Slay the Hierarchy

Infiltration

The instant Daisy's implication reached him, the Slayer grasped the back of her chair and swiveled it around in one swift motion; the princess fighting not to yelp in surprise. 

She may have even been thrown off if not for his arms that barred her in place. But that was hardly important right now. What was important was that he was leaning down towards her; his face a few, meagre inches away from her own; and staring at her so intently, one would imagine they had a far more intimate relationship... or that she suddenly grew contemptuous teeth and horns.

'Where.'

She was too stunned to respond on the spot; Daisy's mind still scrambling to make sense of the position she was so impetuously thrown into. That was until he asked again, this time so low, she hardly thought it possible a human's voice could reach such a dangerous octave.

'Where.'

'N-now just a moment, William!' 

She held his powerful green eyes with a conflicted frown of her own, placing both hands on his shoulders to keep him from getting any closer. When that didn't seem to work, she pushed him back, how ever helpful that would be considering the man's absurd size and strength. 

'I'll tell you what you need to know... that is, as soon as you realise who you're talking to. And how!'

Clearly being half shirtless and so close to a woman meant little to him, because the Slayer huffed, looking disgruntled as he pulled away from the princess, but didn't let go of the chair. She was still barred in. Though it was far better than their compromising positions just a second ago.

Sighing with disapproval at his behaviour, the princess recomposed herself, folding her legs primly when she realised he had no intentions of shifting away any more than that.

'It was my father's,' she said, and though the Slayer looked like he had plenty to say to that, he remained silent. His eyes seemed to do the talking instead. Still impassioned... and quite lovely. But this was hardly the time for that!

'I must have been eight-years-old... perhaps ten, when I first saw it. It was the emperor's birthday; an annual celebration my sisters and I have been royally ordered to attend without fail. Come to think of it, it's almost that time of the year again.

'My sister Petunia; the seventh princess; has always had a rather foxy habit. She's a master of mischief and escape. And escape she did at the time of the party. Desperate to keep her out of the way of my father's wrath, I followed her into the bowels of the royal palace. That was when I had stumbled upon my father holding this... Crucible.

'Though I hadn't found my sister that day. Instead, I found... many other things. One of them being my father's attention. And let's just say the emperor has grievous tastes in punishment.'

His silence was so disconcerting that she almost missed Vega's occasional comments. His stare, even more so. It felt like he'd burn a hole through her if he looked any longer, and Daisy squirmed under his gaze despite her pride, fighting not to fold her arms over her. It was still a raw and unpleasant memory. One she felt he pried into regardless.

'... I do not know much of this relic,' she admitted softly, dropping her head to avoid his lingering stare. 'But I do know where to find it. My father is a collector of many things--women, children, beasts, antiques. And he keeps those he can beneath the royal palace under impossible supervision.'

It took a deafening moment before he pulled away from her; Daisy following his movements carefully, watching him as he stalked off in the opposite direction.