The carriage retreated from the horrible scene carrying inside her the traumatized girl and the two demons.
Kathrine couldn't forget how the boy's head fell to the ground. Her body was trembling. She was scared and helpless. Katherine blamed herself even though she knew that it was impossible to save the boy. She couldn't save him from his destiny.
Marco held her close against him. He glanced at his brother giving pleading him with the eyes to find a solution to this situation.
Carlos sighed and changed his place to be next to Katherine, and then he placed his hand over her head.
Then, a black beam appeared around her head exactly where her mind was. Seconds after the beam disappeared, Marco felt Katherine's body became heavy against him. He looked at his brother in shock, but Carlos only told him to keep quiet and went beck to his seat.
Carlos looked deeply into Marco's eyes and then explained, "she's asleep now and won't have a nightmare about the incident..." He stopped then looked outside the carriage window, "I'll stop at the Imperial place. Make sure that Katherine arrives safely home... I have two words to tell Lucifer."
Marco kept silent but nodded. He couldn't argue with his brother. For him, Carlos had everything between his hands he could solve most of the problems. But Marco couldn't help but feel a strange uneasiness wrapping around him he just sighed and observed Katherine's sleeping face.
Carlos looked outside the carriage window and saw the huge white Imperial palace. He had an important thing to say to the emperor.
The ride was silent, only the sound of the wheels and the galloping of the two horses.
Soon enough, the carriage stopped slowly in front of the golden gate that had the Imperial symbol, which was a king crown with a sword piercing it.
The door of the carriage was opened only to reveal an Imperial guard wearing his uniform that had the same Imperial symbol.
They stepped back and bowed to him as he stepped out of the carriage and then glanced back at his brother, "Go home, and take care of Katherine. I have some work to do here."
Marco nodded as the carriage door closed and started leaving the entrance of the palace on her way toward the residence.
Carlos turned to the guard and passed him without giving him a single glance.
He walked through the gates going toward the door but stopped as it was opened to show young demon that had green eyes with a white cat-like pupil eyes with a dark green reaching blackness. He was wearing white gloves in his hand, a pocket watch, and his clothes were butler clothes, which had the imperial symbol that was on the gates as well.
Carlos frowned at seeing him, "Arthur, I need to have a talk with Lucifer now."
Arthur smiled politely, "His Majesty is busy right now, I'll tell him you're for him to discuss something."
Carlos sighed, "Very well, I'll wait for him to finish his work..."
Arthur led Carlos through the corridors. The palace was well decorated with many vases filled with roses and flowers in addition to many paintings varying from natural to the royal family.
After a while of walking behind Arthur, Carlos stopped and said, "Arthur..."
The butler halted in his track and looked at Carlos. He observed his expression. It was hard and cold.
He faced him with his calm smile, "Yes sir?"
Carlos answered with a deep voice, "Did you find what I asked you for?"
Arthur's smile vanish, replaced by a thoughtful expression, then sighed, "Unfortunately, no. They have vanished like rats into their holes."
Carlos clenched his fists, holding back his anger, "I gave you 7 months to find them, and every time I ask you about any leads, you say you hadn't gotten anywhere... that's unacceptable, Arthur."
Arthur hadn't anything to say for it. He bowed his head as a sign of apology, "I ask for your pardon, sir, but we hadn't found anything in the forest."
Carlos just nodded, clinching his fists tightly he turned and continued to walk to the throne room. But was met with the consular of a neighboring empire.
Carlos stopped in front of him, glaring at the man in the eyes. He was tall, having griffins details, brawn medium hair with big honey eyes, with huge silver gray wings, towering over Carlos and Arthur.
He stopped in his track, eyeing Carlos from head to toe with a grin as a response to Carlos's glare. He giggled, "What a good surprise, meeting the head of the imperial army. It's been a while, right, Carlos?"
Carlos turned looking at Arthur. "Haven't I said that I don't want to see idiotic griffins in the empire?"
Arthur's eyes hardened, "I apologize, sir, but only his majesty can give such orders.."
Carlos clinched his jaw, turning his gaze to the griffin again, "What brings you here today, Ares?"
