Chapter 2: The Bride of The Demon Lord (2)
Bounce... bounce.. bounce...
A round ball came bouncing as a little girl smiled energetically catching it while it bounced off through a wall. She had fluffy curly brown hair, and sharp caramel eyes- she was honestly just waiting for her sibling to finish putting on her disguise before they left.
She hummed a song while she waited with her red bouncing ball. "Big sister... Are we going to daycare?" she asks the teenage girl who takes her cap, mask and sunglasses on.
"Mhmm... now remember to listen okay? And please don't bite anyone's hand again, this is the third time Emily." the older girl scolds her younger sibling, clearly not in a good mood. One more offense that her sister does they might not be allowed to come back again after that.
"But... " the girl stops to move her gaze away from her big sister. While it was truly a bad thing to bite other people she truly couldn't stand the other kids inside the daycare. They teased her with really hurtful words- especially for a five-year-old who couldn't understand anything. "They told me I didn't have a mommy. I got mad..." (Emily)
The older sister looks down onto the ground a little embarrassed and unsure on what to reply to her little sister. "I mean you could tell them you have a really awesome big sister instead right?" she brings her mask down to kiss her little sister's soft plump cheeks. "Mwah! Mwuah!"
"Noooo! Stop ittt! You stink big sis!" the little one tried pushing her eldest sister away but it was futile so she just crossed her arms looking a little pouty. "I... wish we still have mommy." (Emily) mutters leaving the other girl stunned but covers it with a forced smile.
The older sibling tried her best to take care of her sister on her own for almost six months. Her mother died from cancer and lack of money for the treatments, their father was full of debt so he decided to abandon the family leaving for the older one to take care of her youngest sibling.
"Is big sister not enough?" she tried coaxing her more by taking out a candy bar from the pocket of her pants. "I know you like kisshews candy. You can have this for recess if you smile come on! Smileeee for me Emily~?" she shakes her sister's arms gently, really wanting to see her smile before she goes to work.
Emily saw her big sister smiling widely and she couldn't help herself from smiling slowly as well. "Mm! I smile hehehe!" she turns both of her index fingers to point in each cheek. The scene made her big sister breathe a sigh of relief. "Can I have kisshews now?"
"Yes Emily you can. Here you go." she gave the chocolate bar to the little girl and exited their house door. She takes out several keys before locking their home, letting a satisfying sound of click.
Paranoid on not wanting to be seen she quickly covers herself with a mask looking left and right turning to her sister. "Lets ignore the mean kids but... did they ever hurt you?" she asked worryingly. Who knew the society would be harsh to children who just lost their parents- and these are children who probably knew nothing on what's wrong and right yet.
"No... they just said mean things. I'm smart! I hurt them first before they can ever hurt me hehe!" (Emily) said giggling, remembering the deserved consequences for being mean to her!
"While I'm utterly proud of you for standing up to yourself- no more bites okay? The other parents are... worried and we don't want us getting kicked out of daycare right?" she explains to the little girl with a frown. She's really worried about her future- Emily's education is really important.
Hers as well... she's already at her first semester in college taking afternoon classes while she works early in the morning.
Emily looked at her sister's tired face not understanding anything but...
"Okie... no more bites." (Emily) reassures her big sister who nods looking really sad while she smiles. Emily's thoughts ran wild, so... if it's not okay to bite- surely it's okay to just choose another violent way to deal with them.
"Come on Em... let's get going." They held hands together while walking to the daycare center that was only a few blocks away.
It was early in the morning the moment they arrived there were already several kids running around a small playground outside. "I'll pick you up at six okay? Behave and listen to your teachers... and don't forget your lunch box- seal it. Water- right where's your water-" she turns to look at her sister already waving her pink water bottle behind her.
"Got it- go work now... shoo I wanna play on the swings! Bye bye!" (Emily) gives her big sister a hug, due to her small stature she could only hug the other girl's legs before running off inside the daycare laughing with glee.
