Amber watched Jenna stare at her through the viewing screen. A huge grin was on her face and her eyes were glittering, while she rubbed her belly.
After a few minutes of being submerged in the strange liquid, black puffs of liquid started to leak out from Arabella's skin.
Seeing the space magic leak from Arabella, Jenna's eyes widened, and then became cold. "A useless thing like you really did have space magic? Well you soon won't have it anymore! I'll have all of your space magic extracted and then I'll transfuse it into my son's mana core. Then he'll have the royal's ice magic and your space magic. No one will be able to oppose him after that," Jenna said.
Amber glared at the viewing screen. As she watched, her view became more and more impeded by the black puffs, like ink clouding water. Then just as Amber couldn't see Jenna's face anymore, she felt a strange pulling sensation, and then she was back outside the consciousness space.
The first thing that hit Amber was pain. Pain from the needles, from being dragged, from thorns in her legs, and from the liquid seeping in through her skin. Her entire body burned and ached, but the needles felt like knives. Air was forced into her lungs while she floated. She couldn't move her body, not even just a little bit.
Would this be how everything ends? Would she die alone again? An image of Nova flitted through her mind. Then Ena, Finn, Fluffy, Prince Elystar, the twins, her little brother, Mabel, and everyone else that she'd met, who somehow managed to take another piece of her cold and armored heart, flitted through her mind. She was needed. She was wanted. Then a certainty and drive that she hadn't known even existed started to burn in the core of her being. What was she even afraid of anymore? Dying alone? Being forgotten about? Opening up her heart? It was obviously impossible to prevent anymore. Without her consent, she loved them, she loved them all deeply, more so than she felt comfortable with, but there is was. She could no longer even attempt to deny it. So she embraced the warmth in her heart, instead of trying to push it away.
Then she felt a strange sensation that she remembered experiencing once before. She glanced down to see her ghostly hand slip out from Arabella's body. Then her other hand slipped out, and then her arms. Little by little, more of Amber's ghostly form slipped free from the body she had been occupying. Until she was only connected to Arabella's body by glowing blue straps across her chest and the matching cord. Amber stepped out of the pod, as easily as if she were walking down a step. She stood beside Jenna, who did not notice her, and then a smirk appeared on Amber's lips as she stepped into Jenna's body.
Amber looked down at Jenna's hands and moved them experimentally. "Wow, that's weird," Amber said with Jenna's mouth.
Then Amber looked at the body that she had come to know as her own, which was floating in the black liquid. Amber walked forward in Jenna's body, collecting a large glass jar like she had observed Cray doing, and went through the same motions she had. She finally released Arabella's body from the pod and pulled it over off of the platform. Then she reached into her secret pocket and pulled out a stimulant to counteract the effects of the tranquilizer, forcing it down Arabella's throat.
Then Amber grabbed hold of her paralyzing needle she had hidden on Arabella's body and laid down onto the loading platform. She placed the breathing apparatus onto Jenna's face and then roughly stabbed herself in the arm. Once Amber felt the paralyzing needle start to take effect, she pulled on her connection to Arabella's body, and yanked herself out from Jenna.
Amber roughly snapped back into Arabella's body, gasping from pain and exhaustion. After a moment of laying there, Amber pulled out some mana water and drank it while coughing. She didn't drink a lot of it from fear that it would strengthen Arabella, but just enough to get her back on her feet.
Amber was finally able to stand up and looked down at Jenna, who was wearing the breathing mask, and lying down on the loading plank. Jenna couldn't move, but her eyes shone brightly, filled with fear, and panic. Amber walked over and removed the large black jar full of Arabella's space magic. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her space bag, slipping the large jar inside. She would figure out how to deal with it later.
"This is your fault, Jenna. You could have just left me alone," Amber said.
She pushed the button and filled the pod with the clear gelatinous fluid. Once the magic extraction pod was full, it was raised upright. Jenna floated within the same pod she had placed Amber inside earlier. After just a moment, a small amount of light green started leaking out from Jenna's skin. Soon the light green stopped coming out. It was apparent that Jenna hadn't had all that much magical power to begin with.
Then Ice blue started pouring out from her waste. Light blue clouded the clear liquid, until it was fully light blue. Large chunks that looked like glitter leaked out from her skin. The liquid clouded to the point that Amber could no longer see Jenna within the liquid. This was the Ice Magic of the royal family.
As soon as all of the magic was extracted, a light on the top of the pod lit up. Amber pushed the buttons to collect the magic, and release Jenna. She had no desire to kill an unborn baby, but neither would she leave without her revenge. Jenna and the First Prince's child would grow up without the royal family's powerful ice magic, just as they had intended Arabella to go without her magic. Amber pulled out the jar full of ice blue magic and placed that into her space bag.
