Chapter 20-Epiphany's Rage

I saw Zain was writing a three page letter to the palace. He's still not talking to me after I provoked the witches of the Sapphire Order. Besides, when he realized that I had traveled to their location in just a split second, he got upset. The letter was not fit for the messenger owl's letter vessel, so he got irritated.

"What are you sulking about?" I asked Zain.

Zain looked at me and then leant his elbow on the table, using his palm to support his chin. He was frowning at the presence of Ehadris, sitting beside me. "I thought the small problem of a certain land was none of your business, Ehadris. But what the hell are you doing here?" Zain asked.

I pinched his left arm since it was near to pinching. "Don't you dare call me your wife! I told you I'm not your wife!" I yelled. Ehadris frowned and addressed me as "Lady Epiphany." My return to the palace has not been announced to prevent the remaining researchers and the mastermind of Project Ouroboros from recovering their successful experiment, which is, unfortunately, me.

I saw the start of my royal title curving on Ehadris' lips, so I pinched his arms again and this time he yelled. "What the hell is that for?" Ehadris shouted.

"It's Lady Epiphany this time. So please, Ehadris, can you please cooperate?" I asked Ehadris.

It's a good thing my tongue didn't slip in calling Ehadris by his real name, which is Methusael. No one should know that the person I'm calling a crazy old jerk was the current god of death.

"Whatever, but still you can't hide the truth forever, Lady Epiphany," Ehadris said.

"Still, I can't believe you know how to create portals like Lord Typhon," Zain said, and I looked at Ehadris, but he looked away.

This crazy old jerk! He's turning away from me! Zain was waiting for my answer. I let out a deep sigh and answered his question.

I lied. "I tried to discover a way to cast a void through a spell, but it requires a lot of mana."

Zain nodded, and we stood up. "We must take a walk to the village. I know that such a puppet wouldn't go out by herself," Zain said.

Ehadris crossed his arms and asked, "So aside from walking around the village, what's your plan?"

Zain held his chin and we sighed in disbelief. I looked at Zain, thinking that he was out of ideas in their current situation,"So you don't have? Then could I suggest my plan then?" I asked them.

Zain and Ehadris shouted in unison, "No!"

I crossed my arms in disbelief and asked them,"I haven't suggested anything! Why don't you trust me on this one?"

"Because your plans always end up making us worried, and I don't want to go back through that stress!" Zain shouted. I pouted my mouth and looked at the sky. The wind was coming from the east, but I sensed an ominous aura from the west. I stopped walking and Ehadris and Zain looked at me.

"Shall we start the banquet?" I asked them.

Zain shook his head and looked at me. He asked, "I can't understand. Why do you always ask that before fighting? Fighting isn't something to celebrate!"

"Why? Because it's like harvesting our enemy for our country. At the same time, we are celebrating our victory. Remember, that every time we fight for our country, we give honor to our nation and countrymen," I explained.

Zain unsheathed his sword and covered it with holy light, and Ehadris summoned his black staff. We heard a lady humming a song that I always sing. "It can't be," I said with a surprised tone.

"Come with me, Epiphany. Let's leave this cruel world. You will forget all your sorrows," the voice said.

My hand tries to reach her, but luckily, I know this is just a trap. I cast a spell that will reveal her presence, "Praesentia tua revelare!"

When Zain and Ehadris noticed they saw an ominous aura, they charged an attack. But our enemy, who is known to be a puppet, controls another puppet to protect her from the attacks.

"What a waste. I thought I could steal you away from them," a male puppet said as he bows in front of me. I thought the puppet was a woman and the puppeteer was a man, but it turns out that the puppeteer was a woman and the puppet was a man.

"Release all your captives!" I shouted.

To my surprise, the puppet smiled like a human and moved swiftly. The next thing we knew, he was on our back and slashed Zain's back, making him unconscious. Ehadris, on the other hand, keeps up the fight with the puppet. I looked at Zain, and he was in a bad situation as he had lost a lot of blood. I draw a pentagram and cast a spell, "Sana vulnus tuum. Utere meo mana ut permanere suam vitam!"

The bleeding has stopped, but I don't know when Zain will regain consciousness. I leaned him against a tree nearby. This puppet has already pulled the last string of my patience. I stood up slowly and looked at him. Ehadris' eyes widened, and he pushed away the puppet.

"Epiphany! Don't you ever lose your senses again!" Ehadris shouted.

"I'm not losing my senses, Ehadris. I'm just mad at what this puppet did to Zain," I said in a calm tone.

My voice may be calmed, but I already want to use my power to destroy this puppet, even though this might trigger my ghost from the past.

"You have no right to hurt Zain or any of my friends!" I yelled.

A streaming yellow light pillar emerged from my body into the sky that made the clouds vanish. Ehadris shouted, "I thought you were not mad! But why are you destroying this village with the magic you are releasing? Could you please calm down?"

"How could I calm down? My comrade was badly wounded! Tell me!" I shouted.

