Hellbound With You (WN)

As soon as the two witches arrived in the Black forest, Alicia hastily headed to the crystal cavern. She had planned to speak with Zeres the moment they were back, but at that moment, Alicia had to deal with the chaos in her head. She needed to calm down and settle her mind first and foremost, or else Zeres would also begin to question what was going on with her and what was it that she had seen.

However, before Alicia could start the chant to open the secret door towards the crystal cavern, Zeres caught her wrist.

"Let go, Zeres. We will talk once I step out. Just give me a moment, please," she said, and gladly, even though Zeres was hesitant, he let go of her hand.

When the door opened, Zeres just stood there, silently watching Alicia's back as the secret door closed behind her. Zeres sunk on the ground and put his hands on his head as if he suddenly had a sudden throbbing headache.

Inside the cavern, Alicia sat on the majestic crystal throne. Her hands were on the armrests while she rested her head on the backrest. She had her eyes closed, and her silver hair was glowing around her. She looked like a moon goddess carved or preserved in the crystalized throne.

The memories that witch queens receive from their predecessor weren't something that could flow like a river in the current host's mind anytime. They were akin to water inside a pipe. If the host doesn't turn on the faucet, the memories will not flow out. However, there were times when something triggers the memories to come out before the host could even do a thing. And when such a thing happens without warning, it would be dangerous for the host because it could overwhelm their mind and could even mess up the host's mental process.

As time ticked by, the lines between Alicia's brows slowly disappeared. Her face was starting to relax, and it seemed she had succeeded in controlling the chaos in her head. But she still didn't open her eyes for another long while and remained sitting there, completely unmoving.

After an hour, her long silver lashes finally fluttered, and she opened her eyes. Her hands gripped the armrests, and the look on her face showed many contradicting emotions. She looked as though she had just watched an intense, confusing, heartbreaking, and horrifying movie she wished she never came across with.

But as the initial shock passed, Alicia looked as though she still couldn't figure out how to feel about it. She was horrified, yes. But there were too many questions and confusing things that made her think something was missing, that something was wrong.

Alicia could tell that the flow of the memories she saw wasn't normal. All the memories she had seen before were very clear, so why was Ezekiel's was like confusing, tangled treads? Why did it seem like someone had deleted too many scenes? What was going on?

Pressing her temples, Alicia sighed and then finally stood. She knew she had already spent too much time inside the cavern, and she still needed to deal with Zeres. "What's with all these bad timings?" she murmured before she took one more long deep breath and then walked towards the exit.

When she stepped out, Alicia was surprised to see Zeres still standing at the same spot where she left him. She thought he had left and gone to his favorite hiding spot again.

Looking at him, Alicia somehow managed to yank her attention away from the memories bugging her to the man before her. She stared at him, and once again, he looked away.

"We need to talk," Alicia calmly said as she approached him.

"About Ezekiel?"

His response made Alicia halt in her track. Her brows slightly knotted. "What do you mean? Why should we talk about Ezekiel?" Alicia asked these because she wasn't sure what Zeres was trying to say. She thought that there was no way Zeres knew about the memories she saw!

"Because you're thinking about him. Didn't you enter the cavern because of him?"

Alicia's lips slightly parted, and before she knew it, she moved close to Zeres with her eyes narrowing. "And how did you even know I am thinking about him and enter the cavern because of him?"

Silence followed Alicia's words. Her eyes filled with questions as she looked up into Zeres's eyes. Alicia had always felt Zeres was hiding something crucial to her, and now, her suspicions were growing. "Answer me, Zeres!" she demanded. She didn't know why, but at that moment, she couldn't help but think that maybe, this man could actually see the things only she was supposed to see and knows the things only she supposed to know.

For a moment, something strange flickered in his silver eyes before he abruptly blinked it away. "Well, you liked Ezekiel, right?"

Alicia: ". . ."

Speechless, Alicia's shoulders dropped, and she pinched the skin between her brows. However, she found herself feeling very glad because it seemed her hunch was wrong. She wouldn't know what to do if her thoughts were actually true.

"Okay, let's be serious here, Zeres. This talk isn't about anyone else but you," she said. She waited for him to say something, but the man had fallen silent. "What are you thinking? You didn't go to Ezekiel for something petty as creating trouble for him to ease your boredom, are you?"

"Why would you think I didn't go there because of such a petty thing?"

"Don't even try to play words with me, Zeres. I knew you're not the type of being to do something idiotic and unnecessarily dangerous just for fun. You're not the type to cause trouble for others."

Zeres looked away. "You are thinking way too highly of me, Alicia."

Alicia closed her eyes and fell silent for a moment. "Listen." She paused and stared deep into his eyes. "I have no plan to control you or cage you here in the Black Forest. If you wanted to leave this forest, I would not stop you. But only if that's really what you wanted to do and you are doing it for yourself. However, if you want to leave because of some unacceptable reasons, like you just don't want your existence to cause any problem and disrupt the peacefulness between me and my subjects, then… I'm telling you now...

I will not let you leave if that's the only reason you have."