"We need to take shelter for the night. There is a small abandoned shack at the end to the village. I was staying there for the time being." Jafar lifted Octavius on his back and Luciana lifted Nemesis on her back and took Nightmare's reins and followed Jafar.
Luciana glanced around fearing she could still be tailed and sniffed out as long as it was a territory of Wahrheit.
"Calm down Luciana...calm down. We really shook them off this time...we-" she stumbled twice as her mind raced with the possibility of being tracked by Draco's men.
She breathed heavily but continued to follow Jafar until they reached the run down shack that was abandoned.
For the rest of the night, Jafar, Luciana, and Octavius remained on high alert.
" I think it is better to shelter here for the night my lady," Jafar set Octavius down.
"Jafar. We need to hurry and treat his wounds" Luciana asked him for help and supplies.
Jafar glanced back at Octavius who was unconscious unaware of the dangers around him.
" I will ask for herbs that can be used for treatment. Please stay here my lady."
Seeking refuge in an abandoned shack, Jafar stumbled upon some medicinal herbs which he bought from a seller for one copper—a small stroke of luck amid the encroaching danger.
"Is this the only produce you got?" Jafar asked partially disappointed that herbs were not of good quality.
" That's all we got lad. You wanna buy it then we got this and if not try somewhere else. You ain't getting anything for miles to come." The gruff demon grunted.
"Then give me the location of the wells here as compensation." Jafar bargained.
" To the right end of the village opposite to the abandoned shack. You'll find a well. That's all I can tell." He gruffed.
Jafar turned back and said nothing.
The village streets were treacherous, shadows shifting with the presence of demons lurking nearby.
He went back while scanning his surroundings.
"Octavius...please bear with it. We need to get you treated." Luciana urged him to wake up as she wiped off the cold sweat off his forehead.
He groaned. Slowly regaining his consciousness. The pain was now becoming unbearable.
" The poison is spreading..."she grimaced. She had tied the cloth tightly around the area of his leg to slow down the spreading.
The door opened as Luciana gasped with fear and turned back. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
Jafar entered with a pail of water in one hand and the small bag of herbs.
"Did someone come by when I was away my lady?" He looked around.
"No...no one entered or left." She shook her head.
" I brought some herbs and water as needed." He put down the pail and gave the herbs to her.
"There is not much but..." Luciana paused inspecting the herbs.
" Can they be used?" He asked as he started to light the fire. But he was careful not to build a bigger one.
"Yes...I just need to make a balm. Can you get the water to boil?"
"At once milady," he followed her instructions.
Under Luciana's guidance, Jafar ground the herbs into a fine paste and carefully brewed them in a battered pot.
" It is done. We need to extract the shell now." He said much to Luciana's surprise, he was quite efficient in treating wounds.
He took out his dagger and began to burn it over the fire.
"Is there no other way?" Luciana was very much horrified that the treatment methods of Wahrheit were quite harsh. In Amanécer healing was a blessing and even the most gravely wounded soldier was healed through divine blessings of the great temple.
" The gunpowder was laced with poison my lady. And one that the imperial army uses have designed to kill Amanécerians on spot. I am surprised he pulled off for even a day with these gunshot wounds." Jafar picked up the dagger and partially laced it with a very thin layer of the medicine he made.
"It is better if he bites onto a piece of wood. This is not going to be easy." Jafar said.
Luciana searched around. There was no such thing. Instead she tire her dress and rolled the strip into a ball and inserted it in the pocket that Jafar brought herbs in.
"Octavius...please bear with it." Her voice trembled. She was most reluctant out of anyone who was present there for this to happen.
Octavius did as he was told.
" I am doing it now." Jafar said.
He seared the effected flesh as Octavius jolted and struggled to control the unbearable pain.
" Ugghhh -!"
"Hang in there... Octavius....please" Luciana prayed and whispered. She let her divine energy chanel as Jafar hurried to apply the herbal remedy over the wound.
After administering the makeshift treatment to Octavius, they laid him down to rest.
Fire crackled occasionally over the dry twigs that Jafar fed it to keep it alive.
"My lady.". Jafar broke the silence.
Luciana looked at him. The look in his eyes said it all. The suspicion he held and the questions he was about to ask.
She braced herself for the interrogation.
"May I ask how you came to this isolated village? Also I didn't see the master with you but this man." He looked at her.
"I know your suspect me for running away the moment I seized a chance." She claimed his thoughts aloud.
"Is it true?" He cross questioned her.
