Chapter 89: Well Needed Rest
Meg blinked, taking in the throne room. It wasn’t exactly what she’d expected from whatever shadowy dimension Fin pulled out of thin air. It was... big. Really big. High ceilings, dark stone walls, but softened somehow.
Not the scary, jagged obsidian nightmare she might have pictured. More like... gothically grand? And hang on, were those velvet drapes? Since when was Fin a velvet kind of guy?
’This place is kinda weird,’ she thought, still holding Fin’s hand, feeling the solid warmth grounding her amidst the strangeness. ’But... less terrifying than I thought?’ It felt vast and powerful, sure, but not actively hostile. Almost... welcoming? She squinted at a large tapestry hanging on the far wall.
The swirling patterns looked vaguely familiar. Like something she might have doodled once. Huh. Weird.
Beside her, Scarlet let out a low whistle, her earlier bravado momentarily forgotten. She scanned the room, not with Meg’s bewildered curiosity, but with the sharp, assessing gaze of someone evaluating power.
’Definitely not a dungeon,’ her mind raced. The energy signature was immense, controlled, woven into the very fabric of the space. This wasn’t just raw power; it was dominion. ’He made this? Or claimed it? Is he really a King? Varn underestimated him. Badly.’ The sheer scale of it, the stability... this was way beyond anything she’d encountered outside of established high-tier entities.
Just as Meg was about to ask Fin exactly what this place was (and maybe comment on the suspicious resemblance to her pictures), light footsteps echoed from an archway off to the side.
A young woman emerged, walking quickly towards them. Dark hair, pale skin, simple dark clothes.
Scarlet instinctively tensed, her hand drifting towards where her daggers would be if she hadn’t dropped them. Another occupant? Hostile? But the woman didn’t radiate threat, just... presence. And she looked human. Mostly. Her gaze, however, held a sharpness that prickled Scarlet’s danger sense.
One glare from Arachne sent chills down her spine; this was no normal woman.
Meg moved slightly behind Fin as the woman approached. She stopped a few feet away and bowed her head respectfully towards Fin. "Welcome back, my Lord."