3rd Person
Few weeks had gone by since Kris and Lan woke up. During those weeks, Kris's tummy had grown big, while he had become skinnier in every passing day. Now Kris was in a condition where he did not even possess enough strength to move his own limbs. Mike helped Kris in everything, even whether they were simple things as sitting and lying down. Practically Kris was like a puppet that was controlled by Mike, all his movements were done by Mike. The only thing he did for himself was hanging on to his memories with Lan and keeping himself emotionally stable, as it was essential for his babies. The amount of strength that the babies drained had gradually reduced as they grew up, but it was still too much for Kris to bear alone. The main reason that Kris grew weaker was him being unable to consume any food, other than Lan's blood.
Kris spent all his day stroking his tummy, while he looked out the window, at the front yard and the road. Even though he put up a courageous act to his friends and brother, there were moments where he was at the brink of breaking down. At those times he held tight to the ring around his neck. That ring was the only thing that Kris possessed which belonged to Lan. Every time he needed strength he would hold on to it tightly, and Kris would feel Lan's warm arms wrapping around him protectively. Kris's mate symbol had turned golden, it indicated their undying love for each other. Mike had found out that the mate symbol will change it's colour from black to golden when the mates are temporarily separated, it would turn back to its original colour after the mates exchange each other's blood again. This gave hope to Kris, he still had a chance to make Lan his.
Their state of communication had also improved, Tyler and Theo had sneaked seven burner mobile phones from the station, one for each of them. They knew that Yan was following all their moves closely, so they had to be careful. They had thought of asking help from Kris's dad, but Kris stopped them because he knew that if they get their father involved, this will turn into a battle between the two races, and Kris had a gut feeling that maybe it was what that woman wanted. Kris had asked Tyler to pause his private investigation about this situation until the babies are born, Kris could not let that woman know of his babies under any condition. He was determined to protect his Lan's smaller versions, under any cost. Ming updated them daily about Lan's activities, but Kris was not interested in any of them, all he cared about was his Lan being healthy and safe. Without anyone's knowledge, Kris had given Ming a pint of his blood to use on Lan, if any trouble occurred. Kris wanted to know more about himself and his mother, but he had no one to ask help from. He had a feeling that the shaman will come to visit him again, so he decided to wait as he had not told others about his nature.
Even though Kris was fine without Lan, his friends could not bear to watch Kris going through hell, with the babies. At first, they had thought of making Kris feed on someone else's blood and making the babies go away, but they understood that the only thread which contained Kris's sanity was those babies. He had given up his immortality so his babies could be born into this world while both their parents lived, they did not want to make Kris's sacrifice be in vain. They had to help Kris, help him to live with hope, with happiness until his rightful owner came back to him. They had to help him bring his babies to this world and protect them until their father came back to them. But they were still worried, will their father really come back to them even without knowing about their existence, without remembering their mother's love for him. For this question, no one had an answer.
Lan's condition was not very different from Kris, even though he was not physically unstable, mentally he was an emotional wreck. The emptiness stayed within him, buried deep within his soul. It was like he had forgotten what happiness was, he had forgotten how to laugh or smile. He felt uncomfortable with everyone, the only person that he felt comfortable with was his best friend, Ming. With him Lan felt at ease, a familiar warmth covered him, all the time he spends with his best buddy. But even Ming could not give him the warmth that he had felt when he was asleep. He had thought countless times of going back to that sleep, lying his head on that man's lap, breathing in his intoxicating scent, staring back at those mesmerizing pair of jet-black eyes. Whenever he tried to remember that man with the pair of jet-black eyes, even though his heart wanted to search through his memories to find him, something was blocking his mind from working according to his heart, like he was being compelled.
