The Masquerade
4
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The clock caught her eye—five minutes until Thomas took the stage. Five fleeting minutes to unmask the one controlling him and figure out whether they were all being lured into a—
Trap.
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Power hummed at Astra’s fingertips, instincts screaming to act—but she held back. Not yet. Not without Athena’s signal. She clenched her fists as logic clashed with intuition.
Think.
Astra glanced toward the balcony where Theo and Athena played their roles perfectly, pulling Thomas further into their subtle game of control. Yet the tension in Athena’s eyes told a different story—danger was already sensed.
What none of them expected was Astra—a wild card. Her true strength was something they had yet to understand.
Suppressing her power once again, Astra watched as Athena removed her mask—a gesture that might seem respectful to others, but to her, it was a move to dig deeper into Thomas’s mind.
But why hadn’t Athena given her signal yet? What other secrets was she seeking?
“The incident with Tiffany was regrettable,” Athena said, her voice deceptively cool. Yet Astra’s keen hearing picked up on the quickening of her breath, just as heavy raindrops splattered against the balcony ledge. “How has she been since?”
Thomas’s smile wavered, stiff and shallow. “She’s recovering,” he muttered, casting a glance at Theo, who seemed captivated by Athena’s hand. “But I need to—it’s almost time for the spee—”
His words trailed off as his eyes locked onto the slightest twitch of her fingers. That subtle gesture unravelled him—his smile vanished, and his expression shifted. Athena’s face paled, golden eyes shimmering. Exposed.
Thomas’s neck jerked unnaturally, head twitching like a raven tilting to assess its next meal. His eyes pulsed from green to black as his lips curled into a sneer. "Curiosity," he said, "kills the cat, little girl."
“Who assumed,” Athena said, her soft voice almost swallowed by the rising storm, fingers twitching, “that I’m the cat?”
SNAP. The storm erupted into chaos in an instant.
A sharp burst of blue light ignited at Theo’s fingertips, casting jagged shadows across the marble floor. Astra caught the signal and charged through the glass door, splintering it into a cascade of shards that rained down around her.
“Get back!” Astra shouted, pulling Athena inside just before a surge of dark matter shot from Thomas’s mouth—a vile, oily substance churning like sewage, racing towards Athena.
Astra’s fingers traced the air, conjuring a gleaming shield out of nothingness, just in time to absorb the blast. The ground cracked beneath her, sparks flaring from her fingertips as her braided silver hair unravelled, whipping wildly by the force. Yet, she held her ground, her shield standing impenetrable at the balcony entrance.
Thomas’s attack crashed against the shield like a feral predator, every blow vicious and determined to reach Athena. The force of it roared through the space, silencing the soft jazz and drawing gasps from the horrified guests.
Theo clenched his ice blade tighter, feeling the cold bite of its power through his skin. There was no room for hesitation. With a sharp inhale, he darted forward, blade raised, aiming to incapacitate Thomas from behind.
But then—Thomas’s eyes flickered, his head snapping unnaturally in Theo’s direction.
Too late.
Thomas’s arm thrusted forward, unleashing a torrent of inky darkness, foul with the smell of rot, rushing straight at Theo.
Theo barely raised his shield in time, but the impact knocked him across the rain-slicked floor. His arms trembled under the weight of Thomas’s relentless force.
“Keep Athena safe inside!” Theo barked. “She saw something she wasn’t supposed to!”
“But—” Astra’s reply died on her lips as the sounds of heavy boots echoed down the hallway. Security was closing in fast, alarmed by the noise.
The building groaned, threatening to collapse. Guests screamed below. If the structure fell, they would all be crushed beneath the rubble.
‘If I don’t move this battle, I’ll be reduced to a walking shield.’ Astra groaned inwardly. ‘What’s Thomas up to? Why now?’ A wave of energy rippled from her, sending guests and security toppling down the staircase, and with a flick, she sealed the mezzanine just as they tried to recover.
“Open up!” one barked, raising his weapon.
‘Did I leave a welcome mat at the barrier?’ Astra mused, but before she could deal with Thomas, the sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the upper level.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The security team’s military-grade bullets striking the barrier with rapid fire, sizzling on contact and distorting the air with every hit.
“Not helping!” Astra gritted, her jaw clenched as she recalibrated the shield’s density.
Her powers weren’t designed for defence—they were raw, destructive energy. Excessive force would annihilate everything in sight, while insufficient energy would leave her exposed to their bullets.
“Damn it, you planned this,” she seethed under her breath. Thomas was aware of Theo and Athena—and, more troubling, he had come up with a way to counter her.
But why?
She glanced at the balcony, her shield beginning to crumble under the relentless barrage of arcane energy from Theo and Thomas. Without it, the sheer magnitude of the force would bring devastation to everything in its path.
“Astra!” Theo’s voice rang with panic. “I can’t hold him any longer!”
“A little busy, Theo!” she shot back. “Get him to the garden!”
Theo heard her reply but was locked in his own struggle, his body straining against the overwhelming power. His shield flickered dangerously, dark energy seeping through like smoke, creeping toward his chest.
“Working on it!” he wheezed, voice breaking as the corruption closed in.
This attack was different from the cafeteria—far more vicious, far more lethal. Theo’s blade trembled, cracks snaking down its length as the weight of Thomas’s attack intensified. The violet-black energy lashed out like living tendrils, threatening to swallow him whole.
Theo’s mana flared instinctively, frost blossoming along his blade, but the fractures in the weapon deepened with each impact. He grunted as his legs buckled under the weight, the force of Thomas’s power pressing down viciously.
