Break Free

The guest bedroom was in ruins after having endured Zeya's fit of rage, with only the walls intact amidst the destruction she caused.

She had been trying to escape for who knows how long now, but her efforts were all futile despite her using all her strength.

As powerful as her wings were individually, they proved ineffective against Varen's formidable spell barrier.

 Zeya was starting to grow tired, but her stubbornness wouldn't allow her to give in, not until she was out of there.

By the end of each attempt, her anger only seemed to grow, with no progress to show for it.

 'I knew I should've had my fill back in the village when I had the chance!' She wanted to yell in frustration, as she kicked the door for the twentieth time. 'That fucking bastard knew all along that I would have had to exert myself sooner or later...'

 'I can never get away from him, can I?' She thought with a huff as she stood in front of the door, struggling to catch her breath. 'No matter what I do, he's always a step ahead...'

 She leaned against the door hopelessly, staring at the glass ceiling that was now peculiarly stained a murky black color. 

 Tvar had already taken action by engulfing the entire palace but that was the least of Zeya's current concerns. 

It would have to retreat sooner later if it wished to remain alive, as shadows do not react well with water.

And fortunately for Zeya, this was true even for an elder shadow monster as powerful as Tvar.

 'I can't even track the moon because of that goddamn monster.' She shut her eyes with a frown, nothing appeared to be going her way at all. 'I need to leave before sunrise or all hope in finding Montris will be lost.'

There was no way for her to get ahold of anyone outside of the fortress thanks to Varen's quick thinking. 

Not only had he made her untraceable, but she was also certain that even Nox had no idea of her whereabouts, judging by how she could no longer summon the creature to her side.

Every connection she had with the outside world had been severed, and she was truly and utterly alone now, with nothing that could help her escape.

What made this entire situation ten times worse was that she couldn't make a single sound all thanks to the damned seal Varen placed over her mouth.

 'Giving up now is no longer a solution.' She thought, knowing that she was too far in to give up now. 'There has to be a loophole, I know it.'

Just as she was about to attempt her luck with the door once more, Zeya heard a voice echo from outside the room, halting her in her tracks.

 "I think she's inside this room." It was faint but Zeya was almost certain that it belonged to a woman.

 "Zeya? I know you're in there." This time, it was a much deeper voice, and she recognized it to belong to Lex, who called out to her before he started banging on the door.

Relief washed over Zeya as she attempted to sigh, producing an odd sound.

'Finally, saved at last.' 

 "I hope you're standing far away from the door, sister." Lex warned and Zeya quickly obeyed, not wanting to get injured by her brother's carelessness. 

The door burst open with one strong kick from Lex, successfully breaking the barrier that had kept Zeya hidden all this time.

 "Oh, my." Lex couldn't help but grimace when he saw the room's condition, before his eyes landed on Zeya, who was obviously growing more impatient by the second. "You caused all this damage just to make some noise? One would think that a bear had been trapped in here, not a dandy little lady."

Zeya landed a strong kicked directly at her brother's shins as her way to shut him up, annoyed by his poor choice of words.

"Alright, alright, enough of the violent outbursts or else you're going exhaust yourself even more. Fuck, that was painful."

Lex snapped his fingers and the seal that was once invisible around Zeya's mouth and wrists revealed itself, however it refused to disappear.

 "Why isn't this working?" Lex seemed visibly upset when he failed to dissolve the seal a second time. "This bastard... I always thought he was insane but... this is preposterous."

 "... He used Fire Deity magic on you, Zeya." Lex said, clicking his tongue in disdain once he recognized the seal's insignia. "No wonder you couldn't free yourself. This is basically a perfect trap to restrain Roseabelles."

 Zeya looked down at her hands to confirm with her own eyes and sure enough, she immediately recognized the glowing red symbol surrounding her wrists. 

 This was the same magic that the Fire Deities used during the great war centuries ago.

Although she had only been ensnared by one of these once during a brawl with one of their sorcerers, Zeya was well aware of how potent the aftereffects could be if forcefully broken.

She looked at Lex when she realized the consequences that were about to come. 

Lex merely nodded, solidifying her suspicions.

