Leaving Arania had been quite fine. After having an amazing adventure in the haunted halls the duo decided to descend the golem’s legs down onto land. Demon hunters were waiting but they were hardly a challenge as the two of them toyed with the hunters. It had been decided that they would hunt down the eccentric Eldora to find out information on Colden, something that neither were too excited about. However, there were things that made it more exciting if they remained on the same side. For example, how exciting the pirate city was, especially when no one was in the alleyways. Or how exciting the tavern they found was, she thought she heard people cheering them on. 

Lotus laid in the bed and played with the man’s long hair. It was long and white. It reminded her of snow, the pure untouched snow. She kissed his fingers and thought about the things that would come. “The little cretin is certainly worth the trouble if this is the reward.” She chuckled a bit as she let the hair slip through her fingertips.

A knock came to the door and her eyes moved as if she was upset they were being interrupted. “Lotussss.” the whine of a man came to the door. She rolled her eyes as she got up and went to the door. Opening it a man tried to bust in. He took no shame in staring at the woman. “Looking like our mother. Gorgeous” He reached for her hair and she slapped his hand away.

“You are sick.” She took the door and beat him with it. “Did you find out what I wanted?” Lotus had told Dante that she reached for a favor from an unsavory type. The man looked half mad but he was only eyeing his sister.

“Eldora is in the cemetery. Say hello for me…” She was quick to push him out as she closed and locked the door. A sigh left her lips as an eerie song came from behind her. It was one she knew well. “My siblings… are not the best and brightest.” No… her father much like Dante’s had many children. “Eldora is one of the few exceptions that escaped through the cracks. She had a true gift and while it has driven her to the point of insanity, she does have some morality in her to help.”

She rolled back onto the bed and stared at Dante. “It does make me shiver when he stares at me like that.” Any decent brother would have looked away, would have covered her up. But he was no decent brother. She began to get dressed and it was clear her mind was far away from the room as she thought about it. “Been a long time since I saw my father. Wonder what the old man is up to.” She chuckled a bit. “I do wonder.”

She reached over and stroked his chin. “We should go find her before he comes back and tries to get in bed with us. I will leave you here if that happens.” She chuckled a bit as she pulled on her corset and laced it. She helped him dress and she chuckled a bit more now. “He is one of my father’s. His mother was a crazy demon apparently. Father always warned me not to play games with my brother. Said he was quick to snap and I’m one of the few children my father adores. Incubi can be troublesome for childrearing but my father said it was something about my flow of life essence that he liked.” She bopped Dante on the nose lightly and stood up. 

“He checks in on occasion but he’s been rare since mother passed away. I guess he was just weary of her. An old demon like him weary of a little nobody like her. It really makes me wonder what people saw in her.” She pondered for a bit more. “If my brother is right… she is in the cemetery. Probably in a crypt. We should snag a fresh body for her as a gift. She would probably like that.”   

How bothersome Colden could be at times, even he wasn’t directly in his line of sight. Dante wasn’t his brother’s keeper and certainly didn’t wish to be that for him or any of their other siblings. Hell, the only reason he agreed to this foolish task for Lotus and the delicious little promises she carried in that supple body. They made it out of that haunted house upon a spider with their hides still attached only to be met with demon hunters. Lotus really needed to keep better company and though Dante wasn’t necessary a fighter, he was well able to protect himself and have a little fun with them. He then followed her lead and continent hopped over to Canelux, likely to track down her estranged sister.

To him, Eldora seemed like a nutty little fruitcake, but given who their mother was, she wasn’t completely to blame for that. While his initial thoughts about this was that it was all too much work, she proved otherwise in the coming days. Vilpamolan became their personal playground and to be frank, up to now Dante could never really find anyone that could sate his carnal pleasures or last as long as he could. Lotus, however, broke the mold in their escapades. It seem like no matter they did, he couldn’t tire her out for long.

As they laid in bed after another wonderful session, he was in a state of bliss until his attention was drawn out towards her. Blue eyes drifted lazily over to her and smirked. “Yes, my little dark bunny rabbit.” He couldn’t help but to snicker at his choice in name for her. The door knocked and a strange voice rose behind it, not that it made him look at the door twice or anything but it seemed to distract Lotus since whoever it was knew her. He frowned as she left the cozy bed to address them, and even more so when he overheard the conversation between them. Honestly he never understood that level of attraction, though the thought had crossed his mind once or twice in his day. Uncontrollable lust was hard to find limits for, and he was simply it incarnated. Still, it was bothersome to watch the fool play and dance for her attention, especially with the demon still keeping her bed warm.

