I own nothing! Thank you for reviewing once again, mastersam and StreetPoetJehosaphet
Uhh…I haven't been updated in a while and I'm terribly sorry. I know I shouldn't make excuses but my laptop couldn't connect to the internet over winter break and the PC that has internet is very slow. And then a few days after returning to school my laptop broke and all the memory would have been wiped out (yes including all my fanfiction!) so I had to go to the geek squad to back up all my memory before I manually loaded vista, Microsoft office, antivirus, spyware and a few other programs onto my laptop. (I lost everything but luckily my word documents, pictures and other files were backed up by the geeksquad before I rebuilt the computer). Bahh and did I mention my creative writing class takes up most of my time? Aghh…grr
Well after that bit of mindless drabble on with the story!
Day 13
Morning is a wonderful time of the day. It's a chance to leave tomorrow behind and start fresh, the birth of new possibilities. Before the first rays of morning light even fall across her eyelids, Lilith awakens, stretching from her arms to her toes in the pitch black inn. Bare feet treading quietly across the soft carpet, she makes her way to the washroom to freshen up. The tingly-cool feel of fresh water splashing on her face awakens her even more as she gets ready to face the new day ahead of her. Becoming more awake, Lilith recalls the events of the previous night. The startling discovery that Naomi is alive begins to fill her mind as she gets dressed. She becomes so distracted by this that she tries to put on a second pair of pants, growling in irritation when it doesn't go up past her hips. I could not have gained any weight recently! The young nymph thinks indignantly before realizing her error, blushing bright red upon seeing the double layered pants.
Deciding that she needs to take her mind off of Naomi, Lilith decides to head down to the restaurant part of the lobby, hoping that a cup of tea will relax her anxieties. A part of her secretly wishes to see Naomi as she enters the lobby, hazel eyes instantly scanning the place for the curvaceous redhead. To her shock, the young woman finds not Naomi but Adele sitting at one of the tables in the dining room adjacent to the lobby, hair hanging in front of her face as she stares into a cup of some liquid that was served hot but now has ceased steaming.
Slightly concerned that Adele is awake at such an early hour, Lilith slowly approaches her, taking a seat at the table across from the other woman. Adele does not even take notice of the sounds the chair makes as it is pulled across the room nor does she feel the presence of another person staring at her with concerned hazel eyes. Her female traveling companion's state of obliviousness indicates to Lilith that something is quite wrong.
"Adele…are you alright?" Lilith asks, raising her voice slightly to snap her out of her daze.
Slowly raises her head to give a weary smile, revealing dark circles under bloodshot eyes, Adele slowly shakes her head. The shake of her head plus the somnolent appearance of her traveling companion cause Lilith even more worry.
"Adele…did you sleep last night?"
"I…" Adele begins, looking down at her lap for a moment. "couldn't…"
"You seem…troubled…is there something on your mind?"
"Yes…" Adele answers after a moment's hesitation. "It's just…Nightmare's army…hordes of demons and those wicked human followers…how are we ever…" The young woman's words trail off.
"Honestly Adele, I don't know how we're going to defeat them. Sure they outnumber us by hundreds but the strength of one good soul can outweigh the strength of many wicked ones. And we did manage to take down a pirate ship and they clearly had us outnumbered. Don't give up hope! As long as we have that…we should not fear."
Continuing to stare at her lap, eyes not meeting Lilith's, Adele knows what she says is true. They are not even in a location that Nightmare will attack, giving them time to plan and recruit. There is no point in feeling hopeless yet; they still have time.
Knowing that Adele has not touched her cup of tea for quite a long time, Lilith orders her a new one, placing it in front of the young woman while pushing the older one aside. Smiling weakly while whispering a "thank you" to Lilith, Adele weakly wraps her fingers around the cup, slowly lifting it to her lips. To take her mind off of her fears, Lilith starts up a conversation with her that involves nothing of the Azure Knight.
