Chapter 40: Sunset
Chapter 40: Sunset
"It's strange. You are a Minotaur. Yet, you remind me more of a demon."
It was sunset. The day had been long, and it was soon going to be night again. Junk and April were both sitting together outside, gazing at the sunset, after they had had the toughest time inside the crypt following the escape of the monster. Even though everything they did in the crypt was battling and worrying about everything, they both thought it felt nice to be somewhere where they had a home again. There was a lot more work to be done. But for now, for tonight, the Minotaur and the elf were just relaxing and that was exactly what they should be doing.
"Why do you say that?" Junk replied to her.
"Because it's true. You might look like a Minotaur. You might look like a bull. But in all reality, you are a demon, Junk."
"I don't know anything about demons. Is that good or bad?"
"It's good," April revealed to him, "demons can make a difference in this world. They can change it," she explained to him.
"Aren't demons supposed to be evil or something?" he asked.
"Do you feel evil, Junk?" April was left wondering if he thought he was something truly evil. The conversation between them wasn't that serious. They were just chatting. Barely raising their voice as they did. The both of them were simply deeply happy to still be alive. Especially April. She honestly thought she was going to die at the hands of the vicious hobgoblin. Thankfully, it didn't happen.
"I don't know. I don't care. What kind of demon would need milk to remain alive after escaping a prison?" he asked her.
"The best kind," she smiled at him as she looked right into his eyes, blushing. Taking him by surprise with this answer.
"..." Junk truly didn't know what to reply with.
"Alright," she stood up in the steps leading up to the front gate of the castle, which was, in reality, a decently-sized tower that had been turned into a crypt from A to Z, from room to room. "We should probably go now. It's going to be night anytime," she added.
"Yeah. You're right," he stood up as well. It was much harder for him to do so because of his taller and bigger body, but he still managed to do it without any form of help or support from her.
"So, did you give it any more thought?" she randomly asked.
"Any more thought to what?" he replied to her, confused.
"The thing we talked about earlier… Do you think you would be able to leave September completely?" she asked him again.
"..." the beast shut his eyes and looked the other way. This was his method of avoiding the conversation altogether. He obviously didn't want to be a part of this. Despite the fact that September wasn't even outside with them, he didn't want to speak against her.
"So, what is your answer, Junk?" she was more serious than ever with him. The conversation had suddenly shifted from entirely casual, talking about demons, to the thought of seriously abandoning the former Witch Queen. Something that killed the conversation.
"You should probably quit telling things like this about her."
"Believe me, Junk. I knew her long before you did. She is not the same woman she used to be. Ever since she was dethroned, she changed. And there were already some issues with her before that. No wonder why she is mysterious about how she was dethroned. The only thing she tells us is that there was a coup against her and that nothing was her fault. You don't think it's a bit fishy, Junk?"
"I was nothing before her. I still am almost nothing, but at least I have a purpose now. She found me after I escaped the prison I have spent all of my life in. She fed me. And she continues feeding me with her precious milk, so I don't die. September is the one I am going to follow and protect. No matter what. I'm sorry, April."
"She is not all good, she is not all bad. She's somewhere in between," she confronted him.
"No. She is not. We are working together. We are all working together. And even if she was using me, what do I care? At least, I am alive. That's all that matters. You and me. We are alive. Why do you keep searching for problems like this?" The Minotaur had enough.
"Because she is hiding so much from us," she told him.
"So, be it," that was it. Junk turned heels and left her alone.
"Junk? Where are you going?" April didn't want him to be mad at her. The conversation had exploded into something absolutely out of control, and she immediately felt like it was her fault. It was. Without saying another word to her, the beast walked back inside the tower and pushed against the heavy gate. The gate slowly closed behind him and April was alone. She lowered her head. Closed her eyes. It kept getting darker outside until the sun was almost gone in the sky. April didn't know what to do at first. She turned heels and walked down the steps leading to the gate of the tower. She walked away. She walked into the dark woods surrounding the tower in the middle of nowhere. She walked away with her head down. Nothing or no one was going to stop her from leaving. April didn't mind traveling at night. She was a big girl. She wasn't scared of the dark. She could hear all these owls hooting all around her as the darkness prevailed and surrounded her. She still had her head down when the dust settled a bit and internally realized what she had done. Picking a fight with Junk. Declining to trust her old friend. She had reasons. She had very good reasons to suspect September and to investigate, but the confrontation with the Minotaur hadn't been so useful at the end of the day. It was a shame. April and Junk typically went along pretty nicely. At one point, in the dark, April wrapped her arms around her own body and hugged herself. Tried comforting herself. Tried warming herself up a bit. It was so cold here, it didn't work so much.
