(Dandeline's POV)
"What? Lanasia is not here!?"
"She's not in your house? All I know is she visits Hessuel to have his statement regarding the ongoing investigation."
"She's not. All of them are gone."
"That's alarming."
Eventually, instead of Lanasia, I brought Matheo to their old house to ask for his help in the gateway. He opened the door of the dark cellar and told me that "Unfortunately, I am not the guardian of this world anymore. What is your intention there?"
Pinching my chin, I stare at Acro in case she can give me an answer. Unless I see them safe, I will not be at peace. Hessuel is not in the condition to go anywhere without me. Perhaps I shouldn't have left those dogs! Matheo is gone when I look for him. Also, Acro walks with her claws down the cellar so I follow her lead.
I stamp the hill of my shoe and my shoes glow in the dark, enough to light up my steps downstairs. By the end of this stair is the end of pure darkness but only sparkling and glowing lights—that can only look beautiful in the dark—are the place's only light. These lights are the key that we're standing in another's world.
"We got in."
"Yes! I'm flattered that this world is still acquainted with me," he said with a giggle. I admit I always look at the complicated ways when he's right about that. Elibur managed to trespass before too. My amazement for the second time in this place ceases after we heard something collapse. Acro swiftly made her way there and we did so as well.
A half-destroyed ship startled us at the end of the run, but what ultimately chilled my whole being is the weep of a child coming from up there. We rushed our way there and found a heart-wrenching bloody scenery. It's Danteleon, he's been weeping beside Hedwelch. Both he and Lanasia are severely wounded.
As the couple met, they embraced one another. "Lanasia! Are you alright!? What's going on here!?" Matheo outbursted.
I quickly embrace Danteleon, wiping his tears and hushing him. Looking at his teary eyes tightens my breathing, especially at the sight of Hedwelch who no longer has a pulse. I need answers. I need an explanation as to why this is happening! My hands are trembling when I touch Hedwelch's cheeks. I carry him in my arms and take him to the pishnies' clinic where the cute creatures are here to assist.
Patiently shutting my mouth, I groom him and Danteleon—he never stops crying and clinging to me. After Lanasia was cured, Matheo came back with Ophelia in his arms covered with a coat because it was pretty difficult to recognize her face due to the damage she received. Matheo reported that she was found crushed in the cab.
"Lanasia," I finally confront, "what the hell is going on!?"
"Don't 'what the hell' me! This is because of you!" She wipes her tears but with indignation. Why do I suddenly feel it's my fault!? "Where have you been? and why didn't you tell your family? We were sick-worried that you came to Afvshaganifs to lift his curse and you spent more than forty-eight hours with him—"
"What!?"
"But now, those two are fighting because of you!" She told me everything about their way to the sea and the consequences. "Where were you!?"
"Fine! You were right, I was planning to confront the Captain," I explain, "but I wasn't planning to negotiate with him empty-handed! I thought of my proposals and spent the night in my old home preparing it—!"
"Why didn't you tell them that? Do you think this is your own problem? Do you think your family can't help you with it? Even Hessuel believed in his kids that they can contribute something only they can, can't you do the same to your 'boys'? You are always walking on your own. You're not single anymore! You have someone who might spend sleepless nights worrying about you and you're underestimating that!"
Closing my fists, I wince my face before I scream, "AAAARRH!" in the air. Why won't these adversaries stop bugging me? I know that I should heed but my pride is tired of her preaching!
"Not today, Dandeline! I am wiser than you when it comes to this. You are the only one who can stop them so do what must be done."
Overshadowed by regrets, we suddenly heard a loud doom from afar that dismissed our argument. All we found outside was the shaking of trees, surprisingly, some were walking. From where I am standing, I can sense the dreadful battle going on. "... Right, let us do what must be done," I said.
Matheo knows his assignment too. His wife tasks herself with the casualties and I made my way straight to the contention. "Hessuel doesn't have much time left," Lanasia informed me beforehand. The eclipse is halfway through but I think that would be fine considering Hessuel's condition.
I saw Acro flying ahead of me and she only diverts to the right when she knew she got my attention. For the first time in a while, I'm impressed with her skills in direction and now I found the guys killing each other. However, and to my astonishment, Afvshaganifs in losing the fight.
His body is surrounded with magical armor but is currently tattered with scratches and dents. Hessuel on the other hand is possessed of incredible power and... elegance! I never thought I would see him like this again!
After I slapped both of my cheeks, I moved into reality: "Hessuel! Stop!!" I shouted as he was preparing to land a fist on the Captain's face. He did so, but not Afvshganifs! He blows a powerful one on Hessuel instead which pushes Hessuel far from him.
The impact swayed even the trees and Hessuel skids to balance—nonchalantly unscathed. Through amplifying magic, Afvshaganifs sprints in front of Hessuel for another blow but Hessuel catches his fist, twists his arm, and hurls him away. The poor captain crushes on several trees, and he enchants the fallen trunk beside him into hundreds of arrows showered at Hessuel!
He hides behind a tree that actually expands to shield him even better, and then as smooth as the wind he attacks the captain again. That's when I make my move out from being ignored! Both of them bumped into trees instead of one another after I teleported them, and I stood in their midst.
