Chapter 55: Li Yan of The Former Li Family

  "Want them back?" Serah stared at her in bewilderment, "What are you talking about?! Didn't the other side only have five people? A-And, who are you?!"

  Willow smiled wide when she heard this, "Me? I'm Li Yan of the former Li family that you annihilated. Daughter of Hecate and an acquaintance of Hannah."

  "Li Yan? Of the Li family?" Serah stared at Willow in disbelief, "Hold on! You're Hecate's daughter?! Liar! Hecate already has a daughter. There's no chance that she'd have another one."

  "Oh, but I am." Willow smirked wider.

  "Prove it!" Serah smirked as she tried to regain her posture.

  "I already did." Willow chuckled.

  Serah looked to her in confusion as Willow pointed to the black dog struggling back to Serah's side, "Black dogs are the familiars of Hecate ever since she saved the Queen of Troy during its fall by turning her into a black dog. Do you think black dogs, much less a hell hound like Cerberus, would dare to attack her or that of her blood? How sad! I feel sorry that she must follow such a thoughtless owner."

  Hearing her mocking words, Serah's eyes widen in bewilderment. She had thought that something was strange when her dog refused to even attack her, but to think she recklessly threw her black dog at a child of Hecate. When the fall of Troy occurred, the queen lept into the sea when she was pursued by her enemies and Hecate was the only one to reach out to her during that time. If not, she would've been in the Underworld with her father! Since then, all black dogs have shown great loyalty towards humans, especially women. Throwing her black dog at her was like throwing two magnet of the same side at each other and hoping for it to attract! What a fool she was!

  "You..." The girl scowled and pointed at her, "You said your name was Li Yan?! Impossible! The Li family doesn't have such a person! If so, we would've caught you along with their other daughter?"

  "Their other daughter?" Willow raised a brow feigning confusion as she touched her chin.

  "Of course!" The girl scoffed at her negligence of intellect, "Your sister!"

  "Ah..." Willow nodded slowly, "You mean, my aunt, then."

  "Y-Your aunt?" Serah's arm faltered as she hunched over with anxiety and bewilderment written all over her face.

  "Yup." Willow smirked, "My father was never to happy about me, so he locked me away in my room all day. A few days before you attacked, my uncle saved me and sent me to a relative's place. Then, my powers went out of control and turned me into an adult. I knew I had two uncles, but never an aunt. So, what happened with her? Did she die too?"

  Seeing the warm smile on her lips spewing cold words brought a shudder in Serah's chest almost humiliating her. However, she was her father's daughter! A daughter of the god of death! How could she be afraid?!

  Thinking this, Serah laughed, "Of course. Being the daughter of the Red King, we made use of her from the start, but she was nothing but an ugly fowl under pretty feathers. We disposed of her after she couldn't kill a single demigod that went against us on her first mission. She was just like your grandfather and father. Useless to the very end."

  "That's too bad, then." Willow sighed as soon as she heard this and stared at Serah with a smile, "Thanks for telling me the other part of my father's family that I didn't want to hear about. Can't you have used your breath for something else?"

  The girl smirked still unaffected by Willow's words as Serah shouted, "Get her, Mitra!"

The girl, Mitra jumped forward and flung a fireball at her which Willow responded by throwing another balloon at her. However, the girl simply dodged it and rushed forward without stopping. It was then that something black lept out from the shadows bursting the balloon into a cloud of dust. Willow focused on Mitra as she ducked away from the fireballs flung at her and grabbed a hold of her wrist before forcing her around. Willow pinned her to the ground which knocked her out as soon as the girl's head came into contact with the concrete floor with a thud. Willow, then, flung a tiny flame from her fingers to the dust which exploded. Willow quickly grabbed a hold of the woman and pulled her away as the explosion and surroundings dust began to clear. When it was all over, Serah stared at the dust settling when she noticed that all three demigods were gone while her surroundings have already changed into more alleyways. She inhaled deeply as she collapsed onto the ground.

  "I'm so dead..."

.....

  It had been a couple hours since Willow had returned to the hotel as she finished the last of the vaccine. She had already packed her belongings and she then drew several patterns on certain objects. Aki was flicking his tail with a wide smile on his face. Willow shook her head and tapped his head with two fingers, "What are you smiling about? Keep smiling like that and you'll be a real Cheshire cat."

  "Hah!" Aki laughed and literally smiled like the Cheshire cat in the movies.

  Willow scowled, "So ugly."

  Hearing this, Aki returned to his normal cat face with drooping ears. Willow sighed and grabbed her book again. Aki frowned when he saw her do so, "You're not worried that the enemies will come after you?"

