Heart Of Stone - Episode 79&80&81

    

HEART OF STONE

Heart Of Stone - Episode 79&80&81

 (..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.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[Minutes Later]

Shayla stirred in the pool, eyes peering open as slowly as ever.

Had she passed out?

She groaned, touching her forehead with two fingers to feel her temperature. 

It's gone down already.

"That's strange," she muttered, throwing her glance around.

She could feel the aura of another person in here. 

Though it's not very thick, but it's still lingering.

She leapt out of the water, landing on a white stone beside the side.

Her sword appeared in her right hand, she positioned it rightly, her eyes sliding to everywhere she could look at inside the pool chamber.

Water dripped from her bikini, sounding tap-tap on the ground.

"Who's there?" She demanded, pointing the sword forward. 

Fire erupted on it's body, reflecting on the pool surface.

"Who's in!" She asked again, firmer and more authoritative.

It's definitely not Cheyenne or Sage—they're currently in the human realm. Also, her nose recognizes their scent, it's definitely not like this one.

She lowered her sword when she couldn't smell the aura anymore, her shoulders dropped.

The person was already out of here even before she woke, but who?

She sighed a small bloodstain at the other side of the pool.

She leapt there and rubbed her fingers on the blood, bringing it to her nose to smell.

"It's not an animal, smells like royalty... Jude?" She recognized, standing up quickly.

"Why would Jude come here? And why would he bleed?" She muttered, walking towards her bedchamber entrance already.

"How did he even get past the fire gate and volcanoes?" She wondered aloud again, glancing back.

The fact that he only bled this little means he's ok, and maybe whatever hurt him is enough punishment for breaking into her palace.

She gave up on thinking about it, went into her bedchamber and opened her closet for a change of clothes.

The first one she sighted was her leotard and leggings and the tutu skirt—ballet.

She misses ballet crazily. It's something she once dreamt of going to the human world to settle down and do, but that was before she learnt about her goddess title.

Now it seems highly impossible. 

There's still a lot to do, and she hasn't even grown the red love thread.

Why is the thread not growing when her heart already belongs to....

Her thoughts were cut short when she felt a drip under herself, and she gasped. Her eyes widened.

"Period! Not again!"

She quickly fished out pads and dressed up, hoping it won't be severe like last time, but who's she kidding?

It's even worse.

She endured it all alone without shedding a tear.

As she bled, she drank red tonic to replenish some of the lost blood.

Just like the other time at the glass mansion, the fire around her burned with rage, as if angry at her.

Alone, she persevered through the toughness.

It took over all her night.

--

[Underground Palace]

Pearl arrived at dawn, rubbing her belly and bubbling with excitement, but her excitement hitched when she couldn't feel Jude in the palace.

"He's not back?" She muttered, pushing the main throne room door open, her long robe sweeping the ground after her.

Jude's dead body lay on top of her throne, still bleeding clotted blood from the chest.

His skin is purple already, and his jaws are clenched tight, leaving imprints of his teeth on his cheeks.

Also, his bulging eyes are nearly falling out.

"What a beautiful, exquisite death!" Pearl gasped, clapping her hands as she walked briskly towards him.

There's intrigue on her eyes, she definitely likes this sight.

"But it's not right to just die on my throne, Jude Millions. You need to..."

She pushed his body away with her footwear.

"Get off!" She laughed, letting out a eventual sigh.

"You know how to get possessive over her, to the point of putting a hex on her? You're wicked than I thought, Ryker Monster Morozov!" She slapped her palm on the armrest of her throne, sitting down.

Her breaths turned unbalanced, ragged and heavy as she wrapped her palm on that armrest edge.

"But it's all over now, isn't it? I achieved my goal..." She muttered, bringing her hand to her stomach to rub again before rising.

"Now let's see what you're going to do with the little piece of information I spilled at your face..." She took a deep breath and walked down to where Jude's body is laying.

"This body is enough to cause serious commotion in the Millions Family. It's hightime I paid them a visit." She looked up, smirking sickeningly.

"If hell won't bow for me, then I'll become HELL myself."

--

[Human Realm~Russia]

It's 5pm when father and daughter arrived at the rusty border, and their eyes scanned their area first.

There are small rocks, little to no sand, and dust... mostly. There's a green forest, too.

