"Philamina! You're alive! Thank goodness," I said, breathless with relief.

"Now then," Alba said with a smug tilt of her chin, “Hand over the girl, and I might thinkl about compensating you... Other than with myself, ahem, of course."

Lucius remained composed: his voice dangerously calm. "Lady Alba, my deal remains unchanged. Should you obediently step into this cell, I'll send her back to that damned mansion." He raised a hand slightly. “Oh, and do refrain from using magic. I am afraid I might sever her head at the slightest wrong move, you see.”

From the shadows emerged the Aelith that had guided us earlier. It dragged Philamina forward, trapping her inside its gelatinous form, like a fly caught in amber.

She was pale—pale enough to say that she hadn’t eaten for days. Her lips were cracked and colorless. Not only that, but her thin arms bore deep carvings, and crimson ribbons of blood tracing every inch of her fragile, glass-like flesh. Her once lustrous hair now hung in tangled clumps over her bruised shoulders.

“Mia, please leave!” Philamina cried desperately, “You can’t fight him!”

Lucius’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Still have the energy to speak? Hm, I mustn’t have drained enough blood from you.” His hand moved slowly, deliberately, clutching her chin in his fingers. “Perhaps, I should take flesh this time.”

It is quite fortunate that I wasn’t in control of my body, otherwise I would have jumped on him without any plan in mind. Even biting him might’ve bought us a few seconds.

“Hahaha… You are a funny one!” Alba laughed suddenly.

“Indeed, I am,” Lucius replied with icy indifference.

“I wasn’t talking to you, you bloody jerk!” Alba snapped. “I was talking to this human fool. Honestly, I would’ve taken her as my disciple over you without thinking!”

At these words, fury ignited in Lucius’s demonic eyes. His expression darkened.

Without warning, he raised his hand and with a sickening squelch, gouged out one of Philamina’s eyes.

Her scream of agony tore through the air, raw and piercing, echoing off the stone walls like a wail from the depth of hell.

The sound shattered the morbid stillness of the basement. One by one, the other cells got agitated, as if they had been awakened from their ‘rest’ time.

Chains clanked. Shadows writhed.

The merman thrashed violently, his muscular tail slamming against the rough stone wall with a deafening crack. The iron chains groaned under the strain, and his guttural roars joined the chorus of chaos.

“Alba, please, I beg of you, stop provoking him!” I begged. “He’ll kill her!”

Lucius wiped the blood from his hand with a crisp white handkerchief he pulled from his front pocket. The stark contrast between its pristine fabric and the grimy, cramped basement was striking.

“What is it? Not in the mood for jokes now, are we?” he smirked.

Philamina was forced to stand because of that Aelith holding her tight. Aside from that sharp scream, she didn’t utter another sound—no complaints, no curses, not even the faintest whimper. Blood trickled from her injured eye down her cheek, but she kept her head high, refusing to give Lucius the satisfaction of seeing her break. A noble Lady indeed.

“So, if you keep up with the silence, I am afraid I’ll tear her apart—piece by piece—right in front of you. Defy me, if you dare!” he said, gripping her hair tightly.

“The hell! Asher, why aren’t you moving? Isn’t she your dear little sister?” I shouted in despair.

Until now, I haven’t noticed where we were. We were plunged in the void. Not quite dark, but not fully lit either.

Asher was sitting, careless, his dull eyes half-closed, as if he was enjoying some beautiful scenery.

“Hey! I am talking to you, you piece of crap!”

He turned to look at me, but his expression was unreadable, devoid of any emotion. His sister was being tortured right in front of him, and yet he didn’t seem to be affected.

“You know,” he said calmly, “that day on the bridge…that’s when all this story began for you. If you had let me meet my fate and let me fall, you wouldn’t be caught up in any of this. Don’t you think?”

“Why the hell are you bringing this up now?” I snapped.

He stood and stepped towards me like a ghost, silent and unshakable. Slowly, he lifted my chin with two fingers and locked eyes with me.

“Your empathy will get you killed, dear Mia.” He said, his voice low and cold. “What’s really funny is that you and Lady Alba are nothing alike, yet you both rush to sacrifice yourselves for others without hesitation.”

“Shut the f*** up you fool! You know nothing about me!” Alba yelled.

