Chapter Nineteen

“H ey, Love,” Loki greets me as soon as I step foot into the kitchen.

“Are you okay? You were gone for a while,” Storm asks, looking concerned.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I thought I’d be more shaken up than I am after running into Astaroth, but I really do feel okay.” I reply, knowing that’s what they’re worrying about.

Kill’s smile has a distinct edge to it as he replies, “It’s amazing what killing the person who tormented you can do. They say that revenge never makes you feel better, but sometimes it really does.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Grey replies.

“That’s not why she took so long though,” Xerxes sing songs.

Raised eyebrows and curious looks turn my way, and Rival asks, “Oh? So why did you take so long?”

I decide there’s no way that they’re going to believe me unless I show them, so I hold my hand up to my shoulder and say, “Come on, Meri, the guys want to meet you.”

Loki pulls a confused face, “Meri? Who the fuck is Meri?”

Meri decides that this is the perfect time to make his entrance and scurry’s forward onto my hand; of course, there are no pictures of Maradraches anywhere, so the guys move closer.

“Okay, now I understand he’s cute as fuck,” Zev mutters, peering down at Meri, who’s strutting around in my hand and showing off.

“I’ve never seen a dragon like him before,” Reaper mutters and then frowns, “but Ryu is cautious; he won’t let me get any closer than I am already. He’s unsure why but his instincts are screaming at him.”

“That’s probably because he’s a Maradrache,” Grey says cautiously, with knowledge in his eyes that he shouldn’t have.

None of us bother to ask him how he knows that, after what happened in the front room, we won't risk asking him something that could trigger that pain in him again.

“What the fuck,” Storm exclaims as they all move back away from me.

“Farren, Love, you need to explain how you have all the realm’s biggest threat sitting on your hand all cute and shit?” Loki asks.

I explain everything, and by the end of it, they’re all looking at me even more shocked and are still keeping their distance.

“Okay, so now you have a hellhound and a Maradrache protecting you.” Rival mutters.

“And we have no idea who told Meri to protect Farren,” Reaper adds.

“He won’t hurt you guys unless you hurt me,” I decide to reassure them since they’re still standing far away from where I am with Meri.

“Are you sure? Because he’s looking at me,” Rival asks, sounding more than a little bit cautious.

“I’m sure,” I reply and walk closer, holding up my hand and then stroking Meri with my other one and cautioning him, “Be nice.”

Meri nods, much to the surprise of everyone, and Xerxes chuckles, obviously finding this amusing.

Rival is obviously taking too long to stroke him because when Poca makes his appearance, Meri flaps his wings, lifts himself off my hand and lands on the floor in front of Poca. We all watch cautiously as Poca watches him and then shockingly lays down on his belly, resting his head on the floor as Meri approaches him cautiously, they stare at each other intently, and Meri shocks me when he grows in size not by much but obviously bigger than he was. The way they’re staring at each other makes me think that they’re having a conversation.

“Well, neither of them has hurt the other, that's a good sign, right?” Zev asks.

“Definitely. Although it's not surprising, they both protect you and want to keep you safe. So, why would they harm each other?”

Kill nods, “Okay, that makes sense.”

We carry on watching them, curiosity overtaking everything else. Poca suddenly lights a small portion of his fur on fire right between his shoulders and lets out a huff that almost sounds like a laugh as Meri moves around him and clambers up his side heading straight for the portion of Poca’s back that’s on fire.

“Whoa, careful Meri, a hellhound's fire kills the majority of creatures that walk the realms,” I warn him and smile when he pauses.

However, he doesn’t seem to heed my advice at all as I swear he winks at me and then runs towards the flames on Poca’s back; he snuggles down, releasing a happy sigh and falling asleep within seconds even as Poca stands back up. Now he’s slightly bigger, I can hear tiny snores coming from him, and it’s the cutest damn sound I’ve ever heard.

“Alright, I know he’s here to protect you, supposedly, but he’s sleeping in hellfire like he’s having a warm fucking bath, hellfire that would kill any one of us if we touched it,” Rival exclaims.

“Apart from Farren,” Zev adds.

Grey’s eyes snap up from where they are staring at Meri and Poca; his eyes widen before narrowing slightly, “You can touch his fire? Not just his fur?”

I nod, “Yes, I always have been able to. It doesn’t burn me; we found that out by accident.”

Grey shakes his head, and in a voice so quiet that I don’t think any of us are meant to hear, he mutters, “What the fuck is she playing at?” When I raise my eyebrow in question, his expression shutters and he clears his throat as he adds in a normal tone, “If you don’t mind me asking, when did he first appear to you?”