"We landed in the woods? More like a dessert. What a bad call." Rumi commented, moving forward.

When she noticed Anatoli isn't moving, she turned back...

"Come on, are you going senile?" She scoffed then continued walking.

Anatoli still didn't move. He retrieved his buzzing phone from his pocket, and when he saw it's 'Master' calling, he stepped back twice before picking.

"I'm currently at the human realm with Rumi, working on something important." He whispered.

"You mean working on taking his riches?" Master spoke without hesitation.

Anatoli looked back to make sure Rumi isn't close before he replied...

"Is there anything you really dunno? Yes, I came to get his wealth. It's only right that I inherit it all." 

"I warned you, do not make a move without telling me firsthand!" Master barked with authority.

"I wanted to tell surprise you for once, don't get mad." Anatoli said.

"And you think it's gonna be easy to just take his insane wealth? Your son is a devil, and he's always one step ahead even in his absence. Jude Millions died already, be careful, you and Rumi." Master warned.

"Tell me to be careful instead, Rumi can die for all I care. In fact..."

He looked back again to see if Rumi is still far from him, and luckily, she's still walking. She seems lost in the scenery of the dessert.

"In fact..." Anatoli returned to his call.  "If she's still alive by the end of everything, I'll end her and Xena myself. I'm too greedy to share the wealth with anybody. You're the only one I want to share with."

"Good, then. Be careful, once again. Human world is different, don't be rash." Master instructed.

The call ended with that, and Anatoli returned his phone to his pocket.

Turning back, he saw Rumi is already coming to him.

"Who were you talking to?" She queried blankly.

"A friend," Anatoli replied, but of course she didn't buy that lie.

She put a obeisance spell on him immediately, and Anatoli went still.

"Who were you on the phone with?" She asked again.

"A friend, from the East Palace. He was one of the chefs who came from the capital to cook for the Feast." Anatoli lied through the spell.

Rumi snapped the spell off, then she led the way.

"Let's go"

"You're really still doubting me, Rumi? We've been working together this far, and I am your father!" Anatoli snapped.

"You're cunning, and I don't trust cunning people, even if you're my father." Rumi stated without looking back at him.

Anatoli sighed, going silent till they went out of sight.

From the silhouette of the mighty trees, the figure in red cloak and black hat fell out, disappearing with the shadows of the leaves.

--

[Moscow, Frost H2O Headquarters]

Father and daughter were wearing suits when they arrived in front of the skyscraper.

Thanks to the moneybag they stole from the Crossover managers, they were able to get the change of clothes, and a car.

Rumi only had to use a spell and change the notes from nyx to rubles.

They slammed the door of their G-wagon close, standing side-by-side before directing their gazes at the skyscraper with open mouths.

"We've been seeing buildings like this during our drive here, but this has to be the longest and biggest. Feels like it reached the sky." Rumi muttered.

"You must be thinking his wealth is a joke, of course it'd be the largest, and this is his headquarters by the way. Also, this type of building is called a skyscraper." Anatoli replied.

"Oh don't even try to school me, I know it's a skyscraper." Rumi rolled eyes, her heels slamming on the front black marble as she led the way.

Her suit p+nts is so tight, so her enormous ass is shaking with each step she took, and her waist is moving with it.

Anatoli stared at it for a second before smiling, then he moved too.

They needed to show their ID cards to the bodyguards by the main sliding doors, but Rumi just waved them with an hand, effortlessly casting another obeisance spell.

The guards allowed their entry, and the air conditioner that blew their skins in the wide lobby made her moan in satisfaction.

"Mmm! So...this is what real wealth feels like..." She faced Anatoli who's already smiling. "There are air conditioners in Luminaria too, but they're not this cool!!"

"Humans manufacture these things, of course it works better in their realm. This is refreshing!" Anatoli admitted, nodding.

They both studied the busy lobby full of both Russian and international staffs, visitors, lobbyists, job seekers and treasure hunters who work for the company.

The lift and elevators weren't that hard to locate.

They exchanged glances and went straight for the elevator, but the moment they tried to enter, they were repelled, thrown back like unwanted animals.

Father and daughter went separate ways, landing violently on the far ground of the lobby.

