With the first trimester of her pregnancy done, Zora had seen ease the nausea and sour stomach as promised her by the midwives from the church that regularly monitored her progress. For this was relieved, as well as for the forgiveness of her master for choosing a pregnancy without knowing that rules of procreation among the Volkovs. Luckily for her, Nemesis had seen things differently and had simply wished her well. It was a testament to his trust that he gave her slack where others might not have it. While she was not his equal by any means, he often made her feel that she was at least close. 

With the second trimester came the swell of her belly as she began abandoning corsets for gowns that caressed the hardened hump there. Naught but a day or two prior she had been lounging with Tidus when she felt the baby move. Zora had quickly seized her soon to be husband as let him feel the soft kicks coming from her womb. The child was spirited for certain and gave her very little rest. Not unlike his father. She wondered if he would have the same pressing personality with girls. 

It was late this evening when she left the ever growing church of Graylhope to ride to the manor. Red eyes aware of almost everything had noticed that there were many unusual and surly faces in that, she guessed, had come from Iria. What for, she was uncertain nor did it much matter if it did not concern any affairs of government or faith. She rounded the corner on Amir with his wide hooves. 

Without warning she felt herself swept off the back of the steed and fell hard to the ground, her arms clamped protectively over her belly, not having a moment to pray to her God that the child was unharmed. 

Her keen senses picked up the smell of the wolfsbane before she felt it. She struggled violently, trashing and edging on shifting but a press of power on her mind limited her abilities as multiple men held her down and tied her. She felt a sticky paste smear across her skin and following it, a searing pain as her knees buckled from weakness. Before long she found herself unconscious in the cold darkness. 

They had smuggled her out of Graylhope and had taken the ride to Iria where a dilapidated manor saw the despair of a once great family. The beautiful young lady accompanying her lord father sneered at the pregnant lump of a woman drug into the room. Long had she preserved her body in purity to win the Lord of Graylhope and bring their family from ruin. And then this whore of a God’s toy came along and destroyed whatever hope they had possessed. She no intentions on making life easy for that disgusting creature. 

The Lord hesitantly parted with gold he had collected in a bag. “Now we send the note for ransom. Equal share of his riches and he will wed my daughter and not that.. that thing.” He pulled out blank parchment and started penning a letter. 

Being that this was a new step into their relationship, but also the child itself is unfamiliar to him, Tidus was in short, enthralled with both. He had been the only child in his family, so he hadn’t bared witness to another Amadei coming into this world before. And his lack of exposure to other pregnant women showed as he tried to be as much involved in the situation as possible. His subjects would have to remind him constantly though of his regular duties and so he would cherish the times when he had enough free time to see Zora and their unborn child.

One of these times was rather recent as she took his hand and before he could question it, he felt movement unlike any other. Such had brought a smile to his lips as he felt the little body stirring, proving that it was truly alive inside her. His lover would be regularly exhausted but he partly expected that much. After all, it must have taken a lot of her energy to sustain their child. It was fortunate that Louise was there for her on beck and call, and that the Chruch’s midwives would check up on the progress from time to time. They needed everything to go perfect up until the child’s birth, and he couldn’t risk Zora in any sort of jeopardy.

That evening, he had retired into his office, looking over a few more reports on the mines with a bottle of wine by his side. Silently he was waiting for Zora’s return from the church that had been built prior to accepting the initial deal. In truth, he had wished that she wouldn’t have bothered herself with this, but he knew that she wanted to tend to whatever business she had there and watched her ride off with Amir. At least he could take in some comfort in that as he finishes putting his ink soaked quell to paper.

Well, he thought he could.

He could hear a small ruckus coming from outside and soon enough one of his maids came in. “My lord, Amir is here, frantic, and there’s no sign of Lady…” Before she could finish, he had already dashed out of the room and nearly knocked her away as he rushed outside and met with the elemental. “Calm down! Where is Zora!”, he spoke, panicking himself. It would take a while before he could get him to settle down but even so, the lord still didn’t know where she was.

