Chapter 136 - Battle Of Ownership : Part 2

"We've arrived," Cain stated coldly.

The man stood in the middle, staring at the forest in front of him with his bitter ocean eyes. Adreanna and Kiaran came right on his left and right, emerging from the witch's building behind them.

"Now, let's play our part, shall we?" Kiaran smirked. Though, behind his playfulness, there was a hinted darkness within his blue eyes.

"We'll follow you. Just lead the way." Cain commented, side-eyeing his secondborn on his left.

Kiaran tilted his head up to look at the sun. His eyes glinted with its light as he stared at it.

"There might be a probability that I haven't calculated yet, though." He pointed out, cocking his head back to his father.

"What is it?" Cain asked, answering his son's stare with a stern gaze.

Kiaran put on an overly sweetened smile for his father. "Axel coming back to life."

Adreanna's head snapped toward Kiaran. Her emotionless face was easy to read this time because of how surprised she was.

Cain seemed to be startled by the statement and frowned. "What nonsense-"

"Oh, come on, father." Kiaran sighed, rolling his eyes. "Why would my counterpart create the world burn play to be that perfect and flawless just to get his body? Why would he work with the blindfolded man who I, myself, wouldn't trust?"

"If I do not trust the blindfolded man, so do my counterpart." Kiaran pulled out a cigarette from his pocket that he had silently stolen from a police officer back when Valerian and he had to investigate the guards.

He lighted the cigarette while positioning it in his mouth. "I didn't realize it back then. I was going to do my plan just for my mere satisfaction."

"And even though I hate it, I admit, I lost." Kiaran shrugged and inhaled the smoke. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and blew out the smoke.

"But he was doing it for a whole other purpose. He was different because he had lost his Axel." He tapped the ashes, letting them fall down to the ground with wind swaying them a little.

"He was taking a high risk just for a mere dead body of his brother's copy." Kiaran stared down his cigarette in his hand and the ashes that fell down.

"Now, the question is, why." He moved his head down perilously.

"And before my counterpart managed to answer," Kiaran gripped the cigarette and snapped it in half. "-I'm going to rip his throat off first."

✵✵✵✵✵✵

"The angel association?" Cain asked Zack when he showed him the papers of a certain association.

"Yes." Zack's face was more serious than his usual facade. He had been explaining about the association since they 'took' Leo in.

"They are making their move." He explained it even further, receiving dark gazes from the three members of the Vergessene family.

The angel association. It was an association that had found out about the existence of another world. They had known about the cursed arrows long before everyone did.

Zack had said that they were the ones who found out about them first. The angel association did not only contain demons as their members but also humans.

They had been working from the shadow. It seemed like the witch had known about this since Zack found some papers from the witch's hideout. Alea somehow got involved in this association. That was how she got the idea of bringing Isabella and Cecilia to life.

The angel association had been experimenting on humans. Unlike the human world, where humans foolishly tried to make themselves to be a demon, the association experimented on the demons too.

It was still vague on what they had been experimenting about, but they did not discriminate between humans and demons. They equally experimented on them.

The association was located in the demon world. Now, they finally showed up one by one, appearing in the light.

They were trying to catch the Vergessenes' attention, and it seemed like they had finally done it.

"Where did you hear about this stupid association again?" Kiaran clicked his tongue and raised his eyebrows in annoyance. His wings draped behind his back, covering the desk as he sat on Cain's office table.

"I'm an informant. I have my ways." Zack insisted. He felt a little anxious from explaining it. The association was too big of a problem and he did not want Adreanna to get stolen out of his grasp.

"It'll be too long to explain how I got it." He added, staring right into Kiaran'sred eyes with a determined look. "Instead, let's focus on the main thing."

"And the main thing is?" Kiaran's gaze had turned into a calculating one, making Zack get even nervous.

"They are aiming for you three." Zack strictly stated, gripping the paper in his hand.

"To be exact, the Vergessene family."

✵✵✵✵✵✵

"Damn, you're good at this." Leo stared at the card on the ground. It seemed like Axel would win again.

He looked at the cards in his chained hands and took the one on the furthest left. He put the card down, shaking his chain a little, making a clanking sound. Leo squinted his red eyes, calculating Axel's next move.

There were hot chocolates and cupcakes scattering around them. Leo believed that he would get diabetes from how much he ate and drank from stress. Though, lately, Axel had been offering all kinds of food.

Right now, there was a plate of fries near him. Leo might have mistaken what Axel's intention was, but he had an idea that the boy was trying to know what his favourite food was.

"Oh? Wait, did I just win?" Leo exclaimed with a quizzical look as he put down his last card.

Then the silver head formed a big smile. "Whoa, I win!"

Despite how excited Leo was for his first win, Axel just stared at him with his unblinking eyes. Even though when Axel was the one who won, he also did not express any emotions.

It was uncanny and eerie for Leo at first. But gradually, he started to accept the boy the way he was.

"Right." Leo clasped his hands, swaying his chains as he did so. "I don't really have a favourite food in case you want to know. I do like savoury things, though."

"You really don't have to cook for me every day. I've received more than enough despite being chained up." Leo gleamed and grinned at Axel. He had accepted his fate anyway. At least he was not in some kind of dungeon.

"And I think my wounds are getting better. It's all thanks to you." Leo gave a thumbs up to the boy and winked. He did not have to wear bandages anymore. Though, he wondered why Axel kept wrapping his whole body with bandages.

Was it because of the crack? Axel had cracks on his face. Leo had thought that the cracks were only there. Maybe they were all over his body?

Leo was curious about the eyepatch too. Maybe his eye cracked too?

Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to ask Axel. Leo was afraid of the answer. Axel probably went through a lot. The silver head was about to change the topic when suddenly, the doorknob shook slightly, signalling that someone would get in.

"Did you guys have fun?" The door in Leo's room opened, revealing the head of the Vergessene family. Cain walked in with broad wings dragging behind his back.

Adreanna and Kiaran followed from behind. The secondborn flashed a smile toward Axel and Leo. The youngest just stared at him, unbothered, while Leo trembled at his smile.

The silver head carefully hid behind Axel and used him as a shield. He just hoped that they would forget he existed right now.

Cain put a hand on Axel's fluffy hair and smiled. "Axel, we'll be leaving for a while. You stay here, okay?"

Axel blinked once and quickly searched inside his pocket. He took out a paper, showing it right in front of his father's face.

'okay ≧◉◡◉≦'.

"Play with your friend if you get lonely. I know you'll miss this brother so much." Kiaran came up to Axel, putting a sly smile toward the trembling Leo.

The silver head felt like his lifespan had shortened at the smile.

Kiaran and Cain walked out of the room, leaving the stoically looking Adreanna. She awkwardly ruffled Axel's head. "Goodbye."

Her porcelain wings spread slightly as she let go of her hand from Axel's hair. Adreanna went to the doorway and grabbed the door handle. She looked one last time toward Axel before closing the door.

"I'll bring a cupcake."