A/N: It's been so long. I know. I had to concentrate on my college for the past months and I could not write even if I wanted to. So, to make it up, I am giving a double update today. Yes. You can read another chapter next. Don't miss it out!
There could be a few typing errors in this chapter, for my laptop was having a bit of problems. If I had missed anything, let me know.
**********
When Lawan and Wirat rushed to the hospital, I moved to the room where Zeke was staying. Everything we did... everything Zeke did was wasted. In the end, Allen landed in Dave's hands.
Erica was sitting next to him, holding his free hand with hers as she looked at his face lifelessly. She suddenly closed her eyes tight and a tiny tear trickled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it and bit her lower lip.
I really had no words to say to her. How could I comfort her? What could I say?
His records were hanging by his bedside, and the monitor showed his steady heart rate. I pushed myself in.
After finding that Harper had come herself and took Allen, we had to plan carefully. After all, this was the thing we feared, and it had happened.
I sat on the chair next to Erica. "Hey."
Her red eyes pinned me before she looked at Zeke again. I had never seen Erica like this before.
"Hey," she croaked out.
"H-how is he?" I asked.
Erica sniffled. "Another doctor came by this morning and said that he is healing at an unprecedented rate. We just went for his MRI brain this morning. Hopefully, the results would say that he can wake up."
"He will," I said. "He will survive."
"He has to," Erica whispered. "He has to."
I stared at the male before me. His ear-piercings were missing and his hair had faded evidence of the blue dye he had. Brown roots were growing back. Though his face was pale, his heart was beating steadily and his breath was evened out.
If this bastard left me alone, I would not know what I would do. There were some people in my life whose loss I could never take.
"Is he your mate?" I asked.
"Might as well be," she said. "I don't know for sure, but if it is Zeke, I will spend the rest of my life with him."
A smile touched my lips. "Zeke..." I shook my head. "He is a pain in the back."
Erica shrugged. "That's my problem. What brings you here?"
"Came to see Zeke," I said. "Before I leave."
She finally turned to see me. "Leave? Where?"
I steeled myself. "Dave got Allen. I am going to Summer Coven to get him out."
At my words, Erica laughed mirthlessly. "The irony."
I stayed silent.
"Zeke nearly died and Allen could still not be protected?" Erica sneered.
"Harper came herself," I said.
"That bitch," Erica muttered. "Is there nothing that can be done?"
I licked my lips. "I have to go and get him out myself. If.... when Zeke wakes up, give me a message. I want to see him."
Erica gave me a long look. "How are you?"
I shook my head. "Don't ask. I am trying my best to not lose it."
Erica had a wry smile. "Don't do your best, Draco. Don't control it."
"If I don't," I whispered. "I might just destroy everything here."
She shook her head. "You won't."
"How can you tell that?"
"If you harm a single thing here," Erica said. "You are not the Draco I know."
I stared at her silently. "It's scary how well you know me."
She shrugged. "If you did not care about Zeke here, you would not have sent Nox that day with us. If you did not care about Allen, you would not have been losing your mind over it. You obviously care and how can you bear to destroy the things you care about?"
I inhaled deeply and stood up. "Thanks, Erica. I know what to do."
She cocked her head. "Do you?"
I nodded. "I do."
*********
I went to find Taurus. He would definitely accompany me.
Apart from the link that I had with him as his neutraliser, I did not have any other link with him. I frowned. Even when the stars and pulsars did not Soul-Bind, they did have a unique bond with their lovers. Why had I never thought about it?
I followed the way my nose led. Surprisingly it was Dr Mina's office.
"How is my mother?" Aiko asked when I knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Taurus said. "The door's not locked."
"Who is it-" Niran started and when he saw me, he shut his mouth.
Rune frowned. "Why can't I smell your scent anymore?"
I shrugged. "Just cause."
Nox who was half-sitting on the sofa's rest smiled. "He is one of us. Of course, you can't smell him."