Ares answered, approaching him slowly, "Oh my demon friend, why so tense? I'm here to just have a word with his majesty, and it's done, now I'm going to my homeland, but I'd like meet your little birdie."
Carlos glared, "Even after all these years you still want to kill Stefan? He's not one of you anymore, so why bother?"
The griffin closed his wings behind his back as he looked coldly through Carlos's eyes, "I will kill him, he is a traitor and he must pay the full price of his decision. Unless you give us the forest, my dear demon"0
Carlos laughed, "The forest? Your king is still trying to have it despite of our emperor refusal? Should I take it as a threat? The life of one of my men but giving you the forest? Ares.., do I look like the type of people to do anything for the life of someone?"
The griffin laughed, "Yeah, you are not at all the type to sacrifice anything for someone you knew for over 4 years, but you are proving that we both know that there is something in that forest that mustn't get into the hands of someone like you or your emperor."
Carlos frown deepened and eyes darkened as he said authoritatively, "Ares… don't you dare forget where you are right now. This is not your homeland. Be respectful with me and his majesty. Or it will be really bad for you, understood?"
The griffin fell silent at Carlos's words, but then his confident gaze was back. "Oh, you are too strict Carlos, but that's okay I won't say anything about these words because you are right, it's not my home here. But Carlos, remember one thing, I'm not here for that birdie, I'm here for the forest, I will always come back to try and have it."
Carlos giggled, "My dear griffin, come whenever you like, you won't have the forest. It is in our territory. And if you ever enter it without permission then don't blame only yourself."
The griffin chuckled mischievously, "We will see about it, I will see you in three months, prepare yourself, Carlos." Then he turned to leave but Carlos stopped him, "what do you mean 'see you in three months' and 'prepare yourself?' Ares…"
Ares smirked and said one single phrase, "you will know when it's time " With these words, the griffin took his leave, letting Carlos rethink about this whole conversation.
Carlos was furious due to the griffin's audacity and arrogance, but he was forced to maintain his cold facade, and then he muttered to himself, "not now... I still have to wait much longer..." Then he turned and continued his way toward the throne room while Arthur was behind him, but when they entered the room, the emperor wasn't there, Carlos glared at Arthur, "Where's Lucifer" He said with a murderous look.
Arthur's eyes narrowed a bit, "I'm sure that his majesty is just taking a rest after meeting the griffin. He'll be back soon."
Carlos clinched his fists behind his back tighter, but then two guards opened a double door on the right of the throne room then a man walked inside the throne room followed by two other guards.
The man was different. He wasn't like the other demons. His body was big and large, and he was tall with red hair going down his head reaching his shoulders having pointed ears and cold golden eyes with sharp eyes and black cat-like pupil eyes. He had red horns like a crown over his head.
Wearing elegant clothes, res with golden motifs, the man walked with the guards behind him till he reached the throne and sat on it. He placed his hands on the throne's arms and leaned over its back and looked deeply into Carlos's eyes.
Arthur bowed his head to him so as Carlos did, but Carlos raised his head again and looked into the man's eyes and said coldly, "Lucifer..."
Lucifer smirked analysing Carlos's expression, "Long time no see, Carlos…" He hummed with amusement, "you seem hot under the collar, what happened?"
Carlos sighed, "I met Ares a few minutes ago, and I think they are preparing for something." Lucifer raised an eyebrow and frowned, " What did he say to you?"
Carlos crossed his arms, " the situation is whether we let them kill Stefan or we give them the forest of Oblivion. And Ares said 'I will see you in three months.' When I told him that we won't give them the forest " Lucifer humming coldly, "three months is too short to prepare for something against us.. unless they have been preparing for it a good time ago. And I don't think they will stop when they kill Stefan."
Carlos glare at Lucifer. "I won't give them my man to play with and torture, and we can't give them the forest, there is still many things we don't know about inside it."
Lucifer sighed, "I know, I know, in any case if they get the forest they won't be able to go through it due to their wings and high. It was already hard for us to venture inside without having most of our men injured or missing. That forest is weird, but I don't want bad surprises. Prepare for any potential threat."