  "Will leave as soon as two of them wakes up." Willow responded bluntly with a nod and turned the page, "I've already checked their energy. They're not under any control now, at least. Right now, Serah should be worried about reporting this to her siblings more than coming after us herself."

  "So, you know." Aki sighed.

  "I figured the moment Naxos talked about her." Willow responded, "I'd think twice if I actually saw her actually properly managing the facilities, but it's obvious that she can't even escape the illusions I created so how could it be that she can operate everything here? Nope. She's basically someone else's pawn. She's worse than Elijah."

  "You know Elijah?" Aki asked her with a look of confusion.

  "Sort of." Willow replied bluntly.

  Aki watched her curiously in thought. After a few hours, Willow closed her book and stood up from her seat. The afternoon sun and already begun to set Willow nodded as she walked over to the bed side of the woman and saw that the woman starting to open her eyes. Aki who saw this raised a brow and jumped to his feet. He had only taught her how to sense energy last night and she could already sense the fluctuation of energy without needing to come in contact with them.

  "Where is this..." The girl responded as she got up.

  "Beijing." Willow responded, "You're in China."

  "No way..." The woman jolted up and looked around.

  When her eyes met Willow's, she frowned, "You... You're Li Yan."

  Willow laughed, "Nah. But, it's good to know that not everyone was unconscious during the whole thing."

  "Who are you?" Mitra said a little startled when she noticed the bandage on her arm.

  "Me?" Willow smiled, "I'm Willow."

  As Akira jumped onto the bed as Willow added, "That's Aki."

  Mitra stared at the cat in confusion, "I don't remember seeing him."

  "If you can see me, then my efforts would be all for nothing." Aki responded with a yawn.

  "I-It talked?!" Mitra gapped at him in bewilderment.

  "That was rude." Aki frowned when he heard that.

  "Sorry..." Mitra responded nervously before turning to Willow.

  Willow shrugged, "He's my familiar."

  "But, I thought you were a child of Hecate." Mitra narrowed her eyes.

  "Who said Willow was a child of Hecate?" Willow smirked.

  When she heard this, Mitra's eyes widen in bewilderment, "But that black dog-!"

  Willow chuckled, "Doesn't mean you have to be a child of Hecate to avoid the black dog."

Mitra stared at Willow with confusion. Finally, Willow yawned and turned her head away from her to the wall, "It seems that someone else has woken up too."

  Mitra looked to her in confusion as Willow made her way for the door, "Ah, right."

  She turned to her, "We'll be leaving in a bit. There's a bunch of zombies outside so don't leave the premises without me."

  "Zombies?" Mitra looked to her in confusion.

  Willow sighed, "It's poison that eats away the brains of its victims rendering them into a zombie like state for a few minutes before they really die."

  She pointed to her own arm gesturing as she said, "That's what the vaccine is for. To prevent the culprit from surviving in your body. I don't have the time to go search for your health record, so I just gave it to you. It's either that or you risk getting turned into those zombies."

  "Oh." Mitra looked to the bandage as she recalled those awkward figures.

  Willow then walked out the room and could hear the other door open as well. She looked over and could see the blond hair figure pause as soon as he stepped out and saw her.

  "Hey, do you know where we are?" Lia called out.

  "Beijing." Willow responded with a sigh.

  "Beijing?" Lia frowned in confusion and looked around seemingly not to care too much about their situation, "But, we were supposed to have gone to Hong Kong. Have you seen another other people?"

  "Yup." Willow laughed, "Mitra is in here and Grin is in a room between the two of you."

  "I see." Lia smiled, "Thanks!"

  Willow nodded with a smile, "Just don't leave the building. There is an outbreak of zombies outside."

  "Zombies?" The guy raised a brow.

Willow nodded, "Yup."

  "Did they find who's responsible for it?"

  "Nope." Willow smiled, "But, it's better to believe that it's Serah and her sibling's doing."

  "Serah?" Lia raised a brow, "Who's that?"

  Willow sighed, "The daughter of Hades."

  "The daughter of Hades?" He stared at her in bewilderment, "Could you be...?"

  "You come to conclusions pretty quick, huh?" Willow smirked, "I say the name Mitra and you don't respond. Not even when I said we're in Beijing and didn't have a single accent. Does it really seem like I'm a tourist here?"

  Upon realization, Lia's eyes widen in bewilderment as a scowl formed on his lips, "Who are you?"

  "Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

  "Lia."

  "Willow." She responded with a smile, "Your friend just woke up too. You can talk to her about the situation. But, get ready to leave later. Serah would give us a chase after she finds her siblings."

  "So, you're not with the enemy." Lia concluded.

  "Nah." Willow shrugged, "I found no reason to be, should I?"