Chapter 34: Chapter. 35: Interlude: Revelation of Royalty 3/3

The first mission was uneventful, more so of a pain in the ass rather than anything in Ash’s opinion. Getting around the city was less than intuitive for either of them, it was simply easier to spend their time looking at their screens and laughing at whatever they found funny rather than doing anything else.

Eventually they began to buy other things, which quickly devolved into Elei, the dark elf making a shocking discovery, one that intrigued Ash.

"Check this out!" She stepped beyond the door. "Tada!" She did a twirl showing off.

Though, her intrigue vanished like smoke. Elei wore a one piece pajama with bear ears, it was amusing but Ash simply shook her head in disapproval. The elf had made some amazing discoveries such as snacks that were much cheaper than normal food, and much more enjoyable to eat.

Nevertheless, things such as the bear pajama were totally unnecessary in Ash’s eyes. Though Elei begged to differ.

"That’s it?" She asked in annoyance. "You should try one, they are seriously comfortable."

Ash shook her head once again. "Didn’t you come here to broaden your horizons or whatever?"

Elei nodded. "Yep, but I can broaden my horizons with the internet, so it’s best to broaden my horizons in comfort."

"Is that how it works?"

"Well, elves are naturally lazy, I am no different." Elei replied as she made her way to the couch and laid on it. "But what about you, you never told me why you wanted to be here?"

Ash looked at the ceiling. "Peace and quiet."

Elei nodded in understanding. "Yeah, Elaria is much the same. Lots of bloodshed for little to no reason"

They both sighed in unison.

"Well, you should still try the onesie." Elei said as she opened her laptop.

"Onesie?" Ash looked quizzingly. "The thing you’re wearing? I think I am good."

"Your loss." Elei smirked.

Ash said nothing and went back to her pc. She did find Elei a bit strange, but overall her company made the days slightly more fun. Most of the time, it was just both of them on the computer without saying much, which was fine in her opinion. The once issue about Elei’s ears seemed to practically never exist, for a lot of the humans thought it was something they came to know as cosplay.

Ash found the idea a bit silly, but it seemed to have a big community. And she was sure Elei would make waves in it should she make an appearance, but neither of them cared to do anything about it. Ash enjoyed the leisure life of existing and occasionally killing monsters, they tended to die rather quickly to the modified weapons after all.

Things were peaceful as they should. The human world was much more pleasant than either of them expected.

◇ ◇ ◇

Blood singed Ash’s body, the ground of the forest was moist from the bloodshed that had just occurred, smoke stemming from charred vines billowed out the surroundings. Ash sighed as she lowered her weapon. Too dangerous. She couldn’t help but look at the carbonized trees and the bleak surroundings before relaxing. Her clothes had been burnt.

"To believe a Colossal Salamander would make its way here…" Ash turned to see her companion, who wore the one piece onesie and a backpack on her back. "Want some chips?" Elei offered.

Ash looked down at herself, the black unassuming clothes were basically gone. The little that remained made her look primal and unhinged. Meanwhile, Elei who had done basically nothing this entire time was just looking at her expectantly.

"Why didn’t you help?"

Elei shook her head. "Even if I summon plants from the dark continent they would still die, because you know…" She made a long pause. "They are plants."

Ash scoffed. "Plants from the Underworld won’t burn even if they have a fire-spewing dinosaur on top of them."

"Those don’t exist." Elei replied without pause.

"You get the point." Ash rolled her eyes. "Now, get me some clothes."

"Sure," Elei said with a small smile before putting the backpack down and rummaging through it. Ash heard the sounds of various snacks being moved before Elei smiled. "Here it is," she chirped, pulling out a single piece pajama.

"I am not wearing that." Ash said with a frown.

The elf shrugged as if it didn’t concern her. "Well, you can not wear it and be naked."

"No other clothes?"

"No? Have you seen me wear anything else?" Elei asked as if it were obvious.

Ash tried to remember, but it was indeed the case. She had never worn something different ever since the day she had shown her the onesie. With that in mind, there was no way it was a trick. Ash looked down at herself once again, taking notice of what were the remains of her clothes that had been burnt. Her skin was fair and healed after a few minutes, now the only real concern was her modesty.

