Family Separation

Muna opened her eyes and she saw the bright white eyes of Arsenal staring at her at a very close range. Startled, she pushed him away and got up instantly.

Immediately, she felt her heart ache the moment she pushed him away. "You, what did you do to me?" She asked him.

"Simple, I made you my servant," Arsenal replied.

"You devil! I'm going to kill you today!" She yelled furiously and rushed at him again. She quickly summoned her sword and made to attack him with it but before the sword could get to his skin, she was propelled backward and ended up coughing out a mouthful of blood.

"You can't hurt me. The day you succeed will be the day of your death so I'd advise you to stop trying," he told her.

She clenched her fists tightly. How could she have let things end up the way they did? She knew killing the devil was impossible, nevertheless, she wanted to try because it was her only hope of saving her mistress.

A deep frown settled on her and Arsenal didn't fail to notice it. Of course, he knew the reason for it.

"You want to save the Goddess that brought up, isn't it?" He asked her. She was too angry to reply but he was still aware that it was the reason why. "I can save her..." He said but she didn't let him finish and suddenly rushed over to him, she grabbed his arms and stared directly into his eyes.

"Really? Can you really save her?" She asked him.

"I can but that would be only on one condition," he replied.

"Anything, I am ready to do anything," she pleaded and this made Arsenal smirk.

"Very well then, you will serve me wholeheartedly. That includes serving me with your body," he said to her and she frowned instantly.

"What do you mean by that exactly?" She asked him, not wanting to believe what her mind was telling her.

"You are no longer a kid so I suppose you know what I am talking about," he replied to her.

She didn't speak and continued staring at him in silence. It was obvious that she didn't like the idea, but she couldn't say so.

"Or you don't want to save her again?" He asked her.

"I do!" She replied hastily. "I want to save my mistress so I am willing to do anything," she added.

"Okay. I can see you are serious about it," he said and then looked up to the sky. "It's getting late, we should return home," he said to her.

"Home? What home?" She asked him.

"Mine of course," he replied blatantly. He was supposed to be relieved that he was going home but when Muna glanced at him, not a trace of happiness or relief was seen on his face. This made her wonder if it was actually the kind of home she always imagined in her mind or something else.

"Let's go," he said to her and then led the way.

They walked in silence for a long time. Arsenal led the way while Muna was following behind, not forgetting to keep a safe distance between the both of them. Throughout the journey, Muna had her mind on how to save her mistress. The memories of the past suddenly flooded into her head and she couldn't help but clench her fists in anger.

"They are nothing but pretenders!" She muttered, still angry.

"I agree with you on that," Arsenal said to her and she looked in his direction but he wasn't looking at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked him. Not like she couldn't guess, but just wanted to hear more from him.

"I mean exactly what you think," he replied and she frowned as she couldn't get what she wanted.

"We are here," he suddenly said to her after a while and when she looked ahead, she saw a town beneath them. "We'll get to the town once we go down this hill," he informed her and turned right.

She silently followed him and soon, they got to the foot of the hill. They headed toward the town and went straight home. It was night by the time they arrived so not many people saw them. The moment they arrived home, Arsenal frowned his face and Mina didn't fail to notice it.

"Not happy to be home?" She asked him.

"It's my place after all," he replied with a sigh and stepped into the house.

The moment he walked into the living room through the small corridor, he saw two aged couples sitting on the couch, and by their right were two girls and an older boy. Seeing him, the boy sprang to his feet in shock.

"Ghost! It's a ghost!" He yelled and ran to the back of the two couples. "Father, mother! He is dead!" He shouted.

"Jeremy, how are you sure that he is dead?" One of the girls asked him, staring at him Im confusion.

"Did you kill him?" The second girl asked and Jeremy gasped.

"I didn't!" He yelled and ran away muttering some incoherent words.

"Since you are back, you might as well tell us where you've been for the past one hundred and sixty-eight hours," the man demanded.

'So it's been seven days already,' Arsenal thought to himself. He wasn't aware that he had spent that much time being unconscious.

"I am talking to you, young man! And I demand an answer!" His father demanded in a rather harsh tone.

This was a surprise to Muna who was watching everything unfold gradually.

"I've been away," Arsenal replied.

"To think you would leave home all of a sudden and come back hoping I'd welcome you, tsk!" His father said with a scoff.

"What do you mean?" Arsenal asked him.

"Go back. You no longer have a place here," his father replied.

"Are you telling me to leave?" Arsenal asked his father, not surprised.

"From now on, the Leonard family has nothing to do with you, Arsenal. Don't ever step your feet into this house, not while I am still alive and not when I am dead. Leave! Leave for good!" The man replied.

"We no longer want a useless person like you in our home," his mother spoke for the first time since he returned.

"Mother, even you?" Arsenal asked her but she didn't reply and looked away instead.

"Don't you understand? Father and mother said you should leave, go away!" The first daughter yelled out to Arsenal.

Arsenal was speechless. He knew the kind of family he had but he would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised.

"Hey, let's just leave. It's plenty obvious that you aren't welcome here," Muna said to him and dragged him by his sleeve. She turned around and Arsenal silently followed her.

When they were about to walk out of the entrance door, Arsenal suddenly stopped.

"What?" Muna asked him but he didn't answer her and stood there for a while until he finally moved.

Out of nowhere, he tore out a piece of his cloth and held it firmly in his hand.

"This represents all my ties with this family. From now on, nothing will connect us ever again!" He said to them and then threw the piece of cloth on the ground, and left.