Sitting in the room, with the ambience of Clara's snoring, Nikolai leaned on the table and watched Princess Zara, whose face beca increasingly charming in the flicker of a torch fla.
He didn't know what she wanted to say exactly, but the darkness and mood from earlier vanished. And surprising him the most were the delicate hands holding his. With one hand, she intertwined their fingers, then the other hand stroked the back of it.
'Having four arms seems quite interesting.'
'How would it feel if she used them all for a...'
Nikolai didn't spend long thinking about the positions and fun a woman with so many hands could be; instead, after noticing her recovery, he flicked his head towards the door.
"Shall we go greet your aunt then?"
"Mm, thanks..."
She paused for a mont, looking at Nikolai with searching eyes.
"Thanks for waiting."
"Don't ntion it, co on. Otherwise, that little fairy will wake up and want to join us."
He pointed to the pretty young woman wrapped in the fluffy quilts, snoring as if they hadn't almost died.
Zara lowered her gaze before nodding.
"Mhm."
.
.
.
When they left the room, Nikolai found a dark hallway which passed in both directions, then split into various other paths. It was almost like an ant's nest, with countless tunnels created to confuse intruders.
'There don't seem to be any markings or directions.' Nikolai thought for a mont.
However, he wondered if the Djinn used their special eyes, which could see into the unknown, to create their secret codes and warnings.
With a glance, he watched Zara's gaze, trying to learn sothing.
'I'll ask her later. Now isn't the ti.'
Her shoulders shook as she noticed his gaze. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just wondering where to go."
He shrugged his shoulders and looked both ways, trying to show his helplessness.
Zara watched him before letting out a muted chuckle. Then, after taking a deep breath as if preparing herself. She straightened back, tucked in her chin and lifted her shoulders. Then pointed down the dark, barely lit corridor. "It's that way."
"Okay, after you."
In the tunnel, the walls resembled the beautiful red clay he'd seen used for the outer wall of most buildings. He didn't find it strange, because it resembled bricks just in a single and more constant form.
To test the strength, he placed his hand on the wall and pushed with explosive force.
'It's pretty tough.'
He'd used all his muscles and power.
"Damn."
"What the hell are you doing?" Zara's accent slipped as she curled her tongue more than usual, causing her 'r' to roll slightly.
"Just seeing if I could destroy the wall." Nikolai didn't like being in uncertain situations, and after being scolded, realised he might be nervous in this tunnel. Ever since the gates appeared and he entered the doorway in the Ghoul Mission with Ryan.
He'd grown to hate the underground.
"Co here, take my hand."
.
.
.
Without another word, Zara took his hand and gently squeezed it. "This kind of Safehouse is normal for our family, living on Al'Qutar, a planet of constant strife for ten thousand years. Only recently did we manage to attain peace in the last two hundred years."
"Who created the tunnels?"
"My ancestors, these were made primarily for the royal family. It's probably a secret that less than fifty Djinn in the entire universe know about."
The soft tap of their feet echoed as Zara's glowing pink eyes guided their passage. She would bring up little topics about their kingdom's past, the reason for the insurgents attacking them now, and how the two different beliefs of a Djinn couldn't mix.
"So so believe you are the sons of god, while the others judge your race to be the spawn of demons?" Nikolai brought it into terms he could understand.
Zara stopped her feet and glanced back. In the darkness, they could barely see each other if not for their enhanced senses. "Our origins co from two stories." She sneakily wrapped her fingers around his, entwining them together with a faint smile as she spoke.
'He'll be my husband in the future, why not tell him now?'
The reason for her hesitation was that clan rules allowed her to tell such things only to her spouse.
Thus, even if their deal failed now.
By the clan rules, she'd need to marry him either way.
'Am I a sneaky and unfair woman?'
After realising she wanted to learn more about him, to be just like his other won, Zara started plotting how to get him to fall for her.
'I can't just let myself lose out and be the one chasing him like a dog after all!'
Nikolai quietly smiled and slowed his pace, his shoulder brushing against hers as they started moving through the dark red tunnels again. "Okay, tell more about you and your people."
'That smile is cheating.'
Zara's attraction for this boy started from the mont they t. His ability to learn soul force and wield it at the sa level as she did after only a few months started the spark. Now that she could also grow stronger from him.
The young princess believed this was fate.
She then started to speak with a more cinematic and dramatic tone.
"In the beginning, back when the world was only one, before the fracture and great war, which ended in monsters almost wiping each other out." She kept peeking at him, unsure if he was listening, only to find his eyes observing her with great relish.
'Ah, he's listening~'
Despite being a princess, Zara hadn't received a lot of training other than her wifely duties, so when it ca to flirting with n, she was quite naïve.
'Aunt always said n were like snakes, always trying to slither into tight gaps. And that I needed to protect myself. But what about wolves... handso wolves, that can easily rip my clothes and throw down—"
"Is there sothing on my face?" Nikolai broke Zara out of her fantasy, causing the pretty Djinn to blush in the darkness.
