Before the blades could hit, it changed its course by revolving around and aiming her instead.
It all happened so fast that Anasthasia danced her fingers, halting and freezing the wind blade a few inches away from her neck. She clapped her hands, and then ice shattered to pieces.
'You dare control my spells? Let's see how long you can keep up.' Her eyes flashed cold, and before they dropped, she waved her hand, sending the shards of deadly ice back to the invisible force.
"Miss Ana, I can explain—" Brenov sprang up, attempting to stop the situation, but he dodged himself from the flurries of ice heading his way.
Alas, they all looked mortified as they witnessed how the ice hissed, turning to vapors that lingered the room's ambient air.
"If you don't reveal yourself, don't blame me for being too ruthless." Her voice rang like a cold rift from chasm's depths, which foreboding chill washed over their spine.
Anasthasia glared, and not long enough, they could hear someone with small ragged gasps. No one could utter those sounds with the state their in, which had only furrowed their browns in confusion. Brenov, however, trembled in horror.
"You're quite a stubborn one, aren't you?" she raised her hand, twitching her fingertips, and all of a sudden, his silhouette started to emerge.
Anasthasia furrowed her eyebrows as she witnessed a handsome man—his brown voluminous medium-length hair draped smoothly and his chiseled cheekbone and jaws tensed—unable to break free from her snares.
Lucy, who sank in her seat with her limbs trembling, shook her arm as she cried, "Sister! I know him! Please, don't use that power as you did to the man days ago—!"
"Tasha!" Michael, this time, growled in anger as he discovered who Anasthasia pointed out.
She flinched from his booming voice and stopped her spell from afflicting damage. The man thrashed away, crashing the wall and dropped down to his knees as his hands let go from strangling his neck. His chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.
"Old man!" Michael jolted upright and dashed his way to the man who slumped to the ground.
"Master!" Brenov and the twins shouted in unison, moving closer to them.
Anasthasia witnessed how the old man clutched a handful of cloth from his robe to his chest. His robe looked similar to Brenov's, but it was threefold better than his—notably, his white mantle with a sheen of crystalline edges that gave a striking resemblance to her eyes.
She realized it was a grave mistake. A sense of guilt loomed in her heart as she saw the sight of it. She looked at Lucy, who shook her arm tenderly as she consoled her.
"Sister Ana…" Lucy pleaded.
"Alright then, let me..." Anasthasia rose from her seat, strutted her way towards them as well. She lowered her knees and extended her fingers as she cast.
'Surge!'
The man snapped his cyan eyes open and stood upright, brushing off his chic robe's dust. He shook his head while he groaned from what happened.
'He must have a reason why he remained hidden, but still—No, I have my lapses too."
"I'm sorry."
They all glanced at her with a cast of doubt in their faces. In return, Anasthasia grimaced from their reactions. But they all ignored it when the man suddenly cleared the air.
"It was so wrong for me to do that. I beg your pardon for my reckless behavior."
"Please don't worry, I should have taken things the better way."
Anasthasia had always remained vigilant, and at this point, her powers clipped one by one, and this wasn't a good sign for her. That said, Lucy chirped, beckoning them to sit back to the sofa.
Once they were back on the position, Anasthasia propped her hands on her lap, crossing her ankles and eyes flickered with anticipation. Lucy began to excuse herself to get some tea and snacks.
"Miss Ana, this is Sir Blake Millard—the Headmaster of Edelweiss, Royal Institute of Magic, the Sage of Duneworth, Navarre's Mana Tower, and the Grand Master of—"
"You said more than enough, Brenov." He then shifted his gaze to Anasthasia as he muttered once more, "He's my master, Ana."
Anasthasia's eyes lit up. "I see. To what do we owe the pleasure of two highly revered men to reach such a milestone upon visiting this time of the night?"
This time, Blake took the opportunity to state his affairs. "I have come here to give a proposition."
"Oh? What would that be?"
"Would you want to be an instructor for the Institution—?"
"No, hold up! I don't want to teach some brats anymore. I already had my part for that!"
"You don't want to take up the offer?"
Anasthasia shook her head as though she was adamant about her decisions. "Besides, I only come here to teach Lucy and nothing else."
"You don't want to?"
"I don't think it interests me that much." She flipped her hair. "I have seen a lot of things and worse at that."
Blake took a deep breath to calm down before he began to talk, "If you are confident in teaching Lucy, then I won't stop you. However, she can't stay homeschooled for the rest of her life as she needed to immerse herself with the rest of the students."
Anasthasia arched her brows as her leers went up and down, and at the same time, Lucy trudged back to the living room, carrying a tray of snacks and some teacups. Liam hurriedly came to aid her and place them carefully on the table.
"Perfect timing, Lucy."
"Yes, Sister Ana?"
"Do you want to go to school?" Anasthasia eyed her with concern as she carefully tapped her fingers on her lap, and with the question at hand, she flinched at first, but she clasped her hand at the back and rocked her feet.
"I want to, Sister Ana, I miss school. It's just that, things happened so bad…" Her voice dropped to a croaking whisper, which she was unable to continue further.
"I understand, and as promised, I will help you get a hold of your powers before anything else."
Lucy bobbed her head and hugged Liam so tight, weeping silently on the hem of his clothes.
"I will be with her, even if she's allowed to go back to the institution until she gets better."
"That's a good answer, Miss Ana. Thank you for reconsidering it—"
"This discussion isn't over, is there, Blake?"
"Pretty much so." Blake reached for the teacup that was brewed by Lucy. He indulged with the taste of the green tea.
Blake slightly pulled away with his eyes widened from enthusiasm. He then chuckled as he uttered, "Now, there are more things I have to tell you along with the incentives, but your eyes deeply clawed to me with curiosity."
Her eyes turned ablaze as he sensed it was spot on. "Was it that obvious?"
Anasthasia grinned. "Now we're talking." He couldn't pry further as she waved a dismissive hand. She leaned her back and crossed her legs as she quipped, "Furthermore, who was the person who tampered the mana back then?"
"Was it you?"
"I—How did you…" While sipping the green tea, his droopy eyes almost gouged out of their sockets from latter statement. Hands trembled, albeit not enough to notice the ripples from the green tea.
"I'm asking you."
Blake's pupils dilated rapidly, and his thin lips began to twitch. He mustered his courage, but it only let his trembling lips parted and never spoke a word. Anasthasia faked a smile, with her face that didn't condone such underhanded methods.
"I have many questions in my mind. I hope you don't disappoint me."
"Miss Ana, I've heard so much of you from Michael, especially the first meeting until you arrived here. He was never that enthusiastic, telling a story that is but all I thought I could ignore his rambles then and there when he mentioned."
Anasthasia now crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes as she mused in her tone, "Mentioned what?"
Blake shuddered in his place and stared at her, dead in the eyes. Right now, it was all for them to see he turned anxious from all of this.
"Prismatic Empire…"
Anasthasia had sudden shocks assault her body as though lightning struck her core. Her breathing momentarily stopped and gaped so wide at him.
"I thought it was just a bluff or some crazy adventure he had, but he kept on repeating and describing things that were surprising to his eyes, which turned out everything you did to him was that."
"Tasha, when the opportunity came, he came to investigate for whatever reason he had."
"Indeed, curiosity got the best of me, but right now, I decided to give this a shot."
Blake shoved his hand in his pockets, placing a familiar stone on the table, a pristine stone that was the same as Edward's.
This time, it was white.