Chapter 44: Parallel

Additions

_After a sentence_ This means that a person is thinking, a thought dialogue of some kind

This can also mean a thought dialogue. Though im not sure what this thing is called, i'll call it thought dialogue for now hehe.

—

"...And?"

Rueben asked her confusedly, wondering why she was shocked and surprised.

Gwynne looked at him and said, "I said that i came here in 1762, 20 years before you came in. But i feel that i only stayed here for a few years, that itself, is weird."

Rueben stared at her before saying, "Maybe your sense of time was warped, after all, there is no way to tell the time in this place. "

"That can't be..." Her eyes narrowed. "I always lig inht a candle, each candle lasts atleast an hour before it expires and i have counted each of these candles personally and carefully, recording them in my notes... According to that, i have been staying here for over 2 years."

Rueben rolled his eyes, clearly does not have the energy to entertain this woman and just stayed silent.

Gwynne continued to murmer, "I have physical evidence, that must mean you lied to me!"

She then turned around and pointed at him with her face twisted in anger.

Rueben looked at her, then concluded that she was a crazy woman.

He saw the dimness of her eyes brighten, as if she had found a new hope after her first one was broken down by her sadness.

They arrived at the house, Gwynne looked at the dead humanoid dog on the bed and coughed awkwardly.

Walking towards the corpse, she picked it up with both of her arms, she turned to Rueben, "Excuse me."

Before rushing out of the house.

Rueben looked at her, then to the house and observed.

The house was simple, there were was everywhere, a single table filled with notebooks and books, two beds, a shelf and a room that probably is the bathroom.

He then searched around the table, reading the piles of notebooks and books spread about. Then he was surprised.

The books were all related to anatomy, how the human body works, how animals work, how birds work etc etc.

It seemed that she was studying a curious subject that Rueben didn't know what was.

He turned his attention to the books and found hand drawn drawings of beasts, most of which are what he have seen inside this labyrinth.

They were detailed, many notes were scattered around the pages of the notebooks and every single notes were a great source of info for anyone who wants to learn how beasts works.

Gywnne seemed to like studying beasts, and he wondered if she had dissected a beast for this research before due to how detailed and descriptive each of these notebooks are.

With this, he suddenly found himself a treasure trove filled with knowledge in these books. If these were ever to be released in Arkvem, these would become popular and help the city a lot.

Just as he was about to read another book, Gwynne arrived at the door and looked at him. Then she ran towards him and pushed him away with a feral expression.

"Stay away from my work!!" She growled menacingly, intent on protecting the notebooks.

Currently, she was wearing a white blouse and brown pants with brown boots. Her brown hair was tied into a small pony tail.

Rueben looked at her, then at the notebooks, before looking back at her and saying, "Do you have any clothes for me to wear? Preferably a shirt."

Gwynne narrowed her eyes and softly nodded her head, she turned around and started cleaning the table, carefully as if there was something precious in there.

After doing so, she then ushered for him to follow her and walked to the back of the house were countless clothes hanged. All kinds if clothing from men to women, there was even underwear.

"Here, grab something that fits you. These are what i found when i was out exploring and i washed them clean so do wear them."

Rueben took a brown shirt and nodded his head. He then wore it and stretched his body a little.

"Comfortable?" After entering the house, he found Gwynne sitting infront of the table and was currently writing something.

Rueben stared at her, then asked, "Why were you copulating with a beast?"

That question earned him a flinch from her, to which she coughed and pretended not to hear, she clearly didn't want to talk about it and gave Rueben a sign.

A sign that Rueben ignored and walked towards her, questioning her once again.

"Why were you copulating with a beast?"

"..." She stayed silent while writing on the notebook silently.

Then she felt his gaze trying to dig holes into her soul, making her uncomfortable but she stayed silent nonetheless, not even opening her mouth to breath.

After a while, the two came into a standstill, with neither party wanting to give up.

It took a while before Gwynne gave up.

"You are persistent as fuck, do you know that?" She gritted her teeth and massaged her forehead.

She closed her notebook and then turned to look at him.

"Boredom is quite a dangerous feeling, after all, you don't know what you will do just to get that feeling off from you."

Rueben stared at her blankly and said, "So you thought of having sex with a beast could cure your boredom?"

Gwynne answered by nodding her head awkwardly.

Then his eyes flashed with disgust before disappearing. He softly nodded his head and sat down on the bed.

Silence then overcame them once more, making Gwynne uncomfortable.

She tried to think of topics but she couldn't find any. Then she remembered that the two of them tried to kill each other just a while ago but now, they were pretty chill.

As if the fight that happened moments ago was just one of the many shenanigans that they have done for years.

Gwynne rolled her eyes to look at Rueben.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his eyes closed, it looked like he was praying or meditating or something, she wasn't so sure.

Then she finally took a look at him clearly.

His dark brown hair were roughly tied into a small ponytail behind him, his body was muscular on the lean side, the most fitting and best physical body to have when fighting with beasts, he had a calm yet intense aura that she could feel from him.

As if he was holding something that have already broken out of its cage.

Then she remembered his bright red eyes, a sign of being Blood Drunk, she had thought that it was his physical eye but judging from that brightness, it must've been the symptoms of the disease.

Is he blood drunk? But he still have a clear mind, unlike that of someone who have gone mad...

She thought to herself, before turning back to her notebook to write something.

