076 Light From The Past

"Allura is here, too?" Uranus squinted her eyes at Erebus, "You are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Why?" Erebus smirked at her, "She's not your loving cousin?"

"You just don't want to handle her yourself!" Uranus clenched her fist but Erebus stopped her --

They were standing in her top floor "warden office", face to face, with Uranus's hand held in Erebus's.

"I just thought you'd want to clear some debt from the old days yourself," Erebus grinned at her, not letting go of her hand, "But yeah, it's a very enjoyable scene where two werewolf princesses fight."

"Hmph. Your 'kitten' won't allow other women to touch you, but she will allow this?" Uranus snorted at Erebus, hinting at their hands, returning sarcasm with sarcasm.

"I'm sure the reason of giving you a shred of freedom would be enough to win her pity." Said Erebus in a lazily joking tone, "Done."

A dark spell imprint dissolved around Uranus's hand.

"I got this from a wizard friend." Erebus expalined -- Uranus didn't know he had magic in him.

"So I can use my magic outside of this building now?" Uranus inspected her hand with a doubtful look.

"For three days, yes." Erebus nodded, "We have to go back here and do the spell again if you want any more time than that."

Uranus pressed her lips together as if in despise of that offer. But in the end, she didn't refuse either.

"Let's go." Erebus hinted at the door.

"What?! You are my guardian now?!" Uranus rose her eyebrows in surprise, "I wouldn't exactly call that freedom."

"And I thought you wanted Allura?" Erebus shrugged, "Staying close to me gets you faster to her."

"I have no interest in that evil witch!" Uranus yelled.

"Well, orders given directly from you IS easier, but I suppose I can contact your people on my own." Erebus nodded, ignoring Uranus's darkened look.

Uranus: "..."

"Just let them know I'm coming, will you?" Erebus said as he headed for the door.

"Wait! " Uranus yelled, turning her head away to avoid Erebus's eyes as he burst into laughter.

"Yes, my Princess?" Erebus said with his annoying grin.

"I'm not a princess!" Uranus clenched her teeth at Erebus. "And what are you laughing at?!"

"Nothing. You just reminded me of someone else. She once said the same thing." Erebus shook his head with a laugh.

"Ohhh, your cute little kitten! Hmph, all you talk about is her!" Uranus squinted her eyes at him with a judging face.

"Well." Erebus said just that one word, with a stupid happy smile.

"Ugh..." Uranus rolled her eyes, "Was I as stupid as you are right now before?"

"Haha, probably not. No one has a deeper feeling towards anyone as I have to her." Erebus words got him a pillow thrown at his face.

"What?" Erebus turned to ask, noticing that Uranus didn't move. She just stood there with a hesitated look.

"I..." Uranus opened her mouth but only to shut again, "Nothing, let's go!"

"Wait, wait, wait. What's bothering you?" Erebus stopped her steps, "You can tell me."

"Like hell I will!" Uranus glared at him, "You just want another laugh. I'm not stupid."

"Well, what if I do?" Erebus shrugged with his grin, knowing how that would affect Uranus. She would more likely to talk at teasing rather than at a serious promise.

Uranus took a deep breath, and looked up at his eyes: "I wanted to know, how Persus is doing, okay? Now after you had your laugh, we can go save your little kitten!"

Erebus blinked her with a soft, gentle look. He didn't laugh.

"That bad, hua?" Uranus got the hint from his silence, she took a slight sigh and headed for the door, "I guess it's only to be expected."

"Well, he IS still alive," Erebus shrugged with a grin, "And still a pain in the ass. So I guess, he’s alright?"

"Haha..." Uranus burst into laughter, broke out of the sullen mood, "Yeahhh, I do think he was born your cross to bear. I lost count of how many times you took the fall for him."

"Let's try a thousand for starters." Erebus squinted his eyes, pretending to be angry.

He was actually glad to see that Uranus was much sunnier than he thought she would be after all these years locked up here.

"It's only because you taught us how to misbehave!" Uranus hummed at him with a careless tone, "You deserve the bitter fruits."

"What? Whose side are you on?!" Erebus protested.

"I'm on the side of truth!" Uranus laughed as she turned to look at him.

"And here I thought you said I stole your heart. Did you mean to say Persus when you said you lost it to me?" Erebus closed the door behind them.

"Well, you didn't want mine! Couldn't a girl at least get her humble heart back when rejected?" Uranus rolled her eyes at him.

"Uranus... You deserve someone who loves you more..." Taken by guilt, Erebus said slowly.

"Of course!" Uranus hit him on the shoulder, "What do you think?!"

"I think... Did I just take another beat for that little jerk? I'll definitely put it on my debt collection note." Erebus pretended to be mad at him.

"Hahaha..." The whole elevator was shaking as Uranus laughed, banging on the elevator wall. Erebus watched her laughing, suddenly fell into reminiscence:

It had been a while since he had a genuine laugh with an old friend.

"So how did your kitten end up here?" Asked Uranus when she finally had her laugh.

"Well. There had been kids missing around here. I assume you are aware of that a bit?" Said Erebus putting on his business face.

"No! Not at all! How --" Uranus mumbled to herself.

"Well, that's what we are here to find out." Erebus stopped at the gate of the casino, watching Uranus stepped out of the building.

"Oh my God! I'm finally... out." Uranus mumbled.

Watching the world outside of the building all the time, she hadn't felt this kind of joy at all for a very long time.

Being part of the royal family, she was born with magic as well as her ability to shift. She lost both of them when she was assigned to this job at the early age of 15.

Sure, she could get out and breathe a little. But without her magic and her wolf, walking out was like a trip into the snow when you were already freezing.

As time passed by, she just lost the desire to go out at all. This was the first time she felt like she was alive again in almost ten years!

"I--" Uranus turned to spill her excitement at Erebus, only to find that he was still on the top of the stairs. Erebus just leaned against the door, watching her.

"Why are you standing so far away?" Asked Uranus.

"This moment is yours alone." Erebus said with a soft voice.

"...Thanks." Uranus said, looking up at Erebus from the foot of the stairs, but soon, her attention was attracted by the views around her.

The sunshine cast on her brought back a shred of the shadow of the innocent little girl that she used to be.

Autumn was not completely over yet, and with the breeze tickling her hair, she smiled and started spinning. Her magic rose a twirl of leaves around her, bouncing under the twilight...

"Sorry, it had been a while." She finally snapped out of it and turned to look at Erebus.

"You are beautiful." Erebus nodded and started coming down to her.

"It's a bit late to--" Uranus started to tease him, only to be cut off by the ring of her phone--

"Master! We found a trace of a blue-haired girl! She was heading into the Blood Moon Forest!"