Chapter 42:

High tide

"so..it…seems….."Princess"….."

"….you chose…..poorly…."

As soon as the words had left Tempest's mouth, she had begun to unbuckle her coat, revealing a set of leather armor underneath as her hair came loose from her bun.

Snapping her fingers as puddles of water begun to form and rise up from the ground.

Once the blobs of water had fully emerged, they would shudder before snapping into shape.

Each and every single blob had taken on the shape of someone currently residing at the hotel, and as the water copies summoned their weapons, Tempest finished " Remember princess…..you brought this on yourself"

As she spoke those last words, she flicked her wrist as a yet of water shot out from her hand and froze, taking on the shape of a sword as, on Tempest's command, the water clones shot forward, each one of them quickly finding and closing in on their representative hotel guest.

It wasn't long before each and every guest was fighting their own watery double ganger, except for Charlie and Vaggie, who, seemingly as punishment for showing affection before the deep-sea demon, had to fight EACHOTHER'S watery clone.

The clanking of swords and banging of gunfire filled the air as the final battle for the hotel had finally begun.

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..

She wasn't sure how, but Lute was quickly able to realize that not only did the clones look like them, but they fought like them.

Ever since picking up training again with Vaggie and Velvette, Lute was able to learn the flaws in her own form, quickly dispatching her own copy, tho not entirely with ease as she began to dash across the battlefield to help wherever she could.

It was at this moment that everyone felt a rumble in the ground, and once they looked up, they saw that the giant, icy dome had begun to thaw as it slowly turned from a frozen prison into a giant, swirling vortex, angrily whirling around the hotel grounds as the top once again opened, revealing dark, ominous storm clouds, which occasionally erupted with bolts of lightning.

"HOW POWERFUL IS THIS BITCH?!" Vox yelped, struggling to fight his liquid duplicate, to which Alastor piped up "Powerful enough where even I have to admit I'd struggling, it seems we finally found our match "old friend"!"

As Lute gazed upon the battle field, she saw Tempest slowly approach Pablo, who had by now fallen on his back and was slowly crawling away from a slowly approaching Tempest, twirling her icy blade in her hand as she stared him down, tho her expression is what put Lute off most…where she had grown used to seeing this emotionless, stern look on her face, Tempest's face had now broken out in a toothy, wide eyed, manic smile as she closed in on the object of her ire.

"200 years….and at last…you…..are…finally….MINE!"

Pablo would scream through a blur of tears "I never wanted this! They didn't have to suffer, you could just have taken me and be done with it, but no, you robed them into this!"

Snarling, Tempest dashed forward as she held her sword against the man's throat "They got in my way….NO ONE gets in my way…..they will face their punishment"

Before she was able to go in for the kill, Lute had jumped in between, clinging her own sword against the icy blade of the sea serpent overlord as she pushed her back "He's got a point, Olivia! You didn't have to extend your fury to everyone here!"

By now, the deep-sea demon was fuming "DON'T YOU DARE SIDE WITH THAT MURDERED! I WILL SKIN YOU AND MOUNT YOUR HORNS TO MY WALL AS A TROPHY!" as she dashed forward and Lute and Tempest began to exchange blows "Is it really worth it?! Is revenge really worth losing your humanity over, Olivia?!"

Snarling, Tempest barked back "OLIVIA SCYLLA DIED THE DAY THAT MAN DROWNED ME, and what do YOU know about revenge, little angel?!" to which Lute barked back "More then you know, bitch!"

Giving a strong push, Lute managed to shove the short overlord back a few feet as she spoke "It might feel good in the moment, but in the end, it'll just leave you feeling empty….it will be a hollow victory" as she looked down at her 1 demonic arm " ….believe me…I should know…."

But when she had looked up, Tempest was once again coming straight at her, eyes wide and teeth gnashing in a blind fury.

Lute barely managed to block her attack with her sword as she was pushed back, leaving deep grooves in the ground as Tempest was now wailing on her as all reason and self-control had left her "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

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A little further away, Charlie and Vaggie weren't off much better, each of them being subjected to a particularly cruel punishment as they had to fight an exact, watery copy of their beloved.

With every expertly placed blow Charlie blocked or dodged with her trident, the princess had to remind herself that this wasn't the real Vaggie as she managed to plunge her angelic steel weapon in the abdomen of her liquidy pursuer.

