Acts Behind The Shadows

Inside a large room hosted a throne with several dragon skulls embedded into it. One for the head rest, two for the armrest. Sitting inside the throne was a familiar man, who's praised, and even worshipped by many as the leader of the council of BlackWing, Asmodeus.

His magical power was feared across nations. He was so powerful that people even called him a myth from not wanting to believe such a person exists.

Dozens of demons gathered together in front of him, all bowing to their knees with their hands upon their chests, sweat trailing down their forehead in fear.

They were scared, he was a tyrant in some regards.

If he didn't like one word, he would execute you on spot, that's the kind of man he was.

Wasting his time is equal to wasting your life; in other words, if you kill his time, he will kill you!

["Lord Asmodeus, we have reports, sir!"] One of the men bowing on their hands and knees spoke up, shaking off the fear in his body.

["Report? What is it about, do not waste my time."] Asmodeus responded.

["Reports from Mediocre village… our plan was successful!"]

Asmodeus widened his eyes… a bit shocked that they managed to pull it off.

But pull what off you may be asking?

["Hahahaa! So it worked! Our plans on sending the goblins to raid mediocre village managed to pay off after all!"] Asmodeus stood up from his throne, grabbing the staff next to him. ["We managed to force Godfrey to use his Dark Spirit Magic — we shall continue with these plans, and force the resurrection of our lord, Erebus."]

All the BlackWing soldiers bowed their head, agreeing to their lord, Asmodeus.

["I am glad that Mammon and her faithful servant are keeping an eye on him, it makes things easier for us to plan ahead. Just a bit more time… and the bringer of darkness shall be reborn once more."] Asmodeus chuckled, crossing his arms behind his back whilst gripping the staff. ["Those who serve the spirit of darkness will be rewarded with immortality, and to have the chance to see the world be recreated in front of our eyes as we serve Erebus for all eternity."] Asmodeus closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. ["That is what lord Erebus promised each one of us! We must follow in her footsteps and spread evil, corruption, destruction, and chaos, to honor her name as the opposite embodiment of the light spirit. Once she returns, her plan is to recreate the entire world in only evil."]

All the soldiers in the throne room stood up, saluting. ["Anything for our God, Erebus!"]

["Remember children, you're all chosen for a reason by me specifically. Do not disappoint me, and our God, Erebus. We must continue her creation by keeping balance in the world; we must continue to spread evil, as the concept of good is overpowering it in this day and age. Evil must be maintained and known, so that the concept of good will not unbalance the scale. Do you all understand? We're doing gods work."] Asmodeus and his words struck the soldiers into their hearts, making them feel special… or perhaps even important! They blindly followed him, and questioned nothing they were doing.

****

Rain poured from the gray and cloudy sky, causing rivers to overflow and animals to hide in shelters.

Deep in the forest, Emma and Margret set up camp after their recent brawl with one another, but thankfully they set the past behind and focused on what was important, and that was finding their children.

Their fire managed to keep burning even while it rained from above.

["It's raining… what a bad time for it to start now, I'm cold, and at this rate our fire will be put out soon."] Margret sat on a log in front of the campfire with her hood thrown over her head. ["Do you think this is a sign from Ferdows? Perhaps she is angry with our battle, and is granting us punishment."] Margret jokingly said.

["Perhaps that is the case, however we don't know what Ferdows is particularly thinking. She may be even laughing at us."]

["I would honestly be laughing too if I seen what we just done."] Responded Margret. ["I apologize for my rude behavior, controlling anger is quite hard for me to do, it's why I am naturally born with fire magic, as is Olivia. My family always had a bad temper, and perhaps… anger issues even."]

Emma nodded her head.

["It is fine, what's done is done. I don't hold any grudge for what happened, you're just a stressed mother, as am I."] Emma pushed a couple of leaves into the fire with a stick in her hand, keeping it fueled. ["When I saw that Godfrey left… I released a bloodcurdling scream that attracted the entire neighborhood. I was panicking, and I released so much magical power to the point that I had to be restrained by the strongest in the village… but even that wasn't enough."]

["Yes… I do remember that. I done the same, however your scream reached even the heavens. Dear god, it even broke the sound barrier!"] Margret jokingly responded, causing Emma to giggle.

["Ahahaha, I suppose so. But my boy is smart, I know he's fine, he can find a way… and so can Olivia. We must rely on them, and have faith in their capabilities."] Emma reached her hand forward, opening her palm.

["I couldn't agree more-"] Margret widened her eyes once she locked them onto Emma's hand, questioning her intention.

Though it became clear to what she wanted, which made Margret smile.

["How sweet…"] Margret extended her hand, gripping Emma's. Both of their hands were eventually holding one another, as they locked eye contact, smiling.

["Shall we say a prayer to Ferdows? Perhaps that will ease tension for the both of us."] Asked Emma.

["Go ahead, I will pray alongside you."] Responded Margret.

****

My arm was bandaged up tightly with rough bandages from the doctors. Apparently the villagers believed I had some curse put on me, so they decided to stick talismans on my bandages as well, hoping it'll force the curse out of me.

Well there's one thing I know for sure, and it's that they aren't overreacting.

I do have some curse about me, and it's Erebus.

Her power allows me to use dark spirit magic, which is one of the strongest magic's in the world from what I know.

Last time I used it, the damn thing put some crippled effect on me.

I mean it's obvious, right? Look at my arm! Shit, this is a pain in the ass, what else am I gonna do? I can't fight, my arm is wrapped in bandages with seals placed on it, and Olivia and Twirl are skeptical of me.

Also it doesn't help that my mom is out searching for me when I'm finally back home; I can't teleport to them either since I don't know where the hell they are!

Stuff just couldn't get any worse than this.

But moving on from my anxiety, and shit-show problems, I have something I need to attend to.

You may already know what it is.

ITS SLEEP!

I haven't slept in a entire day or two, and I was exhausted. I fought a dragon, felt agonizing pain from teleportation magic, became king for a day in sludge village, and gotten kissed from… Olivia—

Not like the kiss was bad or anything , I'm just not attracted to anyone.

I guess I am asexual in this life.

I opened the door to my house, walking inside to see the casserole still on the stove.

I was in shock.

Everything was… dirty… rambled… and out of order.

My mom must've really been stressed.

She definitely flipped out once she noticed I was missing from the house. I just hope she's doing alright with Olivia's mom.

But at least I had some alone time.

I told Twirl to watch over Olivia back in her place, since I was confident in my own abilities.

Once I stepped foot in, I closed the door behind me and locked it with the spare key I always kept inside my pocket. I made my way into the living room, and then the hallway.

I found my bedroom and opened the door to get inside. I was met with my beautiful room… clean and maintained.

Everything else in the house looked like shit, but my mom kept my room perfectly intact.

I could sleep for once, and once I noticed my bed, my legs already felt like they wanted to give up and just flop on the floor.

The warm… cushiony bed… that's what I needed.

My body needed it! So I ran! I ran over to my bed, leaping onto it with my one arm spread out.

I flapped on the cushion, releasing a sigh of relief to feel it after so long.

Thank god… thank god I made it home safely.

My journey was only two days, but it felt like an eternity.

But for things to return back to normal, I just need my mom back home.