“I am not sure what is happening but my condition seems more manageable today. How did you help me out?” the princess asked with a hesitant voice. She sounded like she was still coming to terms with things around her but she seemed aware of her surroundings at least.
This was as good a sign as any and Maria was glad she had taken the step to help the princess out. Even if it left her in a rather sticky situation.
“I-uh-that is to say. Do we have to talk about how? You can guess yourself, right?” Maria squeaked out the last few words, not willing to diverge the information to the other. But the splash of expression, as well as the embarrassed flush on Trisha’s face, told Maria that she had guessed it out as well.
“Just forget all about it then. We do not need to mention it again. Especially to Kagemori. This.Never.Happened” the princess stressed out in a soft voice filled with threat and Maria agreed without any delay.
She had no intention of bringing this topic up again and she valued her life too much to even consider going against princess Trisha. Not because she was afraid, but because she knew she would not gain anything of value by doing so.
“I should go and bring Kagemori back now” Maria assured herself that she was not running away. But maybe she was because she did not want to face the embarrassing situation in front of her.
When she exited the room, the shadow was nowhere to be found that leaving Maria in a predicament. She had been so sure that the elder demoness would not have left the other two alone under any condition but the reality told a different tale.
Maria was not sure what to make of this situation but to go out even further. Maybe the other had left some kind of clue for her to discover? But before that, Maria decided to leave a surveillance bug behind.
That also reminded her that she had a map on her system that could provide her with an idea of where Kagemori would be. There should not be anyone else close enough to them to show up on her radar.
Or that had been the plan but as soon as Maria opened her map, it showed her a different picture. There was a group of people gathered at the front of the entrance and they all seemed to be in a tug of war.
Maria had a bad feeling about it but she decided to press ahead anyway. She knew she would find Kagemori where all the people were present.
And she had only taken one step ahead when she felt static fill her head. Her surroundings started to shift in a familiar way and Maria cursed her powers for their awful timing. Why did this have to happen now of all time?
[Initiating future vision. The actual result of the visions may change depending on the actions taken in the past.
Best
Warning: The host is advised not to change the past]
Maria felt her vision whiten out and she thought she blacked out for a few seconds before she realized that it had not been so.
Her vision took some time to adjust to the moving wall in front of her and light exploded around the whole place. Spells rained down around her as Maria quickly took shelter from the explosion.
She looked up from behind the boulder and instantly felt her breath get caught up in her throat. The scene in front of her looked to be out of a war scene with random spells flying around.
One side had humans with their dominant force and advanced technology (Compared to the rest of the continent) which did not look as if it belonged to Imu. While the other side had a mix of races going against them in an all-out war.
Maria ducked as an explosion made its way toward her before realizing that she was not present there. She was just a projection that was seeing a possible future.
“The continent is shaking. Why do you not surrender? Is her life that important to you?” the leader of the humans asked. He had familiar eyes and hair and even the face looked familiar, if not older.
Maria took a few blinks to realize that the leader looked like an older, fiercer version of Lucas and it made her instantly connect the dots. The blond man was the president of the rebel force, the current government.
“It’s not about her or even about us anymore. We thought we established the government so that we all would get represented but it’s only you and your fraction. This place used to be much more harmonious before” the other side’s leader cried out, a human with dog ears.
His words caused others to break out into a cheer of agreement and Maria could see it angering the blond in front of her.
“Harmonious? Don’t kid me. You are all demons who took over human life when you appear and even then you have the decency to not stay human. If we do not stop you, then there would be no humans left. Did you even know the body you are occupying? He used to be one of us” the human leader cried out fiercely.
The demon fell quiet with mute anger in his eyes. It seemed as if those words had hit a little closer to the home than the demon had first anticipated.
“Hey, it’s not our fault. We are bound by our contract as well” a demon replied from the side but fell quiet at the acidic look he got back.
“The reason is not good enough for your existence. If only you did not exist, then this world would be peaceful. Darn, you all. You need to die and leave us, humans, alone. You all are cancer and so was the kind who encouraged you all. Because of him, so many of our comrades ended up as demons” the blond leader cried and Maria did not care.
She did not care for the drama, nor the building tension.
All she cared about was the key and the shaking of the earth. She watched as the princess, no, Kagemori? Was brought up to the execution stand and the blade pierced her neck. Someone yelled from Maria’s side and she turned toward the voice with a surprised expression.
Terrified hazels met her own gaze before Imu started to break down. The shaking got worse and the very air stilled before it all went crashing down. Node’s power ripped through it all and so did Trisha’s body.
It was a blazing field of fire and anger and Trisha was the demon commanding the end of Imu.