Chapter 580: Tasha, The Queen of Werewolves.
Some hours later.
Samar, Castle of The King of Werewolves, Entrance Hall.
"My Son!" A woman with long straight black hair and green eyes screamed as she hugged a boy.
Her face was of pure concern; the maternal aura she exuded from her body made the young wolf uncomfortable.
"Ugh, Mother, let go of me." Thomas felt helpless.
Suddenly, the woman stopped hugging the boy and looked at him with a cold look:
"You were gone a few days, and already you've forgotten what to call me?"
Thomas felt a shiver run down his spine, and with great difficulty, he spoke:
"... Mommy."
"Hmm! Good! That's my boy." She nodded, satisfied as she hugged him tighter.
"Ugh…" Thomas gave up on doing anything.
Now, make no mistake, he loved his mother, but... She tended to be very clingy at times, and he didn't really like that.
Anderson looked at the woman. She was 175CM tall, with chocolate skin just like himself. She was wearing a regal-looking dress that looked straight out of ancient Egypt, and at the same time looked like she was the Leader of a tribe. The dress was quite revealing, leaving the belly, legs, and arms exposed. Her outfit did not have any kind of footwear, leaving her dainty feet exposed to the elements.
The woman who was hugging Thomas was Tasha, Queen of The Werewolves.
"Mother, what happened? Why did you give up leaving Samar halfway?"
Tasha suddenly stopped hugging Thomas and looked at Anderson.
Her facial expression changed from a loving and kind mother to a cold and stern woman.
No trace of the loving mother lay present on the woman's face. Now, she was just a Queen who had responsibilities to fulfill.
Tasha got up, and with a slight smile on her face, she said to Thomas:
"Darling, you must have been through a lot; you must rest."
"… Yes, Mommy." Thomas knew he couldn't deny it. It wasn't a request; it was an order, an order he had no right to argue against. He knew his fate if he disobeyed his mother.
The moment Thomas left the room, six men wearing completely dark outfits appeared on their knees in front of the Queen.
"Protect him. I want 24/7 surveillance."
The six men nodded simultaneously and disappeared from in front of Tasha.
Tasha looked back at her second oldest child:
"First off, good job rescuing your brother. I'm proud of you, my son."
"Mm, I didn't do the heavy lifting. You don't have to thank me." Anderson dismissed Tasha's words and added:
"The Pack always comes first; that's how Wolves operate."
Not caring about her son's tone of voice, after all, she was used to her rebellious son, Tasha continued:
"Tell me what happened in detail."
Anderson frowned, "... Didn't your subordinates already brief you?"
"Yes, they did." Tasha's eyes slightly glowed neon blue, suggesting a minor annoyance, but soon her eye color returned to normal:
"But I want to hear it from your perspective too."
Not wanting to push his mother's buttons and suffer retaliation, Anderson said:
"This will take a while."
"Tell me on the way." Tasha turned and started walking.
Anderson followed his mother as he narrated the events from his perspective. Throughout the journey, Tasha was silent, listening to what her son said.
The two enter Tasha's personal office, which was decorated with all sorts of Egyptian Relics she'd 'kindly' taken from the Pyramids, some she even purchased from Museums around the globe.
She walked to the couch in the office and sat down. Then, with a hand gesture, she ordered Anderson to sit in front of her.
The man nodded and sat down. He then continued narrating the events that had occurred.
...
10 minutes passed, and Anderson finished narrating everything he'd witnessed.
"And that's what happened. After Thomas was safe again, the group and I split up, and I returned to Samar." Finished with narrating everything, he remained silent while looking at his mother.
Tasha remained silent. Anderson didn't know what the woman was thinking, and to be honest, he didn't care much.
A few seconds of silence passed, and soon Tasha's voice was heard again:
"... The Witch Queen, what did she want with Alucard?"
"I don't know."
"... You didn't try to ask?"
"It wasn't my job."
Tasha's brow twitched a little. That was one of the annoying parts of her Servants' report. She didn't know what the Queen wanted with Alucard, which bothered her. She couldn't bring herself to think that her most competent servants were literally right next to two influential individuals and didn't even try to get any information out of them.
"Mother, I know what you are thinking."
