A Complicated Family

Between the two nations stood a piece of land that remained largely unoccupied for many reasons. Several years of harsh war and overexploitation had caused the land to go barren, refusing to produce anymore vegetation for whoever that once lived there.

So, it was only natural that the Dwellers and shadow creatures claimed it as their own kingdom, making it a scavenger's paradise with only rotting corpses and barren soil to grace the land.

Despite it being located at the very tip of Stygia, it only took Zeya a few minutes to get there with the help of her wings. Gracefully landing at the very middle of the outskirts, chills formed at the back of her neck when she saw the state of the area.

'Every scavenger's paradise indeed.' She confirmed once more in her head, grimacing at the countless corpses that laid in her path. 'Now I can see why anyone would refuse to step foot in here.'

Without wasting another second, she began to make her way towards the Dwellers' lair, where Varen had claimed that she would find her brother.

'But what the hell is he doing there of all places...' She thought, feeling uneasy about the endless possibilities.

She came here after lying to Arius that she was going back to her chambers to rest. As much as she appreciated the minister's efforts, swarming such an untamed region like this with an army of violent soldiers was the last thing she wanted.

As risky as this was for Zeya, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't desperate. Her brother has been gone for far too long doing only the Being above knows what. Lex was a dangerous person to let roam freely, even if he did mean no harm, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that he was extremely... 'unstable'.

This was only the second time his alter ego fronted, the first time being the moment during the tournament arranged by her father for candidates to join the Circle. The first encounter between the two ended with half of Kaiden's residence going down in flames; all due to a minor disagreement they had so it was no surprise that Zeya was secretly dreading to meet him. Even though his appearance was rare, Lex was in control of the body for almost a decade, before eventually giving it back to Kaiden, the host.

It was getting harder for Zeya to keep her pace walking through the forest, the wild undergrowth leaving small cuts on her skin, but she still moved on forward towards her destination. Although it had been a while since she last went on a hike this difficult, her physical health was far better than most would think.

A pleasant scent of citrus immediately filled the air as she successfully made it pass a small river; a telltale sign that the Dwellers just had their dinner. It was one of their most notable characteristics, caused by a type of hormone that was only unique to their kind which they released whenever they feasted. She was now in Dweller territory.

This was used primarily to mask the pungent smell of blood so that no other predators would come steal their prey and the sweeter the scent was, the more gruesome their feeding scene was likely to be.

Fortunately for Zeya, they were incredibly distracted when they were feasting, totally oblivious of everything except their meal.

At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, everything seemed as peaceful as it was supposed to be but then, she saw it. A tall figure standing in the middle of what appeared to be the Dwellers' lifeless prey; alongside a few of the Dwellers as well, all of them dead. It took Zeya a moment to recognize the massive white wings due to the absence of light.

"Lex?" She whispered in shock, her eyes widening at the gruesome sight.

"Oh my, I definitely wasn't expecting to meet you like this, dear sister." He smiled sadistically as he attempted to wipe off the fresh blood that stained his face crimson red. "It's been a while, Zeya."

He turned to face her directly, completely disregarding the now half-eaten corpse of a Dweller that Zeya witnessed Lex feasting on. For a brief moment, Zeya had forgotten the biggest reason that made Lex a dangerous person to be around.

He had traits that resembled Spell Casters, where he must consume raw meat in order to survive.

"I'm curious as to how you found me." He confessed, tilting his head suspiciously. "I thought I made sure to erase any of my traces from ever getting to Nox."

"I have my own ways." She shrugged off the question, not willing to share the long story at a time like this. "Though I won't lie and say I wasn't surprised by your choice of destination."

"These things are the easiest to feast on when you're low on your powers." He said with an innocent smile, gesturing to the corpse at his feet. "So, I'm just simply replenishing the energy that I lost thanks to dear little Kaiden refusing to eat for almost a year."

"Since you've had your fun, let's go back to the palace and talk." She whispered to the uncaring Roseabelle, who clearly wasn't listening. "It's dangerous for the both of us to be here, especially if the chief finds out what you've done."

"... I have no intentions of leaving until I get my fill, Zeya." Lex growled, turning back towards the village. "I've suffered enough in Kaiden's hands but now there's nothing stopping me from doing what I want... unless."

He turned his head to glance at me, his eyes glowing a bright green. "You intend on doing so."

