It had been a week since Zabel Nodd had revealed himself and Maxine had been on edge ever since. Every last single time that she went to do anything, she felt as if she was being watched within fifteen minutes of leaving home. Thankfully, she had notified Turan of Zabel Nodd's arrival on Earth and a specialized team to hunt him was on the way. Maxine didn't see a point in it since Zabel Nodd hadn't made any aggressive moves, but the mere fact that he hadn't made her nervous.
"You have no idea how unnerving it is to feel like I'm being watched," Maxine complained to Emily as they walked around a park.
"Actually, yes, I do," Emily said, "I had a stalker following me around for a couple months."
"What?! What does he look like?" Maxine asked with worry.
"I said 'had' a stalker," Emily reiterated, "I told Amanda about the creep and that was the end of it."
"At least, you didn't have to deal with it for very long," Maxine said, "After awhile, it feels like you're being stalked by an unseen predator that's waiting for the perfect moment to strike."
[Oh? I apologize for making you feel like that. I didn't know I was making you that uncomfortable,] Zabel Nodd said via spiritual sense. The fuck?! He's close enough to hear me complain! I should've known he would have a superb stealth technique. How else could he have he evaded the shadow lords for this long.
"That sounds very stressful," Emily said in agreement, but her tone shifted to concern, "Maxine, what's wrong?"
"Speak of the devil, and he shall come," Maxine said.
[I'm not the devil, Maxine,] Zabel Nodd said calmly, [In fact, one of the reasons that I've come to see you is to thank you. I don't know how you did it, but you helped me retain a portion of my sanity.]
[I had nothing to do with that,] Maxine answered, [But I am curious what the other reasons for you coming here are.]
"He's here?!" Emily asked in alarm and looked around.
[I was concerned after hearing you had suffered injuries, but it seems you've nearly healed,] Zabel Nodd answered, [Anyways, I've decided to offer myself up as your invisible bodyguard.]
[Thanks, but I already have one stalker. I really don't want another,] Maxine replied before answering Emily, "He's using a very advanced stealth technique. You won't find him just by looking."
"How do you know he's following us, then?" Emily asked.
[Do you mean that shadow lord that's following you?] Zabel Nodd asked, [He's too weak to be your bodyguard. He isn't even a gold stage cultivator. Whereas I'm stronger than you are.]
"That's easy. He's talking to me right now through spiritual sense and he's close enough to hear what we are saying," Maxine answered Emily and replied to Zabel Nodd through spiritual sense, [He's just for show and you know it. Daddy is the one actually protecting me and it's not like I can't protect myself either.]
[And if another immortal decides to kidnap you again?] Zabel Nodd asked. How the hell did he hear about that?
"Include me into the conversation, then," Emily demanded and Maxine connected to her via spiritual sense as she swiftly filled Emily in on the conversation.
[Then sed immortal will probably be brutally murdered by daddy. He has zero tolerance for that kind of thing,] Maxine answered, [By the way, Emily wants to join our conversation.]
[I'm aware on both counts, but that won't prevent you from being mistreated until he can come to your rescue,] Zabel Nodd said calmly.
[I would love to see the idiot's face when they try,] Maxine said with a smirk, [My blood is both highly acidic and poisonous. If they even get a single drop of it on their skin, they will have a really bad day.]
[How acidic are we talking about?] Emily asked.
[In my base form, my blood is comparable to sulfuric acid and in my transformed state, it would burn through a half-inch steel plate in a couple seconds,] Maxine answered.
[But wouldn't that mean that the man that claims your maidenhead would have his cock would have severely burned right before dying from the deadly toxins within your blood?] Zabel Nodd asked, [I can imagine if this detail became well known the number of your potential suitors would drop significantly.]
[I think they already know,] Emily remarked, [I heard a few of them mention their plans to avoid that fate if her blood was really that acidic.]
[Can we, please, talk about something else?] Maxine asked.
[I think you're more beautiful while transformed,] Zabel Nodd said.
[That's ... sweet, I think,] Emily remarked.
[I prefer his sense of beauty to be off rather than for him to be homicidal,] Maxine replied, [And I don't care if you want to look at me while I'm transformed, Zabel, but do not touch me. I may not stop myself from ripping your head off. And ... I'm .. uh.. sorry for how I reacted when you visited me in the hospital. Honestly, it didn't help that you were exuding the aura of a shadow demon.]
[What did you do?] Emily asked.
[She created a portal between my legs as one of her clones tried to thrust the business end of a war scythe up my anus,] Zabel Nodd answered calmly, [Thankfully, I had the foresight to use a shadow clone to visit her. Otherwise, I would most certainly be dead.]
[And what were you expecting me to do exactly?] Maxine asked, [You were clearly becoming a shadow demon and almost every one that's appeared so far has been homicidal.]
