NOVEL NEXT Chapter 122: Memories of a Real Mother Part 2
\_ PoV Cheshire Prime _/
As if it wasn’t already clear by the empty space between the “demoness” and the other primordial entities that lead this kangaroo court… She was evidently different from the rest. It wasn’t a case of her being good or the others evil; rather there was a division created by conflicting desires that couldn’t be breached.
With closed eyes; “Mother” glared towards the crimson haired oni with a kind smile that showed anything but kindness. Her apparent anger only increased as that girl didn’t bother with giving an answer for why she suddenly attacked another member of the council - preferring to enjoy her bloody with a smirk that she didn’t even try to hide. Personally I couldn’t help wondering where that trouble making bastard was hiding as usually he supported the monster in the making.
“Why did you use that disgusting power of yo-” <Mother>
“The only thing I find disgusting is your veiled intentions; be honest with how you’re scared that your own child will overthrow you~!” <Vivi>
“She’s right bwahaha!” <Violent>
This caused the white haired oni to slap her hand on the desk, beginning to completely guffaw at the words of her “sister”, while even Vibrant rose a brow of interest. Mother herself was caught off guard by the blatant attempt to rile her up. Those well maintained eyebrows narrowing as the state of her smile showed that she was still inexperienced in hiding her emotions.
She was livid.
At the same time she fell into a bad habit of being pulled into her own thoughts as the snake showed nature by silently watching the room while pretending to still be incapacitated. Yet the entire room grew warily silent as the iconic (or infamous) ringing of bells signalled that Vivi was once again moving. She only slipped her bells back around her wrist while reaching down to grab the ceramic bottle, likely to pour herself more blood, but no one in the room was willing to carelessly trust her intentions.
Hardly surprising as any little action could be the thing that gets your entire bloodline to shit blood once they reach the age of 7. No one looked down on the powers she had secretly discovered and only unleashed when things were looking dire due to the betrayal of the lions. Except the demon herself.
It was almost funny how everyone, whether they’d admit it or not, were (to some degree) afraid of that little red haired girl. Yet she herself was envious of them due to all the fantastical abilities they held - it almost sounded like a tragedy in the making. Or at least it would… If I wasn’t forced to partake in this play for the safety of my own child.
Although it was only right that they fear what they don’t understand.
“I do not understand why you are all so jumpy around a child like this… Era’s come and go while those who try to hold on tend to be the very people who create decline; what use is power when everything is falling to pieces around you. Not to mention that the changing of eras means a great upheaval in the order which then means more… Bloodshed~!” <Vivi>
So she said as she continued to pour the crimson river into the cup that soon came to overfill - those violet eyes of hers lit up with fires of war as the smile of hers showed a hunger that could make anyone shiver.
“You’ve ruined a perfectly good table.” <Dealmaker>
The snake interrupted her pouring as she stopped, looked up to him, then in the next beat spoke.
“And you’ve ruined a perfectly good evening.” <Vivi>
Her very voice contained power but she fortunately wasn’t being forceful which at least allowed those within the room to resist. We were all experienced enough to be able to manipulate the energy within us with perfect control. Still, this frightening demon gave me a chance, I would have to push forward if I hoped to secure a future for my child!
“If it is truly the child's power going unstable that you fear… There are ways we can easily manage it with just a little bit of research~!” <Cheshire>
Am I taking advantage of Vivi riling things up? Yes. But they are the ones who threaten my progeny so there is no way I’ll play nice - even if it means shaking hands with a demon. It was impossible to know what her true motives were yet I knew the motives that the snake held; they couldn’t make their desire to knock me down more obvious if they tried.
That comment about the table wasn’t just an offhand comment but an attempt to steer away from what Vivi was insinuating about them.
“Did the pressure under your father’s ocean not help you, lizard?” <Sohn-Tochter>
I’m not even surprised that she can’t bring it in herself to use Alice’s name or titles…
“That is due to me fundamentally still being a water dragon and we have no tim-” <Mother>
“I don’t give a damn what you want or have and, if I’m being quite frank, I don’t think you really care about me or this child either~!” <Cheshire>
Stepping while my coat billowed behind me - if I had the challenge the gods I would - without breaking my gaze from those eyelids that hid more than just her eyes.
“I’ll burn down this entire realm, no, every realm if I need to get it through your thick skulls that this is no longer a hearing. This is an ultimatum and I am generous enough to give you a way out. You listen to me or I fucking burn everything you love the the ground; you can bitch and moan about the state of things all you want but all I care about… Is what I want chehehehihihi~!” <Cheshire>
For some reason the four primordials found themselves stunned, I could see a film of sweat across their bodies, as all but Violent & Vivi were actually visibly shaking under my words. I had no idea what was the cause but (just like I had stated) I no longer cared. There was no need to hesitate when there was nowhere to retreat.
That is what it meant to be a cornered animal!
*clap*
*clap*
*clap*
The last member of the divine council actually raised her sake-cup toward me while using her spare hand to tap her exposed palm; clapping for me for some reason.
Her joy was visible across her face.
“That is exactly why I like you cat - you do what needs to be done without worrying about the minor details like morality or public sentiment unlike these cowards - the world needs someone like you. What would the world be without fear? A boring place where everyone holds hands and sings kumbaya around the fucking campfire as everything comes crashing down around them!” <Vivi>
Slamming her hand onto the table right where the blood was. Black lines sprouted out from the blood, dancing across the table, and in a matter of moments they adorned the entire place in an intricate weaving pattern that no one but the demoness could understand. Simply because nobody else understood her.
