Recently, I noticed that I was fainting a lot without my consent. My consciousness should be ashamed of leaving without notice. It was proving to be a hindrance. I was well prepared to offer my other leg to be snapped by Peach-san, but my vigilance was wasted.
"Lucian..."
A faint voice of a man whispered close to my ear, causing me to clamp the warmth left by his breath.
"Lucian..."
There was a short silence after that and a gush of whispers had risen in a wave.
Why must I deal with stupid every single day?
"You will be the greatest sacrifice that the world will make and the worst loss that the world will have. Do not fret for we will be with you...we have always been ever since you were born," he said.
"Please stop speaking nonsense." Even in my sleep I was haunted by irrational people.
"You are life's greatest gift and death's greatest offering. You are the flower of death that will bloom life," he added.
"And you people are the flower of wisdom that utter folly. Thank you for your foresight," I replied.
"You will understand soon...You will discover what you really are..." he responded.
I was saved from any more meaningless talk by a gentle shake to my form. Familiar faces were staring from above. The hole made by the conjoining heads was then filled by more heads of children from the cave where Wye Fye had rested in complete tranquility.
May she rest in pa—peace.
"Are you okay Lucian?" Sevor asked.
He was meaning to cup my cheek, but his hand was slapped by Caleb who supported my back. There was a rope of tension tying us all together.
Was Garmir still alive?
The werewolf was progressively holding my body and was not enjoying the cave people's presence.
"Of course he's okay, I'll break his other leg if he isn't," Slade grumbled which only aggravated Caleb even further.
The slits in his eyes sharpened. He growled at Slade and the children. The kids scrambled away in fear and the twins took a defensive stance in response. The tension which I had awoken to came to be even thicker. Crowley and Ziru did not like Slade's way of speaking and stood in front to put a barrier between us.
"I will stay here and guard from behind," Kox said, which aggravated a vein on Crowley's forehead.
"Come here you little shit!" the Hanuman huffed before confronting the twins.
"Don't come any closer. We will fight for His Highness with our life," he threatened.
"Why are you so mean to my onii? He has been through a lot!" Ziru protested and pouted.
"So he really is from Ancient royalty. His crown is legitimate," Sevor commented, getting lost in thought.
"I prefer not to acknowledge my past," I finally intervened. "Do not worry about Slade, he is only a mere idiot but he has a good heart," I told them.
Sevor placed a warning hand on his twin's chest. The short-tempered man was ready to lash out at the trigger of my words.
"We mean no harm to the prince. We came out of our residence because we were worried for his well-being. We tracked his scent with the help of the werewolf children," Sevor explained.
The said children peeked out from their hiding spots. My body became even more relaxed at the scenery of innocent, worried, and curious eyes watching the scenes unfold.
"I see," I murmured and gently squeezed Caleb's tensed shoulder.
Seeing that there was no need to be so wary of the caravan, Caleb hid his fangs but maintained his glare at the bunch and his tight hold on me.
"I won't forget that you kidnapped my mate, you bastard," Caleb reminded.
Sevor tilted his head in question but waved the attempt to clarify something.
"Rui and Buck?" I asked.
Ziru chuckled. "Rui ran away and Buck went after him."
"And Peach—" Before I could manage to build up my question, Kox answered.
"He's there somewhere. The trinity is who he is. He would never be able to deny the feelings of the parts of what complete him."
They weren't just mere parts. They were individual people who had dreams of their own. If they were really there, why couldn't Peach-san remember me?
"We should leave before any more disgusting giants come up. Remember that we have to reach Black Crystal Mountain and reconcile with Lucius," Caleb reminded us.
"When do we depart? We can ta—"
"Who the fuck told you that you are coming?" Caleb asked in complete shock and disbelief.
Sevor was silenced. Slade was fuming. The children whined and Maru latched himself to my leg.
His bravery against Caleb hit the fire of protest to all of the other children who swarmed us. In the end, Caleb wasn't able to fight off the children's vigor and naive wailing. A flash of nostalgia was seen on his face and for a brief moment, I saw him smile.
"Conall...Claude..." he whispered.
The children cheered in victory from his unresponsiveness. Caleb's chain of deep thoughts was broken. I patted his head and he looked at me with reassurance.
"Sorry, I just remembered some people."
We searched for Buck and Rui. Buck was reaching up to a tree where Rui was shyly hiding in. The usually grouchy child was all flustered while Buck was wooing him from below.
"Rui! Boo! Why won't you come down? What's wrong?" Buck worriedly queried.
"Go away, Buck!"
"Children these days are so shameless..." Crowley spoke in amusement.
"I think adults brought more shame to the world," Ziru retorted teasingly, which shut him in agreement.
"For once, I agree with you, brat."
"This is so painful to watch," Ziru sighed.
"Will you give them a hand, Ziru?" I requested. Caleb and Crowley snickered.
