Arad walked through the castle's hallways, holding a blood-tainted yarn sack in his hand. All of the maids and servants rushed away and moved out of his path, hugging the hallway's walls.
Two maids soon appeared, rushing to check the floor behind him for blood with a bucket and a mop, only to realise that each droplet of blood evaporated before reaching the floor.
Arad wasn't going to let Euri's blood taint his nice and new stone floor. None of the maids dared to approach or speak to him, but they all could guess what was in the back.
Recently, the news about someone killing Tyal's parents came in, and Arad was pissed. Now, he was heading toward her room with a yarn sack dripping with blood.
Whoever did it, their head was probably in that sack. Wasn't the Storm Titans' kingdom like a few months' trip away? And, Tyal's parents were the Royal family of the Storm Titans, very powerful people, so whoever killed them had to be much, much stronger.
Arad just went there, found the killer, and brought his head back. None of the maids had any idea of how much trouble Arad went through to find Euri and kill him, but all they needed to know was that he came back with his head.
This didn't mean much to Arad and his wives, but to the maids, it meant a lot. It meant that when Arad sets out to do something, he'll do it no matter what it is. If any of them managed to get him to do her a favor, Arad, the Emperor, would make sure that it happened.
Seconds later, Rey and Ray appeared out of one of the doors and cut Arad's path. He stopped walking, and the maids hiding behind him started waving to Ray and Rey, urging them to get out of the way.
If there was any time for a maid to get slapped out of a window, it was when standing in front of a pissed off emperor having something important to do.
"You're scaring the maids." Rey stared at him and then looked at the maids in the back, "Look at them."
Arad slowly turned to look back, and all of the maids hit in the adjacent rooms and behind counters.
"And, don't walk through the hallways with a head in your hands. You could've stored it in your stomach." Ray looked at the sack in his hand with a passive face, then frowned.
"Wait... By Yog's name, what is that?"
Arad looked at the sack, "That's the problem. I can't put this thing in my stomach. I'll take it to Tyal to see it, then I'll give it to someone who knows how to deal with such power."
The two weren't going to complain anymore because they could feel how dangerous the head was. They understood why Arad would need to walk with it through the whole castle instead of just shoving it inside his stomach and teleporting.
"Who... can deal with that thing? Would you burn it in Eris's sun? She is a mortician and... a goddess now." Rey and Ray looked at each other, and Arad smiled.
"Well, it's not her. I was about to find you two to ask you to get all the maids and prepare a feast, and I mean a feast for dragons. Get the drakaina to help as well." He looked out of the window, "Someone important is coming tonight."
The two looked at each other, and so did all of the maids hiding in the back. "Who?" Rey and Ray asked at the same time, speaking like one person.
"Well, of course, Mother is coming."
All of the maids froze, and soon Ray gasped, "Wait?! You're serious? Who, when, how?"
"She is dealing with her father now. From what I found out, she already visited my brother a few hours ago." Arad looked back at the maids, "So, get us something nice. And yes, all non-urgent work is to be halted at once."
Ray and Rey looked at each other for but a fraction of a second, then split apart. Ray headed toward the maids to start the preparations, while Rey left to find all of Arad's wives and inform them, starting with Isdis, who needed to be told early to stop her work.
Arad is a void dragon, and his father is a human, which means his mother is the void drakaina, immediately putting her at a comparable power level.
There were many reasons to panic, especially for all of the drakainas in the castle. Arad's mother was more than just a powerful drakaina; she was the crazy drakaina who went on to marry Alcott, the Dragon Slayer.
Isdis froze in place and almost tore the paper in her hand, "His mom?"
Aella lifted an eyebrow, "I didn't think she was dead, so I guess it's time she showed up."
Eris just sighed, "I hope she won't start problems."
Merida pulled her sword and started sharpening it. "Mothers are known to start troubles, especially in noble families." She was ready to fight for Arad.
Mira smiled, "His mom?" Her mother also smiled, "We'll, gotta go see her myself. Arad is already my son, so I can't have her take him away."
Gamond frowned, "Do you know how strong she is?" and she then looked at Kory, "Doesn't matter, I'm probably stronger."
Claug jumped in place and rushed into her lair to bring a large golden plate. "Gotta get this signed up." She already knew who Arad's mother was.
Balina froze in place like a statue and didn't say a single word, horrified just at the thought that Arad's mother actually existed. She knew a drakaina had to have married Alcott, but that thought didn't click in her head until now.
Sena smiled, "She's finally showing up? Selica, get my dress. We're going to a party."
Astrid and Frida were busy training with Matilda when they got the news; none of them knew how to react as they expected Arad's mother to be already dead.
Nina lifted an eyebrow and thought about it for a while. She knew Alcott for years and had seen his first wife. "She is back?"
Meryem nodded and went on a hunt almost immediately to find something big enough. She claimed she must hunt for the maids to cook for Arad's mother, but Rey was sure Meryem just needed time to think about it.
Merlin giggled and then looked out of the window, "I remember Alcott's first wife, I hope it's her, not some random lady he slept with." She looked at Rey, "When he was young, Alcott's main skill was plugging holes."
Cerilla and Jasmine were together working; they had to put the two elvish kingdoms in line. When they got the news, all hell broke loose. Arad's mother had shown up, which could spell disaster or blessing for many things, so they had to move.
Zephyr didn't seem to mind at all. She just turned around and called Nar, asking her to bring Amber back from her training because this was an important occasion.
Yuwaku was excited to see her grandma, and so was Agnar and little Ignis.
Sara was in hell when the news reached her, so she had to rush back; the last thing she wanted was to be left out. But to her luck, her brother Abel found out first and prepared the hell portal for her ahead of time.
Betty found out and was already in the castle before anyone realised.
Lunara was on the moon when Rey's message reached her, and since she didn't want to bother Arad. She jumped to earth from the moon, landing like a meteor in the middle of the desert, where Arad recovered.
Luckily for Zul, she was already in the castle and heard the news from the maids first; otherwise, she would've panicked a lot.
Malina didn't show much emotion, but she was happy that Arad's mother showed up. What dampened her mood was that Tyal was still not feeling all right, despite the fact that she got Euri's head from Arad.
Tyal knew that she had to move on, and so, she decided to just take a deep breath and look at the new world. With Malina and Zenia by her sides, she moved forward to help the maids with the preparation and busied herself with some work.
But, while Arad's household was mainly in a happy mood. Alcott's wasn't the same.
Ginger and Vasilissa were about to start the biggest cat fight of the century.