A shadowy figure loomed over Helena’s unconscious form, its presence eerily still for several long minutes before it crouched. A delicate hand reached out, fingers brushing the blood on Helena’s lips.
The figure whispered softly, its voice carrying both tenderness and sorrow, “Hel…”
Suddenly, a white light enveloped Helena, shimmering like a protective barrier. Her wounds began to close, the blood on her lips fading as her pallor improved.
“Is it… healing her?” Nightfire whispered, her voice barely audible. She and Aether peered cautiously from the corner, their breaths shallow as they watched the miraculous scene unfold.
Helena’s body seemed to relax, her breathing steady.
Aether’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the shadowy figure. Without hesitation, he darted forward.
“HMMFFF!” His hand shot out, gripping the figure’s wrist in a blink. “Don’t move!”
The figure flinched at his touch but twisted sharply, slipping from his grasp like water through his fingers.
In a flash, it vanished into the shadows.
“Dammit!” Aether cursed under his breath, his frustration mounting as he shot back toward the monster and,
Tick!
…..
Aether’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the shadowy figure. Without hesitation, he darted forward.
“HMMFFF!” His hand shot out, gripping the figure’s wrist in a blink.
“Where is Helena’s Mother?!” he demanded.
The figure stiffened, “….. Let me go,” it hissed, its voice unmistakably feminine.
“Not until you tell me who you are!” Aether growled, trying to peer through the obscuring darkness around the figure’s face. Despite his sharp vision, something was blocking him, making the figure’s features blur and flicker unnaturally.
Nightfire cautiously stepped forward, her eyes narrowing. “Whoever you are, you’re going to explain yourself,” she said, her tone a mix of irritation and curiosity as she stood before Helena.
The figure’s struggles grew more frantic until—
“Ouch!” Aether recoiled slightly as the figure bit his fingers.
“Is this how you treat a lady, Mister?” the figure chided, its voice carrying a sharp edge of sarcasm. Slowly, the shadows flickered and dissipated, revealing a golden-haired woman clad in maid attire.
Helena’s Mother.
“It’s you!” Nightfire gasped, her eyes wide as recognition dawned. This was the same woman they had followed earlier, the one who seemed to disappear without explanation.
The woman sighed heavily, her expression equal parts annoyance and resignation. “I can’t believe I let myself get caught,” she muttered, running a hand through her hair. Her sharp eyes locked onto Aether, who was staring at her with unsettling intensity.
“You…” Aether murmured as he remembered the woman who visited him during Ether’s childhood, “I’ve seen you before.”
The woman stepped closer, tilting her head curiously. “Have you now?” Her tone was playful but guarded. She scrutinized his face, her brow furrowing. “Hmm… now that you mention it, I feel like I’ve seen you too. But where…?” She trailed off, shaking her head. “No matter. You need to leave this place before Master and Madam return.”
Without another word, she thrust a large red button into Aether’s hands.
Aether blinked in surprise, glancing at the device. “So it was you all along…”
“Wait a minute!” Nightfire interrupted, stepping between them. Her hands were planted on her hips, her eyes narrowing at the woman. “Helena’s mother, right? Care to explain why you ran away from us? And isn’t that your daughter lying there?”
The woman’s gaze flickered to Helena, her expression softening briefly before a heavy sigh escaped her lips. “Yes, I am her mother,” she admitted. “But… I cannot explain everything right now. Please, just leave.” She turned to go when—
“We can’t,” Aether said firmly, his voice halting her in her tracks. He held up the button. “The monster keeps reversing time every time it dies. We’ve been stuck in this loop because of it.”
The woman froze, visibly startled. Slowly, she turned back to face him, her eyes narrowing.
“What are you talking about—” Nightfire began, but her shocked words were cut off as the woman suddenly appeared in front of Aether, faster than they could react.
Drip….
Blood trickled down Aether’s neck as the woman’s blade hovered dangerously close to his skin.
“WHAT THE HELL?!” Nightfire screamed, readying a spell as she stepped forward. “Back off, you crazy bitch!”
The woman’s eyes glowed a haunting gold, her voice low and chilling, “You remember time resets? That means you must carry….. Ether blood. Tell me, who sent you? Is it them? Are they still trying to kill Master and Madam?”
Aether raised a hand, pushing the blade away gently but firmly, “No one sent us,” he said calmly. “We’re only here because of your daughter. She wanted to find you, and we came to help. That’s all.”
The woman studied him closely, her piercing gaze searching his face for any sign of deceit.
Seeing her daughter with him she saw how he cared for her and how her daughter worried for him… she more or less could guess their relationship.
Finally, she sighed, lowering her weapon and stepping back. “You’re telling the truth,” she said quietly. Her eyes flicked to Helena once more, softening. “I don’t know how you carry their bloodline in this world, but that doesn’t matter now… with their messed up bloodline, everything was possible… sigh”
“Who’s ‘they’?” Nightfire muttered under her breath, still processing the overwhelming series of revelations. Her dread was palpable. ‘Why do I feel like I shouldn’t have heard any of this…?’
The woman ignored her, addressing Aether instead, “There’s one way to break the loop, but…”
“Nope!” Nightfire interrupted, raising her hand dramatically. “If it involves me being bait, I’m out!”
The woman chuckled lightly. “Hah… Relax, dear. No one’s asking you to be bait. I was simply surprised to see a succubus befriending my daughter. Please, take care of her.” the woman continued, “You’ve already killed Ether several times, which means you have the strength to fight him without ending his life. If you can hold him off, I’ll take care of the rest. Ether only listens to Madam, but I know another way…”
Hearing the word “Madam” both Aether and Nightfire flinched, memories of that ethereal, deadly voice chilling them to their cores.
