Chapter 1293 The End Of A Long Battle
-----
"I-Is it finally over?" Rose looked into the horizon, as the sun slowly started to rise above, the morning led to the evening, and the sunlight shone over the Queendom of Aquarius.
After so many battles, after so many tears, and after so much blood shed, at long last, there was now peace and quiet…
Half of the capital was destroyed and in ruins, the castle became a pile of rubble, and most of the people in the entire country were left without homes.
"Hahh… It is finally over…" Coral sighed, sitting over the sand of the beach.
His eyes looked into the horizon, despite all the things that they went through, despite everything they lost, and despite how hard it will be to get everything back together…
"Yeah, I guess… finally." Sapphire sighed.
They couldn't help but smile faintly as they admired the beauty of the evening, and the sun shining brightly atop the clear skies.
A great darkness that had been lurking within this country's roots since the beginning has finally been vanquished.
And whoever those strange, mechanical invaders were, they were also taken care of by Drake and Benladann and Miranda.
"I don't know why… But the sunlight feels so refreshing over my skin…" Sighed Anastasia, as tears started flowing from her eyes. "What… what have I done? All of this… if only I didn't…"
"Mom…" Eleanor walked towards her weeping mother, hugging her. "Stop blaming yourself for everything…"
"Eleanor…" Anastasia cried even more when she saw the daughter she mistreated so much still loving her and caring for her like this. "I'm so sorry for everything…"
"I-It's fine! What matters is that we are all… alive and healthy, right?" Eleanor smiled.
Anastasia glanced at her daughter's cheerful expression, sighing.
"She's right." Sapphire walked towards the two with Rose and Coral. "You have committed many terrible mistakes, Anastasia. But weeping about it won't resolve everything, it is good that you feel regret for your actions, but we need to do something now. Anastasia, you're a powerful sorceress, and possess a Stigma as well as your daughter, we'll need your strength to reconstruct our home from zero. Come, you'll pay for your mistakes and sins by helping the people you once made suffer."
"Sapphire…" Anastasia sighed. "Thank you… so much for your benevolence, great ancestor."
"Thank you auntie." Eleanor nodded.
"Haha, don't call me great ancestor." Sighed Sapphire. "Auntie is fine I guess…"
"Yeah, for now let's get along and help the people in need! We've got a whole town to reconstruct!" Rose nodded.
"Yep, it will take all our joint effort to do this." Coral nodded, crossing his arms.
"Looks like you've all taken a decision then." Ruby smiled, walking towards the group with the rest of the Vampires of her Family, her mother and Rakasha. "We'll do whatever we can to help as well."
"But… after everything you've done for us…" Anastasia sighed. "I feel bad asking for more of your aid."
"Ahaha! Don't worry about it." Ruby laughed. "I once went through a lot of the things you all did. Seeing you fight for your families, your country, and your people… I simply can't help but feel empathy, to feel like we're really similar in one way or another. I just want to help, maybe as a way to thank for all those that helped me as well back then."
Ruby looked at Rakasha with a slight smile, as Rakasha gently gave her a head pat.
"Yeah, I am a pretty good architect! Leave the reconstruction of the castle to me." Rakasha laughed.
"I'll do anything I can as well!" Ruby's mother nodded. "I might… have committed many mistakes in my life before, but now I have changed, and I want to prove everyone that I am no longer the same person I used to be, kind of like Anastasia, hehe."
"I can't believe… So many people have gone through the things we did in the other side of this world…" Anastasia sighed.
"The world is really small when you think about it." Laughed Coral. "Well, not like we could had ever meet these people if it wasn't for someone."
"And talking about the devil…" Ruby glanced into the skies.
FLAAASH!
A gigantic, domineering black scaled dragon slowly descended from the skies, quickly transforming into a handsome young Ice Giant. Drake gently carried his two sleeping daughters over his arms, his expression didn't looked happy though, he looked tired, yet relieved at the same time. At his side, Benladann and Miranda accompanied him.
"Let me carry Benladra." Benladann said, quickly letting Drake rest for a bit, as she carried her beloved daughter. 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝘃𝗲𝐥．𝗰𝗼𝐦
"I guess Auntie Miranda will have to carry you, little Kate." Miranda smiled, gently carrying Kate in her arms.
"Drake, Benladann, Miranda! You're back." Ruby said. "It seems… those were Greenwood's golems again?"
"Yeah…" Drake sighed, staying slightly silent. "I am so frustrated… That bastard has been probably waiting for this moment to target my daughters. I lowered my guard, this is… my fault."
"Drake…" Ruby sighed. "It wasn't your fault, you were busy dealing with the Deep One, it wasn't something that-"
"My daughters almost died… Or worse." Drake sighed, gritting his teeth, his rage was flowing across his body, an intimidating aura surged from within.
It seemed as if he wasn't into the mood to chat about this.
However, the hand of Benladann touched his shoulder, his rage quickly receding.
"Calm down, dear." Benladann sighed. "We'll get through this together, let's make sure that this never happens again, okay? For now, let's concentrate in the present. What do you want to do now?"
"Yeah, relax for a bit, sheesh." Miranda sighed. "You're going to wake up the babies by letting go of that aura!"
"A-Ah…" Drake was quickly caught off guard, if there was any weakness he had, it was these two women. "Right… Sorry, I… I let my emotions get the better of me. Anyways, Sapphire, let's begin gathering the survivors, and search for anybody that might be in trouble or buried in the rubble."
"Right, good idea, Drake." Sapphire nodded.
Although a great battle had ended, there was a lot of work to do before taking a rest.
-----