To be honest, she wasn't the only one surprised that I had been capable of doing such things. I mean sure, I had always been trained to fight but admittedly never doing much of it before I met Lucius. But this hadn’t been just fighting. What had happened here, had been more like a bloody bomb going off!
Then again, I couldn't find myself being sorry, not seeing as I had done everything I had wanted to achieve. Nero was safe, I had made it impossible for the Harpies to follow us, and I'd also been able to retrieve the Eye of Crimson. Now all that was left was for us to walk out of here and try and find our way home.
Nero walked over to one dead Harpy and kicked out its remains making it sink in on itself as it was nothing but ash inside. She sucked a startled breath through her teeth before telling me,
“Gods, you’re fucking brutal.”
“You think it's too much?” I questioned with a wince,
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, these bitches totally had it coming, and trust me, I bloody love you for it, but just remind me not to piss you off…yeah.” After this I decided it was best to inform her,
“I am actually a very easy-going person…erm…usually.” Her look said it all, but what followed only added words to her scepticism,
“Um, sure, okay, whatever, Princess.” I frowned and pointed out what she had said only a minute before,
“Hey, what about all that about not pissing me off.” Her look said it all and I laughed, nudged her and said,
I will make you a deal, stop calling me Princess and call me Fae, and all is forgiven,” I said reassuring her, making her joke after looking around all the destruction,
“Fuck honey, I will call you Julia Roberts, or the Queen of bloody England if you want me to.” This time we both laughed.
After this we both looked round for any weapons that looked half decent and the least rusted. Then I walked over to the piece of spear that was still stuck in a large section of the Queen’s dress before pulling it out of the ground and freeing the material.
“Not sure now is the time for a change in outfit,” Nero commented, making me smirk before holding it up against myself and saying,
“Do you not think it suits me?”
“Oh sure, the blood stains go with the murderous glint in your eyes.” I laughed at her joke before telling her the real purpose for it,
“I think it’s best we put this destructive baby to sleep.” Then I used the material to gather up the Eye of Crimson, that started to glow brighter the moment I was near. It was like it was reacting to my presence and trying to pull me into touching it once more.
“Hey, I think it likes you,” Nero said, and even though she joked I couldn’t help noticing that Nero was staying well away from it. And well, after what we had seen when being in the cage together, then I couldn’t say I was surprised or that I blamed her.
If I didn't already know that touching the Eye wouldn't kill me then I would have been wary also. But this did make me wonder why it called to me in the first place. What exactly was it about me that had made me worthy enough to survive its touch? Had I been chosen, or had it been drawn to the strange powers I seem to have? It was true that after touching the Eye my powers had increased, by not only lasting longer but also allowing me to be able to control elements of it, whereas I hadn't before.
I then thought back to the first time my powers had manifested. It had been back in my father’s vault when I had been tricked by the witch into believing she had been Lucius. It was back when she had needed the box or more like the map inside it. It was strange to think that it all led back to that one day my father had brought me the box. All of it leading to the Tree of Souls, which in turn led me here…into Hell.
Every step of this journey was seemingly taking me closer to discovering the truth. The witch wasn't working alone as we once thought, that much was now clear and now I think it was also safe to assume that Lucius’ brother was the