Chapter twenty-two
Elizabeth’s birth mother
Elizabeth felt the world spinning madly beneath her; she could hardly keep her balance, and with a hard crash, she had landed on a thick blanket.
Struggling to get up, Elizabeth blinked hard and blinked again. She was sinking into the cushioned sofa, and dazzling lights sparkled upon her.
Hoisting herself up by the elbow, Elizabeth realized only seconds later that she was somehow transported into a grand building.
Then, something hit her: how on earth can she be so dumb?
This must be the Glacier Peninsula.
Glancing around, the house's interior was decorated with hundreds of seashells. It felt refreshing to sit on the squishy cushions, with a sense of clear seaweed emanating from within.
Something gelatinous was inside the cushion, Elizabeth assured herself.
Glancing around, she spotted Victoria meandering near the elegant spiral staircases, her eyes wide with wonder at the dazzling chandeliers overhead. Penelope was darting toward the towering bookshelves, eager to uncover hidden literary treasures, while Percy lounged on the balcony, soaking in the gentle breeze that whispered through the air.
"Thank you, Veronica de Angelo, for providing us with so many." Whispered Elizabeth, patting the velvet sofa.
"Hey, Elizabeth, it's too late, let's grab some sleep." Came a crisp voice.
Following the voice, Elizabeth found Victoria beaming at her on the third floor, where a grotesquely shaped candelabra stood swinging near the walls.
"Check this out." Victoria ejaculated, indicating her bedroom door.
"Yep, good night." She snapped, smiling broadly at her friends as she cracked open her bedroom door.
The interior was glamorous, with beautiful sculptures of seagulls and seashell decorations everywhere, and ethereal lights kept swirling in and out of the crystal chandelier hanging high above. On the nightstand stood a small, exquisite clock that was shaped like a pearl.
Elizabeth flung herself onto the bed, plopping on the bouncy mattress.
Suddenly, the chandelier flickered and went out, casting a cozy darkness over the room. Elizabeth, lying on her soft, squashy bed, turned over gently, her wristwatch softly beeping in the quiet. Then, quite unexpectedly, she saw a piece of paper appear out of nowhere on the nightstand. She got up inquisitively. With her heart pounding rapidly, she reached for the paper and unfolded it with trembling hands.
‘It's time for your next adventure. Get up and explore. Good luck.
P.S. You should consider bringing some tissues with you along the way.’
Her heart fluttered with excitement and nervousness as she rose from the bed and grasped the frost dagger hanging imposingly near her closet.
She moved toward the door, but since she didn’t check around first, she tripped right over something lying right in her path.
She instinctively reached for the wall for support, her fingers brushing against something hard hidden within the soft, squishy seaweeds that covered part of the wall—a strangely shaped embossment. Accidentally, she pressed it further into the wall. Suddenly, it lit up with a sharp click, breaking the eerie silence, and a humming noise emanated from beneath the bed.
Shocked, Elizabeth recoiled, nearly losing her grip on the dagger.
To her amazement, her bed was splitting open as if someone had violently pried it apart with a blunt knife.
Then, the cushions and mattress on the bed vanished in midair with a few little pops. The bedposts melted in midair, evaporated in midair within a flicker of dazzling light. With a sweep, the curtains were drawn apart and hung poised over the ceiling, their fabric fluttering as they tumbled downward. Yet the wind seized them halfway, as they faded without a trace into the empty air. The bed didn't stop pealing over until the upper part was pressed hard against the wall.
Elizabeth poked her head out carefully, and what she saw had nearly made her blood run cold.
A dark, eerie-looking secret passageway appeared between the huge, blunt gaps.
The muddy staircases crackled happily under her gaze; the steep slope was rising higher by the second, as if blocking her way on purpose. Charnel shrieks echoed somewhere deeper inside, and scarlet stains blanketed the dusty walls on both sides.
But this only gave Elizabeth a tug of excitement in her stomach.
Carefully, she withdrew her dagger and stepped into the tunnel that had just revealed itself. Darkness enveloped her as she descended leisurely, with only the opal hanging on her neck providing the faintest light. The bed banged shut behind her. Her heart pounding fiercely, Elizabeth descended deeper into the underground passage; for each step, she had to bend over and carefully stretch out to reach the next staircase. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her palms felt slippery, and her legs trembled under the weight of anticipation. Still, she pressed on. She sensed that something of great importance was concealed within this tunnel, and she was determined to uncover it.
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When she finally reached a large platform, she skidded to a halt in her tracks, alert and cautious. Anything could happen out of the blue now, anywhere, anytime, and she was ready for whatever lay ahead. Suddenly, two glittering doors appeared out of nowhere, shimmering in the darkness ahead of her—one inscribed with 'The Soulblender Institute,’ and the other just plain.
Driven by curiosity, Elizabeth approached the unknown door and—hesitating just for a moment—pushed it open.
It was a circular room with a spiral staircase that led to a sealed door at the top, and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling above her head. Different rolls of parchment lay neatly on the long, wooden, high-polished table. Silk cushioning sofa sitting in the corner, hundreds of candles were sitting peacefully in a large holder, and a snowy cat was dozing in the vicinity.
Elizabeth wandered in the chamber, gaping at the extravagances.
But then, she heard distant footsteps and curses when she rounded the corner of the spiral staircases.
