It had nearly been two months since she made dinner for everyone and Maxine had been completely shot down every time she mentioned having kids with Emily. She was upset at the time and knew it was for the best that they didn't. It upset her, but she had other concerns besides her love life in the past two months to occupy her mind.
Her ki core was developing at a ridiculously fast pace and had just reached bronze stage rank two. At this rate, she will have an iron stage ki core within eight more months without any kind of aid and that was from her only half-heartedly cultivating. She couldn't imagine how fast her ki core would develop if she put some real effort into it. The only explaination she could find for her rapid acclimation of ki was that her body was converting every kind of energy in the air into ki.
Although her ki core was a concern, it still wasn't an immediate one. She had just found out that her vacation on Earth was coming to an end in two weeks and she didn't want to leave. This was the world she was born on, and no matter how much she was against it, all of her parents agreed that she would be safer at the Kavros Clan.
On a positive note, Silky's new teacher arrived and only had to stay a week before Silky mastered controlling her venom. Maxine had no idea it would be so easy. Guan had made it out to be a big issue, and she had been genuinely concerned that Silky would hurt someone she cared about by accident. It had been a relief amongst a great deal of worries.
Maxine put off seing Maxwell's family for quite some time and had finally convinced herself to go visit Maxwell's family. She had been putting it off because she felt nervous about it for some reason and she had been staring at that house for the past hour while gathering her courage to knock on the door. Okay, Maxine. You are being an overgrown baby. Nothing bad is going to happen. All you need to do is knock on the door and go with the flow. What are you afraid of? A memory flashed from her previous life where her parents were torn limb from limb by essence beasts while she shielded Alice's eyes from the horrid sight. That hasn't happen and won't ever happen in this timeline! You know that. Now shove those idiotic fears away and go knock on the god damn door!
Maxine unsteadily walked up to the house and knocked very gently on the front door. Part of her was hoping that no one was home, but she knew better. She had timed her arrival here so that they would have plenty of time to eat dinner. Not to mention she saw them walk past the windows a few minutes ago.
After a few minutes, Alice opened the door and looked at Maxine for a moment before she asked, "Can I help you?"
Belatedly, Maxine realized she was still in disguise and released the illusion. "Hey, Alice. Long time no see," Maxine said as casually as she could, "Can I come in?" However unexpectedly, Alice instantly became hostile.
"What has your clan done to my brother!?" Alice yelled.
"Nothing!" Maxine said defensively while she took a step back, "He's staying there of his own free will. I came here to meet your parents and talk about a few things."
"I don't believe you," Alice growled, but Jessica Adams, Alice's mother, appeared from behind her.
"Alice, let her in. Don't you remember what she said on the news the other day about us being her future inlaws?" Jessica reminded Alice.
"Fine," Alice said in a huff before retreating inside.
"Please come in," Jessica said and Maxine was lead to the living room. James Adams, Alice's father, was no where to be seen. She guessed he was working on one of his projects in the garage as usual.
"Now what's this business about us becoming your inlaws?" Jessica Adams asked.
"It's complicated," Maxine started off.
"How complicated can it be if you're fucking my brother?" Alice said snarkly.
"Alice!" Jessica admonished Alice and turned to Maxine apologetically, "I'm sorry about this. The ambassador that went to your clan was vague on Maxwell's situation when he explained things to us. All he told us was that Maxwell had to stay there for some reason."
"It's alright," Maxine said calmly, "The truth is I have a twin sister. I didn't even know she existed until days after Maxwell arrived at my clan's home. When I first met her, she was terrified of all men, even little boys made her extremely nervous. It was hard getting her to talk about it and it surprised me when she wanted to see a recording of my sparring matches with Maxwell and Patrick. After watching it, she became besotted with Maxwell for some strange reason and she had asked to meet him. It was a little strange for her not to be afraid of him, but I wasn't going to complain. Our clan's psychiatrist, Madam Neshan insisted that he stay to help heal her after seeing what kind of effect he had on her. Shortly after that they sort of fell in love with each other."
"Then why hasn't he come back yet?" Alice demanded to know as soon as Maxine finished speaking, "Why is your clan holding him hostage?"