For someone who just got off from a fight, she was happy to go back.
Emily's big sister waved and muttered bye quietly on her own before turning to the other direction to walk to her part-time job. It was a small pet shop with a cute uniform to have, it was particularly hot today so she was thankful that the shop a nice cooling AC.
She takes the shop key and raises the metal sheet covering the doors. She turns to see her other shop neighbors already awake and setting up their things. "Okay... humph!" Once she gets inside, she tries to carry a box full of food for dogs and sets it inside.
The shop owner was living just upstairs and was awoken by the sound of his only staff already making a ruckus down below. He swears that the kid is too much of a hard-worker- it's barely even eight in the morning and here she is already opening up the shop.
The other pets were already awake. They were either barking, squeaking, meowing or tweeting. She also filled their bowl with food and water. "Here you go." the way she handled animals was really gentle.
Everyone felt so calm with her presence, no one even tried biting or scratching her hand whenever she walked close to them. It was like animals understood her, and she did the same.
The owner of the shop yawned and smiled looking at his best choice to have ever done. Recruiting a very hardworking kid was very rare these days. "Isabella! You're too early!" he yells at the girl in a cheery manner.
"Mr. Rio." Isabella turns her head around to look at the owner with a wide smile. She stood up patting the knees of her pants and walked closer to the owner. "What's with the weird get up though. If you weren't in our staff uniform I would've mistaken you for a creep." he laughs dryly giving a tease to how the petite girl was wearing a peculiar get up.
Sunglasses, a thick cap, and a mask.
She wasn't even ill or anything so why the need to wear one?
It was so that the loan sharks wouldn't recognize her and take her away.
"Oh um... truth be told. I... I don't feel well Mr. Rio." (Isabella) lies hiding her hand behind her back. Mr. Rio the owner raises his eyebrow giving her a worried look, "Are you sure you'll be able to work till the afternoon? If you don't feel well you can go home and rest." (Mr. Rio) beckons the girl to change attires and go home but Isabella stubbornly shakes her head.
"No! I don't need to go home- please let me stay and work. I will feel better in a few hours Mr. Rio." she convinced the old man with that charming wit of hers even showing off how capable she was at carrying the heavy boxes full of pet food. Mr. Rio scratches his head at how persuasive this girl can be.
"Alright but if you really don't feel any better after. Go home, Isa." (Mr. Rio) headed inside his office where he settled on doing the paperwork and the excel sheets for this month's cost and earnings.
Isabella held her beating chest in a panic because she rarely lied and whenever she did it she would often get found out on how flustered her face would get but- now that she has cover on her face Mr. Rio didn't suspect a thing. "Whew... that was close. After this I have to get ready for class."
A few hours went by and only a few regulars entered the stop to buy some necessities for their beloved munchkins of pets. It was going well until-
Ding! Dong!
The door opened and slid apart, revealing a girl dressed casually- Isabella was at the back fixing a few more boxes and their products. Sorting them out, "Mreow."
Wait? Are those cats?
Sure, cats inside a pet shop were not really weird but- there was more than one meowing! Oh no, did the strays decide to visit because they were hungry? Hmm... Isabella could surely give a few nibbles.
"Right... which one would you all like?"
Isabella blinks a few times to make sure she heard that right. There was also someone else there? "Meow! Meow! Mreow!" several meowing roared and it made her worry. Isabella quickly ran her way over the commotion and saw a beauty standing there.
And a few dozen cats surrounding her.
Isabella gasped for a moment taking a few steps back and she didn't realize the cardboards she was supposed to clean up before were still there. Oh! no!
She slipped and was about to fall down onto the several cardboard boxes that were on the floor but someone grabbed her wrist before her bottom could meet its demise. Isabella blinks a few times realizing the black haired beauty with its foreign green eyes has caught her arm.
