Et tú, Clarissa?

Chapter twenty-six

Ca 30 BC (Atlantic Ocean)

Slowly I felt the panic grow and I watched how his eyes turned back to normal after the sails were adjusted. He looked down at me and placed my head once again between his hands, but I broke the intense feeling which felt like hypnosis between us.

"No, no, no. You cannot be here." I laughed shortly and went down the stairs to the deck.

He followed me down and as I turned around to confront him, I found him caressing my white hair.

Okay, that is odd.

Then I remembered something; one thing I read in one of the books at Villa del Sol. How Azusis hosts with lost soul drags to a host with a soul of pure light.

"What are you doing here?"

Azus laughed slightly as a smile appeared on his lips.

"The first time we officially meet and that's the first things you have to say to your father? Actually Clarissa, I expected something else."

"Oh, you're right. How the hell did you get here?"

A chuckle left him and he tilted his head before he looked down at me again.

"Please. I am the original demon, which, very logical, means I have walked this Earth and other dimensions for a very long time. I know more things than I should and that included getting in and out of Hell."

I looked quizzically at him.

"I meant; how did you get onboard?"

He did not answer me, just grinned and straightened his back. The sunbeams lied down around his dark hair which made it looked like he shone there in all his splendour. It was something about him. Something mysterious and alluring like a black star standing in front of me, but in some way, I can feel that I am not as affected by his charisma as others, which I could tell bothered him even though he did not show it.

"Let us consider that my secret for now." as he saw my frustration because he did not answer my question, his grin reappeared on his lips. "I actually came to see you."

"Wow, what brings me that pleasure after all these years?"

"I want you to come with me to Mashchit and rule all dimensions of Hell beside me."

"Excuse me?" a short laugh escaped me because I thought I must have heard wrong. "Are you serious?"

He nodded and I had to think for a second to process it.

"You show up out of nowhere, hundred years too late, without having even met me and offers me a job, in Hell?"

He nodded again with that grin on his lips.

"Yes. I know you will love it. You get to live with me in the palace and Rusulious can teach you how to torture souls. You have to work on getting those black eyes. They are too bright to bear the powers of darkness."

I just looked at him.

"You do not know me and if you would have taken the time to get to know me, you would know that I would not love it. Torturing souls? Who do you think I am?"

"Come on, they are sent to Hell for a reason. Does it not matter?"

"No, it does not, even if they are sent to Hell for whatever reason, do they not deserve to be tortured. No one does, and even if it they do, it does not give me the right to torture them! That makes me just as bad."

Azus chuckled and his eyes became starry for no more than three seconds.

"You are just like your mother." he said, but I was frankly frantic.

"You don't get to talk about my mother!" I snarled and if he was not one of the most powerful beings that have ever existed, I would have lifted him up against a mast or the wall into the cabin, but I succeeded to strain myself. "You don't know a thing about her."

His smile disappeared as fast as I had said that.

"I could say the same. You do not know what you are talking about."

Honestly, I did not know how I looked at him, but I know it was not nearly as softly as I should have, because I was still blinded by anger and sadness caused by this creature. All trouble he had caused – not just us, but everyone. Through thousands of years. But mostly I thought about all those lonely nights I had lie up thinking about him. Who my father was and why he was not there with us. How I had hoped he would come for me after what the Romans did to mother, how I had wished he would have saved me from the gladiator games all my years in Londinium and how I had lost every ounce of hope as that Roman bastard shipped me to Rome.

"What do you think? Huh? That we appear out of nowhere and raped women as they are asleep? Okay, I cannot protect all demons when it comes to that, but is that really what you think about me?"

I wanted to say so much, but I did not. I met a veneficus demon at Villa del Sol, but that demon never showed himself in human form, if he even had one. And he was very different from Azus. He did not give me this feeling of those locked away feelings Azus carries. The only feeling I felt from the veneficus at Villa del Sol was intense lust and danger, which did not make it one of my best encounters.

We looked at each other for quite some time before he exhaled loudly.

"Well, I kind of lost appetite so I will not be staying for dinner, but thank you for offering." he said clearly mad and sarcastic about the 'thank you for offering'. "Trust me, Clarissa. Do not make me the enemy. I will see you around."

Then his eyes turned black and something that looked like black fire, but with the substance of oil, started climb up his legs. I saw how his hands cramped as they turned into something that looked as the paws of a dragon. Before I knew what had happened, he jumped up several feet over the sails into the air and turned into the most incredible be-winged demon I had ever seen. And just like that, he was gone. In his absent, a storm appeared and the whole sky went dark. I imminently took control over the ship again and steered it through the waves which were building up.

For hours I had to cling to the gunwale whiles the waves rinsed over deck. I had closed my eyes to save every bit of energy I could and just before I thought I was about to faint, it calmed down. A sigh of relief left me as the waves decreased. Then, like the wind whispered in my ear, I felt the need to open my eyes and in front of me I saw land. Majestically it rose from the depths of the ocean and welcome me from the land across.

When I was a few miles from shore, I saw people. They hid in the woods and watched how my ship was carried by the waves towards land. One of them had horns on his forehead and as he saw that I had noticed them, he came out from the woods. I felt his magic and I knew he felt mine too. He was a warlock. The ship continued feet by feet while I made sure everything was clamped. It did not take long before I threw anchor and I jumped overboard. My eyes changed and the water caught me so that I could start walking into shore. As I reached the beach, I was met by a dozen men whose eyes were filled with fear and wonder. My gaze went over to the man with the horns and he took my hand and kissed it before he spoke up in Quechua.

"I am called Huaca and I welcome you to our lands as my own. Whatever you need, do not hesitate to ask."

Something dropped from my shoulders and I felt oddly relived. I was among friends.