"My clan isn't holding him hostage!" Maxine snapped before anyone could so much as blink, "As a matter of fact, he is currently on his way back with my sister to meet all of you and should be here in about a week."
Jessica smiled as she said, "Thank you for telling us. I just wish Maxwell hadn't found a girl with such serious problems." More than you know mom. Hell, I fell in love with a girl that was disfigured, missing an arm and was an amnesiac. Problems doesn't even begin to cover it.
"She is getting better," Maxine offered and gave a glare at Alice as she continued, "Although I don't think it will be good if she gets the same kind of reception from Alice that I did."
"She will get a warm one," Jessica said gently and looked at Alice with a warning filled tone, "Won't she?"
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said meekly.
"Now, is there anything else you need to talk to us about?" Jessica Adams asked.
Maxine was about to answer when she felt ten different spiritual senses wash over her body. They scanned her thoroughly. It felt like every inch of her had been licked by a group of sex crazed perverts. "No, I only came here to let you know what's going on and to meet you guys," Maxine stated while refraining from showing how unnerved she was. Fucking Shadow Lords!
"Oh, alright," Jessica Adams said uncertainly and stood up to lead Maxine to the front door. Before she opened the door, she asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything's fine," Maxine answered calmly.
"Okay, good night," Jessica Adamns said.
"Good night," Maxine said as she left.
She didn't even get an eighth of a mile away before she spotted her ten stalkers. Most of them were watching her from between houses and from behind bushes. As she got closer she could clearly see that they looked like silver colored elves with golden jewels on their foreheads. They're not even bothering disguising themselves. This does not bode well.
"What do you guys want?" Maxine demanded, but none of them showed any intention of answering. She got angry at them, and resisted the impulse to beat the living hell out of each one of them. She knew it was just her grudge against their race as a whole that fueled her anger anyways.
However, she sensed that each one of them were lord-class beings at the peak of iron stage and that threat forced her to remain calm. Loosing her calm before a fight would make it hard to fight properly. She knew that she could at most fight five of them with a decent chance at victory. All ten was out of the question. She would only be able to run if a fight ensued.
Maxine shrugged off the last of her anger as she continued to walk past them. Unfortunately she could feel their eyes on her while keeping pace with her. It kindled her anger back ot life. Great, just fucking perfect. Now I won't be able to so much as take a shit without them watching me. And where the hell is Turan? I didn't see him amongst my newest stalkers.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Turan appeared beside her before saying, "Good evening, Miss Levings."
"What the hell are they doing here?" Maxine asked rudely as she gestured with her head towards the ten Shadow Lords tailing them.
"I'm afraid it's a necessary precaution. We can't allow you to come to harm now can we? Not to mention, you have the strange habit of disappearing for hours at a time. It's left my elders quite concerned about your wellbeing," Turan explained, "Although I'm quite positive we know where all of your hiding spots are, but it never hurts to be on the safe side." Wellbeing, my ass. You guys just don't want to loose sight of your precious Shadow Queen. It's quite apparent that I have some real value to you bastards. Part of me wishes I could summon your ancestor just so I could close the portal right as he head comes through to behead the fucker.
"Why am I having a hard time believing you?" Maxine asked.
"Believe what you will," Turan answered, "But if it makes you feel any better, think of them as your bodyguards."
"I neither need or want more bodyguards, especially from the Shadow Lords," Maxine said grumpily, "Your people have done more than enough to me already. Now if you know what's good for all of you. leave me alone."
"Very well, I will leave you alone, but I can't force the others to do the same. They are from a different faction," Turan answered morosely before he vanished, and oddly added via spiritual sense, [My 'companions' are up to something that may be harmful to you. I don't know what it is, so all I can do is give you a warning. I don't want those fools to ruin any chance you have to awaken as a Shadow Queen. So please, be on guard and be mindful of anything out of place. My race cannot afford to have your father added to their list of enemies.] Maxine was confused and wanted some clarification. But before she could ask, the spiritual sense connection between them was severed. What the actual fuck was that about?
Maxine shrugged before running back home at top speed, but when she was less than one hundred feet away from home, she felt something was off. She quickly stopped in the middle of the street and scanned her surroundings with her spiritual sense. Nothing appeared to be out of place within two thousand feet of her. Inside the house, Silky and Claudia were snuggling on the couch while watching TV. Everything appeared to be normal, but after Turan's strange warning, it wouldn't hurt to be extra cautious.
