Hometorius : Coming Home

chapter 54 : Neutral

Marylin hurried out of the house and stood at the gate. Agis and Lynda followed her but stopped on the porch. They were still somewhat disoriented by the explosion, but it didn't seem to faze Marilyn much. She looked around the street now, searching for the person who had caused all this chaos.

"Where are you, Victuvius?" she thought and opened the small door to step out onto the sidewalk. Victuvius had to be somewhere out there. Her newly acquired wings looked majestic, contrasting with her thin body. The girl looked around for Victuvius for some time until she finally spotted black smoke not too far away. She smiled to herself. She was about to move majestically towards the arriving Victuvius when she heard a piercing scream coming from behind. She turned around, disoriented, but Agis signaled her not to worry.

He approached a distraught Lynda, who was holding Kate's lifeless body in her arms. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she almost instantly shrugged it off. Tears welled up in her eyes relentlessly, but she'd never allow a man to console her.

"Leave me alone," she growled and looked at him from the ground. "Fvck off, now!"

Agis raised his hands in a defensive gesture but didn't back off. Without taking his eyes from Kate's face, he suggested to Lynda that he would help move the body into a more sterile place. She refused.

"Lynda, think a bit," he didn't let go. "Do you think Kate would like to lie between bushes like that? On the bloody ground? With her hair stuck in Victuvius's poison? Wouldn't she rather rest surrounded with beautiful, healthy flowers? Or maybe..."

"Wait, what?" she interrupted him in the middle of the sentence and looked suspiciously into his eyes.

"Kate seemed to like nature, didn't she?" he replied, although he knew that it wasn't her concern.

"What poison?" she ignored his answer.

She lifted Kate's body and stood face-to-face with Agis. Her face went pale as she noticed that his eyes were burning with a golden flame.

* * *

Just as Marilyn was about to hurl an insult towards Victuvius to spur him into action, Katrine appeared right in front of her.

"We meet again," Katrine said, addressing Victuvius.

Marylin, despite the view veiled by Katrine's body and wings, managed to notice the grimace of disgust that appeared on Victuvius's face.

"Indeed," he said in a hoarse voice.

Marylin watched him intently, ready to attack at any moment in any way. Katrine must have sensed that her body tensed up, because she stepped back gently to touch Marylin's arm in a calming gesture without turning her face from Victuvius. The gesture wasn't appreciated. Marylin had been preparing mentally for this day since she found out who she was, and now Katrine wanted to take all the fun away.

The black-haired girl didn't even manage to get really furious at her ancestor, when Victuvius attacked unexpectedly, directing at Katrine a black mass he had previously formed in his hands.

Katrine wasn't prepared for such a quick attack, but she reacted in time using a defensive spell. Marylin shook her head involuntarily. She didn't like the fact that Katrine, supposedly strong and such, wasn't fighting as a strong ancestor should, but instead only defending herself.

"That's all you can do?" Victuvius mocked, as if he read Marylin's mind. "Some weak defensive spells? Just let your youngster show off."

His finger pointed at Marylin. She looked at him in surprise, then looked at Katrine, then back at Victuvius and straightened her back. However, Katrine dismissed her with a single gesture of her hand. Marilyn sighed in resignation, pushed away from the fight.