Greyson did not know what to do with this new addition, however, no matter how hard he tried, Gold and Snow seemed to remember nothing about their past. They had no place to return to and could not remember if they have any enemies either. Part of him had a bad feeling about keeping the two of them near him since they were obviously so severely injured by another person or group that chased them down. He wanted to avoid pointless enemies, but the bright and innocent eyes staring back at him made it hard for him to bring up any word about sending them away. Thinking that he could just keep thinking about it the rest of the day, Greyson got dressed to go out and visit his grandparents. Racing up to the top of the mountain, Greyson nodded to say hi to some familiar faces while Snow happily bounded behind him introducing herself as well. Some of the Snow Dragons felt that keeping such a low-level beast like a Cloud Leopard was slightly weird, but they decided not to make any comments. Maybe Greyson had a soft spot for cute looking magic beasts?"Grandma, Grandpa!"
"Oh, is that Greyson?! Come in, come in. You have such great timing, let me ask you. Looking at your grandfather"s good looks, would you not say that your grandmother was the lucky one? Even now, you can see that I used to be such a valiant and handsome fellow in my youth." Hearing his grandfather"s questions after walking in, Greyson suddenly fell silent not knowing what to say. Not sure what to say, Greyson just looked between the two of them. Seeing that they were still in their dragon forms, he did not know whether he should laugh or cry. How was he supposed to tell?! His taste was not so strong that he could tell who was good-looking or not between dragons. Pursing his lips and grimacing, he thought about the results for answering one way or the other and quickly came to a decision.
"Grandma"s scales are such a glossy white with such s.h.i.+ning purple eyes that are filled with wisdom. I bet she was a big beauty when you guys were young. I think grandpa was the lucky one." Shamelessly thickening his skin, Greyson decided to compliment his grandmother instead. After much observation, Greyson knew who really held the power and control in the relations.h.i.+p. Insulting his grandma was a big no-no. Just as he thought, after he said such, his grandma looked over at him clearly beaming over his flattery while his grandfather looked deflated but did not dare to say anything more. Although he pouted, Elder Brevre decided that he would just let his wife win this one. He knew the truth so it was fine.
"Hahaha, Grandpa don"t be too upset. I know you probably were also- Ah!" Greyson tried to gloss over his words so his grandfather would not be too upset, but before he could finish his words, his arm began to burn. Groaning in pain, he held onto his arm watching as a brand was burned into his skin. Reading each letter, Greyson read out the word "ALTAR." Breaking out into a sweat, Greyson could not process what the word meant before he pa.s.sed out.
"Daddy? What"s wrong? Why are you sleeping?" Snow had no idea what was happening so all she could do was prod at Greyson in confusion.
"Greyson! Old man, what is happening?!" In a panic, Elder Freizon quickly approached her grandson and watched as a word form onto his skin as it burned. Although she was confused as to what Cloud Leopard cub this was, she knew now was not the time to try to figure these things out. She also noted the word, but she was more worried about her unconscious grandson. Looking at him, she could feel his life-force getting slightly weaker out of nowhere. In her anxiousness, she carried him over to their herb garden and brought out some of their most powerful life-preserving herbs while telling her husband to call for a light dragon healer. Although Greyson was sustained for the moment, Elder Freizon could feel him getting weaker. When the healer finally arrived, Freizon pulled him in a hurry to check on Greyson.
"Elder, I believe that he is being affected by an equal contract with another magic beast. His partner in the contract must have been almost fatally injured. Therefore, your grandson is suffering along with this injured beast."
"Equal contract?!" Elder Freizon and Brevre were both shocked by this finding. Greyson had omitted Lucius" information from his stories because he was worried about the Destiny Cat information getting out. Although he was fairly certain he could trust Rosalie and his grandparents, this information was very important. From what Rosalie told him, even in the Beast Empire, the Destiny Cats needed to hide in another s.p.a.ce to prevent from being found. He promised Lucius that he would not tell anyone without the cat"s permission. In the end, it was not his secret to tell.
"Why did he not tell us of something so important? Being apart from such a person is extremely dangerous, you could just die without knowing how. Why would he enter such a terrible contract in the first place?! Whose bad luck is causing our grandson to suffer like so?!" Elder Freizon could not help but shout and curse in her anger. Elder Brevre did not say anything but his face was also dark in distress.
"Don"t keep shouting. If you curse this person, what if they actually die from their injuries, wouldn"t our grandson have to join him. You should be praying that this beast has good friends who could heal him so that Greyson can still get up again." Elder Brevre calmed his wife down trying to get her to sit down.
"Oh, old man, I cannot bear if he just dies like this. We only just got reunited..." Her face falling into her hands, Elder Freizon could not help but weakly weep. Her emotional state was in a constant fragile state after hearing about the attack on her son and his family. Not knowing whether any of them was alive really hit her hard. It got better after meeting Rosalie and improved again after meeting Greyson. But if she had to suffer helplessly watching this cute grandson dying, she really did not know how she would be able to go on normally. How could she ever explain this to her dear son, either? That his young son died under their care? The atmosphere of the room continually sank as silence pervaded. In the midst of this despair, the door flung open as another body quickly entered. Her silver hair flying around and all over her face showed her rush to get here. Rosalie took a look at her pale brother while his skin felt cold to the touch. Feeling the temperature after reaching for Greyson"s hand, Rosalie recoiled in shock.
"He isn"t-" She could not complete her question as her voice clearly shook.
"No, he is still alive. Just barely."
"What is happening? He was completely fine earlier?" Just yesterday, she saw him in pristine health while waiting for the Sun Moon Leopard cub to awaken. Thinking of this, she turned to Snow.