[I don't know what I was expecting to be honest,] Zabel Nodd answered, [I wasn't in my right mind at the time. Not that I'm any better at the moment. By all rights, I should stay as far away from you as possible with how closely the shadow lords monitor you.] Yeah, he's definitely a little crazy, but not the dangerous variety. Still, I don't like him being near me. Even when he's concealing it, I can still just barely feel his shadow demon aura.
[Back up for a minute,] Emily said, [Is there any way to cure him?]
[If there was a way to cure him, I would go for it, but the current 'cure' involves removing his core,] Maxine replied, [And that's typically a death sentence and a really mean one at that. It's more merciful just to kill them on the spot.]
[I have to agree with Maxine,] Zabel Nodd said, [I would much prefer death over having my core removed and as Maxine mentioned, I'm not homicidal like my predecessors were.]
[You just need to convince the shadow lords of that,] Maxine pointed out, [And you'll have to still hide from the Divine Marks and Kavros clans. And to be honest, if you were visible right now, I would probably beat the ever living shit out of you. I nearly died in that war that you caused.]
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[And I apologized for that,] Zabel Nodd said defensively and Maxine faintly felt a foreign spiritual sense wash over her, [Oh, it seems I'll have to cut our conversation short. Farewell.] The spiritual sense connection between them was cut almost immediately after he finished speaking.
"Well, that was sudden," Emily remarked, "Why do you supposed he left so fast?"
"Because he's being actively hunted," Maxine answered.
"But I didn't notice anything," Emily stated.
"I doubt you would have," Maxine replied, "I just barely detected their spiritual sense scans. Those people tracking him are very good at their job, but not enough. Zabel Nodd still detected their scans."
"So, you think that he will get away, then?" Emily asked.
"Most likely, but I would prefer it if he just left Earth entirely," Maxine stated, "Just his mere presence here could start up a shit storm of trouble."
"He's just one person. How much damage could he cause?" Emily asked
"It's not him that I'm worried about. It's the people trying to get rid of him," Maxine explained, "Demons, regardless of their attribute, are extremely dangerous due to how murderous they can be. Hell, they thought daddy was one for a long time due to how vicious he was in dealing with anyone that so much as threatened him."
"Just out of curiosity, what's the worst case scenario?" Emily asked.
"Bounty hunters will start wreaking havoc around Earth as they chase him and won't really care about the collateral damage," Maxine answered honestly.
"Wouldn't they get in serious trouble for breaking Alliance laws?" Emily asked.
"The Alliance would look the other way so long as they 'killed' the demon," Maxine answered, "But there are not that many bounty hunters willing to take that risk, so we should be fine as long as Zabel Nodd leaves Earth within the next six months. It also helps that he hasn't hurt anyone since arriving here."
"Then, it's in your best interest to help us find him," a black-haired shadow lord said as she landed infront of them.
"And you are?" Maxine asked while raising an eye brow.
"Silva," she said bluntly.
"Miss Silva, it's your job to apprehend him, not mine," Maxine said directly.
"Then, how do you intend to deal with him?" Silva asked in a cold tone.
"I'll ask him to leave," Maxine said.
"And if he doesn't?" Silva asked.
Maxine smiled and partially transformed to make her teeth pointed and her eyes snake-like as she answered, "Then, I will just indulge in my primal urge to hunt. Does that satisfy your curiosity?" It doesn't matter how good his stealth technique is. He still has a scent and I have a pretty good idea how his stealth technique works since it would be something that I would do.
"Yes and thank you for your time," Silva replied calmly, but she didn't leave right away. Instead, she began to follow Maxine and Emily when they continued their walk.
"Is there something else?" Maxine asked in irratation.
"Not really," Silva stated, "I'm just waiting for Zabel Nodd to return."
"And he's unlikely to come so long as you are around," Maxine pointed out.
"Perhaps if he wasn't a shadow demon, but we both know it's impossible to understand the mind of one," Silva replied, "And I suspect you are someone he is growing fond of and he will be compelled to approach you, even if you're being followed by the ones hunting him." And that is something I'm very afraid of happening. I do not need a fucking male yandere following me around.
"You shouldn't make jokes like that," Maxine said.
"It wasn't a joke," Silva said calmly.
"Still, it wasn't very nice to remind me of that possibility," Maxine said grumpily, "I have enough things to deal with as it is. I do not need an insane stalker on top of it all."
"Maxine, relax," Emily said gently as she put her hand on Maxine's shoulder, " Remember it's just a possibility, not a certainty. And if he ends up being like that, we will deal with it."
"I still don't like her following us around," Maxine complained.
[Neither do I,] Zabel Nodd said. Why am I not surprised that he came back here?
[Leave Earth,] Maxine told him, [You've already been discovered and it's only a matter of time before they figure out the flaw to your stealth technique. None of them are perfect and you know it.]
[True enough, but I wished to give you a warning before I left,] Zabel Nodd said.
[What warning?] Maxine asked.