He didn’t bother to get up or anything, instead he fell back into the bed and gave out a rather loud yawn to show his presence. He didn’t even hide his smile as the door closed on him. “I can relate, mine aren’t much better either.” Most of them were unplanned bastards that Father had to take care of, and many were simply housed to grow into perfect little tools for his disposal. The only exception he knew was the “special” ones such as himself. “Nevermind that, I suppose you want to look for her now?” A stupid question, and one that didn’t need an answer towards as Lotus got dressed and he begrudgingly complied with the idea. “Most demons aren’t fit for parenthood, too many requirements that aren’t worth the reward. Most that are pure demons, of course. Mixed breeds, well, perhaps a bit better for rearing”, he chuckled slightly as he got dressed with her help. He playfully went to nip at her finger, as he had with the rest of her from before.

“Power, or at least the illusion of it, or perhaps she was able to distill some form of fear. That or she was a danger to herself and everyone around her. Your guess is as good as mine.” Dante went to retrieve something from the bed as she spoke on. “If only we had enough time to play in a spooky place like there. Oh well. Let’s find your sister then”, he sighed as he got a hold of his item. It looks like some rope made of silk, but it was a lot stronger than the normal one. Suppose we’d be needing this to capture some poor sap eh?“ 

She chuckled at his nickname and leaned in to kiss his lips. “Don’t fret.” Not that the demon was. 

As the yawn played the frown on the  brother’s face grew wider. She could hear down the hall past the singing that her brother had been doing, the rage. Lotus’s face was filled with nothing but amusement. “I applaud you for giving entertainment. It is nice to see someone give my brother the run around once in a while. Though it is a good thing we are leaving and we don’t have to deal with his temper. He is a good resource when he behaves.”

She was quick to nip back at him as they got dressed and chuckled more, “If we’re not careful we’re not going to go anywhere. Unfortunately, duty comes before whatever I’m cooking up for you as soon as this is done.” She gave promises that she could keep, that was one thing that she had learned watching the other courts of Arri co-exist. Never promise something you couldn’t bring to the table.

Her smile only broadened as she thought about his words. “Well, whatever it was… She tried to bite the wrong person and it got her killed. Thankfully.” There was no love lost for her mother and now she was there trying to clean up the mess that Cyprus had left in her wake. She gently moved her hands over the rope and smiled. “No… No… This is for us later. I just plan on making a quick kill. She doesn’t like them to make noise.”

She gave him a hard kiss before they made their way out of the tavern. She was stalking someone that appeared to have a lot of magic in their system. With a bit of surprise and a lot of bravado she took him down without a peep, with a neck snap of course. She threw the man over her shoulder with much more strength than she appeared to have in her tiny frame.

“To the cemetery my dear man.” She looped the arm around his that was free and winked up at him. “I don’t tend to kill but when I do… I don’t like a mess. I leave it to whatever Eldora is going to do.” Not that Eldora was technically evil, Lotus didn’t think Eldora knew what was what. Once they got to the cemetery she peered around and caught a flicker of light. “This way.” It was down in a crypt that had been busted in.

An eerie little tune came up to their ears, a woman’s voice. “There she is.” Eldora was sitting in between a bunch of hellfire candles. The purple and green made her eyes glow with a vivid hellish blue. “Beautiful little sister I brought you a present.” There was a pot boiling next to the woman. 

Looking up Eldora offered a smile or what appeared to be one. “I know, I boiled the water… I want the knuckles.” Lotus nodded and set the body down and began to separate the body. “Is.. it a mage?” Eldora crept over.

“Oh yes, the finest I could find. I took him right from a delivering coffin just for you. You have more use than a crummy little cemetery anyways.” A little white lie but Eldora couldn’t read that much into the future or detail… could she?

Eldora took the hands and dropped them into the pot. “Eldora?” The woman turned her head enough to look at Lotus. “What do you do with the knuckles anyways?”

“Talismans.. Knuckles from a mage are good for divining locations when I can’t find them.” She poked the hands with a stick down into the water. “The body parts from Arania were useless as they were already drained of the magic.” She groaned a bit and looked up at Dante. “His knuckles too?” Eldora began to reach up and Lotus grabbed her hand.
“No, he’s a friend. Maybe a lover perhaps?” Lotus chuckled and Eldora tilted her head.

“What is a lover?” Lotus’s color drained but Eldora shrugged it off. She had no idea that Eldora was so vacant. Lotus reached over and patted the woman’s head. “Never mind, you living ones are really complicated.” 

“Eldora, what is… going on with Colden?” She wanted to get away from Eldora but at the same time, she knew that something was bothering Eldora.

