The very first noise I heard in this darkness is the wailing supplication of a woman.
It pricked my heart. I'm looking around to find her but all I can see is darkness. No. I wince my eyes. This is just an illusion fabricated by Mraz. I never knew he had this kind of ability. He must be taking advantage of my real shell. Maybe it takes a strong mind to break free—
["Why me? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME!?"]
Fear struck me when I heard the voice of the raging man. He isn't around. The only thing or apparition I saw is a man above me, smiling. Yet his eyes tell the opposite.
["My carefree pup... I will make sure he'll regret this throughout his immortality..."] said the man of the vision.
I kept hearing the voices. My emotions are overwhelming; fear, sadness, and longing. These voices and visions are all intimate to me. Confusion is overflowing. Curiosity is killing me. And now, my emotions are turning into wrath! It's torture.
"Stop!" I exclaimed out loud. I knelt down in agony on the cold and dark ground. That's when I heard a growling giant wolf. It's waiting in the dark, looking at me as prey. Another weird vision—maybe. But instead of being frightened, I want to destroy this whole darkness just to make it stop.
When the wolf attacked, I was pushed beneath it. It was about to bite me but I blocked its gape with my bare hands, kicked its jaw upward, pulled its fur, and gave it another immense punch. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?" I yell in accordance with my anger. I was about to give it another hit when the darkness faded in an instant. Mraz is beaten beneath me while everything is back to where I was.
I was left motionless.
"Hessuel!" It was Dandeline who called and pulled me on the collar before landing a slap on my cheek! "Snap out of it! You almost killed him!" I blink several times and roam my sight around. "I was about to tell you, Mraz can hunt you down from the inside of your mind, not just physically."
"Hey," he spits blood on the ground, "don't just spill special abilities like that. How disrespectful," Mraz said while laying there in the same space.
"Oh, so you can still talk?" Dandeline used an enchantment to bind Mraz. "You lose now."
"You miscalculated. You will never win in my domain. No one will take your side. They all serve me."
"Through thick and thin?" she dared. The arrogance from Mraz's face faded from the even more arrogant demeanor of Dandeline. Later on, both werewolves and knights surround us. All of them are glaring at us. "Looks like someone wants to be beaten like this barbaric dog! We've got a silver wolf here for a limited time only. Who wants next?" She pointed to me with her thumb, and I pointed at myself as well.
My presence and Mraz's condition were enough to intimidate them. I thought we still had the whole day to fight.
"Hessuel, are you alright?" Dandeline asked.
"I think?" I looked at my body. "I don't feel any pain now."
"I mean something's off... with your skin."
I looked at my arms to see what she was talking about.
"So, what do you want?" Mraz said. "Freedom for slaves? Granted... if you free me first."
"I'm sorry, I'm not a fool," Dandeline responded, smirking.
"I am a man of my words, Moon Priestess."
A long exchange of glances between them occurred afterward before she replies again,
"No."
☪ ✧ ✧
It was Dandeline who told the knights to free the slaves from the dungeon, and currently, she's having a serious conversation with the Priests we've kicked the butt a while ago. Maids are assisting the casualties while some of the knights are regulating the damages.
"That Moon Priestess... is that your lover?" Mraz asked.
"N-No. We just met."
And I was given the task to keep an eye on this werewolf of all people. His hands are bound with Dandeline's enchantment even though he's sitting on his royal bench. He's too weak to break free, especially since I am the watch guard.
"Hey," he spoke again, "I never thought purebloods like you still exist. I thought they were extinct centuries ago, three hundred years ago to be precise. It's proven that we can't trust every piece of news."
I questioned right away, "How did you know?"
"I saw your memories too," his short response.
I want to start a conversation regarding this matter but he's insulting me for treating me as the villain. "What else do you know about pureblooded silver wolves?" I asked anyway.
"You're confident I'll give you answers after you caused humiliation against me?"
"We're both humiliated. I was slapped twice."
"Pathetic. Don't compare your humiliation to mine."
I just fold my arms and look away. If we're officially dogs, we'll look barking at each other. But no, I prefer 'wolf'.
"I guess I'm bored. Pureblooded silver wolves," Mraz spoke eventually, "are white wolves blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. Their kind is more peculiar and more powerful than any other breed. She made them the living weakness of her children. No one was capable of defeating my manipulation until you became my victim, that's when I knew you're not just a silver wolf.
"You have no memories of your past? That's your burden. At the same time, that's interesting. I can't tell you more. I only heard a few details from the Alpha. Maybe he can tell you if you're lucky to meet him... alive." He crossed his legs arrogantly and sways the other. This pack is desperate to slaughter me.
"Then those silver wolves who cooperated with the massacre aren't pure? How come? Breeding?"
He laughed at me. "Worse than that, I assume. I told you, that was three hundred years ago and I wasn't a pup yet those days."
"Then... an illegal enchantment to defile the pureblood?"
"Don't involve me with your brainstorming. I'm too exhausted to blink." He closed his eyes and leaned his nape on the bench.
"Then I'll blink your eyes for you! Just tell me a clue or presumptions!"
"Don't touch me!" I was about to meddle with his eyes when he grasped my wrists. We just stopped insisting when Dandeline came.
