Chapter 10

Keough found the matter disturbing. It annoyed him that he even had a dream about Selena. It killed him when he is reminded of the incident where he mistook the Flame Haze as Selena. That embarrassment was equivalent to a good beating. It was not as if he saw anything wrong with her, Wilhelmina looked fine and acted normally, nothing wrong there. He should have gotten over his guilt by now, but he knew he wasn't. By God, it was hundreds of years ago! Suppose that the best way was to find another girl but he didn't know his search was going to take him this long, a time he thought, or felt, was forever. Kamaz had not made things easy over the years either, slowing him down and tiring him out. He'd gotten used to it now but it was still tiresome.

He just wanted it to end, enough with the 'I want to rewrite the world' plan. Keough knew what he was doing was to keep balance and that a tool like this should never exist, he learnt his lesson well enough but Kamaz did not. Was it wishful thinking to want a normal life again? Could he not pretend to be normal, get married and have kids like a normal person? Yes, it was wishful thinking. He didn't need anyone anymore, couldn't get close to them because if he lost them, he would suffer. At least it was just a little while more and then his pain will disappear.

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Wilhelmina had dozens of questions she wanted to ask him, but considering his demeanour, she doubted he would want to answer them. She had ascertained that he was the groom that day the incident happened, she wanted to know how and it started and why it ended that way. She also had the urge to ask him about the person he called Selena and if she was the bride that day, his most precious person? Now that thought stung. Wilhelmina only knew how it felt to have something dear to her, but she never understood what it felt to be treasured. She knew Shana treasured her and loved her but it didn't feel the same, it wasn't the same. Curse Merihim for his foolishness, she hated him for that and she still did. It bothered her whenever she was reminded of him, the fact that she still thought of him irritated her, thoughts of what could have been. So naïve she must have been and childish of her to even still have dream like thoughts such as those.

Wilhelmina walked in silence, her head filled with questions, memories she didn't want to remember, worries, dreams and wishes. All of these things pervaded her thoughts. She knew what Tiamat had been trying to do, purposely talking more often and picking a fight to provoke her to release her anger. Even so, good will or not, Wilhelmina did not feel like confiding in her Denizen, but she knew that keeping everything bottled up was not going to make things any better. She snapped back to reality when he spoke.

"We are stopping here for the night," Wilhelmina had not realized how far they had walked since she was too busy attending to her thoughts. "We will rent one room like always to save cost," He added, walking into the hotel. It was not high class but it had all the basic necessities.

The moment he got into the room, Keough dumped his duffel on the bed and went to take a shower. This time the room had two beds, satisfactory enough. Wilhelmina supposed it was due to last time, having only one bed. He probably felt guilty and ever since then he always made sure there were two beds. Wilhelmina opened her huge green travelling bag, conveniently materialized when needed. She had made sure to stock up on food along the way but because they did not have the leisure of time on their hands, Wilhelmina reverted back to instant food. She only hoped her cooking skills would not rust, that she worried about. She took out two cups of instant noodles and poured hot water into both. By the time Keough came out, the food was ready. Wilhelmina silently offered one to him and started on hers.

"Thank you," He said, moving to his side of the room. Wilhelmina started at that, looking at him only to find his back to her. That was the first time he'd said anything to her, not including the times when he informed her of their place of accommodation.

"You are welcome," She replied, turning back to her food when he did not show any signs of acknowledging it. What a hateful person, such quick changes of moods, or in this case, manners. Wilhelmina noted that she should not bother replying in future since he was not going to acknowledge it. While she was cleaning up after eating, Keough suddenly spoke up again.

"Aren't you curious? I was quite certain you had questions about me," Wilhelmina was startled.

"I did not think you would have answered them," She replied coolly.

"I see, but then again, knowing me won't make any difference since I'm about to die sometime soon," He added cynically.

"I already know who you are," She stated, just to, maybe, make him feel better.

"Really, then let's hear what you know about me," He gave her his full attention, she could see it in his eyes. His cold, unnerving gaze made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Your name is Keough Leoheart and the day you were to be married a wipeout of existence on a large scale happened. That is all I know," Wilhelmina faced him, stating everything as a fact.

"I suppose you don't have any other questions at that rate," Satisfied, he was about to turn his back on her.

"Are you not the least bit curious about my name?" She had to ask.

"Foolish," Tiamat commented in a hushed tone.

"No, I don't bother," He replied. Wilhelmina felt slightly hurt by that but pushed the matter aside and ignored him. They went to bed in silence.

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Keough felt he should hit himself in the head. When had he become so rude? Was it because of the many years he had been through, facing Denizen, Flame Haze and Mystes who had one same goal? He was sick of them, trusted none of them and therefore gave them no respect. Anyhow, this Flame Haze did not deserve that kind of treatment even though she was given no choice but to be his bait. Even so, she had not once tried to attack him or attempt to take the Golden Flame. She was a good Flame Haze and deserved at least some respect but old habits die hard.

He cursed himself for not being courteous enough and felt deserved of a good whack in the head when the words slipped past his lips. The look of anger and hurt flashed in her eyes for a good second before it vanished under her mask of indifference. He couldn't blame her but she was good at hiding her feelings as he was. She pretended to be blank half the time, playing the fool when behind that was anything but what she appeared to be. He was no different in that aspect, hiding his pain and loneliness behind an icy stare, immediately stamping down on any efforts of approach. Keough sighed to himself silently. If this is the way he was going to end up spending what may be his last few days, weeks, months, he would surely die alone but it was nothing short of what he deserved for taking all those lives that day. He didn't want Kyrie and Fenrir sharing his pain, they deserved better than that. What more, he had doubted their friendship, the promise they made. He felt guilty, he felt ill to have even thought that they had betrayed him. Tonight he expected to have some unpleasant dreams.

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ok... slow progress here... but we'll get somewhere... sooner or later... =='