City of Dust

THE NEXT DAY•••

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Diane had managed to keep everything that'd transpired the night before to herself. From the man in the dark to the woman in the mirror.....

As well as the gem she'd swallowed.....

What did it even look like again?!

She sighed while shaking her head.

For some reason, she'd found herself heading towards the little garden which was at the Centre of the castle.

Why did she care so much about meeting a violent stranger?

There was a carved stone bench at the edge of the garden. It comprised mostly of vines and common flowers all enclosed by a short fence.

The place was so unkempt, it could barely be called a garden! It was overrun by grasses and vines.

She waited about twenty minutes before a huge figure showed up. It was a man in a mask.....

His body was well built with silver hair that stopped at his shoulder.

There were no words exchanged as he approached her.

"Just who are you?". She grimaced suspiciously.

Dante's eyes narrowed under his mask. "Why do you have that mark on your shoulder?", he demanded gruffly.

She jumped to her feet. "Please don't insult my master's mark. Who are you?", she asked once more.

Master?!

His left eye twitched under the mask. "I thought you'd escaped in the human realm, but here you are...", he raised her face to his by her chin. "I see..."

As she attempted to slap his hand away, he quickly caught it. "Hmm.... You seem to have lost your memories, no wonder you'd dare raise a hand to me".

His hand at her chin moved to grab her by the waist and in a second, they both found themselves in an empty stretch of land.

"Wh-where are we?". She stammered with suppressed fright.

"This is Wrymorg, the capital city". He gestured for the large expanse of desert.

"I see no city". She managed to point out the obvious.

"Yes, as no one dares to live too close to us". He gestured for her to take his hand. Watching her hesitate, he decided to make a formal introduction. "I am Dante B Vladwick, your original master".

"My master?", a slight frown formed on her lips. "So you know who I am?".

Dante nodded without looking back at her.

"Where are you taking me? For all I know, you could be lying".

With a frown, he wrapped an arm around her waist once again. "Do I look like a liar?". His raspy voice questioned in discontent.

"I…I can't tell". She swallowed as her eyes moved sideways to the humongous dark walls which seemed almost fifty feet tall. "Outstanding!". She gaped in doubt at its longer width. There was no gate as far as her eyes could see so it was safe to assume they weren't at its front.

Dante on the other hand hated the idea of being ignored. "Tch…", as he roughly let go of her. "You always wanted to go out, so I'm taking you to see the city. It's a bit far so we can't walk….".

"I'd have to ask master Ro's permission first".

His left eye twitched. 'Master' was a name meant only for him and Ro dared to monopolize it?

He squeezed her cheeks with a hand. "You'll refer to me as 'Lord Dante', understand? And note that Ro wouldn't care as long as you're safe".

He wasn't being nice, but his aura felt somewhat familiar to her. So she didn't bother to argue too much.

Finmore had once mentioned that no intruder could climb the walls. You'd keep climbing and never see the end of it.

After her silence, pulled her closer. "I'll fly slow, so you don't have to shut your eyes all the way. Although there's nothing to see".

Her arms around his neck tightened when they'd begun to gain air level.

Dante could feel her soft bosom pressing against him as she trembled in his arms. It was somewhat comforting to see her that way…

"Open your eyes". He finally spoke up once he'd reached about twenty feet.

Diane opened her eyes to look at the walls which didn't seem to have an end. Somehow, it seemed brighter within the walls than out in the open.

"It looks so empty".

She was talking about the landscape below her.

"Yes, this place is like a void. Unlike where you're from". He'd begun to maneuver around the castle as if heading for its entrance.

"Where am I from?".

"Another world".

She looked up at his face but his eyes were cold.

"Am I really a witch?".

Dante almost laughed at those words. "Who gave you that idea?".

"Lady Ishtar".

He was silent till they passed the entrance to the walls and curved the way it pointed. Ishtar must have discovered Ro had already marked his servant, so she must have deceived them both for his safety.

