Sylvia bashed her head into the post of her room at the inn in Hallibrush. Caeldaemos was gone again. He headed back to the north, somewhere around Forteria. But at least she was sure he would return to the growing town.

She headed into the town to see what he had been up to.

Children ran about the town laughing and playing safely. Much of the population in the place were demi-humans, but she also noticed a handful of humans moving about in peace.

Heading toward the central square, she noticed a giant statue was being erected. She stopped to observe it.

“Looks good, doesn’t it?” A demi-woman asked.

Sylvia looked to her side to see a silver-haired woman in priestess robes. “Who is it of?”

The woman giggled. “Our lord, Baron Caeldaemos.”

He looked to be a massive demon. Most of the body was still being worked on, but it looked like they had finished the face. He had discerning eyes with a light, if not a bit goofy, smile on his face.

“So, that’s him,” Sylvia commented.

“Hmm? Are you looking for his lordship?” The woman asked.

“I am.”

“For what reason?”

“To apologize. To grovel. To beg for forgiveness. To ask for his help. To warn him of a coming danger.” Sylvia answered.

“Really? What have you done to him to need to do so much?” The woman asked.

“Something unforgivable. It is… crushing me with guilt…” Why was she confessing to this random woman?

“I see. His lordship is out right now on a mission. Might I have your name? I could inform him of your arrival here.”

“Sylfaerune.” Sylvia was surprised she was finally able to say her name.

“What…?” The woman’s voice turned cold.

Sylvia turned to the woman to see cold, angry eyes staring into her soul. “I…” Her words caught.

“You would be wise not to speak that name before his lordship. In truth, I feel like I should have you tossed out. Is what you stated true?”

Sylvia swallowed hard. Others who were close heard what she said and took aggressive stances toward her. “I… I swear… I swear by Io what I said is true.” She fell to her knees. “I…” Tears began to roll down her face. Her guilt was erupting from the bowels of her soul. “I was terrible to him! I hurt him! I don’t deserve his forgiveness!” She cried, slamming her head into the ground.

“I mess up his life for my own greed! He was right! I am a garbage goddess! No… I am worse than that…” Sylvia seemed to nearly melt into the ground as she sprawled out. “I am nothing… I am not a goddess….”

Sylvia no longer cared what others thought. All that mattered was Caeldaemos.

“I have to make amends… no matter what I have to do… no matter what he puts me through….”

“You really are her, aren’t you?” A new voice asked.

“Stand up.” Another ordered.

No one moved to help her as she shakily stood. Before Sylvia stood six females along with the priestess. Two of them were younger, in their teens.

“Do you have any idea how much you made him suffer?” The demoness asked.

“Or how much he had to worry about rejection?” The demi-canine woman asked.

“You hurt Dad.” The two teens stated.

“How could you choose that trash as your ‘Hero?’ Do you know the crimes he has committed? How he hurt me?” A human woman demanded to know.

“How dare you show yourself! You abandoned my lord and me!” The other priestess cried.

Sylvia felt their crushing gazes upon her. This must be his family that the four-armed demon had warned her of. “I-.”

The demoness punched her in the face, knocking her a few feet back onto her backside.

“Please! I need to speak with Caelda-!”

An elven-looking golem appeared and buried her twin scimitars on either side of Sylvia’s head. “My master does not like you. I don’t like you either.”

Sylvia held her tongue. What could she do? She couldn’t attack them. He would never forgive her.

“What the hell is going on?” A deep voice asked.

Sylvia looked to see him. The one she had hurt.

“Cael…” The ladies looked at him with sadness.

Caeldaemos stepped forward and asked the golem, Giiwo, to move aside. Sylvia couldn’t meet his eyes.

“I know you.” He stated, his voice growing cold.

Sylvia shifted herself around to a bowing position. “I am at your disposal.”

“Get out.” He stated.

“I cannot leave, but I will keep my distance.”

“LEAVE!” He roared.

“As I said… I can’t leave. The world is in danger.” Sylvia answered.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Hah! You expect me to believe you!? After what you did to me!?” He yelled.

“Please….”

