Chapter 117 - An unlikely future

Hope POV.

My voice spread through the room and each of my Chosen had a different reaction, I can feel that fabric of time and space shifting as the Moiras weave and send their spiders to make up that picture.

For a long time, my mind had been foggy, for a long time I had forgotten who was one of my enemies, who was the main general I would face, but the moment I woke up and looked at the horizon I knew, the veil that covered my memory broke and I remembered.

At my first meeting with Melvin after he died, I begged him to choose another path, to move on, but my voice was muffled and my tears never got to be shed, for they had been corrupted and what he heard was completely different.

It broke me far more than just killing him, for I knew that Melvin would never find peace, that the Judges would never forgive him and that his soul was lost. So, I forgot, but the curse kept reminding me that now he and I were forever bonded, that a part of me belonged to him.

I never wanted that to happen and because of that many people had to suffer, people who helped me find myself again, who took me in, who saw me bleed and who had the patience to teach me.

I am guilty and I am innocent ... I am the Prostitute and the Virgin ... Because in this duality that I find myself, I am guilty of having fallen in love, for having given myself up, but at the same time I am innocent, because how could I expect? How could I know? How could I foresee?

There is much more than just an attack when I was 8 years old, it is much more behind an assassination attempt... It is much worse than everyone expected, not even the Gods could predict... How could I, a mere mortal, know that?

I sighed, for this time I am at peace with my decision, this time there will be no heaven or earth to stand between my enemy and me. There is no one who can tell me what I will do is not fair or proper, for now, I will fulfill my duties and not only that, but I will also be free to accept the mark of my Chosen, Mate or not.

I know my Chosen are shocked, angry and want to defend me, but at this moment, between the revelation of the enemy's face and my voice echoing, there is only me and Melvin, only our gazes and our emotions that meet and clash.

"I loved you. I wanted to die in your place, so I begged you to move on."

It was my voice that echoed, but it reached no one but that being filled with shadows, darkness and corruption.

"I loved the boy you were, I made plans for the man you would become... I joined what you had been and swore loyalty to which you would be."

All my emotions are poured into these sentences, my love, my loyalty, my grief, my caring, my dedication and the peace I feel now.

"I bled, I wanted to trade places with you, I dedicated your memory. You were the only one for me and would be the last."

Then among the shadows flashes of an unlikely future began to appear and even those standing in the middle of this small moment can see it. A version in which despite Melvin's death I had sworn an oath to Artemis and followed the path of the Virgin Slayers and on the day, I made an extra oath, with the sacrifice of the marks of Fate, in which I gave up Fate to follow the Goddess for the rest of my life, for I had already found my own Chosen One.

Then the scene shifted to a meeting with Marcus and both of us rejecting the bond of Fate, but with me still training and continuing to evolve as a Virgin Slayer, to the point where I was able to unleash the Golden Bow itself.

Without ever getting involved with Lestat and arriving at training and meeting Dylan, we would have done the rejection ritual mutually. No one would suffer, and everyone would go on their way, while tonight the face of the enemy was different and yet I would be surrounded by allies and friends.

Melvin's expression remained impassive, but I can feel through the curse my voice had raised in his ears.

"You would have gone on, had other incarnations, loved other people and found your wolf again!"

I see the corruption move and begin to press against the aura I emanate, trying to get me to my knees, but I cannot give in, for I know my voice is reaching the part I can still recognize of the boy I loved.

The feelings of my Chosen are varied, Marcus is not surprised, he had met Melvin before, he just had no memory of his physiognomy, just like me.

Kendrick and Kaiden are shocked, they didn't know how to feel, after all, Kaiden was one of Melvin's best friends and Kendrick was his former Alpha and had met him briefly. Lestat and Dylan, on the other hand, were angry, I can say with certainty that Lestat is angrier than Dylan.

But as the images of that very unlikely future passed their feelings changed, they are all angry, not because I hadn't Chosen them, but because so much pain and suffering would have been spared.

"LIE!"

Melvin's voice echoes and all the corruption gains thorns and protrudes on me and I fall to my knees, leaning my left knee on the ground, while my right leg is at a 90-degree angle, blood starts to drip from my lips.

I can feel Erick touching my shoulder and then helping me up as those I have Chosen to begin to move.

"You tried." The Prince's voice echoes as the air begins to get heavier and you can see little bluish flashes of electricity appear and disappear, like tiny lightning bolts.