25.

The Onyx and Jade World

Mundus growled at the small body attached to him. He grasped the female's hair in a fist, forcing the locks to ponytail in his palm. He peeled her off him and lifted her to meet her eye to eye. Her bare feet, socked up to her knees with that same crimson ribbon, minus her toes and heels, were dangling about a foot from the ground. If her position pained her, she did not show it.

"Lina!" Mundus snarled at her.         

"Master!" she smiled and tried to hug his face. Mundus extended his arm, forcing her away from him. The action waved her hair like a harsh wind through long blades of grass.

"Master!" she continued. "This one has been waiting so long for Master's return! This one has been with muth-"

Mundus clamped her mouth shut with his free hand, glared at her, and then released her. She defied gravity as she slowly floated down, her feet stopping a few inches above the grass.

"Master!" she squealed again, only this time shock outlined her words. Her mouth was agape in horror as she faced Reyna, finally taking notice of her. "A human followed Master!"

Reyna held her breath as the female came up to her. Even with her floating stature, she was half a head shorter than Reyna. She let out a soft "um" at the female's judging glare. Her eyes were a dark plum color. Mundus wrapped a defensive arm around Reyna.

The female gasped. "Oh, Master! Not again!"

"Silence!" he barked.

She whimpered and bowed her head.

Mundus let out a sigh mixed with a growl, turning away from the female to face the endless horizon. Releasing Reyna, he began to pace forward. Reyna immediately followed him and fell into step with him. 

"Twenty," Mundus suddenly grumbled in a low, commanding voice.

"Huh?" Reyna gave him a quizzical look.

He glanced down at her. "Such was not aimed at you. Lina acknowledges the order."

"Yes, Master!" she beamed from behind them. "Twenty feet for this one!"

The female hovered still in her spot as Reyna and Mundus continued to distance themselves from her. She then started after them, constantly keeping a twenty feet gap reserve. Reyna gave the female a curious glance. Then, her face lit up in realization. She whirled towards Mundus. "You have a restraining order on her or something?"

"I simply desire her apart from me," Mundus spoke looking forward. "I am not fond of her in her current form."

Confused yet curious, Reyna continued to pry. "Then why let her come? Why does she call you 'Master'? Can't you just tell her to go away?"

His sights remained forward, pace unbroken. "I can not. She is my weapon."

"Weapon?"

"The best analogy I may offer you is to label her as my sword's soul."

"What?" Reyna's paused. She had to rush forward to fall back in stride with Mundus.

"What do you mean?" she again asked. "I thought...I thought blood–" She shook her head and tried to address the situation with a different question. "Why wasn't she with you before then?"

"I have yet to obtain my full power. If she were to fuse with my blade, I would not be able to control it."

You mean you still have more power? Reyna pondered, amazed at the impressive potency he already radiated.

"Master?" Lina's voice piped from behind them.

"No." Mundus came to a halt as if to enforce his response.

Reyna also stopped, puzzled. She then jerked to her right, but no one pulled her. It was her newly awakened power acting as her instinct to get out of the way of something. Only this time, she was able to react with it. She felt it. Her necklace synced her with her powers even in the Demon World.

"Lee-nah!" Mundus' harsh snarl was heard as he ripped her name apart with each syllable.

The blade Spirit, unfazed by her Master's harsh voice, sped by where Reyna and Mundus were standing moments ago. She halted in front of a massive tree that had slowly sprung into view during their walk up to it. Jumping up the incredible height to one of the higher, bigger branches, Lina sat on it and snapped off one of the smaller limbs growing from her wooden seat. She then pushed off and slowly hovered down. As always, her feet never touched the ground. The twig she held in her hand stemmed multiple, thinner branches which held several red leaves. She plucked one and placed it in her mouth. Then another, eating them like chips.

Again, Mundus growled. Lina gave him an innocent look almost to the point of tears. "This one is sorry, Master, but this one was so hungry!"

Reyna walked over to Mundus. "What is she doing?"

"It is this one's nourishment!" She smiled and bounced, happy with her treat.

"Nourishment?" Reyna slowly repeated.

Lina, the soul to Mundus' sword, was eating leaves that the same thick, ruby hue that matched the color of human blood. In fact, as Lina bit each piece of foliage, they erupted beads of red juice.   

Reyna inhaled a small gasp, and Mundus knew she pieced it together.

"Is that blood? Is there blood in the leaves?" she asked. It sounded silly, the deranged words weighing on her lips. After all, this was Demon World. Why not have blood in the trees?

