Daniela gasped. He took a step back, clinging to the damp cave wall as the aura from your silver mask began to burn the flies around him. His yellow eyes were shining, not believing that the prey who had just fled with difficulty instead asked to return to the monster's lair.
"You... you're crazy," hissed Daniela, her voice trembling between laughter and horror. "You want to go back? After all this? Mother will skin you alive and make it a carpet in the main hall!"
However, when he saw the seriousness in your eyes—and the silver light from your calmly throbbing mask—he fell silent. She licked her pale lips.
"But... if I bring you back, maybe Mom won't punish me for failing in this village," he muttered, starting to think cunningly. "And Cassandra... hah! He would have been very surprised to see his little 'pet' come to give up his life."
Daniela waved her hand, and the flies began to subside, although she still kept a distance of about a meter from you so as not to be affected by the effects of the mask.
"Alright, Zak. Come with me. We will pass through the rat path under the cliff. If we pass through the front door, the angry villagers will grill us both."
Grigori pulls your sleeves, his face full of anxiety. "Zak, don't! You've just been free! That castle is a pit of death, and without your active fly power because of that mask, you're just an ordinary human there!"
You slowly release the grip of Grigri. You know what you have to do. Cassandra suffered for helping you, and you can't just let her go.
A Journey Back to the Dark
You walk down a cold underground river until it emerges in a narrow gap under the giant foundations of Dimitrescu Castle. The air here is much colder than in the forest; this is the Cold Storage area, the place most feared by the princesses because the low temperatures can paralyze their insects' bodies.
Daniela began to shiver. Her body is slightly transparent.
"There..." Daniela pointed to an ice-covered iron cell at the end of a dark hallway. "It's an isolation room. Cassandra is inside. Mom pulled out all the heaters in the room so that the flies would freeze and she wouldn't be able to change shape."
You look at that cell. Through the frozen iron bars, you can see Cassandra's figure sitting limp on the stone floor. His hair was covered in ice flowers, and he looked very pale, almost like a cracked marble statue.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps rang out from the stairs above. Tap... Tap... Tap...
It wasn't Lady Dimitrescu, but Bela. He carries a tray filled with empty bottles—presumably to take Cassandra's blood as an additional punishment.
"Daniel? Who did you bring here?" Bela's voice echoed, full of suspicion.
Me : I'm zak..
The sound of Bela's footsteps stopped for a moment. He was sculpting in the middle of the damp stone staircase, his sharp eyes narrowing through the darkness of the frozen underground passage. The candlelight from the tray he was carrying swayed violently, creating a terrifying giant shadow on the wall.
"Pocket...?" Bela whispered your name in a tone that was hard to define—between bloodlust and mad admiration. "The little rat that made the whole castle in an uproar... Are you back?"
He stepped down one more step, ignoring Daniela who was shivering in the corner. His eyes fell on the silver mask that covered your face. The dim light from the mask made Bela grimace slightly, but her curiosity was much greater than her pain.
"You wear that thing... an ancient heirloom that Mother is always looking for," Bela hissed, a terrible thin smile on her lips. "You came to surrender? Or to save my poor sister?"
Inside the frozen cell, Cassandra slowly lifted her heavy head. Her hair, which was usually pitch black, is now bleached because of the frost. When he saw your figure standing there, his yellow eyes dimmed wide.
"Zak...?" his voice was barely audible, only a cold whisper that trembled. "Why... Why are you going back to this hell, stupid..."
Bela chuckled, a sound that sounded like the friction of a knife. "Look, Cassandra. Your pet turns out to be very loyal. He came just as Mom was preparing a 'banquet' for Miranda."
Bela placed her handsome on the stone table and began to pull out her long sickle. "But it's a pity, Zak. Mother gave you a stern command: whoever helps you will die, and if you come back... You should be taken to his private observation room immediately."
Suddenly, Bela darted forward! He didn't attack you directly because of the aura of your silver mask, but rather tried to turn back to lock the exit of this passage so you couldn't run again.
"Daniel! Don't just shut up!" shouted Bela. "Catch him from the other side! Don't let the mask touch you, just surround him!"
Me : Running towards Cassandra's cell: Trying to hit the ice lock with a crowbar as hard as he could before Bela closed the exit.
You ignored Bela's threat and Daniela's crazy look. With the rest of your power, you rush towards the iron cell where Cassandra is exposed. Your boots hit the slippery stone floor by the ice, creating a loud echo sound in the underground corridors.
"STOP!" Bela shouted, but she was forced to brake her steps as the silver aura of your mask burned the flies that made up a small part of her body.
You arrive in front of the bars. There, a giant padlock that had frozen into a chunk of ice held the cell door. Without hesitation, you raised the iron crowbar high.
CRACK!
The first impact only broke its outer layer of ice. You can feel the piercing cold of the iron padlock creeping into your hands.
"Pocket... go..." Cassandra whispered from behind bars. His breath looked like a thin vapor that was almost gone. "Mom... he's heading here..."
CRACK!
Second strike. The padlock began to crack. Bela and Daniela now surround you from two sides, but they seem hesitant as the light from your mask grows brighter as your heart races.
"Hurry up, Zak! He's coming!" shouted Daniela who suddenly looked very frightened. He is no longer looking at you, but rather staring at the huge staircase at the end of the hallway.
