So here is the conclusion of this two part story. As much as I loved how the last chapter turned out, I just couldn't kill him off entirely, plus I did have someone ask me to save him.
Enjoy
Chapter 2: ... Now I'll Save You
When I opened my eyes again, the room was darker. The sun was just barely shining through. I sat up slowly and looked over at the spot I expected Wolfram to be and tears stung my eyes again. I didn't even try to stop them.
I heard a soft knock on the door and turned my head to see Conrad walking in. He looked like his normal self, that gentle smile on his lips, but I could still see the sadness in his eyes. "How are you feeling?"
My brow furrowed. How am I feeling? What kind of stupid question is that? How does he think I feel? I soon realized I was glaring at the man. "Are you serious?" I asked in a low voice.
Conrad placed his hand on my shoulder, but I just batted it away. I didn't want him to touch me. "Yuri…"
"Get out," I said quietly, my head lowering as my eyes stared down at my clenched fists.
"Yuri…" he tried again.
I snapped my head up, tears falling down my cheeks. "I said get out!"
Conrad took a step back, his eyes wide, but then he recovered just as quickly, giving me a sad look. He nodded. "If you need anything, I won't be far." And with that, he turned and walked out the door.
I sat there shaking, tears still rolling down my face. I looked over again at the empty spot on the bed, then reached out and grabbed the pillow Wolf usually used and hugged it tight. I buried my face in it. Wolf's scent was still on it. I clutched it as close as I could.
When I pulled my face away, I found myself lying down again, and the room had gotten darker. Anger rose up in me when I heard the door open. Expecting Conrad, and sat up when I felt him closer and swung my arm out. "I said leave me alone!"
A small yelp came from my victim and suddenly there was a large crash. I blinked a couple times as I stared down at the woman, who was staring up at me with fear in her eyes, then looked over where the crash came from. It was a try, but the food and drink that was on it was spilled all over the floor. A bit of guilt washed over me as I realized what I did, but the anger returned when the door opened again and I saw Conrad strolling in.
"What happened?" he asked as he walked over and helped the maid up.
"I-I was just bringing His Majesty some food, but…" she looked sadly at the try, then quickly knelt down and began cleaning it up. "I-I'm sorry, Heika."
I stared at her for only a moment, then turned over and laid back down, my back to them. "Just leave me alone." My arms tightened around Wolf's pillow.
I heard them shuffling to clean up the food, then they left without another word. I took a deep breath, Wolf's scent filling my nose, then buried my face in the pillow again as more tears fell. I didn't even realize when I fell asleep.
The next day went by in a bit of a blur. I remember people came in to try and comfort me and bring me food, but I lashed out at all of them. At some point, I found myself pacing the room, running the whole scene of Wolf's death in my head over and over, trying to figure out if there was any way I could've saved him. There were even times when the door opened that my hopes rose that Wolf would just stroll in, yelling at me for being such a wimp for hiding in my room all day, but when it wasn't the blonde, all I did was yell.
By the time evening came, I was back on my bed clutching Wolf's pillow as close to me as I could. I was completely drained. The door opened again and I glared at the person who walked through. "How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone, Conrad."
Conrad didn't reply and just walked up to the bed.
The anger rose up once again and I flung Wolf's pillow to the side and swung my fist at him. "Get out!"
Conrad easily caught my wrist and held it out to the side, still not saying a word.
This made me even more mad and I lashed out with my other fist, but Conrad just grabbed that wrist too. I tried to pull away from him and I felt tears falling down my face again. "Let go!"
Conrad just stood there, holding me in place, as I kicked and screamed at him as hard as I could. It only took a few minutes for my strength to fade and I slumped down. I would've fallen to the ground flat on my face if Conrad hadn't been holding me up and I watched my tears fall to the floor.
The next thing I knew, I was pulled into Conrad's arms, the man holding me tightly, and I buried my face in his chest and clung to him as a sob ripped from my throat. He was gone. Wolf was really gone. I would never get to see him again, never hear him yelling about how wimpy was. Never hear him laughing at the stupid things I did, or hear the confusion in his voice when I compared things to things from my world that he'd never heard of.
