The other woman turned slowly after she heard the Onyx, her purple eyes boring into her very soul. For a while, the three stood in the old broken building, silence descending on them, save the sounds of the crunching stones beneath their boots. Lyne would have cowered beneath that gaze if she was her former self. However, looking into this woman's eyes gave her nothing but more confidence.

"What do you know about the Onyx?" Maya's voice was hoarse and firm.

"Just a little bit. I know about the fact that you have been going about, seeking revenge for your lost cause. I know that you have lived for centuries now and that you're an ancestral Vampire, one of a kind which we all believed have been wiped out by a volcanic eruption." Lyne explained, her stance firm to the ground.

"That's true." She heard Amber call and for a second she forgot they had a third party. "But, Princess, how do you know she is an underground Vampire? For all we know, they are nothing but myths."

Lyne nodded, glancing back at Maya who now approached them with gentle strides.

"The Onyx belongs to me and unto me shall it return to." She said.

"No one is disputing that, Maya. But there is something I want you to know. The Onyx was given to us willingly and that is why it has been working for us."

Maya burst out laughing, throwing her head back.

"Indeed. Us? You forget you're not one of us, Princess. You're an outcast and that's what you'll always be."

"I am..." Her words held something in her heart. She was beginning to think about it. Was she included in the future of the city at all? 

"When the history of this city was created, I was born. When your Fathers begged for power, our clans were a million years old. When my husband and I..." Her voice broke and she closed her eyes, probably forming words in her head.

Lyne thought about her encounter with the coffin and what she had discovered and it made her wonder whether the body was her husband. It should be. No doubt about that. But then, for how long has he been there that Maya is still unaware of his presence? Is it right that she let her know about it?

"Your husband..."

"He owns the Onyx!" Maya snapped, opening her eyes again widely.

"The Onyx used to be the only thing that makes him happy and fulfilled. Until it was stolen from him."

"Who stole it from him?" Lyne asked cautiously eyeing the other woman who was moving closer.

"The twelve brothers!" Her shrilling voice pierced through the walls of the temple, bearing pain and frustration.

"They took it from him and made him struggle for justice. I shouldn't have been a coward. I should have filled in for him when he needed me the most. But I ran away."

Like a cold stream, realization washed through Lyne's heart as she listened to Maya. Wouldn't it be cowardly to run away with the excuse of protecting her baby? How is she going to feel when she loses Zeidan? Her heart skipped a beat.

"Maya." She called softly.

"I watched them behead him. He pleaded for them to give him another chance..."

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"...please my Lord, give me a few more days to prove my innocence. I can assure you that this Onyx belongs to me." Roderigo pleaded for the nth time, both hands cuffed in rather large, metallic chains and his face covered in blisters. 

His lips were swollen like a bee had stung him there, giving them a pinky soft look, as if a touch would make them burst immediately. Swollen eyelids, dry clots of blood covered a huge part of his nose, and a lean bare body. The only clothing he still had on was his pants which have been torn through beating from the whip lashes. His skin, from the shoulder blades to his collar bone, to his chest, and every part have been clotted with dried blood.

"Roderigo," a robust man sitting on the chair before Roderigo with a long black robe held a staff and took a glance at him.

"If I were you, I'd give up this case a long time ago. You have no chance against these people. Admit you are not the owner of the Onyx and we will set you free. Back to your family," he leaned against his chair, a smirk on his face. "And your child."

Roderigo raised his head sharply as he heard the Chief Judge for the underground Vampire mention his child. 

"My child." He repeated, shakily.

"Yes. Your wife gave birth to a very cute baby boy. I'm sure you'd give anything to be there with them."

He thought about it for a while, slumping back on the floor and barely able to breathe. Many thoughts ran through his head but he wasn't sure which one was worth ruminating over. The fact that his child might be involved in the struggle against the twelve brothers or that he might be wiped out before he even got the chance to live or to see and know his Father. Also, his love, Maya, will be forever gone or become a wife to one of the brothers after his demise. However, none of those came close to losing the Onyx to the ruthless brothers. It was like God giving his power to the devil. It would never happen. Not in a Zillion years.

"My son," he began to say weakly. "Will grow up to be a fighter and a protector of my jewel. The one I've toiled and suffered to extract from mother earth. The one I've had her breathe into that the power of the universe may live in it. He will be back and will do everything within his power to destroy you all say you eventually survive the disaster..." Roderigo lifted his heavy eyes. "Which he will surely survive."

Maya had heard all of these behind the door which she had been eavesdropping. Coming to the courthouse that night to pay Roderigo a visit and thereby show him their baby seemed like a bad idea because that was when he had vowed to sacrifice everything but living without the Onyx. She pulled her baby tighter to her bosom as a tear fell from her eye. The corridor was empty and quiet making it easy for her to hear them.

"Are you sure about this, Roderigo?" The Chief asked again.

"I am certain, my Lord."

"Tomorrow will be your execution day." He concluded as he rose, his protruded belly visible in his robe.

"As you wish." He replied absent-mindedly. He was done convincing them to let him avert the disaster but if they wouldn't listen, it was their funeral.

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"I was furious when I went back home with our baby. I felt like I was gonna die." Maya continued her story which Lyne listened to intently. 

"But every time I looked into my baby's eyes, all I could see was him. I couldn't bear to lose my son so I went to Mother Earth and asked for the power to survive the disaster. It came with a price because Roderigo had cursed the land. I had to stay in the coffin until it passed and the day I get out is the day my son dies."

She exhaled shakily before turning, her black cloak sweeping the stones. 

"I would be out of here forever. I want to forget about all that has happened and live a new life. And to that, I have to start now." 

Before Lyne could say a word, she was gliding outside the temple, with Amber grabbing her arm to stop her from following.