"Well, at least I know what he meant by 'You will know when the time comes', because I certainly don't know much now..." Kitty sighed darkly, looking at the drawing with a puzzled face.
"Naughty." Erebus pressed her head for a sec and took the roll to have a closer look, "We need to get more information on this, maybe it involves a legend or something."
"Looks like it has something to do with witches." Metis said with her fingers on her chin, thinking hard.
"Maybe..." Kitty said, knowing what she was referring to was the wand. "Maybe I can ask the witch on the Maple Street? She seems nice, if you would like."
It was, after all, the belongings to the werewolf king. Kitty wasn't sure if it would be wise to consult someone he wouldn't consider as a friend.
"Maybe." Surprisingly, Erebus nodded in agreement.
"Really?" Kitty widened her eyes with shock. "Okay, great! I'll go there today!"
"Tomorrow is fine. Let's get you back to the hotel first." Erebus turned to Kitty, "You need some sleep in you. We have a war ahead."
"And we will get on with locating Perses's men in the city." Metis said and turned to leave.
"Take Iapetus with you." Erebus stopped her, "map out their locations and time when they disappear, and try to figure out the most possible location of their hiding place."
"Yes, my Lord." Metis bowed a bit and left with Iapetus.
"Also, they will be able to go in if they are with the person who the spell is trying to protect. Like last time when I went there with Erebus to the magic shop." Kitty told Erebus, "She doesn't want to be disturbed, so..."
"I understand." Erebus nodded, "I'll drop you there tomorrow, and wait outside while you are there. Get Hephaistos here, he will be in charge of the bar these days."
"Thanks." Kitty said, nudged him on his arm with her head.
Erebus patter her on the head: "Of course. She's your friend, hence having my respect."
Kitty lowered her head at that comment, feeling her ear tips all red and hot again. She had no idea how to deal with these flirting-like, sweet words Erebus gave her every now and then.
She knew by the time she got under Erebus's arm when he shifted into a huge wolf and watched her door, that she was in deep trouble.
This was a man she met only two weeks ago, and she was already falling for him at a dangerously fast speed.
On the way back to the hotel, they were both silent. Kitty was nervous and a bit ashamed for thinking about how attracted Erebus was when the situation was so serious.
Emma was still nowhere to be found, and the King of Erebus's world basically just gave his will at a sudden visit, revealing a horrible dark secret, and there she was, thinking how warm it was to sleep hugging the silver wolf, and how warm she felt whenever she got a smile from this gentle, powerful and sunny man.
It intrigued her so much that with a seemingly dark and painful past, how could this man still had so bright smiles to give the world.
Dare she to have such a sweet dream to actually be with him? So new to this game, Kitty didn't know what to do, even what to feel at this moment, but she surely couldn't keep her impulse like this for long!
Erebus glanced at Kitty with worried look. He didn't know the frowning on her face was because of him.
"Don't worry. The red witch wanted her dead, but for some reason, Perses hide her away, which means he intended to keep her alive. She's safe for now, and we will get her back." Erebus broke the silence and tried to comfort her.
Kitty shoot her head up in panic, and her face soon turned red because she was NOT worried about Emma at that moment.
"T-thanks! Hmm, are witches always this much involved in your world? I mean, werewolves’ world." Kitty came up with a question to shift his attention on her.
"What do you mean?" Erebus asked.
"I mean, like, I certainly feel that all of a sudden there are so much supernatural stuff entering my life, you know? Like, a witch was behind the murders in my village; and now your queen might also be a witch; and Emma, a kid I found at the church at our village, also happens to be a witch's--" Kitty didn't want to talk about Emma’s and her identity, so she quickly changed her words to, "also might have something to do with a witch, and stuff. Are your world usually so involved with them?"
"I see. Yes and no. We don't usually separate our world, so yes, witches are not too strange a concept to be in our life; but no as in, we don't usually intervene with one another's core life values." Erebus nodded and explained, "Witches help us too. Their spells can convenient us as a lot, like this."
Erebus opened his hand and there appeared a foggy wolf fang, floating in the middle of his palm. It was his imprint, the one all his Dim Patronus have, and the one that was the symbol of his name.