“It’s not Colden you should be completely afraid of… Mother isn’t completely dead.” Lotus’s color if not already drained was completely gone. “Colden is the least of the problems. I saw her come back in a dream the other night. Mother… is inside someone or something.”

Dante would have much rather had more delightful fun with Lotus instead of chasing after idiot brothers and deadpan sisters. But the woman knew what she wanted to do and he had to obliged, even though it was going to annoy him for his loins would ache and feel like they were about to burst. But he suppose that it was better to wait and savor the fruits of his labor then than now. “Oh, alright. You win, but…” His eyes lingered down to the rope before letting a small smile escape him. “We will have fun with this later, and I get to use this on you first.” He figured the offer wasn’t completely unfair given the circumstances since they would both have a turn to play with the latest toy. [

b]“Had this been anyone else, I would have likely not got involved in this plan.” His finger drew around the top of her chest for a bit before he pulled away. “But for now, we will play it your way. Don’t really fancy murder myself, unless I have to.” That, he could entrust Lotus to complete; he wasn’t like his brother that savory such a grim solution.

The poor sap that was chosen didn’t have a chance and once he was disposed of, they fled to the cemetery were sure enough Eldora was up. How she took comfort in a creepy place like this was unnerving to Dante, but he kept his tongue as the sisters exchanged pleasantries or what looked to be such. He didn’t know what it was about her, but his usual nature wasn’t acting up as it should, though given what little he had learned of her was surely not a turn on in the least for the demon. He stood by and watched until she mentioned using his own knuckles for her talismans. “Sorry, but I need my hands attached. So many things I can’t do without them”, he spoke cryptically, though it would probably be more obvious to Lotus on what he meant.

He did agree with Eldora in that Colden wasn’t as terrible of a threat as the boy would like to make people believe, but then the smug look faded once he heard of the news of Cyprus. “Damn woman…she must have not been killed all the way. That, or her dealings with demons hadn’t just been hoaxes and bait just to get inside of her. Either way, it sounds like possession to me. Not completely tough if she hasn’t taken over the person fully.” He couldn’t help but to ponder if his father would know anything about this. He rubbed at his temples and turned to Lotus. “I don’t think Father will be happy if she survives and screws up whatever he’s scheming to do with Colden.”

Eldora was beautiful in her own way. It was the way that death was so easy around her. She didn’t kill, she didn’t need to and to be honest if she had confronted Lotus on how she got the body she would have been upset. The delicate balance of life and death was a present to Eldora and she loved it. She cradled the body that was left and looked up at Lotus with huge eyes. Those huge eerie blue eyes that glowed deep into the night.

“No one will be happy… No one.” Eldora got up and dropped the body with care as she came up to Dante while pulling Lotus with her. “The thirty-second meeting Lotus. Our siblings say it’s time.” Lotus’s eye for a moment completely softened and she looked away. “No more time to hide.”

“So you knew about that? Doesn’t shock me.” Lotus’s voice drifted as she was about to walk away from both of them and explain. Eldora grabbed her hand and grabbed up at Dante.

“No explaining.” Eldora quickly engulfed the room in a memory of sorts. They were staring in the past for a few moments. This was her mind. “Watch.” She directed up to Dante.

There were twelve chairs in a dimly lit room. Lotus was present and holding a very small Colden. She was surrounded by many others. “She’s gone too far this time!” A man was yelling and the crowd hushed him. It was just a small gathering but the air was so thick with hostility. “If what Lotus found is right then she really has gone too far.” At the mention of her name the past Lotus drew Colden closer to her as if protecting him.

“The fact she would go this far is hardly surprising to me. We should have killed her when her powers were waning from birthing the girl.” There was a sister speaking up now. “We respect our lines too much. We never gave it a thought why the girl wasn’t part demon herself.” 

Lotus coughed as if to keep their attention. “If the notes were right she plans on draining both Colden and the girl’s bloods and intermingling them as a sort of summoning. The only reason I even found them was because she was going after Colden again. If that didn’t work she was going to start again and breed the two of them. However the fuck she planned on bringing them back. They are just kids they don’t deserve this. The girl is barely a few months old.”

The other eleven in the room nodded. “We may be demons ourselves but our first priority is to protect our own. Call it our own cursed blood with the Rosen ones.” It was the man again. With a crash, Lotus jolted up and held Colden tightly. There was rampaging in the room below them. “Out the passage and down. Take the portal and shut it behind you. You were never here.” Lotus nodded and ran with Colden. The eleven others? Dead before too long.