She expected him to beat or kill her, but he didn’t.

Caeldaemos huffed and left.

“Bitch.” A fox spirit spat.

“Cunt.” “Garbage.” “Whore.” “Slut!” “Lily!” “Sorry, mom….” All the ladies hurled their insults as they left to follow Caledaemos.

“Um…” The teal-haired teen stepped up. “How are dungeons born?” She asked.

“What? They are a natural occurrence in the world.” Sylvia answered.

“Oh. So, we don’t have parents?” She asked.

“No?”

“Well, I do.” The girl answered.

A full-grown minotaur appeared out of thin air.

“Toss her out.” The girl ordered.

“W-WAIT! AH! NO!” Sylvia was picked up by the minotaur and thrown out of Hallibrush.

As the minotaur faded with a victory roar, the doors to Hallibrush were closed to Sylvia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The gods watched as Sylfaerune was tossed out of Hallibrush.

“This is not a good start for her….” Io lamented.

Tilra, on the other hand, was laughing her butt off. “By the Omni-Gods, I love that girl! Ahahahah!”

“Do you think Syl will be alright?” Orbus asked.

“She brought this on herself,” Nanduun commented.

“What about you and your area? That was one evil bastard.” Orbus commented.

“Is that what you guys focused on?” Lord Tulsen asked as he lounged in a seat, reading a book.

“What do you mean?” Nanduun asked.

“Who was the ‘mistress’ Gaolphista spoke of? That was far too fanatical to be normal.” He pointed out.

“Lord Tulsen is correct. That was odd.” Io added. “Nanduun, have you heard anything?”

“I observed for some time, but it seemed the only thing they were trying to figure out was an odd symbol. They sent it to the Council of Spirits last I heard.” He answered.

“Alright, heheheh, I will look into it and see what I can find, snicker,” Tilra stated, leaving the meeting.

“She enjoyed seeing Syl tossed out too much,” Orbus commented.

“I was surprised you didn’t laugh, Orbus.” Lord Tulsen chuckled.

“Hey! I feel pity for her! She’s realized her mistake!” He cried.

Lord Tulsen waved off the god’s efforts.

“Let’s keep an eye on the situation,” Io said.

They turned their attention back to the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haley relaxed on the sofa in the library, reading a book. They had sent word out that morning of wanting to meet the Demon-Lord, but they had yet to receive a reply. It was questionable if he even had a way to see the bulletin posted to the OWP network, but she hoped he would come.

She rolled onto her back. “Demon-Lord….” Haley was wholly convinced that he was good.

“Haley.” A voice she didn’t want to hear called out to her.

She groaned and sat up, seeing Gabriel. “What the hell do you want?”

He chuckled. “I just want to talk.”

Haley stood and started walking away. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

“But I think we do.”

A cold chill ran down her spine. Before she could react, Greggory grabbed her.

“Greggory!? What are you doing!? Let me go!” She shouted.

He didn’t answer and had a blank expression.

“What did you do to him!?” She screamed.

Gabriel chuckled. “None of you have any idea how much I have sacrificed for this world. My flesh, eyes, lungs, liver, heart… The only thing that is still my own is my mind and soul.” He approached her.

“HELP! GUARDS!” Haley cried for the nearby guards, but they didn’t move.

“Sorry, Haley, but they move only to my commands,” Gabriel stated.

“You bastard!” She growled, but her expression turned to despair. “No… Hana… Lindsey…”

Her two friends came out with the same blank looks.

“Don’t worry,” Gabriel assured. “This is all for the good of the world. My mistress is coming, and I shall help her.”

“Who? How!?” Haley demanded to know.

He laughed. “Who? You will meet her in time. The how? Well, all of you will help me with that.”

“W-What…?” Her mind swooned. Something was wrong.

“Hehe. You will help me slay the Demon-Lord and usher in the age of my mistress.” Gabriel stated.

Haley’s mind drifted off until her conscious thoughts ceased.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos paced about his temporary home furiously. It was her. It was fucking Sylfaerune!

He gritted his teeth, used Create Item to make a mannequin of her, and obliterated it.

“Cael.”