Conrad had moved to sit on the bed at some point, but he still said nothing. He just sat there, rubbing my back.
It felt like hours had passed before I finally pulled away from him. "I-I'm sorry, Conrad," I said in a quiet voice.
"No one blames you, Yuri," Conrad finally said. "Everyone is grieving right now. Gwendal locked himself in his office and no one has been able to get him to come out. Mother as been acting a lot like you have, crying and snapping at people. The staff are trying to stay strong, but I've seen the sad looks on their faces, some of them even had red eyes. Greta's been so quiet, it's actually worrying us all that she hasn't lashed out yet, but I'm wondering if it just hasn't hit her yet."
Guilt filled me when he said Greta's name. What was I doing? I shouldn't be worrying about myself. Our daughter needed me, and yet here I am drowning in my own sorrow. "Wolf was always the better parent," I whispered out.
I felt a hand on my arm and looked up. "You are a great father to her, Yuri."
I turned my head. "Am I?" I asked quietly. "I am constantly holed up in Gwendal's office doing paperwork, constantly going back to Earth and leaving her for months before returning, and when I do have time off, I still barely spend any time with her. Even now, I'm wallowing in my own self pity when I should be trying to comfort her. How can you say I'm a good father to her?" Tears once again fell, but the anger didn't accompany them this time. "I'm a horrible father." I buried my face in my hands.
We sat in silence for a few moments, my sobs the only noise in the room, then Conrad got up and gently laid me back on the bed. "Get some sleep, Yuri. I know it won't be easy, but you're going to get through this. We all will."
His voice was so gentle, it actually helped me calm down again. I stared up at him. "But it won't be the same. H-he's gone."
Conrad frowned sadly. "No. It won't be the same, but we will learn to move on." A small smile crossed his face. "Do you really think Wolfram would want us to be miserable like this?"
"You wimp. Stop crying already," Wolf's voice rang through my head and I saw him with his nose in the air, eyes closed, and his arms crossed.
A small chuckle escaped my lips. "No. He'd yell at me and call me a wimp."
Conrad's smile got a little bigger. "He'll still be with us, even if we can't see him anymore."
I took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. "Thanks, Conrad."
Conrad nodded and pulled the blanket up a bit higher on my chest. "Sleep well, Yuri." And with that he left.
I stared at the door for a minute before I rolled over and stared at the pillow that I had flung away earlier. "I doubt that," I said as I grabbed it and held it close, then felt my eyes close.
I was just about to drift off when I heard the door open. I turned over and saw the door open and a small, brown haired girl was peeking in. I smiled and sat up fully, placing the pillow beside me, then held my arms out.
Greta sprinted over and jumped into my arms, her tears already wetting my shirt. I placed a gentle kiss on top of her head as I rubbed her back, slowly rocking back and forth. I remembered my mom always did this for me when I was younger.
"Are you finally done?"
I looked up and saw Anissina walking over to us with a deep frown on her face. She stopped when she got to the bed and put her fists on her hips.
"Anissina?"
"Honestly, you men," she scoffed out, but I could see the evidence that she had been crying too.
My brow furrowed and a bit of anger rose up when I finally registered what she said. "Anissina," I started, but she cut me off.
"Are you finally in the mood to listen?"
My anger disappeared and confusion replaced it. "Huh?"
"We don't have much time left, so listen up," she said in a strong and demanding voice.
I felt Greta turn her head to look up at the red haired woman, but I just continued to stare at her. "What are you talking about?"
Anissina huffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to tell you that there's a way to save Little Lord Brat."
My eyebrows shot into my hairline. "What?" I said a bit louder than necessary, and my heart started beating fast. A way to save Wolf? But how? My head fell and the pain hit me again. "He's gone, Anissina. You can't bring someone back from the dead." I kissed Greta's head again when she turned her face back into my chest.
"That's why I said we're running out of time."
I looked up at her again. "What do you mean?"
Anissina smiled and pulled something out of her jacket. "There's a legend that says when a Mazoku dies, their soul travels to a cave where they stay until it runs out of energy. However, the soul doesn't last long, four maybe five days. After that, it's gone forever."
My eyes went wide. "You're saying I can bring his soul back?"