While she looked over her surroundings one more time, her stalkers had finally caught up and she looked at their expressions and body language to see if they would give her any hints. They were watching her carefully, but one of the younger males seemed slightly anxious. He wasn't looking at her, but at a spot, directly infront of her house. I've already checked that spot and there wasn't anything there, but that doesn't mean shit. I didn't sense anything in that wolfkin kid's ear before that teleportation trap on the battle world went off. To be on the safe side, I'll use the back door. I hope that I'm just being paranoid and Turan's warning is a load of shit.
Maxine walked toward the back door to her home and noticed that one of her stalkers had vanished. She instantly got into a battle stance as she searched for her missing stalker, but she couldn't find him, even with her spiritual sense. Okay, every stealth technique has a flaw. It won't take me but a second or two to find him.
However before she could locate him, she was shoved hard towards the center of her front yard. Even in mid-air, she managed to land a kick when she lashed out blindly. A blood curdling wail resounded to confirm her hit as she felt two pops transmitted through her foot. You may have shoved me into something that can kill me, but I broke both of your balls. Enjoy asshole.
She slammed into a very firm wall and bounced off of it before landing on some grass. Wait a second. There isn't a wall on Earth that could withstand the kind of force I was thrown with. She looked up and saw nothing but air all around her. Dread filled her mind as a disc popped into being directly above her and a glowing formation array appeared on the ground around her. At least I know what was in that spot now. I better get the fuck out of this thing. I definitely do not want to find out what it does. Thankfully it's activating far more slowly than that teleportation trap.
She lashed out with her full strength at her invisible prison to no effect. Next, she attacked the disc above her only to find out it was shielded against her strikes. As a last resort, she tried expanding one of her portals within her shadow to escape, but no matter how hard she tried her portals wouldn't change size. She was trapped and her only hope was that Guan or Hellen could get her out of this.
A powerful shockwave knocked her off her feet and as soon as she got back to her feet, she turned to see both Hellen and Guan ferociously attacking the formation array as the air literately rippled from each of their attacks. Unfortunately they weren't able to break it's defensive properties. Oh, shit. If those two working together can't break it, I'm stuck in here.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"DAMN IT!" Guan roared in frustration and quickly calmed down as he looked to Maxine, "I can't get you out before this array does what it's going to do. This barrier has been infused with the energy of a large number of immortal stage cultivators. It will take me at least an hour to break through it." This is ridiculous. There is no reason to go through this much effort and risk destroying their only chance at having a Shadow Queen. Unless... they don't have time to wait for me to awaken naturally. What possible reason could they need a Shadow Queen to summon their ancestor? It's not like they've pissed off half of the Alliance. Even if they had, the Alliance would at least give them a way to survive, right?
The disc above her began to funnel a tremendous amount of ki towards her as Maxine dispaired. If that much ki was forced into her body, it would tear her apart from the inside out unless she could control it perfectly. She wasn't sure she could handle that much ki and immediately she began to frantically attack her invisible prison.
As the funnel of ki was getting closer to her skin, she struck her invisible prison harder and more ferociously. The skin on her knuckles tore open causing blood to cover her hands and the bones in her hands and feet began to form cracks in them. However she didn't cease her assault. Unfortunately no matter how fiercely she attacked, the barrier imprisoning her held firm.
A moment before the ki touched her body, several runes appeared in the air around her and sank into her skin. Her body transformed to her Shadow Queen form without her consent. It was horrifying that she couldn't even control her own body.
The funnel of ki finally reached her as the various pathways throughout her body were flooded with ki and just before she was blinded with pain, she saw the grinning faces of her new Shadow Lord stalkers. If I survive this, I will kill everyone that was involved with this bullshit, even if I have to spend the rest of my life to pull it off.
Searing pain threatened to overwhelm her as she fought against the ki invading her body. What made matters worse that her male clone and main body were suffering the same situation. She didn't know how it was possible, but it was.
Grandma Victoria was trying in vain to alleviate Maxine's pain, but nothing she did was working while her male clone suffered just outside the formation array. The pain was too much for her to handle and very quickly she was loosing the strength to fight it.
