I don’t expect to sleep well in a foreign lair with assassins prowling the city looking for me. However, I neglect to factor in the sheer punishment pushed upon my body in the last events. Even after my two weeks of straight recuperation, I sleep like a dog. Greedily, my cells suck up the rest and push out twisted dreams and memories so I wake up with dark eyes and a brooding mind. However, that isn’t to say it’s all bad. The promise with Eli is a ray of light in the darkness. Listening to Sophie and Delphie’s voices in the main room as the smells of breakfast begin to waft through causes my mood to mellow. This feels…weird.

The voice I heard which sounded suspiciously like the Gray, is driven from my mind. Curious what exactly is being cooked for breakfast, I move aside the dresser I pushed in front of the door last night and head back to the koi pond area which serves as Sophie’s living room. A delicious smell of fried rice flows through the room. Sniffing closely, I can’t imagine that this particular aroma is completely vegetarian. I’m calling horsecrap. There’s no way. That’s real egg cooking!

“Caught in the act!” Busting into the kitchen, which is conveniently tucked behind one of the koi ponds, I find Delphie in the kitchen with a rather distraught Sophie beside her. Though the daughter of assassins is taller, she doesn’t seem in her element in the kitchen. The twin violet-haired girls turn to me at once and I see a flaming frying pan clutched in my healer’s hands. A distinctly yellow, gooey substance runs through the grains of sizzling rice. “Aha! You’re not vegetarian! That’s an egg!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Their confusion causes their faces to twitch. I point to the obvious bits of egg in the pan which has begun to smoke ominously.

“There! How is that not egg? You told me that people in the Underworld are vegetarian!” I cry out and finally Delphie understands. She looks down and sees the smoke.

“Oops!” Hastily, she waves the pan around with the power of the System generating a wind which quickly cools the burning rice. Then she returns the pan to the stovetop. Tapping a button on the bottom, she turns off the flaming orange heating crystal and huffs. “Whew! That was close. Almost ruined it. Sophie, you really need to stop letting your servants cook everything! What if you were on a mission and you couldn’t eat at a restaurant? You’d starve!”

“Heh…that’s why you’re here.” Sophie licks her lips while staring at the fried rice. I get the intense feeling that regardless of how it tastes, she will not complain. “What’s Hei going on about?”

“Oh, I told him that most of the Underworld doesn’t have surface creatures, so we’re vegetarian.” Delphie lifts the pan up and brings it to me. “Try some?”

“Hmm…” I reach into the slightly charred kernels with thumb and index finger and grab a glob, being sure to get some egg. Putting it in my mouth, my eyes open wide. Holy hell yes! “It’s real! This is freaking rice!”

“Duh. I told you, most of us can’t afford surface animals. But Sophie is the daughter of the Roses. How many chickens do you have, Soph?” Delphie smirks slightly as she pulls the pan away before I start destroying it right then and there. So…hungry!

“Um, I dunno. But what, does Hei want more eggs? My family owns the chicken industry. I’m pretty sick of them.” At the assassin’s words, Delphie grows upset.

“Oh…should I have used something else? I only learned to cook after my mother left…” Her sad voice immediately makes Sophie backtrack.

“N-No! I just meant I’ve had a lot lately! I still love eggs! See!” The haughty assassin transforms into a blur as she grabs the ladle out of Delphie’s hands and begins wolfing down the rice.

“Wait! Hold on! Let me get it on a plate first guys!”

#

Breakfast with the Nephilim is a funny affair. Eli stumbles into the kitchen midway-through and homes in on the rice like a zombie. His half black, half violet hair is perfectly preened and unruffled, but his sleepy eyes betray that his dreams were not so restful. After everyone eats in silence for a bit, the last spoon clinks and all that’s left is the fading smell of fried rice and the gentle burbling of the fountains.

“Okay! I’m going to head out.” Eli pushes his chair away from the table and stomps off with a purposeful demeanor. “You guys be careful, don’t get caught while I’m gone!” Then he heads out the door.

*Clang*

When the front gate slams shut, Sophie stretches. I survey the two full girls and feel a measure of something strange fall over me like a spell. Is this peace? Looking at the empty plates and relaxed Nephilim, even though there are assassins crawling the city looking for me, I couldn’t care less. My heartbeat slows for the first time in ages and every blood vessel opens as I close my eyes and let my head back fall back in the chair. Peace. This is nice. I wish the System hadn’t taken this from all of us.

With a guilty start, I realize I’ve completely forgotten about the surface for a moment. But then I tilt my head. Should I feel bad about that? What did I ever get up there? Why am I even trying so hard to go back? The shadowy memory of a raven-haired girl tucked into my chest causes me to shiver. Delphie looks at me with concern.

“Hei? You okay?” She looks over as Sophie pokes me with a finger. “Did you hear us?”