Without much time thinking, Elizabeth flipped open the tablecloth, crawled over, and huddled underneath it just in time when the door banged open.
Josephine and the man Elizabeth recognized at once as the Fairy Lord walked into the room.
It was the first time that Elizabeth noticed that Josephine had a striking resemblance to Joanna the Great.
"Now, now, Joanna, what am I going to do? I ordered you to kill Dolores. The first time, you hid the heirloom and bought her time to escape; the second, you protected her at the Mystic Masquerade; and now, you have ordered your children to rescue her and that unworthy girl by orchestrating a jailbreak. What do you want to do, really?" barked the Fairy Lord, a split nose protruding from his narrow mouth. He poked a finger, pointing at Josephine's nose.
"You would rather kill innocent people than apologize for your wrongdoings?" retorted Josephine angrily.
"Innocent? She killed my dearest boy, she killed Morris! You call that innocent?" yelled the Fairy Lord, his fingers trembling in rage.
"How dare you! Morris had Veronica killed first, and there are far more he had tortured and killed, what do you call that besides cruelty?" claimed Josephine, looking bravely in the Fairy Lord's glare.
But this time, the Fairy Lord said nothing.
Instead, he glared down under the table, his pupils fixed on Elizabeth's, and that cold stare sent shivers running down her spine.
And Elizabeth knew, instinctively, that this could be nothing good.
"Dolores's here! Kill her!" shrieked the Fairy Lord, his face contorted with hatred, his eyes narrowed in fury.
"She is your daughter!"
Josephine launched herself forward, arms outstretched like wings, positioning herself defiantly before the Fairy Lord. From her hiding spot beneath the table, Elizabeth could see Josephine's legs trembling uncontrollably, a visible sign of the fear she tried to mask, but her voice rang out with unwavering confidence, cutting through the tension like a blade. "If you want to kill her, if you have made up your mind to kill her, first you must get past me."
Elizabeth found herself puzzled by Josephine’s willingness to lend her a hand.
In that moment of uncertainty, fragments of memories began to surface, piecing together a bigger picture—the striking resemblance of Josephine and Carlos’s constant misnaming of her as Joanna suddenly made sense.
It all clicked into place—Josephine was not just another person in her life; she was Joanna the Great, Elizabeth's long-lost birth mother.
The Fairy Lord snarled with anger, twirling his sword in his hand, and he brandished its bloody blade with a snap of his finger. His thin, bloodless lips curled up into a evil sneer, his nostrils flared.
"How very touching, are you quite sure about this?" he sneered, coldness and danger filled his voice.
Yet Josephine didn't flinch, though her legs quaking beneath her like fragile saplings caught in a fierce storm, her heart stood strong.
She stood there, a towering guardian, much like a resilient tree protecting its tender sapling, a mother—a fierce mother ready to shield her child from any threat.
The Fairy Lord, with his cold, calculating gaze, looked upon her bravery as nothing more than a foolish gambit, for his heart had never been touched by the warmth of compassion. With a cruel glint in his eye, he raised his sword, its blade glistening ominously in the light, casting reflections that danced over his twisted, malevolent grin.
Then, without warning, he stabbed toward his wife's chest.
Josephine whimpered softly, her body wracked with pain as thick streams of blood cascaded from her waist, pooling at her feet like a crimson marker of her struggle. Even as rage and pain coursed through her, Josephine was not the kind of person to back down from a few threats. She faced them head-on, ready to fight for what she believed in, no matter the cost.
She stood there, determined, destined.
"You never win, evil never wins," She uttered through gritted teeth.
The Fairy Lord, without a doubt, was thoroughly enjoying the vibrant scene unfolding around him. his sword dripping blood, and his smile was crueler and colder than ever.
"Move, this is the last chance, remember, I can heal you in a second if you move aside." He reminded wickedly. "If you die, I can kill your precious, too."
But without a moment’s pause, Josephine rooted herself in place, her determination radiating as she embraced the stillness around her, "I won’t leave. Your sword, I've cursed it." Josephine laughed triumphantly. "And now, I fight for my daughter."
"Well, I'll grant your wish." Sniggered the Fairy Lord angrily.
With a flash of white light from his blade, quickly followed by a whimper of pain, a clatter of iron, and the Fairy Lord disappeared from the doorway.
Elizabeth ran out from her hiding place, and Josephine drew a sigh of relief.
She tried to stand still, yet her legs gave way, she collapsed to the floor in a pool of her own blood, her arms dangling uselessly beside her.
"Dolores, evil can't defeat external love. If your friends come, tell them to hide in the sealed room. You can save Alfheim, for you are my courageous daughter." Josephine smiled, and her hands dropped to the floor in a sickening crunch; a trickle of blood ran down her face.
A phrase appeared above Josephine's lifeless body, glittering in golden lights.
'The night may be dark and cold, but there must be dawn somewhere ahead.'
But Elizabeth found it hard to keep on going; her hopes were shattered into pieces, and how long before she could reach some warmth to keep going on fearlessly?
All of these were a tyrant's prank to tear her apart.
But just like Lady Athena had said, Elizabeth was not the kind of person who would satisfy them. Well, sort of.
They wanted her to break, to give up.
Elizabeth wouldn't.
As long as there is still breath inside her body.
Elizabeth Jordan was always gonna fight back.