[There is a spatial anomaly roughly two lightyears away from here and I know what it actually is,] Zabel Nodd explained, [It's a failed long ranged teleportation array and it's causing a rift to slowly form. To where, I do not know, but I know that wherever it opens up to is a place filled with monstrosities.]
[How the hell do you know that?] Maxine asked.
[Because I flew my ship past it on the way here and what I saw frightened me,] Zabel Nodd answered, [It's the reason I wished to be your bodyguard. I don't want my benefactor to come to harm and I don't care if I get caught in the process. I need to repay my debt to you.] That's borderline yandere mentality.
[Do what you want, but I'm holding you responsible for any damage to my homeworld caused by bounty hunters looking for you,] Maxine replied coldly.
[That's fair,] Zabel Nodd replied, [But, hopefully, it won't come to that. If it does, I will allow myself to be captured before any damage can be brought to your homeworld or it's citizenry.]
[That's... unexpected,] Maxine said in surprise, but she didn't believe a word of it. She fully expected him to do anything to avoid capture since it would mean his death.
[You're my benefactor,] Zabel Nodd replied smoothly, [It would be very poor form to cause you harm in any form after you helped me.]
Maxine merely rolled her eyes at that and frowned when her cellphone started to ring. Who could possibly be calling me? I better not be another fucking telemarketer. Seriously, how many times do I have to tell them to fuck off before they take a hint?
Maxine looked at the caller ID and saw it was Hellen's cellphone. She immediately answered the call, "Hey, mom. What's up?"
"Maxine, you need to get home, right now," Hellen said in a worried tone.
"What's wrong?" Maxine asked immediately.
"Just get home quickly," Hellen replied.
"I'll be home in a few minutes," Maxine said before hanging up and turns to Emily, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut our date short. Something has mom spooked and she wants me home."
"It's okay," Emily said with a reassuring smile, "Take care of your family."
"I'll try to talk to you later," Maxine said as she opened up an arch and walked through it to return home. However, when she got home, she didn't see or hear anyone. Uh, this is disconcerting.
"Maxine! Get in here!" Hellen yelled from another room. That sounded like it came from daddy's training room. What the hell is she doing in there?
Maxine walked quickly towards towards Guan's training room and before she could even open her mouth to ask what was wrong, Hellen yanked her inside. She heard the training room door slam shut before she got her bearings and she spotted Grandma Victoria and Lucas sitting in a corner playing a board game.
"What the hell, mom?" Maxine demanded.
"It's for your own safety," Hellen answered, "Guan insisted that we hide in here until he checked that spatial anomaly up close."
"Why?!" Maxine demanded.
"He was able to listen in to that conversation that you and Zabel Nodd were having," Hellen answered. The fuck?! How the hell did he pull that off? Zabel Nodd was using a stealth technique and used spiritual sense to talk to me.
"That still doesn't answer my question," Maxine said grumpily.
"The thing that he described was eerily similar to a precursor to a void calamity," Hellen said after hesitating a moment.
"What the hell is that?" Maxine asked.
"The void was created in an experiment long ago in an attempt to recreate our universe, but on a smaller scale," Hellen explained, "It roughly the size of a small galaxy and for some reason, the only space dwelling monstrosities were capable of surviving in it. Those things bred with each other and they became hostile to all other forms of life. The last time that it was opened, a dozen worlds were annihilated before it was sealed closed."
"Damn," Maxine said softly, "How long will it be before we know for certain?"
"A few hours," Hellen answered, "Your father is terrifyingly fast when he needs to be." He's able to fly two lightyears and back in a few hours? I'm not even going to question how that's possible. For all I know, he's capable of warping space around himself.
"At least, we won't have to wait long," Maxine commented as she made herself comfortable, "I wish that you could've told me over the phone, so I could bring Silky, Emily and the others in here with us."
"If it really is a void calamity, your father will probably insist that you leave to another planet with them," Hellen answered.
Before Maxine could retort, her dimensional disk vibrated. "Yes?" Maxine said when she turned it on and saw Guan's face a moment later.
"Good, you're in my training room," Guan said, "I'm close enough to confirm that it is a void calamity, but we're in luck. This rift even when it's matured won't allow anything stronger than the first rank of gold stage to get through. I could probably hold them off myself until it closes entirely, but due to it's size, a small percentage will get past me. I need you, your mother and your grandmother to be ready to fight any gold stage ones that get through and for you to inform Kerrigan and the rest to be ready to fend off any silver stage ones that try to make landfall. If we're particularly lucky, the Alliance will send a large force to aide in the defense of Earth. If not, you can register a high risk mission to the mercenary guild for reinforcements and hope that they get here in time." I'm going to do both. You can never have too many hands in this kind of situation. Hell, I'll even offer an extra reward for the group that claims the most kills. And I have no doubt that the shadow lords will send some backup as well. Last, but not least, I need to contact the UN so they can have our fighters prepared for this shit.