God. I just left, and I'm missing Junk's warmth already, she thought. She might no longer be naked, but that didn't mean that she wasn't cold, for that matter. The village girl type of dress that she had been gifted by the night whisperer had been ruined. She couldn't wear it anymore. That was why she was given a little something from the witch she was beginning to suspect and antagonize so much. September had kindly gifted her a dress. Not any kind of dress, but a skimpy nightgown that resembled quite a bit the witch outfit September typically wore all the time. Instead, it was a thin nightgown. The dress was of the same kind of gray-purple color as September's corset and possessed the same type of colorful leaves which represented the colors of Autumn. The leaves on the nightgown could be seen at the extremities of the dress, such as the bottom of it or at the bottom of the sleeves. This nightgown was exactly what September wore when she was home, at the tower, and that she would get ready for some rest. To be fair, as the sun was setting outside and that everything surrounding the elf was slowly, but surely becoming darker and darker, this was indeed the perfect time for this nightgown to be worn. Since September was at the tower this evening, there was a lot of chance that she would have been wearing it before hitting the sack if she hadn't so kindly given it to her old partner, April. Hopefully, for her, she had a duplicate of this same nightgown. There was a lot of chance that this was the case.
Then, through the loneliness and the darkness in the woods, the green-haired elvish girl felt observed. She felt another presence with her in the woods. It could have been many things. Small animals? Bigger predators? Being an elvish girl, it was in her blood and in her heritage to be instinctively aware of what kind of animals were surrounding her at all times. Especially in the dense woods.
There are many squirrels all around me. I saw a bobcat earlier. It could have been just that. No. Wait a second. It can't just be squirrels or a bobcat, I sensed something a bit different. It was much larger as well, April thought to herself as she ultimately stopped in the middle of the woods and closed her eyes. Shutting all senses, she possessed, save for this instinctive and natural talent for detecting surrounding animals and beasts. She raised her right arm in the air. Slowly. Nice and slow to make sure not to make any sudden movements and to scare any life form that might have been surrounding her at this moment as the sun was going to sleep in the conflicted sky above the trees. She tried finding what was causing such mayhem with her beast detecting ability. Something was approaching toward her, but she didn't know what exactly. What could it be?
It's getting closer. It's as large as a deer. No. Larger, April corrected herself in her thoughts as she still tried finding the source.
"What is it? Hold on. It can't be. Based on the energy signature of the beast, it appears to be an insect? How could any insect be this gigantic in this region of the world?" April asked herself out loud in the middle of the woods as she suddenly began panicking for the first time since she set foot outside the tower and left Junk.
"Spiders are no insects. You should be aware of this by now with all the times we ran into each other," a dark and cold voice was heard from high above her in the tall trees of the woods. April opened her eyes for the first time since she began focusing on finding the energy source of whatever was in the woods with her.
Well, she found it!
Araknar was back!
"Araknar!" April shouted out loud as she desperately tried stepping back from this spot right underneath the spider-vampire-demon monster. At first, Araknar never made any move to physically drop himself over her head. However, as soon as she stepped back and tried running away, his meticulous trap was unleashed. Similar to what had happened in that room of the cave the other day during the recent encounter with the demon, a spider web with blue strings suddenly erupted from the ground. Erupted from beneath April's feet in the dirty and rose to the top. The controlling blue strings made her fall. She was captured. The massively large spider web swept her off of her feet and lifted her up in the air. The worst about it was that the spider web didn't make much noise when it rose from the ground. Therefore, not allowing September and Junk a lot of chance to hear something in the woods which was surrounding the tower. April was, unfortunately, on her own.
"We meet again," the demon lord communicated with her.
"Let me go! Let me go, or we will capture your soul and send it straight to Hell," April grunted and lost all temper.
"Hell? I'm already there," Araknar slowly responded to her.
"..." April didn't know how to respond to that, exactly.
"And you said 'we'. I don't see a 'we' here. You are alone."
"Spring Claws of Brightness!" April loudly called out the name of her magical attack, and two green gauntlets made of visible mana magically appeared on both of her hands. The gauntlets had three claws each. She then leapt in the air and tried attacking the spider demon, but it was too late. She was already on the spider web. Her back was already sticking to it. She tried leaping toward him, but failed to do so.
"It's too late," he told her.
Then, the ever glowing blue strings of the web did their trick.
April lost consciousness at this moment.
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CamilleJuteau
CamilleJuteau Hello, everyone. I hope you've enjoyed this new chapter. As always, please consider leaving a comment. Feedback is really important to me and I also love taking suggestions. Thank you again for reading.
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