Scene: Bonds and Boundaries
Sayuri eyed the azure spirit warily as it hovered near Miku. "So... you're on our side now?"
Flames rippled like a shrug. "I serve no faction. My existence begins and ends with her protection." Its voice echoed like embers cracking in a forge.
Scene: The Eye of Destruction
Nero materialized in the cavern's gloom, where stalactites dripped liquid moonlight. "Grandpa. We're back."
The old mage Baltimore glanced up from glowing runes. "Done already? I expected more... chaos."
Nero's gaze drifted upward, as if seeing through stone. "I'll ascend to the surface soon. But first..." He placed a hand against the cavern wall. "There's a power here. Ancient. Familiar."
Baltimore's staff froze mid-air. "Verlord. The demon who shattered Aryavarta's Warrior Tournament."
Nero's knuckles whitened. "Then I'll pay him a visit at dawn."
Scene: Crimson Moon's Curse
Nero awoke gasping—something crushed his ribs. His eyes flew open to silvery hair spilling across his chest. No—Eri's chest. He screamed.
"WHY AM I IN YOUR BODY?!"
Eri stirred groggily. "Shut up... sleeping..."
Nero stared at the slender hands before him—her hands—then experimentally squeezed something unfamilier. "HUUUUH?! WHAT SORCERY IS—"
Baltimore burst in, smacking Nero's head with a scroll. "Fools! It's the Red Moon's influence!" He jabbed a finger at the blood-hued orb visible through the cavern's ceiling. "Two souls sharing flesh always clash on this day! You've got fifty-fifty control until sunset!"
Eri shrieked internally: "CLOSE YOUR EYES, PERVERT!"
Scene: Shared Skin
Later, as Eri bathed in an underground spring:
"I warned you—don't peek!" she hissed through their mental link.
Nero's mental voice was unnervingly calm. "Eri... our souls are fused. I feel the water on 'your' skin. The soap's scent..."
Silence. Then—
"YOU LET ME BATHE KNOWING THAT?!"
Spiritual fists hammered Nero's consciousness as Baltimore's familiar, Whity, slinked away muttering: "Couple's spats. Worse than dragon mating season..."
Scene: Devil's Bargain
Before Verlord's obsidian fortress, Eri straightened her borrowed robes. Baltimore's name opened doors like a spell—the demon lord received her in a throne room lined with petrified screams.
"Baltimore's blood," Verlord purred, eyes like smoldering tar pits. "State your purpose."
Suddenly, Nero's voice tore from Eri's throat: "We need to talk."
Verlord froze. "Two souls... fascinating." His claws drummed the throne. "What could a fractured being want from me?"
"Why attack Aryavarta?" Nero demanded.
Verlord's aura turned glacial. "They stole my son. Two years old. They'll sacrifice him to fuel their war machine." A shattered wine glass crumbled in his grip. "Cross their borders again, and they'll slit his throat."
Scene: The Deal
Nero's laughter echoed unnervingly through Eri's lips. "You're strong enough to level cities—yet cower?"
"They hold my child!" Verlord roared, shaking the fortress.
"Then let's trade," Nero countered. "I retrieve your son. You get me a Masked Tribe Trust Seal."
Verlord's flames dimmed. "The Masked answer only to Aryavarta! How—"
"—Baltimore says you have... connections," Nero interrupted. "Just enroll 'Erl' in any Aryavartan academy. We'll slip past Saigo's wards."
Scene: The Weight of Power
Verlord's eyes narrowed. "And if Aryavarta's generals intercept you?"
Nero's power exploded.
Stone cracked. Throne melted. Verlord staggered as primordial pressure crushed the room—a force older than demons. Eri's hair whipped in an invisible storm as Nero's voice thundered:
"DO I LOOK LIKE I FEAR FLESHLING GENERALS?"
Verlord bowed his head, ash falling from his horns. "Take any artifact. Any weapon. Just... bring my boy home."
In their shared mind, Eri whispered: "Since when can you...?"
Nero's silent reply vibrated with grim promise: "Since I decided no child dies while I breathe."
Eri:- Na! something fishy.... about your thoughts