A Sinner’s Chance

 I didn't know how long it took for Steria and Arya to wake, but it was around the same time that I started to feel somewhat normal once again. Seeing them stir I stood up, a sharp breath escaping my mouth as I did so. My entire body felt sore and tense, it wasn't painful anymore, but it felt like it required far more effort to move than usual, something that slowly went away as I moved.

"Are you okay?" I asked, calling out to the two who were looking around bleary-eyed and confused, the concern clear in my voice.

"Yeah." Arya nodded. A hand rubbing her head. "I've got a headache, what happ-" she suddenly paused as she saw the still unconscious Demonweb and the dead, self-impaled Ein.

Steria looked less concerned with them and was laser-focused on me, staying silent as her eyes seemed to be probing me. When I approached the two, she skittered back, keeping some distance between us. I could only tilt my head in confusion as I gave her a quizzical look. I turned to Arya for a moment, my hand reaching out as I channeled mana and brought forth a glass of water, and used Creation to quickly fabricate some medicine. It wasn't impossible to do manually, but it was easier to just make it on the fly with Creation since there were so many kinds.

After handing Arya the glass of water and the pills, I told her to take them as I turned back to Steria, whose tail had straightened and what fur was there stood on end. "What's wrong?" I questioned through our bond, not wanting to alarm Arya if I didn't need to.

"Why is the aura of that blasted snake coming from you? You're not possessed?" Between her squinting eyes and the emotions flowing through our bond, I could tell she was both concerned, suspicious and afraid.

I could only smile warmly. "I'm not possessed, or I guess technically I am? I Devoured Apophis, and now its soul is a tool for me to use."

My words caused Steria to become more trusting and calm down slightly. Her fright was still quite apparent but she still approached me slowly, a furred hand coming into contact with me for a brief moment. As she did so I could see her negative emotions fade from her eyes, replaced with only warmth.

Having resolved both her and Arya's issue, I made my way over to Demonweb's body, Renae sitting nearby with a small assortment of items. Loot from the dead Ein, I had been hoping to find some manner of evidence that it was just Apophis pulling the strings, but for some reason I had a feeling that there was something bigger in play, but Renae had not been so lucky.

Instead there was some money, as well as some fancy jewelry, along with a strange black crystal I'd never seen before. It was surprisingly warm when I touched it, and I was almost certain that it softly vibrated occasionally, but I couldn't tell what its function was. I set it aside to examine later, there was something else that I wanted to do much more than scour the information from Seshat's Library right now. Telling Renae to keep an eye on Demonweb, I approached the frozen ice wall that encased my badly injured mother.

I couldn't control the trembling in my hand as I moved it closer and closer to the surface until I made contact. I very carefully began to take control of the ice, draining it of substance and mana, the most basic use I could get out of Apophis's Overlay. I was nervous as I watched the ice begin to disappear, however, it was expediting my recovery as the mana was absorbed and the matter converted to energy as well. The biggest problem was that the better I felt the more anxious I became as the ice got closer and closer to releasing Ashara.

According to the Thread, she was still here, but it wasn't impossible for her body to be just a corpse, while her spirit was nearby. Even worse, if she didn't have an extremely strong will or emotion, she would even be able to communicate, let alone be seen as Renae had when she was a Banshee.

I'd practically completely Devoured everything besides a thin layer around Ashara. I took a deep breath to calm down and focus before instantly Devouring what was left and catching Ashara. Her body was, surprisingly, not cold, however, her already pale skin began to become a deathly pallor as I realized that she was neither breathing, nor had a heartbeat.

I glanced around, hoping that perhaps her soul would be nearby and that I could see it. Even opening my two auxiliary eyes didn't make a difference, the only thing I could see was the small thread connecting me and Ashara was slowly fading, becoming more and more translucent as time passed.

