Estella didn't look up. She looked at the ground, at her hands that had involuntarily clenched into fists. Kimoko's words were still echoing in her head, hitting harder than she would like to admit. "Maybe that's why you're no better than them." She clenched her jaw. No, that wasn't true. She had to stick to what she knew. The world of demons and gods was never fair. She'd seen it so many times. She couldn't afford to be sentimental. She couldn't... But why the hell did she still feel like something inside her had snapped? She looked up. Kimoko and Kigami were getting further away. The goddess bit her lip. Should she leave them? Did she really...want to leave them?9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9IYZFE7GE
Estella clenched her fingers in the material of her own robe. She had to leave. It would be wise. After everything that had happened, after those words that had been said, there was no place for her at their side anymore.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNL7KxO0rn
And yet... she didn't move from her spot.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuP3AjhVCe
She sighed and closed her eyes. Her heart was beating too fast, and her mind was returning to memories she didn't want to recall. To all the times she trusted someone who would later stab her in the back. To demons who would smile in a friendly way, only to reach for her blood a moment later.
Wasn't it always like this?
"It's about what he can do."
She opened her eyes and looked at Kigami's figure. Stiff, straight, as if he was afraid that if he relaxed, he would fall apart. Kimoko walked beside him, still holding his hand.
This wasn't normal.
Demons shouldn't be like this. They shouldn't...suffer.
"What if you're wrong?"
The voice of her own thoughts made her stiffen.
No. She couldn't be wrong.
When her brother...the oldest of their four, fell in love with a demoness...
She stopped, not wanting to finish the sentence.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z3WELRqmJ
She was breathing heavily, as if every thought weighed on her shoulders.
She had to calm down. She had to focus.
And that was when… she felt it.
Something was wrong.
The fine hairs on the back of her neck lifted, and a strange energy swirled in the air—subtle but familiar. Estella looked around warily. She couldn’t see anything, but…9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUcD2oSbbS
Yes.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJASgVXSiS
Someone was watching them.
For a moment she hesitated to warn them, but then Kimoko stopped as well. The girl frowned, and her fingers tightened around Kigami’s hand.
“Can you feel it?” she asked in a whisper.
Kigami flinched, as if something had suddenly dawned on him. He slowly raised his head, and his eyes dimmed even more.
“Yes,” he whispered.
Estella looked in the same place they were.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyskKyIkXC
And then she saw it.
A shadow. Barely perceptible, like a movement on the edge of reality. It was there – among the trees, among the shadows that danced in the wind. Unmoved by the sun. Not belonging to this world.
Estella's heart stopped for a split second.
This was no ordinary threat.
This was something worse.
Kimoko slowly reached for her weapon, and Kigami kept his eyes on the shadow.
"What is it?" the girl whispered.
Estella didn't answer.
Because she knew the answer.
And she wasn't ready for it.
Not violently, not aggressively. Quite the opposite , smoothly, almost lazily, as if it had an eternity to reveal itself. Its shape was still vague, blurred at the edges, as if it did not fully exist in this world.
And yet its presence was felt.
Estella did not move.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, but her face remained still.
She knew what it was.
Or rather… who.
“So it’s true,” the shadow said, its voice resonating in the air like a whisper of a hundred voices at once. “You really are traveling with a demon, Estella.”
Kimoko stiffened. Kigami did not move, but his gaze darkened.
Estella sighed.
“What do you want, Rael?”
The shadow finally formed. A figure emerged from the darkness a tall, slender man, dressed in a long, dark robe, the lower part of which seemed to blur into shadows, as if he did not have a fully material form. His face was covered by a white mask, decorated with dark, abstract patterns resembling cracks in porcelain.
His eyes, the only thing visible behind the mask, gleamed with an icy silver light.
"Is this the way you greet an old friend?" Rael asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.
Estella snorted.
"We were never friends." 9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLE6gokqtx
Rael laughed quietly, his laughter echoing through the air.
"Oh, Estella. How easily you forget." 9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9I0mc8bf2x
Kimoko looked at her questioningly, but the goddess did not return her gaze.
"You did not answer my question," she said sharply.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcizyjs7aR
Rael's gaze swept over her, then over Kimoko, and finally over to Kigami.
And then he smiled, though his mouth was hidden from view through his mask, the way his eyes narrowed said it all.
"I came to warn you, goddess."
