"You little whore…" she spat, each word sharp, dripping with contempt. Her lips curled into a dangerous smile as her head tilted ever so slightly, the purple flicker in her eyes gleaming like wildfire. "You helped him escape, didn't you? And now… you have the audacity to stop me? To order me?"

Her laughter was silent, but her smile was madness itself stretched wide, cruel, her teeth flashing.

Her anger wasn't only about Celestia standing in her way. She was already boiling inside. She hadn't been able to get the gifts she'd planned for her little brother. Worse, fragments of Razeal's past, still gnawed at her. The thought that he suffered partly because of her, that some of his scars were born from her neglect, made her hesitate earlier, even regret. Nova never regretted anything other then about that moment and it just because more heavy. And now, here was Celestia.. daring to block her path.

Celestia didn't flinch. Her platinum hair shifted slightly with the sea breeze, her eyes calm and glimmering with cold light. Her voice was steady, plain, almost too calm for the storm raging before her.

"I didn't help him escape. And do mind your language, Lady Nova."

Her tone was sharp, but not raised. Firm, unshaken.

Nova's grin widened, her laugh spilling out with derision.

Nova sneered. "You were the first to stop us, to give him two days of freedom. Then you sent him to the Eternal Hold as if you knew what he was planning. You let him go.. you gave him the space he needed to run. And now you want to stand here and preach to me?"

She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a hiss. "And ..No. There's nothing to mind about my language. Perhaps you should mind yourself. Don't spread your legs so much that they come in the way of others, or they might just as well get ripped off."

Her words fell like acid.

But Celestia's composure didn't crack. She kept her posture perfectly straight, her voice even.

"I wasn't aware of his plan, nor were those my intentions. If they had been, I would have said it outright. There is no need for me to hide behind excuses."

Her gaze met Nova's head-on, not a flicker of fear in her platinum eyes. She was a head shorter, yet she stood as if staring down a beast, her neck straight, her chin raised. She didn't yield an inch.

Nova loomed a step closer, until only a breath of distance separated them. The heat of her aura pressed like fire, a suffocating storm. Yet Celestia stood her ground.

"I won't let you go," Celestia declared, her tone cool but final. "This is imperial law. It cannot be broken by anyone.. not even you. Worry not. I will speak to Mother to seek permission for a venture into the sea. Soon enough, it will be sanctioned. But until then… restrain yourself. Do not be reckless. Do not create problems for yourself or for us."

Her eyes softened.. just slightly though her stance remained immovable. "We will bring him back together. Just… don't force my hand. I don't want to hurt you. He might mind it."

She spoke gently at the end, her voice dropping lower, almost pleading in its own way. Her authority stood, but she tried, even against her own pride, to soothe afterall.. He mattered even to her not to say..It all happened because of her wrong blunder of judgement. She even stopped them for two days..

Nova just exploded, wild and sharp, echoing across the dock.

"Permission? From you? From anyone?" Her voice dripped with mockery. "Why the fuck would I need that? Fuck Imperial laws. Fuck you. And fuck your mother!"

Her eyes burned, twin stars of purple fire. Her voice rose like a tide. "Who the hell do you think you are? Princess? Empress? You are all just pieces of this Empire. We are Virelans. We do what we want. We do not beg. We do not bow. Even if your mother herself stood here, she would not dare stop us."

Her aura lashed outward, violent, unrestrained, shaking the planks beneath their feet.

"I will go to the sea Fucking Right Now. And I will return. Try stopping me then. And if you want to see consequences.. then watch! I am Nova Virelan. As i had given my word, that I will drag my brother back home today.. Which means I Fucking WILL. And it be Not tomorrow, not when it's convenient for you. Now. And no one.. not you, not your mother, not the Empire itself has the fucking dare to stop me!"

Her teeth bared, her grin warped her face into something feral, half-beast, half-madness. Her voice shook the air itself.

Celestia didn't move. She didn't blink. She simply stared, silent, into the storm of rage before her. Not a single emotion marked her face, even as Nova spat insults at her, even as her own mother, the Empress, was degraded with foul words.

It was like staring into an unbroken wall of ice.

Nova's rage swerved. She turned sharply, her eyes snapping to Merisa.

"And you, Mother…" Her voice dripped disappointment, fury layered with disgust. "You have disappointed me yet again."

Merisa's gaze was calm, her lips set in a faint line, her face unreadable.

Nova's voice rose, her words like blades. "You stand here silent? Do you not care for him? Or do you not dare to move? Is it because of there fucking rule? One petty law that shackles you?"

She stepped closer, pointing a finger at her mother, her eyes wild. "Have you started fearing the Empire's rules? Have your veins dried up, your blood gone cold? Where is your decisiveness? Where is the pride of being Virelan?"

Her voice shook the air, louder and louder, a storm cresting. "If so, then you are a shame. A shame to our ancestors, who carved their place in blood and mind. They would die of shame. Ashamed to see their blood represented by a matriarch who bows to rules like a coward. Who hides behind law instead of breaking it with her own hand!"

Her teeth clenched, her eyes sharp with madness and defiance. "If you can't stand on your feet, if you can't raise your head, then you no longer deserve the title you hold. If you fear so much as this, then step down!"

She lifted her chin, her aura crackling purple fire, her voice bellowing.

"As Heiress of the Virelan bloodline, I challenge you. I demand the seat of Matriarch. Because if you are chained by law.. then you are unworthy of it!"

"I think our ancestors would agree with me," Nova's voice thundered, fury dripping from every syllable. "Step down from the position. Virelans never deserved to look this embarrassing. That I, the heiress, have to stand here screaming.. reminding you what it means to carry our bloodline's pride? The dignity? And today someone dare tell me to calm down? To wait? To first get permission to do what is important?"

Her chest heaved with every word, her face twisted with rage. She pointed directly at Merisa, her finger trembling with unrestrained anger. The sea wind lashed across the dock, tangling her hair, but she did not even notice. Her eyes blazed with contempt.

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