Lina hovered up to Mundus as she discarded her now bare twig. "Master, this one is full. This one wishes to fuse with the Blade."

"You are aware of the inability to accomplish that. Do not annoy me with such requests," Mundus crudely spoke.

She lowered her head in defeat but it then snapped up as she beamed a smile. Lina then held her palms up to Mundus, an object perched on top of them. It was a silver sword sheath with braided red strings similar in color to Lina's attire. Where she had secured it from, it was impossible to know.

"This one kept it safe for Master!" she proudly said, gazing up at Mundus. Without a glance at the Spirit, he snatched it from her, sheathed his sword, fastened it on his belt, and walked past the smiling Lina. She obediently waited her twenty feet before hovering behind.

"Mundus," Reyna hissed in anger as she caught up to him, her questions still unanswered. "How is that possible? You told me human blood powers your sword. How is it that human blood grows in your trees too?"

He stopped and bore into her eyes. He said nothing, only turned away and quickened his stride. Reyna sighed and pursued. The silence that accompanied them enhanced the lonely atmosphere. The only thing that could be seen was a soft clash of green ground and black sky, making their walking senseless despite its inhuman pace. That was another thing. Why was someone as impatient as Mundus walking? A fast demon pace, yes, but walking all the same.

"Where exactly are we going?" Reyna finally spoke. Mundus' eyes shifted towards her, but again he did not speak.

"Hey!" yelled an irritated Reyna as she circled in front of him. He coldly glared down at her. "Why all of a sudden the cold shoulder treatment?"

Mundus was no longer looking at Reyna, his head towards the sky. An annoyed look crossed his features. Reyna too looked up. The lightless sky was darker then a moonless earth night. There was a lack of stars and, oddly, a moon.

"I doubt you will be able to leap as great a distance as if yet," Mundus spoke still staring up. Without warning, he grabbed Reyna around the waist and jumped up into the inked sky high enough for the ground below to be swallowed up in darkness. Lina quickly mirrored the action. The black encased them all. Then, something slowly began to phase through the obscured sky.

Hovering in the blackness was what appeared to be a broken comet. Triangular masses of land hung down from it like fragmented fangs. The top of the comet-like mass was mostly flat where an enormous castle sat on it. Windowless and door-less, the entire edifice was made of smooth stones perfectly fitted onto each other. Each brick was outlined with a purple glow that gave the castle the illusion of being graced by a violet mist. Crooked towers with flat, copper roofs sprouted like tree limbs from the structure's walls. Some hung low enough to touch the strange, floating ground.

Suddenly, solid ground met their feet, and the castle was directly in front of them. The following second brought shadows upon them once more. The air was cold, each breath chilling their lungs and throat. 

"It will be dark and frigid, but we shall take leave soon," Mundus' voice spoke out to reassure the bewildered Reyna. He knew she was the only of the three that could not see.

"Where ah-ah-are we?" Reyna sputtered through her quivering as she hugged herself. "I c-can't see."

Mundus grabbed her hand. Reyna welcomed the warm touch. "Simply follow me," he instructed.

Their steps echoed upon a silvery, polished floor. The room was gigantic and plain, like a smooth, grey cave. Every couple dozen of steps, the walls on the sides opened up a doorway that gave entrance to a set of stairs. Some lead up and other descended down. Eventually, their slow pacing lead them to a pair of ruby encrusted doors several meters tall. The red oddly glistened in the dark, bright enough that Reyna could see their sparkle.

Mundus' grip on her hand tightened. Up ahead was a room full of absolute power. The ball of Magika was composed of two entities. One possessed an equal power, if not more, to Mundus' current standing. The other, however, made up the majority of the incredible essence that engulfed the three of them even behind the gigantic closed doors. Mundus let go of Reyna's hand to push them open. The power literally pressed up against the three, seeping into their skins. Reyna, the weakest, almost doubled over as the Magika slapped her body down. Blinded once more and suffocating under such a thick atmosphere, she tried to reach for Mundus.

"She is human and can not see." A female voice graced through the darkness. It was solid with authority, yet beautiful. A voice one wouldn't mind taking order from yet wouldn't dare defy.

Suddenly, fire erupted from the ceiling. With their appearance, Reyna could stand and breath normally again. The floating flames formed a huge oval, illuminating the room's simple but bizarre furnishings. The walls dripped the same inflamed color as the leaves from Demon World's towering trees. In fact, imprints of vines, branches, leaves and other foliage were etched on the walls as if hidden vegetation grew behind them. The verdure was so detailed, their tiny, delicate veins cast shadows among the walls as if gripping the surface with small, thin fingers.

