Hello, This is the Reality Shredder. This is an old chapter of a deleted story called "Dear" by PeperoncinoPiccante. So I took inspiration from his first chapter and decided to the story in his place. I hope you all enjoy.
Luz was imprisoned.
In an alcove of the throne room, the amber skinned girl had been enclosed within heavy gold bars, which certainly matched the rest of the luxurious palace better than the simple and plebeian gray steel bars.
The fourteen year old kept her hands on these bars, almost challenging them, almost wanting to bend them with her thought, with her magic.
But it was useless... The bars were soaked in sweat and that was it.
They didn't move an inch.
The Emperor had wanted Luz to be put in prison in plain sight, so that he could always have track of her, and those who entered that imposing hall could see who was the human who had dared to challenge him.
At that moment, the throne room was empty.
Not a fly flew inside.
That rich golden setting was as empty as Belos' mask and voice.
Desperate, Luz took her hands off the bars and used them to encircle her knees, plunging her head into the hollow created.
After an indefinite number of minutes or hours, Belos re-entered the room.
He sat down on the throne, but Luz barely glanced at him above her knees.
He could do with her as he pleased.
Suddenly, she no longer cared about anything, not even going home.
"You are shrewd human... You are powerful."
What were those compliments? They had no affect on Luz.
"You are wasted on that school and..."
He stood up, bending down until he reached the level of the cage.
"...For that owl-loving woman..."
He was referring to Eda, who managed to escape the Petrification, but his words rang in Luz's ears like unrepeatable insults.
Belos sat back on his throne.
"Do you want me to tell you a secret? That wretched Lilth Clawthorne wanted to offer me that girl, the daughter of the Blights as a new member of my Coven..."
He reached out to a small table that had been brought to his throne, and raised a precious cup encrusted with jewels.
"I don't know what how to explain it to you without hurting your feelings of a lovely fourteen year old, but your friend... how to say... She's not suited to be among the best of magic. Her family is... defective."
"Defective?" Luz whispered, finding the use of the word again.
Belos turned towards her, and the pink liquid inside the cup wavered dangerously.
"What you see is gold made from the gastric juices of the titan that forms the Boiling Isles. It's strong and acidic, it's a special gold that destroys all that is of low quality. In this case, the wine that is inside is from the best vineyards in the south, so it's not consumed."
Luz didn't fully understand the comparison, but something made her step back slightly, in the narrow cage: a vague sense of danger which, however, hovered everywhere.
"Do you understand what I mean, human? If your friend came here, she wouldn't resist in contact with the magical elite, and this is because the Blight family is gold only on the outside, while inside it's more empty and desolate than your hopes of escaping from here?"
Having said that, he quickly drank the contents of the cup and placed it on the table.
"Anyway, I have no intention of being a tyrant with you, rough diamond of magic... If you agree to serve me blindly, you could really become someone, Luz of the Noceda house."
Belos' left eye flashed menacingly blue and Luz's expectations of freedom grew darker.