I pause before answering, so I can ensure I answer truthfully, “I think I was about four. He showed up after a particularly bad beating from my father. He was only a baby himself.”

Sensing my distress at the memory, Poca whines slightly and comes to my side, resting his head against my stomach, as I sink my fingers into his fur and give him light scratches. I can feel the heat from his fire, but I don’t need to worry about it burning me, and just because I can feel how incredulous Grey is about the whole situation right now, I reach my hand into the flames and stroke the top of Merri’s head making him make the cute chittering noise he did earlier.

“This is impossible,” Grey says, sounding truly shocked, and I get the impression that it doesn’t happen often.

“What do you mean?” Rival asks, his curiosity high.

Grey sighs and takes a seat, prompting us all to do the same. Meri stretches and moves from the fire circle on Poca’s back to curl up on my lap. He’s still the size of a small cat, and I stroke his scales as I wait for Grey to answer Rival’s question. I know that my bond with Poca is unusual, but it appears that it’s more uncommon than I thought. Poca lies down next to me, and he's big enough that he can rest his head on my lap next to Meri with ease.

“None of what Farren can do makes sense, in general, but even more so when it comes to Poca. Hellhound pups have zero control. They kill, maim and eat everything they can, and it takes centuries for them to become as calm as Poca is right now. Not only that, but I don’t know any supernatural apart from Hades himself that can touch their fire,” Grey explains.

“Fantastic. Why can nothing ever be simple when it comes to me? It’s strange enough that I get a familiar, that’s rare, but I get a hellhound which is stupidly rare, and he’s also special,” Poca huffs, and I smile as I stroke him again, “I’m glad you find it amusing, dude. Add to that the fact that I can do things with my Void magic that no one has been able to do, at least not that I can figure out anyway. The Void is changing,” I reply, not meaning to say it out loud, but it’s too late now.

“What do you mean?” Storm asks.

“Also, Darlin’, that’s what makes you so special and one of the many things that we all adore about you,” Kill adds, smirking at me.

“What he said,” Loki grins.

I decide to ignore them both because I have no idea how to deal with it and answer Storm, albeit reasonably vaguely, mainly because I don’t have the answers and also because I don’t think I should, not yet anyway.

“Ever since I could enter the Void, it’s been black, like pitch black, the only pinpoints of lights being the doors that I summoned myself in order to walk through them.” I start to explain.

“And now?” Mayhem asks.

“Now, it’s still dark but not as dark, and we’ve already learned that there are creatures there. I just feel like there’s more to it.” I try to explain.

“From all the accounts that I’ve read from Void users, they all describe it how you first describe it, I haven’t ever heard of there being creatures in the Void, but our last task proved that not to be true.” Rival adds.

“Things are changing,” Grey says ominously.

“Everything will be revealed when it needs to be,” Zev adds, and when we look at him, he smirks.

“Well, I guess that’s the end of that then,” I smile and notice that the slight tension around his eyes disappears entirely. I think it will take him a while before he stops worrying that we’re going to get angry with him for not filling us in on something he’s seen.

“What do you think about all of this?” Kill asks Xerxes, his lips tilting up, “Meri can kill you too, right?”

“Probably. I am kind of a supernatural creature, so it stands to reason. It’s just amusing because in this room, there are the most powerful supernaturals that I have ever come across, and the majority of you don’t even know your own strength and how far your magic can really go.”

“Care to expand on that?” Storm asks him, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Nope,” Xerxes replies, popping the ‘p’.

Rival is sitting next to me, watching Meri closely. I think Meri is aware that Rival wants to stroke him but is nervous because he opens his eyes and flies out of Poca’s fire and onto my lap, still the same size as a house cat. Once he’s settled back down, Rival looks at me, and I nod in encouragement, he pauses slightly before slowly reaching out and stroking his back. Meri closes his eyes and enjoys the gentle touch. He can obviously somehow sense what I’m thinking because I get a flash of images almost too fast for me to really see them, but I get the same impression from each one, pain and suffering. Inflicted on him and that he’s inflicted.

Speaking in my mind and trusting that he can hear me, I make a promise that neither I nor anyone else in this room will ever intentionally hurt him, that he’s safe with us.

He makes this cute, almost purring noise and snuggles down further into my lap as Rival withdraws his hand.

“Alright, well since that’s cleared up, let's eat and then get some sleep. We’ve had another crazy day. We can go over the plan to break the dark magic holding the other two factions under the Princes control and how we’re going to get the last two pieces of the key, all of it tomorrow.” Storm orders.

The topic quickly changes to more relaxed conversations as we eat, and it’s not long until I can barely keep my eyes open, exhausted from the stress of the day.

