Liam sat on the edge of the bed bare-chested. He was applying his Aether flame on his wounds, causing them to boost his healing process.
His yellow locks gravitated and covered his face partially as he concentrated on healing himself. The room was eerily silent and he didn't do anything to stop it.
His mind trailed back to his fight with the Estries and he smiled, his serious expression crumbled in an instant.
He never felt so excited. He never felt so overwhelmed. They didn't hold back, but they didn't intend to kill him either. They fought him with love.
Those kisses. The soft lips. Wet, drips with feverish passion. His heart increased its pace and he palmed his muscular chest.
They took his draconic bloodline and ignored his angelic vessel like they were running from it.
He had two vessels, because of his hybrid existence.
He brushed his hair to the back and looked up. Out of the window, he saw the clouds, calmly drifting off under the blanket of the night. Under the gaze of the stars.
He looked over his shoulder and saw Loki in a corner. He saw his seemingly glowing crimson eyes in particular, expressing bloodlust, gazing at him predatorily.
"Keep hold of yourself Loki..."He muttered but loud enough for Loki to hear.
He saw the crimson eyes closed and a deep breath followed.
"We are not in Dartale. The primal factions of Good and Evil are based on the perception of the mass here. Please hold your impulses till we get to the Nether plane."Liam solemnly said. It was hard for Loki already. First, because something powerful lived in a place of his vocal cords hence he won't be able to speak unless he drinks blood, saying that thing.
And there were also his Asura bloodline urges which coaxed him to act like a true asura. To kill, to wreak havoc, carnage. Hence he had a hard time holding back his impulses.
Silence prevailed for a while before a voice came from the dark corner. "...And how long do you propose I wait for?"It was of soft and innocent timbre but dripped dreariness.
Liam sighed and looked out the window, his brother is pitiful.
"You just have to stick to no side at all. Since you are not born to be good, to begin with. You have to be neutral."
"Absconding from the evil faction to the good faction is harder than vice versa right?"The voice replied, except that it was now near.
Liam didn't seem to notice the oddity though, so he continued.
"Yes. Staying on a moral path is better than changing paths. Changing paths throughout one's journey to perfection will leave scars on one's three parts of existence; Soul, spirit, and body."
Silence prevailed for a while and the voice came again. This time close to Liam's ear.
"What if... I'm already on the evil and dark side?"
It was at that moment, Liam knew something was wrong. Loki wasn't supposed to be speaking. He looked over his shoulder ever so slowly, till he saw the devilish smile on Loki's face.
"What?"He instinctively blurted out on seeing the amount of blood painted on Loki's face. Especially that it dripped from his mouth onto the bed sheet, staining it.
"Shush... Relax, my voice won't last long. But don't worry, it was five people. Nothing special. Hehe."Loki said with a wicked smile and looked at Liam with his crimson eyes blazing with fury.
"W-what!?"Liam's voice turned shaky. He didn't know why, but Loki was emitting a dangerous aura that threatens even him. The anger he expressed towards him confused him on another note.
"Now that I can speak for a while, why don't we have a nice chat?"Loki tilted his head and grinned, his bloodied teeth fully displayed for Liam to gulp at.
A bad premonition was brewing. Liam shifted uncomfortably on the bed and prepared to do one thing.
"Why did you leave without taking me with you?"Loki's smile grew wider and his crimson eyes glared, with sharp lightning streaks leaking out. His sword—still in the form of a hairpin—revolved around his head menacingly.
'So that's why he's so angry at me...' Liam thought in realization.
Liam smiled sweetly and manifested his flame to streak around his head similar to Loki's sword.
Loki's anger was like a flame. It burned fiercely and Liam's smile didn't help one bit in quenching it. Loki rarely gets angry but he gets angry over trivial things.
When he gets angry, only one thing can quench the flame of his fury. Violence.
Loki's sword transformed fully into its original size, prompting Liam to spring up in vigilance. "Loki stop—."He tried to bargain but alas, Loki had sprung into action.
Liam brought his sword in a flash and then a series of clangs and bangs sounded from the room. Accompanied by Liam's curses.
...
Conan rubbed his palm together and set a hand on the side of the brazier. The spirit code inscriptions hummed in response and took his spiritual energy in as he channeled it.