Rumi's heels peeled away from her feet, and Anatoli's wrist cracked.

The people around stared at them like intruders, but they didn't mind.

Again, they went for the elevator, but they were thrown for the second time. They landed farther than the first, more violent, too.

Rumi nearly broke her waist, but she stood and strutted fast towards the lift this time.

She had only placed a feet on the lift when she was pushed back by a force she couldn't fight.

She fell back into Anatoli's arms, both breathing hard.

"That devil, did he know this would happen? He actually put a restriction barrier." Rumi panted.

"I should have considered this, darn. We can't do anything if we don't get to the top of the skyscraper." Anatoli breathed.

The inside security men came running at that point, and they were both surrounded.

"You both are intruders, and you're under security arrest for infringement." They said in Russian.

Before they knew it, handcuffs were pulled out.

"Who and who is under arrest? You cunts!" Rumi spat back in Russian.

"I'll send a message with y'all." Anatoli sighed, pulling out a hairpin from Rumi's hair.

With his mind, he replicated it. The pin became five, matching the number of security men.

He threw them forward, each to a security. They all received pins in their throats...all five.

Their bodies dropped bloodied on the ground, on top of each other, and as cops rushed into the lobby, father and daughter vanished.

Most people in the lobby fainted, and the other half screamed in fright, clustering in the sitting area.

The cops were beyond shocked to even do anything for the first five minutes. No one has seen anything like this before.

--

[Top Floor]

This is the second day Cheyenne and Sage would be spending here.

If it was Ryker himself, this showcase wouldn't take more than 24hrs, but as his sidekicks, they have to be extra cautious.

Since Sage is the calm one with keen attentive eyes, he did the picking, and Cheyenne just backed him up in the right places.

"I don't know why boss would chose this time to be absent," one of the shine team members said.

"Meaning?" Cheyenne faced the man.

"Last month when boss left suddenly, Caspian Yusluv made mad sales and his net worth shot up. He went insane on the internet for days, and he's already bragging that his sales would outdo ours this month again." The man replied.

"And?" Cheyenne replied coldly.

The men went quiet, all fifty of them in that luxury sleek hall.

"Let me tell you..." Cheyenne stood, adjusting her black hat.

"Boss is not in a competition with anybody, Caspian is only competing with himself. So what if his net worth went up? Is he half as rich as boss? His net worth can shoot up times twenty, and he still won't be able to catch up, so stop the fidgety and focus on this showcase. Knight Sage has keen eyes like boss, just trust his judgement." She cleared.

The silence dropped deeper, and she sat back beside Sage who looks depressed.

The showcase was about to resume when an inside guard entered.

"Yes?" Sage frowned.

The guard came between the knights and whispered to them about what just happened at the lobby.

They stood at the same time and rushed out of the hall.

Cheyenne almost teleported, but remembering that they're in the human realm, she stopped.

Using the elevator felt like years, and when they got down, it was so obvious.

The scent on the bodies of the dead securities is still strong, obviously done by a Luminarian.

"The camera captured two faces,"  guard handed a tab to them.

On the tab, the faces of Anatoli and Rumi showed as they entered the lobby. Clearly.

"Get the bodies to the morgue, and keep it away from the media" Sage told the bodyguards.

"I'm sorry, sir. But there were so many visitors in the lobby when it happened, and it's out in the internet already." One of the bodyguards reported, giving him another tab.

Taking it, he was outraged to see what's going on already.

The comments are deadly.

"Five dead securities? I thought they said Frost H2O headquarters is the safest building in this country?"

"What were the other securities doing? I heard their bodyguards are over hundred, so why?"

"Those dead securities have their own families too!"

"One of them have a pregnant wife at the hospital I work in!"

"That madly arrogant Ryker Morozov, I hope he gets what he deserves for this!"

"Heard he treats his workers bad, so it's true!"

"His headquarters should be taken out of Russia! We hate a negligent CEO!"

Sage turned off the tab at this point, unable to read further.

"These much comments within ten minutes means an obsessed hater is working underneath." Cheyenne muttered.

"Who else? It's Caspian. He probably hired fake accounts to spread the hate." Sage folded his fists.

"Send the bodies to the morgue, we'll find a way to calm their families down." Cheyenne instructed.

Sage quickly removed a hairpin from the neck of one of securities.

Their bodies were eventually cleared out, and the knights used the back exit, getting in one of the company cars at the garage.

"So... Rumi has been with Anatoli all these while?" Cheyenne scoffed.

"It's not surprising, and why exactly would they come here? How did he even find out?" Sage said.

"Boss is gone, so they're here to take over? In their fuckin dreams. Anatoli is more powerful than you think, don't underestimate the old wuss." Cheyenne slapped the steering.

"And then there's Caspian Yusluv, that debauchery pig doing everything to bring boss down." Sage seethed.

"No time for that pig yet. For now, we have to find father and daughter before they cause more damage." Cheyenne replied, facing him.

"The hairpin?"

Sage brought the pin out of his pocket, handing it to her.

Cheyenne's nails grew long like claws as she sniffed it, trying to decipher Rumi's current location.

"They're still on the road, around the overpass at the main express." She said.

Sage awakened the car engines, driving them out of the garage.

--

[Luminaria, New Millions Family Penthouse~Mercury's Room]

Mercury sat in bed, hair covering half of her face like a mad individual, eyes red from lack of sleep, and lips dry from hunger strike.

She has been like this since the wedding, not planning to stop till her mother snaps out of her madness.

Two firm knocks fell on the door before Esme came in, looking ready to spend the day in her usual type flamboyant yellow dress.

Her neck healed very fast, but she's still wearing her skin type patch to cover the scar it left.

"Time for breakfast, baby. You can't stay hungry today again." She said.

"Go away." Mercury replied lifelessly, scratching her neck. 

She hasn't had a bath since yesterday, and her skin reacted with redness.

"Why are you being like this? You're getting me worried!" Esme sat beside her. "Is it because you don't like this mansion? Don't worry, the reconstruction of the East Palace will be done in a week, and we'll move in. Also, we're getting the FrostOrb back from the West Palace today, so be happy. This city is still ours."

Mercury looked up, her red eyes resembling a junkie's.

"I'm doing all of these for you," Esme stroked her hair, but Mercury pushed her away suddenly.

"Stop using that excuse every single time you dog! You're doing nothing for me! You're doing everything because you're stupidly in love with Zeke, that smelly-faced man whose face gives me nightmares and makes me wanna puke! Your ugly husband!!" Mercury snapped.

A sizzling slap was what she got for saying that. 

Esme landed a slap on her face, and she started crying again.

"Come out here, even if it means forcing the food into your mouth, you have to eat! You can't die on me!"

Esme dragged her out of the room, and they went past the twins at the large hall.

Sadie leaned by the wall, smiling.

Soren is beside her, empty-faced.

Rivera is with them, and she has a large grin on with those scary big eyes of hers.

She spent the night here, actually.

Esme dragged Mercury till they got to the dinning where Zeke and Granny Tara are sitting already.

She forced her ass to the chair, brushing her hair back.

"Eat with your new family, it won't kill you!" She spat.

Mercury remained seated, but she made no effort to eat.

Esme went to sit beside Zeke.

The twins and Rivera joined the dinning shortly.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to your new father soon," Zeke told Mercury, and she glared resentfully at him.

"True, you'll get used to your new father soon. Eat your meal, Mercury" Sadie said tauntingly.

Rivera grinned, filling her mouth.

"I forgot to ask what family you came from, Rivera?" Granny Tara said.

"Oh...faes. I'm a dark fae." Rivera replied, showing her black large wings for a minute before retracting them into her back.

"Cool, very cool. Hope you're ready to fight the battles of this family with us though" Zeke said.

"She's a supportive friend," Soren talked. Granny Tara nodded.

"I'm home!" A voice hollered by the front door, pressing the doorbell repeatedly.

"I recognize that wishy-washy voice" Sadie spranged up, rushing down to throw the door open.

Pearl is indeed there, with Jude's body inside a lidless casket.

She dropped the casket by the door, smiling bright.

"Jude!" Sadie gasped.

The rest of the family rushed to the door except Mercury, and when they saw the body, their eyes popped.

"I get that he was a useless member of my family like his mother, but still...this is much." Zeke said.

"Ow! Father! Your face is baked!" Pearl said mockingly.

Zeke only threw her a thorning glare, and she scoffed.

"Jude..." Soren muttered.

"This is cruel," Rivera commented.

"Who was it? Tell me who?" Granny Tara demanded.

"Shayla, it's her." Pearl said.

The twins exchanged glances.

--

[Fire Palace]

Shayla's pains went down today.

According to the message she received from the knights, they'd be spending more time in the human realm cos a disturbance came up, so she got herself busy with practices.

Her dark long hair was flowing beautifully with the air like a paid artist as she moved in a clean sway, backwards, counting her steps till she got to the end of that lane and levitated, sending fire to a tall fat mountain.

The mountain obeyed without holding back. It opened up with a scream, pouring out lava before clashing, then it shattered.

Fire splinted everywhere, and she didn't feel like she even did anything as she came down, watching the ruin she made alone.

Her nose caught the smell of a visitor by the gate. She moved there and waved the gate open, stepping out to see Liza with a motherly smile.

She came with Kade, and despite the fact that he's so full of fear for Liza right now, he didn't hide his hate for Shayla. It showed in the way his lips curled, but Shayla barely even noticed him.

"Look at my baby! Look at that! If anyone else gave birth to you in this city, then it'd have been somehow, you only deserve to be my daughter even in the next life." Liza said proudly, moving forward.

Shayla stayed still, but her eyes are on the ground that Liza is stepping.

"I know, right?" Kade said hatefully. "Now that you own your palace, you eliminate people anyhow. You even killed Jude Millions? Praises."

"What do you mean Jude?" Shayla frowned, looking up.

"Don't be shy to admit in front of us, baby. Jude Millions died by your hands, the news is everywhere and the Millions Family are threatening to revenge especially the twins, but who cares? You're above them anyways." Liza replied, still walking closer.

Shayla still didn't move.

"There's only one way to become untouchable, and that's if you kill your partner first before he kills you. Ascend to the nine heavens alone, and you'll get the final powers alone. Have you ever imagined what it's like to be the most powerful being in the world?" Liza continued talking.

"And I'll become the mother of the unstoppable goddess, and you'll—"

The rock they're standing on suddenly broke in the middle, and Liza quickly shifted back, unable to move forward anymore.

"Next time you come here to spill nonsense, I'll burn you to ashes. And about Jude? I still don't know what you're talking about. Scram!" Shayla spat, voice cold and sharp.

She turned back and started walked into the gate.

"Your friend Xena is held captive by the evil twins at the city tower. I guess she's dying today." Liza said before the gate closed behind Shayla.

"Bî+ch," Kade muttered.

"Quiet, you don't expect her to give in to us that easily. She's probably still having flashbacks of how I broke her arm as a kid, or how i made her eat blended raw pepper for dinner, or how i removed all her upper teeth and blended them for my pet hens." Liza smiled.

Kade looked at her, smirking at the wickedness of this woman.

"We'll keep coming back till she gets over it. Let's go!" She said, disappearing down the mountain with him.

--

[City Tower]

As expected, the twins came here to vent on Xena.

Shayla killed Jude, and Xena is Shayla's best friend, so it's balanced.

Rivera came with them, already holding a whip.

Sadie removed her own horsewhip from the wall hanger.

As for Soren, he sat calmly and just watched the show.

Xena started crying again, her period blood smell is so terrible. The whiplashes nearly killed her.

Rivera and Sadie were as cruel as the whips, they were relentless.

Soren held his rabbit in hand, stroking it's fur and watching the beatings unfold.

But it didn't last this time around. There was a disruption.

Shayla landed on top of that tower, and merely seeing Xena's pitiful state, she gasped.

"The heroine is here to save the best friend?" Rivera laughed.

"Get away, her fire is dangerous." Sadie pulled Rivera out of the way.

"Are we just gonna let her take her?" Rivera argued adamantly.

"I said her fire is dangerous! No cure!" Sadie snapped.

"Xena!" Shayla marched forward, but she was blocked by Soren.

She stopped, eyes lifting slowly with rage. Strangely, she feels a darker energy from him as if he's a new person entirely.

"Get away from this tower, you aren't touching her..." He darkly declared.

"Dry joke" Shayla replied, charging forward.

Fearlessly, Soren did the same, and without waiting, Shayla threw her fire forward.