"Was it you? He was obviously fine before you arrived!" Deep in her heart, Rosalie knew she was being ridiculous, but she had so much anger she wanted to vent.
"Rosalie, don"t be ridiculous! How could this young cub hurt your brother? Greyson entered into an equal contract with another magical beast and that beast has been fatally injured. Their lives are tied together, so Greyson is also suffering from the incident."
"What is that beast doesn"t survive..."
"Then..." Not able to finish his sentence, Elder Brevre just stood in silence while his expression said everything that needed to be said.
"Is there nothing we can do other than hope?" Rosalie"s voice quivered in fear of the worst-case scenario.
"Don"t worry, I don"t believe that your brother would enter into a contract with some weakling who would die early! He will wake up just fine tomorrow!" Elder Freizon did not keep wallowing in her depression and instead decided to firmly believe that her grandson would make it through.
"Just the fact that he is still fine now should mean that the beast has gotten to help and is getting treatment. Otherwise, Greyson would already be gone." Sitting back down, she gently stroked Greyson"s hair and moved the messy strands from his face. If one looked closely, they could see her hand shaking. Rosalie did not say anymore and just continued to sit at her brother"s bedside. The family sat in anxious wait for the next morning. They were not able to get a good night"s rest at all as Greyson continued to flare up the entire time. Multiple times, the family were already in tears thinking that they would really lose him. Both the elders could barely hold on psychologically with all the ups and downs. Rosalie just held Greyson"s hand and would not let go. All of them refused to eat or drink and just continued to watch the situation.
A week like this pa.s.sed, but they could finally let out a breath and relax. During this week, they could clearly feel Greyson"s life force growing stronger instead of weaker. They knew this meant that the other side of the contract was out of the woods for his injury. By the last day of the week, Greyson finally opened his eyes once again. Looking at the worried faces around him, he did not register everything at first. The memories of what occurred beforehand started to flood back into his mind as he quickly looked down at his forearm. Still seeing the word "ALTAR" carved onto his skin, Greyson did not understand what the word meant. However, he knew that the earlier predicament was because Lucius clearly almost died and brought Greyson along.
"Grey!" Rosalie quickly shouted in happiness before slamming into him with a hug. Elder Freizon cried in relief while Elder Brevre also wiped a lone tear from his eye. Seeing the sincere worry that he caused them, Greyson felt warm yet also guilty.
"Sorry for making you guys worry."
"You, boy! How could you make such a dangerous contract with someone?! You even let the travel around outside at who knows where without you being around. Do you really want to suffer such an unjust death? If that other beast dies somewhere, you could just drop where you stand and go die with them." Elder Freizon"s earlier anxiety and sadness now turned to frustration and anger as her temper flared up once again.
"Grandma, don"t say that. We are really close; I didn"t even mean to get separated from him. A lot of things just seemed to happen while I was unconscious. I left my body with him when I put myself into the coma, I don"t even know how I ended up here."
"What kind of beast is he anyways?"
"His name is Lucius... As for what beast..." Greyson paused as he wondered if he should just come clean now. Before, there was still suspicion in his heart whether he could trust this family of his. No matter what, although they were blood-related, plenty of blood-related family still betrays each other all the time. This moment showed him their sincere concern and love for him, so he felt that it would really be unfair to them to continue hiding things due to his mistrust. "Lucius is a Destiny Cat. I really apologize for not telling you guys earlier. Lucius just asked me to keep his ident.i.ty a secret and you must know that a lot of people are always chasing down news for his kind."
The elders and Rosalie all widened their eyes in surprise. Destiny Cat. They had not heard news of this race in many years. The last leader and strongest member of the Destiny Cats decided to sacrifice himself to cast an extremely powerful s.p.a.ce spell that allowed the race to hide in a different dimension. They tried their best to keep track of all the newborn Destiny Cats and bring them to the separate s.p.a.ce quietly. No one has heard of a Destiny Cat in the outside world in years.
"No... We don"t blame you. News about Destiny Cats is extremely popular and lots of people would quickly betray you if you were to spread word of this. You had yet to really get to know us, even if we are family. It is good that you kept cautious. Actually, it would have been fine even if you didn"t tell us because we can respect your privacy. Since you have told us, we will not let a word of this spread, don"t worry. We only just got to meet our grandson, you almost dying was too much of a shock to us." Elder Brevre expression turned serious as he quietly responded to Greyson as if in fear that this conversation could be overheard.
"Thank you." Greyson smiled before his expression turned uneasy. "Actually, since all of you are here now. I have to tell you that I need to leave. I have to go and find Lucius. His situation and this message on my arm are making me very anxious. This ominous feeling of apprehension will not leave me."
"Leave?" Rosalie seemed surprised at first before she nodded in agreement.
"This is correct. You cannot leave such a ticking time bomb of danger outside. However, you should let someone travel along with you. Maybe we could have one of our loyal tribe members follow you?" Elder Freizon agreed with Greyson"s suggestion, but she still worried about sending him out on his own.
"I don"t need someone to guard me. I will move faster and unnoticed easier if I just travel alone." Greyson frowned and did not agree.
"I"ll go with you!" Rosalie suddenly stood and shouted. "And don"t even try to say no. You can"t control what I do!"
"But-"
"No buts! You barely have basic knowledge of the Beast Empire and you want to go travelling randomly to try to figure out what altar means? Do you even have any clue as to what that could possibly mean?"
Greyson paused but quickly realized there was nothing he could say back to that.
"Fine. We will leave tonight!" Greyson grudgingly nodded.
"Alright!" Jumping with excitement, Rosalie quickly darted out of the room to get ready.