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― Alexandre Dumas

WHOOSH!

The birds swoop down and snatch a few fish as they quickly swallowed the fish. The sea waves ripples as the fish on the bird’s mouth struggle to get free

The birds shrieked, the sound does not sound like normal bird

But just right before the birds managed to swallow its prey; an arrow struck the bird on its head and its head exploded as the sailors quickly make sure that the bird’s body fall into their small boats.

The birds are called the Devil Birds by the sailors that sail the Pandemonium Sea. It has big black wing that looks like Devil Wings and they are large like a human adult.

Considering many thing after the Fall become big even birds and fishes become birds.

But oddly enough the Devil Birds while have a massive size and terrifying countenance, they are extremely weak and they are easily one shot kill by one arrow to the head.

They are also sailor’s most favorite hunt when they sail the sea

Then laughing the sailors that caught the bird continues their journey sailing out from Pandemonium Sea making the birds into their snack in their long journey home.

Not far away from this scenery, one woman is looking at all this matter with clear eyes

She smiles as she looks at this scenery of people living and she smiles looking at the sea. She takes a deep breath. Inhaling and exhaling.

The sound of the sea, the smell of the salty breeze, she takes it all in like she is experiencing it all for the first time.

She stands still in that moment and closes her eyes. And she thinks of him. The sea keep waving and waving, kissing the shores each time.

She then opens her eyes and she smiles again.

After what happened to her she seems to lose something but she also gain something important.

An equivalent price.

She finally understands what is truly important to her and what her heart truly desires.

In front of her eyes is a vast sea but more than that she saw hundreds of ships coming and going from the Port of Newark, a city in the northern part of Pandemonium

This woman is wearing a white robe, her eyes clear and innocent. Her white robe flows gently and her hair smoothly waves back.

Just by standing there she looked otherworldly. Then in the distance she saw Sea monsters are easily being dispatched by the fleet of ships that is coming to the Port.

She admires them and their perseverance to sail the Pandemonium Sea, a sea regarded so treacherous and dangerous that in the past none dares sail it.

Like their leader the Death Monarch, the people of Pandemonium seem to inherit the domineering and confidence of their leader in dealing with anything and everything.

They do not compromise, they are fearless and they all knew how the game is played in Pandemonium.

Only the strong survives.

They were all lions and tigers. The entire continent of Pandemonium is full of crouching tiger and hidden dragons, hidden talents and dangerous people.

Death Monarch while he rarely employs a hands on approach in the administration of Pandemonium, he is undoubtedly the spiritual leader of Pandemonium which makes his position as the leader of Pandemonium unassailable.

She looks at the sea monster, writhing in pain before being hauled up into the ship by the ship captain.

She smiles and she chuckles. There is no longer fear in her eyes this time. Only determination and an unshaken will.

This woman is none other than the famous Oracle Erika. She is at the harbor waiting for her boat.

On the road leading to the port there are many of her believers respectfully waiting for her, leaving her alone in the Port with her bodyguard Antonius.

Antonius feels this is better for him because it would make protecting the Oracle easier as he looks toward the crowds.

His eyes is vigilant not because of the crowd but because of the people hidden inside the crowd.

Mixed with the crowd Antonius notice a few men dressed in black, looking at them. Those people must be the men of Shadow Guards.

Sasha also seems to send a few of her people to ensure nothing bad happens to the Oracle in Pandemonium soil.

She is also like the Death Monarch. Rarely seen but her presence is felt all across Pandemonium.

In Pandemonium itself, Sasha name is kind of a taboo among the officials. No one likes to be under the surveillance of the Shadow Guards for days.

Antonius sighed but he chose to ignore it. As long as Sasha did not try to do some weird things to the Oracle, he could tolerate the eyes of the Shadow Guards.

Then he resumes his duty.

Sometimes he looks toward the Oracle and there is a complicated emotion in his eyes. He sighed.

After Erika woke up from her sleep instead of wanting to return back to the Center Palace she instead asked him to bring her away from Pandemonium.

