"Don't come close to me," Estoria said to Aluxio.
"What are you doing?" Aluxio asked.
"She's not human, she's a monster! Save me, save me, please!" Six screamed in pain and fear, tears dropping down her face.
Aluxio stepped towards them.
"I told you to stay away!" Estoria shouted back at Aluxio.
Aluxio continued to advance forward, pulling Estoria into his arms, leaving Six speechless.
"If you're trying to stop me, then get away from me right this second. I won't tolerate anyone right now," Estoria declared.
"You're hurt," Aluxio said in her ear, healing her back and neck slowly. Red mana sparks flew in the black smoke covering Estoria.
Estoria had completely forgotten about it, and now that Aluxio had reminded her once again, she started to feel dizzy and sleepy, unconsciously burying her head in Aluxio's shoulder.
Six watched them and cursed in her mind a thousand times before realizing that this was her chance to run away now!
Six turned sideways to run to the left side, in the opposite direction of where Eston and Tyrion were, when a sharp blade was placed directly on her pale neck.
"Where do you think you're going?" Aluxio asked in an angry, deep voice.
Aluxio's tone had completely changed from when he was talking with Estoria. Six had thought that Aluxio was probably no match for her and was knowingly avoiding having to fight her... Was he purposely being docile in front of Estoria?
"We can talk this through. Estoria started this fight, I had no choice but to fight back. I promise I'll never even look her way again. Just let me through this time, Your Highness," Six tried to persuade Aluxio.
Aluxio held Estoria with his right arm while his left hand moved the blade closer to Six. "I don't care about that. Who gave you the permission to fight back? Even if she was the one to attack first, you should've taken it quietly."
"Are you seriously telling me that I should have just accepted my fate and died at her hands? Are you hearing yourself?" Six was completely dumbfounded by Aluxio's logic.
Aluxio gave Six a chilling glance while slicing off her head in a clean slash. Her blood splashed on Aluxio's face and stained the books on the shelf behind her now headless body.
...
Estoria heard people talking nearby. She couldn't count how many times she has passed out ever since she came into this world, and every time she opened her eyes, it was a different situation where she was clueless about her surroundings.
This time, she recognized the voices immediately. It was her mother's and father's voices. Her heartbeat calmed. Being in the presence of her family, she felt safe from everything. This foreign feeling felt ever so tender to her.
"Can you really not do anything to break it?" Ria asked Issac.
"What are you talking about?" Estoria slowly stood up from the wooden bench. The view before her reminded her of the situation they were in.
A giant black orb surrounded by her parents and the princes. Wasn't this where she had put a barricade over Eston?
"Estoria, how are you feeling now?" Ria asked with concern.
"Are you experiencing any pain?" Aluxio asked.
"Estoria, do you remember everything that happened?" Tyrion asked.
"Don't move just yet, you're still recovering," Issac said.
Overwhelmed by everyone, Estoria couldn't reply to anyone but was anxiously looking at the black orb.
"Wait, wait, what about Eston? Where is he? Is he still in there?" Estoria pointed to the orb.
"Yes, do you remember everything now?" Tyrion said, panicking a bit.
"I have tried to break it, but all of my attempts have failed, Estoria. It's your barricade, right? Can you remove it?" Issac asked.
"It is mine, but... I don't know how I did it or how to remove it either..." Estoria replied, thinking back.
Everyone facing Estoria had an unreadable expression on their faces.
"What do you mean you don't know either?!" Tyrion exclaimed loudly.
Ria grabbed Estoria by the shoulders. "Estoria, this is something only you can do. We have tried everything, and nothing has worked. We are also short on time here, so think carefully."
"I really don't know, but I'll try my best, Mother," Estoria said, putting her hands on the barricade.
'What now? What do I do? This is driving me crazy. How the heck am I supposed to break this thing? I wish there were spells for using the magic here...' Estoria thought hard but ultimately couldn't come up with anything other than pure violence!
"Step back, everyone," Estoria remembered the feeling from when she was fighting Six.
Everyone stood away from Estoria, watching her back attentively. Black shadows engulfed her like fire, making them stand on their guard.
Estoria tried to push her hand through the barricade first, which didn't work, no matter how much strength she put into it. Nor could she cut through it, which left her with the last option: punching it open.
Instead of punching recklessly like last time, she thought about doing a few punches with all her might.
'Think of someone you hate, someone you could punch right now,' Estoria closed her eyes, focusing entirely on this single punch. She punched the barricade!!
The rumbling vibrations set the entire dungeon quaking. Books from the shelves were falling from all directions, their footing becoming unsteady.
Issac stabilized the ground with his mana as Estoria continued to punch the barricade. The punches had them closing their eyes from the force.
Estoria hadn't seen any difference from the first punch, but as she continued, the barricade started to crack bit by bit.
After the 17th punch, the barricade caved in, breaking into pieces, revealing Eston unconsciously lying inside.
Estoria reached for him, checking for his breathing and injuries.
"He's breathing just fine, and his injuries are completely healed," Ria quickly examined Eston.
"Did you do that?" Tyrion asked a bit suspiciously.
Estoria breathed a sigh of relief. "I think it was the barricade because he was clearly severely injured when I put it on, or maybe it was Eston himself."
Asher was pacing around Issac's study, anxiously awaiting their arrival when the door opened.
Tyrion entered first with Eston on his back. Asher ran toward them. "Estoria, where's Estoria!"
"Don't worry, I'm alright," Estoria entered with Aluxio after them.
"Why are you covered in blood then, and it's your blood nonetheless!" Asher gave Aluxio a side glance, who seemed to return just the same as he entered, not even the slightest drop of blood on him.
"How do you know this is my blood?" Estoria was thankful for Aluxio's coat because the most serious injuries were the stabs from Six's blade, and they had left her dress in quite the unfortunate state, and Asher would surely freak out if he saw those.
Ria and Issac entered last, closing the portal safely.
"What happened in there?" Asher asked.
"I'll tell you the details later. We just came back. Give it a rest," Estoria said, sitting down on the couch, sore to her core. Everything was hurting.
"Do you need me to help with anything?" Asher sat beside Estoria.
Before anyone could leave the room, Asher spread his mana throughout the whole room, giving everyone in the room a healing and refreshing bonus.
Ria, who had drained her mana healing Estoria's injuries completely, felt her mana shooting back up. Even the blood from everyone's clothes was wiped clean with Asher's clear mana.
"Asher, don't waste your mana. No one is injured here," Estoria looked at Asher's complexion, which was still gleaming happily.
"This is nothing for me," Asher declared.
"Right," Estoria had to admit it felt pretty good. It was like a whole body message after a tiring long day.
Tyrion and Ria left with Eston to their rooms.
Issac started working on his pile of papers as soon as he returned. Since Estoria was still in Issac's study, Asher and Aluxio also stayed there in awkward silence, the papers turning.
"Estoria, don't fall asleep here. Go sleep in your bed," Asher said after seeing Estoria nodding off.
"I don't want to move," Estoria whined.
"I'll take her to her room," Aluxio picked Estoria up.
Asher didn't say anything since Estoria wasn't against it. He went back to Issac's side.
Aluxio carried Estoria to her room, carefully placing her in bed after removing her shoes. He tucked her in.
"Aluxio," Estoria said in her sleepy voice.
"Hmm," Aluxio answered.
"What happened to her?" Estoria asked, opening her eyes.
Aluxio brushed his hands through Estoria's hair. "Don't worry about her. She won't trouble you ever again."