I have written all the way up to chapter 59, but I am currently working on editing them. So, you should expect some more back-to-back updates hopefully soon.
We're getting towards the end... I want to take a quick second to thank everyone who has been with me from the beginning. It's certainly been a journey, and you have no idea how much it means you've stuck with me this far. I know this pairing is rare and Black Cat isn't mainstream, but I love it and it means soooo much that there are people still reading.
I'll give you all a more proper thanks when the story is over, but for now, enjoy. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat
Echidna frowned as she dabbed sweat off Charden's brow and replaced the cloth around his neck that was collecting the precipitation pooling there. She dropped the now wet piece of fabric in a bin she had resting next to the bed, then grabbed a new towel that was laying at her feet. She sighed deeply as she continued cleaning her lover of the relentless sudor that perpetually dripped down his pale face.
Seventeen days… It's been seventeen days since Doctor and the Black Cat disappeared, and Charden is still in terrible shape…
From what she remembered about the Nanomachines Kanzaki gave Train, the Black Cat seemed to be mostly acclimated to the bots after about three or four days, and she didn't understand why it seemed to be taking Charden's body so much longer to accept them. Then again, she didn't know much about the Nanomachines at all, nor did she know how many the scientist put in either Chaden or Train's body, or what kind he used on either of the men.
Considering his arm has been slowly regrowing, there has to be healing Nanomachines in him. From what Watts told me, that was the whole point of injecting him with them.
She frowned and grimaced slightly as she gently fingered the regrowing limb, retracting her hand quickly when she heard Charden let out a pained groan. Despite how agonizingly long the last seventeen days had been, she was shocked at how quickly her partner's healing process had been. Charden had already regrown up to his elbow, but his progress seemed to stagnant when it came to his joints. It appeared they were harder for the Nanomachines to recreate.
And I think it's more painful as well… I can only imagine how much regrowing his hand is going to hurt. There are a lot of complicated bones and joints there.
Despite the pain she knew her lover was in, and despite how much it broke her heart to watch the man she loved slowly become less and less of a human, she was impressed at the work the Nanomachines were doing. She didn't expect them to regrow his arm since they were injected into Charden after it was cut off. She had always assumed the bots would only heal new wounds, not old ones.
But again, I don't know anything about them. They're could be different healing types that I'm not aware of. Or I could be completely wrong as to how they work.
Whatever the Nanomachines were doing to healing Charden didn't matter to Echidna. What mattered to her was knowing exactly what was put into her partner and what she could do to help him recover. Since she didn't know what to do, she decided to treat his illness like it was the flu. She made sure to keep his liquids plentiful, his blood controlling ability making the actress give him twice as much water as she would any other person in his position, and made sure he was as comfortable as possible.
But... at the end of the day, I have no idea what I'm doing. Maybe he's supposed to have a fever and supposed to be sweating this much. I have no idea, which is why Doctor needs to come back!
Echidna took a deep breath to calm herself down.
Just relax… we'll find him. I'm sure of it. Especially now that we've been given a minute to breathe.
Their war with Chronos was currently at a standstill, and the rest of the Apostles were looking for Kanzaki at that precise moment. That was why Jax wasn't with Charden as well. He was out hunting for the mad scientist with the rest of the Taoists.
I just hope he can handle it…
She was hesitant to send Charden's protege on his first mission not only because she didn't have her lover's approval, but she didn't know if he was ready yet. Added to that, Doctor wasn't there to give her updates on his physical or mental state, so she was concerned about how the teen would handle himself out in the world on his own. However, considering how strong he was and how important it was to find the scientist, she didn't think she had much of a choice. She had to send the boy off with everyone else.
He's also really eager to find Doctor and... 'deal with him'. I told him not to kill Kanzaki yet, and I think he'll listen since I told him Charden needs him alive.
Jax had gotten frighteningly strong the last few months, but his inexperience worried her. Searching for Kanzaki was not only going to be his first mission, but his first time leaving the Apostles' hideout, and she was concerned he might lose his cool and do something rash.
I paired him with Shiki and Maro who are more than capable of subduing him if need be, so he should be fine. Right now, I need to have faith that Jax and the rest of my team will keep themselves under control and complete the mission as ordered.
She was desperate enough to find Doctor that she even allowed Watts to search for the man. Despite how furious she still was with him for not checking on the Black Cat sooner and partially being at fault for his disappearance, they didn't have time for her to properly scold him. That would have to come later. And possibly from Charden when he woke up.
