Emperor's Reckoning

Amidst the chaotic trembles of the island, Anna and Ivy were inside a rough sphere made of ice. Faint rumbles from Lyon could be heard as they ground the stood occasionally shook.

"What's going on outside," asked Anna as she turned, "Don't you think we should help them?"

"I don't think so," answered Ivy. "Even if the entire island is destroyed, we would be fine."

"You mean this sphere of ice could float?" Anna raised her brows as she turned.

"Not floating, but froze the surface of the sea," Ivy scoffed.

Anna smiled wryly as she hardly find the right topic to ease the awkwardness between them.

Ivy stood silent as she looked at her trying to keep her calm. For both of them, this first meeting could be the last time. "You said something before, what were you trying to say?"

Anna sighed as she looked down. (It eventually comes down to this) she thought.

"Do you ever wonder who your father is?" asked Anna, "Especially after you find out who I am?"

Ivy slightly raised her brows before she calmly nodded at her. She indeed had been craving to find out who her father was, especially after discovering that Anna was her biological mother. "Is he still alive?"

Anna looked down as her eyes trembled. She hugged herself with fervent fear in her eyes.

Ivy furrowed her brows as she looked at Anna's behavior as if she remembered something traumatic. Her mind flashed as she thought of something that could happen but she definitely didn't wish so, "Are you..."

Anna looked at her daughter, with her lips pursing together before a single tear crossed her cheek. "You are... not born out of love..."

Her words rung a thunderous boom in Ivy's eardrum. She was shocked with her icy pupils trembling as she took a step back. She tried to pacify her emotion with a gulp but it was no use, her eyelids were glued and her nose had a tint of a red hue. Her eyes turned glassy and her breath made a small cloud. "No.."

Anna knelt with both knees banged against the ice on the ground. She looked up and watched her own daughter trembling. She pursed her lips together as she shook her head. Tears drip against the ground as she placed her hands down. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I have no choice, I have no... choice, you will live a ridiculed life if you stick with me... I have to let you go..."

"So... I was born... out of... rape..." Ivy muttered as her eyes looked vacantly against the wall of ice. "I was born out of... rape... heh... hehe...."

Anna looked up as soon as she heard an eerie laugh. "Ivy...?"

"HAHAHAHA!" she laughed against the ceiling of the sphere as her pupils shrunk to a dot. "I'm trash from the start, I'm trash from the start! My existence already starts with a taint HAHAHA!"

"I-Ivy..." Anna stood up despite her trembling legs. "No Ivy..." she leaped forward before embracing her. "No Ivy! No!" she choked up as her daughter kept laughing.

"Hahaha! HAHAHAHA!" she laughed despite her figure being locked down.

"Huh?" Anna felt a heat of pain from her finger before she peered and her eyes shrunk. Her nails were freezing. She closed her eyes and hardened her upper lips as she tightened her embrace instead. The cold crept up to her knuckles pretty quickly as a layer of freeze crawled from her feet.

(It's not you Ivy, it-it's me, it's me who is trash, a sad excuse of a mother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry) "I'm sorry..." she placed her cold hands against her daughter's cheek as her lips quivered blue.

"Y-You.... hahahave gone... th-through s-so much papapain, bbbut plplease...do—," her mouth froze before her eyes shrunk to the verge of tears. (What a cruel world... you don't deserve me as your mother).

"Hahaha! Huh?!" Ivy suddenly returned back to her senses. Her eyes were looking at the ceiling before she felt a touch of cold on her cheeks. "M-Mother...?"

Right in front of her was Anna, frozen like a statue. She could even see her mother's pupils being frozen as her cheeks were held by her cold hands.

"W-What have I done..." Ivy muttered as she escaped out of Anna's hold. "No... No... NO!" the sphere cracked at the ceiling before a foul smell seeped into it like a disgusting lecher.

A golden eye was peering inside the sphere from the newly formed crack. "Hmm... damn, I guess she indeed hated her mother huh."

"Lyon, that's not proper," said Cecile.