Rune's eyes widened. "Why is it like that?"
"Stars..." Nox drawled. "Our weakness is our scent."
"That does not make sense to me," Niran commented.
"Just by smelling you," I said. "If you are not careful enough, I can tell your history. And as pulsars or stars, we have a lot of things we wish to take it to the end of our time."
Niran licked his lips. "Can you tell mine?"
I shook my head. "Taurus trained you well."
Niran turned towards the warrior fast. "You did?"
Taurus nodded. "I train people around me. If they come to know your past, would they not know about me too?"
Niran snorted. "And here I thought you were concerned about me."
"Me?" Rune asked. "Can you read mine?"
Taurus shook his head. "You are a descendant of Luna, whether you like it or not. You have her protection."
Mina sighed. "So that's how you came to know about me the second you saw me with Silver?" she asked Nox.
Nox licked his lips and gave a fleeting glance at Aiko. "Yes."
Contrary to what we thought, Aiko was calm. No spikes in her heartbeat nor was there any fluctuations in her face. What was this female before me? How could she just sit still when her mate's chosen mate spoke about him?
"Aiko," Rune called her, glancing at the two females.
Aiko waved her hand. "How is my mother, Mina?"
Mina, like Aiko, did not have any different expressions. "She might wake up in another three days. Visit her as frequently as you can. She responds to your voice."
Aiko nodded. "That is for the best. And... how is my health?"
Mina pressed a few keys in the computer before her and skimmed through the content. "Dr Hayes said you need just a week of sessions. After that, you are free to go."
"Can I travel?" she asked.
Mina's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
"Just travel," she said. "Not stay in a place."
"You are still malnourished," Mina admonished, but the care in her voice was undeniable. "You want to travel with this body? You don't want to look after your mother?"
"If Allen is saved," Aiko said. "I will leave them."
Mina's eyes grew cold. "It's because of me."
Aiko shook her head with a smile. "Never. I had never been grateful to another person like I am to you. I am very glad that I met you."
"But your actions say otherwise," Mina said.
"That's why I want to leave, Mina," Aiko said. "You mean too much to me. You saved my life even after you knew I was Silver's mate. You stayed with me during those nights when no one visited me. When people thought I would break, you were the only one who stayed by me. I will never forget you, Mina. I want to see you happy. I want to see you live a life without care. If me being here is going to hinder that, I might as well leave."
Mina's lips curled in a smile. "You think you hinder my happiness?"
"Is Silver truly with you?"
A moment of silence prevailed over us. I glanced at my boyfriend and sat next to him.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I came here to ask about Zeke's condition," Taurus said. "We came. But then Aiko barged in and she said she wanted to talk about something. Then you know the rest."
"Not always," Mina admitted. "He was never mine, to begin with. I should not have marked him. We both... we both are not suitable."
"Really?" Aiko asked with a small smile. "Then why is he trying so hard?"
Mina's eyes lost the focus she usually had. "What?"
Aiko nodded. "He came and spoke to me. Told me that even if I am his mate. Told me that even is his instincts is screaming him to be with me, he would choose you over and over again at the end of the day. He may be my mate, Mina, but he loves you. He truly does. Give yourself a chance."
Mina shook her head. "No. I can't do that to you. I know what it is to lose a mate-"
"I am not losing him," Aiko said, a small smile playing on her lips. "I am just wishing he would be happy."
Mina shook her head. "Y-you can't do this to me."
Hearing her, Aiko laughed. "Had someone else been in your place, Mina, they would try to kill me. Make sure that I am out of the picture. How come you are so weird?"
Mina shrugged. "I am weird. Screw me. What are you going to do about it? I want you here, Aiko. That's final."
"Do you know what you are proposing?" Aiko asked. "A torturous life. That's what you want for all of us. Can you promise me that your heart would not break if the bond between Silver and I grew so strong and we kissed, we fucked, we mated? You think I can still smile at you knowing that you just spent the entire night with Silver? You think ze can be calm after knowing ze is ruining the lives of two females?"
