Third Person’s POV
ALMOST everyone Athena encountered fell to the ground as she put them to sleep. She would then chant a spell, and in an instant, all the fledglings turned to ashes. Meanwhile, Gino rained bullets upon their enemies until they turned into dust. He and Steph had matching guns specially made for the protectors.
But they stopped in their tracks when they noticed that Althea seemed to be simply watching the ongoing battle. What puzzled them even more was that none of the enemies were attacking her.
“Althea!” Athena called out to her sister as she approached. Althea slowly lifted her gaze in their direction.
And they were not prepared for the sinister grin they saw on her lips.
“Althea, what—” Athena couldn’t finish her sentence as in an instant, Althea was in front of her, choking her.
Meanwhile, Gino, from a short distance, stopped and briefly looked in their direction. He was completely shocked and almost dropped his gun due to what he witnessed.
“Shit!” He was about to run towards them when a group of fledglings blocked his path this time. “Damn!” He grew frustrated due to their seemingly endless numbers.
As for Athena, she still couldn’t believe what was happening.
“A-Althea... It’s you...” Athena couldn’t help the tears streaming down her face.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m the traitor. Surprised, dear sister?” Althea grinned from ear to ear, her eyes piercingly focused on Athena.
“W-why?” Athena felt like her breath was being taken away. No matter how hard she tried to free herself from Althea’s grip, it remained firm.
Althea was the last person she suspected within their group. That’s why her mind was in turmoil, unable to comprehend why her sister had turned against them. She couldn’t think of any reason why Althea would betray them.
“You’re asking why?” Althea laughed demonically, as if Athena’s question was a great joke.
Her eyes glared at Athena. “Since we were children, it has always been you! You’re the talented one, the beautiful one, the smart one. And on top of that, you quickly learn all the spells taught to us, and most of all, you’re the one everyone loves! There’s nothing left for me!” Her grip on Athena tightened even more.
Then, unexpectedly, Althea slapped Athena hard. The force and unexpectedness of the blow almost deafened Athena. She had never expected that her sister had been harboring such anger towards her.
“And because of the Clarksons, our parents died! They died in a battle that we shouldn’t have been involved in!”
It was true. Their parents died protecting the Clarksons. But Athena had never been able to feel anger or resentment towards them. It was their parents’ decision to help them.
“And now, you want to take away the man I liked too? Aren’t you satisfied with what you have? Do you also want Gino?” Althea drew a knife from her waist and was about to aim it at Athena when a bullet struck her leg.
As a result, Althea released her grip on Athena. She glanced at her wounded leg, blood flowing from the gunshot. Without hesitation, Athena chanted a spell to heal the injury.
“Athena!” Gino quickly rushed to Athena’s side, struggling to catch her breath.
Althea glared at the two of them. Throughout her life, she had done everything to be noticed and loved. She had been a kind witch, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. But despite all that, it seemed she still meant nothing.
That experience had turned her into a villain. And she blamed no one but her sister and the Clarksons for it.
“If I can’t have you, I’ll make sure you won’t be happy either. But before I finish both of you, let me tell you a story first.”
Althea stood up and walked around them, waving the knife she held. It seemed that she didn’t mind the wound she had received, which was slowly healing due to the spell she had used.
“On the night when you were supposed to meet in the cottage, it wasn’t Athena who was with you, Gino. It was me.” She laughed maniacally, seemingly going insane.
Gino furrowed his brow as he tried to recall what had happened. “What are you talking about?”
Athena, on the other hand, seemed confused. She hadn’t been able to attend that night because she had forgotten about their arrangement. That’s why she had apologized to him earlier.
“I pretended to be Athena. I copied all her physical attributes. And while we were drinking, I slipped a little spell into her drink. I knew my power wouldn’t fully work on her, so she only forgot it temporarily. But those few hours were enough for me to do what I wanted. Then, boom! Something happened to us. You know what, it is one of the memorable nights of my life.” Althea sat down to bring her face to the same level as Gino’s before gently caressing his cheek.
However, Gino harshly swatted her hand away. He still couldn’t believe what she was saying. So, it wasn’t the woman he loved who was with him that night, after all!
“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” A ball of fire started to form in Althea’s hands, and she was about to throw it at the two of them.
But surprise marked Althea’s face as the fireball suddenly disappeared upon her throw. That’s when she noticed a small barrier surrounding the two of them, while her sibling slowly rose to its feet.
