The Devil's Smile

Chapter 30

Can you let me down now? I asked my demanded the 12th one since we had entered The Cave. I can't feel my fingertips. They are going to fall off and then who is going to make your beds? Seriously making beds without fingers is pretty difficult not that making beds with fingers isn't difficult either because it is. But you guys should really try it sometime.

The screechy tone of my voice should have gone a long way to enduring me to the 5 demigods. Surely they loved a screechy woman. Didn't all men? I was just opening my mouth again when I hand wrapped around it. It was coronas. If you think you can manage it shut up for a little bit and we will be out of this game. The only reason they are in the attacking us is because we hold this cup. From the corner of my eye I could see him brandishing the source stolen cup.

Narrowing my gaze on him I was about to let him know exactly that I thought about being handled like that when his words registered. Who were the question mark in that moment the flickering shadows I had been noticing around the started to become clear well clear enough for me to see what was surrounding us.

Creatures. Living creatures.

Hundreds of them. Grotesque ghost like, wraith figures. Cronas must have seen the wide eyed fear I was suddenly channelling because he slowly removed his hand and leaned in closer to whisper to me.

When you are rejected by gods there is no escaping. You remain here until your physical form fades away and then only the shadow creature is left.

I swallowed her trying not to either throw up or cry. damn the gods. They were sentencing the very beings who had already spent their entire days and lives serving them to this kind of eternal torture

Can we free them? My voice was very low. I was afraid to draw their attention. There were so many of them and even with this magic cup deterrent it was really very scary.

Drawn sleep then next to his twin and even though silence was walking pretty fast none of them looked uncomfortable walking and whispering to me like this.

There is nothing left but anger and vengeance the most giant of the cursor brothers said. If we free the spirits they will reap destruction across Vandelay destroying the 9 rings in no time. They can never be freed.

I shut up after they're trying my best not to stare at the scary surrounding us. Scaring and sad. I wish that I could Unsee them but with no such luck. Thankfully Cronas had not been lying about us being close to the exit. The brightness we had been moving towards was increasing and I sucked in a deep breath at the junction between keep and outside. The blood rushed through my body as stylus dropped me to my feet keeping her tight hold on my shoulder which was helpful against the weakness in my body. I was barely keeping myself up but after all my carry on I needed to prove that I could stand on my own 2 legs. The other cursor stepped in between and beside us forming a single line of demigods.

Their expressions varied from grim to stoic. I wasn't sure what to expect judging by that but something told me it was going to be a bit of rough journey to get out of this banishment cave.

Just take a deep breath Charmaine, Amor instructed from my right side and then the 6 of us stepped through to the other side.

We'll sort of. The actual transition between the worlds and realms this time was akin to having my skin tone off from my body by the means of grating it off. The Cave did not want to let us go and write now I was biting my lip so hard enough to test the copper of the blood so that I wouldn't scream out in painful stop the agony felt like it lasted entire days and when we finally found ourselves outside the toll thick trees surrounded us I all but collapsed on my stomach. Next time my hands ripped into the soft green graph my breathing ragged as I fought against the last tendril of pain. I pushed myself partly up so that I could run my hands from my shoulders to rest so that I could obsessively check in order to make sure that my skin was still intact.

Fancy shoes appeared in my line of sight a shadow blocking the light above me. You doing okay rocks? It's a real b***h getting in and out of the banishment zone.

I knew it was Cronas. The pain gifted Demi God had predictably been the first to recover. Hands feet under my arms and lifted me to my feet. I found myself staring into his dark green eyes a storm of darkness hovering just around the edges. He was smiling right until he focussed on my face. The darkness in his eyes expanded outward then shedding over his features like a roiling storm cloud.

Reaching up I tried to figure out what had happened to bring on that expression full knowing me it could have been anything. There could have been even a spider on my head. Those bugs that hung above you hidden in sticky white Nets and then when you release prepared they dropped into your hair most of the time you didn't know about it so they were able to borrow in and create a nest. They lived in your head had their babies and then when all their young were born he would bite and kill you. Just so you wouldn't be able to tell anyone that they were there.

My hand started frantically patting now. And I was not going to take the chance. Not away in freaking helpful Cronas’s eyebrows truly drew together as he watched me jump around shaking my blue hair out flipping my head upside down and everything.

Is it out? I was shouting. Panic head way in its hold.

