King Of Limbo

"A Clone?..." Alor repeated Aron's words with a confused look on his face under the cloak as he turned to his Queen.

"So you knew, but that doesn't change the fact that I still have answers to your questions." The cloaked woman was a bit taken aback but quickly recomposed herself without bothering to explain anything to Alor who still held his bleeding wound on his leg.

"Anyone would think it's strange to see an elf with a mana capacity less than that of a human. As for you answering my questions, that is but a ploy to stall me is it not?" Aron asked with a stern gaze as he slowly got closer and closer to the two of them.

Alor was quick to come in front of the Queen so Aron stopped a meter away from them. "You'd protect a clone with your life? What an admirable yet foolish sense of loyalty." Aron praised and mocked Alor as a small smirk appeared on his face.

"It doesn't matter, even if I have to die I'll at least take you with me- Arck!" As Alor was getting ready to reply, Aron suddenly lunged his hand forward and thrust it right through his neck.

Blood splattered on the cloaked woman who stood behind while Alor's body trembled violently from the shock. Aron's hand had viciously crushed his throat and pierced through his neck in just a short moment leaving him in disbelief as his senses began to grow dull.

"You lack the ability." Aron commented indifferently before throwing Alor aside like a pile of trash then turning his gaze to the cloaked woman who didn't seem at all moved by the death of Alor.

"What happens now? It is like you said, I am a clone so I do not fear death or are you waiting for your friends to arrive so you reach a conclusion?" She asked curiously but Aron shook his head and replied. "No, they are still lingering near the stone slab awaiting for your original to reveal herself. In the meantime let's you and I have a little talk." Aron finally came closer and stood just mere inches away from the cloaked woman whose height was around the same as his.

"It seems the plan has failed completely, the least I can do is keep someone as dangerous as you here so as to provide my original more time. I need not lie since you've already seen my mana capacity... I don't have the strength to hold you back. But if you stay I will provide answers to the best of my ability." Left with no choice the cloaked woman no longer put up a front and stated clearly what she offered.

The best she could do now was ensure that Aron, who saw through her in such little time, didn't rejoin Lady Rose and Evanora. "I purposely left after you, for that very reason. So let's start. Do you know a way to Limbo? And don't try to lie or your original will meet quite the unsettling fate." Aron asked the most pressing question on his mind.

"Yes, the first is within the Aethel Empire but how it operates is unknown. The other entrance although I'm not sure is within the Kingdom Of Aldra, they had suddenly reappeared back in our world less than fifty decades ago after all." The cloaked woman explained and Aron nodded before turning to leave.

"Wait! Do you not wish to know who I am or what the stone slab possesses? It may very well endanger the lives of your loved ones. Without my knowledge you may not live through the justice that will befall Pesia." The woman warned as she was surprised Aron only asked one question and hoped to delay him more.

"I'm not interested in Pesia's matters, I've learned what I wanted so I need not waste anymore time here. Your original copy is clearly not simple either so why fight her for something I have absolutely no interest in and risk self harm? For Pesia's well-being? Tsk." Aron replied coldly and clicked his tongue at the idea of fighting a force without purpose.

"Stop right there!"

Just as Aron was about to leave again, he was once again called out to, but this time not by the cloaked woman but by Kaira who appeared on the scene with a hostile expression.

"And you are...?"

....

Back at the clearing that held the slab, a cloaked woman could be seen walking out of the jungle and past the corroded trees and vegetation.

'Seems I was right to employ a clone, since I can still feel it as active then it must still be keeping them busy.' The woman thought before turning her attention towards the stone slab and walking over to it.

Once there she glanced around herself as if to make sure she wasn't being watched before reaching into her cloak and taking out a dark red rectangular crystal that hung on a necklace.

"Finally..." She muttered before crouching down with the necklace in hand and placing it in the small depression present on the slab.

After she did so the crystal slowly began to glow and numerous runes began to spread from it and onto the slab like a bunch of roots growing rapidly until it was fully covered.

Only then did the woman step onto the slab before her figure vanished entirely along with the runes that had appeared. After the glow faded the stone slab looked the same as it did before with the slot at its center being empty.

"So that's how it is." Lady Rose soon emerged from the forest with Evanora beside her. They soon approached the stone slab after observing the cloaked woman while hidden in the jungle. "She vanished." Evanora said with a confused tone before looking up at Lady Rose curiously.

"I suppose she did, but so will we. This slab seems to follow the lock and key mechanism and like all locks, it can be picked." Lady Rose explained to Evanora with a smirk but Evanora only stared at her blankly. "But locks aren't flowers so they can not be picked." She commented with a straight face.

Lady Rose simply rubbed her temples and didn't explain further. "Just observe and refrain from speaking." Rose instructed as she took out a black piece of paper that she placed down on the slab right above the slot. "What does refrain mean?" At this point Lady Rose didn't bother responding and just focused on the task at hand.

Soon the black piece of paper began to display runes that perfectly matched those the crystal before had caused to appear and in no time the entire slab was once again covered in runes while glowing.

"Let's get on quickly, it won't stay open for long." Lady Rose quickly instructed Evanora before stepping onto the stone slab herself.

....

At this time Aron's interaction with the clone had been interrupted and his attention was now focused on the fierce looking Komi who looked ready to pounce at him at any moment.

"Who am I? I have no need to respond to invading human scum!" Kaira yelled fiercely and before Aron could speak again Jagu appeared from behind and grabbed Kaira by the shoulder. "That's enough Kaira! He isn't an invader, he's from the academy and he brought me here." Jagu quickly tried to dilute the situation while looking at Aron with concern.

"Brother you'd dare break our rules and bring outsiders here?! What will mother and the others think? They could even take away your rights to compete for succession, outsiders... especially humans" Kaira glared at Aron with ferocity but Aron only smirked. "So she's your sister, I thought that temper seemed familiar." Aron replied casually but before Kaira or Jagu could speak another group of Komi arrived on the scene.

They had long been alerted by the loud bursts from the orbs but took longer to arrive since they had been mostly ill. At the forefront was Jagu's mother who held a jagged spear in hand and immediately looked at Aron and the cloaked woman with hostility.

"Outsiders..." She muttered before looking at Jagu with disappointment. "What's done is done and we will decide your punishment later, for now you can show regret by ridding our land of these pests you brought along." Aella commanded in a tone of great anger at her only son.

One could clearly see how strict of a law this was judging from her ferocity. However Jagu remained stationary and shook his head. "I can not." He lowered his head in shame and caused the many Komi present to look at him with surprise.

"Has the outside world muddled your brain? You dare humiliate your people even more? If you do not rid our lands of this pest then I will do so myself and send you along with him. I have no need for useless offspring who abandon their values." Aella's harsh words caused Jagu to lower his head even more but there was nothing he could do but shake his head.

"It's not that I won't but I merely can't. You're looking at the strongest warrior of the younger generation and he isn't human either. As it stands no one in our clan is his match..." Jagu explained in a low tone and brought silence to the scene, all except Aella who felt further humiliation. "Did I really raise you to give up? Tsk, I will handle this myself!"

Aella turned her gaze back to Aron and jumped towards him with her spear ready to strike, given the illness plaguing her body her movements were much slower which made this task all the more pointless.

"Argh!"

Unsurprisingly before she could even reach Aron he lunged forward and gripped her by the neck, bringing her entire attack to a halt.

"This is pointless."