“You’re a disappointment, Whitlock,” Thomas snarled, his voice wavering between Thomas’s smooth tones and something far more sinister. Black tears streamed down his cheeks, his body twitching as if it no longer belonged to him. “W-Why are we doing this…?”
Confusion flashed across Theo’s face as his grip wavered, just as Thomas’s strike obliterated his shield and blade, sending shards of ice slicing through the air. The shards grazed his cheek, leaving shallow cuts, and though he dodged, a tendril still tore through his suit, ripping a deep gash into his shoulder.
Theo pressed a hand to his wound, conjuring a thin layer of ice to slow the bleeding. “Ugh…” he muttered, wincing but allowing a small smile to form on his lips. “Didn’t expect that to work.” Then again, he’d never truly fought for his life until St. Kevin’s.
Thomas—or the thing inside him—let out a sharp, mocking caw of laughter. “Didn’t know you had it in you? He said you’re all brawn, no brain.”
“He?” Theo’s eyes blazed white as he summoned another ice blade. “Who is this ‘he’?”
Thomas’s body convulsed, the inhuman laugh growing louder. His head tilted to the other side, his blackened eyes gleaming with something dark and primal.
“A student, just like you,” Thomas rasped, his voice unnerving, as if two beings were speaking at once. “But humans… they always make mistakes.”
As the words left his mouth, another wave of darkness erupted from Thomas.
“You’re no human, are you?” Theo growled, his grip firming on the ice blade. His body wound tight as he faced the surge of darkness head-on, the violent clash filling the air with a sharp hiss.
Theo staggered, driven back by the relentless assault, until his back crashed into Astra’s barrier with a bone-rattling thud. His breath came in quick, shallow gasps, his limbs screaming in exhaustion, the ice blade in his hand splintering under the strain.
Thomas scoffed, “Human? Such a pitiful word. Fragile, useless things. But I must admit—they’re rather fun to toy with. And… nourishment.”
Theo’s jaw tightened, but instead of responding, he let his eyes fall shut, tuning into the rhythm of the storm. The rain against the marble, the distant thunder—it all pulsed with his mana.
Power wasn’t just in his blade or his body. He could feel it—surging through the storm, the ground, the air itself. He could control it, bend it, harness it. Eydis…
She had hinted this.
The rain responded to him, swirling through the air in tune with his heartbeat. His arcane energy reached out, merging with the storm. Water spiralled up his arm, coiling tightly, filled with latent power, arcane potential waiting to be ignited… like a battery. It just needed—
His eyes lit with exhilaration. “A driver.”
“Nonsense!” Thomas shrieked, his mouth unhinging as another wave of darkness spewing forth.
This time, Theo was prepared. Drawing on the arcane energy of the rain, he shaped the stormwater coiling around his arm into a dazzling ice vortex and launched it at the dark mass. The resulting clash unleashed violent shockwaves, sending shards of ice flying like a blizzard. Still, Theo continued channeling energy from the storm, pressing his attack.
The shockwaves battered Astra’s shield, stretching it thin despite her efforts to reinforce it. She turned to see Theo and Thomas—their powers locked in a fierce stalemate, neither gaining an advantage. Sirens wailed in the distance, a reminder that if she didn’t intervene soon, the destruction would spiral out of control.
“This balcony could probably survive a meteor shower,” Astra grumbled, glancing at Athena, who stood frozen, dazed from whatever vision had shaken her so deeply. “Let’s end this.”
Sensing another lightning strike approached, Astra’s crimson eyes ignited into blinding white as power coursed through her, wild and uncontained. Her hair whipped around her, glowing like molten silver, and the mask on her face cracked under the sheer force of the magic flooding her.
In that heartbeat, time felt as though it had frozen—the storm, the fierce battle, even the security guards scrambling to recover from her earlier onslaught. Everything hung in the air as she reached out, her will linking with the very core of the tempest, ready to unleash its might.
A brilliant flash of lightning crashed down from above, irresistibly drawn to Astra and targeting Thomas, splitting the marble ledge of the balcony in two. He spun away just in the nick of time, narrowly dodging the deadly bolt but crashing onto the slick stone floor with a curse.
Theo frowned and shot a quick glance at Astra, whose barrier remained impressively intact. “You can control lightning?”
“You missed, human,” Thomas spat, struggling to rise. “This cursed, feeble shell.”
Astra pointedly ignored Theo’s remark, her lips barely moving as she replied, “I didn’t. Meteor showers are simply hyperbolic.”
Confusion morphed into clarity for Thomas as he processed the situation. The lightning strike had been precise, surgical. The floor beneath him crumbled. He and Theo plummeted into the rain-soaked garden below.
Astra’s eyes blazed with satisfaction as she dissolved the barrier. The air rippled around her arm as she materialised two blinding diamond blades, their crystalline edges promising oblivion. She was about to leap when a soft touch on her arm made her pause.
“Athena?” Astra breathed, turning sharply to face her, the fire in her eyes dimming slightly.
Athena’s golden eyes shimmered with a haunted depth, as though she had seen something far beyond the physical realm. “It calls itself… Pride,” she whispered.
The name hit like a dagger to Astra’s chest. Her pulse spiked, and the cold sting of shock was quickly drowned by a wave of searing anger. Her jaw locked tight, teeth grinding, and her fingers gripped the blades so hard they began to fracture.
“Pride… you say?” Astra’s voice was a low, dangerous growl, her crimson eyes darkening to a deep, menacing red.