Another Family

Somewhere further away, where light did not reach nor pierce the sky. A silver haired lady wakes from her slumber, she peered at the window and noticed that the sky was burning again; the rest must be up already. Orchid pulled herself awake and yawned deeply; it must be all the late night training which made her feel so tired. Sleepily, she dragged her unwilling feet to the door and walked along the damp cold corridor. What on earth was she thinking, in this place; night WAS day. This horrid place, which stink of blood and rotten flesh; Orchid berated as she came down to the hall after searching for her coat and clothes. There was no one living and breathing in this castle anyway, streaks of red flames lit up the skies a distance; loud desperate screams could be heard but to her it was routine – just meant more souls were ripped off from their containers. Orchid approached the oak doors; three floors below from where she had rested and gave the nasty handle two loud booming knocks.

"Welcome Orchid, come in." replied a voice so slimy and painfully annoying to which she rolled her eyes. Orchid pushed opened the doors and stride in without looking at the source of the slimy voice. How she wished, the other only living and breathing souls were also dead. Orchid forced herself to take her place at the long table in front and kept her eyes straight, looking forward and empty. The mutterings and whispers died down as she sat down. As usual, she was the last to arrive at the table where they would eat, and now they have all gathered…

A slitter of fabric could be heard, pulling along the stone cold floors. There were no footsteps, no noises; even the battle cries outside the castle seemed to have stopped. Orchid saw his long bony finger first, touching the walls which connected the oak doors to their hinges; purple flames sprouted from his finger tips and they crawled eerily up the banister and bricks. The owner of those bony fingers was her master, the one whom they served. He or better yet, IT strode silently towards the group of his most loyal subordinates; scanning their precious faces. One by one, they stood before him with heads bowed low in respect or fear no one really knows… all except one… a sudden rush of bone chilling air or haze engulfed the room.

"You are feeling below the weather today, Orchid?" He asked in a voice icily cold even if the contents were supposed to be of concern, the slimy voice gave a 'tsk' while the other sniggered softy. Orchid narrowed her eyes and glared at the two other commanders who she really and thoroughly dislikes; the dragon and the old man, boot lickers of the century that was what they were.

"Hush; Arkarium, Magnus…be polite to the lady." He told them before moving closer to her, she had not ever bowed to him in her life for as long as she had served. Your defiance will earn nothing but pain; you may have not joined my allegiance willingly but your brother had thrown himself into the darkness I have created. She will never bow to him, ever. Her home was destroyed because of him, the ideals which he placed in lotus mind. Their parents, murdered in cold blood by their only son… yeah, prove of lotus alliance with the dark mage.

"Ask Lotus to meet me later." He hissed loud enough for her to listen but not to the others, his bony fingertips stroked her cheeks gently and down towards the edge of her neck. He placed some pressure on it, causing Orchid to wince slightly as they pressed into her flesh. "Yes, sir." She whispered; at that moment, he removed his hands and walked away. A few drops of warmness trickled down told her that he had extracted blood from her, just like what he had promised that day long ago, Each time you defy me, blood will be drawn until the day you yield.

"Are you alright, Orchid…?" Orchid blinked and realized she had been wondering in her memories too long, he had left the hall. The other commanders were tucking into their meals while she was left clutching her own wounds while staring into blank space. She was still seated in her chair, and next to her was the only other person who seems to care about her. Orchid glanced quickly at his maroon eyes, but refused to maintain contact.

"Don't sound so concerned, you are a commander; Demon slayer. Try to bother about yourself instead of others." She muttered under her breathe coldly; damn her wounds were deeper than usual this time, Orchid pressed the napkins on the punctured wounds forcefully; she just wished the demon slayer would stop watching her.

"Hey, Orchid; I hope there is still enough blood in you. We will be seeing a lot of the master; you wouldn't like to dry out before the war right?" She heard him, the remaining blood in her was boiling enough but she was controlling her anger. There is really no need to bother with morons such as them.

Magnus rose from his seat and walked forth to Orchid; he placed his hands on the back of her chair and the other hand on her head. Arkarium sniggered loudly; sadly choking on his food at the same time resulting in him trying to clear his throat desperately.

"Remove your hand away before you get hurt, Magnus." Orchid growled. The gagging noises of Arkarium filled the background, but no one really cared.

Magnus scoffed, it was his habit to do so; and ruffled her hair provokingly. "So what if I don't want to?" From the corners of her eyes, she could see the contorted face of the demon slayer seething to get his mace around Magnus head; but she was neither someone who would go down easily nor one who would rely on another's help. Orchid saw the silver gleaming on the table, she swiped her hands on it and slashed it down above her head. A yelping shout told her, the fork met its mark.

"AHHHH! My hand!" Orchid ducked away from the Magus, and pulled his collar up towards her, she tightened her grip while Magnus was trying to resist the jabbing pain of having a fork embedded within his flesh. She had a triumph look, and for a brief moment she shared a small smile with the demon slayer who looked pleasantly pleased with the outcome.

