point.
Idun’s too fast and too strong for even an alpha.
“One gypsy family went underground.”
As the world changes, my heart skips a beat, because I watch as three out of four of my monsters battle against Idun.
With one arm missing, Idun’s monster rages, but Vance is quick enough to avoid a deadly strike. Barely.
I watch with dread in my stomach, as Damien does something, clearly wielding an illusion I can’t see, since Idun struggles to find them in the next instant.
He shouts something. If I had to guess, he’s telling them to hurry the hell up.
Damien drops to a knee, concentration and strain etching his features, as he struggles to hold the illusion.
I know the outcome, and I’m still desperately hanging onto the metaphorical edge of my seat in angsty suspense.
Fear.
She feasts on fear, and the Simpletons are empathic. All that fear that was rolling off them in droves was constantly feeding her, and still is. They have powerful alpha blood, which only generates a nuclear battery for her.
That’s what they meant when they said her House made her too strong.
I just separated them, but they still tremble in fear at the mention of her name.
Until this moment, I didn’t realize how much that changed. I assumed it was all tied to bloodlines, since that’s of so much importance. I assumed it may also have to do with the cosmic laws they’ve written and abided by.
I never considered the fact it had to do with the Simpletons themselves, and all the fear they constantly feed her. She just needs close. She doesn’t have to be in the same room, or even in the same town.
Forcing myself away from the distraction, I take in the scene as a whole once more.
“So you feed off the fear you create, and it’s strongest when they fear you. That’s how you got so powerful. You need the Simpletons to fear you. But how did you rise, Idun? I didn’t fear you. You creep me out and give me hesitance, and occasionally a small bit of apprehension, but only since you surfaced. The only thing I truly feared was loving them and losing them to you,” I murmur to myself, tapping my chin. “If their fear is your source of power, how did I help raise you? I didn’t even know to fear you when I first came to town.”
That video was time-stamped. I didn’t know Idun existed that day. There has to be more I’m missing.
I cut my gaze away, unable to watch the rest, since she’s getting in more punches than I expected. The guys are cut to death and ragged, barely able to shove her back even an inch.
This looks to have taken the last bit of everything they had in them, during that time.
“You were broken, just like everyone else in the world, and instead of piecing yourself together, you got angry. You got vengeful. And you got really fucking cold, even if you are a hot head,” I continue, narrowing my eyes. “But how did you rise if fear is the connection to your power? Putting them underground, safely entombed, and ensured you would stay under as long as they did…all that should have watered down their fear. You shouldn’t have been strong enough to break through those barriers, especially severed in several pieces. Not even you’re that strong.”
My gaze drifts to where I spot Arion, lurking in the shadows, staring on with a blank expression on his face. He pockets a necklace and turns to walk away, never looking back.
“Forever is such a long time to bleed,” I sing, feeling the wind stir as the image changes.
I’m suddenly in Damien’s home, watching as mirrors reflect him moving toward me. His eyes are dull, flat, and completely devoid of any emotion at all, as he staggers, wasted on someone’s gypsy spice.
The scent isn’t mine or my mother’s, so he used to have another supplier.
I’m immediately transported to another image of Arion, as he moves through his own home, blood dripping from his lips, fury in his eyes, along with some sadistic satisfaction of some sort.
That’s not his blood, and Damien wasn’t bleeding either. Does that mean the ‘bleed’ part song is metaphorical?
I’m going to have a headache once I get back to my own body.
A vision of Emit is next, as he covers his face, downed to one knee, while a mutiny occurs. He doesn’t even fight back, as they slice through his neck at last.
I’m forced to cut my gaze