Hi hi!
So, here on in, a lot of chapters are going to take a little while longer. School is tough, but life is tougher, you know?
Hopefully, I'll be able to come back at writing with a full swing, but for now, updates will kinda be scattered and all over the place.
But, enough with that, let us move it on!
ONWARDS!
The moment they went stopped before the castle, Violet couldn't help but feel small.
Even while standing on a roof, she still felt the castle tower over and above them, "So…How do we plan to get in?"
"Sneakily and quietly." Jade murmured, pulling a sort of gun-like object from one of her belts. She shot it up, tugging the line twice after it hit, before pulling the trigger again. With that, she zipped off, flying towards one of the many roofs of the castle.
"Not all of us can do that!" Violet shouted, unsure if Jade could hear from the top. The castle looked like a whole collection of tall gothic towers, all built to look like whoever built this was attempting to stab the heavens with the spirals at the top of each tower. Within the center seemed to be a home base of sorts, a wide castle-like building with a slightly dome-shaped roof.
Violet yelped when she was suddenly picked up bridal style, giving Corvus an odd look, before realization struck, "You're not actually gonna attempt to-."
She was cut off when she suddenly felt them both go up into the air, Violet shouting anything that came to mind as she gripped onto whatever her hands could grab. Which made it all the more funny when one hand grabbed Corvus' hair and the other his jacket.
"JESUS CHRIST, WHY!?" Violet sobbed, pressing her forehead into his jacket as to not feel too sick. It also helped that, if she were to throw up, it would be all over him.
"Ah, just like old times, yes?" Corvus sighed, sounding near nostalgic, before finally coming to the top, landing right next to Jade, who had just finished pulling herself up.
"Nice legs, your highness." Jade jeered, "Extra style points for getting a handful of ass in that hold."
"You are vile." Corvus muttered, setting Violet down.
"Aren't we all?" Jade grinned, shrugging before turning to Violet, "You still got that bow?"
"Yep." Violet muttered, pulling it out, before looking around, "Hey, where's Hope?"
"Right here!" Hope said, her voice sounding as if it were still over the side.
All three of them looked over, watching as Hope hulled herself up onto the roof next to them, "Sorry I took so long, the ladder was ridiculously rusty."
"Wait, there was a ladder?" Violet said, before punching Corvus in the shoulder, "What the hell!?"
"In my defense, I didn't think that you wanted to take such a long time." Corvus said, his smirk doing little to nothing when it came to his defense, "Also, I'm told that tetanus can kill."
Violet kicked him in the shin, cursing when he didn't even twitch, before facing Jade, "What now?"
"Follow me." Jade murmured, running to the other side of the roof, before jumping off.
"Hope she got impaled." Hope muttered, looking over the side, only to curse silently, "Wistful thinking."
"I can still hear you, ya know." Jade shouted from her rooftop. Corvus jumped down first, holding his hands up and open, ready to catch Violet.
"Let me fall and I haunt you in the afterlife." Violet grumbled, squeezing her eyes shut before going through with the trust fall.
She let out a squeak, falling right into Corvus' arms, "As if I'd allow you to fall, my lady."
"Stop it with the gross lovey dovey shit already." Jade said, making a face as Hope jumped down, nearly slipping off the roof, "It's disgusting. On a side note, here's our way in."
Jade brushed some dirt and dust off the roof with her boot, revealing a small latch. She got down on one knee, prying it open, before jumping down.
"You know, I'm starting to think that fighting our way through the front door would have been a heck of a lot easier." Violet muttered, looking down into the hatch, before jumping down herself.
The moment her feet touched the ground, the castle interior changed. She swore that the castle seemed to be illuminated by something red, the walls were made of a dark obsidian, with red tapestries lining the hallways.
Something didn't feel right. All of whatever she was seeing, it was like it was from some distant nightmare, something she'd seen in her head from a long time ago.
She only snapped out of it when Corvus landed behind her, the sound of his shoes seemingly chasing away the vision, "My lady, are you well?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah." Violet muttered, pulling an arrow out of her bag, pulling it back, "I really do hope that I don't run into the same problem I did with Jade over here."
"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it," Jade insisted, Hope jumping in after them, the latch to the roof closing after her soon later, "But, when it comes to pointers from earlier, I'd advise you pull the string back all the way."
"All the way, got it." Violet muttered, pulling the arrow back all the way, only to yelp when the string flew from between her fingers, the arrow becoming embedded into the floor, "Whoops."
"...Additional note," Jade sighed, looking around to make sure that no one was around, before walking down the hallway, "Make sure that you have a good grip on that string."
"I'll keep that in mind as well." Violet muttered, the three of them following Jade around.
Jade was right, the whole place was a maze.
Each turn lead to a corridor that looked exactly the same to the one that they already were in, "You sure we didn't already turn this corner? I could have sworn I've seen this carpet already." Violet muttered.
"It's the same carpet all over this place." Jade muttered.
"Yeah, well, doesn't mean that I haven't seen it already."
"We're getting close, I'm sure of it." Jade said, before holding a finger over her mouth, "Now shush, we need to be quiet."
