"You don't seem happy when talking about your master," Alex remarked.
Douglas pursed his lips. "You would understand why if you know her like I did."
"Is that so?" Alex raised a brow.
Douglas let out a sigh. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"As you wish. So how do we get across to your master?"
"... I could try summoning her familiar and getting it to deliver a message to her."
"Would that take long?"
"... It shouldn't."
Alex's eyes narrowed. "You aren't sure, are you?"
"..." Douglas said nothing as he turned away and began to draw an image on the ground.
Alex walked over and sat across from him.
Watching the latter work silently, Alex spoke up. "Tell me something."
"Hmm?"
"Why didn't you ever tell Alex about his heritage also, how come your bloodline is unsealed but his isn't?"
Douglas paused his inscription as a complicated expression appeared on his visage.
"... I wanted him to live a normal life. Do you think he would have been able to do so if he found out he was a member of a dying race?"
Alex pursed his lips. "He had the right to know though."
"I know… maybe if he knew, he would have been able to protect himself."
"... Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known such a thing would happen."
Douglas nodded wordlessly and for a moment, silence reigned.
Then he inquired. "How did he die?"
"You want to know?"
"Don't I deserve that?"
"...Yeah," Alex replied. "He was toyed with by a Mystic of the Monster Wheel before dying from blood loss due to a terrible wound inflicted on him by the Mystic."
A vein bulged on Douglas's forehead as he restrained the anger welling up within him.
"If it's any consolation… I killed them."
"Who?" Douglas raised his head to meet Alex's gaze.
"All of them. The mercenaries sent to attack your home and the Mystic of the Devil Wheel that required your hearts."
"Mystic of the Devil Wheel…" Douglas muttered as a memory came to mind.
His expression shifted somewhat before returning to normal.
However, Alex was too observant not to pick up on the shift.
"You know something?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm curious." Alex shrugged. "Might as well learn about the family history of the body I'm in."
Douglas didn't say anything immediately as he bent down to continue making the inscriptions.
"Our family… no, our race has a bad history with Mystics of the Devil Wheels especially the ones that call themselves… Paragons."
"What do you mean?"
"It's ancient history but there was a time when our ancestors were power-hungry and desired to gain powers rivaling that of gods.
"They tried to use the Midnight Pearl, one of the Branches of the Absolute in a bid to do so… unfortunately, their attempt brought a curse upon our race which led to us slowly dying out."
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Douglas continued. "That event led to what would be known as the Cryptic Wars. The Vampires and Hyenas joined hands to destroy the Werewolves and the few that survived were forced to go into hiding.
"In any case, ever since that time, Werewolves have been imprinted with a unique marking on our hearts which is said to be the Curse of Midnight."
"This curse…"
"Prevents Werewolves from utilizing their full strength except on certain occasions for a limited time period. It also works like a sort of tracker, allowing us to locate the Midnight Pearl since it was lost during the Apotheosis ritual."
Alex revealed a thoughtful gaze as he inquired. "So what does this have to do with the Paragons?"
"They are a group of Mystics of the Devil Wheel that believe that Devil Mystics have lost the glory that once made them the most powerful in Eventide and so desire to bring back their glory days by resurrecting the Harbinger of Destruction."
"Isn't that the one that led the Cryptids during the Annihilation War?"
"Yes."
"And they want to revive her?"
"It is said that though the Harbinger wanted to destroy Eventide… she never actually sent her army toward Emet, only focusing on Argent."
"So the Midnight Pearl we can locate with the curse on our hearts… does it have something to do with their objective?"
"I believe so," Douglas replied.
Alex pursed his lips. "Do I still have that curse?"
"You can check."
Alex closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before concentrating his senses inside his body.
Slowly but surely, he made his way over till he saw it.
Behind his heart, a faint glowing tetrahedral symbol was etched there.
A moment later, he opened his eyes to meet Douglas staring at him.
"It's there."
Douglas nodded. "Since you have his bloodline power, it's no surprise the curse would still be there."
With that, he finally completed the inscription.
Alex glanced down to find strange words drawn in a circle.
Placing his palm on the circle, Douglas prepared to recite the incantation for the familiar summoning when Alex suddenly spoke up.
"True, you didn't tell me how you managed to unseal your bloodline."
Douglas sighed. "My master."
A moment later, he began to recite in a strange tongue.
Alex watched but couldn't pick up anything since it seemed more like Douglas wasn't talking but the words were flying out of his mouth.
Then finally, Douglas used normal Razan to utter the last word. "Mirren."
Crack
A line appeared in the space in front of Douglas and slowly widened until it formed a perfect oval shape.
Out of the portal, a strange creature that looked like a fox but with three tails and an odd color scheme walked out.
"Doug, it's you." The fox spoke Enochic quite fluently.
Douglas nodded. "Please inform Lady Victoria of my whereabouts. Tell her I need her help."
"She'd be more inclined to kill you for escaping."
"Tell her Emily is in danger. She can kill me if she wants but I need to save Emily… please."
The fox looked him over before sighing. "Alright, alright. Don't beg me, you look so pathetic."
The fox turned around and tried to leave only to pause as she glanced in Alex's direction.
Then almost like clockwork, her expression distorted until it took on a most frightening form.
"Ah!!!" Screaming, The fox immediately leaped into the oval portal and closed it up.
Alex blinked in confusion before glancing at Douglas to ask.
"What just happened?"