Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Terra

Chapter 17 Striking Deals

The standoff between Nico and Bila was as uncomfortable as it could possibly get, at least for Nico anyway. Bila giving Nico a creepy smile didn't make anything much better. "If this isn't really you then where are you actually at"? Nico asked her. "I'm taking care of a few errands. But look at you! You would make an unstoppable star demon!" Bila pulled out another knife and jumped up and down with excitement. "That's not going to happen." Nico said to her. "Of course it can! I just need to kill you in order for it to work. You can be the eighth star demon and we'll be unstoppable together!"

"In that case... the answer is still no." Nico could easily disappear into the shadows again but none of that would have mattered if Bila could easily pursue him and he wasn't interested in playing the long game either. As crazy as Bila seemed to be, Nico was starting to figure that the best way to get rid of her is to make her lose her interest in them.

"Pretty pleeeeease?! Think about all the secrets you'll learn!" Bila inched closer to Nico but all he could do was back away from her with disgust. "What are you talking about?" Nico could never trust the likes of Bila but was almost enticed by what she was saying. "Sinnel can tell you everything about this world we live in and what came before us! It's a cool secret!" From the looks of it, Nico could tell that Bila was already insane even before she became a star demon and was the type of person that he wouldn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. But the thought of Sinnel and the other gods knowing more about the past would make sense given what he knows about his own ancestor and the black box she left behind.

"So everything I've been looking for would just be given to me like that if I join you? Is that what you're getting at?" Bila gave him a creepy smile and slowly nodded. "I don't know what you want. But if everything sounded promising then why don't you plunge yourself into one of my knives? We can be the best of friends!" Nico could sense she was telling the truth about hidden secrets but to let her kill him just to bring him back as a star demon was ludicrous and there is a chance Bila wouldn't even keep that promise. Nico was more cautious than that. "The only friend I ever need is Eve. Get lost Bileth." He decided to use what he heard on the train about the star demon's real names in some hope that the one in front of him would leave sooner.

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT NAME!" Bila let out a loud shriek. Bila was obviously crazy but Nico never expected her to lose her happy attitude that instantly. She started to throw her knives at Nico again with no progress at cutting him in the slightest. Nico's shadow magic only sent the knives through the dark and they all reappeared somewhere else within the alley to strike her in the back. "You're lucky this isn't the real me! Bileth is dead! I'm not her anymore! I'm not!" She was brought down to her knees and she started scratching at her own face. It was so sad for Nico to watch that he had almost pitied her. Almost.

"FORGET ABOUT BEING MY FRIEND! Maybe Sinnel should destroy everything! You'll see! You'll all see!" Nico refused to engage in conversation with the beast before him, especially if they were just throwing a tantrum. He didn't care for her life's story, just the progress he was making in order for her to leave him alone. As soon as he blinked, she was gone again.

Between all the chants and screams from the dwarves hunting them down, Lilac managed to find a spot under a small bridge for everyone to temporarily hide under. Their only chance of getting out alive is to wait for Nico to find them and escape through the shadows. Cinder folded her mechanical wings in and two small compartments opened up in her back for them to fit in. As soon as the compartments closed, it was as if the wings were never there. "Is there a plan that you have to escape from here?" Cinder asked Lilac.

Lilac tried to catch her breath before answering. Running from the dwarves and their technology was doing a lot more to her stamina then she initially thought it would. When she didn't answer right away, Yvonne did. "You could just fly us all out of here, right hon?" Yvonne asked Cinder. Daika immediately disagreed. "Nah girly, if she did then she would have to carry us one by one. Not all at once." As soon as Lilac was able to get herself together, she agreed with Daika. "Don't forget that the dwarves could just shoot us down if they ever catch us flying around. I'm not looking forward to that."

"Well what are we supposed to do then? It's not like we can just take the train like how we got in. They would be expecting that." Yvonne was desperate for an answer but then suddenly gave Lilac a strange look. "How did you get to this city?" She asked her. "Well I..." Lilac was almost too afraid to admit that she was working with an elf. "I had help from this guy who can travel through shadows. He's an elf."

"He wouldn't happen to have this small white snake with him right?" Yvonne asked and Lilac nodded yes. "His name is Nico." Lilac added. "I made a deal that he would help me find you and in exchange, you would help figure out what that black box is for. Sorry." Lilac pointed to the black box in Yvonne's hand. Yvonne took a look at what she was holding onto, confused and unsure if she was up to the task. Yvonne had to shrug and go along with it. "I can't seem to catch a break lately." "None of us can. But you were the one who decided to go with Sol." Lilac said to her. "I went with him so I can help my girlfriend get a new body." Yvonne tried to explain to her.

"Both of you quiet down and keep an eye out. All we can do now is hope that the elf fella you both were talking about finds us first before anyone else does." Daika said to them all. As if it was on cue, Nico quite literally dropped in from underneath the dark bottom of the bridge and looked at Yvonne as well as the black box she held. "I already explained everything to her. Let's hurry up and get out of here." Lilac told Nico.

Everyone passed through the shadows with Nico. Where they ended up was the same room that he and Lilac hid in during the day with a spiraling staircase going upward and another doorway that led to the city's sewer. "Me and the girl with the metal leg are going to stay here to understand the contents of this black box. The rest of you can leave now." Nico said to Lilac. "We still need help getting on the other side of those bars." Lilac said to him. Nico walked over to a dark corner in the room. "You can all pass through here." Nico said as bluntly as possible.

"I want to have a say in this!" Yvonne told them all which only made Nico sigh and roll his eyes as if she was wasting his time. "I want Cinder to stay with me. You guys can't just leave me with this creep." "I get how you feel but if it weren't for him we would have never made it out of here. Besides that, I don't think he's going to give us much of a choice." Lilac told her. "I for one would also like to have a say in this. I would like to go with them." Cinder spoke up which only worried Yvonne more.

"Ever since Zepar- or Inti as you know him, made me into a rolling head, I've been completely helpless and carried around. It's thanks to you that I can move around freely and help others again. I cannot do that sitting in this room." As Cinder said her part, Yvonne looked at everyone else to see if they had anything to add. When no one said anything, Yvonne had to quickly accept these circumstances. "Be safe. I'll find you again. Just like always. I love you." Yvonne gave Cinder a kiss before she departed from her again. "I know you do." Cinder gave Yvonne a smile before leaving.

One by one, Daika, Lilac, and Cinder passed through the shadow and on the other side, leaving Junistar City. "What happens now?" Cinder asked Lilac. "We look for Sol obviously." Lilac looked at Daika. "General. I was given permission by Princess Crystal herself to infiltrate this kingdom. If you have any idea where they might have taken Prince Sol and everyone else that was with him, then I believe you should lead us from here on out." Daika had to give it some thought before answering.

"They may have taken him to the same place where they're keeping the wielder of Ferocious Fenrir hostage. I found out where they were keeping him some time ago but couldn't do much on my own to free him. With you two, I'm sure we'll be able to accomplish something. Either that or blondie would have figured something out on his own. HAHA! That boy is always getting into trouble." Daika tried to make their situation light by joking a bit and started to move on.

"Blondie?" Cinder was confused. "That's what she calls Sol because of his blonde hair. Let's just get out of here." Lilac started to follow Daika with Cinder not too closely behind. Lilac had to take a quick look at the sky again. The morning sun was on its way and the weather felt cold and windy. The skies were as grey and cloudy as they could have ever been, showing no signs of blue. It was one of those days where rain would become inevitable.