Her mind ran quickly, the blood rushing up to her face and to her ears but it wasn't shown due to the getup she had. The cat on the beauty's shoulders watched her judgingly.
Azel lets her go after noticing Isabella gained her balance.
"A-Are these cats all yours?" she turns to the cats forgetting to thank her savior because- holy that's a lot of cats. The beauty turned to look at the stray cats that were following her shaking her head.
"No. They are not mine but they told me they are hungry." she replied casually giving a look at Isabella. The mysterious beauty looked around not knowing what to do- could this be her first time going inside a pet shop? "Do I grab anything I need here?" she asks Isabella who finally wraps her head around that she has a customer to serve.
"Yes um just grab a basket here-" (Isabella) takes the plastic carrier and gives it to the alluring woman who nods in thanks while the cats follow her around the shop. Isabella watches the girl who looked like she was a little older than her roam around the shop with the stray cats in tow.
She placed several tuna cans inside her basket and even visited the animals in the closure area... for some reason Isabella couldn't take her eyes off of this woman.
The girl with a full basket placed it in front of her. It looked like it was all canned fish for cats. "W-Will that be all? Ma'am?" (Isabella) asked a little nervously while waiting for a response.
The beauty nodded and watched the whole scanning process with great interest. She grabbed a hold of a can and scanned it through the machine.
Beep...! Beep...!
Every swipe she made their heads followed in synch. Isabella was rather confused- so this person has never seen such a machine? Did she perhaps come from a conservative province?
"Mreow..." one cat tried smacking the tuna cans Isabella was a bit worried she'll need to take the cats out if she can't do her job properly but the person who was also watching the product scanning scolded the cat and after that- they didn't disturb her anymore.
Isabella couldn't help but smile underneath her mask. How cute... if only she can take a video of this scene, surely it'll go viral on Mewtube!
"Your total is this much..." (Isabella) had now finished scanning all the items and showed her the bill.
"Will this be enough?" the other girl offered Isabella a few gold coins that seemed to shine under the light- it even looked so vintage!
"I'm sorry ma'am! I- Um! Is that real gold?!" (Isabella) covers her mouth and takes a closer look at the coins.
"Yes. It should be enough to cover all this. I heard that gold in this era is expensive. I even heard that humans these days like to collect old things. Rest assured, these are older than King Henry III." The other girl clearly flaunted her collection but- she's not dreaming! With this... she can pay the million of debts her father owes the loan sharks!
How naïve could this girl be- but... under such desperate measures was it wrong to hope a little? Emily, her little sister would need money for school and clearly a small part-time job like this won't be enough to cover these expenses.
"I-I... I'll go and pack all of these things then- just making sure... are these real gold?"
"Do you think I'm a gold inspector? These would cost millions in auction. Take it or leave it." she pushes it more and the teenager bit her lip under her mask, her brain fighting over what to do.
Gold coins that were probably worth millions?
Or should it be fake... and she could lose a hundred bucks.
"I'll take it. I'll pay for the cat food with my own money." the staff lady takes the coins carefully, putting it in her pockets before placing the canned tuna in a brown paper bag. "T-Thank you for your purchase." (Isabella) handed the paper bag over and the cats behind her cheered.
The beauty quickly left with Isabella left with a few coins that will really save their financial issues now! She can even hire a nanny to look for Emily while she was at school studying to finish her degree!
Ah... but she never got her name...
The gold coins shimmered under the light of the ceiling. She places it in her pockets. Isabella was excited to go to class so after that she can go ahead and buy her something nice after many weeks of eating nothing but ramen noodles!
.=.=.=.=.=.=.
Isabella changed her clothes into her school uniform, removing the thick hat revealing her brown flowy hair as well as her mask and attended class.
She was trying to study law and attended a really expensive college on scholarship that's not too far away from where she worked but it was really tiresome to walk through. However, that's all about to stop soon! Once she pawns these vintage gold coins- she can buy a bike!