"With..." The young boy made his archer stance; light sparkled in his grasp. "—Pleasure," he ended, shooting a bright arrow towards the branch where Rui was clinging on.
The branch snapped causing Rui to shriek.
"Boo!" Buck panicked, immediately catching Rui's body.
All the panic vanished once Buck realized that he finally had Rui in his arms.
"I finally caught you. Will you go home with me now?" He asked in a sweet and caring tone.
Rui's face was on the brink of exploding.
"Wh–What?"
Buck grinned widely. "I really miss you. Don't leave me again, okay?" His eyes shimmered with tears. With that teary-eyed face, Rui was immediately won over.
"Okay..."
"Promise?" Buck persisted.
"I promise so...don't cry because of me, promise?"
Buck sniffled and nodded enthusiastically.
"I promise!"
"Now put me down."
Caleb whistled, snatching their attention. With the realization that they had an audience, Buck almost bloomed with flowers and Rui was drowned in even more embarrassment. His tail hooked to the soil to jump off from Buck's arms.
"Onii!" The little werewolf greeted, rushing towards me.
I was riding Caleb's back so he had to go behind to hug me.
"Really smooth there Rui, puberty came early," Crowley teased.
"Shut up hairy fucktard."
"Anyway...you guys are going now, right? Good, I don't want to see your ugly faces anymore. Being with you people is a pain in the arse. Fuck off. Drop-dead."
"As much as we want to miss you back, we're traveling buddies now," Ziru explained.
There was a flash of surprise and smile on Rui's face, but he broke it in a millisecond with a cough. We went back to where the others were. Slade was already transfigured into his dragon form with the children enjoying their places on his spiky back. Sevor waited for us patiently while his twin continuously released hot steam of air through his nostrils from impatience.
"Ready to go?" Sevor asked.
"Yeah!" Ziru and Buck cheered. They raced towards Slade.
"Welcome to the family," Sevor spoke with much delight in Caleb's distaste.
"Lucian and I are making our own family," he muttered.
Kox coughed as if he knew something in advance.
"I don't mind this family Caleb."
The werewolf froze. Crowley was trying his best not to guffaw. Caleb trembled before whining.
"Bu--Bu--But..."
"What's the matter? Don't you want to be a part of this family?"
He gently put me down and shifted into Fenris. The wolf twirled dramatically. He started reasoning out with me in his whining voice which just came out as barks and woofs. I petted his head and he wept. He threw out a tantrum and rolled all over the place like a child.
"I understand your concern, Fenris," I assured him. I watched the wolf revolve around, creating a mist of dust.
"Please take care of us," I deadpanned, bowing my head at Sevor.
The other werewolf children seemed to see Caleb as their new leader and followed his example.
"Oh Barbara," the Hanuman exasperatedly sighed, swiping his face down.
The clear skies darkened before we could depart. An impending storm made Sevor cancel the flight. We began our journey by foot with our voyage being noisier, eventful, and...pleasant.
"I'll maul them and then dig their face off and then I'll bury them and pee on their graves," Caleb grumbled. He snickered to himself after reciting his plans. "I'll show them..."
"Please stop violating the twins in your mind. I am sure they do not appreciate being killed several times," I sighed.
"I won't let them take you away from me. Their fists will meet my piss."
"How manly," I drawled.
Rain dropped from the skies. We had to endure the icy feeling jabbing our skin numb.
Caleb wasn't at all affected by the cold along with the other werewolves. He became my warming blanket. The children who could manage the freezing weather helped the shivering younger ones. Kox's book wasn't at all soaked as the pages never ceased to turn. Crowley carried the exhausted Ziru. Buck and Rui were holding hands as they were at peace with the rain and the twins led the way as they argued.
Contrary to what everyone would think about Slade, he wasn't a complete dimwit. He had a sharper sense of direction compared to his brother. As the rain lifted, the birds started to chirp, animals came out from their hiding, and the sun became the cue for resuming the activeness of every being in the forest.
With this caravan filled with children, monsters seemed to think that they could cause easy mayhem, but the twins finished them off before they could even try harming a single strand of hair on them. With just a powerful and dominant red glare from Slade, Sevor, and Caleb, the caravan safely maneuvered through the forest. We arrived at the cabin where I met Squawkey-san.
"We should camp here. Lucian, you can rest inside the cabin," Sevor told me.
"I am fine," I assured them.
Now that I think of it, I don't have a broken leg. Because I hardened my body, it mended the broken bone on its own. I was sure that Caleb realized that as well but he never complained of having me ride his back all day.
"Don't push yourself too hard," Sevor softly reprimanded.
"I'll just do my hardest to pull myself then."
"Your smartass mouth is just as ugly as your ass," Slade snorted.
Caleb was once again riled up for another fight and Sevor had to intervene.
