112. War
Far away in her villa, Marcelline's eyes snapped open.
No gasp.
No panic.
Just… awareness.
Her aura flickered once—
a single pulse of ancient gold.
"Aiden…" she whispered softly.
She felt it clearly:
The same entity that attacked 15 years ago.
The same presence she had marked earlier in the day.
And now—
it had found him again.
Marcelline slowly sat up, expression calm, gaze sharpening like a blade.
Leo opened his eyes from across the room, instantly alert.
"You felt it."
Marcelline didn't answer with words.
She vanished.
Not walked.
Not ran.
Not teleported inside.
She teleported straight into the sky, high above the Brooks Mansion, silent as moonlight.
The cold wind whipped her hair as she hovered weightlessly above the clouds.
Her golden aura dimmed to an invisible shimmer—
undetectable to anything inside.
Her sharp eyes glowed faintly.
And from miles away…
she saw everything inside the mansion.
Max shielding Aiden.
Kyron trembling but fighting.
Chloe crying.
Servants lying lifeless.
And the entity—
writhing, searching, hunting.
Marcelline raised her hand.
Her expression didn't change.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Just resolve.
A seal circle formed in front of her—
glowing pale white with ancient script swirling like smoke.
She whispered a single command.
"Return to your vessel."
The seal shot through the sky—
silent
invisible
swift as light.
It pierced the mansion roof and hit the entity square in the center—
The creature shrieked, its form collapsing into itself, pulled violently into a vortex of collapsing shadow—
And in a flash—
It disappeared.
Locked back inside the body it originally inhabited—
Eleanor.
The mansion fell silent.
The air stilled.
Maximilian froze mid-breath.
He felt something—
a presence
a force
a gaze.
He whipped his head toward the direction of the sky—
Nothing.
The presence vanished completely.
Aiden looked around, confused and shaking.
Kyron gasped for air.
Chloe sobbed in relief.
But Maximilian…
stood still.
"What… was that?" he whispered.
No answer came.
---
MARCELLINE — BACK AT HER VILLA--
In less than a heartbeat, she reappeared in her room, feet touching the floor with soft grace.
Leo stood waiting.
"What happened?" he asked calmly, though his aura was sharp with tension.
Marcelline's eyes were cold.
"It tried again."
She looked out the window, jaw tightening.
"And it will keep trying."
Leo stepped closer.
"You sealed it."
"For now."
Her voice was quiet, deadly.
"It wants war."
Her eyes darkened with a power older than the entity itself.
"And if it wants war…"
she lifted her chin, expression unshaken,
"…I will give it war."
Leo watched her silently.
"But not tonight," she continued.
"Now is not the right time.
Aiden is unprepared.
Maximilian has awakened something even he doesn't understand.
The entity will be restless, but contained."
Leo nodded slowly, accepting her judgment.
"What will you do now?"
Marcelline turned away, her silhouette glowing faintly in the dim room.
"We wait.
We watch.
And when the right moment comes—
I end this."
---