Evalynn never had so many issues getting what she wanted except when it came to her children. She was not sure why, but her children were like bulldozers. They destroyed her defenses and hit her where it hurts the most.
She clenched her fists in an attempt to calm her nerves but failed miserably.
"You don't even know what you're doing right now. To ensure that Danny's Living Soul can be saved and returned to the cycle of reincarnation, we have to initiate a ritual. Only those who broke enough Cursed Seals can start this ritual to break the curse on Danny's Living Soul and absorb the Cursed Essence residing within him! If the curse stays on Danny's Living Soul for long, it will devour him and grow stronger, which will turn into an even bigger issue. Think Michael! We need his Living Soul!!"
"I won't have that problem," Michael retorted coldly. As long as Extraction reached a high enough level and mastery, Michael could extract portions of Danny's Living Soul, including the curse fused into the soul. There was no need to depend on his mother's help. "You don't understand! If you continue like this, you will not only take away Danny's only chance of salvation, but you will go down with him as well!!" Evalynn screamed, "Don't you understand our situation? Our families are cursed. Every member of our families is cursed! We can break down the curses, but you won't be able to do it. Not alone! With every Cursed Seal you break, you'll become more dangerous. Unsealing the Cursed Seals unlocks the potential of our being, but it also unleashes something far more dangerous." His mother continued grimly, "The more Cursed Seals you unleash, and the more often you activate them, the harder it will be to control your emotions. It will be more difficult to stay calm when provoked. Even minor provocations will enrage you bitterly. You might even want to feel like killing people who merely look at you with mild interest. For now, you might only sense the tremendous power you receive whenever your Cursed Seals are activated, but you need to control yourself better, otherwise, it will devour you from within!"
Michael raised an eyebrow at that but he remained silent. He could roughly visualize what the Cursed Seals were, but he didn't consider them bad. It was just like his mother said. For now, he could only sense tremendous power from the stigmatas, or 'Cursed Seals' as his mother called them.
"I've never seen so many Cursed Seals on a Lesser Lifeform. Even Hesta was not like that. She broke her first Cursed Seals when she ascended to her Higher Lifeform. Though…she broke dozens of Cursed Seals at once, resulting in…well, difficulties," Evalynn mumbled, her thoughts wandering.
"I never asked about that," Michael responded but his heart skipped a beat.
'Hesta disappeared shortly after she advanced to Tier-4. Is her disappearance related to the Cursed Seals, or was she taken somewhere? Did she really run away?' His mother conversed a lot about Hesta, which made it quite obvious that Hesta was either with his parents or that they had been together for quite a while. One way or another, Michael didn't like where this conversation was going.
His heart was in turmoil. On one hand, it was nice to hear that his parents and Hesta were still alive, but on the other hand, … if they had been alive all along why did they never search for him and Danny? It hurt.
No matter how much time had passed, Michael was still hurt by the way they abandoned him and his brother.
"How about you come with me as well? We can help you control your Cursed Seals and teach you about our families. We're not as simple as you may think!" Evalynn offered, but Michael shook his head without hesitation.
"I don't want to have anything to do with you, Hesta, or anyone else from 'our families', whatever that means," He said, his voice filled with sadness as he added, "You know, you didn't even ask how I have been after you guys threw us aside 11 years ago. You didn't even bother to ask about Danny's life, or how we grew up. What about an apology? Saying the word 'sorry' never crossed your mind, did it?"
"Did you expect me to run up to you and give you a tight hug just because you returned? You didn't even return to reunite with us. No. All you want is Danny's Soul. But let me tell you something… I won't give you shit!" "But his Living Soul will turn into Hellbound Cataclysm if we don't do anything!" Evalynn retorted, shutting her mouth right after the words escaped her lips, "He…will never come back without our help!!"
She tried to salvage the situation, but the damage was already done.
"Hellbound Cataclysm? Whatever that is…it means that you didn't come back for Danny…" Michael stared at his mother in disbelief, a dry laugh escaping his lips, "Woah. Why was I so stupid? I'm so fucking stupid to believe that you worried about Danny's afterlife. Wow. Just WOW!" Michael broke into laughter, tears trickling down his cheek. A minute later, silence filled the room once again.