To be seen naked or in a bear costume? It was an absurd question, one that shouldn’t have occurred in her mind even, but after a long while she finally picked the last option, much to Elei’s joy.

"You look great!" Elei praised with glitter in her eyes.

Ash humphed with her arms crossed, she felt the soft fabric wrap around her extremities in what made pleasant warm. She didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the onesie was. Comfortable. Incredibly so, she didn’t want to admit it, but perhaps Elei was onto something. At the same time, the elf got a ton of stares already so the onesie wasn’t a big deal for her, but for Ash⁠— she wasn’t used to the attention.

Nonetheless she wore it on their way home, not stopping at a market or a place to change clothes. The heat of the sun and the warmth of the one-piece pajama was too pleasant for her body to give up. The stares stopped mattering at some point, they weren’t any different to the ones they got while shopping as many snacks as possible.

When they got home, to Elei’s surprise, Ash simply went to her laptop instead of changing clothes or doing anything about it.

"So you like them?"

"They are comfortable," she replied nonchalantly.

"Sooo… you like them?"

"They are comfortable," Ash replied once again emotionlessly.

"I’ll take that as a yes." The elf beamed a smile, and Ash just shook her head. "Still you look great in them." She nodded to herself. Ash simply ignored her and continued on the computer, but made a note to buy more sets of the clothes for later.

◇ ◇ ◇

TIme passed, and things were going great. Too great for everyone’s liking. That’s why when an emergency quest was issued, their team was the first one to be fetched.

"Are you serious?" Ash asked with a frown upon looking at the paper.

The receptionist frowned and scratched his horns. "Look, I am just a demon. I don’t know what goes in the heads of the higher-ups, all I can say is good fucking luck."

Elei looked at the paper over Ash’s shoulder and frowned. "This is just a surefire way to die."

"Do that or get sent back to the Underworld." The receptionist shrugged. "Good luck either way."

Ash snorted and walked away, Elei followed right behind her as they entered the elevator, worry was more than evident on her face.

"You can’t be thinking about doing the mission, right?" She asked anxiously.

"We have to." Ash answered grimly.

"It’s a lich!" She said with exasperation. "Liches are present in a lot of realms including mine, and they are nigh immortal unless you destroy their core thing!"

"Phylactery," Ash corrected with a frown. "Also, aren’t they sending a scout for safe measures?"

"I mean, yeah?" Elei said, scratching her head.

The moment that emergency mission was assigned was the moment everything started going downhill. A forest outside the city amidst the night they ventured.

"Why am I here?" The female guide asked with exasperation, she had yellow eyes and a fair skin, wings were clearly visible from her back. "I am clearly just a meat shield."

"Don’t ask me, I don’t see how a succubus would be useful as a guide." Elei scoffed.

The guide snorted and they continued walking in the woods.

At first there was no sign of the Lich.

"How long are we going to keep walking?" The guide protested and snapped a branch on the floor.

"I don’t know⁠—

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The trees creaked as if it heralded the start of something greater, Ash had a bad feeling, but the bad feeling was confirmed when a white flash occurred, and a shriek of pain ensued. In an instant there was a lot of purple blood. And their guide was dead in an instant. There was a brief tense silence before a cackle echoed through the forest.

"You people trespass in my territory?" Its hoarse voice asked. "Pay the price."

At that moment, bone hands dug through the fallen leaves and sticks with a mighty crackle and grabbed onto Ash’s ankles; the same thing had occurred for Elei. Ruffled sounds began to come from the greenery until eventually through the fallen flashlights and the ambient light, they saw a hooded silhouette.

"How peculiar," it paused. "A child of the forest and one of something greater. I must take a closer look."

Ash tried to break free, but the hands climbed higher and took a better hold of her legs. The lich approached Ash, she could barely see its jawline when it spoke again.

"Disappointing." It said before raising its hand.

"What is⁠—" Ash paused feeling sudden pain on her chest; she looked down only to see blood and a white stake going through it.

