Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII (47 page)

“Wait, I never said anything of the sort,” Forrus pleaded.

“Kneel,” Valentina ordered.

“You misunderstand, I only-”

“I said,
kneel
,” Valentina ordered in a cold tone as she stepped up to her.

Forrus trembled in fear then slowly knelt down before the angel.

“Valentina, enough,” Daemon ordered as the holy maiden lifted her hand towards the lycan’s face.

“Bad dog,” Valentina condemned as a powerful surge of energy radiated from her hand against the trembling wolf.

“Please, I meant no disrespect,” Forrus shakily begged.

“Valentina, I said enough,” Daemon sternly repeated as he marched over to her.

“Nobody is my big brother’s pet except for me,” Valentina scorned as the air rippled away from her. Forrus stared with wide eyes as she felt the raw energy rolling against her, fur standing on end along her back as it felt like a suffocating cloud of power was pressing against her body.

“Stop this now,” Daemon ordered grabbing the angel’s hand. Valentina continued to glare with fury at Forrus while her arm wasn’t able to be budged in the slightest by the swordsman.

“I cannot, big brother. I cannot allow this mutt to live with such delusions as being your pet. I was perfectly clear earlier, I know I was. She needs to be taught a lesson. They
all
need to be taught this lesson. Nobody will be with my big brother but me! Now, repent!”

“Wait!” Forrus screamed as the light turned a sharp white, her life flashing before her eyes as the angel’s magic radiated with a frightening aura.

“What is wrong with you?” Tabitha shouted out. “They just took those artifacts!”

Valentina jumped then quickly looked back to see Tabitha and Scay sitting back up on the ground nearby while the two fragments were now gone. The angel gasped with horror while the other girls were keeping on guard from her still.

“Wha… what?
WHAT
?” Valentina roared with a burst of radiant light coming from her.

“While you were threatening her those other bitches ran by and stole them,” Tabitha scoffed as she stood up again and dusted off her shoulder. “They just barged through and swiped them. How could you not notice this? And why the hell did you leave them out in the open like that?”

“WHO TOOK THEM?” Valentina shrieked as a torrent of wind erupted around her.

“They went that way,” Scay said pointing away from them into the darkness.

Valentina screamed as she formed her magical hammer again, the holy maiden shooting off along the ravaged street with a furious roar and dust blowing away from her. Daemon and the girls watched her flying away with clouds of dust and haze billowing behind her then turned to Tabitha and Scay as they giggled at seeing the angel leaving so quickly. Scay winked at Daemon then moved aside her tail, revealing the key fragments lying tucked in the dirt beneath her.

“You stole them from her?” Rulo asked in amazement.

“You stole from an angel?” Hollia gasped.

“I’m just doing my job,” Tabitha said as she aimed her swords together behind her. The others watched curiously as she opened the searing rift into her treasure trove with the ends of the blades, her eyes remaining focused on the faint glow of where Valentina was further away as the angel searched for the supposed thieves with vicious roars.

“What is that?” Sasha questioned as they saw the circular portal opening behind Tabitha. From one side it appeared as a wavy distortion of air while from the other it acted as an opening into the neko’s hidden vault.

“Scay, hurry,” Tabitha urged while holding the gateway open with her blades.

“Right,” Scay agreed as she quickly tossed the relics into the treasury.

“What is this I’m seeing?” Rulo asked in puzzlement.

“Yours too,” Tabitha ordered Sasha.

“What?”

“Throw yours in there as well otherwise that angel is going to take it from you.”

“I’m to just give it up to you upon command?” Sasha growled at her.

“It will be safe in there, whereas right now it’s ripe for the plucking from that angel the minute she comes back. Don’t argue with me, throw it in now.”

Sasha growled as she clutched the pouch at her hip, eyes quickly darting to where Valentina’s light was piercing through the hazy clouds in the distance then back to the circular gateway Tabitha had forged with her katanas.

“I’m trying to help you,” Tabitha implored. “If you don’t hide that in there then she’s going to go after it, it will be one more we’ll have to hunt down for Daemon should we lose it. Now hurry!”