I didn't fear much but the creepy multi legged weird looking spider was high on my list. Almost right at the top. Only a few rungs below the recurring dream that I sometimes had about someone dying and making me queen. Luckily we no longer had monarchies because it pissed off the gods too much to see us worshipping other than them. So yeah it was an irrational fear but I still couldn't seem to shake it.

What is the dweller doing? Silas stood next to his brother both of them staring at me. Has she lost her tiny mind? That was fast.

Amor joined them on the other side and the slightest of smiles was visible at the corner of his full lips pretty sure she is trying to get a bug off her I have seen this before in goodwill full

Help me! Shouted what was wrong with them question malware they hoping I would die from spider bite?

Kronos grabbed me then huge hands wrapping around my biceps as he helped me in place. I struggled for a minute before realising that it was fruitless. I was never escaping his grip.

There is no bug on you he said slowly like he was speaking to an i***t stop

“Well…”.I spluttered out ,”why were you staring at me like that? You went all dark and gloomy and I thought that it was a spider…”

The corner of his mouth twitched which felt like an amusement although the corner of his I did the same and there was number more anger. Before I could try to salvage the relationship I thought I had been building with this Demi gods, Cronas freed my right bicep as he traced the thumb over my lip. You have blood on your face. He said where do you hurt in the crossing?

I stared at him as his thumb shifted dropping back and forth along the slope of my bottom lip if there was really blood on my face he was only spreading it around which was hardly surprising because he wasn't watching what he was doing. He will starring right into my eyes and intensely focused look in his.

Before I could answer Amor was in my face. How could she get hurt? We were assured that it was the same for dwellers and demigods to cross. And we were touching her!

I found myself reaching out to comfort him before deciding that at the last moment it was a bad idea. I bit my lip that is all. I'm fine.

Fine would be really an overstatement. And I heard a snort from the back. Fine…I wasn’t fine. But I wasn’t hurt from the crossing. They should be more specific.

Yeti, Who had been silent this long did not hang around any longer he turned and started pushing his way through the thicker growth through the east. The rest of the cursors gave me one more look over before following their brother. Silas nudged me indicating I should go in front of him pretty sure I heard him mutter something about stopping me from breaking my neck but I could have been wrong.

as soon as I stumbled free of the alcove of trees and bushes that we had been in I realised that nothing in the hilly area we were in was familiar. Silas nudged me again. His brothers where it already quite a few feet in front of us so I picked up the pace.

When are we? I asked leaves and debris picking up under my feet as I jogged to keep up the pace this isn't where we entered Elysium from.

He did not answer at first and I wondered if he was just going to completely ignore me. Seriously? I was here because of their need to procure an item which probably did not originally belong to them No matter what their story had been. Why would the gods care about anything a Demi God had? Instinct told me it had been stolen from the gods by the cursors in the first place and the gods advanced it back. I was only suckered they could rope into helping them and now I was going to pay face a certain painful death by angry deity.

The banishment came is across the other side of Vandelay. Silas face was really lazily drawled like he could not barely be bothered to answer. We have a couple of days to walk to get home.

What? Is created grinding to a halt. But I was in Elysium for like one hour. I was with the gods for like half an hour how could you 5 get to The Cave in half an hour if it is going to take us a couple of days to walk back?

Silas nudged me again clearly not liking my refusal to work. Those days are going to turn to months if you don't start walking dweller. Don't make me carry you again and it will be far less pleasant this time. Next a red haze kind of washed over my eyes I was so furious that when I opened my mouth it actually surprised me that steam did not emerge. You dragged me into this how the hell am I going to explain being away from goodwill for this long?

Silas must have realised that I wasn't going to move he leaned down closer unspoken fast clipped tones. To reach the management cave within Elysium is fast which is why we were able to get there so quickly. We are in Vandalia now so there is no quick back way back to the Academy. We could have gone through Elysium but the risk was too great with you having stolen something from the gods. They tend to take those things seriously they would have been searching for you very quickly. Add on the fact that you stabbed one of them and well it's much on the safer side.

Okay that's all make sense full stuff with a sigh I turned and started walking again.

Ohh and rocks? Silas added. I swivelled my head around to see him. We will make sure no one had goodwill punishes you for your absence. We have more than a little pool there. Which is something that you should always remember.

Whatever. Arrogant demigod.

Red was going to be out of her freaking mind with worry. She was probably going to star casting a bunch of questions until every damned living thing in the Academy had been notified of my absence. There was number way that yet he was going to be able to persuade everything one of them to forget. That would require more power than it was really possible for a demigod to possess.