"Depends on your next move" The Emperor replied.
Both sides watched one another closely.
Until…
Raven took a step back.
The Emperor didn't humour him. "Running away, are we?"
"This isn't over, Andrew" Raven remarked, flying in the opposite direction with Deneris behind him.
The Emperor calmed as well, the lightning currents lessened.
"Thank you" he told Fredrick, before placing Ezra on his shoulder like a sack and flying away.
Ezra had fallen unconscious.
Once he was gone, Fredrick's face crumpled.
'I failed! I was too late'
Hearing what the siblings said, Fredrick was moved.
He leaped, landing in front of the siblings who stood bespectacled.
With his voice deep and aura flaring, Fredrick spoke. "Tell me, how did this happen?"
The siblings shivered, gulping. Theron reluctantly, explaining the events step by step.
Of course, he made sure to remove the part where they were pulled into a space ring.
"Ha…is that so?"
By the end of the short tale, Fredrick was depressed.
It was enough that his liege was captured with him being unable to do a thing, but as he found out, he could've prevented Ezra's transformation if he arrived earlier.
Furthermore, he tried to!
'That b*stated!'
Raven's face formed in his mind.
But Raven obstructed him.
Fredrick exploded with murderous intent, ruminating on ways to kill Raven.
"Kuhk!"
It took Theron to spurt blood before Fredrick realized the pressure was killing the siblings.
Giving them a healing potion, Fredrick was about another question when a figure embroiled in white lightning descended.
It was the Emperor.
"You came back?" Fredrick inquired.
"For them" he pointed to the siblings.
Lightning extended from his hand, binding the siblings.
They struggled, but against a Grandmaster, it was futile.
Like so, the Emperor took off. Fredrick left soon after, his thoughts swirling.
The battle between Grandmasters killed all the infected, so he had nothing left doing there.
______
The Emperor arrived at Kingsmere, only to find a part of it destroyed.
He dropped into the castle, walking to the chamber floors and threw Ezra into a cell.
Reaching the throne room, he unbinds the siblings.
"Tell me everything"
"The boy has to die" said Deneris.
Raven responds. "Surely. But Andrew isn't one to budge"
"Then we'll need some help"
"Who?"
"Augustus would do"
Raven smiled. "Then you won't mind doing the honours of contacting him"
With a nod, they separate.
"Ohhh" Groaning, he wiped dust from his face.
"Hmm?"
He found trouble lifting his arm.
Only then did Ezra look around.
"Where…am I?"
The cold hard ground and the gate with holes was one familiar.
'A cell?'
"Ah!" He gripped his head, enduring a massive headache as his memories came back in fragments.
"Huff…Huff…Huff"
Breathing heavily, Ezra's eyes! snapped open.
'That's right!'
His armour lay in ruins, his body pale, dirty and bloody.
Sitting upright, he clasped his hands together, moving mana to check the state of his body.
"Ouch"
But moving mana-a reflex almost like breathing for him-was strenuous.
A spat out blood on his first try.
'That confirms it'
Ezra stared down, looking lifeless.
'My meridians are broken'
His heart tightened, but Ezra held in the pain.
Taking a deep breath, Ezra tried to manifest lightning but it fizzled out before it even formed thanks to the mana distorting braces.
Ezra held in the frustration.
Raising his palm, relief washed over him to see the ancient space ring still on his finger.
Ezra turned his back to the cell gate. With slow and shaky hands, he held out a mana stone and placed it into his mouth.
"Kuh!!!"
He spat it out right after. Panting.
'No'
His eyes grew moist.
'No' he shook his head. 'No, no, no, it can't be!'
Bam!
The wall caved in from his punch.
With the braces on, the mana wasn't coordinated, letting it trickle down multiple paths, damaging his internals.
The mana that flowed down his meridians were miniscule and the circulating speed had slowed to a crawl because his meridians had broken.
Ezra stared as tears dripped down his face.
Realization stood square in his face.
The foundation of strength built over years of persistence, commitment and dedication were destroyed in an instant.
"Arrrrgh!" Ezra screamed. "Damn it!"
He punched the floor-
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
-continuously. Ignoring the pain in his hands.
After a few punches, Ezra stopped.
