Angel Monarch

The room was silent, even though over fifteen people were inside. They were all seated around the large dining table.

Bran sat at one end while Bea sat at the other. They were staring at each other with serious and even a bit hostile expressions, but neither was inclined to begin the conversation.

Everyone at the table felt that something was wrong. These two individuals never met before by their knowledge, so why would they act like this?

The only people who seemed to have an idea were Cass and Melinda, but they didn't want to take part in the silent argument.

After a few more minutes of this display, Bea finally had enough and through gritted teeth she spoke...

"So you are the Bran I have heard a lot about. You don't seem too impressive to me... Why would we trust you if you are all so weak?"

She was referring to Bran mostly, but didn't want to single him out, so she insulted all of them.

"I don't care if you trust us or not. I'm here representing Sera... I will ask you only once. Do you want to help or not? If yes, then I will tell you everything, but if you aren't, then get the fuck out of here!"

Both Melinda and Cass stared at him with surprise. Neither had heard him talk like this before. Usually Bran was very formal and nice, but something in Bea seemed to irk him.

At the other side of the table, a wide grin crept on Bea's face. She seemed to enjoy this exchange a lot.

"We are going to help Sera and kill Harold, regardless of what you want!"

"That's good, then let's talk about what to do next..."

Before Bran could've said anything else, Bea held up her hand and cut in.

"First, I want to know how strong you all actually are. Again, why would we want the help of weak Evolved?"

Next to Bran, Lilith had enough. She rolled her eyes and sent a full-powered wave of exhaustion to every member of Bea's group, except Bea.

They each reacted differently. Will, Sarah, and Lucy fell asleep within a few seconds, while Leslie and James took a bit more time.

Both Damien and Bea jumped to their feet in concern, and in the next moment, shadows consumed the room.

"Hey! Who turned off the lights?" Shouted Vicky.

She was playing some game on Brian's back and hearing her shout; the dog barked loudly.

The five members were only out for a few seconds, and each woke up with fear in their eyes.

Faith felt that they were fine, so she dismissed her shadows. The lights came back on, and everyone took their seat like nothing had happened.

The five people stared at Lilith with a bit of terror, and she just smiled at them.

"You all have so much past trauma. I could've killed you and eaten your souls with so much ease... And you call them strong..."

Her giggle was a salt to their already deep wound. The five people looked away with shame, while Bea stared at Lilith with curiosity.

"Hmm... Fine, you aren't as weak as I thought, but you are still not that strong. I'm pretty sure Damien could kill all of you without raising a finger."

They all looked at the white-haired man with concern, but from the middle of the table an old man's laugh took their attention.

"I wouldn't be so sure, ma'am. This bunch may not look like much, but it is clear that Sera helped them all with their evolution, just like you!... Also, that girl with the purple hair is one of my greatest successes! She is stronger than Damien... At least she would be if she would learn more about her powers!"

Collins stared at Cass with accusation, making her blush and turn away. Bea looked at the old man with skepticism, but after Damien whispered something to her, she seemed to believe his words.

"So, what's Sera's and Harold's current situation?" asked Bea, like she didn't just threaten everyone multiple times.

Bran said nothing, just looked towards the tired teenager sitting next to Lilith. His eyes were half closed, and he was in the process of falling asleep.

This man was none other than Adam, Lilith's husband. He travelled here as fast as possible, straight from Rome.

Her wife gave him a strong elbow to the side, causing him to awaken. He looked towards Bran, who was very annoyed.

Adam just yawned and stood up. He reached out his hand, which turned into sand. The small particles fell on top of the table and formed into a gigantic map of Europe. They then changed and turned into colored glass.

The map had each city-state marked with colors, depending on its allegiance. The map showed the United Front in green, the Federal Alliance in red, and the Angelic Order in white.

A few of them were gray, meaning those were still unaligned city-states. The most important being Castleburg up north.

