Orion stands, watching the man in front of him—he raises his head slightly, "So I assume you are the assault leader?"

  The assault leader smiles a knowing smile, "Yes, I am..."

  "And who sent you?" Orion asks immediately after receiving a reply.

  "Oh, I don't think I can say that," he replies, tapping his axe on the ground.

  Orion stops tapping his foot on the ground and takes his hands out of his pocket, using one of them to pull his hair back, he taps the front most part of his shoes on the ground lightly.

  "Hm, ok then..."

  The assault leader smirks, and takes a breath in, his fingers tighten around the handle of his axe as he puts it in front of him, "Alright, Amethyst, on guard...."

  Orion continues to stare at the man, his gaze never faltering. The assault leader bends his knees, and tenses, like a spring ready to explode on release.

  The assault leader takes a deep breath in, filling his lungs, and explodes forward at Orion.

  In the palm of Orion's left hand, scarlet energy begins to gather and concentrate—an energy that moves like the plasma of the sun, volatile and destructive, spewing out in every direction and tinting the environment pink, his hand glows from the extreme thermal radiation.

  The assault leader had no time to shift direction, so Orion slides his left foot forward, his torso turning to the right to accommodate the movement, and he strikes into the assault leader's torso.

  The assault leader can feel the intense heat of the energy already burning his skin and making his clothes sizzle, the energy bursts like a firework at point blank range, overwhelming the assault leader's vision and surrounding the area in a bright white light, a loud bang ripples through the air from the explosion as a mighty shockwave spreads from the point of impact.

  When everything clears, scarlet particles of energy float in the sky around the place.

  "Hm, seems like he got disintegrated," he says, before shifting his focus to Valerie.

  He walks over to Valerie, on her knees, covered in blood from head to toe. He glances over at Rosaline for just a moment, then turning over to the seven dead men, all on the ground different positions, one even having his head taken off.

  "Valerie did some quick sweeping of the place here," he says.

  He bends over and puts his hands under her pits and lifts her up until she's standing, then quickly wraps his left hand around her chest level. He takes his right hand down and lifts her legs up, carrying Valerie in his arms.

  He looks back at Rosaline, still unconscious on the ground, covered in blood like Valerie, with the corner of his eyes, before looking back ahead and starts walking.

  He walks out of the house, seeing a crowd of people outside, a group of many family members gathered and discussing, a variety of cars parked in the front of the big parking lot of the house.

  Orion walks over to a man wearing a black, high quality, black suit talking to one of the maids of the house.

  "Mr. Winslow," Orion says, interrupting their conversation.

  The maid walks off to a group of maids, and the man looks towards Orion. He was a tall man, around an inch taller than Orion, Orion himself being 5'11, dark brown hair parted neatly in the middle, and a thick moustache framing high cheekbones.

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  "Yes, Sir?" the man asks, his eyebrow raising slightly with hands behind his back.

  "I have some orders for you..." he says, and then begins to go over what he wants.

  "...And lastly, my daughter. I put her under your care, reach out to one of the family doctors and have them treat her, as well as any other injured person during this event," he finishes.

  "Very well, Sir," he takes Valerie in his arms as Orion walks off.

  Orion walks around, looking around the place at the people gathered in groups talking and discussing in the parking lot.

  He looks behind him, seeing Lilith, standing with crossed arms looking around, her eyes catch Orion's looking at her, and Orion walks over.

  "Any attention from the police, news or firefighters?" Orion asks, walking over to Lilith in her empty standing spot.

  Lilith looks at her black painted nails on her left hand, her right hand supporting her elbow, "No, not at all," she replies.

  "That's good, we don't need any attention from the public," he comes to a stop around in front of Lilith. He puts his hands in his pockets, looking off to the side.

  Lilith smiles, "So... What happened?" she looks over at Orion, crossing her arms, tilting her head.

  "She used her ability. Seems like she killed seven people while she was at it, then passed out."

  Her eyes widen a bit, her smile turning into a slight grin, "Hah! Well, isn't that interesting? Not only that, but she somehow ended up knowing how it's used? That's potential, Orion, it's like she's made for The Scarlet Maiden's ability, even her personality. Fierce and sharp, she's just like her mother, perhaps-"

  "I don't like where you're going with that, and I told you before, not to bring Seraphina up, Lilith," he looks at Lilith, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, fists clenched gently.

  Lilith raises an eyebrow, "What? It's simply fascinating... Come on Orion! She's clearly blessed with potential just like her, she could be a lovely asset to us, don't you think?"

  Orion tilts his head, his fingers sinking into his palms a bit more, "No such thing, she'll break under the pressure, and what's the use of your plan if she won't last?"

  "Then she's simply a waste... and oh, I know she'll last, She's a strong lady, she'll definitely last the mile," she looks Orion up and down.

  "But then again, how would you know... When you can't even remember to see her on her birthday?" she moves closer to Orion, leaning into him to whisper.

  Orion's jaw clenches, visible from the outside visually, "She would deteriorate slowly, if that was the case, we need to think long term to a solution that doesn't have to be breaking her, she needs time, Lilith, what you suggest is reckless."

  "Oh I would go to great extents, Orion, to have a Scarlet Maiden is one thing, but to have one with such potential is a blessing. Let's try something new for a chance, your way didn't work after all," she smirks, "So let's not waste this, not like last time."

  Orion grits his teeth, his eyebrows furrow even more. "Potential doesn't mean she'll get it all at once, this is why I'm telling you, she needs time, time to grow into her power and status as the Scarlet Maiden." he says, his voice a bit louder than before.

  "Something we only have so much of. Families won't wait for her to grow into her power, if what happened tonight wasn't already obvious on that," she says looking over at the destroyed house with the corner of her eyes.

  Orion's expression darkens as he keeps his eyes on Lilith, "I invite them with open arms to come and try."

  Lilith chuckles quietly, "You amuse me little brother, you've always been such a softie, a protector. Even mother said it. It's always been a surprise how you became the Amethyst. You hide under that hard shell of yours, hoping it will keep you safe, but it won't. If you don't toughen up, you too will break. And when you do, no one will help you. You'll just be one big liability..."

  Lilith turns around and takes a few steps, she comes to a halt while still looking forward, her back facing Orion.

  "And just so you remember, it took both of us to make the monster Seraphina ended up being," she adds, before walking off.

  Orion stands, looking at Lilith's fleeting figure, he looks down at the ground, the fabric of his black suit tightens around his arms.

  Valerie opens her eyes abruptly, to the sight of a roof above her, her vision blurry. She lets out a breath.

  She sits up on whatever she was laying on and rubs her eyes. As her vision clears, she looks towards the source of light which was the glass door to a balcony, overlooking a grass field with familiar white curtains. The light was bright and yellow, hinting at it being around the afternoon.

  The place was quiet, almost too quiet.

  Where, am I?

  She looks down, noticing she was laying on her queen sized bed at home, full of different pillows and plushies of animals. Her usual house if there was nothing special going on.

  "I'm... Ok..." she looks at her hand for a bit. She sighs and lays back down on her bed, letting gravity take her down.

  She rests her right palm on her chest, the other on the mattress, feeling her heart beat quicken, she closes her eyes for a minute, thinking back at what happened to her however long ago from currently.

  I'm alive...

  Her eyes open abruptly and widen, she springs back up into a sitting position as her heart skips a beat. "Rosaline..."