"Erebus.... sacrificed himself to help me out of danger." She was unfazed when Jafar's eyes widened.
Luciana shared her story with Jafar, recounting the fall of Erebus and her desperate escape from the Central Capital. Jafar listened in silence, his expression unreadable, absorbing every word. Finally, Luciana told him about the place Callum mentioned to her about.
" The prison of abyss-!" He held his breath as his lower lip trembled with every word that slipped out of his tongue.
" Ever since that day they have relentlessly persued us until we came to this village." As her hands trembled, a small moan took all her attention.
" Mama?" Nemesis called her weakly.
"Oh sweetling you're awake?" She was not exactly delighted to see Nemesis awake. It meant that her power was weakening drastically. With the life inside her womb also sucking her stores and also the injuries she healed took toll on her body.
"Mama I am hungry," Nemesis held his tiny hands over his belly and looked at her in hopes of receiving something.
Luciana was at loss. She felt helpless. She had no money nor her jewelry that she could use to trade for some food. She was starved too.
" Come here my little warrior,"
She took him in her lap and kissed his temple.
She wanted to use the divine spell again on him to make him fall back to sleep. But Jafar held out a small cloth that contained something inside it.
"Take this my lady," he said.
Luciana looked at the bag and then at him.
"I know this isn't enough to keep you and the young master fed but atleast you will be able to pass a night with this."
"But it is yours. I cannot deprive you of something you need." She refused but Jafar cut her off sharply.
"Would the young master rather bestarved than to follow ethics at this moment?" He looked down at Nemesis who didn't say anything but his starved face said it all.
She looked at the hunger ravaging the boy. Painful it was indeed for her.
Her hand trembled as she took the bag from his hand and humbly thanked him.
"I will try to repay this kindness,"
"No need for it." he rose to his feet and spoke quietly.
"I'll fetch more water from the well, my lady. Please keep the door locked until I return."
-" He is suppressing his anger against me," she fretted.
Nemesis tightly gripped at her sleeves as he eyed at the wrapped cloth.
Luciana unwrapped it and found barley bread stuffed with some chopped leeks and wild yak meat.
She paused. These were one of Zehel's dishes. She subconsciously missed the kind servants of Stygian fortress.
She tore the bread and took small piece of meat and held it to Nemesis' mouth just like she and Mina did to feed him back in the fortress.
Nemesis greedily munched at it until he was full.
On the last bite Luciana's hand paused midway that drove the boy's focus from her hand to her face.
She was wincing in pain with the other hand placed on her belly.
Something inside her stirred. But she knew that her second trimester had begun.
Nemesis took the bite sized bread from her hand and held it close to her face.
"Mama has to eat too!" He said confident that her pain would ease away if she ate something delicious.
"Say aaa~!" He said the same way she used to do to make him eat.
Luciana smiled and took the bite from his little hand and instead of eating it she popped it in his mouth.
"Thank you for your thoughtfulness my little prince." She forgot her pain momentarily and wiped his mouth with the cape since her handkerchief was used as a bandaid for Octavius.
"It was for you mama," he pouted.
"I know, but my little warrior needs it more." She took him in her arms and paid beside him.
"But papa said you need to eat more." He justified his claim.
"You need it more so you grow up strong and protect your little sibling." She convinced him.
"Strong like dadde?" His eyes gleamed.
"Yes, strong like your father. Now come. You need to sleep well to grow up like your father," Nemesis cuddled more into her for warmth as she draped her cloak over him.
As Nemesis fell asleep she made another attempt to cast another divine spell over him. But his time it took greater toll on her body.
Exhausted, she settled into a light sleep with Nemesis by her side. But a sharp, violent knock shattered the silence, jerking her awake.
"Open up!" a gruff voice demanded from outside.
Her heart thundered as she sat upright, gripped by a sense of dread. She stayed silent, hoping they might pass by. But a moment later, the door splintered under the force of a heavy blow, wooden fragments flying as heavy footsteps pounded into the shack. Through the cloud of dust, a pair of red eyes glowed ominously in the darkness.
"Found you," a cold voice taunted, dripping with malice.
In a flash, Luciana reached for whatever she could find, hurling objects at the intruder in a desperate attempt to shield Octavius and Nemesis. But her efforts were in vain. A powerful hand seized her arm, and she cried out as the stranger's gaze locked onto hers—an eerie pair of bewitched red eyes.
"Enough of this foolishness," Draco sneered, pulling her close with an effortless grip. With swift precision, he bound her hands and hoisted her onto his mount.
"Take that brat too." He barked orders.