This shocked Antonius greatly.

After all, Erika from the very beginning wanted to meet Death Monarch but suddenly after she woke up she changed her tone.

And then when he nodded as a sign of agreement she smiled and without warning she kissed him in the mouth.

Then leaving him speechless like that she only smiles before she lays back on her bed and sleep.

And that was it.

Even when they were boarding the carriage this morning she did not say anything and only treats him like usual.

Even until this moment she did not explain anything to him. He didn’t know the meaning of that kiss.

Or whether it has any meaning at all.

Erika notices someone is looking at her. She turns around and she saw how Antonius try to avoid her eyes.

She comes toward Antonius and then she chuckles

‘What?’

The wind blows by her hair as it waves gently and it only serves to highlight Erika beauty. She usually becomes old after doing her divinations but now she has returned to normal.

Her face is full of youth and there is just something different about her. She seems carefree.

Antonius shakes his head and said

‘Nothing’ Erika grins and asked

‘Really? Nothing?’

The sea breeze passes them by and the sound of the wind sometimes blurred her words.

The sound of ships coming and going also makes their words drowned by the other sound in the Port.

But Antonius clearly heard it. ‘No it is not nothing’ he wanted to say. But then he swallowed those words.

But then he wanted to blurt it out. He is torn. Then mustering his courage he told himself.

‘What is wrong with asking a few question right?’

He come closer to Erika fearing anyone could still hear him even from this distance between him and the crowd and then he said to Erika

‘We need to talk about what happen’ Antonius said

‘Oh’

Erika grins and then with a teasing expression she said

‘Specifically about what?’

Antonius knows Erika is teasing him so he said

‘The kiss’

‘Oh. What about it?’ Erika ask back like she was discussing the weather or asking whether you had breakfast

Hesitating Antonius ask Erika

‘What does it mean?’ Erika touch her chin and smiling she answered

‘Does it have to mean something?’ Erika once again ask back, but her eyes is full of playfulness

Antonius frowned

‘It didn’t mean anything?’ He asked, his tone slightly rose without meaning to. Erika chuckles and answered.

‘No, it does meant something’ And Antonius is slowly getting annoyed

‘If it means something…..What does it mean?’

‘Guess’ Erika said and she laughs.

For the first time in a long time she laughs in such a carefree manner. Whatever happens to her in the time she was unconscious changed her drastically.

The Oracle Antonius knew is always solemn and always serious.

It was like someone that is burdened by such a heavy truth that she always seems to slouch because of the weight.

If Erika is the witness of Time Ending, then Antonius has always been the witness of Erika suffering.

He had seen it many times.

How she always pushes herself to see through Time and divine the future for the sake of humanity.

He saw the moment where Erika suffers from backlash of her trying to peer through the Veil; he saw how painful it is for her.

And what is more painful than that is that she keeps going even through the pain.

And that hurts him too, seeing her suffering like that.

So, he had always guarded him. Even though, all of his debts are repaid and he owed her nothing else, he is still beside her, loyally guarding her from all harm.

After all these years he still there.

Always loyally stays beside her.

While his other contemporaries make a name for themselves becoming the Seven Warlords, he rejected fame, fortune and wealth and stays beside her content on becoming only her guardian.

Because he saw how this young fragile little woman suffers so much pain that it would make any man heart weeps with sadness if they could witness what he had witnessed.

Because of that he could not leave her. Because of that, he stays.

And he also stays because he had learned to appreciate the strength of this woman that no other people had managed to see.

So, when he was asked to guess what the kiss means, he is speechless and his mind is blank. There is one meaning he would like but he knew it is not possible.

So, he shuts off that possibility.

So, he only answers with those three words

‘I don’t know’ he replied after a while.

He pondered about the question seriously. He tried to guess but he couldn’t think of a reason why.

Truth be told, he could think of a couple of reason.

She might be disoriented, or she might have encountered some nightmares in her unconsciousness but he did not say it.

