Heart Of Stone - Episode 1&2

 

HEART OF STONE

Heart Of Stone - Episode 1&2

 (..Sold•To•The•Pit•Of•Hell..)

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a written permission from the author.

Copyright © 2025.

By: Naomi Cindy B.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[Luminaria Grand Palace]

The palace is a towering paradise, dominating the city like a world apart. It's silhouette cut against the skyline of glass towers and neon veins. Though the city bursted with modern life, the palace seems untouched by time. It's like an empire within an empire.

It's in two parts, and this particular part is the East, meant for the High Royals—The Millions Family.

The main castle is high and dark with it's obsidian glass, blackened steel and skyscraper-like spires which are clawing to the clouds, their edges sharp like blades.

Besides that, there are several exclusive mansions for clansmen and extended family of the high royals.

There are quarters for maids, and small Wings for wretched slaves, so the palace is extremely full and is always alive every hour.

In the middle of the evasive palace, there's a luxuriously tall tower. "Heartless Tower" is written in big irregular letters in front of it.

Luxury won't be enough to describe the richness of this place.

Jude stood in the archery field at the back of the main castle, sipping from a cup of warm water which was brought for him by a maid.

The maid held a red tray, and her head is down as Jude sipped in large gulps, his throat bobbing. Thin lines of water rode down his flawless skin.

He's drinking with an hand, but he held a arrow and bow with the other.

After drinking, he dropped the cup back on the tray a little too rough, and the tray broke into two, together with the cup.

"Just dispose 'em off" He shrugged.

"Yes, Grand Prince." The woman took out a napkin, gently wiping the water on his throat with it before rushing out of the field.

Jude readjusted his stand in front of the dartboard, his long cross earrings dangling. The strands of hair falling over his eyes look overly attractive.

He's Jude Millions, first son of the Millions Royal Family.

"All that arrogance, and your powers are still low. Breaking a tray and cup means nothing, it just shows how useless you actually are." a cold, sad voice spoke behind, causing Jude to turn with a smirk, and it's exactly who he expected.

Sadie Millions, the second child of the Millions Royal Family.

She's a twin though, so it's safe to say she and her twin brother—Soren, are the second borns, and they have enough venom in them than snakes.

They're both crueller than the devil, and Jude might be their senior brother, but in this family, things just work differently.

Power buys respect, not age.

Sadie picked up a arrow and bow too,  her face holding nothing but cruelty as she stood beside Jude.

Her hair is dark in her neat bun, she's wearing sleek leather palazzo pants, black heels and a cropped blouse. She looks like she birthed evil herself as her lips are also black.

"You really wanna do this, little sister? We all you and Soren are useless without each other." Jude mocked, smiling.

Sadie shut her eyes, easily mind-linking with Soren...

"Get your rotten ass here, Soren!" She harshly ordered, but nothing came.

Just the sound of unstopping water splashes and the shower, meaning Soren is in the bathroom.

Sadie's eyes opened, a calm breath ran out of her nostrils.

"I'll go first," she muttered resolutely, setting her arrow into the bow.

"Without Soren? Are you sure?" Jude snickered hard.

Sadie went silent, focusing on her target — the dartboard.

With one unrelenting pull, she released the arrow. It whistled and flew to the dartboard violently, hitting the middle so hard.

She raised her chin proudly at Jude who was silent too as he reset his arrow in his bow.

Sadie stood behind him, watching darkly as Jude released his arrow.

It hit the middle of the dartboard, pushing away Sadie's arrow and splitting the board into two.

"Fûck" Sadie muttered shockingly.

Jude bursted into laughter.

"Told ya, little sister. You should have known your place. You're useless without Soren." 

"I hate it when you laugh, Jude." Soren's hard voice broke into the field as he strolled inside, twinning with his leather pants and jacket.

His face is just as round and cold as Sadie's. He's slightly taller than her though, but Sadie wouldn't have it, and that's why she's always on heels.

