Chapter 22 - Emerald

"Mom!!" Von jumped from his seat on the couch beside where Fily, Lei, and I were seated upon hearing the doors of the library open up.

It was not Venedette but a maid whom she instructed to bring us food. But I didn't tell this to Von. I kind of want to tease him a little and give him a taste of his own medicine. Particularly his sin to me yesterday when he pretended to be a kite and started punching our kites in the air.

"Ahh! It's not her!" Von threw himself from the stairs into his couch upon seeing the maid who was carrying food.

It seems like Venedette had a lot to discuss with that visitor of hers that even after 4 long hours of waiting, she's still not here. I'm guessing she'll be too tired to discuss this 'important' thing with us by now.

"No matter how I think about it, us joining the tournament still doesn't make sense to me! What about you Lei, do you think it makes sense? Fily?" Von really hates me huh? He didn't even bother to look at me but managed to ask Fily about her opinion even though she's already sleeping in my lap!?

Well, it kind of makes sense that he won't ask for my opinion because I am just a newbie here, but Fily is a newbie too! But I guess her knowledge makes up for it?

Ahh! This guy is really getting on my nerves!.

Just wait until training I'll crush you with no mercy Von!

"Maybe she has plans for us. Miss Dette is not the kind who does things for no reason."

"But what could that reason be!? I already thought of every possible reason for us to join that tournament but there's nothing popping out of my brain!"

"Maybe it's because your brain has nothing to pop out in the first place."

Von glared at me while I was just sipping on my orange juice. "What? Did I said something wrong?"

"You're not included here. Go away!"

Von threatened to hit me with a throw pillow but I gestured him to shush. "Wait I think she's here," I said, observing the creaking sound that I was hearing from downstairs, then I heard a sigh that I would not mistake for anybody else.

It was Venedette, "yup she's here."

Von looked at me weirdly, also trying to listen to the sounds downstairs but I doubt he could hear them. My estimation told me that Von's super sense was far below mine because of this.

"Venedette!" I greeted her.

Venedette wasted no time and went straight to the point immediately, explaining everything in one go that even I was able to understand.

She showed us pictures of two different women, one who seemed very famous because Lei, Fily, and even Von recognized her immediately.

"Is that the woman who killed Demi!?" Fily spilled the words that none of them dared to speak.

"How did you know that?" Venedette was not surprised but Lei seemed very concerned about it.

"I just know." Fily avoided their eyes.

"But mom! Why are you showing us that monster! Can we save this for later? Like... when those two are gone!?" Somehow, I agreed with Von for the first time.

It felt like we were being told information that must only stay between their family but Venedette continued anyway. "They need to hear this." was the only words she said to shut Von's concern down.

But I could still hear him mumbling words like "why do they need to hear these? they are not family they should have no rights!" that only made me feel guiltier about this whole situation.

If only I were brave enough to voice my opinion then maybe I can save myself from being guilty about this. But instead, I chose to shut my mouth.

Venedette must have a reason for doing this.

"Two years ago, this woman flew secretly into our country." She focused the screen on the picture of the woman who was wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, then another picture of her with tight clothes that made her look like a superhero. "She went around, pretending to be somebody else and stealing jewelry from high-profile superhumans. Even killing my daughter in the process."

'Killed my daughter'

V-venedette's daughter is dead? I looked at Venedette, impressed by how she was able to handle telling us such sensitive topics in a courageous tone.

So, they were saying a maid killed her daughter!?

That kind-looking woman did? I-i can't believe this.

"She's the well-known spider-thief!? How did you find this out!? But she looks totally different from the maid who killed my sister!" Von was also surprised by the revelation.

The two looked different indeed.

"At first I was also having doubts about my theory. But look! The real maid did not have this but I clearly saw this ring took the life out of my Demi!" She showed us several pictures of the woman, zooming in on one particular piece of jewelry that she was always wearing even in different fashions, and even the blurry picture of the castle servant.

It was a golden ring, holding a bright emerald gemstone that glowed even in the dark.

"A Salamandite!" Fily exclaimed which I couldn't agree or disagree with immediately.

