The Devil's Tear

Chapter 13- Vesta's Conclusion

"Demetri?" Vesta shook him by his shoulder. Cytheria inhaled deeply before speaking, "My Queen, he won't be of any use to us anymore."

Vesta did not respond, so Cytheria continued, "Who could have done this?"

"I'm not sure," Vesta said, turning to Cytheria with an unfathomable expression. Cytheria glanced at Demetri's still corpse, and a small white parchment attracted her eye. It was pinned onto Demetri's cloak. Cytheria boldly pushed Vesta aside and picked up the small letter, disturbing the silence with the crunching of the parchment.

                                                   Cornelia never existed within that sword.  

                                                      She exists, but within another vessel. 

                                                                             She has been re-incarnated within a girl. 

                                             - Yours Truly

Cytheria frantically turned the page over, trying to find some sort of clue to the identity of Demetri's killer. Vesta glanced over Cytheria's shoulder, and laughed quietly.

"My suspicions have been confirmed," Vesta sounded relieved.

"What do you mean?" Cytheria did not bother addressing her as 'my Queen'. "You've figured out who killed him?"

"No," Vesta shook her head. "But I've figured out where Cornelia really is. She was a clever woman."

"You mean..." Cytheria stifled a gasp, catching on.

"Cornelia deliberately chose the possessor of the devil's tear as her re-incarnation. She was aware that the devil was going to trick her one way or another, so she never sealed herself away," Vesta explained briefly.

"Cornelia chose?" Cytheria repeated sceptically. Vesta nodded quickly.

"How can one choose their re-incarnation?" Cytheria smirked.

"This is Cornelia we're discussing," Vesta said sternly. Cytheria shrugged in response.

"What do we do?" Cytheria asked after a moment.

"We must get rid of Cornelia," Vesta concluded. "If we kill Euphrosyne Rains, then we'll be hitting three birds with one stone."

"Three?"

"We shall get rid of Cornelia, my goal exactly. Then we shall kill the devil's vessel, leaving him to search for a new 'pure' soul to rest in, and lastly, we shall encounter Alexei Isaura," Vesta counted on her long, pointed fingers. "See, that's three, isn't it?"

Cytheria smiled at her queen. "What shall we do with Demetri? And his killer?"

"Leave them be for the time being," Vesta waved her hand dismissively. Cytheria and Vesta exited the dungeon.

A cool breeze blew Cytheria's straight hair back, and caused her to shiver. The breeze had been unnatural.

"A breeze inside the building?" Cytheria thought to herself in alarm, as she dashed back into the prison. She saw exactly what she had expected.

"What is it?" Vesta followed in annoyance. Cytheria pointed to where Demetri's corpse had been.

It was no longer there.

-

"All my pieces are in place," Rosy traced the air with her fingers. "Irma, Alexei, you will help me, won't you?"