Chapter 393: Calm Before the Storm
Laz didn’t say anything and Nora didn’t continue. Instead, they just spent the moment looking over the green landscape and basking in the moment.
Laz had a feeling and suspected Nora felt it too, a feeling that things would soon change and these peaceful days would come to an end. Especially if what Nora was saying was true.
He didn’t doubt her, having seen his share of things in the past, but he did hope that she would be wrong.
Still though, they both understood Laz’s lifestyle. He didn’t stay in one place for long, moving where the situation took him. He ended up here by accident, many of the places where he stayed had ended up being by accident, but that didn’t make them any less important.
Perhaps it was the peaceful situation or just feeling the closeness between the two of them. Then again, it could be that Laz had been awake all night, but Laz found himself falling asleep without even meaning too.
When Laz opened his eyes, he was again on a wooden floor, surrounded by greenery. At a white table, very near close to where Laz had awoken, sat a beauty with green hair and wearing a brown, skin tight dress.
Laz simply stood up, brushed himself off and sat down, taking a sip of the cup that had been sitting at the place where he made himself comfortable. It was a tea, but the taste was like nothing he had never tried before. It took most of Laz’s willpower to not down the drink in gulps, but instead to sip it and enjoy it.
"You’re in a tough place right now," A’ruya said, with little emotion on her face.
"I’m aware," Laz responded, looking out at the bright sky and beautiful clouds that seemed to drift by the branches of this massive tree.
"You don’t seem worried."
"I’ve been in bad spots before. And what’s the worst that could happen, I die?" Laz responded with a chuckle.
"You’ve grown stronger, more so than I thought possible in such a short period of time. While I can still help you now, that’s just for now. Pretty soon if you continue at this pace, I will no longer be able to heal you or bring you back if it comes to that."
"You didn’t help me the last time and I made it ok."
"Your injuries weren’t life threatening and you knew that."
"I did. But still, I’m just saying."
"I didn’t bring you here to argue. Instead, I need your help with something. Well... More like, you need to do this or things will get even worse for you.," A’ruya said, as a matter of fact.
"And what’s that?"
"Convince that sleeping god to join us."
’What?’
"Come again?" Laz asked, not believing his ears.
"There is a lot I can’t tell you. Actually, I can’t really tell you anything. But the important part is, I need it’s help. Therefore, it’s up to you to get him to help me." A’ruya’s lack of information didn’t sit well with Laz, but the more troubling part of the conversation was that A’ruya was actually asking him for something.
This had never happened before.
"I don’t know if I can..."
"I don’t care. You need to. Look. Pretty soon there will be more things I ask of you and of all of those things, this might be the simplest one. So I need you to come through with this as it will help both of us. That’s all I can say for now." A’ruya sat back in her chair and sipped her own drink, her eyes seemingly closed as she focused on whatever she was focusing on.
"You’ve never asked anything of me before," Laz said, more of a statement than a question.
A’ruya didn’t respond.
"I guess it makes sense the first thing you ask of me would be something huge."
Again, nothing.
"How? How do I do this?" Laz asked, directly.
"I can’t tell you that if only because it has to be your way and not mine," A’ruya finally responded, letting Laz know she was listening.
"Alright. I won’t let you down." It might be impossible, but Laz knew that he didn’t have a choice, he owed her, big. And besides which, if she was asking it of it, there must be a good reason for it... right?
"Good. I knew I could trust one with the Asura bloodline. It carries far more weight than you might think." With that, A’ruya reached over and cupped her hand under Laz’s chin, making him face her. While he had seen her face many times before, this was the first time he had looked into her deep, red eyes. It was only now that he understood, while staring into their depths, that there was far more going on than he knew. Laz might be dense, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot. And he proved that by reading several things within her eyes all at once.
Then, before he knew it, his vision went black.
"To think you would actually touch one of these filthy half-breeds, noble bloodline or not. I would expect nothing else from my sister’s offspring..." A voice sounded from the darkness, detaching itself from the the giant column of wood that made up the trunk of the tree.
"Oh. If it isn’t my dear aunt Krya. How nice of you to stop by. You’re not welcome though so please leave now before I activate the wards and make you leave, hm?" A’ruya said, sipping her tea and not turning back.
