Michael's eyes widened.

She knew!

He didn't stop to think about how Asha Claire had figured everything out. In a split second, he summoned lightning on his hands and prepared to unleash it on the blue-haired woman. He spun on his heels, only to find that the female had disappeared from the place where she was supposed to be. Michael Caelum hadn't heard the woman move yet within a breath she was right in front of him!

"Impedio." The woman's voice was cold, like the small hand that wrapped around the young man's wrist and twisted his arm to his back. The spell on his hands flickered and disappeared.

He struggled to free himself from her grasp and cast Fulcio on his entire body to increase his strength. The woman didn't bat an eye and slammed a knee to his side. Michael heard something crack. Searing heat and inextinguishable pain shot up from the place where he was hit. His body decided to rebel against him at this particular moment. The throbbing in his chest intensified. All of a sudden, he felt like hands were squeezing out the air from his lungs. The male's knees gave way as every muscle of his body seemed to belong to someone else.

"You're not planning on stealing my master's test subject, are you? I felt the traces of your energy during the Talent Implantation procedure on Subject 124. This is the domain of a Magno Deorum. Did you think no one would notice?" Asha Claire released him and looked at the male with dead eyes as he collapsed to the floor.

She licked her lips as she watched him writhe in pain. "Finally it's showing its effects."

"What.. did you do to me?" Michael managed to force the words out of his lips.

"Nothing! I just shook your hands!" Asha Claire innocently blinked. Her blue eyes gleamed with a sinister light. "Ah- right. I forgot to mention I was experimenting with a few poisons and a good number of snake venom samples with my bare hands. Looks like I managed to delay the effects for six hours successfully. Aren't I a genius?"

Asha Claire stepped on his chest while spouting curses at the amber-haired male. He felt like a thousand ants were simultaneously chewing on his skin and it was getting harder and harder for him to breathe. Yet, he didn't care about her cursing. He cared even less for the pain blooming in his chest. The fog that had shrouded his thoughts earlier was gone. His mind was sharp. He wasn't sure if Asha Claire was going to go after 373 next. But he needed to make sure that she wasn't – that the small girl with brown hair and deep black orbs was going to have a chance at escaping Elisium.

Even if that meant she had to leave without him.

Michael Caelum's breathing was reduced to shallow pants and his entire body felt like lead. The male silently gathered his remaining energy and grabbed the woman's ankle the moment she brought her foot down. Her blue eyes narrowed at him and he willed his Talent to wipe her memories clean. Asha Claire cackled in response and kicked him across the floor.

"Boy, I might look this young, but I'm more than two hundred years old! I know every trick in the book." The Great Apothecary's successor walked towards him and crouched beside his body. A languid smile was on her lips. She looked like she had all the time in the world. "The Talent to erase memories? Even if you had the Talent to rewind time, I would still be able to defeat you! But maybe I should harvest it? Master might reward me if I do."

He glared at her but the woman remained unperturbed. The female stood and watched him struggle before she nudged his arm with her shoe. He didn't mind her. He grit his teeth. He tried to summon strength in his arms even when every inch of him was overcome with an intense burning sensation. Michael Caelum willed himself to get up amid the pain. Until Asha Claire raised her leg and all slammed it down on his stomach.

A loud grunt echoed through the halls followed by a series of coughs. Asha Claire's foot had long left his abdomen and had instead found his face. The woman pressed her three-inch heel on Michael Caelum's head. The more he groaned and suffered, the wider her smile became.

"Don't worry, boy. I'll let you die. But only after I let you experience a thousand deaths" The blue-haired woman giggled. "Don't be in a hurry. You'll soon join your mother in hell. Or heaven. Whichever works."

Michael's warm multi-colored eyes widened. His breath hitched in his throat. All color was drained from his face.

His mother.. was dead?

The woman saw the confusion on his face and laughed. The sound that came from her lips was hair raising.

"I was thinking of looking into the matters of death to understand Master even more. And Maria Caelum's hair color-," Asha Claire made a face. "-was really annoying! I decided to pick her. But who knew that it would be as interesting as killing a fly? I honestly don't see why Master thinks death is a better research topic than eternal life!"

Michael tried to push his body up from the ground but Asha Claire's foot just kept him in place. The woman gave him a crooked smile and observed his every action. Slowly, Michael's vision was starting to blur. His breaths were becoming more labored and shorter than before. Every fiber of his body seemed to be on fire. He didn't even feel the woman take her foot off his face. The young male didn't even notice how Asha Claire had bent down to yank him by his shirt collar so that her face was only a few inches from hers.

"Painful isn't it? Don't worry. It'll end soon," she said. Her twisted smile had long left her lips. A calculating look flashed in her eyes. "Your Talent will be used for great things. And once I'm done with you, I'll make sure you're reunited with that girl 373 in the afterlife."

The young man's vision blurred as he slowly lost consciousness. Even when he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with thoughts of Aria – of the different faces she had shown him in their lifetime. What face would she make if she knew he had failed?

What face would she make if she knew he was gone?

His world turned into darkness, but his lips still managed to utter a single name.

"Aria..."

I'm sorry.