"No! Soren no!!" Sadie screamed behind.

The blaze hit Soren's chest, but swear to the devil... nothing happened to him. He stayed fine.

Shayla's eyes widened for a beat.

It has never happened before.

Why is her fire not working on Soren?

Her state of shock gave Soren a leeway, and he was able to send her a strike which hit her in the face.

She whipped back with uncontrolled roll, but she leapt off the ground, touched the wall with her leg and tumbled swiftly in the air before landing back on the ground.

"Soren is actually... strong?" Rivera muttered shockingly.

"I'm in shock, too." Sadie muttered.

This time, it was Soren who charged forward first.

Shayla pulled out her sword, deciding to not use the fire this time.

She charged, too. Dragging the sword on the ground and sending sparks flying till she got to Soren.

Soren was shocked.

She stabbed him on the arm before levitating across him in the air till she landed beside Xena on the ground.

She swung the sword twice, and Xena's ropes got cut.

The ones on her legs, wrists, and the blindfold on her eyes.

Everything cut off.

Shayla pulled Xena up.

Rivera and Sadie are already running to Soren who's bleeding madly.

Shayla left Xena, determined to get there before the girls.

Her levitation was faster. 

She landed in front of Soren, wanting to stab him in the stomach and end his life completely...

"Stop!!" Xena screamed behind her.

Shayla's eyes snapped, turning back in shock.

Xena stood there, rooted.

"Stop, don't kill him." She repeated.

"They tied you up here, torturing you since days ago, and you're..." Shayla's voice broke with utter disappointment, "Xena you're actually pleading for his life? You would have died if I didn't arrive!"

"Don't touch him," Xena insisted, crying. "If you still consider me a friend and a sister, don't kill him.

By now, Rivera and Sadie has gotten to Soren.

They took him by each side, and Rivera flapped her wings, flying them out of the tower.

Xena swallowed hard, and Shayla turned away from her.

"Shay..." Xena started.

Shayla walked fast to her, held her by the arm and teleported with her, back to her Fire Palace.

She dropped her at her cold pool.

"Bath inside, my aura is in the water, and it'd heal your wounds." She said, still not looking at her.

"Shay, please look at m—"

Shayla already vanished before she could finish those words.

She reappeared at the lumi bridge and pulled a bottle of light alcohol out of her robe.

She was sniffling as she drank in total sadness, wetting her throat as the tears sprang out of her gold eyes.

"Where are you? Ry? Where are you hiding? I need you back right now, it's not even funny. Is it till I run mad?" 

She sniffled again, draining from her small alcohol bottle.

The skies suddenly rumbled, and she looked up. The skies have changed, from blue to ash.

A raindrop touched her arm, and she looked down at the cold dot, sniffling.

--

[West Palace]

Enlargement has happened here.

Since the takeover happened yesterday, things have changed and still changing.

The main castle is currently undergoing a widening project, it's becoming bigger.

The dark room auction is tonight, and it's sure they're getting the slave, so they're preparing wads of cash in their home bank.

Also, a meeting is ongoing with the city committees. The city affairs got transferred here, Kasia is handling it.

Astor is in the meeting with her, so just the kids are at the lobby.

Winona's glasses are off, and she's currently cat-walking in style.

"Grand Princess Winona!" Faye hailed.

Winona flipped her hair. "Clock that!"

Then, Faye stood beside her, cat-walking to the right.

"Aw, Grand Princess Faye" Winona winked.

"I mean...yes!" Faye chuckled.

Blaise stood from the couch he's sitting on, whistling with his mouth.

"Grand Prince Blaise," the girls chorused.

"I'm about to burst!" Blaise replied, and they laughed out.

"Royalty is so delicious!" Faye said dramatically.

"I know, right?" Blaise rested his elbow on her shoulder without realizing, and she didn't even shoo him away.

"Grand Prince, Princesses! There's a problem!" About five clansmen rushed inside.

"What problem?" Winona asked, and the problems immediately came in to show themselves.

Zeke, Granny Tara, and Esme.

"Ew, that ugly face. You've gotta be the most grotesque thing I've ever laid eyes on." Faye sneered.

"I knew they wouldn't rest, East Palace people and their annoying consistency." Blaise clicked his tongue.

"I heard you lost Jude to the merciless hands of Shayla, and you're here to what? Fight?" Winona smirked.

"Congratulations on your wedding to Zeke, Esme. Lest I forget." Faye said.

"Are y'all done?" Granny Tara smiled eerily like a tomb breeze.

"Welcome to the Powerful West!" Kasia said, stepping into the lobby.

"We've been expecting y'all" Astor added, emerging behind her.

"Losing powers at midnight means nothing, we have the FrostOrb so it's better you take your leave before we paint the new castle extension with your blood!" Kasia snarled.

"We didn't wait till midnight before coming, and that's because we're going to show you that even with the FrostOrb here, even with your rat-like powers, y'all are nothing. The FrostOrb belongs to the East, and this city equally belongs to us! Today, we take back what's ours." Zeke gnarled.

"This time, we'll even take this West Palace from y'all and chase everyone of you into the cages! We'll control both East and West." Esme declared.

"Come on, fight!" Kasia declared back.

And it started—five against three.

Faye scaled out.

Blaise's hair glowed.

Kasia and Astor stood together, and Winona took position behind them.

A great rain started outside, beating the roof and thrumming the ground, causing a furious flood across the city as the fight started too.

It's Kasia and Astor on Zeke alone.

Esme on Winona.

Faye and Blaise on Granny Tara.

Faye wrapped her tail on Tara so many times, but the old woman kept slipping free.

"I once had a pet snake, so I damn know how to tame serpents like you!" She punched Fate in the throat.

Blaise returned the thick punch to Tara's gut, flashing her with his hair at the same time.

Tara fell back with blinking eyes and loud coughs, and Blaise quickly went to Faye's side.

"You ok?"

The snake nodded, and they faced Tara again.

As for Esme and Winona, Esme is clearly having the upper hand.

As a godslayer who has been practicing the godslaying ability for months, she's good with combats.

Winona's wall-walker ability didn't help much. As she entered, Esme pulled her out.

She has been absorbing powers from the FrostOrb since last night, but Esme is extraordinarily strong.

For the fourth time, Esme kicked Winona to the ground.

Her body broke with the wooden sofa, distributing wood all-over the lobby. and she bled much.

Zeke isn't overpowering Astor and Kasia.

In turn, Kasia and Astor aren't overpowering Zeke, too.

There's no winner, no loser.

Strike collided with strikes, hits with hit, and blasts with retaliating blast.

"You've gotten stronger, Kasia. Congratulations." Zeke smiled through the hot fight.

"Thank you, rotten face!" Kasia blasted him ghastly in the face.

His facial burn opened, creating a foul funky smell.

Zeke was angered, and he shoved her in the face, too—harder that she did, so hard that her life trembled.

Astor saw it coming—he could have stopped it, but he didn't.

Kasia flew to the wall, crashing inside with bloody force.

At the same time, a thunder blasted the skies from the rain, and the FrostOrb room opened upstairs as if listening to an unknown order.

The orb rolled out of the room, and all eyes widened, but Zeke grinned.

"You know your owner, orb. Let's go home." He tried drawing the orb to himself, but the orb didn't listen.

It rolled faster, faster till it got to the railings.

From there, it fell.

Zeke flew there, widening his arms below the railings to take it, but he was late—the orb slipped off, going below his large arms. 

It fell on the ground, shattering to smithereens.

--

[Lumi Bridge]

Shayla still stood there, crying and drinking in the rain.

Rainwater mixed with her alcohol, but she didn't care.

It's thundering hard and angry in the skies, but she didn't care.

Flood is going past her legs, pouring down the bridge, but she didn't care.

Rain thrashed her body till she couldn't feel the thrums anymore, till she started feeling cold despite her warm aura.

She lifted the alcohol to her lips to drink the remaining one, but she lowered it when she felt something beneath her feet.

Her eyes went down slowly, and they widened when she saw what's going on.

Ice.

The flood below her feet—it's freezing, turning to ice.

She's now standing in blue thick ice.

The bridge froze, too, railings freezing like the ground did, but the rain didn't stop.

"Wait for me, under the rain." The words he said on the boat on the feast night echoed in her skull.

The alcohol bottle fell from her, breaking on the icy ground, her face went up desperately fast.

A black umbrella covered her head.

TBC.

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