Chapter 565: Within Her Eyes
"It’s..." The words were there, but they weren’t coming out. A’ruya’s people weren’t to be mentioned, that much was a given. Not for any particular reason, but only because there were many secrets surrounding them and one didn’t want to find themselves with too much knowledge of them. After all, Elder Fae didn’t like being spoken of by those who should not speak of them.
"I uh... didn’t know... who his master was..." The lust god stammered, unable to determine in which direction they should go to get out of this mess.
"Clearly. And yet... you still threatened me with all of your wonderful friends. I wonder how many of them are watching on right now in this gathering you put together. After all, many of you who are starting to wake up are beginning to think of themselves as the rulers of this world. It seems you have forgotten of the times long past when each of you came crawling, begging for our help," A’ruya said, looking up at several points around the room. While it wasn’t obvious where she was looking, what was obvious was the tremor that ran through the ancient temple, almost as though many people were shaking at the same time.
"We... never meant a hint of disrespect... my lady..."
"Truly. We all hold nothing but the deepest respect for you and your people’s saving grace."
"Yes. We all having nothing but gratitude etched deep in our hearts for you..."
And on and on it went as several voices were heard all at once, praising A’ruya and her people.
Hearing this, Laz couldn’t help but stand back up, knowing that at least for the moment, the immediate problem was solved. Laz wouldn’t have been able to summon A’ruya even if he tried with all his might. But since she was connected with him, she had heard everything that had been said by the lust god to Laz and knew that her position was being questioned. While a god couldn’t descend if the disciple didn’t want them to as part of the contract, Laz had no reason to try to hold her back from this particular problem and she seemed more that willing to come herself anyway.
Looking over at Dalia and Roma, Laz had to suppress a laugh that was forming in his stomach. Never, in all of their lives, would they had thought that the god they looked so highly upon would be bowing so low to another being. This wasn’t the first god Laz had encountered and he knew for a fact that there were different levels of gods. Maia was an example of a second level god, but just barely. Quetzalcoatl was probably a second level god who had grown weak from his years of imprisonment and therefore only appeared at the level of a first level god. As for this lust god... they didn’t give off the same strength as Maia although they seemed stronger than Quetzalcoatl when he had awakened so at most, the lust god was a high stage, level one god. Either way, considering Maia had been so respectful of A’ruya’s people, it was clear that A’ruya herself was more than just a second level god, not even counting the forces behind her.
While the levels were unclear to Laz, he had some ideas in his head as to what was what. Either way, it was clear that things were going south for this lust god real quick.
After a while of sniveling boot licking, A’ruya had had enough.
"Quiet," she said, and just like that, all of the voices in this temple became silent.
"I didn’t come here today to hear your petty groveling. Had I just wanted things resolved, I would have sent my maids to take care of this issue. The reason I have even bothered to grace any of you with my presence is due to alliances that have been forming while many of you, if not all of you, are still in the dark about what’s coming. The only good thing about this place is the inclusion of both paths in your ranks. There is merit in that, despite anything else. Therefore I have come for two reasons. A discussion about the upcoming conflicts and treaty terms. Both of these things will be handled by some of my people in the near future as there is no way in Hel I will ever step foot in this pit again. Those of you who meet the requirements may join in on the discussions, everyone else will have to wait until after words. Now if you will excuse me, I will take a moment with my disciple," A’ruya said, not giving anyone a chance to stop her.
She turned and waved her hand, an invisible wall forming around the two of them, blocking out both noise and sound.
"Heh. To think you’ve even gotten into contact with these types of life forms. I would wonder just what kind of decisions have led you here, but since I already know everything you do, I am already aware of it. Still, even these bottom feeders have their uses I imagine. If it wasn’t for the declaration of the council, I wouldn’t even give them a chance. Still... perhaps having a hand in the dealings of the underworld will lead to benefits down the road. You have my praise for this," A’ruya said, walking up to Laz and putting a finger underneath his chin, lifting his eyes to meet hers. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to normally, but when being aggressive, her blood red eyes usually caused him to feel a slight pain and itch inside his skin... as though his soul was being wounded bit by bit.
