Chapter 11:Daughter of the shadows
Old man Karl looked toward Elder James, who bowed his head in deep, silent shame.
"Victoria, the truth is a bitter draught," Karl warned solemnly. "If you cannot stand to hear it, I will keep my peace."
Victoria's resolve didn't waver. "Come on, Karl. You know I can endure anything."
"Your mother was a daughter of Axel," Karl began. "The man you called your father was indeed a Keeper, and he loved you as his own because he understood the weight of the contract between our two worlds. But he was not your biological father."
A heavy silence fell over the room, and Victoria felt as though time itself had frozen.
"Years ago, the contract between humans and demons began to fail," Karl continued. "To save the balance, a secret union had to be formed. Your mother was visited by a powerful Prince of Darkness long before Lucas's time."
"Who was he?" Victoria asked, her voice a mere whisper.
"It was Den," Karl revealed. "In those days, he was kind and honorable. But when King Arthur lived among us, jealousy and greed corrupted Den's heart. He became a traitor and lost half of his true power. Your mother had conceived a child with him in secret, but when he turned toward evil, she fled with the Keeper. She returned as a married woman to hide the truth of your origin."
Victoria gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. "No... that would mean..."
"Yes," Karl said firmly. "You are not the Keeper's daughter. You are the daughter of Den."
Lucas stepped forward, his gaze intense. "You are the offspring of the Traitor Demon. You are half-demon, Victoria—a bridge intended to hold both realms in harmony. That is why the Shrine of Sin recognized you as its own."
Karl nodded slowly. "Den wants your blood for more than just a human form. He wants to become a god. To do that, he must consume the half of his power that lives within you. Victoria, that golden bracelet was a gift from your mother to help you control that power. As long as you wear it, your father cannot touch you. It is the bridge between worlds; it can grant you immense strength, but it can also take it away. You must be careful—and above all, you must let the bracelet feel you."
"He means you must finally embrace it," Lucas explained softly.
Victoria sat in a daze, terrified and overwhelmed. Her entire life had been built on a lie. The man she loathed most in the world was the man who had given her life, and there was no way to undo the truth of her blood.
In the wake of the revelation, Victoria became a ghost of herself. She spent her days in a hollow daze, haunted by the same scenes playing on a loop in her mind.
"A legacy of lies," she whispered, staring down at her hands. The golden bracelet she had once cherished as a precious heirloom now felt like a heavy, suffocating shackle—a constant reminder of the blood she shared with a monster.
Lucas watched her spiral into despair, his patience finally wearing thin. He crossed the room, his presence grounding and sharp. "Do not dwell on the past, Victoria," he commanded, his voice cutting through her thoughts. "The past is nothing but a ghost. The only thing that exists is the future, and right now, that future is a war. So what if Den's blood flows in you? Do not let it own you. Use it as a weapon against him."
Victoria stood up slowly, her eyes flashing with a new, icy resolve. If her entire life had been a lie, she would forge a truth so terrifying that even Den would tremble before it. She turned to Lucas, her jaw set.
"Teach me," she said firmly. "Show me how to channel this power. I want to know everything."
The following day, they established a grueling schedule: they would train twice daily, once at midnight and again at the break of dawn. They trekked to the highest peaks of the mountains in Valor, where the air was thin and the world was silent. Lucas was firm with her, insisting that she stop resisting the darkness within. "Don't hold back," he commanded. "Feel your power pushing against your pulse, demanding to be let out."
Lucas instructed her to use the golden bracelet as a conduit to channel the **Shrine of Sin**. She tried repeatedly, straining until her muscles ached, but the power remained locked away. He urged her to find her focus and calm her mind, but despite practicing through the freezing night until the sun began to rise, she remained unsuccessful.
"You're still fighting yourself," Lucas noted, his eyes narrowing. "You have to stop being afraid of what you might find."
Victoria closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe. She fixed her gaze on the bracelet, pouring every ounce of her frustration and hidden strength into the metal. For a fleeting second, the gold erupted in a brilliant spark of energy—a flash of true power. However, the connection was too intense to sustain; she gasped as the spark died out, her strength spent. Seeing that she was at her limit, Lucas ended the session and guided her back to the safety of Valor.
Under the cover of darkness the following night, they slipped out once more to the mountainside. Lucas stood guard, his eyes scanning the perimeter as he urged her to repeat her fleeting success from the previous session.
"Let your blood flow," he instructed, his voice a low tether to reality. "Focus on the anger, the betrayal, and every lie you've been forced to live."
As Victoria channeled her fury and energy into the metal band, the bracelet ignited with a brilliant, steady glow. A thrill of triumph surged through her. "I can feel it!" she cried out, her eyes flying open in sheer amazement at the heat radiating through her veins.
"Don't break the connection," Lucas pushed, stepping closer. "Let the power feel you. Command it. Tell it what shape to take."
The energy quickly became a roaring tide, nearly too immense for her to contain. Desperate to release the pressure, she thrust her hands toward the open air to discharge the surge. Instead of a simple spark, a massive wave of force erupted from her, slamming into the mountain's jagged rocks with a deafening boom that made the very earth tremble.
As the dust settled from the near-catastrophe, Lucas walked toward her, looking at the scarred stone. "Den gave you his blood," he said, his voice filled with a new, grim respect, "but with what you just did, you have given that blood a new master."