Mina's lips quivered.
I wanted to open Silver's head to see what ze was thinking when ze proposed to take Mina as zirs mate. Did ze not think of zirs true mate then? Or did ze just love Mina that much?
"You are leaving?" Mina asked after a while.
Aiko's lips stretched but melancholy was the only thing painted there. "As soon as possible. As soon as Allen is brought back."
Rune looked at me, pulling his eyes from Aiko. She was his god-daughter. Someone Sean entrusted with him before he died. And to see her hurting, I could see pain reflecting in his eyes.
"How is Zeke?" he asked.
I licked my lips. "His chances of living is high."
Rune cleared his throat. "That's good then."
My eyes flickered to Taurus who was watching me. "Come with me?"
He stood up. "Let's go."
Nox shook his head.
Mina hesitated before she asked, "Y-you guys... you are not like us right?" she gestured towards herself and Aiko.
Taurus' gaze was sharp glass shards. "Come again?"
I smiled and took his hand in mine. "Mina... we are not the creatures of Earth. Even among our people, no bonds can bind us. Even Luna and Amaris could do nothing to us. If I want to date him, no one could question us. Perhaps... Cosmos and Chaos might, but they can't have the final say."
Holding my hand in his, Taurus pulled me out, closing the door behind with a force.
"You know," I sighed. "She was just concerned-"
He hugged me from my right side and buried his face in my neck. "How can we be like them? How can-"
I stroked his back. "We are not them, Taurus. Nor are they us."
He inhaled sharply. "I... I don't have anyone. No one in my home to wait for my return. No one is hidden in the darkness of my office. If it is in the past, all have been cut clean."
Though I knew he hated messy relationships and knew that he had clear distinctions, it was better to hear it from his mouth. Nothing could be sweeter to my ears than those words.
"No one in your home to wait for your return?" I asked, hugged him back. "What am I? Dust and ice?"
He laughed. "I have not yet taken you to my home, Draco."
"That's worrying you?"
"Of course," he said, resting his chin on my shoulder, his breath hitting my ears in the right places. "What if someone else steals you away?"
His breath was making me hard to think, but I managed to choke a few words out. "I am that easy to steal?"
His hands tightened around my waist. "Have you met yourself? I consider myself so damn lucky to have you. That night... had you walked away; I would have missed something that I would regret my entire life. And... I would have tried to sabotage every single relationship you would get into."
I cleared my throat. It was better to come out with the truth now. I pulled him to the parking lot and moved where Lawan's car was parked.
It was a sunny morning, with flowers blooming bright and colourful. Birds chirped to each other and the butterflies tried to paint the air in their own way. The leaves swayed gently to the tune of the wind. But none managed to bring the spirits of the hospital up.
Though the sun hit the pale blue hospital with vigour, it had a lingering solemness that nothing could take away. A steady stream of River of Soul passed through this place. These people could not see it, but me being the first-generation pulsar, I could see the gentle flow of the stream here. A place where the line between living and the dead blurred. A place where death snatched souls from the arms of life. A place where hope and strong will made death bow to life.
Fate writers did hold the fate of the lives, but at times even they were forced to change the future of some.
"About that..." I trailed off. "I messed with two dates of yours."
Taurus frowned. "What?"
"Way before the Bind Wars," I said. "You were about to go on a date with a female. I forgot her name... I pulled you to Sector Seven-thirty about the existence of a Yarin. Not allowing you to go on that date."
He blinked. "So... there was no Yarin there that time?"
"My information will never be false!" I protested. "Or else how could I have taken you there? It was just that... I told you after he escaped."
He gave me a look of disbelief. "I thought you were righteous."
"I even threatened your third date," I said simply. "I warned her never to meet you again."
He looked at me for a while.
"Is there something?" I asked.
"Is that all?" he asked.
I nodded and smiled smugly. "That is all."
