Dedicated to outoftune1. A chapter for a dear reader. Thank you so much for everything, it's greatly appreciated.
Sylvanna found herself looming over herself somewhere in the past. She recalled that it was the time when Phoenix had first taken over her body...
"So, you finally showed yourself to me." Deborah was sitting above a rock, looking towards the woman who was standing above the waves.
"No. I finally found you. Come home, Pearl. We musn't involve ourselves with the matters of lower realms." Sylvanna's hair was dancing in the air. Her beautiful pixie-like face radiated with power. But it was obvious that she wasn't herself. Her eyes were blank and hollow.
Deborah giggled, "It doesn't suit you, brother. What's up with a woman vessel?"
Unlike Phoenix, Pearl was more at ease with her vessel. Sylvie had a complete takeover while Deborah wasn't. The Faerian Queen was unaware of everything that was happening, she was like sleeping inside her own body. On the other hand, Deborah was like watching with her own eyes but doesn't have any control with her body.
"Because lower beings believed that I'm their goddess, a woman."
Sylvie's answer earned another giggle from Deborah, "Go home, Phoenix. I'm staying here.
Sylvanna's expression hardened. With clenched teeth, she replied, " If you're not going home then so am I. You want to be with them? Fine with me. I will see to it to deliver them into their fated end."
Deborah gasped but remained silent. Her eyes gaze were throwing daggers towards the woman in front of her.
"I will make my own people and they will be called Phoenicians. I will make sure they rule over the magical realm. They will rule over your people." Sylvie smirked. "I have the Amulet. Feel free to reunite with me from time to time. Until then, Pearl."
The ghost-like Sylvanna was sucked by a strong tornado and minutes after whirling around the furious cyclone, she was thrown in the eye of it. Stuck in the middle with nowhere to go, she desperately waited until the winds had broke out and disappeared.
Sylvie's eyes widened by the scenery that met her eyes after...
Everything was burnt down to a crisp. In the middle was a motionless form of a woman slumped in a heap of despair and agony. She was drenched in blood. Sylvanna watched her own replica, crying her heart out until all her tears were dried out. It was her but the queen knew it wasn't her her exactly. It was the other her... The Phoenix.
The saddest part of it was, she never had the slightest recollection of what had happened. Looking around, the devastation was spread from miles away. All she saw was an endless sea of ashes and gore. It was a massacre. Sylvie hadn't had the tiniest clue where that place was and what she had done which left one question to her confused and shocked mind.
Did I kill a lot of beings?
"You will all pay! When I'm done with this world, nothing and no one will be left behind!" Sylvie's eyes darted back to her twin look-alike as it shouted in rage. Looking up the skies, she gasped at the hatred that reflected on her own eyes, "Father, why had you forsaken me?"
The Faerian Queen shook her head in denial with her eyes glued to the goddess. She knew something had happened but what and why? She watched from afar and almost jumped out of her skin when a figure of a person passed through her.
"Father hasn't forsaken you. You must come home now. You wouldn't need the Amulet if you're back in our realm." A broad back of a man obscured her view as he approached the furious goddess. "A new balancer is chosen and we have decided to choose a new owner of the Amulet soon. Only would the Amulet be retrieved from whoever snatched it away."
"No, Selaphiel. I will never believe you. Pearl would be mine!"
The Elder sighed. He pitied Phoenix but the unrequited love he had for his sister was beyond him. "Father told me not to force you. But you have a week's time of ultimatum. He will not accept you back after that." Selaphiel raised his right hand and a bright white light glowed. It was so bright, enveloping the whole area that even the specter Sylvanna had to cover her eyes on the onslaught.
"I hope you will make the right choice!" Selaphiel's voice echoed and the light dispersed along with him.
When Sylvie opened her eyes again. The whole place was back to its former beauty. It was a town somewhere in the human realm. Small buildings and houses stood close to each other separated by small asphalt roads. It was back to what it was before but there was no sign of life anywhere. The place was rebuilt but not the living things. There was no one in sight but her and her other self.
Phoenix's laughter brought Sylvie's eyes to her direction. The goddess stood tall, all cleaned up, and wearing a long-sleeved white gown. Her laugh was empty and bitter as she turned around and left the place.
The ghost version of her remained rooted to the ground as she watched the goddess disappear. But as soon as Phoenix was nowhere in sight, she too started to glow and dematerialize. She shut her tightly closed. She knew she would materialize somewhere again with another scene she dreaded to discover. Sylvanna didn't want to know what she had done unknowingly. She didn't want to discover the horrendous things that the goddess used her own body. Her anger was slowly turning into rage. She felt awful and disgusted as she started to realize that being a vessel wasn't a gift but a curse. A curse she willingly embraced. How naive she was...
"Everything is a failure. Cultivating a child through magic was futile. And honing through flesh and blood was also another setback. Both mothers died at childbirth." A sad voice rang through her ears. Sylvie slowly peeled her eyes open only to see a face she didn't want to see.
Veron...
The witzardian was talking with Cassia. She looked around and realized that they were at her own realm.
"So, it's true then. What Phoenix said was true. It could only work with an Angelicum! That Nuscha is our only chance," Cassia screeched. Her face clearly showed that she wasn't too happy about the whole idea.
"We tried Cassia, " Veron sighed, looking towards the vast expanse of flowery fields that surrounded them. "I tried my best to stop committing a grave sin. But I guess..." sighing again, he turned to face Cassia. "I guess, we didn't have a choice." His eyes held a certain sadness. He wore the face of a defeated man. A man who was brought to his knees by his own fate.
"Perhaps, we could ask an advice with Sylvanna?" Cassia's suggestion made both Sylvie and Veron gasp. The former was out of disbelief and the latter was out of incredulity. Sylvanna knew at that moment that it was the time before Nuscha was ruined. A time when she could have had changed everything, but instead, she let it all happen.
"You must be out of your mind. She is the vessel!" Vernon spat the words like it was some poison in his mouth.
The realization made the faerian queen flinch. Veron didn't trust her as much as she did to him.
"I'm aware of that..." Cassia broke their eye contact and looked away. "She might be the vessel... But she is unaware of everything. She could help us if we tell her who Phoenix really is."
Her tears flooded as she knew for a fact that they were all fooled. They were nothing but tools. Her tears turned into silent sobs as she continued to listen.
Clicking his tongue, Veron disagreed completely. "No. Trust me, she won't believe us. Her and her people believe in their prophecy. We are alone in this notion. Besides, she's into this plan as much as we are."
Cassia nodded sadly. Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes when she spoke again, "So, she is aware. And she agreed? You think this Nuscha will be the answer? What if it's a trap?"
Veron's expression hardened, "We won't know unless we try. But, I won't be giving her up to Sylvanna. I will have her until she gives birth. Unlike the first two, I will settle everything myself."
Cassia wiped away her unshed tears and once again turned to look at her king. Her expression softened to see the worry painted in his face. Placing a hand on his tensed shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze she said, "I will see through everything with you, my lord."
As they disappeared, Sylvie started disintegrating. Her face was contorted with fury. If she could survive whatever was happening to her at that moment, she had only one promise to fulfill. She wouldn't let Phoenix come back to life again even it meant killing her own son...