With a frightening roar, the entire palace shook on its foundations. Alexei put his hands over his ears in a futile attempt to escape the deafening noise. When his ears became slightly more adapted, he deciphered the roaring noises as maniacal laughter.
Every set of eyes were fixated on Rosy’s amused figure. Her arms were outstretched, and her head was tipped back and faced the ceiling. Rosy’s lips shaped an open smile, and the horrid laughter erupted from within her chest.
The Exedras Queens, Losse and Vesta winced, but made no sort of attempt towards Rosy. The rest of the gathered individuals all fell to the ground weakly.
Moments later, Rosy’s head fell forwards to its normal position. Her eyes gleamed crimson while her fingers clutched the air with an evident yearning.
“Rosy…” Alexei whispered, breaking the relieving silence. The devil’s head turned automatically towards Alexei, and he grinned menacingly. “Alexei Isaura, Vesta Nyel, Artemis Delara, Demetri and Allegra Lyte, Losse Armont, Arisa Rains, Cytheria Terre, Fortuna and Beatrice Exedras, and finally, my lovely Rosy Rains. Welcome to my board.”
The entire hall was silent in suspense. Rosy folded her hands over her chest proudly, “Have I missed anyone?”
Rosy’s eyebrows rose momentarily when two new presences made themselves obviously known. With the click of her tongue, she added two new names, “Ariadne and Oakser Ellery.”
She snapped her fingers, and continued with an informative and knowledgeable tone to the Devil’s familiar voice, “You have two more moves, mortals. What will they be?”
Beatrice scowled; she wasn’t sure whether the question was rhetorical or not, but decided to reply anyway, “You already know, don’t you?”
Rosy’s shoulders shook with his stifled laughter. “Yes, but I prefer you telling me.”
Fortuna smirked confidently, “Cornelia Uney will return to meddle with your game.”
Artemis felt her heart rate spike at the mention of Cornelia’s surname. It sounded vaguely familiar, and she recalled everything that she had been told while in the palace by the Twins of Exedras.
There were the names of the five sacrifices: Tira and Lirkus Ellery, Pery Armont, Darmon Exedras, and Irea Uney. She inhaled sharply, and subsequently met Demetri’s gaze. He shook his head, disallowing her to speak her revelation. After all, only she, Demetri, the Queens of Exedras and perhaps, Vesta knew the five sacrifices by name.
“I have planned for this for years,” Rosy flexed her shoulders, “The attempt at my second sealing.”
Her crimson eyes traveled to Vesta’s unfathomable silver ones in gratification. Vesta’s jaw was tight when she spoke in her powerful, deep voice, “We will seal you without sacrificing five of our own.”
Rosy smirked. “That is impossible. Your only choice is to seal me. When Xerxes Ruere awakens, if your plan goes accordingly, he can do nothing against me but petrify me for less than four minutes.”
“That’s enough time,” Vesta responded coolly, “Now, please do us the favor of releasing Rosy.”
“Have I ever done you any favors, Queen?” Rosy shrugged, and the tense atmosphere vanished moments later. Every person exhaled in relief. Rosy opened her eyes morosely; her eyes appeared far older than those of a twelve-year old.
The experience of her short lifetime had strengthened her and made her infinitely wiser. She sighed, running her thin fingers through her hair.
-
The round table resembled a parliament. On the largest and most elaborate chair sat Vesta. Each of the Queens of Exedras sat on either side of her. Ariadne and Oakser were the two suspicious additions to the group, who Demetri stared at coldly.
Oakser had shrugged and said, “I reunited you with your sister.”
Demetri hadn’t argued after that, partly because he was guilty of taking young Oakser and his sister’s lives as well.
“The game, as the Devil so profusely pointed out, has begun,” Vesta announced. “We must make our moves quickly.”
“He said we have two moves left,” Demetri spoke, “What did he mean?”
“We can do two more things before it’s,” Vesta paused, “his move.”
The whole group held their breath. Vesta stood up, brushing her immaculate silver hair behind her shoulder. “Our top priority is calling Cornelia. Losse and Arisa will accomplish this for us.”
Arisa and Losse exchanged friendly glances, and nodded in agreement. Vesta continued, “Once Cornelia is here, Demetri and Alexei will extract the tear from within Rosy. After that, our final battle commences. I will carry King Xerxes’s mirror to the Underworld, and Demetri will carry the Devil’s tear. Once we arrive, we will face his minions. Artemis, Allegra, Cytheria, Ariadne, Oakser, Losse, Alexei and Arisa will deal with them while the four Queens and Demetri free King Xerxes using the tear.”
Vesta slammed her palms on the table, shaking it, “Whoever wants to escape, do so now. If not, rest well tonight, for tomorrow we shall bring Queen Cornelia back to Tytania.”
Rosy suddenly raised her voice, “What do we plan to do when we face Sir Devil if we’re not going to seal him?”
Everyone froze; no one had pondered about that. Vesta bit her lip, restraining the surprise and agony from being seen. She bowed her head slightly, and Cytheria saw a transparent tear fall to the ground, “We are going to seal him.”
“Myself, King Xerxes, Queen Cornelia, and the Queens of Exedras shall be the five sacrifices,” she revealed in a cracked voice, “I’m sorry for hiding this. We are the royalties, and we shall protect our kingdom in this way. The throne will be handed over to Alexei.”
-
Losse Armont pushed the silk royal blue curtains aside with the side of his hand. Outside, it was dark and no lamps were illuminated. The world outside the palace was tangible darkness. After Vesta had conveyed the hidden plan to them, she had disappeared into her locked chamber before she could be questioned.
Behind him, Allegra stood, fidgeting with her fingers. Her soprano voice pierced the quietude, “They shouldn’t become sacrifices.”
Losse shut his eyes understandingly, and with the back of his fingers, stroked Allegra’s cheek lovingly. “I know what you’re thinking.”
Allegra glanced up in astonishment, “You do?”
“Yes,” Losse embraced her yearningly, “So accept my love.”
Allegra swallowed the heavy lump lodged in her throat, and returned his embrace. In the form of cries, her love poured out into Losse. She kissed him desperately, and clung to his neck tightly.
“I love you, Losse,” Allegra finally admitted. “I always have.”
A/N: I don't want to end this, but sadly, the characters can suffer no more. Thank you for reading. :)