Arsheus
It was amusing seeing how hard Ria was trying to run away.
I pretended to sleep with my eyes closed while I could hear her moving around the room.
I hated her now that I knew she had betrayed us, but I still couldn't help it but think she was cute. I was an utter idiot.
I closed my eyes harder and let her run way.
Once I no longer heard her walking in the room I got up and begun following her from a distance.
Rin didn't take long to appear besides me. This whole thing had been his idea. According to him if we let her go she would walk right up to the rulers and create a path for us. It was a really good idea even if it broke something inside me to think about how she'd betrayed us without a second thought.
We stayed hidden in the shadows as we followed her to the exit.
I was surprised. She had only taken three hours to find the exit. I was bored out of my mind. Following someone wasn't exactly exciting. That was until she begun climbing the wall.
What the fuck was she doing?
Both of us stared at her, surprised, when instead of flying out she begun climbing the wall.
I could feel Rin's eyes focused on me, but I had no answers for that. I also didn't know why she was climbing the wall instead of flying.
I watched as she climbed and climbed, faster with each rock she gripped.
Looking at her swaying body made my own have indicent thoughts about how she'd look like without her clothes on, just like how she'd been that day at the hut, her soft flesh touching mine.
Just like that day I had to give it my all to not run to her and snuggle her, probably doing something way worse.
Crap!
The way she moved was too suggestive as her body strained to lift her.
I was so focused on her body that I didn't even notice Rin trying to get my attention until he all but hit me in the shoulder.
That had hurt!
I turned to glare at him, but he was already too busy beckoning me to follow him. Ria was no longer in the cave. She had gone outside.
I ignored the pang of pain in my chest at the thought that she had indeed betrayed us and kept walking, reaching the exit.
A few days later
Ria
Finding a place to stay with no money was it's own kind of hell.
After Lilu had found me in the forest and kept me alive with his warmth I had kept running as soon as I woke up, wanting to outrun the demons. Funny enough they never came looking for me.
Maybe I was lucky and they had decided they didn't care about me enough to follow me and make my life hell.
I could only hope, but for now I was happy they were nowhere near me.
Now I had other problems besides them to deal with. Finding shelter in a town with virtually no money was a hard task.
No one would even give me a place to sleep, so this last few nights I had been entering and sleeping in stables.
I honestly hadn't noticed how hard everything was. I had always had a warm bed and a roof above my head.
Life without money was hell.
Once again I regretted not bringing the dresses and jewels with me. With them my life would he been so much easier. Maybe I would've even been able to eat something other than the few pieces of food I managed to steal from merchants.
I didn't know how I was going to survive like this.
With no money and no way of making more out of fear that the angels would catch up to me all I could do was scavenge for pieces of food.
Thinking back life with the demons hadn't been all that bad. They had given me food and a place to stay and I had been relatively safe.
I didn't even know what I would do now.
I was exhausted.
" Come on Lilu"
I held onto him as hard as I could. Lilu was the only thing that had kept me going. Without him I would've just quit and run back to the demons some days ago.
He made everything manageable, but I couldn't even feed him properly now. I had never hated myself more than right now.
I ignored a bunch of spirits in front of me and pulled the hoody that I had stolen closer to my face. I hated populated areas, but I couldn't survive anywhere else.
Looking up at the sky I saw dusk was near.
I had to get to the stables.
I moved in between the crowds like a drop of water, avoiding and twisting my body to fit in between the holes the people left.
Soon enough I was at the stable.
I was lucky no one had cared enough to come check on the horses yet, but I was sure this wouldn't last. The whole situation was unsustainable, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Feeling even more defeated than when I had left I laid in the pile of straw I used as a bed and stared at the horses.
I could always steal one and run away to the nearest town, but the problem remained. I couldn't work because I was afraid they'd recognize me and I'd end up in prison and the other only way I had to obtain food, stealing, didn't seat right with me. That and I sucked at it.
I had had to run away from angry men and women who had realized what I had tried to do more than once. Because of that now everyone was on edge and kept their valuables closer to them, which in turn made stealing harder. The whole situation was a disaster.