The only ones here with me and Charden are the child experiments and Allie Hue. Even though there isn't much the kids can do, I am grateful for the woman's presence.
They were fortunate enough to still have Hue to look after the children, but it bothered Echidna that she wasn't able to do much for Charden. Still, what little she was able to provide was better than nothing. The woman had a medical degree which gave her the basic knowledge of how to take care of a human, but it was trickier than either of them anticipated since his sickness was caused by the Nanomachines. And neither of them knew much about them.
She was just as shocked as I was to hear Doctor injected Charden with the Nanomachines and they aren't her area of expertise. The most she has been able to do is offer advice on how to take care of him. However, even she's not sure if we're doing the right thing.
All of the Apostles understood why they needed to find Kanzaki and why they needed to pause their war for a moment, but none of them understood what they were going to do with Doctor once Charden was better. Shiki was the most vocal in saying they should just kill him, but Echidna wasn't ready to make that call yet. Mostly because she wasn't sure what Charden would want.
Despite this unforgivable debacle Doctor created, I can't ignore the fact that we need him... and I'm sure Charden knows that as well.
Doctor was clever enough to leave Hue in the dark for most of his experiments, which meant Allie could only do so much. Hue let Echidna know there wasn't much she could do without Kanzaki, and the actress was certain the madman did that on purpose.
He wanted to make sure we would alway need him so we wouldn't kill him… And now we need him even more because of what he did to Charden…
Echidna sighed, resting her elbows on her knee and her head in her hands as she stared at her lover's sleeping, damp body.
...Even though it sounds like Charden made the decision on his own.
The actress glanced at the door, staring at it for a moment to see if Hue was going to enter then sighed in defeat when she did not. The woman stopped by every day to check on Charden's progress, even though she knew there wouldn't be much she could do if he took a turn for the worse. She also told Echidna she'd do her best to find out what specific Nanomachines were in her partner's body and started looking into what else she could do to help the Blood Taoist.
I know there's definitely healing bots in him, but it's just a guess that Doctor injected him with the transformation ones as well.
She assumed that only because she knew Kanzaki had been trying to pump her partner full of the bots for a while, and she didn't think he'd skimp out on giving the Blood Taoist everything he possibly could.
Which also leads me to believe Kanzaki gave Charden more Nanomachines than he gave the Black Cat. If that's true, I don't know if that was at Charden's request, or if Doctor did it without him knowing.
There was also the chance that Doctor had to give him more Nanomachines than he gave Train because they were trying to regrow his arm. Charden might have needed more of the healing bots in order to accomplish that goal. Outside of that hypothesis, everything else was a guess. They didn't know how many bots Charden had been injected with, nor did they know how many were healing and how many were transformation.
I also don't know how long it'll take him to heal. He's woken up a few times, but he's never coherent. He barely recognizes me, so telling him where we are or what's going on is out of the question.
Charden called out to her every so often and she was always quick to respond to his pleas, whatever they may have been. However, the blonde man never stayed awake long enough to maintain a conversation with her.
Even if I could bring him up to date on what's been going on, I don't know how he'd react to it. What if this was all part of a plan he cooked up with Doctor that I wasn't privy to?
After finding out Charden agreed to let Doctor inject him with Nanomachines and seeing how far her lover had fallen over the edge, Echidna was worried her partner came up with a plan that only Kanzaki knew about. He was slipping so far away from reality she wouldn't have been surprised if Charden and planned for Doctor to disappear.
Which is another reason why we can't kill Kanzaki if he shows up. We need to hear what Charden has to say first.
Then, there was Aliane. The only conclusion Ehidna could come to about the girl's vanishing was she either finally ran away to save her own skin, or Doctor took Train somewhere to have the Black Cat kill her. Having the gunman dispose of Aliane would have been a solid plan since it was a good way to test Train's submissiveness, and it got rid of the pesty girl once and for all. Even with his last bits of defiant behavior left, Train might have hated her enough to want to end her life.
But, what doesn't make sense is why they would have to go somewhere else to do that. There was plenty of space where we were to dispose of the girl. And then we could have witnessed the Black Cat's power first hand. If we saw that, members like Shiki might have stopped questioning Charden's methods.
Echidna sighed despondently, then leaned forward and wiped more sweat away from her partner's brow. She leaned back in her chair, then glanced out the window and watched the sun slowly set.