…
Slowly opening his eyes, Mitsurugi sees an unfamiliar blurry shape next to him in bed. His heart immediately begins to pound rapidly because he knows he didn't hookup with anyone the night before. Sharpening their focus, his eyes make out the shape of a familiar brunette sleeping soundly and drooling with his arm wrapped around Mitsurugi's shoulders, the image forever burned in the retinas of the unfortunate samurai's eyes.
"GET OFF THE BED!!!!" He hollers in a panic, shoving Edmund over the side of the bed while breathing rapidly as if having a panic attack.
"Owww…..what the Hell was that for?" Edmund says upon hitting the floor of the inn, rubbing his temples and wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"I TOLD YOU TO SLEEP ON THE FLOOR!" The samurai bellows, face incredibly red with an occasional vein popping out.
"I was on the floor!" Edmund retorts.
"Like Hell you were!! How do you think I woke you up? Picked you up and dropped you? I rolled you off the bed!"
"What?" Edmund says, confused and swallowing hard, not wanting to believe Mitsurugi's words.
"You…" Mitsurugi says slowly, trying to cool down. "were sleeping…in the bed with me in it…how do you not know this?"
Face paling white as snow, Edmund's mouth opens and closes numerous times in disbelief as he takes in this new information and the fact that he has sleepwalked before.
"I DIDN'T DO IT INTENTIONALLY!" The brunette screams, clutching fistfuls of his hair, "I sleepwalk!"
The young man curls up into a ball, whimpering softly, "Please don't hurt me…"
"Yeah yeah…a likely excuse…" Mitsurugi grumbles, throwing all of his clothing and supplies sloppily into his bags.
Gathering up his belongings as quickly as possible, Edmund hurries out of the room at an incredibly fast pace, face glowing the slightest tint of crimson as he passes other guests that were drawn out of their rooms by the screaming. Incredibly humiliated, Edmund walks with his head down as he scurries to the lobby.
"Bad luck…" he mumbles to himself as he throws his bags down upon reaching the lobby, sinking into a chair.
"Edmund…is everything alright?" Adele asks upon seeing her friend mutter incoherently while his head hangs down as if in shame.
"It's j-just fine, Adele…No need to worry…" The brunette stutters, not facing her so that she can't look at his expression of humiliation.
Mitsurugi slowly stumbles into the lobby looking like he's seen a ghost, immediately glaring at Edmund who curls up into a ball in the chair. Looking back and forth between the two of them, Adele gives an inquisitive look but does not press the matter any further. She then turns her attention to Lilith who has apparently zoned out, missing the entire episode. Upon noticing how focused Lilith appears, Adele decides not to distract her from her thoughts.
As the rest of the group gathers, discussing the next stop on their journey, Lilith remains in deep thought, no words reaching her ears. Finally, Raphael gently taps her shoulder, causing her to snap out of her daze, hazel eyes gazing up at him, a distant look inhabiting them.
"You left your bags in the room," He says, noticing the incredibly distant look worn on her face.
"Right…" Lilith acknowledges, slowly getting up and heading back to the room.
Just as she reaches her room, the young nymph stops, sensing a presence behind her. Turning around with a slightly irritated expression on her face, Lilith shoots Raphael an incredulous look.
"You don't have to follow me," she says as she walks past him, vacant expression still on her face.
"Lilith!"
"Yes?"
"That isn't our room."
"Oh…"
She had been in so much of a trance that she didn't even go to the right room. Gently taking hold of her hand, Raphael leads her to their room, wondering about her momentary memory lapse.
"Lilith…are you alright?" He asks, opening the door to their room.
"Of course, Raphael…" Lilith answers, tugging her hand from his as she starts to pack her belongings into a few bags.
"No…you're not alright Lilith…You've been incredibly quiet today…well quieter than usual and you seem oblivious to everything. You even went to the wrong room."
"I'm not, ok?" Lilith replies in an irritated response, hastily throwing clothing into a bag.
"What troubles you?" Raphael asks as she finishes packing everything.