"We're going back to the palace, Lex." She commanded, extending her wings to their fullest capacity, ready to strike. "And until I do that, I have no plan on leaving either."

"Hah, and what makes you think I'll obey you, sister?" He snickered, displaying his fanged teeth in aggression.

"I've stopped you once before, and I'm confident I can do the same again now." She smirked confidently, her golden eyes glimmering under the moonlight. "So, what will be your answer to my proposal, brother?"

==========

It took Zeya exactly three seconds after the collision to realize that this was going to be harder than she expected. The tranquil and dormant wildlife awoke to the sounds of chaos surrounding them, the area blazing with life once again.

Sounds of the bushes rustling, the tree trunks breaking, and incoherent mutters of ancient curses filled the air, causing the poor creatures whether real or shadows alike to run away in fear of their lives.

Zeya was the first to realize the destruction they were causing when a family of opossums fell right into her lap after she was thrown straight into a tree, breaking it in half. Quickly, she got back to her feet, gently placing the frightened creatures on the ground before she went on her way.

"Oh, Zeya?" She heard Lex call out from above. "Come out, come out wherever you are. This little game is starting to bore me, you know?"

Zeya remained as quiet as a mouse underneath the shades of a massive tree, thinking of her next move. She was already badly wounded by Lex's aggressive attacks, the large cut across Zeya's abdomen being the biggest proof.

'He just ate up half the Dwellers that lived here.' She thought, her heart beating violently against her chest. 'I bet his powers have already tripled in strength at this point.'

"I have to find a way to calm him down." She told herself as she remained cautious of the threat above her. Just then, she heard a rustle behind her and before she could even react, she felt a strong, large hand cover her mouth.

"Relax dear it's me." The emperor assured her, though she felt far from relieved. "Now, unless you want your lovely psycho brother to find you, I suggest you listen to what I have to say."

Varen waited for Zeya to calm down and consider her choices, only continuing to speak when she hesitantly nodded her head in agreement, much to the emperor's delight.

"If you think that your brother is the one that's responsible for the murders then you're dead wrong so rest assured." His hold on Zeya was gentler now, aware that he now had her full attention. "Unfortunately, the thing we're dealing with is much stronger than him and any of us combined actually."

Right at that moment, both Zeya and Varen heard Lex soar through the air flying off to somewhere. And by somewhere, Lex landed right in front the two monarchs, a devilish smile plastered across his face. "There you are."

==========

"I wasn't aware that you brought along a little friend with you." Lex yelled from the skies as he chased after his sprinting preys. "Well, not that I'm complaining. It simply means I have one more meal to enjoy."

"This clearly wasn't in your plans, was it?" Zeya gasped as she ran through the woody grounds with Varen following closely beside her.

"Actually, this might have been a good thing." He replied, not an ounce of alarm heard in his voice. "Though I do need your trust to pull it off."

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" She yelled frantically, looking back behind her. "Do it quick before he fucking gets us!"

"... Very well then." He signed, grabbing Zeya's arms and pulling her backwards. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Zeya didn't even have a second to react before she was fully on the ground, stunned and angry. Very, very angry.

"Finally, I was getting tired chasing after you." Lex sighed in exaggerated fatigue.

Zeya closed her eyes in defeat, preparing herself for whatever Lex was about to do next. It seemed like hours passed by with Lex doing absolutely nothing, only an awkward silence between the two siblings. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes to see Varen smiling smugly whilst holding a large piece of rock stained with blood. She glanced in front of her and there he was, lying on the floor motionless.

"Oh my, I definitely didn't think that would work so well."

"What?" Varen reacted defensively when Zeya glared at him. "This was the biggest rock I could find."

==========

"... Took you long enough." Zeya complained weakly as she saw the two figures coming towards her. "That bastard damn nearly killed me."

"We came as quickly as we could." Arius explained, his face unconsciously conveying his worry. "Are you okay?"

"... Do I look okay to you, Arius?" She glared at him, causing him to glance away in guilt. "Because I sure as hell don't feel like it."

"Nox." She whispered, slowly feeling herself go in and out of unconsciousness.

"You must stay conscious, My Lady." Nox encouraged, encircling Zeya to prevent her from face-palming to the ground. "It will be worrying if you were to pass out right now."

"Don't tell me what to do." She grumbled, her eyes slowly losing focus. "Just... Just do as I say. Get... get us back home please."

Everything that happened after that was nothing but a blur, as the darkness of Zeya's mind devoured her whole.