Unexpected

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CHAPTER 38

Having had to go through such an ordeal with Xavier, Raven was in no mood to even speak to the latter or anyone.

She had carefully put thoughts into her plan for everything she was going to do to him the second he knocked on her door and walked in.

Who would have thought he would have appeared?

"Tsk," she huffed as she drew her knees together, bringing them up close to her chin.

"That bloody king. Arrgh! Just imagine how much my lips have been sprouting curses these days," Raven lamented to herself.

The past few days she spent more time lost in thoughts than speaking to her pet fox.

Although it was lonely, Layla had no regrets considering it was because of her cunny self that led them down that cave in the first place.

Not that Raven blamed Layla in the first place, however, if Xavier had minded his business and left her alone, none of them would have been here.

"I wonder what he and Sky are doing right at this moment. I can barely hear anything but I feel a different kind of energy seeping around the Aisle. Is it happy now that people are living in it?" Raven wondered.

She knew that no matter how she tried to imagine what was going on, she would forever remain in the dark.

It was with these thoughts Raven came to the realization she couldn't do that.

It was one thing, relying on her escape, but if she did, the question was, how would she find her way out?

To make matters worse, she had no idea if Xavier had not erected similar barriers around the palace as well.

Just thinking about it fueled the anger already swirling in her body.

"He is thorough, I have got to give him that. And probably too thorough for someone who had not known anything about the world for thousands of years. Or I am the stupid one thinking of escaping a place that no one had seen for thousands of years?"

Gritting her teeth, Raven threw her head back against the headboard with the pillow acting as her only support behind.

"No," her voice trailed off as a pained smile etched its way up her face and her eyes came to a close gently.

"No. He is just too much of a pain in the neck. There must be something else. Something I can do to escape this," Raven thought out loud.

Even though she thought hard, gritted her teeth and clenched her fists at her side as she lifted her chin towards the ceiling, nothing formed.

She wasn't this useless but with how locked she was, like a fowl waiting to be slaughtered, he made her feel useless.

"If I cannot do anything about him, then perhaps I can warm up to him? No," she shook her head.

"Even if it takes me days, doing such would be too suspicious. And I cannot tell how much magic is poured into this Aisle. I have a bad feeling she won't go easy on me."

Raven breathed out sharply as her eyes pried open swiftly. "Wait, what if I act cute, the Aisle cannot say no to such a pleading face right?"

In fact, at that moment, the stupid ideas running through her mind made her feel like the aisle was a mother she could plead with.

And that was a definite no.

But when she considered her option carefully, she understood she was making a fool of herself.

"You did not become such a pathetic being, Raven," she chided. "Regardless of whatever happens, he would surely come. One step at a time, Raven. Soon we would find an opening."

With those words sternly engraved in her heart, she let herself rest.

Thinking about plans and ways to weaken the barrier all day gave her too much headache than she could have asked for.

Slowly, she let her eyes drop close as she drifted off into sleep. No sooner had she done that than she went straight into dreamland.

******

Standing in front of a big river, she watched as a couple stood with their backs to her while watching the beautiful water flow by.

Not seeing their faces, she tried to peer closer but still, something kept her brain from looking.

All she had were the sweet voices of the couple standing there enjoying the scenery as they conversed about it.

"Hahhaa…" The sweet giggles coming from the woman were carried by the wind over to where she stood on the green grass amongst the lovely lilies behind her.

"Sure. I would come in once I am done from here, darling. You do not need to wait up," she heard her speak again.

"Okay. I want to see you before I leave though," the man responded in the same harmonious loving tone.

Her brows creased as her ears stood on end trying to make out what they were saying to each other.

Even though she could not see who they were, judging from the deep voice of the man and his beautiful waist-long white and silver-lined hair, she knew it was him.

Seeing him act all loving and gentle in nothing more than plain black pants and a blue tunic as he held on to the lady dressed in a lovely cyan-blue ankle-length gown, her eyes softened and she relaxed.

There was something about them that she could not put her mind to. She could feel their joy and love, especially when he turned her to face him.

Raven watched as the couple before her stared deeply into each other's eyes for some seconds while the atmosphere around them seemed to be in jubilation with their love.

Slowly, she saw them draw close to each other like a pair of newfound lovers as their lips pulled closer with their eyes closing in response.

Everything seemed so real and true like she was watching something great but amidst all that, she felt the air around them become sickening all of a sudden.

Instantly, her eyes widened as her breathing began to choke her. Her chest tightened so hard as her heart thudded wildly in her chest.

"Ah…"

A bit of a soundless whisper escaped her lips almost instantly as she lifted her left hand while her right clutched hard on her chest.

Her eyes turned red as the breath began to leave her as she fought hard.

The presence around them turned darker with each passing second, she fought to get a single word out of her lips.

Surprisingly, she noticed the words struggling to come out weren't one of her calls for help.

Instead, the more she watched with widened pained eyes, her heart raced in her chest as she saw the doom coming was meant for them.

The pain intensified as she saw the darkness overshadow the couple and turned everywhere black as the grass underneath her feet turned black as well.

Before she could say anything again, she found herself inside a dark castle with a tiny light in a far corner.

Taking matters into her hands, Raven rushed towards the light with her right hand clutched on her chest.

BANG! BANG!

The sound of a door being drummed on reverberated in the surroundings bringing an eerie feeling to the dread she felt.

Suddenly she saw a blue light shining at the corner, pulling her attention in that direction.

Bang! Bang!

Ignoring the sound, she rushed in that direction instead.

However, rather than seeing a sight of hope, what lay on the ground before her was the lady she had seen just a moment ago with her cyan-blue gown covered in her blood.

Her eyes flew wide open as her heartbeat stopped for a moment.

Bang! Bang!

The more she looked, the more the sight before her began to blur as the banging sounds increased.

"Raven! Raven! Raven!"