Nia Moore's Point of View
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"I'm sorry, Cid. Marrying you was a mistake. I must leave with Nia to seek forgiveness from my mother and our family. You won't be able to take care of her. Nia shouldn't grow up in the lower class. It would be a shame for our family."
"You don't know that, Sonia! Why are you deciding our daughter's fate? I earn enough to support us! Is luxury so important to you that you would divide us?"
"I've already made my decision, Cid. I'm sorry."
Memories of my childhood resurfaced as I fell into the void. My life had been nothing but a series of struggles... and failures.
..."Your father was a good man. His power lives in you. Accept all that you are."...
"You must survive. The world needs people like you."...
..."You'll make it... you've always made it."...
My grandmother's last words echoed in my head. She believed in me, the only one who looked after me before Areyos, Kaiser, and Yoko came into my life. I must live... for them, for Grandma. I've always made it, and I will make it again.
Marlow Moore's Point of View
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"Finally, the last stains of the Moore family are erased," I said, satisfied.
"Dispose of the old woman's body."
"Yes, Sir," my guards responded, springing into action. I activated my magical signet ring to call Valem, my butler. "Where are you with my sister's body?"
"Already in the manure, Sir."
"Perfect. I'm sending you Sana's body too. She will rest beside her niece."
"Understood, Sir."
A sudden cry from my guards caught my attention.
"What is that...? Sir, look! In the sky!"
I looked up and was stunned. In the middle of the night sky, Nia stood, with brilliant white wings spread out, escaping the fate I had planned for her.
"Impossible..." I murmured. Nia, born of the union between an aegyl and a metaryon... could she be a hybrid? Normally, children inherit only one race from their parents if these ones are from two different races, but in rare cases, their children can develop traits from both. Nia must be one of those miracles.
"Should we capture her, Sir?" a guard asked.
"Of course! Seize her!" I shouted, irritated.
The guards launched earth spikes at her, piercing her thigh, right side, and shoulder. Yet, despite the pain, Nia kept flying, driven by a will I couldn't fathom.
Nia Moore's Point of View
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I was bleeding, my body betraying me, but I refused to die tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever. If I could reach the store, I could call Yoko. Either she or Areyos would protect me. I just had to hold on.
But as the store came into view, a stone lance pierced my left wing, plunging me into unbearable agony. Below, the guards advanced on stone platforms, following me. I flapped my wings desperately, but another lance hit my right wing, and I fell.
Pain tore through every fiber of my being, but I had to warn Yoko. I stretched my hands forward, gathering my last strength, and unleashed a torrent of air that propelled me through the store's window. I crashed to the ground, breathless.
"That girl has willpower, I'll give her that," a guard murmured from afar. "But it ends here."
Crawling, unable to walk, I dragged myself to the magical communication sphere. So close... I was almost there.
"Just a little more... just a little..." I repeated as the guards' shadows approached. I finally reached the sphere and made the call. "Yoko—"
A stone hand gagged me, cutting off my scream. One of the guards approached and deactivated the sphere.
"I must admit, you're more tenacious than others," he said, grabbing me by the hair. "But this ends here."
He struck my stomach with brutal force, making me spit blood. "Tell me, did you get to say goodbye to your friend with your sphere? Don't worry, we'll find her and deal with her too!"
He continued to beat me, each blow resonating through my body. As darkness invaded my vision, the moon appeared in the sky, with a black dot in its center growing at an alarming rate. A crash sounded, and a man landed in a gaping hole in the roof.
The unknown man's silver-white eyes gleamed under the moonlight. The furthest guard suddenly collapsed, a gaping hole in his chest. The man held something in his hand, dripping with blood... was it the heart of the fallen guard?
"Who are you?" the last guard stammered, terrified.
The man didn't answer. He extended his hand, and the arm of the guard holding me was severed as if by an invisible blade. The guard screamed in pain before being propelled forward by a column of earth hitting his back. Another column rose, striking his stomach and sending him crashing into the ceiling. Falling, the man, without hesitation, delivered a final blow, pinning him to the wall before impaling him with an ice lance.
"Nia, don't move," he said, approaching me.
"How... do you know my name?" I asked, astonished.
"It's me, Areyos."
"Areyos..." Tears of relief streamed down my cheeks before I lost consciousness.