She drew a rough portrait of Rueben and wrote some notes that she had observed and her initial impressions of the man.

She turned to look at him, after seeing that he won't be able to sneak past her while she focused on writing, she then turned back to her notebook and wrote.

Bizzare man. Probably have gone through countless traumatic experiences, doesn't trust anyone that quick, cold and cool. If he cleaned himself a bit, he must be quite good looking, but alas, with that dirty appearance of his, he just looks haggard and dirty

She pursed her lips, What a waste of good looks.

She thought for a while before writing once again. Stabbing a feather in a bottle of black liquid, she continued.

_Though what he had said still disturbs me. The Humming Bird Division, one of the best Hunter Division of Arkvem, was executed because they planned a coup? There is no way anyone in my fucking division be that smart._

Her eyes narrowed.

_Unless, it was a new member. Yes if it was a new member that somehow took the lead after i disappeared, then that would explain everything. But then, another issue arrives, Arthur was the one who was leading the division, not me. After all, i am only a Squad Captain, not the Division Leader._

She scratched her chin.

_And i refuse to believe that Arthur's position was usurped by a newbie, the division valued friendship and strength and Arthur was one of the high ranking Hunters of Arkvem. And somehow, just somehow, the newbie managed to defeat Arthur, it will only promote him into the Division Leader while Arthur gets demoted to the Vice Division Leader._

She stabbed the feather through the black liquid once again before continuing.

_If the newbie somehow did all that and planned a coup, then Arthur as well as the other Squad Captains would have killed and ended the newbie's life once they caught on his plans. So this might probably not be the case. If its not, then what?_

_The Humming Division have been one of the most powerful and loyal Divisions under the Crown and the First Hunter, unless the Crown found the Division dangerous, they would not cut off their own limb._

She looked at the notebook, seeing the liquid dry on the paper before a terrific thought appeared on her mind.

_Unless the Crown was willing to cut off my division because of the influence and power we have over the civilians, then that might explain it. But why? We have been loyal and served the Crown for countless decades, what drove them to cut us off?_

_I don't know and i have no evidence to prove my claim. If i want to know more, if i want to know the truth, then its either i pry open the information from this guy's mouth or escape this whole labyrinth madness._

She softly sighed, _Which is even harder._

Then she closed her notebook and grabbed a book with a leather for a cover, she took a look at its title.

[Human Sacrifices and Affinity to Gods]

She looked at the curious title for a while before opening the book and started reading its contents.

From the corner of his eyes Rueben looked at the woman, studying her before turning his eyes to the book. The book had a leather for cover, no not leather but rather skin of something.

He didn't know why the woman was reading such a book and judging from her movements earlier, she must be reading this book for the first time.

He didn't managed to catch the name of the book and he was not curious enough to find out.

Rueben started meditating after seeing that the woman was absorbed into reading the book. He knew the woman would not be able to attack him while in this state but if she does, he could sense her presence.

He softly sighed and silently prayed.

Sara...

He prayed for a little girl, with his whole heart.

Because if he doesn't, he felt that he would lose himself and throw away his humanity.

***

"Soft silky hair~"

"Rivers of blood and despair~"

"Triumphs the soul and its lies~"

"You brought me away from my demise~"

"Church bells rise, the shadows overlaps with the skies~"

"Oh, Saint Marie, please rise, please rise, and save us from our inevitable demise..."

In a kindergarten, a whole class of children was singing a lullaby together while the woman in the front was playing the guitar.

She sung along with the children as cheers and giggles filled the whole kindergarten, spreading joy and happiness.

Giving light from the depressing and oppressive atmosphere of the shadowed city of Arkvem.

The place was filled with positivity but it was just a small thing compared to the desolate city.

After the song finished, the woman ushered the children to take naps and recover their energy before playing again.

After making sure that the children were napping, she smiled softly and closed the door gently, not making a sound that could disturb the children.

Then she turned her head to look at a woman leaning on the wall, a crow mask covering her face. She had wounds all over her body and she looked as if she was about to die.

But the cold daggers in her hand was held tightly, ready to stab anything that comes to piss her off.

The woman huffed, before collapsing on the floor.

"Cheryl." The woman swiftly ran to her air and got her up.

Then she carried her towards a room and took out a syringe before injecting it through her right thigh.

As the liquid inside the syringe slowly came into her blood streams, the crow masked woman coughed and the wounds on her body visibly healed.

"Cough! Thank you, Fion."

The woman, Fion, looked at her friend in worry and asked, "How did you get all this injuries? I thought you stopped being a Hunter, why are you wearing you mask once again after you swore not to take up the sword?"

Cheryl took off her mask, revealing her three eyes on the left side of her face as well as a huge burn scar that spread across her cheeks.

Fion looked at her face before sighing softly, "No matter how much you use God's Blood to heal your wounds, it seems that it cannot heal the physical deformation of your face."

Cheryl stared at her and smiled softly, "I would rather stay like this, after all, i am truly "Me". It doesn't matter if im ugly or scary to look at."

Then she got up and asked, "By the way, is there any supper for me to eat? Leftovers are fine too."

Fion looked at her back and pursed her lips, her eyebrows folding into worry.

_You say that, but you're scared too, right?_

She silently said before getting up and followed after Cheryl.

Theirs shadows emerged and blended with the darkness, one is a crow with blood red eyes, another is a woman with knives for eyes.