7 "Here's Nemesis!"

Tears streamed down Shane's face, as he felt Nemesis' lips still on his.

'Cold... it is so cold. I... I'm sorry that I failed you...'

"Hey. Why're you crying? Are you alright? I didn't take your virgin kiss nor did I give mine away or anything. I am not that cruel, nor am I gay. I like women and in fact, I have someone special whom I'm saving it for, I also know you have saved it for another. Open your eyes and see what's covering your mouth."

Shane slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred due to his tears flowing down his face. He was almost given a heart attack when he saw that Nemesis' eyes were only a few centimetres away from his. They weren't looking at his eyes though, instead, they were glancing down, to which he felt compelled to see what he was actually staring at. He saw what had actually come into contact with his lips. It then clicked.

'Huh... it all makes sense now. No wonder why it still feels cold. That explains how he could talk... but why?'

Nemesis' lips weren't smothered all over his, but alternatively, it was Nemesis' white-gloved hand pressed against it.

Nemesis pulled his hand away from his lips and retracted his left arm which was still being used to lean against the door. He used both his hands to wipe away the stream of tears off of Shane's face.

"Shh, I'm sorry. I just had to distract him for a second. I didn't mean to emotionally hurt you."

Nemesis tried his best to comfort Shane. He lightly held Shane's wrist and walked towards the only chair in the room, carefully sitting Shane down.

He did so and sat down, not knowing why he trusted Nemesis. He didn't even know his name!

"Wh-"

"It's alright, just stay quiet for a moment and allow me to give you something to clean up your face with, there are still tears on your face." Nemesis gave Shane a small. A caring smile, which even he could practically feel the love and care being emanated off of him. It was essentially a radiant glow being sent off by him. Shane sniffled as he felt an unknown emotion he hadn't felt in what felt like years but quickly shook off the unknown emotion to wait and see what would Nemesis do.

Nemesis conjured up a handkerchief right in front of Shane. Shane was mesmerized watching the hasty formation of the handkerchief in front of him. It started as a small black sphere, then expanded until taking a shape similar to a handkerchief then instantaneously, once it achieved its form, it transformed white.

Nemesis' smile brightened as he watched Shane's fascination for his power grow with stronger and stronger with each passing second, then handed him the handkerchief, the smile still stuck on his face.

"Use this to clean off your tears."

Shane wiped his face, removing the tears which were flowing down his cheeks. He found it extremely soft and he ended up blowing his nose with it. What he didn't know was that the handkerchief Nemesis gave him had also removed the visible red lines which had formed in his eyes, due to his incessant crying.

Once he was done he attempted to hand it back to Nemesis, but once he had finished, it vanished without a trace from his hand.

"No need to fear, nothing bad happened. I just simply removed it as you were done with it."

"How was that even possible? How'd you create it from nothing? The law of alchemy states that 'matter can't be created nor destroyed but can be converted from one substance to another', so how'd you do it? Demons can't eve-."

"Woah Woah Woah! Calm down there! When I said you could ask me your questions, I expected it to be on how I knew things about you... how about this, what is your name? I want to know what it is."

"Alright then, what is your name? I want to know what it is."

"I shall tell you... only once you tell me yours."

"..But don't you already know my name? I mean you seem to have already gotten information about me."

"I may or may not, you may only be able to guess whether or not I do. I just wish for you to formally address yourself, after all. Isn't this what you." Nemesis paused, he almost misspoke which would've led to him saying something which would've been a bit too direct, revealing the extent of his knowledge on him. "Isn't this what's called common courtesy? Revealing one's own name before asking another for their own."

"..My name is Shane Gr-..." Shane looked away, reluctant to even state his own heritage. He wished to forget it. "Just call me Shane, forget that last part."

"Well, it is my pleasure to meet you, Shane, I shall answer your question. My name is Nemesis." Nemesis replied with courtesy, even slightly bowing with his right hand placed on his chest, directly in front of where his heart was, all the while keeping eye contact with Shane

Shane opened his mouth to attempt to speak, but Nemesis instantly interrupted him. "Shane, wait here for a bit, you know what? Never mind, it'll be easier to show you, look there." Shane closed his mouth as he saw Nemesis point to the corner of the room, where he, after squinting his eyes saw a minuscule worm-like creature dangling out of a hole in the ceiling. He would never have noticed it if it weren't for Nemesis pointing it out.

"What is that... thing?" Shane asked confused, emphasizing thing. Was that here the whole time? If so, this room being their best really sucks. No wonder why those demons were so interested in you. They wished to escape this hellhole..."

"You don't understand Shane. Also, yes they were interested, which creeps me out. I mean, I'm only 4 years old."

"Seriously now, what is that thing?"

"Okay, Shane. That worm-like thing is actually a [Nightmare Worm], a parasite which is controlled by a host. It grants the host an ability similar to a camera of sorts. The host would have access to see everything which the [Nightmare Worm] sees, it's probably to spy on demons...uh... mating I guess? I mean, that's the only real reason I can think of that being here.

And since it's here, the host must be nearby. I'll make short work of that guy."

"But... this [Nightmare Worm], how would one appear in a [Rank - 12 Demonic Village]? Shouldn't they be extremely rare?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Shane, you don't understand this, nor do you understand these parasites which only affect us. [Nightmare Worms] can't be caught, they appear in one's nightmares; causing them to plummet into an eternal darkness. They also disappear once the host dies, extracting them is very hard, as once the host is dead, they vanish, presumably to haunt and leech off another demon."

"Now I gotta go catch this guy, stay here, it'll be in your best interest for you to listen to what I say. Trust me, please." Nemesis said in a pleading tone, with his hands pressed against each other. Ultimately, Shane hesitatingly agreed to stay and wait for Nemesis' return.

Nemesis then left the room with a nod and Shane heard nothing, not even the quiet sound of shoes prowling about, it was like his room had become soundproof. He could escape if he wanted to...but what Nemesis had said, how he knew what he was going through. How he specifically asked him for trust. How he spoke to him like a human, not a political tool like how his parents did...

It then hit him. He realised why he trusted Nemesis. He saw so much of himself in him, that he believed it was he himself asking politely, for he himself, to do such things. He realised, Nemesis while he seemed perfectly normal sometimes and was messing around with how he even explicitly told him that he was using an alias, there was something he was hiding. He was all too familiar with it. Acting with a false facade to hide the truth... It was something he had done, and as still currently doing to survive in the Underworld.

"Could what happened to him be something similar to my life or was it all a lie? His attire did have a unique crest on his left breast pocket, it could be like that as well for him... I think I understand now."

Shane continued to stay seated on the chair, silently, with the only noise he could hear in the entire room, his uneven breathing. He just stared, with a fixated gaze at the door, awaiting Nemesis' return.

--------

Nemesis stood outside a decaying, brown door. He had followed the trail that the [Nightmare Worm] left behind. He took one deep breath before he smirked. He opened his palm towards the ceiling, casting a [Void Capsule] within the area, so as to not alert anyone of what he was going to do.

His right arm transformed, first changing entirely into the same colour as the [Void], a purplish-black, then it quickly expanded, taking the form of a claw. His smirk faded as he jabbed his now claw hand into the wooden door, creating a hole within it. Nemesis then used his claw hand to make more space in the door. Once there was an adequate amount of room, he placed both his clawed right hand and normal left hand on opposite sides of the hole, then he stuck his face in between the two, quickly scanning the room.

'Ah ha! Found you!' Once he spotted the demon who was the [Nightmare Worm]'s host, he shouted aloud in a menacing tone.

"Here's Nemesis!"