Or maybe the sly fox just wanted to play tricks on them? That's could explain her sudden visit before the night 'Diane' showed up.

He sighed.

Little did they know he'd grown fond of this servant and wouldn't easily let her go. Just looking at his brother's mark on her beautiful shoulder disgusted him…

How dare he bite her?

"Lord Dante?". Diane groaned with her eyes barely open. "You're going too fast!". She felt some dust enter her mouth for each word spoken.

He hadn't even noticed. "Ohh…".

"Has Ro given you any order?". His eyes narrowed down to her exposed cleavage. Why would Ro allow her to wear such tightly fitting maid wear? Upon the fact that it was barely above her knees!

No wonder Loki had his sights on her!

If anything happened to his property, he'd decapitate them both.

"Orders?". Her head slanted in confusion.

"I'll take that as a no". He let out a breath in relief. If a master ordered a marked servant, they'd be unable to disobey no matter what the order was. It was just like summoning your servant the way he summoned Calen once in a while.

But as a human, she had no affinity for magic therefore the summoning wouldn't work for her.

"I've changed my mind, we're going to get you changed first".

"Master Ro gave me these clothes, I don't want to change them".

He gritted his teeth in frustration. It's always 'master' Ro this, 'master' Ro that, maybe it'll be better carrying her about in an unconscious state?

Or maybe he'd abandon her here and let Ro come save her the next time she said his name? Yes.

He'd already turned back in the direction of the castle, if he wanted to go faster, he could easily teleport short distances. But she'd probably lose consciousness from not being able to keep up.

Humans were so fragile.

"Didn't you hear me?", she kicked her legs in the air.

"Stop squirming or I might drop you". His voice was cold. "You'll die from this height".

"Please take me back, I want to see master-".

At those words, he let go of her.

Diane only realized she'd been falling as she found herself getting further away from the masked man in the sky.

She screamed at the top of her voice kicking and crying. "Help! I'm sorry! Sorry!". She begged a few feet away from the ground.

Three feet.

That was the distance away from the ground he'd decided to catch her. The trembling woman cried in his arms as he gained momentum. "Don't cry, you'll be safe with me". He hugged her tightly while rubbing the back of her head in comfort, although her body didn't stop quivering for a long time.

As she shut her eyes in fear, she couldn't help but wonder how messed up such a man was!

The next time her eyes came open was when her feet felt the ground. In a panic, she analyzed the unfamiliar area. "Where am I?", her hands were trembling.

"You're home, little mouse...".

There was a thudding sound outside.

"Calen?", the butler appeared. "My lord, it seems your brothers are having a brawl".

Diane's eyes moved to the butler who stood at the staircase. "You mean.... Master Ro?!".

When he didn't reply, she rushed towards the front door which flew open of its own accord.

It took about a few minutes of running before someone gripped her by the hair from behind. "There you are!", Loki licked his lips before scanning the direction she'd appeared from. "Ho ho? Dante is also interested in you?"

Her shoulder began to sting. "Oww", she rubbed the place where Ro's mark seemed to be fading.

"It seems my mark is appearing". There was excitement in his tone. "Let's go...", he pulled her hair without warning.

"Master Ro?...", her voice trailed off. "Master Ro!", she kept screaming.

"Velma...", Loki summoned.

"Yes, my lord", she appeared beside him.

A master could summon their marked servant by just calling out their name.

"After you clean her, bring her up to my room. Make sure she's in good shape...", he tossed Diane aside on the floor.

Velma bowed as her master vanished. Her eyes moved to the woman below her who was sobbing. "You should be happy, that defective prince is better off dead anyway".

"Don't speak about him that way!", Diane slapped the floor.

"Huhh?!", Velma stepped on her hand. "You should learn not to raise your voice to superiors.... I'm far above you in both looks and power". She spat on Diane's face.

The poor girl could barely feel the pain in her hand as all her attention was on what had become of Ro.

All because of her…

"Let me go!", she demanded when Velma pulled her hair.

At those words, Velma kicked the side of her head and everything went blank.