Chapter 128: Chapter 128

After making a few turns and walking a few corridors, Eren managed to return to the spacious room which was designed for him, he wondered if he was going to have to use it once more, or another one at that matter.

Closing the door behind him, Eren quickly made his way to the patio while unbuttoning his shirt, a faint smile plastered on his face, the entire day was overwhelming and emotionally exhausting, but he was feeling slightly lighter after talking to Rima and clearing things out for her, the ice queen was like a sister to him, she always hated the fact that they had to use Sara for her blood, and he knew that his fair lady would have an additional ally in case something happened to him along the way.

But that wasn’t it, Eren thought, it was the fact that he heard his emotions being voiced out by someone else, someone close and trustworthy, he didn’t know why it made him feel that good but it did, maybe because it meant that it was there, evident and palpable, for everyone to see and feel, it was an indirect way to announce his claim on her for others before claiming her, if he ever managed to do so.

There were many urgent matters that needed his attention, Eren knew it, starting by the matter of the Gods, that poor excuse of a being, Nov, and the three first generation Gods, he knew they were all out there somewhere, hiding their reality and waiting for when to strike, he didn’t know where exactly, how to find them, and how to kill them if necessary, which was most likely the case, they were stronger than him but how much? For he knew it was but a matter of time for them to show themselves and endanger her, his fair lady, he didn’t have any idea how to find the first Gods, but he knew about Nov, the self-centered bastard would eventually come after him or his lady, and Eren knew he needed to be prepared for it, for it could be his only way to know the whereabouts of the other three.

The other matter at hand was between him, Henry and Rima, with everything settled, the three of them needed to have a serious discussion  about how they should divide the lands they conquered, Manrast and Katara, Eren knew it wasn't going to be the easiest discussion, and none of them was going to be truly satisfied, He knew he and Henry were going to disagree and he feared for their friendship to be scarred for the rest of their lives, never the less, as a lord, he had to think about his people first, the shadows’ empire had no borders with Manrast nor Katara, with the latest being the closest to the frozen edge, it was obvious that it would be taken by Rima, but Manrast was far away from the shadows’ empire and the dark forest, and Eren wondered if Henry was ready to make the swap, and more importantly, if his people would let him do so.

As if his plate wasn't full already, Eren had the fire lands to take care off, after killing their lord ad most of their forces, Luckily he had Andrea and Joseph there to keep it under control, Not everyone from the fire nation contributed in the last battle, there were those who couldn't fight, and those who stayed behind to take care of the empire, Eren didn't want to execute every single remaining fire demon, He was willing to change his ways, especially after seeing Sara again, and seeing the person she became, he didn't know when it happened but he was looking up to her, and to her selflessness, he wanted to give the remaining fire demons the chance to live, with conditions of course which some were not respecting sadly, Andrea reported many attacks and riot all over the fire empire as well as the borders with the human kingdom called Buskeen, as if he needed any more trouble with the humans.

Eren's head felt like splitting with all the things at hand, not that he wasn't used to stress, he remembered it was just as bad when he was trying to climb over to power, but back then, he had no one to worry about except for himself, but things changed as he had the fair lady he loved so much, he wanted to worry about nothing but her, take care of nothing but her, she was his world and for her he was willing to give up the world, sadly, the world was a big mess so he had to fix it as possible for her to live safely in it.

Eren thought back about the river where he met Sara for the very first time, still remembering her words, "I feel, like I am diving into a river, some quiet time will help me to, maybe be pulled out of the water. "

For someone as straightforward as Sara, or Dahlia as she was calling herself, such a line sounded so, theatrical for her, Everyone else found it strange coming out of her mouth but took it in it metaphorical meaning, thinking she needed space to think about the recent events, including her imprisonment, He, however, knew her words were free of metaphors but were rather a secret message that only he could understand as it was an accident only he knew about, that being the first time they met when he pulled her out of the river.

