A villain's secret

Chapter 5: Emerald

Nox POV
Present day (ages= Lillian-19 Nox-22)

The week had been and gone and to Nox's dismay he had woken up every morning. He'd dropped off supplies to Lillian earlier in week. And when he'd arrived at the little wooden house, Lillian was in the process of chasing a large rodent around with a broom. Swearing like a drunkard and cursing the creature's future bloodline to eternal damnation for stealing her last cookie. Nox spent a day in her company listening to her talk about the events of the past few days and what she dramatically called the tales of Lillian and the cookie thief.
Nox didn't like spending too much time with Lillian, she dulled his darkness. And on a few occasions Nox had found his guard down and his aura sleeping. She seemed to suck away his power and stifle his awareness. His paranoia protected him, it was his only friend in this wretched world. And Lillian seemed to posses the unique ability to meddle with his aura and his mind.
Maybe it's time I killed her. Her powers must be evolving and that could become a problem for me. The thought of blood on his hands. Lillian's blood-
Nox swerved back into the middle of the abandoned road. The headlight of his motorbike lit the way towards the gates of the first ring. Fuck. He was obviously tired from the amount of time he'd already spent on the road. Nox sped up, pushing his bike to its limit. The wind ripped his hood from his head and tousled his hair. For a second a memory flashed through Nox's head as the cold night air bit into his skin through his clothes.
The memory of her laugh surrounding him as he revved the engine of his bike. The way she grabbed him tightly as they lurched forward. The feel of her body-  
I need more sleep. Nox cleared his mind of Lillian and re-focussed. He was close to the gates. Instead of slowing down like any normal or sane person, Nox kept his speed up. His now bad mood dampening his instincts of self preservation. A commotion sounded from the top of the gates.
"It's the Grimm!"
"Open it for fuck sakes!"
"FASTER!" Guards jumped into action at the sound of their superior's booming voice. This gate in the first town of the second ring had only recently been repaired. It had taken them months to fix the massive gap Nox had left behind.
He'd been pissed off that night a few months ago, and with his bike at full speed and his hardened aura pouring out of his body in deadly waves, Nox had simply shot through the solid wall of iron like a bullet. And none other then Lillian had been the cause for his little outburst. He'd found her earlier that night, alone and cornered by two men in an alley of the third ring. After washing the town with the blood and guts of every person unlucky enough to be in the streets at the same time, Nox had carried an unconscious Lillian back to the fourth ring and soon left her alone once again.

The ground shook as chains clinked and iron groaned. A gap started to form, barely wide enough for a person to squeeze past. His engine howled into the dark night like a wild animal. And his aura hummed aggressively, hugging tight to his body like a second skin. He was a flash of darkness as he passed through and into the first ring. A god of death, driven only by the instinct to kill.

Nox had travelled without rest for the past day and night. He had arrived in a market square in the second town of the first ring, the midday sun beating down hard. Keeping to the shadows and the rooftops where he could, Nox navigated through the stalls and people on his way to the centre of the kingdom.
A glint of gold caught his eye. Like a shining Pearl reflecting the light even at the depths of the ocean. He turned his head towards a small jewellery stand. An old woman sat on a seat behind the display of shiny objects. She looked dead sitting with her eyes closed and completely still. The crowd bustled around like a flowing river crashing into rocks and changing direction. Nox kept a small dome of aura around himself pushing people away if they got too close. His eyes didn't leave the golden necklace that had caught his attention as he stalked closer. A small green gem hung at the end of the chain. He looked at it for a few seconds before the woman spoke up.
"The emerald eh." The old, not so dead woman, croaked without opening her eyes.
Nox looked towards her suspiciously from behind his mask. His hand falling to one of his knives.

"What's her name?" The woman tilted her head up but still did not open her eyes.
Lillian's name pop up in his thoughts, but he didn't understand why this old woman would be asking about her. He thought of any other woman she could mean but Lillian was the only one he knew.

"Lillian." Nox said carefully.

"Ahh a beautiful name. She must be a very pretty young lass." A wrinkled smile curled the lips on the old woman's face.
"Is she your betrothed?" With a tilt of her head the woman waited for Nox's answer.
Nox blinked, then blinked again. Maybe I should just put this woman out of her misery and take the damned thing.

"Perhaps the necklace is for myself." Nox leaned back, straightening to his full height, and glared down at the woman with defiance.

"Or perhaps you're afraid of how you feel." The woman tilted her head back even further to match his stare with her grinning expression.
Nox growled low and deadly. The guttural noise of an animal about to tear into the soft flesh of its prey. The woman flinched slightly, her smile faltering. Her eyes opened to reveal frosted blue irises. She was blind. Not that it would stop Nox if he wished to end her life. Her eyes rolled over him as if she could see everything crystal clear.

"Death follows you like a shadow. You were born of the darkness and breathed into being by hate. A devil walking amongst men." She leant forward across the stall, whispering her babble in his face with a venomous tone. Her eyes were wide and soul searching with their icy sheen.

Nox grinned and whispered back to the old woman with cold disinterest, "If that's your sales speech, then it needs a little work old hag."

The woman looked to the grey eyes behind the mask and grabbed the necklace from the table, throwing it at Nox with disgust. Nox was used to this reaction from people. Even when he was young and didn't carry the name of the Grimm. There was something about him that made others back away or pull out a weapon and then when they saw his eyes, they would run. Nox left the stall and decided against the hassle of killing her in front of so many people.

Clutching the golden necklace in his hand while he approached the final gate, Nox waited for the little door to open for him. When it did he stepped through and into the centre ring of the kingdom.