Reone's hand tightened around his spiral, his eyes firmly fixed on the hostage situation in front of him.
"Let the princess go," Primi immediately said, his voice harsher than Reone had ever heard it before.
"I don't think so, Romeo," Veyra replied with a smirk. "But... if you do exactly as I say, then maybe I won't kill Juliette over here."
Primi's expression went cold at Veyra's threat. He stepped forward instinctively, but Nivara moved in front of him, blocking his path with a menacing expression.
"If you kill her, you'll never get the Trident," Primi desperately reasoned. "She's the only one who can assemble it."
"I beg to differ, my good Diviner," Damon said.
His eyes moved toward the Trident pieces with obvious longing, looking as if he was fighting the urge to walk over to them.
Reone knew he should stop him if Damon became bold enough to try, but he couldn't bring himself to make that decision. Not when they had Anika.
"Don't listen to her," Anika suddenly said to her friends. "Destroy them."
"Anika..." Lyrian looked at her in alarm. "She'll kill you."
"If you give in to her demands, she'll get the Trident and kill all of us. Better it's just me," Anika reasoned, though she looked really scared.
"Shut up, Diviner," Veyra snapped at her.
Then she turned back toward the others with a patient smile.
"So, what's it going to be, people?"
The group looked at each other, all of them conflicted.
Everyone except Primi.
"I surrender," he said firmly.
They all looked at him in surprise.
To prove his point, Primi dropped the knife he was holding onto the ground.
Anika stared at him in complete disbelief but didn't say anything, too shocked.
"Primi, what are you doing?" Lyrian asked, saying what everyone else was thinking.
"I..." Primi looked down, his voice lowering. "I don't know."
Reone understood him perfectly.
It wasn't the most logical thing, what he was doing, but...
Logic didn't matter when someone you loved was in danger.
He looked at Lyrian instinctively, who looked like she wanted to jump Veyra.
"Well?" Veyra asked, looking over them. "What about the rest of you?"
For a moment, nobody spoke.
They weren't quite willing to make a choice they knew they would regret, but they also couldn't bring themselves to sacrifice Anika.
It shouldn't have been so hard for them, Reone thought.
After all, Anika herself had told them to do whatever they needed to.
But it didn't.
In the short time they had spent together, she had become someone they genuinely cared about. Not to mention that they had promised her father they would keep her safe.
Letting her die when they could prevent it was out of the question.
And besides, Reone reminded himself, she was the only one of them who could assemble the Trident. As long as she still lived, there was a chance of them winning.
Looking around, he knew everyone else had reached the same conclusion as him.
They just weren't willing to say it. And neither was he, but unfortunately someone had to.
"We surrender too," Reone finally said.
Everyone turned toward him.
Lyrian looked the most surprised. She had honestly expected him to be the one who was going to be the most against the decision.
"Good," Veyra said to Reone, clearly pleased.
She then shoved Anika toward Caelynn, who caught her but did not handle her gently either.
Then Veyra turned toward Damon.
"You there. Do your thing with the Trident pieces."
Her eyes narrowed at him, the rest of her face tightening.
"But no funny business. I'll be watching."
Her words threw Reone off for a moment.
Since Damon was the one who could assemble the pieces, he had assumed Damon would be the one who wielded the Trident in the end. Not Veyra.
He wondered how Damon, power-hungry as he was, agreed to this.
Or had he really? Reone wondered.
Damon didn't reply to Veyra.
He simply walked toward the table where the pieces rested.
Veyra followed after him, knowing she had to keep a close eye on Damon. If he tried anything, Veyra was ready to put him down.
She didn't care that Damon would have the Trident and that he might kill her in the process too.
If she couldn't have it, then neither could he.
Damon glanced at her with barely hidden annoyance. He consoled himself with the knowledge that once he got the Trident, he'd be unbeatable and finally be able to kill her.
"Well?" Veyra asked when he continued staring at the pieces. "What are you waiting for? Form the relic."
Damon said nothing.
Instead, he took a deep breath, preparing himself.
Because if the spell didn't work, the Trident would kill him.
But no.
That wasn't going to happen.
It was his destiny to do this. He knew it in his heart.
Slowly, Damon reached out with his three-fingered Diviner hands and touched the two pieces: the prong and the handle.
For a moment, he waited, half expecting them to disintegrate him out of existence before making a temple spirit out of him.
But nothing happened.
The metal was cold against his skin.
That was about it.
Encouraged, Damon eagerly grabbed the pieces and lifted them.
Reone cursed when Damon managed this and started holding his breath.
Because this was it, what he had been afraid of. The beginning of the end.
Damon saw the satisfaction on Veyra's face.
And the nervousness she tried to hide.
She should be nervous, he thought with a smile.
Damon looked back down at the Trident pieces.
He studied them carefully, ascertaining he understood how they connected.
Then, with excitement spreading across his face, that he was about to wield such power, he suddenly joined the pieces together.
That was when everything started to go wrong.
Power rushed through him.
But not in any way he liked.
It was pain.
It felt like lightning was moving through his body, scorching him from the inside out.
Damon's mouth opened, his face becoming agonised. Then his screams echoed around the temple room.
Everyone stared at him, utterly shocked by this outcome.
Even Veyra stepped backward from Damon in horror.
She didn't know exactly what was supposed to happen.
But this clearly wasn't it.
This was something else entirely.
Something bad.
Finally, it stopped, but only because Damon's body seemed unable to endure any more.
