Soft Spot → Sylus

Double Cross

With the nonexistent public service in the N109 Zone, no firefighters come to the rescue. Instead, Nerian, who arrives minutes after you did, has his henchmen that have any Evol related to water to help with the fire.

You, Nerian and Sylus stand in front of the burned mansion. Fortunately, it's not the mansion used as Onychinus's base, but everything inside of the mansion was burnt to ashes. A quick investigation shows no deaths, but all the staff suffer from different burn degrees. They're quickly escorted to safety and will be interrogated once they're conscious. The good news is, there was no corpse, not even a baby's corpse, but the odd number of staff leaves you with unanswered questions.

The world around you blurs. Breathing gradually becomes a task as you feel a heavy weight resting on your chest. With how the investigation went, you've come to the conclusion that the fire was intentional, and the arson is the same person as Theia's kidnapper.

Sitting on the concrete terrace of what was once yours and Sylus's house, you try to keep a calm mind. But, the distant cries of a baby that's nonexistent in reality makes your heart beat even faster from the guilt of being such a reckless mother. She's nearly two weeks old — she can't even lift her head and she's already gone.

A gentle hand strokes your head. Snapping out of your daze, you're lifted into a gentle, but firm embrace as a subtle musky scent calms your raging heart. Tears well in your eyes as you instinctively wrap your arms around your husband, mourning over the loss of your baby. Sylus doesn't respond, instead gently stroking your back in an attempt to comfort you.

"Who did it, Sylus?" you hiccupped, ceasing your cries to make your sentence coherent.

"Mona," Sylus responds, the bitterness in his tone is evident.

You expected much. She's the only person that's just started working in the house after all, which explains the odd numbered staff. If you saw correctly, there were only 5 victims, the chef who suffers from third degree burn, the two maids each suffer from second degree, and the twins with second degree. Other than the burns, some of the staff also have gunshot wounds and bruises, showing that they were putting up a fight with the perpetrator.

"Why?" is all you manage to croak out, your throat dry from crying so much.

"She passed the background check before I chose her to be the midwife," it sounds like Sylus is hesitating before he continues. "But, the doctor she works with during your labor is currently related to Ever Science. He must have been the one to spread words of Theia."

You fall silent. "How did you know?"

It seems like he's expecting me to ask, but at the same time, he struggles to form the sentence to respond. "One of Ever's subsidiary company, Apollo Group, is hosting an auction."

You're expecting Sylus to continue, but his sentence abruptly ends there. He's not revealing the entire truth, so you have to. You wish you haven't put much thought on it, but realization quickly dawns upon you. Ever Science thinks that Theia might be the vessel to a potentially stronger Aether Core, considering both you and Sylus has it.

"They're going to experiment on her?" your breath got caught in your throat as you stare at Sylus with wide eyes. "And, you knew all along? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sylus's silence doesn't answer any of your questions. His hand that has been stroking your back stops abruptly, now it's simply keeping you in place in his embrace — the warmth long gone from his arms as it becomes colder than the night's fleeting breeze.

"Did you just use Theia as bait?" you pull the only conclusion you can think of. The ocean of sadness you felt earlier turns into a tidal wave of anger as it washes over your entire body. "Let go of me," your taut voice rings through the silent night. Struggling against his firm grip, you resist the tears of anger from spilling out.

"Sweetie," his voice flies past you as you begin thrashing, hitting him roughly on the chest to free yourself. "Listen to me," he props you on his left arm to come face to face with you. "I did not baited Theia. I had their main venue for the auction destroyed. I didn't expect them to carry on with their plan."

Sylus's right hand rests on the back of your head, gently pulling you in to the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Had I stayed out a little longer, this wouldn't have happened. I was selfish; I wanted to see you and Theia the day after crashing Sifnos," he admits, his voice genuine yet steady. "I shouldn't let my desire get the best of me. It's my fault."

The raw display of his emotions catches you off guard, but it simmers down the anger boiling inside of you. Tears of anguish slowly cascades down your face as you cry into his chest, only realizing that he too, is blaming himself for Theia's kidnapping, when really, everything is out of both of your controls. Ever should be the only one to blame.

"Let's hunt them down," the motherly rage coursing through fuels your adrenaline. "To hell with the 40 days of postnatal. I'll let my scars open and bleed again if it means saving my baby."

Sylus, who just experienced your fluctuating emotions through different stages of grief, can only stare at you with newfound strength. The determination in your eyes are admirable. And in the midst of adversity, he finds himself falling in love with the mother of his child all over again.

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A/N : quick question, do you like short or longer chapters better??