“What are you doing?!” <Dealmaker>
“I’m doing what you cowards should have VIHIHIHI!” <Vivi>
Swinging her arm out to cause the bells on her wrist to wring out as the black lines across her body seemed to become even darker. The bones under her flesh & oni horns began to glow purple causing her to truly look like something straight out of a story; she certainly wasn’t the good guy in that novel. Moving one leg to stand on the desk as she opened her maw to swallow the rest of her blood just in time to narrowly dodge the deciding draw from everyone's least favourite true god.
Those insane instincts of hers allowed for her to tilt her head before Mother even reached down for her blade and made her completely miss her attack. For most it seemed like the goddess just missed, she likely believed the same, but I knew right away that it was the highest form of my creation. Whether she knew it or not… That demoness had mastered martial arts subconsciously.
The only person I believe could defeat her, Violent, hadn’t even bothered moving but that was hardly surprising with how stubborn she was. It was rare that she got motivated with her being slow to start no matter the situation. When she did get involved… She earned her title of strongest.
Sohn-Tochter obviously could, nobody was faster, but why would she?
Without them there was nobody fast enough to stop the demoness’ sudden action as she threw the bowl in her hand to block the vision of her blonde haired sister. That resulted in the sword intent from her opening eyes to instead slice the bowl. A sacrifice she was more than willing to make as it appeared that Vibrant was truly their last hope as her potent curse had already finished in the brief time she was given.
Truly showing how terrifying she was.
“YOU ALL HAVE SUCH HEALTHY BODIES; WHY DON’T YOU SHARE SOME OF THAT GOOD FORTUNATE WITH THE LESS FORTUNATE VIHIHIHI!” <Vivi>
Raising her hands to the air as all but Violent & Vivi found themselves lurching forward as their blood leaked out from their mouths. That divine blood followed along the pathways that had been created from the black cursed marks with me being right in the centre. I couldn’t even react as it all blended together to make an amber coloured fluid which shone with such vivid heat that my hairs felt singed.
That mixture soon encased me into a cocoon where it forcibly made it’s way through all the pores across my body. Big or small. The heat burned my body but I refused to give in and cry; something about this screamed to me as an opportunity so I circulated the impurities around my body.
Under my observation the amber merged with the black to somehow form something so evil & impure that it came all the way back to being a pure white.I had never seen such purity in my entire life so I couldn’t help breaking out into a cackle. The pain subsided as I managed to quickly complete the transformation while making sure to hide away exactly what happened.
Being allowed to see light once again; I came to see that those whose bloods were forcibly sacrificed had grown pale from internal injuries. Of course Mother had already healed before I finished. Still they were obviously unhappy with the actions of the demonic oni yet she provided no excuses as the curse began to settle back down.
“I have offered you the most precious thing in the world, time, which costs the sacrifice of the most sacred of blood. That of the primordial gods. If you are unable to find a way to safely hatch that egg then there is no point in living so you may as well just offer your soul to me~!” <Vivi>
“I even brought help~...” <Vivi>
Lifting her hands as she snapped her fingers; right on time a strange figure wearing a uniform that I did not recognise came into the room carrying weapons I also didn’t recognise. I could smell that they were female as they also came in with the familiar figure of Chaos who was certainly male. She seemed… Out of this time period completely and straight from the futur-
No way that crazy demon actually summoned someone from the future!
“What is the meaning of this?” <Mother>
“WhAt iS ThE MeAnInG Of tHiS; that is you.” <Vivi>
Spitting on the ground to show her destain as she showed no intentions of stepping down from the table making her higher than everyone else - a fact that was increasingly pissing off the sword saint.
“Unlike you cowards who are too afraid to take risks, I took one, with me now is Kaiser Mantis who is a genius without equal when it comes to tearing things apart and putting them back together. With her as well as those we have today… I suggest we build something that has never been seen before; an artificial primordial god who can manage the order of reality itself~!” <Vivi>
She had truly gone crazy.
“Why would we do that?” <Mother>
Despite her words… Interest was clear in her tone of voice; her childish streak getting the better of her as it was impossible not to be curious about such a crazy idea. Who could refute the possibilities presented if we could truly make a primordial god of our own?
“With a primordial god of order there would be no need to worry about that little girl going out of control and there would be no more need for the true bitch to go crazy over every slight mistake~!” <Vivi>
“Doessn’t change the fact that ssuch a powerful entity, no matter what they’re desstined to be, will end up jusst like the one in that egg… Dead due to their own power~.” <Dealmaker>
“Unless we utilise the Venus’ family to regenerate in a new way… What if, instead of merely healing the best it can, we instead create some kind of battery to syphon off the energy when the child is about to reach maximum capacity. This will allow them to infinitely become stronger just like Mother but without the need for her divinity~!” <Cheshire>
Take that you ugly lizard.
“I can be done…” <Kaiser>
That strange figure from the future gave me a look from behind their pink glasses, one that confused me quite frankly, but I wasn’t about to let go off an opportunity like this.
“Then I say we’re done he-” <Vivi>
“That doesn’t answer the question of what to do with the child… They can still go out of control at any moment in time.” <Mother>
The goddess feigned a sad sigh as she cradled her cheek as if there was nothing to be done.
That demoness didn’t care.
“Well, then, throw her into that new realm that popped up with some seals or something so we can figure out what to do with the younger sibling when that one's power begins to manifest~.” <Vivi>
Smiling sadistically as she obviously caught Mother off guard with her sudden reveal that she knew about the fact we had a second egg. Not that I cared. Honestly I likely trusted the mad oni with my children more than their own parents at this point.
Everyone else seemed satisfied with this possible discovery (or never cared) though it begged the question…
What made Vivi suggest this when order was the last thing on her mind?
And why did that snake go back into hiding…?