Kariah-Belle Nadire lazed on the uncomfortable bed inside her cell. Three days had passed since she last saw Dracula. His Royal Guards had been feeding her and the mute, golden-eyed girl.

The girl's eyes remained glued to Kariah-Belle, which happened often.

The Master Knight often caught the girl inspecting her and how her eyes would light up with fascination.

Kariah-Belle had met some oddballs in her life, but this girl took the cake.

"Well?" Kariah-Belle glared, feeling slightly annoyed. "Are you gonna say something or keep gawking at the merchandise?" Once the words left her mouth, she felt a pang of guilt. She started to apologize, but the golden-haired girl finally spoke—to Kariah-Belle's surprise.

"She wants to help," the girl said. Her tone and expression were devoid of any emotion.

Kariah-Belle tilted her head. "Who?" She scrunched her forehead as realization dawned on her. The goddess? "How can you tell?"

The girl said nothing, deciding to go mute again.

Kariah-Belle sat crossed-legged as she continued to observe the quiet girl. Her mind raced to put clues together, like the way the girl would hunch over to watch Kariah-Belle as if anticipating something.

Kariah-Belle straightened her shoulders as a thought hit her like a speeding hover truck. How had she not seen it earlier? "You can see her," she said, nearly breathless.

The girl nodded.

"Deus ex machina?" Kariah-Belle blurted while clutching her stomach in fits of laughter. This sudden awareness made her hope for the best.

Iris had revealed her suspicions to Kariah-Belle a while back. Just like Kaden held a dark power within him, Iris had suspected Kariah-Belle harbored the goddess of light. She'd said it was because of the warmth that flowed from the goddess's life force that tended to warm others to her.

This whole time I thought it was my likable personality and remarkable charm. Not only did Dracula seem to see Kul within her, so did this girl.

Kariah-Belle's mind went back to Dracula's words. He had said her mother could utilize Kul without mana. She wondered if she could use the goddess's power now that she could create mana again.

She had tried to escape the prison with her lightning craft, but these black crystals were too dense.

However, with the power of the legendary goddess of Light, Kariah-Belle could escape somehow. If the goddess wanted to help, then that was all the better.

The problem was that Kariah-Belle had no idea how to use the goddess's power. She thought hard, racking her brain for any knowledge she had about Kul.

It was said the goddess was a being of infinite life force, and with such control over mana, she could create solar systems on a whim. A very long time ago, she saved humanity from going extinct by helping to defeat the Darkness. She gave her power to four individuals at one point, and those four created colonies to hide from the Darkness. In the final battle, three of the four gave their piece of power to the fourth, quadrupling the already vast shards they shared. They died once Kul left their bodies, but the last Light Keeper was able to defeat the Darkness and save not only the human race but the entire planet of Lore.

That was it. That was all she knew of Kul. Come to think of it, the girl couldn't think of how she came into possession of the goddess. Or how her mother came to be a Light Keeper.

She had so many questions. For now, she'd focus on how to use the goddess's power.

The doors to the cellblock opened at once, and the Vympiri, Remi, walked in. She pulled someone in chains behind her.

Kariah-Belle watched as Rygilya was dragged, then shoved in the cell across from hers with excessive force.

The Vympiri watched her with bitterness before she made her exit. Kariah-Belle waved goodbye with a grin to which she bared her fangs in anger. She was becoming fairly good at getting under the leech's skin.

When the door closed behind Remi, Kariah-Belle turned her attention to Rygilya. "You look like shit," she said, looking amused.

She wasn't surprised to see him here. She remembered he also was searching for Dracula. She also wasn't surprised that he had been beaten to a pulp either.

Served him right.

She was surprised that they hadn't killed him. What reason would they have to spare his life?

The golden-haired girl clung to the cell bars, watching Rygilya with concern in her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, trash," mumbled the Darkness Tamer. He sat against the wall, closing his eyes as he clutched a wound. "I'll live."

"She's concerned about you, asshole," Kariah-Belle said, getting to her feet. "Don't be such an asswipe." She then looked over to the girl. "Do you know him?"

