Merlett: The BloodFairy Romance

The world is a room, the only one in mine is you

Scarlett was getting dressed. She woke up early, done her hair, just the usual. This morning didn't feel any different from others before. The previous night had left a mark on her soul, but alll those things needed a bit more time to settle down. As she was thinking about this, she heard a scream from the next room.
Zachary.
She quickly went to his door, and knocked.
No answer.
As she was preparing to knock again, a wore down Zachary opened the door. He either slept badly, or not at all.
- Is everything okay? - asked Scarlett in a worried voice.
- Yeah. Just a bad dream. - answered Zachary, however, it was clear that this dream was not an ordinary one. Not 'just' a bad dream. More like 'the' bad dream, but Scarlett couldn't figure out why she felt this way about it. Or what could possibly cause Zachary to wake up screaming...
- Sure? You seem...
- I'm... I'll be fine. Thanks. - as the ranger said this, Jeremy hopped on his shoulder. But something was off about the bird; he was looking directly at Scarlett. And not with the usual animalistic "I'm gonna decide now if I should be afraid or not" look. It was like he was trying to tell her something. Something about his companion. Or maybe...
...asking for help? Yes. That fitted well.
"Help him. Pretty please."
- Do you want to talk about it? - asked 'le bloodhunter. Zachary hesitated for some time. Scarlett could feel in the air that he was on the verge of saying yes.

...

"They would all leave me. I won't go through that again." - echoed in Zachary's mind. Sure, he could tell everyone that his mother is watching him, probably them as well, posing a constant threat. And that now he dreams about her; again. The whole mission could be in danger. All, beacuse of him. Only him. He was touched by the offer, but alas:
- No. Not really. - he could see Scarlett's disappointment. At least she tried.
- Well, okay. If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Hope you get better. - thus, she walked back to her room, and Zachary closed the door. He sat down on the bed. Jeremy jumped down onto his lap. He tried to stratch his beak, but Jeremy gently bit his finger. As he lowered his hands, he noticed Jeremy was looking at him.
"Tesomsz, itt fűzöm neked a csajt, te meg "jajj én vagyok az edgy karakter aki nem beszél az érzéseiről nyünyünyü", hát apád *isten nyugosztalja* erre nevelt, kölök? Itt az alkalom, végre könnyíthetnél a lelkeden, meg csaxólok hogy az enyémen is, erre ELKÜLDÖD?! Te hülye fasz, már bocsánat, hát anyád egy terminátor de ezek itten baszki ez más kategória, az a csávó tüzet lő a kezéből! A KEZÉBŐL! Ez a szegény leány meg itt töri magát, próbál segíteni, azt hinné az ember esetlen, oszt közben pislogsz kettőt és ő irányítja a mozgásod, anyád meg csak *buvzbuvzubvz* aztán sétáltatja a 150 éve halott Dezső bácsit, aki amúgy éltében se tudott már mozogni nagyon. Mitől félsz bro? Nagy kretén vagy, remélem tudod."
He couldn't figure out what the raven was trying to do with this. He was probably not fond of the scene earlier. He could be right. After all, Scarlett did help him out previously. And not once. If there was anyone beside Jeremy he could imagine putting trust in;
It's her.
Even he was surprised he said this to himself. "Trust." Not a word he used much. Not something he felt much. Not something he thought he would feel again. Yet, here he is.
He may not be so alone.

...

Scarlett heard a knock on her door.
- Open. - replied to the person standing outside. The door slowly opened. To her surprise, Zachary came in, and closed the door behind him.

R̴̟̘̺̉̇́̐͂͋̕͘̚͝Ỏ̶̰̺̮͈̻̗̻̟͍̽͆͜Ĺ̵̦̱̘̱̘̳̘͈̞͓̗̯̉̊̀́̓̇͌͝ͅL̶̛̳̦͙̬̰̗͍͇̪͕̻̈́̽͊́͑̆̚͜͠ͅ ̴̨͓̰̣̭̞̭̠̼̹̩͑̓̈͜͜͝F̸̢͈̞͈̖͍͓̝̺̰̘̃̏͛́̅̄͘ͅͅȌ̴̧͉̫͇͖̫̫̦͔̥̦͉̞͈̕͜R̵̢̡̞̗̳̼̻̘̘̓̊̅͠ ̴̨̯͕̙̲͔̼͕̬̙̀S̷͙̘̝̮͚̣͕̼̪̞̋̾̅͒̅T̶̨̛͉̞̖̙̫̫̬̹̬̾̄̏̓̎̋R̴̛̰͙̝̻̻̓̍͑̄E̸̦͙͆͗͒̉̍͋̆̂̑̔̚̚͘Ņ̷̪̦̠͈̣̦͙̙̘̰͈̠͖̤͂͌̔̃͊̏̀Ģ̶̳̝̬̞̰͖͇̅̾͗̽͊̌̑́͂͂̑͘͜͜H̸̙̺̭̰͎̏́̇̾̔̈͗̈́͘͜T̷̢̗͕̻͍͚̤͕̻̣̜̭͆́̍͆͂͆̄͝͝ͅ ̵̛̠̮͙̲͔̽̎̑̓̑̄́̽͒̆͝͝͝͝C̶̡̛͕̲̯̦̥̗̟̘̮̀̑̉̈́̈́̈̋͂͜͝H̵̯̖̘͍͎͉͚͇͈̪̠̞̻̪̙́̈́̆Ȩ̵̡̼͚̹̰͓̬̼̺̭͑͂̐̕ͅC̶̢̢̳̼̱͙͙̬̹̣̅̾̽̀̈́K̴̺̟̗̬̺̒̀͊̈̿̓͝͠

