at the same time and swing their swords at him; however, Vetis was able to dodge all of the hits, even when they are striking in different angles.
Vetis couldn't help but smirk. "You guys may have a strong willpower and strength within you, but your powers all together are not strong enough to actually defeat me so easily." With a surprise attack, he send multiple fire balls that appears from his hand after each throw, throwing each of the twins off balance.
With the both of them trying to regain their current balance, Vetis takes the advantage and swing his sword at Link. Link was able to defend it using his own sword but was unable to get up after falling down to the ground. Knil noticed what was going on and tried to help his brother out. Taking his sword that was on the ground, Knil sprinted and attacked him. Vetis jumped back and dodge the attack in time by a hair. Knil was pissed. He kept attacking him, but every attack being used was missed. Vetis chuckled. "That's some pathetic swordmanship you have there." In anger, he uses that energy and viciously strike him, ending with their swords clashing together. Vetis pushed Knil back and gave him a surprised strike. Luckily, Knil was able to dodge it with parts of his shirt ripped. He moved back, trying to catch his breath while Vetis stood there, calm and composed. Knil wipe the sweat that was coming down from his cheeks. "Damn it. I can't even hit him at all! Not a single damn scratch! I don't think we will be able to hit him at all with those powers and dodges like this. Dammit all."
"It is possible to. We just need to find a way," Link said to his brother. Just then, they heard Vetis laughing at them. "I don't believe it's possible especially when the both of you are already exhausted. Pity. I thought that fighting you two would be much more interesting than this." Vetis shrugged his shoulders and let out a big sigh of disappointment.
"Tsk. Why you--", Knil was about to charge at him again, but then Link puts his hands on his shoulders and lean in for him to hear without Vetis overhearing, "Calm down, Knil. I think I have a plan." Link began to whisper the plan to him.
Vetis couldn't help but laugh. "If you think you guys can beat me, you probably have to reconsider that idea. I can not be beaten so easily. Not by the likes of such weaklings."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but as you can see, we are far over from done. We will beat you this time," he said as they both charged towards him. Vetis smiled by their enthusiasm. "Good because it would be sad for the both of you to give up now." He shot multiple fire-shots at them, but each and everyone of them missed.
(In the end, Link and Knil were able to beat some punchies outta him, but Vetis still won. Link and Knil are down for the count.. SEE YA! <Yeah I'm that lazy right now =3= wait till you see Faeron's and Vetis attack. Seriously. They are not that weak. I just felt lazy)
"Too bad. You guys had some potential in you....Well, no matter. I was a nice way to pass some time." Passing through, he tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Hmph. Trying to hide yourself are we?" Vetis stepped back a little bit and lift his hand to blast the door in front of him with his dark power. As the door crumbled, he stepped inside, but then suddenly, a ray of light hit him and pushed him backwards, hitting him in the wall. Then, a footstep walked beside him and puts the point of what seems like a transparent pale, blue sword in closely to his neck. "Who are you? Speak now."
He looks up and saw a man with glasses that seems like he's already is in his mid 30s. He smiled. "Pretty surprising if I must say."
"Answer my question," he said as he puts the point of his sword closer to his neck.
Vetis chuckled. "My name is Vetis. I'm a demon from the world of the Abyss. I came here to look for your daughter."
"What do you want from my daughter," he said with a stern look.
"What else..," he said as he looks at him with those malicious smile. "To kill her of course."
The man's eyes widened. "Go back to Hell!" He lunge his sword, but missed when he suddenly disappeared from his sight.
"Fareon," Colette yelled across the room.
He turned around and noticed Vetis charging straight at him. Without a thought, he tried to shield himself from Vetis's dark magic attack, but it ended up pushing him back. Faeron quickly stood up and swing his sword at Vetis. The swords then clashed with one and another. Attack after attack, each of them would clash. Both of them were in sync. Vetis smiled. "You might be old, but you have pretty good skills, but... something like this will not defeat me." Vetis kicked him on the ground multiple time and laid his foot on Faeron's face. Colette gasped and tried to help him. Commanding the trees, they shattered the glass windows and wrapped Vetis around like a rope. Once he was caught, Colette quickly rushed over to Faeron. "Faeron. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine... Ugh..," he said as tried to withstand the pain.
"Hold on. Let me heal you." Colette puts her hand closely to the injury and emit some light around the wound.
"I'm impressed. I would never thought there was anybody with the power to control nature, but as you can see, something like this will not beat me." A burst of dark flames engulf around him, destroying the branches that were surrounding him.
"It was fun while it has lasted, but it's time to take my leave...so.....farewell," he said as he absorbed the dark flames around him around his hands, creating a dark ball and threw them at the two. Faeron covered Colette and the both of them were soon hit by the blast of the dark ball destroyed half of the mansion. Seeing that the two were laying down on the ground, motionless, Vetis jumped out from the window and went searching for Rushe.
