Chapter 1013 - I Won't Be Killing Anyone Unless They Deserve To Die
"What was that about, Chloee?" Celeste asked the little fairy who was currently seated on top of the table while eating a plate of pancakes. "Why did you and Elliot come to blows with each other?"
"Difference in perspective," Chloee replied before biting into a new pancake.
"That's it? Just a difference in perspective?" Celeste frowned. "Both of you demolished an entire mountain just because of a difference in perspective?"
Chloee no longer answered Celeste's question and just continued to eat her pancakes. After leaving Elliot half-dead, she returned to the academy to binge eat, but was found by Celeste.
Claire just hovered behind the beautiful Elf with her arms crossed over her chest. Just like Celeste, she didn't understand why Chloee went ballistic and duked it out with Elliot, who was currently being nursed by Princess Aila back to health.
"What really happened?" Celeste inquired. "Elliot isn't the type to start conflicts. Did you do something again?"
Chloee still kept her silence as she stuffed her small mouth with pancakes. In the end, Celeste gave up and left the room. Only Claire remained and landed on the table where her twin was eating without a care in the world.
"Tell me what really happened," Claire said. "If you do, I promise to think of a way to help you out."
Chloee shook her head firmly. She trusted her twin sister with her life, but the matter with Shannon was truly too important. Elliot had firmly told her that even if she told anyone about their plans, it would still come to pass one way or the other.
"This is inevitable."
Those were the words that Elliot told her while both of them were fighting each other seriously.
Right now, Chloee was very conflicted. She was only left with two choices. The first one was to tell Celeste and Byron about Shannon's plan. As for the second one, she assisted them in freeing Shannon and accompanied them to the Demon Continent.
Seeing that Chloee wasn't budging, Claire sighed and left the room to follow Celeste. Deep inside, Claire felt that her sister was hiding something from her, but she trusted her enough to support her in whatever she did.
If only she knew that Chloee was at the crossroads of her life, she might have stayed with her and waited until she had opened up to talk to her.
—--
Hestia Academy, half an hour before midnight…
Conan and Elliot flew towards the shrine under the cover of darkness. Their plan was to free Shannon from the shackles that bound her, by destroying the pillars that kept her in place.
According to the young fox lady, a protective barrier prevented her from leaving the shrine. In order to disable it, Conan and Elliot must destroy four out of the eight statues that were scattered inside the academy.
Princess Aila was already positioned at one of them, while Elliot and Conan would break another two. As for the last statue, Elliot planned to turn into a lightning bolt and break it, as soon as he broke one of the two statues present outside the shrine.
The angelic Familiar had already planned everything, even the place where they would meet after they had completed their mission. Usually, Shannon's place was guarded by the Elite Soldiers of the academy.
However, the two Familiars had the element of surprise, so they were confident that they would be able to neutralize them without alarming anyone else.
Just as they were about to enter the shrine premises, Conan and Elliot stopped. They stared at the little fairy that was blocking their path with her arms crossed over her chest.
Chloee looked at the two of them with a serious expression on her face.
"Are you sure that you're really going to do this?" Chloee asked.
"Of course," Elliot replied.
"Many people might die, you know?"
"I won't refute your words, but if people are going to die, they would be people that deserve to die."
Chloee snorted. "You always have a way with words. Not even William is as eloquent as you."
The corner of Elliot's lip rose up into a smirk. "Thank you for the compliment. So, tell me, what are you doing here? Don't tell me that you were just taking a stroll and happened to see us?"
Chloee didn't answer right away. It was as if she was fighting an internal struggle inside her heart, which placed the entire situation in a stalemate. After a few minutes passed, the little fairy voiced her condition to allow them to do what they wanted.
"I will go with the two of you to the Demon Continent," Chloee stated. "I can't allow Shannon to run amok and hurt the innocent."
"Fair enough," Elliot replied before looking at his twin brother. "You and Chloee destroy the two statues outside the shrine. I will head to the last shrine. After you have secured Shannon, meet us at the place we agreed on."
Conan nodded as he patted his chest. "Leave this to me."
Elliot glanced at Chloee one last time before flying away. Right now, time was of the essence and they would need to destroy all the statues at almost the same time for it to work. Because of this, they decided to do it at the sixth tolling of the bell, after the clock struck midnight.
Conan and Chloee flew side by side without exchanging words with each other. Both of them had things going on inside their minds, and had no time to do small talk, while doing their mission.
Inside the shrine, Shannon was busy putting several black-beaded- bracelets on her left and right wrists. These were powerful artifacts that helped reduce the effect of her powers, but their effectiveness would only last for a month.
"Finally, this day has come," Shannon muttered softly as she held a fox mask in her hand. "I will finally leave this place."
She was confident that as long as the statues were destroyed, she would be able to go anywhere she pleased using her special abilities.