He pulled me towards him and pressed his lips against mine. As he slowly worked on the kiss, my mind was frozen. My lips finally yielded to his and I did not know the exact cause of my brain melting. Was it his action of kissing me or was the kissing itself?
Who cared at that point? Had this been up to me, I would have announced to the entire world that he was mine. But seeing him being proactive, this was fine too.
His eyes were looking through me as if wanting to pry open my mind and see what else I had done. This gaze was so strong. Nox once told me how terrifying it was to stand on the other side of Taurus. To stand on the side where he would just kill you with a stare.
That same eyes, laden with lust and desire, with the same force would be my undoing. I closed my eyes to enjoy this small wrap of time. After all, a part of my heart was worried about Allen.
Two familiar people came closer to us, yet Taurus refused to break the kiss. He knew who they were and knew that they were coming to meet us.
Wirat coughed.
Annoyed, Taurus pulled away from me and glared at him. The couple looked down and took a few steps back.
"Taurus," I whispered in his ears. "They came to talk to us."
"Could have chosen another time," he grumbled.
I just stared at him. Where was the fearsome Warrior that everyone feared? Why was he being so adorable right now? Especially with his watery eyes and face that was suppressing a blush.
"Shy?" I asked.
He looked startled for a moment before he stood straighter. "Shy? Who? Me? No."
Wirat and Lawan looked up and looked at each other.
My lips curled in a smile. He could fool anyone. Anyone at all. But not me. Even when kissing, his heart raced too fast, as if it was contending with light and sound to see who was the fastest. His eyes, though heavy with desire, was slightly red at the corner. Had we not been in public, I was sure he would be blushing a graceful crimson.
"Really?" I asked.
He cleared his throat. "Yes."
"Okay," I said.
"What okay?" Lawan asked. "I have not even asked you what I came here for."
I licked my lips and this action did not go unnoticed by Taurus. He bit his lower lips and turned his face.
"I was talking to Taurus," I said. "What brings you here?"
"Taurus?" Lawan asked. "But I did not hear what you guys said."
"We were talking through our minds." I folded my arms.
"Like that," Lawan drawled. Then she moved towards her car. "What are you going to do?"
"Allen?" I asked.
"Who else then?" Lawan asked.
"I am going," I said. "I will go to Summer Coven to get him back. I owe that to Sean."
"I will-" Lawan began.
I shook my head. "Not you." When Wirat began to open his mouth, I said, "Not you too, buddy."
"You alone is enough?" Lawan asked.
At this, Taurus turned and gave her a blank look. "Do you know who you are dealing with?"
"Draco," Lawan said, pointing at me.
Amusement laced his voice. "Do you know who he is?"
"My friend," she said.
"If I say he is as powerful as me, would you believe it?" powerful
Wirat blinked. "T-this guy?"
I narrowed my gaze at him. "Why is it so hard to believe?"
"Really?" Lawan asked Taurus, ignoring me.
Taurus nodded.
"As powerful as you... as in literal sense?"
Taurus nodded again. "Every sense."
Lawan whistled. "That explains why his skills in guns surpassed mine."
Wirat gave his mate a blank look. "You are worried about that?"
"What else should I be worried about?"
"Like... like..."
Lawan smiled sweetly. "Exactly. There's nothing more to worry about." she turned to me. "I will await your news, Draco."
"Are you leaving just like that?" Wirat asked.
"With Taurus," I answered. "After meeting with Gaelan."
*********
Tristan was a loud kid. I had to give him that. Sharp cries pierced my ears when I came by his home.
"Can't even keep him silent?" Leigh's crisp voice shattered the baby's cry.
"H-he does not listen to me!" Gaelan answered back.
Taurus sighed and knocked on the door.
Furniture scraped on the floor. "I will go-"
"Sit there and try to calm our son down!" Leigh said. "That's our son. Try to be a parent."
The door opened to reveal a tired Leigh. Seeing us, she sighed. "Come in."
