Peaches and I grabbed our discarded clothes from the ground. Up until now, the reaper wasn't telling me who we were going to meet to help with my problem. If those people could fix this, Lucius wouldn't pull his hair over the fact that I uncrowned myself. I could already imagine what his reaction would be once he sees my lack of crown and the new additions to my body parts.
A dash of movement caught my eye, tousling the strings that were hanging quietly before. Completely stealing my attention, I dropped my clothes and ambled to the last place where I saw the movement.
"You need to cover up," Peaches called out, noticing my disappearance.
He tied his cloak around my waist. My eyes glued to his bare and toned chest.
"I saw someone," I said.
I continued to search for the person until my eyes met with the reaper's warm gaze that was meant to melt me on the spot. He was trapped in a trance. With the way he glanced at me, I too, was caught in a daze as I admired his handsome face.
His warm hands slid across my back, pulling me against him. He caught my lips with his own. I held on to his strong shoulders as he pulled me closer, our hips clashing with each other. He softly molded his lips against mine, kissing me so tenderly that my legs quivered. Time didn't matter. He held me securely; the sensation of our lips meshing together made me forget the things I was concerned with. He took me to a different place that I didn't imagine being into.
His hand cradled the back of my head and our feet moved in circles as if he was taking me into a slow dance. With one last long kiss, our lips parted and our eyes opened at the same time.
"I can't stop...looking at you."
"Your stare is making me shiver," I bluntly told him.
It was like I was fully bare in his eyes.
Our heads snapped to our right when we saw a child, dragging a dead asperger which seemed to be the one that Peaches kicked. He was humming gleefully.
The child was ghostly pale; his skin branched out dark veins similar to a catastrophe. His hair and eyes were completely consumed in darkness yet despite having the complete looks of a catastrophe, he didn't smell like one. He looked cleaner compared to us actually. The little boy seemed to be so preoccupied with the dead asperger that he froze upon me greeting him.
"Hello," I deadpanned.
His head moved comically. He blinked at us in confusion before falling back and crying out loud.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" he wailed; snot ballooned adorably.
I did not know that catastrophes could be like this. They could be conversed with?
"Do not fret, we will not hurt you," I assured him.
As he calmed down, Peaches ruined our first impression...yet again.
"Move and you die a painful death," he threatened.
The boy took in a sharp gasp and wailed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
He looked at his prey and was about to do a leap, but Peaches already had him by his collar.
"Take us in your realm," the reaper commanded.
The little boy continued to sob uncontrollably as he wiped his tears and sniffled.
"Please if you want to hurt anyone, don't hurt them. Hurt me instead!" he begged.
He flinched and shrieked like a mouse when Peaches glared at him. I had to take matters into my own hands.
"Peaches, put the child down very gently," I instructed.
He looked like a betrayed pet that seemed to be angered by his master favoring someone else yet he obeyed unwillingly. The boy ran to me, hugging my leg. He peeked at Peaches who continued to glare at him before freaking out and hiding behind me.
"What is your name?" I softly asked.
His little hands tugged on the cloak around my waist.
"E...Erendriel," he shyly murmured. "Who–Who are you?"
I turned around, leveling myself at his height. His hands nervously curled in front of his chest as he tugged on the bottom of his clean and crisp top.
"My name is Lucian and the man behind me is Peaches."
Peaches could be very harmless when you get to know him.
If you managed to live to get to know him that is.
Erendriel timidly swallowed. "What do you want from us?"
I looked back at my rotting wing and then at him.
"I am an Ancient."
His eyes raised a question to my rotting pinion.
"But...Ancients don't rot until they die. Did you die?" he asked.
I nodded my head causing his eyes to widen.
"You're him, you're Nexus!"
Nexus?
He grabbed my hand with a wide smile and then dragged me to the corpse of the asperger.
"Everyone has been waiting!" he cheered.
A dark swirling cloud opened on top of the asperger. Erendriel jumped inside.
Peaches and I stared at each other. He took my hand before we entered together. I expected their realm to be festered or destroyed but what welcomed us was a brilliant and unsullied village. Plants bloomed. Skeletons of beasts roamed without hostility.
"Where are we?" I asked.
The catastrophes here and the catastrophes outside were so different from each other. While they screamed in pain the ones here appeared to be at peace. Erendriel came back with an older man running behind him. He looked like his father. Once the older man got closer his eyes widened in amazement.
"Nexus!" he gasped.
"Lucian," I corrected.
Upon hearing him yell that preeminent and treasured name to their kind, the villagers twirled in our direction. Some of them looked like they were going to faint and cry.
"Peaches, what kind of cult did you bring me into?"
The reaper tightened his grasp on my hand.
"I have no idea but I am quite fond of their admiration of you."
"My Lord Nexus, we had no idea that you were already born!" Erendriel's relative exclaimed, genuflecting before me.
The rest of the villagers followed. Peaches was about to do the same but I stopped him with my blank gaze.
"Please rise and enlighten me. I do not deserve such a welcoming," I said.
The villagers became apprehended from my light chiding of their actions. They fret that they would displease me any further.
Get me out of here.
Erendriel's father was the leader of this small village. He provided a comfortable place for us to stay while we conversed about this Nexus matter.
"My Lord, my name is Devdan. I will answer your queries with supreme pleasure!" he uttered.
"As long as you do not moan then take pleasure for as long as you want," I replied.
"Please help yourself. This is our kind's specialty," Ayda, his wife, offered.
Two bowls of live squids swimming in their own ink were served. I opted for the biscuits that came along with it.
"Squid..." Peaches whispered, staring at the squiggling animal with curiosity. He looked at me and grasped my elbow.
"Can I eat?"
"Help yourself Peaches," I encouraged him.
You may even have my own portion if you liked it.
I did hope Peaches would like the dish. I did not want his profound love for food to be spoiled.
"Devdan, forgive us if we do not know anything about the value of Nexus to your people, what is it?"
Devdan placed his cup of tea down before straightening his shoulders.
"Nexus is the being who is second to the Scarlet Emperor. He is said to be the only one capable of controlling his catastrophic side," Devdan said. "He is also said to bring peace among the Ancients, the Catastrophes, the Aishahs, and the Dearils."
"I only know of Ancients and Catastrophes," I told him.
Devdan nodded in understanding.
"Ancients are the result of the mating of an Aishah and a Dearil. You are in our realm, the Dearils. You could say that our blood doesn't mix well with an Aishah's that is why the Catastrophes became a violent by-product."
Peaches slurped down the live squid; his expression was pure ecstasy.
"What of the rot?" I asked Devdan.
He scooted to the side to give space to Erendriel.
"Dearils bring rot to those creatures that are already dead and we bring their essence to our world. Catastrophes carry an early and prolonged decay, breaking the balance between life and death. While Aishahs and Ancients give life, Dearils maintain it. Our kind signifies that death is not an end; it is simply a new beginning."
He rose from his place, standing behind me. He touched my rotting wing. The pain that I got used to lessened and the pinion disintegrated into black sparkles of light.
"You seem to have deposed yourself, Your Highness," Devdan commented.
Some of the bones that hooked the crown were still left in my scalp which gave him the clue of my status. He raised his hands as if he did not mean to offend me.
"I left our kingdom and they were trying to get me back. They...slaughtered the people I held dear to me. I don't want to have anything to do with them anymore," I confessed.
Devdan smiled softly and warmly.
"I see, it is only natural for you to feel that way, my lord," he comforted. "Royalty should not be used as a mere status symbol; it should not be a sign of power and richness— those should only be small parts of being from the royal family. Royalty should symbolize the might of the people because they are for the people, but at the same time, you should not lose your self-identity, my lord."
Devdan's hand squeezed my shoulder as he would do to a son. It was as if he was aware of what had occurred behind the castle walls.
"Thank you," I replied, reflecting on his advice.
"What I only ask of you my lord is to not vanish like the Scarlet Emperor. The man was fair and just, but the Aishahs had done him wrong. When he disappeared, your kind attacked ours and wiped out our royalty. We were reduced into hiding and depended on my father's power to hide us. When he passed, that unique gift was given to Erendriel."
I looked at the young boy who ate innocently. He was fed by his mother. Food was all over his lips.
"He carries such a burden alone?" I asked.
Devdan lowered his head in shame and began to tear up.
"I wanted to accompany him, but his power does not allow another Dearil to come in and out of the realm as they please. If he stays beyond the phases of decay of the last corpse he handles, we will forever be locked in this realm.
So this little boy wandered about on his own. With the way he scurried away from strangers, he must be attacked frequently.
"His power cannot be passed to anyone?" I asked.
"Only the Nexus can carry it," Devdan said.
"Hand it down immediately."
He appeared overwhelmed by my sudden decision. He slammed his head on the ground as he bowed exaggeratedly.
"Tha—Thank you my lord!" he cried out.
He rushed beside his son, placing his hand over his head.
"Son, you can live with us longer now. Lord Nexus will take that power from you."
My name is Lucian.
Erendriel's big eyes widened even further. A smile spread across his lips before it suddenly became an outburst of cries.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, onii!"
"Lucian..." Peaches murmured.
I looked over to him, finding him touching his stomach. "The squid is moving."
I did not know what consequences I would gain from carrying Erendriel's gift, but having my blonde hair grow blue tips certainly was the start of it. My only concern now was my other wing. I couldn't sleep properly with it sticking out of my back.
We bid our farewell with the Dearils. Peaches teleported us back to the camp.
Their welcoming reactions were expected but nothing could go past the werewolf's powerful sense of smell.
"Where the fuck have you been?!" Slade questioned.
"We thought they had backup. We tried to peacefully interrogate this man," Sevor spoke coldly, raising a beaten-up Segreth from the ground before dropping him.
Caleb had a deep scowl on his face as his nose was twisted unpleasantly.
The Dearils didn't smell at all. What was causing him to sniff in such a suspicious way?
"You touched him..." Caleb seethed. "You fucking touched him!" He growled deeply at the reaper.
"Caleb—" my sentence was cut short when Sevor snatched me away from Caleb's line of vision as he charged with rage against Peaches.
The reaper blankly looked at him and remained unfazed by his anger. As their distance closed, the angel landed from the sky, standing in between them.
"Wait!"
He tried to stop the werewolf but his noble goal was rewarded with a smash on his masked-face.
"Out of my fucking way!" The werewolf screamed.
The angel's body hit the pot that had food which triggered Slade's tic.
"Arschloch! (Asshole!)" He cussed, charging towards Caleb.
Peaches merely dodged the werewolf's attacks. He was unimpressed.
"Stop, you will endanger the children!" Sevor shouted.
"Shut up, pickle dick!" Caleb and Slade snapped.
Eventually, Sevor got involved in the fight. The angel would always get launched away whenever he would stop the brawl.
"Lucian, it's good that you're back," Crowley greeted.
Ziru and Buck hugged my legs while Rui let out a "hmph" which meant:
"Glad you're okay."
My eyes spotted Kox looking at something at the top of the rocky walls. I followed his gaze and so did the others who weren't focused by the five's rowdy play.
There stood a man wearing dark and purplish armor with a rotting Pegacorn that resembled Argo, standing by his side.
"...Brother?"