Valerie grabs Rosaline’s waist tighter and pulls her up, she takes a deep breath, and explodes backwards.

  Just why is all of this happening?

  Valerie thinks to herself, tears filling her eyes as she paces forward; each step a greater endeavor than the last.

  She uses all she can to move faster, her heart raced in her chest to keep up with her efforts, she could feel her pulse in her neck.

  The worst sound was the approaching footsteps of the men behind her, nearing at a rate too fast for comfort.

  Valerie’s foot tangles in Rosaline’s dress, shifting her off balance; making her trip, she tries to regain her balance, but she and Rosalie hit the ground hard.

  Valerie maneuvers her body, landing on the ground instead of Rosaline, her arm aches from the impact, the shattered glass scattered on the floor piercing into her arm, making a scream of pain escape her lips.

  As much as I would like to just stay on the ground, I can’t... Not like this.

  She thinks, struggling back up to her feet; gritting her teeth with sheer determination.

  She races forward once again with Rosaline, but her time was only so limited. A hand grabs her shoulder tightly, pulling her back—they had caught up.

  Valerie looks back, seeing one of the men behind her, the rest still trying to catch up.

  Valerie tries to struggle, “Let me go!” She roars.

  One of the men grab Rosaline, taking her away from Valerie. Valerie feels another man grab her forearm, adding more resistance.

  “Rosaline!” Valerie shouts, trying to move forward to her, resisting the pull of the men behind her.

  “Valerie!” Rosaline shouts back.

  “Right, we have the Scarlet Maiden, you can leave the lady, she’s useless...” one of the men standing on the side says to the man holding Rosaline.

  “She’s with the Scarlet Maiden, she could be of good use,” one of the other men standing replies.

  “Hm, alright... Ok then, sedate them.”

  The man holding Rosaline holds her tightly, wrapping one hand around her waist and arms to stop her from moving as he searches his pocket.

  “No!” Rosaline says, trying to get away.

  The man pulls out a small syringe, and pierces the skin of Rosaline’s neck with the needle, pressing onto the thumb rest.

  Rosaline’s eyes droop, her resistance weakens, before she stops moving and her head drops down.

  Valerie looks at the sight, her eyes widen—everything happening around her seems to dull, forgotten.

  Her eyes tear up, she grits her teeth and her eyebrows furrow in anger. She resists the hold of the men behind her, she jerks her left hand back and forth abruptly, catching the man off guard.

  The grip loosens, letting Valerie break free—she turns around and strikes the man in the face with her elbow, and sweeps her leg across the ground, plummeting the man to the ground.

  She turns to the other man hastily, striking his knee making it cave in in a jerking motion from the impact, and using this chance, she knees him in his family jewels and races towards Rosaline.

  Suddenly, Valerie is thrown off her feet and lands on the ground, the air in her lungs being forced out from the weight on top of her.

  “No way this thing just did this to me! Think you’re some hero!? I’m gonna kill this bitch!” the man who got elbowed in the face says on top of Valerie, reaching for his knife.

  “No stupid! We need her alive! Just sedate her and let’s go, we can’t stay here for so long, unless you wanna be slaughtered by the Amethyst!” the man holding Rosaline says.

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  Valerie continues to try and resist, “Let... Me, go!” she says, her voice strangled.

  The man on top of her takes out a syringe of his own, inserting the needle into the neck of Valerie.

  Valerie can feel her resistance leave her, as the foreign substance enters her system, dulling her senses, and blurring her vision.

  No...

  Valerie thinks. As consciousness slowly strays from her, she looks up in front of her, seeing a woman sitting cross legged on the ground—a warm white glow radiates from her pale skin, covered in a pure white gown. Brown hair framing her face, with facial features she couldn’t make out with her vision, but she was smiling.

  Who... is that?

  Valerie thinks—there was a woman right in front of her, yet no one noticed her presence, but she couldn’t linger on the thought much, as she passes out and everything goes black.

  “Great, she’s passed out,” the man on top of her spits on her face, and gets off.

  “You’re disgusting, Ethan,” a man on the side smoking a cigarette says.

