It was a momentous day for Antonio Corazon. A day where all of his hard work would pay off. His mother was finally coming back from the dead

Vividly, he recounted the day Maria said goodbye to him and finally closed her eyes. She was overcome by a terrible disease that had robbed her of her mobility and her vigor. The last thing she did was place her twin rapiers--a generational pair of weapons--in his hand. With them, she had instructed him with all she knew. Antonio’s hands clutched the handle of the swords. They felt warm with anticipation.

Six men arrived. They carried a coffin made of dead, gray wood with a gold transcendenity emblazoned on the front of it. Everyone stood still. They were filled with dread, waiting to witness a so-called miracle. The men dropped the coffin with a cold, dead thump and Antonio broke the silence with an outcry. “Bunting tell them to be more careful with her. Like you would do with your own madre.”

“Ah but mister swordsmen,” Bunting said with a fond smile. “I killed my mother and baked ‘er in a cake. Eet was the first thing I did when I became an everblood and eet was scrumptious perfection.”

“Well,” Antonio said wincing. “Just do it for my sake. For all I’ve done to help you.”

“Well, eef you say so,” the chef said with a playful nod. “But don’t worry, for no matter how battered and bruised your mama is, she’ll be as good as new with the power of a bloodstone.”

Antonio heard the people he misled whispering among themselves.

“A bloodstone?” Archibald whispered to Cyrus. “Is that the way Bunting plans to bring back his mother? Good luck with that.”

“Yeah,” Cyrus responded looking up at his mentor. “I’ve only seen bloodstones turn people into monsters. Van has too.”

“Let him do it,” Vanessa said, her hands crossed. “It’s what he deserves for what he did to me and who knows who else.”

“Little knighty,” Archibald said with a sad smile. “The deranged things people will do to bring back their beloved. I wouldn’t forgive Antonio, but I would certainly pity him.”

Van exchanged cold glances with Antonio before the young swordsman beckoned to Bunting. The chef throttled Jetta with one hand and reached inside his kitchen clothes with the other. Bunting produced a gleaming red stone from his apron and held it in his hands. Thoughts crossed Antonio’s mind. He wondered if anything Archibald said about it was true. But the handsome young man denied it. He was too determined to see his mother rise again

Bunting lifted the casket open. He placed it inside and a crimson light erupted from the coffin. Blinded, Antonio stumbled back in horror as a dark robed corpse with shriveled eyes, rotten teeth and stringy hair rose from it. Everyone winced as the smell of rotted flesh lingered around them. There was a look of horror in Antonio’s eyes and they began to water from fear, repulsion and sadness. His beautiful, gentle mother had been reduced to a withered corpse. Life wasn’t fair, but death was even crueler.

Right before his eyes, as if brought on by a miracle from heaven itself, the recently decayed corpse reformed. Its rotted skin patched over with new fresh skin and its hair revived itself. A beautiful tan skinned woman with a sweet face and sad auburn eyes sat before Antonio. Her hair was gently curled with red roses hanging from them. Her face was smooth with only the slightest crease lines on it from age.

“She looks like she did the day she left me.”

Antonio started to whimper and cry as he ran to her. He took her by the hand, but just as he did, she pulled her hand away from him. Her brown eyes flashed a pale yellow and a cold expression replaced her sadness. She stepped aside out of the coffin, leaving Antonio in complete silence.

“W-w-what’s wrong with her?” Antonio asked, as his mother stepped beside Bunting.

“You said, bring ‘er back,” the chef said in an equally cold voice. “Silly boy, zee uncreator is the only one who can retrieve lost souls and I am not in his good graces. ‘er body is now a vessel for a special rarity, a refined blood stone. Zis is the best I can do.”

Antonio’s mouth hung open. Something snapped in his head. He stood there shaking, knowing that he had been fully and completely deceived.

The chef gave a sparkling smile that showed off his fangs. “What can I say, silly boy, other than ce la vie.”

Antonio’s pretty face wrinkled in an ugly way as anger swelled up in his eyes.

“Bunting! You foul, disgusting monstro,” Antonio screamed drawing his sword. He rushed at the smirking chef with his sword poised to separate Bunting’s head from his shoulders. But just as he did, his mother’s empty shell of a body stepped in between them, causing Antonio to cease his attack.

“You wouldn’t stab a kindly woman would you?” Bunting said with a cheeky grin as he continued to hold Jetta. “Or Jetta Larson. ‘oo is not such a kindly woman.”

Antonio dropped his sword and slumped to the ground. Antonio turned his head to see Cyrus, Archibald and even Van watching with pity. He was beneath even the fools he had tricked.

“Now, we can finally get down to business,” Bunting said. “And demonstrate the true power of a wondrous bloodstone when it has combined with human flesh.”

“W-what are you going to do?” Antonio asked.

“You shall witness ‘er true power,” and Bunting turned to Maria. “I want you to kill them, starting with Jetta.”

Maria with her cold yellow eyes glanced at Jetta who was still groggy from being hit over the head with a frying pan. She murmured as Maria grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and slammed her into the ground with inhuman strength. Jetta’s body lay slumped on the ground groaning before Maria grabbed her again. Jetta’s eye was blackened from the blunt force and blood trickled from her nose and mouth; Maria quickly took her and flung her into Archibald bowling him over.

Maria walked briskly over to her victims.

“Ho ho ho,” Bunting laughed. “Now witness her truly manifique feat. When a refined bloodstone lives inside an empty vessel, it can perform feats even us Everbloods cannot.”

Maria with a frozen veneer quickly held out her hands in front of her victims. Everyone including Jetta winced. “My heart,” Van said. “I feel funny.”

“Palpitations,” Archibald said with a severe look on his face. “Is everyone feeling them?”

“My hearts beating slower and slower,” Cyrus said, attempting to get up and run away but the speed of his heart made him fall dizzily to the ground.

Bunting smirked at Antonio who watched quietly. “I wouldn’t cross your mother if I was you. A refined bloodstone has the ability to crystallize blood and stop hearts much like a cholesterol clogged pastry.”

Antonio stood with a solemn face as he watched his enemies cringe and roll in pain. His mother, or what she had become was terrifying. Van winced and shook on the ground, her body was well conditioned but it was still thin and bony and it was clear that she was having the most difficulty with Maria’s attack. Antonio saw her long lashed eyes squint hard as she began to see the light. She started to reach towards Antonio and said, “I can’t believe I loved you, but I did…before you betrayed me…I loved you like no one else…ugh…ugh…aaaaaaahhhh!” She rolled over and let out a pained cry that rang in Antonio’s ears. It tormented him almost as much as seeing his mother die; both women had loved him dearly. He realized at that very moment he felt something for Vanessa Montero.

Antonio let out a scream and quickly threw one of his rapiers into Maria’s chest. Everyone dropped to the ground and let out gasps like fish struggling on dry land. Maria’s neck cracked backwards to gaze at Antonio with a snake like death glare. Antonio felt as if his own blood was about to curdle seeing his mother like that. She tore the rapier out of her chest as it quickly reformed and walked towards him. Bunting watched with glee as Maria spoke for the first time.

“An…to…nio.” Maria said in an emotionless tone. “Antonio, my reformed brain has memories of you. It must have belonged to…this woman. You were her son.”

Antonio swallowed hard. It pained him immensely to hear his mother’s voice and memories be used by a fiend. Maria swung the rapier with deftness; Antonio taken by surprise, only had a few seconds to block. “I have…memories of training you too,” the fiend said with Maria’s voice. “Perhaps rather than killing you on the spot, we’ll have a duel. It’ll give you one last reminisce of your mother before you die for what you did. I am eager to test out this new body.”

The woman laughed as Antonio hastily blocked every one of her thrusts without striking back. He tried to make it look like throwing a sword through his mother’s body hadn’t pained him but it did. “Come,” she said. “Don’t you wish to strike me down? I am your opponent after all.”

“You’re resorting to mental games,” Antonio said quietly.

“What was that?” Maria said back.

“You’re resorting to mental games,” Antonio repeated louder.

“And here I thought you were a Corazon,” Maria responded. “Did I not teach you how to gain the upper hand with your prey?”

Antonio nodded. The line between his mother and the fiend were blurring, but he had to remain strong.

