[Trick's PoV]

"OKAY, GUYS. I'VE SEEN YOU EARLIER. YOU ALL LOOKED SO MAD WHEN YOU SAW THE EDINBURGH TEAM. WHY IS THAT?"

� � � � � � We went directly to the Manhattan team's hotel room and I asked Fei, Jia, and Haru just to be clear about the Edinburgh team. Actually, since there were a lot of teams who made it to the Level 3 of Krieg, I didn't realize that the Edinburgh team was here. Most especially, Madame Corvina.

� � � � � � "Remember the time when she went back to United Kingdom to save her sisters? She didn't say a word if she's coming back to serve the Xing mansion," Jia said.

� � � � � � "Of course… Why didn't I notice it back then?" Fei said.�

� � � � � � "What is it?" Haru asked.�

� � � � � � Fei clicked his hands and then a movie-like scene appeared before us. I remember this exact event. This was the time when the ingelids attacked the Xing mansion.�

"Tournament?" Jia said in a surprised manner.�

� � � � � � "Yes, dear, a tournament. I think they're trying to revive the WOCOSO," Mrs. Xing said.�

� � � � � � "WOCOSO…" Madame Corvina cleared her throat. "Does this mean that whoever wins the tournament becomes a member of the board, yes, Mistress?"

� � � � � � "I believe that is the plan. In order to protect the magical beings from the enemies, it is imperative to determine who emerges the most powerful. It is just right that the members of the board will be the strongest," Mrs. Xing diplomatically mentioned.

� � � � � � Then the scene vanished. All of us looked at each other with different expressions. Jia was sad. Haru looked serious. Fei got angry. And of course, again, I was confused.�

� � � � � � "I thought she was tired of serving the Xing mansion that's why she left and never came back," Jia uttered.

� � � � � � "It's power," Haru said with full conviction.�

� � � � � � Fei nodded. "Power, huh…"

� � � � � � "She wanted to win The Krieg to have a higher rank, like authority among other witches, sorcerers, magicians, and the like," Haru added.�

� � � � � � "Why would she want that?" I asked.�

� � � � � � Then Haru showed that movie-like scene Fei did and discussed a brief history of Madame Corvina.�

"The Donnellys are from the coven called Argentum Incantatrix or we know today as Silver Witches. They're from the land called Hertsford, which is basically from a different world. Unlike Merizem whose royalties established a kingdom here on Earth even they're from a different world, Hertsford only opened portals. And through those portals, the girls were exiled here because of her father, who once formed an alliance to revive the former Supreme who died because of powerlessness. The former Supreme named Adriano was a dark warlock who wanted to conquer Hertsford and have all the Silver Witches and Silver Warlocks under his power. Unfortunately, all the Silver Witches and Warlocks defeated him and he was banished from Hertsford as a criminal. Little did the coven know, Adriano had a son, and that is Silas Bruin."

� � � � � � "Who is Silas Bruin?" I asked.

� � � � � � "It's Madame Corvina's father," Jia answered.�

� � � � � � Haru continued the explanation. "So when he was old enough to be powerful, Silas Bruin manipulated a Silver Witch and took her as his wife. Their union produced three offspring, and those are Madame Corvina, and her younger sisters, Karo and Selene. After giving birth to the last child, Silas Bruin killed his wife and sent her head to the Supreme at that time as a message that Adriano will emerge once more from the ashes and will conquer them all. When the girls all grew up, together with their father, they all attempted to avenge their grandfather, but Silas Bruin was killed by the Supreme of the Silver Witches at that time, Elena, so the plan did not materialize. All that's left were the girls. The Supreme found out that the girls have Silver Witches in their blood, so they were not killed. Instead, as their punishment, they were banished here on Earth for good. They were adopted by the poor Connellys of Edinburgh and made them official daughters of the family. Gramms and Gramps were doing their charity work in Europe back then, which I think, opened the doors for Madame Corvina to work for us."

� � � � � � "Haru… How did you know all of this?" Fei was dumbfounded by Haru's story. I was actually in awe as well.�

� � � � � � "Madame Corvina's accounts. She wrote this in a book with invisible ink. I just managed to reveal it with my powers. She was too careless to leave the book in the library," Haru answered.

� � � � � � "Or did you think she left it there by purpose?" Jia wondered.

