As they had previously discussed at the entrance of Valeria's castle. The girls scampered off after parting ways with Zane. All the while, eying the magnificent fortress with anxiety. Despite this, they quickly began seeking out the local population to see what they could learn about Elysium, and the cult which ruled over it.
After all, the key to warfare was knowing your enemy and knowing yourself. If you knew those two things, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. But, with their current limited understanding of their enemy, Zane and the girls were doomed to suffer a defeat for every victory gained.
And it was with this in mind that they wanted to change such a fate. As for Zane himself, the moment the castle gates shut behind him, a Paladin stepped forward. Or so Zane presumed, as the man was clad head to toe in white armor, that was gilded around the edges.
He also wore a golden surcoat around his armor, which bared the emblem of Elysium upon it. This man, who Zane could not see the face of, because of his great helm, spoke to Zane, welcoming him in a rather friendly tone to the Castle of the Goddess.
"Greetings. The Goddess herself has sent me to escort you into her personal quarters. I hope your journey was both a short and pleasant one."
Zane looked at the man with suspicion. There was no need for him to be so friendly with Zane. Especially since it had been roughly a month since Zane had been responsible for the deaths of so many of this man's comrades at the Battle of Tahoe.
Yet Zane did not bring up this unpleasantness, rather he stayed on his guard around the man, as he accepted the gesture in good faith.
"Very well, take me to her..."
The Paladin nodded, and quickly escorted Zane through the palace courtyard, which had soldiers at every given defensible location. But aside from being strategically laid out to deal with intruders, there was actually a rather exceptional garden which led towards the living quarter's front doors.
During their brisk walk, the Paladin spoke of the goddess, of the cult, and of Elysium. How it was his foremost honor to serve them all, and give his life if need be in its defense? After all, from his perspective, this was truly the last bastion of human civilization in a world gone mad.
And he may very well be right about that. As although Gravestone was powerful, largely because of Zane. It was still more of a survival settlement than an actual civilization. But eventually, after listening to the man rant on about these things, Zane arrived at the double doors of Valeria's personal chambers.
The Paladin quickly knocked on the door, and announced both his and Zane's presence, waiting for a response from the woman inside and approval to enter.
"Your holiness, I have brought the man who you requested. Is it okay for him to enter?"
Valeria's response was short, not long enough to truly convey what her mood was. But it was enough to get the Paladin to leave.
"He may enter..."
With this, the Paladin opened the door, and stood outside its entryway, motioning for Zane to get a move on, which Zane quickly did. Once Zane was inside the Goddess's personal quarters, the Paladin shut the double doors behind him.
The moment Zane stepped into the Goddess's personal quarters, he found himself in what could only be described as a dining area. Contrary to what he thought, she was not immediately within the doorway to greet him.
This set off all kinds of red flags, and because of this, Zane quickly called out to her, having heard her voice only moments before.
"Valeria.... Where are you? Why have you not come to greet me properly as an equal?"
Valeria's voice was the same as it had been before, devoid of any hint of emotion, and the words she spoke were short. But conveyed just enough information to get Zane to follow her.
"I'm in the bedroom. Must I really hold your hand all the way? Are you coming or not?"
Zane took one step forward while frowning. He was about to curse out the woman when a voice spoke to him in his head. It was not his mother's voice, but still one he was intimately familiar with. Gwen spoke to him, and there was a very panicked tone when she did so.
"Wait! Something isn't right here.... I can sense her.... This Valeria bitch isn't alone... She's here... Waiting for you... Big brother, run!"
If Gwen was so panicked, then it was a good enough sign for Zane to run in the opposite direction. And because of that, he bolted for the doors. He did not hesitate to open them, and burst through the entryway like a bat out of hell.
However, the moment he did so, Zane was forced to stop in his tracks. Because standing in the doorway was perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Staring at him with her golden eyes, the smile she wore on her face was not a friendly one. Rather, it was innately terrifying, like a predator smiling at its prey.
This woman wore a black dress, in an almost renaissance style of fashion. Comically so. But Zane was not laughing. Nor did he make the mistake of thinking she would be encumbered by her choice of clothes. Instead, he stepped back, instinctively, as if moving forward was a death sentence.
Before he could even get a word out, an alluring voice came from the woman's mouth, so much so that any resistance within Zane's body had immediately vanished, almost as if he had been placed under some kind of spell.
Lilith reached out and grabbed hold of Zane's neck, effortlessly lifting him into the air with one hand as she choked him with her python like grip.
"So you're the mysterious brother who has been so meddlesome these past few months... Yes... I can smell her all over you. You really are mother's favorite, aren't you? You have no idea how much that pisses me off!"
Zane wanted to say something, but he couldn't. Not only because he was currently being suffocated by the woman's grip, but also because his body would not function as it should. He did not even try to resist the strangulation that he was currently undergoing, despite his mind screaming at his body to do so.
The angered expression on Lilith's face clearly showed how angry she was with Zane. And just when Zane's vision had begun to fade, he felt his breath suddenly come crashing back into his lungs. The crushing grip around his throat was gone, instead he felt a pain in his lower body as it hit the cold stone floor.
It took several seconds for Zane to recover his senses, and when he did so, he saw that Lilith had placed her boot upon his chest, gazing down at him with a sense of superiority, as she spoke to him with a far more amicable tone.
"You and I... We're going to have a private conversation, brother...."