On My Way: The Demon King Made Me His

"Thank you," Rivera thanked Empress Lihua once they met on the celestial palace. Lihua left immediately with Tai soon after the funeral was cancelled.  And it was the greatest relief for the Water Realm to have had things in their own way. The interruption has been resolved with the help of the Empress itself. 

"I have to thank you, if I didn't know about it, i wouldn't have been able to protect my own son," she said finally, giving in to Rivera.

"Am glad we have had that conversation," 

"I know you will be, " Empress smirked and looked away. "You always enjoyed ruling over me and sabotaging me," 

"What nonsense?" Rivera asked back. "Sabotaging you, if I wanted to really, if I did some stuff back at school when I caught you and Dritan, I could have seen you living well better than this," Rivera told straight to her face. 

"Enough,  let the dead rest in peace," Empress said. Her heart killed her as she heard Dritan's name being mentioned. Her hands shivered and tears streamed down her face. 

"Remember he is living along with your son, he is not dead," Rivera told her another big shock. 

"What?" She asked back. "What are you talking about?" 

Rivera took a deep breath and sighed. "Why ?but am not surprised that you don't know about it," she said. 

"Will say at least one thing clearly, always being ambiguous,"

"It is something nobody should know about," Rivera told her.

"He is my love, he always will be," she said. "What is the right I do not have to know about him?" Empress got all angry and red. 

"Don't shout like that, you're the Empress here, it's not something people should hear about, giving them the chance to gossip around, and by the way, how come you're still mourning? Who is it for?" She Rivera remembered to ask. 

"None of your business, " Lihua replied. 

"Oh it is my business if you want to know," Rivera blackmailed her. 

"For him, Dritan, my unborn grand son and Huo, Tai has not got confirmation about Huo'er's return yet, am assigned with the duty for that,to find him and report to Tai," Empress said, lowering her voice too much that Rivera could hardly catch the words. 

"Oh great the keys in the hands of the thief, but good though, protect him if you can," Rivera said and turned away to leave. 

"You didn't tell me yet, " Empress reminded her.

"Aqua and Huo will depend on each other forever but for Huo crystals alone wouldn't have saved his soul but something stronger," Rivera stopped looking at Lihua's expression growing sadder and sadder. 

"Stronger like a blood relative's sacrifice, " Lihua shut her eyes tight controlling her tears and feeling. 

"He did it, did he not? He took his own life away did he not?" Lihua asked Queen Rivera. 

"He did, he found no other choices, he contained Huo'er's soul with his and let it develop slowly. Volca somehow searched and found it, and brought him back," Rivera said everything together. 

"He chose his son, he chose his blood, he chose our Huo'er, " Lihua bursted into tears. "He chose our son," 

"There there, Lihua don't cry," Rivera addressed the Empress trying to console her by dropping honorifics. "This is why I didn't want to tell you," she said.

"Then you should not have mentioned it at all," Lihua said in between.

"Why did you have to snap at me and say he is dead when infact he is living?" Rivera asked back.

"Forget it," Lihua said and kept crying lying on Rivera's shoulders. The last time Lihua cried on her shoulders was when Dritan left her and the child alone. And this time when she cited it was also because of Dritain who left her but for the better life of their son. 

"Aenon was there when he did it, only Aenon and General Hawk was present when he did it. Aenon wanted to visit Dritan and tell him about the death of our kids and when he heard it, this is the first and only thing Dritan did crying his heart out. He said it hurts more than the wounds does and immediately stepped out and contained Huo'er's soul through several blood magic finding the wandering souls and gave all of his. His final words were this, "They will live well, our kids, when they return tell they shouldn't waste time and take what belongs to them together, don't be sad Aenon, the heirs will return, " and he drew his final breath and closed his eyes. Rivera explained everything and Lihua became miserable. 

Rivera held Lihua by her hands and apparated out of the celestial palace to a mountain nearby. She ket Lihua break down and waited for a long time until Lihua stopped crying. "Cry all you want," Rivera advised.  Rivera turned the clouds and removed them from the sky blowing a heavy wind. She let the breeze continue along and walked towards the edge. 

"Weren't you afraid of heights before?" Lihua managed to ask.

"Not anymore" Rivera said back. "If you're done, am getting back home," Rivera informed the Empress. 

"Sorry," Lihua did a very lame apology before Rivera took off. The clouds kept coming back though Rivera kept moving them away. She couldn't understand the kind of phenomena that was going on. The sky did turn dark and she witnessed the rare Crystals.  Rivera grew shocked and looked at Lihua who did not seemd to have noticed the sky at all. 

Hurriedly, Queen Rivera apparated back home draining her energy and searched for her the King who at that time was spending some lonetime in his pavilion behind the study facing the sea.

"Rivera," Aenon stood up shocked seeing the Queen catching up with her breath. "What happened?" Aenon didn't seem to have noticed the sky either. 

"Look at the sky, look at the molecules and look at those Crystal's being combined with something, " Rivera said to her husband taking his hands and pointing at the sky where the crystals were forming thickly around a dark matter.

"It can't be,' King Aenon gasped. 

"Then how come it is?" Rivera asked him since she had no idea that the father had already met the daughter in the cave. 

"But I just met the," Aenon stopped in the middle. 

"What did you say?" Rivera grew numb. She was not expecting it. And more importantly she was not expecting her husband to keep away things from her. "How could you?" She asked him angrily. "Am a mother and you couldn't even respect that fact," she said to him.

"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean to hide from you forever, it is not a good news that is why," but she stopped him.

"Where and how did you meet with my daughter ?" She asked him expecting a straight reply. 

"On the day of the funeral that was cancelled, when we were there!" He said.

"When you suddenly collapsed went inside the cave to take a look at the power source?" Rivera questioned him. And he nodded for the answer.

"So it was her, it was my Aqua who called you in?" She asked with tears streaming down her face.

"With no flash and blood," he said.

"What?" She asked.

"She was being punished by shenlong to have misused the crystals, she was scolded and confined to the place forever to reflect upon her mistakes," King Aenon opened up. "She was being punished to have trained for a lost cause, for bit taking power in her hands instead," as Aenon said them, Rivera's face turned more rigid and full of guilt.

"She is paying for what we did to her," Rivera said and stood shocked turning place and then looked up in the sky. "But this," she said. 

"Am going to check on her, she asked me to never go see her, but I have to go," Aenon said and took his wife with him to the moutian.

The current of the winds grew stronger. And Aenon did not control them letting it be. He reached the mountain an hour later along with his wife following the phenomena. He managed to get into the caves and passed the barriers. But Aenon found something he was least expecting to find inside the cave and it shocked him. 

"My god," he said looking at his wife. He then soon looked around for his daughter but did not find her anywhere.

"She is gone? Is she? Where did she go? How could she leave if she was confined here forever?" Rivera was full of doubts and question. Then she knelt down. "How could this happen? 

"I have no idea, it is time I reset the security but, and Aqua, I cannot find an answer," 

"I can give you an answer," the shenlong reappeared in front of King Aenon and Queen Rivera. They both got shocked. 

"Great mother," Rivera said surprised.  She looked at Aenon and on the floor. 

"Do not worry for he did not do any harm to anyone here," Shenlong spoke clearly and slowly. "It is time," she said. "Why don't you extend tour search for your daughter else where," she said and slowly disappeared without giving the any clues or hints. They had no idea what to do and decided to treat the ailment of the unconscious man lying on the floor. Staying inside the cave for so long, the conscious helped the body move in. He was drenched in water though. 

"Huo," Aenon tried to wake him, who was ice cold and had a mark on his chest on top the wounds that had yet to be healed completely.

'What should we do?" Rivera asked him.