Trigger Warning: This chapter may contain scenes including violence, trauma, or emotional distress. If you are uncomfortable with the following, please skip this chapter.
I stood there frozen as I stared blankly at the scene. Xenon met my eyes. There was no reaction from him even with the fact that I broke free nor when I bore witness to how he killed one of the important people in my life. He merely evaporated into thin air and I dashed towards Cindra.
"Cindra..."
The helplessness accompanied the coarseness of my voice. I gathered her in my arms as tears dropped one by one. Crimson liquid dirtied her black dress, and the fine lines appeared deeper in the dark, revealing her age that was past her prime. A trembling red-stained hand held my cheek and tried to wipe away my tears.
"Ace?" It was only my name but she spoke in such a fragile tone and blood dripped from her mouth.
It was like reliving my nightmares, only that it was another person who would depart from the living.
"Cindra. Please teleport yourself. You're gravely injured," I mumbled stupidly even if I knew she could not as her eyes were not the color of violet anymore. It was a dark hue of blue. The same as the time from Willow's party.
Her magic was gone.
"Hold on, I'll get Sullien," I muttered but I forgot that I had nothing with me. Not my portier, not even my dagger.
"It's too late, dear. You need to know... Janessa is alive."
"What?" I asked dumbfounded. "This is not time to be jesting, Cindra. I saw Mother dying in my own arms before Father took her away. We need to leave this place first."
I summoned my strength to lift her while she coughed up and the blood on her stomach didn't seem to stop flowing.
"No... She's inside." She raised her hand and pointed at the door across us.
The room had several doors in this open area and two archways on both ends. If Cindra didn't lose her power she could have bolted away through these doors.
"You... You need... to save them..." Her voice faded out as well as her breath. Her body became heavier in my arms. The weight of another life crushed my strength. My legs staggered with her still in my arms.
"Cindra? Cindra? Cindra!" I bellowed, the guttural cry filling the space but there was no reply.
The woman lying in my lap remained motionless as her eyes closed like soft petals falling on the last day of autumn. Cindra was dead. All because of me.
Everyone who became close to me always ended up in tragedy. I was a curse in their life. A walking calamity with all the deaths I caused.
I could not even lament that long when I heard footfalls echoing nearer. Scrambling to my feet, I carried Cindra's body to enter the nearest door. My mind focused and planned how to get out but I needed to become someone else first. I should never parade myself in Father's territory.
"My name is Ace, awaken."
I held onto Cindra's arm and slowly shifted to her. I exchanged our clothes and wore her scarlet-dipped dress.
The person's track stopped but his presence remained there.
"Come out, rat."
The voice of my fear resonated in the stoned walls. I clenched my fist and went out.
There was a derisive shock on his face after he saw me before flashing a sinister smile. His ice-blue irises appeared even colder in this dimness but the insanity reflected was more evident.
That loathsome look was enough to make me tremble in rage. If not for him, nobody would have died because of me. How freaking hilarious that my own father did this all. He should have killed me if he abhorred me but then again Father was not the type to enjoy easy death. He preferred slow and torturous until his victim was nothing but a shell of themselves.
"How surprising. You're alive. I thought I had already stabbed you enough. That slave was not even able to clean your body up. I guess you became a leader for a reason on how tenacious you are."
The 'slave' should refer to Xenon. My body shuddered in anger as waves of fury crashed onto me seeing his ominous smirk as he admitted what he did. The wrath I felt could not overpower the relief that it was not Xenon who killed Cindra because, in the end, Cindra died.
Various emotions frenzied inside me. The one person I had to blame stood like he did nothing wrong. The hatred throttled my throat that I could not even reply. Suddenly, tens of doors appeared. One by one surrounding Father and me. It opened simultaneously and arrows after arrows flew towards him but it was deflated by the invisible barrier surrounding him.
"Such despicable magic. You even disabled my enchantment. I had thought that you were that monstrous daughter of mine who I heard could transform into anyone but it appears you are undeniably alive."
