The Demon King And The Hero (Part One)

Chapter Two: Nemis' Disappearance

Chapter Two: Nemis' Disappearance

    In the two months that followed after eventful day in which Nemis had mysteriously disappeared, Shion searched tirelessly for him. The others aided her but none of them could find a trace of where he'd gone. 

    Her memories of what happened were still fuzzy, but the pain of his desertion remained. At the time she couldn't help but blame herself for him leaving. 

   If they hadn't met Fyra.  If she hadn't  gotten so angry and slapped him. If she'd realized it wasn't her that was being targeted but rather him, maybe just maybe he would have stayed. But she realized that even if she had, he still would have left.  It still hurt, but once she came to terms with it she didn't blame herself as much.

  And Shion knew she wasn't the only one who was still agonizing over what happened that day. Gaitis only spoke vaguely about what had transpired, he could only tell them that Nemis was no longer there. Even still, when they caught up to him he stood in shocked silence for a good while, pain deeply etched into his face. 

   Shion didn't press him, she couldn't. Whatever he'd seen had traumatized him great enough that he didn't fully return to his normal self for a week.

 It was easier on Felli and Guil, or so it seemed. Felli was depressed, but she was optimistic. It was her who helped Shion from feeling too depressed. She wholeheartedly believed that Nemis was alive and would rejoin them. Perhaps it was because of her magick or perhaps it was due to her optimistic personality,  but she made the guilt inside Shion slowly fade. 

Guil was another story. He only stayed with them and helped search because he knew Gaitis wouldn't even consider returning with him to the princess' employ until they found Nemis or exhausted themselves trying. Guil made it abundantly clear that he cared nothing about Nemis but was kind enough to refrain from talking bad about him. 

Even so...  Shion was thankful for his help.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemis sighed. And then he sighed again. And again. He kept doing it until it irritated Mao enough to warrant a response.

"What is it, My Lord?" 

 Nemis gave a nasty sneer to the other retainers in the room, and without a word they all began to vacate the area, trembling tremendously.

Nemis was in a foul mood. 

He reclined in his chair witha careful grace, his body leaning to one side, hands gripping the arms with enough strength to leave imprints.

His sneer turned into a grimmace as soon as the door closed for the last time. With a slow flick of his pointer finger, he sealed the room from prying eyes and ears and slumped in his throne, panting heavily. 

"Mao..." he let out a strained whisper and said nothing more, knowing Mao would understand instantly. 

His faith in Mao was rewarded. 

Mao set down the papers he had been overlooking and rushed to Nemis, his eyes sharp and concerned. 

Nemis felt himself collapse forward, only to be steadied by Mao.