_________________________________________________________________________________________________Lilac's POV _________________________________________________________________________________________________
A domain is a separate space created by its user. It is like a tiny world created according to the user in a given space. The strange thing about it is that as long as the user wishes to bring anyone from outside the domain's barrier within it, the person can enter. Any uninvited guests may be required to be of higher power than the user to enter it. Otherwise, it may be hard to detect it.
A domain is like a kingdom that implements its user's rules. However, there is a catch to it. The domain's user must spend a lot of energy in making it. There are many kinds of domains, some slow down time, for some gravity is increased, while some increase speed, agility, or strength of the user while slowing down the other stats of the outsiders.
For example, the domain that we were in right now was pitch black, making it unable to see anywhere. It felt like my energy was being drained out of me. If I'm not wrong, this domain absorbs energy from outsiders that help maintain it and increase the user's power within the domain.
The spider lunged towards me. Mustering up all the courage and strength I had, I got up and turned to rush towards where the door previously was. However, my feet got entangled with spider webs, making me trip.
I was jerked up in the air upside down as I felt the webs hold me up by my legs. They crawled up my skin as I tried to break free. It was disgusting. I wasn't used to seeing a spider this big in a place filled with cobwebs.
"It's no use, struggling. My power increases over two times than my normal in this domain."
I grunted, struggling to break free as it wrapped itself tightly around my body. The spider kept taking short steps toward me as its eight legs crawled on the surface, creating a screeching noise.
I need to break free, but what can I do? My call for help wouldn't reach them, and neither would my mind-link. I jerked my body, trying to get myself out of the mess.
"Running somewhere human?" The creature growled behind me, engulfing my entire body within a cocoon except for my face. It felt like the spider webs were trying to break my body from the inside with the strength it used to wrap itself around my body.
"If you move, I will make sure you do not have any bones left on your body." Its eyes glowed as the webs tightened around me. I stilled my movements in suffocation.
"Let's watch the show, shall we?" It threw some spit on my face as it spoke.
Within a fraction of a second, I was thrown against the wall, next to Octavius, making me gasp. The view beneath me cleared up. I closed my eyes due to the bright light.
"Look!" It whispered in a shrill voice, appearing right beside my head. How did it get here so fast?
Could it be teleportation magic just like Orion's? It is a demon, after all. Only demons are known to have teleportation magic.
Following its line of vision, I looked down to see Darius, Mason, and Orion in the room. The domain had cleared a little at the bottom. The spider webs held me tight but not tight enough to suffocate me anymore.
I felt relief. I tried to call out their names, but the disgusting spider webs wrapped around my mouth, muffling my voice. All I could do was see and hear them, making panic rise up within my chest.
"Where are they?" Mason asked, looking around worriedly.
'I'm up here. Look here, Mason!' I tried mind linking him again, but he acted like he didn't hear anything. Could it be that we are still in the domain, but he's showing me what's happening outside?
"Maybe they went out to get some fresh air." Darius sighed, looking around. His expression remained expressionless as usual.
"Oh well. If Octavius is with her, it should be fine, right?" Mason sighed. Orion looked around, searching the washroom for us.
'No, I'm right here! Please look up!' I was hoping any of my silent pleas could reach them.
The creature chuckled next to me. "Looks like they don't want their little princess." It crawled upside down in front of me as I craned to look up at it. "Well then, it's a shame you must die like this."
I wanted to puke so much as its slimy mouth opened up to speak yet again. "I'll torture you to death. How about we start with the one next to you."
I shook my head furiously as my hair swayed, covering my face, while my mouth was still covered with cobwebs.
It licked Octavius' face as dread settled inside my heart. I tried mind linking Octavius, but it seemed to have been cut off due to the properties of the domain. Looking down, I saw them starting to leave the room without looking up at us even once.
Orion was the last one to close the door, glancing back once more. All the hope I had built of being saved was thrown outside of my mind. The tears that couldn't come out earlier flowed through as the reality set in.
We couldn't escape from here. Not with my power being so weak, and Octavius passed out. We were stuck here, or we had to die.
"Shush, human. How about I eat you up first and then I eat up this man? I hate to see humans cry." The webs surrounded my face as I drowned in them. At least I would die before Octavius. Maybe that could buy them some time to save him, if not me. "Don't worry, I will make sure to tell my master about your death. I'm sure he will be very happy."
