"Take me. I have nothing else to live for. Let me die."

"What happened to your lust for revenge and vengeance?" pondered Valesque curiously. He had thought that her spark of fire would never dim, and yet it seemed that it had reached its limit and was finally burning out.

Frankly, he wouldn't be surprised if she could no longer bear the weight of the treachery and heartache life had dealt her. Like so many other men he had defeated, they were like her.

In the beginning, they were stubborn and strong, eager and energetically fighting till the end, loyal to their cause and supporters, firmly believing in the good of people and the motto of 'never giving up'.

And as always in the end, they were weakened and lost to him.

This was why Valesque was convinced that love was everyone's greatest weakness. Love was the foolish motivator for people to hold onto things that were dear to their heart, only to be crushed by it when all became too much to stomach.

"It died when you killed my brother; when Maren abandoned me because of a few pathetic words. It died when I found out that the mother I knew was long gone. That I was solely alone in the world."

"My dear, she never even existed." Valesque could not help himself but point that out in a most pitiless manner, relishing the hurt in her eyes when she registered the meaning of his words.

"All the more to kill me then."

"Such truth in your words. Though it would be a pity to kill you," Valesque admitted while he thought of the moments when Vynthea had proposed handing down her position to her.

"Alara could be my next successor. Even you have expressed approval at some of her doings." Vynthea had commented to him before. Peering into her eyes, he proposed, "Your mother's cunning and intellect has clearly been passed down to you. You will make a great leader if you were to join me."

She guffawed in response. "Join you? Join the organisation that is working hand-in-hand with the Governors?The man who plans to murder my brother? The man who has single-handedly ruined my life? You?"

He sighed disappointedly at her reply. It was what he had expected, but he had expected more from Vynthea's daughter. "Honestly, as Vynthea's daughter, you are-"

"Vynthea, Vynthea, VYNTHEA! Her name is CYNTHIA BERRERA, NOT VYNTHEA VALLERA!" Her brilliant golden flecks flared dangerously and her voice was full of rage. The rawness of her rage impressed him.

Here Alara Berrera was fighting for her life. One would have expected a girl visibly trying to fight off unconsciousness would have no strength left in her, and yet. From her voice alone, the strength, the raw anger in it- there was so much life in it in spite of her increasingly corpse-like appearance.

That impressed him. "Beautiful," he muttered in spite of himself.

"Her name is Cynthia Berrera." Alara insisted, ignoring his sudden slip.

That angered him and brought him back to his normal state. "Cynthia was a cowardly, dastardly weak woman! Cynthia was an essential alibi for the angelic Vynthea- do you think keeping a secret like our Agency was a simple task? No. And yet our Queen was ready to sacrifice everything for the greater good. Why can't you as her daughter understand that?"

Every time Valesque uttered 'Vynthea' and 'Queen', she wanted to retch as it was pronounced with such reverence. She hated that he expected her to understand his twisted logic when she was nothing like them. As much as she loathed it, she was grateful for his rant as it was the opportunity it had to press the ring's button three times.

Passion blinded people, and when Valesque was blind, she was safest. When he was blind, he didn't notice anything, and that was what she needed to inform Eli that she needed him more than ever.

Eli. I'm counting on you.

"Silence from you- and I must say, your inner strength is similar to that of your talented mother's." Valesque smirked as he raised his gun determinedly, his finger on the trigger, ready to send a bullet to her tired heart.

It was then when she felt his unquestionable presence.

A guy that exhorted her to go for what she desired.

A guy that trained her ruthlessly in order to ensure that she knew how to protect herself.

A guy that had stuck by her and kept her going through even during the countless series of her dearest friends' deaths.

A guy that had returned her brother to her.

A guy that had saved her life several times.

A guy made her laugh so hard till she cried tears of joy.

A guy that made her fall.

A guy that had...

abandoned her when she needed him .

"Maren, what are you doing here? Leave. I wish to spare you from witnessing her death." Valesque tried to usher him away by making his tone a commanding one.

But Maren did not budge, and from his strong posture, it was apparent that he had no intention to.

"Maren, thank-" Her words of thanks cut-off the moment her brother came running in.

"Alara! Are you okay?"

"Maren- what?" She stared at her precious brother in shock as she huddled him close to her. "Maren, what the hell?"

"Trust me, Alara-"

The bullet went flying past her and into Renald's heart.

Everything happened in a flash.

Pure chaos ensued with the death of Renald, and the office became a warzone.

