While Aria’s group was doing their best to get the deal, the Pyra Empire assigned the other won to their locations in search of the tallic figures.
"Hmm... so far I don’t see anyone," Sera said, her voice carrying quiet frustration as her eyes traced the edges of the shimring barrier. She scanned slowly, unwilling to miss even the smallest disturbance.
Emberlyn and Maelona had spread farther apart, carefully watching for any unnatural movent or distortion in the air. Yet no matter how long they searched, the surroundings remained unsettlingly calm.
"I think we should wait," Emberlyn said softly, "If they were here, they would have shown themselves by now. Rushing won’t help us."
Maelona nodded in agreent.
In another direction, Celestia and Sandra stood at the edge of the barrier, looking down at a fallen patrol soldier lying motionless on the ground below.
His armour was scratched, but there were no fatal wounds.
"It seems they already ca, finished whatever they needed to do, and disappeared," Sandra muttered coldly.
Celestia humd quietly, her expression thoughtful as she studied the soldier’s condition.
"Should we get him back to the base?" she asked.
Sandra shook her head slowly. "No need. He will wake up eventually and run back on his own. If they wanted him dead, he would already be. We just have to wait and see if they return to the sa place again."
Celestia nodded.
As for another direction, that area remained empty. The group that was supposed to go there had changed their plan to follow soone else!
"Sigh... I cannot believe you guys really followed all the way here," Nightfire groaned as she stomped onto a thick branch, her movents sharp and irritated as she neared the edge of the barrier.
Selene and Thalia followed behind her in silence.
"See... there is no one here," Nightfire snapped, pointing toward the barrier they had almost reached. "Nothing. No traces, no signs, no damn tallic freaks waiting for us."
Selene and Thalia blinked, exchanging uncertain glances.
"Did we make a mistake?" Thalia asked quietly.
Selene hesitated, unable to answer right away. Nightfire noticed imdiately and let out a sharp snort, finally understanding what was going through their heads.
"Mistake? The heck you are talking about," Nightfire said with irritation. "We were supposed to split up and cover different directions. Instead, you two decided to trail like lost pups. What if those things showed up where you were supposed to be, and you just let them walk free? This is serious! Our Aether is Fallen, and now you guys are playing around? How could you?"
Selene and Thalia lowered their heads slightly, avoiding her gaze.
For reasons even Nightfire did not fully understand, seeing them like that fed her ego rather than cooling her temper. She straightened, planting her hands firmly on her hips, her posture radiating arrogance as she looked down at them.
"Looking down won’t save you," she said sharply. "Say it properly. What the hell do you an by calling the Key?"
Selene forced an awkward smile, rubbing the back of her neck as she searched for the right words. "Well... we noticed a pattern. Those things keep showing up near you, or right after you pass through an area. We thought maybe it wasn’t a coincidence."
Thalia nodded beside her, "Yeah. It felt like wherever you go, sothing important happens."
Nightfire blinked, the anger on her face faltering as confusion replaced it.
"Bitch, what now?" she muttered, her voice quieter this ti, "Since when did I beco so kind of damn compass?"
What the heck were they even babbling about?
Those things appeared wherever she went?
Were they seriously insane enough to believe that kind of nonsense?
"What the fuck?" Nightfire snapped, stepping closer until her shadow lood over them. Her eyes burned with irritation.
"Where in the world did you even co to that conclusion, huh?"
She leaned forward, "Are you guys fucking with ?-"
"I am not fucking y-" Selene blurted out, barely managing to start her sentence before Nightfire cut her off violently.
"That is not what I ant, and you fucking knew it, bitch," Nightfire snapped back without hesitation.
Selene flinched. Every instinct scread at her to slap Nightfire across the face, to shut that mouth up with force, but she did not move.
She knew she had made a mistake, and whether she liked it or not, she had to accept the consequences of her actions.
Truthfully, even she would have been furious if soone had labelled her as the key to a growing disaster.
That kind of label stuck and suck, whether deserved or not.
So Selene swallowed her pride and endured the insults, just like Thalia beside her. Thalia’s fists trembled at her sides, teeth clenched tightly as she fought the urge to lash out and smash Nightfire’s teeth in.
Nightfire noticed... She noticed everything~
A slow grin spread across her face as she watched them stand there, unable to talk back, unable to fight.
The sight filled her with a twisted sense of satisfaction.
’Look at those pitiful beings,’ she thought, amusent curling through her mind. ’Hehe. They cannot even bark now.’
Her grin widened as another thought followed. ’Maybe I should forgive them. I do have a very big heart. A very good woman, and if Aether hears it... He’s going to reward ~’
Still, forgiveness did not co easy. Being labelled as sothing that ’attracting problems’ was not sothing she was willing to let slide without consequence.
She folded her arms across her chest and snorted, "If Aether knew both of you were this judgntal, I am sure he would be devastated."
Both Selene and Thalia flinched instantly. Their eyes shook, fear and guilt flashing openly across their faces.