" Well, nothing I can do about it" I sighed and twisted my body, laying on my side with Lilu in between my arms.
" You're the only good thing that's ever happened to me" I meant it when I said it and hugged him closer.
After a whole day of trying to steal something valuable and failing miserably I was tired.
I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
A white noise kept my mind awake. From the back of the stable I could hear a sound I couldn't quite place. It wasn't like the usual horse noises I had grown accustomed to, nor the sounds of wasted men walking in the streets. It was different and it was annoying enough to wake me up.
I opened my eyes and looked in front of me. When I saw what was there I paled.
Fuck!
How had they found me? Had they known where I was all along? Had they just been playing with me?
Fear bloomed all over my chest as I stared at the demons.
In front of me Arsheus and Rin were looking down on me, their arms crossed over their chests.
" So you're finally awake" Arsheus was smiling as he spoke.
I looked down in a panic, not afraid for my life but rather fearing the had hurt Lilu.
Looking down there wasn't blood anywhere, but Lilu was also nowhere to be seen.
Panic immediately gripped me and I turned to face them, angry. No one touched my Lilu.
" What have you done to Lilu!!!?"
When all I got as an answer were confused faces I exploded.
I jumped up and grabbed Arsheus by the collar, using my body weight and momentum to bring us both down.
Once we were in the floor I begun hitting him, tears streaming down my face. Motherfuckers.
Arsheus looked at me confused as I hit him, not even trying to defend himself as my fists landed in his face time and time again.
Unfortunately all I managed to get in were a few punches before Rin snapped out of his shook and grabbed my hands, pulling me away.
I thrashed and moved, trying to bite him and hit him. I wanted him to let go of me. I also wanted to kill them. All I managed to do was waste my energy. He was too strong.
I glared at the both of them as my eyes darted all over the place, looking for proof that Lilu was still alive. He couldn't be gone. He couldn't.
The hot, red anger that had been cursing through me veins went out and I fell to the ground, feeling defeated.
I was never going to hear his barking again. I was never going to snuggle against him.
He was gone, just like that. A friend I had been with ever since I was little. A friend I had found and decided to adopt. He was gone.
I couldn't stop my body from shaking as I broke, too broken to care about the demons.
" Why are you like this?" Rin's voice was filled with disdain and a little bit of concern as he asked me.
Did he really not know? He was the one that had gotten me like this in the first place.
" Because you killed him!!!!" I screamed and launched at him, but missed and ended up in the floor again.
" Are you talking about that thing that bit me in the leg?"
I turned to look at Arsheus, who was showing me his bloody leg which I hadn't noticed before.
Lilu had done that. He had protected me. My heart warmed up thinking about it.
" He's fine" Arsheus was serious as he looked me in the eyes and spoke.
I knew it could be a lie. I knew it, and yet my heart healed with his words.
" Is he really fine?" My voice was shaking as I asked.
" He's in a safe place, but you'll have to come with us if you ever want to see him again"
All the warmth in my heart vanished when I heard him. He planned to blackmail me.
My disdain and hatred for them grew even more. I hated them.
Despite my hatred for them and their blackmail my love for Lilu won over. I could deal with them if that meant Lilu was safe.
" Fine"
I spit the word with all the disdain I was capable of mustering as I got up, ignoring their hands.
Arsheus looked down at me with an unknown emotion written all over his face and snapped his fingers.
One second we were in the stable and the next we were inside a fully furnished room.
I didn't even notice our surroundings as I saw Lilu seating in the middle of the bed.
I ran over to him and hugged him as hard as I could.
" You're safe. You're safe"
He was okay.
I stayed there a long time, with Lilu in between my arms. I only let go eventually because Arsheus walked over to me and crouched down to be at my eye level.
" From now on you better behave"
I couldn't think of a witty comeback before he disappeared along with Rin, leaving me alone with Lilu in the room.
Whatever, I didn't care. I was just happy that Lilu was safe and alive.