"Well, what a lovely sight of two dogs getting along." She pulls me with my arm and whispers with a smile. "The slaves are gathered outside. Come on." She did not let my arm go as we left the palace. She said that the Priests will take care of the situation regarding Mraz's arrest. She only left my arm when we reached the outside of the castle.
It's crowded. The entrance of the palace is now filled with dark-skinned slaves. Most of them are gaunt and frailty while some are normal. Delightfulness with confusion were already displayed on their faces; young, old, male, and female. Some of the habitants are providing services for them such as clothes and food. While some people are closing their window of apathy.
I kept on following the tracks of Dandeline, huddling in the crowd of slaves. She's looking for her niece with distress in her gestures. I asked what she looks like, and she said her niece is plump and has long hair. I looked around with my sharp eyes but eventually, Dandeline found her niece first. And her description is the total opposite.
Her niece is skinny and her hair is short, it can be because of past experiences. They hug each other intimately with tears of hope dropping out. I can't believe we made it. The platform of slavery ends today.
They are all given the privilege to return to their homes. Some of them—especially the youngsters—are unfamiliar with the place and what action they should take. The knights and even the kind habitant are listing their names for assistance. Dandeline and her niece decided to leave the metropolis to proclaim the good tidings in their village.
Moving on, I watch them take a ride on the steam train provided by the government. But before that, Dandeline formally bid her farewell, "I will never forget your assistance. And thank you very much for your efforts. I know it's crazy to cooperate with my guts. I'm glad you did. This will never happen without you. So, what will you be doing after these?"
"Plough the ground, maintain the good condition of conduit, everything about our farm like I always do, I guess."
She chuckles at me. "That's not a good answer. What happened today resulted in a concatenation of events, events that will hunt you. They know you're alive. I'm sure they will come for you for their own interests. I don't intend to scare you but this is a probability, so be extra careful. But I will try my best to convince the court once the trial commences.
"If I were you, I'd start searching for your purpose. You're a pureblood silver wolf. There must be a reason why you still exist. I advise you to figure it out. Also, you can't just be a hero for one day. You can save and serve more people as much as you want because of your power," she looked so cool with that confident smile on her face when she said that.
“Like you?”
“Me?” She waves her hand in the air. "I’m not a heroine, just doing my job. I'm not dictating to you what to do. I'm just telling you your reality, you're not an ordinary human anymore. There could be a change to your course, don't you think?"
"You mean I am meant to engage myself with battles?"
"I will not decide on that." She lends her hand in front of me. "It's a privilege to meet you. I'm going home now." We shook hands and we squeezed those. But when she was walking away, something pricked my chest.
"Wait!" I postscripted. She looked over her shoulder right away. "Your place is involved with slavery, then does it mean you're not far from here?" I asked after.
"The opposite. Slavery was operating in almost every city and across nations. We live in a small village near Plandreas City, Dachologie Vil." She nodded and hopped on the train. I watch it as it gets farther before I walk home. She left me with a memory of her smile.
It's already sunset. The villagers are walking, chatting, and loitering outside because the heat decreased. One of my patrons approached from a distance. He asked me about today's merchandise and I just told him it's unavailable in the meantime. "Ah, it's good to have a day off, too!" he said. I exchange laughter with him but under the cover, this day is too exhausting to be a day off!
I end up lying down beside Cormelio who's still unconscious. I folded my arms, one of my feet touched the floor, and I looked at him over my shoulder.
"You won't believe what happened today. That was my first intense battle. I manage to survive with the help of that moon priestess. I met my kind. I realized that my world is so different from the world you introduced me to. I saw a glimpse of my past... And now I want to know everything about myself. But how can I if you're sleeping on me? I know you can't be by my side forever. Then who will in times like this?"
I placed the back of my hand on my forehead with my eyes closed. The face of the man in my memories flashed before me. Questions about who he was to me and what happened to him are lurking in my thoughts. I arose and looked around, when I found Acro, I took her and sneaked into our garden.
I made sure that no one was spying on me when I entered the garden dome; I locked the door, pushed the visitor's bench to block it, and closed all the windows with curtains. The deafening silence of the garden saddens me somehow, but it's equivalent to a mischievous advantage. I rush onto Cormelio's floor and rummage his property.
I could learn something new again from his discoveries with herbal matters, but I'm more concerned about written truths about me in case. Most of his journals are talking about plants. Not even a written portion of his personal feelings and life, which is better to deliver me away from offensive intrusion.
One of his journals smells like a foreign kind of flower. I thought it must be something special. Then I found the latest page. The smell of the ink is new. And he wrote here: ‘Hessuel, go find your mate. The truth about your past is in her. I shall leave the rest to Acro.’
“Did he know I will meddle with his journal?”
He must've written this before the incident. I looked at Acro as I talked to her. [“Find your mate,”] said the reverberating woman's voice again. She flies on the bench that blocks the door. I come after her cautiously.
"Did you just..." Every time Acro is around, I'm hearing that strange echoing voice. "Strange things kept revealing before me." I wipe my face to my nape. On the other hand, I still have to play Cormelio's little game. This is exciting to me!