He sent out some of his men to travel throughout the town, to scour through the route Amir came from. After hours, one of them returned and spoke of a different set of horse tracks along with what might have been that of a carriage leading off into another direction, possibly Iria. That and he showed some sort of substance collected onto some spare cloth that was left behind, something that they weren’t familiar with. Tidus sunk into his seat, his grip on his armrest tightened as he struggled to think of who it could possibly be that taken her. He didn’t really have any enemies, yet he also knew that there were people that didn’t like anyone associated with the gods. Was that the reason? Did they know of who his lover was? He sent everyone present in the room away, and once the coast was clear, that was where he buried his face into his hands and softly wept for a few moments.

Afterward, he knew what he had to do.

Getting into the god’s realm wasn’t the hardest thing- it would be asking for his help that kept a lump in his throat.

Before long, he let the darkness swept him into the Bastion and found himself standing at the main cathedral. Entering, he rushed over to the altar and fell onto his knees. “Nemesis! Zora…has been taken! Please, I need your assistance”, he blurted out, completely unaware that Reaver was standing over the altar, looking at him as if he was moonstruck.

“Calm down, boy!”, he finally spoke up and circled around to him. “Now tell me everything that happened.”

It took some time for him to give every detail he knew, along with the cloth with the strange substance to which Reaver flinched upon smelling. “Wolfsbane. It’s toxic to werewolves, and I do believe werewolves are affected as well.” The priest shook his head before he sent out a message to Nemesis.

The prayer is true, Nemesis. Somehow she was taken and it wasn’t an accident.

Only a minute afterward did the God appear from the shadows of the back of the cathedral and looked on with dark eyes to Tidus. “They used wolfsbane, so they knew what she was and likely who.”

“But why then?”Tidus pleaded. “Why take her?”

The alpha remained silently as he stepped into the light, his arms crossed, and clearly, he was angry about the situation and how her lover failed to protect her, especially now of all times. “Iria isn’t known to care for the gods, so I think this is more of a personal reason”, Reaver said as he shed off his daily robes and retrieved a long case from the backroom. “Which also means that if they took this much effort to capture her, they don’t want her dead…necessary. I think our friend here might be the key”, he pointed to Tidus.

“Me? I don’t have enemies there if at all” How was he to blame for that?


“It’s simple. They want something from you”, the god answered coldly. “Money? Probably, but from you specifically, have you wronged anyone, with even the slightest amount of disrespect?”

“No! I worked hard to make sure Graylhope thrives. I do myself no justice by having foes”, he said, nearly snarling back but soon found himself retreating mentally once those eyes narrowed. The immersive feeling from his eyes alone felt like it could crush him with ease. Plus it did no good to Zora to fight with her sire, none at all. “That aside, go home and wait for any word of her. Reaver…”

“Already on it”, he spoke as he took Tidus with one hand and his case with the other. “We will wait for a word and move from there.”

The two found themselves back at the manor and the next few days were Tidus’ worst. He refused to feed or move away from the window at his office until he heard back from her. The servants took to having him pry him away so that they could close the window during daylight hours. Reaver, garbed in black leather armor, stalked the route where she last was and dropped by the church to see if he could spot anything that was missed during the first search.

In the early evening of the fourth day, a letter arrived and once it was presented to him, Tidus tore it out of the hands of his servant and opened it. His eyes widened the further he read into it.

“Lord Adamei,

Long have we waited for you to take my lovely daughter’s hand in marriage, and though you have refused our arrangement many times, we had high hopes that you would realize your mistake. But then…you took to the whore of a God and worse, she carries a rotten bastard inside of her. You claim it to be your own, but who is to say? In a way, we do you a kind justice but should you wish for her safety, we ask that you forsake her in turn of marrying my daughter and also for roughly half of your fortunes and mines. If you do not reply in a week or refuse to cooperate, we will rip the beast outside of her and parade its corpse to her so-called God’s church.

– Lord Ramsey”

“R…Ra…Ramsey?” His hands shook with anger as he held onto the letter, only for it to be pried off him by Reaver. Glancing over the letter, he shook his head, “So, you did piss someone off.”

“I did nothing to him! I refused to marry his daughter, yes. But that justifies nothing! “

“At least we know she’s alive. And what we will do is simple. Reply to him and quick. Tell him you accept the terms.”

“What! I will not cave to his demands”

“Yes, you will!”, Reaver roared back, his newfound temper coming out from the cracks of his patience being broken. “You will do it for Zora and your child! Answer the bastard and we can go after him if he thinks he’s won.”

