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βTo be a hero means to endure even when all you want to do is give in.β
γΙΞΉΞ±ΖΟgΟ Ρ cΟΖΟΡ:#007F03 β ΡΠ½ΟΟ gΠ½Ρ cΟΖΟΡ #B20070γ
|| Need you Now || Lady Antebellum ||
γΙΞΉΞ±ΖΟgΟ Ρ cΟΖΟΡ:#007F03 β ΡΠ½ΟΟ gΠ½Ρ cΟΖΟΡ #B20070γ
|| Need you Now || Lady Antebellum ||
There were no delusions this time. No kind uncle to remember, no gentle aunt to think of, only enemies. If she was going to break free, she was going to have to use magic, and maybe even kill them if she had to. She didn't want to, she absolutely didn't want to - but some things were necessary. "It's hopeless, just give up." The rattly voice in the cell next to hers said with a sort of self deprecating laugh. "Ain't no one's gettin out. Lord Manfred's the most powerful in the city, y'know?" Of course she knew. She was aware of this her whole life. "I have to... do something." A hero of justice shouldn't just stay in here forever, that was just silly. She couldn't just wait for the next bout of torture.
There was one method she knew of to get stronger. The threads weren't on her now so she could use her magic without getting shocked. The incantation Lord Manfred said as he cast the forbidden magic - she knew it off by heart. She could do it now if she wished, she could take rattle's mana and add it to her own and then become stronger, couldn't she? What was presumably morning came again and here was Lord Manfred, ready for another round of fun. "Victoire?" She asked and he shook his head. "She's, ah, busy at the moment. I don't have much time either, so I'm sorry for the inadequate training." He opened the cell and casted the thread again, trapping her mana nodes behind the electric current ready to spark. She glared at him but said nothing, knowing not to hope that just because Victoire wasn't gone.
And it wasn't anything fun at all. Being nailed to a wall by her hands and ankles was an experience she did not want to have again, especially being left there all day long. After what felt like years, and what was probably maybe two days, she was finally let down from the nailed wall by having them forcibly torn out before releasing her. "My dear, you must have felt neglected." Erika glared at the devilish couple, knowing that they were never going to let her go unless she could get her magic out. "Clearly pain isn't working on her." Manfred took a step back, allowing Victoire to heal her back up. "Humiliate her, my love. This is your expertise." Lady Victoire grinned like the slippery snake she was. "We're going to have such fun, Erika dear."
Victoire was an expert with her fingers and she knew exactly where to touch to make the heat spike up to near impossible lengths. She teased and touched and rubbed as deftly as anyone could imagine, but she knew how to make sure Erika was not allowed to go over the edge and achieve heaven. Humiliated yet craving release, Erika didn't know what to do. She did not like being touched like this. She did not like her body being manipulated so easily, betraying her in such a way. She would have rathered the pain, the torture - anything but this. For the next week Victoire knew precisely how to drive her closer and closer to the edge, but never letting her reach Heaven. "If you want release, you'll have to fight for it, girl." Victoire whispered, voice tickling her earlobes. "You know what to do."
The next time Victoire and Manfred entered the lab, they were treated to a surprise. It had taken a lot of convincing but in the end, Erika did it, she committed the sin. The sphere of mana was in her hand as rattle's life was stolen from him, just like that. "I'm sick of this!" She screamed, slamming her fist into the ground, waves of darkness bursting through the air like a surge of power. Four tentacles rose from her back, whipping and destroying everything around her. "You won't break me anymore!" Manfred grinned chillingly, snapping his fingers and causing the whole world to flip upside down. Distortion! Ignore it! Don't get distracted! "Come on, then, show that you can beat me."
Vanishing into shadows, Erika reappeared behind them, blades of shadow forming over her hands as she struck. A magical spear protected Victoire and Manfred raised his hand, slamming her into the ceiling, then back to the ground. She shrugged it off, stumbling back to her feet as terror and rage lead her blade to his throat. He knelt back to evade it and then kicked, hard, sending her into the wall. A blade of fire formed in his fist and he cut off both her legs at the knees. "Give in, you're nowhere near strong enough yet." So close, so close... but she couldn't win. "Th-then..." She began to cast the dark magic to absorb Victoire's mana when a fire whip struck her across the chest, taking the wind out of her. Magical gloves formed around her neck, crushing her neck until everything fizzled to black. "Heal her up, love." Manfred ordered his wife once the cute rebellion was done. "Of course. I can't wait for her to truly reach maximum potential."
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Something did not add up. No matter what Eamon said, there was no way Erika could be outside of Min City. There was a rare magic in Lady Rosemary that allowed her to know that it was impossible. She cast it on both her children after Estelle's disappearance, a spell to always tell her where they were at all times. So she knew for a fact that Erika was still inside the Remington Estate. "Eamon." She told her son, still too ill to leave the hospital just yet. "Tell Clover, and the two Remington children too. And... here." She passed a note to him. "What is it, mom?" He took it and his hands shook. "Why do you have the True Her - why do you know Estelle's contact information?"
"She came to visit a few days ago." Rosemary said with a gentle smile, one full of melancholy and regret. "Told me how to reach her if I ever needed her, because she feels she owes me one last favor." It was such a surprise to see Estelle walking in right as rain, as if she wasn't the one that had ruined the Harrington family. "She's probably the only one that can fight against Manfred right now, Eamon, so you have to get her help." Eamon knew what he was going to do, even if he hated it, he was going to have to rely on Estelle to save Erika. Under guise of a sewing session, he would gather the team, Alistair and Seraphina included. And of course, Clover.