DLC: Chapter 2

                                                                 Chapter 2

Daeira sipped her juice in the quietness of the corridor while absentmindedly stared ahead of her. She was done for the whole day of work in the library. Later in the house, she would  be working non-stop together with other helps in the house. While those housemaids would insist to her to just rest after her school but those stepsisters of hers and their mother always made sure that she was living in hell under their roof. Of course, their goal was to make her quit and leave the house.

 That way, they can finally be salvaged what her father had left for her. But as long as she was breathing, none of the things inside the house would be sent to auction. Not even the old broom and mop in the kitchen. They belonged to her family before those three wicked people arrived in their life. It was her father's greatest mistake in trying to help these women and had them adopted under his name. And now, she can't help but blame her father for it.  She can't believe it be referred to as the modern society Cinderella. Why not? It was the same plot in that damn fairy tale. The only thing that was missing, there wasn't any prince in the kingdom to swept her off her feet. 

"Hellow, do you mind if we sit here with youw?" 

Daeira looked up to see who the heck was this woman who was talking in a strange accent.  She saw a woman on her pearly white skin, cute but puffy face, and long leaned legs. Together with her, was a cheeky-eyed woman. Opposite to the first one, her companion wasn't smiling while staring at her.

"Please, "Daeira scooted to her right side to give room to these women. She took note that there were many empty benches along the corridors. 

"Is she the one?" The cheeky-eyed girl asked the puffy cheeked girl.

"Found her," the woman with fine skin responded.

"I'll round the parameter first," the cheeky-eyed girl said before leaving them.

Daeira felt awkward when the puffy cheeked woman kept on staring at her, smiling widely.

"Uhm...good to meet you guys. I will have to leave and-,"

"My name's Esee and that was Csal."

"Ah yeah," Daeira nodded while standing up at the same time but Esee grabbed her.

"Tell me, did you dream of the apocalypse?" She asked to Daeira's astonishment. Her reaction seemed like a delight to Esee when she grinned widely. "tell you what? It's happening...soon. Very soon."

Daeira forcibly disentangled herself from the hold before walking away from the stranger.

"If he'll visit you again tonight, then it will certainly come, Daeira."

Annoyed, Daeira stopped in her tracks and turned back in the direction of the strange woman, "What are you talking about?"

Esee's grinned disappeared, "The king of Aryan from the underworld or the inhabitants in the  surface called it Agartha, is selecting for his bride to carry out the prophecy of humanities' downfall,"  

Daeira's face was drawn into confusion and gave Esee an are you crazy look.

"The king...you've already met him and he's preparing you to meet him," Esee said

Daeira curled her fists, "Last time I checked, the king wasn't anywhere in Korea for me to freely meet. He's dining with his mother in England,"

"I'm referring to the underworld's king, Daeira. In your dreams...did you two already mate?"

Daeira's stunned expression gave away to Esee's suspicions.

"That was only a dream."

Esee shook her head, "It wasn't and it's happening."

"You're talking nonsense. How would you even know that? What kind of joke is this?" Daeira asked while Esee eyed the surrounding. She then held her palm upward, closing them in a snap. The surrounding became eerily silent. Daeira's eyes then went to the birds above them which froze midair. Her attention was snapped to the woman in front of her when she made a purring sound. Her steps fell backward after what she saw now. The woman turned into a human cat. Her long leaned legs turned into one powerful legs of a cheetah, her hands with sharp claws, her ears, nose, mouth, and teeth like that of a cat. Her eyes becoming sharp on its sides. The cat-human licked her mouth first before grinning at her. She was then joined by the woman named Csal...the same as her form. Of course, a weak heart would collapse and lost consciousness, but darn it, she was healthy as the cow and she hated that about her. She stayed standing there, her eyes wide and her mouth gaped open. 

***

It was an agonizing four hours of explanation until Daeira seemed to get that what the people knew about the world wasn't enough. That underneath the earth's surface was another world of hybrid inhabitants. The two women belonged to one of the existing races under the rule of one King...the one who visited on her dreams. No, visited was a huge understatement, that gigantic abomination was trying to kill the living out of her wits.

But why were the two cat-human were informing her all that when they belonged to the Agartha's race? 

"Revenge," they both said. 

"To what? To whom?" Daeira managed to ask them. They were in the woods, walking to nowhere or that was what she thought.

"The king,"

"you mean your king," Daeira corrected. 

