Frostfire Legacy

The air in the room thickened with tension, and Via grew wary of the intruder—Lorelai—she could see right through her power, way beyond what Via could handle. She quietly weighed her options: to confront an unmatched opponent, to call for help, or to watch and wait.

"... It's okay, Via. She's not here to fight," Cassy commented, patting her shoulder as if ordering her to stand down. "Isn't that right, Lory?"

Lorelai looked at Cassy with piercing intent, the curves of her lips describing a sharply worn frown. "From how you speak, it's like you've forgotten that not too long ago you were held captive by us. Or have you?"

"Do you mean what?" she said, exasperation threaded in her voice. "Ah, that?" Cassy smiled sweetly, her tone almost maternal. "Even then you made sure I wasn't suffering too much, didn't you?"

"... You're far too optimistic for your own good," Lorelai mumbled, the frustration seeping into her words. "And I absolutely hate that about you."

Cassy simply chuckled, Lorelai's reaction seemed so funny to her. "No need to lie about such trivial things," she said confidently. "So, did you really come to take me again, or..."

For a moment, Lorelai's expression faltered; she furrowed her brows and curled her lips into a frown. She didn't know if Cassy was simply hopeful for a change or somehow had caught sight of something else, something Lorelai knew all too well—beneath her carefully built mask of lies. She rejected the notion altogether, denying the possibility that Cassy saw right through her.

Via tensed, sensing Lorelai's shift in her posture. The wariness was instinctual—after all, Lorelai wasn't just any enemy. She was the enemy of Aster, and potentially the entire world.

"I'm here to negotiate," Lorelai said, her voice sharp and firm. "We know where Aster is being held. We'll help you retrieve him from the east. But in exchange, I want you to remove the limiters on my last two comrades."

"Shameless...!" Via hissed, teeth gritted in fury.

Reinterpreting Lorelai's offer, it became clear: she was offering to help retrieve Aster only if they agreed to turn their backs on the world. Even if they managed to recover Aster, the risks of collaborating with the Aracelli were simply too high to ignore.

"Miss Octavia Nebula, hold your tongue," Lorelai told her coolly, her eyes flickering with a mystic blue and red glow.

It was in that instant Lorelai locked eyes with Via that she attempted to say something, but her words wouldn't come out. She quickly realized why—Lorelai was using the powers of the Aracelli race, her mystical eyes, to make her silent.
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Cassy glanced at Via, concern flickering briefly on her face, but she didn't intervene. After all, it wasn't life-threatening. Instead, her focus returned to Lorelai's proposition, weighing it carefully.

Despite her usual carefree demeanor, Cassy wasn't one to make decisions lightly. She knew the risks of accepting Lorelai's offer, even if it meant saving Aster.

Though a part of her dreaded Lorelai might be lying, when Cassy looked into her eyes, it was as if some inner voice reassured her: Lorelai's words were true. This was a fair trade, with no hidden traps.

"... I—"

"Hey, little girl. Don't you think it's unfair to talk behind the adults' backs~?"

Just as Cassy was about to respond, a new voice interrupted. No one had noticed the new arrival—until she spoke up. Her arms were casually draped around Lorelai's neck in an affectionate embrace.

Her red eyes gleamed with a menacing light, and the cheeky grin on her lips sent an involuntary chill down everyone's spine.

"...!"

Lorelai's gaze snapped to the side in surprise—she hadn't noticed the intruder's approach until the last moment! No, if she hadn't spoken, Lorelai likely wouldn't have noticed her at all. The level of stealth was unbelievable.

"You are...!" Lorelai gasped, her eyes flashing dangerously as her power surged. "Vampire Princess, Vanessa Ross!"

Weirdly, Vanessa didn't bother coming with any equipment to defend against mind control. She didn't even blink as she locked eyes with Lorelai, her grin unwavering.

"You have beautiful eyes," Vanessa remarked, her voice dripping with amusement. "Too bad they won't work on me anymore."

In a flash, Vanessa moved. Her hands curled into claws and shot toward Lorelai's neck, moving with such speed that no one could react in time—not even Lorelai.

"S-Stop, Miss Vanessa!" Cassy managed to call out, her voice filled with urgency.

Though she wasn't obligated to, Vanessa paused just before her claws could tear into Lorelai's flesh. Her nails grazed Lorelai's neck, drawing a thin line of blood, a subtle reminder of how close she had come.

Her eyes flickered between Lorelai and Cassy, a killing glint flickering in their depths. "And why should I?" she asked, her voice venomous. "This woman is a threat—not just to Orinfeld City, but to the entire world. It's better to take her down here and now."

Cassy took a deep breath, her mind racing. Again, a voice whispered in her head reminding her that what Vanessa said was true, but only half of it. Lorelai was indeed a threat, but there was something that clouded Vanessa's intentions. Her hesitation told Cassy that she hadn't planned on killing Lorelai yet.

"... If you kill Lory, we lose our chance of saving Star," Cassy rationalized, her voice smooth despite the tension. "The government may know which country Star was taken to, but you don't have a clue where he really is, am I right?"

Vanessa looked at Cassy for several long moments, then sighed heavily, loosening her grip on Lorelai's neck.

"Seems like Aster's girlfriends are getting smarter," she said. "You're right, we don't know where Aster really is at this moment in time."

She pointed a thumb toward Lorelai. "But how can you be sure these people actually know where he is?"

Cassy shook her head, a thin frown tugging at the corners of her lips. "I don't know, but something inside me feels that the words spoken by Lorelai weren't a lie. She definitely knows where Aster is."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes, inspecting Cassy. "What's with those eyes? They're not... normal."

"I don't know either," said Cassy, shaking her head. "They changed to look like this the moment I woke up. Maybe the doctors did something?"

Vanessa fell silent, lost in thought. It was she who had arranged for the girls at the hospital and knew that doctors had been strictly ordered not to heal Cassy's eyes. Now, she not only regained her vision but her eyes are different—and scary. To Vanessa, it felt like something dangerous.

"Fine," Vanessa finally said, raising her arms in mock surrender. "I only came here as the government's representative to make sure this exchange is fair, anyway."

At that moment, an alliance between the Orinfeld City government and the Aracellis, in one person with Aster, started forming.