He collapsed onto the floor, hitting his head hard. His hands and other parts of his skin looked burnt.
The Trident pieces flew from Damon's possession, landing in front of Veyra with a clang.
Still separate.
"What. Just. happened?" Veyra whispered, staring at Damon's unconscious body.
"It's the Trident," Nova said, though she sounded surprised too. "It rejected him."
"What? But the spell..." Veyra started.
"Fool," Anika interrupted.
She regarded Veyra with contempt.
"You really thought your little magic trick could overcome an ancient relic that powerful? You should have known better."
Veyra's expression darkened.
She hated being proven wrong.
Especially by an enemy.
Then Damon suddenly moved, making Veyra turn her attention toward him.
She saw his eyes opening.
It did nothing for her mood, which was already considerably foul.
Veyra had thought Damon was dead.
She had hoped he was.
But apparently the spell had been strong enough to keep Damon alive through everything.
When Veyra thought about this eventuality more, she decided that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.
"What... what happened?" Damon asked weakly.
Veyra stared down at him coldly.
" You couldn't assemble the Trident.You failed me."
Her power then ignited, making her body glow. She outstretched her hand.
"But it's not a total loss, I guess. At least now I finally get to kill you."
Slowly, Damon was lifted into the air.
He was already weak from the Trident, so this was easy for Veyra. He couldn't really struggle.
"No!" Damon said, panic entering his voice. Then he looked toward Nivara. "Nivara, my love, do something."
Veyra's eyes immediately moved to Nivara, watching her carefully. If Nivara so much as moved to help Damon, Veyra saw no choice but to cut her down too.
But Nivara didn't so much as blink.
"Despite what you think, I'm not your puppet,Damon. And I'm afraid you've outlived your usefulness, my love," she said with a smile.
For once, Veyra looked genuinely surprised.
Then she grinned.
"Well said, sister."
With a flick of her hand, she sent Damon crashing into the nearest wall.
She didn't bother checking if he was alive.
If he wasn't dead already, he would be soon enough.
She, on the other hand, had more important things to deal with now.
"What's the plan now?" Nivara asked.
Veyra turned back toward the others.
"Now we move on to plan B."
Anika, still in Caelynn's arms, frowned.
"What's plan B?"
Veyra smiled.
"You, silly."
Anika understood Veyra immediately.
"I am not forming that Trident for you," she told Veyra in a firm voice.
"We'll see about that," Veyra said with a smile, clearly liking the challenge.
She then turned to Primi.
"You, Romeo. Come here," she ordered him.
Anika's expression became alarmed. She didn't know what Veyra was planning, but she didn't like it already.
"No, Primi. Don't do as she says," she said.
"Quiet, Diviner," Caelynn whispered harshly in her ear, tightening her hold on her.
Anika winced.
"Don't hurt her," Primi said, noticing Anika's distress. "I'll do as you say."
Reone and the others watched helplessly as Primi walked toward Veyra before standing in front of her, as rigid as a statue.
Veyra smiled.
"Good boy."
She then turned to Nivara.
"Watch this one."
"One blast and you're dead, Diviner," Nivara said, placing a threatening hand on his back.
"We've already got his girlfriend, Nivara. There's no need to threaten him," Veyra said simply.
She then turned to Reone, Lyrian, and the rest.
"As for the rest of you, I'm going to have to politely ask you all to get out."
Lyrian's brows furrowed.
"What?"
"I think I'm being clear."
"Forget it, Veyra," Reone said through clenched teeth. "We're not going leaving Anika and Primi with you."
Veyra sighed.
She then spoke in a weary voice.
"Nivara, Caelynn, if they're not gone in the next two minutes, you have my permission to kill the Diviners."
Hearing this, they all froze and looked at each other fearfully.
"What do we do, guys?" Mickey asked the rest.
"I'll tell you guys what we can't do. We can't let them harm Primi and Anika," Mia said in a firm voice.
At this, Reone spoke to Veyra.
"If we leave the room, you won't harm them?"
For a moment, Veyra looked thoughtful.
"For now," she said.
When Reone and the others looked unimpressed with this answer, she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, after they serve their purpose and I get the Trident, I'll give you all a two-minute head start. Sound good?"
Reone wanted to say no, but he knew that was the best they could all hope for.
"We're just supposed to trust you?" he asked instead.
"You have no other choice. One minute remaining, by the way."
"Let's go, guys," he said tonelessly, moving toward the exit.
They all reluctantly followed him except Lyrian.
Reone turned to see her, her legs unmoving, staring at the Sisterhood, Anika, and Primi.
"Come on, Lyrian," he said, grabbing her arm. "We don't have a choice."
"It's okay, Lyrian," Anika assured her, though tears filled her eyes.
Lyrian finally let Reone pull her toward the exit, the reality that they were losing starting to sink in.
When they reached the entrance, Lyrian stopped to look back at the Sisterhood.
"You won't get away with this," Lyrian told them.
They just looked at each other in amusement before laughing.
"You're so not in a position to make threats, sweetheart," Caelynn told her.
"Haven't you realized, Lyrian? You've failed. I've won and you've lost," Veyra said.
Lyrian looked down at the floor at this, feeling like the loser and failure Veyra claimed she was.
Reone, not pausing, pulled her through the narrow entrance of the room.
Nivara then looked toward the entrance, her eyes glowing with power.
A wall of dark plants started growing from the entrance, sealing off access to their enemies outside.