"I'd rather not say…"
He frowns slightly before nodding, "I understand…say no more."
While Lilith was gathering her belongings, the other warriors have come to the conclusion that their weapons are blunt. Dull weapons cannot cut through the skin of enemies. When Lilith and Raphael rejoin the group they inform them of their decision to seek out a blacksmith.
"So are there any blacksmiths around here?" Raphael asks, noticing the vexed facial expressions of Taki, Adele, Kain, and Edmund.
"Yes there's one right across the street from this inn," Taki replies icily, "but some people don't want to go to that blacksmith."
"Well maybe those people want their weapons repaired by someone who knows what they're doing!" Mitsurugi retorts.
"Yutaka lives way up on the top of a mountain! We don't have time to stop there!" Taki argues.
"Yes we do! Besides that specific mountain is in the direction the Azure Knight was last seen headed towards! I absolutely refuse to have any other blacksmith lay their filthy hands on my beautiful blade!" Tsubaki growls angrily.
"We are not traveling to the top of a damn mountain just so that you two can have your swords looked at by some 'professional'!" Edmund exclaims angrily.
"We are and you will come to…unless you want to travel alone, without a wagon might I add," Tsubaki threatens.
Edmund grumbles a few inaudible curse words under his breath as they load their wagons, preparing their long journey to the mountain top.
Everyone is silent as they ride their wagons up the mountains, occasionally stopping to switch drivers. By the end of the day they have made little progress ascending the colossal tree-covered rock. The next day there progress hasn't improved by much. Finally, the next day the weather begins to change drastically, becoming much colder, even more so the following day. The day after that is even colder with occasional snow flurries here and there.
Day 19
Raphael's POV
It's been nearly five days now since we left that inn! I am getting so irritated by this never ending mountain that I fear I may push the two idiots who had the idea of coming all the way up this mountain out of the wagon so that we can get out of this wretched place! It's already getting unbearably cold and now the snow has started to fall heavily, the woods surrounding our path covered in white blankets.
Even Mitsurugi and Tsubaki are beginning to have second thoughts. Finally that twat realizes those ridiculous silk kimonos she wears are impractical for this climate. The only one seemingly not affected by the snow is Lilith. Of course she's cold just like the rest of us but she doesn't appear too bothered by it. Perhaps she grew up somewhere in the north. I never did ask her where she came from.
Great! Now Edmund and Taki are arguing over who is going to drive for the rest of the night. It is Edmund's turn but he's claiming to have caught a cold. Their mindless squabbling is preventing me from getting any rest on this journey. Oh great…it appears that Taki is now dangling Edmund over the side of the wagon. Maybe I should go step in so that he doesn't get trampled but then again the little twerp wears on my nerves plenty of times. Taki almost dropped him! It doesn't surprise me that he screams like a girl…
"Taki…" Lilith's soft voice calls out from the back of the wagon as she slowly steps forward.
At least now I don't have to stop her from killing Edmund. The fact that Taki is still dangling Edmund over the wagon either indicates that she hasn't heard Lilith or that she doesn't care. I'm secretly hoping she will drop Edmund. Lilith, now standing directly behind Taki, clears her voice and repeats.
"Taki…"
"Stay out of this, Lilith! Do you want me to dangle you over the edge too?" The ninja threatens.
"I'll drive tonight…"
"You already drove your share today let Edmund do his!"
"I don't care and I'm tired of seeing you hold him out over the edge of the wagon while you steer. You're going to run into a tree soon," Lilith says matter-of-factly.
Uttering a few curses under my breath, I note that Lilith is right and that the idiotic ninja is about to steer into a large tree. Throwing Edmund back on the wagon, Taki swears loudly and jerks the reins so that the horses narrowly miss running into the tree. I'd think they'd stop if they saw a tree but these horses are really stupid animals. Edmund, having not regained his balance, stumbles as the wagons jerks and then trips over his own feet. What a buffoon!
Lilith takes the reins from Taki, a look of well hidden annoyance in her eyes.