"What the hell is this fray for!? Don't you even care about the loss of the lives of the people around you!?" I glare at Hessuel. "Ophelia and Hedwelch are dead... and you two keep doing this nonsense! Stop now, or I will be your opponent too."
I wasn't looking until Afvshaganifs flirty hand held my hand and quickly kissed it. "It is still good to see you, Lady Eldar," he greeted. How could he appear in front of me in such a manner!? I pull my hand off of him quickly like never before and complain,
"Stop cringing me—" and I halt when my back bumps onto Hessuel who's been here behind me without me noticing beforehand. He is like a personage of the moon at the moment; his white hair is glowing with the color of the galaxy and there is a reflection of the full moon in his crystalline eyes—an extremely rare breed to behold.
Yet not! This isn't the right time to think that he is like a hot god! Right now, I am in the middle of their exchange of glares—again. I push them away from each other on their chest, but it barely made a decent distance between them so I splash their faces with water from my magic.
"No glaring, too!" I warned. "I know what's going on but I will not allow this stupid game to this extent! Avi, you will stop this game and revive the loss of lives in exchange for my creation so hear me out."
"You know I want no other creation but you," he teased.
Hessuel growls in deep, he could've sliced this mischievous captain if I didn't stop him by hindering the way. "For goodness's sake, let's settle this with formality. And I don't want any of you to harm each other anymore. Avi, you did not just mess with my boys, you killed my son. Despite that, I am patiently asking you to stop."
With the trembling sound of my voice, I truly contain myself for the friend I once relied on. However, he grabs my wrist and kicks Hessuel away! I resisted but his hold was too tight to break free. I unleashed my spellbook and he easily locked it with his enchantment. "I like it when you're weaker," then he grasps my mouth, "and even better if you remain silent."
I'm done. I want to massacre this man!
Blood splattered on his face and his arm's flesh dissected because of Hessuel's scratch. In a flash of his anger, he tosses the captain away from me as if his victim is not an Eldar! I fell to the ground while they continued fighting again. "No! Hessuel! You'll die if you kill him!" I stumbled when I tried to stand up because of Afvshaganifs's disjointed hand clinging onto and groping my leg!
I fired an enchantment at the churlish creepy thing and chased after the two again. Although on my way, I enchanted Afvshaganifs' ax into a bouquet of roses when he strikes it to Hessuel, Hessuel still attacks him in response. Tired of other ideas, I bump into Hessuel and roll over the grass with him until I predominate on top—pinning his hands with my enchasts.
"Hessuel, please," he's still resisting, "it's me whom you need to see, no? I'm here. There's no need to shed blood. I'll take care of this—" It hurts when he breaks free from my enchantment and grasps my throat! More pain comes when he bites my shoulder, then his claws are slowly piercing into my arms! Despite it, I embrace him.
If he can't control himself from devouring anyone, the only victim should be me. Although it is certain that he will feel guilty afterward, it is the lesser guilt compared to unconsciously hurting everyone and being treated like a monster wherein no one will accept to understand that he is also a victim.
I resist him involuntarily because of the excruciating pain through his silver fangs! A werewolf attacks him for my sake, then multiple werewolves attack him like wild beasts. "No—" I struggle to lift myself until gentle hands support my arms.
"Do you need a medic?" Matheo suggested. Packs of werewolves have come to surround and gang up against Hessuel until he's weakened. However, as he shifts into his beast with the fur glowing like the galaxy in response to the eclipse, he's still strong enough to bring fatal attacks to every werewolf attacking him; a single scratch and bite.
All the werewolves halt from attacking. I enchant my pain to go away. Now that the pain is gone; I hindered Hessuel and using my wolf strength, I held him down to stay still. But then again, my chest chilled when I heard Danteleon's voice. He's running towards me, his innocence is enough to think that there isn't any danger here!
With that distraction, Hessuel attacks me again but he was blocked by a tough orb shielding me. Hessuel targets Danteleon as the consequence. "Danteleon!!" Fortunately, Matheo parries Hessuel's fangs and pushes him away. The second he fell to the ground, he shifts back to his Intelligence. Danteleon, thereafter, embraces me inside the orb.
"For the love of goddess...! Why did you come here!? I told you to stay with your brother! It's too dangerous here—"
"Mom and Dad are here. I wanna help."
"Ugh..." I think he was born obliging!
Out of the blue, a blazing fire circles around Hessuel while he's sitting on the grass and the fire spreads like running wolves! At first, I thought 'twas Elibur but this fire scorched all the werewolves!
"Alright! Danteleon, everyone needs your help. Expand this orb to protect them from wildfire."
Clueless at first, but he did not fail to impress me by exerting what he learned from Dayana. I watch him expand the orb and it extinguishes the fire when it touches. Moreover, I watch his gorgeous glow right now just like his father. The orb hasn't expanded into a giant dome yet but he has reached his limit. "I can't..." he said with eyes getting wet.
