《The Devil King》Chapter 16
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A road of dark stone led to the gates of Necropolis some dozen kilometres away, whilst all around them was the flourishing gardens upon rolling hills which led to the Lich King's castle. The castle itself, though ominous in some lights, was made up of a flawless white stone, called Void Marble, with many spires throughout the structure. The stone itself was chosen due to its ability to shield the interior and exterior with an anti-magickal field. Thus, causing many magicks to become inert, but not so much Divine magicks.
The city, however, also contained the stone, but contained it within the walls. This was constructed in such a way since the very beginning to shield the residents within from the forces without. Though such worries have long since past, the residents within left the stones alone, as it helped curb many a magick user from destroying the whole of the city within. Not only this, but those who are able to utilise such energies, and faced a punishment for their deeds, had to work upon the walls of the city until their sentencing was up. Thus, reducing the prison population's return rate to almost nil.
In any case, it was about half way down the road to the city that Brutus noticed his lady Goddess Queen's expression. One where it appeared to his eyes that she desired to inquire after something, but was unsure of how to speak of it. In which case, he responded with, “My Lady Sarah, if you have something upon your mind, all you must do is voice it. Else, how are we to know what answer we may grace your ears?”
She, on the other hand, brightened her colours with some embarrassing tones to it before they were calmed with a quick shake of her head, “Ah... um,” the Goddess stammered, unsure of how to respond. For the eyes of everyone, save for the Legionaries and Nox were upon her.
“Sarah,” Sia reached over and gave her Goddess's hand a squeeze in comfort, “whatever you have to say, just say it. No one here is going to laugh or judge you for it.”
“Unlike those assholes on the Council,” growled Shauu who folded her arms just as Sia shot her a glare, “What? You know they're all nothing more than fucking twats.”
“Thank you for your input, Shauu,” grumbled Brutus as he made the motion to pinch the bridge of his non-existent nose. To which she shrugged and stared out the window, as the Skeleton turned back towards his Goddess Queen with what she could only surmise was a smirk due to the head cocking and twinkled eyes. This soon vanished, however, as he raised up his right hand in order to give a fake cough before speaking, “Now then, Sarah, what is it that you were to ask of us?”
“Um,” she frowned, still unsure as to how to proceed.
Of which seemed to cause the Lich King to wonder aloud, “Is it perhaps a common inquiry? One where all know of the answer?” The lights in his eyes flared for a brief moment as they noted her shocked expression, and he could not help, but to chuckle softly at her discomfort. “My reasoning is simple, Sarah,” he continued as her own eyes laid out a naked, 'How did you know?!' before himself, “Denna had that exact same perplexed look about her many a time. Therefore, it is an easy expression to note. So tell us, what is it that you wish to know?”
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Before she was able to voice anything, however, the vehicle itself slowed to a crawl before stopping. Curious, the Wolfwoman stared about in wonderment, unsure of what was occurring. However, she soon relaxed as she noticed the window nearest the Lich King was rolled down in order for himself to pass some papers over to an unknown hulk of a figure. Whereupon the being promptly handed the items back before saluting towards himself. After which the vehicle slowly lurched forward, gently rolling onward as the world around the occupants became dark for a few heartbeats before revealing the wonders that were within the Necropolis.
For all around them were clustered, white squared buildings with murals etched into the outer shells. Each one telling a tale of its residencies, how they lived; how they died. All of this and more was depicted upon the walls and rooftops, and the only colourful expressions of the occupants came from the many hundreds of ribbons and cloths hung about their home and businesses. However, there was one building which was not wreathed in decorative cloths, but was actually painted.
When she pointed this out with a wiggling tail, Brutus chuckled, “Those are the orphanages within the city proper. Only those are allowed to decorate the outer walls with colour, as all others must use colourful cloths to decorate their homes.”
“Oh?” her eyes widened and she was soon joined by Nox and his wiggling nine tails as he stared with just as much wonderment as his own mother, “Is there a law forbidding them from painting their homes?”
To which Shauu snorted, then shook her head as all eyes turned towards herself. “No,” her voice came out in a bemused grunt, “Our Lord made this city, and it reacts to his will. Therefore, all paints will just slide off the walls and rooftops of the white stone. Except,” she pointed towards the retreating building, “for those ones.” Nox let out a low and slow noise as his eyes widened ever larger, his tails filling up the area with their faster wiggling, whereas the Chosen and Brutus just smiled or flared their eyes with warmth towards the child.
Afterwards, Brutus bade both mother and son to return to their seats, as the vehicle slowly turned down a street which appeared to have been paved with gold. Unsure of what was occurring, Sarah's tail twitched as she saw the street lead towards the central district of the city. Here, many spires greeted her widened eyes. For the buildings themselves appeared to have been constructed with every precious metal known to their Pantheon.