End POV
The sun begins to set as they approach what appears to be an old castle. Kain immediately stops the horses when they reach the castle, thinking it would be a cool place to explore as the occupants in the wagon climb out. Lilith stops her wagon as well, not liking the looks of the abandoned place. Edmund jumps out of the wagon, grateful to see land even if it's covered in three feet of snow. Upon seeing Edmund, Adele smirks, chucking a snowball at him, erupting in a huge snowball fight between the two plus Tsubaki and Kain. Taki and Mitsurugi stand in front of the large castle, eyeing it with curiosity.
"I wouldn't go in there…" Lilith warns, approaching them from behind. "I have a bad feeling about the place."
Taki nods in agreement.
"And do you think that's gonna stop us?" Mitsurugi asks with a laugh.
"You should listen to her," Raphael says as he walks over to the group.
"It's just an abandoned castle! It might have valuables inside that we could sell to get more money for our journey!" The samurai argues.
"It's so old that it's most likely falling apart inside! Let's not put ourselves in danger!" Raphael argues back.
Suddenly the sight of Lilith running by them and into the castle catches their attention. Looking around, the two men realize that they are the only two still outside. With a sigh, they head inside the mansion, immediately sneezing from all the dust. Lilith stands near the entrance, looking around for any signs of her comrades, a worried look in her hazel eyes as she shivers.
"I thought you said we shouldn't go in here," Mitsurugi grumbles as he looks over at the girl.
Ignoring him Lilith begins to walk towards the stairs, placing a hand on the rail. Unsheathing her katana, the young woman runs up the stairs as if she's preparing for a battle. Concerned for the young nymph, Raphael runs up after her, following close behind. She runs down a narrow hallway, briefly glances at open doors as she runs, wondering where the others disappeared off to.
"Lilith?"
"They shouldn't have gone inside!" She growls as she hurries down another hallway. "Stay alert! I have a bad feeling about this place…it's almost like we're being watched…"
A scream is heard further down the hallway and Lilith takes off, running towards the source of the sound. Raphael follows closely behind her, unsheathing his rapier and hoping that one of the idiot women just scared themselves. The two eventually reach the end of the hall, where the scream was coming from to find an open door. Not being one to think before she leaps, Lilith charges into the room, immediately stopping dead in her tracks upon what she sees. Adele, Kain, Tsubaki, and Edmund are surrounded by ghoulish creatures rising from the floor. Their weapons are drawn but whenever they try to attack the ghouls, their weapons go through their bodies.
"LILITH!" Raphael screams as a giant spider drops from the ceiling, nearly landing on the young nymph.
A very un-Lilith-like shriek erupts from her as she jumps to the side just as the overgrown spider scuttles towards her. Screaming again, Lilith brings her katana down on one of its legs, severing it from the grotesque body, guts and dark red blood spewing everywhere in a one foot radius. The beast hisses and charges towards her. As skilled a warrior as she is, Lilith should be able to avoid this charging creature but due to an immense phobia of the creepy-crawly, she remains glued to the floor. The spider stands up on its four back legs, preparing to shoot a web at the young nymph as it thrusts its abdomen forward. Suddenly it emits an unearthly wail that sounds similar to nails on a chalkboard as a rapier is driven through its abdomen from behind. A sigh of relief escapes from the young nymph's lips as the spider stops moving, falling limp on Raphael's blade. Tugging his blade from the corpse, Raphael casts the body aside, looking to Lilith with concern in his eyes as he sees her shivering in fear. Even though the spider is dead she still gets chills just thinking about the wretched beast.
"I really detest spiders…" Lilith mutters in a shaky voice.
…
"WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!" Mitsurugi screams as he hacks another mutant spider in half.
"They appear to be arachnids, Mitsurugi," Taki replies in her normally calm voice as she thrusts her kunai upwards into one that hangs above her, spilling guts on her and the floor beneath her.
