Chapter 57: Chapter 57
Eren followed Henry with bored eyes as the later paced the room back and forth, worry written all over his form, and even though the shadows' lord was worried as well, the human king was on a whole other level.
His heart was about to burst out, and his brain was about to explode out of his skull with all the thoughts and possibilities running all at once inside his head.
They were supposed to hear from the scouting group three days ago, according to his calculations, the forbidden sea was rather a narrow one, and the sail wasn’t supposed to take more than a day, but it has been four days already and they didn’t get any news.
Not only his two best friends, the ones he grew up with and loved as brothers, were on that sail, but the woman who was slowly nestling herself in his heart.
The thought of her warm smile and her simple yet alluring beauty warmed his heart for a fleeting second, she looked so perfect in her robe, and she looked so perfect in her armor, she looked perfect in everything, except when she wasn’t around.
She was supposed to contact them three days ago, using that big black book he retrieved from the tower, the demonic gate, they called it, Henry didn’t know how the damn thing worked.
Maybe it didn’t!
“The demonic gate works just fine!” Eren answered with an eye roll even before the question was out of the human king’s lips, he just knew this would be his question from all the pacing he was doing before stopping to look at the black book accusingly.
“How do you know that? I don’t see how can this old thing be of any use!” Henry said with raised eyebrows, hating the fact that something was out of his control, that he didn’t know what to do but wait, and that the only person he had to rely on for answers and company was nonother than the irritating demon lord sitting across the table with bored eyes.
“Because it is the demonic gate!” Eren answered with more boredom as if he had just stated the most obvious fact in the world, truth is, his patience was wearing thin as well, he was worried and inpatient, a troubling feeling settling in his chest which he couldn’t understand, something like a hunch, a bad one predicting a tragedy of some kind, his heart was uneasy and the human king didn’t make things any easier.
with the ice queen in the room with them, she somehow managed to cool the atmosphere a little, but now that she wasn’t, the earlier tension was back as the two men stared at each other with defiance, challenge, and little to no trust!
“What is the demonic gate?!” Henry asked calmly, putting his personal distaste towards the demon king aside and just focus on learning more to better understand and think of a solution to the situation they are facing instead of bickering like little boys.
Knowledge can be as powerful as an army, his mother always said.
“It is an ancient tool created by the strongest of my ancestors, like a mirror of some kind, it allows the one holding it to keep an eye and an ear on any place on the world, this book we have with us is the first half while the one with Rima is the other half, and only by having one of the halves, you can look through the other.”
“And, the second half was in the holy tower all this time?” Henry asked, confused, was the demon spying on them all the time?
“Yes, the demonic gate is a very strong tool that cannot be destroyed by anything except for the dark magic that forged in the first place, one of its halves roamed the human kingdom for centuries until it fell in the hands of the priests, they tried to destroy it in so many ways, burn it, tear it up, drawn it even, but none worked, and in fear of it falling into the wrong hands, they kept it on the holy tower.” Where it remained inactive until a silver haired lady woke it up, he thought to himself.
Eren knew he didn’t have the right to feel angry at Henry but he did, he was mad at the human king who was a suspect in the attempt on his fair lady’s life which ended up with some fucker trying to rape her, but there was something else besides that.
A part of the self loath he was feeling toward himself, Eren thought, for the human king was supposed to be Sara’s half-brother, allying himself with the demons who hurt her was but a silent acceptance to the things that happened to her and the fate she suffered.
The whole world betrayed her and gave up on her, even her own kind, even her own blood, and he was the first, she was truly alone in the world, Eren thought, swallowing back the dark bitter thoughts to focus on the present, this was the best thing he can do to her, save the world from the upcoming danger, and then give her all she needed for a decent life, the entire Salvatore fortune maybe.
“Maybe it doesn’t work near the center?!” Henry said with frustration, his suggestion sounding silly even to his own ears, running his fingers in his brown hair, he sighed out loud, this time, his brain running out of possible scenarios except of the scariest one.
” Do you think something might have happened to them?”
“Of course!” Eren answered bluntly and truthfully, a small, dark part of him enjoying the expression on the human king’s face who looked as if someone had just kicked his puppy.
On the other hand, Henry thought if the idea of punching the demon bastard was that bad! The fucker clearly took pleasure in his worry and torment, as if this war didn’t affect them both, however, he chose against it for he knew that the time of their enmity was yet to come.
Henry knew that this war won’t be their last, this one was for survival, once they win it, a new conflict would start between demons and humans over the lands, he doubted the demons would want to stay in the edges after saving the world, the same as he doubted that the humans would welcome them with open arms, and sadly, not all demons were as lovely and approachable as the ice queen, some, like the shadows’ fucker, were a pain in the bum that no one wanted to be near!
The tension was there and it was only going to grow more, deciding to ignore the shadows’ fucker, Henry went back to his brooding but Eren didn’t plan to give him that luxury.
“They were supposed to arrive at the center’s island three days ago, but we didn’t hear from them, the only explanation is that they were faced with rough obstacles, but I know Rima can handle them, we should trust her!”
“You just said they were probably faced with rough obstacles! What if something happened to her?”
“You know, she didn’t become the lady of the frozen edge and the very first female leader of a demon empire because of her dazzling looks, even though her looks are indeed ones that only befits a queen!” seeing the green monster swirling behind the darkened blue eyes, Eren decided to stop teasing the poor human, “She is stronger than you think, trust me, she built her strength by climbing her way up to her current status, and if she survived that climb, then she can survive the sail with blindfolded eyes, let us have faith in her!” Eren said before giving the human king what looked like a half, tiny, barely noticeable, comforting smile.
It was indeed out of character for him, to praise someone openly, let alone comfort another! He was never fond of weaklings but here he was, comforting the human, and giving him encouraging words, he was no longer the same heartless demon he used to be, he confessed to himself, something changed inside him, and the heart which was dead before a certain silver-haired girl now had some little fucks to spare.
What have you done to me, my fair lady?! He asked the question inside his head, remembering her gentle smile, and the one on his face became warmer, but Henry, who only found it creepy, looked at the shadows’ demon in a way that erased the smile off his face immediately, only to have it replaced by a grimace, and a sneering “Fuck you!”
Ready to throwback an insult at the shadows’ fucker, Henry turned with his entire body, but before he could utter a single word, the demonic gate opened on itself, and from it, came the feminine voice they were both so eager to hear.
“Can anyone hear me? Eren? Henry?” Rima’s voice slightly cracked as she whispered the last word, the name of the man she was missing the most but at the same time was so afraid of facing.
“Are you okay?” Henry almost cried out the words, and even though he was also worried, Eren couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the human king’s eagerness and tone.
Maybe this is how things should be, maybe love is meant to be expressed and not hidden behind unexplainable cruelty!
“I am, Henry…” Rima answered with so much tenderness, the worry and longing in his voice were able to ease some of the pain and exhaustion she was feeling.
“I was so worried about….”
“Save the romance for later, lovebirds! Tell us how are things looking there, Rima!” Eren asked urgently, ignoring the human king’s murderous glare, they had no time to waste on sweet nothings, the demonic gate was allowing them to communicate since the mind link couldn’t work from such distance, however, who knew how much time they had before something unexpected happens.
“Not good, Eren! Things are looking really bad!” Rima answered truthfully while looking at the place around her.