*Whoosh*
Under the illumination of the starry sky, the wind blew gently, bringing a chilly air with it as it rustled the leaves of the tree in the large garden.
Sitting on a beautiful chair that seemed to be made out of pure crystal was a crimson-haired woman with a voluptuous figure, sipping on wine as she waited in silence.
Despite the cold of the night, she was clad in an attire that showed a great amount of her skin without seeming obscene in the slightest.
*Crack*
The sound of a twig breaking under the step of someone intruding in the serenity of this sanctuary rose her from her wandering spirit.
Taking a look at the intruder, Nent showed a gentle smile.
“I am surprised you came.”
Giving her a supercilious stare, Kiyohime did not bother to answer as she took the seat opposite to Nent.
“You wouldn’t call me here for no reason. What is the problem?”
Her tone was cold but Nent was already happy that Kiyohime at least was willing to speak with her.
“Did you feel it? The way the atmosphere in the territory changed lately.”
Nent crossed her legs, showing an enticing sight as her dress parted and revealed a hint of her beautiful thighs.
Ignoring the tantalizing sight in front of her, Kiyohime mulled a little and reluctantly nodded.
The atmosphere in the air was indeed becoming heavier. Everything began on that night. The night where Tiamat showed her might once again.
Kiyohime still did not know where her mother went, but the aura and power she showed on that day had made the territory incredibly calm. She had indirectly reminded everyone why she was the supreme ruler here.
Still, this didn’t stop here. Through Kiyohime, Tiamat had sent different orders related to increasing the spatial defense of the territory and regulating the flux of people entering and getting out of the territory through the official portal at the crossroads.
As if it wasn’t enough, she was even asked to eradicate all the Duke levels in the lower circle of Tartarus. The culling generally happened at a fixed time so it was surprising for the date to have been pushed forward.
At the end of the day, Kiyohime was no idiot.
Though Tiamat never said anything, it was clear that something big was going on. Still, there was something that disturbed her.
“Sol should know what's going on.”
Kiyohime clenched her fists at Nent’s declaration. Sol had been acting more withdrawn lately. Always brooding. He emanated a slightly nervous feeling.
It was clear that Sol had gotten hold of more than troubling information and it was disturbing him. But there was nothing Kiyohime could do.
“Jealous?”
Kiyohime did not answer the question. The response was already more than evident.
‘This murky feeling in my chest is spreading again.’
She was already used to that feeling. The deep and searing disgusting feeling of jealousy and envy. The kind of feeling that could destroy you from within progressively with no way of avoiding it.
She hated that feeling. She hated feeling jealous. But how could she not?
A brat that hadn’t even lived for a century, nay not even two decades, and had met Tiamat not even a month ago was already closer to Tiamat than Kiyohime had ever been.
Worse, Kiyohime was the Queen of the Territory. But even then, she was kept in the dark from information Sol clearly had access to.
‘Ugh. I haven't felt this bad since a long time ago.’
She was no stranger to that feeling and that was why she hated it even more. She did not want to feel jealous.
Sol was a good and interesting kid as well as the only son of her little sister.
She liked him quite a bit and saw him as a sort of her student. While they didn’t spend much time together, the moments they shared in Tartarus made the two of them become closer.
She also knew very well that the only reason she could still talk to Nent like this was because of the effort Sol was putting in. She held no feelings for Nent now. But at least she recognized that Sol had acted with her best interest in mind.
This was why those dark and disgusting feelings made her feel even more awful.
“It’s alright to be jealous, you know?”
“....What do you mean?”
Nent gave a gentle smile as she looked at the confused Kiyohime.
“Jealousy may be an ugly feeling but it’s one only a select few people manage to never feel in their entire life.”
“So my feelings are nothing particular?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Jealousy is common, but it can become extremely ugly very fast if not controlled. However, being jealous by itself isn’t bad.”
Kiyohime closed her eyes for a short while before she shook her head, “You are right. I guess I should face my own feelings properly. I will talk to Mother tonight.”
Standing up, Kiyohime began to walk away as she prepared to fly up and meet Tiamat.
“Thank you.”
Those words drifted in the wind and the ears of Nent as Kiyohime vanished.
