Tangled by Fate

It was Arthur's time to leave. Veronica walked with him to the lake where the portal would open.

"Be good and come back safely. Don't do anything dangerous. Don't get sick. Don't make me wait too long."

After a series of lectures, she could only laugh.

"I promise that I'll come back as soon as possible. Don't you worry," she said.

He stared at her one last time before embracing her. "Be well."

"You as well. Don't spend sleepless nights working. You must eat and rest on time," she reminded him.

"Mm, I'll wait for you."

"I'll come back soon."

After Arthur disappeared through the portal, Veronica stood there until she started to feel chilly due to the night wind.

Ironin came and wrapped a shawl around her. She looked at him and smiled in response, "Thanks, Ironin."

Ironin nodded in reply.

"Thank you for staying with me," she said. "I have more to do here. Are you sure you don't want to be with your wife?"

"She will understand," he curtly replied.

"She is very understanding. You are lucky," she commented. "There is something I meant to ask you. I heard you cured my poison with your blood–"

"Please don't ask more," he coldly interrupted her. "I cannot give you any explanation."

Veronica was used to his attitude. Despite his rejection, she pressed for an answer, "Don't you think I deserve to know how your blood cured me? I'll keep it a secret since you don't want anyone to know."

"I can't tell you," Ironin flatly denied.

Veronica's shoulders dropped. 'I knew it wouldn't be easy but isn't his wall too high? Why does it have to have his guard up around me?' she wondered.

Anyway, if he wouldn't tell her the secret, she could keep her curiosity in her heart. She has another task to do.

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Meanwhile, Arthur went to the camp.

It was midnight. The stars played in the night sky, brightening up the darkest night. The gnats were chanting. The familiar scent of pine trees and smoke filled his nostrils.

He could hear the crackling of the campfire as he approached. As he walked closer, he noticed Darius and Zinnia were guarding the camp, surrounding the campfire.

They also noticed his presence. They stood up and turned toward him.

"Arthur, why are you alone? Where is Veronica?" Zinnia asked.

"She needs a few days to wrap things up. We should leave as well. In the morning, tell everyone to start packing. We'll leave by afternoon," Arthur instructed.

"Are we going to leave her behind?" Darius was surprised. "Aren't we supposed to take Veronica with us?"

"I promised her that we'll head back to the tower. Zinnia, you stay and guard the portal. The rest of us will leave."

"All right," Zinnia agreed.

"Did you see Ovior?" Arthur inquired.

"Huh? Yeah, he came out of the portal with a chick and left without giving us any explanation. Did he kidnap an elf?" Darius was skeptical. "Are is at war? Is this why we are escaping?"

"She is a human, Darius, Don't delude yourself. That's why I told you not to drink," Zinnia said. She looked at Arthur and said, "I don't know who she is but they seemed very close. They teleported together. I think they went to the tower."

"I see," Arthur commented. He looked around and mentioned, "I don't see Sebastian. Wasn't he supposed to be on guard?"

"Give him some slack," Darius said. "Poor boy met the love of his life just yesterday. I never saw him cry like that. Feel his pain. He's working on the day shift now."

He wasn't lying when he said Sebastian cried the way no one ever saw him.

Yesterday, at noon, the wizards were taking naps after lunch. Sebastian just woke up from his night shift. He went to the kitchen to get his bowl of soup. As he was going to sit, the portal opened and Catherine stepped into the Human Realm.

The bowl fell to the ground. The soup splashed everywhere. The wooden bowl rolled on the ground until it stopped in front of Catherine.

Catherine wasn't expecting to see him the moment she came back. Confused and anxious, she looked away.

"Umm…" she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "It's been a while, Sebastian."

However, she didn't get a reply.

'Huh! What's his deal? Can't he be happy 5o see me?' Feeling a bit, she lowered her head and spotted the bowl.

"You threw the bowl on the ground… why would you…" while accusing him, she looked up and saw teardrops falling from Sebastian's eyes.

Her tongue got tied as she saw the unexpected scene right before her eyes.

"Umm…" Before she could say anything, she was embraced by a pair of strong arms.

Sebastian darted toward her like an arrow and tightly hugged her.

He felt her warmth, her uneven breathing, the smell of newly born leaves, heard her heartbeats…

…the proof of life.

She was alive.

She was alive just like the first time he met her and she was not in pain, she wasn't cold.

She was alive.

Catherine could hear his heart rapidly beating. His entire body was shaking. His body felt cold.

She could feel her shoulder getting wet.

"Catherine…" a sob came out of his mouth. His arms tightened even more.

"I-I can't breathe…" she finally said.

Sebastian quickly let her go. He observed her from top to bottom with his red teary eyes.

"Sorry… I'm… I'm sorry…" he murmured. The word 'guilt' was plastered all over his face.

"It's okay," she replied thinking he apologized due to hugging her rightly, "I'm not hurt."

"No, no…. I mean… because of me you suffered. You… you died… because of me…"

He could never forget her dead face. The horror he went through every night was unimaginable. He saw her face every millisecond he blinked his eyes. He could never forgive himself for not being able to save her.

"Calm down. I'm alive. What do you mean by I suffered because of you? You aren't making sense." Catherine was confused.

"…You… don't remember?"

It was Sebastian's time to be confused.

Catherine squinted her eyes. "What should I remember?"

"Don't you remember how and why you died?"

"The last thing I remember is leaving Tybu with Ver and others. I don't remember how I died. I thought I woke up from sleep when I opened my eyes again. Ver told me that I died. I wanted to save you and died."

"So, you know," Sebastian muttered. "It's not that you saved me. Everything happened because I was too weak to protect you and myself. Your sacrifice means my incompetency. It's my fault."

He covered his face. He couldn't show his face to her anymore.

'He felt that way? Why would he feel so much for me?' Despite having her heart prepared, she couldn't believe he would hold affection for her in his heart.

Her heart swayed. She reached out to him hesitantly. He held his wrists and tried to move them away from his face.

"Look at me, Sebastian. Listen, it's not your fault. I will do it again if I have to…"

"Don't say it!" Sebastian nearly shouted. "Please just don't. You are NOT allowed to do it. I'm not incompetent anymore. I can protect you without harming myself. From now on, no more sacrifices.

No more pain. No more suffering."

Catherine listened to him and almost choked. She could feel her heart squeezing painfully.

"Sebastian…" her voice quivered just uttering his name, "I'm alive and I don't have any painful memories. It's like time has been rewind for me. That's why, please forgive yourself. Just take it in a positive way. Think that past of mine was to push you to your limit. Isn't it great in that sense?

"Anyway, I'm going back to Tybu. I want to start a new life, away from the Magic Tower. I'll still help Ovior with his work though. He promised to set up a portal for me to create a connection between the tower and my house. Do you… want to… come with me?"

She gathered a lot of courage to invite him. She wanted to tell her feelings for him but the way acted all guilty, she didn't think it was the right time to confess. So, she invited him roundabout way.

She nervously raised her head to look at him only to see his flabbergasted expression.

She was a bit downhearted. Although she wasn't expecting too much, at least she was expecting the surprised look on his face.