Chapter 74: Chapter 74

10 YEARS LATER

Nami sat with her legs crossed in a fancy restaurant of the elite in the city of Cherilisia. Sitting across the table was Veruno who couldn't keep food out of his mouth. The both of them hadn't seen each other in months so they agreed to meet up.

They were waiting for Light who hadn't yet arrived. Nami wasn't bothered that Light was late because her mind was preoccupied by the sweet melody of the violins that were being played ever so gracefully.

"Light is running a little late." Veruno said.

"He is one of the heads in the Gamarax Manipulator Association. He is obviously a little busy. He did assure me that he was going to come though." Nami proudly said and took a swig of her glass.

"Speak of the devil, here he comes." Veruno waved at Light as he hurried towards them.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Light apologized.

"It's okay, we understand how busy you are." Veruno said and thumped him.

"Actually I wasn't at work." Light said and Nami turned to him stunned.

"Where were you?" She asked him.

"I went to a jeweler to place an order for Sharaina's ring. I plan on asking her to marry me soon." Light excitedly said.

Veruno laughed in joy. "Couldn't wait any longer huh?" He teased.

Light laughed hard. "She turned ninety yesterday. Finally she is of legal age, I can't believe it."

"That's wonderful son." Nami barely smiled. I cannot let this happen. I have to do something about this.

****

Sharaina sat bored at her office in Zambia. Due to her undeniable talent in battle, she was placed as a captain under commander Sevilon. This was after she served in the army for five years. Due to the nature of her work, Sharaina lived on Earth. She bought a house for herself where she lived alone. Light visited her during the weekends or she would visit him at his house in Cherilisia where he also lived alone.

Sharaina's eyes looked across the heaps of paper work vice commander Holan had set on her desk. He was supposed to do more than half of it but decided to dump it all on her. She sighed at the thought of sorting it all. Sharaina turned to a picture of her, Zentz, Naraygeous, Yolin and Lalina. She picked it up and smiled at it.

Zentz was a captain under commander Ouman of South America. Yolin was a lieutenant under commander Stix of Europe. Lalina wasn't active in the military. She was given the title of Princess so she just leisured around at the royal castle. Naraygeous on the other hand secured himself a rank of a general at the royal castle. Of everyone in the photo, Sharaina saw only Naraygeous and Lalina at least twice a month due to her visits to Cherilisia.

"Why are you staring at a photo instead of working?" Vice commander Holan suddenly sounded and his unexpected voice startled Sharaina. "I expect everything to be done by the end of today." He said and slammed the door.

****

Naraygeous was roaming the hall ways of the royal castle in order to make sure that security was efficient. He was telling some guards to get back to work when he saw Lalina walking up the stairs. She looked stunning in her white dress that gracefully hugged her body. On top of the dress was a red royal robe that complimented the red rubies on her crown.

She caught sight of Naraygeous, took one look at him and faced away. She proceeded to go up the stairs as if she didn't know who he was. The two maidens carrying her red robe from behind where the last thing he saw before Lalina was out of his sight. Naraygeous turned to walk away. She ignored him again and it bothered him so much.

For the past ten years, Lalina developed a cold attitude towards him. She hardly ever acknowledged his presence. He was actually surprised that she even looked his way.

She often kept her eyes off him. He knew that he deserved the harsh treatment she gave him. It is because of this that he maintained his distance. Though he longed to talk to her, he decided that the distance between them was best.

Lalina sat on her bed and dismissed the maidens. Once they were gone she cried deeply. "Once again I have ignored the only man I ever loved. Even after everything, I still expect him to come after me. I am such an idiot." Lalina angrily threw her pillow across the room.

****

In a warm afternoon in Gemhules, Akirexer watched Lakki who appeared to be twelve playing with Precious who appeared to be four years old. She sat on top of Lakki and dropped flower petals into his sky blue hair. Lakki chuckled as he tried to get her off him. Precious smiled from ear to ear at him with her dimples adding more loveliness to her already capturing smile.

Her little brother, Nalvin, crawled in only his nappy. His dragon mark took up most of his little right hand. Seeing how Lakki and Precious were playing got him so excited. He crawled all the way to them on the green loan. When he was close enough, he pulled Precious's braid and she squeaked. Lakki took this chance to get her off him and he climbed up a tree.

"Come down here Lakki." Precious said to Lakki.

