Chapter 618: Lady Oracle
Chapter 618: Lady Oracle
Amanda Lioletta.
Lady Oracle.
An S-Class Blessed whose psychic abilities allowed her to invade the minds of others, read memories, manipulate perceptions, and communicate telepathically.
She was one of the most powerful mind-related blessing wielders in the world.
And she was Charlotte’s personal teacher!
For the past two years, Amanda had been guiding Charlotte in the development of her blessing.
The Battle Angels, for all their power, had no expertise in mind-related abilities.
They had sought out the best tutor they could find—someone who could help their precious daughter understand and control her gift without stifling its growth.
And they had found Amanda.
Charlotte adored her. Miss Amanda wasn’t strict like some of the other tutors. She didn’t lecture or scold.
She was patient and kind and funny, always willing to goof around during lessons when Charlotte’s attention started to wander.
She was more like a friend than a teacher. Someone Charlotte genuinely trusted.
So seeing her here—now—in this nightmare—
Charlotte’s mind reeled.
‘Is this real? Is this another trick? Has Marcus created an illusion to torment me?’
She pressed herself protectively against Mika’s chair, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“Charlotte?” Amanda’s voice was soft with wonder.
She took a hesitant step forward, her expression cycling through disbelief and relief and joy.
“Charlotte, is that really you? My little Charlotte!?”
“Stop right there.” Charlotte’s voice came out harder than she intended.
“One year ago. During New Year’s week. You and I did something together. What was it?”
Amanda blinked, taken aback. “Charlotte, dear, why are you—”
“Just tell me!” Charlotte’s voice cracked with desperation. “What did we do? If you’re really Miss Amanda, you’ll know the answer. And if you don’t—”
She positioned herself in front of Mika’s chair.
“If you don’t, I won’t say another word to you!”
She was shaking now. If this was an illusion—if Marcus was playing some cruel game with her mind—she needed to know. She needed to prove it to herself before she let hope take root.
Amanda’s expression softened. She didn’t hesitate.
“Last year at that time, I was supposed to give you a lecture on psychic defense mechanisms. But you were so giddy about the New Year celebrations, that you couldn’t sit still for more than five minutes.”
“So I decided to let you go.”
“We snuck away together and got ice cream from that little shop on the corner. You ordered triple chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, and you got brain freeze because you ate it too fast.”
Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears.
“I told you it would happen.” Amanda continued gently. “And you said—do you remember what you said?”
“I said…” Charlotte’s voice was barely a whisper. “I said brain freeze was worth it because the ice cream was so good.”
“And then you asked me not to tell your mother, because she would have been upset that you skipped your lesson.”
Charlotte broke.
“MISS AMANDA!” She lunged forward, trying to throw her arms around her teacher, but her hands passed through empty air.
The reminder that she couldn’t even touch the people she loved only made her cry harder.
“MISS AMANDA, IT’S REALLY YOu! Y-YOU CAME! YOU ACTUALLY CAME!”
“I’m here, dear.” Amanda’s voice was thick with emotion.
Even though she couldn’t physically touch Charlotte, she wrapped her arms around the girl’s incorporeal form, holding her as best she could.
“I’m right here. Everything is going to be alright.”
“Miss Amanda, I was so scared!” The words poured out of Charlotte in a flood. “Me and Mika—we’re trapped here! Marcus—that bastard Marcus—he trapped us and he’s been torturing Mika every single day!”
“Look at him—just look at what he’s done to him—”
She gestured frantically at Mika’s sleeping form.
“He’s losing his life in this place and I can’t do anything to stop it! I-I’ve been so alone and so scared and—”
“Charlotte. Charlotte, breathe.” Amanda’s voice was calm and steady, an anchor in the storm of Charlotte’s panic.
“I know. I know everything. That’s why I’m here.”
Charlotte forced herself to take a shuddering breath.
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, a futile gesture, since the tears kept coming and looked up at her teacher.
“H-How? How did you find us? How did you get into this place?”
Amanda let out a long sigh. “Honestly, dear, even I’m not entirely sure. It was mostly luck.”
She settled herself on the floor beside Charlotte, her gown pooling around her like a green puddle.