The cobwebs engulfed me completely as darkness surrounded me.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________Orion's POV _________________________________________________________________________________________________
I felt an eerie feeling crawl up the nape of my neck as I closed the door and headed back to the lounge. Max was asleep on the table.
"Could something have happened to them?" Mason walked back and forth in the room, going crazy after the possibilities.
Darius had closed his eyes perched on the seat as if in deep thought.
Joining them, I tried to mind link them but got no response. That is very strange.
Max's nose scrunched up a little as he woke up barking at Mason.
"What is it, Max?" I'm not in the mood to play right now."
Max barked again. "Maybe he is trying to say something." I cocked a brow at him.
Max ran through the corridor towards our suite. I quickly teleported next to him as he kept barking in front of our door. Darius and Mason followed behind us quickly.
"Behind this door?" I asked him. He wagged his tail, barking in agreement.
I opened the door to see nothing inside. The room was exactly as we left it. Max swiftly ran inside and sat at a spot, howling.
"What is it, Max?" I asked, annoyed. "We need to find Lila and Octavius."
He kept howling in pain. I walked over to him to see drops of water on the ground. Darius kneeled next to me as he smelled the water. "It has Lila's scent."
"Wait, what?" I was flabbergasted. How could I not notice this before? My sense of smell is strong. There is no way I wouldn't know about it. Lila's scent, I could recognize it anywhere.
Mason barged in the door, panting. "Up there!" He pointed towards the ceiling.
Without wasting time, I unsheathed my sword and swung it at the ceiling as a pitch-black void of space opened up.
A domain. This scent... it belonged to another demon. It seemed to be no stronger than a middle-ranked demon. My eyes furrowed at the region I cut. Why couldn't I detect the presence of this domain before?
Darius and I quickly leaped backward as Max took a growling stance at the domain.
"I recognize this scent. It belongs to Lila and Octavius."
Max barked, agreeing with me.
Darius didn't even hear me as he leaped upwards into the pitch-black domain. Mason flew in the air and reached it, while Max kept barking at it.
"Max guard the entrance. Don't let anyone near it." I ordered as he barked in agreement.
I jumped in to see nothing in the domain, but the entrance to the domain was different. It was above us. It was pitch black inside the domain. Except for the little crack where I entered from nothing else could be seen. I could see the slash that I made recovering slowly. The regenerative property of this domain is weak. I believe my guess was right then. It was probably the work of a low - or middle ranked demon.
But if it's a demonic domain, I have the advantage. My eyes glowed green as I searched for traces of magic using my elemental sight. It was everywhere. It would be impossible to search for Lila and Octavius in this way.
The domain appeared to be vast. But in reality, it would be the same size as this train. I looked around to see that the others were nowhere in sight.
"Mason! Darius!". Where did they run off to?
I took a few steps within the domain. It seemed to expand with every step I took. I used my elemental sight walking down the area just in case. I saw my surrounding walls change in shape, forming into a long hallway of some kind at the end of which was a door. I teleported in front of it and opened the door to be met with another hallway similar to the one I just walked down.
What kind of domain was this exactly? A domain was a separate space, but it had to be as long as the region it was confined in. For example, the domain could appear to be bigger than the train, when in reality, it would be the same size as the train.
I turned back without closing the door and saw the distance I teleported from. It was short, almost the same size as a cabin on the train. I think I just jumped from one cabin to another one.
I raised my sword as I cut through the wall on my right to see light peeking in. It was a window. The window didn't seem to be damaged. My powers allowed me to cut precisely where I want to, without touching other regions.
That's when it hit me. I smirked, knowing exactly what to do.
I pierced my sword horizontally on the right wall and ran quickly through the cabin, making sure not to hit the window. We wouldn't want to get involved with innocent humans, and the amount of damage could cost a fortune.
I watched as sunlight peeked through, showing us a view of the outside world. Although this domain seemed to drain my energy little by little, it was a piece of cake for me. Most demons try to entrap humans in their domains to eat them for increasing their powers, but I was a demon, too. That was one thing this foolish demon forgot about.
I heard a growl on the other side, a few cabins away, alerting me the location of the demon.
I continued slicing through the domain as Darius showed up behind me quickly. He grinned, looking at what I was doing and helping me on the other side.
If we can't escape from the domain, we can destroy it from the inside.
The growl got louder as we neared the final cabin door, I presume.
Darius was the first to open the door to see Lila and Octavius in cocoons made of spider webs.
"Argh! It was you. You demon and vampire." A voice boomed hissing in pain from above. "My precious domain is getting destroyed because of you. You must all die!"
I looked up to see a spider demon hanging upside down with its hair made completely of spider webs. It released its hair, which seemed to be like a puppet string towards me.
I swung my sword, quickly slicing through it as it groaned in pain.
"Die! Die! Die!" It yelled as more spider webs like silk lunged towards us.
I teleported backward, avoiding its hair that hit the ground and retracting itself, ready to aim again at me. "This is why my master told me to get rid of them fast."
"Let me guess. Your master is Beelzebub." I rolled my eyes teleporting away as it missed its target once again. It was easy to dodge because its moves were predictable. Left, right, center, and behind. Also, my elemental sight helped me see through the pathway it used to lunge its attack towards us.
"How dare you call my master's name so casually?" It screeched. "You do not have any qualifications to call my master in that way. You are that... betrayer." He shivered as his voice faltered at the end.
I smirked at his response.
Beelzebub is the demon of pride. In our last fight, his pride was hurt, so he sent yet another weakling to hunt us down. But what bothered me the most was that he sent it to kill Lila and not me.
I don't care if I burn in hell, but I want her to be safe. Octavius was dragged in this, too.
Darius threw his sword at the spider's eye. It pierced through it perfectly, making it flinch as his hair retracted to help remove the sword. He shrugged at me casually. When did he get so good at targeting. I was definitely impressed.
I smiled at him. "Good work!"
He rolled his eyes at me, making me raise a brow at him. We are getting sassy now, aren't we?
Darius rushed to help untangle Octavius and Lila from the cocoon as I turned to face our target.
"No, no, pull it out!" It screamed in agony backing away.
I laughed maniacally at it. "You must have heard of me by the way you reacted. Then you must also know that you wouldn't survive after getting caught now."
"You! Do you think you will get away with this?" It negotiated with me still trying its best to remove the sword from its eye. Is he dumb? I can see that he's trying to buy some time to save himself or contact Beelzebub. But I couldn't allow that right now. Not with my mates like this and with no reinforcements.
My eyes glowed green as I smelled blood in the air. This scent it belonged to Lila. I turned around to see Lila's knees were bleeding. She was hurt. Darius had helped her out of the cobwebs. Darius' eyes glowed red as he held onto her with one hand and used his sword to free Octavius. At least he seemed to be unharmed.
My head snapped towards our target yet again. I was beyond angry. "No. but tell your master that he should have been asleep. Regardless, now that he is awake, I'm waiting for him." I smirked at him. "To kill him."
It looked scared at me. "My master will have his revenge, just you wait. You betrayed..."
I didn't let it speak as my fists spoke for me. I teleported next to it and punched him. It hit the walls of the domain behind him. Before it could slide down, I kicked it upwards, as its back hit on the ceiling. It groaned in pain as black blood spilled everywhere.
It tried to crawl away from my next kick as I lunged towards it. "Trying to escape?" I caught one of its legs and threw it in mid-air. I teleported next to it and hit it downwards on the ground. "There is no escape from here for you." I believe I threw it in mid-air and against the wall almost twenty times, yet my anger didn't dissipate.
"Orion!" Octavius's voice called out to me. I turned around to see him awake. "Lila needs to get treated for her wounds lest they get infected." He spoke.
Darius nodded next to him, holding on to her. I watched as Lila's expression morphed into a painful one.
He was right. It was time to end this even though I didn't torture him well enough.
Without wasting any time, I raised my sword and sliced through its head. Black blood splattered everywhere on my clothes and face.
I wiped the blood smeared across my face. Turning around, I saw Darius carrying Lila, and Octavius had his arm around Darius supporting himself.
I sighed in relief, knowing that at least they were alright.
The domain collapsed as the black coloured walls dissipated. The sunlight that poured in made me squint my eyes at it.
In the distance, I saw Mason wave his hand, a few cabins across as the doors started disappearing as well. He was safe, too. He raised his hand up and swung his hand towards him. As if on cue, the wind swept us toward him. He was in our room as I could hear Max bark from the crack.
So, one of the entrances to the domain that enveloped the entire train was at the place we entered from. There were many others, but we didn't see them. If an outsider wanted to enter a domain, uninvited, they need to find a weak spot within the space to enter.
If only I had noticed it earlier, Lila wouldn't have been hurt. Why couldn't I sense this demonic energy, even though it was there.
"Are you guys hurt?" Mason asked, looking at each of us concerned.
"No." I replied. "But, Lila." He nodded as he looked over at her.