  “Well, doesn’t matter, we take the two of them and we leave before the Amethyst gets here.”

  They carry Rosaline and Valerie, and the seven men start walking to leave the house.

  Valerie opens her eyes slowly, finding herself submerged in water.

  It’s cold...

  She looks around the water, as she slowly sinks deeper into the water. She was surrounded by an infinite expanse of water, it was dim, with only a small amount of light coming from the surface of the water.

  Where is this? Am I... Dead?

  Valerie couldn’t move, she couldn’t feel her body, but she could see it, wearing a white gown. She didn’t breathe, but didn’t need choke on the water, it was like she didn’t need air.

  I might be, dead... It’s rather peaceful, though.

  “You aren’t dead, you’re still alive. Your time is not done yet, you’re still the Scarlet Maiden, you still have things to do, events to experience. Your title stains your soul—an unseen, prestigious crown, but also heavy to carry,” a voice says, a soft female voice.

  This voice, it's familiar... But why?

  “You carry that crown on your head now, so with it, hold your head high, my Scarlet Maiden,” the voice fades away, and all the light in the area disappears, leaving the place in pitch black.

  Scarlet Maiden, me? Hm... Right, how could I forget.

  I am, the Scarlet Maiden...

  The water around her becomes to heat up to a boil, and the water becomes gradually tinted red.

  The men walk through a loggia, now in a part of the house that is mostly unaffected by the invasion that took place, except for shattered lights leaving the place in darkness apart from the natural light of the moon in the sky.

  “Where are we heading to?”

  “The assault leader, if we can get to him, our chances of making it out of here alive heighten.”

  “Would he really be able to take on one of the Amethysts?”

  “No, not at all, it’s just a stall game, to keep them busy. Amethysts, whether Diminished or Perfect; the Crimsons and the Scarlet Maidens, they are just forces beyond us, and against forces beyond you,” he pauses, “There’s only so much you could do.”

  Suddenly, Valerie wakes up, and the seven men started to drop one by one before they could react. The last man at the front, turns around to see her figure move towards him, and a shout of terror escapes him before he was quickly silenced.

  The loggia was painted, splatters and splashes of red all around the place.

  The seven men did not make it to the assault leader...

  Orion Sinclair stands on top of the rooftop observing the ground below in the dark of the night, his hands deep in the pockets of his black suit. The wind blows gently.

  Hm, we did a good job clearing this invasion. Though I can’t tell which family sent them, it’s a good chance it’s a rival family. But other than that, all the assailant energy signals are gone...

  He looks towards the right of the house.

  Except for one...

  A giant man, around 6’6, a diagonal scar with a full beard, walked through the halls carrying a big axe in his hands.

  He looks towards the moon as he walks through a big garden.

  It’s been a full night and I haven’t even laid eyes on the Scarlet Maiden...

  He looks in front of him.

  Not only that, but seems like all my men are either dead or cowardly left the area, pathetic.

  As he looks forward, his eyes widen at the sight he sees on the loggia.

  He grins, walking up the stairs to the loggia, “Well, what do we have here?” he says.

  The Scarlet Maiden lays on the ground, unconscious. Seven of his men lay dead beside the scene, covered in their own blood from deep cuts and openings in their torso, their blood scattered across the place.

  “Hm, seems like this mission isn’t a failure after all,” he pauses, “Or... Maybe it is,” he adds, turning around.

  As he turns, he sees Orion Sinclair, walking out of the hallway into the loggia, coming out into the lunar light.

  “Well, my greetings to you, Amethyst, I thought-”

  “I’m here for my daughter, move aside, and I’ll see what to do with you after,” Orion cuts the man off.

  “Hm,” the man spins his axe, “You really give me no variety with my choices, hm?” he says.

  “I’ll gladly stay here, I want to see if you Amethysts are really as strong as they say,” the man adds.

  Orion looks at the man, with his hands in his pockets, looking at him with his purple eyes blankly, he taps his foot slowly on the ground, observing the man.

  “I pity this being your last memory, but very well then.”