"Why the hell are you just coming!! You know how much I hate losing!!" Sadie yelled angrily at him.

"I was in the bathroom! You don't expect me to come running! You heard water splashes when you mind-linked! Didn't you?" He glared, but she was already at his face.

"You could have ran out nakedly and blind the maids who'd dare look at you! Jude won! He f+ckin won!" 

Soren's face twisted into something gravely, and his stare shot to Jude who's still laughing at the two.

His laughter refused to stop—it's not stopping anytime soon, and that angered the twins so much.

They looked at each other, their eyes sharing faint glows before they faced Jude again, stretching their hands to him together.

The arrows in the weapons bag lifted on their own, and before Jude could retaliate or switch spots, the arrows already pierced his body.

There are 10 arrows, and they all went lodged inside his chest, coming out at his back.

His blood was raining in a matter of seconds, and he crumbled on his knees. He opened his mouth to curse, but it was blood instead.

"Fool" the twins smirked, leaving the field and returning to the castle.

The maids on their way had to run and hide, and some went gummed to the wall with their heads painfully bowed in fear as they walked across.

"I never expected this power competition to stretch to the point of piercing each other with arrows." a authoritative female voice stopped them when they got to the base of the gold stair railings.

In sync, they looked up, and there they are... their parents.

The rulers of this city.

Zeke Millions and Azura Millions—his wife.

Both are thousands of years old, but they still look as young as hell, their dark hairs is a testament to that.

Azura is in a long red silk dress, paired with black gloves while Zeke is in a equally red suit, both holding cups of red wine firmly.

They're looking down at the twins with unblinking eyes of disciplinarians.

"Jude started it, mother!" Sadie glared up venomously.

"I did nothing to warrant that treatment! All I did was defeat her!" Jude rushed in, body still bloody and arrows still stuck inside.

The pains are gone, he only has to get rid of the arrows and heal himself right now.

"You f+ckin laughed!" Soren glared.

"So it's a sin to laugh after defeating you losers who can't do shit without each other?" Jude glared back.

"Yes! It's a grave sin! Better watch your laughter from now on!" Sadie fired.

"Now I see why you both hate Ryker to the core. He'd break you two to pieces, tendons by tendons without even lifting a finger!" Jude snapped.

"Don't you dare!!!" Soren yelled.

"Don't you dare compare us to that bastard!" Sadie completed the statement.

"I command this noise to go down, now!" Zeke ordered from the staircase.

"Shut up!!" The twins yelled at him together.

Dead silence fell in the castle immediately, and the twins calmed after realizing what they just did.

"That wasn't intentional," Soren muttered.

"Intentional or not, there's a punishment for every cross of boundary." Azura smiled, sipping from her wine cup.

Zeke called in the castle funding manager, and the man came running inside.

"Grand Supreme." He bowed.

"Lock the family joint account tonight, and it's not to be opened till daybreak." Zeke ordered.

"What!" The twins gasped as the manager ran out to carry out the order.

Jude smiled.

"Tonight is the Dark Rook auction, locking the joint account means we'll be losing the slave to the low Spectres Family!" Sadie said restlessly.

"Exactly my point. You both have to experience losing for once, so next time, you know it's not a good deal shouting at me." Zeke finalized.

"Father, you do realize it's been years since the Spectres last won against us, right? If it happens again tonight, I and Sadie would be mocked at the Ballet School!" Soren desperately hit the staircase.

"Son, you don't get it, do you?" Azura dropped her wine cup for a maid. "That's the point—the mockery."

She left with Zeke, but their commanding presence still remained in the hall as the twins faced Jude.

"Good riddance" Jude scoffed, removing one of the arrows from his stomach before going up.

The twins stood undecided for a minute at the hall, then they both broke into a run, up the staircase.

They went to their conjoined room.

"How much money do we have left in our personal safe?" Sadie asked.

"About five billion?" Soren's eyes threw the personal safe door open, and they entered the small room in the middle of their rooms.

