Chapter 16

"It's your turn now." Caera's voice suddenly spoke as I turned my gaze back to her. "Mmm what?" I asked in a muffle, while I was in the middle of eating. She chuckled, before responding. "Like we agreed, I told you what my adoptive parents said. In return, I want to know something about you. Anything about your past." She said as she moved a plate filled with colourful food that looked eye-catching and...weirdly...triggered all of my senses, causing my head to spiral rapidly.

Snapping out of my daze, I shifted my gaze back to her. "You're very clever" I said deadpan, while she looked at me innocently, with a smile. Letting out a sigh, I continued. "Firstly, you never told me about what your adoptive parents said, it was me who figured it out; secondly, I never agreed to tell you about my past."

Caera's face fell at my words, her previous warm smile, now a distant past. "B-But...I thought..." she trailed off, unable to comprehend what I just told her.

It truly hurt me to see her like this. I have come to treat her as a friend—a true friend. And to see her painful expressions, it didn't feel good. And to think that I was the cause of it...I never wanted that. But it just would complicate things, I was sure of that. 

Sighing, I spoke my piece.

"I trust you, Caera. I really do. More than I would ever accept to myself. But...the secrets...my past, they carry a weight that goes beyond the two of us. If I tell you now and it gets used against me...I wouldn't be the only one getting affected by it. You may not believe me when I say this...knowing my secrets would put you in danger; your blood in danger; danger, that you couldn't comprehend right now. Are you okay with that? Are you up for it?"

Caera's face had studied mine intently as I spoke out my thoughts; a myriad of emotions passed through hers, almost matching mine. It also reminded me of the hardships that she had faced all her life; while I may not want to compare our lives now, I couldn't dismiss the thought that once, I had done exactly that.

How Caera's life felt similar to mine. I retrospected.

It's unfair for both of us to think that way. But that doesn't mean that I could just dismiss hers so casually; especially after all the help and care she has given me. 

I reached out to her hand and—grabbed it, surprising her. Yet she didn't resist or let go even.

With a gentle squeeze to reassure her, I spoke with a final determination. "If I actually didn't care about you, I would tell you all my secrets; the ones that might satiate your curiosity—and will also  lead to your death. But...I feel otherwise. I'll tell you this."—our eyes were locked in an intense stare, that seemed to do things inside me; while her hands squeezed back with the same gentle pressure as mine—"You've told me about your life before. Is it okay if I say...it made me feel that our lives; yours and mine...were similar, and comparable to an extent, as lots of things that I saw in you, reflected...reminded me of my—old—self" I stopped myself from saying 'old life', although I felt a subtle urge to do so.

Wouldn't she understand? I thought questioningly as my heartbeat rose up in anticipation. 

She will possibly understand me.

It felt like a drug, but I knew its aftereffects better.

I shook my head to stop the alluring thoughts, that made me want to tap out and let it all out. Dammit! I thought again in frustration at my coiling mind. I'm sick of keeping secrets!

"It's okay, I understand." She softly spoke, dragging me out my mental delusion. I felt her thumb caressing my hand softly, as my heartbeat slowly synced with her stroke. It felt like the silent peace, after a stormy night. I gasped inwardly at my own self. What's gotten into me? I thought. Am I that desperate? I didn't know.

As I fought to keep my mind stable, I felt the caressing stop...before her hand left mine. My heart dropped. Whether it was due to the lost feeling of the calmness I felt from her touch, or was it because that her hand left mine. I didn't really know.

"Thanks for understanding. I'm gla—"

"No." She shook her head. "I said that I understand the dangers that come with knowing your past. I don't care about any of that. I am going to help you, even if you don't ask me to." She paused before looking at me intently. "That's what a true friend would do...and you're my only one, so, how can I..." her soft voice slowly died down her throat.

I screamed inside my mind but kept my stone face. Why can't she understand?!

"Will you tell me, then?" she asked following my sudden silence.

After a few seconds of hesitation...

I responded with a nervous nod, as a soft smile blossomed on her face. "Okay, fine." My eyes studied hers closely with the intention to see her reaction, which was as genuine as it can get. So, I continued. "But...I'll tell you only what I want to. And you can't question me further about it. Or ask why I'm doing what I'm doing. Is that okay?"

