Two years ago, when he first learned about Pazuzu, he sensed that Ashera was hiding something from him. But when he asked Sunflower about it, she was hesitant. Not wanting to put her in a tough spot, Mane asked her not to worry about it. But now that Ancestor Ice had informed him that Ashera was part of Pazuzu's requested 'items', he had a feeling that it was this information that was hidden from him. What he didn't understand was why they just hadn't told him? They had him thinking she was the demon god's daughter or something. And while Pazuzu treating human beings like property was horrible, it didn't beat the kind of assumptions Mane had conceived concerning the situation in the past two years.
Sunflower was silenced by Mane's words. And her silence lasted a couple of minutes. Mane could sense several complex emotions running through her mind and flooding her heart. And so he hugged her tightly and said, "I am not accusing you of anything. I just wish you had told me."
"I know," Sunflower finally squeezed out a few words along with a subdued sigh.
"Why does he want the Mistress?" Although Mane was stronger than Ashera now, he still had a great amount of respect for her. So he couldn't simply call her by her name.
"He wants to marry her," Sunflower confessed.
"What!" Mane exclaimed in shock. Of all the options he had considered – Ashera had a special soul that could boost Pazuzu's power greatly; Ashera's blood could somehow strengthen the evil god; and many others – Mane never thought marriage was likely. After all, all his thoughts hovered on destruction. For they were referring to a demon god. Who would have thought that the true reason was far from that?
"Yeah," Sunflower sighed sorrowfully.
"Why?" Mane wondered. Ashera didn't know Pazuzu, and he didn't know her either. Even if she had met his clone before, she met it as an enemy. Mane failed to believe that Pazuzu had fallen in love with the Mistress. There must surely be something else.
"I don't know. In fact, not even Mistress knows why he wants to wed her. All what she knows is that several years ago when Pazuzu's clone saw her, it immediately declared that it wanted her as its bride." Sunflower didn't see the need to hide this from Mane any longer. Since Mane already knew the main subject, she might as well answer the pop-up questions.
"I see. That is why she is so desperate to stop him." Mane sighed. While he didn't understand much, he had learned a lot about Ashera in the past few years. And he knew that she would rather die than accept such a fate. And a woman like her wasn't afraid of death. So the only reason she would be worried about this was the triplets. They were like family to her and rejecting Pazuzu would spell their doom. It was likely that the demon god would spare their lives if she gave herself to him willingly.
"Yeah," Sunflower folded into Mane's bosom. And Mane could sense a great depression from her. If he could easily reach a conclusion as to the reason for Ashera's misery, then surely the triplets knew about it too. His eyes flashed with steely determination and finally, he developed some hatred for the demon god he had never met.
"Something more amazing happened to me today," Mane stated, eager to change the subject. He was intending to tell Sunflower about the world – nay, the universe – within the barrier. For Mane suspected that Ashera knew of this secret. And as he speculated earlier, that was likely why she sent Mane to Amalgamation. So he didn't think it wrong to tell Sunflower, especially since the triplets were very aware of many things hidden to the average man. So Sunflower should be able to handle the influx of information.
"What?" Sunflower asked curiously. She could sense the excitement in Mane's tone and that intrigued her. For there were few things that could grab Mane's attention. His excitement pushed away her depression just a little bit.
"I broke through," Mane laughed as he confessed his latest achievement.
"Really? That's amazing!" Sunflower was genuinely excited. She hugged Mane tightly and placed several kisses on his cheeks. As someone who knew that Mane was at the peak of the Nightmare Realm, she understood that a breakthrough would naturally mean that the young Supreme was now a Pseudo Phenom. And with his abnormal battle strength, his power increase would be explosive! While she trusted that Mane could deal with the Ancestors – even if he was only facing half of them instead of all – she was still a bit nervous. But now she had no doubt that he would be able to finish them off quite easily.
"Yeah. It…mmm" Mane's speech was cut short by the little mouth that stuck to his. Under his astonished gaze Sunflower placed her mouth on his and slid in her tongue. And for a full five seconds Mane lay there, as stiff as a board as Sunflower's tongue roamed his mouth. It was only after she seemed satisfied that she let him go.
"Sorry. I got a bit too excited." Sunflower's face turned deep red and she swiftly hid her face in Mane's neck again. It took a while for Mane to regain his senses. And once he did he smiled wryly.
"It's alright. I don't mind." Mane chalked Sunflower's actions up to her earlier sadness and didn't think much of it. But somewhere in his heart a faint light was lit.
"Ah, love. As sweet as honey it is. The love between a man and a woman is sacred."
Of course there was one here who was not going to let Mane forget this anytime soon. Hildegarde clutched her chest in an exaggerated fashion and went on to recite an entire poem about love, much to Mane's annoyance. If it wasn't because he didn't want to disturb Sunflower he would have gotten up to smack the overconfident fairy.
"Ehem. There is something else." Mane quickly went on to explain his encounter within the barrier, leaving Sunflower shocked.
"Take me with you next time," she was finally able to whisper after what seemed to be eternity. The stars in her eyes showed the curious nature of a child. And the exploratory spirit within her was rekindled.
"Sure. We would go after I kill Pazuzu." Mane stated as his eyes flashed with murderous intent. Oh how he wished that the Dark Spear would be found on time so that he could skewer Pazuzu like a khebab. In the meantime he would try his best to grow stronger.
"Yes. I believe such a day would come, and Mistress would finally be free." Sunflower raised her head and smiled sweetly. Her smile was so genuine and so bright that Mane lost himself for a second or two. Then without realizing it he lifted his head and placed his lips on hers, stunning Sunflower. Then he gently sucked on her lovely red lips with delicate movements, and slowly became intoxicated.
Mane swiftly woke up once he realised what he had done and he pulled his head away. He was slightly panicked and was searching for the right words to say when Sunflower returned her head to his chest and whispered, "You should get some sleep," before wrapping her arms around his neck and closing her eyes.
"Yeah," Mane mumbled as a slight sense of disappointment he didn't quite understand invaded his soul. Then he too closed his eyes. Soon the two were asleep, each thinking about the same thing – the strange event that just occurred – leaving only one person awake.
"I worry for you Mane," Hildegarde sighed as she gazed upon Mane's exhausted figure.
She was truly concerned about the boy. And the source of her concern was simple. Her eyes traveled to the small, invisible Status window at the corner of Mane's. The large print, Completion Rate: 75%, was difficult to ignore. Though Mane didn't use the Fairy System for anything anymore, he did leave the Completion Rate open. After all, it was the Completion Rate that determined when his mission would end. And though Mane didn't know how the Fairy System could accurately judge the rate of completion of a mission it had no idea about, it had been progressing smoothly so he chose to remove that from his list of worries.
Hildegarde couldn't help but feel sorry for the young Supreme. Though she wished that the boy would learn about love, when he did fall in love with someone all she felt was guilt. For she had been with a number of Testeds who got a bit too attached to the worlds they were sent to. And each time it ended badly for them. Some had gotten married, and some had even had children in their worlds. Many of them did finish their missions, completing the tasks they were given, but they were left brokenhearted and torn when they realised that they had to leave their worlds. And those who didn't leave willingly were forcefully ejected. It was a side of the tests that was the most brutal. For it was the part of the test that accurately judged the strength of the Tested's heart. And many failed.