"No. I won't give him to you. If you want Danny's Living Soul, you will have to take it from my dead body!" Michael responded, his teary eyes turning menacingly ice-cold, "But I'm not sure if you're ready to kill me or not. I wouldn't be surprised if you could do it." Evalynn took a step back. She stared at her son in disbelief, clutching her chest tightly. "I know that Danny will come back to me. I will make sure that it happens. It might be faster if you help, but…I don't need you! Danny would never forgive me if I accept help from…the likes of you and father!" "You cannot keep talking to me like that! I'm your mother!!" Evalynn exclaimed, her voice stocky and shrill.
"You are? I thought Danny and I lost our parents a decade ago. I'm still pretty sure that they're dead. At least, to me…and Danny."
Evalynn was about to say something but Michael didn't want to hear more of her bullshit.
"If that's all you're going to say…how about you leave me alone? That is if you don't plan to kill me to get Danny's Living Soul!"
"Leave! Us! Alone!"
However, Evalynn didn't move. Her feet were rooted to the spot.
Michael took a deep breath, his lips pressed tightly together and he was shaking from the effort to not start throwing things around just to force his mother out of his room and his life.
"If you're not leaving, I will." He walked past his mother without taking a second glance at her. It took only a moment to arrive the door to the hallway but it felt like an eternity passed until he reached the door. Michael swung the door open and left the room. He didn't even notice that Alice and the others had been waiting outside as he walked past them.
Their eyes trailed behind Michael, whereas Alice peeked into the room after seeing the fury in his eyes. All Alice could see in the room was Michael's mother sobbing quietly, tears streaming down her face. "That was a big mess," Kaleb mumbled.
"A huge surprise, for sure," Killian responded, still feeling the terror Michael's mother had inflicted by merely spreading her presence through the entire room. 'No wonder Michael is so strong. His mother is a monster!'
Meanwhile, Maria could only look down to the ground, "I shouldn't have suggested to celebrate his birthday. If I had known–...."
"It wouldn't have changed anything," Alice intervened, "Maybe, it was a bad idea to celebrate his birthday, but his mother would have located him, either way. She didn't recognize him at first, but she looked at a compass and was searching for something. His mother would have found him with our birthday party, or without it."
The Chieftain and the War Priestess looked at each other. Their gazes moved from Michael's retreating figure to his crying mother. Even if they had no idea what was going on, it was pretty obvious that the situation was complicated. "She uttered something about 'Son's Soul', right? What do you believe that means?" The War Priestess inquired the Chieftain.
"I have no clue. That woman didn't even recognize her child. They must have been separated for quite a while and not on good terms, that's for sure." "She is powerful. I cannot sense any Divinity from her, and the seed of Divinity hasn't germinated within her either. She is still a Tier-6 powerhouse, yet she could restrain us easily. If she wanted to, she could have killed everyone in the room within seconds."
The Chieftain nodded. He didn't want to acknowledge the War Priestess' analysis, but it was true. Michael's mother was not yet a Divine Lifeform, but her combat prowess was high enough to eliminate several Tier-6 powerhouses in no time. "What are we going to do now?" He asked, his gaze landing on the human powerhouse, whose strength surpassed the combat prowess of the High Society combined together, and maybe even the entire Tritan Alliance. "She is a human, right?" The War Priestess inquired instead of answering the Chieftain's question.
"Her energy fluctuations are similar to humans. When she restrained us, something felt different, so I guess that she is mostly human. But I cannot say for sure." "Then let the humans deal with her. Since she is so powerful, High Society will want to befriend her to get to know her secrets," The War Priestess said, "One way or another, she will either leave as suddenly as she arrived, or she will follow Michael back to the Saphirelake Military Academy to get whatever she came for. No one in the Tritan Alliance can stop her, either way. Let them solve their problems..."
"What a mess."
"Indeed. What a messy family."
