Chapter 104: Between Saints - Connections
Late at night, in a room with a long black oak table, surrounded by thirty equally black chairs, Athena listened to the story of the representative of the elves.
The representative was like most elves. Tall, thin, young, long golden hair, too white skin, blue eyes and long pointed ears.
The man had an expression of distress and grief on his face. His eyes were red from crying and his lips trembled with every word.
"After destroying the whole village and half the forest with the battle...." The man said gasping in tears.
"What happened after they destroyed the forest?" Athena asked calmly.
"...The elder and the man fought for a few more hours and then, to protect us, the elder sacrificed herself and was defeated..."
"She died?" Athena narrowed her eyes at the thought of Nimo. "Nimo died?"
"No..." The man replied and Athena sighed in relief. "She was taken by the man."
"Who was the person she was fighting?" Athena asked.
"They wasn't just one." The man said while lowering his head. "They was a man and twin girls. They said their names were Gion, Neu and Eun. The soldiers fought and managed to capture one of the girls, but..."
"Gion? Why?"
As far as Athena knew, Gion and Nimo were friends and it didn't make sense for the two to fight on such an aggressive scale. At least not for Athena.
As she tried to think of a reason for such an act, Anemus entered the room bringing a tea set.
"Sorry, I heard that last part and I have something to tell you about two important things I haven't had a chance to bring up yet." Anemus set the tray on the table and looked at the man and then at Athena. "One is about Gion and the other is about Fotiá, but no one else should listen."
Athena looked at the elf who quickly understood the look that told him to leave. The man got up from his seat and left the room after saying goodbye, leaving only Athena and Anemus in the place.
Anemus sat next to Athena and pouring tea she began to tell Athena everything Gion had told her about the woman trapped in the mana crystal in the underground of the castle and about the Tormentor.
Athena already had part of the information about the Tormentor and quickly understood what Anemus was referring to. Uran already had told her a part of the story about Gion and Nimo's group. Now with what Anemus told her, she could understand the situation better. But there was still a part of the story that was missing and didn't allow her to see the entire painting.
"It still doesn't explain why Gion and Nimo fight..."
Anemus sipped her tea and thought briefly. "If that child really is Faena, wouldn't she have the necessary information?"
"Of course, Faena is their creation!" Athena said with a more relaxed face. "So, what do you have to say about Fotiá?"
"Fotiá said that a while ago she used a magic on you..."
"Magic?" Athena thought for a moment, trying to remember of Fotiá using magic on her, but nothing came to mind. "Hmm... I think she's wrong... I don't remember anything like that."
"Are you sure about this? Don't you remember a stream of light, or something like it, linking you to her?"
"Ah! Oh!" Athena exclaimed with the memories coming to her mind. "That time we went to Reiden..."
"About that, this spell is called "Eternal Bond"." Anemus said with an apprehensive look. "It's a magic that only nymphs can use with their masters to bind their souls together for eternity. Not even death can separate them. If one dies, the other will too and that's why I want you to be careful and drive away Fotiá of any conflict that might result in her death and subsequently yours."
Athena was speechless and afraid. She feared that because of her, Fotiá might come to die. It made her thirst for power to grow quickly.
What Athena didn't know was that someone was already taking care of this matter for her.
***
Days before the Imperial festival, Ella and Lucifer were together for a whole day and after spending an entire day with Lucifer, understanding the demon lord's situation and urgency in speak with Athena, Ella came up with an idea to help her gain the empress's trust.
Ella and Lucifer traveled for ten days at Ella's insistence. Ella wanted to have an adventure and with her, made Lucifer limit her powers and strength in fights against monsters.
After ten long days of fighting, walking and camping, they arrived in a dense and quiet forest. After a few hours of walking through the grove, she reached her destination.
They were in front of a stone wall that had a grotto covered for vines and moss at its base. Excitement on her face, Ella ran into the cave, followed by an annoyed Lucifer.
"I can already feel the mana that has an abundance of holy element, it is deeper." Ella's voice echoed off the rocky walls.
"Wouldn't it be easier to destroy everything around, take what we want and leave?" Lucifer asked.
"It would be easier, but what's the fun in do it, where's your adventure sense?" Ella said as she squeezed herself between two stone walls.
"I don't pass there..."
"Why- Ah…" Ella looked at her tiny breasts and Lucifer's big breasts and frowned. "Why don't you pull them out?"
"Why don't you fill yours with ice?"
"Tsk!"
"I'll wait outside..."
"Okay, I'll be right back." Ella said to Lucifer's back. "What I don't do to kill my boredom..."
Ella went through the entire cave, dodging rocks, flying over holes, crouching and squishing between boulders.
All this was just for the fun of the adventure that she could only have if she limited what she could do and, of course, create a means of interaction between Athena and Lucifer, that could lead to something even more interesting for her.
"If Lucifer is telling the truth, her brother's death could bring Asherah's husband here and I could see a battle to the death between gods." Ella could barely contain herself with such anxiety and excitement. "It's a shame that Athena's death is almost concrete if that happens."
After some more time dodging rocks, flying or jumping over deep holes and squishing between stone walls, Ella found what she was looking for.