Eldora pulled her hands back. “Those meetings happened often and I never went to them. Wasn’t invited but I knew about them. We had a lot of siblings, didn’t we… They were nice for the most part. Now they are cold and in the ground because Mother found out they were plotting. She never suspected sweet little Lotus who was always with Colden to be part of the problem.”

Lotus growled a bit. “No, she knew. She just couldn’t do anything to me. I had the protection of my father, whatever his angle was at the time it didn’t matter. I remember him almost killing her then if she ever touched me. Problem was, after that, I got thrown out of the court and left Arri for a while. That was why she went after Angela’s kid a few years after that. I was on my way to let Angela know about the papers I had found. What siblings we had left shouldn’t die because of her and her ego. I’m maternal enough to care about what happens to Colden and Kirika. They are more attached than people know. Kirika’s blood is diluted angel blood. If it mingled with Colden’s under the right incantation it would summon something. We knew that and we tried to stop it. They were right though, we couldn’t deal with her. Though she ended up fucking up by going after Raven. She thought she was running out of time to get her hands on Kirika. Truthfully she was. I was half way to Angela’s when the damn earthquakes started and Mother… disappeared. Not even a trace of her ashes. It’s a complete damn mystery what Angela did to her. The only people that know are Angela and the ground she was on.”

Eldora stared up at Dante. “She didn’t kill her but if I know Angela… She tried to make her suffer. Killing a child of the Rosenites would have been a death sentence and yet Angela acted alone. She didn’t kill her but whatever she did do has set up a chain of events. Colden and Kirika are both in trouble from themselves and Mother.” For the moment she seemed calm and in control.  “The fate strings have interesting outcomes if you succeed and if you fail. Someone dies either way. Actually, if Mother gets her way, a lot of people are dying. Lotus you get the cruelest death I bet. You got a lot of anger coming your way.” 

Lotus flinched at the words and nodded. "I take it that Mother possibly has found a way to get a lot of power. It's the only way something like this is about to happen. Do we have a timeframe?"

Eldora went back to her pot and shook her head. "Tomorrow? The day after? Five years? Ten? The spirits never say." 

While the sisters continued on, Dante didn’t have a heap of a clue as to what they were going on about with this “meeting” he kept hearing about. It wasn’t until he felt Eldora come up to grasp his hand and flung his mind into a world that was no more, one that he gathered was from their past, or at least Lotus’. Colden’s small frame was easily enough recognized by his older kin and listened to the other parties involved. Observing onward, the motive behind the meeting was soon enough addressed, Cyprus had caused quite a stir among her ranks, though the woman had a nasty habit overall. He couldn’t help but to ponder what his father had been thinking exactly when he became involved with her briefly. Perhaps he bound her and kept her mouth shut? Well, that’s the well he would have done it if he had to.

All of this he would have to begrudgingly kept fresh in his mind, Father would surely be interested in this news along with the fact that Cyprus remained in this realm still. Oh he wasn’t going to be happy one bit, especially if that foolish woman continue to go through with her plans for Colden and her youngest daughter. The scene finalized with the two escaping and the others perishing once the meeting was found out. Wherever that woman went, death was sure to follow indeed. He was hardly surprised by the outcome.

They were pulled right back into reality and he shook himself of the aftereffects. The demon felt mentally exhausted from the showing, but enlightened whether he wanted to be or not regardless. Of what had happened to her afterwards forced him to groan in annoyance. “And that’s the flaw of beings of this plane. Revenge is petty and pointless and something natural demons know nothing of because our hearts are already darkened from birth. Your Angela should have just killed her and be done with it. It would have spare most from the headaches that will come from this. From what Father knew of her, that damned woman would go through any lengths to get what she wants unless she was six feet under. The same goes for Colden, though I blame his mother for that side of him.”

Regardless, the brat couldn’t be allowed to reunite with Cyprus unless they wanted to see her plan unfold. Hell, for all they knew, he probably had no clue as to what she wanted to actually do to him. No, he had to reach his other siblings and their father first to locate and find the boy. But this was seriously a drag to have to deal with this. It seemed like only a few hours where he was more interested with his most recent bedmate and now the time for business was coming. Dante preferred to remain in bed with her, even if the entire world was burning. At least they would go out with a bang, that or he would lure her into his home plane. There was a reason why he wasn’t the head of the Seven; there would never be any work that would be done otherwise. His long fingers slid through his hair like it was silk. “I hardly doubt she is the type to wait too long, no? If anything, she’s probably stalling because she needs time, so I guess we will have to assume that we are running out of it and think the worse of this situation.”