Father was indeed aware of my ability as Ace but that was not the one that stunned me. I gaped at the whole scene. This was not my magic. This was Cindra's! I looked around thinking of some miracle that she was alive but there was no moving presence near us.
Can it be? I never had disguised myself as an Amica until now and a conclusion formed in my mind. Did that mean I could also copy their powers?
I scanned at the doors and I need to give it a risk.
"That little monster traipsed on her own and is now trapped here. With her on my side, it would not be long before Lady Cannaria will wake from her eternal rest."
"What do you mean?" I asked and summoned a key like how I remembered Cindra did.
"I'll give you a hint since you're bound to die. Lady Cannaria's Will is not her reincarnation but only the carrier of her soul. Her medium must have the god's blood which you will never have."
I did not understand what he said. I could only ask Reichen to interpret it but first and foremost I needed to flee. I summoned a small door and imagined a weaponry room and pulled out a dagger from there.
My heel struck him but he dodged. In return, he kicked me back and I lurched down on one of the doors. I increased the number of doors that flung arrows and I slipped the key. I opened it slightly and was as unnoticeable as I could without minding the pain from his attack. I imagined the Winterlands.
If Tetrae Lands were the place where no Amica could survive then it was the same for Cattivos when they stepped into the snowy territories of the North.
I tried confronting him again. Father was not the traditional king who drowned themselves with wine and women, instead, he submerged himself with blood and violence that it was hard to fend off myself when fighting him.
It went on and on until we reversed our location and he was near the door I cast a portal.
"Still persistent when you're old but I do commend you healed quicker than I thought. I was prepared to have fun with you. Don't think you will leave here unscathed."
"No, it is you who will leave." I swung my dagger and he swerved it again but it was a feint. I mustered all my force and returned the kick. Father faltered towards the door. I swiftly closed the door and pulled out the key in a matter of seconds.
Reprieve washed through me as it gave me enough time to sneak out. I considered if I should bring back Cindra first or do what she instructed since she told me Mother was alive behind one of those doors. I didn't know if it was a trap but hope swelled within me.
Carrying Cindra's body on my back, I opened the door. A long corridor welcomed me. The soft breeze blew strands of my hair. That meant there was an opening beyond it. I walked further and further until the stones transitioned to grass.
I arrived in a wide clearance. There was a hole in the top of the high ceiling cave and the light concentrated on the woman at the center. I gently laid Cindra's body in the field of grass that was surrounded by bushes of yellow roses.
The glass bed was as ethereal as the woman who lay there. Her cascading auburn hair became much brighter and closer to an orange tint like mine rather than the shade of red I recalled.
I scurried to her side. It was definitely Mother. She looked like she had not aged a single day from the last time I saw her. The long-lashed eyes rested on her fair skin which was flushed with rosy cheeks. The slim nose and rose-petaled lips were exactly the same.
"Cindra?" I glanced up at the distinguishable voice.
On the opposite side of the bed were silver looped metals that had always adorned the oubliette. My sole attention was so engrossed in Mother that I failed to notice the other figures around me.
Three people were locked in chains.
Two pairs of crystal blue eyes were scrutinizing me. One had a speckled mask with the clover on his right eye while the other had cuts on his lips and bruises displayed on his face but I was fixated on the woman whose body limped. Her once beautiful dress was torn and ragged. Gashes on her dirtied skin were evident as I approached them.
Night, Yves, and Lian were chained right before me.
My feet flew past Lian without wasting any second. Her swollen eyes fluttered open but she grimaced when I tried to touch her. My heart squelched at her instinctive reaction because I always done that too in the past.
"No... no..." It was only a whisper but the terror in her voice was undeniable as her body quivered.
"It's not Father, Lian. Don't worry." Yves tried to calm her down but she continued quaking.
"You're alive, Cindra. I thought you were not able to survive when he stabbed you. Did the Crusaders come?"