“Huh? What?!” I wake up from my waking thoughts. Damn, I actually let me guard down. “Something up?”

“Nothing. Just wondering if you were okay with staying here for the day. My family’s Fallen will still have search parties all over the city. But after another day or two, they’ll reduce the number of patrols. Then we’ll have an opportunity to pay Taer a visit.” The way Sophie says the word visit makes me distinctly aware that I shouldn’t be letting my guard down in the presence of a professional killer. Heh, what’s wrong with me lately? Hearing voices, falling asleep in broad daylight? I need to get it together!

“Sure. I don’t mind staying put.” The dining room chair is comfy, but there’s an even more comfy-looking chair in the corner of the living room which has my name on it. Getting up with a colossal effort, I meander over to the soft couch-like recliner and lean back. A footrest comes out when I do, and I fully stretch out like the world’s largest cat. Huh…I wonder what ever happened to that cat? Isn’t it supposed to be my familiar? But I can’t sense its existence at all. Useless…

“It seems Hei needs a nap.” Delphie takes her dishes to the sink and hums a tune. “He must still be recovering.” Her soft words to Sophie blend into the background as I enter a half-awake, half-dreaming doze. Who knows how long it’s been since I’ve had peace? I could just…sit on a chair like this forever. Like a king. This will be my throne. Just a lazy cat on his throne. Somewhere behind me, I can hear the sound of the two Nephilim nobles doing dishes. Every once in a while, there’s a loud clank which I assume is Sophie. Despite her precise fingers, it seems she has servants to do everything. I sympathize with Delphie. It sucks having to do things yourself. I should really help. But I’m so…sleepy…

Just a little bit longer…

#

*Clang*

The sound of the gate opening again causes me to rouse slightly from my dreams.

“Shhh…Hei’s sleeping.” Delphie murmurs from somewhere in the room. Tiredly, I roll over and try to bury my head into the velvety seat back. Damn, all these bandages itch.

“Oh, sorry. I heard something interesting, so I thought I’d come back.” Eli’s refined voice drops several decibels until its just barely audible. I only catch every third word or so. “Taer…opportunity…move…you think?”

“I don’t know. It’s risky.” Sophie mutters tensely. The way they’re talking is impossible to ignore. Lifting my head from the supreme seat, I finally abandon my throne.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, Hei, you’re awake!” Delphie yelps in surprise. I notice that Eli and her have half a foot out of the room. They’re wearing long black hooded robes over their usual clothes. “We’re just going to check something out. You can go back to sleep.”

“Cool, cool.” I blearily let my head fall back to the seat. But something bothers me. “Wait, are you sure it’s safe? Need me to come with?” Popping my head back up, I see the three Nephilim staring at me strangely. Oh yea…I guess having a recovering low-level ask if you need protection is pretty silly.

“It’s fine! You don’t need to do that!” She quickly replies.

“I promise I’ll bring her back safe and sound.” Eli promises and I hear footsteps leaving the room. Thinking I’m alone, I let my eyes close and the world fade away. It’s so nice to let go for once. I wouldn’t even care if assassins came right now. Can this be my new respawn point? Please, System?

*Clang*

The front door closes again. Sighing, I roll over to the other side. Only to feel a presence there. Huh?

“Sorry. About yesterday.” Sophie grunts and I open my non-patched eye to find her watching me while feeding the Nethergulpers. “For your face, you know?” I raise my fingers up to touch the already-healing cut she left on my cheek. “I just didn’t think Delphie would be…so Delphie. Now her and Eli are going to be tied at the hip again.”

“Is that bad? I thought you were on his side?” I give up on getting any more sleep for now and sit up properly. Even still, I imagine I must look like something of a shrimp after so long on this chair. Trying to rub the shape of my back into the seat, I fix my eye on Sophie’s back as she turns around and stares at the Forgotten Empress.

“I am. Kind of…anyway, look, I’m glad Eli got out of that place for his sake, but if I had known he would rope in Delphie to his schemes, maybe I wouldn’t have helped. She was doing so well, standing up to her brother, getting out of her family’s thumb. I thought she might actually get away. I mean the Succession…do you even know the survival rate?” Sophie turns to me and though she hides it behind a blank face, I can see she still blames me for leading Delphie astray. “No…how could you as an outsider. Actually…wait, do you even know what the Succession is?”

“The process to choose the next Overlord? Sounds like all the noble races of the Underworld get a chance. And it happens in Meteos City? That seem about right?” I recite what I’ve managed to pick up from their conversations. Sophie snorts out with a despairing laugh at this.