"Never thought I'd say this about you slaying something that looks like me, but nice one babe!" Vaggie encouraged her partner from behind her as the fallen exorcist's watery double ganger dissolved and got absorbed by the soil before Charlie joined her girlfriend in fighting off her own liquid clone.

2 versus one made quick work of the duplicate of the princess as one by one, tho through great effort and with a few VERY close calls, all the water clones fell as the combat prowess and sheer angelic power of the high seraphim proved too much for Tempest to handle as maintaining the copies had strained her too much.

Eventually, the last of the water clones had popped like a soapy bubble, the water quickly being absorbed by the ground as everyone began to surround the deep-sea demon.

"It's over Tempest" Lute spoke, aiming her sword at the short overlord, who just glared and gnashed her teeth at the crowd before her.

"You don't have to do this….." Charlie begged, to which Emily spoke "You can still make the right choice…"

At this, Tempest dropped her sword as she began to grip both sides of her head, nearly ripping out clumps of hair by the hands full as she began to scream in a mix of desperation and anger "shutupshutupshutupshutupSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUPUPSHUTUPSHUTUUUUUUUUP!" as she suddenly flicked out a hand as out of nowhere, a jet of water shot out, quickly freezing into a razor sharp icicle, which was now barreling towards the young seraphim, who barely had time to register what was happening as her eyes went wide in shock.

"NO!" Could be heard when suddenly, a large shape shoved the young angel aside, taking her place as with a wet "SHHHK", the icicle impaled the person who had just taken Emily's place.

As Emily got up from the ground and got her bearings, she looked up to see who had just saved her, only for her face to contort in horror when she saw the tall shape of her sister, hunched over, golden blood dripping from her mouth as the large icicle stuck right through her stomach.

"SERAAAA!" She screamed when she saw her sister crumple to the ground, her breathing ragged and strained, but when she wanted to dash to her injured sister's side, a wall of ice suddenly cut her off.

Rubbernecking into Tempest's direction, her face full of fury at first, all the color quickly drained from her face when she looked into the deep-sea demon's eyes…..pure…..unfiltered….rage….

"So…..Pablo told you all what he did….and you still side with him…because he said "Sorry" ….hu?..." she cracked her neck a few times as she rolled her shoulders as everyone looked upon her with horror at the realization that with one well-placed blow, this demoness had just singlehandedly taken out one of the most powerful beings of heaven….

Gritting her teeth, Tempest spoke up as her hair began to violently whip around as the wind began to pick up, the thunder getting louder, the giant vortex around the hotel swirling and bubbling in tune with Tempest's rage as lightning began to strike the ground here and there all around the hotel "….Very well…..allow me to indulge you…..and for me to share my half of the story" as she singled out Lute, Emily, Vaggie and Charlie….

"Once….there was a rich but kind hearted family, the Scylla household….who always gave back to their community, funding orphanages….feeding the homeless…they always did what they thought was right….even their own marriage was delightful….they shared many things, their love for the sea….and exotic birds….a love they passed on to their daughter….

This kind young girl grew up into a young woman who loved life and all its splendor…and eventually…she fell in love….with a man….a man who loved her…..or so she thought…

She wanted to share her whole being with him….her love for the sea….her birdwatching hobby….together, they could help so many people…..so eventually….the 2 of them got married…..and he was written in the will, to inherit the family fortune….

To celebrate…..they went boating…she thought this moment, just like their love….would last forever…or so she thought….

The last thing she felt was water filling her lungs as her vision slowly went dark, seeing the face of the man she thought loved her as he held her down under the water….until the bubbles stopped….."

As Tempest finished her story, the thunderstorm around the hotel reached its climax as Tempest's voice began to distort and warp into something monstrous "So no….i will NOT forgive him…I will NEVER forgive him….for what….he….did…..to me….." as her form began to shift.

"I want that man to SUFFER….like he made me SUFFER…..200 year, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT DOES TO SOMEONE?!" as suddenly, her form burst out of her clothes as her hight shot up….

As her shadow slowly began to tower over the hotel….Carmilla Carmine whimpered "I'm afraid…..my theory was correct…the number os souls she owns...is in the billions….."

Charlie looked up at the monstrosity currently towering over her beloved hotel, causing everyone to come to a horrifying realization, as Tempest cried out, the ground trembling at the bellowing of her voice as her full gargantuan, demonic sea serpent form emerged…

"I AM DONE HOLDING BACK!"