Chapter 295: Terror

Ashley’s instincts were screaming at her to escape, to fight and to do anything.

But her body refused to obey, held perfectly still by spatial manipulation she couldn’t break.

Lyandra stepped forward, her black eyes finding Ashley’s frozen face.

Then her hypnosis activated.

"Soul’s Truth."

Ashley felt the skill crash into her mind like a tsunami, bypassing every defense she had, every technique she’d learned, every barrier she’d constructed.

Her Will Reinforcement might as well have been paper.

Her Mental Barriers crumbled instantly.

She tried to resist with everything she had, using every trick she’d learned in decades of SFD service.

But it accomplished absolutely nothing!

Lyandra’s hypnosis was so far beyond her capabilities that resistance was meaningless.

Her consciousness went distant and heavy, control surrendering despite desperate attempts to maintain it.

The other officers fell even faster, lacking Ashley’s training and experience.

All six of them stood with blank expressions, their minds now open books for Lyandra to read.

"Was my son in this state because of something you did?"

Lyandra’s voice was soft and gentle almost, asking the question like she was inquiring about the weather.

Ashley’s mouth opened against her will, words emerging from her soul rather than conscious choice.

"No... this mental state is from his Art... the Art he used extensively inside the portal... it degrades consciousness as a cost for tremendous physical enhancement..."

"Then why did you interrogate someone clearly in this... state?" Lyandra’s voice became sharper.

Warren answered this time, his hypnotized state forcing absolute truth.

"We wanted information about his background, about his connections and about who might be protecting him from investigation... Ashley Blackheart has been pursuing evidence against Damian Valcor since the Norrington incident."

"We suspected criminal affiliations," Sarah Doss added, her voice mechanical. "The SFD wants to know his backers so we can determine if he’s a threat to Federation stability."

"We also wanted his weapon art," Hank Webb continued. "Something that powerful and dangerous shouldn’t remain in private hands. It should be controlled by proper authorities."

The truth spilled out, every detail and every motivation, every calculated decision that had led to Damian being locked in this room instead of receiving help.

Lyandra listened to it all with expression that showed nothing.

Then she released the hypnosis on everyone except Ashley.

The officers gasped as control returned, their minds reeling from having been so thoroughly dominated.

But they still couldn’t move, Alaric’s spatial Domain keeping their bodies frozen.

Lyandra’s hand shot out, grabbing Ashley’s hair with sudden violence, yanking her head back to force eye contact.

Her smile became something cruel and terrifying.

"You wanted to find his backing?"

Her voice dropped to a whisper that somehow carried more menace than screaming.

"Here we are... Here I am... The backing you were so desperately trying to uncover."

She leaned closer, her black eyes boring into Ashley’s hypnotized gaze.

"So tell me, Officer Blackheart... what the fuck can you do about it?! What can those Noble families you serve do? What can the SFD do?"

Her smile widened, showing too many teeth.

"You belong to the Blackheart family, correct? One of the Hundred Families serving under the Imperials?!"

Ashley couldn’t answer while still hypnotized, but her eyes showed terror as she understood where this was going.

"Why don’t I go slaughter them all today?" Lyandra’s voice became almost cheerful, discussing mass murder with the same tone someone might use to plan dinner.

"Your entire family... Every branch, every member, every child and elder and distant cousin... Why don’t I turn the Blackheart family into a memory and a horror tale?"

She turned her gaze to the other officers, all of them trembling now despite their training.

"And your families as well..."

Her voice became clinical, like she was reading a shopping list.

"I could eliminate every single one of you and everyone you’ve ever loved before sunrise, make you watch while I tear them apart and turn entire family trees into graveyards... Would you like that?"

Only now did true understanding crash down on Ashley and the others.

They had made a catastrophic mistake.

They’d been so focused on Damian as a threat, on his abilities and his organization, that they’d never considered...

Never considered that his "backing" might be people so far beyond their capabilities that resistance was meaningless.

One of the officers - David Park - found his voice despite the terror.

"You... you can’t do this! This is against the law! You’re all breaking Federation law!"

Lyandra turned to look at him, her expression showing genuine amusement.

"Law?"

She laughed, the sound carrying madness.

"What law? There is no law! Nobles don’t care about law because they have power! They kill commoners and face no consequences! They destroy families and receive no punishment! They target children and suffer no repercussions!"

Her voice became harder.

"I’m just showing my power as well... Demonstrating what happens when someone pushes my family too far... What can you do about it? Call for help? Report this?!"

She gestured around them at the frozen building.

"Who’s going to save you? Who’s going to stop me? Everyone in this entire headquarters is frozen and everyone in the plaza outside is trapped. I could kill every single person here and nobody would be able to resist..."

Ashley’s mind was flashing with Damian’s threat from earlier.

’If your branch survives to see the next day after harming me, I would gladly tear my own heart out...’

She’d thought it was empty bravado.

Teenage rage making threats he couldn’t back up.

But now she understood.

He hadn’t been making empty threats.

He’d been stating simple fact.

His family WOULD slaughter the Blackheart family if they pushed too far.

His family COULD destroy everyone Ashley cared about.

And there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop them.

Terror unlike anything she’d felt in decades of dangerous SFD work crashed down on her.

Because she’d just learned the hard way that some people were beyond the law’s protection.

Some people were so powerful that rules simply didn’t apply to them.

And she’d just made those people her enemies by targeting their son.