The floor was black. Deep and impenetrable, the shadows of the three individuals could not be seen on it. The only thing that disrupted the blackness was the thick, rubicund path that ran on the floor from the room's entrance, up two stairs, and under the feet of a woman who sat on a platform throne.

She looked like a child sitting upon such a huge seat. Colossal in size, the back of the chair trailed high enough to almost touch the ceiling's hovering fire. The throne was a dark golden color. The arms were curved and latched to the back of the seat, spilling onto the ground with mind numbing constructions engraved on them. Some of the carvings were blackened with age, giving the rest of the golden chair a dull yet ancient look. The seat's cushion, a deep red, sometimes peeked from under the long, violet hair the woman had.

Her dress was an elaborate puff of green lace. The black corset-like top of her dress fashioned off a bustling chest that dared compete with Lina's. Her face, however, remained hidden under an odd-placed shadow. Obviously, she was the one who was emitting the huge power level. The second person that was sensed seemed to be absent from the room.

Lina's squealed with laughter as she sped past Reyna and Mundus and wrapped herself around the demon-woman's legs. She placed a cream colored hand on the sword Spirit's head and smiled.

"Lina," she cooed. "You must be happy to have finally found Mundus." She shifted her head out of the shadows, eyes shooting towards the mentioned demon. Her right eye was a bright red, while her left eye was a dark green.

"However," the woman continued, "something is amiss with him. You are searching for your body, yes, Mundus?"

He stiffened. "Yes," he gruffly answered.

"Well it does not reside here," her pale lips spoke.

"I shall then take my departure." Mundus' sentence was halfway spoken as he turned and began to walk away.

"Dear! Wait!" She hastily stood up, almost knocking the nuzzling Lina away. Her face briefly wrinkled into ultimate despair as fast as it composed itself. She quickly walked up to Mundus, her dark purple hair draping behind her like a wedding gown tail.

"What?" Mundus exposed his fangs in an annoyed snarl. He looked down at the female demon that stood no taller than Reyna.

"She is your new interest," the she-demon spoke with a soft smile turning towards Reyna who stood close to Mundus. "I am Blethinette, Queen of Demon World and its demons. I am queen of mortals as well."

Perplexed at her words, Reyna slurred out "Mortals?" before she could stop herself.

"Yes." Blethinette's smile widened, her voice melting into a sweet tone. "Yes. I am your queen too. Do you wish to hear how such is possible?"

Lina hovered over to them. "Story!" she clapped her hands together and again plopped herself by Blethinette's feet.

"Such an utterance is unnecessary." Mundus grabbed Reyna by her arm and steered her away from the demon queen. Reyna was too amazed by Mundus' rude defiance to question where they were going. Did he not sense her power? Mundus was ignoring the queen's request. His queen's request.

"Stop or I shall not reveal to you where your body resides." The queen's commanding voice returned, solid enough to shake any demon. Mundus, however, was not.

"We shall secure it ourselves," he grunted.

"He has it."

This time Mundus halted. Blethinette smiled.

"Come, dear. Turn around and come back." Her voice dropped back to its sweet, airy state.

Mundus roughly sighed before leading Reyna back to the middle of the throne room, several feet away from the queen. Reyna again chose to huddle close to him.

"At least hug me, dear. I have not seen you in so long! When your hollow body appeared here only accompanied by Lina's Spirit, I did worry so much!" Blethinette suddenly spewed. Another pained look quickly visited her face as she gazed at Mundus.

The moon demon scrutinized the queen for a few silent moments before walking over to her. He enveloped her small frame into his.

"Oh, Mundus." Blethinette seemed to weep into his chest. From the floor where Lina still sat arose a whimper.

Bewildered, Reyna simply stood, quietly staring at the odd scene before her. The two demons parted, Mundus returning to Reyna's side as Blethinette returned to her golden throne. Lina soon followed after her.

When the queen sat down, she smiled. "Dear," she again spoke to Mundus but spoke of Reyna, "she will learn of her nature."

He did not speak, but by his uncomfortable shifting, it was obvious he knew what she meant by her obscure words. The queen sensed his discomfort.

"I shall allow her to live." The queen's voice snapped with frost, portraying her true feelings towards the mortal in the room.

Mundus gave up. "I was in thought as to how I would secure her out alive. Very well. Account your tale."

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Author's Note: I know some of you are probably on vacation now, so I hope you're enjoying  your time off. Also hope you're enjoying my story. Yay.

Feel free to tell me what you think. Even if you don't, thanks for reading and for your support!

Drawing: Lina by x_Luminous_x