Nent, now alone once again shook her head and looked down at a crumpled piece of paper that she had been hiding all along.
Despite its appearance, this particular piece of paper was a secret way of communication that allowed messages to be transferred between two people who possessed the same piece of paper.
The words on those pieces were: <<We need to talk.>>
Looking at the paper that hadn’t received any message since 700 years ago, Nent sneered before tucking it away.
She had been lost and wondered what she ought to do until now. But, her doubts were finally cleared.
Her decision was made.
—--
While Kiyohime flew high until she reached the 9th Heaven and entered Tiamat's Palace, she thought hard about what she wanted to say to Tiamat.
Tiamat's act of favoritism wasn’t done unconsciously. Tiamat knew very well what she was doing. She just didn’t care in the slightest.
This was why going there and whining would be nothing more than a terrible waste of time that would only result in disdain coming from Tiamat.
Still, all her life, Kiyohime had acted as the understanding big sister so for once she wanted to be a little selfish. She just wanted to say exactly how she felt and there was nothing in particular she expected.
The moment she opened wide the door of the throne room and strolled in,
“Mother! I want to…”
Kiyohime was stopped by the weird scene she was witnessing.
In the throne room, only two people were present. They were both Tiamat and Sol. If that was all there was, she wouldn’t be so surprised but that wasn’t the case.
On the ground, sitting on what looked like a ritual circle with lit candles all around was a white cat that Kiyohime easily recognized as Sekhmet, Sol’s magical pet.
“Hah…Kiyohime? Look, this isn’t what you are thinking.”
Kiyohime threw a weird look at Sol, “You mean to say that you didn’t put the cat that has a high chance of housing a demigod that was officially dead under a seal in order to inspect it while preventing all possible problems?”
Sol’s mouth hung open while he kept a finger in the air before slowly lowering it with a puzzled expression.
In the end, “*Ahem* Well, I take back what I said. This is exactly what you are thinking.”
Sol shrugged while Tiamat snickered as she threw a look at Kiyohime, “I can more or less guess why you are here today. Let’s talk alone later, you and me. There are many things we need to discuss. But now…”
The smile in her eyes vanished as she looked at the cat that was watching them innocently with its head tilted to the side,
*Meow*
“Heh, how cute. To think the fierce Bastet really fell so low.”
Tiamat mocked openly. Bastet was one of the rare independent demigods that she recognized. The woman was a fierce warrior who didn’t hesitate to rush in any and everything fight.
The simple fact that a normal magical beast had managed to evolve to the level of demigod and bring normal elements such as ice and fire to the conceptual level was more than a little impressive.
*Meow*
Even as Tiamat spoke, Sekhmet did nothing but look cutely at Tiamat and then proceeded to ignore her to lick her paw.
“You….”
Kiyohime, standing on the side, took a few steps forward to have a better vision. She was surprised that Tiamat wasn’t using force. She knew that her mother wasn’t really the patient type when people defied her authority.
In the end, it was Sol who spoke, as he crouched down; “Look, are you Bastet or Sekhmet? I don’t really know, nor do I care. Even though I do not know your circumstances, I believe that you hold no ill will toward me.”
Sol of course was bluffing. Many reasons could explain why Sekhmet didn’t hurt him until now even if she had wished to do so. But, from Skuld’s vision and words, he knew that Sekhmet would protect him until the end.
He didn’t know why, but the only thing that mattered was that she did.
“I want to protect people I care about. But as I am now, I am helpless to do so. This is why I need help—your help. We are not trying to threaten you or force you in any way. Please, lend us a hand.”
Sol gave his plea sincerely. If his earlier words were a lie, now he was being serious. He knew that his words weren’t spoken in the best way. But in this case, rather than beautiful sounding words, he believed honesty was the best answer.
As the silence that filled the room grew longer, Sol was slowly losing hope and wondered if they should give up on obtaining her help when…
*Sigh*
A low sigh filled the room as the expression of the cat changed to a quasi-human-like one. The circle below her paws began to shine and flicker as they were activated because of the divine energy that coursed through the body of the once normal cat.
Looking up at Sol, Sekhmet or rather, Bastet, finally spoke for the first time,
“Tell me exactly what you want my help for. Then I will decide.”