"Why don't you come up here instead?" He asked her with a smirk.

Precious frowned and folded her hands. "You know that Nalvin won't like it if I leave him down here. If he gets angry, my mama will get angry with me."

"Grandma is watching us. With her here, my sister can't shout at any of us." Lakki urged her and Precious rubbed her chin skeptical. "Well are you going to come up here?" He asked her excitedly.

"You know what, let me just take him in the house or at least give him to aunt Alainara. I really don't want my mama to get angry with me." Precious decided.

She turned to Nalvin and noticed that he had flower petals in his mouth. He also had some vini powder in his sky blue hair. Precious put her hand to his mouth and he spit out the petals. With a dimpled smile he dropped drool on Precious's hand too. She used her dress to wipe it off before she dusted off the vini powder in his head. When she was done, she carried him back to the house.

Precious found Alainara cooking in the kitchen. Alainara looked sixteen years old. She no longer had hair that flowed down to her knees. She had decided to cut it to just beneath her shoulders because she got tired of some drunken people mistaking her for Sharaina. She also made sure to keep it in a ponytail.

She and Sharaina didn't really resemble that much. If anything, she looked more like Sharumez so she wondered why people thought she was Sharaina. Was it because she had the same body type as Sharaina? This was still not a convincing reason for her because Sharaina was still taller than her. Sharaina was nearly Naian's height while she was exactly Akirexer's height.

"You can leave him here with me. I'll watch him." Alainara warmly said to Precious.

"Thank you aunt!" Precious exclaimed and ran outside.

After hours of paper work, Sharaina finally got off work. She was shocked to find that it was already night time - 19:00hrs to be exact.

Sharaina closed her office door, greeted the janitor and made her way out of the empty building. She got into her mustang and drove to her house. Sharaina pulled up at her driveway and was stunned to see Naraygeous sitting there all alone.

She stuck her head out of her car. "Hey move your ass before I run you over." She said to him.

Naraygeous said nothing and slowly got up. He gave way to Sharaina who proceeded to park her car in her garage. The door opened and her white boot hit the pavement. She got out and took a look at Naraygeous who was completely drunk out of his mind. Sharaina shook her head at him and folded her hands.

"And here I thought that we are buddies. How could you go out to drink without me?" Sharaina asked him.

"I'm sorry it wasn't planned." Naraygeous responded with a drunken chuckle at the end.

Naraygeous staggered after Sharaina inside her house and immediately threw himself on her couch. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled down his tie as he watched her take off her coat and toss it on another couch. Sharaina went to her fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine. She poured herself some and drunk it immediately. Naraygeous saw this and laughed softly.

"Aren't you going to offer me some?" He asked her.

"You have had enough. I'm just getting started. After my terrible day, I could use a full bottle of wine before bed." Sharaina told him and he scoffed. "Anyway, how are things at the castle?" She asked him as she poured herself another glass.

"Lalina is still ignoring me." Naraygeous said.

Sharaina carried her wine bottle to her living room and sat down opposite Naraygeous. "Have you sincerely apologized to her?" Sharaina asked him.

"I think about doing that but then again I hold back in fear of hurting her again. You know me with women."

Sharaina shook her head disappointed at him. "You are the biggest idiot I know Naraygeous." She drank her wine in one gulp.

"You're seriously not going to let me have some of that?" He pointed at the wine bottle.

"You have had enough. You have work tomorrow. I want you to sober up before heading back to the castle. Lest your subordinates see you like this."

Naraygeous dived for the wine bottle and the both of them wrestled for it. He pinned Sharaina down as he gulped it. Sharaina hit the bottle and it went smashing onto the wall. Naraygeous got off Sharaina and pouted at the wasted wine. Sharaina on the other hand was horrified to see Light standing at her door furious. He glared at Naraygeous who hadn't yet taken notice of him.

"Light you are here." Sharaina nervously said.

"Is there a problem with me showing up unannounced?" He coldly asked Sharaina.

"Not at all." Sharaina quickly answered.

"Hey Sharaina, who are you talking to?" Naraygeous asked. He still hadn't noticed Light.

"Is this what you do behind my back?" Light asked Sharaina.

"You are getting it all wrong." Sharaina tried to explain. "We were just wrestling for the bottle. He had too much to drink so I couldn't let him have anymore."