She knew that despite her actions, they had still been affected. The evidence was Gino’s fall to the ground and the small wounds scattered across Athena’s body.
She was about to throw another fireball when she sensed two presence from afar. She cast a spell, and Athena did the same. She attempted to break the barrier, and an evil smile formed on her lips when she succeeded. Now she had proven to her sibling that she had surpassed them.
She darted near Gino’s location, who was now visibly weakened. As she felt Kyle and the others approaching, she quickly approached her sibling and shed a fake tear.
Athena and Gino exchanged confused glances, both pondering what Althea’s next move would be.
“Brother! Athena!” Nicole shouted as soon as she saw her brother lying on the ground.
“What happened here?” Kyle asked.
Althea continued to shed her fake tears. Nicole knelt down, weakly approaching her brother.
“It’s Steph! She did this to them. She’s the traitor! Vince is after her right now!” Althea screamed while sobbing, her face showing a mixture of anger and concern.
The two were momentarily stunned. Her words felt like a bomb exploding in front of them.
Althea mentally smirked. She never thought she could be such a convincing actress.
Gino and Athena wanted to shake their heads and objects, but something seemed to be holding them back.
And at that moment, Athena realized that Althea was employing a dark spell. She couldn’t undo it, no matter how hard she tried. Her sister was using one of the forbidden spells, and breaking its effects seemed impossible.
“Yes. She’s telling the truth. Leave, Nicole. They shouldn’t see you. Take Althea with you. We can manage it here,” Gino said, unable to believe the words coming out of his own mouth. He was being controlled by something. The opposite of what he wanted to say came out instead.
Nicole let out a series of whimpers. She couldn’t bear to leave her brother behind.
“Take my hand,” Kyle commanded her firmly.
Nicole didn’t want to take his hand at first. But when she heard her brother’s pleading voice, she quickly reached out and grabbed Kyle’s outstretched hand.
She didn’t want to leave them behind, but she also couldn’t ignore what had happened. She would make sure to kill the mastermind behind this war, whoever it may be.
“We are running out of time. We need to leave before they catch up to you. I can open a portal where you can hide,” Althea said, and Kyle nodded in agreement.
Althea continued to cry as she slowly released her sibling, as if making a heavy decision.
She secretly sneered at the two of them, and before she turned her back on them, she created a barrier that covered the entire area, preventing anyone from pursuing them.
Athena watched the three of them gloomily until they disappeared from their sight. She could also sense the dark spell’s effects fading away as its controller was no longer present.
She quickly stood up and cast a spell, attempting to break the barrier with all her strength. However, she was forced back as if she was being burnt upon contact with it.
“A-Athena...” She paused and remembered Gino. She hurriedly went to him and helped him stand.
“We need to go after them,” Gino whispered audibly.
Athena sighed heavily. “The barrier is too strong. Even a spell can’t break it. Only someone with too much power can bring it down.”
With that, they were about to lose hope. But Athena slowly regained hope when she saw the royalties running towards their direction.
“It’s Althea. She’s the traitor!” Steph said, and Athena simply nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes once again.
“Yes, and she’s with Kyle and Nicole right now. We need to go after them. But the barrier...” She trailed off and glanced at the barrier.
“Don’t worry. We can manage.” Kira briefly set Mikan down and stood alongside Steph, Vince, Miley, Rei, and Hiro in front of the barrier.
“Too much power,” Gino said and reached for Athena’s hand.
She smiled. “Well, I guess having three purebloods, two royal bloods, two protectors, and a witch here is beyond too much.”
They both lined up. They all looked at each other and did what was necessary. Eight different kinds of powers, strength, and weapons had been combined, and their strong force created a big impact.
NICOLE didn’t know where they were heading. They were by the seaside, running. They were already at the edge of the island, far away from their companions.
Kyle tightly held her hand. While Althea took the lead.
The scene was familiar to her. Then suddenly, something struck her. This was one of the scenes she dreamt about before their graduation.
“We shouldn’t run. We have to face them,” Nicole shouted to Kyle.
He shook his head. “No! I won ’t let them take you away from me again. Don’t worry. I’ll just make sure that you’re safe before I face them,” he said firmly, his every word laced with a threat, silencing her.
She had no more strength left to oppose him. Even though she was confused about what was happening now. Especially with the knowledge that Steph was the traitor among them, which she still found hard to believe.
But Nicole was startled when she felt something piercing her side. Because of it, her knees suddenly weakened. She couldn’t run any longer. Her vision blurred.