This time though, despite the fire and intensity in her eyes, he didn’t feel the normal pain and discomfort that went with it. Instead, he saw something there he had never expected, something... like a small flame, surrounded by layers upon layers of dark, cold energy. Laz didn’t know what he was looking at, but he went slack jawed at the sight before a sharp tug at his chin awoke him from his thoughts.
"Enough. I will be leaving now. They will not mistreat you. Do what you came to do and leave. I have other matters to attend to," A’ruya said, before hurrying off.
Now Laz was even more confused since her steps seemed hurried and, although Laz wasn’t quite sure, he almost felt like he saw a blush in her cheeks. Clearly, he had seen something she didn’t wish for him to see.
Once the door closed, the wooden gate vanished, as did the sphere surrounding the area, leaving Laz once again facing the lust god on his own.
The difference was that now there was a serious look on that strange face.
"Roma. Take Dalia here with you and show our guest to the luxury suite. You two," the lust god said, pointing to the twin red robed priests,
"Go to the garden and show our uninvited guests to the suite as well. Everyone else leave. There is much to discuss," they said, throwing everyone into action. Roma, with her escort of guards came up to Laz and far more friendly than before, bowed.
"If you would please follow me this way," Roma said with the greatest respect she could muster, gesturing for Laz to follow her.
Accompanied by Dalia, Laz followed Roma out of the room as everyone else was a chaotic jumble of action.
As the quiet of the halls surrounded them again, Laz didn’t speak and neither did Dalia, although their reasons were different.
Laz was still hung up on what he saw in A’ruya’s eyes, something deep and buried that she had in no way intended for him to see, but see he did. Now he was just trying to figure out what that strange mess was.
’Emotions? Some sort of seal? It seemed both real and non real at the same time. It had a feeling to it... but one doesn’t just see emotions like they were a physical substance,’ Laz thought as many ideas went in and out of his over taxed brain, one right after another.
In Dalia’s mind, which shared many of the same thoughts as Roma’s, there were a massive number of things fighting for her attention.
’Who is this guy?’
’How powerful is he that even our god themselves wanted him?’
’And who is his master that makes one so powerful fear them so much?’
While neither girl knew the answer, they did know that the secrets Laz kept hidden within himself were far deeper and far more numerous that he had lead them to believe.
"You may go," Roma said, dismissing the guards except for the two she appointed to guarding the door. Stepping inside this non-descriptive entrance led to a place that Laz had only dream existed... one that he had never thought to visit in his lifetime either.
’Although there was the queen’s play room... but even that was... tame by comparison,’ Laz thought to himself.
The floor was a hard wood, deep, dark and rich. The walls were covered in red satin drapes, covering up whatever stone would have been visible otherwise. The ceiling was nothing but solid mirror as far as the eyes could see. On one side of the room was a massive, heart shaped bed while next to it a little further down was a massive hot tube, already filled with steamy water and bubbling with a low hum. On the other side of the room were several couches and chairs, spread into a half circle along with an old fashion movie projector and screen, like a huge viewing theater.
The room was both comfortable, huge, but not too over the top. At least, Laz didn’t see any of the normal devices he would have expected from an S&M dungeon, despite the way things appeared.
If there was one thing that stood out, it would have been there was a toilet, sink and massive bath tub behind several glass panels, allowing anyone within the room to see within. Other than that though, there were also two doors in the back of the room that lead to somewhere else.
"Make yourself at home while I go bring in something to snack on while waiting for our other guests," Roma said, making her way through one of the doors in the back.
’Guess that answers that,’ Laz thought, taking a seat on one of the couches before beckoning Dalia to do the same.
Before long, the door leading to the hall way opened again and in walked two people, Brittany and Amira.
As they walked inside, there was a tension in their bodies that was easy to see, but it seemed to drop away the second they caught sight of Laz.
"Oh. Thank the gods," Amira said, walking forward but coming to a complete stop the moment she saw Dalia.
"Look who I found," Laz said, happy to see the almost twin like sisters meeting each other once again.
Amira took a few steps forward as Dalia stood up.
Right as Amira reached her, close enough to hug, Amira brought her hand up.
SLAP!