Areyos Orionis's Point of View
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Thanks to 'Flash', I arrived at the store just a minute after Nia's call. She was severely injured, with pure white wings protruding from her back. So, she was a hybrid. Without wasting time, I removed the earth spikes from her body and used healing to mend her wounds.
"You... with your dark blue hair, your silver-white eyes... I recognize you," the guard murmured, teetering between pain and fear. "You survived..."
"Who are you?" I inquired, standing up.
"Of course, you don't remember me. That night at Crimsonfall... I was nothing against your power. You unleashed your wrath like divine judgment. Your friend had betrayed you, but you, like this girl tonight, wouldn't resign yourself to death. You transformed and began your massacre. I had to fake my death on the battlefield to escape your wrath, hoping the gods would save me... and today, I find you again, the ghost of Crimsonfall."
I remained silent, approaching the ice lance. I placed my hand on it, infusing it with chakra
" 'Pain'," I said, using an ice-type affliction that multiplied the pain of the damage. In my Crescent Moon form, my ice power was a hundred times stronger. The guard screamed as the lance dug deeper into his body, amplifying his agony.
"Wait, wait!" he pleaded. "I can tell you who's behind all this. Spare me, and I'll tell you everything."
I looked at him coldly
"Speak," I said sharply. The guard seemed relieved and quickly revealed what I wanted to know.
"I was a mercenary taking all sorts of contracts. I often worked with an extremely wealthy man named Marlow Moore. He would call on me whenever one of his numerous industries needed to sort out personnel or when people threatened his power. One day, he called me to join other mercenaries in the abandoned city of Crimsonfall to conduct experiments on people of all races," he explained.
"What was the purpose of these experiments?" I asked, intrigued.
"We had to test various harmful products on different races to create the world's most potent poison. From there, we could synthesize a remedy, a panacea capable of curing any poisoning, any toxin," he replied.
"Who was this remedy intended for?" I pressed.
"I have no precise idea, but it wasn't for Mr. Marlow. It was for whoever he was working with."
"Who was this person Marlow was working with?"
"I have no idea. We never saw him. But Valem, Marlow's steward, knows."
"Where can I find this Valem?"
"At the large farm a bit south of here. Mr. Marlow asked him to dispose of Nia Moore's mother and grandmother's bodies in the manure."
"He killed Nia's grandmother!?" I exclaimed, shocked but calm.
"Yes. He told her to commit suicide if she wanted to save Nia. He promised Nia wouldn't die by his hand. But once dead, he ordered us to kill her."
"Do you have any idea of the psychological damage you've inflicted on such a young girl? A girl who only wanted to live peacefully with her grandmother? I can understand her fear, having been captured and tortured when I was young too."
"We were just following orders. It was for a miracle cure at that time. Who knows, maybe Mr. Marlow has another reason this time."
"Speaking of this cure, did you manage to create it?"
"No. When we realized we needed younger subjects, we started trafficking organs and humans with the older ones since they were no longer of use to us. We began capturing children, which was much easier. The remedy advanced much faster thanks to them. Particularly thanks to you and your friend Seidon. Your blood had incredible healing properties just waiting to be exploited. But you escaped before the remedy could be completed," he explained.
"What kind of monster would conduct such atrocious experiments on children...?" I said, horrified.
"We were just following orders, as I told you. Believe me, I took no pleasure in it," the guard exclaimed.
"Given how you mistreated Nia, I find that hard to believe." I removed the lance, leaving the guard sitting against the wall.
"Please... please, don't kill me. We had a deal, I told you everything you wanted to know," the guard pleaded. After a few seconds of silence, where my piercing gaze terrified the guard, unable to predict my reaction, I finally broke down my lance into water droplets floating in the air. I saw the guard's face light up with relief.
"Thank you... thank you, Areyos," he said, tears of relief streaming down his cheeks. "The gods are still with me."
I looked at him silently for a few seconds before speaking again. "First, I never agreed to any deal. I just asked you to talk," I said, my voice turning icy, immediately replacing the guard's smile with terror. A sudden pressure from my gaze overwhelmed his body, making him tremble. No more words could leave his mouth.
"Second," I began, my icy aura spreading, the water droplets aligning, "Either your gods are completely powerless..." I said as the aligned droplets formed a water blade, "Or they don't want you alive. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let you cross my path a second time." The water blade then transformed into an ice saber. With one swift motion, I severed his head, blood spraying the wall and ceiling, ridding the world of one more piece of filth.
To be continued...