Chapter 12: Last wish

Meanwhile, Lucy was still hugging me, and Hikari dropped a small tear from her right eye.

She has learned to control all of her emotions, but sometimes, her sensitive nature becomes stronger, and she can't help but act like this, even though her expression was totally that of someone as cold as ice.

She came close to us and put a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Lucy," she said, with a shaking tone and wet eyes.

Lucy smiled and thanked her while still clinging to me.

She then looked directly into my eyes, giving me a look that expressed more than a thousand words.

"You're all I have now. Don't leave me, please." That's what I read from her eyes.

I felt my heart breaking into a million pieces even though my expression was cold and emotionless.

That wasn't the first time that I felt this way.

Misara once told me these words. But she died.

I don't want to lose someone dear again, so I decided to protect Lucy with all I had.

I don't want to see pain in her eyes.

Araknedis then walked towards me and Lucy, and after looking at her, he handed the small packet to her.

"I'm sorry for your loss… But I found this in your father's pocket," he said.

Lucy looked at him in a strange way.

She didn't expect to find something.

She took the small packet in her hands and started analyzing it all around.

She seemed scared but also familiar.

If Lucy starts to analyze something this much, it should mean that she probably knows what it is.

"This… is my father's last wish…" she said, while unfolding the piece of paper.

Me and the others looked at the letter "For my daughter," but for some strange reason, there was nothing written on it.

Just a blank sheet. "Lucy… there's nothing on it," I said.

"It's a magic paper… my father probably did this because he was protecting a secret.

Only I can read this… I see everything that's written." She said, while her tone became softer.

"My dear daughter… If you're seeing this, that means that I'm dead…" Lucy read out loud, but this time, she put a lot of force into her mind to resist the urge to cry.

I could notice this behavior since she was holding tight the piece of paper while her hands were shaking.

"The war has started, Lucy. Never leave Alex's side. Stay with him and help him with all your possibilities. Vampires have arrived to take the life of you and Alex. I'm sorry for not being able to tell you sooner… I wasn't sure… I spent all these days inspecting every side of this city… go check under my bed, there is a small magic dagger that your biological parents gave to me. Take it with you. You're the only one who can use it. It will protect you. And the last thing I want to say is: Alex, take care of my daughter. Make her happy, be her family. I love you, my little princess…" Lucy finished reading and despite all her tries to avoid crying, she let out some tears, just as sweet as the sea.

Her hands were shaking, and she put the small letter into her pocket while looking at me with her beautiful and wet hazelnut eyes.

She managed to curl her lips into a soft smile full of pain and she told me, with a soft and whispering voice: "don't leave me…". She then hugged me again.

Araknedis and Hikari remained loudly silent for a minute, as if to show respect for Lucy's loss.

After two minutes, Araknedis put his hand on my shoulder.

Lucy was still in my arms, with her eyes closed and her head staying on my chest.

I turned my head to him.

He then offered me his hand.

"It's time to go back, Alex. We need to get back to the headquarters.

We have a lot of things to discuss." I looked at him.

"Lucy is coming with us. I won't leave her alone," I said.

Lucy's grip on my chest tightened after I said that. My time in Lungi was over. I couldn't stay here anymore.

I shook Araknedis's hand, and Lucy broke the hug between us.

"Yes… take me everywhere… but first, I want to celebrate a proper funeral for my father," Lucy said.

Her voice calmed a bit, even though you could feel the pain.

"You're right… but first, we should inform the king of Lungi about what happened," I said.

Lucy nodded, and her eyes were locked into mine; she didn't want to look at the corpse of her father again.

I then looked at Hikari.

"Hikari, take Lucy upstairs, please," I gently asked.

Hikari nodded and talked to Lucy after getting closer to her. "Lucy, let's go upstairs," she gently said with a gentle and lovely smile.

Lucy nodded and started walking upstairs with Hikari.

The only two left were me and Araknedis.

"It's his fault… Oldrak… I'll kill him… I must kill him…" Araknedis said with a cold and angry tone just like the ice while clenching his fists.