The entire group examined this map both in curiosity and awe. They asked a few questions, like what each color meant, and what the lines on the Alps and Pyrenees were.

"...Those are the most recent battle movements in that area. There are also a bunch of tiny dots, which marks the battles fought in the past six months." Explained Adam, then yawned again.

"And what is this? Why does the Island of Malta have a large red 'X' on it?" asked Damien, but he already expected the answer.

"That right there is our target... But let's backtrack a bit. You still have to learn what Sera has done and is currently suffering right now..." said Bran, but before he could continue, Vicky teleported on the table in front of him.

"Do you know where my other mommy is?" Her voice brought surprise to everyone in their group except Bran.

Melinda's and Cass's eyes went wide, while Lilith and Adam just stared at the girl with pure devotion. At the other side of the table, Faith growled at the looks in their eyes. In her mind, she was the only protector of Vicky, except Bea, of course.

"Yes, we do, and she is in a lot of trouble, but with your other mommy's help we will rescue her... Right?"

"Yes, of course. Now come and sit here little angel, while we talk about saving Sera!"

Vicky didn't hesitate and in the next moment she appeared on Bea's lap, and watched the large beautiful map with curiosity. The glass at the end of the map moved a bit until it formed a small statue of Sera.

With excitement, Vicky took the colored glass statue and inspected it. She then pressed it to her face, while making a very cute expression.

Back at his place, Adam smiled at the child, while Lilith held his hand and whispered to him with a pouting face. He laughed to himself and made another statue for Lilith too.

She took it with even more excitement than Vicky, which was a strange sight.

The mood around the table brightened for a moment, but then it got plunged back into darkness as Bran began to recount the past two years' events.

"After sending you away, Sera got punished by Harold severely. Using his powers, he broke Sera's soul and took a shard away from it... The effects were unrepairable. She lost all her memories, and she stopped feeling any emotions."

He paused after saying this. Everyone at the table had their eyes on him... They were a mix of anger, sadness, and guilt.

Many of them secretly blamed Sera for getting stuck in that other Realm, but hearing how bad she suffered, just for that small attempt at saving them... They felt horrible... But as Bran continued; the feeling got a lot worse...

"But... Harold wanted more... Sera could die and regenerate each day once. She became his personal lab rat... He killed her in different ways, while doing tests on her..."

He could hardly speak from the pure rage burning inside him. The few plants around the room began to whiter as his aura got released.

"How many times?... How many times did she die?" asked Bea, her anger boiling too. Read exclusive content at empire

They looked into each other's eyes, and Bran whispered the answer through gritted teeth... "More than four hundred..."

The plants that were slowly dying suddenly burst back into life. Bea's aura hit them too, which caused the withering process to reverse.

The room was silent. The meaning behind his words settling in everyone. They couldn't even imagine how much suffering she went through.

This information was new for even Cass and the married couple. Collins was already lost in this topic, but even he felt bad for Sera, even though they never met.

"That's where she is now, too. Getting tortured each day... Getting killed each day... We need to help her and make Harold pay for what he did!"

Everyone at the table nodded in agreement. Everyone except the little girl in Bea's lap, who upon hearing all this, began to silently cry.

Bea tried to hold her close, and calm her down, but in the next moment she teleported back to Brian. The spider-dog looked at Vicky with concern, and they cuddled together on a carpeted area.

From her seat, Bea watched this with both worry and sadness. She tried her best to substitute for Sera in these past two years, but it was clear that Vicky had missed her very much.

It also probably brought back memories of their time in Nightmare's custody...

Remembering Nightmare was hard for Bea, too, but for a different reason. In the past two years, Damien told them a lot about Harold, and how he played with people...

He was the one who caused Nightmare to fall into the hands of Madness. Everything that they suffered through in Havel was because of him!

With another source of anger, Bea stared at the Island of Malta, where the Mad Scientist lived.

Slowly her eyes moved until she was staring at Bran... "What's the plan?"