The Crown's Entrapment

[Fifth night inside the Element Forest]

"What?" Devas hissed.

Darius never left his gaze on him. He wanted so badly to confront the man with how he dared to mess with his long hair, but he couldn't do it since Xen was just nearby resting. In the end, he could only frown and throw mental daggers at the guardian with his sharp and deadly stares.

'Be thankful that your hair is short enough already!' Darius angrily mused.

[We can make him go bald though...] Zeus humorously suggested. [What do you say?]

Ah, right... He could do that, but he didn't have the appropriate tools to do such a thing.

Shifting his gaze to Xen, he noted the fact that she remained quiet for the entire evening while they were eating. She was clearly in deep thought, and Darius could tell that she was sizing up and analyzing the situation.

He gulped when his eyes met Xen's. She then opened her lovely mouth to speak. How he longed to kiss and cuddle her right now.

Frowning, Xen asked, "Lord Devas, what kind of trial do you think is Lord Polo giving me?"

"I'm honestly confused here. It seems like it will never end. At first, I woke up almost choking underwater while being surrounded and chased by piranhas, then those huge waves began striking right at me. Then this sudden acid rain fell at us... I feel like he has no intentions of keeping me alive."

She then paused to look at the fake Darius, letting out a sigh before she continued, "Not to mention how you two are now also here. Darius has a reason as to why he's here, I guess. I'm his wife, after all, but why are you here as well, Lord Devas?"

[That's it, my love. Put these pieces together,] Darius inwardly cheered with a smile. [I know you can do it...]

"Why are you smiling like a fool there?" the fake snorted. "My wife is asking you a question, so go and answer it."

Darius's expression suddenly dimmed. This Sphinx was obviously enjoying his role as Xen's supposed husband. He could only imagine what the worst thing that could've happened would be if he hadn't entered Xen's dream with Devas. The bastard guardian would've been alone with her, using his appearance to try and coax his wife!

"I don't know," Darius plainly answered with a shrug.

There was a deafening silence that followed before the fake Darius promptly broke it.

"Both of us are here to help you. As you said, it seems like Polo has no intentions of keeping you alive with the kind of trial he put you in," the fake explained. "Even if you have special blood in you, it's still not enough to keep you safe since your body is still obviously adjusting to it."

"Help me then..." Xen murmured.

"Yes, we're here to make sure that you'll stay alive and pass this trial," Darius commented, his soft gaze lingering on his wife. "For now, why don't you rest, Xen? Gather enough strength for now, since we'll definitely face another test from Polo in a few moments' time."

Seeing her sigh, Darius just wanted to scoop her up in his arms and keep her warm. Unfortunately, he still needed to hold himself back. Instead, he could only watch as Xen simply sighed deeply before turning to look at the impostor Darius.

"I want to sleep beside you," Xen breathed out. "I'm cold."

"Come here," the fake Darius shamelessly uttered, even opening up his arms for Xen.

Not allowing it to happen, Darius jumped off his feet and pounced himself into the fake's arms. The fake Darius was quick to kick him off, however, making him fall to the ground instantly.

Darius looked up at Xen, whose mouth was currently agape at the scene before her. Shaking his head, he quickly got back up on his feet and immediately removed his upper robe and hissed, "Here. Use this to keep yourself warm. I told you already that body contact is forbidden! How come you can't understand those simple words? NO TOUCHING!"

Suspiciously, Xen accepted his robe with a lifted brow. "Fine. Thank you for this."

From there, Darius placed himself beside Xen and the fake Darius, the latter simply glaring at him for the action. None of them could utter any more words out of fear of accidentally saying things that they weren't allowed to. Instead, their eyes simply glared menacingly at each other, willing the other to just die from their stares alone.

Then, Darius scorned, quiet enough for only Devas to hear. "Why don't you just give away the extra layer of clothes you have for Xen instead of offering your sinful arms?"

Devas annoyingly scoffed before removing the extra robe on him, handing it over to Xen for her to use. But then he suddenly commented, "Wouldn't it be better for Xen to sleep beside me? Who knows when another test will strike, so it's best that you create a protective barrier to keep all of us safe inside."

"Darius is right, Lord Devas," Xen agreed. "It would be better for the three of us to stick together. I can cast a spell and create a protective barrier that way."

The fake Darius clicked his tongue and said, "No, Xenia. Let this Lord Devas create that barrier. Your body's still adjusting, so I don't think using spells at this moment is advisable." He then added, "You should condition your body till it's fully adjusted to the activation of your special blood. I'm sure creating a protective barrier will be easy enough for Lord Devas here to do himself."

The latter then quickly moved and positioned himself beside Xen. Darius wanted badly to shove the lion off, so he also moved and shamelessly squeezed his body in between them.

"The two of you shouldn't get any closer," Darius chided Devas. "Who knows what you'd do!"

"The barrier? Do it now. Don't you need to raise your arms and move them while casting the spell?" Devas taunted. As if it wasn't enough, he then added, "I'm sure Xen will appreciate that you show her how you cast a barrier with your hand movements while chanting the spell."

"If you don't stop talking right now, I'll rip your mouth off!" Darius barked out. He then hissed, "Here are your hand gestures, you blabbermouth!"

He grunted as he moved and swayed his hand in a dozen different directions. From there, Devas cast the spell off the top of his head. Darius inwardly cursed, hearing Devas chuckle.

How annoying... The Sphinx was enjoying messing with him too much. Growling, Darius vowed that he wouldn't leave a single hair on the Sphinx's body untouched the moment he woke up tomorrow. He'll create an improvised tool to skin his head off, and he'll laugh at the idiot once he found out what happened.