"This is the creation of a wizard, you know him, Signo the Imprimerer. He is a friend, and he helps out. He just doesn't really get involved with politics." Erebus explained.
"I see." Kitty nodded.
"But we would stay away with respect if a witch or wizard doesn't welcome us. That's how we remain peaceful for so long." Erebus added, "But we won't tolerate them crossing the line either. Like the one protects Perses's men in my city. That would be a hostile move, and whoever did that, wasn't really trying to hide themselves, because that was a very noticeable spell, and if I strike back, neutral witches would not intervene."
"That's good to know. I'm sure werewolf would win if you fight a witch one on one, but magic like this... how..." Kitty hesitated. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she didn't how to defeat "magic" either. It was MAGIC they were talking about!
"Haha, it's okay to say." Erebus burst into laughter for Kitty's hesitation, "It's not like we don't see the difference. BUT, who says werewolves cannot use magic?"
"Oh my God! What?!" Kitty exclaimed, "Well, because you are not called 'witches' or 'wizard'! You know?! Like--" Kitty was genuinely shocked, this was so out of her imagination of the supernatural world.
"Hahaha... okay, not ALL werewolves can use magic. Only some. It's a born gift, and no one knows why. But the royal family, most of them are born with magic, and that's why they have always been in charge." Erebus said.
"That's a lot like some of the ancient dynasties in human history. The royal families hand down their legacy with blood." Kitty commented, "Don't you find it a bit unfair?"
"In logic, maybe. But we do have to obey our alpha, even if they are not royal." Erebus said, "Besides, it's natural to us to be led by the most powerful, and as you can imagine, the royal family remains the most powerful, because they have magic."
"I suppose..." Kitty said in deep thoughts. There was something wrong in Erebus's logic, but she couldn't really pin point where and why. It was just an odd feeling. She was trying to think on that as the car pulled over by the hotel, and that was when her thoughts were scared out of her mind by an angry voice:
"Where have you been all night?!"
"I'm sorry!! I totally forgot..." Kitty jumped out of the car and remembering that Erebus was still in there, so she turned to him and apologized, "Sorry, I have to go...""No problem, see you." Erebus gave her a smile, ignoring the angry man by her side. He just drove away.It was Curtis."This is the second time that you disappear on me!" Curtis turned to Kitty after Erebus was out of sight.
"You--" Kitty gasped, didn't even know how to finish her sentence. She didn't know she was so upset at his lying to her.Deep down, she knew he did what he did out of kindness, but it made her feel stupid and ridiculous to find out that she was even dreaming about being with him when her everything was given by him, without her knowing no less.She felt like a bird kept in a golden cage."Kitty." Erebus turned, actually not that surprised as how she imagined, "Please
Kitty was a bit off for the whole rest of the night. She didn't know how to tell Curtis that she won't be working here anymore, so she kept that to herself till the end of their shift.That was NOT a restful night for her.No, there wasn't any more Perse's man on her tail, at least they won't be able to get into the hotel; no, she no longer needs to worry about starving the next day, or having no place to sleep, yet somehow, it felt like there were more trouble in her life than before.
"Hey! What a nice surprise!"Kitty gave Winnie a huge smile for her warm welcoming. Without any "pup", as Winnie put it, following Kitty, she found that grotesque little store pretty easily."I came with news of good and bad. Also, a question." Kitty didn't waste any time, even though she liked this motherly witch a lot and would love to spend time with her, she has a sister to save."Ohh, good news! Always good news. In this life, you need positive thinking to go on
"We have mapped out all the points where they suddenly disappear, but we couldn't pin point their location." Metis and Iapetus were standing in front of Erebus, who was casually sitting in the wheel chair in the office on the 19th floor of The Fort.He had rarely been to the bar recently. The office here was his base now, ever after Kitty was here."I see." Erebus nodded, not seemed to be surprised. If a spell was so useless, then it wouldn't be called "magic"."But
"The problem is, the followed target can only have one destination paper doll on them, meaning, how many people can get in, depends on how many Perses's men we can find." Kitty handed the paper dolls over to Erebus as she explained how it works."No problem, we currently are aware of two of his men, and we just found a third person." Erebus took the paper dolls."Person?" Kitty caught the weird description."Arya, she's the third daughter of our new queen. We think s
"So, why are we here?"On the open bar on top of the hotel, Curtis stretched himself on a cane sofa."You resigned a decent pay job, so I'm here to inquire into that on behalf of the hotel." A man in black suit sat formally opposed to Curtis and replied with politeness."Ohh, really?" Curtis curved his lips into a sarcastic grin, "And why would your hotel care? I would think it to be a very attractive position?"
