Anastasia saw the Brontzmann Emperor disintegrated into dust and cinders. Meteors crashed down, blasting the ground. Shockwaves haunted the area, and severe lightning storms struck without mercy.
She watched the spells showered like drizzle. She fluttered once more in midair and glided amidst the turbulence. She flew away from the disaster and continued to observe.
"It's finally over." Anasthasia clutched her chest as she witnessed the ultimate destruction of the desolate lands.
'Even after it was all said and done,' Anasthasia thought genuinely, 'why do I feel so... empty?'
Anasthasia trembled, teeth clenched as her thoughts were filled with malice once more. "There were so many chances I could have finished Brontzmann Empire then and there. I chose not to."
It took quite a moment for things to subside into a natural thunderstorm. Torrential rain poured the barren lands. Glossy hair moistened with every drip that embraced loneliness. She took out the pristine gemstone in her mini pocket.
'Edward, did you know all of these will happen?' The fallen empress glanced at the gloomy sky that loomed over, 'I have nothing left already, why?'
Anasthasia shrieked on top of her lungs.
"WHY?!"
She cried out loud and embraced the gemstone in her hands. She suddenly remembered the stories of Edward regarding it.
***
"Did you know that this stone is a part of me?" Edward leaned forward.
"You're too close, Sir Edward." Anasthasia cleared her throat and shifted sideways, "What are you up to right now?"
"Nothing much, just saying that this will continue to grow if magic power is imbued." His eyes glinted along with the stone on his fingertips.
"What happens if it's done?" She raised her eyebrows, scanned him from top to bottom.
Edward had the usual smirk in his face, "Who knows? Only you can find out."
"I already knew everything from the Prismatic Legacy."
"That's what you thought."
***
Anasthasia gasped for air as her senses heightened from ecstasy, dazed at the stone, and laughed bat sheet crazy.
'Yes! This may be the answer!' She thought as her chortle competed for the thunderstorms.
She was going insane.
'All I have to do is to pour my magic power in this stone!'
A sudden eruption of colorful vapor erupted from her body. Ruthless energy continued to assault the pristine gemstone. She was in ecstasy.
'Yes! More! More—!' She covered her mouth as she coughed hard, a mouthful of blood. But that didn't stop her from what she wanted. 'More! A little more!'
Anasthasia's vision started to obscure as she realized her predicament. She was at her limit until she remembered the exact phrase.
'Survive, Anasthasia...'
Cracks started to appear, a flaw forever etched on the pristine stone. She stopped her tracks as she let go of the madness.
"This..." She muttered softly, unable to continue further.
'What must I do? Did I think it the wrong way?' Her thoughts swirled inside her head, which amplified the headache, 'Is it not the prismatic energy? What is?'
"Is this like a tree?" She bulged her eyes by the idea of it. "That can't be! I won't be able to live that long!"
She looked at the desolate lands once more, the peaceful era of the Prismatic empire continued to haunt her. She missed how magnanimous the sun as it embraced the protruding infrastructures. She missed how every race lived in harmony.
Moisture flushed her vision and trickled on her flawless cheeks, she clutched the stone near her chest and uttered, "This may be the only way and I have to go there!"
Anasthasia flew several miles away from her location to the place where they all celebrated together. Despite the exhaustion, she was stubborn as a mule.
Alas, she could no longer fly for so long as she ran out of power. She carefully descended from such heights but still stumbled from the ground. No time shall be wasted as she got up.
She struggled to walk through a couple of miles until she reached her final destination. The heels had shown a loss of durability due to the damp soil with sharp rocks scattered throughout the path.
It took quite much time, and by the time she arrived, a surge of nostalgia invaded her body. She trembled with the thought of different memories. She shook her head and continued to advance.
Thereon, Anasthasia clearly remembered this place; she ventured further into the cave that spewed thick fog. The end of the tunnel showed bright light that cast the walls and a round table with a golden glow. She ventured further and glazed her fingertips to the table surface.
'How I really miss this place.'
Anasthasia shouted on top of her lungs, "I shall now begin!"
'Forbidden Chronicles of Cryomancy: Eternal Winter Curse!'
A forceful blast of frozen waste ravaged the area toppled with multiple magic arrays that towered higher than the ceiling. Unstable energies went rampant and caused lightning discharges in the area.
The moisture in the air started to thicken, solidify at a rapid rate. The diamond dust and frozen air converged her core. A gradual build-up of ice crystals toppled on another.
Anasthasia's pain from the cold assault was incomparable to the loss as she never entirely let go of the people who held close in her heart. Her hands carefully clutched the stone. The sheet of ice continued to pile and crawled up.
She closed her eyes and spoke softly.
"You have a place in my heart but now I've lost you forever. I swear, no harm will come to this stone for as long as I live. Here, I shall set my soul and guard for eternity as I await for your return."
'No matter the decades, centuries or millennia, this too shall pass.'
Tears trickled once more before a thick iceberg finally encased her.
This time, Anasthasia sealed forever. The only empress who brimmed with otherworldly power succumbed to her emotions of the single thought she held on to it.
It was only a sliver of hope.
***
Anasthasia jolted as she felt the crack from the eternal cold. She was instantly on high alert as her touch amplified. Later on, her ears perked up as she eavesdropped.
"Your Highness! That Lady over there is pretty dangerous!"
"I agree, we must not recklessly approach her."
'Are they referring to me?' Anasthasia irked from the thought of it, 'The audacity of these living beings to give such remarks!'
"Your Highness, please don't! You must stop this madness!"
"We implore you, Your Highness."
Cracks continued to travel far and wide on the iceberg. But it wasn't enough for the frozen empress to set herself free.
Anasthasia heard the commotion from a distance, and it was apparent with a bunch of swords and whatnot collided with each other. She itched to see what happened that disturbed her presence.
"They are in here!" Excitement coated from its voice despite relatively low sound.
"Your Highness! This is a set-up! We must protect you!" The man boomed his voice which irritated the heck out of her.
Series of snickers and laughs promulgated and haunted the area, and it echoed horribly. Anasthasia wasn't in the mood to entertain such guests.
"This is where your life ends—!"
"Wait! That Lady over there!"
The cracks rapidly spread throughout, which shattered and released a strong wave of frost. Ice shards shoot from all directions.
Anasthasia fluttered in midair. All of them wore a dark cloak, but it was evident the distance between the two groups was vast. Her golden eyes gracefully gazed at them.
Instead of comfort and protection, their souls screamed of fear and terror. Men from a distance instantly dropped their weapons with immediate convulsions hit their way.
Eyes of the awakened empress glowed with killing intent. Before their instincts kicked in, her fingers twitched that caused the mana to fluctuate instantly, revealing a pillar of fire that burned them to cinders.
When Anasthasia's eyes dawned upon the three of them, two robed men near her unsheathed their swords and pulled the suspicious man behind them. She only smirked as she flipped her hair.
Raised hand with fingers danced as she cast, 'Deadly Icicle' — aiming for a skewer in the head perhaps. A long icicle created a wind vortex on its axis, which created a gust of wind thus fluttered their robes.
"It's your turn, die!" She uttered as she moved.
The reaction of her was fast to notice the slight movement, which revealed the gray strands of hair. In a fraction of seconds, she waved sideways before it skewered the suspicious man for good, leaving the icicle to change its point of trajectory and crushed it to smithereens.
'Sir Edward?' Anasthasia's eyes dilated. She gusted onward, but two men remained resolute. She cast 'Wind Blast', which knocked them both sideways.
The suspicious man stood up bravely, with a sword stance ready for action. Although she quickly froze his hands as she was a step closer. But then her face deeply cracked.
"Huh?"