Eternal Undying Chronicles

Chapter 183 Against Fate

The bicorn soared through the crisp morning air, its shadowy wings cutting through the clouds as it carried Alicarde and Malefica back toward Evergreen City. Below, the landscape stretched out in a patchwork of snowy fields and frost-covered forests, the rising sun casting a pale glow over the wintry expanse.

Halfway through their journey, Wrath descended gracefully into a dense forest by the roadside. Snow blanketed the ground in pristine white, muffling the sound of its hooves as it trotted through the quiet woods. The air was still, save for the faint rustle of branches as a cold wind threaded through the trees.

Malefica continued her story, her voice soft yet steady. She recounted a moment from her past—a rare time when she had dared to defy her family's suffocating control.

"I wanted to see the world beyond the coven," she began, her gaze fixed on the snow-covered path ahead.

"For a brief time, I did. I met a kind girl in a distant village, a florist. She gave me a bouquet of flowers and told me about the beauty in the simple things of life."

Alicarde remained silent, his piercing eyes locked on her as she spoke.

"But my grandmother…" Malefica hesitated, her voice tinged with bitterness, "…she found out. She assumed the flowers came from a man, that I had broken one of her rules. She wiped out the entire village."

A chill unrelated to the weather settled over them. Alicarde tightened his grip on Wrath's reins, his jaw clenching as he imagined the devastation.

"That florist," Malefica continued, her voice trembling slightly, "she was just a kind girl who gave me flowers. Her only crime was kindness."

Alicarde could sense the raw emotion in her voice. This was no mere recounting of history; it was the moment that shattered her trust in her family.

"That was when I decided I had to fight for my freedom," she said, her voice hardening.

"I confronted my grandmother during one of her rituals—a sealing ritual in a place I was forbidden to enter. I caught her off guard and… sealed her into a stone statue."

Alicarde raised an eyebrow. "You turned your grandmother into a statue?"

"She gave me no choice," Malefica replied sharply, though her tone softened as she continued.

"But my betrayal didn't go unnoticed. The rest of the coven branded me a traitor, a pariah."

Alicarde nodded. He knew much of the story from that point on—Malefica had told him of her quest for freedom. But her voice grew quieter, signaling that there was more she had yet to reveal.

"The Wiccan Rule of Three," she said, her tone somber

. "That's what ties it all together. And the the Order… they're part of it too."

Alicarde's eyes narrowed. "okay how."

Malefica's gaze turned distant, as if she were peering into a memory.

"The Rule of Three governs everything in Wiccan tradition. Whatever you do—good or bad—comes back to you threefold. My grandmother, Diana, embodied this rule. She was the Witch of the Dawn, a title tied to the magic of morning. She fell in love with a magician from the Guild who ultimately brought about her downfall. It was fitting, in a twisted way, that her end came through magic aligned with the morning light…..just like her name."

"And your mother?" Alicarde prompted, his voice low.

"She was the Witch of the Noon," Malefica replied, her voice tinged with sorrow.

"Her power rivaled my grandmother's, but she made the same mistake of falling in love with a man from the Truth Association."

Alicarde stiffened. "The Truth Association? I see the three great powers tie into the rule if three."

"No, it isn't," Malefica agreed. "That man—my father—was no ordinary alchemist. He was the Demon of Noon….. no he became the Demon of noon"

"You're telling me the Demon of Noon is your father?" Alicarde asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

Malefica nodded.

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"He is. And everything—my grandmother, my mother, me—it all ties back to the Rule of Three."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "My grandmother fell to the magic of the morning. My mother, the Witch of the Noon, was undone by the Truth Association. And as for me, the Witch of the Night…"

Alicarde's gaze darkened. "You're saying you're destined to fall too?"

"To a Knight of the Order," Malefica said quietly.

"The prophecy is clear. The word 'night' and 'knight'—though spelled differently—are spoken the same. It's a cruel irony."

Alicarde's hands clenched tightly around Wrath's reins. He had already heard enough of the Order to consider them potential enemies. This new revelation only solidified his resolve.

"If some so-called knight thinks they can take you from me…" Alicarde's voice was a low growl,

"…I'll kill every last one of them."

Malefica looked up at him, her hazel eyes glinting with an unreadable emotion. For a moment, she said nothing, simply resting her head against his chest.

"You've always been stubborn," she said softly, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"And you've always underestimated me," Alicarde shot back, his tone lighter now.

They continued through the forest, Wrath's steady trot filling the silence as the snow continued to fall. Despite the weight of the revelations, a sense of determination settled over them both. The Rule of Three, the Demon of Noon, the Knights of the Order—all of it was a tangle of destinies and powers, but Alicarde was resolved to carve his own path.

As they emerged from the forest and approached the main road once more, Malefica leaned closer to him.

The bicorn galloped steadily as the towering skyscrapers of Evergreen City drew closer in the distance.

The crisp midday wind tugged at Alicarde's hood, brushing against his face, but his focus remained on Malefica.

He tightened his arm around her waist, leaning closer as her hair danced with the gusts.

"Hey... don't worry," he said softly, his voice steady with resolve. "I won't let anyone steal you away from me."