The girl kept her eyes on Rygilya and nodded.

"How did you become acquainted with an ass like him?" Kariah-Belle asked.

"That's none of your business, trash," Rygilya interrupted.

She glared daggers at the young man. Rygilya snorted before closing his eyes. Kariah-Belle was glad Dracula hadn't killed him. She wanted to be the one to get justice for Jet and wipe this bastard off the face of Lore.

Kariah-Belle composed herself before sitting on her bed. Crossing her legs and closing her eyes, she began to meditate. Having Rygilya here didn't change anything. She still had to find a way to escape before Dracula decided to do who knows what with her.

She tried to search within herself to feel... Anything. She wasn't quite sure what she should be looking for, but her intuition told her she'd know when she found it.

When all else fails, use the ones in your heart to give you strength, Iris's voice said in her mind. Her master had told her this on a few occasions during some intense training and sticky situations. Kariah-Belle didn't know why she had that thought but she decided to follow her master's advice. She thought of those close to her. Those she cherished. Akio, Lax-Rim, Mae Lu, Aya, Iris, and Kaden.

Warmth swelled in her abdomen, which started out small as a pin but expanded to a ball the size of a fist.

A rush of strength flowed through her. It was unlike anything she ever felt before.

She could feel the incredible amount of mana forming around her, waiting to be shaped and molded.

Her eyes opened and what she saw startled her. A ball of light floated in front of her for a brief moment before flickering out of existence.

She noticed Rygilya staring intensely at her. She looked at the girl who was wide-eyed and asked, "Did you see that?"

The girl nodded.

"Good. I'm not losing my mind," Kariah-Belle stated to herself.

If she guessed correctly, that was Kul. For a brief second, she gave the goddess a form.

So, concentrating and focusing on love is key. Talk about cliché. She chuckled in her head. If I can learn to keep the goddess in a tangible form, then I'd be one step closer to learning to make her life force my own.

She took a deep breath. Even though she couldn't hear or see the goddess, she had managed to give her a form. That was a step in the right direction.

Kariah-Belle returned to meditate, focusing on the warmth that started in her belly and ignoring the feeling of being watched by the golden-eyed girl and Rygilya.

Kariah-Belle was determined not to die, at least not without a fight.

*********

Aya Felicity stood inside an airship. After putting on her white and blue gauntlets, she slid her two SMGs in the holsters at her back.

The airship hovered above Black Blood Forest, and they'd approach the drop zone soon.

Kaden, Kyanè, and the platoon of Divine Knights would stay aboard the ship in case things went south. Sir Van, Master Iris, and herself would be the ones to confront Memphis.

Aya hadn't seen her father for nearly a year. The last time she'd seen him, he had attacked the capital of Vyrmm and killed their king.

A memory of her father before he became a Darkness Tamer flashed in her mind. The scene was replaced with one of him standing over her mother's corpse.

She fought against the hate that rammed into her like a glacier. The vivid memory of his sword impaling her mother's chest almost brought her to tears.

She clenched her fist and closed her eyelids tight to prevent the tears from escaping. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced up to see Kaden eyeing her with knitted eyebrows.

"Are you good?" he asked.

Aya gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine." But his impassive face told her he wasn't convinced, and she corrected herself. "I will be fine."

Kaden nodded. Understanding this decision was hers. "Just... Be careful. Stay sharp."

"Got it." The bottom of the airship opened, signaling it was time for the drop. "Thanks, Kay."

"Alright, you three," Iris said, demanding attention. "Let's do this!"

She jumped out of the ship, the wind flapping against her face. Van followed behind her, then Aya jumped as well. The forest below was beautiful. The captivating scenery was awe-inspiring, with flourishing trees and bright green leaves fluttering against the breeze.

It was about a minute before the three of them activated their mana skeletons as they landed on the ground.

"Okay, team," Iris started. "We stick together and we move fast. We don't know what kind of creatures live in this forest, and we don't have time to waste. Let's move!"

"Lead the way," Van said, and Iris took off with a sprint. Aya and Van followed closely behind.

