Chapter 3: Mother's Nightmare
The pair left the house and began heading towards the western part of the island. “So know where we should search next?” the wizard asked curiously. 684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmO47wMVAj
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Alura shook her head in defeat. “I um…haven’t really thought that far ahead. I’m not sure about where to search next amongst the islands.”684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8RWtSatkG
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“Well, there’s Azumara, Meldano, Lunar, and Natta we haven’t looked. We could look back on Zento but I don’t know if that would be a good idea.” He lightly rubbed the back of his head. “Mother has a very sharp memory and I doubt a small time gap is going to make her forget so easily about us breaking out of prison. She may also be sore over us breaking free Nate from his prison as well.” 684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqH4gKBgVhy
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Alura nodded stopping and looked down as she thought over the options they had. “Well um…” she pondered while folding her arms. “Maybe we should look at the other towns, just to be safe then we can move onto deciding which island to check next.” Marenzo nodded and they were off, deciding to go on foot as she wanted to take in the scenery.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbcK1Eo9lu
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It would be later just as the night was falling when Marenzo started a fire off to the side of the roadway a good distance near a small forest. Also nearby to them off to the side were the remains of weapons sticking out of the ground. The only thing Alura could guess as to whom they belonged to was perhaps those who tried to rise against Amoxious during the time he had control of Flora. They would chat some by the fire as they ate a light meal and after an hour or two finally fell asleep.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7IPrW5tj4
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When they would doze off Ginsu swallowed his decision and vanished, reappearing silently beside the sleeping Alura. Please forgive me for this one. I just want to help you know what you might encounter should anyone still remember your parents old selves. He knew he was going to get a good lashing or worse for this but didn’t care. What was one more scar on his body? Reaching a hand out he gently touched her arm and closed his eyes as his blue colored magic activated. When this began to affect her dreams, the book began to glow from inside her bag which caused it to have a pulsating illumination shining through the zipper teeth of her bag.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtoMiveT8b
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He released her and vanished, leaving her to see what he had cast to show her as much as he could currently with the spell, using enchanted water called Memory Water. Inside the dream Alura screamed for her mother and for the abuse to stop. Sophia stood with her hair longer and her face looking to be in her mid-twenties to early thirties. She was shackled by her wrists and ankles to the floor with a decent length of chains in her dark dress and bare feet. Her dark wings flapped trying to aid in her moving but that ceased when the sickening crack of a whip struck raw flesh. 684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vPwdIiA84
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Mother! She heard herself scream and reach out but could not reach the scene in her blue outlined form. Sophia was lying trembling with blood seeping out of her torn up back and from her scared arms and legs. The blood seemed to mix in with whatever had been used to pain the design she was laying on, hindering her movements that much more. The man move and lashed her harder to make her cry out in pain before pulling a spear out of the ground and slamming it down through one of her wings. Leave her alone! Alura screamed in the dream with no one hearing her cry.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrSIC5d9hH
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The man with the whip hit her more before kicking her in the gut then spat on her. He snapped his fingers while walking away to allow two more men to come up that unlocked the shackles. They began to move her somewhere else and when Alura tried to race up to stop them, that was when flames shot out of the scene causing her to stop and shield her face from the intense heat. When the flames cleared away was when Alura dropped her arms to see a new scene before her.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhEfC90WaF
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There was a castle before her and it was blazing with powerful flames. At the base was a wooden stage for multiple uses such as lashings, sales, and hangings. On the stage walked and leapt off was the same woman, Sophia, but with an icier stare. Her black wings were spread and her aura was intimidating as Alura stared on in fear. A man was bowing low to the ground groveling at her bare feet for his life. “Please! Spare me! I beg of you for mercy!” he cried to her as her glare was unmoving on his scrunched up form.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZj4wzfqBV
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“Why should I pity a worm as you after you had put me through such torture?” she questioned coldly while pulling a feather out of her right, uninjured wing.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQfPFafkwx
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“It wasn’t my fault! I swear I was just following orders!” he tried to reason with the Nephilim.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOAJJNAE5y
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She was silently her expression softening which relieved him but that relief was ill placed. In a blur her hand reached down, grabbed his hair hard and the feather expanded out while sharpening to allow her to slice off his head. This sight caused Alura gasp and cover her mouth to try and hold down some vomit that was trying to rise. Screams rang out around Alura as she became aware of people fleeing from the square in front of the castle as archers fired white flaming arrows at Sophia. Stop! She’s not like this I swear! The blue-brown eyed young woman tried to have them hear but to no avail. 684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVF49GDbPO
