Return

Chapter 43: Return

'An innocent soul had been slain for a sin it hadn't committed. From Gray's ashes, the end of the world would come.' these were the thoughts of Franz.

In front of him, the multi-faced being stood tall and mighty, kneeling down in reverence, awaiting for the descent of his creator.

The rows of torches paved the path for where the moon god Sin would descend from the ashes of His necropolis.

Mnemosyne's Antiques was soon be forgotten, floating inside the Eternal Landscape of the Begotten self for eternity, becoming just a testimony of what was before His arrival.

Maybe, living beings from all around would dream about it, studying the meanings behind it, studying the civilization that lived before the Sult'Hurni's return.

A store where the articles of old, forgotten civilization were displayed was now about to become a place where all of humanity—their pride, their glory, and their story could be discovered.

It was ironic.

A place that showed civilizations floating seamlessly in the river of time would now join them.

Franz knelt on the ground, awaiting his end.

The misty air smelling of incense, the quiet, crackling sound of the torches above, and the woody scent of Mnemosyne's Antiques had begun to get imprinted inside his mind, so that even in death, he may not forget it.

'The reality-switch with The Eternal Landscape should happen at any moment.' Franz thought, dismayed.

Once the Third Decline started, there were zero to no chances to stop the Descent. Since Selene's abilities were highly dependent on her emotions, and because of her past, she already had great difficulties in controlling her powers. Even if she were to wake up, she simply couldn't stop it.

Franz used to think that for the past years, Selene had improved in controlling herself. But now—now he knew that she had only been bottling her emotions up.

Gray's sudden presence caused her emotions to explode, harming everything surrounding it.

The realization that she still didn't feel close enough to confide in him about her troubles, brought him waves of sorrow.

This meant that, for all the years they spent together, he had failed as a mentor.

He smiled bitterly, looking at the unconscious Selene near him.

"Maybe, if I had been more like 'him', this wouldn't have happened."

"Forgive me for not being the one you needed the most."

He raised his head, looking at Mnemosyne's Antiques' walls, crescent-shaped portals depicting unknown colors inside.

"The power of the Herald of Crescents, the ability to switch reality with the Eternal Landscape." he sighed. "Me and Selene won't be able to try and steal its ability anymore."

"Although we faced death multiple times, we did it together. For you who wanted to prove yourself, those failure hurt you deeply. But for me, the one who could see your improvements, it brought an endless amount of happiness."

Stopping to reminisce about the past when Selene was just a young, tiny girl, he grazed his bandages with his fingers.

"For once, I want to look at you with my true eyes."

Whoosh!

Just as he was about to untie his bandages, the multi-faced avatar slowly turned into ashes, disintegrating from the smallest gust of wind.

"What…?" Franz was in disbelief.

As he hastily stood up, he noticed that the portals inside the crescent-shaped marks on the walls had disappeared, the only testament of their presence being the holes on the wall!

"Did the effects of Herald of the Half-Moon's syringe activate subsequently, their efficiency becoming lower because of the Third Decline…?"

As the illusory air dispersed, reality tore right before him, inconceivable hues of colors shining dimly from the beyond!

Suddenly, an hand came through!

With every passing breath, the being's body parts kept on getting exposed: a bloodied arm pierced by various, small pieces of glass-shards, holding an half-golden, half-black sword; a pale, exposed shoulder with scorched clothes; a tender neck, filled by dried blood, black hair flowing downwards; and lastly, a bloodied human face!

The boy slumped over; he was just right about to collide with the floor, when Franz grabbed him!

"Gray…?" he called out to him, yet the boy didn't respond.

And although he was unconscious, he still gripped the handle of his sword tightly!

He held his ear against his chest, feeling a faint pulse coming from his heart.

Right there, a thousand questions shot inside his mind.

"Was he inside the Eternal Landscape of the Begotten Self?"

"How did he survive against Selene?"

"What is the correlation between him and the ritual of Descent suddenly ending?"

This wasn't the time to ponder, however.

Gray was seriously hurt, Franz had to bring him to safety!

He glanced at Selene—he simply couldn't let her stay alone inside Mnemosyne's Antiques in such state.

