Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Forty-Four: Wait!

WARNING: MENTIONS OF TORTURE, DEATH THREATS, STRANGULATION, AND IMPLIED RAPE!

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Nyx lifted his head to see Lust walking down the stairs of the basement. Lust walked around the chair that he was tied to and untied his hands. When his hands were finally freed, Nyx rubbed his pained wrists, seeing that they had rope marks around them. Lust walked around to stand in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. "Well, William, you got lucky."

Nyx didn't need to look up to know that Lust had a mocking smirk on his face. He sighed and answered his partner blandly, "yeah, lucky." He then stood and walked past Lust, making his way toward the staircase.

Suddenly, Lust grabbed his arm and barked at him, "you don't seem to understand what you did! You-"

Nyx turned on Lust, slapping him across the face and yelling, "I don't care about what I did! I don't care about any of this! I am done with this plan! I am done with hurting my own celestial spirits! I am done with you and Terra!" Nyx took a few steps away, his breathing heavy. He knew that he shouldn't have lashed out like that. He just couldn't stay quiet about how he was feeling. He couldn't keep his words of anger and hate to himself. He couldn't continue to let Lust walk all over him and Terra terrorize him. He was done with it. He needed it to stop.

His eyes were narrowed into a hateful, angry glare as he watched Lust. His partner furrowed his brow at him, lips formed into a frown of displeasure. The look made Nyx's gut twist in fear. The urge to back away and attempt to take back what he had done and said quickly became strong, however, he knew that he couldn't go back now. He had to see this through, and he would. He forced his face to remain set into a glare, resisting his instinct to back down.

Lust slowly walked toward Nyx, causing him to tense in preparation to either run, fight, or requip one of his keys to summon one of his spirits. Lust stopped right in front of Nyx, hissing into his face, "you better fucking watch yourself, William. Terra may like you, but I don't give a crap about you at all. I have no problem with getting rid of you and making it seem like an accident."

A wave of fear washed over Nyx. He swallowed before meeting his partner's glare and sneering back, "Terra won't trust you as much as she trusts me." He thought back to, not just Starfall, but also the other times when Terra told him about things that she never let Lust in on, or only told him about at a later date. It was Nyx who helped Terra build their own dark guild. Lust hadn't known about it until the plans were already made and being conducted. It was Nyx who Terra would trust new keys with. It was Nyx who Terra trusted the guild with whenever she was away. It was Nyx who Terra told about her plan to conquer the Celestial Spirit World. Lust wasn't told until after Lucy and the three other celestial wizards were captured. It was Nyx who Terra trusted with the knowledge of Starfall. Lust was still in the dark about it.

Lust barked out a laugh, as if he had been told the funniest joke known to man. His facial expression then changed to one of hostility as he leaned closer to Nyx's face. "She will after the stunt that you pulled."

Nyx scoffed. He turned around to continue walking up the staircase. He listened as Lust followed close behind him. His body was still filled with fear, but it gradually calmed as he came closer and closer to escaping his partner. Once he was out of the basement, he was intending to find a room that he could hide in until it was time for them to leave. They were halfway up the stairs when Lust spoke again, his voice still filled with hostility, "just watch your back, William. Terra and I don't need any unloyalty."

Nyx bit down on his bottom lip to prevent himself from responding. He had already dug himself into a hole, he didn't need to dig deeper.

Once he stepped out of the basement, Nyx began making his way to the dining room. However, he stepped short when he heard Terra yell for him from the top of the staircase that leads to the second floor, "Nyx! Get up here now!"