Gold, silver, copper, and platinum were found within the outer ring of this section, whereas Orichalcum, Cobalt, Adamantium, and Mithril greeted their eyes as they continued onward. As for the building with they came upon, it was made up of Cobalt, a thick and dark blue material which was capable of matching Orichalcum in strength, but it lack the magickal properties of the latter. What is more, the building was in the shape of a lunch box many had called a Bento Box once upon a time.
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Once the vehicle drifted towards the front, with the right side exposed to the entrance, however, they were each greeted with ten Sun Elves in tuxedos. Each bowed as another pair dared to open the door leading to its interior, but retreated as it swung open to allow the Legionaries to step out. Though their spears and shields were not with them when they left the castle, they still had their Gladius blades at their sides, and stared about themselves for a time before one of them extended a gauntleted hand into the interior.
Whereupon it was grasped by Sarah, who was pulled free and her colours danced softly in wonderment for the sight before her. Here, the Elves gasped in amazement, but quickly righted themselves whilst silently cursing their folly just as the Chosen, Nox, and their liege Lord exited the vehicle. Of which soon rolled away in silence to wherever it may, leaving the group to watch as a red haired Dwarf in a chef's outfit, wearing a tall cap half his height, approached them.
Here, he bowed low to his Lord, and lower still to Sarah who he did not recognise anything beyond her beauty and odd colours swirling about her body. “My Lord Brutus,” came a sultry voice from the Dwarf, confusing Sarah due to the fact that all Dwarves are known for their deep, robust voices, “how might I serve you and your guests-”
“Hi Lee'ahnyo,” waved Nox, who peeked around his mother's legs just as the odd Dwarf appeared.
“Ah,” sighed the chef with a small smile upon his lips, “Master Nox, so good to see you again.” Afterwards, his eyes which were as bright as flames darted around them for a short moment, resulting in the pursing of his lips, “I do not see your dates. Will they not be joining us for lunch?”
“No,” came the child's shy reply as he slunk behind his mother's legs, his tails slumping to the ground as he did so.
“A shame, truly. Though, I could understand your hesitance after the debacle of them-”
“Ahem,” coughed Brutus, who gave a slight tilt of his head towards the Dwarf, then directed him towards his restaurant.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, jumping a little, “My apologies. Please, come this way,” and directed them towards a pair of navy blue doors which were opened by a pair of Elves who bowed low to the group.
The moment Sarah walked into the building, however, her senses were overloaded by the scent of wondrous foods she had never even experienced. Sultry spices, floral herbs, and sweet breads wafted through the air, causing the Goddess's dragon within her abdomen to growl with such a ferocity, the party paused to stare about themselves with curiosity. That is, until their eyes fell upon a greatly embarrassed Sarah whose colours blushed just as much ferocity.
None would dare to laugh at her for such a noise, save her son. Of whom was rolling around on the soft carpet of a darker shade than the building's own. Whereas the rest were flabbergasted by the child's antics, until Sia broke into laughter. Thus resulting in the release of tension as they were brought towards a private area with a long table to sit the group with ample room.
However, only the Living Armours stood whilst all others sat and were given a menu to peruse until they found a dish they wished to eat. Though Brutus and Sia could not eat as their more fleshy counterparts, they were to be given an elixir that all of their kind were able to consume. One that came from a public recipe gifted by the God King, and along with it was a caution to drink no more than three a month. Though his inner circle knew such a drink would do no harm to them if they consumed more than the set number, the rest of the worlds within the Pantheon followed the rule as though it were nothing more than a religious edict.
In any case, after the group was settled into their seats, an Elven woman appeared with a silver push-cart containing a few wine bottles and one with said elixir. Of which was of the colour of gold, and just as thick as the metal once it was melted. Here, a small glass was handed over to both the skeletal Wolfwoman and the Lich King, who drank it drop by drop with the lights in their eyes flaring from each sip. Whereas Sarah was given a crystal wine glass filled with a fruit wine the colour of transparent emeralds, with Shauu given a large tankard of Mead, and Nox a bubbly beverage of some sort of fruit.
Once Brutus finished his meal, however, he noticed Sarah swirling her drink whilst perusing the menu for something to try. What is more, her expression was of one deep in thought, and it appeared to himself that it was not about the menu before her.
“Sarah,” he called out softly, startling her a little before she righted herself and turned towards the Lich King, “what is it you wish to ask? Please know that no one here will judge you for it.”
“Okay,” her voice came out small and unsure, but soon gained strength as she asked aloud, “Why does my husband, the Ageless, hate harems so much?”
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