"Dang, what am I doing here?"
'Get used to it. Our job is to secure her and not to join her in doing her task.'
"But..."
Skylar couldn't help but chuckle, hearing the unmistakable boredom in her husband's voice. She glanced over her shoulder at him, amusement flickering in her eyes as she took in his slouched posture.
"Hubby, stop whining there." She said teasingly before adding praise, "You did a good job."
"I'm not whining," Vincencio responded defensively, quickly shifting back into his human form with a pout. The sight made Skylar laugh, the warmth in her eyes softening at his childish expression.
'Then you're complaining.'
"VIN!" He groaned, pouting at his wolf's tease.
'Fine, I'll take my leave now. And Sky, she's ready when you need her.'
"Noted and thanks, Vin." She responded, smiling before looking at her husband, who was still pouting adorably. She chuckled before pinching his cheeks, "Cute."
"I'm not cute." He glared playfully, making his wife chuckle.
"Okay, then what?" She wondered.
"I'm handsomely charming." He replied proudly, wiggling his brows, and Skylar laughed, shaking her head.
"Whatever you say, Hubby, but..." She dismissed the topic before warning him seductively, "All of you are mine."
Vincencio was left dumbfounded. His mouth hung open as he watched Skylar's waist swaying seductively, walking closer to Rudolf's ash.
"Hubby, close that mouth or his ash will go there." She said sternly but teasingly. And automatically, Vincencio closed his mouth.
"EWW! That's disgusting." He reacted with disgust.
"Thought so." She chcukled amusingly before focusing on the wall behind the torture chair.
Skylar waved her hand, releasing an energy to magically wipe the ash out of the way before stepping closer to the chair. She touched the chair one more time, dusting a little before knocking it twice. Vincencio got confused, but he felt the ground crumble like something was opening, and a few cracks showed up.
"Wifey, what are you doing?" Vincencio worriedly asked, stepping a little closer to his wife's back while on guard for whatever was coming out from the ground.
"I'm opening it," Skylar answered with closed eyes and hands up at the level of her chest, making the ground, the wall, and the ceiling crumble.
"Opening what?" He asked, but was alerted because the entire cell was crumbling like it was giving in."A grave." She responded, making Vincencio's eyes widen in disbelief.
"You weren't." He reacted like it was the stupidest thing his wife would ever do.
"Yes, I am." She grinned, opening her eyes, which were glowing bright crimson and silver.
"Then ask permission first." He sighed, calming his defensive stance behind his wife.
"Already did." She grinned, and for another wave, the crackings finally subsided, leaving a very deep and huge crack on the wall behind the torture chair.
There was some dust from the aftereffect of the crumble, causing them to cough a little before Skylar checked it closely. As soon as she got closer, she clearly saw the colorful security measures that her mother had left hidden in the entire cell, but there was something different behind the wall.
"Mom, you've got to be kidding me." She sighed heavily, not liking what had welcomed her. She leaned over the chair while staring at the cracked wall.
"What? What is it?" He asked quickly, slightly worried.
"There's another layer of security behind the wall, and it was more...I don't know complicated?" She replied, clicking her tongue. She was annoyed by the super tight security that her mother had created for a single remains.
"Well, she's your mother, and conflict runs in your veins, too." Amused, he reminded teasingly, which earned him a slap on his arms.
"Hubby, don't start and just help me figure this out before we head to their house." She warned, rolling her eyes, and focused on another complication before her.
"Then tell me what you see because I can't." He said, trying to help his wife.
Skylar gave him a look, doubting a little but recalling that Vincencio was a mafia boss. She sighed and gave it a try.
"First layer is white, then brown interlocked with green." She started sharing what she was seeing, and by narrowing her eyes more, she kept adding, "For the third layer, it's blue, and for the fourth, it's a tri-color from red, yellow, and orange, then for the fifth, it was violet."
"That's five elements: Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Spirit." He answered quickly before asking sternly, "Anything else you see that might be hidden around it?"
"Hm, neutral...black and grey...I think..." Skylar answered with squinted eyes, trying to analyze the other colors faintly sparking around each said color.
"Can you describe what you feel around those neutral colors?" He wondered, making Skylar's eyes narrow again before she coughed. It made him worried, asking, "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright, but a few white colors entwining with the two neutral colors." She answered, trying to ease the cough over her chest before adding, "If I'm going to reflect on how it felt for me, it was a balance of life and death or something like that."
"So, the elements were the keeper or the security of the soul who was resting there. As for the neutral ones, they were a guide or perhaps, the soul itself." He added another conclusion, clarifying the meaning of the elemental security on the wall.
"If that is the case, then I might be able to open it." She agreed, dusting her clothes and cracking her fingers again.
"Don't forget to add your own touch." He remained, making Skylar frown at him.
"My own touch?" She wondered. He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Rudolf said you're the key, and you're mother stated the same thing." He reminded, making her nod but still not clicking about her 'own touch' before adding, "You're blood, wifey. Try using your blood."
"Oh, right. Okay." She chuckled, agreeing to his reminders.
Vincencio gave him space after kissing her head. As for Skylar, she closed her eyes, channeled her energy into one area before making a few hand gestures. It began revealing all the magical security measures around the cell, including the one behind the wall. She continued using her energy and kept unlocking the security measures behind the wall, which was slowly dissolving the wall until a crystal and bloody door appeared.
Skylar collapsed on the ground, panting, and looked at the door.
"I'll complain to Mom later." She sighed, catching her breath while Vincencio held her, supporting her.