"You've done well." I cup my hands beneath his cupped hands to supply his enchantment and then the orb increases in size until it covers the whole forest, dissolving the fire into mists. Almost every werewolf is burned but their healing is miraculously smooth because of this orb, including my injuries.
"Mom, you're so strong!"
"And you are so cute!" Not only physically, but I also felt recharged mentally because of my little boy. I looked around for Hessuel but he was nowhere anymore, instead, I saw Matheo and some werewolves coming toward us.
"Thank you for backing up. Where did that wildfire come from?"
"You know this place more than I do."
He speaks as he chuckles, "All I know is Hessuel is the new guardian! This means he is bound to protect this world and this world is bound to protect him. The wildfire is because either the place is protecting him from the predators or Hessuel is casting the predators out by the fire."
Not until he mentioned it, I will never realize that only the uninvited were scorched but not the forest. Matheo adds,
"Hessuel is not our mission here but the mastermind of the previous incident... which seems like until now, it's still unsolved. Let us know how we can help. We've already put Hrista into a deep slumber to make her stop manipulating your mate."
"You did? Thank you! That's plenty."
"Because Hessuel is floundering our mission too."
"Let's see what I can do." And then I touch Danteleon on his shoulders. His glow is gone. I looked up at the sky and it was plain once again. "Let's go save your Dad and Hedwelch," I said. He nods in excitement. I hold his tiny hand as I illuminate an enchast underneath our soles that will relocate us to where I can smell my mate. "Close your eyes," I instructed and then I followed after him.
The next thing my eyes can see is the wrecked ship where we are at. The battle of the rivals has been ongoing here wherein Hessuel, in his beast, is winning again. I pick up a piece of metal, throw it on Hessuel and it transforms into a neck shackle that pushes him out of Afvshaganifs's top. Danteleon cages the captain in his tough orb as I run to Hessuel.
Carefully, I grasp his shackle until he somewhat settles down. He's weaker than earlier now that the eclipse has reached its limit. After forcing him to shift into his Intelligence, "If you feel like biting, do it unto me. Not anyone else," I pacify. He had greedy eyes on me until he yelled his pain that even startled me! What I see is a dagger penetrating his stomach from behind, and the captain is there!
"Avi, how could you—!!" I couldn't do anything when my chest ached with every thump while he dragged Hessuel down, beating him up with his arms stitched and recovered! With all my strength left, I bump to push Afvshaganifs away and allow Hessuel to bite my arm as I hold him down while I'm on top.
"Oh, Lady Elder," he stands up, "that will be your last exemption from putting my name into the wrong utterance... since you don't want to be special in small details of my life," he informed. Then he strikes his ax behind me but it doesn't touch because of the double magical dome surrounding and healing me and Hessuel. His attention diverts to Danteleon.
Hessuel's silver fangs are insanely painful in my flesh! If it weren't for healing, I cannot withstand it. Even the curse of Afvshaganif's name is gone. However, looking at Hessuel's abnormal condition, I couldn't contain the tears—questioning how long we shall suffer. Isn't this enough? Isn't this too much?
"Can't you do anything more pathetic than this?" Afvshaganifs is back, sitting and leaning his elbows on his knees beside me with the same emotionless face.
"Goddess knows how much I want to slap your face in different degrees."
"The monster is not the same man you know. He can't even recognize you."
"That's why he needs me the most."
"..."
I had enough of losing those I love. I know I can never be numb about this. The dome was destroyed and he grabs my cloth to toss me aside! A comfy mattress caught me but it's sticky, disabling my ability to break free! He treads and leans his foot on Hessuel's chest. "No! Please don't take him away!" When I check on Danteleon, he's sitting on a chair, swinging his legs while sucking a lollipop! This little devil—!
"I'm done with that," he said. Abruptly, he inserts his fingers in Hessuel's mouth as if he is digging into something! Nervous, I remained motionless as I watched him and Hessuel almost choking to death, until Afvshaganifs pulled out a piece of flesh and burned it to naught. Hessuel coughs roughly but his eyes don't communicate greed anymore.
As the captain walks away, I run to Hessuel and touch his cheeks. "You reckless dog! Are you alright!?"
"... You... smells cake again—"
The joy led me to kiss him hard! A tear also drops on his face.
"Uuhh, I think I need more to be alright~" he begs.
"I'll give you plenty at home," I said. And then I turn to the captain. "Why did you lift your curse?"
He replies, "Time is up." He taps the hourglass on the table. "He won the prize and so I walk my talk." He sits down on a chair to relax his feet on the table.
Danteleon hugs his father. I keep them behind me. "I see. Still, I will not thank you for clearing up your own mess. To clear your name as well, please surrender yourself peacefully to the werewolves."
"Why should I? I never deemed you criminals for destroying my precious ship and harming my men."
"Surrender for a legal affidavit regarding this."
"You're too serious."
"You're the one with the serious face!"
"Wait," Hessuel pulls me behind him and intermingles between us, "you've caused countless trouble in the past. But all I wanted to know in this state is why did you kill my mother."
"..." The captain raises his chin. "I did not kill her."
"You made her death possible that day."
"Fine. Black wolves killed her on my behalf."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted your father."
"What!?" I outbursts.