Eva wasn’t certain what did fit her image of Prax, but this… just wasn’t it.
Shaking her head, Eva glanced towards her companions.
Nothing bad had happened to Shalise upon dropping in. So that was.. good. But she also hadn’t said a word.
If Prax had done something to switch places with her again, Eva wasn’t certain what she would do. Zagan likely wouldn’t help out a second time. Eva still hadn’t made any progress on puzzling out what he might want that would be worth potentially drawing the Keeper’s attention by helping Shalise out of Hell.
But, Eva didn’t think that anything had happened. Shalise still walked with the gait Eva had grown used to over the past two years. Eva hadn’t seen much of her while Prax had been in charge–she had been far too concentrated on Genoa–but Prax had definitely carried himself differently. Stiffer and with a far wider stance.
Sister Cross–who, according to Shalise, was not a sister anymore–carried herself like a warrior. Her eyes were aglow with her brand of power, scanning each and every little detail for any kind of threat. She spent no time taking in the sights as Eva had.
After her fairly long nap, she was looking much better. The bags under her eyes were still there, but not half as dark. Eva had ended up fighting off two separate attacks of the enigmas while the former nun slept.
And yet, despite helping Shalise fend off the enigmas and keeping everyone safe, she still sent Eva a glare every couple of steps. And every single time, Eva tensed, just waiting for a bolt of lightning to fly in her direction.
Eva would not be missing the stress when it came time for her to return to the mortal realm.
“So,” Eva said, breaking the silence between glares, “who has control?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“Don’t know? How can you not know?”
“Neither of us have tried,” Shalise said. “Too afraid.”
Eva almost asked what she was afraid of, but Shalise continued without needing a prompt.
“Prax is afraid that I have control still. I’m afraid to mess up his domain beyond repair. Or, beyond my abilities to repair.” She took her eyes off of the massive gate to glance at Eva. “He’s not all that bad, so I’d rather not be needlessly cruel. It is his home.”
“Shalise,” Lynn Cross said, warning tone in her voice. “I would rather you
“It’s a bit hard when he’s stuck inside my head.”
Lynn’s lips pinched down to a single point. Eva watched as the flare in her eyes jumped up a few notches in intensity.
Eva quickly looked away before that glare could be leveled at her.
“As nice as it is that you’re so considerate of each other,” Eva said with her focus on Shalise and Shalise alone, “it would probably be a good idea to find out before anything happens. I’m already surprised that this place isn’t crawling with enigmas.”
Shalise tilted her head to the side, listening to whatever Prax was saying. “Depending on the exact nature of their origins, these creatures have likely gravitated towards domains of demons currently on the mortal plane. Given your frequent travels between here and there, the ‘walls’ may have weakened further in your case.”
“That,” Eva said, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible for Shalise’s sake, “could have been useful information to have been told earlier.”
“He says that you never asked,” Shalise said.
Eva sighed.
“Could be,” Shalise said with a shrug. “Prax doesn’t think it will matter much. All of Void will be weakened to that point sooner or later.”
Turning away from Eva, Shalise looked up to the gate. She rested her hand on the dark wood. “But enough of that. Let’s try this. Do you want to, or shall I?”
Ignoring the look on Lynn’s face that said she wanted to interrupt, Eva fell silent as she watched and waited. Shalise continued to stare at the door with her head tilted to one side and her hand on the wood.
“But that won’t solve anything.” Shalise shook her head. After another moment of silence, she shrugged. “Alright, if you say so.”
With a ring of thunder, the door cracked open. Apart from the initial noise, the doors parted in a smooth and silent manner. The hinges, each as tall as Eva herself, didn’t even squeak.
It stopped only a sliver of the way open. A sliver relative to the size of the doors themselves. Eva, Shalise, and Lynn were all able to walk in shoulder-to-shoulder with space to spare.
“So?” Eva said as they walked through the courtyard up to the main entrance.
“Still don’t know. We tried at the same time. Count of three and everything.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “Well, at least one of you has it. Better than neither–”
“Wait.” Shalise glanced around, scanning the exterior of the castle. “Someone is here.”
