243 Deadly Family Feud (1/2)
Right now, she was in a room that served like a conference hall.
She was in the center of the long table while Wixx was at the other end. Kiho was on her right side, Luna on the left. Lord Forrester sat beside her husband, and Ainsworth sat beside Luna.
Jameson and Roarke were roaming around to make sure that the undead army wouldn't return. Blake and the Black Serpent Knights were guarding the basement cell were Thaddeus Nystrom, the North King's son, was currently locked up.
Lord Denever and the Fire Mages were left to guard Winter, Julian, and Solenn.
”I don't understand,” Lord Forrester, the former saint who insisted to not be called by his previous title, said with furrowed brows. ”Are you implying that my Holy Scepter is inside Lord Julian's body, Lady Nystrom?”
”That's what I want to know, too,” Tilly said, then she turned to Luna. ”Apparently, in the past, the Moon Priestess was asked by Kalel Nystrom to steal the Holy Scepter.”
”What?” the former saint said, then he looked at Luna with accusation in his eyes. He was smart enough to read between the lines so she wasn't surprised if he got her message loud and clear. ”You were the Moon Priestess in the past? And you were the one who stole my Holy Scepter? Wow, I'm pissed.”
”It wasn't my fault that you let me steal your Holy Scepter in the past,” Luna snapped at the former saint. ”Maybe if you weren't so lazy then, your precious tool would have not been stolen. And shouldn't you be grateful that it was me who stole it and not the Moonchesters?”
Tilly's stress was lessened because of Luna's retort.
You go, girl.
Wixx seemed amused too because he laughed loudly. ”Luna is right, Asher. You're lazy ever since you were a child.”
Ainsworth nodded in agreement. ”Every time I see you back then, you were either sleeping or getting scolded by the sky god for not fulfilling your temple duties.”
”That's right,” Kiho agreed. ”There was even a time that the sky god got so drunk and begged us to take you as a disciple. He said we were free to make a slave out of you.”
The Red Phoenix laughed again. ”I remember that,” he said. ”But no one was insane enough to accept the lazy boy as a disciple. The sky god cried all night.”
”Shut up,” Lord Forrester said, his face red from embarrassment. ”We're not here to talk about my past.”
”That's right,” Tilly said, making everyone in the room serious once again. ”Brother, do you mind unsealing Luna's memories? I want to know how she hid the Holy Scepter in Julian's body.”
A piece of red feather appeared above her brother's palm.
Then, the feather flew towards Luna and fell gently on top of her head. As soon as it did, the feather burned on its own. She knew that it wouldn't her the witch though.
As if my brother would hurt her.
Anyway, her thoughts were cut-off when the flame from the red feather started to show images. To be more precise, they were pieces of Luna's past memories.
”Please forgive me, Young Master,” Luna said while carrying a new born baby in her arms. She was in a dark place and the only light shining on them was a torch attached on the wall. ”What I'm about to do is something akin to blasphemy.”
Tilly's heart broke when she heard Julian's loud cry so she turned her gaze away from the memory. After all, it was the part where Luna ripped out her baby's heart. She was able to stop herself from breaking down because Kiho touched her hand.
She smiled weakly at her husband who gently squeezed her hand in return.
Then, she was distracted when silence ensued.
”Lord Winchell asked me to crush your heart but I have to do something else with it, my lord,” Luna, as the Moon Priestess back then, said in a voice filled with pain. Julian's tiny heart was in her bloody left hand. On the other hand, the unconscious baby was now lying on the white blanket on the ground. ”I found out that Aku Moonchester used the Holy Scepter to kill the Moon Serpent in the past. If he gets a hold of it again, then his ability to reincarnate again and again wouldn't be stopped. ”I put Lady Rosenberg's heart in your body, Young Master. But we still have a use for your heart.”
The Moon Priestess opened her right hand and then a few moments later, the Holy Scepter appeared. The staff was made of gold and on the end of it sat a huge red diamond that kind of resembled the gem for of her heart.