Violet nodded, putting her mind to it. Yes, she was going to do her damn best to be as quiet as possible. Hell, ninjas would be jealous of her immense skill in the art of the silent attack.
Of course, that was the perfect moment for her to turn around, right into a lone stand. Of course, that stand was holding a vase, and of course the vase falls right over, shattering on the ground.
"Oh, come the fuck on!" Violet shouted, shrugging when Jade gave her a look, "What? You can't tell me that someone isn't trying to screw me over! A random vase in an empty hallway? The hell's up with that!?"
Hope dashed over, covering Violet's mouth as she did so. All the while, Corvus looked around, eyes narrowed, "...My lady, I ask that you stay with them. There is another danger afoot."
"Wait, what- Hey! Corvus!" Violet shouted, albeit muffled. Either way, it was all for nothing, since once second Corvus is standing there, and the next, she vanishes completely.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Crow Prince." Jade spat, before throwing her head to the side, cursing as she attempted to get Violet and Hope to move down a different corridor, "Come on, this way! Crap, they know we're here."
"Before you start blaming me, do realize that I'm not the one that decided to fall and shatter all over the floor." Violet spat, the two others each grabbing an arm, dragging Violet between them.
"Yeah, well, you were the one to push it over." Jade sneered.
"That was all gravity."
Before anything else could be said, Jade came to a sudden stop, pulling Violet (and Hope in return) into the wall, pulling them into the hallway indent.
Before either could ask, two hooded figures walked by, looking as if they were in a hurry.
Once they left, Jade let out a sigh of relief, "Oh, it's just Colten and Haleigh."
"Wow, you know them by name?" Hope murmured, her voice holding just a hint of skepticism.
"When you've been stuck in this damn town for as long as I have, you begin to pick up names and faces real quick if you wanna live." Jade muttered.
They came to a sudden stop, Jade looking as if she were waiting to be shot, before pushing a door open, "Hurry it up, in here." Without another word, she shoved them both in, closing the door behind them.
"Alright, let me think…" She murmured, pacing around the small room as she did so, "If Colten and Haleigh are going out, then that must mean that the other three are either still here, or it's only Blythe."
"After all that in the hallway, I'm sure that they know we're here," Hope added on, "So there goes out element of surprise."
"So, for all we know, Greyson could already be gone." Violet finished, before going over to punch the wall. Of course, it hurt her more than the wall, "Fuck!"
"Maybe we could have kept safe if someone hadn't decided to push a vase over and break it!" Jade offered, her tone lacking any real accusation, but her smile said it all.
"I'm telling ya, that thing just moved to my side! It was begging to be broken!"
"And you gave it it's wish. Wow, what kind of sadistic person are you? Bet if I asked you to kill me, you'd go through with it."
"Getting mad won't solve anything." Hope intervened, giving them both a look, before turning to Jade, "Where do we go from here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Jade muttered, before throwing her fist into a bookshelf, "Fuck, thanks for nothing, bird brain!"
"Can't you just order him back?" Hope asked, giving the ring on her finger a skeptical look, "I mean, you have his sign on you, right?"
"He said our contract was in the ring." Violet murmured, twisting the ruby rings around her finger, "But I can't."
Jade snickered, "Some servant."
"No, I think I understand why." Hope murmured, before cursing lightly to herself, "Damn, it could be him."
Before Violet could ask, Jade threw a hand over Violet's mouth, placing a finger over her own while giving both her and Hope a look.
For a few seconds, Violet swore that she heard nothing, only to nearly jump when footsteps walked by.
They were heavy, almost demanding in a way, as they strolled on by. Normally, you couldn't tell a lot about a person from their footsteps, but Violet could practically feel the power and control that resonated from whoever was walking on behind the door.
A cold sweat went down Violet's back when the footsteps stopped right in front of the door. Jade gave the two a look, before jumping off to the side, disappearing into the bookshelves.
"Jade!" Hope hissed softly, Violet only given enough time to pull Hope out of the line of sight as the door began to open.
Without looking back, Violet dashed down into the rows of bookshelves. It was only now that she realized how much bigger this place was than she had first thought.
Violet stopped in a random row, making sure that they're footsteps were as quiet as humanly possible, "Keep it down." Violet insisted, before looking around.
She could hear footsteps coming up from the left, cursing lightly before pushing Hope along. She wasn't sure who it was who had opened the door, but one thing's for sure.
Whoever it was, it knew they were there.
"Where did Jade go?" Hope whispered when Violet finally stopped.
"I don't know." Violet muttered, looking around to make sure no one had followed them, "It's kinda dim in here, hard to see."
Hope cursed, "What if she just left us here?"
"What? No way." Violet insisted, stepping back. Of course, her being her, she walked right back into the bookshelf, quickly reaching up to push the books in before they could drop on her, "We made a deal or something, right?"
"Demons are great at finding loopholes." Hope stated in a sort of "as a matter of fact" tone, looking like she was about to go on when a new voice spoke.
"I know you're out there."
The voice was female, and way too haunting to be normal. Her voice reminded Violet of how an organ sounded; pretty in a sort of ethereal and almost creepy way.