Her hair spilled loose around her as she struggled, catching sight of a figure in the distance: Jafar. But her heart froze, not because he was far away—but because of the expression on his face. He stood watching, a dark, smug smile tugging at his lips.
Her realization struck with brutal clarity. " I was meant to be sacrificed from the beginning."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as Draco climbed onto the beast behind her, his watchful eyes tracking her every move. A few soldiers behind them exchanged vulgar whispers about her, but Draco silenced them with a single, lethal glare.
Their journey back to the Central Capital took two grueling days. Whenever she refused food, Draco forced stale bread and tough meat down her throat, his tone cold and commanding. "We don't want to deliver a corpse. Eat, or I'll make sure it goes down one way or another." The nearly inedible food made her retch, but hunger won out, and Nemesis, desperate, forced himself to eat as well.
They arrived at the Capital by midday, Draco dragging her off the beast without respite and leading her toward the Spider Lily Palace. Luciana's eyes took in the palace grounds, where red spider lilies blanketed the gardens, spreading like blood across the landscape.
They ascended to the third floor, her legs nearly giving way from exhaustion as Draco showed her no mercy. They finally reached a set of ornate white doors, trimmed with delicate golden designs. A young butler opened the doors, nodding respectfully.
"General Draco has arrived, Your Imperial Highness," the butler announced as he led them inside.
A door opened from an adjacent chamber, and Zavaikal entered the room, his gaze cold and assessing. Draco knelt, yanking Luciana down beside him, forcing her to her knees. Zavaikal's mouth curved in a satisfied smile.
"Well done, General," he praised, handing Draco a sealed document. "Your reward will be generous."
Draco accepted the document, but Zavaikal's expression darkened as he continued. "Amanécer has declared war on Wahrheit, as has the human realm."
Cornelius's warning echoed in Luciana's mind. Prepare for Armageddon.
Unable to stay silent, she raised her voice, her defiance breaking through her exhaustion. "You've taken me. Why must you still go after my people?"
Zavaikal's gaze flickered with amusement, his laughter sharp and condescending.
"Your people broke the pact!" He replied coldly.
Her confusion only deepened.
" What are you talking about? My people would never wage war unless there was a reason to it." She rebuked in defiance.
" We requested a princess with eyes of gold." His voice edged with contempt.
" Instead your emperor father sent another daughter in her place."
She stared at him, the truth finally sinking in as her heart pounded faster, struck with realization."Aria...?" She whispered horror dawning.
Relishing her shock, his lips curled to a dark smile.
He looked so much like Erebus which haunted her.
"Yes, the seal bearer. Your cunning emperor thought he could decieve us, by keeping the one we desired- the one who bears the other half of the golden seal, and sent you, a lesser daughter in her place. That's the reality." He leaned closer and whispered.
She felt the world tilt, the legend of the golden seal unraveling in her mind.
She'd only heard whispers of it from others. It was never recorded in the books. Passed down as a myth— a seal created by first emperor to imprison Iblis. He chose to embed the remaining half of what was left of the seal inside his body, its power embedded in her bloodline as it continued to pass down to the descendants.
Zavaikal leaned back, his satisfaction evident.
"But thanks to my fool of a brother, he made things easier for me. I never had to lift my hand to get what I desired." Zavaikal mused and gestured to Draco who had just finished studying the contents of the scroll.
Zavaikal's gaze still lingered on him cold and calculating.
"Is it not to your liking?" He asked him.
Draco grinned and shook his head.
"All that I needed." He responded.
"I have another one for your use." He gestured the soldiers to bring forth Nemesis.
They pushed the child who, too terrified to cry obeyed their command and fell on the ground with their rough push.
" Nemesis!" Luciana turned to him trying to get to the boy who was staggering up covered in dirt and eyes filled with tears.
"That boy.... Bring him closer." Zavaikal ordered the soldier.
They obeyed and lifted him from behind his collar and pressed him to move.
"Don't hurt him!" Luciana shrieked. Her anger and desperation evident on her face.
Zavaikal ignored her plea and studied him for a brief moment and smiled darkly thatade Nemesis tremble in fear.
"This boy is pure Amanécerian." He announced. Draco was shocked. He never realized another Amanécerian stood right under their noses.
" He will be a great stand in." He declared.
"Start preparing for the war. I shall prepare for the ritual within fortnight. Every man and woman capable of fighting will enter the army. Leave no one behind."
"Understood. Then I will take Leila to the south eastern region." Draco and the head butler excused themselves to carry out his orders.