Music Recommendation: Dreadful stories- Kensuke Ushio
The news about James Sullivan, who had recently turned rogue, started to spread like a wildfire in every land. And it wasn't because he had killed Noah or had gone rogue, but because Vincent lied about James trying to kill the Head Council, which was why the matter was taken up as a serious issue.
But Vincent didn't end his message there and said, "James has ability to change himself into anything he wants. He currently has Genevieve Moriarty as his hostage. Wife of Vincent Moriarty. He has gone crazy and is trying to side with the black witches."
"Information sent," the old man groaned, who didn't have eyes, and they were nothing less to an endless pit of hell.
Even though Vincent didn't know where to find Eve, he didn't sit waiting for things to happen. He knew James or Erasmus wouldn't kill Eve right now, not until the full golden moon showed up in the sky, and they had time until then. But he didn't want to take chances. His hands clenched into tight fists. He had lost someone dear to him before, but he wouldn't let anyone steal Eve from him.
Vincent looked through the grounds for Eve endlessly, while flying in the sky and trying to find the connection through the bond he had placed on her. His bat-like wings flapped on his back, his eyes darkened with every minute of separation from his love.
On the other hand, Eve continued to touch the cage walls using her abilities to shield but it only repulsed her, bringing shock and throwing her back at the centre. She could hear the chirping of birds in the sky, letting her know it was morning.
"You should stop doing that by now when you know there's no escape for you. If death is what you seek, I will be handing it to you soon," Erasmus stated, who stood near the cave wall with his back against her.
But Eve didn't stop and she tried to touch the cage again and felt a burning heat that sparked from the tip of her fingers. She hissed at the sensation.
"I miss your mother. Rebecca," Erasmus said to Eve, and this had her stop touching the cage.
Eve said to him, "With every person you have killed, you have only decreased your chances to live. You are meant to die by my hands."
"So brave," Erasmus chuckled, and he said, "If I knew you sooner, I would have taken you to bed. I am sure you had a hard life. No father, no mother to protect you. An orphan who was being hunted."
"It was hard," Eve agreed and said, "But it is the hard life that you gifted me, that has shaped me to be who I am."
"I wonder how powerful you are without the metal wall surrounding you now," Erasmus turned to look at Eve and he then asked, "Did you know that Marianna wasn't a gifted mermaid? It is why Nerhys decided to give her as a gift, so that she wouldn't be used. I was sad in the beginning, but then I realised it was Nerissa who had all the hidden abilities in her. Where is she? I have been wanting to meet her for quite some time now."
Eve glared at the man and then calmly said, "Let me out of this cage and let us see if my mother's gift precedes what I have. She handed the gift to your father, and you stole it from him," her voice started to change, and her eyes turned to gold with slits in them.
"Erasmus," Eve appeared with a tone of seductiveness as she said his name.
Noticing the siren coming forward, Erasmus walked back to stand in front of Eve with just the cage separating them. He said, "Nerissa. I was very disappointed when I saw you dead. I left a mark on you, a precious bond to show we were meant to be together, yet you went ahead and killed yourself. Sadly I couldn't use the vial in time to bring you back."
"It is good that you didn't bring me back before, I would have ripped your throat with my teeth," Eve said to him and smiled to show her jagged teeth. "You killed your father and stole the vial from him..."
Erasmus clicked his teeth and said, "He was suffering too much and I thought I would end his misery. Do you know where the vial is?"
Eve stared at the man with her golden slit eyes and the smile not leaving her lips. She said, "In hell. Do you want to accompany me?"
"You seem to have turned much more talkative than before. You can go ahead to hell, and let me know how it is when I come," Erasmus then raised his hand and threw the potion he had been making for Eve to scream. "This is so that I can prepare you to your potential. I need you to be weak but harness your powers."
Eve's eyes glowed like crystals in the dark and she said, "Do you know what the prophecy said, Erasmus?"
"About the curse? I know," Erasmus said with a lopsided smile. "The curse can be broken when the daughter of Nerhys marries the son of King Gauntlet out of love. The sea creature will need to open her heart to him."
Eve's scales started appearing on her neck and hands where the potion was thrown at her. She leaned forward, licking her lips, and said, "And do you know what happens?"
"It allows me to sacrifice the daughters. That is you. Steal all your abilities as mine, and then control the--"
"That is what you think, isn't it, Erasmus?" Eve interrupted him before walking to the other side of the cage while staring at her long nails that were ready to tear and kill.