She nodded without missing a beat, making my serious face crumble. She scooted close to me, our legs which was already touching each other's...now hers climbed up mine, which she didn't notice, or simply didn't care.

With a wry smile, I told her something that would keep her parents off of her till the time comes, and her, still in the academy. Regis gave a thumbs-up to let me know that he's cool with it. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes before I spoke out loud. "I'm going to challenge a Scythe at the Victoriad."

Caera chocked on the food she was munching on, as she let out a series of cough. Her face turned to meet mine, yet I ignored it as I leaned in to rub her back to stop her coughing. After patting her head lightly for a few times, she seemed to settle down. As I sat back, I saw her face, which made me flinch in surprise.

She was pale, her face filled with horror.

We sat there silently, letting the minutes trickle past....before Caera broke the clock. "You—You're k-kidding right? If yes, then it's not funn—"

"No, I'm not." I cut her off with a serious tone. "I'm telling you the truth. If everything goes by plan, I shall be challenging a—"

"...Scythe." She finished, breaking mine. She eyed me for a few more seconds before hesitantly spoke. "Is it...Scythe S—"

"No. it's not her. And enough questions. As per our deal, I even answered two of your questions." I said, shooting down the barrage of upcoming questions.

She nodded disappointedly. I sighed at her disgruntled face. "Caera, tell your adoptive parents this. Your mentor too. It doesn't matter, it's going to happen in public anyway. Let it be known."

Her eyes lit up, her previous horrified face completely crumbling as she almost jumped out of her seat with a toothy grin. "A-Are you sure about this, Grey?" she asked doubtfully, yet her hands already ready to activate her dimension ring. Eyeing her thoughtfully, I replied. "I am. And I'm not going to change my mind. If your adoptive parents doesn't believe in me—or my talents, just let your mentor handle it. I'm sure she will make a good cover for me...seeing that how dutifully she's helping me these days" a smirk formed on my lips as I thought about Seris's reaction to this news.

Caera shot up from her seat and looked down at me. Her face bright as the midnight moon, as her lips curved up in a starry smile. "I am going to let my blood know about this, right now!" she yelled with a hearty tone, making me flinch in surprise.

I chuckled outwardly and nodded. "Okay, do it." "Wait here. Eat your food, I'll be right back." She strolled off with those words, to the other side of the room as she took out what looked like a cuboid relic, a sort of communication device used in the continent of Alacrya to talk with others in real-time.

With the sudden silence, came in the seeping thoughts that wistfully floated down my now, hollowed mind.

Did I do the right thing? I wondered.

Suddenly a voice answered. 'I am surprised that you even told her that much. If it was the 'old' you then you would've freaked out and bailed in the middle.' Regis pointed out.

'Oh, shut up, isn't this what you wanted?' I asked him teasingly.

'Ha-ha yes! In fact, you should thank me for getting yourself such a beautiful and voluptuous assistant-girlfriend.' He chortled, making my body jerk in surprise.

'You already know...I hav—no, never mind' I stopped mid-sentence unable to finish, what seemed to be a confusing thought, now.

But, he didn't let it go.

'You don't? Who were you thinking of?' he asked, which very much sounded like a trap, yet I answered after a sigh.

'Tess.'

'Uh sorry, who?' he asked in a confusion.

Sighing I said again, 'Tessia.'

'Yeah, I heard it the first time. But—Tessia, who?'

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. 'Not funny, Regis.'

'Hey, I only speak facts. You know as well as I do...that she's NOT your girlfriend, not anymore. Unless you don't mind having a 'ghost of the past' inside her, that is. But I don't see you as a man of threesome.' He quipped.

Ignoring his snide remark, I answered with a soft and resolute voice. 'Yeah, well, I have to save her, either way. I couldn't help but feel like it's my fault that they—both—are in this state. I failed Cecilia in my past life; and Tessia in this. I have to make it right.'

A few seconds passed in thoughtful silence, before Regis spoke up.

'Sounds fair. I'll help you with that.'

I was surprised by his words. With a chuckle I said, 'Of course you will buddy, it's the least you could  as my 'might weapon' and the fact that I feed you ever day with my energy.'