"Never said it is," muttered Lyon as he wagged her four tails like a dog.

"What are you, a dog?" muttered Lumina with her nasal voice due to the foul smell and her sensitive nose.

Meanwhile, Mavis had his mouth gaping as he try to find a word for what was in front of him. (A-Are you guys not seeing this?!).

"Huh?" Amidst the tears, Ivy turned before she caught a golden eye peeking inside the sphere.

"Oh shit," Lyon immediately sled down from the huge ball of ice.

"Lyon!" Ivy called out from inside.

"Nope, no it's not," said Lyon as he tried to make his escape.

"Lyon... please."

Lyon paused with one of his legs up. He furrowed his brows just like Cecile was. "Did you hear that?"

Cecile nodded, "E-En, that's pretty unusual."

"Imma checks it out," said Lyon before he leaped toward the crack and peered inside. "Ivy are you okay? No, Ivy, it's improper to undress, no wait, don't do it, I'm a married man! Ivy don—!!"

His words caught the other party to freeze as they turned.

"W-What?" Ivy raised her brows.

"Hehe, just kidding," Lyon laughed.

Lumina's smile twitched amidst the rolling Kesya.

"Lyon, I need you to be serious here," asked Ivy.

"I mean, if you want to do it, I'm down, haha!" laughed Lyon.

"Not that!" said Ivy. "It's my—" she took a deep breath. "It's Anna."

"Your mother?" said Lyon. "She is pretty stiff right now."

"I a-accidentally froze her..."

".....Huh?" Lyon raised one of his brows, "Accidentally? Pretty sure that it doesn't look like it."

"It is, and don't ask me why, it just... kinda did," said Ivy.

"Hmm," Lyon returned back to normal before his fingers started to sled down (Oh..). He transformed again. "Are you sure you're fine though?"

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Ivy.

"I mean, you've been not acting so coldly, which is weird," said Lyon as he squinted his eyes. "Didn't you say that you train in ice cultivation or some sort?"

"That's not important right now!" said Ivy. "I messed up! I need your help!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just messing with you, no need to yell at me jeez, I can feel your saliva from here," said Lyon as he rubbed his eye.

"What, what's going on there?!" asked Nit. "Is Elder Anna fine?"

"Huh?" Lyon turned before he averted his glance back to Ivy. He sighed, "You want to see her naked?"

"W-WHAT?!" Nit almost had his eyes jumped out of the sockets.

"Haha! That was worth it," said Lyon as he laughed.

Nit choked up as he cursed inside his mind.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Lumina with her nasal voice.

"Well, if you activate the blessing for far too long, then, you kinda have the origin's behavior rubbed into yours, hehe," Cecile smiled wryly.

Lumina raised her brows as she learned something new, "Will it be permanent?"

"No, it usually ends after a while when he returned to his normal form," said Cecile as she sighed.

"Lyon... please," said Ivy as she looked up with her eyes glistening.

Lyon sighed, "Fine—can you open the hole a bit bigger?"

"Err..."

"Don't 'errr' me," Lyon squinted before he said with a flat tone. "Don't tell me... your cultivation is not exactly controlling ice, but just to make them?"

Ivy scratched her cheek as she looked away. "W-We usually let nature return it to normal, but..."

"But what?" Lyon sighed. "Forget it."

He raised his arm before he hammered it down.

"I don't think that would work, it's pretty th—" the sphere cracked open just enough before a hole was created. "—thick." She watched the ice fell and scattered to pieces as it hit the ground.

Lyon jumped inside the sphere before Ivy immediately felt her nostrils being violated. The cold air in the surroundings couldn't help ease down the foul fragrance coming out of his body. The odor could kill a rat.

The atmosphere was suffocating as she tried her best to maintain her consciousness. (What the hell happened to him?!) thought Ivy as she forgot that the tears in her eyes were not the tears of sadness anymore.

"So you want me to cremate her, right?" asked Lyon.

"No!" answered Ivy with her nasal voice and a glare.

Lyon snorted a smile as he returned to normal, "I'm just kidding."