I looked at the puppet and he was shaking in fear. I walked near him, but he was crawling backwards. "Why did you hurt my friend? Why did you kidnap the other women in this village? I'm giving you an hour to give your reason. If you have a shallow reason, I'll make sure that I'll rip off all your body parts, including your soul," I threatened the puppet.

The light pillar vanished, and the debris caused by my power was scattered everywhere. "I know you're not the real mastermind here. Is it Jasmine?" I asked him.

The puppet got surprised. Bingo! I just realized something after I connected everything. The thin body of Jasmine, when I touch her hands back in the palace, her hands are too hard to be the hands of a lady, the way she eats the biscuits. The only movements of her mouth are upward and downward. And lastly, the smudge on her face. When you erase something on your skin, there must be a red mark because extra blood rushes to the skin's surface to fight off irritants and encourage healing, but Jasmine's skin remains pale. Because Jasmine herself is a puppet. The puppet pleads for his life.

"Help us! Jasmine turned the people of our village into puppets! She was the cursed puppet of the master puppeteer!" the puppet said.

I looked into his eyes and asked him, "What is her purpose? Why did she make her way to the palace?"

The puppet looked down and cried. "She wants to be human! One day, she said that she needs the body of a noble or royal to be human so she can be human! But the letter arrived at the wrong person, who is the knight commander! We tried to warn them, but they kept on fighting us! We have no choice but to fight back!"

Ehadris dropped a question, "Then why do you want to kidnap Epiphany?"

The puppet looked up before answering,"The day she arrived in our village, we sensed a strong power flowing from her! I thought she could help us lift the curse!"

I looked at Ehadris. I can't waste any time here in the village. The palace was in grave danger!

"We must return to the palace! They are in grave danger!" I yelled.

Ehadris crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. He uttered,"Don't state the obvious, Epiphany. What will you do? This place is one month's travel away from the palace!"

I take a small knife from my skirt. It's a good thing that this knife is still there. "Don't make me state the obvious too, Ehadris! We're all returning to the palace! By hook or by crook! " I yelled.

I cut a small wound in my palm enough to bleed.

"Sanguis dulcis de manibus meis;

Magia per corpus meum fluit;

Da carmine tuo;

Lata campus sem!"

A red magic circle started to emerge and the whole regiment based in the forest near the village was included in the teleportation except for the puppet we spoke to. When we arrived at the palace, it was total chaos. I clenched my fist and yelled in anger.

"What do you think you are doing in the palace?" I yelled, and the puppets fighting the other knights and witches suddenly became immobile.

I looked up and I saw Jasmine on the balcony holding Big Sister Amethyst in her hair. "Welcome back, Your Highness! Did you like what I did? Oops! I forgot! You're no longer a royalty!" Jasmine shouted, and then her laughter echoed through the palace.

I saw the other knights carrying my unconscious family. On the other hand, Typhon was still fighting with the other puppets that were not affected by my immobilization earlier. My bad temper really ticks me off. Whenever I feel irritated or annoyed, all I want is to kill my enemy in an instant. I wore my fake smile and said, "Shall we end the banquet?"

Ehadris shouted to everyone, "Everyone! Moved away if you want to see your future!"

Everyone was running for their lives, and Jasmine was still clueless about what she had done. From the yellow light that emerged from my body, it transformed into a red pillar of light. I looked at Jasmine and asked her, "Jasmine, have you heard the rumors about my temper?"

I snapped my finger and, in an instant, Big Sister Amethyst fell on Ehadris' arms. "How dare you manipulate my loved ones in your hands? I will never ever forgive you for what you've done to the people of Eblines!" I shouted, and gave Jasmine a real terror.

I locked her in a dimension where all the ladies she kidnapped were trapped, including Zinnia. When she opened her eyes, she was laughing because she couldn't understand why she was in this dimension.

"So this is the real terror you are talking about?" Jasmine asked.

I thought she was an intelligent object, but I guess I was wrong. I smirked and answered, "Nope, we're just starting."

The souls were charging toward the direction of Jasmine, including her creator, the puppeteer. She was shocked when she heard the puppeteer was mad at her.

"I waited for you, but why are you mad? I only wanted to be loved! I want to experience your warmth again! I thought if I could be human, or if I could make other people puppets like me, they would love me! But I was wrong! This world is cruel! I want to live with you!" Jasmine said before she vanished.

The souls touched could vanquish the cursed entity that inhabits the puppet. A voice echoed through the dimension, and when I touched the light orb, I regained my senses. I saw Typhon hugging me and crying on my shoulder. The pillar of red light vanished and my heart beat faster.

"Your Highness! Enough! Return to us! " Typhon shouted.

I looked into his eyes and he was really crying, "Lord Typhon?"

I felt the warmth in his arms, unlike the uneasiness that I felt when Methusael kissed me. This warmth is warmer than Xavier's arms. But what is this feeling?