"Would you like to have a hot bath first, sir?" The brown-haired woman asked, still keeping her mask on as she led the way.
In response, Ery said, "No. Just take sowhere private."
Nodding her head slightly as a sign she understood, she took Ery to the fourth floor into one of the available rooms. Upon entering, Ery was welcod by a large room lavishly decorated, but what quickly caught his eye was a bed big enough for half a dozen people.
Ery casually walked over and sat on the bed, as it was the only place to sit in the room. On the other hand, the girl, Trixie, was standing quietly at the side of the bed.
Even though she tried her best to hide it, he could tell she was anxious. His sharp senses picked up the faint sound of her heart beating slightly faster than before.
"Take off your mask," Ery said, looking directly at her. "Let see your face."
She didn't imdiately do as asked when she heard Ery's words. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, "Please let wash myself up first, sir." In spite of the please in her words, she didn't wait for Ery's response and walked into the shower room.
Unbeknownst to her, Ery didn't really need nor want whatever she had to offer. He just needed to see her face, to know who she was in the hopes it would bring a little of his lost mory back.
However, there was no hurry. He could wait a little longer. After all, the bed below him was quite soft, giving him a sense of comfort as he decided to lie down for a while. Although he knew it wasn't true, he felt as if all his tension lted away.
A few minutes had passed as Ery enjoyed lying on the bed, but the woman had still not co out of the bathroom. Thanks to his senses, Ery was certain she was still inside the room. But on the other hand, he could also tell she had only been standing still not doing anything for a while.
Feeling sothing was off, he got off from the bed and walked towards the shower. The mont he opened the door, he was surprised to see the masked woman swiftly turned around and with a dagger in her hand charged at him.
She had the strength of a Rank 8 or Rank 7 acolyte at the very least. However, such a strength was still far from sufficient to take him down, even by surprise.
Ery casually stopped her attack by catching her hand that was holding the dagger, before turning her around and restraining her.
To his surprise, that was enough to make her give up as she said, "Just kill … I don't want to live anymore."
He could see through the mirror in front of them that the eyes behind the mask were closed as she spoke.
"Brutus... Wait for , I can finally join you."
The mont Ery heard the na, it was as if a huge piece of puzzle was reconstructed in his mory. He then reached over to her mask and took it off her face, to find a face he recognized from his mory.
"Tatyana," that na unconsciously ca out of Ery's mouth and it brought a shock to the brown-haired woman if her expression were an indication.
"Who… who are you?! How did you know my na?! Who sent you here!?"
Ery did not imdiately answer any of her questions, still overwheld by the wave of mories rushing back at him.
She was a senior in the academy, part of a small pack of three led by a young man nad Brutus. The woman was one of the first wolf half-bloods he had ever t.
It finally ca back to him that the last ti he had seen her was when he told her the news of Brutus' death. It had been more than four years since that ti. In his mory, she was much younger and shorter. But now, she was a full-grown woman. No wonder it was not easy for him to recognize her.
"Let go! Or kill ! Decide what you want, but I rather die before you touch !" She said loudly as she struggled to break free.
Looking at her and recalling her current situation, a lot of questions ca into Ery's mind, but he didn't let them all out. First thing first, he let go of her arm that he was holding after disarming her from the knife.
"Calm down, I am not here to touch you nor hurt you whatsoever."
It took a few seconds before Trixie, or rather, Tatyana to calm down, however her confusion was still apparent.
"Who are you?" She asked with a questioning tone.
Not only was Ery known to be dead, he was currently appearing with a different na and face. Realizing the reasons for her confusion, Ery thought about the situation for a second before finally deciding to reveal himself.
Ery gazed into her eyes calmly as he slowly shapeshifted his face back. "Hope you still rember… It's , Ery."
The girl's eyes widened when she saw Ery's face. "Brother Ery…? No… No it can't be! You… You died… There's no way this can be true. This is a trick!"
Ery quickly grabbed her flailing hands and calmly said, "It's a long story, but it's really ."
It took Ery a lot of ti and effort for Tatyana to finally trust that he was really him. The brown-haired girl sniffed his body all over like she the first ti they t. From that Ery found out his clone body emitted a sll similar to the original body, but not completely the sa.
Ery told her a concise summary of what had happened to him, but what finally made her believe his words was when he told her the ssage Brutus entrusted him to say to her, which she didn't want to listen to at that ti at Zodiac City.
Imdiately, Ery felt a strong force around his back as Tatyana ramd into his body and hugged him tightly.
"Brother Ery… It's really you... You are here."
He could feel her body relax as if all sensation had been drained out of her. Then, surprising Ery, Tatyana burst into tears, to which he quickly responded with a tight hug for quite a while. Slightly loosening their embrace, he looked into her eyes and said, "Now tell why you are here? Where are the others? What happened to White Fang?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers