...as the days passed, Ili kept her promise to Vella, and the three of them embarked on their journey towards the Secluded Castle, towards the East. After a few days of walking through the Iron Gates Kingdom, they finally made it to the border, the road stopping as a large, empty field took its place.
Far in the distance, beyond the horizon, large mountains loomed over the empty scenery.
After walking for one more day and resting for the night in a cave in the mountains, they reached a small village in a valley. The village was surrounded by small, wooden palisades, but it was mostly open.
It was morning, and the sky was a perfect light blue, with barely any clouds. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, as villagers went about their daily lives.
As they walked towards the village, all the people were welcoming Ililith, greeting her with her name, asking how she was doing.
Everybody in the village seemed to know who she was, and to Zephyr's surprise, nobody said anything bad about him being a kalzraak or Vella being a succubus, nor were they hostile towards them in any way .
Everyone in the village just seemed... Happy...
Right as they exited the village on a road leading through another forest, a girl appeared, walking a little distance in front of them. She was carrying two buckets of water, walking on the same path they were.
The girl had dark hair, and a pair of wings just like Vella's, only a little bigger and more well maintained. From the girl's head, two dark horns were growing, much like Zephyr's. The girl was dressed in a black and white maid attire, which seemed much more comfortable than any other maid attire Zephyr has seen before.
The girl stopped for a second, sniffing the air. She immediately turned around, dropping the water buckets.
"Ili!!"
The girl ran happily towards Ililith, leaping and taking her in her arms, hugging her tightly. "You back!"
Ililith chuckled happily, patting the demon girl's head. "Syrenthia! I'm so glad to see you!"
The girl smiled playfully, hugging Ili tightly. Her mouth was wide open in a smile, her sharp fangs perfectly visible.
The girl suddenly turned towards Zephyr and Vella, holding out her hand excitedly.
"Hello! I'm Syrenthia! I'm maid from Secluded Castle!! Who you??"
Zephyr was taken aback by her somewhat childish and playful demeanor, but he didn't really mind it. He smiled, taking her hand.
"I'm Zephyr! And this is Vella. We are friends with Ililith..."
Zephyr's eyes widened as the girl gripped his hand with a strength far surpassing her looks. The girl stepped closer to him, sniffing his upper body. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but then her smile reappeared on her face, shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Ili's friends!"
The girl let go of Zephyr's arm, turning back towards Ili.
"So, where you going? You coming back to castle??"
Ili smiled, nodding.
"Yes, we are. We'll only stay for a bit, though. But Vella here will stay for longer, if she likes... I promised her that I would bring her to the castle, and if she wants, she can become a maid here..."
Syrenthia's face brightened further, turning towards Vella and hugging her.
"Yay! New colleague! You'll like it at castle, I promise!!"
Vella was a little startled by the sudden movement. A few tears appeared in her eyes, although she didn't really understand why.
Syrenthia immediately let go of her, looking at her apologetically and slightly confused.
"Sorry! Did I hurt you?? I didn't mean to make you cry!"
Vella's eyes widened, quickly wiping her tears.
"No, no! You did nothing! I'm just… happy…"
Syrenthia tilted her head to the side, before her smile returned to her face.
"Oh, ok! I'm happy if you happy!" she said, making Vella chuckle softly.
The three continued on their way through the forest, accompanied by the overly-excited girl. Not after long, they made it yet again to other mountains, although these seemed somewhat smaller. As they passed through the forests, Zephyr couldn't shake his confusion, looking at the girl.
"Syrenthia..."
The girl turned around with the buckets in her hands, her wings fluttering slightly at her back.
"Mmh? What is it?"
Zephyr stood for a few moments, unsure how to go about asking the question. But then, he decided to just go with it.
"What are you..?"
The girl smiles, opening her wings excitedly and tilting her head slightly forward, showing her horns.
"Well, I half succubus, half kalzraak!"
Zephyr looked at her, confused and amazed, unsure of how to feel about that. The girl smiles, placing the second bucked in her other hand, and holding up her finger towards him and Vella.
"Well, mommy was succubus, and daddy was kalzraak! Like you and girl!"
Vella turned her head to the side, her cheeks completely flushed.
"Oh, I see. Interesting little thing, aren't you?" Zephyr said with a chuckle, patting the girl on the head as well, an action he's grown to enjoy far too much, far too quickly.
Not after long, they finally made it to the end of the mountains, and to the end of the land... A large castle, rather, a fortress stood in front of them down below, at the edge of a cliff. From all other sides, the castle was surrounded by mountains, and behind it, far below, the vast ocean spanned, seemingly endless in the horizon.
Around the castle there were beautiful gardens with flowers. All around the building, younger maids were playing in the grass, laughing and running after each other. There were maids tending to the gardens, as well as inside the castle. Despite this, there were no soldiers around to keep guard, nor anyone other than the maids... It looked like heaven, a place where they could grow in peace, separated from the horrors of the world... the Dark Angel's legendary fortress, from so many stories and rumors... The Secluded Castle...