The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 53: Phase (Shift)

The room was eerily silent, except for Valentino's hissing breath, and the thud of his footsteps as he stormed towards them.

Charlie could practically feel the weight of Alastor's magic leveling at the taller demon as the lobby was filled with that familiar scent. The air itself was sharpening, it seemed, like the baring of primordial fangs as the light began to dim.

"You took what's mine," the moth demon hissed, though his smooth voice itself sounded garbled, almost like a wheeze, but with a strange echo, as if it wasn't coming from his mouth, but rather all around them.

Angel called her name in a horrified gasp, and she saw he had all but fallen to the most complete terror. Had he seen this before, she wondered? His upper fists were in his hair, as if he might tear it out of his skull, his lower arms hugging himself for comfort.

Valentino's torso twisted towards where she was looking, the long form distorting with a crunch. "Where is he? Angel!"

Cherri opened her mouth, and must have sworn to Heaven as the sound in the lobby folded in on itself. The group began to scatter, and Charlie barked at Valentino to turn the intruder's attention away from her friends.

The Overlord turned back towards her, the myriad eyes on his face glowing bright red, the entire upper half of his body now having turned in a complete loop, like a shirt being wrung out. "You think you're gonna stop me from taking back what's mine?" Valentino snarled, his long body snapping to right itself as he began to move toward them again. "When I'm done with you you're gonna wish you'd never heard of him!"

Charlie steeled herself against the threat, letting it flutter past her like so much idle wind. She needed his focus so the others could leave, and swallowed her aggravation that they weren't already gone, lingering near the top of the stairs, still far too close to harm's way.

Besides, Alastor was with her, and taking the threat seriously enough for both of them. "I promised you the void if you approached her," the deer demon at her side snarled through his sneer, his antlers branching to four wicked tines as his claws elongated, nearly to his knees.

"The void is yours if you face him," her father wasn't yelling, but his voice boomed across the lobby all the same.

For a moment she thought the dread flooding her veins would make her heart stop entirely, which seemed a small relief against the terrible pounding in her chest.

"What?" Alastor hissed, his pupils so thin they practically vanished as he glared at the king.

"You get to sit this one out, Radio Demon. This is between me and your little whore," Valentino cackled. "The King himself said so!"

Her father was statuesque as he leaned on his cane, not seeming to take any umbrage at all at his own daughter being insulted.

Her partner's spine was ramrod straight, "You have no right to ask that of me," he growled.

"Kings don't ask," Lucifer replied evenly. "And Lords are responsible for their own challenges. Her curse is hers, along with its consequences."

"Al," Charlie pleaded in a hissed whisper, pulling against his arm, terrified that the deer demon was pushing himself into danger she couldn't save him from. "Don't!"

Valentino's threat was nothing, not compared to her father's, and she felt the gnawing worry seize at her muscles as she felt her options to control the situation slipping away from her.

The others still hadn't left yet. Why hadn't they gone? All of them were staring at her, as if she knew what to do. But she didn't know at all, and the princess felt her stomach knot at all the things she suddenly had to protect while she figured out a path forward.