Chapter 9: Root of Evil
With the wind gently blowing and the sun shining bright on this day, Arianna actually seemed to feel as if she was in a relaxed state of mind. Things had been stressing her out severely lately; from the recurring aching feeling in her body, to the grief of being forced out by her family, to the crazy brawl that had occured at the Bottom the night prior. Layla finally showed her true colors and, recruiting two men she barely even knew, proceeded to assault and try to find a way to capture Ari. It seemed that Ari's witch joke about Layla actually had some truth in it ironically enough.
Still, the young Italian harbinger had plenty to be grateful for. Her seemingly new boyfriend, the charismatic Samoan who called himself the Rock was there to defend her despite the fact he had knocked her unconscious. Accidents happened though, right? Ari surely wasn't complaining, but did promise to put "boots to his ass" if it happened again. Another person who was there was a man who Ari didn't really know, but the Rock had history with. His name was Steve Austin, but he went by his nickname moniker of "Stone Cold." Honestly she didn't understand why people of this era had so many nicknames for themselves.
Stone Cold had really helped her though, and actually helped the Rock dispatch his foes that were Alberto Del Rio and the Big Show. Which was why Ari was confused. Why did the Rock have beef with Austin?
"Because he's a bald headed, double stunning candy ass, that's why!" the Rock exclaimed, outraged by Ari's question just a tad bit much. The couple were in Market Heights shopping for some foods before they headed to Eve's house for a visit. "The Rock knows that he's as trustworthy as a rattlesnake, and that ain't much Ari," he spat, as he grabbed some breadsticks and tossed them into Ari's basket. She arched an eyebrow at the Great One. "Care to explain?"
He nodded his head in agreement. "Gladly, though I won't like reliving it," he mentioned before gathering himself as the couple continued along. "Remember when the Rock told you that story about him getting kicked out of his own village and went out on his own with his own family?" he asked, and Ari slowly nodded. "Yeah, what about it?" she questioned.
The Rock smirked a little. "Calm down, this is the Rock's story. Anyway, while the Rock and his people were travelling, we encountered Stone Cold Steve Austin locked in a battle with some rock-solid grunts. And yes, they were literally made out of rock," the Rock said sharply, catching the slight rolling of Ari's eyes. "So anyways, the Rock decided to be a man and help him out. The Rock and Austin were working well together, and together we took out those stupid rockheads. The Rock felt that he had earned a place amongst us to travel with us, but quite frankly that wasn't the case to him." Ari's pupils grew big as she became more intrigued. "So then what happened?"
The Rock rolled his shoulders a bit, staying a little bit quiet before continuing. "Rocky? What happened?" Ari asked once more. The Rock sat down on a bench, dropping all of the supplies right next to his feet, as the harbinger rushed over to quickly sit down next to him. "Please tell me, I hate when you stop talking," she pleaded a bit. The Man of Electricity finally nodded his head in reluctance. "Alright, I'll tell you," he said.
The Rock got back up, stuffing a watermelon into the large bag on his back as they continued to shop for more supplies. "The Rock says one day we came across a race of beings known as the Soul Eaters. They do just that, they feed on your souls jabroni," he said, causing Ari to groan at his attempt to be captain obvious once again. "So what did they do? Steal the people's soul?" Ari quipped, beginning to laugh. The Rock's facial expressions and tone took on a more darker tone as he took another watermelon from the stands and smashed it over the clerk's head. "No! Shut your mouth Ari, the Rock is serious here!" he said bitterly, and slightly yelling, startling Ari.
"Okay okay I'm sorry," Ari apologized, feeling slightly hurt. No need to yell...jabroni, she thought to herself as the Rock continued. "Anyway, we were doing just fine against them and had those jabronis on their heels, but then Austin went and did the unthinkable. You see, Austin is the current elemental, a powerful being with the powers of the four elements. Not only that, but it's the elemental's job to personally protect the harbinger," he said, pointing to Ari.
"But that's me!" she exclaimed. This time it was the Rock's turn to roll his eyes. "Of course jabroni! Who else would it be, an avatar?" the Rock cockily responded. "Whatever DWAYNE. So then tell me, if he's supposed to be protecting me, then why aren't I with him instead?" she questioned. "'Cause he doesn't deserve you, that's why," he answered rather snarkily.
"Really Rock? I don't think that's the reason why at all," she said, folding her arms. "You gonna tell me or do I have to find out for myself?" The Rock groaned, tossing over a clerk's stand of food as it crushed his legs. "My leg!" he screamed as the Rock smashed another watermelon over his face. "Oh shut your mouth!" the Rock roared at the whimpering man. "The Rock says he'll tell you once, and only once Ari," he said. "Because you love me," she said sticking her tongue out at him.
"ANYWAYS, the reason why Austin isn't with you is because the Rock is protecting you. You don't need that jabroni's protection at all," he said, crossing his arms. Ari raised a mocking eyebrow to the Rock and spun him around. "Are you jealous or something? Come on Rocky, I need to know the truth. You know that a lot of this stuff is all new to me, it's not like I've known this stuff for years," she asked, before going quiet.
"Alright," the Rock sighed. "It really is because I'm protecting you. He honestly has the ability to come around anytime he feels like it, but the only type of way he can't get involved with you is romantically." Ari blinked once, then twice, before saying "Huh? Why would he do that though?"
"The Rock doesn't know, and quite frankly the Rock doesn't care. He's not coming near you, unless some big fight is going on, and even then, I still wouldn't trust his bald headed candy ass," the Rock went off. Not being one to be timid or hold back, Ari pressed on. "So, not saying that it would happen, but just in case it did, what would happen if me and Austin did get involved romantically? Then what?"
Luckily for her, the Rock didn't snap. Instead, he paused before continuing. "Then you'd end up like the first harbinger," he said, and that was all that was mentioned for that subject. "And if you want to know what Austin did to me that day that made me hate him, he took a flaming spear and stabbed me in the back along with the Soul Eater who was about to take our lives. Yes it killed the Soul Eaters, but no, I did not forgive him for what he did. He whipped up some type of air cloud and flew away, leaving us stranded. The Rock remembered the look of disdain on his face too. The Rock never forgets," he said quietly as Ari took a moment for it to all sink in.
"Now then, you coming or what? Your best friend is waiting for you and the Rock hears that she makes excellent pie," he said, allowing a grin to cross his face, before Ari bashed him in the nose, with brass knuckles. "Damn!" a bystander nearby yelled out. Apparently, his clothing and apparel tended to match the words he said out loud, Ari noted.
"Horny bastard," she glared, lowly laughing to herself before following the now frowning Rock out of Market Heights. It was time to go see Eve.
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Layla hurriedly flipped through pages of her books, frantically searching for something as if she had lost her puppy. The Western European-born witch was on the cusp of finding exactly what she needed to take down Arianna once and for all, and consume all her power necessary to revive her fallen people. Call her evil, call her a witch, but quite frankly Layla didn't even care. She had been alive for 200 years, yet thanks to an aging spell, it looked as if she hadn't aged a day. She planned on keeping it that way for as long as she could.
The fact that Ari's family had been blessed(or cursed depending on who you asked) with such a gift as amazing as the harbinger absolutely made her blood boil. How could her family not deserve something as powerful as that? She didn't care if there were bigger forces at work; she was going to be sure to see to it that all of her people were revived no matter the cost. Whether it was one sacrifice, or all of Italy, one way or another she was going to make it happen.
Reaching to the top of her shelf, Layla finally managed to pull out a big black bold book and slammed it down on the desk in front of her as she started to run through it. There was some sort of spell in here that would help her accomplish that goal, but she needed to find it. It had to be in that book somewhere...
An hour later, after frantically searching through her entire spellbook, Layla was about ready to give up; that was until she noticed a square layer in the back of her book 'accidentally' fall out. Curious, she picked up the block and examined it, before finally letting out a cackle and smiling an ugly grin. She had found the spell she was looking for: to bring back the Immortal. Of course, there were certain conditions that had to be done in order to complete a spell as powerful as this; but Layla was powerful and capable enough as a witch to pull this off.