Light scoffed. "And since when did you become his care taker? He is a grown man who can take care of himself. Do you have any idea how the sight of him on top of you is infuriating?" He sternly asked her again. "Now I am beginning to wonder what would have happened if I hadn't come."

Light's words cut Sharaina like a knife. She sat down and held her chest. "Is this how you are starting to look at me Light?"

"What I'm I supposed to think? How would you like it if you found me alone and on top of a drunken woman? When are you going to see that your actions have consequences that affect other people?"

Sharaina held her forehead, annoyed. "So just because I gave myself to you, you think that I would easily do that with other men?" She asked him.

"Excuse me?" Light was stunned with her question. "Are you being for real?"

"Yes I am Light. I am getting sick and tired of you acting up every time you find me with Naraygeous. I can't be proving myself to you for the rest of my life just because of your insecurity. What's the point of this relationship if there's no trust?"

"Your fucking attitude makes it difficult for me to trust you sometimes. Goodness how can you not see how this whole thing is messed up? You will not turn the tables on me." Light retorted, enraged.

Naraygeous was puzzled by the yelling that was going on. He was too drunk to realize that he was the reason Light and Sharaina were fighting. He got up and went into the bathroom. Seeing him go to the bathroom instead of leaving made Light even angrier.

"You know what you have said enough. I think its best you just leave." Sharaina walked to her door and opened it.

"You are kicking me out?" Light angrily asked her.

"Yes I am tired. I had a terrible day and I want to rest. I won't be able to do that with you and your fucking insecurity. I'm getting a headache from just explaining myself to you."

Light clenched his jaw so hard that a vein was sticking out of his throat. He stormed out of Sharaina's house and she closed the door behind him. Sharaina leaned on the door in despair. She slowly slid down until she found herself sitting on the cold floor.

Naraygeous stepped out of the bathroom. He opened a portal and said good bye to Sharaina. He still had no clue of what had happened. He didn't even notice that Sharaina said nothing to him before he finally disappeared into the portal.

****

Songs and chanting of an angry mob echoed across the streets of Cherilisia. Their torches lit up the streets as they lifted them up and down. People closed their windows and locked their door in fear. They wanted no part in the chaos the angry mob was intending on creating. The mob found their way to the castle gates.

They sang louder and chanted their slogans. A few started to play drums while women danced the angry dance. The royal guards circled in on them. Lalina heard the noise and looked out her window. She was surprised to see the angry mob. King Meelzib was alerted of the angry mob. He knew why they were there. With a bored look, he rose up from his throne and went to address them.

He commanded that the gates be opened for them and the mob ran amok into the royal grounds. Armed guards stopped them from going any further to the castle door. The people backed away but they were still courageous enough to hurl insults at the guards. Suddenly Umandaang landed in their midst with a terrible thud. The ground shook and the people lost their balance and fell. He roared and they kept quiet.

"Don't forget that you are on royal ground peasants. KNOW YOUR PLACE!" Umandaang thundered.

King Meelzib got off Umandaang and stroked his fin before turning to the mob. "Why have you come here in the middle of the night making all sorts of noise?" He asked them with a straight face.

One of the people gathered the courage and he bowed down before King Meelzib. "My King, many of us are grieving parents. We have been losing our daughters for the past ten years and nothing tangible is being done about it. What we want is our daughters back. We want justice." He said and the mob roared.

"SILENCE! DON'T FORGET THAT YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF YOUR KING!" King Meelzib raised his voice and the mob went silent. "Make this the last time you will come here like you own the place. Next time I will kill you all in my anger." King Meelzib threatened them. "You were told that we are working on the case of the missing girls. There's no need for all this." He blankly said to them.

"My King, we feel we know who the culprit is and we want him to face the law." The man humbly said.

King Meelzib raised his eye brow. "Who is he?" He asked. Did someone leak information that I am the one behind the disappearances?

"We are convinced that it is Lord Diavinx of the Mid Night Crawlers. He is known for kidnapping fair maidens. In the past he used to release them back home but now he is keeping them hostage. We want him taken down. We keep losing our daughters every day. Please the pain and sorrow is too much." The man knelt down and pleaded.

They think Diavinx is behind it all. . Anyway it's about time that he was caught. King Meelzib grinned.

"Very well then. I will personally select a team that will bring him before you dead, hibernating or alive." He said and the people hugged each other in joy. They patted each other's backs and shook hands too.