Amidst a pile of stones, a clear golden crystal shimmered amid the cold darkness at the back of the cave.
"I found you." Ella's voice echoed happily.
In front of the dragon, inside the crystal, Lhia slept. Ella's plan was to make Lucifer give Lhia to Athena and thus create a bond and debt between Athena and the demon lord.
Ella was about to change the course of everything that was happening, not even knowing what was happening.
***
In the northernmost lands of the floating continent, in the kingdom of Veand, Theikós was at last prepared to depart. She no longer felt that strange dragon's presence, but she imagined that if she headed south, at some point she would run into him.
Theikós and Elanor were in the castle garden. The snow was falling slowly, but still a frosty white carpet covered the lawn that was freezing to death that night summer.
The cold air was almost comforting to the dragon who felt her shoulders lighter and her heart fluttering with anxiety.
"Well this is a goodbye." Theikós told Elanor as she turned to face the king.
"No, Theikós, this is a 'see you soon'." Disagreed the king with a smirk, as if he wanted to remind Theikós of her blood oath.
He was totally against the dragon's departure. That's because just with her presence there, it was like having an invisible shield that protected them from invasions from neighboring kingdoms.
Furthermore, he had failed to impregnate her and generate a strong heir like the conquering king of the past.
However, even dissatisfied and opposed to the departure of the woman, the king could do nothing. She was a dragon and even if she was bound by an oath for another two hundred years, she would do what she wanted, even if it cost her her life.
Because that was her nature.
As if reading the meaning of the man's smile, Theikós smiled arrogantly and without saying anything else, spread her wings and flew away, returning to her original form in mid-flight.
***
This is a story from a long time ago. This story is about a girl, a young woman who has fallen from grace because of a goddess's grudge.
She, along with her three friends, ended a war that seemed to have no end and became one of the four heroes praised in songs and tales. But also became the symbol of tragedy and sadness to those who praised her. That's because the same people she and her friends saved, she slaughtered and in a matter of days.
Ytria's body acted, destroying everything she encountered in her path and killing everyone who entered her field of vision, but in her mind Ytria screamed in agony and cried for every life she took.
The woman only found peace when her friends stopped her. But even with a sword in her chest and crystallized in an eternal crystal coffin of mana, Ytria did not die, she could not die, Uran would not allow it.
At least not until her anger didn't calm down, which took a thousand years to happen.
Eternalized in her prison, Ytria found herself freed from the influence of her powers, but after a thousand years of being constantly drowned by hateful feelings and agonizing sadness, Ytria herself had become a corrupted existence.
From inside her prison, she was able to watch the outside world through the many mana crystals scattered all over the world.
While peace, between wars of nations, reigned on the floating islands, monsters, demons and creatures of hell terrified those who had been left behind in the world below. Yreia took advantage of that.
With whispers in the demons' ears, the Tormentor ushered the world in another dark age again. This was true for both those who already lived in disgrace in the world below, as for those who lived glorious moments of peace between wars in the world created by Lhia.
The world was soon drowned in chaos that lasted for nearly three thousand years. Demons and monsters became more active and constantly attacked towns and villages. But this time it was nothing impossible for the races to face and around the same time the immortals emerged, fighting with overwhelming force.
The demons and monsters were soon brought under control with the help of the immortals who always came back from the deads as if they were just waking up from a brief sleep.
However, this did not last long. Someone had found a way to descend to the world below and so thousands of immortals turned against the forces of good. With it, what was once only a handful of immortals in the demonic forces quickly became thousands.
Ytria reveled in so much death and destruction she had wrought. She watched it and was so happy with everything that if she could move, she would dance.
That was the only fun she had and every day was a plate full of a joy she hadn't felt for a long time.
However, there was something Ytria did not know. As she watched the world through the mana crystals, it was not her consciousness that she traveled through these crystals, but her soul. Because of that, she made a mistake.
When trying to approach Asmodeus, who stood guard at the gates of hell, her soul was sucked from inside the crystal into hell.
Hell was a strange dimension, where souls took forms, then were tortured and bathed in demonic energy that transmuted them into infernal creatures. But Ytria's soul was already full of darkness and consequently, demonic energy, all that was left for her was to find her way back.
However, like other things there, the course of time in hell was different. Ytria spent millennia and millennia in that place which she could not describe the appearance.
Everything in hell changed every second. A mountain that was on the horizon, the moment you blink, could become a muddy sea of decaying souls. This made locating the exit even more difficult, which made Ytria get lost and go down several layers of hell until she saw a door and entered.
She couldn't afford to think twice and the door vanish. Ytria opened the door that was so hot that if she had meat, her hands would be ruined. As soon as she opened the door, she quickly jumped into the bluish light that the portal gleamed.
In a room in the birthing ward of a hospital, a beautiful, smiling woman held a pretty, red-haired little girl in her arms.
"Her name is going to be Helena." Said the woman with a smile full of love. "My little and beloved Helena."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
All_J
All_J Writing this chapter I realized how big the world I created is and damn! Connecting everything has been so interesting! :3
Vote ♡
Review ◇
Comment ♤
Add to your library ♧
Please let me know if you find some error. ☆
See ya soon!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone