The Emperor's Concubine

B.2 Chapter Sixty-Four

Kritanta grows afraid, panicked as she tries to release the spell.
Luna hurls towards her quickly, her hand glowing, piercing through the witch's chest.
Instantly, dark red spikes erupt, impaling through Kritanta from multiple directions.
Blood splatters, flying through the air as the spikes rip through her body.
The thunderous bolts of lightening fly off of Emperor Cabel's spikes, furiously crashing through the witch's body, mixing with Luna's powers.
A strong gust of wind and a blinding light fills the church from the impact of Emperor Cabel and Luna's powers, clashing with each other.

A gold haze rises from Kritanta's body.
Soon, hundreds of iridescent spheres of light fly out of her chest.
The balls of light rise, soaring through the chapel.

Petunia's screams and sobs, fill the church.
The electrifying static silences, the light radiating off of Kritanta beginning to die down as a cloud of dust surrounds them.
Petunia falls to the ground, her body trembling as she looks ahead of her.
Everyone left in the church, quickly turn. The demons they were fighting, all quickly disintegrating.
They look back at the impaled witch, their eyes quickly widening, unable to make a noise as they stare in shock.

Emperor Cabel's menacing aura disappears, his eyes returning to the vibrant deep ruby shade.
He holds his head, stumbling as he stops in his tracks.
His eyes shift to focus ahead of him, his headache disappearing.
Kritanta's body hover over the ground, her blood pooling underneath her.

"You... How dare you..." Kritanta spits out, pained.
"Kritanta... For the pain you've caused, I'll drag you down to Hell myself." Luna apathetically speaks, a playful victorious grin on her lips.
"How dare you... How dare you!..." Kritanta shouts.
Luna looks back at her lime green eyes.
"Why?... Why did you do this? Were you playing with mortals, tormenting them and thinking it was fun? How did you find my sister?"
"Fun? I did what was necessary... Luckily, I found a man who wanted to get his bride back..."
Luna's eyes widen.
"Micheal?... You... What did you do to him?..."
"He begged me to borrow my powers..." Kritanta chuckles, struggling to speak, "He begged me to give him powers to make him strong. He wanted his bride back. Imagine my surprise when his bride was a healer, who could provide me all the mana I need."
"You were watching me?..."
"I was planning... I should have devoured you that day..."
"What day?..."
"Oh? You don't remember? You're little friend kept his mind too weak. I thought I could have him kill you, and I wouldn't have to lift a finger." Kritanta's hand slowly moves, trembling as her claw grips Luna's throat weakly.

Kritanta's words replay in Luna's mind, until the training incident returns to her memory.
Jax's different gaze, and how he relentlessly tried attacking her.
Kerin comes to her mind. His explanation about being lost in darkness, the same thing Jax witnessed.

"You were there that day?"
"I was... How hilarious. If I killed you then, I would have succeeded my plan." Kritanta laughs, mockingly.
Luna bites her lip, a sorrowful expression showing on her face.
"And?... Would that have made you happy?"
Kritanta pauses.
"Yes... My revenge would have been worth it..." Kritanta speaks, a hint of trembling in her voice.
"No... It wouldn't have..." Luna speaks up, giving a small smile.
Kritanta looks back at her, confused.
"You... You wanted to bring destruction and you did... You killed my sister, killed countless of others, and made people lose their sanity... But you don't seem happy, why? Why would you go through so much effort?"
Kritanta's eyes widen, soon her eyes water with tears; close to overflowing.
"I... I wanted to stay dead... I wanted to die... I was rejected by my own brethren... I tried to return to civilization, but you humans just screamed at me with disgust... I tried helping you before I passed too... But I was defiled after my death. That's the thanks I got... I couldn't rest anywhere, I couldn't belong, and even in death, I couldn't be left alone..." Kritanta mumbles, her body disappearing.
She releases Luna's throat, her hand dropping to her side from losing strength.
"I know..." Luna speaks.
Luna removes her hand from Kritanta's chest to place her hand gently against Kritanta's forehead.
Her hand glows a dark golden colour.
"It... It's warm?..." Kritanta whispers, crying.
"I know the frustration... The frustration of wanting to hurt everyone who hurt you... But that doesn't heal you... All it does, is it makes you become someone you regret being. You lose yourself, you defile your own sanity by focusing on the thought of hurting others... But what good is it to hurt someone, just because they hurt you?"
Kritanta looks back at Luna, her expression pained.
"How else was I supposed to act? I threw my life away, I accepted what I had done, but I still couldn't move on from this life! I helped as much as I could... But it wasn't good enough for you mortals."
"You did help us... You helped humans, and they were afraid of you even in the end... I'm sorry."
Kritanta's eyes widen as Luna apologizes.
"I'm sorry you were alone... I'm sorry the anger and frustration made you become something, you no longer wanted to be... I'm sorry you were brought back, I'm sorry your efforts were disregarded... Yet, you've taken away many lives that didn't deserve to die, and you harmed the people I love..."
Luna thinks back to her memories.
Her eighteenth birthday, meeting Esmerelda for the first time.
Esmerelda's innocent expression she had back then, staring curiously at Luna.