She needed to change her strategy if she wanted to survive. She stopped fighting the ki flooding her body and allowed it to flow unrestricted. She began to cultivate with a desperate desire to live. It helped take off some of hte pressure on her system, but it did little to help her situation. The ki kept replenishing itself as she cultivated. She knew that her chances of survival were slim, but any chance was better than no chance.
Sometime later, just as she miraculously finished refining all of the ki, she felt something change within her as if a door opened that she didn't even know existed. Before she could delve deep into herself to figure out what, a foul tasting liquid was forced down her throat. Closely after, she felt droplets of water splattering on her face as someone placed her head on their lap.
"She's dying. My baby is dying," Hellen wept, "Isn't there anything else you can do?" Odd, I don't feel like I'm dying. I would know. I've experienced it once before and it sucked. I just can't move right now.
"I've done what I can. To do more, I need to get to her true self," Guan Guan said dispairingly, "The portal she maintained to her main body closed as soon as that ki forced it's way into her body."
"Then bring Emily here!" Hellen begged, "She can help Maxine until your potion takes full effect!"
"I can't without injuring Emily. She is already coming here at the greatest speed her body can endure. Still without access to her true self, I can't save Maxine. I think her soul may have been damaged," Guan said hoarsely and even in her near unconscious state felt rage radiating off of him like the sun radiates light.
Maxine struggled to move. She needed to let them know she was not as badly injured as they thought. Otherwise if she didn't get better fast, Guan would slaughter everyone involved, even the innocent.
She didn't know how, but she manage to just barely open her eyes. Silky and Claudia were at her side along with Guan and Hellen. Silky was crying uncontrollably with her face on Maxine's stomach. She wasn't sure why she hadn't noticed that before. "Guan! She opened her eyes!" Hellen shouted anxiously.
In an instant, Guan was tenderly holding her hand as he spoke, "Maxine, I know it's hard, but you need to open a portal to your true self. Right now." She didn't know if she could do that, but she tried anyways. It was easier than she thought, but it was still extremely difficult. She was only able to open a portal the size of a pinhole, but it was enough.
Guan took it over as soon as it formed and rushed through it. She could feel him feeding her a potion and trying to do something else desperately. Why the fuck is he sending his spiritual sense into my head? It's like he's ... looking for something. Oh, I must really be dying then if he's trying to find my soul. But what's stopping him? It should be easy for him considering he made Hellen's bracelet that housed her soul.
Hellen brushed her hair off of Maxine's face as she reassured Maxine, "Everything will be alright. Your father will do what he can. Just stay awake. Stay with us." However her eye lids were getting heavier by the second and she had struggled so hard to open them in the first place. As her eyes began to drift closed, Hellen panicked as she wept, "NO! Stay awake! Keep your eyes open!"
Silky begging Maxine with tear filled eyes, "Don't go, mama. Please, stay." No matter how much Maxine wanted to do as Hellen and Silky asked she simply lacked the strength. She was just too weak.
She saw Emily arrive just as her eyes closed and was greeted by a black void in every direction. Hmm, this doesn't look like any version of heaven or hell that I know of.
A very deep man's voice resounded within and around her, "Those fools are trying yet again to reach me. I would think they would realize that after sacrificing over a dozen of their people. Don't they realize that I don't want to return? Did they honestly believe I would return after they killed my beloved? And now they have the gall to use my beloved's doppelganger to tempt me to return. I can't take watching her die again. I have to save her."
"Who's there?" Maxine asked in an annoyed tone, "Can't a dead person even have some peace and quiet?"
"Oh? This is new," the man's voice resounded once more, "All the others seemed to be in awe or were afraid of me. Yet you seem almost angry with me. Do you not know who I am, child?"
"Someone that has nothing better to do than harass the dead," Maxine answered angrily, "How are you doing that by the way?"
"Clearly you do not know who I am. Otherwise you wouldn't acting as such," the voice answered in amusement, "And you are not dead, but you are in a death-like state. All it would take is a slight push and you would die. Your father is nearing madness as he attempts to find your soul, but as long as you are here, he never will."
"Then let me out of here!" Maxine demanded.