“You’ve been unconscious for an entire week, Charlotte.”
Charlotte gasped. “A week…?”
“Yes.” Amanda nodded, her expression turning somber. “Your mother and your aunts are beside themselves with grief. Because you were unresponsive, they knew your consciousness was trapped somewhere.”
“And Lady Yelena hasn’t left your bedside—she just sits there, holding your hand, begging you to wake up.”
Amanda’s voice grew heavy.
“Your sisters have also been sleeping in the same room, refusing to leave. They think that if they stay close enough, you’ll eventually come back to them.”
Charlotte felt her heart crack. Her mother. Her aunts. Her sisters.
They were suffering because of her. Because she had been too stubborn to listen to Mika’s warnings.
“Your Aunts contacted me immediately.” Amanda continued. “They knew your blessing was mind-related, and they hoped I might be able to help. I didn’t hesitate.”
“You’re my student, Charlotte. My favorite student, though I’m not supposed to have favorites.” A sad smile crossed her face. “I would do anything to save you.”
She paused, her expression growing frustrated.
“But it wasn’t easy. My blessing is powerful, but it doesn’t work the same way yours does. I can read minds, manipulate perceptions, even control bodies—but I can’t naturally enter the dream realm the way you can.”
“I had to study. Research. Find a way to bridge the gap between my abilities and yours.”
“And you did.” Charlotte breathed. “You found a way.”
“I found a way into the general dreamscape.” Amanda corrected.
“But once I was there, I had no idea where to go. There were so many dreams. So many minds. I was lost. I thought I might never find you.”
Her expression shifted, becoming something almost wondrous.
“But then I heard your voice. Or rather—I felt it. Calling out for help. Not to anyone specific, just…crying out into the void. And when I followed that voice, I found this place. This mansion.”
“I saw the prison cells, all those poor people trapped in the darkness—
“Yes! Yes!” Charlotte interrupted frantically, nodding her head. “I saw those prisons too! There are other people caught out there!”
“I bypassed the outer grid and followed your soul’s signature directly to this room.” Amanda said, smiling softly as she looked around the library. “And when I opened that door, I saw you.”
Fresh tears welled in Charlotte’s eyes.
“You…you came all this way…just to save me…Thank you, Miss Amanda! Thank you so much!”
“Of course I did, darling.” Amanda chuckled gently, her gaze warm. “You’re like my own daughter. There is no way I would ever let anyone harm you.”
“Thank you.” Charlotte breathed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you—”
But then, suddenly, her expression changed.
The relief drained from her face, replaced by dawning horror.
“Miss Amanda.” Her voice was urgent now. “How exactly did you get in here?”
Amanda frowned, confused by the sudden shift.
“I told you. I followed your voice. I touched the dream orb and—”
“And you just…came in? Just like that? No resistance? No barriers?”
“Well…yes. Why?”
Charlotte’s blood ran cold. “Because that’s exactly what happened to me.”
She remembered her own entry into this nightmare.
How she had touched the strange white orb and been immediately sucked inside.
How she had thought she was being so clever, so sneaky only to discover that he had known she was there the entire time and he had deliberately let her in.
“IT’S A TRAP!”
She screamed, scrambling to her feet.
“MISS AMANDA, YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! RIGHT NOW! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS!”
“Charlotte, what are you talking about? What trap? Who’s trapping who?”
“Marcus! He let you in! He wanted you to come here!”
“Please, just go—get out of here and tell my mother that Marcus is the one behind everything! The Terror Face Murders, the disappearances, all of it! Just go!”
She tried to push Amanda toward the door, but her hands passed through her teacher’s body.
“Charlotte, please, calm down and explain—”
“There’s no time! You have to—”
“Well, well, well.”
The voice slithered through the library like oil across water. Charlotte’s words died in her throat.
“It seems another guest has decided to visit my humble home.”
Charlotte turned slowly.
Marcus stood in the doorway, his hands clasped behind his back, his expression one of delighted amusement.
He had changed out of the blood-stained suit from earlier and was now wearing a fresh one—charcoal gray with a crimson tie. The mask was gone, and his golden eyes gleamed with triumph.