Begrudgingly, Tidus went to work on a reply and sent it out immediately. He hated being pushed about, but he would stomach it for Zora’s safety.

“Lord Ramsey,

I have no other option but to accept your terms for the fate of Zora and the unborn child. I will wed Cecil and surrender half of everything that you request. Please do not harm either of them once you receive this letter, and in turn, I will banish her from both Graylhope and my life immediately. For that, I will promise Cecil my body and heart.

-Lord Amadei”

It was painful for him to put into words, even if they were false but he had to do it. Now they just needed for the bait to be taken.

All the servants had been woken from their drowsy stupors by the sound of Amir’s thick hooves on stone and his frenzied neighing and snorting as he arrived on the manor grounds, the curls of shadows left in his wake. He had meant to be captured and sold later for a steep price but being not quite fully a beast, had outwitted his captors and escaped. Luckily for Zora it was one of the earliest signs of her capture besides her peculiar absence. The high Lord of Iria and his brutes waited with their quarried prey. The psionic had been forced to use most of his power to suppress her, her magic as full blooded as her connection to its source. 

Now, though, the diluted paste of wolfsbane was taking its toll on her and sapping her energy relentlessly. Her head swam with ethereal visions of a life that was hers yet seemed so far away at the same time. 

She was wandering a desert by carriage with the sun slowly rising. As she threw herself out into the sun, shadow blanketed her. Her insides churned with emotions. Hatred. Jealousy. Unrequited love. It felt real but it wasn’t. Were these memories of her lost past? She wasn’t sure. If they were, she was not sure she wanted to remember something so profoundly unpleasant. The ache in her heart was deafening. Suddenly she reared up, surprising her captors as she stumbled to her feet. “Damnit you! Keep her down. You know how dangerous she can be.” Her vision was blurred and the lights seemed uncharacteristically bright as in a fever dream. A man’s fist came across her face and there was a crack in her jaw. The sensation of pain was astounding. She fell back, her arms clutching her belly to protect it. 

Zora felt the press of psionic on her mind and a darkness that wasn’t friendly engulfed her and swallowed her whole. “I hope this goes quickly, she is strong.” The psionic was massaging his temples as he felt her fight back with all the fury she could muster with the wolfsbane threatening her safety and the unborn child’s. 

“She’s probably trying to protect whatever in the Gods’ name of a beast she’s carrying.” 

She was kept in this state for several days, a prisoner in both mind and body. They received word from Tidus, an acceptance of their demands and they agreed to meet in a black market room at the Path’s End tavern on the outskirts of Iria. Tidus was to bring signed papers of his agreement to a marriage contract and half his assets to the Ramsey family in exchange for his new bride and the release of Zora. Though truthfully Lord Ramsey had half a mind to kill the creature and her bastard spawn to ensure Tidus remained true. 

The psionic eased off her mind just enough for her to realize she was in a carriage with a paper forced in front of her face as if she had the wits to read and understand in this state. 

“He agreed. He will marry my Cecil and you will be cast out like the covetor’s hoax you are. Filth. And these kind think themselves better than humans. She and that unborn bastard will bleed just the same.” 

The other party was told of the arrangement of the meeting a few days later, at a more neutral place far from Graylhope and closer to Iria. It was clear they were meant to be at a slight disadvantage, but it was instead the opposite. Tidus looked at the one person that Ramsey had no clue of- Reaver. In the days coming up to now, they conversed whenever Tidus was able to pull himself out of his depression of losing not only Zora but their baby as well and he had learned much about the Vaewolf that Nemesis called ‘brother’.

Apparently, the man was both a priest and a trained assassin, fulfilling both roles for the families he was involved in the past. It helped to explain why the elder was so calm about this situation- panicking and giving in to fear would do nothing for the captive and they would simply have to outsmart their common enemy.

They had ridden off to see this Path’s End Tavern earlier to stake out the place and make the proper preparations…

“Are you sure this will work?”, Tidus brought up on the day of the meeting. He was accompanied by several of his men, which wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary for a lord of his stature. “It will. Just be confident”, Reaver spoke as he fidgeted with one of the several blades on his character. “Play along with them and I’ll handle the rest. Oh, and Ramsey’s all yours if you want.” Slowly, Reaver descended into the shadows and swiftly made his way inside the tavern moments before Tidus was able to take a deep breath and took a couple of men with him inside while the others waited with the horses.