“It seems you are dealing with some inner conflicts, my Lady,” Lucius said smoothly. “Hosting three souls at once must be tough for this mortal vessel, allow me—”

“Okay. I am exhausted of being trapped here with two weaklings! Get them out!” Alba cut him off, exasperated.

“What? Are you nuts?” I shouted.

“Well,” Alba continued, completely ignoring me, “About our deal—how many experiments do you plan to conduct on me? An eternity might a bit much, so, set a number…”

“To be frank, I aim to extract your essence, my Lady.” Lucius explained, his tone laced with enthusiasm. “Immortal as you are, extracting some of it would hardly affect you, yes?”

“My essence? That’s quite a bold request,” Alba replied with a smirk. “Fine, I’ll give you some—only if you extract those two, alive.”

“Alive? My Lady, that’s impossible…” Lucius hesitated. “Still, I’ll do my best. So, shall I begin?”

“Of course, get going.” Alba responded.

“What are you doing? You know he won’t keep his word.” I protested.

Asher remained calm, unmoved by this chaotic situation.

Lucius began reciting strange incantations with a deep and rhythmic voice. A wide, dark array flared beneath us pulsing with ominous energy. I could feel my neck itching painfully, reminding me of the insignia that linked me to Asher.

What is he trying to do? Damn it…

Asher lowered himself into a meditative position. A strange energy radiated from him, warping the air around his body like heat off a stone.

Did they come up with a plan I wasn’t told about? Alba seemed far too confident for someone stuck in a “weakling” body.

“Um, what are you doing?” I asked.

“Just sit back and watch.” Asher replied. “And please, don’t get in the way.”

Ugh, as annoying as his twin! So much for being noble!

Suddenly, something caught my eye. A symbol—similar to the insignia on my neck—appeared on the Aelith. The symbol was different in terms of size and color, and etched far deeper into the creature’s body. It pulsed faintly, radiating the same energy surrounding Asher.

Suddenly, Asher’s body fell, soulless, like a puppet with its strings cut.

I turned my gaze to the Aelith, and something was off. It began twitching, its movements no longer fluid. Its grip on Philamina loosened, and with a sluggish, almost dazed motion, it drifted backward, as if pulled by an unseen force.

I see now… He is controlling that thing…

It was floating back slowly —carefully —to avoid drawing the mage’s attention.

Reaching the stone wall from which we entered, was the destination.

It was close… Three meters left…two…

Then it stopped.

Frozen in place, mid-air.

Panic stirred in my chest. I glanced at Asher. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

 “Oh God, what happened?” I whispered, rushing to him. “Asher, are you alright?”

He opened his eyes faintly and murmured, “I failed…again.”

The ritual stopped as well. The array faded into silence, and Lucius stood straight with a straight face. He dusted off his cloak and swept his cape over his shoulders with deliberate grace.

“Asher,” he said coldly, “I taught you everything you know. Did you think such a cheap trick would work on me?”

He paused, a twisted smile curling on his lips.

“But I must admit that your bravery in enduring the consequences is very admirable!”

Then, his voice dropped like a blade.

“How unfortunate that it was all in vain.”

In a blink of an eye, he plunged his hand into Philamina’s chest, his fingers sinking into her blood with a sickening, wet sound. With a violent jerk, he tore her heart from its cavity, the organ still pulsing and dripping with her blood. It hung in his hand like a trophy, while her body shuddered once and collapsed, lifeless.

“Oh my, look at all the mess I’ve made.” Lucius mused. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed Philamina’s heart into one of the nearby cells. It landed with a disgusting thud, splattering the stone floor with blood.

“No, no, no, no, it can’t be, NO” I screamed my lungs out.  My chest constricted with unbearable grief. “Philamina, please… no, why…”

The words barely left my mouth, choked by the overwhelming weight of helplessness and horror.

Alba stood motionless, like a marble statue amid the carnage. Blood reached her feet like a macabre river, thick and glistening, reflecting her reflection. My reflection.

“If you think you’ve won, well you didn’t,” Alba said.

“Oh, this was never meant for your eyes to witness my Lady,” Lucius replied with a venomous smile. “After all, such scenes would hardly shake someone who feeds on humans. Don’t you agree?”

“Wh…What?” I stammered.