They had run a great distance for nearly an hour. Finding Memphis's lair was proving to be more difficult than originally anticipated. Aya knew if they couldn't find Memphis, then they'd have to report back to the council.

Aya looked at her master who was focused on the task at hand. She seemed intent on finding her father and saving Kariah-Belle.

Aya bit her lip as she thought about her comrade. She too wanted to save the girl desperately. She still felt the weight of losing her to the Vympiri.

"Hey," Van said from beside her. He gave her a comforting smile after weaving around a tree. "We'll find Memphis. For now, keep your eyes open."

Aya nodded. She took her superior's advice and kept an eye out for anything that could serve as a lair.

Several minutes later, Iris came to a stop. "There!" she shouted.

Van and Aya rushed beside her. In front of them was a large castle made of black ice. Surrounding it was a small force of about fourteen evil bearers.

"Take 'em down quickly," Iris barked, and a sword made of her signature Stardust formed in her hand.

Sir Van entered his second transformation, silver fur covering fifty percent of his body.

Aya pulled her two guns from their holsters, and as she increased her mana output, Stardust formed blades underneath. She warped and appeared in front of an evil bearer who quickly reacted. It tried to smack Aya with its large hand, but she warped again—this time landing on top of its head. Aya flipped upside down and rained a barrage of ice bullets.

The evil bearer raised its black sword to block. It tried to swat Aya out of the sky but the Master Knight warped onto the creature's chest. She plunged the Stardust blades into its heart. She expanded the blades so they'd hit its core. Two more evil bearers appeared from around the tall trees, their black swords poised to attack.

Aya conjured hands made of ice and willed them to catch both blades. Forming a golem made of ice, she jumped at high speed toward one evil bearer.

The creature tried to move its sword, but the ice-like hand yanked it, pulling the monster off balance. Aya spun rapidly and sliced off a chunk of its sneering face. She then fired a rapid barrage of stronger ice shards, piercing the large black creature's core. The shards expanded instantly inside the monster as huge glaciers of massive ice emerged out of the creature.

Aya warped above her golem. It was struggling with the evil bearer, but she quickly buffed it with mana. It pinned down the midnight black creature the moment she landed on the golem's head.

The golem's arm turned into an icy blade before impaling the creature's core.

The one that Aya had downed earlier had tried to use the extra arms it had grown to grab her, but she saw it coming.

She warped high into the sky and stood on a large block of Stardust she had been forming since the beginning.

The block broke apart onto large shards and rained down on the three evil bearers, destroying their core once more and assuring death.

Aya landed next to the impaled creatures as they started to turn into smoke. Looking up, she noticed her master and Sir Van were waiting for her.

"About eighteen seconds," Iris said, nodding her approval.

"Thank you, Master," Aya responded.

The three made their way up the black steps to the large double doors that served as an entrance. Iris opened the heavy door with some strength from her mana skeleton.

The three exchanged looks before entering. Inside, the walls were made of glistening ice.

They walked down the long corridor until they came to the first door. They opened it to find a room filled with severed heads mounted on podiums.

"Memphis has an eye for decoration," Van said dryly.

"Barons, and even lieutenants of gangs," Iris said as she scanned the room. "No wonder he grew so strong so fast. He's been busy collecting life force."

Father, Aya thought. Is this what you wanted to become?

Iris shut the door and the three continued on, but there was a lot of ground to cover, so they decided to split up.

Aya found a room that belonged to Rygilya. Hanging on a wall over the bed was a picture of Rygilya, his sister, Kaden, and herself. Kaden and Aya's face had been cut out of the photo. Aya touched it, missing the times the four of them had together. Rygilya and herself were never particularly close, but they once shared a bond of camaraderie.

Kaden and Rygilya were the best of friends. They were like brothers once. Kaden took it very hard when his friend turned traitor. While Kaden pretended as if he wasn't fazed, Aya knew it was just a front. She knew deep down he wanted back his close friend.

"Aya," Iris called from behind, interrupting her thoughts. Van was beside Iris, and their faces looked grim. "Memphis isn't here."