2 years later…
Warner walked inside of Lamia Scale with Karma. They had just returned from a job. He almost smirked as he watched his great grandmother play with his son.
He hadn't been this happy in a long time. It was nice to finally have all of his family under one roof. Even if his sister was gone most of the time. She did have a job after all. 25, now known as Arma, was still working for the country of Fiore, but now a days she was reporting her findings to the alliance of guilds. The King must have felt backed against the wall. He only had one weapon left and she wasn't even loyal to him. If things weren't the way that they were in Miresa, Arma wouldn't even be by his side. But at least he still got to see her. That was better than nothing.
Lamia Scale noticed the difference in their guild master the moment he and Karma had walked through the door. They didn't look too happy about Jose being there, but they got to get used to him. He came with Karma.
Ooba seemed so happy to see him, she must have discovered who he was. The rest of the guild was in shock as she hugged him before moving on to his son.
No life couldn't get better than this. But he knew that in time, things would change. He didn't know when or how, but Cetus wouldn't be satisfied with just having Miresa. He would want everything. When that day came, he would have to fight for the country that he had grown to despise. He only hoped that his son would never have to face the horrors that he already knew.
Remy hated hiding. Makarov was kind enough to open his home to him and Ivan, it was almost like they were kids again with the three of them under one roof.
But as for privacy, they didn't have much. It felt weird to be together around his father-in-law. Makarov didn't seem to mind. He said more than once that he knew it all alone, but it didn't make it any less awkward.
It wasn't only that, but he missed both of his children. Bickslow and Vik had taken up so much of his life and now it was kind of empty. He didn't know what to do with himself. He had gotten so used to having them around that now that they were trapped in Miresa, he spent a lot of his time alone.
Everything wasn't completely bad though. Ivan and Makarov had been able to bury the hatchet. Ivan had also grown close to Laxus and his wife and was all over his grandson. He let them be for the most part. He spent his time with Xenia and Lisanna mostly. She had moved in with Laxus and Mira. Lisanna had never really recovered from any of this. She was kind of a shell of a person now.
At 3, Xenia was already getting better at controlling her magic. Her power was just like his, so when the time came, training her would be a lot easier than training her father had been.
He smiled to himself as he flashed back to Bickslow's training. His son had been so innocent at the time. His heart and mind had been full of hope for the future. Now that hope was nothing but suffering and darkness.
Another blow to him had to be that Kitt and Edvin had run off. Kitt had joined Blue Pegasus, so they had moved over to that village. He could tell that they thought that Vik was dead. They seemed to just want to move on with their lives. He could understand. If they were around each other they would only serve as a reminder of Viktor.
"Remy? Are you awake in there?" Ivan said, waving his hand in front of his face.
He almost shook his head, but he didn't want to cause Ivan trouble. His lover had been through this for over 20 years. He would not ruin his happiness. To his surprise, Ivan leaned forward and kissed him.
"Not a day goes by that I don't worry about them." Ivan said.
He almost laughed. It was strange seeing his lover as the strong one. "I'm fine. They'll be fine. They're stronger then we give them credit for." He said, leaning into Ivan's touch. He always felt so comfortable in his lover's arms.
Ivan just gave him a small nodded as he pulled him into a hug. This was their life now. They had to get used to it. At least, until the ball dropped.
Cetus paced. He paced for what felt like a millennia. As he paced, his soldiers only stood at attention. He had almost everything he could ever want. Even Bickslow's brother had submitted to him.
He was surprised at first, but even he knew that Viktor wasn't stupid. The boy was a natural at surviving and now he was finally a man. His magic had proved to be quite useful to him. That power of illusion was striking in a way. Viktor's eyes almost seemed to be red all of the time now. He had let 55 back in completely and Cetus loved that, even if he still called him Viktor. It was an old habit. The King of Fiore's puppet was now his.
"My lord." He turned to find the man in question walking towards him. He gave him a smirk.
"I see that you have returned, Viktor. Did you have any trouble with the common folk in the valley?" He asked. He needed something to take his mind off of his pacing. Listening to the misfortune of the non-magic folk would take his mind off of it.
Viktor only smirked, his eyes growing to a much bloodier shade of red. "They refused to listen to reason." The man made to laugh. "I only did what I had to."
He smirked back. "Good. What of the mother of the one known as Kitt?" This was something he wanted to know. The Viktor that was the son of Ivan and Remy would never kill the mother of the man he loved. That Viktor was too soft. His Viktor. The Viktor that had the power of 55, he was much more to his liking. He was just as much a monster as he was.
Vik chuckled darkly. "She fell, my lord."
"How did she fall?" He inquired. Practically laughing as he took in the blood lust in the other man's eyes.
"She thought that she needed to run at my sword over and over again." Viktor laughed manically. "She did it so much that the thing impaled herself on it, more than once I'm afraid."
He clapped his hand on Viktor's back and continued to laugh with him. It still made no sense how a non-magic woman could make a proficient son that could use magic. Maybe it had been in her blood from the past, but that didn't matter. Kitt had run off to Fiore. He left his lover behind, which was perfect of him.
