EIA Detective Agency, Northern District, Luminae
"Don't you think we are being too needy, my love?" Rina asked Austin, while sucking her thumb.
"Maybe.. maybe not. But we do need this. Those deaths weren't easy for either of us," Austin replied, sucking his thumb just like Rina.
Both of them were in Eluya's room, resting their head on her lap as she ran her hands through their hair.
"You two behave like little kids.. So cute," Eluya caressed their heads. Her maternal instincts combined with her therapeutic factor of Divine Blood Art, makes her a perfect therapist for Rina and Austin, who have trauma from the constant deaths.
"And there is no one better than me at this. Don't you think so too, Abel?" Eluya asked Abel who was sitting on the ground with Iliana hugging him tightly from behind.
"Yes.. You are a good therapist, no one would say otherwise," Abel replied while sighing. "But you do need to think about people around you. Iliana went through unnecessary reliving of the same day."
Iliana nodded at Abel's words, sobbing while her face was pressed against his back.
"I hate you, Eluya... I hate you so much.." Iliana spoke, her voice muffled by her constant sobbing.
"I didn't expect us to regress 14,000 times, though," Eluya murmured, bracing herself. Abel fixed her with a judgmental stare.
"Okay, my fault.. But I'm trying my best to mend things," Eluya spoke in retaliation to Abel's judgmental stare. "I'll try to fix my relationship with Iliana too.. Just give me some time."
"Miss Eluya, If you don't mind me asking. Why are you and Abel, not affected by the regressions?" Austin asked as he slowly opened his eyes to ask the question.
"Short answer, We have suffered worse. Long answer, Abel likely has a death count of god-knows-what and I've suffered a similar fate through his hands," As Eluya spoke those words, Rina and Austin looked at Abel as if he was some kind of monster to even hurt someone as kind as Eluya. "But he is the reason I am not a puppet for some random person. So I don't mind."
"I'm curious. Just what kind of past did you two have?" Rina questioned their past, wanting to know it. Her fingers involuntarily circling around Eluya's thighs, without any reaction from her.
"I'm interested too," Iliana spoke as she finally looked up from Abel's back. "Maybe I'll hate you a bit less if you tell us."
"Okay.. If that's what you wish to hear," Eluya looked at Abel, who nodded, allowing her to discuss the past.
"Well, this story dates back to almost 250 years. It was a few months after Abel was recognised as the Numbered one," Eluya explained while scratching Austin and Rina's head. "The Numbered ones are basically a group chosen by the Primordial Roots, the Birth Giver of Progenitors and by extension, the entire vampire race."
"I will not focus on the politics of that outrageous position being given to Abel, but I wanted his recognition since I was a dumb girl, high on fame, and wanted to be recognised by him. I can't tell you how much it hurt me back then to see that he didn't even look me in the eyes, let alone see me as a woman."
"And we fought.. or should I say, I raised my weapon against him while he chose to disarm me, at most. I only had the blessing from Phamis back then so I had no way to stand up against his Divine Blood Art."
"And I chased him around the forest and fought him for multiple months. Fortunately, Lady 4th always oversaw the fights so I never died since Abel always left me at death's door, enough to heal back to full health in about a week's time, even with my significant regeneration capabilities. During those fights, I awakened my Divine Blood Art, transcending the blessings by the sheer stubbornness of wanting his recognition."
"At some point, I forgot that I wanted him to recognise me as a woman and just wanted to be recognised as someone he could look in the eyes. And after around 3 months of constant fights, I didn't win but the Primordial Roots recognised me as a Numbered. And that was the first time he looked me in the eyes."
Eluya sighed as she finished the story. "You don't realise how hard I fell when this guy just looked me in the eyes and smiled.. He spoke in a sweet tone and said 'Welcome'."
"That's when I knew I had to keep this guy, all to myself," Eluya said with a smile before looking at Iliana, who was shocked at hearing all of this. "And we met Iliana a few years ago, she knows most of our story except the very gruesome part. And she's in this with me."
"I know that story, yet it still amazes me every time. It sounds like a very complicated relationship," Iliana said, as she finally stopped sobbing. She could physically feel her depression being absorbed by Abel and pleasant thoughts surfacing her mind due to Eluya.
"Wow, that's some serious stuff," Rina said with a smile, twirling her fingers around Eluya's hair, who didn't seem to mind Rina. "And your hair is so silky. What shampoo and conditioner do you use, Miss Eluya?"
Eluya chuckled at Rina's compliment before replying. "Thank you, Rina! I use the blood of the sinners."
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"Eh?" Austin and Rina muttered, dumbfounded by Eluya's warm reply.
"Yeah, she is telling the truth," Abel supported Eluya's claim. "In fact, she would do that everyday if she could find them."
"Yeah.. You two, are the Proxy and High Priest of Justifia for a reason," Austin replied with a sigh.
..........
Emperor's Castle, Melobranch
"Did those children really run away?" Zandre Ashiwal Garharia XIII, the 53rd Emperor of Garharia, asked Gerald and Lorenz about the letter.
"Seems like it.. These two haven't really been 'subtle' ever since the engagement was made public. What will we do with them?" Lorenz mumbled before both him and Zandre turned to Gerald.
"Why are you looking at me? How would I bring them back?" Gerald said with a calm tone.
"You can't bring them back, we know that. But their letter gave just one hint to where they went and that's the Proxy of Justifia." Zandre said calmly, thinking that Gerald will have an idea on where to look for them.