Discarding himself of the rest of his clothes, Eren shifted into his demon form, spread his large black wings and jumped from the patio into the air with his clothes in his large hand, flying was one of the biggest joys he ever experienced and he loved it, it made him feel unbound, free and light, balancing himself in the air, he pushed himself forward, making his way like an arrow splitting the air, he headed west in his full speed, toward the river he first met Sara, he remembered that day like it was yesterday, He was frustrated after six months of futile attempts to locate the hybrid who had the most beautiful pair of eyes he ever saw, just to find her by the side of the river, at the edge of his empire and right under his nose, he felt the pull of her delicious scent and the unstable faint energy radiating from her drowning body, and when he pulled her out of the water, taking in her delicacy, her beauty and her fragility, he felt like he had two hearts and two minds, a heart that craved her and wanted to devour her, and another that throbbed in his chest making him feel strange things, a mind that told him to take her there and use her in the most cruel ways, and the other that wanted to protect her as if she belonged to him, Eren was never fond of weakness, especially because it reminded him of his young self, when he was but a young boy trying to survive in the dark forest, chased by the humans and demons, he was weak at the time, and he had to suffer a lot, fight a lot, just to be where he was, However, this girl's weakness and fragility steered something inside of him, a basic primal instinct to protect her and look after her, and that scared him, a feeling as such was strange to him, it was human and human for a demon meant weak and vulnerable, silencing the second heart and mind, he let his demonic side take the lead of his judgement, he did what he needed to do, lied and abused the frail looking girl.

Reaching the river, Eren saw Dahlia standing there with a distant look on her face, it was already dark, but she was radiating with a light of her own, like a firefly in darkness, or a star in the beautiful night sky, her aura was silver and beautiful, he landed behind a big tree, shifted back into his human form before putting back his clothes and walking toward her, he figured she already sensed his presence as she didn't look surprised with his arrival, meaning she was waiting for him, the question was, what for?

As he walked towards her, his fair lady who was still staring at the river, he took those few moments to admire her, she was a bit taller than before, her body looked leaner without losing any of it feminine curves, if anything, they were more prominent and delicious to look at, her posture was straight and more confident, wrapped in dark clothes, air was messing with her short black hair, her beautiful eyes looking at the river, or beyond it, with that expressionless face he knew she wore to hide herself, her pain, and her cracks.

She was her and not her at the same time, Eren thought to himself as he stopped two steps away from her, he didn't love Dahlia any less than he loved Sara, he just wished she didn't have to pretend to be anything but who she was, looking directly at her eyes as she turned to face him, he frowned when he saw the conflict in her eyes, clouding their purity.

"There are some things I needed to ask you..."Sara steadied her voice and focused back on the present, she was torn between her hate, and her need for the shadows' lord, in so many ways that she hated to admit, she was still debating herself whether it was a good idea to meet him there or not, but there was just so much she couldn't understand, so many questions that tormented her and he had their answers, and not just that, he had her truth, he knew her, and he reminded her of herself, her old self which she needed to stay balanced and sane.

That, and the fact that he was the only person she truly had by her side, her family didn’t see her as one of them, and the people who loved her and cherished her only loved the lie she made them believe, but he…he knew everything and yet still stayed by her side.

It was bittersweet, and she hated how confused it made her feel.

"I am all ears." Eren gave her a small smile, noticing her uneasiness around him, her eyes would roam here and there before returning to his, she shifted her weight from one leg to the other few times, Eren's smile grew in his mind, with one thought in mind, at least she wasn't trying to kill him, and to him, that was progress.

"What happened to me? Last thing I remember was falling asleep in the cell..."

"You were poisoned, the venom was mixed with the water you drank, as you probably know a drop of it is lethal and you have consumed much more than a drop, if you were a human, it would have killed you, but with your other half, it just made you unconscious for a couple of days, during that time, Someone, Henry is still investigating who exactly, spread the rumor about your imprisonment, the people were furious over it and a riot started."

“It was the same poison used to kill my father and the queen!” Sara didn’t know why she shared that information with him, but never the less, voicing it out helped her organize her thoughts more, and her doubts of the same culprit who killed her father and his wife trying to kill her only grew bigger, " and Henry thinks that I failed in my duty to protect Nara.”

"You are wrong about that, as you’ve already suspected..." Eren gave Sara a knowing look, he knew she had her doubts about the matter, just not enough time to look for it roots. "He was suspecting you since he first saw you, and had his men investigate you, apparently he found some villagers from the village you claimed to belong to and impugned that, all while an old inn owner who lived far away from the borders claimed you murdered her husband and kidnapped her little relative."

"So, he only released me because of the riot?", So much for the brotherly affection, Sara thought bitterly.

"No...", for the rest of the world, Sara's eyes were void, but for Eren, who stared at them longer than others, with so much devotion, he was able to see the traces of hurt in them, before it was buried under a layer of ice.

