49 Aftermath

"What?!", exclaimed Agaven. He couldn't believe his ears. But Alakdan kept on talking.

"I dunno exactly what happened but the witnesses say that smoke was rising from the location of your house. When they went to check, it was already burnt down to the ground."

Rhael, stunned, was frozen where she stood. It took her time to take it all in but her first words came out as a whisper; "Lerica…"

Alakdan had more to say, "Look, I can send for a team to check it out if you wan--"

But the Stedores were already rushing outside the Chamber, chanting the teleportation spell towards their car.

Both of them did not say a word to each other. None of them wanted to say the dreaded words. It couldn't be. A moment earlier, they were feeling on top of the world. Now, all the strength they felt was swept away. They were feeling very powerless.

They finally reached the gates to their house almost 20 minutes later. Rhael rushed inside without pause, while Agaven checked the protective wards for any signs or damages. There was no sign of intrusion, so he had to assume whoever attacked their house knew and eluded the wards or it was from the inside. The only ones possible would be either Brutos Griffith or , in some unexplained circumstance, Sera.

'There's only one way to know for sure what happened.' he muttered, while dashing off to run after his wife.

Rhael was kneeling in front of their house- or at least what's left of it. The grand Stedore Estate that once stood elegantly among the forest backdrop was now charred black, only a few posts still poking from the debris. Tears began to well in her unblinking eyes. She didn't want to believe it. Only the touch of Agaven stirred her from her daze. He did not say a thing but he moved immediately after towards a spot in the ruins and started moving the debris aside.

She didn't understand at first what her husband was doing but then she suddenly remembered. "The basement laboratory!". Rhael suddenly found her strength, and she scrambled up to help her husband clean the space. Hopefully, the damage was only contained on the outside, and their daughter is kept safe inside her cryo-capsule.

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Brutos Griffith lay in darkness, still naked and cluthing at his knees, a piece of bloodsoaked cloth was pressed against his crotch. He didn't know what to feel anymore. First, a girl beat him almost to death and let her escape. Secondly, he burned his sister's house down. He only managed to save himself from the burning debris by scurrying back to this basement laboratory.

"Aww, crap. They're gonna be reaaaaaaal pissed…", he managed to let out a joke. He painfully chuckled to himself and closed his eyes as he tried to forget everything that's happened.

For what felt like an eternity, Brutos was woken up from his slumber by a scraping noise and a bright light. He held his hand up to shield his eyes from the glare, and squinted to see who came to his rescue.

"Someone's here!"

'Sounds like the home owners are here.', Brutos thought to himself.

"It's… it's your brother, Rhael. He looks like he's in a bad shape."

'Yup, definitely them.', Brutos sighed as he lowered his arms and awkwardly smiled at the couple. Rhael's eyes were full of anger and sorrow at the same time. She wanted to say something but instead walked away towards the cryo-capsules.

"What happened here?", Agaven moved closer to the naked man. There was tension in his voice and it started to grow louder, angrier. "I swear, if-"

"Agaven!" Rhael's voice called.

Agaven gave Brutos one disgusted look and turned away, running towards the direction of Rhael's voice.

What he saw broke his heart. Rhael was weeping, yanking off the metal clamps that closed over Lerica's limbs. His daughter-their only daughter, sat on the chair, her frail body in contrast with the dark and brutal surroundings. He rushed to Rhael's side as they both removed the last clamp and they held their daughter in their arms. She felt very cold, she was no longer breathing. What was left was a lifeless human shell that was once the Stedores most precious treasure. The couples cries were haunting, even Brutos, who thought himself violent by nature, felt a part of him grieve for their loss.

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Clandestines swarmed the place shortly after, sent by Alakdan to check on their leaders. A perimeter was immediately set-up and an investigation to search for clues was immediately issued. Brutos Griffith was tended to and was being transported to the nearest hospital. He never said a word to anyone, his humiliation would turn him into a clown. The Stedores, by their own requests not to be bothered, both sat in the basement laboratory a while longer. Both somewhat expected to see Sera dead among the ruins, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Their first mandate as the leaders of the Clandestine Order was to find the girl who escaped, and bring her to them alive. She might know whoever was audacious enough to do this.

Rhael softly stroked Lerica's hair while she lay in her cryo-capsule- or rather her coffin. Agaven stood beside her, as they held each other's hands.

"By my own life, I swear. Whoever did this to us will pay. They will pay a thousand fold from what we experienced. I will see to it they will suffer by my own hands."