"If that is the case.. then I can't help you, no matter how much I want to. They are at the safest location if they are with him." Gerald said calmly, earning a sigh from both Lorenz and Zandre.
"So we can't find them? You won't tell us their location?" Lorenz asked Gerald only for Gerald to shake his head. "And to think that the Republic of Hurlan has a good relationship with the Vampires, yet I've never met the Proxy of Justifia."
"To be very honest, My senior does not like to involve himself in politics or religion, since you already know how overwhelming the Worshippers of Justifia are. So most followers would kill just to see the Enforcer of their God's will and he doesn't want that." Gerald said calmly, looking at Zandre, whose incapability to remove the stigma against vampires.
Zandre sighed, feeling pressured by Gerald's look. "Look, it's not my fault that the previous emperors had something against the vampires and the stigma is continuing. We made the laws as unbiased as possible but it's impossible to force people and the jury to be impartial."
"And that's exactly why I'm suggesting to dissolve the jury system and establish a Judge system to impart unbiased sentences in court. That's how each and every major country works except the 'Nation of Berserkers' and 'Empire of Garharia', Emperor," Gerald pointed out calmly, as since the dissolution of Luminae's Jury system and establishment of Judge system, Luminae's courts have gone much smoother and in Gerald's own observations, which he took for a week, lead him to a conclusion that Judges are more respected and the judges he trained under his presence are truly impartial.
"I understand but we cannot make a decision of this magnitude so suddenly. Luminae was a special case as it was deemed by the 'Corps' to be corrupt, of which you found clear proof of," Zandre said before sighing as the room fell silent.
"I feel like we can make this a debate that can go on for weeks," Lorenz broke the silence before diverting the attention to the missing Crown Prince and Rina. "So can we not find Austin and Rina?"
"You can, but I won't advise you to allocate resources to look for them. Little Austin and Rina are now Apostles of the Outer Gods, and they are in the presence of my Seniors, The Proxy and 1st High Priest of Justifia.. They are as safe as anyone can be." Gerald put heavy emphasis on their safety since that's exactly what this meeting was.
It wasn't a ruler worried about his successor or a Political leader worried about the safety of his Second-in-command, it was two fathers worried about their children who ran away from home, though not permanently but without any intentions to come back soon.
Zandre and Lorenz just sighed, since Gerald wasn't giving them the location and rightfully so, since that would compromise the location of many key figures of the Religions of this world.
If people even had a hint on where to find two Apostles, a Proxy and a High Priest, they would swarm the entire city just to see their faces. This can get even worse when taken into account that these people are hiding their real identity.
..........
Back at EIA Detective Agency,
"So you are really leaving?" Eluya asked Abel, who was ready to leave for the 'Palace of Xarbo'.
Even now, Austin and Rina were sleeping in her lap while Iliana was hugging her from behind while sleeping.
"Yes, as you might know.. This meeting between us Proxies is important. Not only do we have to welcome the 3rd Proxy of Obrax, but also the meeting is important," Abel said calmly, as he was dressed in an Armor, made of darkness, a subskill of his Divine Blood Art.
"Palace of Xarbo?" Eluya questioned the place of meeting.
"Yes," Abel replied with a nod. "There is no better place for a meeting than the Head Palace of the Mermor, The Palace of Xarbo. The residence of the Leader of the Mermor Tribe, the 1st Proxy of Xarbo, Olivia."
Abel looked at Eluya with a smile, waving her goodbye while the other three slept like kids.
..........
Iron Wolves Covenant, situated a few kilometres east from Lady 4th's residence was in a stressed situation.
They had just received orders from the 13th, the Acting Matriarch of the Covenant, to gather as many of their wanderers as possible within a month.
Meanwhile in the office of the Matriarch,
"Yo, 13.. Long time no see," 14 said calmly as 13 got up from her chair and shoved a bunch of letters in 14's hand. "What's this?"
"Letters you have to deliver to all the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of other covenants. We are officially at war," 13 said with a tired expression. From her appearance it didn't look like she had the chance to sleep for a week.
"I will but you should go and rest though. It's important to keep your health in check, you are only the Acting Matriarch," 14 said with a worried expression.
13 sighed as she walked to the chair, sitting down before covering her face with a book. "It's so tiring.. When will the next Matriarch be appointed?! I wanna go back to being a wanderer and see the world! I wonder what 5th and 6th are doing.." She mumbled.
"Better than you, who chose to become the acting Matriarch of the Iron Wolves Covenant.." 14 complimented her choice sarcastically. "Anyways, if you successfully train a Matriarch or a Patriarch after this situation, maybe you can join us again as a Numbered."
"Leave if you are only here to tease me.. I don't want to talk," 13 said before she fell asleep almost immediately.
14 sighed, seeing 13 falling asleep so easily. "Alright." He mumbled before he quietly left her office.
As per the Rules for Numbered that were set up by Lady 4th and 5th, Numbered will lose their status if they inherit the position of a Matriarch or Patriarch, but 13 didn't lose her status as she was only the Acting Matriarch of the Iron Covenant.
And having one more person with authority on the eventual battlefield that Techonia will be does not hurt at all.
"Today is 23 August, right? So one month and the travel time means... 25 September.. That's the day we will have to fight in Techonia," 14 mumbled as he began making his way to the Red Iron Covenant to deliver the letters. "I should quickly complete one or two quests when I'm free.. We need as much firepower as possible."
Though he didn't know the specifics, the Iron Wolves are only mobilised when Lady 4th issues orders and if her order is a War against Techonia, then it's not simple.
There will be bloodshed.