Guess this marks the end of day thirteen… Did I make the right choice by having us leave our other hideout?
She had enough time alone with her own thoughts that she was beginning to question if she had done the right thing by moving. If Charden did have a plan that involved Doctor, Aliane, and Train, did that plan hinge on the fact they stayed where they were? How else was Kanzaki supposed to find them again?
Echidna rolled her eyes at her own question.
Foolish thoughts. I actually think he'll find us before we find him. Still… I'm concerned Charden will become angry with me when he finds out we left. I don't know if I ruined anything…
She sighed again, then pulled the blankets away from her lover a little, allowing the man's sweltering chest to breathe. Seeing he had sweat through his shirt, the actress stood up and remove the clothing from his upper body. There wasn't really a need for him to be wearing a shirt anyway and since he kept sweating through them, she figured she'd just leave it off.
If he'd let me in on his plans, my current thoughts wouldn't be consumed with the idea that I messed up. If this really is all part of one of his plans, how the hell was I supposed to know about?
She grabbed another clean towel from the laundry basket, then winced at the sweat that was pooling around her lover's chest. Deciding the man needed some kind of a wash down, she cut a slit in the air, opening up a portal to the bathroom sink. She stepped through the black hole, drenched the towel in water, then stepped back into the room.
I'll use soap on him another time. For now, I just want to rid his body of this neverending salty precipitation.
Echidna pulled the blankets back more and began using the wet towel to wipe the sweat off her lover's body. She frowned when she saw Charden shiver a little at the contact and began questioning if she should have used warm water instead of cold.
His body has been on fire the last couple of days and his fever hasn't stopped. I thought cold compresses and water would have been the correct choice.
Before she could open another portal to test her theory, she heard a gentle knock coming from the door. She knew it could only be one person, so she didn't bother getting up to answer it.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly and Hue peeked her head through the door. She locked eyes with her female leader, waiting for permission to enter the room.
Echidna rolled her eyes. "I said come in. That means enter the room."
Hue nodded, then stepped into the room and allowed her weary eyes to land on Charden. "How has he been today?"
The actress frowned as she continued cleaning off her shivering lover. "The same. Fever won't go away, in and out of consciousness, and he's sweat through another shirt. I need to replace the sheets at some point too."
The scientist looked at the sheets underneath her male leader and noticed how wet the bedding was. "Yes, those need to be changed. I'm sure he can't be comfortable sleeping in that anyway."
Echidna sighed as she cleaned the sweat from Charden's stomach. "I'm not sure he really notices anything right now. Whenever he does wake up, it's not for long."
Hue nodded in understanding, then stepped next to the bed. "Has he been drinking more?"
Echidna nodded. "Yes, that's the only thing that has improved." She whimpered a little at the pitiful quiver her partner released, then placed the towel aside. "Why is he shivering so much?"
Hue was holding Charden's wrist to check his heart rate, and she glanced at the towel her leader was just using. "Is that cold or warm water?"
Echidna frowned at the towel. "Cold. I thought that's what he needed to bring the fever down."
Hue tried to give the woman a sympathetic smile. "Yes, but this fever is caused by Nanomachines, so it needs to be handled differently. He needs warm water and probably more blankets that are preferably not sopping wet from his own sweat."
Echidna eyed the woman as she gently placed Charden's hand back on the bed. "Does this mean you've been successful in your research on how the Nanomachines work?"
Hue sighed. "A little. I still don't know what Nanomachines Charden has in him, but I do understand a bit more how they work, and how the body reacts to certain kinds."
Echidna sighed in relief, then sat down heavily in the chair next to the bed. "Tell me everything you've found out."
Hue stared at Charden's contorted face as she spoke. "Based on how his body is reacting, I think it's safe to say he's had both healing and transformation bots put in him."
Echidna sighed and gestured for her to elaborate. "You need to be more specific, Ms. Hue. I know absolutely nothing about the Nanomachines. or how they meld with a human body."
Hue again, tried to give her a sincere smile. "From what I've found in Doctor's notes, my own research, and the way the children have reacted to the Nanomachines, the healing bots makes the user feel warm, and the transforming bots make them feel cold. That's why Charden is shivering, sweating, and has a fever. Both kinds of his Nanomachines are working overtime."
Echidna blinked in confusion. "Why are they both working? I know the healing ones activate on their own, but doesn't he need to activate the transformation bots?"
Hue gave her an uncertain look. "That's where it gets kind of confusing. Normally, yes, the transformation bots need to be activated by the user. However, because Charden is incapable of controlling them since he's unconscious, his body is reacting to his injury on its own as it transforms and heals his new arm."
Echidna's heart froze, then her eyes shot over to the man's reforming arm. "...Does that mean his arm will be made entirely of Nanomachines?"
Hue seemed hesitant with her response. "I believe so. Again, this isn't my area of expertise, but from what I've devised in my short time researching the technology, the Nanomachines only heal wounds inflicted after they were inserted. Meaning they shouldn't be healing his arm."
Echidna was even more confused now and let her bewilderment be known. "Then why are they healing him?"
Hue sighed and rubbed her forehead, trying to think of a better way to explain her reasoning. "This is just my hypothesis, but based on the way his body is reacting to temperatures, I think I'm right. I think the Nanomachines recognize that he should have two arms instead of one. Furthermore, they seem to understand losing one of his limbs was an injury and not a birth defect so, instead of healing his arm, they are forming a new one that, yes, will most likely be made entirely of Nanomachines."
Understanding slowly began to take over Echidna and she nodded. "Okay… I think I understand. But, you said both his healing and transforming bots are activated right now, correct?"
Hue nodded. "Correct. And I think I know the reason for that as well. Forming the arm is a painful process. They have to recreate bones, nerves, flesh, skin, and muscle which are all things the Nanomachines don't have. Because of that, they are working extra hard and causing him unintended wounds in the process."
The scientist took a step towards the bed and pointed to a spot on Charden's arm that had exposed skin. "Right there is what I mean. They are working from the inside out, so the first thing they are forming is the bone, then the muscle and nerves, and so on and so forth. However, that creates an injury on his arm, which makes the healing Nanomachines spring into action and fix the wound almost immediately."
Echidna frowned at the woman, then stared at the man in the bed. "Is that why his arm seems to be healing so quickly?"
Hue shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. I think the Nanomachines are working both with and against one another. The healing bots help progress the transforming ones, but only when his arm is at the stage of forming the skin. Otherwise, the transforming bots are fighting to create his arm before the healing bots can step in and take over before they're finished."
Echidna thought about what she said, still a little confused, but understanding for the most part what the woman was telling her. "So… should we be concerned?"
Hue sighed. "I… Don't know. Like I said, everything I said is a hypothesis that I have no way to test unless…"
Echidna sighed as well. "...Unless we find Doctor and get answers from him." She looked back at Charden and frowned. "Can you take a blood sample from him and figure out how many Nanomachines are in him? I don't remember the Black Cat taking this long to meld with the bots."
Hue frowned. "I could try… But, I'm concerned about doing that while his body is still so vulnerable. However, if it helps, I believe that Charden has far more in him than Heartnet did. He'd need a lot more to regrow the arm."
Echidna sulked into the chair, her morose eyes locked onto her sleeping lover's agonized face. "That's what I thought as well, but I guess it's good to hear from someone else."
Even though Hue doesn't know much about the Nanomachines, she has the tools to learn more about them than I do.
"And I don't need to remind you we weren't done giving the Black Cat the Nanomachines. Doctor only managed to give him one dose." Hue stared at her leader's defeated face as she tried to alleviate her fears.
Echidna nodded, feeling a little better at being reminded Charden didn't leave her out of all of his plans.
Which makes me feel better about getting us out of our last hideout as fast as I did. But… I'm still worried I may have potentially ruined one of his plans.
Echidna began running her fingers through the Blood Taoist's drenched hair as she spoke. "Knowing all that you now know, what else can I do to help him recover?"
Hue wasn't sure if giving Echidna advice on how to care for the man would lighten the load on her heart, but she tried anyway. "First, you need to match the temperature of the towels you're using to the temperature he is experiencing. Otherwise, you could confuse his Nanomachines and either cause his fever to spike or drop dramatically. Neither of which is good."
Echidna caressed Charden's cheek. "So, if he's hot, use hot water and if he's cold, use cold water?" Seeing the woman nod, she sighed and wiped away a little bit of sweat that dripped down her partner's temple. "Anything else?"
Hue was quiet for a second, worried that when she answered that question, it would upset the actress further. "No. I'll keep doing research and get back to you with any more information. In the meantime, if you want me to take his blood and test it, I will."
Echidna shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary. I have a feeling Doctor will show up soon."
Hue cocked an eyebrow at the woman. "Why do you think that?"
Echidna sighed and looked out the window again, her hand lowering to Charden's and tangling their fingers together. "Because he doesn't have anywhere else to go. He doesn't exactly... fit in with society. The Apostles is the only place he has a future."
No reputable institution would take an unstable, mad scientist like him and despite his genius, he won't be able to survive long on his own.
While none of the Apostles were paid for their duties with the organization, they did provide their members free room, board, and food. And if they achieved their goals, all the Taoists would have the complete cooperation of the rest of the society, and would never have to worry about providing themselves with basic human necessities again. The world would be at their feet and therefore give them anything they desired or required.
That is… if we win. I… still don't know what I'm going to do.
Echidna was still battling with her inner turmoil of giving up their war against Chronos in favor of saving Charden's humanity. However, after learning what the Blood Taoist did to his body, she wasn't sure how much of his humanity was left.
Especially since I don't know how many Nanomachines are in him or any way to remove them.
She looked back at Hue. "Is there any way to remove the Nanomachines?"
The scientist blinked. "You want to… remove them?"
Echidna sighed and looked back at Charden. "I… just want to know if there's a way."
Hue frowned at her leaders, then ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know, but I can do some research if that's what you want."
Echidna nodded. "Yes. And do not tell anyone I asked you to do that. Not even Charden."
Hue gave her a skeptical look, then nodded in understanding. "Yes, Ma'am."
Echidna smiled a little at the woman. "Thank you…" She looked back out the window as she finished her statement. "You're much more cooperative than Kanzaki. I wish we could just replace him with him you
Hue chuckled a little. "Trust me, I have first hand experience on how difficult that man is. But, unfortunately, much like how he needs us, we need him."
Echidna laughed bitterly. "Hopefully when Chraden wakes up, we can find a way around that…"
Hue smiled, then asked another question. "How are you feeling by the way, Ma'am?"
Echidna blinked at the woman, then down at her own body. "Better. I think the Tao has had time to heal most of my serious injuries."
And luckily I can use my Tao without it hurting. We'll need it in case we need to make another quick getaway. We're still not ready for a fight, so if Chronos shows up we'll have to leave.
Even though the rest of the Apostles were searching for Doctor, many of them were still not fully recovered. The Tao was a huge help towards their healing, but other than Charden, all of their curative factors were at the lowest level which meant it took longer for the rest of the members to mend their bodies.
And without Charden, we wouldn't stand a chance against Chronos. We need him much like we need Doctor…
Echidna looked back at Charden, wiping the man's matted hair out of his eyes. "I'll be back to normal soon. However, we need to wait for Charden before we make any other moves."
As much as I want to run away with him right now, I can't. There's too much at stake for us to just ship and leave.
Hue glanced down at the blonde man again. "Is there anything else you'd like from me?"
Echidna thought for a second, then shook her head and gestured for the woman to leave. "No. Get back to me as soon as you find out more about the Nanomachines and how to remove them."
Hue nodded, bowed slightly to the woman, then left. Echidna watched the woman leave, then turned her gaze back to Charden. Her heart broke as she watched the man's chest heave with vicious pants, his eyes scrunching tightly as his finger dug into the actress's hand and the mattress. Echidna let out a rickety sigh and kissed her lover's hand in hopes it would mitigate at least some of his pain.
"Just hang on a little longer, my love…"
Although, I don't think I can confidently say it really will be just a little longer…
She had no way of knowing how much longer reforming Charden's arm would take, nor do she know if Doctor intended on giving him more Nanomachines later. She also didn't know if her partner wanted more in his body.
Does he just want his arm back, or does he intend on filling himself with as many Nanomachines as he can? And if so… what's his plan with them?
Echidna wasn't sure if Charden wanted to make himself invincible similar to the bio-girl the sweepers kept, if he simply wanted to grow his arm back, or if he wanted to use them to enhance his overall abilities. However, no matter what his plan was, Echidna did not like the fact that those plans involved injecting himself with a volatile, still mostly unknown technology.
There's still so much about the bots that even experts like Doctor don't know about. That's why Charden was against them in the first place when Creed tried to weaponize them. But, Creed had the Black Cat to reel him in…
Echidna whimpered slightly at the thought, then kissed her partner's hand again. "I wish I was enough to convince you they were a bad idea…"
She realized it wasn't fair to compare Creed's obsession with Heartnet to what she had with her partner. Of course Creed listened to anything and everything Train said. The swordsman could barely function without the Black Cat's approval.
However, that didn't stop her from taking Charden's decisions personally. She felt like he was purposefully ignoring her feelings, and now his humanity had suffered because of it.
Echidna sighed as she ran her fingers through Charden's hair again. "What's going on with you, Charden…? Why won't you talk to me? Why won't you listen to me?"
She felt a tear escape her control as she choked on a sob. "Why are you slipping away from me?"
As she watched Charden sleep, she saw him start to twitch a bit harsher, his breathing gradually becoming faster and more haggard. The Blood Taoist's body began thrashing slightly, and the sweat pooling around his frame had increased an absurd amount. Echidna barely felt how brutally her partner was digging his fingers into her hand since she was too concerned with the torment he was obviously in.
She gasped when she saw Charden's eyes flutter open, then leaned forward so the first thing he would see was her. "Darling?! Are you awake?!"
Charden moaned and searched for the source of the voice, his stump arm swinging the air for some feel of the woman he was sure was in the room. "E...Echidna…? Is that you?"
Echidna gently grabbed the man's broken abendage, holding it to her face as she spoke. "Yes, yes it's me, my love. What do you need?"
Charden smacked his dry lips, closing his eyes again as he spoke. "Water… Ice cold."
Echidna thought about what he said, and realized that requesting cold water meant she should probably give him warm water.
Maybe even tea.
She nodded and kissed her partner's forehead, then opened up a portal to the kitchen. "Anything you want, Darling. I'll be right back."
She stepped through the portal and into the kitchen, stepping over to the stove and began boiling water. As the tea started to brew, she saw a bright, blue flash out of the corner of her eyes. Echidna turned to the side to see what it was, then jumped backwards and landed on the kitchen island behind her.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Echidna clutched her chest and tried to catch her breath, her pale eyes locking onto two large golden ones that glistened with malignant intent. The panther blinked at her a few times, her eyes softening when she saw the human she was staring at, then sat on the ground and flicked her tail back and forth.
Echidna slowly regained her composure and slid off the island she jumped on. "Aja… Does that mean…?"
She looked around the room quickly, searching for any signs of Doctor, then growled in frustration when she saw it was just the panther.
It doesn't even look like Aztec is here. How the hell was Aja able to find us?
The woman looked back at the beast and noticed there was a piece of paper clipped to her fur. "How did that survive an electric transport?"
Deciding she didn't care about, Echidna took the paper off the monster and read it.
Charden,
I understand I have explaining to do, but I will be coming back with a prize that will make up for everything. Have patience.
-K
Echidna flipped the paper over, sure there must have been more to the note and growled when she saw nothing. "That's it?! What the hell does this mean?!"
She addressed her question to the panther, who simply tilted her head in confusion. Echidna stared at the beast for a second, then stepped away to find a pen to write her own message. The actress flipped the paper over, wrote a few sentences, then pinned it back on the large cat.
I guess I could transport with her to find the Doctor myself, but…
She glanced out the door and frowned as she thought of Charden.
...I can't leave Charden. As important as it is to find Doctor, and even though I'm sure Hue will take care of him, I refuse to leave his side until I know he's safe. That's why I sent the rest of the Apostles. So I could stay with Charden.
Echidna took a deep breath as she turned back to the panther.
Doctor will have to wait. I may not know what his note means, but it does seem to imply he'll be back soon. With some sort of… prize.
She didn't want to think too much into the man's enigmatic message since she knew it could mean anything.
Echidna gently pet the creature's nose, sighing as she realized she was about to let go of her best chance to bring Kanzaki back. "That man better come back soon…"
Or maybe the Apostles will find him and bring him back by force.
The actress stepped away from the beast and back over to the stove where the kennel was boiling over. When she finished making the tea for her lover, she opened another portal to the man's room. As soon as she stepped through the dark abyss, she heard the electricity sparking from behind her, signaling the panther had left.
Echidna stepped over to her partner and frowned when she realized he had fallen back asleep.
"I'm sorry that took longer than it should have, my love. I promise, I won't leave your side again." Another tear fell as she set the mug aside and leaned forward to kiss Charden lightly on the lips. "Even if you're leaving mine, I refuse to ever leave yours…"