Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord
Chapter 161: Demons from the past (2)
CHAPTER 161: DEMONS FROM THE PAST (2)
Cassandra looked confused. "Huh?" she asked softly.
"About your plans." Tasha muttered. "Why didn’t you tell me?"
Cassandra sighed. "I... Look let’s just forget about it okay? What’s done is done. And you won in the end, didn’t you?"
Tasha shook her head. "No, I just wanna know why you chose to keep it away from me, your best friend." she said, her voice laced with a bit of pain.
Cassandra’s heart twisted, guilt washing over her. She knew what she did had hurt Tasha and she knew she was at fault. She also didn’t expect Tasha to forgive her so easily.
"You would’ve said no." she began. "And I just wanted you to be happy, Tasha. Becoming the student council president had been your dream since like.. forever. And as your best friend, I needed to make that happen... even if it meant pretending to betray you."
Tasha chuckled darkly. "Was it a pretense though?"
Cassandra shuddered. "What...? Of course it was. I would never actually betray you. You know that." she muttered.
Tasha shook her head. "No, you can’t expect me to believe that. Not after what you did."
Cassandra smile faded into a deep frown. "I already told you, I did what I did for you. All for you. And you know that. Infact, you should at least show a bit of gratitude, rather than trap me in a guilt box." she expressed in disdain
Tasha scoffed. "Gratitude? Are you kidding me? My best friend betrays me... and then she comes to tell me it was all a pretense, that it was for me. And that I should show some gratitude for her betraying me. How exactly do you expect me to do that?"
Cassandra exhaled. "Look, Tasha. I’m sorry, okay. Let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be. I did something bad, and I said I was sorry. All I wanted to do was help a friend. You of all people should understand that."
"You still don’t understand, do you?" Tasha said softly. "This isn’t about betrayal, or helping friends, or forgiveness. This is about trust. Trust among friends. And you didn’t even give me a chance at it."
Her gaze sharpened. "You claim to be my best friend but... you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me about your plan."
Cassandra shook her head. "It’s not like that, Tasha. I couldn’t afford any loose ends. I couldn’t trust anyone with this. It was something I planned and enacted on my own. And I truly wanted to tell you..."
"So why didn’t you?" Tasha cut in sharply.
"Because I was afraid you’d screw it up." Cassandra retorted.
Tasha’s eyes widened with a gasp. Those words had hit her hard like a bullet to the heart.
Cassandra immediately regretted her words as soon as they came out of her mouth. She had only said it in frustration. Her eyes softened as she took a step forward.
"Tasha, I didn’t mean that." she said.
Tasha chuckled darkly, tears welling. "I’m sure you didn’t. Afterall, you’re just pretending, right? Like you did when you came up and ran against me."
Cassandra’s heart shattered. "Tasha, please..."
"Forget it." Tasha cut in. "Atleast, now I know the reason you couldn’t trust me was because you thought I’d screw it up."
Cassandra sighed. "I didn’t mean that. I was just frustrated. I would never say that to you."
Tasha scoffed. "But you did. And it hurt. And coming from you made it hurt even more."
Cassandra opened her mouth to speak but Tasha wasn’t finished.
"But you know what’s funny? You said you became my opponent so you could get more supporters for me. But how can I believe that when Megan dropped out at the last minute?"
Cassandra sighed. "No, you don’t understand. I had a backup strategy for if my original plan didn’t work. Megan dropped out of the race because I..."
"You should have just said you wanted to run for president from the very start, Cassie." Tasha interupted. "Instead of cooking up some excuse of trying to help me."
Cassandra frowned instantly. "What are you trying to say?" she asked sharply
Tasha retorted. "I’m saying, you never wanted to help me. You just wanted an excuse to join the election as well. That was your goal from the very start."
Cassandra shuddered, her eyes tearing up in disbelief. She wasn’t even angry. She was too shocked to be. All she felt at that moment was pain.
"How can you say that?" she muttered softly. "I did everything I did for your cause... and this is the thanks I get?"
She shook her head, pain visible in her voice. "I don’t like politics, Tasha. You know that. But I knew the things that had to be done when you’re in it. And I did those things for you."
Tasha realized the gravity of what she had said, but she didn’t feel guilty. Or atleast she didn’t believe she had to. She didn’t feeling bad for hurting Cassandra’s emotions, afterall she had hurt hers too.. but she didn’t feel good about it either.
