Chapter 258 - 3.15 TLOC (5)

"Nyx! You look amazing!" Zander shouted while making his way through the masses to get close to her. He grabbed her gently and kissed her and the demon crowd went wild.

"The gods have blessed Nyxara with a suitor!"

"We have the strongest god to ever exist on our side!"

"Our future queen has a king and its... a god?!?! This is amazing!"

Demons continued to shout and scream their praises for the Princess they loved and adored so much. So many of them wished they’d be the one to win her over, yet none of them were upset that Zander, the god sent to unite the races, was the one whose heart she had her eyes for.

"This will be great for unity! A holy god with a demonic Princess?!" A voice cheered.

"Yeah! You’re right! That’s like the embodiment of uniting the world." Another screamed.

Nyxara laughed. "Calm down everyone, give him some space!"

"What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing in our area, Zander?" Nyx said while hugging him.

"Zephyra suggested I visit the demon lands so I decided to check it out. It’s quite amazing! There are more pure and neutral souls here than there are in the human realm."

Nyxara smiled. "Well, just because we’re spawns of the underworld doesn’t mean we are all bad, does it?"

"No, it’s wonderful! Are we still on for our date tonight? I can’t get over how stunning you look in your formal princess attire. So gorgeous," he said while gently running his hand through her hair.

She blushed. "Yes of course we are on for our date! Pick me up after the meeting, ok?"

"I will. It was nice meeting everyone! I will see you all soon, I promise!" Zander said before kissing Nyxara one more time and teleporting back home.

He tried everything he could do to distract himself from the upcoming meeting. He wasn’t looking forward to it and knew the humans would have lots of complaints. He also worried that they would join forces with the vampires and elves to form a 3 versus 2 type situation where he would be put in a compromising position.

He arrived five minutes early and noticed how nervous Jessica was. Zander didn’t understand why she would be so nervous until Zephyra reminded him that he killed 10,000 humans and the humans would likely be pretty upset about that.

"This way, Zander," she said politely.

"I am sorry I have caused you all of this stress." He told her politely.

"It’s ok Zander, you were just doing what you thought was right. The new human leader will be here. It’s someone of a different family so hopefully things will start to change."

"Yes, that is what I really hope for." Zander said while taking his seat next to Jessica.

At exactly 7:00 PM, the five seats filled.

"Welcome everyone. Tonight I would like to introduce to you the new human ruler, Frederick Rosemont. He is the top Commander in the human army and not of the royal family tree. The humans decided to send a different representative after the last meetings... incident." Jessica said politely.

’A neutral soul. Interesting. That means he can be swayed in either direction.’ Zander thought while noticing how nervous most of the room was.

"Welcome Frederick, I am Zander. I hope you can help the humans and lead them in the right direction. Has it been under your order to intervene in the battles at the last minute?" Zander asked coldly.

"No, it was not. That was the command sent down to us from the royal family. I am here to assure you that we will not continue doing this."

"Bullshit!" Theron said bluntly.

"No offense but you can’t honestly expect me to believe, especially after yesterday, that all of a sudden the humans are just going to fall in line and start fighting fairly."

’Interesting, everyone else seems to agree but Fleur and Alistair are confident. I hope one of them speaks soon, this could escalate out of control.’

"Well, I cannot take back what has happened, only show you what is to come in the future. I understand why you would feel that way, Lord Theron." Frederick said calmly.

"I would like to make an announcement," Alistair said while clearing his throat.

"The demons have decided to align with the faeries and wish to still maintain our neutral approach. We will not instigate, only defend ourselves as we have been doing. If the faeries are attacked, our armies will be there." He said calmly.

Fleur smiled. "Yes, and the faeries will be there for the demons as well. I believe we have Alistair’s daughter to thank for this arrangement. She was a key messenger who reached out to me directly."

’Why is she lying? Is she trying to protect me? The room is now unsure, confused and doesn’t know what to do. This is interesting to say the least.’

"Have any of you thought about possibly joining that alliance or aligning yourselves?" Zander asked politely.

"Verd, I wouldn’t mind aligning with you," Theron said proudly.

