Paintings of the Past

Yuna uneventfully made her way through the corridors of the castle until she reached Elvin's room. She stopped at the massive door that blocked entry into the room. It never occurred to her just how big and imposing the doors of the castle were. They were made of thick wood with large black iron rivets placed within them. Now that she was paying attention she looked around at the corridors as well. They had stone walls and marble floors; torches hung from the walls to illuminate the passage. 'Very Medieval, I like it.' She thought to herself. She brought her focus back to the door and prepared to knock on it. As she knocked, she called out to her friend. "Elvin it is me Yuna. Can you open the door?"

Yuna stopped knocking when she heard the elf's voice from within the room call out to her. "I am coming!" Elvin said. The door opened slowly as Elvin had trouble operating such a large door. Yuna saw that her friend was having difficulties and helped her by pushing the door while Elvin pulled on it. After the pair got the door fully open Elvin rushed to Yuna and threw her arms around her. "I am so happy you are okay!" Elvin said, while her eyes were moistened from her emotions. "I was worried about you. I cannot believe they were so rough with you during your training. Don't they realize we are not like them; we are not all powerful."

"How has your training been? Yuna asked. "Actually, how have you been first? I read your note, but I want to hear it from you. How are you holding up?"

"It has been difficult." Elvin said. "Everything has. It is just so scary here; I think everything wants to eat me. The only thing stopping me from being on the menu is the fact they call me the queen's pet. They do not wish to incur the demon lord's wrath upon them." Elvin stopped her explanation for now and pulled Yuna inside of her room. The two of them pushed the door shut together. "Thanks, I didn't want anyone to hear our conversation." Elvin smiled.

"So, your training has been hard?" Yuna asked. "What kind of things have they been making you do?"

"They haven't even been training me!" Elvin said. "All I do is make plants grow around the castle and do landscaping. They saw it is to give me better control of my mana, but seriously all they have me do is summon different plants every day. I might as well just be a gardener as well."

"Maybe they know what they are doing." Yuna said. "There is a movie in my world where a kid just paints fences and washes cars for his master and somehow learns how to fight by doing those trivial things. Perhaps their training is something like that?"

"What is a movie?" Elvin asked, confused.

"A movie is like a story from a book, only with moving pictures and sound." Yuna explained to the best of her ability.

"That sounds so neat." Elvin said. "I wish I could see a movie, but they don't exist in this world. Oh, I almost forgot there is something I have to show you! I found it while exploring the castle and I know you will like it."

"What is it?" Yuna asked, curious as to what it could be.

"It is a surprise!" Elvin responded. "Now come with me, I will guide you to it." Elvin rushed back to the door and started pulling on it with all her might. Yuna joined her and the two left the room. They made their way through the castle, Yuna following Elvin the whole way and Tyrell was following from the shadows to ensure her queen's safety. Elvin made her way downstairs until they reached a catacomb. The room was dark as the torches had not been lit. The only light they had was a torch that Elvin grabbed along the way. She made her way around the room and lit the braziers along the wall.

As the room illuminated Yuna saw what Elvin intended to show her. The walls were covered in art, not just any art, it looked just like scenes from a comic. Her thoughts rushed as her face could not help but to smile. She walked to the walls to examine the art more closely. She could tell the paint had been there for years as it had chips and signs of age. She could clearly see images of Joe with magnificent blazing wings battling all manner of creatures. There was a series of paintings with Joe fighting an army of giants, another of him fighting a huge dragon. Then Yuna saw it, there was a painting of Joe fighting another demon lord, in this one Joe was a child. 'This must be when he killed his father.' Yuna thought to herself as she ran her hand over the painting.

"Aren't these neat?!" Elvin said in a happy voice. "I couldn't wait to show them to you. I knew it would be something you would like. At least I hoped you would like it, I thought it was amazing."

"Yes Elvin, I really like it." Yuna said, still engrossed in the images on the wall. Her thoughts raced on questions as to who drew these and why."

Tyrell entered the room, no longer hiding from the shadows. "It is not safe here my queen." She said as she beckoned for the two girls to follow her. "You are being stalked by an upper demon woman who wishes for your status, you will not best her as easily as you did the succubus. So, we need to leave, I do not wish to fight one as strong as myself."

"Right!" Yuna said. "Come on Elvin we need to leave."

Elvin followed closely behind Yuna and Yuna followed Tyrell. The three ascended the stairs and as they entered the courtyard from which the stairs originated from an unfamiliar figure approached them. "Stay behind me my queen, she is here, we did not escape in time." Tyrell said.

"My, my...The mighty sister of the demon lord is nothing more than a babysitter now for her new queen I see." The woman said. Her eyes blazed with intense flame as she watched the trio, as if she were a predator stalking her next meal. She was the same build as Tyrell with white hair tied into a ponytail. Two obsidian horns protruded from her head. "Hand her over Tyrell, there is no need for you to die for such a worthless human woman."

"If you wish to kill the queen you will have to go through me first." Tyrell responded. "Back off Surell, you know you cannot win and that a battle will only injure us both."

"Oh Tyrell, always such the jokester." Surell replied. "I have trained hard since last we met, where we were once equals, I am now far superior. Now give me the human. Wouldn't it be much better to serve a demon queen worthy of the title?"