Two Futures Bound

Chapter 18

Caera:

We were just sitting down against the wall, nothing big happening. The Twin Horns were asking us questions about being adventurers. I've enjoyed being an adventurer, it has reminded me of diving into the Relictombs with Arthur. It made this entire experience feel like home, though it's hard to call it home.

I didn't really consider Alacrya a home after being here in Dicathen. In Alacrya I was someone who could awaken as a Vritra blooded human. So I was someone who could bring the Denoir family more power and riches, but if I didn't awaken, I would be sold off to another family, to strengthen the bonds of the two houses.

Seris didn't want my awakened blood to be known to Agrona, but Sevren didn't want me to be married off to someone. This caused them to be at odds with each other. At one point the two of them were close, but once they started to argue they grew apart.

'But why now? What are my horns growing now? Why in the worst of times? What will the Twin Horns think when they see them? WIll they try to kill me? What will Arthur do? Will he protect me? Or let them kill me?' I questioned myself, holding my head in pain trying to stop them from coming out.

"AHH!" I screamed out, the throbbing pain running through my head wouldn't stop and it continued to get worse. I started to dig my nails into the place where my horns were to rest, my skull feeling like it was being torn apart and reconstructed.

I then felt someone place their hands on mine. I forced my eyes open to see Arthur holding my head, looking at me worried. He seemed to understand what was going on. "Caera, can you grab your necklace?" He asked me. I tried to do what he had said, but a surge of pain ran through my body, causing me to jerk my hands back to my head.

Seeing me do this caused him to have a conflicted moment in his mind, like he was thinking of something. My necklace was under my clothes, so he most likely didn't want to reach into my clothes and pull it out. He then grabbed my chin and made me look at him, he then brought his lips to mine.

It was a surprise, but a welcome one at that. I kept my eyes open as I stared into the blue eyes that were staring back at me. The eyes I once knew as golden-eyes that held a depth of pain-were now blue, a caring and kind blue. The pain from my horns drifted away as I focussed on what Arthur had done. I didn't want it to end, this feeling I had never felt before had invaded my mind and body. Then, Arthur broke the kiss and uttered a chant to my necklace so that my horns would be hidden. I wanted to continue, I wanted it to never end. But before I could pull Arthur back I felt darkness envelope me.

~

I felt my eyes start to flutter open. It wasn't bright around me, meaning we were still inside the dungeon. I felt that my body was resting on something. I turned my head to see a mope of auburn hair with gold streaks down it.

"You're up, that's good," Arthur said while avoiding eye contact. I felt sadness that he wasn't looking at me, was he scared of what I thought of the kiss? Is he embarrassed? I felt my face still heat up after waking up on his shoulder. I wanted to ask him about the kiss, but I was still laying on his shoulder, and I was comfy so I didn't want to ruin this for me.

"Ha, you two really look like a couple," Adam said, ruining the moment I was sharing with Arthur by making us both jump up with our faces bright red.

"Caera what happened? You screamed out in pain, and before we could check on you, Arthur had put up an Ice wall, separating us from you. We couldn't even see through the ice," Helen said. The way she was looking at me felt like motherly love, as if one of her own children had been hurt and she was making sure they were okay.