"Yes. This is a map to the location where the legendary cave is."
Greta moved off my lap and to my side as I reached up to take the rolled up paper. I opened it and felt her lean into me to look too. It was a rough looking map, and I could tell it was drawn quickly, but it did have enough detail to be reliable. Then something hit me. "How long was I out when they brought me back?" I asked as I looked up at her.
"About a day and a half, I believe. Counting yesterday and today, it's been about three and a half days since Lord von Bielefelt passed, which means you only have a day, possibly two, to reach the cave and get his soul back here."
"How long does it take to get to the cave?" I asked, a bit of panic rising up inside me.
"A day and a half," she said matter-of-factly.
My heart sank. "Then I'd be too late. Even if I left right now, it would be three days before I got back." Dang it, why did she have to get my hopes up like that.
"Yes, that's true. I did say that a soul only lasts four or five days, however, I have heard that some souls can last longer if that person was strong or stubborn enough to hold out. We both know how stubborn Lord von Bielefelt could be. I have no doubt in my mind that you should be able to get there and back before his soul disappears."
My heartrate once again picked up.
"Papa Wolf is stubborn," Greta said with a wide smile. "Daddy Yuri, you have to go save him."
I looked down at her and saw the desperation in her eyes, and smiled. "Of course I will. If there's any chance at all to save him, I'll take it." I got off the bed and ran over to my closet, grabbing the closet outfit and changing into it. When I got back out there, I saw a jar in Anissina's hand. "What's that for?"
"You'll need something to put his soul in. It'll fade as soon as you pass through the entrance if you don't," Anissina replied.
I nodded as I took the jar, looking down at it with determination filling me. "Hold on, Wolf. I'm coming."
"Oh, and one more thing," Anissina said as I started towards the door. I looked back to give her my full attention. "Keep his soul close to you as much as possible." When I raised my eyebrow at her, she smiled. "You are the only one that can keep his soul strong."
"How so?" I asked, still not understanding.
"You love him, right?" I nodded, my face heating up just a bit. "And we all know he loved you. I truly believe that your souls have been connected the moment you met each other. Because of that, you are the only one that can find and bring his soul back."
My eyes went wide. "Is that why you didn't say anything about this to anyone else?"
Anissina nodded. "When I found out what happened, I told them to bring his body to me as soon as possible. I made sure to get him in my freezing device as soon as possible, telling them that it would preserve his body until the burial, but my true intention was to keep his body preserved until you could bring his soul back."
I nodded. "So I am the only one that can save him."
"Yes. Because of your connection, no one, not even Lord Weller, Lord von Voltaire, or Lady Cacilie, can find his soul but you. When you get to the cave, there may be many souls there, but you should know which one is his. All you should have to do is call it to you."
"Call it to me? How do I do that?"
"I don't think you'll have too much trouble with that as your soul should call out to it itself," Anissina replied. "Now get going. The longer you wait, the less likely you'll make it in time."
I nodded as Greta ran up to me and handed me the map. Oops. "Bring Papa Wolf home, daddy."
I smiled as I ran my hand through her hair. "I will." I bent down to give a quick kiss to her cheek, then ran out of the room and towards the stables. Since it was already late, I didn't run into anyone, and as I was pulling a saddled up Ao to the front gate, I felt someone walk up behind me.
"Yuri?"
I turned and saw Conrad standing behind me, a look of worry and confusion on his face. "Sorry, Conrad," I said as I pulled myself onto Ao, "I don't have time to explain."
Conrad grabbed my wrist before I could get Ao to move. "Where are you going?"
I looked down at him. "I'm going to save Wolf."
His eyes went wide. "You don't mean… Yuri, that's only a legend."
I smiled. "I remember Murata telling me that legends in this world are true 9 times out of 10. If there's even a slim chance that this one is real, I'm not going to waste it. I won't let you talk me out of this, Conrad. I'm sorry." I pulled my wrist from his hand and kicked Ao in the stomach to make her go.
I finally felt like I could breathe again as the cool air hit my face, but after a few minutes I looked back wide eyed when I heard someone coming up to me fast. I was afraid that Conrad had called the soldiers to come after me, to bring me back to the castle, but when I only saw him riding on his horse, I slowed Ao down a bit so he could catch up. "What are you doing here?"
