HETAR

Everything backed to normal after Asher came back. All the students that we killed came to their old selves. It"s like the time was reversed but of course, my injured thigh wasn"t.

Asher told me that Rhode was the woman-in-cloak. Gosh! I didn"t expect that she"s the daughter of that Durlen! And yes, he also told me that my Dad is in the Underworld.

Now, here we were, in the school clinic. The school doctor had just finished rolling bandage around my thigh.

Asher entered in the not-so small room.

"Are you now okay?" he asked worriedly as he sat down beside the bed where I was lying.

"A little bit fine," I lazily uttered.

He sighed and then, all of sudden, he took off my blanket.

My eyes widened. "Hey! What are you doing?!" I started to panic.

"Relax." He gently touched my wound and I felt a familiar cooling sensation. After a while, I could no longer feel the pain. He gave me a smile. "Healed." He gently removed the bandage and yeah, he"s not lying. There"s no mark left that a knife was thrust through my thigh!

"Are you now fine, Babe?"

I got annoyed again. "I already warned you not to call me that. It"s inappropriate."

He became serious. "How come?"

"We"re cousins. Come on!" I laughed a bit.

"And who says that?"

"Duh! You"re a son of Aunt Wart who is the twin sister of my Mom." Tsk. Is he alright? How come he forgot about it?

"And you believe that?"

Confusion attacked me. "What do you mean?"

"G.o.ddess Heta is my mom, not Aunt Wart."

"Then, what"s with the pretending thing?"

"Actually, it must be Mom but you"re Aunt wished to be the one who would accompany me. She said that she wanted to see you personally."

Ah . . . so that"s why his powers have resemblance to what Aunt Heta has.

"It means we"re not cousins, Babe," he continued. "And calling you "Babe"  is not inappropriate like what you"ve said."

I sighed. "It"s still inappropriate." It"s just for couples!

"Then be my girlfriend," he uttered. That made my mouth gaped open slightly. When he saw my reaction, he laughed. "Just kidding!"

Out of annoyance, I kicked his face, causing him to fall down from the bed.

"That hurts."

I looked away. "Serves you right, a.s.shole," I muttered.

Through my peripheral vision, I saw him sat on the floor and faced me. He already stopped laughing.

"Look at me," he said. I didn"t. "Look at me," he repeated. "I"ll say something important."

When I heard the word "important", the idea that it"s about my father came into my mind. So, I faced him.

My eyes widened when his face was only few inches away from my face. His gray eyes started to drown me again. And I didn"t know. I became nervous. I could feel my heart beat fast.

"But, I"m serious, Babe." His right hand touched my left cheek as he moved closer. "I like you."

~*~

After that confession, I walked out from the clinic. I got my bag from our cla.s.sroom and went home. He didn"t say anything. He didn"t follow me. He just let me go.

Okay. This is weird. I"m confused.

Is that why he"s so worried about me?

Is that why he always helps me?

d.a.m.n, Asher, how dare you confess in the middle of freaking problems?!

I shouted out of frustration as I lied on my bed. d.a.m.n it!

What"s happening in my life? It gets more complicated!

After a while of shouting, I calmed down. And slowly, I got myself asleep.

~*~

I woke up when I felt myself starving already. I went to the bathroom to take a bath and changed.

I looked at my red watch on my bed"s side table. It"s 11:30 PM.

Instead of cooking, I just went outside with my wallet and my phone. I went to the 24 hours opened cafe that was only near.

It was surprising to see that there were still lots of people inside the cafe even at this time.

The server smiled at me when I reached the counter. I ordered a cappuccino and a slice of vanilla cake.

While eating, a guy that looked like a tourist because of his outfit, with a black coffee and chocolate cake on his tray, approached me and asked if I could share the table with him.

"No," I coldly said.

"But I have something important to say to you."

I stopped eating and raised him a brow. "What?"

He placed his tray on the table and sat down on my opposite chair.

"I"ll help you to save your Dad. Your father is a swordsman, right? I know where he is. And I know how to let you all enter the Underworld," he said in a low voice.

How come that he knows all about it?

"Who are you?"

He smiled. "Nel Adriano. I"m the son of Durlen who plans to betray him. You can trust me."

I felt myself heating up. "How can I make sure that you are not lying?"

"You are free to kill me if I"ll let you be in danger."

~*~

NEL"S POINT OF VIEW

After giving and saying what I have to give and say, I came to the Underworld once again. It"s been a long time since I left this place. I was still a kid back then.

Why did I leave? It"s because my conscience kept on haunting me.

I was the one who killed Scarlette"s father. I made him like he died because of heart attack but truly, it"s not. I killed him using a sprayable poison and while I was doing it, I covered myself with invisibility liquid.

I"m brilliant, right? But hey, I am not as devil as my father.

I was very guilty while doing that crime.

My father"s minions captured his soul and prisoned him in h.e.l.l.

I asked my father to let me leave and yes, he let me but with the condition that I"d never and ever be a hindrance on his plans.

This place didn"t change. It"s still a h.e.l.l. It"s still dark. Only torches on the walls gave light.

Every demon that I have met, they were shocked before they gave their bows.

When I finally reached his room, I heaved a sigh before I opened the door.

"Hi, Dad!" I greeted him.

Like always, he"s sitting on his throne while frowning. When he saw me, he smiled.

"Long time, no see, son," he said as he stood up. I thought he missed me by saying it but . . . "Perfect. You can help me on the upcoming war."

I just smiled to stop myself from shouting at him.

f.u.c.k it! He"ll just use me again.