HETAR

I was really shocked. c.r.a.p! He just kissed me! That was my first! Literally, I was kissed by a devil!

I took the book on the table that he forgot and hurriedly went home. I tried to calm myself.

To move on from what happened, I sat down on my bed and got my phone. It"s been a while since the last talk with Aunt Cecilia. Speaking of her, did she know about my Dad"s and Mom"s true ident.i.ty? I forgot to ask about it to Mom.

I dialed her number but it couldn"t be reached. I called her many times but still, it"s unavailable. Did she shut her phone off?

"Scarlette." I was surprised when all of sudden, Aunt Wart appeared in front of me. She"s dead serious. "Let"s go."

I felt myself became nervous. "Where?" I asked.

"Hetarnia."

She held my wrist and I felt myself was brought to another dimension. Everything all I could see was white light. After few seconds, we"re inside the center hall of the kingdom.

Asher, and the other G.o.ddesses were there, together with someone who"s wearing pure white. That man was hugging Mom. Mom tapped his back when she saw me. The man faced at my direction and I got froze on my track when I recognized who he was. He still looked the same since the last time I saw him. He didn"t become older.

He"s here . . . my Dad.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I ran towards him. I hugged him.

"I missed you, Dad," I cried. Mom was teary-eyed, too.

"I missed you, too, Scarlette."

After the tight hug, I wiped my tears with my hands. "H-how? How are you able to escape—"

"Nel helped us."

Automatically, I shifted my gaze to Asher and gave him a meaningful look.

"Yeah, that young man was acting like a hero," t.i.ta Heta madly said.

"But I"m safe, Mom," Asher reasoned out. "No need to worry."

"What if you got killed there? Huh?"

"Mom, let"s talk about this some other time."

t.i.ta Heta kept on murmuring but she stopped after a while.

"We need to get ready," Dad said.

My eyebrows furrowed. "For what?"

"Because of what happened earlier, it gave them a signal to start the war."

"d.a.m.n it."

I looked at Mom. Did she just curse?

"Heta, bring half of the knights on Earth. The rest will remain here to fight with us," Mom commanded. "Wart, all the souls, bring them to the Etah dimension for them to be safe. GO!"

Aunt Wart and t.i.ta Heta left immediately. I meant, they disappeared.

She"s scary this time. Me, even as a daughter, I wanted to run!

"I think, they have already figured out how to break the spell of this holy place. d.a.m.n it!" she cussed again. "Max, lead the knights. Asher, make sure all living animals and plants won"t be destroyed. And Scarlette," she stared at me, "accept the Hetar sword. Now is the time. You can"t say no." Her face softened. "You"ll fight with me."

My heart seemed like it wanted to explode upon hearing that.

This is a real war.

We got interrupted by a loud crash. Something heavy was thrown away to the large window above.

My body froze when I saw a b.l.o.o.d.y dead body in front of us. It got stabbed from the back and in his chest. I gasped when I recognized him.

It was Nel. I just talked to him earlier and now, he"s dead?

I looked away.

"d.a.m.n it! I would have helped him if he didn"t stop me," I heard Asher gritted. I could sense that he"s guilty to what had happened.

"It"s not your fault," Dad uttered. "He chose not to let us. He chose to let us escaped."

In a split of seconds, my head was aching. It felt like my brain was going to explode.

"c.r.a.p!"

I felt Mom, Dad, and Asher, held my both arms to give support.

My sight was turning around. When I closed my eyes, I saw visions.

I saw Durlen and Rhode, together with lots of demons. Durlen was chanting something that I couldn"t understand. His right hand was raised and a portal was slowly opening.

"They"re coming," I said. It was almost a whisper.

The pain was gone in a snap but . . . it included my consciousness.

~*~

G.o.dDESS ER"S POINT OF VIEW

Luckily, all was in placed before they finally arrived. Wart, and Max were with me. Heta was on Earth together with lots of knights to ensure safety to all living things. Many nights were scattered around the kingdom too.

Scarlette fainted after she saw some visions. Even we tried to wake her up, we couldn"t. It seemed like all her energy was drained. She was in her room right now with Asher.

"I hope this sword won"t fail me," Max told as he readied himself.

He tried to hold the Hetar sword earlier but he couldn"t. The Hetar sword flew away by itself. It didn"t like Max to be his holder anymore. It"s because it was already touched by the new holder – Scarlette.

We got alert when we felt large forces coming. After few moments, they finally came. They appeared in front of us.

Durlen was smirking like h.e.l.l itself. "It"s been a long time, Er."

I gave him a sharp look. "Yeah. It"s been a long time since you betray us," I said in a low voice. I was very itchy on killing him. I couldn"t help but to clench my fists.

"And it"s been a long time until I finally know how to break the spell of this place. Thanks to my beautiful daughter who studied this spell." He referred to the girl beside him. It must be Rhode. He evilly laughed. "I didn"t expect that it was simply scrambled letters!"

d.a.m.n it!

H-E-T-R-T-E-H-E-R-T-R-E-R-T-H

That were the scrambled letters that he"s talking about.

Tsk!

"Are you just here to talk and talk?" I asked, annoyed by his frogly laughters.

He stopped laughing. His expression turned dark.

"I officially declare the war!"

Both sides started to attack.

I smirked. "You"ll regret this, Durlen."