3. The Dagger

3

The Dagger

Morgana

B itter cold sheets over my body was the first thing I'm aware of as I come to. The second thing was the tightness and dull pain on the left side of my chest every time I inhale. It feels like someone carved my skin a week ago and now it's almost healed. I open my eyes and immediately recognize the white ceiling, and the white silk sheets as my own. Two out of the four black canopy bed posts are visible from my position, the engraved wood distinguishable. Golden sheer curtains pulled down towards my white and gray marble floor, giving me a semblance of privacy. The only light in the windowless bedroom emanating from the Soul Crystals on my desk to my left as well as the cluster embedded on the wall to my right.

I tried sitting up and manage to gain enough strength to do so. My eye catches something white as I look down at my chest, and after fiddling at it with my right hand it dawns on me it's a square gauze over the area that's been bothering me. Before I can move my purple blouse to the side to remove the gauze and discern the source of the discomfort, I spot something moving with the corner of my eye. To my right is Alistair, curled up at the foot of the bed like a dog. Long limbs tightly held into himself and a few inches away so as to not brush my legs, eyes closed and face slacken in sleep. Why would he stay in my room?

The only thing I can think of is that Alistair might have gotten concerned over the attack, and the fact that something actually hurt me. I look down at my gauze again and bring up my right hand, removing the medical tape. I didn't expect the sight that greeted me. There is no wound, but that's not the shocking part. I can heal quickly thanks to my fast regeneration, granted by the demon blood I've consumed, but what's unexpected is that I still feel a wound when there is none. My porcelain skin came together again, leaving no blemish or evidence of any injury. Yet, I still feel an aching and pulling where the gauze used to be. I set the gauze down on the bed next to me and graze my index finger on my chest.

Pain shoots across my entire chest, I gasp as I bend forward clutching my non existing injury. It burns as if I just got cut and my touch is aggravating it. As soon as I gasp, Alistair bolts up from his curled position at the end of the bed and crawls to me immediately with a concerned expression. "My lady? What's wrong?" His voice was laced with worry. I take a deep breath in, letting my hand drop down to my lap. I take a second before responding, picking my words carefully, no need to worry anyone over this since it will heal soon enough. "Nothing, I'm fine. How long have I been asleep?"

Alistair looks like he wants to inquire more but takes my response instead. "If you're certain, my lady. You have been unconscious for just over 9 hours. Dinner will be served soon." I know dad will be waiting for me at dinner since we eat together every night, it's the only meal he has time for. He has too many things to do as Hell's king during other meal times. "What happened after I passed out? Did you see who threw the dagger?" I ask laying down once more, slowly arranging myself to lay flat on my back.

"No, I didn't see a dagger or anyone, my lady. I looked for who attacked us but I only sensed residual Chaos magic after being knocked down. I couldn't detect any threats so I put pressure on the wound and carried you to the nearest portal back."Hell fire! I need to figure out who's the insect that stabbed me so I can repay the favor tenfold. Wait a second…

"You said you put pressure on my wound, and did not find a dagger? I saw a dagger buried in me before passing out. How is it that you couldn't see it?" I can feel my eyebrows climb to my hairline incredulously. Alistair for his part didn't change his worried expression.

"I don't know, my lady. I heard you yell out and you were already bleeding, and unconscious when I got to you. But there was no dagger there." He seems to be genuine, besides he has proven to be loyal and truthful the past few years. Alistair has no reason to lie about that but that leaves a bigger question then.

Who was targeting me and where the hell did the dagger go?

I close my eyes as I ponder the information when something else occurred to me. "Who took care of my wound?" I ask, dreading the response.

"I did." Alistair said with confidence, looking calmer and more like his stoic self.

"Did you look at anything else when you were tending to my chest ?" My voice drenched in suspicion and squinting eyes quickly made Alistair realize what I meant.

"No, my lady. I would never show such disrespect by taking advantage of you like that. I merely tended to your injury and did not remove any clothing where the wound was not present." Alistair is so earnest I have no choice but to believe him.

"Alright, just checking. You better not get any ideas in the future though." I say, waving my index finger in his face accusingly.

"Never, my lady. I exist only to serve you. " He kneels on the mattress and bows his head. I sigh and reach up to ruffle his curls.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You did good, pet." That's the closest thing to a thank you he has probably gotten since he started serving me. And it shows considering how he perks up immediately at my words and leans into my touch like a touch starved puppy. I scratch his scalp for a few seconds before dropping my hand, feeling drained already even though I slept for hours. I ask Alistair if he had informed my father of the attack and the answer was affirmative. He told a worker to inform the king when he teleported back and as he tended to my wound dad appeared to check on me. He had one of his subordinates patrol the cemetery for anything odd as soon as Alistair told him what happened. He left as soon as he saw my wound healed, needing to tend to urgent King matters. But not before ordering Alistair to keep a close eye on me.

