Non Omnes Moriemur, Chapter Seven

            Chisoku paced around his throne room, a bottle of wine in one hand, the other twisting and twirling one of his daggers. Every few paces he would stop, stare at the bottle, take a swig, then continue his pacing. That evening he would be taking Void out, again, to get the annoyance out of his hair for the final time. He wasn’t nervous, no. There was just nothing like a couple of bottles of wine to get the blood flowing before a nice, normal execution.

            He coughed.

            When he finished the bottle in his hands he simply dropped it by his throne, retrieved another from the seat, and continued his drunkard process, all the while not getting drunk. Maybe it would be better if he could, but there was no use crying over spilled liquor.

            Eventually he finished the bottles that he’d stashed in his throne room and decided to head down to the cellar to get a few more, so he left the room with the empty bottles piled in his arms and headed downstairs to the kitchen.  

            The bitter smell of coffee wafted through his nostrils long before he reached his destination, and when he walked in he was honestly surprised to see Eclipse standing by the coffee pot, a sullen expression darkening his countenance more so than usual. Chisoku passed him, grunting his acknowledgement of the necromancer’s presence. He piled the bottles into a basket by the wine cellar entrance and disappeared into it, coming back laden with three four more bottles. Four was a good number; it was considered unlucky in some places.

            “Hey, what are you doing making your own coffee anyway?” He grumbled.

            Eclipse turned his head to look at the demon lord, and his expression was all the explanation that Chisoku needed.

            Chisoku cleared his throat, the awkwardness in the air utterly palpable. “Tch…ahem…sorry…” He mumbled, shifting the bottles in his grip. “Er…how is she doing?” Perhaps keeping the conversation on her wasn’t the best idea he’d had in a while, but he was the one who had her put in the dungeon in the first place, and what kind of ruler would he be if he disregarded even one resident of his castle?

            “She’s…getting by, I suppose…” The coffee had stopped dripping, so Eclipse pulled the pot out and used it to fill his mug. “She’d be doing better if I could find out a way to fix this…” He sighed, and drank half the mug in one go.

            “Well it’s only been a few days. I need you to take a break though, conserve your energy or whatever for tonight. I don’t want anything going wrong.” Chisoku, fed up with just holding the bottles, placed them on the counter and uncorked one.

            Just as he was about to drain a portion of it, a low grumbling filled the air. Both of the demons looked at each other wonderingly. Could it be an earthquake? The floor began to shake, and they both used the counters to steady themselves, Chisoku reaching out to keep his wine from smashing to the floor and Eclipse keeping his coffee mug steady as he could.

            The earthquake continued for another few short seconds before a loud, crackling explosion split the air.

            Without any further hesitation or worry, Eclipse shot out of the kitchen, Chisoku grumbling but close behind him. They didn’t bother talking, even shouting, to each other as they went. The noise of the straining castle was too loud to hear hardly anything over. Eventually though, they reached the dungeon.

            “Oh, hell no!” Chisoku growled, pushing past a momentarily stunned Eclipse.

            “Hehe…nice to see you too, Mister Demon Lord~” Void snickered, hovering above his former cell mate who was lying unconscious on the floor. “Your little friend here was nice enough to let me out…and give me a little…power boost.” He threw back his head in laughter, as though everything about the situation at hand was just so damn funny.

            Chisoku took a split second to look at Lilith. She was sprawled out, cloak covering her though not leaving much to be desired, and looking absolutely exhausted even in her unconscious state.

            “You..bastard!” He jerked his daggers out and wielded them with every intention to rip Void limb from limb. “Taking advantage like that…it’s low even for you!”

            “Oh, I wasn’t…taking advantage of anyone~ She was perfectly willing.” He smirked widely. “And I almost forgot my promise, silly me~” He swooped down and grabbed her by the arm.

            This was more than enough for him, and Chisoku charged at the demon with a savage yell. “I’ll kill you, you hear me! I’ll kill you and put your head on a stake on my front lawn!”

            Void pulled away from the girl to dodge the oncoming attack. It was close, but Chisoku didn’t manage to hit him. “Save your energy, Chisoku~ I…might be back later~” He gave one last snicker before disappearing in a flurry of purple smoke.

            “Where are you, bastaaaard!” Chisoku dashed in several directions, trying to make something out through the smoke, coughing all the while. Finally he spotted something, and made for it.          

            “Chisoku!”

            He stopped mid-attack and blinked. Eclipse was right in front of him, kneeling next to Lilith.

            “Augh, where the hell did he go?!” Chisoku grabbed Eclipse’s jacket collar and yanked him up by it. The necromancer didn’t object to the rough handling. “Help me find the bastard so I can kill him!”

            Eclipse looked at him with empty eyes. “There isn’t time.” He said, as monotone as he’d ever spoken any word.

            “Of course there isn’t time. He’s out there running around free!”

            This time Eclipse didn’t respond with words. He yanked Chisoku’s hand from his collar and bent down, picking Lilith up as gently as he could manage without causing the cloak to fall from her violated form.

            “What are you doing?!” Chisoku would have reached out and punched the man in the face if he weren’t holding Lilith at the moment. He’d have to do it later.

            “You can chase after him, but I’m staying here…” He broke eye contact with Chisoku and turned to leave.

            “What the hell is your problem?” The demon lord grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around, only then noticing something rather important. In the exact spot where Void had touched her arm, there as now a small black dot. “That…wasn’t there before.” He observed rather dumbly.