"I told you…" she whispered next to his ears and threw the bleeding dragon to the ground, he glared at her viciously but Orchid looked back with a nonchalant look. Arkarium was now approaching the two of them, but she was not willing to confront another idiot. She stepped over Magnus and beckoned the demon slayer to follow her. The two of them, stride away towards the doors.

Arkarium was positivity bristling with controlled anger as he rushed to Magnus side, "Calm down, I get it out." He told him; trying to stop the Nova blooded Magnus from moving around, for the fork might insert itself further into his flesh. "HOW do I Calm down? Did you see what she did to me!?" Magnus screamed while waving his injured hand around to the chagrin of Arkarium.

Orchid walked away from the two other commanders and proceeded through the doors and further down east. Finally, when the shouts and screams of Magnus was no more than an echo, she turned to face the demon slayer and also to his familiar; a female cat spirit. A blanket of awkward silence covered them both; they never had a talk just between them before. Orchid knew demon slayer for only about half a year and it was obvious that he was not the same as Magnus or Arkarium; he was the only one who seemed to be like her; an unwilling soul.

He peered at her curiously and cleared his throat; Orchid feeling a little odd somewhere in her stomach decides in an instant to pull their conversation towards more important matters. "How is Von leon…?" She asked carefully and softly, knowing well that the dark mage would not like it if his commanders felt pity for their prisoners.

The demon slayer did not meet her eyes when he replied; he stared at the air behind her shoulders. His familiar on the other hand prowled around the corridor uninterested in their conversation.

"He is in a wreck, hiding down stairs in the basement; refusing to eat or sleep." He shrugged, "Mastema, don't eat that. It's poisonous." He told his familiar who was trying to chew a frantic dark leatte, the latter spat out the creature in surprise and wiped her tongue vigorously.

Orchid mused at his creation, the cat spirit in particular and was greatly amused to how a monster from which she was born from could have such an interactive intelligence. She looked very much like a human, a purple skinned human. To give another life to a monster is unusual for them, since they spend most of their time taking it away.

Orchid removed her gaze from Mastema to her surroundings, this used to be the most beautiful castle in El nath that belonged to a devoted king Von leon who had a warm heart. And now, she thought silently to herself as she peered at the dusty ash filled sky, blood stained on the eternal snow. It is nothing but a shadow of its gentle past; and its king turned evil mourning for his dead queen whiles its people all gone.

All this horrid disgusting bloodshed; all the doing of the dark mage, how could Lotus stand for all this darkness…?

"Oh my dear soul, how interesting to see both of you here." The demon slayer spun around quickly, he clenched his fist tightly when he could see her approaching closer.

Orchid on the other hand, nodded acceptably. "Commander Hilla, I hope breakfast entertaining." she asked the lady, who gave mirth laughter walked past the other and placed a hand on Orchid shoulder. She shook it happily and flashed a big grin. "Oh yes, I particularly liked the way you handled Magnus; the dragon is also getting on my nerves. You should have seen Arkarium face too, it had more color on it compared to the usual him." Her red hair bounced enthusiastically as she wrapped her arms over Orchid, like what an older sister would do when they gossip. Mastema rolled her eyes and began to chew on another Leatte; a white one this time. Commander Hilla, the second closest to the dark magician; she was not as slimy as Arkarium nor annoying as Magnus in fact if she had not been the woman who gave up her home town of Azwan heartlessly and all its people to the dark mage. She might pass up as a kind older sister. "His face always looked like it was lacking in blood or something, did I tell you that I found Magnus sneaking in my room a few weeks ago? He was searching through my drawers…"

Orchid was not sure if she could hear any further, at that moment; she noticed the disdain faces of the other two and she decides to stop her words there and then. "Hilla, we don't need to know that much, you know" soon she pried herself away from Hilla; the latter turning slightly pink in the face. She twirled her hair in embarrassment also placed her hands on her hips.

All of the sudden, she remembered something important. "Orchid, aren't you supposed to find Lotus and tell him that the master wishes to meet him?"

When Orchid left commander Hilla and commander demon slayer alone as she dashed away, it was lucky that she had not turned back to look. For Hilla was glaring viciously at the other in a loathing face which she held back earlier, while the demon slayer was itching to get his bare hands on her neck. They hated each other beyond belief, and the reason for that was the uneventful first day he joined the black mage circle of commanders. Mastema got into trouble with Hilla's pet raven; Hilla never forgave Mastema. From then on, she had been trying to get him into every commotion; putting blame on him.

"Watch out for yourself, Demon slayer…" Hilla hissed deceptively as Mastema growled eager to protect her master .

0o0o0o0o0o

"Lotus?" Orchid called as she opened the door, cold wind rushed out; it chilled the side of Orchids' face. She pushed the door wide open and stepped inside, the first impression she had was darkness. Everything inside was dark, all the furniture was dark. It looked like it was toasted dark, as though somehow had tried to burn them. "Are you in here?" Orchid called again, a creak of wood made her turn around; but the last thing she saw was a shadow which pounced onto her; something with bright red eyes.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"