"I still don't know if I completely believe in that legend, but I can't let you go by yourself," Conrad replied, then smiled at me.
I smiled at him, then we kicked our horses to go faster.
It took until late morning on the second day of our journey before we finally reached the cave. The entrance was large, almost as tall as the gate to the castle, and it had vines growing up the stones. The trees that surrounded it made it look like it was trying to hide from everyone.
I slid down from Ao's saddle, still staring up at the entrance until I felt Ao shift on her feet. I quickly pulled her face to mine, petting her muzzle in a soothing way. "Thank you, my friend. I promise, when we get back you'll be richly rewarded."
Ao responded by nipping at my face a bit, and I chuckled, then turned back to the entrance. This was it. Wolf was just beyond this archway. We rode almost nonstop, only taking a few short breaks to rest the horses and get some food ourselves. I was exhausted, but we had finally made it. "I just hope we made it in time."
"I'm sure we did," Conrad said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. "Afterall, he is the most stubborn demon we know, right?" He smiled down at me.
I smiled back and nodded as I looked back at the entrance. "Yeah." I went back to my saddlebag that was still strapped to Ao and grabbed the jar, took a deep breath, and started towards the cave. I stopped though when I didn't hear Conrad following and looked back at him.
"I'll stay with the horses," he replied to my confused look. "I won't be of any use to you in there. Only you can find him and bring him back."
I knew he was right, and so I took another deep breath and stepped through the entrance. The passage got more and more dark the further I went in until I had to reach out to the wall to tell where I was going. There didn't seem to be any branching passageways, which I was thankful for, and finally found myself in a large cavern.
My eyes went wide. The cavern was huge, and I couldn't even see the ceiling of it, but what really made my breath catch was all of the glowing orbs that seemed to dance around in the air, a slight hum radiating from them. There seemed to be different sizes, and I had to wonder if that represented how old the person was when they passed.
I walked further into the cavern, looking around trying to figure out which one was Wolf's, but I couldn't tell at all. Anissina said that I would know, that my soul would call out to Wolf's. "Wolf?" I called out a bit hesitantly.
The orbs just continued to dance around me.
"Wolfram?" I called out a little louder, but still none of them seemed to move towards me. Panic began to creep up inside me. Was I too late? Did his soul already fade away? It's been four days already, but I thought for sure Wolf would hold on longer than that.
Tears pricked my eyes as I took a few more steps. "Wolf, please. Let's go home."
The orbs actually seemed to move away from me now and I fell to my knees. I was too late. I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart aching. "No. Please." I clutched the jar close to my chest. "Wolf."
As the sobs rang out through the cavern, I suddenly heard the humming of the orbs get louder. When I opened my eyes and looked up, a single orb was floating in front of me. "Wolf?" I asked as I carefully lifted my hand towards it.
The orb didn't move away, but instead, moved closer to my fingers and gently touched them. A warmth suddenly spread through my chest and I gasped, my eyes going wide. It was Wolf. I wasn't sure how I knew this, but I just did. A few more tears escaped from my eyes as I smiled up at it and I heard his faint voice.
"Wimp."
I choked out a half laugh, half sob. "Don't call me that," I said, but I wasn't mad at all.
It danced around my fingers a bit, then floated down towards the jar. I quickly unscrewed the lid and watched as the orb sank into the opening, then lifted it up to look at it before screwing the lid back on. I do wonder how the soul knew to go into the jar, but I didn't think about it too long.
I made my way back through the passage, the orb giving off a decent light, so I could actually tell where I was going this time, and I paused briefly when I got to the entrance. I looked down at the jar, frowning a bit. This was really going to work, right? Wolf's soul won't fade away once I pass through the entrance because he was in the jar, right?
"Yuri?" Conrad asked when he noticed I wasn't moving.
I took a deep breath and held the jar up to my chest, smiling a bit when the orb's light got a bit brighter. So that's what she meant by my soul would make Wolf's stronger. Just to be absolutely sure, I kept my eyes on the orb as I stepped over the threshold and released the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. It was still there.