Sasha glanced to Daemon then back to Tabitha as she narrowed her eyes. With great reluctance and a heavy growl she snapped off the pouch and ran over to the neko, tossing it into the rift next to the other relics. After she did Tabitha yanked her swords forward, letting the rift crackle and close behind her before it vanished entirely.

“What did you just do?” Daemon asked.

“I told you, my job,” Tabitha repeated with a smirk back at Forrus. “By the way, thank you for providing the distraction I needed. I hope she didn’t frighten you too badly.”

“What?” Forrus questioned before she stood up and growled at the neko. “You mean to say you set her after me so you could steal those from her? She was going to kill me!”

“Where did you send those fragments to just now?” Sasha demanded.

“They’re safe in my personal stash,” Tabitha promised before winking at Daemon. “Don’t worry, they’re still yours. I only get paid if you get them all, remember? At least now nobody can take them from you, and you have three instead of just one. A simple thank you would be appreciated for all this.”

“She’s going to kill you when she comes back,” Hollia warned while watching where Valentina’s furious screams were heard. “What were you thinking stealing from her like that?”

“I didn’t trust her,” Tabitha explained. The group turned to her as she looked down and sheathed her blades behind her. “She may be an angel but she came off more as a demon than anything else. The thought of her having those fragments didn’t sit right with me.”

She glanced to Daemon and saw him watching her in silence with a blank expression on his face.

“Was I wrong to act as I did? Is she another one of your helpers on your quest? Was she collecting those for you?”

“No, she was not,” he answered shaking his head.

“She said it was a surprise for you, she seemed to want to show you those things. What did she mean by that?”

“In her eyes it’s a playful race to collect them all first,” Daemon reasoned with a shrug. “She may have helped me by giving me this blade to make my search easier however our goals are not the same. I wish to keep the seal in place. She does not.”

“Seal?” Hollia repeated.

“She wants to open the City of Eden?” Tabitha cautiously asked.

“City of Eden?”

“She wants the power held within those walls,” Daemon explained. “Despite the strength she possesses now she still wants more. She knows what’s in that city and has no fear of it, she only wants to obtain the power that is behind that seal for her own use.”

“What are you talking about?” Hollia asked.

“She’s just like that succubus,” Sasha hissed. “Only seeking power for themselves without thinking of what the hell they’ll be unleashing into the world.”

“Um, question,” Hollia said raising her hand.

“So she wants to damn us all to hell by opening that seal,” Tabitha summed up. “I see I was right to take advantage of the moment when I did.”

“You must really want that gold to steal from an angel,” Rulo mentioned with a smirk.

“It’s not just the gold,” Tabitha defended, and then turned to Daemon with a careful eye. “Personally, I’d rather have you possess those fragments than her. You may be a monster, but you’re not half as terrifying as that angel is.”

Everyone watched the neko as she kept her eyes on Daemon with a solemn look on her face and her tail gently waving behind her. She smirked slightly and shrugged then casually dusted off her thigh from when she had dropped to the ground earlier on purpose.

“I’m sorry, what are you all talking about?” Hollia asked looking around at everyone.

“Hold that thought,” Tabitha replied as the group saw the glow from an enraged angel closing in through the dusty haze.

Valentina swooped low across the ground at high speed, racing towards the group before stopping suddenly before Tabitha with a burst of wind blasting past them and furious look on her face. She gripped her hammer tightly in one hand while pointing at the neko’s face with the other.

“You took them, didn’t you?” Valentina hissed. “You think you can trick me? You think you can take what is mine like that? GIVE THEM BACK NOW!”

“Give what back?” Tabitha asked holding her hands up. “Look at me, I have
nothing
with me but my swords. Do I look like I’m keeping anything from you?”

Valentina eyed her over quickly then looked to Scay, the naga holding her hands up as well with a cheery smile.

“Only have my dagger and shirt, nothing else,” Scay giggled.

“Then where are my key fragments?” Valentina roared. “There was nobody out there, not a living soul! Who took them from me?”

Turning her fierce glare from one girl to the next she saw them all raising their hands defensively and showing they had nothing of hers. When she got to Sasha she noticed the reptile girl’s pouch was missing from her hip, something Sasha glanced to then back to the angel with a raised eyebrow in question.

“Wait, where’s the one you collected?” Valentina demanded.