Then the Lich looked behind her.

"Now it is your turn child of the forest." Ash knew what the Lich intended to do to Elei.

The dark elf hadn’t been around for long, but she cherished her presence. She didn’t want that. The pain on her body was suddenly irrelevant as her mind focused on one thing and one thing only. She had to do something about the Lich. Something before the Lich killed her companion too.

As it approached Elei Ash felt something within her. She wasn’t human. Her heart had been perforated but she still struggled with the same strength. The bones on her legs seemed oh so familiar. It was a feeling of familiarity, a calling that existed deep within her. She just had to embrace it.

The pleasant feeling echoed through her being as she raised her hand towards the lich. Her bloodline was muddled, but she was still an Attendant. She felt an odd magical strength perviate her body, she just had to use it. She tensed her hand.

"Obey my will⁠—

It was all a flash for her. How she felt as if her flesh was being torn apart, how the Lich howled and screamed before it broke apart. How Elei began to throw up blood before hurriedly casting healing magic on herself. How she had to stop herself from fainting as her entire body began to seemingly collapse on itself.

She could only remember the cries of her companion, and how hurriedly she began to cast magic on her. Everything was a blur after that followed by deep darkness.

By the time she awoke, the first thing she saw was Elei pacing around the room impatiently in their familiar house. As their eyes met she smiled.

"Glad you’re alive."

Ash felt a massive headache. "What happened?"

"You almost died I guess?" Elei said with slight confusion. "I don’t really know what you did in the woods but your body and flesh began to melt."

"What?" Ash asked incredulously as she tried to move but felt sudden pain course through her body.

Elei shook her head. "Ignoring that, there is also another issue. The hunters seem awfully unhappy about our guide dying, and about what happened. So…" Elei scratched her head. "I cannot really tell them how we killed the Lich since it just kind of died after you spoke scary words, it fell to the ground and that was it."

"It kind of died?" Ash asked with confusion.

Elei nodded. "Anyway since we cannot tell them how we killed the Lich they want to send us back to the Underworld given the casualty. Though an interrogation is due."

Ash frowned recalling what happened with the Lich. She had killed the Lich using her aura and bloodline. The one she had intended to keep secret, but if Elei claimed it had affected her body then it must have. She still recalled the pain she felt at that moment, and it was probably due to the usage of her bloodline. She had never used it before. Elei had healed her, but if they provided no explanation then they would get sent back.

"Elei," Ash called with seriousness in her voice. "Were you the one that healed me?"

She nodded. "Why?"

Ash was unsure about what to do now, but if she had to demonstrate how the Lich was killed in order to not be sent to the Underworld then she had to be able to replicate it. But if doing the action almost killed her, then she needed to grow used to it. Just like how at first copying her father was hard, it was something that she had to train.

"I need you to help me with training."

◇ ◇ ◇

The day arrived after two weeks of waiting and training. Ash still felt deep pain throughout her whole body. Her bloodline wasn’t as muddled as she thought⁠— it just happened to reject her body every time she used it. Was it even bloodline if her body would be devoid of bones should the entire process finish? She was unsure.

After a lot of back and forth healing, she had realized that everytime her flesh was torn by the bones underneath her skin, it wouldn’t heal instantly, and when it did ugly scars remained. With the help of Elei she had grown much more accustomed to the pain and to the injuries. She wouldn’t die, but should her bones go outside her body then perhaps she’d be much like her siblings and her father.

Ash didn’t want that. Even if it inhibited her from using her bloodline to the fullest or often. Ash shook her head sitting in an interrogation room. Elei had been sent to another.

A man stepped in, he wore a formal suit and had the lower body of a horse. A centaurus? He wore glasses that he adjusted as soon as he saw Ash.

"I’ll keep it short. I’ve been sent here by the Underworld to review your case. It is believed you conspired to kill Miss Ashley."

Ash raised her brow. "Who is Ashley?"

"The succubus." He said without pause. "Unless you can show us how the Lich magically disappeared then unfortunately you are conspiring with him."

"Bring some bones and I’ll show you."

