[Darcia's Perspective]
Before the Queen, in her opulent throne room, we were presented, a moment charged with tension as my mother's cold gaze pierced through us. The biker, Asher, stood confidently, his helmet held against his hip.
"I also captured the other traitors they've been dealing with," Asher declared.
My mother acknowledged Asher with a calculated look. "My, my, Asher, how you've impressed me. Consider yourself a Noble; I'll have you enrolled in the Academy."
Asher grinned and bowed. "It is an honor to serve you as a Noble, Your Highness."
My mother's sneer turned toward me. "Didn't know you were still alive, daughter. How goes it?"
I met her cold stare. "Whatever your plan, leave everyone else out of it. I was the one who stole from the Best Blood facility, so let them go."
Queen Hundred laughed. "Let them go? Oh, daughter, you must think I was born yesterday."
Her attention shifted to Kaizer, and I felt the rage building within me.
"Kaizerrr," Queen Hundred cooed, smirking. "Happy to be back, darling? As you can see, the palace has undergone a few changes. I decided something more modern was in order."
Kaizer remained silent, his eyes fixed on the queen with no discernible emotion.
Unsatisfied with being ignored, Queen Hundred urged, "You dare ignore me, you Half-Vampire scum? I should have killed you when I had the chance."
Kaizer stayed unresponsive, prompting the queen to look at me with a smirk. "Your boyfriend is broken, dear. You might want to get him looked at."
I scoffed. "At least I actually love and have feelings for mine."
Queen Hundred shot a glare. "Watch it, daughter."
Her gaze shifted to the rest of the group. "And who are they?"
"My friends," I asserted. "And you're going to let them go. It's me you've been searching for, right?"
The Queen remained silent. "Asher. I want these criminals executed this evening, all of them except for this masked brat and the boy here."
"No!" I screamed, stepping forward.
In an instant, Asher pointed a gun at Isyra's head. She squealed with fright.
"Make one move, and I shoot." Asher glared at me, his crimson eyes glowing.
Frozen in place, I obeyed. Queen Hundred giggled with delight. The Bloodguard officers seized my friends, escorting them out of the throne room.
Kira's screams echoed, "Kaizer! Kaizer!" Zachary and Isyra cried, and Iris, though silent, exchanged a fleeting look with me as they were taken away.
I stood alongside Kaizer, helpless, as our friends were forcibly taken to be executed. The fragments of my heart seemed to scatter into a million pieces, shattered by the realization of my powerlessness against my mother's absolute rule and tyranny. Her influence was too formidable, and, in the end, she always got her way.
"Now, daughter, about that mask on your face..." Queen Hundred's words slithered like serpents from her lips. "I must know how you acquired it."
The screams of my friends echoed in my ears, drowning out my mother's words.
"Darcia! Do something!" Zachary's plea cut through the chaos.
Isyra's bawling reached my ears, "I don't want to die!"
Kira's desperate cries to Kaizer unsettled me, "Kaizer, please don't let them take me! Please, Kaizer, help me!"
Amidst the chaos, my mother's voice broke through, demanding answers.
"Daughter? Did you hear me? I said, where did you get that mask?"
"Kaizer..." I whimpered, tears streaming down my mask. "Was this supposed to happen...?"
Kaizer stood in silence, his eyes fixed on the floor. I marveled at his calm demeanor amidst the turmoil.
"Darcia," Kaizer spoke, turning to meet my gaze. His obsidian eyes burned with determination. "It's our destiny."
And in that moment, Kaizer closed his eyes and uttered words that held the promise of salvation.
"Chronos Art: Time Configuration."
VOOM!
A ripple surged through the room, and abruptly, everything froze. Queen Hundred, in her poised and sophisticated stance, sat motionless on her throne. The guards stood suspended, their limbs halted mid-motion.
Yet Kaizer and the rest of our group remained vibrant with life.
"Whoa, Kaizer, did you do that?" Kira exclaimed, a smile lighting up her face.
"Yeah, go Kaizer!" Zachary cheered, laughter accompanying his words.
I gazed at Kaizer, and a realization dawned – I understood why he had remained so composed. Although I couldn't read his thoughts anymore, I knew him well enough to know that he had a plan.
"What are you planning, Kaizer?"
Kaizer met my gaze, smiling. "I'm just keeping my friends safe from harm."
We hurried out of the palace, passing frozen Guardians as we raced. Once outside, time resumed, and the stagnant cars on the road returned to lively traffic, blending with the city's clamorous voices. In the parking lot, the exit gate awaited a few yards ahead.
"Let's go," Kaizer urged, sprinting toward the exit. We followed suit, breathing heavily as we escaped the danger. After a brief sprint, the group halted beneath a heavily-vandalized bridge. Homeless individuals occupied the bridge's shadow, and the pungent odor of garbage lingered.
"Kaizer," Kira said, embracing him tightly.
"I'm okay, Kira," Kaizer reassured her, gently patting her head. "More importantly, we need to leave."
