215 Chapter 215 : Elric

“Do take care of yourself sweetie,” Marceline whispered while gently stroking her daughter’s hair. “If you need anything, absolutely anything don’t hesitate to write to me.” She pulled away from the hug and gave Melissa a sweet smile, “are you sure I cannot convince you to return to the snowlands with your father and I?”

Kaiser Stefan pulled his wife away and chuckled, “oh come now Marceline, let the children enjoy some time together, they have been apart a long time.. besides, we will see them at the wedding.” He winked at Gareth who was standing protectively behind his daughter, making the elven king blush slightly.

“I promise to write to you as often as I can,” Melissa promised her parents, “I will walk you through everything that happens during my pregnancy.. and besides, I’ll have my human mother and Maria by my side every step of the way so you need not to worry.”

Marceline gave Melissa one last hug and gave Gareth a grateful smile before turning away.

Aiden walked towards his parents and gave them a respectful bow, “Estel, Damien and I are about to leave for Cenia. We will be traveling back with Renly and Theodora as well.”

This time it was Kaiser Stefan who looked completely shaken at the thought of Aiden going away. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to return to the snowlands with us son? We have so much to catch up on.. besides you’re the next Kaiser, you’ll have to be around in case my old bones give out.”

Marceline chuckled and intertwined her fingers with her husband’s, “oh come on dear, let the children be. We will see them at the wedding after all. It will be lovely to see Tauriel again after such a long time.”

Aiden walked towards his mother and gave her a hug.

“Take care son,” Marceline whispered. When she had come to and met Aiden the first time, she had broken down into tears, after so many excruciating years she was able to be with her boy again, and to top it all off, she met her first grandchild Damien and Estel who at some point Marceline thought they were gone.

.....

She then turned to Damien who was awkwardly standing behind his father, “come here..” she gestured. The young hybrid walked slowly to his grandmother and returned her hug. He was not very accustomed to being physically endearing towards other people except his mother, but this was his family now and he had no choice but to oblige. Besides, for some reason getting hugs from his grand mother made Damien feel like a child again.

Marceline relinquished the young man and cupped his cheeks, “don’t give your parents any trouble, and do visit the snowlands soon, your grandfather and I are not getting any younger.”

“Yes grandmother..” Damien responded with a blush on his face.

Before Estel could join Aiden and the others in the carriages the were about to pull off towards Cenia, she walked towards her brothers and gave them both a bear hug, “we are all that mother has left,” she whispered to them, a sad smile painting her beautiful face. “We should make an effort to go to her after everything settles down.”

She pulled back and smiled at the two men, “gosh you both look so much like him,” Estel mumbled while wiping a tear from her eye.

“I will make sure to let her know that you are both fine,” Finwe responded, “and I will see you both soon.”

Finwe was heading to Ervelon with the survivors of the elven army and most of Gareth’s men who were going there to reunite with their wives. Zander and Roland decided to remain for their own personal reasons; Zander because of his duty as Gareth’s right hand which he didn’t mind because Vivian had decided to stay with him. Roland on the other hand did not give a particular reason as to why he was remaining and Finwe didn’t want to pry.

“Travel well,” Finwe spoke to his siblings, “both of you.”

Gateth then turned to Melissa who had just finished waving goodbye to the carriage where her parents sat that was pulling away with an army of nosferatu trailing it behind. When she turned towards him and smiled, Gareth felt his heart flatter. It had been a long and tiring journey but now he could finally reap the benefits of his labors.

He walked slowly towards the beautiful red haired woman who had her eyes fixed on him, he then stopped a few inches away from her and bowed slightly, “our happily ever after waits towards that carriage my lady.” He stood up straight and offered her his hand.

Melissa chuckled and placed her hand in his before pulling him in for a quick kiss. “Thank you kind sir...”

Gareth scoffed before leading the future mother of his child to the carriage, finally he had to power to pamper her how she deserved. He was going to make sure both Melissa and his baby were spoiled rotten.

*

Deep in the uncharted parts of the forest, Elric flattered his eyes open, he felt devoid of all emotions and empty. He sat up and looked around at the cave he had been lying in and sighed. What had he been doing with his life? Now that he thought critically about it, he had been chasing a woman his whole life, a woman who had no feelings for him.

He had gotten so obsessed with the idea of being with Melissa that he had become blind to the fact that he probably never even loved her, he was merely just deeply infatuated with her, so much so that the idea of her being with another man almost drove him mad.

He needed some time away from everyone, from everything and start anew. He didn’t even care if everyone thought he was dead, the peace and tranquillity experienced by the deceased was what he craved.

But regardless of all his efforts to be alone, there was still one being that trailed him everywhere, the redhead from his dreams. She had been following from the day he left camp, he really didn’t know what was going on with him, why did he keep seeing her around? Was he really going mad?

He had long stopped trying to speak with her because she never responded, all she did was sit there and watch him, even as he slept. At the least he was grateful she kept him company even if she was just a figment of his imagination.

He got to his feet and walked out of the cave towards a small stream where he washed up and drunk some water before going out to hunt.

Moments later he returned to the cave where he started a fire and began roasting his meat with some salts he had found from some rocks. This had become the silver haired lycan and for the past several days and he preferred it this way.

He looked up at the woman sitting in front of him, “do you feed off of anything else other than my misery?” The lycan spoke while waving a piece of meat at her. She merely just sat there staring at him without saying a word like always. The lycan prince brought the meat to his mouth and ate it, “sometimes I wonder why I even ask, you clearly reside only in my mind.”

Elric hurriedly ate his food and lay back down on his back, his mind drifted to how he would make this place into something more homey, if he was going to be living in these uncharted woods for a while, he might as well try and make things comfortable.

Maybe he could find a way to collect timber from all the trees around, if he could find wood, building a small habitable shark wouldn’t be much of a problem, and there were many other things out here he could use. He could hunt down bears and wolves for fur, and he could use the thick clay by the river to make water containers and maybe some pots and plates. Yes.. he was going to survive out her no problem, he had excellent survival skills, the best among his brother even as a kid.

Elric sat up and walked to the cave wall where he grabbed his handmade axe, “I assume you want to tag along?” Elric spoke to the redhead who was sitting on the floor looking up at him with an emotionless face. When she didn’t move he shrugged and walked out of the cave to begin his tasks, “suit yourself..”

As he walked slowly towards the forest his mind drifted once again to Melissa, was she worried about him? Did she even care? And if truly Melissa was not meant for him why did he feel the way he did whenever he hugged her, whenever he cuddled up next to her as they slept?

historical

Suddenly a thought crossed Elric’s mind that made him halt in his tracks, all the cuddles or the hugs that he enjoyed mostly revolved around the nosferatu woman being pregnant.. could it be that Elric became even more attracted to Melissa because of her baby bump? Or was he attracted to the baby bump itself?