The anger that had poisoned the Nether palace did not reach the dark figures that appeared in a bale of smoke in a desert land as far as the eye could see. Lizzy just stabilized herself, as she stared around the sand and looked at the figure of the Nether Lord moving away. Only then did she notice there was a thatch hut ahead. She hurriedly picked up her dress and followed him. The Nether Lord waved his hand and the hut entrance was too low for his tall form to rise slightly allowing him to enter without bending. Lizzy hurriedly followed after him before the entrance dropped again to its original size.
"Where are we?" she whispered, only to find herself in a large hall, or worse; a feast was taking place. She hurriedly stepped beside the Nether Lord, just as the noisy hall descended to silence.
"Nether Lord blesses my halls with your presence," a voice rang through the halls, a many gave way for Lizzy to see those seated on a raised platform ahead.
"You did not enter as should or you would have been introduced," an old man seated on the host seat said as he stroked his beard
"Setting your entrance so low, so one would need to bow before entering, Jhur, My wife does not like to bow. Forgive me," Nether Lord said and all eyes turned to stare at the veiled Lizzy. Her mind spun for a moment, as she stopped herself from fidgeting under their stares. Then the words the Nether Lord had said finally sunk in and anger replaced her nervousness. He dared to use her as an excuse? Was it not he who refused to bow before entering, raising the entrance so his tall figure could pass in full height? How did it become her fault?
"Oh? I did not know, the Nether empress enjoyed being veiled," a lady beside the old man said. Her dark old wrinkled face let loose a cold smile as her eyes stared down at Lizzy as though to see through her veil.
"Yes, there is a stench of mystery to her," a guest said.
"Is this a new style, Nether empress? We should all follow," Though they spoke quite politely, Lizzy had a feeling that she was being mocked. After all, those in this room must be deities, right? It is impossible that they could not tell she was mortal. That woman even dared to use the word stench. If she could not even tell that she was being mocked, then she deserved those words.
"She? She is taking care of the palace," Lizzy answered, "This Lady has yet to take her crown," Lizzy said. She was not from this world, but even back home in Juhntt a mistress was not looked upon well and she felt like a mistress at this moment. For some reason, she felt as though these ladies knew the Nether queen quite well and could not help throwing water on her for the Nether queen. They were not people she should offend, but she guessed none would touch her with this dark figure beside her.
As the words left her mouth, the entire hall paused. Yet, she actually said yet. Was she not declaring her intention?
"A brave mortal," the old woman on the host platform said.
"Oh? So, it was known I was mortal? This lady started to think she had walked into the wrong room," Lizzy said. She was not sure what the cause of her anger was, but it was there. It may be because of the apparent danger the Nether Lord was putting her in or the awkward situation he seemed to enjoy placing her in. Something about this entire situation only angered her more.
"A mortal, yet you want the crown?" the old woman said.
"I don't why. I just want it," she said and the cold face broke into a smile, then laughter followed. Lizzy was confused when the old woman started to laugh and worse when the whole hall followed.
"You got an odd one there, Yumen," Jhur said and they all laughed even harder. Lizzy at this moment felt like the court jester. Their laughter only annoyed her more. She sent a glare at the Nether Lord, whose scarlet eyes were trained on her.
"We have not come to feast Jhur," the Nether Lord said and Jhur finally stopped laughing.
"You finally want to get a proper wife, not that one from the Dark realm," the black woman said, "But a mortal though, Yumen sure knows how to entertain himself,"
"We wish to access your library, Jhur," the Nether Lord said and Jhur paused.
"You know the rules, Yumen," he answered.
"You also owe me a favour," the Nether Lord said and Jhur sighed. After a moment of hesitation, he waved his hand and a doorway appeared before the Nether Lord and Lizzy and he entered after sending her a glance. Without waiting to be told, she hurriedly followed him into the doorway.
She walked out of a library unlike any she could have ever imagined; endless shelves of books rose into the sky its end unseen. All she could see above were beds of clouds floating by. It took everything within her to keep her mouth from falling open in awe.
"Come," he said and she followed silently. They walked for so long in silence with no end in sight, only shelves of books for company.
"What are we looking for?" she finally asked.
"Restricted files," He said and continued on. Just when she thought she was going to go mad from the endlessness of this library, they stood before a doorway made of books. She sighed a relief when she saw the words labelled on the doorway; the deep restriction. Just as they were about to cross, a ghostly figure appeared before them. He looked to be only skin and bones and dressed in rags.
"The deep restriction disallows entrance," the figure said and the Nether Lord paused.
"The records of Tharr, the descended," the Nether Lord said and the ghostly figure faded away and returned with a heavy scroll hovering above his bony hands.