He was still crossed for being made a fool and being used in such a disgusting manner. Of all the ridiculous and insulting things they could have done to him and his new family…Zora had wronged no one. He had to keep his temper at bay however and he took to the bar once inside and waited. His fingers fumbling together as he anxiously counted the seconds until that disgusting pig and his daughter came here. More importantly, he was looking forward to seeing Zora again. He knew that the assassin would be waiting in the dark for the right moment.

He knew that he had to get her back again.

He knew that these fools would see the folly of their ways of messing with Graylhope, and worse off, the Champion of a God.

She looked nothing like the graceful and powerful being that she could be. Once the psionic had slipped her mind’s defenses and was able to suppress her magic she was left only with pure physical reflex and no wits. A group of men had sufficed in taking her down, especially when she had her growing belly in the way and in need of protection. She knew it would crush her to see her child dead before it could live. Her robes were in tatters and there were bruises, dried blood, and cuts on her body and face. The highly diluted wolfsbane suppressed her natural healing abilities. 

Every day she felt weaker, though she truly had little concept of whether it had been two hours or two weeks. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could survive under these circumstances. Though every day she felt the child in her move was a small victory that kept her going. 

Telling Zora that her husband intended to banish her and marry his daughter didn’t quite have the effect that Lord Ramsey was hoping for. Much of that was because she struggled to be present, much less understand complex threats. It all felt like a fever dream.

Cecil didn’t seem to much care how hurt or not hurt Zora was. In her mind she had won the prize. She would take the mantle of Lady Amadei and bathe in the wealth of the mines. She would give Tidus children before allowing herself to be turned for infinite life and beauty. She simply sat next to her father in one of her finest dresses, every hair on her head perfectly placed, as she smirked at the broken creature across from her. Zora came from nothing and was no one. She would return to what home she had with her tail tucked. Cecil would be sure. 

The carriage lurched to a stop as they arrived at Path’s End. The driver had taken them to the back entrance as agreed on by the tavern keep. A noose was tied around her neck like a dog’s chain and Cecil drug Zora staggering into the tavern’s back room. The redhead collapsed in a corner of the room, clutching her rounded belly. She felt a slight movement of the child but had noted with great anxiety that they were getting weaker. 

Lord Ramsey went to pay the tavern master his crescents before returning to the room. He sat at the table with Cecil. Across from them was an empty chair for Tidus. On the table top were papers drawn up in legal lingo of the nature of the deal he was agreeing to. Some men guarded the back door they came in while the others guarded the entrance to the tavern proper. The psionic sat off to the side, his power ever present in obstructing her mind. 

Hazy red eyes flicked around the room, barely registering what she was seeing. With great effort she kept her eyes open looking from one entrance to the other. Tidus wouldn’t leave her. He had to be coming. And she hoped he had a plan. 

Reaver knew that Ramsey wasn’t stupid. Ill-prepared for the consequences that were to come for his brash and arrogance, but not stupid. He waited and watched from the shadows as the parties started to arrive inside the tavern. First was Tidus and a few of his men, unsurprisingly. They took to a table near the back, waiting to meet with Ramsey and his people. He knew that they would show up with men of their own and probably some other surprises. They also had Zora, so that gave them an edge in this confrontation. But they were completely oblivious to Reaver himself. Thank the gods that people of this continent weren’t easily convinced with how powerful the Gods were or their clergy.

Tidus was nervous, as expected. He needed Zora to be safe and sound, for their child to be safe and sound. Although the lord of Graylhope didn’t quite know how fragile she was, Reaver knew enough from the tidbits that Nemesis shared that she would be devastated if something happened to the unborn baby. He prayed that she would go over the deep end if such misfortune happened. His attention turned to the back where some pudgy man came from and paid the tavern master before signaling for Tidus to come to join him. Emerald eyes latched onto him as he slipped back into the room and swiftly he followed undetected before Tidus went along.

Tidus ventured forward and first looked to Ramsey and Cecil, who he had recalled turning down. She was fairly pretty, but it was obvious that she had a nasty soul in her. Despite this, he put on the most friendly smile he could muster towards her direction. After all, it would be rude to show disgust for the woman he swore himself and his wealth to. Graciously, he took to the seat ready for him and leaned forward to view the papers on the table. They were for him; no words of confirmation were needed. He could read them as clear as day.