I stared blankly at Night and everything fell together. The pieces of everything strange had now fit into a complete puzzle.
Reichen insisted I would not get too involved in their mission with Lady Mhilrim. I did not mind as I did I prefer to seek the Lost Treasures but they were keeping everything from me. He was unyielding even if all the Lost Treasures had been found. Then, there were the secret meetings that I was left out of.
How Night had gone into a 'long' mission and why Yves and Lian were not even at Willow's party. Why Reichen was always beside me and he would not answer when I asked about my siblings? Why did we never venture directly to Ezriel and were assigned to remote and distant places? They were all preventing me from knowing the truth.
This horrid truth.
"You told me everything's fine! You told me everything was fvcking fine, Night!"
Night was startled at my outburst and clarity dawned on him.
"Ace? You shouldn't be here."
"Then, what? I would let him continue doing this to you?" My voice croaked as another batch of tears fell. The tears I tried holding on to became a broken dam as they ceased to stop. "You told me they were fine... You told me that..."
I became a broken record that kept on repeating the same thing. I incessantly threw punches on his equally bruised body and I tried stifling the rampant emotions. I felt suffocated and my breath hitched as I struggled between hiccups, my eyes settling on my sister once again.
"Look at Lian now, she's broken!"
"You're Carline?" interrupted Yves.
I managed to nod as I cleared my throat which became dry from the endless wailing I had done all day.
"The more reason you don't have to incriminate him, Carline."
"No! If he told me, none of this would have happened. Father only wanted me. I was willing to return and shoulder all of this. I detested you once for abandoning me but I did not want the same thing to happen to you! How can I spend my time leisurely while I become ignorant of what happened to all of you?"
"You had undergone enough, Carline," replied Night.
"But you should've told me, Night." I felt smothered every time I took a glimpse at Lian who was beaten black and blue.
Her flawless porcelain skin was smudged with dirt and bruises that I could barely recognize her. The two men were also injured but they grew up training with swords and fighting while Lian was a pampered princess.
"You should have told me."
Resentment dripped in my voice. None of this would have happened if they had not hidden it in the first place.
I wiped the tears that streaked on my cheeks before adding, "Now, even Cindra is dead."
Another punch landed on his chest, I did not mind if his arms were still raised by the chain and kneeling on the floor. I was aware shouldn't blame him. This was my own fault but I could not stop myself.
If he did not take me from the palace, this would never occur. Or maybe, if he had not come to my bed-chamber that fateful day, perhaps none of this would had happened. I could have been dead but if my death was enough to stop all the killing of innocent people then I would have preferred it to this.
If I had not met him, I would have lived my life alone. I wouldn't even realize the truth about my siblings. I wouldn't have met people who cherished me. Because of him, I was able to find people who I treasured. People that were more important than the most precious jewels and made me want to struggle to live.
But life was much easier when you had nothing to lose.
Night remained unmoved and his lips were in a thin line paired with emotionless eyes that were hooded by his mask.
"Stop it, Carline. Brother had done the best he could. He had suffered, too."
My fist halted midair and confusion veiled me. "Brother?"
Night did not say anything and simply unshackled himself. It was nothing to him who was my mentor of all the tricks I had as a thief. He took off his mask right after. The light coming from the hole was sufficient to make me see his face clearly.
"I guess it's time you need to know, Carline." He called me my given name and I stood gawking at him.
It was the same man who helped me during Willow's party. The amethyst orbs that I had always been acquainted with were replaced with piercing blue eyes. The platinum blonde hair was the same but with his face bared, it was a stranger with a sense of familiarity for he was the exact copy of Yves.
***
Note: Actually, Night's face claim should have a mask from the beginning but it's a waste to cover such a handsome face xD
Yves and Night's face claim do look familiar in some angle, it is just me who was exaggerating they're exactly alike. Thanks for reading, cutiefries!