Zachary and Isyra sat on the concrete ramp beneath the bridge, catching their breath.
"Nice clutch back there, Kaizer," Zachary praised, smiling. "Thank you for saving us."
Isyra nodded, her snake body coiling around itself. "Yes, thank you. I thought we were surely going to be executed."
I planted a kiss on Kaizer's cheek. "Good job, love. Where did you learn to do that?"
Kaizer half-smirked, shrugging. "Roshan and Barry, the Elephas and Selkie that were friends with my father. They taught me — sorta. They've been conducting some experiments on me at their lab — completely safe. My Time Magic... it has something to do with Alessia's bloodline. See, while my father is connected to Cratos, my mother has her own link to another Daemon, Chronos. My mother had temporal abilities that she passed on to me, but hers were definitely not as good as mine."
"I see..." I nodded. "I have yet to meet these friends of yours — Roshan and Barry — but when I do, I will thank them as well."
Iris chimed in, "They have my thanks too. I thought you were gonna let us get murdered, Gummy Bear." She playfully slugged him on the shoulder. "So, what's the plan now? Our fearless leader, Lucius, has betrayed us... who will be our new leader?"
All eyes turned to Kaizer.
Kaizer shook his head. "Not a chance."
Iris raised an eyebrow. "Okay then, who?"
Isyra piped up, "How 'bout Darcia?"
All eyes shifted to me, and I shifted anxiously.
"Nh— yeah, well, I suppose," I responded, nervously twirling my white hair around my fingers. "But shouldn't the strongest out of all of us be the leader? Wouldn't that be you, Iris? With this mask, I have barely any strength. I'm weak in this state."
Zachary grinned, shaking his head. "Nope, you're definitely the leader now. I believe in you, Darcia! You may be Cursed, but you got the most guts out of all of us! You went to the Overworld, you even took credit for us stealing from Best Blood Corp. — and you talked to Queen Hundred like that? Badass!"
"That was pretty badass," Iris agreed, chuckling. "I believe in you too," she said, reinforcing her statement from inside the Cathedral. "You have my absolute faith, Darcia."
"Hm. It seems like that's been settled," Kaizer said, nodding, his face serious. Kira clung to his arm. "Darcia…"
We locked eyes, and the way he looked at me stirred a peculiar kind of pain. Something had shifted. I knew he remembered me, but… the way he gazed wasn't quite the same. I couldn't pinpoint it.
"Darcia, thank you for helping me get back my memory. These… experiments that Roshan and Barry have me doing," Kaizer rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "They make me space out sometimes, and I get bad amnesia that lasts for weeks. A side effect, they said. Kira here… has kinda been like my caretaker… she's been helping me stay on track, a-and she helps with my blood cravings. And yes, Kira is my best friend. So I need to get her home. She's been here only a few hours, and she's already been sentenced to death. It's too dangerous for her here. I won't let the shadows of this place take her too."
I stared at Kaizer, wide-eyed and stunned.
"What are you saying, Kaizer?" I asked, my voice coming out shakier than I meant it to.
"I'm saying… I need to go." Kaizer said it with a tone of guilt, and his frustration hung off of the word "go." He didn't look me in the eye.
"Go? Go where? What do you mean, we just got you ba—
"I never asked for you to come get me, Darcia," he interrupted, his black eyes meeting mine. "I appreciate it, I really do, but I never asked for you to do this. Everything was just fine how it was. I was going to school, I was working… I've been getting stronger, with these experiments… I have a life in the Overworld now. Maybe not a completely normal, but almost a normal life. It's all I ever wanted… and it's not gonna last long. I know I will have to leave that normalcy behind again one day, but for now… I'm taking it one step at a time."
I couldn't figure out what to say, I was dumbfounded. After everything we'd went through to get him back, it was all for nothing. He didn't want to be with us. He had become comfortable in the Overworld. I glared at Kira.
This is all her fault, I thought.
My emotions overwhelmed me. It felt like I couldn't breathe. It felt like my heart was eating itself alive within my chest, tearing itself apart with gnashing teeth. Yet, I ignored the pain and kept a straight face as I listened to his explanation.
"This won't be the last time you see me, I promise. I just… need to play my cards right. You'll understand one day. Trust me, it'll all make sense when you meet Barry and Rashon, and they tell you the reason why I'm called The Black King."
"Kaizer… please don't go."
"I'm sorry, Darcia."
"Angyhra pulsar."
"I'm sorry."
"Angyhra pulsar, Kaizer."
"I know. And you are mine."
I watched as Kaizer put his arm around Kira, and brought her closer. An uncontrollable gasp came from my lips, and tears escaped from my eyes as beams of white light glowed from Kaizer's eyes, and a pulsating electricity field surrounded him.
He closed his eyes, and said, "Chronos Art: Time Reconciliation."
VOOM!
A ripple of energy and wind engulfed the space, and in an instant, Kaizer and Kira vanished.