Centuries Long Love || Cartaphilus/Joseph (Discontinuted)

Chapter 10

"I wonder if he let Joseph keep the memories of us."
~
A hand clicked in my face, "She's awake." The image of Joseph and Cartaphilus escaped me when Blake supported me in standing up. Chise grasped my hand when I went towards Alice: she furrowed her brow. I squeezed the robin's hand for a split-second before releasing it to crouch beside the female sorcerer. Her chestnut eyes opened but they glazed over, "Are you okay? I'm glad the medicine doesn't last very long." Without warning, my cloak flew to the grass while the blonde-haired woman rushed at me, "What the hell do you think—" As I raised my arms in defence, she realised the cotton rope, which restrained her wrists. She narrowed her eyes, gnawed her teeth while sweat beaded on her face. "We didn't want to take a chance, so we tied your wrists. I'm sorry." Blake picked up my cloak, dusted it off to drape it over my shoulders; I slipped my arms through before thanking the yellow-eyed tiger.

We settled down, across from Chise and the grim, to stare at Alice; she tensed from the four pairs of eyes at her body. The sorcerer locked on my lilac eye to widen hers, "What happened to your other eye?" Looking up at the sunset, it mirrored the colour of my hidden eye yet I refused to inform Alice for now. She glanced at her crossed legs before averting her attention to me again, "You aren't going to do anything?"
"We have no reason to do anything, nor do we want to." Checking on Chise, I tilted my head to ask if she wanted to say anything, which earned a nod in return, "Why do you want him? Depending on your reason, we may be able to let you go." She glared at the robin before avoiding eye contact with us.

"I need him as raw material to make a chimaera." My body froze; my eyes grew; my breathing halted. Blake grabbed my arm, in an attempt, to calm me down but my strength drained from my limbs, "Luka. Do you know what this means?" I nodded unconsciously. Replying to him, I mentioned the movement in this forest must've been Alice; I informed him about a sorcerer in our forest, who could've been Cartaphilus. He groaned at the report about the wandering sorcerer. Pulling my hood over my head, I regained my composure while I smiled at Blake; he tried his best to keep his stoic demeanour and succeeded.

My trance concluded with the help of Alice's voice as she concealed her face into her knees, "Some weird brat came to us asking to help find the materials for it. Master refused. But there was nothing he could do. I don't care what happens to me." The change of tone, when she spoke of Renfred, made me a little envious; I hated myself for it. I puffed my cheeks when I imagined the two females with their loved ones, 'I can't be jealous. I need to wish them happiness.' Slapping my puffed cheeks, Chise and I spoke, "You love him, huh?" I grinned at the robin then gave her a thumbs up, which she reciprocated. We hid our smiles when Alice abandoned her scrunched position, "Absolutely!" As a blush on her cheeks faded, the four of us listened to her story, like children attending a bedtime tale, "Nothing good has ever happened to me since I was born. But I had a bit of talent, so Master took me in. You're the same way, aren't you?" Chise's mouth briefly dropped as Alice related to her, "I'm not very smart, but I would do anything for Master."

I admired the blonde apprentice when the sun beamed on her. My hand floated towards her head while my head leaned on my other arm. I ruffled her, previously chaotic, hair before placing my hand on her knee. In an instant, she flicked her head away from me with pink speckled on her cheeks once again, "Never mind that. I gave you my reason. Now let me go, already!" Chise gave her a blank stare before gazing down at her shadow. "I see what's going on." Thorns peeked out to form into an idiot bonehead. "You were hiding him from me!" I giggled at the disordered scene while Chise apologised to Alice.

Elias interrogated the blonde woman about Renfred until she shifted the conversation, "Yo, mage. Why are you guys here?" I rested on my knees while directing her attention to the black dog; Elias gestured his head towards him, "To inspect that there." The ebony-haired man glimpsed at the two of us with his hands tucked under his crossed legs, "Inspect me? Why?" I stood beside the bonehead, with Blake behind me, "It's only recently that he awoke as a black dog. That thing won't be a problem." The church grim questioned his label; I closed my eyes after groaning while Blake slapped Thorn's head. After Elias received his consequence, the ends of my lips upturned to look at the man beside Chise, "Don't mind him."