“Hahaha, I figured as much. You’re not wrong. But you don’t know anything. The Succession is a war, Hei. Our Underworld has always been ruled by the strong. The Overlord is aging and ready to pass on his throne to the next prospect. However, Eli is a half-blood, and unpopular with a lot of the families. So, he doesn’t have the Overlord’s open support. And even if he did, the Succession is open to any of the noble families. Technically, it isn’t even limited to the noble races, though no one else is suicidal enough to try. That is what you’re proposing to join in on. A brutal bloodbath between every hopeful idiot in the goddamn Underworld. That is how we decide who will stand on the throne. It seems this time, the current Overlord wants to do things the old way. He will stand as the final boss and face down the last Underworlder standing to see if that person is worthy to take over. It’s going to be horrible, an all-out war! And now Delphie, who I was this close to getting away from it all, is going to sink into the mud with us. Do you see why I’m angry now?” Sophie breathes hard and I see her hand tremble as she lifts the shaker. From my chair, I see where she’s coming from now. Damn.

“I didn’t know. That’s not how Eli described it.” I say quietly. “What’s the survival rate? Surely it can’t be that bad, or else the Underworld wouldn’t still be around.”

“Heh…only the Nephilim and the other longer-lived races care about such things. Goblins, imps, Yryssels, they breed too quickly to give a damn about death. They look at the killing as a chance to temper their race and evolve. Even my family thinks the same way, although all this infighting is doing nothing but drawing resources away from the overall strength of the Underworld. Bunch of idiots stuck in the past. They can’t see past the knife in their face!” The Nephilim girl looks like she’s about to spit in the koi pond. Reigning her feelings with great difficulty, she whispers out an answer, “Thirty-percent. Of the number of people who raise their banners hoping to become the next Overlord, only thirty-percent survive to form the next Underworld Court.”

These people don’t mess around.

I’m at a loss for words. Realizing that I’ve entangled myself in a real swamp this time, I lose all the willpower to rise from this chair. Sophie glances over sharply, and when she sees my face, she nods.

“That’s right. It’s that bad. Of course, a lot of the losses are from the races who just throw away people like dirt. The goblins are especially bad. Their last Chieftain didn’t hesitate to toss bodies at the other families in his bid for the throne. He knows there will be plenty of fresh new ones to take their place soon enough. Eliminating the other evolved ones helps him maintain his power. Their losses might have even reached ninety-percent in the last Succession.”

“And the Nephilim? What were your losses?”

“We don’t breed very fast, kind of like you surface folk. So, we’re more careful, though we have no shortage of fanatics willing to become Fallen for a chance at glory and honor. Our losses are limited to the noble families usually, but we still lost fifty-percent of the High Houses last time.” Sophie’s voice turns sad with suppressed rage and I realize she’s gone over to another koi pond but hasn’t remembered to take off the lid of the shaker before turning it upside down. She just holds it there, the flakes failing to fall out.

“I see. I’m sorry for getting Delphie into this mess. Should I tell her to leave? She might listen to me.” I don’t know why, but I feel a strange sense of responsibility for her. But I need Eli to find that gate.

“Heh, it’s too late for that. Did you see the way he’s been sticking to her, today? No, I know Eli. He’s persuasive if nothing else. She’s already caught in his web like a fly. I just hope he understands that she’s not a piece to be used in his game. She has dreams and things she wants to do too. He used to be honorable like that. But sometimes I wonder if he remembers…the exile changed him. Not that it matters to you. I heard what he promised you.” Sophie peeks over at me with a guilty expression.

“You heard about the gate?” I guess. Suddenly I remember how stealthy Sophie’s feet are on the cushy rug. She must have come in without us noticing when we were talking.

“Yea. I didn’t mean to. But I got curious. And by then it would have been awkward to say anything. As far as I’m concerned, you can do what you want with your life. But Delphie saved your life. You owe her. You said you were someone who remembered his debts. I hope you will stand by that in the end. Or I’ll never forgive you.” Sophie’s kaleidoscope eyes turn misty and she puts down the shaker on the rim of the koi pond. She drifts closer to me and stands behind my chair, just out of sight. I don’t dare turn around. Her voice is too soft and scared. “Protect her…Hei. She’s my precious one. But I don’t know if I’m enough. I’m never enough. You’re the only one I can trust to not use her.”

“I will.” I solemnly vow to an honest request. Unbidden, memories of the story I told last night, my story, spring to mind. People will grab onto anything when they’re drowning. Honor…duty…are just things they want to use to control you. “Is something wrong, Sophie? Do you need help?”

“Hahaha…” The daughter of assassin’s voice drops and I feel her breath by my ear as she leans onto the top of the chair behind me. Quietly, she stays there for a moment and I can hear her breath and heartbeat as she decides what to say. “I wish I could trust you, Hei. I’m putting my faith in you. But it’s not because I want to. It’s because I have to. Maybe one day, we’ll be able to speak frankly about these things. But for now…just protect her with that eye of yours. I’m sorry…I told Eli about you. Now he’s interested in you, too. And that led to Delphie…that one really backfired on me.”

“It’s fine. You were just doing what you had to do.”