Conrad walked over to me, his eyes wide. "So it was real."
I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It was really something in there, Conrad. There were so many souls floating around in the air, almost like they were dancing, and the hum they gave off was actually really relaxing."
Conrad smiled at me. "As amazing as that sounds, I hope we never have to come back here again. Come on, let's head home."
I nodded again and walked over to Ao, handing Conrad the jar while I climbed into the saddle, then took it back once I was settled. I clutched the jar close to my chest for a moment, then carefully placed it in the saddle bag. I didn't want to chance accidentally dropping it and shattering the jar.
We moved at a quick pace just like on the journey here, only stopping long enough to give the horses some rest and get some food for us. I didn't really mind when we stopped, however, because every time we did, I pulled the jar out and just held it close, smiling whenever the orb's light brightened.
When we finally made it back to the castle, everyone was waiting for us, all with anxious looks on their faces. My eyes landed on Greta, who was holding on to Lady Celi's hand, and gave her a smile before sliding off Ao. I was pulling the jar out of my saddlebag when I heard her run up to me.
"Did you find him? Did you save Papa Wolf?" she asked in a desperate voice.
I nodded and knelt down in front of her, holding the jar close to my chest. "I did, Greta. He's right here."
Greta's eyes went wide as she stared at the orb, then smiled up at me. "He's so bright."
I chuckled. "Yeah, but we need to get him to his body. I don't know how much longer he'll last."
Greta nodded and I stood up, my little girl grabbing my hand tightly as we headed for Anissina's lab, and I heard everyone following close behind us. When we got to the door, I stopped and turned to look at everyone. "Umm. I know you all want to see him wake up, but… Do you think you guys could wait out here?"
"Of course, Your Majesty," Conrad said with a smile.
I looked over at Lady Celi, but she just smiled and nodded as well. When I felt Greta's hand tighten around mine, I looked down and saw the hurt look on her face. "Come on, Greta. Let's go welcome Wolf back," I said with a smile.
A wide smile suddenly crossed her face and she nodded eagerly.
We walked in and over to the box where Wolf laid and I took another deep breath and knelt down next to it. He still looked so peaceful laying there. I lifted the jar up a bit to unscrew the lid and chuckled when I saw the orb moving around the small space frantically.
"Same old Wolf. He's always so impatient."
"Open it. Let Papa Wolf out," Greta begged, bouncing on her knees a bit. Her hands were clenched on the side of the box tightly.
"Ok. Ok. Man, you're so much like Wolf," I replied as I twisted the lid off.
The orb floated out of the jar and down towards Wolf's chest, then disappeared. It took a few seconds, but finally Wolf let out a small groan as his brow furrowed and his eyelids fluttered open.
My heart raced when I saw those beautiful green eyes and he turned his head towards me.
"Y-Yuri?" he asked and slowly sat up. "What's going…"
"Papa Wolf!" Greta cried out as she jumped on top of him, a loud sob escaping her lips, making his eyes go wide.
I smiled at the scene as a few tears ran down my cheeks, and when I saw him shiver a bit, I got up and turned off the cryo-mist.
Wolf sat there still stunned, but returned the hug to our weeping daughter as he looked up at me. "What happened? Why is she so upset?" He then looked around the room and frowned. "And why are we in Anissina's lab?"
"You don't remember?" I asked, a bit surprised.
His eyes landed on me and he shook his head.
I frowned. "Y-you died, Wolf."
His eyes went wide. "What? What are you talking about? What do you mean I died?"
"You were shot by three arrows after projecting me. It should've been me that died that day, but…"
"Don't you dare say that!" Wolf said as he glared at me. "It is my duty as your fiancé to protect you."
"But it's not your duty to die for me," I yelled back, giving him my own glare, but the anger quickly disappeared when I saw the shocked look on his face and I reached out to take his hand. "I don't want you to die for me. You can't leave me like that ever again, you hear me?"
Wolf just stared at me and opened his mouth, but before he could reply to my words, I leaned forward, placed my free hand behind his head, and kissed him, making his eyes go even more wide. "I love you, Wolf. I can't lose you, so please, don't go putting yourself in danger like that again."
