Time to Collect

Lucius looked at his father, distraught, tears beginning to blur his vision. "Father, no! Please, no! I did it, take me!"

Lucius lunged to grab his father, but felt a sudden force throw him back across the room, only being stopped by the wall at the other end. He was forcefully deprived of all the air in his lungs from the impact. A dull throb began to take over his sternum. When he looked up, Lucius saw his father recovering from a striking position.

Right before he had reached his father, Wayne delivered a powerful palm strike to his chest. Rubellia ran up to him and put her hands around him, stroking his black hair.

"It will be alright, my love."

"No! Mother, please! I did it, don't let them! Father didn't…all he wanted…I should have…NO!"

Despite putting everything into his struggle, his mother managed to hold him back. Whatever kind of strike his father delivered had temporarily paralyzed him.

"No sto…"

"Lucius." Wayne interrupted. "Your mother and I were prepared for this. We discussed all possibilities. I know in our lands, our children must grow up before they are ready…children like you, doubly so.

"Despite that…you are still my son, and I wanted to give you the world if I could…but since I can't do that, I can at least give you a chance at life. Rubellia, be well, my love." Wayne turned his back to them and faced the Lord. "Lord Petra. I am ready."

"So be it, my friend." Lord Petra drew his sword and waited for Wayne to kneel before him.

Lucius could not see his father clearly through the tears streaming down his face. No matter how hard he wailed, sound seemed to not come out. He couldn't hear anything anymore, but he saw Rena desperately trying to argue with her father, tugging at his cloak and arm. She seemed desperate to do anything to stop this from happening.

The Lord called for a guard to pull her away. She flailed, but could do nothing towards a grown man, so she looked over at Lucius with sad eyes.

"Thank you for your many years of service. Any last words, Sir Wayne."

"Yes, Lord Petra. Please continue to provide for Rubellia…and if you can, allow my son to protect the young lady. On my honor, he will protect her till his dying breath. To break that promise, he would spit on my grave."

Wayne looked at his son as his words echoed throughout the chamber. All Lucius could do was nod in confirmation. If his father demanded it…then as repayment for his sacrifice, he would do as requested.

"If that is your dying wish my old friend…So be it." Richard von Petra sighed. He raised his sword hand and with one quick flash of light, it disappeared and then reappeared on the other side of Wayne. For a moment nothing happened, but then Wayne's head slowly slid off his neck and rolled along the floor. There was a wet thud as his body soon toppled.

Lucius felt his mother's hands tighten around him, pulling him closer into his embrace. The entirety of the world turned into a blurry mess. Tears fell onto his hands as he sobbed. His hair became wet as his mother too grieved at the loss of her husband.

For an hour the two wailed and sobbed until there was nothing left inside them to cry. They continued to sit there with shaking and trembling shoulders. Life, for a moment, felt meaningless to both of them.

Rubellia of course whispered into Lucius ear that she did not blame him and that they knew this would happen one day. No, she blamed the world. Not Lord Petra. Not Lucius.

Of course he was inclined to agree with her. It was this world's fault. All because he was born differently…with power they feared…though unlike his mother, Lucius also blamed himself for not being strong enough to survive this without resorting to his mark's power.

Lord Petra and Rena stood in the room, still as statues. They did not move to comfort the grieving duo, nor did they speak. Instead, they simply listened to mother and child break and allowed the weight of what had happened press down on them both.

For a moment, everyone felt a simultaneous chill run down their spines. Though for Lucius, he also heard in his head in Grimm's voice, 'It was time to collect…and your payment was oh so sweet. Kekeke.'

"Lucius. You are to report to the manor at dawn in two days. You and Rubellia will be provided rooms here at the estate. Gather that which you value and be here. Lucius, you will serve as my daughter's protector. Fail, and you will pay with your life, and Rubellia with hers. I am taking the final words of my friend to heart. Do not disappoint." The lord stated before leaving the room with his daughter and staff.

All that remained in the room were Lucius and his mother, neither of which were eager to return home and remove all their memories from their quaint little cottage.

*****

"Mylene…what is wrong with Derrik, he seemed out of it this morning when I caught him on his way to his post. Speaking of, you also seem…off today." Adellia pressed.

She had been worried about her friend since last night after they received an urgent letter. Apparently someone paid a pretty penny to put that document in their hand quickly, so it was clear that it was important.

Mylene looked at her with sad eyes. "We received poor news. A member of Derrik's family passed away."