Tasha raised her eyebrow at her son's statement.
"Alucard willingly took on the greatest danger and saved my brother. Whatever The Witch Queen wanted with him is none of my business."
"My job was to rescue my brother, not to intrude on a conversation that wasn't in my best interest."
Tasha's expression didn't change, but she was annoyed.
'This is why my two Eldest Sons are failures. Even if it wasn't in our best interest, information is information. Nothing should be discarded.'
"Haaah, you're making that expression again." Anderson sighed. Even though Tasha hadn't said anything or expressed herself, he knew his mother well enough to understand her habits.
After all, this had happened several times in the past. Anderson knew his mother wanted to know what Victor and Evie discussed. He also knew that she was disappointed that her subordinates, and he himself, did not try to get information out of Victor, even if that action would likely harm Victor and Anderson's relationship.
"Mother, Alucard is The Second Progenitor of Vampires."
"You, of all people, should know how important a connection with someone like that is."
"And besides, he is my friend. I will not risk that friendship by meddling in his affairs when it has nothing to do with me or Samar."
"You don't know that. You don't know if it has anything to do with you or Samar, and that's the problem. What have I said so many times?"
"Those who have information always have an advantage over those who don't."
"Correct, Evie Moriarty met with The Second Progenitor in person. She probably wanted to thank Alucard for saving her daughter, but that thought is incorrect. According to what you and my subordinates said, they spent a lot of time talking."
"What did they do there? What did they talk about for so many hours? Did Evie, The Witch Queen, fuck Alucard? This is a possibility. I saw it on the broadcast. The man is Divinely handsome. He looks like a God of Beauty. Even Apollo himself is not as handsome as Alucard is. Even I think he's handsome."
Anderson broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't know how to react to those words from his mother.
"We don't know anything, and it pisses me off."
"Haaah…" Anderson just sighed. Talking to his mother was frustrating; the woman was very extreme.
'Does she even realize the implications of what she said? ... Yes, she knows. She just doesn't care.'
"Not knowing anything is a sin, and for not knowing anything, we are in this current situation."
Anderson raised an eyebrow. 'Now, this is strange. She is acting more extreme than before. Even though she is the 'Darkness' of Samar, the woman is still a Queen. Most of the time, she is quite sensible...'
As he pondered on this, Anderson realized the problem: 'If it were before Thomas was kidnapped, she would have approved of my approach. But, instead, it seems the invasion of Demons has greatly affected her pride...? No, she doesn't care about pride, only the result... That is... Something terrible has happened, and she is unbalanced.'
"Mother, what happened?" Anderson asked with a serious expression:
"You're acting weird. Where is my dad? Now that I think about it, where are the Royal Guards?"
Tasha stared at her second son for a long time until she let out a long sigh. It was a very different sigh than Anderson was used to, and she looked quite tired.
Anderson started to become even more worried. He'd never seen his mother like this.
"Our Guardian is ill."
"... Huh?"
"It happened a few days after the Demons invaded. Fenrir fell ill. We noticed it because we are connected to him through his Blessing. Although the illness didn't affect him that much at first, he is severely weakened now, and his strength is getting weaker by the day."
"That was why I didn't leave Samar, and neither did Volk."
"All Royal Guards are on standby protecting our Guardian. No one is allowed to approach him but me and Volk."
"W-Wait, what do you mean by getting sick?" He stuttered a lot, confusion showing all over his face, "He's a Beast of The Apocalypse, you know? He can't 'get sick'."
"I know, I didn't even think this was possible, but this is happening. This is reality. Fenrir is sick, and nobody knows what the cause of this illness is. Even our doctors can't find anything." Tasha was completely serious; there was no room for doubt.
Samar had one of the best doctors available in the Supernatural World. Unlike other Races, Werewolves, when they are born, are born with the same body as a human child. So if they got hurt, they would take time to heal. Any bump could cause bruises, and this condition led them to develop better medicine.
Not to mention that not all Wolves that had already Awakened their power would develop such a high healing factor, so a doctor was needed to take care of the Werewolves' bodies.
And thanks to the support of the King of Werewolves, those beings who wanted to become doctors would have all expenses paid by the King himself. Doctors were a valued profession in this place.
The Werewolves were essentially a warrior society, and in order to fight, you needed someone who was capable of fixing you later.
Anderson swallowed hard and accepted his mother's words. Fenrir, a beast capable of destroying an entire Pantheon and causing the end of the world, was sick. That was the reality of the situation:
"… Do you have suspects?"
"The Demons, of course." She spat in disdain when she said the word 'Demon'. It was as if she had eaten something rotten.
"Everything is very convenient. After the invasion of those bastards, our Guardian falls ill? It's too much of a coincidence for them not to be suspects."
"... Other possible suspects?"
Tasha narrowed her eyes at her son.
"… Don't look at me like that, Mother. You always said not to think about the obvious and always try to look lower. I'm just doing that now."
"… A traitor?" Tasha muttered.
"It's a possibility, I was here when the Demons invaded, and I didn't feel or see any Demons approaching Fenrir's chambers, and even if a Demon went to that place..."
"He would just be going to his death, to be devoured entirely. Fenrir is not the Beast of The Apocalypse for nothing."
"Correct."
"That is, someone Fenrir trusted or had been around for a long time..."
"As I said, it's a possibility. On the other hand, there's also a chance he got sick of his own accord. After all, there's a lot about Fenrir's biology that we don't understand."
Fenrir... Was a unique being. He looks like a Wolf, a Direwolf. But he was much more than that. He was a God in the form of an animal, and the very 'concept' of 'END' was in his very existence.
Tasha nodded her head in agreement with her son. She stopped thinking about it a bit and looked at her son, this time with a clearer head, and it was only now that she realized something.
"You've grown up, my son." She flashed a motherly smile that took Anderson by surprise.
"That's what happens when you have a wife." Anderson shrugged.
"Looks like you're getting along with her."
"Yes." He scratched his cheek a little as he turned his face away.
"... That's good. At least your relationship will be smoother than your Father's and mine."
Anderson nodded. He had already heard stories of how his mother and Father got along badly in the beginning. After all, they had a very different vision of government and ideals.
"Speaking about Wives, it's time you got your Second Wife. It'll be good for the political climate-."
"Cough, I'm sorry, mother, I just realized I had something important to do. I must water my cat and let my Wife know I'm back." He quickly got up from the couch and ran to the door.
"If you need anything, just call. Bye!" With the same speed, he closed the door and started to run.
'Hell no! If I take another Wife now, my current Wife will kill me!' That was Anderson's thought as he ran through the Castle.
Tasha opened her eyes a little surprised but soon showed an amused smile:
'He really hasn't changed, huh? He always avoided troublesome things.'
Soon her expression grew cold:
"Servos."
Three men and three women with chocolate skin and black hair appeared kneeling in front of the Queen. They were Tasha's people, servants loyal to only her, the Queen herself, who was their Alpha.
"My Queen."
"Interrogate everyone in the Castle… Those who refuse to listen to you can be treated more impolitely."
"… Is the First Prince included in this order?" The older-looking man asked carefully and neutrally.
A few seconds of silence fell in place until the silence was broken:
"Yes, the First Prince is also included. However, ignore the Second Prince and the Third. They are innocent."
Even though she wasn't in the best of her emotions due to recent events, old habits never died. By questioning her son, she was also trying to find some falsehood.
And as expected, she saw nothing.
'Well, Anderson was never good at hiding his emotions. He was always very honest.' Even though he grew up and became an adult and learned to hide his emotions, that side was never shown to his mother.
The man was always honest with his mother.
"Yes, my Queen." The eldest spoke, and soon the six disappeared from the office.
"... hahaha... What a mess." Tasha took a long breath and leaned back in her chair as she looked up at the ceiling and said:
"Alucard... Second Progenitor... Queen of Witches... A daughter no one knew about... The anomaly... And, a War the likes of which has not been seen since the times of Genesis... Things are getting messy and out of control very fast..." She closed her eyes.
"I'm tired." She murmured, and soon put her head on the table and closed her eyes. Then, drowsiness started to take over her body, and soon she fell into the realm of unconsciousness. The woman hadn't slept since the events of the Demon invasion of Samar.
....
