She Belongs To The Devil

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In the Earth realm, everyone was still huddling together in the meeting room.

They all were sitting quietly, taking their time to process everything that they had seen and everything that they had been through.

Damien was sitting on Joyce's pendant; he had kept it in his back pocket. He was trying to think of a way to strike up a casual conversation with Joyce and give the pendant back to her without disappointing her.

And Ariel was looking at her pendant and was contemplating whether or not to call her father.

"Aren't you going to call Uncle Theodore?" Zach came and sat beside Ariel and asked her in a low voice.

Ariel shrugged and then replied, "I don't know. It's already past midnight. He must be in his sleep. Or he might be having a lovely time with mom and Aunty Irene… So…"

"So?" Zach looked at Ariel with a frown on his forehead and said, "He will get angry with you if you hide such a serious matter from him. And he might never let you leave the Palace alone if he comes to know about today's incident from someone else. So, you better call him here. Or get your arse over there to Wyverndale. And explain everything that went down here."

Ariel sighed with hesitation. "But I–"

"No, but!" Zach gave a glare to Ariel. "You know what happened here isn't a simple thing. Your grandfather had to be involved! That alone tells how serious the matter was."

"I know. It was pretty serious," Ariel closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

And Zach further pushed her, "So, don't wait. Not even until tomorrow morning. Uncle and Aunty have the right to know that their daughter was almost..." He inhaled sharply and then covered his eyes with his palm.

To think that his dearest cousin was in a vulnerable state just a while ago was very unbearable for Zach. And he was greatly worried that the so-called angels would come back again and finish what they had started.

That's why he wanted Ariel to be with Theodore. He wanted her to be with someone who could protect her. And that someone was Theodore. He was confident that his Uncle was equal to or even more powerful than the attackers.

Kenneth also agreed with Zach and said, "Yes, I think you should let your parents know everything. That Michael or whoever he was, he didn't look like someone who feared God. Who knows? He might be back here again. So, you better make your parents aware so that you all can be ready if and when he strikes again. Hopefully, he won't.

But… there's no harm in being cautious."

Joyce wasn't in the right state of her mind, especially after knowing about her past life. And she was greatly disappointed that such tragedy occurred on the very day her cousins came to meet her.

Despite all that, she still put on a brave face and said to Ariel, "I think you should go to Wyverndale, Ary. At least the barrier will stop them from coming to you and attacking you. You will be safe there."

Ariel didn't want to leave Joyce after everything that went down and everything that they found out. But she knew that it was the right thing to do at the moment. By insisting to stay there in Romania, she would also put everyone's lives in danger just like before.

She took a deep breath in and then said, "Yeah, I think I should." She then gave a hug to Joyce and apologized, "I'm really sorry that you all had to go through such troubles because of me. We didn't even get to spend quality time like I had been dreaming about for a while now."

Joyce looked into Ariel's amber eyes and said with a soft smile on her face, "Don't worry about it, Ary. It's alright. And you are going to come back here tomorrow with Uncle Theodore. I will prepare everything accordingly here."

Joyce gently pinched Ariel's nose and said, "And we will have that quality time you had been dreaming about. We have so much to catch up on."

Ariel gave a soft smile and nodded her head. "Yes, we have a lot to catch up on." And she also asked, "But is it really okay if I return with my dad tomorrow?"

Joyce looked at Vlad with a questioning gaze. And when Vlad nodded, she replied, "Yes. We will talk with His Majesty and then make the necessary preparation."

"Alright then," Ariel looked at everyone else in the room, especially her cousins, and then asked, "Does anyone want to go along with me? If anyone is missing home then… you can come along."

She would have asked all of them to come along with her but Joyce and Vlad would have to answer the sudden disappearance of their guests. She didn't want to put them in a tight spot by taking everyone to Wyverndale with her.

Ramon glanced at Grace. She was terrified, understandably so. Thus, he didn't feel like leaving her.

Niylah's eyes were on Ramon. She knew that he wanted to stay back. So, she also wanted to do the same.

Zach was torn between going along with Ariel and staying back. He looked at Ramon and thought that he might want to talk about today's incidents later before going to bed. So, he also decided to stay back.

"I hope that the 'angel of death' won't come and take us hostage when he doesn't find you," Zach said while sighing.

So, Ariel glanced at her pendant and then gave it to Zach. "Here. You can keep it until I return tomorrow. If anything happens, kiss it. And… try not to lose it like how I did."

Zach carefully took that pendant from Ariel with both of his hands as though he was holding something extremely fragile. And he was happy that Ariel trusted him enough to give him her beloved piece of jewelry. "Thank you. I will keep it safe."

Ariel then glanced at Kenneth and said, "If anything happens, I hope that you will protect them like how you did earlier. But I really hope it won't be necessary."

Kenneth gave a smile to her and said, "I will do what I can. Take care of yourself."

She then finally turned her gaze at Damien.

Damien had been looking down at the floor while constantly tapping his foot. He didn't want to leave Ariel's side. He would have gone along with her. But he was aware that he was the strongest one among all the others. And he thought that Ariel would probably want him to stay back and look after them all.

"Damien…"

He finally raised his head and looked at her. "Yes. We will be fine, Ary. Don't worry about us."

Ariel gave a smile to him and said in a soft voice, "I should go now. I will try to come back sooner tomorrow. But let's see how my dad will react to everything."

She then took one last glance at everyone in the room and closed her eyes. Soon, she vanished from the room, leaving everyone else behind.

Before the room got engulfed by awkward silence again, Damien glanced at Joyce and asked, "Joy, can I talk to you?" He took a deep breath in and said, "I have a lot of things to say to you."

"Oh, yes!" Joyce tried to push the corners of her lips upward but failed at it. And she said in a rather melancholic voice, "I almost forgot about that. Yes. Let's talk. But before that…" She looked at her husband and asked, "Vlad, why don't you ask the maids to show the others to their rooms? Everyone must be tired already."

The others were sure tired and even scared. But they would have loved to hear the things that Damien had to say. At the same time, they also thought of giving Joyce and Damien some space. They knew that they would be talking about sensitive topics.

Vlad glanced at the guests and asked, "Why don't you all follow me? I will ask the maids to show the way on our way out."

Everyone, except the two long-lost brother and sister, got out of the room.

When the room was completely empty, Damien took some courage and then took the capsule with the Zobekker plant out of his pocket. It violently rattled in his hand and tried to escape.

Joyce was instantly saddened upon seeing the very thing that she had desperately wanted to get rid of. "I see that you brought it back," she whispered sadly and held out her palm.

Damien handed the pendant back to Joyce.

And almost instantly, it stopped protesting now that it was back to its rightful owner.

He glanced at Joyce and said to her, "You remember the person I was talking about, right? The one who I thought could help us in getting rid of that pendant."

"Yes, I remember," she replied after putting the pendant back on her neck.

Damien took a deep breath in and said, "Well, you are going to be in shock again. So, brace yourself for what I am about to tell you."