Chapter 6

When Snek vanished, Bad brushed his hands of it all, but smiled. Yet the court was stunned to his appearance to say the least. "Shadow King…" Snek's father said. "How do you know my son?"

Bad sighed. "Well, if it weren't for him, I doubt I would be standing here. Long story short, the old King tried to take my body, Snek did everything he could to help me and try to ensure I kept it. The King was too strong though, I had to fight the bastards to regain myself. But he helped me, not just here, but when I was matched with Garou too."

Hydrin was stunned. "My brother… tends to help others out, yet not his own people."

Bad's head cocked to the side oddly. "You sure about that?"

Hydrin's head suddenly bowed. "I am sorry your highness, I didn't mean to speak out of terms!"

'God, he's like Genos when he gets going in front of Saitama…' Bad thought. "Nah, no worries. Look, even if he isn't here, it doesn't mean Snek ain't looking out for you guys. You see, he's been ensuring your safety, people… humans like to travel, he has quite the weight in his words to convince those who maybe peering into something too much to back off, or purposely lead them on the wrong path to what they are trying to discover. Oh… that remains me. You heard of a naga named Jima?"

The court fell into whispers. Even the king was stunned. "My brother…"

"Father?"

"Jima and I went to war as young serpents. He went on ahead and led our enemy forces away as he allow his men and I to escape… How do you know of my brother?"

This is where it got awkward for Bad. "He… was offered as a vessel for the former King of the Shadows. Sadly though, he wasn't chosen but taken and absorbed into his legions…"

The king froze as his head hung. "I… Understand."

"You speak Shadow?" Bad asked.

"No… why…"

"Meh, I'll figure something out. Jima, come say hello"

Jima suddenly rose up and out from behind Bad. Snek's father froze as his Hydrin. {My King?}

"You never got the chance to say goodbye, did you?" Bad asked. "I'm offering you this chance… whose got a pen or something to write stuff down with and on?" Bad called.

They searched rather quickly, until the King's scribe appeared with a book and ink. He offered it to Bad who merely held it for Jima. "Say what you want, if I translate it ain't the same. Write it down, let your brother know…"

Bad swore there were tears forming in Jima's eyes, he took the quill and began to write feverishly. He filled pages with words before Bad returned the book. The king was rendered silent to the offering, yet still, he wondered. "Why are you allowing him to do such a thing?"

"I got the opportunity to." Bad stated. "He's helped me in more ways than one. The least I could do, is let him say a proper goodbye to you and those he cared about, right?" Bad wasn't actually expecting to do this, but then he remembered. If the same thing happened to him, he would want a chance to say a proper goodbye to Zenko. Just thinking about that, made his heart hurt a little. Jima froze as he placed his hand on Bad's shoulder.

{My King? Are you harmed?} he asked.

"Nah, emotional…" Bad whispered. "Well… we better go. I'll take good care of your son, Snek… and I promise to treat your brother with great respect. Jima has been a phenomenal help to me."

The king bowed once more as did Hydrin. With that, Bad took to his shadow and vanished into it along with Jima.

They entered the shadow world where Snek was looking about, fascinated. "You changed up the place, before it was like a very crowded chamber room. It, feels open now!"

"I ain't going to make these guys wait in crowded chambers or whatever the hell they were forced into before, that sucks! Nah, they get to stay comfy and make this world what they want it to be to ensure that comfort." Bad decreed.

"Such a gracious King," Jima stated.

"Just being fair," He turned to Snek. "Sorry for stepping in like this, Jima warned me ahead of time what could have happened. I wasn't about to lose a good friend that way!"

Snek nodded. "I am grateful you stepped in, but you got to have a little more class when addressing a royal court!"

"I was classy!" Bad protested. "I worked forever on that entrance. Garou and Zenko thought it was badass."

Bad suddenly got the feeling looking like a badass wasn't exactly royalty proper to say the least. "Well, at least they knew, right?"

"Your aura has something to do with that," Snek muttered.

"Speaking of which…" Bad began to explain that the vampires have come after Garou now that his mother is gone. Apparently she called dibs on Garou to deal with him herself, yet since she failed, the others have come out from the rocks they were hiding. "They have decreed ragnarok or something…"

Snek's face fell to a stun silence. "Ragnarok?" he whispered. "Shit!"

"Yeah… So, before these assholes know what I've become… is there a way to hide it? I mean hide my aura or whatever the hell that is leaking out and leaving me exposed?" he asked.

Snek thought it over and nodded. "I have heard that there is a potion that can render one into a human like state… But for you the best it will do is hide your shadow power and make take them away while the potion is ingested." Snek explained. "We don't know when this challenge will take place, so that's a problem. You want to take the risk? It's a 24 hour potion…"

"I ain't got much to lose, besides, I can bash a few vampires on my own strength thanks." He said defiantly with a hint of annoyance. Just because he became the Shadow King, doesn't mean he wasn't capable when he was a half vampire, let alone a mere human.

"My King…" Jima said. "We must be cautious about this, if we cannot help you…"

"I'll be fine, trust me, if not, I am sure I can hold out until the potion is done. So… how long will that sucker take to make?"

"I need ingredients…"

The room suddenly shifted oddly, the walls changed and then became massive and large shelves full of vials and other concoctions. "Since when the hell did we have this!?" Bad demanded.

"Recent edition by requests of the mages under your authority." Jima explained. "It was a small potions room before, yet has since been expanded. We have everything needed to make what you desire. Snek, help yourself to them."

Even he was impressed to the selection!

He went about and took different vials and ingredients from the shelves, a table appeared out of black smoke and he went to work right away. "Jima, if I drink this, will the dragon still be able to help Zenko if she is in need?" Bad whispered.

"Of course my king, this merely effect your use of power, the dragon has already bounded itself to your sister, even if you were rendered mortal, it will only leave her shadow if ordered by the king, or she dies… which will not happen on his watch, rest assured." Jima explained.

It took Snek no more than twenty minutes to make the potion. He made a few vials that would be about a week's worth. "I suggest you take these early morning, in case the vampires call for this fight at night. If you can, midnight would be the best time to do it." He explained.

Bad nodded as he was about to partake in one. "HOLD IT!" Snek scolded. "You're in the damn shadow realm, you drink that here, you're stuck for twenty four hours, me included, you're my ride!"