The centaurus raised his brow but eventually some bones were brought. Ash shook her head forgetting about the pain she was about to experience and moved her hand up with the intent to use her aura. For a second it felt as if she had swallowed a rock as the bones rose up.

"Bloodline ability."

The centaurus frowned. "Bloodline ability of an Ossein Attendant, you must be the missing daughter then. The one that looks just like a human."

"That is right." Ash confirmed with a frown. "So no need to send me back to The Underworld."

"You’re not wrong." The centaurus adjusted his glasses. "But unfortunately your partner will no longer work with you."

"What?"

She wanted to protest but the man simply left the room. That was the last time she saw Elei.

◇ ◇ ◇

Years passed as Ash moved homes and simply existed while killing the occasional thing. The hunters, upon finding out her bloodline would give her much more workload and a lot of it was specialized for her abilities, abilities that caused her constant pain and misery. Things were bound to continue like that for the longest time but then she met her.

The daughter of a Grim reaper. Or well she had thought it was a human from the Underworld considering how silly she was. That was until a monster of corruption attacked and she went ahead.

Ash felt a residual familiarity with her roommate Kaiti. It reminded her of Elei, but much different it was as if their places were switched. Before she knew it she had jumped in to save her, who later revealed that she was a Reaper.

Things had happened and sometimes their views would differ. But after she had killed a human it seemed to matter to Kaiti more than she had expected. And there was a small argument. One that Ash didn’t want to deal with at the moment. It was simply about whether one should take care of themselves or at least that’s what she thought.

"I simply expect you to not care for trivial matters such as self defense. They attack, you attack. It’s a rule of the Underworld. Though⁠— it is simply better to attack first." She gave her two cents and that was it.

"Why did you save me then?" Kaiti asked from behind. "Why did you come to my rescue in the Bordering Lands if you’re selfish?"

Ash whose emotions had been burnt and suppressed to the bottom of her heart felt as if she were mocking herself. "Pity perhaps?" She shook her head. "Unsure, maybe I found it amusing to have you around? You’re silly after all." Though she didn’t want to deal with this conversation anymore, she had killed the human in rage. Rage and fear of her bones poking the wrong place in her body, fear of the possibility of becoming just like her father. "In the end, perhaps it was a mistake."

"A mistake?" Kaiti asked with a shrill voice. "Unforgivable." She left before Ash could say anything, only managing to see her tears.

Ash sighed and looked at the ceiling, feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach that she hadn’t felt for a long time. She cared for Kaiti just like she cared for Elei. But Kaiti was naive and didn’t understand the branching issues that came from such things. She didn’t understand that having too many humans know of them would spell their doom, she didn’t understand that the reach of the Underworld was far greater than she imagined.

"I am stupid aren’t I?" Ash asked mockingly at nobody. She no longer felt like touching the game she wanted to play. She wasn’t as carefree as Elei, nor as tactful as her.

She didn’t think much about the elf nowadays, but it was laughable that a lot of her current antisocial behaviors had been adopted from her, yet a lot of the good traits were missing. Ash thought back about the fact that Kaiti cried before the realization settled in.

I told her it was a mistake to save her life…

The realization was hurtful. She was much like her family that looked down on her, her siblings didn’t care for her life, only her father did. At the same time she had been admonishing Kaiti and mistreating her, or rather not giving her the care that someone in Kaiti’s position needed. Wasn’t she basically the same?

In retrospect the reason she had no partner until now should’ve been odd to her, but she had stopped caring at some point. If she had to really think then the fact that Kaiti ended up with her was arranged. She had seen Kaiti fight and the way she swung was oddly familiar. She didn’t care for it, but it was obvious that it was the same Grim reaper that came that night.

Probably arranged by him. She sighed not knowing what to think of things. She wasn’t good with apologies, nor did she want to apologize to Kaiti, but she had to think. She stood up and simply left the house again to rethink what she was doing with her life, what she had said to Kaiti, and her current position amongst the royals.

A tall order for someone that never needed to care about things.

A tall order for someone that had lost her companion. But it seemed like she had regained one.

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