"Is that…is that Alyssa…?" Rose analyzes me before her attention drifts over to the corner. "Theo!" She runs over and snatches her brother away from Victoria. She asks him why he's crying, but he doesn't answer. Rose, Thinking it was Victoria, pushes her away from him.
"I was just trying to help!" Victoria exclaims as she walks over to my side. Still standing in the doorway are Thomas and Lauriel. They too assess the situation—surveying the room for what I can assume to be clues or a trap of some kind. After a few moments, Thomas catches my gaze again.
"Tell me. What happened to Alyssa?" I ask him.
"All of a sudden you have concern for your daughter?"
Lauriel jerks her head his way. "I'm assuming this is Helen? She does share an uncanny resemblance with Alyssa. You're telling me she's her mother?!"
"Precisely." He nods his head.
"You knew this entire time? Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't Alyssa?!" She focuses on me. "And why….how is she so young? She looks only a few years younger than I do."
"Well, my body is eternally twenty-four—thanks to a spell gone wrong. My body will never age, nor will it deteriorate. Even if I don't possess it."
"So you're saying you're immortal…?"
"What the fuck are we talking about?!" Rose hisses. "Where is our grandmother?!"
Theo, still sniffling and shaking points to the basement. Rose tells him to stay put as she heads down.
"It'd be better if you didn't go down there, darling."
She pauses once she approaches the door. Her hand trembles in place as she's reaching for the doorknob.
"What did you do, Helen?" Thomas asks in a cautious tone.
"What anyone would do if they were betrayed."
Rose viscously glares at me. She makes a sudden movement toward me before Lauriel orders her not to engage. She listens—to her at least. Ignoring my advice, she swings the door open and trots down the steps.
"Why are you here?" I avert their attention.
"Brianna's searching for The Coven, Charlotte must know of its whereabouts," Thomas says. "But this works out just fine, we'll cut you down until you can't move an inch. Then you'll tell us yourself."
I simply smile, trying to hold back my laughter. A few moments later, Rose rushes up the steps and lunges at me with a pocket knife. I turn around and my light double comes forward—only the torso extending out from my waist. It blocks her attack with its forearm.
"You bitch!" She continues to swing wildly. I suppose now is a good time to get a nice warm-up. I haven't used these seals in a very long time. After activating my shadow seal, a tattoo-like marking begins expanding on my hand. Black circles appear around the tip of every finger. The circles around my pinky, and thumb extend into long black lines running up my forearm. The two lines meet just before my elbow to create a circle around my upper forearm. I forge a blade made of shadow—a long dark sword resembling a katana. I then retract my light double into my body and block Rose's onslaught with my blade.
"What should I do?!" Victoria shouts.
I tell her to relax, that I'll handle everything when I notice Thomas and Lauriel drawing their weapons. With my focus still on Rose, I anticipate her very next swing, block it, and forcefully push her back while simultaneously releasing my light double fully to handle her. While my double occupies her, I turn my attention to the other two.
"Nature Enchantment: Bougainvillea."
Spiked vines crack through the floorboards and launch at both Lauriel and Thomas. Lauriel manifests her lightning arm to quickly cut them down but more sprout up from the cracks. A couple of vines chink their armor before she chops them down once again. Thomas runs at me with a sword in hand. I block his swing and a power struggle begins. He uses his wind seal to enhance the force of his pressure. He's pushing down so strongly that my shadow blade nearly touches my chest. I'm forced to create another shadow—a double that emerges from my blade waist level. It grabs Thomas by the throat and chokes him causing him to slowly release pressure until he eventually loses strength.
Lauriel comes out of the corner of my eye, her lightning arm strikes but I summon Athena's shield. I suddenly notice Theo still in the corner, trying to shield himself from all the chaos.
"Gravity Enchantment: Sovereign Combustion."
My spell creates a forceful push that blows the entire front half of the house away. I made sure to aim the spell toward the front door, away from Victoria and Theo. Thomas and Lauriel on the other hand are forcibly pushed outside by the force. I retract my light double back to my body as I step over the rubble and what's left of the home to step outside.
"This is pointless, darlings. Please give up and accept your fate."
Rose comes running out of the house, attempting to charge me from me behind. She throws her pocket knife at me—which I catch. Then she shoots a stream of water my way. I use my shadow blade to block it, increasing its size to fully protect myself. Still, it pushes me back slightly. I send out my light double once again. It points to Rose—makes a circular motion with its hand in the air, causing her body to tense up and float a few inches off the ground. I turn to the other two and do the same.