The smile on Erasmus's lips faltered as he waited for Eve to continue to speak. She said, "I wasn't talking about the curse but there's a prophecy that you never heard about. You trying to fulfil your desires will only bring your end. And the end isn't too far from where we are."
A look of a sneer appeared on the man's face. Erasmus said,
"If that was true, you would have done it before that kill yourself like a coward."
"There are a few things that are above your understanding, Erasmus," Eve's eyes moved back to look at Erasmus.
She and Marina had been told that something bad was coming their way. It was why they had reached the land to bring their mother back. But they were late and the Gauntlet's greed knew no bounds. She regretted hurting her sister because of the lapse of her judgement in people when they were on the land, bonding with a man who was meant to bring chaos. When Eve was born, there was so much fogginess until this very moment, until her eyes fell on Erasmus.
The reason Marina killed herself was to change the course of their fate. Now Nerissa knew her purpose. It was to kill this man with her sister.
Erasmus noticed the siren behaving like she had the upper hand when she was at his mercy. When a man with white robes entered the cave-like place, Erasmus said, "I have a gift for you, Nerissa. I prepared it just for you, my love."
Eve glared at the man and said, "I don't need anything from you. If you are wise, you will let me free."
Erasmus clicked his tongue "Tsk, not so easy. But I hope you will enjoy it," he said, walking to the table and bringing a glass flask. He placed it on the ground, drew lines around the cage and circle, and wrote something with it. He then turned to the priest and said, "Begin the process."
The priest looked scared for a moment when Eve, who was actually Nerissa barred her teeth at him. With wary steps, he came forward before opening an old, tattered book and reading spells from them. Soon something started to emerge from Eve's body, little drops of light moving from her to the flask.
"One drop at a time," Erasmus said to her with a bright smile.
Eve receiving control of her body, fell on her knees and placed her palms on the ground. She closed her eyes, wondering what was happening.
'He is stealing our essence.'
Her eyes snapped on hearing the voice and she heard the person speak again, 'Don't be scared, my sister. It is I, Nerissa who speaks.'
Eve wondered if she should speak loudly in front of these two men or if speaking in mind would work. She tried by saying, 'You stole my body!' For a moment there, she had seen nothing but darkness, as if sitting back and watching Nerissa and Erasmus talk to each other. She had never experienced something like that and wasn't keen on doing it again.
Eve couldn't help but question if Nerissa was always there, but she doubted she was. It was because it felt it was only recently that the person had woken up from her deep slumber.
'Forgive me,' Nerissa apologised, and she then continued, 'That essence is nothing but our soul with what we are essentially made of. We need to get out of here before it fills up. Else it's good as us being dead. There is something that I noticed. It's the sky,' she said in a grim voice.
'What is it?' Eve turned her head and tried to get a glimpse of the sky, but she couldn't.
Nerissa said to her, 'The sirens have a certain affinity towards the full moon, because of its beauty and its strength. I believe we were led to believe the full golden moon is going to show in two days...'
The cave was filled with the priests muttering and the fire crackling, and Eve felt her heart drop. She said, 'You don't mean to say that it is today, do you...' This was worse than she thought it to be. 'How can it be possible?!' Vincent and Eve had been making sure to follow the moon since they had found out about it.
'Erasmus has been scheming this since for a long time. Probably since he found out about your existence and mine the night mother died,' Nerissa explained to her. She said, 'He must have used the witches help to fool everyone. We have no time.'
Eve asked Nerissa back, 'What do you propose we do? My abilities seem limited here. If somehow Vincent can know where we are, or we find the place by using the siren call, maybe we can stop it.' It felt like everything she had learned until now, it couldn't be used by her because of the disadvantage that Erasmus had placed her in.
'You are right. We are together, sister. There's nothing that can stand in our way, not even this man if we join together,' Nerissa replied to her. Eve believed it was the help Nerissa would provide with her guidance, but then the person cleared, 'Together as one being.'
Though Nerissa meant to kill Erasmus, Eve wasn't sure what being together meant and how it would end. But they had no option right now, and she would have to trust the siren. Eve said,
'On one condition.'
'What is it?' Nerissa asked her.
'You won't hurt or kill Vincent, no matter what the circumstance. The person Acheron's soul is in. Promise me,' Eve waited for the siren to speak, as she seemed to have gone quiet.
'I promise you not to harm him,' Nerissa gave her word to Eve.
Eve finally gave permission to Nerissa, for them to finally combine their souls in one body. It took less than two seconds before she felt as if thousands of needles pierced into her body. Blood rushed through her veins as if she was swimming in speed and she closed her eyes, while gritting her teeth. And her body fell limp on the ground.