They knew how hard Aether worked to keep peace between the won, how carefully he tried to prevent cracks from forming.
If he knew they had singled out Nightfire, believing she was the source of trouble, it would hurt him deeply.
Nightfire was already looked down upon by the world. If his own won treated her that way, who would he even believe?
"I... I am sorry," Selene said finally. Her fist clenched tightly as she bowed her head.
Thalia followed, her pride shattered, lips trembling as the words struggled out of her.
"I-I-I am sorry.
We should not have judged you."
Nightfire’s lips twitched.
The joy rising inside her nearly spilled out, but she swallowed it down forcefully.
Showing it would ruin everything.
’Calm down. Calm down,’ she told herself, a wicked idea forming in her mind. ’This is your chance to take control. To bring everyone down.’
Another thought followed, darker and far more selfish. ’And maybe have Aether and his cock all to myself~’
’...This does not feel like a good idea,’ Ashara’s voice echoed in her head.
Nightfire snorted inwardly, dismissing the warning. She straightened, putting on the mask of generosity, the image of soone with a large heart and even larger pride.
"Fine," she said, waving it off as though it barely mattered. "Unlike you all, I truly love Aether and... his companions."
Her chin lifted slightly as she continued, voice dripping with self-satisfaction. "I would never judge any of his won."
She paused, eyes flicking between them before adding with a faint frown, "No matter how weird they might be... I guess?"
But still, despite everything that had unfolded, Nightfire gave a slow, deliberate nod. Her expression settled into smug satisfaction, as though she were generously sparing criminals rather than accepting apologies.
"I will forgive you for this mistake," Nightfire said, folding her arms with unmistakable pride. "But next ti, do not even think about pulling this kind of nonsense. Otherwise, I will go straight to Aether, and he will personally whoop your asses."
She tilted her head, confusion creeping back in as her confidence stumbled. "But seriously. How the hell did you even co to that conclusion? I an... how does your brain even get there?"
No matter how she replayed it in her head, it still made no sense to her.
The idea felt ridiculous, almost insulting.
Selene scratched her cheek awkwardly before answering. "Well... last ti, it appeared right after you ntioned it. The timing felt too perfect to ignore."
Thalia nodded along quickly, adding, "And Nyx said sothing too. About how you might be the one who predicts the future or sothing like that."
Nightfire blinked. Slowly.
Once.
Then again.
What the fuck?
Just because she ntioned it?
Predicting the future? Since when?
How?
In what twisted logic did that even work?
She rolled her eyes so hard it almost looked painful. "I cannot believe you believed that kind of shit," Nightfire snapped. "Predicting the future? When the fuck have I ever done that, huh?"
She leaned closer, her brows pulled tight, "Last ti was just a coincidence, okay? Nothing more... Nothing special!"
"There is only coincidence."
Selene and Thalia nodded weakly. Yeah... It had to be a coincidence!
They felt foolish for ever thinking otherwise.
Nightfire folded her arms again, smirking now that she felt back in control. "Only idiots would believe sothing like that," she said with a playful laugh.
"Hahaha. Like what? You think just because I ca here, it’s not like so white golden portal is suddenly going to shimr behind ?"
She twirled her finger in a slow circle while whistling, exaggerating the sound, almost heard freaking real!
"Sssshhhh~"
"And then," she continued, giggling, "sothing ridiculously dangerous pops out of that shitty portal that never appeared before, right? Hahaha"
She laughed harder, shoulders shaking, clearly enjoying herself.
"Huh? Is that what you imagined?"
But then she noticed it.
Selene and Thalia were not laughing.
Their eyes were wide. Too wide!
Their faces pale, mouths slightly open, horror written so clearly it bordered on disbelief.
"Hahah," She laughed again, "Seriously? You two are scared just by words?"
"And then," she continued mockingly, "it steps out of the portal, sothing so heavy it makes the ground shake like an earthquake."
She stomped her foot dramatically.
Thud.
Thud.
Selene and Thalia flinched violently, their gazes locked sowhere far above Nightfire’s head... They were frozen in genuine terror.
"Oi. I am right here," Nightfire snapped, spinning around and snapping her fingers in front of their faces. "Bitch, please. Do you think I am going to fall for your pathetic trick—"
Her voice cut off mid-sentence.
A shadow swallowed her whole.
Nightfire gulped. Her fingers trembled uncontrollably as cold dread crawled up her spine. Her eyes shook as she slowly, painfully turned her head back and...
She froze completely.
There it stood.
A massive tallic figure towered over her, far larger and far more terrifying than any they had encountered before.
Its surface glead dangerously.
The ground beneath it groaned under its weight.
Nightfire turned forward stiffly, her face drained of all colour, just in ti to see Selene and Thalia grinning at her like children who had just witnessed a true miracle and superficial thing in their lives!
Veins popped violently on Nightfire’s forehead as rage and humiliation exploded together.
"YOU FUCKING IDIOTS," she scread. "STOP GRINNING AND RU-"
BOOM!
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