A Throne of Fire

Chapter 5

He just f*****g vanished. Right out of thin air. What the actual f**k. 

Nichole stood there, staring at her now empty arms, in just pure shock. Pure, and utter shock. The boy just f*****g evaporated from her arms, literally just up in a puff of smoke before she could even make it past the front f*****g door!!!! Anger and panic laced their way through her veins, had one of them found her??? 

Glancing around frantically to make sure she didn’t just drop the kid, she makes a dive for some near by bushes, hearing footsteps tread down from the stairway inside. Just before hearing some string of curse words and the sudden scream outside. It didn’t sound like Xaylin, no it sounded as if it was more heartbroken than that. 

Mist maybe? She would definitely be heartbroken over losing a subject to experiment on. Such a morbid thought. To be experimented on by a witch and a scientist. Also ironic when one really thinks about it. 

Well what was she supposed to do now? She had never known that humans could just, vanish into thin air.. 

No use waiting around the house anymore though, she supposed.

Slowly crawling away from the bush and out of view from the house, Nichole made her way into the woods. Maybe she should see if Nero is still kicking around the temple. If he wasn’t she could possibly search it to find some more clues as to what the f**k is going on with the bird. He wasn’t always like this. He used to be a kind soul that actually cared whether or not something lived or died. He used to visit the skies and give them such beautiful colors, you could tell he was happy with life.

Now he just seems like a lost soul wandering around looking for his purpose. 

Kind of like how she is now. The more she thinks about it, the more it becomes apparent to her that she was totally willing to kill someone just to get back up to the skies. Even if the skies themselves are empty. 

What kind of person has she become? Her thoughts swirled and occupied her mind for a while, a flurry of emotions washing over her as she finally made it to the temple. It didn’t seem like it was much of a walk, though she supposed the afternoon went by rather fast considering it was already becoming dusk. Just as she was about to approach the entrance of the temple she heard an ear splitting shriek and fear froze her in her place for a moment, only regaining feeling in her legs again as she saw a shadow move. Quickly she makes her way to the side of the entrance, just in time to see the phoenix come out in a black ball of fire. No, it wasn’t black fire, she could see something bright underneath whatever was covering him. Another ear piercing shriek covered the air around the two of them, and the sound of pops and crackles came from the black dots atop him. 

Insects maybe? 

Smoke filled the air around Nero, heavy breathing followed suit as he got the last of them off of him. He collapses and something overcomes her and she feels herself moving towards him. 

What was she doing? 

Ignoring her inner monologue as to why she was going near an actual mass murderer she slowly approaches him. 

“Dolor.” He breathes out the single word and her heart stops. 

“W-what?” She stutters, taking the chance to get closer to the fallen beast. 

He didn’t look like he was going to be moving anytime soon, his soft glow he used to have seems to have faded. Charcoal like feathers etched their way into his skin down his arms and across the back of his neck, he looked more like a raven now then he did a phoenix. He’s losing all his color. 

“Dolor.” Nero breathed again, he sounded like he was having issues. 

What was Dolor? Wasn’t it Latin? Oh, goddess, she hasn’t heard anyone speak Latin in years. 

Nichole looked at him for a long while, running the word through her head while she studied the man lying on the ground, unmoving. 

It clicked.  

“Pain.” She whispered, covering her mouth as she realized he’s been in pain this entire time. It’s a no wonder his feathers were becoming tainted. 

The demon nods, ever so gently, his bright green eyes looking up at her in what she could only make out to be is remorse. 

That was Nero. Right there, those eyes, that little grin he’s got going on. That’s their Nero. 

“It’s good to see you back, old man.” She jokes, leaning down to pick him up off the ground. 

“Domum.” He says, it takes her a minute to understand what he means. 

Home. He wants to go home. Would they let him into the house? Didn’t they have it warded against him? 

“Okay.” Nichole doesn’t mention anything about it and begins her trek back to the Auroan manner. 

Well, she had started, before the goddamn human rained down from the sky and took them both out. 

