HETAR 26 The Lost Chapter

How did it happen? That's the first thing that came into my mind when I saw how Durlen faded away.

My sight s.h.i.+fted to Scarlette's sword. It was coated with blazing fire with black blood underneath. I knew that Nel's blood had something to do with Durlen's quick death.

"Use my heart's blood. Drop my blood on your sword and use it. You can kill my Dad with it. It's the only way."

I repeatedly heard this from my daughter's mind. It was a voice of a man – maybe, Nel's.

~*~

After everything was backed to normal and before Scarlette went back to Earth, I talked to her. I went to her room.

"Scarlette." I found her sitting on her bed while reading a hardbound book. When I saw its gold cover, I smiled. It's the love story of mine with Max. "Where did you get it?" I asked as I sat down beside her.

"From the huge library upstairs, Mom," she replied. She looked at me while smiling mischievously. She closed the book. "Mom, you really love Dad."

I felt that warmth again. "Yes, dear. I love him so much."

"Mom, can you just turn back Dad to being human?" Sadness flashed in her eyes and that made me felt sad, too.

I shook my head. "I can but if I did it, the flow of life would be in chaos." I caressed her right cheek. "Sorry. We also have limitations."

She forced a smile. "I understand. What are you doing here then?"

"How did you kill Durlen in just one hit?" I asked directly.

"When I lost consciousness after I saw visions, I dreamed, Mom. I was walking in the middle of the dark and then, I heard Nel's voice. And there, he said that his heart's blood is the only way to kill Durlen."

How come he knew while in fact, we—G.o.ddesses—didn't know about it? It's been a long time but we didn't know how to make Durlen vanished. How come Nel knew the answer?

"Mom."

I looked at Scarlette. "Yes?"

"Are you fine?"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." I smiled. "Did he tell you why his blood can kill his own father?"

"No. I'm also wondering why."

~*~

I came back to the center hall. Gladly, I found Wart there – sitting on her throne at the right side of mine. Her forehead was creased while looking at the hologram data of all souls.

"Oh, you're here!" She smiled in glee when she noticed me approaching.

"I'll ask you something."

"Me, too."

I stood beside her. "You go first."

"Nel Adriano, isn't he the son of Durlen?"

I nodded. Thoughts were flas.h.i.+ng in my mind. Maybe, this was also connected to the things that I wanted to know.

"He's a half-demon but his soul didn't vanish," she stated. "How come?"

"He did something good, Sis. He helped Max and Asher to escape from the Underworld. And he's also the reason why Durlen was finally gone."

"I see." The hologram in front of her faded away. "By the way, I heard his prayer this morning. He wants to talk to you. He has something important to tell you."

"Where is he?" I asked.

She closed her eyes and touched her temples with her forefingers. "As of now . . . outside the palace's door."

"Thanks!"

Using my powers, I disappeared and appeared in front of the palace. On Earth, humans called this 'teleporting'.

I saw a guy in white who was standing in front of the double door. He must be Nel.

"Nel," I called him.

He faced me. He gave me a small smile and bowed. "Good day, Your Majesty." He stood straight. "I want to—"

"How did you know that your blood is fatal to Durlen?" I asked.

"Gladly, you have asked about it, G.o.ddess. That's what I'm going to tell to you that is so important," he told. He walked towards me and stopped a meter way. "Touch my forehead and you will know the answer why."

With my right hand, I touched his forehead. As my palm touched his skin, I saw a memory.

Two kids were playing metal swords inside a dark room – a boy and a girl. It might be a room in the Underworld.

The kids kept on hitting their swords with each other as they laughed. After several minutes, the boy didn't catch the girl's. .h.i.t. The boy was. .h.i.t on his left arm and it bleed.

"Sorry, Half-Bro." The girl panicked.

The boy laughed instead of crying. "It's fine."

"Okay. If you're wounded, me too," the girl said in glee as she slashed her sword on her left arm.

"Stupid," his half-brother said.

The boy tried to get the sword from her half-sister but the latter didn't want to give it up. And the next thing happened, the boy's blood dripped in the girl's wound. The girl began to cough black blood and trembled. She fell down on the black marbled floor and lost her consciousness. The boy cried while waking his half-sister.

The girl must be Rhode and the boy must be Nel.

I looked at him intently after I saw the memory. I took away my hand from touching his forehead.

"My sister was near death at that time but gladly, my blood was taken out from her wound by our father. And yes, that's the time a theory was created in my mind. I began experimenting. I even experimented demons." He chuckled. "The demons died when the blood from their own kind was injected to them. My theory was proved right. Our blood is fatal in our same kind. My blood and Rhode's blood were fatal to our father."

"Then why did you keep it for a long time?"

"My father knew about it so he became careful. When I asked that I wanted to leave the Underworld, he didn't want to let me go. But because of it, I blackmailed him that I'm going to tell to you what I know so, he set me free." He sighed. "And as I grow up, my conscience kept on haunting me so I came back and tried to end his evilness." He forced a smile again.

'Now, he's gone . . . it serves him right. Tsk. He's also the reason why Rhode and I weren't able to be with our real mothers. After raping them and giving birth to us, he killed them both. He just used them. Gladly, I didn't have an infantile amnesia so I knew what happened from the time I was born,' he said with anger in his mind though there's a hint of satisfaction.

I saw a tear escaped from his left eye that he immediately wiped with his left arm.

Normally, the child wouldn't do anything that could hurt his parent because it also could hurt him but here he is, he did it just to do what is right.

"Nel, thank you."