"Hahaha! You have arachnid-guts on you!" Mitsurugi bellows, upon looking at the carnage-covered ninja.
Without saying a word, Taki flings the goop at the samurai, hitting him directly in the face. Satisfied with her work, Taki decides to move on to the next room in the hopes of finding the rest of her traveling companions, hoping that they haven't had any encounters with the creatures so far. When she opens the door leading to the next room which appears to be the kitchen, she comes face to face with a razor-toothed worm that reaches seven feet in length, two feet in diameter. Jumping back with ease, Taki breathes a sigh of disgust before crouching low, preparing to attack.
…
"EDMUND!" Adele screams as the young thief is hoisted into the air by one of the ghouls and thrown across the room.
Groaning in pain, Edmund stands up while taking out a dagger he was hiding in his boot. Charging towards the ghoul, Edmund thrusts his dagger forward as if to impale it through the center. Like before, the dagger has no effect on the ghoulish creature and goes right through it. Raising a clawed hand, the ghoul brings it down hard on Edmund, causing him to hit the floor.
"This isn't right! How come they can attack us but we can't attack them?" Kain growls as he swings his mace at another ghoul in vain.
"STAY BACK!" Taki cries as she runs into the room, Rekki-maru glowing brightly.
The ninja drives her kunai into the ghoul's abdomen and the mysterious creature vanishes. Tsubaki, Adele, Kain, and Edmund watch in awe as she single-handedly defeats the ghouls with little problems. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Taki looks at the rest of her traveling companions who are still pale as ghosts.
"How did you do that?" Adele asks, slowly approaching her.
"Her blade is fused with magic…isn't it?" Lilith, who was watching from another corner of the room with Raphael, asks as she walks towards her.
"Yes…I fused it myself," Taki answers, sheathing her weapons.
"That's incredible!" Tsubaki exclaims, "Could you do that for our weapons too?"
Her face falls as the ninja shakes her head, "I'm afraid I can't…besides you and that idiot samurai wanted to go that professional blacksmith!"
A loud crash from down the stairs catches the attention of everyone as they look around the room, the only missing member being Mitsurugi. Heaving a unanimous sigh, the group hurries towards the source of the sound, running down the stairs. When they reach the source of the sound, a room used for storing weapons and treasures, they grimace at the sight that greets them. Mitsurugi, with a huge knapsack slung over his back is slowly backing away from a group of skeletal creatures that are slowly advancing towards him, reaching towards the sack.
"Look! You're dead and I'm alive! I need these goods more than you!" The samurai says with a nervous laugh.
Lilith…An unfamiliar voice beckons the young nymph as she looks around the room. In the mess of weapons towards the back of the room a blade emits a light blue aura, catching her eyes. Feeling drawn towards the weapon, the young nymph takes a few steps towards it but a hand on her shoulder roughly pulls her back into reality. Turning around she meets the cold dark eyes of Tsubaki.
"What do you think you are doing?" She demands, noticing her traveling companion's distraction.
"I…saw something…" Lilith whispers, casting her eyes towards the floor with the peeling carpet.
"Don't tell me you're going to start helping Mitsurugi!" She exclaims, placing her hands on her hips.
"Umm…guys I could use a little help!" The samurai complains as the skeletons close in on him.
"Drop the sack! That's what they want!" Taki yells, frustration lacing her voice.
"No way!"
"DO IT!" The ninja commands as one of the skeleton's takes a swipe at him, missing and hitting the sack, various treasures and weapons pouring out of it.
"Fine!" Mitsurugi grumbles, dropping the remaining contents to the floor and slowly backing away from the skeletons.
With a bit more persuasion, the samurai steps out of the room, skeletons immediately collapsing to piles of bones when he does so. Feeling brave, he steps back into the room, the skeletons immediately becoming whole again.
"They're obviously guarding the room, Mitsurugi! Give it up or I'll assist them!" Taki warns.
With one last lustful look at the room, the samurai reluctantly steps out, Taki's hand smacking him across the head as he does so. Shooting her a glare, he rubs his head, following the others as they exit the castle.