"Yes, I think that would work." Verd said while running his hand through his perfectly styled black hair.

"So the humans are just left out?" Frederick complained.

"No offense, but until you show us or give us reason to believe otherwise, we’ll just let Zander handle you." Theron laughed.

’Why is he putting all of this on me? I simply helped his people.’

"What do you mean have Zander handle it?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, he didn’t tell you he showed up, killed over 10,000 humans who were trying to third party the elven and vampire battle when they were tired and demanded this meeting?" Verde laughed.

’I understand why Fleur left me out of how she spoke with Nyxara now. They would assume I am aligning with them and would protect them no matter what, which is not entirely true. I would protect Nyxara, Fleur, Alistair, Theron or Verd if I had too.’ Zander thought, watching the emotions of the room swirl with anger, confusion and tension.

"I only interfered because it was clear that many good lives would be lost due to a dirty battle tactic. I am here to unite you, not punish or kill all of you. Please stop fighting."

The room fell silent.

"Well, that’s enough for today." Jessica said as no one was speaking.

"Until next time everyone," Alistair said and everyone aside from Jessica vanished.

’Huh? Why would Fleur not wait to speak with me?’

"Zander, are you ok?" Jessica asked, concerned.

"Yes I am just confused. It looks like there are now 3 groups to unite instead of 5 though. That is good."

"I agree, that is good. Now go get some rest! I’ll send word when our next meeting will be, ok?"

"Yes, that sounds great!" Zander said empathically.

He teleported to his house and changed out of his dress clothes.

’I think I’ll wear a simple t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt and sweats tonight. She said she was sleeping over, so I’ll let her have my bed and I’ll take the couch.’ He thought before running a quick shower. He got dressed afterwards and remembered something from earlier in the day.

He noticed while Nyxara was in her formal attire, she wore jewelry, so he wanted to do something nice. He remembered seeing a stand in the demon realm and wondered if it might still be open, so he teleported there.

"Please don’t make a scene, I just admired your work earlier and would like to buy something for the princess," Zander whispered, as the female shopkeeper was just getting ready to pack up for the night.

"Oh, a special gift from a god for our beautiful princess. How thoughtful of you. Here, I think she’ll like this one!" The woman said as she grabbed a 18k white gold bracelet with a rosy pink sapphire gemstone embedded in it perfectly.

"This is beautiful. How much?"

"For you Zander, just take it, please."

’She is calm, excited and feels honored. I want to give her some form of payment though.’

"But that is not a fair transaction. I’m sure this was not easy to make nor was it inexpensive. What can I give you instead?"

"Your word that you will take care of the princess and unite the world, how about that?"

Zander smiled. "I can promise I will always take care of Nyxara but I cannot promise that I can unite the world. I will do everything I can to try and I know she will help me significantly."

"That’s enough for me, thank you deary. Goodnight!" She said as she put it in a nice black box, handing it to Zander.

Zander graciously accepted the small box.

"You are very kind and a good person. Have a great evening!"

Nyxara was nervously pacing in her room. She was wearing pajamas and wasn’t wearing make up anymore.

"Should I do my make up? Should I change? I don’t know what to do!" She muttered, indecisive on what to do for the evening.

Zander decided to walk to the castle and the guards allowed him in. He admired the beautiful castle and how large it was. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. There were demons walking around, some cleaning, some chatting, paintings and portraits decorating some of the walls and too many rooms to count. He smiled along the way until the guards finally arrived at Nyxara’s room.

"Are you really going to stand here while I knock and say hello?" Zander asked, as the guards had good souls but were nervous he was there.

"I suppose we could go, I don’t think King Nightwing would mind. Thank you Zander, take care of her, please." One of the guards said before they both practically sprinted out of there.

Zander laughed and knocked on the door. "Hey Nyxara, it’s Zander!"

’Oh my gosh I am totally not ready! I’m just in a spaghetti top shirt and pajama bottoms!’ She thought as she ran to her closet and threw on a hooded sweatshirt, quickly zipping it up.

"Come in!" She shouted.