Nero now out cold on the ground and Nichole groaning in more pain and having the wind knocked out of her. 

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“Come now Fink, behave for me alright? I can assure you, if you do as your told you will be heavily rewarded.”

 Her voice was like silk across his sensitive ears, it gave him a slight tang of fear. What if he failed? What is behaving to her standards? Things just seemed to be stacking and stacking, getting more confusing. She wanted this man to suffer and die, though he’s been suffering for years. He is going to be reborn again, what was the point of continuing the cycle? Though fear outweighed curiosity in this moment, and the rat slinked his way out of the temple shadows and over to the pile of creatures. He wasn’t entirely sure how she knew the human would be amongst this pile, though that didn’t seem to really be the real problem at hand. The real problem is tagging him without him realizing, and without the demon snapping at him. Nero knew who the rat was and what he did. Who he “worked” for. Fink remembered every time the demon happened to see him, the look of fear that crossed his face. It made him feel kind of..guilty almost. He was always the Demon’s bad news carrier it seemed. 

Too many thoughts. Too many, need to focus. 

Assessing the situation before him, a human atop a fallen angel and a demon, what a funny picture. It almost made him laugh, almost. 

The woman gave him this strange….tag. Was really the only way you could describe it. It was some sort of enchantment on paper, Fink wasn’t sure how exactly it was going to help them, but that seemed to be beside the point. 

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Damon wasn’t sure when he got sucked back into the future, or how exactly he had done it. According to mother it was something that he triggered but again, not a clue as to how. He was expecting to wake up in that house Xaylin brought him to, maybe with that weird scientist hanging around him. However he was not expecting to pop out of the air and land on Nichole and….

Fear gripped his heart and pure unadulterated terror fueled his entire body as he scrambled backwards. 

It was that Demon from the temple. What was his name? God, why was nichole around him? Were they working together now? Were they trying to kidnap him for her sacrifice? He needed to get out of here! 

Scrambling to his feet before the other two could make it up off the ground, he felt a sudden cold burn touch his upper arm, it suddenly turned into a wicked burning sensation. Was his skin bubbling?! Jesus f**k. 

He glanced down at it, though there was nothing, odd. He wasn’t sure why his skin would suddenly just start burning. 

Fact of the matter is Damon didn’t have much time to dwell on the matter. He hot wired his brain to focus on getting as far away from those two nut cases as fast as possible. Maybe try find a small place to hunker down, a nice small quiet place where he could figure things out, try to figure himself out. His family, what his father was. A summoner? Of what kind? What can he summon? Time obviously but What can he do? God this is so annoying. In the most crucial of moments he needs to figure s**t out and he has absolutely no f*****g idea how to go about doing so. Perhaps those weirdos have some information? The older man, what did they call him? Karma? He seems like he knows a lot more than he lets on. 

 Then that’s what he would do, go marching back into the house full of Demons...and witches..and oddities…

He needed a plan. 

He needed to think things through, he couldn’t just go barreling into a house full of things that could kill him in an instant. Despite them saying how they wish to help him. He just couldn’t believe it, not after hearing the stories of what Nero did. Of what that woman made him do. He couldn’t fathom what exactly the man had gone through, though that didn’t seem to stop him from holding a bit of a grudge against him. I mean he technically wiped out his species, who wouldn’t hold a grudge against The Demon for that. 

The trees took on an odd shade of green the further he ran into the forest. It seemed as though things were lively where he ended up. Plants thrived in the most wondrous colors he had ever seen in his life, fruits sprouted off of bushes and hung from trees. What kinds he had no idea, he could identify a couple. Strawberries and blueberries, those could be mangos but they have an odd shape to them. So he didn’t trust it. 

He remembered how his mother was going to make something for him to eat just before he got sucked back through the strange void and dropped on top of those two loonies before. 

So without missing a beat in his step he passed by multiple bushes, plucking berries off left and right and throwing them into his mouth. The taste exploded on his tongue, tangos of sweetness and some sour depending on ripeness. It was wonderful! Probably the greatest berries he ever had in his life. 