Carlos nodded, "As you wish your majesty." He paused but then continued, "I didn't came here to talk about Ares your, majesty."
Lucifer narrowed his eyes, "I'm all ears, tell me what was so important that you had to come here by yourself knowing that your estate."
Carlos answered, "your guards killed a little boy in the capital." After this statement Carlos was met with a cold response from the emperor, "So? Why are you telling me that?"
As soon as these words left his mouth Carlos glared coldly at him, "I have a human that I don't want to be traumatized in this jungle." But he received a chuckle from Lucifer, "Now you are calling my kingdom a jungle because of the law, why is that?, in addition, why should I care about your little human?"
Carlos replied, "you will care Lucifer. In this situation it's better for you to follow me this time." Lucifer's amusement quickly left his face replaced by a serious and thoughtful expression, "It seems that you are playing with fire again, why are you this protective over a human?"
Carlos smirked, "I know what I'm doing is weird but I know that I have to keep her safe."
Lucifer hummed, " As you wish. What do you want to change a bit in the law to not scare your little human? " Carlos frowned, " lowered the degree of violence, no more killing in front of everyone, I don't want any blood spilled everywhere."
Lucifer sighed but nodded, "Well, we will do as you want. I will give the order soon."
Carlos nodded his expression a bit calmer but he was still feeling uneasy and Lucifer was able to sense it easily but just decided to not interfere, he wasn't really the type to care about anyone just the ones that he find advantages from them, but if needed, he would do the necessary without hesitation or sense of culpability. But he soon senses that Carlos's demeanor then frowned. But for Carlos, he felt in danger, something was trying to penetrate his magic that he settled around Katherine's brain when he made her sleep earlier in the carriage. He raised his head to Lucifer, " I have to leave right away. I talked with you about the important matters."
Lucifer nodded, "Take with one of the horses in stable. It seems like an important matter that's why your in a hurry."
But Carlos answered with a quick bow of the head and a nod, then he left rapidly going to get a hors and leave the castle towards his mansion.
The carriage didn't take long to bring Marco and Katherine home. She was leaning against him, her head over his shoulder in a deep sleep. Marco was worried about her since she witnessed the death of the demon boy, when the door opened he carried her to the entrance that was opened by a guard revealing Lily behind it waiting for Katherine but was stunned by seeing her unconscious in Marco's arms, she rushed towards them worry filling her heart as she asked, "What happened?? Why is she unconscious?? And Where's Carlos?"
Marco knew how much she was worried due to her tone of voice, "Prepare her room first then I can tell you everything from the start."
She nodded hurrying to the room with Marco following from behind, he entered the room and glanced at Lily who pushed the cover away, he approached the bed placing Katherine over it as Lily covered her with the cover to keep her warm. She turned to Marco, "Now tell me, what happened in the capital?"
He sighed, " A little boy pumped into her and we soon found out that imperial guards were after him, Katherine tried to help the boy but he was beheaded in front of everyone. The guard said that the boy stolen from one of the noblemen."
Lily's eyes widened in shock as she heard Marco's words, "But stealing isn't a crime that is punished by beheading."
Marco nodded his head, " I know, but he still ran away from the guards and since running
Stealing and running away from the guards doesn't reach this punishment, I concluded that he infiltrated the nobleman house."
Lily lowered her head in sadness then her eyes landed on Katherine's sleeping form, "I think she never saw a dead body in front of here…". Marco responded to her words, "I guess so, her reaction was violent."
Lily approached her sitting on the edge of the bed her hands going through Katherine's hair massaging it as if she was her elder sister or mother, Marco took a seat next to the bed gazing at the interaction between Lily and the sleeping Katherine. After a few minutes Lily addressed him, " where did your brother go?"
Marco took a deep breath, "with his majesty. He said he has something to discuss with him."
Lily nodded while continuing to play with Katherine's hair for a few minutes, "she is sleeping soundly." Then she received a nod from Marco at her comment, "Carlos used his power to make her sleep without nightmares about the incident, she needed rest."
Lily stopped playing with Katherine's hair as she raised her head looking at him confused, "His power? Why?"