Thankfully, she had expended most, if not all of her energies. Because of this, she would sleep for even up to twenty-four hours.

Having decided on his next moves, Franz grabbed the two who had just fought for their lives and entered inside an hidden compartment inside Mnemosyne's Antiques.

There, Franz held vintage, collectible sport cars, prized for their rarity. And although hey weren't meant to be driven around recklessly, Franz had no other choices left!

He swiftly opened the doors of one of his fastest, vintage cars—the 1965 Ferrari 275 GRB!

Franz gently placed Gray and Selene on the hand-stitched leather seats, their bodies resting close together, their opposite colored hair reflecting their opposite natures.

Much like Yin and Yang, both possessing a part of the other, they too, shared similarities they weren't adamant on admitting.

As he entered the key inside the ignition, the car roared to life, eager to fly after so many years in captivity.

Just as soon as the metal, garage door rolled open, the car jolted forward, its wheels marking the floor below!

Franz didn't know what enemy Gray faced inside the Eternal Landscape. In these kinds of situations where injuries were caused by supernatural means, the Nephilim simply couldn't rely on hospitals!

Who else but the other Nephilim understood on how to cure one of their own? Although that profession wasn't common, the Nephilim with those abilities were highly sought after!

Therefore, he had to venture towards the ones who specialized in the healing arts. And luckily, he knew the perfect person for this job.

Franz gripped the wheel firmly, steering the car when needed; his foot was locked on the accelerator, the car becoming faster and faster.

Thanks to his vision, he could dodge the other cars, the other motorcycles, and the pedestrians who occasionally crossed the road, causing everyone to get a good scare by seeing his reckless driving behavior.

Yet, no matter how close he seemed to hit something, he never did.

Franz turned around to check for Gray's condition briefly, only inspecting his body, avoiding to see through his soul for obvious reason.

Last time, his secondary Mercurial Fragment took things slow, but now, Franz doubted He would possess such mercy.

After his examination, he found that most of Gray's tendons had been torn from extreme strain. Had he not possessed inhuman amounts of adrenaline inside his system, he would've vomited from the sheer pain of his injuries.

Many glass shards had perforated his body, causing him to acquire a great deal of stab-like wounds inside his arms, legs, chest, and even his back.

Luckily, they hadn't punctured him too deeply, instead being mostly superficial wounds.

The gash under his eye was both the worst injury he had received and also the most gruesome—it exposed many layers of torn fibrous muscles that made way for his zygomatic bones to show.

Healing from every single injury would take too much time, but with 'her' help, he could come out as spotless, as if brand new, free from any lasting pain.

Normally, it would've take quite a while to reach the Nephilim's house since she resided inside a different city, but with Franz's car (and violations of the street code,) he could reach it rather quickly.

Pulling into her driveway, he stopped the car and took both Gray and Selene's unconscious bodies with him, figuring that having the two of them checked out would be the better choice.

Since he held the two in his arms, he had to knock with his foot.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"…Again?" an annoyed voice quietly grumbled, the sound of steps becoming closer and closer.

"Who is this?" she asked, suspicious.

"It's Fran—" the door immediately shot open, interrupting his voice.

"Franz…!" the woman with green hair and tear-filled eyes was just right about to hug him, when she saw the streaks of blood pouring from his face and the two unconscious bodies he held firmly.

"Franz…Selene, and…?"

Not even a second after seeing the trio's dire conditions, she ran inside her house, bringing two hospital beds with her, situating them right in the middle of her cluttered room.

Franz silently entered inside her house, placing the two on the beds, their slumped arms almost reaching for each-other.

"What's happened?" Ophelia asked, glancing at Franz.

"Selene lost control again—she reached the Third Decline."

Ophelia's mouth widened as she subconsciously covered her mouth with one hand.

"That shouldn't be possible…"

Calming herself down, she pointed at the other boy.

"What about him? Is he a civilian who found himself at the wrong place and wrong time?"

Franz shook his head. "You've never met him personally—he's Montoya, Gray Montoya."

"I see…" Ophelia's gaze lowered. "Did she try to harm him because of 'that,' didn't she?"