”My lord, please forgive me but I have to do this for everyone,” Luna said in a cracked voice. Then, she grabbed the Holy Scepter tight until it was reduced to a small red gem the sized of a pebble. After that, she put the red gem inside Julian's heart. ”The spell that I'm about to use will use my remaining life force. Which I won't regret because I intend to bring this secret to my grave.” She smiled sadly at Julian. ”Please allow me to apologize to you in my next life, Young Master.”
And right after that, the red feather burned into ashes.
The memories playing above Luna's head also disappeared.
Everyone was too shocked by what they saw to react.
Tilly, for once, felt overwhelmed.
Luna sacrificed her life to hide the Holy Scepter…
”I was the one who helped Luna steal the second child from the traitorous spirit guardian named Lucina Morganna after that wench gave birth to Julian. Then, Luna told me about her plan to hide the Holy Scepter in the second child's heart,” Wixx said, breaking the silence in the room. ”When I found her in the cave where she did the spell that took her life, Julian was already taken away by Elis Ripperton who followed Luna in search of your heart, Tilly. Fortunately, he didn't witness the spell that Luna created to hide the Holy Scepter in the second child's second heart.” He paused for a while, and then he nodded. ”Yes, Julian has currently two hearts inside him right now. But the second heart was small and it was protected by Luna's spell so that it wouldn't get detected easily.”
She clenched her fists tight as she felt a painful squeeze in her heart. My Julian has gone through so much the moment he was born…
”But why didn't you just return the Holy Scepter to me?” Lord Forrester asked in confusion. ”I know that I wasn't the most active person then. But I'm still the owner of the scepter.”
”It happened after you died in that era,” the Red Phoenix explained. ”And we couldn't entrust the Holy Scepter to you. Luna was able to steal it from you. What made you think that you can protect it from the Moon God himself?”
The former saint wasn't able to talk back at her brother.
”Can't we take it out?” Tilly asked, making everyone in the room turn to her. ”Can't we pull the Holy Scepter out of Julian's second heart?”
”I guess it's possible,” Luna said in an hesitant voice. ”But to be honest, I don't remember most of the spells that I mastered when I was a Moon Priestess. The spells in my mind are the spells that I learned from the Colorless Coven. But don't worry, Tilly. I will do everything to relearn the technique that I used back then.”
She smiled at the witch. ”Thank you, Luna.”
”It won't work,” Wixx declared, making everyone turn to him. ”The Holy Scepter could no longer be separated from Julian's body.”
”I don't trust you. I can't,” Kiho told the Red Phoenix coldly, then he turned to the former saint. ”Lord Forrester, what can you say about this matter?”
”The sky god, my father, used to tell me that the Holy Scepter isn't a mere tool. According to him, it's a living weapon,” Lord Forrester said in a confused tone. ”Based on the memories of Miss Luna that we saw, she destroyed the Holy Scepter's physical ”body…”” His eyes widened, then he turned to the Red Phoenix. ”Does it mean Lord Julian is now the Holy Scepter himself?”
”Yes,” Wixx confirmed with a nod. ”I tried to separate the Holy Scepter from the second child in the past. But I realized that the second heart, where the red stone was hidden, has already merged with Julian's soul. That happened because the Holy Scepter had to eat Julian's Mana and life force to survive. So no matter how many times Julian gets reborn, he will remain as the Holy Scepter's new host.”
”That's true,” Lord Forrester said while nodding. ”I know that you perceive me as lazy and I won't deny that. But I have to let you know that I was always sleeping in the past because the Holy Scepter used to eat my Mana and life force. It needs divine power to ”survive.” Since Julian was the second child of the Black Serpent and the Supreme Fire Mage, it was only natural that he was born with divine power, too.”
Tilly let out a deep sigh to calm herself. But the sudden heat inside the room was proof that she was very angry at the moment. ”Are you telling me that Julian has become the very weapon that could kill his own brother?”