Because it doesn’t seem like it. If it is, Erika would have told him. She said it means something. But what does it means.

Erika only smiles and then she said

‘I close my eyes and in that darkness the only thing I think about is my home’ she smiles wistfully

‘Your home?’ Antonius is puzzled

‘Yes’ she nodded

‘In Athens?’

Erika looks at him and then covering her mouth she try to stifle her laugh.

‘He is so lovable’ she thought silently in her mind

She shakes her head and said

‘No, dummy. You.’ She pointed at Antonius

‘Me?’ Antonius was shocked as he pointed at himself

‘Yes, my home is you. It has been like that for a long time’ then she continued, her face is full of smiles

‘I didn’t notice it but it seems you have become my everything. I used to walk alone in this path until you accompanied me. I used to dream my dream all alone but you also dreamed it with me. Now, we are walking the same path, dreaming the same dream.’

Then she blushes as she looks at Antonius. It is quite embarrassing to say these words in public. If not because the crowds are far away she would choose another time to say these words.

But she also doesn’t waste any more time. Because if there is one thing she doesn’t have the luxury of wasting, it is time

On the other hand Antonius was frozen in place before he finally registered the words coming out from Erika mouth in his mind.

‘Wa..Wh….at do you mean?’ Antonius was like a child stuttering in his word. Either it is because of extreme happiness or extreme shock, his word sound like babbles of a baby.

It was like he accomplished his lifelong dreams.

Erika blushed even harder.

‘Idiot. This is a confession’

Then she added like she wants him to understand why she is feeling like this.

‘I see the future with my eyes but I realized my Time did not move even one step. I see other people times moving forward but not my Time. I was always afraid what the future holds and I fear to make even one wrong step. I was wrong. Sometimes even when you know how it ends, you still have to have faith. You still have to take that one step forward regardless of the future. Because as long as you don’t take that one step forward, nothing would change and nothing would start. I need to step forward and brave it all head on’

Then smiling she said

‘So, I don’t want to wait another day. When I wake up and I see you beside me I know right away. I know my heart was right all along. You are different from other people in my life.. I think….I’ll regret it if I lose you’

‘You mean….I mean that…Umm..’ Antonius seems to lose any ability to speak another word, like he has forgotten how to speak.

Erika looking at the flustered expression on Antonius face chuckles and she said

‘Dummy, I am saying I love you’ Smiling she said

‘You ask what that kiss means didn’t you? That is the meaning. I love you’ And then she repeated it again, a little bit slower and with a cute expression on her face

‘I love you’

Erika looks at Antonius, and she notices for the first time that his face is really handsome. She never notices it before. He looks like a manly Greek god sculpted to perfection.

It is a perfect balance of beauty and manliness all packaged into one. As she admires him, she hears the Song of the Sea and this time she only smiles.

She enjoys the melody of the Sea, no longer feeling overwhelmed by the secrets she holds now.

Her eyes are green and no longer seem misty with white clouds swirling in her eyes. For she did not need to see the future right now.

Well, she did not have to see the future for a few years until that time comes. She learns that sometime it is alright not to know everything.

Sometimes it is alright for her to enjoy her time. It is a hard lesson for her to learn. But thankfully she learns it now.

And she has a new dream now. And that dream becomes her hope. As long as that hope persists, she will never break down and she will never give up.

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.

Shed had all three. Though the thing she must do is not entirely happy but the thing she hopes for is certainly happy.

Antonius on the other hand was flustered by the confession

‘I didn’t think… that… hmm…you..I mea- ..I…Hmm…What was I to say what you fee-‘ Erika laughs cutting off Antonius nonsense babbling.

Antonius now is like a broken robot, his words are not making sense and his face is red but he is smiling happily like an idiot.

Well, he might be an idiot. But he is now her idiot.

‘Are you thinking about rejecting my confession?’ Erika playfully asked

Antonius hurriedly shakes his head.

‘No! That is not what I am saying? I do’ And Erika burst into laughter.

‘This is not a wedding little Anthony.’

