While they continued eating, Perceval and Shanna explained the history of the Aurelias clan to the best of their knowledge. It was started by Merlin Aurelias during the time of King Arthur of England and his Knights of the Round Table. He and his sister were the first Hexbloods born on Earth and helped start the Council of Witches after the Fae left. She died at a younger age from a wild animal attack not long after the Original Nine came together to write the Witch's Code which described how witches in the future were to conduct themselves. Over the years, parts aged out or were no longer necessary; by the time of Lady Cassandra only one rule remained: don't get discovered. Of course, she broke it to save humanity, so the code was no more.
Meanwhile, Merlin stayed as the Supreme Warlock for four hundred years and eventually relinquished control to his granddaughter Isabelle. Strangely, the Aurelias clan never got any larger than twenty or so members, not including the Bonded ones from Contract. Over the course of a thousand years, six of the seven Supremes, not including Emory, were from the Aurelias clan. Still, the Aurelias clan became synonymous with mysticism because they seemed to have more magik secrets besides the Arcane sphere. Rumors surrounding their power grew as time went on, but someone from the clan itself hardly ever confirmed or denied these crazy ideas. Strangest of all, the only time either Perceval or Shanna had been inside the Aurelias estate was for Lady Cassandra's adulthood ceremony. Though, they had visited the grounds countless times.
Once everyone was finished with lunch, they headed to the teleport pad in front of the house. Perceval let Franz know that he would be leaving for the afternoon before they crammed on the medium stone pad. Everyone held hands and closed their eyes for a moment before the forest smell was replaced with a fragrant flower aroma. Emory opened her eyes to a sea of rolling hills covered with the greenest grass one could imagine. They were in the middle of a field of flowers, all in bloom despite the time of year it was. No signs of civilization were in sight, leaving small mammals and birds to take over the landscape. Then she turned around to a truly breathtaking castle behind her.
The pearl white rocks looked like something out of a fairy tale and were clearly not from around here. A fifty-foot wall surrounded the castle and blocked most of the view of it; however, a turret-shaped tower was towards the back corner and stood at least twice as tall as the wall. In the center of the wall was a large metal portcullis that was at least a foot thick, and each square opening was only one square foot, too small for anyone older than five or six. Off to the side in the frame was a particular indentation. Emory slowly approached the impression and carefully fit her pendant in it. Immediately, lines of glowing magik began pulsating outwardly from the trinket, surging through the stone as if it was alive. With a loud creaking sound, the gate rose slowly.
As the group started to approach, they froze in their tracks at the sight of the apparition in front of them. It was a taller woman, not quite as tall as Nephenee but a little more muscular with noticeably black hair despite being an ethereal person. "Can it be?" Perceval whispered, "What kind of magik is this?"
The apparition smiled, "It's really me, old friend. Everyone, come in. We have a lot to discuss." She walked towards the main castle followed by Lilina, Perceval, and Shanna.
"Excuse me," Emory remained still, "But who are you? Forgive me, but I don't make a habit of trusting magik I don't understand."
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I'm your aunt Cassandra," she grinned. Emory, Gwen, and Sam's jaws dropped wide open; this ethereal figure was none other than Cassandra Black, the hero of the first war. After a minute, they finally closed their mouths and joined the rest inside the fortress walls. On one side, an orchard with variety that compared to Perceval's stretched all the way to the far wall. The other side had a lush field with a medium-sized wooden stable close to the back wall. In front of them was a modest two-story castle made from the same exotic stone as the wall. Behind it stood the tower they had seen from the outside. Finally, they made their way to two impressive pale wooden doors which opened as they approached.
Cassandra led them to a parlor with several sofa chairs around an entirely glass coffee table. Once they were seated, she started, "Welcome to Castle Aurelias. I know Lilina, Perceval, and Shanna, but I haven't met you three younger women."
"My name is Gwen Grado," Gwen whispered quietly, "Pleased to meet you Lady Cassandra."
"I'm Samantha Rice. It's amazing to meet you, Lady Cassandra," Sam breathed wistfully.
"And I'm Emory Reiss, daughter of Marty and Roselin Reiss," Emory responded slowly, "It's good to meet you, Aunt Cassandra."
Cassandra sighed, "My little sister's kid and her friends, I assume. It seems my sin of pride has come back to face me again."
"Cassandra, you're being too hard on yourself," Shanna consoled, "All of us elders are at fault for the decades we allowed isolationism to be our forward policy."
"No, the biggest fault is still mine. I left you all alone because I underestimated the strength of our enemy," Cassandra shook her head.
"What do you mean?" Emory questioned, "I don't imagine you had many problems with the Mantoan."
Cassandra frowned, "Not the Mantoan. I lost to a woman named Selena. Let me tell you about my demise."
August 7, 2149
A tall woman in a pearl spacesuit on the top of a ridge overlooking a battlefield below. Thousands of Mantoan corpses were strewn across the icy field compared to only a few hundred humans. A shorter man approached the woman and stated, "Supreme Lady, we've finished the rest of the Mantoan and destroyed their ship. The war is over; we've won."
