(Intermission) Destined Lovers or Enemies - Chapter 9: A New Life Plan

Chapter 9: A New Life Plan

In a small city, a clock tower stands taller than any of the other buildings. Below, in an open area between buildings. a market operates with many stands to buy from. Humans and demons walk throughout the market, going up to the stands to buy food. Now, focusing on a woman who has black hair in a ponytail that extends down to her lower back. She is wearing a light brown button-up jacket, a red scarf around her neck, green gloves, and black pants. A closer look reveals her dark divine eyes. This woman is Sasha. She takes a breath and her breath is visible, indicating below freezing temperatures outside.

Sasha walks up to a stand with various fruits laid out on it. The seller is an older man with short gray hair and a gray mustache. He has glasses on.

“What can I get for you today, young lady?” the seller asks with a smile.

“I would like the variety package. Two of each to be specific.” Sasha replies.

“Ah, so one for you and one for that special someone, eh?” the seller teases.

Sasha blushes and smiles with her eyes drifting to the side. “…Yeah.”

The seller smiles more. “It’s always nice to have someone like that in your life. I know a young lad who struggled to find that person, but once he did, he became a lot happier.”

The seller places the fruits in a big bag as he continues speaking. “Well, anyway, here are your fruits. Enjoy.”

Sasha hands him some money and takes the bag of fruits, walking away toward the market’s exit. She leaves the market area and starts walking on the sidewalk.

Sasha narrates, “It has been a month since we escaped into this underworld. This is the Brushoken Underworld. This underworld is known for its brusho-looking night skies and is divided into four prefectures that are overall ruled by a king. This is the Clocktower Prefecture. Both of these give the underworld its name, Brushoken.”

Soon, Sasha walks up to an apartment building. She then walks up some stairs until she reaches the fourth floor. She walks up to a door labeled “4-D”, pulls out a key, unlocks it, and enters the room.

Sasha takes her shoes off as she calls out, “I’m home.”

Zeth comes out of the kitchen area and is wiping a plate with a towel.

“Welcome back,” Zeth says with a welcoming smile.

Sasha walks closer to Zeth, still holding the bag of fruits.

“I got us some good fruit from the market,” Sasha says as she enters the kitchen.

She sets the bag of fruit on the kitchen counter, opening it up to show Zeth what she bought.

Zeth focuses on the fruits and nods. “Ah, you got some of everything. Nice.”

Sasha takes off her gloves and then starts unbuttoning her jacket. “Figured I would cover for anything we might be in the mood for.”

She finishes taking off her jacket, revealing a blue long-sleeved shirt underneath.

Zeth smiles. “Great. We’re going to have some good food for tonight.”

Sasha looks away from Zeth as she speaks with a concerned tone. “I have something I want to talk about tonight during dinner.”

“Alright. But for now, I’m going to finish doing the dishes,” Zeth says assuredly.

He returns to doing the dishes while Sasha starts walking into their room.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” Sasha states as she heads into the room.

***

Sasha stands in the shower with running water hitting across her body. She rubs shampoo into her hair that is no longer in a ponytail.

Sasha thinks to herself. “We’ve been able to live peacefully in this underworld for a whole month so far. Living in Hell, peace is not something I’m used to. But there’s no way this peace is going to last. They will find us one day. What can we do, though?”

***

Later at night.

Zeth and Sasha sit at a table and are eating dinner with fruit and meat.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Zeth asks.

“Where do we go from here? There’s no way we can stay here forever. Whenever we go out, we’re always at risk of being caught by someone from Heaven or Hell.” Sasha replies with concern.

“Yeah. It’s frustrating having to keep such a low profile,” Zeth admits.

Sasha digs a fork in her food but just twirls it for a bit. “You know it’s only a matter of time until we are found. We’ve done well to avoid being spotted for a month. But for how much longer? We could be found in a year, or a month, or a week, or even tomorrow. Are we going to have to fight all of Heaven and Hell to find our true peace? We’re strong, but not that strong. Not enough to take on everyone in Heaven and Hell.”

Zeth swallows some food and then takes a deep breath. “Yes, I am aware. This underworld is not our ultimate destination.”

Sasha looks directly at Zeth, opening her eyes wider in surprise. “You had somewhere else in mind all this time?”

Zeth smiles with confidence. “Yep. Our ultimate destination is the Dimension of Deities. In there, neither Heaven nor Hell can bother us anymore.”

Sasha finally takes another bite of her food before asking, “So, how do we get there?”

Zeth begins speaking in detail. “Well, normally, there is a locked door that leads to it in both Heaven and Hell. We obviously can’t go to either one. However, underworlds tend to have an entrance as well. It is why Heaven has to deal with deities illegally crossing into underworlds. During this past month, I have been trying to find the entrance that is in this underworld. Once we enter, we will become deities ourselves and stay there permanently.”

“I see…” Sasha says, taking in all the information.

“I’m so close to discovering its location,” Zeth states with confidence. “Tomorrow, I intend to find it. Now, let’s get back to our dinner. I promise everything will be all right.”

Sasha smiles and nods as they get back to eating.

***

Meanwhile, at the clock tower.

It’s night out. Someone is standing on the large clock tower. It’s Zaydra, who is looking down on the city with a stern look.

Narrator: Zaydra is looking over the city! What does this mean!?

Chapter 9 END

To be Continued in DLoE – Chapter 10: A Familiar Meeting