Then there was Edvin's family. They were completely devoid of magical blood. He was glad that he dispatched them himself.
It was only by pure luck that Ivan and Remy had been given two children, both with the blood of two very strong magical lines. Maybe someday, Viktor would let go of that gay thing. He was kind of interested in seeing what the boy could produce.
His thoughts and Viktor's laughing were interrupted though as the door that he was pacing in front of opened. "Congratulations sire, it's a boy!"
Vik returned home from his meeting with Cetus. His head hurt. The horror that he had done earlier was still fresh in his memory. He had no idea how he pulled all of this off. The only thing that kept playing over and over again was Kitt's mother's screams. He knew that he could never look at his lover in the eye again. That was if he ever saw him again. Kitt and Edvin had probably moved on with each other anyway.
As he sat down, Rosa came into the living room. They were living in what used to be Lisanna and Bickslow's home. Cetus had the thing completely remodeled. He didn't want any memory of his brother to be seen anywhere.
Rosa looked down at him, her eyes filled with tears. "You did something horrible today…didn't you?"
He sighed. "I do something horrible every day."
She started to shake her head. "We're never going to get out of here, Vik."
He hated to admit that she was probably right. "We can't lose hope." He started.
Her tears began down her face. "We never had hope to begin with!" She sat down next to him. Sitting close to him, she felt cold.
He watched her again for a second, all the while, the screams of his victims began to play in his head again. It was almost like he was going insane really. "We still have each other." He stated.
That was true. The girl that was like his sister was at least here with him. Between the two of them, they had to find a way to get rid of Cetus.
But what kind of life could he have after getting rid of Cetus? The demon king had made it his duty to have him kill off as many people as possible. His lovers would never take him back. He was back to square one. Those years with his parents, Bickslow, Lisanna….it felt like they were just a dream now. It was like he was on a coma for those 3 years that he had been with them and now he had woken up only to find himself to be a greater monster than he had ever been.
"Viktor?" He looked down at Rosa. He had surpassed her in height a long time ago. He was now as tall as Ivan was, she had to be around Karma's height. Not too short, but not a towering giant either. She gave him a sad smile as she hugged into his side.
His head hurt. The screams were a never ending nightmare that was now giving him a migraine. He started to hold the side of his head, hoping that the pain would stop.
She grabbed the side of his head, he watched as she started to use her magic to sooth his mind. He could feel it, almost as if it was this small, light touch. He sighed as the pain started to recede. He was really grateful that she was here. Without her, he would have fallen off the deep end a long time ago.
His eyes met hers. "Thank you."
She only stared up at him. Her eyes only looking brighter. "Vik…" With that she pushed herself up, kissing him.
His eyes stayed open in shock as she moved her lips against his. She knew that he was gay, but she continued. He pulled away. "32..no."
Her tears fell down her face again. "Why not?"
"You know that I'm gay. Besides, I have 2…"
"I know that you have 2 boyfriends!" She said crying into her hands. "But they're not here, 55! They'll never be here!" Her voice was shaky. "It's only you and me." She said dejectedly.
He knew what she was saying was true, but he just couldn't do that. "You're like my sister." He said weakly as she climbed up onto his lap.
She only looked in him in eye. She still seemed so pure, even if she also had her own share of blood on her hands. "I'm not your sister, 55."
He couldn't argue about that. Technically, she wasn't his sister. He was starting to wonder what was wrong with him as the screaming started up again. His head began to ache again and he made a small groan of agony.
She pulled his face up, forcing him to look at her. The discomfort began to ebb as she leaned forward, this time he closed his eyes, giving into her kiss. He felt her moan as she hugged him closer to her. His hands had a mind of their own as they moved down to her hips and lower back, doing the same thing.
He forced her mouth open at some point. The pain was starting to become a distant memory as she moaned against him. His heart was pounding as he felt his hands go under her shirt. His body was moving without thought as he slid her shirt over her head, leaving her in a bra. In that moment, they separated. He only looked at her and she only looked at him.
He knew he shouldn't be doing this. He couldn't be doing this. She was a woman. He didn't find her attractive. She was like a sister. Why was he doing this?!
He pulled her off of his lap and stood. He made to walk away. He had to walk away.
"55, please." Her voice pleaded, her eyes were still filled with tears.
His heart plummeted. She was all he had. They were all each other had. He would never see his lovers again. 32 was the one he was forever stuck with in this place. She was the one that was making the nightmares fall away from him. She was his only comfort….and he was hers.
He walked back before picking her up. She looked confused as he walked her down the hall and opened the door to her room. She was about to say something as he slid her down on the bed, but he silenced her with his lips. Her arms slid up his chest and he was lost.
They would hate him for this. He would hate himself for this. But this would keep him sane. He could never truly love 32. But here alone in this horrible country, they would become one. Not for love, not for lust, not for any kind of sexual thrill, only for their sanity.
To Be Continued….
Author's Note
It's good to finally be back on schedule. Those last couple of weeks were horrible, but I can finally start putting this out on time. I have been thinking of working an alternate timeline story to the first story after I finish this one. Tell me what you think in the comments.