Demon's Virtue

Eiro let out a long yawn, leaning back into his seat. Boredom was grasping him rather intensely, but there was nothing he could do about it at this point. He refused to leave Nelly alone, especially after he returned to this room the last time just to find it rigged with traps.

Clearly they were hoping they could use Nelly as a sort of hostage against Eiro if it came down to it, but he had disarmed their magic right off the bat.

The spirits and mages that had placed those spells on this room, whose skill was high, though not as high as Eiro's, immediately realized what Eiro had done and anxiously rushed around the castle, as if waiting for the demon to retaliate. But of course, he had no intention of doing that. He really didn't care all that much.

It wasn't a major threat anyway, though it was annoying and did make him pretty mad for a few moments.

That being the case, the only reason why Eiro was still here was because he didn't want his actions to jeopardize Nelly's recovery, and there truly didn't exist a better place than this for her to rest. Especially with the Naiad Queen, who could heal Nelly should her body deteriorate again at some point, something that Eiro was pretty worried about.

Though, that might have just been some sort of anxiety. He did get worried similarly whenever his kids had even a slight cough.

The demon looked at the ceiling, when he heard a slight rustling. Immediately he snapped his head toward the bed, watching as Nelly let out some deep groans. This was the first time she had made any sound at all. Eiro swam to her side and held the naiad's hand.

"Come on, Nelly... you got this. Wake up, alright?" Eiro said with a nervous smile, and as if responding to him, she opened her eyes just a moment later. Turning away from the window's glaring light, she raised her hand in front of her eyes.

"Urgh, what's going on...?" she muttered, "Where are we?"

Eiro smiled as he clutched the spirit's hand tighter, "We're in the Naiad Queen's castle."

"Huh? Wait, what? Weren't we...? We were in the Devil's lair, and Merlin was... and he... I..." Nelly slowly tried to sit up on the bed, clearly in pain.

Eiro immediately placed a hand onto her forehead, trying to emulate the magic that the Naiad Queen had used. He wasn't able to fully heal Nelly as the queen would be able to, but he was at least able to apply some properties that seemed to help relieve some of her pain.

"I'll explain it to you in a second, don't worry. For now, just let me calm you down. The Devil is dead; he died almost too easily. I became a Demon Lord and burnt him away with Holy Energy. Nobody has died, nobody got seriously injured. Everything is fine.

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I began my next evolution while you were out," Eiro explained, and Nelly looked at him confused.

"What do you...? How long was I out?"

"...Nine weeks," the demon responded, and Nelly's eyes widened, as her fear and confusion grew stronger.

"Nine- What do you mean, nine weeks? What happened?"

Looking at the spirit anxiously, Eiro tried to think about the best option here. Should he tell Nelly about what exactly happened to her? What if that would only make things worse again? It was possible that the way she subconsciously decided to repair her mind was to simply suppress the knowledge of Morgan la Fey again... and if Eiro brought it up, Nelly could fall back into that coma.

The demon slowly opened his mouth, when the spirit spoke first.

"Morgan la Fey... it... you... you're an incarnation of Morgan la Fey..." Nelly said, staring at Eiro with wide open eyes. Slowly, the demon nodded his head.

"Yes, I am. For a while I thought Merlin had just said something like that to confuse me and to hurt you, but I do know it for certain now. I am their reincarnation, in the broadest sense of the word. Their last true incarnation was killed after being given the special splinter by the god above the gods, and then their soul was used to create me unknowingly.

Though, I'm growing less and less certain that it was a coincidence," Eiro explained, and Nelly silently stared down at her hands.

"I... I'm sorry, this is quite a lot for me right now," Nelly replied, "I remember everything now. I wasn't even particularly close to them, but they did like to meet with Jura and the other masters every once in a while. They were a friend, one that appeared and disappeared whenever they liked. And even before my time with Jura, I remember hearing about them every once in a while...

they were around since even before I was born, and-"

"Calm down, it's fine," Eiro told the spirit, "You don't have to tell me everything you know. Frankly, I doubt you have any particularly important information related to them. But since you personally knew Morgan la Fey, when they cast the spell to wipe any precise information about them from this world, it locked the knowledge away in a manner that hurt you the moment you remembered them."

Nelly silently nodded her head, "I see..."

"But... there is something else I would like to ask you. And you don't need to tell me anything if you don't want to, but... Nelly, are you the first Naiad?"

Immediately, Nelly stared at Eiro confused, "What do you-"

"I told you that we're in the Naiad Queen's castle, right? She filled me in on your history together, and the conclusion was rather obvious after that," Eiro explained, and the spirit silently looked back at the demon.

"Yes. I am the first Naiad. But that truly doesn't mean much, really. I'm not particularly special. I know a bit more than others, but I don't have any special powers, if that's what you're thinking," Nelly pointed out, but Eiro slowly shook his head.

"I wasn't truly thinking anything in particular. It doesn't even matter much to me, but I figured there was a reason why you were hiding this fact," Eiro replied, "I want to know what happened that you felt like you couldn't tell me about this."

Nelly slowly nodded her head, "It's complicated. The fact that I'm the first naiad doesn't really give me any benefits beside one; I don't age. Usually, spirits do have a lifespan, though it is quite long. But I have outlived that lifespan a few times over. But on the other hand, and they are extinct now, there used to be creatures that fed on spirits. And to them, I was something like a beacon.

Wherever I went, they would come to me and try to feed on me, destroying anything in their way. They could jump across realms freely as well, so there was no way to stop them by just coming here to the elemental plane..."

Eiro silently listened to Nelly tell her story. The people that were killed because of the monsters that were after her, the myriad of spirits that were devoured by them. The fear that she must have felt just trying to live and survive.

"It wasn't that I was keeping it a secret on purpose... why would I ever try to deceive you?" Nelly pointed out, "I just... didn't want to remember those times."

"Don't worry," Eiro smiled, "You don't need to explain yourself. But I'm glad that you managed to persist through until now."

"Thank you," Nelly replied, letting out a long breath, "Now, let's get out of here, I don't think I want to meet with the Queen."

Eiro raised his brow, "You sure? I mean, I don't know why you're avoiding her like this. I know that you believe the former naiad queen to be the rightful ruler, but..."

Nelly sighed, pushing the blankets off her with a groan. Eiro quickly helped her out.

"It's complicated. Some of her choices have been... questionable," Nelly replied, "I just don't want to deal with it, especially not right now."

"... She's the one that healed you."

"... Do I have to?"

"Of course not. But I feel like if someone saved your life, they at least deserve some thanks," Eiro responded, and Nelly let out a long sigh, "Frankly, I don't care too much. We can leave if you want, and then never come back, but I know you. You'd regret that sooner or later."

The naiad clicked her tongue, "Oh, shut up. Fine, I'll thank her."