"Wifey, the temperature behind that door is much freezing than the temp here," Vincencio mumbled, sensing the air slightly escaping from the secret door.
"It should be." She grinned, making Vincencio look at her in horror. "You can stay here as I get her."
"Sure! I'll wait here." He replied quickly that he intended, making Skylar grin.
"That quick?" She teased because she had just learned something about her husband.
"Yes. Go on now. I'll secure this area." Without lying, he responded, not caring if his tone was obviously scared.
"You hate below-zero temperatures." She teased, grinning, after finding out Vincencio's fear.
"Yes, but I love snow." He admitted, making Skylar laugh.
"Unbelievable." She grinned amusingly at how adorable her husband could be when facing his fear around a below-zero temperatures.
"I know, and you still love me for it." He grinned proudly.
"Indeed, I do." She chuckled.
"Hurry." He said, pushing his wife's back gently. Skylar laughed, shaking her head as she approached the bloody crystal door.
Skylar took a deep breath and cut her fingertip before touching the door. As soon as her hand touched the door, her knees buckled a little because her blood was being suck away. The door turned crimson with dragon and phoenix entwined at the center before a handle showed up. Skylar opened the door, and freezing temperature escaped. Vincencio skipped like a jolted cat, but only for a few seconds before calming down.
"What? It's freezing." Vincencio defensively said, glaring.
"Not saying anything." Skylar refuted teasingly, giggling at his cute, jumpy reaction against the freezing air.
"Your look says so." He pointed out, making Skylar chuckle, and widely opened the door.
Behind the closed door, Skylar entered carefully. Every step she made was cautious until a gust of wind brushed her body. It was either cold or warm, but there was a streak of blood among the rose scent flowing in the wind. She was not disgusted or irritated over the scent; instead, she glanced at her finger that she had cut earlier and snapped it, causing a flare of light in the aisle of the room. Then she gasped.
The area was filled with blood. The ceiling has blood dripping down like a soft rain, and the ground has become a sea of blood. The only remaining untainted with blood was the wall - the crystallized wall where some blood became a red pillar with sharp edges.
"Wifey, what do you see in there?"
"Blood and crystals." She answered in awe and curiosity.
"Crystals? As in gems? A jewel?"
"No, but frozen blood kind of." She answered briefly, unsure how to explain the scenery without sounding creepy.
"Oh. Have you seen a coffin or urn around where her remains were hidden in a safe?"
Skylar didn't reply, but she did let her eyes roam around without walking further inside. She studied the area, making her right eye ache. She groaned from the sudden pain, almost making her knees buckle. Instead, her right eye released angry veins around before turning into a growing dragon's eye and bursting into blue flame.
"What the fuck..." Skylar mumbled as the pain became bearable, and the flame wasn't even burning her skin yet; it had become different - a skull with a dragon's eye.
"WIFEY!"
"I don't know, Vince..." She replied as she faced where her husband entered, but only to be greeted by a shocked and speechless Vincencio, making her ask, "What? What do you see around my right eye?"
"I'm not sure...it looked like eye of death to me..." Vincencio responded, unsure, but Skylar understood what it meant until he questioned her again, asking, "Does your family close to Life and Death itself?"
"I don't know either." She answered worriedly, but Vincencio touched her right cheek where the flame wavered and seemed to acknowledge him as her partner.
"Then we'll ask afterwards." He responded sternly before looking at the area, reminding, "For now, let's do your task and find her remains."
Skylar agreed and focused on her task as Souls' Mutualist. She did some hand gestures to release her power and to locate where the soul was hidden safely. As her power spread aorund the area, the blood from the ceiling stopped dripping, the bloody ground created cleared a path and the freezing wall showed scriptures that hasn't written into any history books.
"Wifey, there are scriptures on the wall. They weren't Egyptian, Celtic, or Baybayin." Vincencio was puzzled by the characters he hadn't seen before.
"They were my mom's. She invented them." Skylar answered as she continued spreading her power around the area - covering everything.
"So, that's why you're the key to finding Sophia's remains." He said, nodding before wondering, "Can you read it?"
"Nope. Not at all." She answered quickly, making Vincencio look dumbfounded.
"Then how..." He trailed off.
"But I can understand them." She responded quickly before he could even finish his sentence.
"Unbelievable." He sighed, and Skylar chuckled.
"It's about instincts, Hubby." She clarified, giggling slightly before adding her gut feeling, "My mother's feelings for Sophia. It's about their bond and understanding what it meant."
"Then can it show us where her remains are hidden?" He asked as they kept walking on the clear path.
"There." She answered, pointing to the opposite end of the entrance where an old cryptic design was scribbled around the coffin.
"Oh, how stupid of me." He chuckled, looking at what her wife was pointing at before wondering about a possibility, "But do you think there's any booby trap in getting it?"
"Like Indian Jones and Tomb Raider movies?" She asked.
"Yep, something like that." He replied, nodding.
"It's not treasure hunting. But there's nothing wrong with thinking something like that." She said, considering what he asked.
"Then I'll leave you to it." He said, stepping back a little behind his wife.
"Hubby." She frowned at his gesture.
"What? You're more dangerous than I am." He defended, making Skylar glare at him, but he continued reasoning defensively, saying, "I'm just a mafia boss, and you're the infamous killer. The entire city knows the Rose Slayer's name. Everyone feared the name and her deeds."
Skylar glared at him deeply before sighing, giving up because it was true. She was more lethal than her husband.
"Fine. Just be on guard." She commanded firmly.
"Always." He grinned with two thumbs up, making Skylar groan and shaking her head in disbelief.