Even moving a lot wasn't easy anymore.
He fell on his back, panting with hot breathes while his eyesight dimmed.
One thing lay on his mind.
"My revenge.." his voice was weak.
He could see the faces of those who killed him, laughing and f mocking him.
His revenge seemed to move further away.
'After so many years of planning, Why? Why? Why? Just WHY?!' He screamed within. 'Why is this happening to me?!'
Everything went dark.
Ezra woke up after a time. "Hmm?"
He rose up with haste, staring at the figure standing beyond the gate.
"Mom?"
Kiara burst into tears. "Oh! My son"
She stretched out her arm.
Ezra walked to the gate but…
Clang!
Chain attached to the braces linked to the wall held him in place.
'Oh damn this'
His veins bulged, and his skin reddened, pulling out the chains slowly.
The blocks in the wall dislodged, falling on the floor and shattered.
Ezra held his mother's hand.
"How did you know I was here?"
"Roxanne told me"
Kiara stared into her son's eyes, now crimson.
"Mom, I can explain-
"Shh" she placed her hand on his lips. "Save your breath. Your vassals told me what happened"
She added, "And how they forced you to do it"
"I'm sorry"
"Nonsense. I wouldn't had it any other way"
"Mom?"
"Come closer son"
Placing their heads against each other, Kiara's voice broke.
"As long as you're alive, I don't care what form you take. You'll always be my son"
Ezra took a deep breath. "Yes mother"
"Now" she said. "It's time I had a word with your father"
She left shortly after.
The Emperor sat in silence, tapping the armrest of his throne.
*Slam!*
The door was slapped open.
With quick steps, Kiara walked in, stopping five feet from the Emperor.
With his thinking disrupted, the Emperor stared at Kiara with a cold gaze.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Kiara stared him straight in the eye, palms fisted. "I need to know what you intend to do with my son"
"Excuse me?"
"Answer me"
The Emperor stared at the ceiling, incredulity sketched on his face.
"Hahaha"
He laughed, getting a mouthful, before facing Kiara.
"WOMAN"
His aura flared, engulfing the room.
Kiara paled, falling on one knee as blood trickled down her nose.
"You will lower your tone, or else-
"Or else WHAT?!"
Kiara rose back on her feet, albeit shaky, wiping her bloody nose.
"You'll kill me?! Because that's the only thing left for you to do!"
"I have been patient a lot, and have suffered a lot as well" she said. "But I refuse to watch you kill my son! It will not happen!"
"You seem to forget that that boy is of my blood as well"
Kiara's eyes widened.
"Don't you dare lay claim to my son-
"Our son"
"Damn you!" She shrieked. "Damn you and that word!"
"Where have you been for most of his life?!" She inquired. "Building the Empire, were you not"
The Emperor watched unperturbed.
Kiara clenched her fists, wiping leaking tears. "If that boy is truly the son that you speak of. You better make sure he lives!"
She turned and stormed out the obvious room right after, the Emperor gazing on her figure as she did.
Upon her exit, he stared blankly into the air, seemingly trying to understand what exactly just transpired.
He was both angry and…amazed? At the same time.
'I've never seen her act that way before'
In the days passed, the Emperor received reports of an attack of demon worshippers on the castle and the stolen grandmaster corpses taken.
The news of a Prince becoming a demon spread faster than wildfire, calling the attention of a disproportionate amount of people.
In the same breath, Elisa was under deep pressure.
During Ziltris' attack on Gattiste, a lot of students died, buried under the collapsed palisades.
In other words, the future of a lot of families was now in jeopardy.
And of course, nevermind the fact that the enemy was a Grandmaster, they needed a place to vent and Elisa turned out to be the prime candidate
The woman in question was too busy with recovery to care.
Suddenly, the foreign powers who stood unresponsive at the Emperor's initial call for aid started contacting.
The Emperor didn't even try to answer them.
Instead, he delved in his throne room in silence.
Mervida was furious that her kingdom was abandoned, but seemed keen on doing nothing about it.
Jebas and Getrahan returned to Niton, apparently the enemy Grandmasters pulled back a few hours after the Emperor left.
Moreover, the infected phenomenon settled down as the infected reverted to normal.
A semblance of peace was restored.