Franz nodded, his expression complicated.

She glanced back at him and asked, "Does she know that it's not his fault?"

Franz sighed. "She knows—she just doesn't want to accept it. It's her coping mechanism, she needs someone to blame and to vent her anger on. I knew she felt like this, but I just wasn't aware of how it serious it was for her. Because of this mistake on my part, this 'overlooking' of mine, I should be the one to blame."

Ophelia dismissed his regrets by waving her hand.

"It already happened, there's nothing else we can do anymore. Look at the bright side—there's no elder things nor literal deities roaming around the world."

"Yeah." Franz smiled bitterly.

"Sit on the sofa, I'll treat your injurie—" Franz interrupted her immediately. "I can manage it, I didn't see the Heralds of Sin for long."

"I see. Let's get to work, then." the green haired woman explained. "Can you please hold his body so I may remove his clo-" she stopped herself, looking at his garments. "Can you even call them clothes anymore?"

Franz placed one of his hands over Gray's back, supporting him so he wouldn't fall. At the same time, Ophelia removed his torn shirt, exposing the wounds on his body.

She naturally couldn't use her healing ability with those many glass shards sticking out. If she did, the replicas of his body would go on the injury parts to cover them, but instead, they would simply make the glass shards stick even deeper inside his body, burying them with layers of skin.

"The kid passed out, yet he's still holding it. While I would admire his tenacity, I can't help but feel slightly threatened…" Ophelia furrowed her brows. "Come to think of it, doesn't this sword belong to Mnemosyne's Antiques?"

Franz eyes narrowed. "I noticed…"

'He must have fought tooth and nail for survival. No wonder he still holds to it…' he thought.

Ophelia glanced at the pensive Franz, "So?"

He nodded and went towards Gray. He bent down and attempted to pry his fingers loose, but they just didn't budge, causing his brows furrowed lightly.

"It's best to let him keep it for now. If we were to remove it by force, he might wake up, and in his panicked state, he could try to injure us, mistaking our intent as something harmful to him."

Ophelia nodded.

Taking a medical forcep from her white coat, she carefully removed the glass-shards on his body, throwing them inside an ashtray that was lying around near them.

Once done with that, she took a cotton pad and poured some saline solution on it, cleaning his injuries properly, removing the excess dried blood and dirt inside his wounds.

She then took other cotton pads but poured some chlorhexidine inside it, so that the wound may be completely freed from any lingering bacteria, lowering the probabilities of his wound getting infected.

After the wounds were properly cleaned, she held her hands over his body, and soon after, the skin, muscles, and tendons on the unharmed parts squirmed, creating fleshy replicas that soon rushed over the injured parts, healing them.

While doing so, Gray's muscles tensed violently; not just those belonging to the replicated areas, but those belonging single part of his body.

Now, the only remaining wound was the one on his face.

Had a normal doctor tried to heal him with surgical methods, Gray would've been left scarred, but thanks to Ophelia, he could return just as he was before.

If Gray was conscious, he would surely be extremely grateful, as returning with such wounds back at home would shatter Kathy's heart.

Most importantly, how could he explain that to her? How could he return home in those conditions and expect her not to notice?

He was already lucky when Kathy hadn't noticed the injury he received after witnessing The Monolith's revelation, and there surely wouldn't be an another chance like it.

If Gray didn't want Kathy to worry anymore, he had to keep this Nephilim named Ophelia close.

In this world where the Nephilim roamed alone, for him, one who wasn't an expert in the art of killing, gaining connections with trustable people was the most important thing!

For now, he only had Casanova and Franz; they were the only ones he could fully trust. Nekare wasn't trustable, yet she wasn't dangerous altogether, causing her to become a grey area in this field.

Selene, however, was the most dangerous one—she was the candidate who was more likely in pursuing violent actions that would threaten his wellbeing!

Ophelia then cleaned the wound as she did for his past ones, paying a greater deal of attention and care for it, as it was miles worse than the others.

Then, one she was done with the cleaning, she had to work on healing it with her ability.

As she held her hands against his body, a purple, surreal light glowed from her palms.