"Okay... I definitely deserved that, but to be fair, I was only joking!" said Otto. He wanted to make another joke, but when he saw Sarah giving him a deadly glare, he decided silence was the best course of action.


    Inside the room, all the women stared at him with annoyance. Everyone except Bea. She just stared at her reflection in the turned off Holo-Screen.


    The sight was quite sad, even for Otto''s uncaring personality. Before disclosing yesterday''s details, he planned to add a few more remarks; however, witnessing Bea''s distress, he regretted withholding information.


    With a deep sigh, he turned towards Sarah, who gave a pointed nod. No words needed to be exchanged. Otto walked towards the armchair next to the couch and sat down while staring at Bea.@@@@


    "You know, we haven''t been together during the morning."


    As he spoke, Bea''s eyes snapped to his. They were full of curiosity and hope, which caused a minor pain to appear in Otto''s heart. A feeling came with the pain, but he suppressed it.


    "What do you mean? What happened?" she asked with badly hidden desperation.


    "Okay, let''s start with the beginning. How much do you remember from the day?" he asked, and Bea immediately answered. "Not much. I remember standing up and pulling you towards the dance floor. Then the next thing I remember is waking up next to you."


    Bea suppressed a shiver from moving along her body. Even saying these words felt wrong, but she kept a straight expression.


    Otto stared at her for a moment, then chuckled. "You really drank a lot, didn''t you? Goddamn, you don''t remember most of the day..."


    He saw Bea''s and the others'' annoyance grew, so he refrained from laughter, and instead began explaining everything that had happened earlier that day.


    "After entering the crowd, we spent about 5 hours dancing. You spent most of that time with me, but you also danced with random strangers, and... You ground against and made out with a few of them..."


    "Before you ask, no, we didn''t make out on the dance floor. Afterward though... That''s a different story..."


    Bea''s face burned with shame. Hearing Otto deny having sex gave her hope, making her forget intimacy wasn''t the only way to cheat.


    She felt significantly worse than before. At least back then she believed to be cheated by only one person, but now she knew how worse everything was.


    "What happened after we left the dance floor?" she asked, her voice full of fear.


    On the couch, Otto shifted uncomfortably. He knew how much pain his next words would cause, but he also knew they had to be said. Whatever happened next, it wouldn''t be his fault.


    "We kissed a lot on our way here. We found the nearest vacant room and continued to kiss for a short time. You began undressing, and so did I. Eventually, we were both naked on the bed, and you laid atop me as we continued to make out..."


    "You then began kissing my body lower and lower until you reached... Uh... You know what..."


    Ladies'' facial expressions varied. Lucy and Cass looked flabbergasted and angry at both Bea and Otto.


    He should''ve stopped her from going so far, but Bea also shouldn''t have engaged with him before talking things out with Sera. With this move, Bea betrayed her, and this was something neither could overlook.


    Sarah continued to be enraged towards her brother, while Agnes seemed the most sympathetic out of everyone. She placed no blames, and just felt awful about the situation.


    Between sobs, she told the entire story to Sera, which later got confirmed by Lucy, Adam, and Faith.


    After Vicky cried herself to sleep, Sera went to Agnes''s room and knocked. She heard shuffling inside, but before anyone could open the door, she barged inside.


    An inexplicable anger took hold of her. It was a rare moment of emotion on her part, and she could barely control herself.


    Stepping inside the room, Cass stood a few meters away with a shocked expression. The other women turned towards her too, but before any of them could''ve said something, Sera shouted.


    "All of you! Get the fuck out!"


    Nobody moved a muscle... They were simply too stunned... They all known Sera for years. Either before losing part of her soul or after, she never gotten so angry to actually raise her voice, at least not with friends.


    Only after seeing her like this did everyone begin to realize how bad the situation was. Sera opened her mouth to shout again, but another voice spoke before she could.


    "Thank you everyone, but it''s time for me to face the consequences of my actions... Please, leave..."


    They all looked at each other, uncertain of leaving the two alone or not. This indecision caused Sera''s anger and annoyance to grow, and as she prepared to shout again, the four women left the room.


    They didn''t go far, and stayed by the door if anything unpredictable happened.


    Inside the room, Bea stood up and walked towards Sera. She stopped about a meter away and continued to stare at the floor.


    She felt so many conflicting emotions, she couldn''t possibly address all of them. The main ones were shame at her actions, anger towards herself, sadness because of her new reality, and hope that the woman she loves can forgive her.


    Bea took a deep breath, looked up into Sera''s golden-green eyes, and as she opened her mouth, something hit her. Before she could react, Sera''s hand slapped her so hard in the face she staggered back into the couch.


    The left side of her face turned red, and even her skin broke under Sera''s powerful slap. The wound healed in less than a second, but a blood drop escaped her face before that.


    With a trembling hand, Bea reached up and touched the blood. She stared at it in disbelief. Not a single time did she see Sera actively spill a friend''s blood, even just a drop.


    In that moment, Bea finally realized... There was no solution... It was over...


    "From now on, your aren''t part of the Angelic Order, or my army. You can live in any of my cities as a citizen, or a normal soldier, but you shall never receive my people''s respect! You can talk with the others, and if they want to, they can go with you..."


    "I don''t care what happens to you. You''re dead to me from this moment forward! Neither me nor Vicky ever want to see you again..."


    Bea fell to her knees, and she wanted to beg, but her words came out incomprehensible from how hard she sobbed. She crawled towards Sera''s legs, but she just moved away.


    As Bea looked up at her face, there was no pity or sadness there, only contempt and disgust. Seeing the woman she loved staring at her like that broke the remnants of her heart.


    Sera stared at her for a moment longer, then she turned away without a word, and walked out, leaving Bea on the floor, wailing...


    [End of Part 2 – Embers of Love]