Chapter Forty-One: A Family Lunch

"It's so good to see you again!"

Lyanna was happy to see her sister, and tears were starting to form in her eyes.

Lyanna looks very much like Anna, Raven, and Alex. She had black hair and purple eyes, and she was beautiful. She was also very shapely, much like Anna and Raven. It seems to be a running trait in the Morrigan bloodline.

"I heard what happened to the Blackwood Mansion, and I got so worried..." *sniffle*

"It's okay, Lyanna; all of us are fine." Anna said to calm down her sister.

Lyanna stopped the hug, trying to regain her composure, but seeing her niece and nephew that she hadn't seen in years now nearly fully crown, she couldn't help but go to hug them.

"You two have gotten so big since I last saw you!" Lyanna said this while hugging Alex and Raven at the same time. Both of them reciprocated her hug.

Eve was smiling to the side, seeing everyone truly smile for what felt like the first time in awhile.

Especially Alex, who had been hiding a lot of his emotions.

Recently, Alex told them he had been feeling like something was off and didn't know how to truly feel about it. He couldn't tell what the emotion was, but something had happened; it was as if he could feel it in his soul.

After all the hugs were given, Lyanna noticed something was off and asked Anna.

"Hey, where's Mary?"

This question caused a look of conflict on many of the faces in the group.

"Lyanna, maybe we should sit down and talk about everything." Anna said.

Lyanna agreed and had her maids make more plates for everyone.

Amelie, Lyanna's only daughter, was quiet; however, when Raven went to talk to her, she seemed to open up more. The two were always more like sisters than cousins anyway, and it seems time hasn't changed that. However, unlike many of the Morrigan bloodline, she did not inherit the hair color and eye color possessed by them; instead, she had long red hair that reached the center of her back and an amber eye color.

"Alex, uh, who is that girl sitting next to you?" Amelie asked.

"Oh, this is Claire; she's my friend and my personal bodyguard." Alex explained.

"Oh! It's nice to meet you, Claire!" Amelie said while waving at Claire.

"Yes, hello, Amelie; it's nice to meet you too." Claire responded.

Amelie was nearly the same age as Alex and Raven, so they all got along pretty well.

However, the happy attitude changed pretty quickly.

"So what happened to Mary?" Lyanna asked.

Mary was close with both Anna and her sister, after all.

Agnes was also listening in while cleaning in the kitchen. She trained her personally, after all.

"Lyanna, Mary betrayed us."

Those words sent shock into both Lyanna and Agnes.

"What do you mean?" Lyanna asked, confused.

Anna and Alex both explained what transpired that fateful night at the Blackwood Mansion. How Mary had betrayed them for her own goals, and how Alex had killed Edmund Blackwood.

Tears formed in Lyanna's eyes; she never thought there would ever be a day that Mary would betray them.

Agnes, while not crying, had a very depressed expression. Mary, Kaede, and Eve were like daughters to her; she didn't expect one of them to be capable of this.

"Wait, it was Alex who killed Edmund Blackwood?" Lyanna asked after wiping away her tears with a napkin.

"Yes, I did." Alex said.

"Well, no need for you to explain; I never liked the Blackwood Family anyway. I was kind of hoping you would have killed Edward too, but this works out fine after all." Lyanna said.

"I did hear Edward was now missing, so I assumed he perished in that fire along with his son." Agnes said, looking at Alex.

"No, he left hours before I attacked the mansion. I have no idea where he went or why he's missing. I've been wondering every day, but without a lead, there's nothing I can think of that's concrete enough to explain what happened." Alex said, leaning back with his arms crossed while in deep thought.

"Wait, was it you who killed that Tarren boy in Lapis City?" Lyanna asked. "I heard he was supposed to marry Raven until he was challenged and killed."

"Yes, he challenged me and foolishly decided to make it a life-or-death duel." Alex explained.

"So you've caused chaos now in two towns and are now here; may I ask what you're doing here now? Not that I don't love having you guys here, but I'm just curious." Lyanna asked.

"We're here to ask you to house us. You were the only place we could go, sister." Anna said.

"I would never say no to that, Hannah! Lauren! Prepare the guest rooms for everyone."

"Yes, My Lady." the maids in the hallway said before they went upstairs together.

"All of you came at a great time; tomorrow is the first princess' 17th birthday, after all, and there's going to be a big festival and everything." Lyanna said while she was smiling.

"Oh, and there's going to be a big parade through the city as well!" Amelie commented.

"That sounds like fun!" Eve said. "Can we go?" she asked, looking at Anna.

"Of Course, we're safe now after all." Anna answered.

As Eve celebrated, Alex had a different thought in mind.

"Everyone is finally safe, but what should I do next?"

*In another location*

"Adelia, what brings you here?" a man asked while sitting on a throne.

He had long, white hair reaching the center of his back and piercing blue eyes. He had a poised look to him as he asked the girl in front of him who had visited without telling him prior.

Adelia had long, dark blue hair and blue eyes and had a graceful appearance.

"Percival, it's about Ghost." Adelia said.

"I had figured something had happened; I've had an off feeling for awhile now." Percival said.

"Helena found him; he has been killed by "that" group. His origin wasn't with him after all." Adelia said.

"That means either they took it or he has passed it on." Percival said.

"We believe he had passed it on; Helena found a note hidden inside the handle of his tachi in which he described someone named Alex as his successor." Adelia said.

"Well, if he passed on his origin and we don't know who exactly possesses it, that means they don't either, which means it's safe for now. Adelia discreetly looks into the possibilities of who this "Alex" is. I'll get word to the others about the loss of our comrade." Percival said.

"Yes, brother." Adelia said before she left the room.

"It seems they had made their first move in nearly a decade; we got lucky this time, but we need to find out who the new holder of the lightning origin is before it's too late." Percival said.

*Elsewhere*

"So is that him, Violet?" Asher asked Violet.

The two, along with another member of their group named Sylvia, came across a man currently cooking a deer, which it seems he hunted.

"Yes, Asher, that's the holder of the Earth Origin." Violet explained.

"He seems strong, Perfect!" Sylvia said.

"Calm down, you battle maniac; if he's an Origin user, we have to strategize here." Asher said.

"As reluctant as I am to agree with this idiot, he's right." Violet said after sighing.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Asher whispered while trying not to yell.

"Screw this, let's do this thing!" Sylvia said it out loud as she jumped across a gap in front of the man cooking.

"Since when could she jump so high?" Asher asked.

"When she's excited, I'm convinced there's nothing that can stop her, even the laws of gravity. Now let's go and assist her." Violet explained.

The three approached the man sitting on a tree log.

He was tall and well built; his skin was a light brown color with white hair tied into a ponytail, and his eyes were a jade shade of green. As soon as the three approached him, he stood up and grabbed his greatsword that was next to him.

"So you finally caught up with me."

"Yes, we have; it's good to meet you, holder of the Earth Origin." Violet said.

"C'mon, let's get this started!" Sylvia yelled out.

"Very well, let's begin."

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