-----------------------
After a half an hour search throughout the street, Rushe almost lost hope of finding Lituus until she saw, from the corner of her eye, a familiar auburn hair and figure as she passed by the playground. Walking back, she found Lituus sitting on the swing set, gazing up at the sky. "Lituus...", Rushe called him. Lituus gave off a surprising look as he gaze at her from a distance. Rubbing his eyes, he blinked a few times to see if it was really her. True enough it was. He quickly stood up from his seat. "Rushe?" Rushe lightly ran up to him, but slowly slowed down a bit to trying to catch her breath Lituus slowly came closer to her. "What are you doing here? Your father will be furious if he--" Without warning, Rushe suddenly wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his warm chest as the sudden pulse of his heart beat begins to race rapidly. It was such a warm and calm beat. Lituus became confused. He didn't know what to do as the sudden hug made his mind blank. After a moment of silence, Rushe slowly opened her eyes and said to him, "Lituus... Tell me this... Are you really the Prince of the Underworld..?"
His eyes widened at the sudden question. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her apart from him to look at her. "Who...told you that...?"
"So it's true? You're a prince...," she asked him without even so much as to gaze up and see what expression he was making. She couldn't help but gave a sad smile as if she was laughing at herself for not knowing anything about him.
He didn't reply. All he could do was advert his eyes when seeing her smile like that. Lituus felt his heart throbbing from the sharp pain. From what Rushe can see, it seems that she was right. She cried out as she looked at him, "Why? Why didn't you tell me something so important?"
"It isn't a big deal, Rushe," he said to her, letting go of her shoulders.
"What makes you say that? It is too a big deal! I barely know anything about you and it makes me feel like we're total strangers from a different world..."
"Even if you say that, just thinking about myself as a prince is something that I would ever think about being. I hate being treated like royal!" He gave out a big sigh and starts to remember his childhood life as a prince. "All you could ever do when you become the prince of the Underworld is to be in charge of all the trials of the crimes many innocent creatures have committed and seek their punishment (even though some crimes weren't all that serious), isolate yourself in your kingdom while guards are watching over you behind the doors to avoid you from going outside and guard the place like your life depends on it... Back then, I didn't have that sort of protection until my father knew about me sneaking off the kingdom when I was a kid.... But you couldn't really hang out with children, let alone talk with them... That's one of the reasons why I decided to come here in the first place..." He gently takes her hand and slowly let them brush against his cold cheeks. "I wanted to be treated like everyone else..." For a short pause, he closes his eyes and let the warm touch of her hand sooth him a bit. Slowly opening his eyes again, he gaze into her eyes in such a gentle, yet sad expression on his face. "...Besides even if I did tell you, you would treat me different then you do now... and I didn't want that..."
"Either way.. You should have told me! Because of this, my father has been babbling about demon assassins and how they are trying to kill my family!"
Demon assassins? He looked at her and noticed a flow of tears streaming down from her cheeks. His eyes widened. When she recognized the tears, she stretched her sleeves and try to wipe them off. "Sorry... hold on for a minute...," she said to him. Pained to see her in sadness for any longer, Lituus took one of her hands and guided her to the nearest bench.
Slowly setting her down, he sat on the opposite side of the bench farther from her to keep her distance, but still holding onto her hand. There was short pause. Lituus looked at Rushe as she tried to wipe all of her remaining tears with her free hand. Lituus gazed up at the sky for a moment and sighed, seeing his breath from the cold weather. "Rushe... I know that I can't make up for not telling you about everything, however, I'll try my best... no... let me rephrase that-- I will protect you from these demons assassin you are talking about, even if it means killing my own kind. No matter what." Rushe glanced at him and noticed how serious he was towards that statement. Unable to be able to speak, she gave out a small nod. Lituus looks towards her and gave her a soft smile.
"Are you feeling better now," Lituus asked Rushe.
"I think so..." She sniffled as she tried to wipe her continuous tears.
He extended his free hands and reached her puffy cheeks and tried to wipe her tears. He gazed at her with a pained expression. "Rushe I'm really sorry for not telling you, but please understand my reason. I really didn't want you to treat me like everyone else would..."
Rushe looked at him and noticed his eyes were filled with sorrow and loneliness. She gently touched his hand that was touching her cheeks and softly smiled at him. "I forgive you." Lituus smiled back and closely moves closer to her, their faces a few inches apart. "Rushe... I--"
"Well... It seems like you guys are close...", a voice interrupted. They both looked around to where the voice was coming from. "Up here." They both looked up. A mysterious man was sitting on the tree branch, looking down from them.
"Who the heck are you," Lituus said to him. Something about him give me the creeps especially with those injuries... Did he get into a fight with someone?
The mysterious man jumped down from the tree. "My name is Vetis. A demon from the Abyss. Let's just say... I'm someone who's going to create a very entertaining story in the next couple of posts..." He smiles.
Lituus felt that there was a reason that the man was here. And it doesn't seem to be a good thing either. Defending Rushe, who was close behind him, he slowly backed away from the man a few steps and talked softly to her, "Rushe... Listen to me. Once I give the signal... Run as quickly as possible back to the mansion..."
Rushe looked at him in surprised. "Wait, Lituus. I--"
Before she was able to finish her sentence, the man interrupted them and said, "Oh. I don't think that will be necessary... You see... Your mansion has already been damaged for the most part, along with your close friends and family that were there."
Rushe was alarmed by the notice. "What...?" She could feel her legs becoming weak as she imagined the damages and injuries that Link, Knil, and her parents were in right now. Before she could even collapse to the ground, Lituus was able to support her balance. "Easy there, Rushe. Everything's alright. I'm sure they are fine."
Vetis laughs. "Well of course they aren't dead just yet. Although I've beaten them up pretty badly, they still have some strengths to stay alive. Since I didn't have enough time to waste, I just decided to leave them be and let them entertain me some more once they have fully recovered their energy. Some of them are probably unconscious right now, however."
Lituus glares at him. "You are mad."
Vetis laughs at the compliment. "I hear that a lot. Anyways... I think it's about time you hand over your precious item that you're keeping beside you..."
"What..?" Lituus looks at what is beside him and found out afterwards after looking at Rushe. He turns his head around with such a stern look. "Forget about it."
"Oh ho. I guess you want to do it the hard way. I can't really take a 'no' for an answer. Either make things easier for the both of us by handing her over to me, or make things difficult as it should be."
"You will have to go through me to actually take her from my hand," he says as he takes her hand from behind and squeezes them.
Rushe looks up at Lituus and couldn't help but feel happy at the words Lituus says to him.
Vetis shrugged. "Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you.." He says as he looks up at Lituus and suddenly disappeared right in front of him.
Surprised, Lituus searches around the area for him and sees nothing. "Where did he go...?"
"Right beside you..."
Lituus flinched, but was unable to react it in time after Vetis punched him in the stomach and kicked him to the others side.
"Ah! Lituus!" Rushe tried to go over to Lituus when Vetis took her by the hand and pull her back, taking out his hunting knife out and put it beside her neck.
"Ah ah ah. You are not going anywhere..." He moved his knife a little closer as he leaned in close to her ear. "We don't want you to be killed in a painful death now do we?" He could feel her body trembling. He couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly, he noticed Lituus mumbling from the ground. "I'm sorry. What did you say," Vetis said to him.
"I said...to... let go of her...," he said as he tried to get up from the ground.
"Lituus..."
Vetis laughed. "I'm sorry. I don't take orders. What makes you think I want to let go of her?" Lituus looks up with Vetis with a very serious look as he tried to whip the blood from his mouth. Vetis at his eyes and smiled. That look.... "Interesting... All because of this girl, huh?" He glanced at Rushe and then back at him. "You might make things more fun. If you really want her back, try and defeat me first... easy enough, right?"
"If I have to, I will..."
Vetis chuckled. "Good boy..." Suddenly, his communicator went off. Vetis stopped pulled out from his pocket a small headset. He attached it to his ear and replied back to the person that was communicating with him. It was a girl's voice. A very familiar one.
"Hey. What is taking so long? You were suppose to kill Rushe by now," the girl replied to him.
Natalia?!, both Lituus and Rushe thought in unison.
"I decided to make things more fun for myself. Rather than killing her so quickly, I decided to use her as a guinea pig for a short while to keep myself entertained during my time here in this world."
"What are you saying? Are you trying to make things even more difficult for us?" There was no reply and the area became silent as the leaves slowly falls down from the branches. "...Whatever. Do as you like. I'll meet up with you shortly and we'll talk about this. I'm off now. Over an out."
"Well it seems like it is time for me to leave now...," he said as he grabbed Rushe, carrying her in his shoulder and jumped back up from the tree.
Lituus ran towards them. "Hey! Wait!"
Vetis looks down at Lituus. "If you still want her, find me and defeat me. Bye for now." Slowly, a dark mist began to engulf around them as they slowly began to disappear.
"Lituus!" Rushe called him.
"RUSHE!!" But it was too late. They disappeared within the mist with no trace left with them. "Dammit.... DAMMIT ALL," he said as he punched the tree in front of him.
To Be Continued....