"He...was convinced that your past didn't matter that much, Not after everything you did to the princess and the kingdom..." Eren didn't want Sara to know it was him who knocked some sense into her brother's thick skull, and even lied about some parts, he somehow, wanted her to believe that she had their affection and acceptance, without him showing off as the hero who saved the day, it was something he learned from her, to be selfless, to give without waiting to be paid nor praised, and wanting nothing but the other's happiness, Eren wanted his fair lady to be happy, the happiest, and for that he was willing to weave lies if needed.

"Is that so? " Sara asked, knowing that the man standing in front of her had a hand in the matter, knowing her brother, she was certain that he wouldn't spare anyone who could form a threat on Nara's wellbeing, A role she was so fit in from where he saw it.

"Yes."

"What happened when I was unconscious? "

"For most of the time, nothing really, you were just sleeping peacefully, your core was stable, your energy, your breathing, your heart beats, even your temperature, everything was fine and stable, but then your core was destabilized, your heartbeats were thunderous, I didn't understand what was happening to you until I felt it, your energy was being forced out of your body."

"How did you feel it?" Sara interrupted him, wanting to get every detail explained.

"You were wrapped up in my shadows all the time..."

Eren knew that Sara wasn't going to appreciate the information he just told her, her raised eyebrow and tightly pursed lips confirmed that, clearing his throat, he went on with his explanation before she tried to at his throat.

"You were poisoned, and the culprit was and still not caught, Hell, we don't even know who it was, I was afraid someone might attempt to attack you again, especially when I wasn't there..."

"So, You mean no one was causing my energy to spill out of my body?", Unlike what Eren thought, Sara wasn't upset about the fact that he kept his shadows around her, she was just wondering if the peaceful darkness she saw in her dream came from his shadows, in a way it made sense, She wasn't the black haired Dahlia around him as he knew her reality, she was Sara, the silver haired hybrid, what she didn't understand was the safety that she felt in that darkness, the passive knowledge of being protected, she just didn't understand why would Eren's shadows make her feel that way, or maybe she understood and refused to admit it.

She didn’t want to fall into that trap again, she didn’t want to have her heart broken by the same person the same way again.

"Yes and No, Yes, because no one suspicious entered your room, besides me, Henry, Nara, Rima and a couple of maids and the palace doctors, No one stepped inside, and none of them had any malicious intents toward you otherwise my shadows would have passively attacked them, No, was because someone was attacking you through your dream, I don't know who or how exactly they did so, but I felt something strange within you, something that didn't belong to you destabilizing your core while trying to break the shadows I set around you, Your body then went rigid, while your eyes moved hectically behind your closed eyelids, that is when I knew you were being controlled by someone through your dream, I had to wake you up, I called and called but you were not responding so I poured water into your mouth, you were suffocating, and as an instinctual reflex, your body woke itself up, and you regained your consciousness." Eren didn't want to tell Sara he actually played the same trick on her when she was his prisoner, when he tried to sneak into her dreams, he didn't want her to remember those times, not while she was talking to him without trying to kill him, it was a precious moment of peace that he wanted to savor for as long as it lasted.

"There were three figures in my dream, Three men, all wearing white, all having silver hair, just like mine, They knew who I was, They knew my mother's name, I think they were Gods..." Sara looked at Eren and he felt his heart clench at the sight of her scared eyes, it was way too evident to be masked, Sara on the other hand was mortified under her expressionless face, Not because of the Gods, not entirely at least, but what scared her the most was the feeling of helplessness when she was surrounded by those Gods, she was weak and vulnerable and helpless, unable to do a thing until Eren helped her, the last time she was that helpless, she lost her father and herself, being that again, she feared that her weakness would cost her someone else.

Eren took another step toward Sara, wanting so bad to take her in his arms and sooth her, reassure her and tell her that he was willing to die before letting anything happen to her, he knew his boundaries though so he just settled for their untouching proximity while letting his shadows roam around her and climb up her legs, it seemed to calm her up a little bit as she steadied her breath and regained her focused look.

"They mentioned someone named Nov, does that ring any bells?" Sara noticed the anger and hostility that flashed in Eren's eyes, his jaw was clenched at the mention of that name, so he did know him!

"Was he one of the three who harmed you?"

"I don't think so..."

"I think I need to tell you about everything I learned in the center, my fair lady..." Eren said with a sigh, knowing that Sara wasn't going to like the story.

DO YOU THINK THAT EREN MANAGED TO REDEEM HIMSELF? SHOULD HE BE FORGIVEN OR NOT YET? AND WHAT IS THERE AFTER FORGIVENESS?