Chapter 352 - Fanya

"It was Fanya who brought Ozemene here…"

Huh?

Alinea was not just rendered speechless. She thought she had trouble with her hearing too.

"Fanya?" she asked weakly.

"Who is Fanya?"Aki asked.

Seeing his sister's shocked expression, he had a feeling that it was an existence that was beyond horrible.

"Why are you talking about my nutjob ex-sister-in-law?" Gin's voice suddenly echoed in the room as the man himself entered and joined them by the table.

The Koutaishidenka briefed him of his phone call with Seiji, the same things that he already discussed with Alinea and Aki just earlier.

"I thought… I thought Fanya's already dead?"Alinea asked.

"She is. She was executed for treason long before you were born," Gin answered matter-of-factly.

"Then..." She was confused.

How was Fanya still able to appear time and time again? She reckoned it was also Fanya who had delivered and implanted the piece of Czernobog's soul to her mother. She was the reason for her tragic curse. After Czernobog, she's her ultimate enemy. 

"Why are you surprised? You already know that Celestials could sell their soul and live on exacting their revenge. Fanya had become an existence akin to a curse – and her target is your father and everything related to him."

Gin looked unhappy. "That nutjob's still on the loose, huh," he commented with a heavy sigh. "On another note, I now understand why Yuuka has a strange smell."

"Ha? What smell are you talking about?" Aki was confused. He already knew they picked up Maki Yuuka but didn't know why.

"Yeah. It must be her exposure to Daizo that Ozemene's miasma clung to her."

"Is this why you insisted on taking her?"Alinea asked, and the two nodded.

"The bad thing is that it's going to be very difficult to deal with Daizo. Ozemene's a mean one. She'd aim for maximum destruction," Gin explained. "But the good side is, since it's a harpy we're dealing with, it means Yuuka's parents are alright – at least they will be once we remove them away from Daizo and the influence of Ozemene's power emanating from him."

The reason Maki Eito was having personality changes, was because he was exposed to the miasma of the harpy. Just like a shadow lurker's effect, the malice of the dark wind elemental was enough to amplify a person's negative thoughts and emotions.

"She'll be happy to hear that they won't have to die,"Alinea commented, but something still bothered her. "By the way, if that's the case, then why is Yuuka alright?"

Everyone looked at her after that question that she quickly rephrased it, thinking that they might misunderstand that she was disappointed that there was no negative effect on the girl.

"I mean it's strange, no? Even if she hasn't stayed long in Japan, at least she has met Daizo many times since she returned. She should be at least affected even just a bit."

With an ominous energy such as Ozemene's even just a single meeting could have an effect on someone. But Yuuka remained untouched. She was still the same blunt-spoken, no nonsense young miss she had met a week ago.

"Well, let's just say that your friend's soul is pure," Gin told her with amused eyes.

"Pure?" Alinea was not sure if they were kidding her or not.

"Meaning that some souls are not affected by miasma at all."

"There are things like that?"

"Of course. It's rare, but they exist," Gin explained and the others only nodded, accepting this reasoning. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Outside,"Alinea answered, and her uncle grinned.

"I see… Well, at least now you can tell her that her parents can be saved." Gin turned to Ryuu. "Are you going to deal with Ozemene?"

"I'm the only one who can do it without causing trouble, so yes," the Koutaishidenka answered.

"What do you mean? Is that monster stronger than Gin and Alinea?"Aki asked curiously, but Gin shook his head.

"Ozemene is my babies' momma. I can't fight her without feeling guilty," Gin answered bluntly. He was, of course, referring to the harpies.

"And I'm out of the picture because of the spawn,"Alinea answered. "Ozemene's malice can trigger mine, but I haven't practiced controlling it yet. I might…"

Her voice trailed off as a sheepish smile crossed her face. "I might break many things when I fight."

Alinea was now aware of her bloodlust. When she fought, her excitement reached the peak and her dėsɨrė to see destruction also heightened. She's not longer a simple demigod with only her superhuman strength. She now had Aurel too under her command. If she lost control, she'd be obliterating more than the harpy. She might put normal humans in danger as well.

"Let your husband deal with it then," Aki told her using his big brother voice that wouldn't accept defiance.

As for Aki's feeling of revenge, now that he knew the circumstances of their parents' deaths, he decided to leave it to Ryuu. It would be a lie if he said he didn't hate Daizo anymore because of this. He still abhorred the man, but he didn't want to kill him anymore.

"What about grandpa? When are we going to visit him?"Alinea asked.

She was referring to Akihiko's father, the one who stood with them when Daizo tried to take over the company and Alinea's custody. She still hadn't seen the old man since she woke up at the hospital.  

"We can go and visit him tomorrow," Aki suggested as he turned to Ryuu. "You should at least inform him about your marriage," he said before turning to Chiaki, his brown eyes warming as he squeezed her hand. "I will tell him I'm engaged already as well. He'll be happy."

"I'll go with you."Ryuu wanted to pay his respects to the Suzuki patriarch.

"I'll ask father if he wants to tag along as well,"Alinea said as she frowned. "Where is he by the way? Wasn't he with you?"

"Yeah," Aki answered. "But he decided to stay in the garden to nap."

"What?" A laugh escaped Alinea's lips as she shook her head, remembering the quiet days back in Ritz where her 'big brother' Alistair would always go missing and she'd find him either reading a book or sleeping under the biggest tree in the garden.

"You can fetch him if you want,"Ryuu suggested but she shook her head.

"I'll get him later. Let him take a nap for now."