Before the two responded, Esee placed a hand to her throat at the same time like Csal. Daeira could only hear a purring sound from Esee's voice. She turned to her and spoke in words that seemed to sound an ancient tribal language. 

"Ami nandi laarshika," Esee's spoke to her to which she can't fathom a thing. Both conversed in language while Daeira listened to them while continuing to walk in uphill. 

In a distance, there was a car waiting for them and two more people in black.

"Are they Agarthian's too?" Daeira asked Esee. Although she felt like a stupid person for believing such a world existed. But after what she saw while back was enough to push away her doubts first. Esee said she will understand more if she will go with them. 

Esee shook her head in response. When they got near the two people, Daeira didn’t know if she will be horrified upon seeing the logo on their shoulders. The Nazi symbol was in bold red.  Nazi wasn't supposed to be existing. They had been annihilated after the leader died. This group of people had done a lot of terrible things to the humanities during the Hitler era. 

Those two people handed Esee and Csal something to which they immediately down their mouths. Esee turned to her, smiling.

"We have to drink this formulated tablet to speak your language," she explained.

"So?" one of the two men asked them.

"She the one," Csal answered them. 

The two men spoke in German before nodding to each other. 

"Please come with us," one man said pulling Daeira inside the car. 

"What?" Daeira wanted to protest but Esee reinforced her with a reassuring smile.

"You will be safe with us. If you're anywhere near the people, chances are, they might be hurt by those hunters sent to collect you. I'm sure you've met them?" Esee sat beside her in the back seat along with Csal.

"Hunters?" Daeira asked.

Their attention went to Csal when she spoke, "I've seen them. The King's hunters. They  were the ones who got you during that...massacre."

Daeira's astonishment at everything wasn't ending very soon since these two women seemed to be so powerful enough even to know her very dreams. Esee leaned over her and whispered something like, "Csal can see dreams of people. That's how we found you,"

 It took them another couple of hours to travel under the long tunnel. She was then brought up next to the important officials of the organization to which her suspicion was right. She was with the elite member of Nazi. She was sent in the middle of the platform while she stood awkwardly while sending a look to Esee who just nodded to her reassuringly. 

"We finally found you, child." started the elderly man to which she thought his effort to be kind on his words didn't reach her heart. Or was it just her awkwardness right that everything seemed off in this place? 

There was a discussion that follows. That the Nazi was thankful they got her first before the king of Aryan could have or apocalypse was inevitable. They said once in thousands of years, a bride for the Agarthian king must be chosen among the human to breed a mallison, a cursed child who can open the gates of the underworld and allow the inhabitants therein to feed on humans. 

Daeira's face was distorted by the mere thought of breeding such malediction on her womb. "I won't let him," she said to them.

"It’s not your choice, child. You had been prophesied to bear Aryan's seed but we, from Nazi, can prevent that."

"Then kill the king. Bomb them or anything. If you already knew about this, why did you  have to wait-,"

"We didn't wait which was our mistake. We've lost so many lives. Innocent ones who volunteered to help to prevent the dreadful day." the old man said, gesturing to Esee and Csal.  "they've lost their friends in the effort to prevent it. None ever came out alive in that door. The king had them slaughtered." 

Daeira turned to Esee and Csal.

"these poor children who lost their love ones decided to volunteer again in hope that they will  be chosen,"

"volunteer to what?" Daeira asked.

"to be the king's bride, " he answered, "but I can't lose them too when the result will always be the same. The King won't hesitate to kill the women who aren't his bride."

"then what's the point of this discussion then if you-,"

"The point here is, you gonna be sent in the underworld."

There was silence and Daeira snapped her attention to Esee and Csal who seemed to know about the plan.

"excuse my language, but are you out of your damn mind?" Daeira snarled," I'm not going  there and kill myself!" Daeira exclaimed in a hysteric tone.

"you won't be killed," The elder said confidently.

"I doubt that," but Daeira frowned at him instead.

"the king's bride won't be killed either by anyone inhabiting there or the king himself,"  the elder man said again. 

Daeira shook her head while stepping down the platform, "I'm going home and I need to study." she widened her eyes to Esee who only held her arms and made her face the monitor. It was outside her house...surrounded by groups of hyenas. The ones she saw in her dreams.

"If you go back, they die. All of the humans inside the house." Csal said.

Daeira hated her stepsisters and their mother but she wasn't that cold-hearted to actually had them killed if she has a choice.

"don't you understand, Daeira? The hunt already began," Esee said to her horrified expression when her eyes weren't leaving the monitor.