“Once I sign this, our union will be official, along with the mines and my fortunes. And once that happens, you will let Zora be to return to her master, correct?”, he spoke, trying to distance himself from the woman in the corner. It pained him internally to see her in such a state but his face was stony as he spoke. “I rather not have her sire’s wrath come down on myself, let alone you as well, Ramsey. I’ve heard he is an unforgiving man”

While he entertained them, Reaver moved along with the shadows quickly towards Zora’s direction and overlapped with the shadow of the psionic. Something was up with this man, and studying her condition, he had been the cause of it. But Reaver didn’t make a move yet, he wanted to see how this played out before he took the best course of action.

Everything seemed so bright. It was night and the tavern was lit in the back only by candles and the fire stoked in the hearth, but it all seemed so bright. Everything was a blur. Hazy red eyes watched her captor and tormentor exit and return. Tidus was on his heels and her body internally started at seeing him. She felt her power strain like a mad person beating against the walls of an asylum. The psionic’s expression deepened as he had to work harder to keep her pinned. 

“Hurry this up Ramsey. She’s pressing me and is not the weakling you think she is.” 

Ramsey cut his eyes over to the psionic in his employ. If looks could kill the man would have been dead in his chair. “Look I’m paying you to keep her down. Deal with it.” The Lord clearly had very little understanding of Magic and the powers that were at play in the world. Tidus had told her before that few in this continent knew the scope of the Gods. 

Zora felt something niggling at her mind. Another presence. But she was too far down and closed off to feel much more. She hoped whatever it was that it was on their side. She was certain if it was Nemesis that she could feel it in her blood. It had to be someone else. 

“Tidus. Please.” She whimpered. Her mind was too fuzzy, too overtaken to understand why he wouldn’t look at her. Why he was just sitting there at the table with the papers in front of him. 

“Quiet, filth.” Came the roar of one of the men guarding the back door. There was a ripping sound as he tore off a piece of her robe and used it to gag her. In his clumsiness he roughly knocked the psionic off his chair. The break of concentration was just enough for her to bend the shadow and slice the psionic nearly in two as she stumbled to her feet, her hands still bound. 

One of the guards came up behind her and she felt the coldness of metal pressing against her warm belly. “Easy now. Settle down. You aren’t going anywhere. In one piece anyway.” 

Just the small exertion it took to take out the psionic holding her mind hostage had her breathing heavily. She could feel her heart pounding away in her throat as blood raced to her limbs to ready herself to fight her way out. Lord Ramsey had only spared a cursory glance as did his daughter to the fallen psionic and the scene behind them. 

“Yes, it’s all spelled out in the papers. If I didn’t know any better I would think you were stalling Tidus. Sign the papers and then you will do the honors of disposing of her and the bastard she carries. Banishment isn’t enough. You will get rid of them permanently.” 

As much as he didn’t want to, Tidus had to save face and ignore Zora’s pleads to draw his attention. It would do no good now that they were playing along for the time being until it was the right time to strike. Ramsey thought of himself to be some sort of genius, a mastermind if you will, but in reality, he was nothing more than a rotten bastard. One that was too full of himself to see the forest from the trees. He didn’t flinch when Zora was quieted though he did take note of which guard had done the deed. As did Reaver as he watched close by, out of the sight of everyone.

The sudden chain reaction sent the one that was suppressing her to an early grave and his employers did little to sympathize. It was nothing more than to show just how heartless they were and there would be no tears wept for them either as far as their opposition was concerned. Although the elder did curse amongst himself with Zora’s incident taking out the man prematurely. But it also meant that his cover wasn’t blown still, so he took solace in that much.

“You sound nervous”, Tidus spoke as he went over the contract, his tone cool and calm. He wasn’t in the very least stalling; he wanted to know if the man would truly keep his word. And once the second part of the arrangement was mentioned, his eyes instantly cut at him and his spoiled daughter. “You…stupid fool. Then what was the fucking point of this? You’d have nothing to hold over my head if she dies…I could just walk away from this deal entirely.” Then his lips formed into a cold smile, “But you are right…my problem needs to be taken care of permanently.” And with that, he took the contract and ripped it into two, slowly and for them to see it. “Neither of you will see the light of day again.”