"Are you saying they're somehow connected?" Lei was now participating.

"I'm saying, they're the same person!"

"But that maid was Demi's favorite! She had been kind to us all her life and just suddenly--"

"Exactly!" Venedette cut Von's words off. "At the last minute, she was acting all weird as if she's not herself anymore. I also noticed the ring on her little finger and even asked her where she got it from. She said it was from a suitor so I did not mind it, and the next thing I know, my poor little Demi was being sucked out of life." Venedette's voice cracked at her last sentence.

"She stole the maid's identity," Fily concluded.

Venedette's tears flowed like a faucet as her head nodded aggressively. She tried to cover her sobs with her hands but they were still not enough.

"Salamandites can be easily disguised as another kind of gemstone because of their diverse color-"

"But I didn't see a salamander with a dark green color." I cut her off. I want to go to Venedette right now but I still can't.

Instead, I pitched in whatever I know about the Salamandites. The color of the emerald was darker than a Salamandite! Even the book's front page did not have a gemstone in that color! They resembled the salamanders that I saw that night.

"That is true..." Fily went to thinking again, I'm sure she was having a hard time because of the lack of information that she has about Salamandites.

"But I saw its powers! It's similar to what your gemstone did Gem. It sucked the life out of my Demi."

"It sucked the life out of-" Von looked at me with wide eyes, shifting it back and forth from my necklace to my face.

"You mean the gemstone is what killed my sister!? I shouldn't have saved you and that necklace that day! If only I knew!!"

"B-but the gemstone saved us. It saved me from the fires and from that guy too..." my voice was very little, afraid of the possibility that he might be right.

Venedette had now calmed down a little after sitting on a stool near the window screen. "It's not about the gemstone. It's about who uses it. You said that it does not make decisions on its own unless you're on the verge of death, right? You will be fine as long as you learn how to use it properly."

"Why are you letting her use it, mom!? That thing is dangerous!" Von complained even more, slowly increasing his distance from me. But Fily and Lei were both unbothered by it. I wonder how they still managed to sit beside me knowing that I might be carrying something dangerous with me?

"Salamandites only serve one master, the one who activates it. We also have a Salamandite Von, the one that is being held by Halma in exchange for Gem staying here. Activating a Salamandite is hard in itself, even rarely practiced within our family. But Gem here has activated hers and I don't want to waste this opportunity to see its powers." Venedette came back to her composed self. I could not fathom how hard it must have been for her. All this time, being guilty of something she did not have control of.

"But what does this have to do with joining the tournament!??" Von looked on the verge of crying already. I'm guessing he wants to get as far away from me, now that he knows the truth about this gemstone on my neck.

"This woman is the previous winner of the Dekadalaw tournament and I'm sure she will participate in this one too! She won the last season using cheats! That was why she rampaged in our country as the well-known spider-thief because she wanted to collect more of these Salamandites."

"How many of those had she collected already?" Fily was taking notes in her Stat-hut. I could see her eyes moving like they were reading something.

"I'd say four." Venedette scanned through the pictures of the woman who was labeled as 'Hanako Yumeki' in every article.

She had this sharp eyes that contrasts her soft nose and moderately plump lips, her skin was as white as milk and she had different hairstyles in every article, but the most common one was her black straight hair with shorter cuts on the front that was slightly above her chin on both sides.

Her superhero attire was a black leather suit which she partnered with a different slightly pink-red color on her hair.

She looked like a superstar and was praised by almost everyone in the world for winning the last tournament, according to the articles on my tablet and also on the big window screen.

"There are more Salamandites than five?" Fily asked, making me ask the same question to myself.

How many colors did the salamanders who came into my room have? They gave me seven keys, and each of them in different colors. "I remember seeing seven."

"And including her emerald, we can assume that there are only eight known Salamandites at this point," Fily concluded.

"She has four out of eight? And we have two... we're still very far from her!" Von cried out of frustration.

"That is why we must train." Venedette tried to persuade Von in joining her Party but he was still indecisive.

Now I really want to learn how to use these powers to beat that Yumeki!