‘No..I.. ‘Erika only smiles and her hand touch his cheeks and he shivered. That brings a chuckle in Erika

‘We have time. We still have a lot of time. After we get out of Pandemonium, let us enjoy a few years of peace.’

Antonius was so happy that she did not truly hear what Erika was saying. There is a hint of finality in her tone when she said let us enjoy a few years of peace.

Like she knows something.

Well, considering she is the Oracle, she always knows something that other people don’t know.

She then moves away her hand and then looks forward at the vast horizon of water in front of him

She then takes a deep breath and shakes her head. She still remembers what she needs to remembers but she also forgotten some things.

Not because it is not important, but that memory is unnecessary.

Important but unnecessary memory.

Because if she chooses to remember that important but unnecessary memory she knows she would not have the strength to do what she must do.

This is her destiny.

To witness everything until the bitter end.

Antonius took a little time to calm himself down after Erika bold confession. The winds of the sea bringing the smell of the sea pass them by.

In that short few moments, Antonius becomes the happiest man alive in the world.

The person she loves…loves him back. That is not an easy feat. Finding love is never easy. Sometimes you find it.

Sometime they find you. But sometimes you found someone you love and you know it would never be.

Life…always gets in the way.

Antonius stays beside her all this years, hoping she would feel for him as he felt for her.

He only dares to hope. He never said it to her. Because he did not want to add him as her burden. Because he knows that she did not think of him like that.

He is mistaken.

Because she always loved him, from the first moment he blocked a spear for her.

But she never said it to him too. Because the future she saw….is too terrifying. She has been walking all over the Earth trying to prevent what is going to happens.

She made it her life mission.

So, she never told him. Life like always get in the way

Then she fall unconscious. And she was shown something by her future self. And she learns something from that one eyed version of her.

Time will not wait for her. It is alright for her to want some slice of happiness. It is alright for her to be happy and still do what she must.

She doesn’t necessarily have to choose.

It took her that near death experience to realize her home isn’t a place. It is a person. And she is finally home.

To say to someone you love them and to hear them reply they loved you too…..what are more joyful words that could rival it in this world?

The wind passes them by again and if not for the crowds looking at them Antonius wanted to jump and shouted to the world how happy he is.

He wanted to hug her and kiss her like she has never been kissed before. He wanted to tell her how much he loves her, and how happy to hear the words she said to him.

Because he could not do that now, he only looks at Erika smiling like he got all of his heart desire.

He stands there beside her, looking at the same direction she is looking.

AUTHOR NOTE

Part one of the chapter. You all said last time the last part of the chapter is too short right? Well, this time I write a ten thousand word chapter. This is the first part and it is about Erika and Antonius and it is already reaching four thousand words

After all we are near the end of this Arc.

Need to solve this vague relationship between Erika and Antonius. And if by now you couldn’t see this coming, then you must have read a different story.

The attraction between them is subtle but it is there each time I wrote about them. And Erika must have seen something in her dreams. There is things she forgotten but there is also things she remembers.

For now it seems her interest seems aligned with Loki plans. Anyway this chapter is not all lovey dovey. If you read the title of this chapter it is Thunder Ready For a Fight. That is hardly a title suitable for a rom com moment.

But hey, i’m not going to spoil the end of this chapter to you all.. hehehe. Anyway if you want to read the entirety of the chapter faster you could be my patron. five bucks and you get unlimited access and for those that have a lot of money and want to support this pitiful author you could cough up ten bucks as a sign of support.

Oh and for this chapter I recommend listening to Huh Gak and Zia – I Need you. Find a video with the translated lyrics. I will post the link in comment section for people who wanted to hear it while reading. It is just a suggestion but if anyone have better suggestion do tell me.

And below is my obligatory promotion time for my story

And guys and gals( Thought I don’t think many girls read this kind of story)do check out my other novels Age of Adventure and Song of Heroes. Song of Heroes is kind of stopped for a moment since I am editing Age of Adventure and writing Lord Shadow at the same time.

But do check it out.