"Oh my! Do you need time? Lyrah and I can care for ourselves while you take care of your husband." Adellia touched Mylene's shoulder, stopping her from continuing to clean the room. "Please, Mylene, tell me."

"Do you wish to know, Adellia? Truly?"

"Yes."

"Wayne passed away."

"Oh, Mylene…I know that he and Derrik were close…I am so sorry for your loss."

Adellia carefully pulled Mylene into a tight embrace and felt small sobs begin to wrack her body. Natali and Lyrah peeked into the door, but closed it gently before leaving after seeing their mother's hugging and Mylene crying.

All she could do to offer her friend comfort was to be there as a support. Adellia attempted to focus her thoughts on Wayne's wife, Rubellia, and activate her mark to see if the woman would be alright. She thought that maybe it could provide some form of consolation to Mylene and her husband. However, the moment she attempted to do so, she felt a strange blockage.

"Hmm. That's strange…"

"What is Adellia?"

"Oh…nothing…I just tried to look for something."

"Mistress, did you try to look for the dream you had before Lyrah was born? You know you haven't been able to see it again since that night."

A look of consternation plastered itself on the woman's face. It was true. Ever since Mylene had taken the other child away from her that night, she had been unable to repeat the prophetic dream she had prior to their birth.

She still remembered every part of the dream and every ounce of fear. The block on trying to see Rubellia felt very similar to when trying to see that dream again. This was something that struck Adellia as very odd.

Occasionally there were things that she was not allowed to see, but it was very rare to occur.

"Tell me, Mylene, how is Natali doing in her training?"

"Oh…yes…Derrik says she is doing well. She tries to be quiet, but I can hear her practicing every night in her room with her Mark of Recall." Mylene giggled. "I let her think she is succeeding with hiding her secret. It's just too cute!"

"Ah, yes. They are adorable at that…age…oh…" Adellia began to feel faint.

She moved to sit on the bed, slowly losing strength in her legs. Her vision clouded over, one of the last things she saw in the room before it with something else, was Mylene rushing over with a concerned look on her face.

Once the cloudiness faded away, Adellia found herself watching over a battlefield. There was a beautiful young Lupine-Beastman with blonde hair. She had 'shifted' to her more bestial form, which was showcased by her teeth having turned into fangs and fur covering parts of her arms and legs.

She had had cute wolf-ears on her head and an adorable tail. Though, despite being so cute, Adellia noticed that the girl was covered in blood. Soon, she realized that she was observing a battlefield.

The terrain was rocky and barren. Bodies were strewn across the ground. She recognized the symbols on the armor as crest of Alorek, five black claw marks. The girl wore light, leather armor and had a small shield with the face of a roaring bear, which was the symbol of the beastman nation of Eroa.

"Where is that boy…" the wolf-girl muttered.

She was currently alone on the battlefield, surrounded by fallen soldiers. It was plain as day that she was a powerful warrior. Suddenly, Adellia felt another presence on the battlefield. It was familiar, yet not, and she could not place where she had felt it before.

The wolf-girl's ears twitched and she turned around with an excited look on her face running towards the source of the presence. She jumped into the chest of an unknown figure. For some reason, no matter how hard Adellia tried to make out what the person looked like, she could not see his face or body.

All the same, the girl squeezed the waste of the boy tightly. "There you are. You were supposed to meet me a while ago."

"Sorry."

Even with just the one word, Adellia could tell that it was devoid of emotion. The words of a broken man. What had he seen? What had he been through to sound like that? She did not know why, but for some reason the thought of this unknown entity feeling that way, broke Adellia's heart.

A moment later, the vision faded and she opened her eyes again to see Mylene sitting beside her and dabbing her head with wet cloth.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes…I just saw a vision of a lupine-beast man…a girl…maybe fifteen, sixteen? She was with a boy…though I couldn't make out his face…" Adellia explained while Mylene began to write down the explanation to give to the Elders.

"They stood in the middle of a rocky outcropping…it was rather barren, though littered with bodies donning the symbol of Alorek. The girl was Eroan…she had been looking for this mysterious figure, though I don't know why."

Mylene nodded along as she wrote down every detail of the vision. She then left the room and pulled a rope that was connected to a bell on a lower floor. This signaled that the Oracle had a vision and the notes from that vision were ready to be retrieved.

Adellia had no idea why she had such a strange vision. It was short…and seemed pointless in a way. All it really showed was some powerful girl and a boy she seemed to have a crush on…though she could not help but wonder who that mysterious person was and why she could not make out his features.