"You know, something's just occurred to me," I say. "So, here's what I'll do, darlings. I'm going to let you live. But you're going to go back to your queen—defeated and embarrassed. You're going to tell her that I'm coming for the crown. Florence and I will return with an army, and I shall rule Athys. I want you to tell her verbatim: enjoy being queen in that short amount of time."
"All you're doing is giving us time to regroup," says Lauriel.
"That's cute, but take a look are yourselves. You could never defeat me—and I'm going to explain why. None of you can achieve it anyway.: only a witch can defeat me; I'm not talking about your twisted definition of a witch either. A traditional one. The Valentine will never produce such a thing because you all lack imagination. Or maybe you're scared of it, I can't tell."
I turn around and walk over to Rose, an ocean's tide releasing from her eyes. "I'm sorry about Charlotte, I truly am. She was a sweet woman. But, there was something wrong deep inside of her. The need to seek power in the wrong places was inevitably going to destroy her. I saved her from that." I smile, placing my hand on her cheek.
She silently snatches her head away from my grasp. I sigh as I turn to Victoria. She has Theo by her side, still consoling him. I nod for her to come. I want to hurry and get to Espin.
"Don't forget what I said to tell your queen, and the other royal families as well if you don't mind."
Victoria and I head on our way and I release them from the paralysis spell.
"What's going to happen with the people?" Victoria asks. "Kids like Theo, when you come with an army of witches hellbent on killing."
"If they stand up against us now, it's better to just extinguish them from the very beginning. I can't worry about such things. It makes you weak."
"I suppose." She shrugs. I can tell she's hiding her disappointment in my answer. I shift my focus to my excitement though, we're headed to the station for a train to District One. There, we'll board a ship—actually more like bribe someone who's willing to take us to Espin. As we're walking down the street, a cloud of black smoke booms the ground in front of us. I shield my eyes from the force of its impact. What is it now?
A man walks through the smoke with a smirk on his face. "There's the vessel."
"What do you want, Lilith?" I ask as Victoria hides behind me—whispering questions about the voice.
"Congratulations on getting your body back. That student of yours uses strong protection magic to keep herself hidden. We had no idea she had your flesh suit. I'm taking you to my master. Now."
"I'm not going anywhere until I've achieved my goal. We had a deal. You also promised I'd see my father again before that happened? What happened to that promise?"
"What makes you think I'm giving you a choice?" She chuckles. "You had your time, you lost sixteen years by sealing yourself inside your daughter. Who told you to go and do that? You'll see your father once you fulfill your duty."
Her head suddenly starts darting around the sky. "Shit, he's close!"
"Who?"
"Michael, he's having a hard time pinpointing your exact location thanks to that shadow seal."
"Well, good luck with that." I take a step forward.
She points to me and I'm stuck in place, the palm of my hand pulsating—it's the shadow seal.
"I'll take you to wherever you need to go. Once we're there, you'll have whoever this young woman is complete your 'goal.'"
"You're not listening to me."
She ignores me and asks Victoria where we're headed. She gives Lilith a quiet response while eyeing me—clearly unsure of what to do. A dark cloud appears next to Lilith and expands in height, tall as a door.
"Espin awaits." She walks through, releasing me from whatever control she has over me. Victoria and I hesitate but ultimately walk through as well. She enters first and I follow behind. Immediately upon stepping foot on the other side, the weather is drastically different. Gone are the sun and clear blue skies. Instead, the sky is filled with dark clouds as if it's going to rain at any moment.
Lilith once again asks Victoria where to go and she doesn't answer. She looks to me once again, causing Lilith to look the same way. I casually show her my bleeding palm with warding symbols carved into it. Her big, red eyes widen—causing more vapor to escape.
"When did you-"
"When we stepped through your portal. The same symbols The Coven uses to ward your kind off, the same symbols I taught Charlotte to use. From my understanding, it disrupts your aura vibration. The spell resonates at a higher frequency than you do."
"You're going to regret this," she growls.
"I doubt it, thank you for the escort, darling," I say, slashing my hand with the pocket knife I took from Rose. The symbols on my hand glow with white light and I point my hand at Lilith's face. The body she possesses shines bright with light, only leaving her screams to be heard before she completely vanishes.
"What the hell… who was that?" Victoria asks.
"A demon." I turn to her. "It won't be long before she's back. Let's get going."