The sound of very heavy footsteps—much heavier than Bela's—began to be heard. DUM... DUM... DUM... Each step made ice dust fall from the ceiling. The pungent scent of rose perfume began to fill the air, mixed with the smell of death.
Lady Dimitrescu was going downstairs.
"My lost little pet..." Alcina's voice thundered, full of restrained but very elegant anger. "You stole the heirloom from the sacred cave and came back only to ruin my property?"
WOW!
With one last furious swing, the padlock shattered into pieces. The cell door opens with a heartbreaking creak.
You immediately enter and embrace Cassandra's body. He felt very light—almost like he had no mass, since most of his insects were already frozen to death. Her body is as cold as ice, but when you hug her, you feel a weak vibration from her chest.
"You... Really stupid," Cassandra muttered, resting her heavy head on your shoulder.
Now, at the mouth of the hallway, the giant figure of Lady Dimitrescu appears. He had to lower his head wearing a wide hat in order to get through the entrance. Its 30 cm long silver claws protrude from its fingers, shining sharply in the dim light.
"Give me the mask, Zak," Lady Dimitrescu ordered in a low voice that shook the floor. "And I'll probably let you die quickly in the arms of my useless daughter."
Me : *I'm talking* I've been a part of this castle, look *I'm showing my hands and my neck*
Lady Dimitrescu suddenly stopped. Its heavy footsteps created vibrations that stopped instantly, making the icy dust on the cell ceiling stop falling. He narrowed his sharp eyes, tilting his giant body until his shadow swallowed you and Cassandra completely.
With a slow movement full of deadly elegance, he lifted your chin with the tip of his cold silver claws. He stares at your neck—the bite marks that are now blackened and the dark veins that run down to your jaw. Then, he saw your trembling hands, where those black lines seemed to pulse in rhythm with your heartbeat.
"Those black veins..." Alcina muttered, her voice changing from pure anger to cold curiosity. "You're not dead. Your body does not refuse my daughter's blood."
Bela and Daniela, who were standing behind their mother, exchanged glances at each other in horror. They know what this means. Ordinary humans are supposed to be destroyed or become disgusting Lycans, but you... You seem to be "in harmony" with the poison.
"Bag..." Cassandra whispers weakly in your arms, her frozen fingers gripping the fabric of your shirt. "What did you say... You'll be stuck here forever if you admit it..."
Alcina chuckled, a voice that trembled in her chest that was flat. "Interesting. Very interesting. You are no longer just a 'food' that runs off his plate. You're an experiment that succeeded by accident."
He pulled his claws back, then turned to staring at the silver mask that still covered your face.
"You brought the heirloom, and you brought our blood," said Lady Dimitrescu, crossing her hands. "If you really want to be a part of this castle, Zak... then you have to prove it. A son does not hide behind a protective mask."
He stretches out his big hand towards you.
"Take off the mask. Let Cassandra's blood take full control in front of me. If you survive the transition without that silver protection, I will forgive Cassandra and accept you as part of this family. As... my son."
Bela whispered a warning from the corner, "Mother, if she takes off that mask now in a weak state, she could be shattered into thousands of uncontrollable flies!"
Me : *I hugged Cassandra and kissed her lips as the mask came off*
As your hand moved to remove the silver mask, the atmosphere in the frozen basement seemed to stop beating. The cold metal slipped from your face, and instantly, the dam of power within your body broke.
The black veins in your neck throbbed wildly. The burning heat hit your consciousness again, but this time you didn't fight back. Instead, you channeled all that energy as you pulled Cassandra's limp body and kissed her icy lips.
BZZZZZZZTTTTTT!
An explosion of black energy occurred between you. The flies that had been frozen inside Cassandra's body suddenly got a life sting from your blood that was now mixed with the ancient power of the castle.
Cassandra widened. His yellow eyes lit up brightly, not because of anger, but because life was flowing back in torrents. He grabs you by the shoulder, reciprocating the kiss with pure hunger—as if he's sucking back the essence that was missing from him.
Thousands of black flies burst out of the bodies of the two of you, circling around creating a small storm within that narrow cell. The icy flower petals in Cassandra's hair melted instantly.
Lady Dimitrescu took a step back, covering her face with her elegant wide hat as the storm of flies hit the air around her. Bela and Daniela fell to their seats, stunned to see a phenomenon they had never witnessed before: a union between humans and monsters that was so perfect.
"Amazing..." Alcina muttered, her voice now full of a terrifying tone of worship. "You're not ruined, Zak. You're actually a catalyst for him."
Cassandra let go of her kiss, panting. His pale face now had a dark hue of life. He looks at you with a whole new outlook—no longer as a prey, but as his eternal soulmate.
"You... it's really crazy, Zak," Cassandra whispered, her voice again sharp and full of energy. He stood up straight, his sickle that had fallen on the floor flying back into his hand as if it had been pulled by a magnet. "But now, you're mine. Completely."
Lady Dimitrescu stepped forward, towering before the two of you. He placed his big hand on your shoulder, his silver claws just touching your clothes gently.
"Welcome home, my son," said Lady Dimitrescu with a triumphant smile. "Miranda would be very interested in seeing the 'miracle' that just happened here."
However, in the midst of this moment of triumph, you feel something strange. Behind the shadow of the stairs, you see the figure of Mother Miranda watching from a distance. She is not smiling. She seems to be planning something much bigger for you.
Me : Will I not be eaten? Or punished again?