            Eclipse gave him a look of utter devastation. “No, it wasn’t…”

            “So he gave her…that..thing?”

            “No…he didn’t transfer it. The Void prefers corrupted hosts…she’s simply infected…” He wished it were that simple.

            “So is she going to…?”

            “Eventually, yes…”

            Chisoku did his best to put on a brave face. Even though he hadn’t been as close to Lilith as Eclipse, he still felt a deep pang of sorrow. Part of it was for Lilith herself, but mostly for Eclipse. He had genuinely thought that the necromancer couldn’t get any more depressing, but this downhill spiral was painful just to watch.

            “I’m…sorry.” He gave Eclipse’s shoulder a tight, manly bro-squeeze, and headed towards the stairs. “I’m going to go look for the bastard that did this. I’ll take Dreymeil with me to help search…if we aren’t back before morning…well, we’ll be back.” With that, Chisoku disappeared up the stairwell.

            Eclipse wanted to just collapse then and there, lie on the floor and just wait for the curse to make its run, then allow death to come for him. Yet he pushed himself to take Lilith upstairs. He didn’t bother wasting the energy to take her to her own room. Instead, since he reached it first, he placed her in his own bed, in his own room. The bed was plenty big enough for two anyway.

            No sooner had he finished tucking her in and sat on the other side of the bed, head in his hands, did she stir.

            “…Ma…Master Ecli…pse?” She stuttered.

            He turned himself around quickly and leaned across to stroke her hair. “Lilith…”

            “She…says she won’t be…” She coughed. “Bothering you any…more…”

            “Shh..you need to sleep.” He was struggling not to let his distress show in his voice.

            “I…know what happened…she said that…we’re both going to stop…being.” Again she coughed, then wiggled a bit to remove her arm from the sheets.

            Eclipse shook his head fervently, though he knew he couldn’t really deny it. “Just…sleep Lilith. You…need your energy.” For what? In a short time she wouldn’t even have the ability to use any of it.

            She nodded though. “I am a little…tired…” She closed her eyes and let her head fall into the pillow, though her hand still reached for his. He took it and allowed her fingers to snake between his before finally giving himself the small pleasure of lying down beside her, actually in the same bed this time.

            Trying not to think about what Void had done to her was quite possibly the most difficult thing he’d attempted to do in a long time that had nothing to do with magic. At the moment it wasn’t even the curse that bothered him the most…it was how he’d gotten, no, stolen, the energy to do so. He grimaced.

            It seemed as though this was a very small blessing in disguise though, at least if her darker side kept her word. Her decision to leave them be now was likely because she knew that the curse would grant her wish of freedom from the world, and thus saw no reason to antagonize anyone further, instead choosing to wait quietly for the final end to come. At least Lilith would still be Lilith…if only for a little while longer.

            Difficult as it was, he managed to take small comfort in that thought, and eventually he fell asleep despite having only woken up a few short hours ago.

            His dreams were troubled, bordering on nightmares. Lilith’s darker, once-hidden half plagued him, cackling at his misery and taunting him in ways only something created by his own mind could do. He was forced to watch as the Lilith he knew and cared for disappeared, over and over again, consumed by the Void that was eating away at her existence even now.

            He woke up to find his pillow slightly damp, apparently from tears that had leaked from his eyes in his sleep. At some point he seemed to have pulled Lilith towards him, and she was fast asleep against his chest, her form fitted to his as his arms held her tight and close. He could smell the lingering scent of strawberry and watermelon from her last hair wash, as his nose had managed to bury itself in her hair.

            The fact that he could still feel her solid form against him washed over him like sweet summer rain. She was still there, still with him, still existing.

            Unwilling to wake her, he stayed in this manner until she finally stirred. “Hu…huu…” She wiggled in his tight embrace until she managed to turn around, her face only inches from Eclipse’s. “H…hi.” She said, weakly.

            This time, Eclipse gave in to his instinct. He leaned forward the small distance to press his lips against her forehead before giving her a tight hug. “Hello there...” He whispered, relishing the sensation. Eventually though, he let her go.

            “How are you feeling?” He asked, gently brushing hair from her eyes so that he could see her face properly.

            “I…huu…I’m feeling okay.” She blinked innocently at him and nodded slightly.

            “…Good.”

            “E…Eclipse?” The voice belonged to neither of them, but it was female. “What are you two…doing?”

            Eclipse rolled over, got out of his bed, then stood up to face Cisaya. “You’re supposed to knock before coming into other people’s rooms…” He scolded.

            “Well, I…” She shrugged. “Nevermind that. Chisoku told me what happened. Oh, he’s back by the way. He didn’t manage to find Void…I’m not sure why he came back so soon beforehand, so don’t ask me.”

            “Cisaya, would you…wait in my study?” Eclipse suddenly asked, looked back at Lilith who was holding herself up to get a look at the visitor in the doorway.

            “Uh, yeah, sure.” She looked surprised, but nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

            Eclipse turned back to Lilith and sighed. “You…probably will want a shower and fresh clothes. You can take something from my closet to wear to your room…” He coughed, just then remembering her current, rather bare aside from the bed sheets state. “I’ll be in my study when you’re done, alright?” He coughed and took his staff from where he’d laid it by the door.

            Lilith nodded. “Okay, Master Eclipse.”

            “Lilith?” She looked at him expectantly. “Please, just call me Eclipse.”

            He left the room, letting the door shut quietly behind him as Lilith stared after.

            “O…okay..Eclipse.”