Jenna lay in the pod motionless, but she still breathed. Amber knew that she would not be able to move for another five hours. When she was able to move again, she would no longer have any magic power. Amber pulled her out of the pod and laid her on the floor. Then she pulled the pod into her storage space. .She walked over to all of the other pods and stopped their magic extraction process, reversed their magic back into their bodies, and released them. After she rescued the dryad, she walked over to Prince Elystar, who was catching his breath after having been released.
"I was worried that you'd forgotten about me," said Prince Elystar.
Amber bent down and helped him stand up while smiling. "How could I possibly forget about you? You were there for me when no one else was. I'm not an ungrateful person."
Pain momentarily flashes from Prince Elystar's eyes, but after just a moment, it's gone.
Out from another pod, the naga slithered. The bottom half of his body was a dark golden snake and the top of his body was like a man. He had long dark golden hair and large orange eyes with slit pupils. He stared at Amber for a moment before he slithered past the end of the room, through the hallway, and into the room that held the First Prince and Cray.
After just a moment, a scream that was quickly cut off was heard, as well as a gurgling sound. Amber walked into the room with Prince Elystar in tow and a woman with dark brown skin and long light green hair. Her eyes were light green, piercing as if she'd seen, and lived through more than could ever be imagined. She was the dryad. The others who had been in the pods, quickly ran away, as if they were being pursued by a great evil.
Amber walked into the room to see that the naga had bit Cray's neck and her veins were starting to glow with an eerie orange light from within. She had collapsed onto the floor and was uncontrollably twitching, while she gasped for breath. The naga was currently strangling the First Prince using the end of his tail.
Amber walked up to Cray and looked down at her.
"Help me," she quietly breathed out.
Amber looked at Cray wriggling on the floor and then stepped on her chest. "No matter in which life, you would be the cause of my death. Even if I have nothing to do with you, you will still pursue me. Why should I remain still? This is the only help you will gain from me," Amber said while pulling out her giant scissors.
Cray's eyes widened in horror. "What will you do? What will you do to me?"
As Amber leaned down while holding the scissors, Cray screamed. Then her voice was cut off along with her head. Amber felt that this was a fitting end for Cray, as she was the woman who had been instrumental in Arabella Amber Frost originally losing her head.
The Naga's eyes left the First Prince and looked at Amber holding the giant scissors. He stared deeply into her eyes, judging if he should consider her a threat or not. After a moment of looking deeply into her eyes, a smile slid onto his lips, and then he turned his attention back to the First Prince.
Amber walked beside the naga, reached out, and touched his arm. A quiet hissing noise briefly came out from between the naga's lips. Then he met her eyes again and released his hold on the First Prince. The First Prince closed his eyes in relief while meeting Amber's eyes and collapsed onto the floor.
When the First Prince woke up again, he was lying down on a cot, and couldn't remember how he'd gotten there. His whole body hurt. He looked around the room while frowning. He wondered where the fox boy was, the cloud, and the pixie were. He looked down to the ground and saw a headless Cray. He rubbed his eyes, his heart dropped into his stomach, and he was filled with dread. He rubbed his eyes again while looking down and realized that he'd lost his ability to see color.
It wouldn't be until later that day that he would come to more realizations. Not only had he lost his ability to see color, he'd also lost his ability to taste food, and smell. It wouldn't be until some time later that he would also realize that he'd become sterile.
While Amber was floating on Fluffy with her old friends and new ones, the First Prince was walking around his lab in utter confusion. Everything of any real value had been cleared out. Even his magic harvesting pods were gone. The only person left in that room was Jenna, who laid entirely still, and barely breathing.
While they were flying through the clouds, Amber felt a strong sense of belonging. It felt like she was actually coming home, surrounded by the beings that she cared about, and who cared about her. Sure she had a lot that she still had to do, but she was no longer alone. She looked down at Ena and Finn resting in her lap. Then she glanced back at the dryad, Prince Elystar, and the naga. Yes, she was no longer alone. She smiled while thinking of her friends who had become like family and were waiting for her at home.
Just as they were flying into the borders or Rafferty Village, Amber pulled out her 'Know Your Heart' book. The title quickly changed to 'Duchess Dash,' but as soon as she flipped the book open, a bright red line started to slide through the center of the words. It was as if someone had sliced the story with a knife and it was bleeding. Red color bubbled up from the words and slid down the page, leaving a macabre trail. Amber's hands lightly shook and she slammed the book closed while her face paled. Just as she was stuffing the little book back into her hidden pocket, the words on the cover spun until they said the words, 'Empress Escape'.
To be Continued in,
'Cannon Fodder To Villainess 2'
Thank you for reading!
Much love,
Electra