"Metis, where are you?" Erebus asked as he ran."Right around Seventh Avenue. Winnie is in the car, too." Metis answered."Put her on." Erebus's voice was cold."She can hear you." Metis said."Tell me what’s going on, and be aware that your answer decides whether you get to live till tomorrow." Erebus's voice was calm, but ther
"What do you think you are doing?!" The Queen snapped at the wolf who flung himself at her: "Get off me you stupid dog!" "Kitty!" Didn't know where he found the strength, but Erebus managed to stand up, catching Kitty in midair and fell on the ground again -- At least she fell on him. "Ouch!" Kitty curled in his arms with her eyes closed shut. She was so sure that she would die -- being hit by the spell of the Queen. "What the --?!" The Queen waved her wand and the wolf over her flew backwards with a whine. Kitty was alright. There was no blood hole on her body, and she seemed all fine except a bit shocked from what happened a second ago. "Are you alright?!" Allura's voice came, and Kitty couldn't even respond to that. Erebus coughed under her. "Erebus!" She finally snapped out of the shock and got off his body to prevent more pressure put on his wound. "Are y-you alright?!" He managed to
"Thanks for bringing them to me." The Queen smiled viciously at the three, and before anyone could even do anything, a beam of green light shoot out of the Queen's wand --"Kitty!"Kitty only heard that word coming from Erebus before he dashed himself between Kitty and the green light, and all she managed to do was to drive Phosis into motion by instinct.Two cracks rose.Phosis was hit first and cracked into two parts, flying in the air; and Erebus flew backwards when the second crack rose and Kitty froze right where she was at that.It finally happened.Phosis broke, and Erebus was lying on the ground, bleeding."Erebus!" Kitty threw herself over him, but no healing spell she knew was seeming to do the trick."He was an annoying little wolf, wasn't he?" When Kitty looked up to stare at the Queen, the Queen finally smirked at her --She had been watching as if it was a play."You evil witch!" Angry curse burst ou
"You, are in trouble."By the time that voice rose behind Kitty, there was already no time for her to get away from it while avoiding the light spear coming at her afront.She knew someone was coming from behind, but she was hoping that she could make it.Guess not.Dissolving the light spear, Kitty wheeled on the voice, all prepared to be attacked in all sorts of way but --She saw Erebus curved lips in front of her."!" Kitty rose her hand and lightening rose in her palms before it rushed towards him."It's me!" Erebus dodged in the last second, rising both his hands to show that he wasn't hostile."Impossible!" Kitty stared at him with suspicious eyes, "It's such a stupid lie --""Phosis IS powerful," Allura came near them, "But the ring is AS powerful. They are in balance, remember?"Kitty stared at Allura in disbelief."You expect me to think that you just got the ring that easily?!" Kitty took a step
Silence.Then she took a step back with a wry smile."When did you know?" "Allura" -- Theia -- asked."About the time when I saw you standing here." Erebus didn't even move a bit, looking at Theia with a light smirk.Theia hmphed: "You didn't know I was the mole for all those years."She stressed on the word "mole" as if insulting herself could somewhat reduce her guilt before she bit on her lips hard as she stared at Erebus."That's true." Erebus nodded slightly, "You don't make much move. But I guess it's the one time you move that matters.""And yet here you are, right where we want you to be." Theia sneered at him."I don't know about that, but I do have something to ask you." Erebus glanced at the dark forest behind her, "Do you really have no love for Tartarus?""Isn't it a little too innocent of you to ask such a stupid question?" Theia frowned but she turned to look away from Erebus.He signed."I'd