Jeremy was sitting on his shoulder, but quickly flew to the nearby desk, and made an accommodation there. Zachary at the same time, sat down on the bed.
- So, you changed your mind?
- Just promise me it will stay between us.
Scarlett also sat down on the bed, next to Zachary.
- I promise.
So, Zachary began telling the story. The story he never told anyone before.
- I was born back in Luw'ken Huul (Levi légyszi ne átkozz meg ha rosszul írtam, így is szar napom van :,)). At a wooden house, deep in the forest. My father was a hunter, my mother a doctor, of some sort. She knew her way around herbs and such. Everything we couldn't produce ourselves, the nearby village had it. Sometimes I would go there with mom. I played around with the kids there, chasing cats, sometimes deer, even. My father often took me with him while hunting, that's where I've learnt how to use a bow. He was a... really good man. - he stopped for a second, then continued: - When I was around 8 years old, the village started to go hollow. People disappeared, without trace. Even the widlife suffered; animals dying from visibly nothing, despite being healthy. Trees drying out. Everyone was shocked. Our little paradise have turned into hell. One night, I heard my father screaming down in the basement. So I went down and... and... - he stopped, and buried half his face onto his right hand. His breathing became quicker, and Jeremy flew to his lap.

At the same time, Mevrik had also entered the room:
- Oh, shit, what did I interrupt? Zachary, you good? - he made a hand gesture. Zachary felt his mind getting cleared, but only of the sudden burst of panic. He felt better, for a bit. But did not answer Mevrik's question. Instead, Scarlett did that:
- Well, nothing extra, but could you please leave us alone fo...
- Guys, look at my shield! - said Gaylord, who was apparently also at the door. - It's so cool. [It was, in fact, really cool.]
- What are we looking at? - asked Tia, ALSO standing in the doorway.
- Gosh, this is ridiculous. - said Scarlett, and with that, she stood up, and closed the door, now with the key.
- NO SEX IN THE GROOOUUUUP! - shouted Mevrik from outside, but Scarlett didn't bat an eye.

She sat back beside Zachary:
- So, what happened. Are you... able to talk about it?
- I don't know. - he sighed, and continued: - She killed them. - his voice broke a bit.
- Who? - asked Scarlett. Zachary slowly turned his gaze upon her. His eyes were wet, but Scarlett could tell he was not going to cry. Mevrik's magic was working.
- My mother. Turned out to be a necromancer. She... she kept the bodies. And murdered my father. - he slightly tilted his head towards the window. He was looking outside now. - I ran away, as fast as I could, to the capital, it was 2-3 miles away. I ran all the way. Without stop. I told them everything; but they couldn't find her. Since then, she's missing. - he did another pause, and continued, almost whispering now:
- She took away everything I loved. - he stopped. Scarlett couldn't react in an instant. This shocked her to the core, but she knew she had to tell Zachary something. She needed to comfort him somehow, after all, she asked him to tell her this. She was glad, but also frightened.
- I... I'm really sorry, I never thought... I know it's not the same, but... my parents were murdered by the dictator's men. After that, they took me away. I spent most of my life basically captive. All my powers - she made a slight hand gesture -, they are results of experiments. I know that they can be used for good, and that is my only intention with them, but... you've heard what happened back in the castle, that is what they originally made me for. A torture-tool. - she also stopped for a second in her monologue. Zachary was facing her now, but Scarlett was staring at the wall. - And deep down, I... I hate this power.
The two sat in silence for a bit.
- I'm sorry, too. You deserved much better. - said Zachary, breaking the imaginary barrier. - You are a good person. I didn't tell this story to anyone, ever. After 16 years, you brought back my ability to trust. Thank you. - Scarlett looked at Zachary. They shared a long stare. They slowly realized; they were both smiling, if only a bit.
And Zachary felt something, that he also did not feel in a long time, apart from trust.

Genuine happiness.

...

- So, Mevrik told me yesterday that you said to him if he tries to take my soul, you will kill him, why is that?
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwN884nc6ro