She didn't know he could see her perfectly, though.
"Phew, sorry, I'll continue."
In the beginning, there were two different bloodlines of Djinn.
The benevolent and protective Ishtar, who used her mortal body to protect and secure an escape to the world upon the creation of the Nexus. Most of the surviving Djinn to this day were born of her blood.
Ishtar's power ca from her imnse soul force and the ability to manipulate it as if part of her body.
"So, what happened to Ishtar, and what about the other bloodline?" Nikolai asked.
Zara, who beca lost in the stories her mother used to tell her, hesitated and smiled wryly, a little ashad of her imrsion. "Sorry, I just love these tales. Is it boring?"
"Not at all, from what I can tell from your voice, it seems important to you."
"So how can I treat it like nothing?"
Her stomach felt as if countless butterflies took flight each ti he affird and spoke to her in such a gentle voice. Zara didn't notice, but her two right hands were gently stroking and caressing his fingers and arm.
Nikolai didn't ntion this, though.
Rather, he seed to enjoy it, using his large fingers to "fight back" with a smile.
"Let's continue."
Then she began to speak of the second Djinn, a male. He was strong, filled with great power, but lacked the soul force able to allow him to utilise it like Ishtar. "We call him Shamash!" Her voice carried a hint of worship, despite obviously being a descendant of Ishtar.
"Shamash was a wise and valiant warrior who realised that because of his weaker soul force, the creation of the Nexus ark would be impossible."
"Hm, so what did he do?"
Nikolai's eyes focused only on Zara, his interest in the story and tales of old extrely high.
"He took half of the strongest warriors, those who knew they might never co back and while Ishtar created a soul barrier... The great one Shamash and his valiant warriors, n and won, to form an aegis of flesh."
Zara noticed Nikolai's confused glance.
"You're probably wondering how two sibling gods, who both loved their people despite the differences, sohow beca enemies, right?" There was a slight sense of apathy in Zara's voice as she watched the speechless Nikolai.
"Well, as you can imagine..."
"When we ca to this beautiful world, it wasn't ready for habitation, monsters from the tower, and other races which snuck inside to attack our weakened forces and the fact that our bodies rejected the new atmosphere at first, causing countless deaths."
For those who carried Ishtar's blessing, her blood, which granted more Soul Force and the ability to wield it. The survival rate obviously crushed those who fought against the ailnts and enemies with their flesh.
"So, with the loss of many warriors from the Shamash bloodline, did you choose to create the royal family with both bloodlines?" Nikolai tapped his chin as they approached the door of his aunt's chambers.
Zara stopped, turning back with a rather shocked expression.
"Yes, that's how the first Sultan and Ruler of Al'Qutar created peace."
"However..."
She leaned closer, touching her cool shoulder against Nikolai's warmth, a smile growing on her lips as she thought about her ancestors. "Many of the people who believed in the purity of the bloodlines couldn't accept this. And the planet was so massive, my ancestors didn't see an issue with this, and so three kingdoms were ford at opposite ends of the planet."
The story then beca what Nikolai expected.
Jealous of the combined talents of the Al'Qutar clan, who chose to prioritise the growth of their people. They aid for economic and agricultural developnt in this barren wasteland with sand and heat.
Little did they know, the other kingdoms had long since fought and destroyed each other, forced to beco one after the heat and casualties forced them.
This second kingdom on the opposite side of the world couldn't help but envy the prosperous Al'Qutar. And so, not even a thousand years after creating this beautiful world and losing their gods, war ca to this beautiful world.
"Thousands died, the blood of countless clans with unique powers, from soul force that could heal the physical body. To those who could wield magic like the wizards in your ani and novels..."
"But the hatred and jealousy remained."
Zara's eyes beca sharp. "No matter how many tis we tried to sue for peace, even after winning seven wars, and such wanton greed doesn't just vanish."
"But then, my great-grandmother made a choice which changed our fates for the past several centuries."
"What?" Nikolai's face ca close, his lips practically touching her nose, a burst of minty warm breath blowing across her cheeks.
"She chose to marry their leader after defeating him in combat. No, you could say that she fell for him and stole him!"
"Eh?" Nikolai's eyes widened.
'I like it when he's so close.'
"That's quite amazing."
"Mhm, that man, my great-grandfather was the chief of the Balthazar clan and thanks to my great-grandmother's actions, for the first ti in thousands of years... Peace ca to our lands, and both tribes and kingdoms prospered."
Nikolai never rushed her.
He just watched and reacted, smiling whenever she got too into her story or because she was embarrassed. She wanted to keep telling the story, in the hope that it wouldn't end, so that they could remain close.
'Please, let ti stop now.'
However.
A voice shattered that wish.
"Princess?"
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