He turned to see his family looking at him worriedly. “I’m… I’m sorry….”

“No.” Liara took his left hand. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Listamati took up his right hand. “You have every right to be furious.”

Rana joined Liara with his left hand. “She deserves it.”

Diana Temerilla joined Listamati. “We will stand with you no matter what.”

Sophia and Orelia joined them. “We are your faithful. You are our rock.”

Lily and Geon hugged him. “You are our Dad. We will protect you as you protect us.”

He cried as he fell to his knees, quietly sobbing. “Thank you… thank… I love you all….”

They embraced him in their warmth. “And we all love you.”

A few hours later, Caeldaemos stood before the statue of Io in the temple. “Io.” He looked away guiltily. “I know you want me to give her a chance, but…” He cursed at himself. “I couldn’t do it. When I saw her before me… All the pain… The sorrow… Everything came crashing back.” He looked up at the face of the statue. “I don’t know why she is here, but I am sure there is a purpose.”

He sighed as he eased into a nearby pew. “I’ll try to see you soon, but I have something important to take care of.” He smiled up at the statue. “They sent out a notice!” Caeldaemos laughed. “We did it! We are finally at the start of the end of my troubles!” He leaned forward will a big goofy smile on his face. “I will be meeting with the Queen of Galgalake tomorrow afternoon along with the Heroes. I’m not crazy about that shithead being there, but they should be able to deal with him.”

Caeldaemos stood up and turned to leave the temple but turned to look up at her. “Thank you, Io. I had hoped to live up to your expectations, and it looks like I will.” He gave the biggest grin he could. “You’re the best goddess!” He proclaimed as he headed out of the temple to get ready. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late into the night, Sylvia was camped outside Hallibrush. They wouldn’t let her into the town for who she really was. She rubbed her cheek. It didn’t hurt anymore since she used healing magic on herself, but the feeling was still fresh in her mind. Caeldaemos’ family despised her. The townspeople hated her.

She curled up, hugging her knees to her chest and hiding her face. “I deserve this….”

“Do you now?” An elderly voice asked.

Sylvia panicked and shielded her face, only to see an old demi-human standing before her.

“May I join you?” He asked.

“Um… yes?” She was unsure if he had come out to punish her more.

“My name is Toto. I am the Chamberlin for Caeldaemos.” He said.

“Oh….” They were kicking her out even further. She was sure of it.

“My lord will be leaving tomorrow for Galgalake.” He stated.

“What?” She was stunned. “Why?”

He chuckled. “The others are far too hot-blooded to see your sincere feelings. I was honestly surprised that the goddess said to be so prideful would bow her head like that.”

She looked down at her fire. “I had such a drive to find him before… but now….”

“You realized how much you truly hurt him?” Toto asked.

Sylvia nodded. “I have seen hatred on my travels here, but nothing like this. Their hatred was for themselves. But Caeldaemos’ family, it was hatred in his stead. They love him so much…. By the Omni-Gods, I was such a fool.” She sobbed.

“Yes. We all love him very much. You were a fool to pass him up.” He chuckled.

She laughed with a solemn smile. “Before, I would be angry for a mortal to say that. But I have seen the disease I have brought upon the world.”

“Do you intend to fix it?” He asked.

Sylvia looked into his blue eyes. “I want to… But even if I regain my divine power, I will be removed from world management. So perhaps, I won’t get the chance….”

“There is always a chance,” Toto stated.

“Is there?”

“If you show your sincerity as you did earlier, the wise will see your truth.” Toto stood.

Sylvia was amazed. A mortal with such a short lifespan could see such wisdom. She laughed.

“Did I say something amusing?” Toto asked.

“No! Hahahah!” She wiped a tear from her eye and warmly smiled at him. “You would make a fine god.”

“Hohoho! That is quite the compliment coming from a goddess!” Toto laughed along with her.

“When will he leave?” Sylvia asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon, around 2 p.m.,” Toto stated.

“Thank you.” She bowed her head to the leaving demi-human.

Sylvia quickly collapsed her camp and mounted up. She had a distance to go if she hoped to make it to the meeting.