"Wait for me, my Prince," Shannon said as she put the fox mask on her face. "I am coming to see you."
Right after she finished her preparation, the giant bell inside the academy started to make a clanging noise.
"One," Princess Aila said softly. Although she understood that what she was about to do was wrong, this was the only way they could leave for the Demon Continent without being detected by anyone.
"Two," Elliot muttered as he sat on the head of a Dragon Statue.
"Kekeke," Conan chuckled as he and Chloee stood in their respective places. "Three."
"Four," Chloee muttered as she transformed into her battle form.
After two more seconds, the sixth bell finally rang.
Everyone immediately destroyed the statue that was assigned to them with as little noise as they could muster.
Soon the sounds of glass breaking echoed inside the shrine. Shannon immediately felt the power that was surging inside her body, as soon as the statues were destroyed.
The door of the gate opened and Shannon came out with hurried steps. In truth, she wanted to take her time to observe her surroundings, but the circumstances were not in her favor.
"Let's go," Conan said. "Everyone is waiting."
Shannon nodded, but before she could even take another step, she felt something wrap around her leg, preventing her from moving. Looking closely, she saw that it was a silver chain that held her leg in a firm grip.
"What do you think you're doing, Shannon?" Byron, the Headmaster of Hestia Academy asked as he stepped out from behind a tree. "I believe I didn't give you permission to leave the shrine, am I right?"
Byron then glanced at Conan and Chloee who had flown by Shannon's side.
"Do the two of you have any idea of the consequences of your actions?" Byron asked in a threatening manner. "Especially you, Chloee. I expected more from you."
Chloee snorted as she ignored Byron's words. Without any hesitation she swung her arm and cut off the silver chain that held Shannon in place.
Without another word, Shannon waved her brush, transforming herself, as well as Conan and Chloee into a purple smoke that flew towards the North.
Byron immediately gave chase as he flew after them with great speed. The gap between him and Shannon was gone in the blink of an eye. He then reached out his hand to grab her hand, but the only thing he caught was a wisp of purple smoke.
"That girl got me good!" Byron's face became serious as he hastily turned around to return to the shrine. Shannon had the power of creation. She could give life to anything she drew, which allowed her to trick Byron, giving them enough time to flee.
It was not only Elliot that had made preparations for their escape. Shannon knew that she wouldn't be able to leave the academy that easily, so she prepared some backup decoys, whose sole purpose was to make Byron think that he had won.
"Bye," Shannon grinned as she entered the purple portal that she had created. "Don't worry, Headmaster. I promise that I will be a good girl. I won't be killing anyone unless they deserve to die. See you in a month."
"Stupid girl!" Byron shouted as he used his fastest speed to reach her. Unfortunately, he was a few seconds late. He could only shout in anger as the girl entered the portal. "Come back here!"
Shannon didn't bother to look at the Headmaster who had taken good care of her ever since she was a child. Unfortunately, her craving for freedom had made her heart firm, so she wasn't swayed with Byron's words.
When the portal closed right in front of his face, Byron knew that it was too late.
"The fools!" Byron gritted his teeth as he slammed his staff on the ground. He knew that Shannon could travel to the places that she had seen before, so he understood that going after her was futile.
Although the young lady with fox ears hadn't stepped outside the shrine at all throughout her life, her ability to see the world through the eyes of others was enough to allow her to cross great distances using the power of space.
Byron regretted that he had been too overconfident. When the statues broke, he instantly knew that the shrine had lost its power to keep Shannon locked up. Because of this, he immediately teleported to the shrine, just in time to see Shannon stepping out of the gate that had barred her from leaving all these years.
"This is no time to hesitate," Byron said before crushing a gem in his hand. "Her Excellency must be informed about this!"
Byron knew that a calamity had been set free on the world, and the mere thought of thousands of people dying in her wake made him shudder. He had been too conceited to believe that the defenses he had set in place were enough to keep Shannon inside the shrine.
Little did he know that the young lady with fox ears had long made her plan to escape her prison. All she needed were a few helpers from the outside, to help break the shackles that bound her in place.
High above the pommel of the sword that was embedded at the center of the academy, a beautiful lady wearing a white dress, looked at her daughter who had escaped from her prison. She had heard Byron's call of distress, but she ignored it for the time being.
"So, there really was no stopping this Prophecy from coming to pass," the lady muttered as she closed her eyes. "Shannon, my dearest, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being able to give you the freedom you deserved."
Only when Shannon took Princess Aila and Eliot with her to leave the academy did the beautiful lady answer Byron's call for help.
'Travel safely, my dearest,' the lady thought as she gazed at the purple portal that was slowly shrinking under her watchful gaze. 'I pray that the next time we meet, the freedom that you desperately craved for, will finally set you free.'