"I won't do that now that I have someone to talk from my own race. It's been ages since I have heard any word on how they are doing. Also, if I did send you back right now, your death would be guaranteed. Just chat with me until the healing energies I'm directing at your body and clones can do their job enough that you won't die from shock," the voice answered, "It's not every day that you get to talk to your progenitor."
"Fine and what do you mean my progenitor?" Maxine asked.
"I'm the male ancestor from your mother's side. More specifically, I'm the very first Shadow Lord. I believe my name was Avernus. At least, that is the name my parents gave me, but that was so very long ago," the man's voice said, "I'm better known by my title 'Faceless Assassin' in the deity plane. I've been known by that title for so long it's become second nature to respond to it."
"How old are you exactly?" Maxine asked.
"I stopped counting after my hundred thousandth year," Avernus answered, "Keeping track of my age seemed to loose meaning when I can't die of old age. What I want to know is how are my people? I could come back myself, but there is very little in the lower planes that interests me besides that. I do not wish to make the arduous, not to mention dangerous, trip just to satisfy my curiosity."
"Your people are ten pounds of asshole in a one pound bag," Maxine answered, "They've made my life a living hell. All because they want their 'precious' Shadow Queen. Their latest stunt would have, as you said, killed me if you hadn't intervened, so my view of them is definitely biased. Beyond how they treated me, I havn't the faintest idea on how they are doing."
After a two seconds of silence, Avernus asked, "May I see your memories pertaining to them?"
"Go ahead," Maxine replied as she opened herself up, "It's not like I could stop you if you forced me to show you."
"I wouldn't harm someone who possesses my beloved's visage," Avernus soothed Maxine and she felt him gently looking at her memories, "Hmm, their actions are far too aggressive compared to their previous attempts to reach me. They also seem a touch desperate. But why? Hmmm, I supposed that's possible."
"What's possible?" Maxine asked.
"Something that happens naturally. My race is probably dying out," Avernus answered sadly, "It's the fate of any race that isn't subjected to genocide, seeks genetic diversity by intermingling with other races or lack cloning technology. In simpler terms, they are loosing the ability to reproduce. By reintroducing my DNA back into the gene pool, they could in theory rediversify themselves enough to become more fertile, but that effect won't last long, fifty generations at most. They need a different solution than relying on me."
"Well, at least one of your descendants sought to fix that problem. I'm from a human clan that possessed the Shadow Lord bloodline and that's not the only bloodline I have either," Maxine admitted.
"Truely?" Avernus asked and Maxine somehow sense that he was scanning her body, "Indeed you do. But how did you gain that hydra bloodline? Don't tell me your mother..."
"NO! She did not have sex with a hydra," Maxine said quickly, "My dad absorbed that bloodline before my parents made me."
"He must be quite mad to attempt that. Many from my time attempted that only to meet a very grisly and painful end," Avernus said, "The bloodline itself is a lethal poison."
"He figured out a way," Maxine shrugged as she replied, "So how much longer before my body is healed up enough for me to return to it?"
"Roughly another minute," Avernus answered.
"That's faster than I was expecting. I thought it would be at least another hour," Maxine replied, "Your heal time is way faster than Emily's."
"Is she the one with the divine essence?" Avernus asked, "It would have been much longer had she not taken most of the work off of me. She lacks experience, but she is an extremely gifted healer. She even thoughtfully shut off your pain receptors."
"I know. She's amazing," Maxine said as she smiled proudly.
"Before I send you back, I have one more question," Avernus said, "Are you two lovers?"
"That's none of your business!" Maxine snapped while blushing.
"I meant no offense, child," Avernus said calmingly, "The desperation on her face and care she is giving your injuries speaks volumes to one who knows what they are looking for. She loves you and you should treasure that."
"I do, but doesn't it bother you that the both of us are girls?" Maxine asked.
"Not at all," Avernus answered, "It wasn't that uncommon for two young women to share such relationships when I was still young. Although it stopped occuring quite as often just before I ascended."
"I never knew that before. I seriously need to catch up on my history lessons," Maxine said and remembered something Avernus said a few moments ago, "You said you could come down to this plane earlier. How?"
"I would have to drill a hole through time and space for at least a millenia. And while doing that, I would be completely vulnerable to attack. It's not something that I can risk as I have multiple cores. There are only a few people with two cores that are not actively hunted. Our additional cores are too valueable. They allow others to increase the number of cores they have themselves," Avernus replied, "Keep that in mind when you ascend. Although you won't get anywhere near the attention that your father would. Even here, there are only about seven deities that have four cores and no one dares to cause them trouble. They would kill him before he could get strong enough to defend himself."
"It wouldn't be anything new to thim. People have been trying to kill him for a long time," Maxine said.
"If you say so, child," Avernus chuckled, "Regardless our time is at an end. Your body seems to be calling your soul. I will keep an eye out for you and your father. It always helps to have another ally."
"Bye," Maxine said before she was pulled back to her body.
Maxine felt wretched once she could feel again. It felt like she had been through a meat grinder and put back together. Both of her clones were nearby as well. How Guan managed that she didn't know. Although that mattered little to her when she heard Silky sobbing.
"Will Maxine live?" Claudia asked with a tearfilled voice
"She should survive as long as she wakes up," Guan answered with a voice laced with worry.
Maxine finally opened her eyes and realized she was laying on her bed. Emily, Silky, Claudia, Hellen and Guan were looking joyfully at her with tear stained faces. She thought she saw Howard, Emily's grandfather, on the edges of her vision, but she wasn't sure.
"Thank god!" Claudia said as she grabbed at her heart with both hands and at the same time, Hellen exclaimed, "Thank the maker!" Both of them moved to hug her, but Silky beat them to it.
"Mama!" Silky cried into Maxine's chest.
Guan seemed relieved, but something appeared to be on his mind. Without warning he spoke to Emily, "If you are going with her, I need to know now. You can't change your mind later." What is he on about?
Emily hesitated and gave Maxine one more look before she nodded her assent. But Howard interjected, "My grand daughter isn't going anywhere without me."
"I had the intent that you would go with them. Two young women and a child traveling without an escort would invite unwanted attention. Anything else?" Guan answered instantly and Maxine gave up trying to figure out what was going on. They had clearly had a lengthy conversation while she was unconscious and weren't going to fill her in on it.
After a few moments, Guan walked towards Maxine and pulled out a potion from a hole in the air as he said, "Maxine, you need to drink this. It will make you appear as if you are dead, but in truth, it will put you into a very deep healing sleep. So deep that even your soul aura will vanish." He wants to fake my death! But won't that mean I can't come back home? NO! I don't want that! Both Hellen and Claudia were attempting to soothe Maxine by holding her hands.
"I know this is not what you want, but I don't see any other option available to protect you now that you have become this Shadow Queen that the Shadow Lords have been looking for," Guan continued. Maxine shed a few tears before she opened her mouth. "By the time you awaken, you will be completely healed and somewhere safe." Guan said gently as he fed her the potion, "Grow stronger as quickly as you are able. This act will only buy you a decade, two at most, to do just that. There are other things that you need to know, but Turan is moments from entering this house. I can't keep him from physically seeing you since it would arouse suspicion that you are not dead. He has to see you 'die.' Emily explain everything once you awaken."
As if on cue, Turan rushed in to the house. He looked extremely aggitated, but as soon as he saw Maxine, he visibly relaxed. He quickly asked, "How soon until she recovers? And did she mention anything about someone called Avernus?" All this to get a hold of their fucking ancestor. God damn assholes.
"She hasn't spoken, nor do I believe she ever will. She's dying," Guan answered with a hint of anger in his voice.
"What do you mean she's dying? She's in the care of both yourself and a divine essence cultivator. She shouldn't be in any danger of dying," Turan reasoned.
"She may seem fine, but that flawed formation somehow damaged her soul. It's only a matter of time before her soul shatters completely and disapates. No one can save her, not even me," Guan answered coldly as tears started forming in his eyes, "You best leave. I won't sully her last moments with bloodshed, but after she's gone, I WILL have my vengence."
Turan glanced at Maxine once apologetically before he took a deep breath and spoke, "It was never my intention to kill her, only awaken the powers within, but I do know all of those that are responsible for this. I can give you their names, but I have only a single a request in return: spare the rest of my race."
"Very well. Speak," Guan growled, but Maxine didn't hear what Turan said Guan's potion chose that moment to finally take effect and send Maxine into a deep slumber.