“Will you talk to your daughter before we leave?” Aether asked, his voice softer.
The woman hesitated, her steps faltering. Her shoulders slumped. “A mother who abandoned her child in the dead of night… I don’t have the right to face her.” Her form flickered, dissolving into shadows.
“Wait—!” Aether called, but she was already gone.
Nightfire groaned, throwing her hands in the air. “Mind explaining what just happened? Time reversing? Bloodlines? WHAT THE HELL, AETHER?! It’s scary!!!”
Aether smiled faintly, picking up Helena. “We’ll talk later. For now, let’s do as she said.”
Nightfire stared at him incredulously. “You believe her?!”
“We don’t have much choice,” Aether said, kicking the mansion door open, “Yo, Motherfucker!”
“Grrrrrrr!” The monster roared, turning its baleful eyes toward them.
Nightfire sighed, trailing after him. “When we’re done with this, I’m cutting their friendship. I swear it!”
Meanwhile, the shadowy figure materialized in a dimly lit corridor deep within the mansion, approached the weathered door and knocked softly.
“!##@$@!@$$”
“!@#$@@$%%@@@”
Unintelligible whispers echoed from the other side, their voices sharp and clipped, speaking in an incomprehensible tongue.
Moments later, the door creaked open,
From the darkness within, a tall figure emerged, its frame imposing, Its glowing eyes briefly scanned the shadowy figure before stepping out into the hallway.
Meanwhile,
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shook the battlefield as Aether’s flames scorched the monster’s leg, nearly reducing it to ashes.
“Grrrrrr!” The monster roared in pain, stumbling back as its charred limb struggled to support its weight.
“Finally got it!” Nightfire shouted triumphantly from a distance, her illusions scattering as she sprinted with Helena cradled in her arms. Her voice cracked with desperation as she glanced at the unconscious girl. “Come on, Saintess, wake up already!” But no matter how she called, Helena remained unresponsive, her breathing shallow.
Aether gritted his teeth, his sharp eyes locked onto the monster who was riddled with wounds…. He knew its game. It had tried to kill itself before, hoping to reset time yet again.
He could not kill it nor allow it to kill itself…
What kind of screwed-up power it was?
“Whoever you enemy would surely cry” Aether growled. His hands tightened into fists as he lunged forward, flames erupting from his body like a raging inferno. With a swift strike, he drove his ice spears through the monster’s arm, pinning it to the ground.
Flipping over the beast with a perfect somersault. Mid-air, he grabbed its fur and slammed its temple into the ground with such force the earth cracked beneath it.
“WWWWRRRROOOOAAAAAHHH!” The monster howled in agony, thrashing violently. Its bloodshot eyes glared at Aether with unbridled hatred. But amidst its rage, something changed….. A flicker of fear and understanding crossed its face.
It stared at him as though processing an unthinkable realization… every time it died that human came up with a different plan as if he already knew…
“Wrrreee… aaeerrrr…?” it growled in a broken, guttural voice, its malformed mouth struggling to form coherent words.
Aether sneered, wiping the blood from his cheek. “Doesn’t matter if I can’t understand you.”
But before he could deliver another blow, the monster did something new….
It coughed, its grotesque jaws widening as streams of rainbow-coloured saliva dripped onto the ground. The viscous liquid hissed and bubbled as if alive, radiating unnatural energy.
“What now…?” Aether muttered, his eyes narrowing as he leapt back. For the first time, he felt unease creeping into his chest.
The rainbow liquid twisted and pulsed, taking on strange forms. Then, like molten lava solidifying into shapes, the droplets began to mould themselves into grotesque replicas of the monster.
“Grrrrrr!”
One replica rose, its sharp claws gleaming menacingly but it didn’t stop there,
“Grrrrr!”
“Grrrrr!”
“Grrrrrr!”
A few more monsters appeared just like it and smashed every illusion of Nighfire with their claws!
“Fuck! There are too many of them!” Nightfire’s panicked voice cut through the chaos. Her illusions, meant to distract and confuse, were obliterated in seconds as the monsters tore through them with ruthless efficiency.
Her breath hitched as she saw their claws hurtling toward her, hurling the unconscious Helena away from herself. But as the monsters closed in, she realized with growing dread that there was no escape.
“Nightfire!” Aether yelled, his body igniting as he was about to move, But then—
Tick!
The world froze…. No!
He froze!!!
Aether’s eyes widened in horror as he felt an invisible force lock him in place. His muscles strained, veins bulging as he struggled against the unseen bindings. He hovered mid-air, unable to move. His eyes turned bloodshot with rage as he screamed, “STOOOOPPPP!” But no sound escaped his throat.
His vision blurred with desperation as he saw the claws descending upon Nightfire, their edges gleaming.
Nightfire stood her ground, a faint, weak smile on her face
Chuccckkkkkkk!!!
Aether’s heart stopped.
For a split second, he thought she had been shredded to pieces.
But then he saw them…. disembodied claws and limbs raining to the ground.
The monsters were cut into pieces!!!
Step… Step….
Out of the mansion’s broken doors stepped a tall man, his stark white hair glowing faintly in the starlight.
500(600(650)…) PS=1(1(1)…)Ex/ 50(100(120)..) GT=1(2(2)…)Ex
500(600(650)…) PS=1(1(1)…)Ex/ 50(100(120)..) GT=1(2(2)…)Ex
