Zach was sitting on Aria's throne with Aurora on his lap.
"Can you change the scenery of this place…?" Aurora asked in a calm voice. "I feel scared after seeing the lava and everything."
"Sure…"
Zach changed the scenery to a beautiful garden with lots of grass, plants, and trees. There were butterflies, birds, and small cute animals around to make the scenery more heavenly.
"This place suddenly changed from hell to a paradise…" Aurora said with a smile on her face.
The cracks on Aurora's body grew more and more and it looked as though she could break apart at any time.
Zach was barely holding back his emotions because he didn't want to make Aurora feel sad, especially in this condition.
Aurora was holding her tears back because she knew how Zach would feel if she showed any sign of pain.
They both stared into each other's eyes without saying anything. But the time was passing by.
"I…" Aurora opened her mouth and said, "I saw Aria kissing you…"
"Yeah…. We are lovers now…" Zach replied in a calm tone.
Aurora slightly smiled after that and uttered, "I missed my chance to tease her…"
"You can tease her all you want when she is done dealing with the demons outside." Zach caressed Aurora's face and said, "I will tease her with you."
"Zach… I am sorry…" Aurora uttered in a low voice. "I couldn't wait for you…"
Her voice was slowly getting lower and lower. Seeingly, it was fading away as time passed.
"What are you talking about, idiot? You are here in my arms, what more do I need from you?" Zach scoffed wryly. "There is no need to apologize. Just wait for a little more time and everything will be fine."
"I… met your master…"
Zach wasn't surprised after hearing that as the cracks on Aurora's body and her condition already gave that out the moment Zach landed his gaze on her.
"She did this to you…?" Zach asked in an emotionless voice.
"No.. she helped me…" After a pause, she continued, "She gave me her blessings…"
"I am…sorry…"
"Hmm? Why are you apologizing…?" Aurora asked with a confused look on her face.
"If I had arrived sooner…"
"You came as soon as you could, right? I saw your entry… It was amazing."
"…"
"I wanted to fight alongside you… but what a shame…"
"…"
"Zach…" Aurora slowly tried to reach her hand to Zach's face, but she was struggling to do that.
Zach grabbed Aurora's hand and placed it on his face after saying, "Yes?"
"I always wanted to get married to a man I love. I was happy when you told me that we would get married. I was… looking forward to it. I was excited for the wedding night too…"
"…."
"Zach… I love… you…"
"I love you too."
"I… feel tired. I will… take a little… rest…"
After saying that, Aurora closed her eyes and her hand slowly dropped from Zach's face.
"…"
Zach gritted his teeth and bit his lips so hard that they started bleeding. The same with his fists as he clenched them so badly that his nails penetrated his palm.
A few seconds later, a drop of tear rolled down his right eye, but it was burned and evaporated before it could drop from his chin.
He looked at Aurora with a painful expression on his face and hugged her tightly. Then, he stood up with Aurora in his arms and placed her body on the throne.
Since the throne was wide and long, many could fit it without any problems.
Zach then placed his hand on Aurora's forehead and closed his eyes.
"Lida, can you hear me?" he said in a calm voice.
However, there was no reply from Lyda.
"Tch!" he clicked his tongue and muttered, "Always running away from me."
Zach sat beside Aurora and placed her head on his lap. He stroked her hair and sang her her favorite lullaby.
A few minutes later, Aria walked into the portal with thousands of demons.
"…!"
She shot a glance at Zach and blinked at him as though she was trying to say everything was okay.
Once all the demons had entered Aria's domain, Aria closed her eyes as her body shined and she changed to her goddess form.
Naturally, the demons had freaked out because no matter how braindead the monsters and demons were; just like the animals, they could feel the difference between the prey and the predator.
Aria flapped her beautiful wings that were black with red and purple on edge and a bit of pink shade on them. But, instead of soft feathers, they looked hard as though they were crystals. They were sharp, shiny, and pointy.
When Aria flapped her wings, it sounded as though sharp blades were hitting each other.
Zach assumed Aria would use her wing attack and shoot everyone down, however, Aria did something unexpected.
She raised her hand in the air and snapped her finger with her thumb as she uttered the word: "Die."
The next moment, all the demons turned into ashes and vanished into thin air.
"What was that?" Zach asked with a curious look on his face.
"Hmm?" Aria turned to Zach and replied, "That was my commandant power…"
"If you had such a move, why didn't you use it sooner?"
"It only works if I am in my goddess form, and I can only transform into my goddess form in my domain; that too, only for a few seconds."
Aria's form changed back to Ameria and she landed on the ground.
"And besides, my order worked because we are in my domain. I can do anything I want at my will," Aria replied with a shrug.
"So… you could use this move when I met you for the first time too…?" Zach asked with an anxious look on his face.
"Obviously." Aria scoffed at Zach and said, "Didn't I say I was going easy on you."
"…"
Aria moved her gaze to Aurora and asked, "How is she doing?"
"You tell me."
Aria jumped on her throne and examined Aurora's body. She placed one hand on Aurora's forehead and hovered her other hand over her body.
A few seconds later, Aria turned to Zach and said, "She is just sleeping. And she is doing fine."
***
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Author's Note- Sorry for the delay.. I was busy with some personal issues. More chapters coming up later at the regular time!