Inside a forest, where a 40 meters tall waterfall that had flames falling down from the top and boiling red water at the bottom, suddenly experienced a loud splash. SPLAs.h.!.+
The middle of the waterfall parted, causing the animals that were around the waterfall to look up, wondering what was happening to the waterfall. After a few seconds, the hole in the middle of the waterfall got smaller and smaller, and it eventually went back to normal, with flames flowing down, as if the thing that had just happened was nothing but an illusion.
"Where are we?" Cahryss asked as she looked at what appeared to be a humongous cave with beautiful multi-colored trees in them.
"Safe…" Thadeus murmured as Quetzalcoatl landed in the middle of the cave, where a huge transparent coffin was placed. He carried Cahryss down from the dragon and carefully placed her on the ground. Holding her hand, he led her to the coffin. "This is the Thousand Lives Coffin…"
Cahryss" eyes went wide when she heard the name of the coffin. "The Thousand Lives Coffin" was a magical item made from the bones of a white phoenix that lived a millennium ago. It was said to have the ability to heal and preserve the body of a deceased person for all eternity.
"Let"s sleep inside for a while, Cahryss…" Thadeus said as he looked at her. "I need my energy for what is going to happen next, and so do you…"
Cahryss looked at him, and after a few seconds, she nodded. The two of them then climbed onto the coffin and snuggled close to each other, looking extremely comfortable and intimate as they hugged each other tightly.
The dragon scoffed and turned its head the other way.
"It"s been a while since I last held you like this…" Thadeus said as he gently cupped her hand.
"I"m a married woman now…" Cahryss said as she linked her fingers with his. To her, this was just a means of comfort. They had been best friends since young, and they used to hug each other to sleep… until Ralmaroz joined them.
With a sigh, Thadeus nodded. "I know…"
He glanced at the burnt wounds on Cahryss" body and saw that they were healing faster than before.
"I don"t hate him, Thadeus…"
Cahryss" words caught Thadeus" attention, and he looked at her. "And I never understood why…"
Cahryss smiled as she thought about the man she married. "Thadeus, you and I… We weren"t born to be leaders. We were anomalies, born to be hated and to be alone… So, it"s fine for us to be selfish and to do what"s best for us. But Ralmaroz is different. From birth, he has been taught to put his people and country first. That"s why I fell in love with him… He"s not as smart as you, or as strong as you, but he"s always doing his best and he has never thought to do something for himself…"
"Yes, he did…" Thadeus mumbled, grudgingly.
"What?"
"For you… and for me…" Thadeus sighed. He had never wanted to admit that Ralmaroz was a good king, but the truth was that the man he disliked was a great king. "He removed the kill order and married you against everyone"s advice…"
Cahryss smiled lovingly. "Yeah… He did…"
A drop of tear appeared at the corner of her eye as she continued, "Too bad I can"t be the queen that he needs…"
…
Back in the present,
Warlock shook his head slowly as he tried to get the painful memories out of his mind. His throat felt constricted for a moment, and he had to gulp a couple of times to release the pressure.
Looking at Lucifer, Warlock said, "Most of Juin"s soul is being locked up now, but as you can see, the shackles are weakening… and I need your help in this, Lucifer."
"Just kill him!" Lucifer snapped. "If you can"t control him, then just get rid of him before he grows into more power! You have the same ability as a seer! You have seen what he could grow up to be!"
"It doesn"t matter what he"s destined to do, I will still protect him!" Warlock said nonchalantly. He promised Cahryss that he would protect Hades" soul on her behalf, without interfering with his life, so Warlock would do just that. "His life could have been different!"
"Protect?" Lucifer scoffed. He raised a brow at Warlock and sneered, "You lost him before he even learned how to walk! How"s that protecting him?"
Upon hearing Lucifer"s remark, Warlock coughed lightly out of embarra.s.sment before saying, "That"s a mistake. It won"t happen again."
He then stood up and walked to his stash of alcohol. As he poured himself some gin and tonic, he asked, glancing at Lucifer, "If you think Juin is your brother, shouldn"t you protect him?"
Lucifer folded his arms and said, "My brother is destined to destroy Alercane, so no!"
Warlock took a deep breath before downing the gin and tonic. He then placed the gla.s.s down before sitting back at his seat. Pinching his glabella, he thought about what he should do in order to convince Lucifer not to kill Juin.
His eyes suddenly lit up when he finally thought of something.
Putting out his left palm, Warlock"s green eye glowed slightly as a diagram appeared above his palm and glowed softly. He then pulled a small locket out of his left palm. On the locket, there was a clear carving of a phoenix bird. As Warlock thumbed the carving, he murmured, "If I have to tell you the truth to get you to see the sense in things… then…"
He took a couple of deep breaths before nodding. "You"re right, I"m Thadeus Luminos, the Supreme Warlock of Alercane, and I was the one who took your mother away."
Upon hearing the confirmation, Lucifer immediately perked up. "Where is she now?"
"She"s back in Alercane."
"No…" Lucifer frowned and slapped the table with both hands. "Father had been searching for her his whole life, and he combed every inch of Alercane but he never found her! You"re lying! If she"s in Alercane, we would have found her by now."
"What if she no longer looks like the Cahryss that your father knew?" Warlock asked with a pained expression. In his mind, he saw Cahryss" hands that slowly turned from a pair of smooth maiden hands to that of an old wrinkled woman. Shaking his head, Warlock quickly murmured under his breath, "No, don"t think about it, Thadeus…"
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