My companion rolled his eyes. 'Sheesh, stop being a stingy ass, will ya? You know how truly helpful I am.' He said puffing out his chest inwardly.

'Ha-ha  I know, I know, my might weapon of destruction.' I exaggerated.

'And, I think we have a third one, right here', he said while pointing to Caera who was on call with her blood. 'She's going to help us—no, help you—to save the ones you had failed.'

'You think so?' I casually asked.

'I know so. I'm not gonna let you disband the 'Horny Trio' ever again.' He said in a serious tone.

I felt flustered at his words and shook my head. Out of the corner of my eyes, I felt a movement, as Caera walked back to her seat next to me. Her face was much relaxed as she had an unmistakable grin. "I've informed them, Grey. Lenora was initially doubtful about your plan, but surprisingly, Corbett seemed to help me convince her. When I said that my mentor will do the same, she finally shut up."—she turned her eyes to me—"they are going to let me stay, till the Victoriad at least. When they talked about setting up a meeting to see you, I hung up on them." She said proudly, lifting her chin up.

I chuckled at her childish antics.

Regis soon leapt off my core, after finally stopped sucking on my aether. "I can come out, right?" he asked questioningly at the both of us.

I looked at Caera, before nodding at him. "Yeah, I don't think anyone will interrupt us so stay out if you want to."

"I know that. I was asking to both of you, as I don't want to see you two kissing and touching each other while I watch." He laughed, only half-jokingly, while inside I could feel his mental link echoing the words...'Now kiss!'.

Caera flinched back, as her face blushed red.

"Screw off, Regis." I rebuked him, as he leapt out of the table he was standing at and went to lie on the couch opposite to ours.

Caera shook her head, as her eyes took a few glances at me. "A-Aren't you going to eat anything?" I asked her, in an attempt to change the topic as the air got awkward. She understood what I was trying to do, as she reached for a plate after assessing the entire food tray. Then turning to me, she spoke. "You should try this, Grey. This one's special."

The plate she was pointing at me to eat, had slices of neatly cut green coloured 'pear-shaped'...meat, that had slight tints of orange and red dressing its centre and core areas. While the smell was mouth-watering, I still felt something off about this weird looking meat.

Seeing my hesitant gaze, Caera pushed the plate forward. "Don't worry, Grey. It won't bite you. Just taste it once and you will understand." She said encouragingly. I did as she asked, and I was pleasantly surprised as her words rang true.

Seeing my surprised face, she giggled in satisfaction. "It's tasty, right?" I wordlessly nodded at her, before taking another bite. I felt the meat melt inside my mouth, its rich taste seeping through my taste buds, like the morning sun on a winter day.

"It's a fruit that only grows in the Central Dominion. The whereabouts of its location is not known, even to the most prominent of the Highbloods. It's lucky for us, since we're reserved under my mentor's na—" "Wait. This is a fruit?!" I cut her off, once the mea—fruit, went down my throat.

"Yes, it is." She smiled. "This fruit is supposedly brought to Alacrya from the 'Land of the Deities', when the High Sovereign descended to our continent", she said proudly with a smile.

'So, you are eating Agrona's meat. That's very naughty, Arthur.' Regis said smugly. I winced at his words, as the food got caught in my throat. 'And, now you're choking on his mea—'

'REGIS! I swear.'

'Get your head outta the gutter, will ya? You know what I meant! Besides I can feel your senses rising rapidly, even inside my own mind. What kind of fruit is that? An aphrodisiac?'

"Grey are you okay?", suddenly Caera leaned in as she patted my head. "Y-Yeah I'm fine." I said dismissing her sudden worries.

She shook her head disapprovingly. "I know you don't eat much because you don't have to. But, did you really forget how to eat properly??" she said, chuckling as she wiped off my mouth with a cloth.

"Very funny." I looked at her laughing face, before a sudden thought came into my mind. Soon, a mischievous smirk appeared on my face. Scooping up a handful of cream from the one of the bowls, I quickly smeared it on Caera's cheeks, catching her off-guard.

Her laughter stopped and she winced back with a yelp, to save herself, but it was too late.