Emily and her won't be needing to take a walk everyday arriving so sweaty at daycare.
Isabella diligently took notes of everything her professor was noting on the blackboard and stretched her back because it was feeling so stiff. "Alright class dismissed. Get home safely, all of you." the professor took his case and left.
Isabella smiles, organizing her notebooks and her scribbled notes. Everyone else around her was going out to eat, drink, or even go on mixers. Isabella stands up from her seat but stops after hearing someone call her name, "Hey! Isa! Wait!"
Isabella turns around the see the most popular boy in class- perhaps even in school calling her name. "Jake? What's wrong? Did you need something from me?" she asks in a casual tone. Her classmate on the other hand looked really nervous.
"Are you free today?" (Jake) asks who was holding two tickets to a movie that was screening later that night. "The new horror movie just came out and I was wondering if you would like to see it with me?"
Isabella could hear the whispers going through the classroom. It wasn't kind- but she gets it. How come the most popular boy in school was asking her out? The bland scholarship girl who was only interested in studying and nothing else.
She had no friends, because she had no time to partake in any extended invite of leisure her classmate had. It was clear she had to decline his invitation, "Sorry... Jake. I have to go and pick up my sister by myself. So see you."
Without even batting an eye Isabella turns around and wears her mask, sunglasses and cap once more. "Oh... okay..." (Jake) muttered sadly while his friends comforted him by patting his back.
Isabella headed for the daycare but seeing it was getting late she decided to call for a car and paid for the fare. "Thank you." she handed over some cash and thanked the driver happily.
The daycare had its lights on and she just needed to cross the street before she could get there.
"Hey. Are you Isabella Insley?"
A deep voice appeared behind her and saw several tall men in a brown coat were now surrounding her. Isabella's stomach churned, the loan sharks had found her so fast! She thought she had a few more months before they came knocking!
"Won't you look at that. Your father told us he had a daughter really pretty enough to use in business." one of the men lit a cigarette and smiled. "You don't look too small either." he motions for Isabella's front to which she protectively covers with her arms.
"I-I'll pay you back double what my dad owes you! Just give me a few more time!" (Isabella) pleaded frantically looking around but the men grabbed her by the arm lifting her up. "Hey! Let go of me! I'll call the police right now. This is an abduction!"
"Take her away, boys. Boss would really need this girl to release his pent up anger if you know what I mean." the leader of the group patted his accomplices and grinned.
Isabella grimaced on what was about to happen. "Stupid old man!" she cursed her father in a yell- Emily was still in the daycare center! If no one picked her up, who will?! She'll be left alone and might even think she left her there for good!
Tears flowed through Isabella's cheeks- someone!
Anyone please!
Isabella struggled through their hold and even kicked her feet around helplessly before crying out, "Help! Please- umph!" someone covered her mouth and her chest tightened.
She could feel someone's hands trailing through behind her waist.
At this point all that ran through her mind was the call for help... but... who would help her?
"Mreow..."
A cat's meow rang through the alleyway, all the other accomplices looked towards its direction but didn't mind it at all saying, "It's just a cat." but soon the numbers doubled, tripled, and they were now surrounding them all including their getaway car.
"B-Boss... the cats-"
"I could see them dumbass! They're all just cats, hell we could shoot them for all I care. Run them over too!" the boss yelled and Isabella tried telling the cats to run away as well but for some reason they were all hissing and growling in their direction.
Hissss!
A black cat hissed through their path and soon, their skins shuddered. Everyone knew that horrible things were bound to happen if you came across one.
"Don't you think you're holding the girl too tightly? Why don't you let her go and no one gets hurt?" a figure appeared and it was the beauty from before! At the pet shop!
Isabella was happy to see a familiar face but a weak looking fragile girl like her should hide! "Mmph!" she tried telling her to run away and escape.