“No.” Charlotte whispered. “No, no, no. Miss Amanda, please! Run. Get out of here!”
Marcus shook his head with mock sympathy.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Lady Charlotte. Now that your teacher has arrived, it would be terribly rude of me not to offer her my hospitality. She should stay. Enjoy the accommodations.”
Amanda stepped in front of Charlotte, positioning herself as a shield. Her eyes blazed with fury. “
Marcus. What the hell is going on here?! Are you the one behind all of this? The kidnappings? The murders?”
“Did you trap my student in this nightmare?!”
Marcus spread his hands wide, his smile never wavering. “Guilty on all counts, I’m afraid.”
“You bastard!” Amanda’s voice was cold steel. “I’ve known you for years. We’ve worked together on investigations. I thought you were a Hero!”
“I am a Hero. The public adores me.” Marcus took a step closer. “But even Heroes need hobbies.”
“But really, this week just keeps getting better and better.” Marcus continued, stepping closer.
“First Lady Charlotte practically delivered herself to my doorstep. Then her companion proved to be the most resilient toy I’ve ever had the pleasure of breaking. And now—”
He chuckled devilishly.
“—an S-class Blessed walks right into my trap without me having to lift a finger. The universe truly does favor me!”
“You’re insane.” Amanda said.
“That’s what Lady Charlotte told. But I’m also very, very happy.” He tilted his head, studying her with those cold golden eyes.
“I wonder—will you be as much fun as the boy? Will you scream as beautifully? Will you last as long?”
“Stay back.” Amanda’s voice was steady, but Charlotte could see the tension in her shoulders. “I’m warning you, Marcus. Stay back.”
“Or what?” Marcus’s tone was mocking. “What could you possibly do to me in my own domain?”
“You’re trapped here, Amanda!Just like Lady Charlotte! Just like the boy! There’s no escape! No rescue! No hope!”
“I said—” Amanda’s blue eyes began to glow. The air around her crackled with energy. “—DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”
The moment her words left her lips, Amanda’s blue eyes burst with a blinding, brilliant radiance.
A surge of raw, psychic energy erupted from her body, sweeping through the library like a localized hurricane.
BOOM!
The heavy mahogany bookshelves rattled violently.
The floorboards buckled, and the very air within the domain distorted, humming with a terrifying pressure.
Marcus’s arrogant smile vanished instantly.
His eyes widened in genuine, panicked shock as he stumbled backward, clutching his head with both hands.
“WHAT—WHAT IS THIS?!” He shouted, stumbling backward.
“HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?! This Is My Domain! YOU CAN’T—YOU SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO—”
“Did you think I was helpless?” Amanda’s voice was low and dangerous. “Did you think I would walk into a trap without any way to fight back? I am Lady Oracle. I have spent decades mastering the art of psychic combat. And you—
” She took a step toward him, and Marcus actually flinched.
“—are nothing but a child playing with toys he doesn’t understand.”
She pressed her assault.
Marcus screamed clutching at his head as if she were driving spikes into his brain.
“STOP IT! NO! I BEG YOU, STOP!”
“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
His form flickered. Waivered. And then, with a sound like shattering glass, he vanished.
The library fell silent.
Amanda stood there for a moment, breathing hard, her eyes still glowing faintly. Then she turned to Charlotte, her expression softening.
“It’s alright, dear. He’s gone. He won’t be able to hurt you anymore.”
But Charlotte wasn’t relieved. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
She could feel it in her gut—the same instinct that had warned her about the dream orb, the same voice that had told her to run.
“No.” She whispered. “No, Miss Amanda, this is a trap. He’s still here. He’s tricking you. He’s—”
“Charlotte, dear, it’s over. Look around you. He’s—”
“NO!”
Amanda’s expression flickered. “What do you mean, no? He’s gone. I felt his consciousness—”
“Behind you!”
Amanda spun around just in time to see Marcus materialize directly behind her, a massive axe gripped in both hands.
His face was split with a manic grin.
“Miss me?”
The axe came down.
“NOOOO!” Charlotte screamed.
CRUNCH!
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