The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 14: Euclidean Spectrum

The spectre's Gate brought them back to the Hotel, right where they'd left from in the lobby. Shell casings still littered the floor, and he stepped on one as he exited the portal.

The carpet was going to have to be replaced, along with repairing structural damage to the hallway leading to the kitchen.

Near the opposite hall the floor was coated in blood, with great gouges to the wood where his alter's light spears had impaled him.

The others were milling about by the ruins of the bar, getting patched up by Baxter.

Husk had respawned, and seemed relatively unfazed by the ordeal, currently cleaning up the bar while nursing a bottle with his typical grumpy demeanor.

As Alastor's blue-faced shadow vanished; Angel and Cherri were the first to come rushing over. "We were about to come and find ya!" the ponytailed cyclops smirked at him cheekily. She was sporting new bandages and her already ragged clothes now had several more tears. "You guys alright?"

"Hope ya gave that bastard what he had comin'!" Angel added. He'd pushed his pale hair down over his face, and was wearing dark sunglasses. His broken arm was in a sling, the other arm occupied by a cigarette.

Alastor nodded. "He'll not bother anyone again!"

Niffty was back on her feet, and Baxter kept close beside her as she limped to them. "You eat him up?" the short demoness asked with an eager grin.

"As if I'd consume something so disgusting! He's gone back to his own pathetic plane, dear."

Vaggie came closer, attempting to disguise the way she favored her left foot. "I can take her," she said quietly, gesturing to Charlie.

Alastor froze. This was probably the last chance he would ever get to hold her. As if she'd want him to touch her again, after his doppelganger had been so cruel.

What are you doing? His shadow's anxious voice echoed in his thoughts.

His muscles were tense, his smile thin as a piece of paper. "Let's get her tucked in. Let her sleep off today's ordeal." The deer demon turned on his heel, heading towards the stairs.

It was inappropriate, and a challenge to the moth demoness' status, he knew.

They will talk, Alastor, his shadow cautioned. They're looking at you.

He knew - of course he did - but it didn't matter to the feeling that blossomed in his chest whenever his thoughts lingered on the demoness in his arms.

He wasn't ready to put her down yet.

"Is she okay?" Vaggie asked, rushing after him as best as she could.

Alastor continued on toward Charlie's room. "I've healed her," he replied, not pausing for the moth demoness to catch up. He just wanted a moment alone - one last moment - for what it was worth with the princess being unconscious through it. He'd have liked to be there when she woke, but that wasn't his place and he could feel a surge of anxiety from his shadow.

As he made his way towards Charlie's room it was as though his legs were made from stone, each step heavier and slower than the last.

Vaggie moved past him with an angry huff as she went to open the door. "What's wrong?" she asked after a moment, and he realized he'd been lingering in the hall. Her eyes drifted from the princess back to himself, then back to him. "What happened?"

He looked at the blonde demoness slumbering against his chest. "We won, dear. In the end, we won."

Why did it feel like a loss?