The brazier buzzed as it took his spiritual energy in. Its mechanisms kick-started and its codes glowed blue.
Cold and billowy misty spiritual energy came out of the chimney below. It didn't disturb him but the burner hadn't started functioning yet. The spiritual energy filtered was so much that the pure energy that reached the burner was insufficient to make it burn.
So he increased his spiritual energy input and soon, the burner spat out flawless blue flamy spiritual energy.
He nodded in satisfaction. The flame had no heat at all, nor was it cold, It was neutral. He could control its frequency with a thought. It's perfect.
He had set the herbs for making the basic bone-mending potion already. He threw the exoskeleton-like petals of the chitinous flower. The pale Chitinous Petal hovered above the flame and soon, the pressure crushed it into a powdery state.
He added the Gore Seaweed and then a strand of the Sinew Vines. The useless parts of the herbs peeled off and expelled while the juicy essence assimilated with the powder.
The concoction became scarlet red and smelt of fresh blood due to the effects of the gore seaweed and the chitinous flower. The sinew vines further enhanced their healing properties.
He stored the concoction away in a porcelain bottle and proceeded with his alchemy, concocting spontaneous and monstrous herbs. And in less than an hour, he was done.
Or If suffice to say that, the brazier was done as it exploded to oblivion at his face. Thankfully, he was done with the important things and was just making other herbs such as the nameless one that worked for strengthening mortal bodies.
The explosion of the brazier was quite loud. The kitchen became plagued with clouds of mists and thin sheets of ice covered the furniture.
The women came in a hurry, but when they arrived, Conan was nowhere to be found. They looked around the kitchen with baffled expressions but they found nothing but mists and a slippery floor.
Then they started hearing rasps and whispers, Unsettling drips of water, creepy screeches of booth against ice, and slicing sounds of knives.
Their hearts quickened and their breaths became shaky. It was scary, to say the least. They were even starting to regret letting Conan in.
"We're going to die."The boss lady dazedly uttered. For someone who acts bossy, she sure gets scared easily.
"Conan?"Senia called, even though she wasn't sure he would answer. And it would be a blatant lie if she said she wasn't scared.
"Yes?"Conan's voice came from somewhere clouded by the mists. But something was off about it.
Senia looked around. If he did all this and what she had seen him do then it means he could answer her questions right?
"W-what you said last time that you were testing me. Can you make me stronger? Is that why?"She bit her lips and her palms rubbed against her thighs to warm up as the cold invaded her pores.
"What if I say yes?"
She looked downwards in self-affliction, then replied "I... I would say I want."
A chuckle came as a response. A devilish chuckle that made her question what she just said. But she won't take it back, even if her determination is faltering.
The mists in front of her moved and abruptly someone sprung forth and stopped in front of her frightened gaze. It was Conan with lifeless obsidian eyes and a maniacal smile.
"Are you willing to pay the price?"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"She screamed her lungs out. Frightened, she scurried away from him only to meet his face in front of her again.
Her heart threatened to jump out of her mouth. She started backtracking as he pressured her under his wicked gaze till she bumped into someone.
She turned around even more frightened and was met with her frozen boss. They both screamed and backtracked with tremors running through their bodies till they reached the wall.
They hugged each other and sat on the floor under his tyrannical gaze. They sobbed and choked, closed their eyes, and waited for their deaths.
As they waited for what seemed inevitable to them with eyes closed, the cold engulfing their body disappeared along with the wicked aura.
An aromatic smell invaded their nostrils and faint hissing sounds came to their hearing. They both opened their eyes and saw that everything was clear of mists, as though it was all an illusion.
Even Conan was there, adjusting his nightrobe while cooking. What he was cooking was unknown to them though.
He looked at them with a smile "You won't believe the brazier exploded."He talked like nothing had happened which made them doubt it as well.
"Y-you..."The boss lady stammered and sniffed, face wet with tears "...Was that also a prank?!"She outbursts in fury.
Conan shrugged and smiled coyly "Senia asked me if I can make her strong, so I decided to check if she had what it takes. And you ladies are weak, so you need strength."
Senia was still frozen, partly because of the fear but mostly because her wrap had slipped. She was looking at it on the floor, not far from her.
"I don't want anything from you!"The boss lady yelled with defiance.
[inscriptions are synonymous with Spirit Codes and Law glyphs]