Day20
Just as it seems they will never make it to Yutaka's place a very large building becomes visible in the distance. On closer inspection, a huge sign hanging above the front doors reads: "Famous Yutaka's Blacksmith shop and Inn". Breathing sighs of relief, Taki and Adele slow the horses down, stopping outside the stables. Mitsurugi and Tsubaki are the first two to jump out of their respective wagons, each running into the shop as fast as they can.
Entering the shop, the traveling companions see the only other customer there, a woman with silvery white hair, striking blue eyes, and an amazing figure filled out in all the right places shown off in revealing clothing. She sits in a chair across from Yutaka in an eloquent posture, smiling coyly to the men of the group, causing most of them to blush and turn away.
"You're telling me you are an alchemist and you made this sword by alchemy and yet…you expect me to fix it?" The blacksmith asks, irritation and confusion coating every word.
"No no no…" The woman says hastily, "I just want you to fix the nicks in the blade, no alchemy is involved in that process."
"But can't you mend it faster with alchemy?"
"I don't want to talk about it!"
Upon hearing her snap, the man recoils, grabbing the blade from her.
"Very well…I shall see what I can do."
After taking the woman's weapon back to his workshop, Yutaka returns to the lobby to see what the new arrivals need. The group hands over their weapons to him one by one.
"This will take a few days…" The old blacksmith tells them with a slight frown, "but I have a wonderful inn that you are welcome to stay at while you wait."
The traveling companions hurry off to their rooms, excited by the fact that each of them has their own. After unpacking and taking a brief nap, Lilith finds herself feeling restless and decides to take a walk around the inn. As she heads down towards the main room she finds the silver haired woman talking to Raphael.
"That still does not excuse you for how you broke into my manor!" The woman snaps at him.
"I told you…I was different back then but I give you my sincerest apologies…" Raphael replies, looking rather upset.
The woman smirks to him and leans in close. "Everything is forgiven."
Raphael leans away from her, a shade of crimson appearing on his cheeks. "Once again I offer my apologies, Ms. Ivy…"
"Miss," Ivy smirks, taking his hand in her own. "You are such a gentleman. I've already told you, all is forgiven."
"I thank you for your understanding…" Raphael says, trying not to look at her cleavage that is shoved in front of him.
"So what brings you all the way out here?" Ivy asks leaning in close to him as she sits down on the couch, patting the seat next to her.
"It's a long story…" Raphael says, slowly backing away from her.
"I've got time…have a seat," she offers seductively.
While watching the scene from a distance, Lilith feels a strange burning sensation ripping through her insides. They increase when he takes a seat next to the woman and escalate even higher when she scoots as close to him as possible. She finds herself disgusted by the scene but cannot tear her eyes from it as she looks on.
"I…umm well…I am traveling with others to stop the Azure Knight and to destroy Soul Edge…"
"Hmm…you know I'm on a quest to find the spirit sword, Soul Calibur, and I think where there's one, there's the other. You know…where there's Soul Edge there will be Soul Calibur…do you have room for one more traveler?" She asks, rubbing her leg against his.
"I-I suppose…" he stammers as she smirks to him, placing a hand on his thigh.
Suddenly a ball of white light flies across the room at a speed so fast that it is barely visible and shatters a vase on the desk next to Ivy. She screams and latches onto Raphael in fright. Lilith's hazel eyes go wide in horror as she looks at her trembling pale hands, wondering how on earth she caused that to happen and why she feels so angry.
"What was that?" Ivy asks, voice quivering slightly as she looks around the room.
"I'm not sure…" Raphael replies, not realizing who caused it.
Suddenly the young nymph feels the urge to waltz into the room and pry the woman off of Raphael. Hearing their conversation continue and noting the seductive tone of the female's voice, Lilith finds herself ready to explode again, walking into the room. Icy blue eyes darkening when the young nymph enters the room, Ivy's violet frosted lips form a smirk as she places a hand on Raphael's shoulder.