"You are here."It took a long time for Erebus and Kitty to finally find Allura on the party.It seemed as if ALL the werewolves in the country came to this huge event, and even a lot of strange faces that no one seemed to knew."What's the plan?" Staying by the side of the window, Kitty asked Allura as Erebus took a sip of his drink, as if they were just three normal guests, talking in a relaxed way."Like how we discussed." Allura said in a way of trying to not to move her lips, "She is going to give me the ring on the ceremony. But...""But?" Erebus asked."Nothing..." Allura mumbled with a frown, as if there was something bothering her."Does it have anything to do with the fact that the Queen doesn't have the ring on her hand right now?" Erebus said before he took another sip. His eyes were not even on the Queen."What?!" Kitty wheeled at the direction of the Queen to check, "How could she allow that to happen?! And how di
"Where are you taking me?!" Kitty finally stopped, panting as she dragging Erebus to a stop."You need to exercise a bit, baby." Erebus laughed as he stopped, noticing that she was really not catching her breath."You are a werewolf!" Kitty yelled even though in doing so it was even harder for her to smooth her breath."Haha!..." Erebus burst into laughter as he turned to look around --It wasn't as easy for him to tell the direction in a forest as in his wolf form. He had to pay attention if he didn't want to get lost."Why in such a rush anyway?" Kitty bent over to catch her breath, "You are acting really weird --""Come on!" Erebus took her hand and got on the way again laughing."I can't!" Kitty sat down on the floor with her hand in his, "You might as well just kill me now! Instead of such a horrible death! I would rather die than going any further --"Before she could finish her complaint, Erebus shifted right there in fr
"Why are you still going to the Alphas?" Kitty asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Erebus dressing up in front of the mirror."We both don't want to control them with Phosis," Erebus said as he stretched his shirt, "But we still need them. It would be great if they would be willing to help us at their own judgement.""Can we trust that though? We'd be in even more of a danger if they betray us in the battle." Kitty said in a low voice, hesitating."I'm aware." Erebus nodded, "But like I said, there is nothing absolute in the world, not even loyalty from the most loyal. We have to take this leap of faith. Besides, they don't have too much motive to help the Queen either."Kitty pursed her lips without a reply."Besides," Erebus turned to her and knelt before her feet, "I didn't stop you from casting the spell on them WAS because I wanted to make sure that they won't be on her side if they were to make that choice.""You mean, if t
"Kitty?" Erebus held her by the wrist and shook her, looking for a response --Kitty froze right where she was with a horrified look on her face, seemingly too shocked by his words so she basically shut herself down..."Baby." Erebus pulled her in and kissed her on the forehead, "You are okay, please don't scare me like this.""I'm not scaring you." Kitty mumbled like a robot, replying with only instinct."Babyy..." Erebus sighed lightly and picked her up into his arms, carrying her to the bed, "Let's sit for a bit, okay?""I don't want to sit." Kitty stook by the side of the bed in a stiff motion, "You...you...""Yes, I already know." Erebus stroke her on the arm, trying to sooth her, "And it's okay, I understand --""It's not okay!" Kitty shook her head violently, and Erebus let out a light laugh:"Yet you did it anyway?""..." Kitty bit her lips, staring at Erebus with tearful eyes."The Queen has got basically
Waking up, Kitty flinched at the finding of herself being naked.She turned around in panic, and realizing that she was already back to their bedroom in the hotel with his arms around her.He was still in a sound sleep --Well, his eyes were still closed.Kitty had no idea whether he was awake or not --In fact, she had no idea about whatever his thought might be these days.She couldn't keep her secret from him any longer, and she knew he was just waiting for her to confess first. Otherwise, why would he took her on such a "date" all of a sudden?At that thought, Kitty slipped out from under the sheet, and Erebus didn't move in anyway even though she lifted his arm from her body.She needed a shower to cool her head, and she wouldn't want to see the love in his eyes extinguished while she was naked.It was a serious talk.Determined her mind, Kitty slipped in the bathroom quietly, and Erebus opened his eyes at th