Queen Of Adis

A tinkle of a bell caught [Adis'] attention and made his sharp eyes discreetly glanced sideways. As he returned his sight back to the crowd, his focus was no longer in the ceremony but to the ghost lurking around him while faintly sounding a bell.

"Fang, it seems that the ceremony will still take some time. This king is bored without my beloved on my side. Prepare a table for me as I shall entertain myself with a game of chess," he nonchalantly gave out his order in which the royal aide quickly complied.

While setting the table at his side, Fang whispered his concern. "Your Majesty, are you going to use the crystal chess set? But it's already missing some pieces as you broke--"

"Stop spouting trivial matters," he cut his aide's unsolicited advice. "Do as you told. After you set the table, leave. I don't need you here. Better yet, stand beside your queen and protect her from an insignificant pest."

Fang creased his eyebrows as he wished to ask the meaning behind his master's words, but he knew better than to pry into his king's mind. He just silently took his leave after he delivered his task.

As soon as [Adis] was alone, the chess pieces moved on its own; three Knights were assembled in one line while a Queen stood in front of them, mimicking the current position of the ceremony. However, a bishop was notably isolated at the side, and he knew the reason why.

"Everything is moving according to our plan." He whispered as he propped his elbow on the armchair and rested his chin on his fist. "My fair maiden chose Azrael, and as long as she's with him, she'll be fine. After all, I personally trained and nurtured that child when he was abandoned by his own stupid father at such a young age. He will treat Haru as his own sister-in-law, just as he treats me as his big brother."

Then he scoffed and shook his head as he realized something, "Why the hell am I telling you these things when you and I are just the same. I guess I'm really bored. Now that the stage is set, what now?"

Unexpectedly, the lone bishop at the corner was kicked down and snatched away. His sight instantly flew to the dark alley nearby where Elior should have been hiding as planned. When he didn't see the wise man, his whole body froze as he felt a dreadful chill enveloped him.

His eyes glowed in murderous intent. "What happened? Where is he?" he gnashed.

As a response, a knight was kicked down on the crystal board. As he analyzed its position, he saw that it represents Pier Willows. "You mean, he might know where Elior is?"

When realization sank in, his knuckles and joints cracked as he clenched his fists in rage. However, another sound of a bell awakened him from his vicious outburst. "I know. I won't kill him... Not yet, at least."

Unbeknownst to the demon king, three sets of demon eyes were secretly watching him from a distance; Zen, Aquarius, and Camus. And with the way they followed his reactions and the movement of the chess pieces, they were able to understand one thing -- Elior is in trouble.

Camus' complexion instantly paled and he had to grip his armchair to prevent himself from marching towards Adis and confront him. Zen, on the other hand, already stood up but was quickly stopped by Aquarius through the use of his fan.

"Don't act on impulse, Zen. There must be a reason why big brother is acting discreetly. Whoever is the ghost behind the chess game must not be known by anyone, not even by us," the always level-headed king cautioned. "Big brother is a genius. He will ask for help when he could no longer handle the situation. So have faith in him."

******************************

Meanwhile, *Haru watched and listened as the two powerful men from the past and future interact through the use of a bell and chess pieces. It seemed that they already established quite a relationship as the past could understand the future even without any words.

But the creased on her delicate eyebrows deepened as their interaction became more complex. She knew that both of them were having a hard time but none would like to admit it due to their stupid pride.

When she could no longer take it, she finally spoke. "You men are amazing... but stupid."

[Adis'] eyes widened and he involuntarily stood up in surprise, which caused the beings around him to stop in their tracks and looked at him. Even his maiden, who was busy with her speech, turned around and questioned him with her beautiful eyes.

He awkwardly cleared his throat and nodded to everyone, giving a sign to proceed with their show. "This king is getting bored. Wrap it up so my beloved can return to my side," he declared sternly then went back to his seat.

He covered his mouth with his fist as he snarled to his other self. "Damn it, why did you not tell me that the future Haru can speak to me? It would have made our lives easier, you moron!"

"I... honestly have no idea." *Adis admitted as he looked at his wife in a daze, equally surprised at the revelation. He added, "I thought only Elior can do it."

"Of course, I can. Did you forget that I'm a seer, too? If it's just talking to someone in this period, I can do that. The future Elior taught me about it before we left, er, slept."

"Then why did you not tell me?" *Adis asked, feeling stupid that he underestimated his wife's capability to learn and adjust promptly.

"You didn't ask." She just shrugged her shoulders as though it was his fault, to begin with.

He narrowed his eyes at her cheeky remark but he couldn't retort because he knew that it was true.

"Hey, guys, enough of that. My own Haru will be here at any moment so let's focus on the issue at hand." [Adis] spoke to get their attention when he heard Isaiah announced the closing remark.

"A demon from the Blood Hound clan, who will be in league with Pier in the future, might be after Elior. He has a seer's eye that can change the past and his objective is to hunt the remaining seers so none will exist in the future. It's just my hunch, though, and we don't know yet if Pier and his team already met this demon. But saving Elior should be our priority now, *Haru relayed his husband's words.

[Adis] scowled and gritted through his clenched teeth. "Hunch? You want me to mobilize an entire army because of a mere hunch?"

A long silence came before he heard their reply. "...Yes."

He pondered for a moment before he nodded in understanding. This was his future self he was talking to. He wouldn't dare move without a piece of solid evidence except... if he's desperate.

"I will assemble an elite search regiment to find Elior. I think we both know where he might hide at the moment. Hopefully, he was able to reach that place safely, but I'll start from there. I will also deploy my ghost spy to follow Pier."

"Be warned, that man can see ghosts. That's why we have to hide from him," *Haru advised him.

"Mn. I'll take it from here," he assured them.

But before his ghost companion could finally leave him, his eyes suddenly lit up in vengeance. "Ah, Haru?"

"..."

Even without a response, he still continued. "Just so you know, your husband broke three crystal chess pieces; a knight, a pawn and... I forgot the other one. And you know how much a piece cost, right?"

*Adis body stiffened as though he was bitten by a snake. Oh yes, it was indeed a massive demon snake king. The petty motherf.u.c.ker really took the opportunity to exact his revenge at this time?!

He snapped his head towards his wife who was already counting the crystal pieces on the board.

"Don't worry, I heard you." *Haru's cold voice sent shivers to *Adis' poor soul.

"I will f.u.c.k.i.n.g get you for this, asshole!" He seethed despite knowing that the recipient of his curse wouldn't hear it. Then, he felt a sharp pain on his ear as he was dragged away. "O-ow, love, let me explain. I swear I'm not being wasteful!"

[Adis] may not have heard what happened next but his lips curved into a triumphant grin. 'Hmph, serves you right!'

Fortunately, he remembered that he just received a whacking from his maiden this morning when she noticed the missing chess set. Ah, it felt good to know that he won't be alone anymore.