Wolf was still staring at me in shock, a slight blush tinting his cheeks.
"Daddy Yuri had to go and get your soul back from a cave," Greta said, and that finally snapped him out of his shock.
"Y-you did?" he asked, still looking at me.
I nodded. "Anissina told me about the legend about what happens to a Mazoku soul after they die. Conrad and I rode pretty much nonstop to get there and back."
The tint in his cheeks got a little darker as he looked down. "Thanks," he said, and he squeezed my hand a little tighter.
I saw his body start to tremble, and at first I thought he was crying, but when Greta sat back and looked at him worried, I knew it was something else. "Papa, are you ok?"
Wolf gave her a small smile. "Y-yeah. I'm j-just really c-cold." And I knew he was telling the truth when his body started shaking even more.
I quickly scanned the room and dashed over to where I saw a blanket, then ran back and draped it around him. "I'll go get Gisela." I ran over to the door and flung it open. "Gisela, we need you in here."
Everyone looked at me a bit worried, but Gisela just pushed past them. I followed her back into the room, barely registering that the others were following us, and watched as she knelt down to check Wolf over.
He was shaking pretty bad now, and Greta had climbed out of the box and gripped my hand. "Gisela?" I asked when she didn't say anything.
She let a small smile cross her face. "He's ok. His body is still trying to warm up from the freezing. He may end up with a small cold, but other than that he'll be fine."
I let out a breath of relief, and heard several other sighs of relief from the people behind us. I forgot they were there.
"H-how long w-was I…" Several sneezes cut him off and Gisela pulled the blanket a bit tighter around him.
"Yuri, help me get him out of this thing," she said as she started to lift him to his feet.
I quickly went over and grabbed his other arm and he shakily stepped out of the box.
Conrad, Gwendal, and Lady Celi came over too as Anissina brought a chair over for us to sit him in. Once Wolf was situated, Lady Celi wrapped her arms around him and cried. "Oh, Wolfie, I'm so glad you're back."
He looked over at me with a questioning look and I realized we hadn't answered his question yet. "It's been almost a week."
"A w-week?" he gasped out as Lady Celi finally pulled away.
I nodded, but before I could say anything else, Gisela spoke up. "Ok. That's enough talk for now. We need to get him dressed, into bed, and get some warm soup into him."
Wolf blushed when he remembered all he was wearing was a blanket, pulling it a little more around his body. He looked so cute. I walked over and wrapped my arm around him and helped him to his feet. His legs still shook, so I gripped him a bit tighter, which made his blush deepen.
Everyone wished him a quick recovery as we passed them, and it was a slow journey to our room, but we finally made it. I sat him on the bed before I went to get his nightgown and some underwear, helped him put them on, then helped him get under the covers.
The doors opened to reveal Conrad coming in with a tray and he sat it down beside Wolf. "You sure you can handle him by yourself?" he teased me with a smirk.
"O-of course he c-can," Wolf replied for me, his blush creeping back onto his face.
I just smiled. "Yeah. I don't think he'll cause me too much trouble."
"Alright. I'll leave him to you then." He reached over and laid a hand on Wolf's leg. "I'm glad you're back."
Wolf gave him a small smile. "Th-thanks."
Once Conrad left, I turned to the tray and picked up the bowl, spooning up a bit of the broth before raising it to his lips.
"I-I can f-feed myself," he protested as his blush got darker.
I just sighed and rolled my eyes. "Just let me take care of you, Wolf."
He looked at me a bit surprised, then looked down at the spoon and opened his mouth.
I was glad that his shaking had finally stopped by the time he finished the soul, and even though he had been asleep for almost a week, his eyes were already drooping shut. So, I pulled the blanket from his shoulders to drape over him, and helped him lay down before I crawled under the blankets myself and pulled him close.
He looked up at me a bit surprised, but then smiled and snuggled closer to me. It wasn't long before I heard his soft snoring, and I closed my eyes to join him. I smiled and tightened my arm just a bit more around him. "I love you," I whispered out before placing a gentle kiss on the top of his head.
I was never going to let him go again.
And there we go. A happy ending. I may write a sequel to this if enough people ask for it, but for now it's done. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I hope I didn't rush it too much.
