Chapter 55: Resolve
The sun had set and the streets became even more rowdy than it was in the afternoon. Everyone staying in the king's mansion had all returned to take some well deserved rest. They'd already had dinner and were resting in their rooms.
Sloane laid spread on her bed like a starfish. She was dressed in a nightgown that reached her knees and had a robe on. Mackenzie wasn't with her because she would be sleeping in Nathan's room. However, that didn't mean she was alone in the room; the spirits were with her.
"Princess, what are you thinking about?" Pint asked while gently combing Sloane's hair with her hands
"You're a spirit, right?" Sloane asked
"Of course we are" Wood said
"Think of the rest of the things I'm going to say, as blarney" Sloane said sadly
"Princess, what's wrong?" Fox asked worriedly
"I've never seen you act like this" Jab said
"Did the prince do something to you?" River asked
"He's always rude and hurts people without-" before Pam could finish what she was saying, Sloane covered her mouth with a finger
"Guys, it wasn't Nathan" Sloane said "In fact, he hasn't done anything bad to me. He's been really kind and supportive. He worries about me a bit took much and it makes me guilty"
"Then what's wrong?" Pint asked "You're worrying us"
"I was wondering, why did the spirit king give my ancestors the spirit seed?" Sloane asked "I'm sure he knew the consequences of giving such a thing to a demon. But why....why did it have to be me...that the problems would arise from?" she started sobbing and turned to the side to hide her face "My life was already a disaster. All my loved ones left me, everyone hated me, and now, I only have fifty years to live. Why does the spirit king hate me so much?"
"The king, doesn't hate you" Pint said instantly "He doesn't know the meaning of hatred" she added
"Spirits are the users of pure light magic" Wood explained "Negative emotions slightly hinders our progress"
"Then why?" Sloane asked "I can't even remember my own childhood. I'm slowly forgetting things that happened as I grew up. I'm afraid"
"Sorry" River said "We don't know how to help you either"
Sloane wanted to cry her eyes out but the familiar scent approaching her room door, made her to instantly sit up and begin to wipe her tears away. She further went on, to enter the bathroom and wash her face before drying it with a towel and stepping out.
To her surprise, Nathan was sitting on her bed staring in her direction. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her whole appearance
"What are you doing here?" Sloane asked but he only stared at her with a frown. She got nervous and asked "It's pretty late. Aren't you going to bed?"
"If you're done trying to cover up the fact that you were crying, I'd appreciate it if you told me why" Nathan said in a sternly
"What are you talking about? I wasn't-"
"Why were you crying, Sloane?" Nathan asked and she brought down all her defences
"I feel so weak" Sloane said "And so useless. I'm unable to do anything and worst of all is that I'm dying. Is there even a point to my life? Is there even a point to me trying my best? Why does life love to crush me like a bug? Is it because I tried to change my fate as a fallen? Or is it because I'm cursed"
In a flash, Nathan was already hugging her tightly and gently caressing her head
"Never say that again. You're not cursed" Nathan said softly "You're not wrong to try" he added while burying her head in his chest
"Life is cruel.....especially for our kind" he added "Happiness is almost a dream we can only hope for, sometimes. Sloane, you're different compared to every other demon I've met"
"Different?" Sloane repeated
"Mm-hmm" he hummed "You're too kind for a demon... that's probably why our lifestyle is continuously beating you down. However, it also makes you unique and powerful. Sure enough..." he pulled away from her "....I'll find a way to stop this. Sloane, I won't let you die fifty years from now. None of us will....so please, no matter what happens, hold on for us"
"I'll try" Sloane said before looking up at him. Suspicion suddenly filled her eyes when she saw the complicated expression on his face. "Why exactly are you here? I doubt you came here just to tell me this. What happened?"
"Come with me. My parents would like to have a word with us" Nathan said as he took her by the hand and led her out of the room.
The spirits whom had been in the room the whole time, stared at each other
"Should we eavesdrop?" Pam asked
"Why?" River asked
"Judging by the look on Prince Nathan's face, it must be very serious" Wood said
"I can understand you both want to eavesdrop but the prince warned us" Fox said
"It's true. And I still value my life" Jab said
"The punishment for eavesdropping will be the end of us" Pint said as she turned into a floating ball of light "We should just respect ourselves and wait for the princess's arrival"
"Yeah" the other spirits said as they turned into balls of light
******
Meanwhile,
Nathan and Sloane were seated down in the living room with Marcus and Rebecca. The four of them were silent and there was this doleful look that Nathan's parents had, which just placed fear in Sloane's heart.
"If you have something to say, say it" Nathan said while listening to the rampant sound of Sloane's heartbeat
"We didn't want to believe it, but Mackenzie's scent proves it" Rebecca started. "Did both of you really carry out bloodline succession on her?" she asked and there was pin drop silence
"We did" Sloane said with her head lowered
"So both are you are assuming responsibility as her parents?" Marcus questioned
"We are" Nathan said and Marcus sighed
"Do you even know the consequences of bloodline succession?" Marcus asked
"Isn't that the only consequence?" Sloane asked
"Dante....really wasn't joking when he said he forgot to tell you" Rebecca said
"The both of you must know, you won't be able to mate with anyone for the rest of your lives" Marcus said
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked with a dumbfounded expression
"Bloodline succession is like a magic marriage between two people. That is when it is carried out by two people on a single person" Rebecca said "If you try to mate with someone else...the end results are bad. At least, that's what Dante said"
"Can it be broken? Can it be broken when one of the two people dies?" Sloane asked and Nathan looked at her
"Louisa did some more research and it can only be broken when both sides dies" Marcus said as he clenched his fists "Even if one of them dies, as far as the child who succeeded is still alive, the bond will still remain"
"So even if I die Nathan will still- Why is my life so bent on making those around me, miserable?" Sloane said and looked at Nathan with tears falling down her eyes "Why do you always do so much?....You can't do everything yourself. Stop carrying other people's problems on your shoulders" she said as her eyes glowed red and she turned into a bat and flew away
"Sloane-"
"Sit down, Nathan" Rebecca ordered and Nathan restrained himself and sat down "We also know about the devil's bloodline inside of Sloane"
"Who told you about that?" Nathan asked with his head lowered
"We found out from Louisa" Marcus said
"That damn witch" Nathan murmured
"Listen" Rebecca sighed "We had her look some more into the spirit seed and the devil's bloodline"
"And what did she say?" Nathan asked
"First of all, the spirit seed and the demon seed are both trying to grow" Marcus said "They seem to have developed deep roots in you and Sloane's body. For you, you'll need to know how to control your emotions from now on. But for Sloane....the roots of the spirit seed are being attacked by her bloodline. That's why she's dying"
"Louisa also said, that the seeds developing roots, means that it's dragging a lot of magic from its surroundings improve" Rebecca said "They've become independent from their true owners, and you both won't run out of magic. However, all that stored up magic is damaging Sloane's body. It's another reason why she's dying"
"There's more to this. Isn't there?" Nathan said with a solemn expression as he stared at his mother
"There is" Rebecca said as she took hold of Nathan's hands "You have to keep Sloane from regaining her lost memories"
"What does this have to do with anything?" Nathan asked
"A lot" Rebecca said "The devil's bloodline has memory. All of those that died during the experiment, if she regains her memories, the pain and agony those people went through, would torment her"
"Another reason, is her bloodline magic" Marcus said "The seal on her memories also acts as a seal for her bloodline magic. She is made up of too many branches, plus the spirit seed. She hasn't even started using her powers and once that seal is released, forget only living for fifty additional years, she'd only last a day before dying" as soon as he said this, Nathan's eyes shot open
"Nathan, don't let her regain those memories" Rebecca said and Nathan gripped her hands tightly
"I won't"
******
After Sloane had flown away, she had gone straight to the roof and sat there. The wind was blowing heavily which made it cold, but she didn't mind.
She curled herself into a ball and lowered her head to her knees. In that position, she cried like she had never cried before. There was a frustrating feeling she had in her chest. It was something that refused to go away as she cried.
She finally ran out of tears and energy after fifteen minutes of continually crying. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red and puffy. Her whole face looked swollen and her skin was pale because of the cold.
When the cool breeze brew again, she shivered like a leaf and curled her body the more. But it was no use.
"I finally found you" Nathan said from behind her as he wrapped a blanket around her body before sitting next to her "You'll catch a cold if you stay up here" he said and she stared blankly at him
"Aren't you angry with me?" Sloane asked and Nathan placed a finger on her chin and raised her head up to look at him.
Her green eyes were staring into his electric blue eyes. But there was a stern look on Nathan's face
"I'm angry" Nathan said
"I knew it"
"But I'm not angry with you" Nathan said as he looked away from her and released her chin. "I'm angry at myself for being unable to help you in this situation" he said
"I told you to stop" Sloane said with her hands on the two sides of his cheeks "Please....stop carrying everything on your shoulders, alone. Don't you know it hurts more when you're all alone?"
Looking into her eyes, made him feel guilty yet, he felt relieved of several burdens. His mind felt so calm and his body felt so relaxed as he enjoyed the warmth of her hands.
"Sorry" Nathan said "But Sloane, you're really selfish" he said as he tucked some lone strands of hair behind her ear "You worry too much about others. So much so, that you forget yourself. At least let me worry about you"
"Then, can I be selfish one more time?" Sloane asked and Nathan nodded
"Do whatever you want. You're the queen after-"
Sloane pressed her lips on Nathan's and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. And without thinking, Nathan had tossed his self-control to the wind and kissed Sloane back. Their tattoos appeared and lit up through their clothes while, a certain heat began to spread round their bodies.
Sloane wasn't backing out and neither was Nathan until he remembered something
'Damn it' Nathan shouted in his head as he pulled away and stared at Sloane's breathless and innocent face. Sloane leaned her head on one of his hands and placed one of hers on it
"I can't use the power of the spirit seed. So, I'll die if I continue to use it" Sloane said as she rested her head on Nathan's chest "Being with you, means that the power will be dragged out no matter what I do. If that's so, then I can't be with you. So, thank you for letting me be selfish this once"
Nathan hugged her tightly and rested his forehead on her shoulder
"Sloane, you're not wrong to be a little bit selfish" he said "Whenever you have a selfish wish, meet me and I'll make it come through. Whatever happens Sloane, I'll make sure you live more than those extra fifty years" he inhaled her scent "Let's head inside. We need to rest for tomorrow" he added as he stood up and helped her up
"Nathan, you told me before, to turn my kindness into my weapon" she said before staring at the vast land "After learning of all the horrible things the demons are doing to each other, I can't turn a blind eye to it. Even if I don't participate on the battlefield, even if I can't use magic, I will avenge my parents and return this land to the way it once way" when she said this, the helpless look in her eyes had disappeared "Be it as a queen, or as a fallen"