Chapter 414: Circle of fake friends.

Zyra looked straight ahead, a far-away look in her eyes as if her soul had temporarily vacated her body to go tour the universe. She thought about the mysterious Somnivore that was Hunter’s father. What had happened between him and Sabrina?

Had she fallen in love and got her heart broken? Is that why she hated her son so much to the point to shooting him? Or was Sabrina worried about Hunter’s true origins coming to light, and she wanted to eradicate Hunter, the walking evidence, before it was too late?

Hunter nudged her elbow softly. "Hey, what’s got your thoughts so thoroughly shackled, wife?"

Zyra shook her head slowly, her brows knitting together in deep confusion. "It’s my mother. Even though I was really young back then, I knew my mother’s character. She had a very strict moral compass. Something big like your background, she would have told the grand elder. There is no way on earth Zena Scorpion would have ever agreed to keep your secret for ten whole years unless..." Her words trailed off into the thin air.

Hunter picked up the trail without missing a beat. "...unless Sabrina knew something big about Aunt Zena. Something she desperately didn’t want to leak out to the public."

"Exactly!" Zyra pointed a finger at him, nodding vigorously. "If there was one thing that fake circle of ’best friends’ excelled at, it was hoarding ugly dirt on each other for blackmail!"

Hunter winced, rubbing his temples until his skin turned red. "What could Aunt Zena have possibly done back then?" Of the four friends, two had already turned out to be keepers of big secrets and criminals. "But wait..." He shook his head violently to dispel the crazy theories swirling in his brain. "There’s no way Aunt Zena would have done something equal to what my mother and Trinity did."

Zyra jutted her chin toward the prison’s front yard parking lot. "Ugh, I really wish I had asked Trinity about it while her brain was still working! There is a big chance that witch knew more than what she shared."

Hunter followed her gaze, watching a group of eight burly men in crisp white uniforms sweating profusely as they wrestled with a shrieking, unhinged Trinity. They were desperately trying to stuff her into the back of a heavily reinforced prison van.

A female warden was on the phone, talking about transfer to a mental asylum and the special status of the sick person.

"Yep, Trinity has officially lost her mind, if they are talking asylum." Hunter said, watching her try to bite a paramedic’s ankle like a rabid dog. "Is there really no cure for that Oath Sap madness?"

[None! Zero! Zip! Once the brain turns into mush from Oath Sap abuse, not even the system that healed Hunter’s corruption can heal her. The dosage she was given was too much for her mind to handle.] Beauty answered loudly in her mind before Zyra could even formulate the question.

Zyra kissed her teeth with a loud tsk and then shared what Beauty had said with Hunter. "So that leaves only two people in this entire world who might still know the truth: Tori Demerides and Sabrina... well, that’s if your hardcore mother even survives her gunshot wounds. It could be one person at this point."

Hunter raised a fair point. "Even if Sabrina survives and you use the Oath Sap on her, how’s she going to tell you anything? She cannot talk!"

Zyra smirked, tapping her own hand playfully. "She doesn’t need a tongue! She still has fingers, doesn’t she? She can write!"

Hunter shrugged, chuckling softly at her endless persistence. "That could actually work. Well, as for me, I’m heading off to find my father right now and knock some actual sense into his heavy head."

Zyra patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Good luck with that, husband who is not a legal husband. And, you are going to need it because that man isn’t just in love; he’s practically drunk on love voodoo!" There was no saving Horas, but she didn’t want to kill all of Hunter’s hopes. "I’m heading back to the estate first, and then I’m sneaking over to Beast Valley to see how things are faring over there."

"Be careful out there," Hunter murmured softly.

"Always am!" She winked and laughed.

The two of them stepped out of the prison gates together, only to be instantly blinded by a sea of flashing lights!

A huge mob of hungry paparazzi immediately swarmed around them like a cloud of noisy mosquitoes, shoving long microphones right into their faces!

"Mr. Hunter! Is it true your mother tried to shoot you inside the prison?!"

"Mrs. Kaelion! Why did you two secretly get married? How long have you been married?"

"Hunter, anything to say about your messed up family?!"

"Zyra show us those green scales!"

"Is it true that you are a special kind of divine maiden, Zyra?"

Hunter and Zyra didn’t even bother answering a single one of those completely useless questions. They just covered their faces with their hands, rolled their eyes in perfect synchronization, and casually pushed their way through the noisy crowd!

*******

Zyra was surprised to find the Grand Elder back at the estate when she returned. He was sitting peacefully by the koi pond, tossing small handfuls of fish food into the clear water. His face was surprisingly relaxed, almost like all the chaotic worries of the morning had magically vanished into thin air.

Zyra approached him gently to let him know she was heading out. "Grandpa?"

The Grand Elder looked up, greeting her cheerfully with a wide, bright smile. "Ah, Zyra! Did you hear the news yet? The trial has been completely canceled! There won’t be any need to arrange another one for those two crazy witches. My day has been freed up."

Zyra blinked. "I saw everything go down live at the prison. Have you heard from the hospital?"

"I have!" The Grand Elder nodded, tossing another pinch of food to the eager fish below. "I just spoke with the lead surgeon who was handling Sabrina’s emergency surgery."

Zyra tilted her head, her voice dropping slightly. The Soul maiden that had healed Sabrina must have done a terrible job if she needed a surgeon. Sometimes, instead of healing, their kind could escalate the growth of the injury. It was skill that Soul maidens who went to the Main 7 academy were taught.

Perhaps, this is what had happened to Sabrina. The woman had made a lot of enemies. The list of those who wanted her dead was probably longer than the list of those who wanted Zyra to be the Divine soul maiden.

"Will she survive?" She asked curiously.

The Grand Elder let out a quiet sigh. "Well, if you call lying hooked up to ten different breathing machines ’surviving’... then yes, she has survived."

Zyra folded her lips tight, completely unsure of what to say to the poor old man. How do you comfort a grandfather whose own daughter just got shot after trying to murder her own son?

She decided to pivot gently. "Hunter went to see Horas. He wanted to tell his father the whole truth... that Sabrina had a secret affair with a Somnivore, and that he was the direct result of that affair. How do you think that will go?"