“Stolen as well,” Sasha informed her. “Seems we’ve all been had.”

“How did they take
all
of them like that?”

“It wasn’t too hard I imagine,” Tabitha sighed shaking her head. “You terrified all of Daemon’s helpers stiff with your threats and then you left your relics just floating there in the open. Thanks to you putting on your loud display those sneaky rats were able to swipe everything from us without opposition. I hope you’re happy with yourself.”

“WHAT?” Valentina yelled at her with anger. “How is this all my fault?”

“They’re getting away,” Scay whined. “What do we do now? Now none of us have those things. Oh woe is us.”

“Who’s getting away? WHO TOOK MY KEY FRAGMENTS?”

“Whoever they were they were moving fast,” Tabitha pondered as she carefully looked around at the dark surroundings. “This isn’t good, who knows how far they’ve gotten now.”

Valentina screamed with a stomp of her foot, shattering the ground below her and knocking the girls away with the sheer force. Daemon braced from the impact while keeping a close eye on the temperamental angel, watching her shouting into the air with brightly glowing wings before she dashed off with her glowing hammer held tightly in hand. She flew a short distance then quickly came to a stop, pausing for a moment before turning her sights back onto Forrus to whom she pointed her weapon at with a vicious glare.

“I’ll deal with you later, mutt,” she scorned with bared teeth. “If you value your life you will remember your place underneath my big brother’s foot.”

“Yes, I will,” Forrus quickly agreed.

Valentina slowly aimed her hammer around at all the girls with a cold glare before smiling coyly at Daemon.

“Big brother, I’ll see you again real soon. Please do take care of yourself, you know I worry about you.”

“I’ll be just fine, Valentina,” he replied while keeping on guard.

“I know you will be,” the angel giggled. “I’ll never let anything bad happen to you. We’re going to be together forever and ever after all.”

With that she quickly took off with murder returning in her eyes, racing into the hazy night with her glow shining brightly for a while before slowly fading away. After the angel was long gone and silence filled the land all eyes turned to Tabitha as she breathed out in relief.

“I’d better be getting paid enough for all this crap,” she muttered.

“Not bad,” Daemon said, gaining the neko’s attention. “Though next time I’d prefer you didn’t place Forrus’s life on the line like you did.”

“It was the only opening we had to get those things from her,” Tabitha reasoned with a shrug. “Besides, your pet dog was the one barking too much in the first place.”

“What was that?” Forrus yelled while advancing on the neko.

“Still barking,” Tabitha warned as she began to draw out one of her blades.

Forrus got in front of the girl and growled as they stared each other down with harsh glares, both tensing up to leap into a brawl with low yowls and growls. Before they could make a move a large broadsword was thrust between them, severing their locked stares and snapping them back to reality.

“Enough, both of you,” Sasha ordered before lowering her weapon and watching Tabitha closely. “Alright, you managed to procure two more fragments for us, so I can’t say you’re completely worthless. However if you risk her life like you did again then we’re going to have a problem, one that I will remedy
very
quickly. Am I clear?”

Tabitha slowly slid her blade back into the sheath and nodded before stepping away. Sasha eyed over the neko in derision for a moment before walking over towards her master with a worried expression.

“I’m sorry I lost my temper earlier,” she softly implored. “I promise to keep better control over myself in the future. She just really infuriated me, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Me too,” Rulo added in remorse. “When she started hugging you like she did I couldn’t stand it. Who does she think she is hanging all over you like that?”

“You two are better than that,” Daemon reminded them while sheathing his sword. “I know you’re both capable of self-control. Don’t be like Valentina who doesn’t exercise any restraint.”

“Yes, master,” Sasha and Rulo said together. They twitched then looked at him nervously as he remained silent while staring at his scaly hand. He didn’t say a word as he tilted his hand slightly and examined the cut across his palm which had stopped bleeding.

“Um, I mean, Daemon?” Sasha slowly added.

“Sorry?” Rulo said carefully.

“Call me what you want,” he said with a shrug. Sasha and Rulo jumped a bit and watched him with awe as he walked forward while keeping his eyes on his hand. “If it will help you two control yourselves better then so be it. I’m done arguing with you on this. Call me master if you so desire.”