"Slade did not mean that. Lucian has a beautiful luscious butt," he tried.
He tried.
He really really tried to make it better.
"What. Did. You. Say?"
Caleb's body released a surge of electricity. Sevor had to back away.
Slade, who was the father of all imbeciles, stepped forward to take Caleb on.
"What I mean to say is that he has a healthy bouncy b—"
The force coming out from Caleb strengthened and Crowley was seen dying slowly in the background from laughter. With another weakening attempt to calm the dominant werewolf, Sevor decided to open his mouth again.
"The mounds of healthy flesh are pinkish and glow—"
A river of tormenting electricity flowed out, electrocuting the twins.
Thankfully, Kox intervened by drawing the electric currents into his book, allowing me to prick Caleb to sleep. We ended up inside the cabin with a pouting werewolf.
Sevor entered moments later. Caleb wrapped his arms around my waist with a killing glare of a possessive beast.
"Dinner is already prepared. Come and join us."
"I'll hunt for our food, Lucian. We don't have to join them," Caleb grumbled.
"Are you too prideful to eat from their cooking, Caleb?" I asked him. He blushed and shook his head in denial.
"It's not that! They could have poisoned the food!"
I want to eat Slade's cooking.
"I assure you that despite my twin's violent tendencies he will not resort to poison to get back to someone. He's not that smart."
I ruffled Caleb's hair. "Let us go and eat. Do you not like children?"
His wild expression deterred; he lowered his gaze in thought.
"Let us go, okay?" I persisted, pulling the sulking werewolf up.
Sevor smiled. We followed him outside.
Two fairies flew towards Caleb and me, pulling us to our spots. They sat me beside Sevor and Caleb was seated next to me in which he did not favor at all.
"I'll sit in between!" He protested.
"Caleb, please behave."
I placed the meat that was cooked for me on Caleb's leaf and he transferred all the mushrooms and vegetables on my own while glaring at Sevor who was pretending not to notice.
"Kindly stop the brutality on Sevor in your mind or else no cuddles."
At those words, he whined and I found Sevor scowling nicely? I never thought that was possible. Slade was done serving food and the man sat in front of me. Caleb growled at him like it was his instinct to bite his head off. Slade didn't back down.
"MY CLAW IS BIGGER THAN YOUR FLUFFY ONES, WOLF. WATCH WHO YOU'RE CHALLENGING."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FLUFFY, YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD. I CAN TAKE YOU ON ANY TIME."
I ate the tasty mushroom while watching the two squabble about who was the strongest.
"Do you want more tomatoes, Lucian?" Sevor asked me.
"Yes please," I answered.
"OH, YOU THINK YOU CAN BURN ME? HA! LET'S SEE WHO GETS TOASTED FIRST."
"QUIT TALKING AND SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT."
"OH I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT I GOT BUT THE QUESTION IS: DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SHOW?"
Slade stood from those words and began to remove his pants.
"We're talking about length and width now? You think your mbolo is big?"
Caleb rose from the grass and straightened up. "I don't think it's big, I KNOW it."
"Smettila (stop it)," Sevor demanded. "This is ridiculous. There are children here."
"Let 'em watch!" the two men snarled in unison.
Buck was cheering for Caleb. Rui was cheering for Slade. I was chewing on my celery while trying to comprehend why they hated each other so much.
Caleb was the first to tackle Slade to the ground. The children surrounded them and blocked my view. Sevor squeezed inside of the crowd to stop the fight but later on, he was in it as well.
I caught the sight of someone in the trees but ignored it as I finished my food. When it passed my peripheral vision again, I stood with my leaf still half-full, approaching the trees.
The sound of the brawl and the cheering of the children faded as I went farther away from my companions. The silhouette kept dashing from one tree to another and I followed it. It finally stopped at one point and I generously offered my food.
"Would you like some celery?"
"You're that person," the man said.
"Yes, I am," I replied not knowing what he meant. The mere sound of his voice tickled my stomach.
"You're that person who I need to kill to stop myself from sinning..."
"Indeed," I agreed. He did mention that.
'Nephew, run! Don't you have any sense of danger?!'
The caped man twisted around like laundry being blown by strong winds and launched towards me. In a blink of an eye, a blue feather fell in between our faces and a winged armored man clashed weapons against him.
A bright light consumed the darkness for a short while. The reaper jumped back. The hood of his cape slipped off his head. He stretched his neck to the left as he looked down at us in annoyance.
"Please attack me again," I requested monotonously. "Your dissatisfied face is nice to look at."
The armored individual turned his head to stare at me. He was wearing a mask.
"You're really—"
The reaper cut him off, engaging him in another clash of weapons. The newcomer almost matched his speed. With one last clang of metal, the two flipped in opposite directions. The winged man pointed his sword towards Peach-san.
"Shinigami, your behavior towards my charge is unforgivable."