"Isn't this past your bedtime, little girl?" Ivy taunts.
Lilith's left eyebrow twitches slightly upon hearing her last two words. She slowly turns towards Ivy, a look of repressed rage molded into her face, marring her otherwise pretty features.
"Who are you calling a little girl you old cougar?" She spits venomously, with anger and viciousness.
Immediately her hands fly up to her mouth and she stares at the older woman with wide hazel eyes, mumbling a soft apology. Raphael's jaw nearly drops and he has to refrain from gaping, never seeing Lilith ever lash out at someone almost instantly.
"Hello Lilith," Raphael says nervously and abandons the fuming Ivy sitting on the couch to walk over to her.
"Oh is she one of your traveling companions?" Ivy asks.
Raphael turns to face her. "Yes, she is one of my traveling companions."
"Isn't she a bit young for this kind of journey? Shouldn't she be at home, going to school?"
"I'm nineteen. I've seen a lot for my age! How dare you judge me!" Lilith shouts angrily to the woman and turns on her heel, vanishing beyond the door frame.
Without a second glance at Ivy, Raphael follows her out of the room.
"Lilith!"
Placing a hand on her hip, the young nymph turns around to face him, her body shaking slightly in vexation.
"What?!" She snaps.
"Don't you think you overreacted…just a bit?" He asks in a tiny voice.
"No! She thinks I'm a little girl! I'll show her what this little girl can do…I'll tear her limb from limb!"
"Lilith! Calm down!" Raphael exclaims, backing away from her slowly. "What has gotten into you?"
Taking a few deep breaths, the young nymph tries to clear her mind. "I…don't like her…she isn't going to be joining us…is she?"
"I'm afraid she is…"
"I bet you like that…" Lilith mutters under her breath.
"What?!"
"I bet you like her hanging all over you like that…just willing to give herself to you. I saw the way she was seducing you…" Lilith says angrily.
"No-why do you care?" Raphael asks.
"I don't!" Lilith snaps, walking away and leaving him alone in the darkened corridor.
With each step further away, he feels the need to follow her but cannot bring himself to do so. Silently he mouths the words, "Lilith…come back…" Seeing her disappear from view, the Frenchman makes a mental note to find her tomorrow to smooth things over.
Ivy appears in the doorway, looking over the lone form of Raphael. A smirk forms on her overly pouty lips as she sees no sign of the nymph.
"Don't waste your time on children…"
Raphael turns to look at her, an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm sorry for walking out on you like that Miss Valentine but I must retire for the night." He says, quickly walking away from her and back to his room.
Shivering as the cold night air greets her, the nymph instantly feels the earlier flame of her rage slowly turning to embers. Her hazel eyes gaze at the snowflakes glistening in the moonlight as she walks down a path towards a nearby forest, thinking about what happened only moments earlier. She still feels confused about the whole situation, wondering what made her temper flare in such a short amount of time.
The shadow of a woman suddenly catches her eyes further up the path. Curious, Lilith walks towards the person but as soon as she gets close enough to see their face, the person dashes off further down the trail. Sensing something suspicious about the person, the young nymph gives chase, trailing her for miles. Lilith is a fast runner but the woman is faster. After a few hours of chase, the woman slowly disappears from view, leaving Lilith alone in the middle of the wooded wilderness. Deciding to give up the chase, she turns around, walking back towards the cabin but after a few hours of walking, she realizes she is not getting any closer and has lost her way. Trying to stay calm, Lilith continues walking, marking her trail so that she does not end up going in circles. Exhaustion soon takes over the young nymph's body and she finds her legs growing numb from the bitter air. Unable to walk further and keep her eyes open, Lilith finds herself passing out under a large tree in a heap of snow.
That's where I'm ending this chapter! Next one will be up sooner than last time. Nice and helpful reviews are always encouraged so don't be shy! By the way, I do like Ivy. She and Lilith just don't like each other!