The night was cold. The window to her room was closed today. He knew all too well that after the other night, the girl's mother would stop at nothing to restrict her from seeing him. He smiled a painful one at the thought and shook his head in amusement. The few strands of his disheveled hair spread over his face with the cold wind playfully blowing at it, as he stood homelessly outside the house staring longingly at the girl's window. For a moment, he took a step forward, and then his mind drew him to the reason he was there in the first place. The task Lord Asmodeus had assigned him. Was there no way at all? He thought with a frown. The more he thought about it, the more it hurt within him. The girl, as it seemed may heal, but what about the boy? He stood wondering what was happening with him and where he was with the stone broken now. It was without a doubt that the boy was nothing but trouble, but he believed Eliot at least deserved some love and a second chance, but, the heavens at it seems and every other force were strongly in opposition of the idea. He sighed, and teleported himself to her room. There, he found her peacefully asleep. It was the perfect moment to execute his mission, but something within him was strongly screaming at him to do otherwise. He stared long at her sleeping form and his hands that were now feeling suddenly cold.
He inched closer to her and sat at the edge of the bed staring down fondly at her. Remembering, her behavior the other time at the palace put a smile on his face. She slowly turned in her sleep and without warning, her eyes fluttered open as though sensing his presence. His eyes widened, as the girl from shock rose abruptly.
"Heracles, what are you doing here?" Her wide eyes searched his face and then stared anxiously at the door.
"She told you to stay away from me, didn't she?" The man asked with a pained look on his face, noticing her tensed gaze on the door. The girl nodded and walked to the door, knocking it. "You don't have to worry about her finding me here, you know. As part of my many abilities, my ears are pretty sensitive to catch unto any movement even pass that door. You can be rest assured about that ok."
Tezznin smiled and slowly walked to the man, sitting now before him, in the quiet dark room. "Do you mind telling me at least why my mother dislikes you so much?" She said, breaking the silence that lingered in the room a while ago.
"What is the point?" Heracles thought. He was going to erase her memories anyway. "I don't think you need to be worried about that."
"Why not? If you want me to help you with Eliot then I think I at least deserve to know everything."
"You really want Eliot freed?" The man's face distorted.
"Of course I do." Tezznin whispered and peeled her gaze to the closed window. Silence soon followed as Heracles only stared long and hard at the girl then, "Tezznin, look at me and tell me something." He commanded.
Her gaze travelled to the man. "Do you love Eliot?"
.....
The room felt ponderingly silent and very heavy, while the man waited on the girl to give him an answer. It occurred to him that the girl had actually not mentioned before that she loved the boy. What if it was only her destiny to free him and nothing more? It was evident that Eliot loved her, but did she love him back like he did? As much as he hated it, her answer now was going to be the determining factor of whether to proceed with his agenda or not.
Tezznin felt a huge lump in her throat and utterly dumbfounded while searching within her for an answer. Eliot and she never had the chance to know themselves. She barely knew him, but one thing she knew for sure was that she strongly cared for him. Enough to want to save him. The tension that rose was now soaring higher as she parted her lips, but the right words would not fall out. She noticed the man seated before her was looking oddly miserable with a glimmer of a slight hope in his eyes, but as seconds went by and she said nothing, it all soon began to fade. It was clear her silence told him all he needed to know.
"I don't know Heracles. I can't say I love him although I care about him." There it was. The one thing he feared most. Her confession only triggered something within him and all that he could feel then and there was a certain pain in his heart. A pain that reminded him of the old days. Tezznin frowned at the silent message his eyes was sending him. "Was he expecting her to say yes?" She thought in confusion.
Slowly, the man rose with a pained smile on his face. "Tezz, you are a good lad and I'm sorry about this." He declared.
"Sorry about what?" She frowned in confusion.
"I hope you can forgive and I want you to understand why."
"Why what?"
"Why I did this." Then, both his hands were suddenly resting on the girl's head tightly. She winced and shut her eyes hard at the sharp pain and sensation rushing up her brain only to open it later and find herself alone in the dark room. Her eyes scanned the room, unable to recall why she was awake and what she was doing seated there on her bed.
Heracles silently stared at the girl from the corner of her window from outside. He inhaled sharply the stench of agony oozing off him. Everything was over now. Tezznin could go on with her life without having to worry about anything related to the boy. It was about time they let go of the past and start to move into the future. He thought and silently moved into the dark, disappearing from sight.