Chapter 70. Purple (II)
Cherry blossom petals were already converging around her, swirling in gentle waves that grew fiercer by the moment.
"What has gotten into you..." Hugh stepped between them, arms outstretched, brows knitted in confusion.
Heather looked past him, cold sweat soaking her gown, goosebumps rising across her fair skin, the hairs on her body standing on end.
She couldn’t hear Hugh. Her gaze remained fixed past him on Elena.
To any bystander, Elena was the epitome of elegance and warmth.
Beautiful golden hair, steeply arched brows, and the starry purple eyes that looked at Heather with worry, but Heather’s glowing pink eyes saw something else.
Purple.
A marvelous purple aura seem to rise from Elena’s form like violent flames pushing against the wind, several thick tendrils writhing around her like numerous snakes, their glowing eyes seemingly looking into her soul.
As she locked eyes with one of them, she shivered. The cherry blossom petals surged instinctively towards Elena.
"What are you doing..." A wall of pink flames erupted in front of Hugh, blocking most of the rushing petals.
A few leapt across the wall, their target: Elena.
She may be a Dominus, but she was married to a Vulcan; she wasn’t necessarily weak.
Purple flames shot from her fair fingers tips, like the sash of a Chinese goddess they twirled around her.
They moved in a blur, striking the petals with precision, the petals of pink flames absorbed into the purple flaming sash.
It danced around her, absorbing flame after flame with practiced ease.
"STOP!"
Elena hadn’t let up, swirling waves of petals rushing towards the giant pink wall of flames Hugh standing behind it confused, brows knitted in irritation.
What had come over his sister?
With a loud roar, reddish-pink flames erupted from his form, like a sonic boom, it shot forward, pushing away the surging petals.
A flaming Sakura tree emerged behind him, its trunk and branches formed from solidified flames, translucent and ethereal. Upon its branches rested countless cherry blossom flowers, each petal flickering with burning cinders.
It was like a divine tree born from flames, a mythical existence that seemed to defy the laws of nature.
Elena gasped at the sight, her purple eyes reflecting the flaming spectacle in front of her.
"He truly is the Vulcan firstborn..." she muttered, a strange glint in her eyes, greed briefly, almost unnoticeably, passing through them.
The burning Sakura tree was the emblem of the Brigid Clan, representing the beautiful flames of their patron goddess, Brigid.
The goddess of beauty, tranquility, prophecy, and flames.
Birthed from Eish Tamid, she ruled over fire like her siblings.
Her flames burned without hurting, killing without destruction, beauty in demise.
Just like any other variant, it was only awakened at the third stage, the petals lacking its qualities.
Something all members of the Brigid clan awakened.
To manifest a Sakura tree was to manifest the authority of Brigid.
One who could see the beauty of the future, whether in tranquility or flames. Though he was but a third resonance mage, yet to manifest its true abilities, but...
He who could manifest it was said to lead the clan. Anyone with the blood of Brigid wouldn’t be able to disobey their words, their lifeblood tied to the tree.
Heather fell to her knees, the surging waves of cherry blossom petals losing their momentum, swaying in the gentle, almost still wind.
Fading into dots of energy.
Her gaze finally tore from Elena, settling on her twin brother, her eyes wide with shock, mouth slightly open in disbelief.
She never expected her brother to use the power of the Sakura tree on her.
His own flesh and blood.
The one she shared a womb with.
With just a word, he had stripped her of her will, pushing her to her knees with a glance.
Her own twin brother made her feel like a slave.
No... even a slave had the ability to resist.
She felt like nothing more than a puppet.
"I didn’t want to use this..." Hugh averted his gaze, wincing in guilt. The magnificent figure of the Sakura tree faded into pink dots of energy.
Secretly, Elena’s purple sash absorbed a few of the drifting dots of energy, her purple eyes flickering with an unknown emotion, her warm smile making it difficult to know what she truly felt at the moment.
Delight, disgust, greed, joy—the flicker, though momentary, was the only evidence she felt anything, not that any of the siblings caught it.
Heather, who had been focused on her earlier, stared at her brother, lost for words.
She wondered if her brother had become the tyrant who wouldn’t even spare his own twin sister.
There were several ways to stop her. He was much more powerful, so why... why use the Sakura tree to strip her of her will?
For a moment, she felt vulnerable, naked before his absolute might.
Her mind was blank, no thoughts crossing it, yet intent, fear, disbelief, and shock echoed through the silence, wordless, yet their meaning could be felt.
"I am sorry, Heather..." Guilt-ridden, Hugh knelt by her side, poised to embrace her.
Heather only looked at her brother in silence, her face still frozen in shock.
As his hand brushed against her skin, she dashed backward.
"Don’t touch me..." she hissed, her expression twisting into rage.
"How could you use the Sakura on me..." she roared, finally letting her frozen emotions out.
Hugh kept mute, allowing his sister to bombard him.
"...You could have counterattacked with an attack of your own, or simply blocked until I calmed down..." She paused.
"Calmed down..." she echoed, wondering what had made her rile up earlier.
"What was wrong in the first place..." she wondered,
her gaze slipping past Hugh to the culprit.
Elena looked back at her with warmth in her starry eyes.
Heather frowned in confusion.
She couldn’t see the malevolent energy. Everything seemed fine, the same warm Lady Elena she knew.
And for some reason, she couldn’t remember... couldn’t remember the purple wisp that had passed through her mother and Hugh’s eyes.
It felt as if the memory wanted to resurface, only to be pushed back down.
"Why did I attack you..." she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"I am sorry I couldn’t do anything for your mother..."