Without a soul with a strong desire, there would be no easy way to get her to come back, and all of those options had various downsides and their success rates were far worse as well. Despite my best efforts, and the use of everything I had at my disposal, such as Essence Sharing or Life Magic were completely ineffective and I could cradle the slowly cooling body as I collapsed to my knees, hot tears streaming from my face.

I hadn't even noticed when, but I could feel the arms of Steria and Arya wrap around my body, doing their best to aid with my overwhelming grief. My tears soon evolved into sobbing, which escalated into me wailing in sorrow, as I failed to stop my emotions from welling up and escaping me.

I must have fallen asleep at some point as I woke up to freshly cleaned white sheets that smelled like the sun and a soft bed. Oddly, a nearby window was open and a calm gentle breeze blew in, followed by the sound of bird calls I'd never heard. I was certain I wasn't in the Forest of Darkness, but I doubted I would have been unconscious for long enough to be transported to a new place, which meant I was likely in a dream.

Standing from the bed, I created a silk robe to wrap around my body as I went over to the window, my eyes squinting against the glare of the bright sunlight. I stood there for some time, just basking in the warmth of the sun, and the breeze, until the sound of a door opening caused me to regain focus.

"Vell, are you awake?" a woman's voice asked, one I was familiar with, but was unable to place until I turned towards the person. Irellia stood in the doorway, her eyes meeting mine. "Good, we were all extremely worried about you. You should come join us for lunch."

I nodded, deciding to follow where the dream was taking me. It would be nice to have a break, even if it was only an illusion. Following Irellia, I recognized that we were still in Demonweb's manor, further reinforcing that this wasn't real. As Irellia opened the dining room door and I stepped in, Arya and Steria rushed up to me and embraced me together. "We were so worried." they said in almost perfect unison. "We'd thought you might have received too much shock and wouldn't wake up."

Unlike when we'd first eaten in this room, the table had more people sitting down eating. Besides me, Demonweb, Steria, and Arya that had been there for breakfast, Irellia was here, Renae was also sitting unlike before, and a young girl with earthy green hair was also sitting and eating.

Despite the food looking good, I couldn't taste it, it was as if I was eating unseasoned mashed potato or tofu, obvious texture, but a complete lack of any flavor. I could also feel Demonweb looking at me intently, while the green haired girl kept sneaking timid glances before turning away. The girl looked familiar, yet I couldn't tell where from. I should have met her at least once, since dreams tended to build off existing memories.

Without warning the girl stood up and bowed in my direction before muttering she was sorry and running off, her hands covering her face and breathing heavily. Stunned at the unexpected occurrence I only watched in silence as she disappeared from the room, the sound of her small footsteps fading.

Demonweb sighed while looking at me. "Forgive her for the outburst, she feels apologetic towards you for some reason, but I am unsure why. Actually if I'm honest..." he paused for a moment as he took a deep breath. "The rest of the guests here are already aware, but save for Irellia, I don't actually know who any of you are, only a feeling in the back of my head that I should know you."

He frowned deeply for a moment as sadness washed over his expression. "Irellia says you're my daughter, and I have vague recollections of being married, yet my wife is dead, and at no point do I recall having a child, yet your resemblance to her is amazing, so I can only believe what the others have told me. There are massive gaps in things I remember, such as the fact that I became the Dark Lord, that I for some reason decided to go by the name Demonweb, to name a few."

I was caught off-guard by the strange confession, my dream was extremely odd. It would have been more sensical to have Ashara here, or to be in the cave. However, it was what it was, so I only shook my head. "I'd imagine I'm the one at fault for your memory loss, I killed the being that was parasitizing your body and mind, but I didn't know if you would even remember anything given how deep it had been." I lied, not wanting the exact truth of the events to somehow distort this otherwise warm and comfortable dream.

Demonweb smiled at me as he finished eating and stood, a look of resignation becoming plastered on his face. "I think it's about time then." he said slowly, as if trying to delay whatever it was he was referring to. "The final rites of your mother, and my wife, Ashara Voras."