"Oldrak…?" I asked.

"Legends say that nobody actually saw his face."

"I did. I fought him when he came to kill all my village. He wanted to vampirize all my tribe to steal our magic… our lord refused and he killed them all except me and Lucy since we were the only ones who could fight him… his eyes are dark just like the night and his long hair is white like the snow… he is stunningly beautiful to the human eye but… he's a monster." He replied, looking down at the floor while still clenching his fists.

"You and Hikari must've gone through a lot, haven't you?" I said.

No answer came from Araknedis.

"Let's get the corpses down, and then we'll go to the mayor of the city to have a proper funeral for them," he said, with a cold tone in his voice.

Without any other word, me and Araknedis managed to cut the ropes and get the corpses down on the floor.

*The last time I did something like that was when two hunters died on a mission with me. I had to carry their bodies for an entire day to the hunters corporation.*

Araknedis used his ice magic to clean their bodies from all their wounds and made them look like they were sleeping.

As soon as he finished, I went up the stairs to find a blanket to cover them.

Lucy and Hikari were not here; it seemed like they walked outside to be protected by the sunlight.

My equipment was still with me, including my sword.

I walked right into my room to get the blankets from my bed.

For some strange reason, it was locked. I usually do this, but this morning I completely forgot to do it.

I used the keys to open my door, and at the moment the door was opened, I saw someone sleeping on my bed.

The windows were open.

My hunter senses didn't awaken, so I could see that it was not a vampire.

I took a better look and I noticed that it was a girl.

"Hey, Alex, why are you taking so long?" Araknedis said from below.

I didn't answer him. 

Instead, my hands were on my sword, paying attention to every single movement coming from that girl.

She was sleeping, letting out a gentle and soft snore.

I moved closer to her, with silence footsteps.

I then noticed more details of her.

White, long hair were caressing the soft traits of her face, a clean skin just as pure as porcelain, a tatoo on her forearm reflecting a snowflake... but most of all, i saw an important detail.

She had the hunter's mark on her neck.

We hunters usually have it on our chest.

There was only one girl who had it on the neck: It was Misara, my ex girlfriend who died a few years ago.

"Impossible." I said to myself. 

I moved even closer to analyze the face of the girl.

She wasn't a vampire, and she looked a lot like Misara. 

But i was sure that she wasn't her. 

I saw Misara dying right before my eyes due to an incurable illness caused by vampires.

The girl was breathing, and sun rays were hitting her body.

She was only wearing cloth clothes, just like every other civilian.

I was very close to her and the moment i tried to touch her face, she woke up.

"*Yawn* Good morning..." She said while opening her eyes.

They were grey like the void, but beautiful.

She looked at me and smiled softly.

"Alex...?" She said.

How did she know my name?

In the exact moment i thought about it, she stood up and i jumped back, while grabbing my sword.

A magical aura was all around her.

"Calm down... Alex, it's me." She said, while opening her arms.

Suddenly, snow started to fall in the room.

"What is happening...?" I thought.

My eyes were locked on the girl.

"Calm down... H-Hey, there's no need to-" She said.

"Shut up, vampire." I said, while taking out my sword and taking a defensive stance.

"... Calm ! It's me! Lyra! Lyra!! Do you remember me?! Please don't hurt me!!" She said.

"Lyra?! Lyra is only twelve years old! She's a kid!" I said.

"Please believe me!!" She then made puppy eyes.

I suddenly heard footsteps coming from below.

Araknedis came in.

"What is happening here?!" He said, before looking at the girl.

"Lyra? What are you doing here? I told you to investigate and mimetize!" He said.

"I'm sorry..." She said while looking down on the floor with a sad look.

"I just wanted to see big bro..." She added.

Araknedis sighed, while patting my shoulder twice. 

He wanted to say "Put down your sword, she's with us."

I did what he wanted and i talked at Lyra.

"Lyra. Can you please tell me what happened?! Shouldn't you be twelve years old now? Why do you look like a grown woman of my age?!" I asked to her, in shock.

"Ehehe--- it's difficul to explain.." she said.