"Sound the evacuation," Cassandra ordered, "There's another boogie inbound. Probably some sort of cleanup crew, but I'd rather be safe than sorry." The man nodded and saluted before he keyed an alarm on his wrist and headed toward a ship in the distance. She watched as people from across the zone moved towards the ship, most in good condition but some were carried on boards or over someone's shoulder. After fifteen minutes, the bay doors closed, and the ship lifted off to the stars while Cassandra sat and waited. But she didn't wait long as a small ship appeared on the horizon. Quickly it landed on the far side of the dead near a commander she had taken out in the middle of the battle.
The rear door vanished, and a Laxtros strolled out of the ship. She wore a breather mask attached to a much more advanced spacesuit that covered her arms and torso while her long blonde hair was in a sophisticated braid that almost touched her spider thorax. In her hand was a shining black sickle which she attached to her belt after surveying her surroundings. After going over to the body of the commander, she picked him up and carried him back onto the ship. Cassandra thought that would be the end of things until the spider woman came back out and stood a few feet into the battlefield. She yelled, "You can come out. I know you're out there."
Cassandra came out from behind the rock with five prismatic orbs circling above her head. "I've never seen a Mantoan like you," she mentioned, "Nor have I met a single one that could use magik."
"Well, that's because I'm not a Mantoan. My race is called Laxtros. My name is Selena," the spider woman introduced herself.
"My name is Cassandra. What are you doing here, Selena?" Cassandra questioned, "The other cleanup crews have been more Mantoan."
Selena laughed, "As you may have guessed, the one I retrieved was the general for this division. His body is required for further testing. A truly pitiful race but they make good fodder while we focus on bigger targets. You're different from other humans, aren't you? You're more like them."
"I am different from other humans," Cassandra's eyes glowed blue, "And it's clear you're dangerous, so I'm sorry, but you won't be retrieving that body." Magik instantly covered Cassandra's body while the orbs circling froze in place and formed a line.
"Look, I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm going to give you a chance to escape. My master isn't interested in this operation, and you've routed the enemy in this system. In other words, take your win and enjoy it. You are little creatures just starting to see the bigger landscape. I'll pretend we never met," Selena smirked.
Cassandra shook her head, "I can't allow a threat like you to get away. In the name of the Aurelias clan, you will be defeated." An orb shot towards Selena's chest, but she caught it in one of her hands that was cloaked in pitch black magik.
"Just remember," Selena grinned, revealing rows of sharp fangs, "I gave you the chance to leave." She casually tossed the orb away, enveloped in a black shell, which exploded in a peculiar manner. The color drained from the area, becoming entirely black and white. Cassandra wrinkled her brow but fired the four other bolts at Selena who easily deflected them with four of her own black orbs. Just like before, the area between them turned monochromatic, but this time, it felt still and lifeless as well. Without another word, the two women began producing hundreds of balls of magik and firing them at each other. After five minutes, they paused and surveyed the scene between them.
Most of the bodies on the ground had been obliterated or shredded at the very least. Even the ground itself looked like it had been churned up as the topsoil was mixed with large shards of tundra. Cassandra closed her eyes for a moment while a hundred more clones of hers popped into existence around her. Each one created a thousand tiny orbs, roughly the size of a quarter, that blotted out the light in the area. Without warning, they flew towards Selena who still stood there smiling. With a flick of her wrist, a wave of black magik pulsed out like a wall, smashing through without any resistance. A few clones were hit by the magik before they dissipated, and they too were destroyed instantly.
"You wield their magik, but you don't have their durability. And right now, I don't know if you have the stamina to even make this a challenge," Selena scoffed.
"I'm just getting warmed up," Cassandra snapped, "I'm not going to play all my cards in the first hand." The magik surrounding her warbled and got blurry as waves of power began pouring off her body. She pointed her fingers towards Selena, and beams of blinding magik shot out from them. Selena extended her fingers from all four hands, creating twice as many beams as Cassandra had. But then the beams split on her fingers to match the incoming attack. A drop of blood dripped from Cassandra's nose onto the ground. As the beams collided, it created a screen of sorts that cut through the ground between them like a hot knife through butter. The chasm quickly grew to a hundred feet deep though only a foot wide and fifty feet across. This continued for half an hour, and blood also continued to drip from Cassandra's nose. Then they stopped and breathed for a moment, though it seemed to be more of a yawn from Selena.
Selena called, "I think I've indulged you long enough. Though it's true that your raw strength is as powerful as the others, you have neither the body to withstand attacks nor the equipment to increase your fortification. Goodbye, Cassandra." Four black beams, one from each hand, shot out at Cassandra, but she managed to surround herself in her shield just in the nick of time; however, it cracked instantly. Blood began pouring out of her nose, but the shield stayed intact, albeit continuously fracturing. She fell to her knees as blood started leaking from her eyes and ears too. The beams dug in, causing the shield to shrink and barely cover her scrunched up body. Gritting her teeth and with blood gushing from her face, Cassandra pushed herself up and pushed the beams back a little bit.
"I'm sorry," Cassandra mumbled, "But I won't let you get away without a reminder." A wave of prismatic magik cut through the black beams and collided with Selena, knocking her back, scalding the armor on her hands, and even cracking the exoskeleton there a bit. Then a thud echoed over the now quiet battlefield. Selena saw particles coming off Cassandra's body before eventually turning to dust.