"Warn me?" Estella raised her eyebrows. "You?"
"Time flies," Rael continued, as if he hadn't heard her irony. "You know what will happen if you delay. You know you're already late."
Something in Estella's face twitched.
Kimoko saw it and felt immediately uneasy.
"What is he talking about?" she asked, but no one answered her.
Rael took a step forward, the shadows beneath his feet rippling.
"They'll come soon," he said, his eyes gleaming brighter. "And if you keep wasting time saving mortals and demons... well." He leaned slightly toward Estella.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1E1o8C7gt
"I won't be able to help you."
There was silence.
Estella looked at him for a long time, before finally looking away.
"I don't need your help."
Rael didn't answer right away.
And then he sighed, theatrically, as if the answer disappointed him.
"You've always been stubborn."
He turned around, as if he was going to leave, but at the last moment he stopped and cast a quick glance in Kigami's direction.
"You," he said, and his voice took on a different tone.
Kigami narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.
Rael tilted his head slightly to the side, as if analyzing him.
"Maybe you have more time ahead of you than I thought," he muttered, as if to himself.
And then he was gone.
There was no smoke, no shadow, he simply vanished into thin air, as if he had never been there.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Kimoko looked at Estella.
"What was that?" Estella didn't answer.
She looked at the place where Rael had been standing a moment ago, her hands gripping the material of his robe.
Kimoko felt a chill run down her spine.
She had the impression that Estella knew more than she wanted to say.
And that what she was hiding... could cost them all their lives.
"Estella," she said more sharply. "What was that? Who is he?"9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOLzgolAH0
The goddess clenched her jaw.
"That doesn't matter now."
"It doesn't matter?!," Kimoko took a step toward her. "A shadow just appeared before us, talking about Kigami's 'future' and something that was 'to come,' and you say it doesn't matter?!''
Estella didn't answer right away. She was looking somewhere in the distance, as if her thoughts were already far away.
"We shouldn't be standing here," Kigami said suddenly.
Kimoko glared at him.
"You don't understand any of this either?!9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNSwoqmHyk
The demon shrugged.
"I understand one thing. If he knows where we are, that means others might know too."
There was silence.
Estella finally moved.
"We have to move," she said, avoiding Kimoko with her gaze.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on," she growled belligerently.
The goddess took a slow breath, as if fighting with herself.
"Rael... he's someone I knew."9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkxgloDarK
"I've noticed that," Kimoko snorted.
Estella clenched her fists.
"He's... a messenger."
Kigami frowned.
"A messenger?"9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeIjlhfL6t
"He works for them."
That one word "them" was enough to thicken the atmosphere.
Kimoko drew in a sharp breath.
"The gods?" Estella didn't answer, but the silence was telling enough. Kigami looked thoughtful, but Kimoko reacted faster.
"So they're following us. They know what we're doing."
"Not yet. Rael's acting on his own. He's always done that."
"But if he knows we're here..." Kimoko narrowed her eyes. "He might give us away."
Estella bit her lip.
"He won't."
"And what makes you so sure?"
The goddess was silent.
Kimoko folded her arms across her chest.
'' Don't tell me you trust him.''
'' I don't'' Estella replied immediately.
But something in her voice…9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDdkAIcIbc
Kimoko felt frustration growing inside her.
'' You didn't tell us everything.''
'' Not now.''
'' Not now?! Estella, we're in the middle of a fucking hunt for you, we're trying to save you, and you're still hiding things that could kill us?!''9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0oRCLtOco
''Kimoko please calm down
Kigami's voice was quiet, but it was enough to make the warrior stop.
The demon looked at Estella, but not in a way that suggested anger. More like… analyzing.
'' What happens if you get caught? '' he finally asked.
Estella looked him straight in the eye.
'' I won't let that happen.''
Kigami raised an eyebrow slightly.
'' You didn't answer the question.
''Because answering won't change anything.''
This time, he wasn't the one pushing.
But Kimoko had had enough.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYNAL5AsnR
"You know what? Fuck this. Fuck these secrets, fuck these gods, and fuck you trying to protect us by not saying anything." Estella glared at her harder.
"Kimoko..."9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VjHtFomv3
"No. I won't leave you. But if we're going to do this, either you trust me and tell me what's going on, or you find other idiots to die for you." There was silence.
Estella didn't look away.
And then finally she said quietly,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqtHfoZrL3
"If they catch me...they won't kill me." Kimoko frowned.
"What?" The goddess turned her head away, as if she couldn't look at them.
"They'll kill you." Kimoko felt something tighten inside her.
"What do you mean?" she asked sharply.
Estella was silent for a moment, then finally turned to them. There was something in her eyes that made Kimoko and Kigami tense up automatically, as if they were expecting a blow.
"It's not about me." Her voice was quiet but firm. "It never was."
Kimoko frowned.
"They're after you, after all..."
"Yes. But not to kill me."
Kigami crossed his arms over his chest.
"Just to kill us?"
Estella nodded.
"Why?" Kimoko asked, still unable to comprehend.
The goddess took a deep breath, as if preparing herself for something she didn't want to say.
"Because that's how balance works."
Kimoko looked at her, completely baffled.
"What?"9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYs802WC3H
Estella clenched her fists.
"Did you think the gods, the higher gods, wanted to kill me because I rebelled? It's not that simple. If it was just me, it would have been over long ago. But they know that if I die, the world will shake.
Kigami frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I can't die."
There was silence.
Kimoko felt a shiver run down her spine.
"What does that mean?"
Estella looked at her tiredly.
"Exactly what I said. I can't die. But that doesn't mean they can't punish me."
Kimoko felt her mind fighting with what she was hearing.
"You mean that... if they catch you, instead of you...?"
"They'll find another way to break me," Estella finished. "And the easiest way is to take away everything I have left."
Kimoko looked at Kigami. He was also looking at Estella, but his expression was unreadable.
"Is that why they're following us?" he asked quietly. Estella nodded.
"They're not hunting me. They're hunting you." Kimoko felt something icy settle on her chest.
"So from the beginning..."
"Yes," Estella interrupted. "You were targeted from the beginning." Kigami didn't say anything for a moment.
"And Rael?"
"He's a messenger. He does what he's told."
"But he hasn't reported us yet," Kimoko pointed out.
"Yet."9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLf3KE1896a
The word hung between them like a blade.
Kimoko swallowed, but the bitter taste in her mouth still burned.
"So what now?"
Estella took a deep breath.
"Now...we have to make sure they don't find us." Kigami sighed heavily.
"What if they already know?"
Estella looked him straight in the eye.
"Then there's only one thing left."
"Fight?" Kimoko asked, though she already knew the answer.
Estella nodded.
'' Fight.''
There was silence.
They could still feel Rael's gaze on them. Kimoko looked at Estella who was nervously playing with the sleeves of her robe, she could see that something was still gnawing at her, something she had been hiding from them for a long time.
'This is all because of my "mother".' she replied quietly. Kimoko looked at Kigami, but he continued to observe the area where their unexpected meeting with this messenger took place. He didn't seem to be listening to them.
'When we were born, we Vorthakaje, our ''mother'' from the first day marked our goals. We are to think as she wants, do as she wants, and we cannot question what she has marked for us. We are her puppets. If any of us thinks of doing something that doesn't go her way...then...' Estella fell silent, Kimoko could see how hard she swallowed.
'What will she do?' she asked quietly.
'She will punish us. We can't die, but she can make us suffer...every single day... Do you remember my brother? The one I told you about? I'm afraid she punished him too, in her eyes he shouldn't show feelings but on the contrary, in her imagination he was to be a cold killing machine. For the good of the world...to protect it.'
'It's for her that I work, Rael.' she added quietly.
'Wait, is that why? Is that why you said that about Kigami?'9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkXA1989DX
Estella nodded.
'Yes, but, I was wrong.’ The goddess looked at the demon, their eyes met.
‘You are different, you know? And that is why I would like to apologize to you.’9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjqrUw184k
A faint light returned to his eyes, along with his hope that maybe his fate would change for the better.
‘I forgive you…’9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVLaYEyiwc
Kimoko, however, was not sure of his words, she knew that he would never be able to trully forgive her.
‘Let’s go.’9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjwOf2H3Ws
Kimoko grabbed Kigami’s hand again, but Estella stopped them.
‘There is one more thing you need to know…’
‘And that is it?’9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xADGSS64A
The goddess sighed. Unable to hide her feeling of guilt for any longer.
‘I don’t have that crystal, I lied to you…’9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjmHRGuSpF
Kimoko and Kigami looked at each other, shocked.
“Does that mean she lied to us?”
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