“I remember when you were seven and you had begun to grow out your hair,” Maria said. “Most boys your age paid no mind to girls but you were different. You were different because I taught you how to survive in this world. And when we aren’t given things, we learn to take from those more gullible than us.”

Antonio’s arms shook but he blocked another slash from her sword. She could see into his past and know the very person he was. It chilled him to the core.

“When your father stole what money we had left and skipped town,” Maria said without an inch of emotion in her voice. “I was devastated. I never showed how sad I was feeling to anyone but you. From then on, it was us against the world and I trained you with the same belief that people are no good. The only one you can trust is your familia.”

Antonio paced himself to look at Van, who sat looking up at the battle. “That’s not true,” she said. “I trusted you. I saw you were without a parent and I thought of myself.”

“That’s right,” Antonio said breathing hard. “Vanessa trusted me. You’re wrong, madre, or whatever you are. I learned in these last few days that I can let outsiders in. You couldn’t even ask me to get you a doctor when you were dying. Instead you left me to grieve over you as you passed on. You broke my heart.”

Antonio slid Maria’s sword off of his and stabbed her in the chest again. Suddenly her voice became light and airy and full of emotion. “Son, I’m sorry,” she cried. “I had feared a doctor would rob us or take you away. I couldn’t bear to be apart from you.”

Tears trickled down Antonio’s face, he wrapped his arms around her too. “I’m sorry too mama.”

Maria let out a sob, before she spoke again, “I’m sorry…sorry I have to do this.”

Maria ran her sword through Antonio’s body causing Van to cry out. The swordsman coughed blood and let out a cry. Blood seeped from his mouth as his organs congested themselves. But as the rogue’s blood dripped onto Maria, she stepped back in horror. The blood dripped right through her hand.

Antonio immediately realized what he’d have to do. He smeared his hands in his blood and slung it at Maria’s head. The left side of her face dissolved leaving only her mouth and her right eye with a big pulsing bloodstone at the center of her head. Antonio ripped the rapier out of his stomach and threw it right at the bloodstone, cutting right through it. Maria fell back immediately.

Antonio lurched over to Maria with a pained expression and a bleeding gut. He fell beside her and she gazed at him with her right eye. It had changed back to the beautiful auburn it once was. “Though, I’m not her. I still harbor every emotion from her nerves down to her brain and heart.” Maria said. “I love you, my little chico.”

I...I…” Antonio said and he winced from the amount of blood he was losing.

Maria smiled gently and moved his hand onto her bloodstone. “Let me give you my remaining power. It’ll regenerate the organs that’ve been punctured.”

“Thank you,” Antonio said as he felt power returning to his body. “I love you to…agh!”

Bunting stepped on his hand with his black, non-stick kitchen boots. “No no no, can’t have that. I’d prefer my prettyboy dead so I can prepare a nice souffle out of him.”

Antonio cried and rolled back. He had enough energy in him to survive but he was still painfully wounded.

“Bunting,” Maria hissed as the chef crouched down with his fangs spread in a smile again.

“Bad bloodstone,” Bunting said taunting it. “Being a mother was not part of your orders. Seems I’ve got to take care of you myself.”

Bunting quickly planted his feet firmly on the ground, his skin glowed bright blue and his eyes rolled back until they were nothing but white with bloody veins. He chanted a solemn intonation,

“Black gold, black velvet abyss

Swallow up the land of light

Grant the world your devil’s kiss

Bathe the land with eternal night”

Bunting snapped his fingers and turned towards Maria as he kept chanting.

“Black gold dissolve into black mist

Consume your object of desire

Become a titan with iron fists

And eyes of golden fire.”

Maria’s eye grew black and pointed teeth shot through her mouth. She inhaled so loudly it sounded like a dragon’s lungs. The black gold behind Bunting dissolved into black smoke and flew inside her mouth. Everyone but Bunting watched in horror as the limbs of Antonio’s mother grew black as midnight and extended far beyond their natural length. Her head changed too. It was now coated in the darkness of the devils gold, and nothing remained of her features except for endless rows of white sharpened teeth and sinister golden eyes. Her body stretched and grew until it had become a shadow monster the size of the golden dome.