The subordinate later reported they found nothing at the cemetery except residual traces of Chaos magic just like Alistair sensed. Which is odd considering that my pet didn't sense any energy before the attack but now two demons had sensed some magic was present. Not to mention, they didn't find the dagger either and since Alistair was the one that reported the attack but didn't see a dagger during it, he didn't report that to my father. So, the foot soldier that went on a recon mission wasn't even looking for it.

Looks like I will have to investigate myself. I look towards Alistair, he finishes his report and now is sitting waiting for my next orders. "Go tell dad I'm awake and that I'm okay. I won't be eating dinner at the table today. I will eat here instead. Bring me my dinner as soon as you're done relaying the information." I say as I close my eyes again, already feeling the urge to sleep weighing me down. But when I don't feel Alistair getting up to leave and do as he's told I open them once more. Alistair is still in the same kneeling position, hasn't moved an inch and is looking at me with a worried expression again.

"I'm fine, pet. Just tired is all. Now, go." I order, feeling myself starting to get annoyed when he hesitates a second longer before going to the side of my bed and standing up. He turns back to check on me again which has me rolling my eyes. "Alistair, you know I hate repeating myself." I state in place of ordering him to leave. Honestly, if I say I'm fine, then I'm fine . This is exactly why I didn't tell him about the pain on my now healed chest. He's an overprotective and overbearing servant. I sigh as a sign of annoyance when I see him walking away towards my door. I try to swallow to quench the dryness in my throat but it did very little to satisfy my thirst. Itching for a drink I sit up again and snap my fingers, summoning my cup with red wine to drink. I furrow my brow as nothing appears in my hand. I try again but nothing materializes.

I start snapping my fingers furiously and waving my wrist in the air but nothing is working. My breath catches in my throat as I keep trying to no avail. Trying to use my telekinesis, I attempt to pull my other pillow to my right to my hand as a test but when the pillow didn't move I let out a grunt in frustration. I finally notice Alistair stopped frozen at the door. "What's wrong, my lady?"

"My powers, they're gone ."

When your kid loses powers they have had their entire lives one would think Lucifer would be more concerned. Yet here he is, my father, withered in boisterous laughter on his throne, Alistair calmly kneeling at my side. "Will you stop laughing already and fix it? It's not funny." I sound as irritated as I feel. Dad seems to laugh harder at my statement but to his credit he did compose himself enough to sit up straight and look at me with a big smile still on his face.

"Come one, Morgui. It's a little amusing." When I don't reply with anything other than a cold stare he relents. "All right, I won't laugh anymore. But now that you mentioned the dagger everything is making sense." He states while sobering up.

"What makes sense? You found it?" I ask.

"No, but I know what it is. It's the Dagger of Amon, a dagger cursed by Chaos magic. We have been using it for centuries to turn mortals' souls into demons. It was locked in the vault but it recently went missing. We've been searching for it and now we know someone has been using it. And that they most likely still have it after attacking you, since it is also enchanted to return to the last user who casts it into a soul. I didn't know it could be used to turn Anggels into mortals though."

"What? You're kidding, right?!" I feel anger and disgust boiling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of being a full human with no powers. Mortals are puny and weak, they barely last to 100-years of age, and they break easily.

"No, I'm serious. That was the initial purpose but I suppose the inverse is not too out of the scope of possibilities."

"That is disgusting dad. I can't stay like this. When can you change me back?" I ask, desperately rejecting the idea.

"I can't, the dagger works with Chaos magic. It's not easily reversible. But look at the positives, you'll be safe and now you can be a regular human young adult. No worrying about Hell or any of the work that comes with it."

"I don't want to be a regular human, dad. You have to fix this." I shoot back, scowling furiously. I only ever wanted to work with my father in his kingdom and now this changes everything. I have to find a way to change my soul back.

"I'm afraid I can't, Morgana. You have a human soul now, you must live among them now for your protection. You can't stay here permanently if you're a human. It'll be better if you live in the mortal realm." Dad states confidently before getting up from this throne and striding towards me.

"Dad, I don't-," I go to argue but he cuts me off.

"I made my decision, Morgana and that's final. I will take care of the arrangements. You won't have to worry about a thing." He declares confidently, setting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.