He decided that perhaps he had stumbled upon a garden of some sorts, with how well taken care of everything seemed, there was no way that this wasn’t man made in some way. So, without a second thought he reached for one of the mango looking fruits, ready to sink his teeth into the flesh before an all out war cry rang against his ears and a painful sting knocked the fruit out of his hands. 

Startled, Damon stumbled backwards, scanning the area for what in all the hells could have made such a noise. It sounded like a layer of voices, female voices to be exact. 

“Don’t touch.” The words were repeated on the wind and Damon looked around everywhere until he spotted someone up in the trees. They were there and he blinks and they’re gone. Great. 

“Uh, okay, I won’t touch the mangos.” Damon stated a little bit more than confused, trying to scan the area to see if this was possibly a figment of his imagination. Those could have not been strawberries. What a wild ride that would be. 

The person appears again, this time approaching Damon slowly from the bushes. It was a woman of dark skin, white tribal marks coat her body, clad in nothing but animal hide over her top and bottom halves of her body. Her eyes were this vibrant blue, almost like cold glass. Could get lost in them honestly..

To which he had been and just narrowly avoided being gutted by a stone spear. 

“Woah!! Hey! Watch where you’re throwing that thing!! Could seriously hurt someone.” Pretty sure that’s the point (haha point, spear, he should just die now) she was trying to make. 

She looked almost human. It made his heart beat in slight hope. Maybe some sort of tribe survived Nero’s rampage? 

“Why are you in my garden?” Her voice was rich, smooth, though held the sharpest edge that her eyes were sure to get across. 

God her white hair made her eyes look all the better. 

A slight sass rose to the boys tongue, though he quickly backlashed it, thinking it would be fore the better to not anger the lady with the jabby stick. 

“Honestly, I am all sorts of lost.” Damon stated, keeping his hands to his sides in being sure as to not make any sudden moves. 

The woman stares at him with a certain disdain, poking the stone spear at him.  Oddly she looked human enough, though with the oddities in this forest looks weren't exactly something to go off of. Seeming to study him for a moment she lowers her spear to her side, standing tall for a moment as if trying to keep the intimidation

"Name." She demands, narrowing her glass eyes. There was a sudden no filter moment for the boy, and he quipped out his name, “Damon. Though it’s only polite to barter and exchange.” God he’s going to die with his last words being that? Stupid. 

He watched a slight rage flash in her eyes, she all but grit out her name, “Latin.”  Just before her hand gripping the spear lifted and he feared the worse. He would get speared like a fish right here and now. He had to do something, think fast! Oh god he wasn’t the best at this sort of thing.

“Fink!” Her sudden shout drew him from his thoughts, and her sudden throwing of her spear into a nearby brush certainly didn’t quell them. “I told you to stay out of my forest!” Without any hesitation she chased after her weapon, something grainy touched his arm and he all but jumped a mile, ready to throw as many punches as he could manage. Though when he looked down, it was a small...err...boy? Of sorts. The creatures of this world will never cease to amaze him really. Goggles perched upon his head who’s straps needed to be adjusted obviously as they seemed much too big for him and often fell over his eyes. He seems to adjust them frequently atop brown greasy locks. Gross. 

“Hooohooo! Come with me, yes?” The grin he wore that showed off buck teeth did nothing to make him feel any less suspicious of this sudden character. For someone to look as dirty as he did, he sure did smell fresh. Like mint to be exact. Floppy round ears perched out of his brown hair, flicking and twitching often, keeping track of his surroundings it seemed. Green eyes flashed between the brush and Damon, little hands waving towards the boy incessantly.

“Not much time. No no. The deaf fruit woman will be the least of our worries.” He bounced from foot to foot in front of Damon, and Damon, thinking it be better to go with this little guy then to stick around with the territorial one, well it just seemed obvious which choice he would go with. 

So, he followed him.