Lothor smiled down at me. "It's amusing that you think I'm afraid of you. I always thought the victim would be afraid of the murderer, didn't you?" I held my glare. "Answer me." His smile disappeared and he raised an eyebrow. "I left the room he was in to meet with you and Sythyon. I will show you that room if you want."
A small amount of confusion appeared on my face at his odd response. 'Why did he say it like that...?' Though I was confused, I still nodded in agreement. I then turned to Sythyon who was looking at me already with concern. I ignored it even though I knew he was worried about me.
"We need to find Cienar. Arine and Ikko are too weak to come with us, but I don't want them to be left alone with Dagger and the others." Sythyon raised his hand again. "I will teleport them into a far away cell then." Then in a quick flash, the guards and Dagger were instantly gone. I was relieved for a moment then turned to Ikko and Arine. "I'll be back for you."
I knew that they wouldn't be able to respond, but to my surprise, Arine nodded slowly before he closed his eyes, his breathing now soft. I then suddenly felt the urge to cry again. My eyes were still red from before and burning out of my skull trying to hold back the tears that desperately wanted to leave them. I quickly shook it off and turned to walk out the door, trying my best to look strong.
Lothor and Sythyon followed, Lothor catching up to walk beside me. A long moment of silence passed before Lothor decided to speak. "...Why did you cry?" I was so stunned to hear Lothor speak to me, let alone say that. I looked beside me at him and saw that he was continuing to look ahead emotionless. I turned my head away. "You wouldn't understand." Sythyon then stepped in between us grabbing my arm and pushing Lothor forward making him stumble.
"Don't talk to her." Sythyon's words were as cold as ice. I could feel the sting of them as I continued to walk. Lothor didn't look back and was able to correct his balance as quickly as he lost it. 'Why would he ask me something like that?' I wondered. Later we had left the basement and made our way up the stairs and down the hall.
There was a room at the end of the hall where Lothor stopped in front of the door. I realized that Lothor's arms were bound by the chains so he couldn't open the door himself. I then took a deep breath and grabbed the handle to turn it. Once the door opened and I walked inside, I looked around, but Cienar was no where to be seen. I saw that on the bed in the back of the room there were drops of blood and vines covering the sheets that used to belong to Cienar.
I gasped and turned around. "Where is he?! You said that you would take us to him!" The corner of Lothor's mouth raised slightly in amusement. "I said that I would take you to the room I last saw him in. You shouldn't misinterpret my promises." I started to feel angry again. "What do you mean?! If this was the last place you saw him, then where is he now?!"
Lothor tilted his head. "Well after I left, I ordered for him to be taken somewhere else. You see, he is of great value to me. The other two you can have. But this one I'm not willing to part with so easily." I looked at him in confusion. "Great value...?" Lothor then smiled. "Let's just say that I have a lot of gold to collect."
My eyes widened in shock. "Oh no..." I could hear my heart beat faster the more I heard. 'Please don't tell me... He knows about... Atlantis...' I was frozen on what to do when Sythyon became impatient. "You still think you have a choice in what toys you can keep? How stupid. You had better tell us where that siren is before I-!" Lothor cut him off suddenly. "You what? Incase me with more magic? Please." Then, the chains around Lothor disappeared into thin air.
Both mine and Sythyon's eyes widened as Lothor shot a bolt of silver lightning out of his hand towards Sythyon. He quickly dodged, and fell to the floor as the lightning hit the wall, causing pieces of concrete to fly in all directions. Sythyon turned his head to see the damage it had caused on the wall. "But, that's-!" Lothor laughed. "Impossible? True, brother. You are more powerful than me, but, when I have this, you are clearly outmatched."
He then raised his palm face up as smoke swirled around it and an object suddenly appeared. This object, it made both me and Sythyon's heart stop. I couldn't move. Sweat was falling down the back of my neck and I started to shake as I saw the man in front of me grip his fingers tightly around the blood stained unicorn horn in his hand.
Lothor laughed and pointed the tip of the horn towards Sythyon. "You've annoyed me enough brother. This time, I'm going to finish what I started, and slowly kill you with the only piece left of the one thing you loved!!!" The horn then started to glow white, and a blast of power came out of it, hitting Sythyon back against the door. "Ahh!"
The magic then wrapped around his arms and merged into the floor in the form of glowing metal so he couldn't move. In that moment, I felt my eyes start to glow that same white, along with the center of my forehead. The heat became unbearable, and I screamed for as long as he used the horn. The pain spread through my entire body, causing me to shake and fall onto my back. Lothor noticed and stopped the magic that was coming from my horn.
My eyes and head stopped glowing and I couldn't feel the pain anymore, but I still felt too weak to move. Lothor's expression changed into surprise as he turned to me. "Alathera..." He stepped closer and then kneeled next to me. "...So it really is you."
His hand grazed my cheek and there was nothing more I wanted than to hit him away, but I couldn't without straining myself. I glared up at him. "You didn't think I was?!" He had no reaction to my snapped response.
"No. When I kidnapped you the first time I thought that you were just someone with a similar soul as Alathera, impersonating her in order to fool my brother. All I had to know was that he cared about you in order to want to kill you. But when I found out that you were still alive, I was relieved because your friends would be the only reason Sythyon would leave his kingdom, and I could finally kill him. But I didn't expect you and him to come so soon. I actually didn't even start to believe that you were her until you pulled that little stunt with the shattering axe."
I was surprised. 'He saw that? So it was me that did that. Wait, how could he have seen it? He was still far behind me at the time.' I thought as I kept myself silent. Lothor continued, starting to smile sadly. "But now... I know you're really here... My Alathera..."