"Don't keep trying to run; you'll just waste all of our time."
"You go that way," Violet whispered, pushing Hope forward before turning around to grab a book, "I'll lure her this way."
Violet didn't give Hope any time to object, before dashing off in the other direction, "Well, it's not like I've got anything better to do today! I love hide and seek!" Violet shouted, dashing in and out of rows of bookshelves.
The voice laughed, much to Violet's discomfort. Looking around, he grabbed the nearest blunt object; a book. Honestly, it wasn't like the bow and arrows would do her much good in a dim place with no open space, and that's assuming that she could shoot, "You can't hide forever."
"Don't plan to!" Violet shouted right back, waiting for a few seconds before sprinting to the left. If she remembered the lay out and she was going the right way, there was a huge chance that she could get back to the door.
"Give yourself up right now, and I'll take pity on you. I'll make your end a quick one."
As creepy as her voice sounded, at least Violet could keep track of wherever this chick was, "But where's the fun in that?"
"Oh, finally, a point we can both agree to."
That voice was coming from right behind her.
On instinct, Violet jumped back, her hands up and ready to block, only to be grabbed and twisted.
Violet was forced down to one knee from there, looking up into heartless grey eyes. Everything else was hidden, covered by the hood of her cloak, the dark red and black hiding any sort of hints as to what she might be able to do or what she had up her sleeves.
The girl couldn't help but snicker, "Your anxious expression is pitifully amusing."
"Well, at least I can have facial expressions." Violet spat right back, attempting to rip her arm away, only to have this lady bend her wrist back, throwing her arm up and around, pinning her to the ground with her knee.
"You don't seem too smart either." She muttered, sighing as she shook her head, "Maybe you won't make such a sterling sacrifice after all."
"What the hell is that suppose the mean!?" Violet scowled, unable to do much besides flail her head around, hoping that she could try to throw her off. Of course, being how her arm was locked behind her back and how a shoe was pressed against her back, she could honestly only do so much.
"Huh, I'll have to speak with the Tenebris when I get the chance." She murmured, rolling Violet over onto her back. She was forced to look back up into those heartless grey eyes, the hood having had fallen off, revealing a half shaven head, the other end covered in dark brown curly hair.
In one last attempt to get out, Violet did her best to spit in her face. Of course, being how she was attempting to spit with enough force to hit this girl in her face while standing fully straight up, as well as fighting gravity, all Violet got was a face full of her own spit.
How fucking fabulous.
She could see the girl shaking her head, sighing into her open palm, "Insolent child." She sighed, "Maybe Greyson was lying when he said you'd be worthy of the Holy Grail."
Before Violet could ask, the girl brought the full force of her fist into the bottom of her jaw, knocking her out on impact.
"I thought you'd find me up here."
Corvus' eyes narrowed, staring at the demon before him. They both stood at the top of a tower, the wind whistling past them without a care in the world.
He hoped he'd never have to see his face again but hoping for such a thing with Kuro so close was almost too much of a far-off dream, "...Aranea."
"Corvus." The spider demon replied, making no effort to face the other.
"Why are you here?" Corvus hissed, cutting right to the chase. He was so close, too close. There was no way that he'd allow it all to fall apart now.
"Breathing it all in." Aranea replied, inhaling deeply before finally turning around, golden eyes just as cold and cruel as ever, "I understand now, why so many of our kind would smuggle themselves up here. The aroma is irresistible. Especially when it's a scent you've been searching for for decades."
"You will not touch her." Corvus said, a light scowl gracing his expression, "I should have done more to protect her from you in the beginning."
"Ah, yes, to think that a fight over dominance and property would have evolved into this." Aranea said, almost laughing with the sinister smile on his face, "To think such an affection could blossom from you wanting to tell me off."
"Not that you'd understand." Corvus shot right back, before cracking his knuckles, "Proper affection and treatment is not something you're accustomed to now, is it?"
At that action, Aranea smiled, that same cruel and inhuman expression on his face, "Ah, that's how you plan to resolve this issue?"
"You will not hurt her again." Corvus pressed.
"Last I checked, I wasn't the one who ordered the execution of all her friends." Aranea said with a light snicker, laughing when Corvus' expression hardened, "Ah, did I strike a nerve? Perhaps I was able to break through that same wall that she managed to? Looks like you did a lousy job patching it all back up."
Instead of speaking, Aranea's head flew back, the imprint of Corvus' fist in his lower jaw as he stumbled, almost falling off of the roof.
"NEVER speak of that again." Corvus said, his voice low and measured.
All Aranea did was laugh, shaking his head as he slowly got back up, rubbing his chin, "You're as strong as ever. Of course, you were always the one with more physical talent."
"And you were the one trying to twist dirty little lies into fantasies." Corvus scowled right back, catching Aranea's wrist. They were face to face, Aranea smiling almost wildly, Corvus' expression holding nothing but pure focus, "This time, pretty words won't save you. I'll make sure of it."
And that's the end of that!
Hope you guys enjoy, feel free to drop a review, and I'll cya next chappie!
Till next time, bai bai!