Moving Meri into my arms, I stand up, Poca moving to get up with me, “Good idea. I’m going to go to bed, guys, it’s been a long few days, and I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Alright, Love, sweet dreams,” Loki replies, standing up and kissing me on the cheek before he makes his way over to the kitchen side of the room to get himself some more coffee.

One by one, all of the others get up to give me hugs, and either kiss me on my forehead or cheek; by the time I finally turn around to leave, I feel like I’m floating on air. I’ve never experienced a feeling quite like it, the feeling of being cared about by so many people.

I go through my bedtime routine of showering and getting ready for bed. At the same time, Poca and Meri make themselves at home on my bed, and it's not until the lights are off and I’m under the covers that the events of the day and, more importantly, Astaroth catch up with me. I don’t cry, it’s not in my nature, and if it were, then I would’ve spent the majority of my life crying. I’ve certainly had enough reasons to. Even so, a single tear makes a wet track down my face and lands on my pillow. Poca whines and nudges my hand until I place it on his head as he gets as close to me as possible, and once again, surprising me, Meri nudges my nose with his own and looks at me with sad and understanding eyes.

I stroke him gently, both of them, but I can’t seem to find it in me to reassure them with words, and I know that they don’t mind. That one tear is quickly followed by more, and there’s nothing I can do to stop them. I reach out to the bonds and close them down as much as I can without making Loki, Storm and Kill suspicious. Although, by this point, I hope that they’re all asleep anyway.

Memories start to press in on me as his face flashes through my mind him smiling and laughing as I scream in pain. Meri growls, his growl mixing with Poca’s, and I somehow realise that they’re both able to see what I’m seeing. I don’t know how to stop it, and I get the feeling that they don’t want me to; in some strange way, it's almost a relief to share it with them.

The tears won’t fucking stop. Why won’t they stop?

Mayhem

I ’m tossing and turning in bed. I can’t get the look on Farren’s face when she thought I was someone from the Underworld out of my head; she hid it well when we were talking and at dinner, but I could see them, the shadows in her eyes. She looked haunted. I know what that’s like, and because of that, I know that she is not okay now, and I can't fucking stand it. But ultimately, what right do I have to go and check on her?

We’ve been through a lot together, but her connection with me isn’t nearly as strong as it is with the others, and I don’t know how welcome my presence will be. Throwing off my covers, I sit on the edge of my bed, trying to figure out what the best thing to do would be. I need to see for myself that she’s okay, the thought of her hurting and alone is physically hurting me and the severity of my reaction to it makes me realise that my feelings for her are a lot stronger than I thought they were.

Finally, I can’t take it any more, something in me is screaming that I need to go to her, and I know I’m not going to be able to rest until I know for certain that she is okay. Getting up, I stride across my room to the door, aware that I’m only in loose linen pants but too focused on what I need to do to bother with grabbing a shirt. As I pull open my door though, I pause as I find my dishevelled looking brother standing on the other side, looking as if he were about to come in and dressed in much the same way as I am.

“Worried about her brother?” I ask him.

He nods, “I saw it in her eyes, and I know you did too. The fear, the memories.”

“I saw. I couldn’t let her relive it all alone, and she puts up such a good front that I’m not sure the others even picked up on it.”

“I don’t think so, or they’d be doing what we are.”

“They might already be there,” I reply before adding, “Come on.”

We move down the hall in silence, but where we started the walk to her room at a brisk pace, we both seem to get the urge to move quicker, to get to her now, at the same time and within seconds, we find ourselves standing outside of her door, as we both listen to see if we can hear the others.

“She’s crying,” Rival’s voice is clogged with emotion and without any more words needing to be said we both push through the door, finding the room empty apart from Poca, Meri and Farren all curled up on the bed together, Farren looks smaller and more vulnerable than she has ever looked before and to see her like this breaks something in me. I want to tear the fucker apart and watch him bleed for what he’s put her through, and I know there were others. I may not be able to take out my anger on him, but I can on the others, and she doesn’t know it yet, but I can be a sadistic bastard when I fucking want to be, especially when someone I care about is hurting.

“Easy, brother,” Rival mutters under his breath, “she needs comfort right now, not vengeance.”

I nod that I heard him, and force the darker side of me down, now is not the time for it to come out and play. Meri and Poca are obviously on edge, so we both approach the bed cautiously; neither of us is equipped to go up against them if they decide that our presence here is unwelcome. Farren is so consumed by her tears that she isn’t even aware that we’re in here and we weren’t exactly quiet when we entered.

Meri and Poca are though, and they watch us closely as we approach. I try to convey that we just want to be there for her, and I hope that they get the message because, one way or another, I am comforting Farren.