Click.
Click.
Click.
The sound of Lailah’s heels echoed noisily off the stone floor and traveled into the dark depths below.𝔬𝓥xt.𝕔𝑂𝗆
Her red serpentine eyes glowed vibrantly in the darkness, easily allowing her to see her path forward without missing a single step.
‘Mother, why did you not allow father to come?’ Apophis asked from atop her shoulder.
‘Your father can be very… temperamental when it comes to me and the rest of our family, my son. If he heard my mother insult me, like I’m sure she will, he would kill her before I could even learn why she came here or how she found this place.’
Lailah had begun taking special care to include Apophis more in familial discussions.
She wanted him to realize that he was a part of the family too and as a result, gain some sort of understanding of emotion.
As the young witch finally reached the dungeon cell where her mother and sisters were being kept, she resisted the urge to laugh out loud.
Her mother looked to be absolutely exhausted, with no mana her wound delivered by Audrina had no choice but to heal the natural way without the aid of magic.
Sei’s abdomen was wrapped in bandages that looked to have been freshly changed by one of her daughters.
The three women looked up to see a pair of red eyes staring at them in the darkness and bright green ones sitting beside them.
“Have you come to see me beg? I will have to disappoint you, miserable wretch.” Sei’s icy voice used to terrify Lailah but now, she was merely uninterested.
It was as if she were listening to the drunken ramblings of a madman.
“Don’t you know by now? I am always prepared for you to disappoint me, so much so that I no longer expect anything of you.” Lailah replied calmly.
She opened the door to her family’s cell and kneeled in front of them.
“I must admit, I was dreading coming down here to see you but this is certainly putting a smile on my face.”
“Spare us your wretched voice, sister!”
“Your cheap taunts hold no weight!”
Within the darkness, Lailah’s gorgeous white smile could be seen along with her eyes.
“This is wonderful! I was so worried you two might’ve lost your backbone down here in this wretched place and I would be unable to break you myself!”
Before either girl could offer a single retort, Apophis lunged out at an impressive speed and bit both twins on the shoulder.
Immediately, the sound of screaming filled the air as Meredith and Morigan writhed in pain.
“AAAGGHH!!!”
“MOTHER, IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO MUCH!!!”
Finally, Sei showed some semblance of empathy as she immediately comforted her daughters.
“What have you done to them?! Stop this, you have already won! There is no need to go this far!!!”
Anger bubbled up within Lailah’s chest as her mother’s words reached her ears.
“Why…?” Lailah asked as her entire body began to shake with anger. “You won’t even beg me for your own life, but you want me to spare theirs? It disgusts me to see something like you acting maternal.”
As someone with children of her own, Lailah could not comprehend the idea of playing favorites.
Even though Apophis was the only one she had technically created, she loved Thea and Mira just as much.
Why did her mother treat them so differently?
Was the reason truly because her talent was believed to be below theirs?
Could there have been some other factor she was unaware of?
‘No… that doesn’t matter.’
“Since you deprived me of a loving mother, I should return the favor and deprive you of living children, should I not?” Lailah said coldly.
Sei’s blood ran cold within her veins.
“Y-You wouldn’t! They are your sister-“
Smack!
Lailah delivered Sei a fierce backhanded slap that filled her mouth with hot blood.
“Don’t you dare act as if I should have some semblance of loyalty to those beasts. The only sisters I have are my husband’s other wives and there are none others deserving of such a title.”
Sei had no choice but to grind her teeth as her daughters continued to writhe about in agony.
“You’re just like that bastard Helios… you have no regard for the lives that you take.”
Yet again, another unexpected sentence caught Lailah off guard. “What’s Helios done to earn your ire? I might send him a gift if I like what I hear.”
“You bitch! He destroyed Barbello and you want to send him a thank you?! Fuck you!”
Lailah had to physically hold Apophis back so that he did not bite into her neck and fill her throat with his most painful venom.
“Destroyed Barbello? What could you have done that was so stupid that he reacted so harshly?” Lailah asked in a condescending tone.
Sei merely gritted her teeth and did not answer but in truth, Lailah did not expect her to in the first place.
She was not at all upset to hear her home had been destroyed. Lailah spent so much time locked in the confines of her room that she did not even know what life was like outside the castle until she was betrothed to Abaddon.
“PLEASEE MAKE IT STOP!!”
“IT HURTS I’M SORRY!!”
The wailing of Morrigan and Meredith had once again reminded Sei of the terrible agony her daughters were going through.
“Please help them!” Sei begged. “I will do whatever you want, just don’t hurt them!”
With her mother and her oldest adversary finally broken, Lailah felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
‘Apophis.’
‘Mother…’
‘Fufufu, it’s okay. You don’t need to dispel it completely just leave the venom dormant in their systems for a little while.’
The serpent obeyed, but he didn’t feel good about it.
Soon the two girls were able to sit upright again and Lailah grabbed the former witch queen by her hair.
Sei did not make a single sound under Leila’s rough treatment and simply stared into her glowing red eyes filled with contempt.
“You want their worthless lives? Okay… But it’s going to cost you every bit of knowledge locked away in that ancient brain of yours.” Lailah said coldly.
The fact of the matter was that there were a lot of things her mother could teach her about magic.
The former witch queen was a nearly limitless well of knowledge and Lailah was absolutely certain she was holding a method to help increase her mana capacity as well.
Morrigan and Meredith both desperately wanted to tell their mother to refuse Leila’s demand, but with the memory of her familiar’s venom fresh in their minds, both were too afraid to speak.
“How can you be sure that I won’t trick you?”
Again, Lailah smiled at her mother’s foolishness.
“Isn’t it obvious? If anything happens to me my darling husband will make sure that your daughters are unable to even reach the afterlife. And you will be left alive to suffer knowing that you were the reason their entire existence was erased.”
Lailah’s words did not sound like mere empty threats.
The seriousness of her words made Sei shudder as she lowered her head in defeat. “Fine. Just don’t hurt my children.”
Tears fell from Morrigan and Meredith’s eyes as they huddled next to their mother, their spirits equally broken.
Disgusted, Lailah released her mother’s hair and shut the door to their cell. “I’ll collect you when I’m ready. Don’t die down here before we’re done.”
Without waiting for another word, Lailah embarked up the dungeon steps.
‘Mother is upset.’ Apophis noted, even though he did not fully understand.
He had long come to recognize the name for the turbulent emotions he could feel whenever his mother dealt with certain issues.
‘I’m fine, my sweet boy. Just a little annoyed is all.’
Apophis tilted his head cutely in confusion. ‘Is being annoyed not the same as being upset?’
‘Well they are similar, yes but not quite the same.’
The serpent merely nodded.
It seemed like understanding human emotions was going to take a lot more time.
If only he could think of a way to speed up the process.
Reaching the top of the stairs, the pair were surprised to find Abaddon already there waiting for them.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be seeing to that business with Valerie?”
“I am allowed to handle two important matters at once.” Abaddon said with a smile.
He walked towards Lailah and stroked Apophis calmly under the chin.
Normally Apophis did not like to be touched by others but because Abaddon was essentially his father, he did not mind his presence so much.
“You didn’t have to come… I could handle something this minor on my own.” Lailah said as she leaned into his embrace.
Abaddon stared at his first wife for a long time.
He understood better than anyone what it was like to have parents that cared nothing for you.
But where his parents on earth did not even have the capacity for compassion, Sei had repeatedly shown time and time again that she did, she just did not believe Lailah to be deserving of it.
He was unsure of which fate was worse.
But there was one thing that he knew for sure and that was that Lailah was not in the mood to talk about whatever had happened down there.
He had no doubt that she would be in time but for now, she just needed a moment to take her mind off unpleasant things.
“Come with me. Let’s go help the triplets set up for tonight.”
In honor of Thea coming home, (and being old enough to drink), Valerie wanted to throw a big party for the family to celebrate.
“Eh? Are you just trying to distract me? I told you I’m fine and besides~”
Lailah slipped her hands around Abaddon’s waist and gave him a seductive look. “I think you know quite a few better ways to leave me unable to think.”
It had been quite a while since Lailah had gotten to enjoy her husband one on one. If he was intent on pampering her, she would prefer it be in the bedroom.
Abaddon smirked and lowered his lips to touch Lailah’s when a small robotic voice sounded in both of their heads.
‘What ways does father know?’
“…”
“…”
In the couple’s love for each other, they had forgotten that Apophis was still wrapped comfortably around Lailah’s shoulder and had heard everything.
Lailah’s face became as red as her dress as she regained her composure and sent her son a silent apology for witnessing such indecency.
“…Let’s just go to the kitchen.”