There were two things that needed to be completed in order to make this spell happen. One, the spellcaster must have a completely black heart, and have no qualms or morals whatsoever. The witch rolled her eyes; she had that already down pact. The second condition was that massive innocents had to be killed. Innocent bloodshed in a nutshell. Layla relooked the spell over, before thinking once more on what to do about that. Then, the perfect thought arose in her mind and she grinned evilly. It was time to pay Ari's family a visit.
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Layla made her way over to the Mendillo home, and just as she was about to knock on the door, said object swung right open and knocked the witch down the stairs, courtesy of Aaliyah. "Watch where you're going gato!" she yelled, as she scurried down the steps and ran down the block. Layla rolled her eyes at the little pest. She could deal with her at a later time, but right now she had more important things to attend to.
Layla picked herself up off the ground, just to come face to face with Ari's mother, Autumn. "Why hello Layla! A pleasure to have you here! Come in!" she motioned, as Layla smiled. "Oh believe me, you don't know how glad I am to be here today," Layla smirked with a sinister look darting around in her eyes. Everyone failed to notice however. Amanda sat at the dinner table, putting stuff on her face to take care of the newest epidemic they called acne. The head of the family Antony, sat at the head of the table, reading the paper, making his thoughts and feelings on any of the particular subjects be known to everybody in the kitchen. Alonzo and his brother were yelling at each other across the table about who was better looking, and who was going to be the first one to impress the girl across the street.
Layla rolled her eyes at the typical Italian family. The sooner she was able to get this done, the better. The witch had bigger plans on the horizon coming up and this stupid family was only a stepping stone that was going to lead her to where she needed to be. Autumn quickly went outside from the gas stove, fetching the turkey and dressing as well as biscuits, cranberry sauce and more as the family prepared to feast. Layla's taste buds began tingling, but as good as the food smelled, she had a job to do.
As the rest of the family sat down, Amanda lit the candles and everyone began to bow their heads. Seizing the opportunity in the moment, Layla intervened, using a simple question. "Is it okay if I say the grace this time?" she asked politely, and Autumn more than enthusiastically responded, "certainly Layla!"
Layla smiled one last time, before closing her eyes and started chanting something to herself. Nobody could hear her, so the family began to open their ears more as Layla's chanting started to get louder. When she finally looked up, her eyes were all completely red with rage, and her hands were now glowing the same color as well. The Mendillo family went into full panic mode as Layla began to rise into the air, screaming out loud: "RED RAGES OF RAGON!" Red flashes went everywhere, first annihilating Alonzo and his brother right on sight. Nothing was left in their place at all.
"You monster! How dare you!" Autumn screamed, but Layla blasted her straight in the face, incinerating her right on impact. Amanda looked to Layla and snarled, clearly not taking in the severity of the situation. "I knew you were always an ugly witch," she said before Layla destroyed her from the inside out.
All that was left was the head of the family Antony, and Layla didn't hold back against him either. Forming her red bolts into red blades, she proceeded to chop every single thing, yes every single thing, off of his body and leave him looking like an appendaged wreck. Satisfied, Layla opened up the front door, and proceeded to snap her fingers and walk away.
What exactly was the effect? As soon as Layla turned the corner, every single house on that street immediately started to get swallowed whole. It was one of Layla's favorite spells, the Sinkhole. Now all Layla had to do was to return home to her study and finish off the rest of her spell and everything would be complete. Floating away into the alleyway shadows, a piercing scream could be heard that pierced her ears, but it was definitely worth it.
The sobs and tears of an angel. The cries of Arianna's little sister, Aaliyah.
Well I hope you all enjoyed that rather unexpected chapter of 9AM In Italy... I know it's kind of a sad chapter, but things are just started to get heated up. The visit to Eve's begins, Rock and Reigns have a huge confrontation, and Layla attempts to unleash her ultimate spell. And just what will Aaliyah do? Find out soon and stay tuned to 9AM In Italy. Also, MysticxDiva has rebooted her Dangerous Liaisons story under a new title, called Uninvited, so be sure to check that out on her page, since this is the prequel to her story! Thanks for reading!
-RonRon100