𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃; ʜᴘ (𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐃)

𝟏𝟏𝟒; sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛs ᴡᴇ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ

EVERYONE— felt the heat of the sun burning them alive, as the world outside the castle was casted in golden flames.

"What is going on?!" Ophelia yelled.

"Ophiuchus." Silas answered, his golden eyes widen with fear, while Elias looked ready to pass out at any moment. "He has lost control."

"Whatever you do, don't leave this hall." Narcissus told them.

"Why the fuck not?! The world is literally burning!" Sirius screamed what everyone else was thinking.

"Because it will make everything worse." A voice called out from the front of the hall, making them turn to the figure standing there.

As he stood tall and proud, the light of the sun engulfed him like a halo, casting him in an otherworldly glow that made him appear more God than man. His smile was a glittering killer's blade, sharp and deadly, hinting at the depths of his power and the darkness of his soul.

To describe them is to capture the essence of a being beyond human understanding, a creature of darkness and light, beauty and danger, power and grace.

"Mael?" Astrophel's eyes widen.

The King of Lunar Blood.

Mael Nikolai Atalanta.

"Why do you always lose a limb in every lifetime? Last time it was your leg, now your arm? You have shitty luck." Mael laughed.

Everyone watched as Astrophel stalked up to Mael and whacked him over the head.

"You piece of shit!" He screamed at him grabbing him by the collar and Mael had just pouted childishly at him.

"Ow! Why are you so sweet with her and so mean to me?!" Mael whined as he looked to Ophelia who was trying to process what is going on.

"Shut the fuck up you little shit." Astrophel glared at him and Mael just smiled and ignored him as he waved at Narcissus.

"Acacius! Get your husband from me!" Mael told him and Narcissus just crossed his arms.

"He is your brother. I already got kneed in the stomach by him because of you." Narcissus said with a shrug.

"I'm your King!" Mael glared at him.

"Hey can someone explain WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON DAMNIT?!" Barty yelled.

Mael sighed dramatically as he turned his attention over to Barty.

"Well it seems someone didn't account for how powerful Ophiuchus's outburst would be, and how his magic is able to break the barrier." Mael gestured to the burning world.

"Ophiuchus a being almost unlike any other." Mael's gaze shifted to Ophelia for a moment.

"For his magic was a force to be reckoned with. When he unleashed his power, it was as if a dam had broken and torrents of pure, raw magic flooded the world around him." Yet again he gestured to the world that burns.

"This magic infused with the power of lifetimes, it held within it the secrets of the universe and the mysteries of existence itself. As the magical energy swirled and danced in the air, a transformation began to take place." Mael ran a hand through his dark locks.

"Lobelia and I, mere specters were suddenly imbued with form and substance. We took on a tangible presence, of flesh and bone." He finished explaining to them.

"Lobelia...?" Ophelia questioned, in her chest she felt her heart pounding at the mere mention of her name.

Ophelia looked at Mael and his eyes the kaleidoscope of colors, held a dreamy gaze as he spoke of his beloved, Lobelia Morgenstern.