� � � � � � "Now, that's the plot twist of this story. Maybe she wanted us to know that," Fei added.�

� � � � � � "Anyway, she's strict to us, but she's been kind. She never hurt us, but… This competition changes us all," Haru said in a serious tone. "We're the only team who did not kill anyone from our matches. The rest… They never let a single breath leave their opponent's mouths, so who knows what will happen to us? I know Janardan and Sanjivani will fight to the end, but what if they die in the hands of the Silver Witches? What if… we need to fight them in this competition? Do you think Madame Corvina will still be kind to us? I don't think so. They will do everything to be powerful, in order to avenge their late grandfather, so beware," Haru warned.�

� � � � � � "Oh, gosh, Janardan and Sanjivani," Jia sighed. "We know these people since we're young. They must not die."

� � � � � � "I'm sure they'll have to do the same to Madame Corvina and her sisters," Fei said.�

� � � � � � "Actually, I was surprised about Fenna earlier," I said. "She was just acting."

� � � � � � "Well, she had drama classes in NYU," Haru mentioned. "but I didn't expect that she would kill Reginaldo. She wasn't the type of girl who would do that. She may hurt a person terribly but she would not reach the point of annihilating someone."

� � � � � � "She just did," Jia uttered. "Maybe she's not the girl you used to know."

� � � � � � Fei agreed. "Jia's right. It's been years, Haru. She must have changed. Did you see her cousin, Pieter Groenhart? He was ruthlessly sinister. The guy didn't even move an inch. He just spoke."

� � � � � � "Well, Pieter's always been like that. Uncompromising, austere, but Fenna…" Haru sighed. "She surprised us all."�

� � � � � � "But actually, what's more surprising was your reaction," I'm turning into a witch right now, stirring the pot of their emotions.�

� � � � � � "My reaction?" Haru uttered.

� � � � � � "When Fenna was about to drink the vial, you were so furious. You shouted so loudly," I explained.

� � � � � � "Well, I was just concerned," Haru cleared his throat. "She was about to kill herself."

� � � � � � "Of course you are," I reacted, and surely, that message was enveloped in sarcasm.

� � � � � � "Yeah, I saw that," Jia said and smirked. "You still have feelings for Fenna, don't you?" Oh, Jia. What a witch we are.

� � � � � � "What are you talking about? That's bullshit," Haru denied. "She's about to kill herself. Are you not going to do something about it? Are you just gonna watch her waste her life over that stupid match?"

� � � � � � "I'm terrified too, but I never reacted that way," Fei said, probably he got my notion and helped me stir the pot.�

� � � � � � Haru laughed sarcastically. "Come on. You guys said it. It's been years. We're way past that."

� � � � � � "Would you have done the same if, say, someone from Kuala Lumpur or Saskatchewan?" Fei stirred the pot even more.�

� � � � � � "Come on, guys, of course, Fenna was a special girl to me, but I tell you, we're done. End of story," Haru stood up and was about to leave the room until I said something that made him stop turning the doorknob…

� � � � � � I turned to Fei and winked, then I said, "Did you know that Ellis left the dome even before Fenna drank the potion?"

� � � � � � "Why?" Fei raised his voice as if he was surprised. "Why did he leave?"

� � � � � � "Oh, no… Was it when Haru shouted to Fenna to stop drinking the potion? Of course, Fenna was a special girl to Haru, right?" Jia added.

� � � � � � Haru turned to us. "Where's Ellis? Have you seen him after the battle?"

� � � � � � "Not really, but I saw him snarled when you showed how concerned you are to Fenna. Ellis was furiously angry, that's why he left. I wonder he is right now…" Oh, gosh. I'm such a bad person for stirring the pot too much.�

� � � � � � "I'm gonna find him," Haru said as he slammed the door when he left.

� � � � � � All of us left giggling.�

� � � � � � "You guys! You're so bad," I reacted.

� � � � � � Fei scoffed. "Sweetie, you prepared the pot. We just helped you stir it."

� � � � � � "I like what you did, Trick. It's really fun to make fun of Haru when it comes to his feelings," Jia even did a thumbs-up.

� � � � � � I got confused. "Was he always like that? Not showy enough?"

� � � � � � "Well, if I'm the shy guy, he's the deny guy. Even if it's really obvious, he will deny it to his core," Fei told me. "Not because he's a pathological liar. He's just not the confrontational type. It's just his defense mechanism."

� � � � � � "Ooh, interesting. I wonder what he and Ellis will be talking about when they meet each other…" I uttered.

� � � � � � But deep in my mind, I was thinking…

� � � � � � What if both of them were in a heated argument that leads to a hot, sizzling sex?�

� � � � � � Hmm…

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WARNING: Next chapter requires an open mind. Get ready. >:D