"I ran against you, yes." Cassandra continued. "But I quit too, didn’t I? So how could you say such a thing when you know that I dropped out of the race for you? Why would you say something like that to me when you know how much I despised politics? How much it kept me away from my mother."
Tasha sighed, it was the mention of a particular word that made her realize what she’d truly done. She had only said what she said to get back at Cassandra. She didn’t really mean it. But Cassandra didn’t know that.
"Cassie, I..."
"You speak of trust." Cassandra didn’t let her finish. "Of how I didn’t trust you. But it was you who didn’t trust me. Because if you did, you’d have known that your best friend would never really betray you."
She exhaled sharply. "We’ve been friends for more than ten years and you didn’t even think to question what I did. You didn’t think to ask yourself if I had something planned. All you did was come at me and say those hurtful words."
"But it’s okay, atleast now I know what kind of friend you are... actually, you were never a friend at all."
The words dropped like a bomb.
Tasha gasped. "Cassie, don’t say that." she said, taking a step forward.
Cassandra chuckled darkly. "Why shouldn’t I? If you were my friend, you’d have known the things I’m capable of and the things I’m not. You would have known... me." she muttered, taking a step back as tears began to stream down her face.
"But you don’t know me, Tasha." she added, her voice low and faint. "I thought you did, but you don’t. And there’s no point in being friends if we don’t even understand each other."
Tasha shuddered. "Cassie, please don’t do this. I’m sorry." she pleaded.
Cassandra shook her head. "It’s too late for that, Tasha. I’m sorry too." she said and began walking away. Before she left the hallway, she paused, then turned back to face Tasha.
"Goodbye, Tasha. I’ll see you around." she muttered, and before Tasha could say anything, she was gone.
Tasha stood there, speechless, hurt, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her friendship with Cassandra had just ended. Just like that, a long term relationship of more than ten years had been broken. And there was no fixing it.
Tasha remained on the spot for a while, lost in thought. But then, a voice drifted into her ears from behind.
"Hey, Tasha. Are you okay?"
Tasha recognised the voice immediately, it was Jessica.
She quickly wiped her cheeks and put on a smile as she turned to face her sister. "Yeah, I am."
Jessica smiled back as she approached. "Good. I thought you might have gone nuts when I saw you standing in the hallway all by yourself." she chuckled.
Tasha let out a soft chuckle. "You might just be the one to drive me nuts."
Jessica snickered. "Haha. Good one." she said in a sarcastic tone. But then she paused, stared into Tasha’s eyes and sighed.
"Something happened, didn’t it?" she asked.
Tasha forced a smile. "No, why’d you say that?"
Jessica sighed. "Tasha, don’t lie to me. What happened?" she asked, her tone serious.
But Tasha did say anything, instead she grabbed Jessica by the arm. "Come on, let’s go home." she said, dragging Jessica away without giving her a chance to protest.
But as she walked out of the building, Tasha knew wouldn’t be the same anymore. For her. And for Cassandra.
........
Present day,
Eleanora High combat hall
On the arena floor, Tasha and Cassandra locked eyes. There was no hostility, only a quiet, fierce determination.
Mrs. Valerie’s voice cut through the tension. "Combatants—ready?"
Tasha cracked her neck, electricity arcing between her fingers. "Don’t hold back."
Cassandra exhaled, and the air around her warped, not with wind, but with heat. Flames coiled around her arms like living serpents. "I wasn’t planning to."
Then, the voice resounded across the arena.
"Begin!"
The battle erupted in an instant.
Tasha threw her hand forward, and a spear of lightning lanced toward Jessica with speed and precision.
Cassandra swiped her arm, a wall of fire erupting to meet it.
BOOOOM!
The collision of elements sent a shockwave through the arena, the sheer force rattling the stands. The crowd ducked, shielding their faces from the scalding wind.
When the smoke cleared, Cassandra was already moving, her body wreathed in flames as she dashed forward, a flaming uppercut aimed at Tasha’s jaw.
Tasha leaned back, letting the fist graze her chin, close enough to singe her skin.. before countering with a palm strike to Cassandra’s ribs, electricity coursing into her.
"Gah—!"
Cassandra staggered, but her flames flared, absorbing the voltage. She spun, a blazing kick aimed at Tasha’s temple.
Tasha blocked, her forearm crackling with lightning.
CRACK!
The impact sent both girls skidding apart, their boots grinding against the scorched arena floor.
The crowd was mesmerized.
This wasn’t just a fight.
This was a cataclysm.
And it was just getting started.