"Yo-You!" she yelled in a tone very unmatching to a lady such as her, before she shot up towards me. "I'm going to kill you!" She was already only at an arm's length away. And due to her forced momentum, instead of stopping right before, she fell on to me as I was pushed down the couch.

"H-Hey, st-stop. What are you doing?!" I screamed in panic, yet I couldn't control my laughter seeing her red, angry face that was painted with cream. "Shhh."—she cut in with her soft voice, while pinning me down, and continued—"You need to be punished, Grey. For wasting the food that I just bought you." She said with a lopsided smirk as she climbed on top of me to—sit.

"Wait wha—" I froze as her lower body came into contact with mine.

Locking my hips in place with her legs, she looked down at me...before taking the same bowl filled with cream as she dumped it all on my face, and chest.

"What the—s-stop!"

I squeezed my eyes tight as the cream touched my face. Her loud laughter entered my ears, as my eyes went dark. I yelled back in defiance, unable to react properly to her atrocities, as my mind was filled with swirling thoughts of its own. Did that damn fruit do something to me? Impossible. I thought.

As if breaking me out of those thoughts, she pushed herself down on me as she used her hands to smear the fallen cream all over my face and neck.

I felt our stomachs touch.

Her hands slowly painted my skin, as she took her time. I felt her slender fingers running around my cheeks, forehead and neck as she made her masterpiece. I wanted to resist, but it didn't feel that odd, to do so. 

Except for my throbbing—heart, everything else fell in slow motion. Yet, suddenly, her laughter broke my trance.

She laughed like a demon. 

I felt the cream entering all of the orifices in my face as its sweet scent and taste took me by surprise. Resisting it, I grabbed her by her slender waist, as she let out a little yelp and tried to get my arms off of her. Her body jerked up and down on mine, almost knocking the breath out of me, but I held out. 

"G-Grey, staaphh—" Since her hands were coated in cream, she couldn't get a hold properly.

Lifting her off by her waist, I did a 180, and pushed her down to the couch and pinned her hands to the sides with mine. "You're no lady. You're a demon." I said, surprised at her childish, yet bold actions. But it only took me a second to realise my mistake, as I saw Caera's face darken and her mouth agape. 

She looked at me like I had betrayed her.

I let her hands go as worry crept up to me...seeing her look at me that way.

She laid frozen in place for a few seconds, unmoving as a statue, before her hands lifted up to softly touch her head...where her horns are supposed to be.

I felt like punching myself. Biting back a curse, I spoke in a sudden softness. "That—was very...insensitive. Your horns...I'm—" I stuttered in a mixture of nervousness and embarrassment. Suddenly the shadow wolf who was watching us from the side-lines, jumped onto the table as he cut in. "Don't listen to that jerk. I personally dig it. I think they're hot!" He said as he scooted close to Caera, making her face visibly relax.

"Mhmm." She softly hummed in response to his words, while her eyes glanced at me.

Sucking in a soft breath, I looked at her, my heart still aching at my previous words. "I...think so, too." I said, hoping for some redemption.

Caera's face snapped towards me, as she looked at me in surprise. Without breaking my eye contact with her, I continued. "Remember...I have horns too? We're horny trio, aren't we?" I said consolingly with a faint smile.

Her face went red, as she averted her gaze. Looking thoughtful for a few seconds before a soft voice left her mouth. "I-I like your horns, as well." She said meekly.

My face turned red, matching hers...as a sudden awkward silence followed.

Regis broke the silence with his laughter, making Caera join in as well. I couldn't keep myself from dong it too, while my insides felt this weird...sensation, slowly rising up from the depths that I never knew that it existed.

Why am I feeling this way? I asked to myself, while my eyes unknowingly pulled itself towards Caera's. The feeling only seemed to grow, as I kept looking at her.

I wanted to stop, but I couldn't.

It felt good—peaceful...to do so.

Noticing my gaze, she looked right back at me, her face slightly in surprise. Quickly, I averted my gaze as my face felt a few degrees warmer. Why did I do that? I pondered, before dismissing the thought.

"That's right! What did I tell you? Horny Trio is the best!" Regis barked out, making Caera and I, both laugh...as we looked at each other, again, but it felt like...the first time?