The Devil's Tear

Chapter 12- Arising Mysteries

Rosy smiled strangely at the startled Alexei. Her smile grew wider as Alexei began to stutter incoherently.

"Re-incarnation?" Alexei managed. "Impossible."

"It's possible," Rosy assured.

"It isn't! The Devil purposely sealed Cornelia into that sword; to make sure a re-incarnation is never born!"

"But has anyone ever seen that sword?" Rosy argued. "Has that sword ever been proven to exist? Or was it just a legend brought about by your ancestors?"

"You know nothing of my ancestors!" Alexei raised his voice. "The sword exists! I know it does."

"Then why haven't you, who has been trusted with your family's honour, pride, and glory found it yet?" Rosy also raised her voice, which sounded more womanly rather than one belonging to a little girl. Alexei retracted sharply.

"Who are you?" Alexei demanded. "The devil, Rosy, or Cornelia?!"

"Maybe I'm none. Maybe I'm all of them merged into one mind," Rosy twirled a strand of hair around her finger, "Or maybe I'm one."

Alexei stared in utter bewilderment.

"You're surely not Rosy," a new voice concluded, "and we are still unsure whether you're Cornelia's re-incarnation or not. So what does that leave?"

Rosy twirled around to face Irma, who stood with a grave expression. Seeing her face caused a wave of sorrow to wash over Alexei's bosom. 

"And what will you do about it?" Rosy asked in a childish voice. "You won't hurt me, will you?"

Her questions were mainly directed at Alexei, who was torn between the desire to tear the devil in front of him apart, and to cuddle Rosy in his arms to calm her down.

"Irma Kreal," Rosy addressed, pointing at Irma. "An eleven-year-old, who resembles a twenty-year-old. Isn't it quite a curse to age faster than those around you?"

"It is a blessing," Irma said forcefully. "Mages live for so long that boredom is usually the poison to kill them off. I, on the other hand, will live a century at most. Such a life is the wish of most mages..."

Her voice had trailed off and her eyes had gone empty.

"Oh?" Rosy raised her eyebrows. "But the irony of the world... It wouldn't allow even a soul to live a perfect life. Deep in your heart, you know you hope for a longer life."

Irma's arms fell to her sides. Her forest green eyes gained their sparkle as she began to laugh. "That may be true. But all I can do is accept it."

"I can grant your wish," Rosy said. "That's what the devil would say. Fortunately for you, I'm not the devil."

Alexei and Irma exchanged bewildered expressions.

"Lady Cornelia?" Alexei and Irma said simultaneously and with equal disbelief.

-

Vesta leaned against the cold, damp walls of the prison entrance. Her sharp hearing caught the distant footsteps of heeled boots against the midnight blue paved floor.

"Cytheria?" Vesta confirmed.

"Yes, Your Highness," a smooth and hard voice replied. A woman, dressed in a navy blue suit which complimented her straight grey-black hair, approached Vesta with her usual impassiveness. Cytheria Terre, an impassive and loyal subject of Vesta, bowed down low.

"No need for the formalities when we're alone, Cytheria," Vesta smiled. Cytheria rose, and handed to Vesta a sheathed sword. The sheath was hard leather, and the hilt was plain and black.

"Did you face any problems retrieving the sword?" Vesta asked, examining the leather.

"Not really," Cytheria shrugged. "Surprisingly, the area surrounding this sword was deserted, and all I encountered were decayed organisms."

"Mages?" Vesta's head shot up. "Dead mages?"

"No, only small animals and such," Cytheria assured. Relief washed over Vesta.

"The sword was located on the eastern side of Bahamut's Lair," Cytheria began. "But... the Bahamut himself was not present. And the island's eastern area was deserted and abandoned, as if a natural disaster had very recently struck...

"That doesn't matter now," Vesta grinned. "We have the sword."

"We may also have a problem," Cytheria said dryly.

"What do you mean?" Vesta asked, inspecting the simple silver of the blade with sparkling eyes.

"That sword holds no soul," Cytheria revealed. "It is but a sword, Your Highness. Cornelia has already been released."

Vesta's smile diminished gradually, only to be replaced with an ugly frown. She threw the sword to the ground with great force, causing it to pierce through the stone.

"How?" Vesta snarled. "Who?"

"If I knew, I'd most certainly have mentioned it already," Cytheria rolled her eyes, oblivious to the flames of rage erupting around Vesta.

"I think... Cornelia may not have been in the sword in the first place," Cytheria said quietly.

"What?" Vesta had cooled down, and was now level-headed.

"Either that, or Cornelia was released and killed simultaneously, which is not possible for any mage to accomplish. Cornelia is infallible. Only two select people could hold any sort of competition against her."

"Who?"

"Alexei Isaura, and the devil himself," Cytheria finished. "Alexei Isaura, the son of the deceased Ciceron Isaura."

"He still lives?" Vesta was relatively surprised. "I thought he vanished on Bahamut's Lair?"

"He did not vanish. He defeated the Bahamut, Your Highness. He is a threat even to you," explained Vesta.

"How do you know of his existence?" Vesta demanded.

"I have explored Demetri's memories, as you had ordered."

"But you informed me that most of his memories were obscured..."

"Alexei was there. With Artemis Delara, and Euphrosyne Rains."

"What a deadly trio," Vesta bit her lip.

She turned away from the prominent silver of the sword's blade, and stomped towards the dungeons imprisoning Demetri. Cytheria followed quietly behind her as she passed by each candlebra with a blur.

"Demetri!" Vesta shouted in fury as she threw the high double doors of the dungeon open.

"Calm down, Your Highness," Cytheria soothed uselessly. Demetri lay motionless on the damp floor, his eyes open wide. Vesta stifled a gasp as she passed effortlessly through the iron bars. She bent down and picked up Demetri's left wrist.

Cytheria sighed from behind Vesta.

From the looks of it, Demetri had been killed purely by shock.