'Well, what are you waiting for then?' Zeya babbled incoherently, placing her cuffed hands in front of the unamused Lex. 'Get it off me so I can leave already.'

 "... Don't tell me I didn't warn you." He heaved a heavy sigh before he began the extraction. "I can try to heal you after but, I can't guarantee if it'll work. You know healing isn't a Roseabelle's forte."

A dark violet ball of light erupted from his outstretched hands, successfully breaking the seal around Zeya's hands and mouth.

In its place, however, were large burn marks left on her pale skin as a sick consequence, but Zeya had other pressing matters to attend to than to worry about the wounds.

 The burns on her face appeared fairly better than her wrists and somehow, she managed to withstand the burning sensation well enough to maintain her expression as she spoke.

However, Lex's concern for Zeya's well-being only grew when the flesh around her sister's scars failed to regenerate, leaving it raw and bloodied. 

Even for someone like Lex, it was a difficult sight to witness, and he couldn't help but avert his gaze from Zeya entirely.

 "I owe you a lot." Zeya's voice came out frailer than she'd liked, probably because it started to hurt like hell when she attempted to move her mouth. 

 "As much as I would love to take all the credit, I wasn't the one that found you, nor was it, Nox." Lex glanced over to his side and Zeya followed suit, her eyes landing on the ever-fidgeting princess. "She was."

Zeya only became aware of the human's presence when she stood directly before her, but there was no sense of malice that she typically experienced whenever she was near humans.

 "A-Are you alright, Your Majesty?" Kaari managed to voice out despite her nervousness, fully aware that the empress had warned her countless times to never appear before her again.

"I will live." Zeya answered drily, as she avoided eye contact. She was finding it unnecessarily difficult to talk to the princess considering how harshly she's been treating the human every time they interacted. 

 "... Thank you for finding me, princess. I am in your debt."

 "O-Of course!" Kaari exclaimed, surprised by how soft the empress' demeanor had become. "It is the least I can do."

 "Now that the two of you are done talking, I need you to confirm the rumors I've been hearing. Don't even think about hiding anything from me because it will only be in vain." Lex threatened despite a worried look on his face, placing a hand on top of Zeya's shoulder. "You're so set on killing that monster but are you sure Montris even exists? Hell, I don't even think you have a plan set up once you even do find it."

"If the floating island was truly just a myth, I doubt Tvar would've gone to this far and engulf the entire palace as an attempt to stop me." Zeya reasoned, apparently convinced that the rumors weren't just fiction. "Tvar is still a shadow, Lex. It won't be able to maintain its formation for long, the water is probably starting to dissolve its form as we speak."

"At least bring Nox with you. That way, I can track you down in case of an emergency or if you are in need of reinforcements." 

 "... That will be unnecessary, Lex." Zeya reassured with a small smile and somehow, Lex immediately realized what she had meant by that.

 "... So, it was true." Lex said, slightly taken aback. "You're really not coming back."

 "My only promise to the court was to find the one who murdered father. Now that I know where to find Tvar and kill it, I see no reason as to why I must remain ruler of Stygia."

"Besides, it's about time for you to learn the ways of the throne. You don't even have to do much work in the shadow realm anyway." Zeya reasoned and for once, Lex was tongue-tied. "I'm sure you'll do far better than I ever could, even if don't possess the required fragments."

 "The others aren't going to take this well, sister." Lex warned, unsure of how to feel about Zeya's sudden confession. "Especially that Kaxarene that's obsessed with you."

 "He will learn to accept it eventually, just as everyone else will." Zeya shrugged it off, surprisingly calm despite the tense atmosphere of the entire situation. "All you need to do is look the other way and keep quiet."

"... You're telling me all this like it's not an obvious thing I planned to do anyway." Lex signed, still unsure but it was already too late to try and convince his sister to abort her plans. "The last thing I want to deal with is yet another war with the Kaxarenes."

 Before Lex could say anything else, a deep rumble came from all around them, shaking the entire foundation of the glass palace. 

 "Stay alive, Zeya!" Lex yelled out at the Roseabelle as she rushed out of the room, making her way to God knows where.