There are wooden shelves inside, and the shelves contain bundles of cash in calculated sums, stacked up.

They got four bags, throwing the cash bundles inside and counting at the same time.

By the time they got done, the cash is exactly 4.9 billion.

"Not enough, we're surely losing at the auction tonight, I can't think! You mean to tell me those dogs from the lowly Spectres Family will mock tomorrow?" Sadie punched the wall, cracking that spot, but her knuckles stayed fine.

"There's a way, though." Soren talked, and Sadie flicked her eyes to him, getting it instantly.

"The bastard has to come to the auction, he's the only one in this family who manages his wealth without the joint account." Soren muttered.

"He left his tower with his lackeys since two days ago and hasn't returned. Where could he be?" Sadie held her forehead.

"We can always call him back with his weakness" Soren smiled, wickedly.

Sadie's face lit up with a deadlier smile, twinning with him.

They left the room with sharp steps, Sadie's heels clicking and Soren's boots thudding, crossing rooms till they arrived at the staircase.

They didn't bother descending, they just jumped, landing down easily. They entered the castle kitchen, meeting the old head of chefs with his daughter Xena, both eating breakfast on the kitchen island.

Sadie's nails dug into Xena's hair as she grabbed her, tightly.

The old chef stood, dropping his fork, but before he could defend his daughter, Soren picked the fork and stabbed his palm with it, literally nailing it to the table.

The old chef cried out, the custard and pie in his mouth pouring to his chest.

"Xena!" He shouted.

"Father!" Xena cried. That was the only sound she could make before the evil twins dragged her out of the wide wealthy kitchen.

"Xena!!" The old chef's crying voice still echoed behind them till they arrived at the pool room.

Xena was thrown to her knees, and she straightened up as the twins towered in front of her. Her knees sting so much.

"Please... please I did nothing wrong." She shook her head.

Sadie threw a immediate deafening slap at her face, and she fell, rolling fast into the pool.

The twins bursted into a fit of laughter, watching her struggle since she can't swim.

"Hel...p...ah...ugh...hel...p!!"

Their laughter increased, and Sadie rested her elbow on Soren's shoulder.

"Isn't she so f+ckin pretty like this?"

"Tell me about it," the guy nodded.

"Let's get to business then," Sadie pulled out her phone, hissing out.

"The fact that we use human technology pisses me off."

She dialled 'bastard' on her phone, and it rang for two long times before the line connected.

"Hello, bastard. Your sister is chilling in the pool, and like you know...she can't swim." She said, blowing air proudly on her fingers.

"She won't die cos her lifeline is hidden, but if she drinks too much water from this poisoned pool, then she'd live with sickness for the rest of her life. You should come back home wherever you are, meet us at the Dark Rook auction and bring as much cash as you have along. Otherwise, sickness is knocking at your sister's door." She continued.

Nothing still came from the other end, so she hung up.

"You think he'd come?" Soren muttered.

Sadie looked at Xena who's still struggling in the pool, shrugging...

"Of course. That bastard might be bloody ice, but he loves his sister."

--

[West Palace]

This part of the palace belongs to the Low Royals—The Spectres.

And though it contains everything that the East palace has, but in smaller quantities.

Their castle is smaller, mansions for clansmen is smaller too. Their quarters for maids and Wings for slaves are even worse.

Their luxury is limited, and their slaves are 30+ while the Millions Family have 200+

Their gate is different from the East gate, and if anyone from this place makes the unforgivable mistake of using the East gate, then it's brutal punishment with acid rain.

The Spectres Family live in fear of The Millions, but at the same time, they're the only people who can contend with them as they're powerful too, just that they lose their powers at midnight every night.

It's some minutes past 7pm on the clock, and the family is sitting round the royal dinning, the soft clattering of spoons on plates and water journeying down throats filled the room as they ate in silence.

Kasia is the head of the family. She lost her husband some years ago, and that only contributed more to the weakness of the family.

She had two kids with the husband before his death though.

Winona Spectre is currently sitting beside Kasia 

She's the first child who's as brave and relentless as her mother. She's beautiful.

Blaise Spectre is sitting at the other side of Kasia.

He's the second child, a nonchalant handsome redhead.

At the opposite side of the table, there's Astor—Kasia's new husband, and Faye, his daughter.

Kasia is a powerful woman, so it was Astor who changed his surname to her own after they got married, and Faye hates that.

Astor is a soft, supportive man, but Faye is far from it.

She was rolling eyes with malice as she dropped her spoon, getting up from her chair.

"I'm full"

"Me too" Winona stood too.

Faye smiled at her. Winona is the only person she seems to like in this family.

"Dark Room will be open by 8, we've got one hour to drive there," Faye checked her wristwatch.

"We can just teleport, no one wants that driving hassle." Blaise spoke, pressing his lips with tissues.

"No one is teleporting! You know how exhausted your powers get if you try just one teleportation! We're not as powerful as the Millions, so careful. I'm not losing a child!" Kasia warned.

"You can stay home if you don't wanna go," Winona spoke.

"If I don't wanna go?" Blaise stood with a scowl.

He strolled out of the room with his hands tucked in his pockets.

"The money bags got taken to the car trunks already. Use the limo, and make sure you return before midnight." Astor said.

"Sure, new dad." Winona smiled.

"Be fine, Faye." Kasia nodded at her.

"Sure, new mum." Faye gave her a fake smile, then she left with Winona.

"Your daughter and her fake smiles, she doesn't have to pretend to like me." Kasia picked her glass of wine.

"Give her time, it's hard for Faye to like someone, and you talk as if your children are innocent too. Winona is the only one who seems to love me genuinely, Blaise is just hateful." Astor spoke across the table.

"Blaise is territorial, not hateful." Kasia raised her glass.

"Whatever you say" Astor clinked glasses with her.

"What's the use of going to the auction when The Millions will always win anyways." He relaxed.

"If we don't show up at all, The Millions will see us as cowards, and I'm not ready to add that to the list of their unending dirty names for us." Kasia sighed.

"Don't overthink, this torture from the tyrannical Millions family will soon be over." Astor assured.

"Hope so" Kasia smiled.

They stood at the same time and leaned across the table to kiss deeply.

--

[East Palace, Millions Castle~ Major Royal Bathroom]

A slow instrumental played in the large stereo disc in one side of the red bathroom, accompanied by the rippling of fresh bubbles from the excessively large tub.

The tub is so large that it almost took over the bathroom, and the white foams stayed fresh as Azura sat in it, her head slung back on the tub edge, and her eyes are closed. She's obviously enjoying the playing instrumental music, the violin.

Zeke entered the bathroom, and despite the silence in his steps, Azura's eyes opened, beholding him.

He stripped himself, entering the tub nakedly with her. He sat across her, his hard gaze falling on her bre+sts.

"Many kids sucked those devilish tits, but they're still standing," He intentionally said.

"Still a slut for my body?" Azura smiled, caressing his balls with her toes underwater.

"Always" he groaned.

"And where the f+ck did the bastard go to? Been a day since I last saw him. He's aware he can't be far from this castle, isn't he?" Azura smirked.

"If he's not back by tomorrow, I'm killing Xena." Zeke declared. 

Azura leaned closer, her suddenness not surprising.

"And are you really letting the lowly Spectres win the auction tonight?" She dropped her leg, her red fingernails seeming to stain the white porcelain tub body.

"Lose?" Zeke breathed hard. "Getting what they want is the twins speciality. Watch as they bring home the slave, even if it means killing everyone at the Dark Room. I trust my spawns." 

A glint of hostility flashed across his eyes as he vomited the words.

--

[Dark Room, 7:50Pm]

Crowd of royals filled the inside and outside of the room, caging cups of wine and bid-paddles in their hands as they flooded inside, ready for tonight's show.

The Dark Room could compete for one of the largest mansions in Luminaria, but calling it a Room is cos of the purpose it was built for.

For auctioning slaves—for selling forbidden breeds.

Winona led Faye and Blaise inside, and the other royal clansmen made way for them as they walked in synchrony to their spot in the midst of the toxic regality.

* The Spectres are here.

* Aww, look at Winona. I can't get over her beauty. Never.

* Isn't Faye prettier?

* Blaise's red hair and straight nose gets me always.

* Wait...the parents aren't here? It's just the children tonight? 

* Makes it more fun! Where are The Millions please?

"There they are!" A man pointed at the long staircase rail.

Sadie, Soren and Jude stood there, looking as imposing and majestic as ever with their wine cups and black suits. Jude has no plans to partake in the bidding, he's just here to laugh when the twins lose tonight.

No one is standing around them. Everyone stood at least five feet away, and that's how it's done.

Sadie and Soren have that degrading looks on their faces as they stared at the Spectres at the ground floor.

No one. Not even a single person would dare to comment about them. Everybody in this city knows about the evil twins hot temper, so it's better to not to mess with the spawns.

Everyone stood and bowed to them...

"Greetings, Grand Princes and Princess!!"

"Sadie became more arrogant," Winona muttered from the ground floor, rage crawling into her head.

"Suppress your rage, you can't start a fight right now. Do not stir trouble."  Blaise held her.

"That's right, Winona. We came to bid, not fight." Faye added.

Winona calmed, and the room git pregnant with surprised gasps when the auction committee came in with some guards.

The guards are the ones carrying the cage containing the slave that's for sale tonight, and she's the main reason for the gasps.

There's a round chain on her neck that looks damn heavy. The chains are cuffed on her wrists and ankles too. Her hair is tangled and twisted, and her skirt is brown—dirty. Her blouse is tattered, and she looks tiny and slim as a result of underfeeding.

But she's really beautiful with her full lips and soft brown eyes.

Winona's eyes are wide like the eyes of every other royal in the room.

Even Jude... He's staring too, his hand grabbing the rail edge tight.

"Love at first sight?" Soren spoke beside him, 

"Mind your business, Soren." Jude huffed, then he returned his interested eyes to the slave.

Sadie is busy looking at Winona, and there's a sly smile on her lips.

"That bî+ch has probably fallen." 

"What do you mean?" Soren inched closer.

"Winona, look how she's staring at the slave like she wants to eat her. Have you ever seen her fancying any man?" Sadie drank all her wine.

"You're saying... Winona Spectre is into girls?" Soren snickered.

"That bî+ch is les, and she probably wants the slave more than ever, judging by the way she's devouring her with her eyes." Sadie cleared.

"More reason to go hard on this auction. The bastard should better show up." Soren muttered.

The slave cage was set down in front of the room, and the poor slave knelt inside, holding the iron bars and staring hopelessly at the sea of wicked people, waiting to buy her.

The auction committee stood in front of the cage, covering her from the crowd at first.

"No time to waste, let's start the auction, and as usual, the highest bidder gets the slave. Her name's Shayla" Their chief declared.

"One billion!" Jude started, raising his bid-paddle.

The twins turned to him immediately, surprised that he's bidding.

Isn't he here to mock?

"1.5 billion!" Winona shouted from the ground floor.

"2.5 billion!" Sadie raised her paddle.

"3.5!" Winona shouted.

Silence.

There was silence in the room afterwards, and the committee are starting to wonder what's going on.

No one has started bidding with billions before, it always started from a million, but tonight is different.

The heat resumed when Soren raised his paddle too.

"4 billion!"

"6 billion!" Winona shouted from the ground floor.

The twins hands went down, they looked at each other.

Their limit is 4.9, so they can't go higher unless the bastard comes, but he's not even anywhere around.

Sadie bit deeply into her nails, but then Jude spoke...

"10 billion!"

The twins eyes snapped back to him in obvious shock.

10? 

Jude is willing to spend 10Billion on a slave?

"15 billion!" Winona raised from the ground floor, shocking the committee again.

Faye and Blaise look shocked behind her, too. 

"Don't tell me you actually like that malnourished slave." Blaise smirked.

"20 billion!" Jude went higher.

"This is crazier than crazy," Faye muttered.

"35!" Winona returned.

"40!" Jude raised.

"60!" Winona raised back.

Another round of silence fell in the room, the shock so intense and hard.

60? 

That's about the highest bidding price ever in this place.

What exactly is going on??

Even Jude has reached his limit. He can't raise more than 40 without the joint family account.

He grabbed the railings tighter, gritting his jaws.

"Going for 60... Anyone bidding higher?" The committee Chief announced.

Silence.

"Anyone going higher?" He repeated.

"Call the bastard again!" Soren faced Sadie.

"I've been calling him since we got here, it's off!" Sadie snapped.

"Stop calling him the bastard, his name is Ryker!" Jude corrected.

"He's not a royal, he's the son of the old chef!" Sadie argued.

"Son of the old chef, yet he's powerful than you both combined. He's more respected and much more powerful than anybody in this city!" Jude laughed.

"Seems the arrows you received earlier weren't enough, you want bonuses?" Soren glared.

"She's going for 60 billions!" The committee chief announced, pulling them out of their argument.

"No" the twins chorused, preparing to jump down and behead everybody.

Jude's jaws tightened again.

Winona smiled wide at the ground floor, ready to receive the slave.

The hotness in the room was scathing, but it got watered down suddenly, replaced with coldness.

Dry ice grew from the ground, so crusty and large, spreading to the walls and ceilings and breaking some parts, causing plasters and ceiling pieces to fall on the ground.

Two chandeliers plucked and broke to bits, scattering around.

The ice kept extending, growing larger and higher and colder, spreading on the grounds and running a path to the iron cage.

Shayla shifted back in fear, her eyes fearfully wide.

"He's here" Sadie and Soren said with matching smirks.

The ice and the coldness that hit the royals alerted them of his presence, too. Everyone fell on their knees, bowing their heads to the ground.

Everyone except the Spectres who're still standing.

"The bastard is here." Winona muttered, turning around with Faye and Blaise.

Truly, he stood there in the middle of the room. The bastard.

He's wearing a long black royal robe, messy dark hair with slight sprinkles of whiteness. He's barefoot, and water from the ice is cascading at his clean feet. A small ruby ring is on his middle toe. He smells like doom, and carries the aura of blood.

There's a smear of bloodstain on his face, but it's definitely not his own blood. His goodlooking face is intensified with his coloured lips.

Ryker Millions. The bastard. Demigod Of The Grand Palace.

His eyes rolled to the cage, and Shayla was fast to duck her head to the ground, bowing.

Jude was smiling on the top floor, seeing Ryker feels refreshing to him.

"You're finished, Winona! We're winning again!" Sadie grinned.

Soren laughed.

Winona's fists are balled, she stared hatefully at Ryker.

The royals who're bowing on their knees are still in that position.

Ryker powerfully waved his left hand, and the cage padlock broke away, shattering on the ground.

The cage door broke, too, falling away from the cage body and landing on the icy ground heavily.

Shayla shifted back on her butt inside, shivering as a result of cold and as a result of him.

Another wave of his hand, she was thrown out of the cage with a force she has no idea about.

She fell on her belly in front of him, getting wet by the melting ice. Her skirt lifted up her butt, revealing her thin underwear.

Her groan was low, painful and shaky as she continued laying there at his feet, using her elbows to tilt, not daring to look up.

With droopy frigid eyes, Ryker cast a look down at her, extreme tension dropping in the room once again.

He didn't raise any bid-paddle.

Didn't overreact.

He didn't raise his voice, but...

His voice is weighty—madly deep, sending extra chills down several spines as he said the first word.

"150 billion." 

"What!!!"

TBC.

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