Marco looked at her seriously, "she was panicking in the carriage, he used his dark magic to make her sleep."
Lily was surprised, "How is that possible?" But he answered calmly, "Carlos can't use the dark magic like father. He has the only the half."
Lily was shocked, "Half?? That's means he is not that powerful and in reality a bit weak."
But only received a shook of his head in decline, "on the contrary, Lily. My brother isn't the type to accept being weak. My dad had dark magic but he couldn't master it and my brother has only half of the magic so it's impossible for him too to master it. But he has the half of my mother's power. She can make illusion of anything coming to her mind but that illusion can't harm anyone, when touched it disappears. However, as I said, Carlos has both, he survived that cause he got exactly the amount of power his body can bear. Then over time he was able to adapt with his condition."
Lily was stunned by the revelation about Carlos's power, "adapt with the condition? H-how…"
Marco chuckled. "Well that arrogant demon is more intelligent than what any of us thought, he shocked the whole family. Carlos was able to fusion the two magic, he created a new thing, it's a bit complicate to explain but I'll try to make it easy for you. My mom was able to make illusions that aren't harmful and disappears when touched. But Carlos can create illusions that are real. For example if my mom created an illusion of a knife, it will vanish when touched. But if Carlos makes a knife, this knife would be real and can be used as a regular knife but will disappear after a while. Its because he made the illusion magic work as a template for the black magic. He made this technique due to not being able to use the full black magic for example he can't make shadow creatures or long term curses nor brings dead to life… etc. He can do simple things with the black magic only cause he consecrated more to the fusion he created."
Lily's eyes widened not expecting anything like this, "That's dangerously powerful…" Marco nodded at her comment, "Yeah, I agree with you, but the illusion can't last long and it takes a lot of energy. "
She kept silent for a while trying to understand all the information that Marco told her, but she soon remembered a part of his words, 'he can't make shadow creatures' her eyes widened remembering the black cat that Katherine named her Ruby, then she realized that the cat wasn't a shadow one, but in fact an illusion created by Carlos, that's why she couldn't find her a few hours ago.
Marco sighed tiredly and closed his eyes leaning against the chair, "she's heavy, it was difficult to carry her." Lily looked at him surprised by the sudden change of the topic but laughed, "It's better for you to not say that in front of her, if you don't want to get a slap."
Marco raised his head in surprise, "Wait, does her slap painful?.." as he asked this question Lily giggled trying to hold back her laugh, "Well, first of all, I'm not the type to get into trouble and end up being slapped, secondly, I don't think any woman will accept being called heavy because its like calling her fat but in an indirect way."
Marco crossed his arms huffing annoyingly, "Why do I feel like you were talking about me in your first sentence?" She laughed quietly, "Well, I didn't say anything about this, so I'm innocent of any accusations."
He Whined at her words feeling offended however he couldn't deny cause he was always the head of trouble wherever he go.
Everything was going smoothly discussion and laughter, it lasted a while almost 45 minute not noticing that Katherine's breath became labored, sweating heavily. It took them a while to realize what was happening with her, when they did it was the hour of panic. Marco stood up hurrying near her while Lily rushed to get a cold compress.
Marco tried to wake her up however it was useless, Carlos used his magic to make her sleep, he was the only one who can wake her up.
Lily was back and quickly placed the cold compress on Katherine's forehead, thinking rapidly but finding no solution and not understanding why is she in this state.
Lily worried, "we have to wake her up.", but Marco quickly answered, "only Carlos can do that. It's his magic, but he is with Lucifer right now…"
looked at him with slight panic worrying about Katherine, this wasn't normal, why is this happening now? After just a few days after her arrival.
They tried to help her even if difficult they did what they can. Till Carlos entered the room panicking and pushed Marco and lily away approaching Katherine. He placed his hand over her face his eyes glowing with a dark aura.
He felt the presence of the intruder inside her head. They were trying to get into contact with her or harm her. We can't know. He cancelled his sleeping magic forcing her to wake up with a gasp and fear looking around the room seeing the three of them. They all let a sight of relief.