Lily’s first gut feeling was that she needed to go home and check on her Dad. While he may be the leader of the group, she was worried that he would still be faced with hostility by those who still viewed him as the leader of a Mafia family.
By the time she and Luna reached the gated community that was her childhood home, her worries turned out to be a reality. The gates were warped as if it had been blown or torn off its hinges. There were wounded bodies scattered all around the place like a war had taken place.
Luna had a frown on her face as she scanned the faces of the people on the ground. She didn’t recognize most of them...she recognized all of them. Additionally, judging by the wounds that each of them had, it didn’t look like they were overrun but that they had fought each other.
Lily noticed this too and believed that the reason could only possibly be two: Either someone could control minds en masse and forced them to fight each other....or this was the result of division in the ranks and this was the first signs of a bloody revolt.
Lily’s face twisted in a mixture of fear and anger. Both of those possibilities were horrible and the result was people she cared about were getting hurt or worse.
The long driveway leading to home was just as Lily remembered. The path was pristine, cleanly paved with not a single weed in sight. The hedges were perfectly trimmed and the gardens well kept. But splattered across the asphalt were smears of blood, still fresh in places. Shell casings glinted under the sunlight. The air smelled of smoke and something harsher, something metallic. Some patches of the driveway were scorched and cracked, blackened like fire had torn through.
Gunshots rang out in the distance. Faint but real.
A sudden screech of tires behind them tore their gaze away from the mansion. A police cruiser swerved to a hard stop on the side of the road. The door swung open and Morgan stepped out, pistol already drawn, face tight with tension.
He looked toward the mansion first, but his eyes snapped toward the two girls the moment he recognized them. He froze in place.
Both girls turned away after seeing who it was. Lily then stepped onto the driveway Her eyes locked on the mansion ahead.
She reached out beside her hip and pulled her rifle from her inventory To Morgan, who watched from a distance, it looked as if the weapon simply appeared in her hands. It was unlike any gun he had ever seen.
Smooth, flowing, and made from a dark, polished wood that caught the light in subtle green and gold undertones. The grain of the wood curved naturally around the stock and barrel like it had never been carved. Like it had always existed in that shape.
Luna followed a second later. Her hand reached toward her side and pulled free a massive silver-edged battleaxe. The moment it left the space, she rested it against her shoulder, eyes focused forward.
He rubbed at his eyes with one hand, as if trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The way the weapons had appeared. The fact that they were here at all.
"You two need to leave. This place isn’t safe. You don’t know what’s going on inside," Morgan said, trying to keep his voice steady.
Luna stepped forward. She raised her axe high and then slammed it into the pavement. The ground cracked under the force, a sharp echo ringing through the air.
"We are more capable than you here. Plus Lily is not someonee who needs your help. We can handle ourselves just fine."
Morgan hesitated, caught between reason and instinct. His eyes dropped to the rifle in her hands again, still unsettled by how it had appeared. How it looked like it didn’t belong in this world.
He started to say something else, but Lily cut him off.
"If you’re here to help," she said, voice sharp and deliberate, "then shut the fuck up and ."
Morgan blinked. It wasn’t her words that stopped him but the lack of fury behind them. There was no scream. No insult. No demand for him to get lost. Just grim resolve.
He lowered his pistol slightly. Gave a reluctant nod.
And then he followed.
Lily turned without another word. Her shoes struck the bloodstained pavement with purpose. Luna walked beside her, her moon-shaped axe still resting against her shoulder like it belonged there.
Whatever waited inside that mansion, none of them were walking away from this the same.
he mansion loomed ahead, regal and silent beneath the bright sky. Its white stone walls stood tall, but up close, the cracks in its image began to show. One of the grand double doors had been blown inward, splintered near the hinges. The golden handle was bent out of shape, and blood had pooled on the steps, thick and dark against the polished stone.
Lily stepped forward without pause and pushed the door open. It groaned in protest as it swung wide. Inside, the house was in ruin.
Shattered glass crunched beneath her boots as she crossed the threshold. The chandelier that once lit the entrance hall now lay in ruins across the marble floor. Pieces of it glittered like jagged stars, scattered among overturned furniture and blood trails that streaked across the room. Smoke still hung faintly in the air, clinging to the silk curtains and gilded walls.
Bodies were everywhere. Some groaned and tried to move. Others did not.
Lily’s eyes locked onto a familiar face slumped against the wall by the staircase. A long scar curled around his cheek down to his chin and his bald head gave him a menacing aura but Lily knew who he really was. He was akin to her childhood caretaker and had often spoiled her like she was his own child.
"Uncle Marco!" she cried as she rushed to his side.
He looked up at the sound of her voice, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. One of his arms was bent at a bad angle, and his coat was soaked through. Yet even , half-conscious and dying, he tried to smile when he saw her.
"Little Lily..." His voice was hoarse and cracked, but fondness still lingered in it.
Lily knelt beside him, hands shaking as she tried to find the worst of his wounds. Her rifle disappeared from her grip without thought, returned to the inventory in a blink.
"Who did this?" she asked. "Who attacked the house?"
Marco coughed. It brought more blood. He winced, then grabbed her wrist with his good hand.
He nodded, slow and pained. "Some of the old guard... they never forgave your father. Thought going legit made him weak. That he’d sold out the family. They didn’t want peace. They wanted power. Territory. Control."
"Is he—" she started, but her throat tightened before she could finish.
Marco closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were clearer.
"They’re holding him. East wing. Said they wanted to make an example. Said he forgot what family meant."
Luna stepped closer, jaw set. Morgan hovered by the door, silent now, watching the exchange with furrowed brows.
"We’ll get him back," Lily said, more to herself than to anyone else. Her voice was firm, but her hand trembled as she squeezed Marco’s shoulder. "You’re going to be okay. Just hold on."
But Marco shook his head. "No, Lily... not this time. You need to go. Before they realize you’re here."
Lily’s lips pressed into a thin line.
She pulled out a potion from her inventory, popped the cap and forcibly poured the contents into Uncle Marco’s open mouth.
"We are going to kick their asses! But if I see they have tortured or even hurt Dad..."
Her voice went dark as a quiet rumble seemed to come from her body.
"I will kill them. I will kill them all."