CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Calvin—who was levitating in the air—suddenly appeared before Maggie.
"I don't sense any more enemies around. And her too—Teresa is missing."
"Don't tell me..."
"Yeah, she probably went with her. And now the King's wrath will be on me and her subordinates."
Maggie sat on the floor.
"This event was really something else. The princess of our kingdom is dead, and I don't think she's strong enough to come back as an Ankou. So, we're definitely going there."
Calvin joined Maggie on the floor.
"Yeah. Just as I came back."
A red beam of light appeared miles away from Calvin.
"At least someone was strong enough."
In an instant, Calvin was in front of the beam of light.
"It's your brother. He turned into an Ankou," KC explained.
An Ankou wielding a golden staff stepped out from the light and struck at Calvin.
Calvin easily dodged the attack and jabbed the Ankou once, then followed up with a hundred more blows in a second.
The Ankou collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Calvin placed his hand over its chest and crushed its heart.
"I'm sorry, bro... You finally made it—you finally joined the race. But your legs were completely shattered. Now your dreams are gone, and so is your awakening."
---
A FEW DAYS LATER - AERT - THE KING'S THRONE ROOM
Calvin and the rest of the student council stood in the presence of the King.
"The strongest man alive... and you couldn't even keep a little kid like her safe."
Calvin bowed.
"I don't deserve your forgiveness, my King. You can punish me however you wish, but I beg that you wait until the princess is back in your arms."
The King rested his face on his fists.
"That much is obvious. But you also have to carry this useless waste of space behind you—someone who couldn't even watch over a couple of kids."
KC bowed.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for allowing us to amend our mistakes."
Maggie clenched her fists, grinding her teeth as she glared at the King.
The King took notice of Maggie.
"Is there something you would like to say to me, maggot?"
Maggie forced a smile.
"No."
---
HALLWAYS
"That asshole should die. Of course, I have something to say. And of course, we were already going to do just that—it's part of our job."
"Stop saying that. Do you want to have your head lopped off?" KC berated her.
Maggie turned to KC.
"And you—why didn't you—"
"ENOUGH!" Calvin's voice echoed through the hallways.
"The time for fighting is yet to come, and not between ourselves. When the time comes, we can all let loose all that anger. Don't you think?"
Maggie actually smiled.
"When did you get so mature?"
DARVIS - ALUMINIUM WELL (PRISON) - CELL 56
Eliza sat on her bed, trembling. Her hair and prison clothes were in tatters as she repeated the same words over and over.
"I didn't do it... I didn't kill Jack... I didn't do it... I didn't kill Jack... I didn't do it..."
A jailor walked up to her.
"You have a special guest."
"I'm not going."
"Well, he's here."
Manny walked into Eliza's prison cell.
"So, psychotic Eliza is back. When was the last time you were like this?"
"Of course she would be like that—after almost killing the Land of the Phoenix's strongest weapon."
Jack walked into the cell and toward Eliza. He knelt down and took her hand.
"You didn't do it... You didn't kill me. Stand up. Let's go redeem ourselves. Now that the three of us are together, we are unstoppable."
TO BE CONTINUED