"Listen here you little bitch. My sister is the reason we are all in this mess in the first place and you, her blood offspring, share that responsibility. When she is removed, what do you think will happen to you? You should think clearly before you decide to burn the familial bridges that binds us as I may be your only way out." The woman said, her green hair done up and decorated with many jewels and precious treasures while her clothing resembled a ball gown that screamed upper class.
Perhaps on a more beautiful woman, this would have looked refined and sophisticated. But on A’ruya’ aunt, it just looks gaudy.
"I see you’re ignoring your place. So be it," A’ruya said before waving a hand while drawing a symbol in the air.
"So you have chosen the path to hell. So be it. I’ll make you regret today for the rest of your long and painful life," Krya said before vanishing.
A’ruya lowered her hand and sighed. She didn’t want to do this, but she didn’t have a choice. Neither did her mother.
’And if he fails?’ A’ruya thought but then let that thought go. Even if success seemed impossible, failure wasn’t an option she could consider. There was way to much riding on this.
...
Laz awoke to find Nora was still snuggled up to him, sipping her coffee and relaxing. He might have been thousands of miles away, but it was only in spirit.
Despite that, Laz no longer felt like sitting around and waiting to see what happened. He knew that, no matter what, he would need to get stronger. The problem was he still didn’t know what he had to do to do that.
He sat in silence and mulled it over until the sun had risen enough to be seen, indicating that it was time for him to get moving and start his morning session.
Nora reluctantly got off him and went inside the house, most likely going to cover up on the couch and relax some more.
’She’s never going to be a morning person,’ Laz thought to himself before heading inside and upstairs into the shower. Nora might not have said anything, but he still could smell the lingering scent of sex and violence on his body, even if there was no bloodshed.
’Not this time anyway.’
In the shower, Laz let the hot water run down his neck and back as he leaned forward, his hands against the side of the shower. Despite the current circumstances, he felt his mind clearing with the familiar feeling of something as simple as getting himself clean.
’She gave me a hint, huh? One that wasn’t meant to be shared. It seems like there is some trouble on her side? I mean, I only know of her, but at the same time, she can’t be the only one there. I think she mentioned something about it a long time ago, but I don’t remember. The way she acted was really strange though. What kind of gentle crap is that? I get her no longer wishing to send me away in the most violent way possible, but so show me kindness? There has got to be more too it than that. And what she said? The Asura bloodline carries weight? And her eyes... Why would she be anything but direct? Wait... wait wait wait wait wait... could it be that we were being watched? I mean, it was like she controlled her behavior and only said what needed to be said without anything like emotion. Nothing at all...’
Laz connected the dots, but only enough to reveal one truth. No matter how he tried to think about it though, other answers didn’t seem to click.
But in the end, that didn’t matter. It didn’t solve his current problem and just led to more headaches.
When Laz felt like he had spent enough time showering, he got dressed and rushed to the field where everyone was already waiting. Even though he was late, no one made a fuss. Instead, they got to work right away, running to warm themselves up and then sparring for the rest of the day. The only difference Laz added was that those who lost a match wouldn’t fight another one. Instead, he wanted them to focus on strength training, so he assigned them an axe each so they could go chop down their own tree, cut it apart and begin using it as a weight. While the method may had been basic, the results would show that it was effective.
After giving these orders though, Laz felt a strong headache come on, one with no warning or cause. As such, Laz sat down on the grass before laying down on his stomach. He then sunk both hands into the ground and began pushing himself up and down while bashing his head on the soft ground. For whatever reason, Laz felt like he was unjumbling a puzzle and needed to do this to stay awake for it.
Answers soon arrived in the form of a green haired, red eyed beauty.
"After the palace comes the land."
"After the land, comes the kingdom."
"After the kingdom, comes the empire."
"Void Lord. Void King, Void Emperor."
More than that, massive amounts of information came as well, what each realm meant, what each realm related to. While the information didn’t include what one had to do to advance or conquer the realm, it did allow Laz the ability to see the difference of each, or at least as much as he could comprehend.
Still though, just knowing where the goal line was and reaching it were two entirely different things. Laz now saw the path and where it lead, but he had no idea how to start walking it.
At least right now.
When Laz finally settled down, his forehead was a mess of blood mixed in with grass and dirt. But even then, he finally felt released from the pain. Opening his eyes, he noticed the girls had gathered around after noticing something wrong. Although they asked all kinds of questions, Laz didn’t respond right away.
Raising his hand for silence, Laz finally uttered one sentence before passing out fully.
"The way has been opened."
Then blackness was all he knew.