"STOP THIS! STOP!" Maren bellowed hoarsely. When he met Valesque's eyes, he said, "You killed Renald. You killed Renald." Never had his voice been so full of resignation and emptiness. "I could have saved him. In a way, I saw it coming. How could I not? I am a strategist trained by you and I can see every possible outcome. I let him die because I discovered how the flower works. Once it is placed in close proximity to its victim, it kills precisely in seven days.

His time was up- he had only three days left. I saw his early death as a mercy to him, and hence I let you kill him. I swear, if there had been an antidote, I would have done everything I could have to save him. But since there was not, I sat on the fence before I chose to let you do the job." His voice was now full of regret and self-loathing.

He thought his world had ended when Renald died.

He was wrong.

"You just proposed that I be your successor. And I will. On one condition." Alara bellowed suddenly, and he looked at her in confusion. Alara was looking at Valesque dead in the eye, and her eyes were full of blood thirst.

"Kill him. I know what Maren means to you; what you mean to him. So, if you kill him, I will willingly join forces with you."

Kill him.

I will willingly join forces with you.

She meant it. He knew her. He knew when she was joking and when she was not. He knew her well enough to recognise the tone she was currently using with Valesque was the same underlying tone that she often used in their sombre talks.

Like the nerd that he was, he had dubbed it the 'Underlying Tone of Truth' the moment he had learnt to differentiate the various tones of her voice.

That had been when their relationship was an amicable one.

And now, Alara Berrera wanted him dead.

In all honesty, he wasn't surprised. She had been so confident that he would be her lackey, but he wasn't that. He was never that.

Like everyone else, he had his own mind, his own opinion.

He could see her luminosity in her eyes, but it wasn't one that sparkled with optimism or pure exuberance.

The luminosity in her eyes was sparkling with malevolence.

The cogs in her never-stopping brain must be whirring so vigorously while she plotted ways to kill me. Will it be death by a gun? Death by poison, perhaps?

"You want to join forces with him, in spite of knowing what he does?" Maren couldn't help but accuse her before realising the sheer irony of that statement.

"Really? You're going there?" Alara cocked her eyebrow elegantly. "You join forces with him, in spite of knowing what he does?" She echoed tauntingly.

He shut his eyes as he drew in a breath. I deserved that. What a low blow it was, too.

"Don't." Maren yearned to take that plea back when he saw how indignant she became upon hearing that.

"Kill him, and I'll join you. Would you dare to disobey your great, divine Vynthea?" Alara challenged to Valesque.

"Very well. But let me do it with a specialty of mine- Daffodil poison."

Her eyes widened when she heard that.

Not only was she astounded that Valesque had consented to her ultimatum; that he would let him die, but she was also shocked that Maren's cause of death would be by Daffodil poison.

It was extremely toxic, especially if one were to eat the flower- if they were dumb enough to, anyway. Daffodils contained lycorine, and once it was ingested, one would feel nauseous and have convulsions.

It would be a slow, painful death. He will be begging for it before he even met the Grim Reaper.

Would I have to have his blood on my hands now?

For a moment, doubt clouded her murky mind. But the recent memories replayed automatically and she clenched her fists in an attempt to rein in her anger.

I am doing the right thing. This is to avenge Ren.

"Fine." Alara confirmed as she smiled, picturing him writhing in pain, pleading for an early death. Didn't he say that he granted Ren an early death as an act of mercy? Perhaps I can maim him hard enough for that to happen.

"But a concentrated version." In spite of herself and her former maliciousness, her smile wavered when Valesque took a clear white vial out from his coat.

The Daffodil poison in a concentrated, more powerful form.

You're doing that right thing, Alara. You are. You are.

"I need her as an ally. Furthermore, I promised Vynthea that I will care for her-" Valesque soothed coaxingly, as if his words weren't piercing his heart with every word he uttered.

Before this, he thought he had known what betrayal was. Now he knew what it really was, but also what it really felt like.

So this was how he was meant to perish.

"I will not! I have trusted you countless times and here you are, trying to shove the damn thing down my throat!" Maren yelled as he brandished his trusty knife threateningly. "I will not hesitate!"

"You ruined my life, and now it's my turn! If I can't have my family, I'll have my vengeance and my power!" Alara lunged at him as she punched him in his stomach, grabbing one of his extra blades as she started to slash him viciously.

And then...

A flash of the glinting blade as it winked at her.

Sounds of gunshots ringing as it reverberated throughout the spacious dungeon.

A sharp cry of pain; a gurgled sound followed by one of spitting.

Glass shattering.