Lan had seen the golden mate symbol on the back of his left shoulder, but he could not remember who he made the blood pact with. He had tactfully made the arrogant girl that declared herself as his mate wear a backless dress just to check whether she had the same symbol and as he expected there was nothing on her back. After that confirmation, he had diverted all the dates that were set up with her telling that he was busy. He wanted to tell his mother this, but his heart told that she will not be very happy about his deduction. So Lan kept this to himself, he only said this to Ming because he trusted his friend with his own life. When he told this news to Ming, an expression of happiness flashed across Ming's face, Lan did not understand the reason, but he could say without a doubt that Ming hated that snake woman to her bones. Lan was happy that both of them had the same point of view about that woman because if Ming was also like his mother, always saying sweet things about that snake girl, that would have been enough to make Lan lose his sanity.
Lan spent all his days, diving in his work, ignoring everyone other than Ming. Actually, his world had started to rotate around the home, work, and Ming. Lan was cooped in his own world, without interacting with anyone outside it. Ming could nor bear to watch Lan becoming so mechanic, it was like Lan was becoming void of emotions. Lan had become immune to pain, sadness, happiness, anger, and any other emotion. It was like Lan had forgotten how to express himself. Ming had tried to make Lan visit Kris a couple of times, but every time Kris saw right through his plan. Every time when Kris caught Ming, Ming would try to reason, but all that times he only got one answer,
"Ming, don't underestimate Lan's love. He will remember me, he will remember our love and he will come back to me."
Every time Kris said those words to Ming with a smile that was filled with pure love and hope, Ming became powerless seeing that smile and peaceful look. Everyone's heart clenched seeing Kris's eyes filled with hope, they were afraid, afraid that one day the world that Kris built up with his hope will come crashing down just like the last time.
Unknown
In the same dimly lit room, Yan sat behind a new large black desk while Li Min stood in front of it, his head bowed down in respect.
"So what news is there about the fanger?"
Yan asked Li Min in a bitter tone. Li Min bowed his head and replied in a monotone,
"After looking at the CCTV footage around the detective's house, it seems like young master Kris is pregnant, Madam."
"Pregnant? Is that even possible?"
Yan asked, amused by this news.
"Yes Madam, every quarternix has the ability to conceive, and young master Kris is no exception."
Li Min replied, and added,
"But the little masters will be more powerful than both young masters, Madam."
"Little masters? Is he pregnant with more than one child?"
Yan asked again surprise evident in her tone, but there was an undertone that sounded jealous and greedy.
"Yes, Madam, young master Kris is pregnant with twins."
Li Min replied in the same monotone, his head still bowed down. Yan smirked and said,
"Well then, let him off the hook this time, the next time we will catch all three of them and harness all their power."
Li Min remained silent to this comment. Yan sighed and questioned Li Min again, this time her tone more gentle,
"How is Lan?"
Li Min looked down and shook his head, indicating that Lan's condition was not as they expected.
"Young master Lan has already found out that young mistress Li Mian is not his mate."
Li Min slowly replied, readying himself for his madam's outburst, as expected it came,
"How on earth did he find that out? Is that why he cancelled all his dates with her?"
Yan shouted at the top of her lungs, causing Li Min to slightly cringe from the impact on his ears.
"Young master saw his mate symbol on the back of his left shoulder, and the other day when young mistress Li Mian was wearing a backless dress, he saw that she doesn't have such a symbol on her back."
Li Min replied, in a low tone. He knew that it was his fault, not informing young mistress about the mate symbol.
"She is really useless, bring her to me. If Lan doesn't believe what we say, we need to make him believe. Tell Li Mian to prepare that tonic."
Yan ordered Li Min, letting out a long sigh.
"Yes, Madam."
Li Min replied and held out a piece of paper to Yan,
"What is this?"
Yan questioned Li Min while taking the paper to her hand.
"The shaman left it."
Li Min replied while Yan stared at the paper with widened eyes.
The message on the paper was simple,
'You can perform a ritual, but it will only loosen their bond. They will never fully forget each other in any of their lifetimes, you can try all you want, but every time you will fail. They are fated mates, protect all of them, or you will fall into a pit of darkness that you will never be able to come out of.'