Azel on the other hand feared for this moment. She really did hear someone calling for help- with all that bride premonition nonsense she refuses to believe a student was her bride. Seeing that the men were saying nothing she repeats her sentence again, "Put the girl down, and no one will get hurt." (Azel)
"What do you mean girly? Listen, why don't you run along since this is none of your damn business." one crook said and after a few seconds a brick fell on his shoulder and groaned. "WHAT THE HELL?! AUGH!" he groaned and screamed in pain. That brick was from the rooftop on one of the old buildings.
"IT HURTS! A BRICK WHERE THE F- DID THAT COME FROM?!" he holds down his shoulder as the other men rush over to help him leaving Isabella alone with the leader of the group.
"There are... eight... well after that brick falling down there are seven of you in total." the figure stated, a black cat from the crowd suddenly leaps to her shoulder and sits. "If I count to seven and all of you are not gone by then. I'll curse your entire life of bad luck."
The crooks glared at her angrily, not believing anything that came out of her mouth. "Shut up! Come here I'll give you a proper beating!"
"Seven."
A brick fell down on his head. It knocked him down unconscious and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Six."
Another fell down this time on a crook's face.
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
It continued counting until it was now all left to the leader of the group who saw the threat in front of him. So he grabbed his gun and pointed it at the monster. "S-Stay back! I don't know if you did all that shit to my crooks but if you don't kneel! I-I'll shoot!"
Azel could only stare bitterly at the human in front of him shaking like a cornered rat.
She smiles and tilts her head before replying, "Go on. Shoot me."
The leader of the group closed his eyes and pulled the trigger but... it would only make a faint sound of clicking. His eyes widened in surprise realizing the gun was broken! No way! He just tested this last night and it was obviously working fine!
Several clicks fired more but nothing.
The demon lord, getting impatient, decided to continue the countdown. "One."
Bump!
Another brick fell down and knocked the leader of the gang. Soon Isabella was speechless at what happened- the beauty from the store before saved her! The cats, knowing that their lord didn't need anymore backup, scattered and decided to help another time she was in need of service.
"Y-You..." (Isabella) stuttered trying to say her thanks but- she couldn't say anything because with how she looked towards the unconscious body on the ground. This means she was definitely not a normal person! "Um! Please don't hurt me!" she used her hands to block her face but Azel rolled her eyes.
"Your scent. You're the lady from the pet shop before." (Azel) recognizes the scent of the cashier lady that helped her.
"Yes! I'm that person! So please don't hurt me!" (Isabella) closed her eyes for anything that might happen. To her surprise she could feel someone removing her hat from her head, her sunglasses were no longer covering her eyes and her mask was forcibly removed as well.
She waited for the other to reply but... there was nothing.
"M-Milady Cordelia?"
Isabella opened her eyes to reveal those familiar caramel colored gems. A foreign name she has never heard before- this beauty seemed to be struck with belief when she stared at Isabella.
Isabella blinks pointing at herself. Did she just call her Milady? She was in no way belonged to a rich household or anything like that- she must've gotten the wrong person.
"Um... you're mistaking me for someone else. My name is Isabella, full name is Isabella Insley." she replies to the stunned girl who dropped the cheap plastic sunglasses she bought from a thrift store before. Without even hesitating the demon lord who was known to have never shed a tear, was crying.
"Omp! Whoah... um..." (Isabella) was now met with a random hug from a stranger who called her by the wrong name. Azel on the other hand believed that this was her original lady that she served before and so she felt really happy about their reunion.
.=.=.=.=.=.=.
Little did they know, the same old woman that gave their premonition was watching it all unfold. She never knew the demon lord had a soft spot for girls like her.
"Hehehe... that rascal had the nerve to say she didn't want a bride but look at her being so bold! The almighty never do wrong! Hahaha!" she laughed into the night and left the two alone.
The moon seemed to have watched over them... it's light giving the two closer as slowly the sun hid.
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Platymage