The Hunt for the Ghostkeeper

Chapter 26: Apex

Silence.

Rose felt cold. She looked around her. She could see and feel the fortress continuing to sink around her, but something had quieted the noises that had previously surrounded her. The sudden calm set her even more on edge.

"We're locked out!" someone called behind her. Rose could make out almost everyone around her: Rick, Chase, Mason, Nadine, Layla, Circire, Hecata, Hollingsworth, Reuben, and Jane. She made out Paralee, Cara, Micheli and a few more nameless Daemons near the rear, along with a group of Vexors Rose didn't recognize, although she spotted Official Xavier among them.

"Father!" Hecata shouted, and ran forward, embracing an elderly man standing with the Daemons. Rose was suddenly reminded of a little girl being picked up by her strong father.

"Hecata," Elphias said, gripping his daughter tightly.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Hecata whispered.

"Times are changing," Elphias responded solemnly.

Rose waited for eyes to adjust to the darkness of the Arctic night, and took in her surroundings. They had approached a courtyard which was partly open to the outdoor night. The purpose for this, Rose saw, was that the majority of the stone ceiling had caved in, littering the floors of the chamber. They were on the left hand side of the giant courtyard, atop on of the two magnificent staircases which led down to the main court, which was once flat but now rocky with relief due to the broken chunks of stone scattered all over the enclosure. At the edge of the forum, a balcony overlooked the roaring seas below. The balcony was originally made of a huge curved glass window connected to the roof, but the destruction had left only broken shards of thick glass in its place.

"Let's move down," Circire commanded. "We might be able to reach the ships from that balcony."

The makeshift army sprinted down the giant staircase. As she raced down, Rose felt a surge of energy race through her entire body as well. Something about the way the moved, the warriors escaping into the night, made her feel as if this is what she was longing for all along: whether she be a Zarrius or a Vexor, here, all people of the Council were fighting together, as one. Somehow, this was the way they were meant to be, not separated but together as one people.

"Hurry! Go!" Hollingsworth called from behind Rose, but out of a nowhere, an earth-shattering quake roared from within the island as the Celeste sunk deeper into the sea, knocking them all to their knees.

Rick tried to yell, but no words escaped his mouth. From above them, the storm clouds assembled in the night sky.

"OH MY- !" Paralee screamed behind them, and pointed forward. There, in between them and the balcony, thick jets of black smoke exploded all in front of them. After a few seconds, the dark fumes began to materialize into human figures, and at the head of their menagerie, a tall woman with darkened blue eyes in a flowing, onyx dress, brandishing a black wand.

"Attack her!" Jane shouted. "NOW!"

"Wait, no!" Rick shouted, for behind Celestia, more people began to appear. Elyzia and Eliza were among them, along with Isisia. More and more men and women kept Appearing as if from thin air, the cursed Liebeauxs resurrected from the Underworld.

Celestia smiled grotesquely, and stepped to the side, revealing a woman behind her. The woman's blond hair and bright eyes made her stick out from the others around her. Her intense green eyes glowed among the countless blue irises that surrounded her. Ariel Contreras' green eyes was so bright they seemed to be almost golden, similar to an eerie lemon-lime hue. But it was the woman that Ariel held from a dagger and vice-grip that caught the Council's attention.