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Sophia dropped the head with a snicker at the sickening noise it made hitting the stone ground. She looked up and swept her feather blade out to slice the white arrows in two before taking to the sky to take on the archers. She continued until only the lead man was left and he cowered before her as she shattered his reinforced bow. “Well now,” she held her blade under his chin, “shall we see what color the blood of a snake is? Or perhaps maybe we can see how far the body can move once it’s been gutted.” Her tone was cold as death with a twisted grin on her face which sent fear to twit his stomach horribly.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c6D8VNIiF
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“Please, have mercy. I promise I won’t aid in doing this to another.” He vowed while shaking under her unmoved gaze. “Please let me go free.” The man continued when she hadn’t responded. There was silence yet again but it soon was broken by her laughter. This sound died immediately as she brought her face close to his and the blade was now pressed firmly against his throat.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEm75Mx91V
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“Why?” she hissed, “you had me lashed hundreds of times a day at different intervals with random number of strikes to keep me on edge, so I’d never know how many I would receive during that point in time.” She pressed the blade closer to draw a thin stream of blood. “At times it was twenty, another ten, later up to fifty, and so forth so why should I take pity upon something as filthy as you?” she growled darkly with a snarl.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpporJqLLf
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He gulped and when Alura tried to speak she found she suddenly had no voice. “P-p-please f-f-forg-give me,” he stammered his plea. Sophia watched and started to move the blade away as if to spare him before quickly slicing off his head in a sickening red spray of liquid and disgusting sound of bone being snapped.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqJ27qfIPM
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“My answer is no, vile slime.” She watched the head fly up and slam into the ground with more gore before the body finally collapsed into the pool of bloody mess. She walked over, grabbed a spear and found the head of the man who had tortured her and stabbed her left wing. Lifting the weapon she impaled his head to pin it to the ground with much pent up anger. “Enjoy your afterlife surprise, disgusting pig.” She snarled at the corpse.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwVooHjeoG
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Alura in the dream was left repulsed and speechless as the woman turned her sights straight towards her future daughter. This can’t be real. No way can this actually be true. She looks like her but it can’t be the same person. She thought with a shaking voice while stepping back as Sophia stepped towards her. My mother is kind, gentle, and a caring person. She’s not some monster like this woman yet she has mother’s maiden name I heard some use. Alura gasped and screamed in her dream as it shot out to white. She was vocally screaming as well in the waking world with tears streaming down her cheeks.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjdeWzT5xD
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Marenzo jolted awake from the scream that was remanisent of someone being murdered. Quickly he scrambled over beside Alura and began to shake her to try waking her. “Alura! Alura, can you hear me?” he shook more calling her name until finally she opened her red tear filled eyes. “You okay? You were crying out in your sleep.” He gently explained as she stared up at him as if dazed before finally sniffing and wiping her eyes. She forced herself up and nodded silently before moving closer to him. He blinked and didn’t stop her as she pulled him into a tight hug as she buried her face into his chest. Softly he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back comfortingly. “Do you want to talk about it?” she shook her head and he didn’t pry, not daring to betray her trust by peeking into her memories to try spying what she dreamt of.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxq1stNQWUL
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He glanced over and saw the light fading from her bag which made him curious. Only after she’d fallen back asleep would he carefully move one hand to twist around which unzipped her bag, and brought him the book. His magic held it so he could read it by the firelight and there were multiple pages now filled out. What he read brought him to frown and grimace at the details included as he could only imagine how much of this she actually saw. After he had finished reading he quietly closed the book and sent it back into the bag before zipping it closed. His face was somber and disturbed by what he had read of what she’d seen prior and now. Softly he released a breath before looking down to the eighteen year old in his arms. I hope the answers you thought you wanted aren’t more than you can handle. His heart hurt with the knowledge he couldn’t do anything much to help.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGrzSkkPxa
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Gently Marenzo stroked her hair as he thought over possible ways he might be able to help. Each idea was shut down by facts which stung each and every time. Eventually he too fell asleep by the crackling fire with her in his arms for her to feel safe. I swear, I’ll do anything and everything to keep you safe Alura, I promise and you can hold me to it. He thought while his mind drifted off into peaceful dreams of perhaps one day finding someone to settle down with after things could truly be quiet and peaceful again.684Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKshvSeeyaY
