Chapter XXII

It was all dark ... not a voice, not a draft of air could make her hope that she was still alive. "Maybe I am in Purgatory," she thought.

She could hear nothing, it was all so lifeless. "Perhaps the materialists were right ..." she corrected herself.

There was a spark of life in those damned darkness, except for a sound: repetitive, monotonous, smooth. It was a beep. She also began to see something, realizing that if she had not seen anything yet, it was because she had her eyes closed. All she saw was a screen, on which appeared at regular intervals, a funny green wave.

"An electrocardiogram?" she asked surprised: "but what kind of purgatory is this?".

She rolls her eyes again, trying to move her arms, which were quite heavy. She turned her head the other way: she noticed a strange red envelope, from which it started a drip, that ended in her arm. She realized that they were doing transfusions, and that was not the Purgatory, but a hospital room.

"Welcome back, Selene" the voice called. She was still groggy from the previous state of unconsciousness. she turned her gaze: was Prince Nuada in person who called her.

"Sire" she whispered, as she tried to sit up.

"Stay relaxed, honey. You still have to recover." The elf said softly while he stroked her forehead. He sat down beside her, continuing to stroke her forehead and hairs. They looked at each other for a few seconds without speaking, but suddenly Nuada stood up, stepping away from her. He walked to the door of the room, opened it and whispered to someone out, "she's awake." Immediately after the room was invaded by all the people she had known in those days: Hellboy, Liz, Nuala, Abe, Johann, and an elf that she had never known.

"How's our healer?" Liz said jokingly.

Selene laughed: "I'm better, thank you!"

"These are for you!" Nuala said putting on the table a box of chocolates.

Visitors stayed for several minutes, but suddenly the prince Nuada announced: "Gentlemen, it is better for us to just leave Lorcán and Selene."

The girl looked at him with questioning eyes. The prince Nuada approached her and said: "He has to tell you something very important..."

"O.. Ok ..." Said Selene, still puzzled.

Once they were all gone, Lorcán began to turn back and forth to the room in evident embarrassment, then suddenly stopped, asking: "Do you need anything? Can I get you a drink?"

"No, thank you ..." Selene said, more and more confused. The stranger did not awe-inspiring, but the way he acted, it was evident that he was very nervous.

The young elf nodded, then began to walk, this time more slowly.

This time was Selene to ask: "Prince Nuada told me that you have something to tell me.".

"It 's true, you ..." said the elf yet. Then he took a chair and sat down beside her, "I have ... I knew your parents.".

"Really?" Selene was surprised.

"Yes, better than you might believe.".

Selene was undecided whether to be happy or upset by this unexpected news: "What do you mean? How did you know my mother?"

After a moment's pause, the elf replied: "She married my brother."

"Whaaat?" Selene exclaimed incredulously. "My mother married? It's Not possible, maybe you confused with someone else."

"I'm not wrong. Please, believe me.".

"My mother ... married to an elf ... She had never believed in marriage ... at least that's what I knew about her ...".

"This was clearly done to protect you. She did not want that you try to looking for your father, finishing straight in some trap of 'HDC or worse, at the risk of being persecuted or marginalized by magical creatures." Politely interrupted the elf. Then he said: "The elves have never frowned unions with human women ... especially at that time, where already it was rumored that Prince Nuada wanted to return from exile to wage war against the human world ... situation was clearly delicate, so we could not afford infighting. "Selene did not speak, disappointed in that part of the story: she wondered how could love be so cruelly thwarted only because arose between two people so different. Reading the disappointment in her eyes, Lorcan went on to say, "Your parents loved each other very much: your father's name was Labhrás, he worked at the court as a board member. He served faithfully the real Bethmoora for centuries ... He left the council to devote himself entirely to his wife and his daughter. He never told the real reason why he left. I was the only one who knew of their marriage, which was celebrated in secret. They lived a long time in Canada, away from prying eyes. Unfortunately, ,shortly after you were born, the HDC found them, and Labhrás was taken away, but not before he had allowed yourself and Babara to escape. He died in that kind of mess in a very short time, tormented by atrocious experiments. The rest you know ... ".

Selene looked empty for long, long minutes. Lorcán was very understanding, just stared at the floor. He knew of her shock. By stopping the embarrassing silence, the young woman asked, "How was he?"

Lifted and moved by the question, Lorcan replied: "He was similar to you, Selene. Though physically look is different, the expression on your face is his own. I recognized well on his way to laugh before, while joking" remembering his brother, Lorcán could not hold back a tear.

The girl began to cry, and he gave her a handkerchief and tenderly stroked her head, giving her a kiss on the forehead, " They loved you so much, Selene. And know that you'll never be alone, I'll be there to take care of you! Now I'll let you rest. Heal quickly, I recommend it, because I'll have so much to tell about your family. ".

"I will do my best," she whispered through her tears, tearing a smile to the one who now knew as her uncle.