"What about the demon?"
"It's been taken care of."
The domain completely disappeared as our feet touched the carpet of our suite. Max barked with a puppy grin at us.
I smiled at him. "Good job, Max!"
He howled in response, happily. Mason helped Octavius sit on the bed while Darius placed Lila on the other bed. His eyes still glowed a bright red. His canines were out showing that he was still thirsty for blood. He snapped his head towards Lila. I followed his line of vision to see blood covering her knees.
Was she hurt pretty badly?
Mason rushed over and got some medical supplies from his pocket.
With a snap of my finger, Lila clothes were off, and I had changed her into a night gown. The blood could definitely be seen.
Darius took a step toward her as I teleported next to him. "Darius..."
"I'm fine. But she's not!" His fists clenched at the side. I was beyond angry at the spider, too, but I let him have an easy death. If it were left to me, I would have tortured him to death.
I turned towards Octavius and flicked my finger, changing his clothes into his pajamas as well. Luckily, the cobwebs had disappeared with the domain.
"She is just asleep!" Mason sighed in relief tending to her wounds.
I nodded and left to use the washroom. I don't think Lila would like it if I had bloody clothes on. After I showered and changed into my pyjamas, I entered the room to see Darius and Mason had changed their clothes. Darius' eyes still glowed red.
I mind linked him. "Darius, are you alright?"
"Yes. I can control myself, don't worry."
I know he can control himself, but I have never seen his eyes glow for such a long time except when he was using his powers.
I smiled, shaking my head. I sneakily jumped into bed next to Lila and hugged her. She quickly cuddled up into my warmth. Mason rolled his eyes, sleeping next to Octavius as he threw himself on Mason. Mason gasped for air under the pressure. Darius and I laughed as we saw Mason try to push a snoring Octavius away. Deciding to let him suffer for a little longer, I closed my eyes to get some rest.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Umm... dinner is ready. Is Lila there?" Rosie and Yukio were probably behind it.
I sighed, leaving the warmth of Lila's embrace. I opened the door to see Rose with Yukio looking up at me.
Yukio looked me up and down as Rose peeked inside to see Lila asleep.
"What happened? Is everything okay?" Rose asked.
"Yes. There was a demon on this train, but we took care of it. Lila is just tired and sleeping."
Rosie gasped as Yukio held her in his arms. "What do you mean? What demon was it?"
I pinched my nose, frustrated, remembering why the demon attack took place. "It was a low ranked demon sent by Beelzebub."
Yukio's eyes narrowed as if he was lost in thought as Rosie's eyes faltered to the ground.
I sighed. "It's best if you guys do not stray away from Blake and Jace during this trip."
Rosie looked worried. "What about Lila..."
Yukio nodded with a clenched fist, interrupting Rosie. "I understand. Please get some rest. Please let us know if you need anything." He turned around, picking up a protesting yet scared Rosie towards their suite.
"Likewise." I responded and shut the door.
Octavius groaned groggily. "What... where am I?" I turned around to see Mason holding his hand. He had escaped from him. Ha, that was funny.
"Are you feeling okay?" He nodded, explaining what he remembered before passing out. I approached them and sat at the edge of the bed.
"I could hear bits and pieces of everything that happened around me, but I couldn't move because of the cobwebs. They seemed to be suffocating my soul." He explained, looking straight ahead. I was beyond mad at what that little spider did. It didn't suffice my thirst that I was able to give an easy death to it. I would have preferred a longer lasting death, a slow yet painful, torturing one.
"How's Lila?" He asked, looking at her.
"She's asleep, recovering her energy." He sighed.
Darius smirked at me.
Oh no, you don't!
I teleported next to her on the bed, while Darius rushed on her other side. Mason and Octavius looked like we had finally gone crazy after so many years.
Lila groaned, waking up. She blinked her purple eyes a few times, making my heart flutter at her beauty.
She cried silently, making me and Darius wrap our arms around her. "You are alright, baby." I spoke softly as she nodded in our arms.
She wiped her tears and looked up at us with a sweet blush. "I was just scared, but I'm okay now." She smiled, "I knew you guys would come save Octavius and me."
I hugged her once again. She is the sweetest thing in this universe. I couldn't imagine losing her ever. I kissed her forehead as Darius kissed her hair. She blushed.
Mason got up from Octavius' side to reunite with us, but Octavius stopped him.
"I-I love you all!"
The sweet voice resounded across the walls, making my heart still.