“Nicole! Shit!” Kyle quickly rushed to her side, his eyes glaring as he removed the knife lodged in her side.
“Where the hell did this thing come from?”
They were almost deafened by the impact of whatever exploded. They looked up and were certain it came from the place they left Athena.
“The converted vampires,” Althea said as she fought against the converted vampire who had thrown the knife at Nicole. She released a powerful energy from her hands and directed it straight into the enemy’s heart.
Because of what she said, Althea caught Kyle’s attention. She knew that her sister and the royalties had already broken the barrier she created. She needed to hurry.
After defeating the enemy and Nicole’s wound gradually healing, Kyle lifted her once again. He intensified his senses at that moment, and they started running once more.
Nicole, on the other hand, couldn’t shake off her uneasiness. It seemed like there was a strange effect from the knife that was stabbed into her, even though her wound had already healed. She felt something spreading throughout her entire body.
Kyle stopped running when Althea came to a halt. They were at the entrance of the forest.
“We’re here,” Althea announced.
Nicole strained to make out what Althea was doing, as she was currently opening a portal.
“Let’s go,” Althea said.
But Kyle remained unmoved from his position, which puzzled Althea.
“Kyle? Let’s go! We need to get Nicole away from here.” Althea walked closer to them, wearing a worried expression.
Kyle shook his head. Even Nicole had been confused by his actions for a while now. She knew she was keeping a lot from her, and she hated it.
“I never expected that out of everyone we trusted, you would turn out to be the traitor,” Kyle said, startling both Nicole and Althea with his words.
“Kyle!” Nicole shouted at him. She was truly confused now. Who was the real traitor?
Everyone became a suspect. Not even Nicole and Kyle were exempt from that. She never imagined they would reach a point where they would accuse each other.
“What? Didn’t we already tell you that Steph was the traitor? Why are you accusing me of things I didn’t know?” Althea replied, tears welling up in her eyes. But deep inside, she was seething because she couldn’t get the two of them to enter the portal.
And the fact that Kyle caught her.
Kyle clenched his jaw. “You can’t fool a Clarkson, Althea,” he said with a snarl. “To be honest, I’ve noticed something about you for a long time.” He paused, waiting for her reaction.
But Althea was skilled at hiding and pretending her emotions.
“W-what do you mean?” Althea let a tear fall from her left eye.
Kyle’s aura darkened. His eyes turned burning red, and his fangs extended to their full length.
“The way you look at Athena. It’s different. Maybe you haven’t noticed it. But whenever we’re together, I can sense it. You seem angry and jealous towards her, and I don’t understand why. Besides that, you often disappear without a word. When everyone is already asleep, or so you think, I usually catch you sneaking out. Especially that night when we had an overnight stay at the mansion before our graduation. And guess what? I wasn’t the only one who noticed.”
Nicole felt Kyle’s firm grip on her, and despite her weakness, she tried her best to understand his words.
“Because that night, Steph and Vince caught you as well. I’m not sure if they’ve noticed anything else about you. But I saw them following you. So, I just let it be.”
Nicole tried to remember what happened that night. It was only now that she recalled waking up abruptly, and she saw the retreating figures of Vince and Steph.
Althea smirked. “You know what, you are indeed a Clarkson.”
Kyle grinned. “Yes, I am. The reason I came along with you here was to confirm my suspicions— and you haven’t disappointed me.”
They exchanged glances. Kyle was about to turn and walk away when someone suddenly appeared in front of them.
“That’s enough for now.”
Nicole could feel Kyle’s breath grow heavy as someone suddenly appeared in front of them. She strained to make out the face of the person blocking their path, but all she could see was a sinister grin on their lips.
“Hans Croven,” Kyle whispered.
Nicole gasped upon hearing that name. For the first time that day, anger surged through her heart.
“Carl Thompson, or should I say, Kyle Ethan Clarkson now.” Hans laughed.
From the opened portal created by Althea, five converted vampires emerged. However, their appearance was different from the ones who had attacked them earlier. It seemed like a mixture of half-wolf and vampire stood before them now.
Suddenly, Victoria appeared by Althea’s side. Of course, Kyle was familiar with her. He wasn’t surprised to see her aligning herself with the enemy, as she was cunning when it came to power.
It seemed like an army stood before Kyle now. But he couldn’t be intimidated. He would do everything in his power to protect the woman he loved.
“Brother!”
“Kyle!”
Kyle felt a renewed sense of hope upon hearing those voices.
They are here. The real battle is about to begin.