Upon our entry, Tristan saw us and then began to cry again. Gaelan sat on a chair near the dining table and he held his son in his arms.
Taurus tried to glare at the kid, but it ended up looking a mix of irritation and affection. Yet, Tristan shut his mouth and gave the warrior a look of wonder.
Gaelan glanced at him and then at the child in his hand. Then he glared at Tristan. "Who is your father?"
Hearing his voice, Tristan began to cry again.
Leigh was exasperated. "By Surva! What is wrong with you?"
She hit Gaelan on his head and Tristan let out a babbling laugh.
I laughed at this. "The kid is sure yours."
He handed Tristan to Leigh. "Mom and son teamed up against me?"
Leigh snorted. "You can't even calm him down. Don't you dare talk."
Gaelan slumped. "What brings you guys here?"
"Business," I said.
"What business?" The sharpness replaced his laziness.
"Harper is active," I said. "She might come here."
"Okay..." he said. "What does that have to do with me? You both are here. How can she win that?"
"Who said can I am going to be here?"
"What do you mean?"
Taurus said, "We both are going to Summer Coven. We need you to take care of things here."
"Why?"
"Harper came and took Allen away," I said, clenching my fists. "I... I have to get him back."
Tristan looked at us with wide eyes before his lips began to quiver. Noticing that, Leigh took him to his room.
"She snuck Allen away right under our noses?" Gaelan asked.
"Yes," I said.
"How could that be possible?" he whispered. She then shook his head. "Is... is she a perfect mix?"
"That's the only thing that can explain," I said. "She knocked out Nox and took him."
"Okay," Gaelan said. "I will look after the goats here. You both go and get the boy back. I just don't understand one thing-"
Insistent chatter approached the house. It was not a chatter. It was one person yapping. A familiar someone yapping.
"I said they both would be here," she said. "They both are always together. Sort of annoys me. But what can I do? I am happy for them. You still have not told me how you know Draco-"
It was not her voice that made me stand up. It was that familiar radiation. Ever since I gained my memories, I had thought of visiting them. But I met only one and even she failed to recognise me.
This one... he had been my assistant. Someone I could trust. Taurus stood up with me.
She knocked on the door loudly, forcing Gaelan to get up and open the door.
"I swear!" Gaelan grunted. "She is worse than Luna!"
"I am me," Antlia snorted, entering. "Luna is Luna. Dare not compare us again."
But the one behind her stopped after seeing Taurus and I.
"Even the attitude!"
Antlia took a step forward and locked her gaze with Gaelan. "Do you want to die?"
He folded his arms. "You think you can kill me? How cute."
She leant back. "I can't kill you. But I sure can force you and Leigh apart. Wanna try that?" She winked.
Gaelan's smugness vanished. "You are cruel."
"Call me Cruella," she said, flipping her hair.
Gaelan looked at him. "Aren't you coming in, Thuban?"
The star coughed and got on his knees. "Second Commander. Leader."
Antlia frowned. "Second Commander? Leader?"
A faint smile crept my lips. "Hope you have been well, Thuban."
"I am fine, Leader," he said.
Antlia blinked. "You? Draco what Leader are you? Mafia?"
I ignored her. "What brings you here?"
Taurus's eyes widened. "Don't tell me-"
"I am here to tell you that, Second Commander," Thuban said. "I wanted to go to Polaris, but then... I came here."
"Tell him what?" Antlia asked. "What is going on?"
The realisation hit me. "You put Elta to sleep."
Taurus nodded.
"It was eternal sleep," I said. "She would be in that state for aeons. Not just for three thousand years."
"Elta," Antlia drawled. She snapped her fingers. "I remember! That star from Kelp confusion!"
"Contact Nox," I said.
"She is-"
"She has woken," Thuban said. "She woke up."
**********
A/N: What do you think would happen now? Elts is woken and Allen is still missing.
Let me know your thoughts!
There's another chapter ahead!
~Quill