With that, Reaver sprung from the shadows and stabbed the nearest guard to Zora in the throat, and swiftly moved on to kick the next one that was approaching before stabbing him as well. Tidus flipped the table over and quickly pounced onto Ramsey, knocking him off the chair and onto the ground. Vicious blows rained down from his fists onto that bastard’s face, blood springing up as he heard the sweet sounds of pain and agony. Reaver moved to Zora to help her up and from the chaos heard inside, the men outside launched their own attack on horseback, slaying those loyal to Ramsey.

Reaver’s eyes moved to the daughter and bore into her like arrows. “Don’t move, or else.” Being an elder meant that he was much faster than either Tidus or Zora and if she thought to even breathe wrong, he would descend onto her before she could blink, let alone help her father who was being beaten into a bloody pulp. But Tidus wouldn’t let him just die right away, no, he needed to return a certain something. Getting up to his feet, he moved about until he found what he was looking for; the remains of the contract. He took the pieces and went back to Ramsey before he shoved the papers into the wailing mouth, clump after clump of parchment was force-fed into it. He couldn’t care less if he could swallow them, let alone breathe. He was willing to kill an innocent child out of all of this because of his greed.

The pools of blue in his eyes darkened into black as he watched with a sick delight at the man that dared to force his hand. That dared to kidnap the love of his life and their child. Who thought he could outsmart those that had lived several lifetimes over his. Pathetic. And his daughter was no better as far as he was concerned. “And you…I would never marry the likes of you. You aren’t even a quarter of the woman Zora is. Like the hag you are on the inside, I should put you out of your misery. But I am lenient, my dear. I will let you live if only to live in disgrace and remain in a place inescapable for the rest of your days. You and him alike…”

Zora trembled, afraid to even feel the metal pressing against the soft skin of her growing belly. She didn’t want anything to happen to the child that was inside. She would sooner take any fate for herself. She settled her breathing as much as she could, trying to calm it down so that the sharp blade didn’t dance ever so precariously across the skin with her rapid breathing. If the wolfsbane smeared on her was not subduing her and causing her less than clear thoughts, she would bury this man. He dared threaten her child. 

The ripping of paper turned her attention back to the gathering at the table. Tidus had a look on his face that very people saw and lived to remember. The trap was sprung as she had hoped it would be. Reaper took down the guard holding her and another that was coming for backup. Zora slipped down to her knees, too weak to stand on her own. She felt Reaver’s arm circle her and urge her to her feet. He carefully wiped the strep of wolfsbane paste off her forehead and tossed the rag. The effects were lingering but she could swear she was getting some senses back.

She took a few lungfuls of fresh air outside the back room of the inn. When she felt she had found some stamina in her feet, she argued with Reaper to let her back inside. Coming back, she saw Tidus stuffing his torn contract into the man’s mouth. Her attention turned to the girl who Tidus was laying low with his words. 

“Being born wealthy is no power, foolish child. I made myself from nothing. Power is power.” 

She approached and ran a finger along the girl’s quivering jawline. A tendril of leapt up and up her nose, crawling through her body and popping out of her eyes and ears and mouth. When it stopped, the girl feel to the floor shaking. “I will make this kingdom with my blood and will. Before I’m done there may not be a single hole in this city or Iria in which you are welcome.” 

Her hand came to rest on Tidus’ arm. “Death is too good. Banishment. We should speak to the masters of Iria about removing their titles and lands there.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, taking a great amount of strength to remain standing in the coniditikn she was in.

Her hand slipped into his. “Let’s go, my love. Leave them to their disgrace and shame.” She turned to one of the guards. “Send for one of the midwives from the Bastion I want to be sure everything is alright.” She rubbed her growing bump. 

Poised and regal, Tidus was ordinarily those things and more. But not today- it showed that there was a darker side to him, only reached once his limits were pushed too far. Ramsey and his daughter had proven that there was a beast to him and now they were seeing it right before their eyes. No pleas of mercy would spare them the justice that they were to be delivered. Every connected hit from his fist to Ramsey’s pathetic face made him more bloodthirsty as he thought about what tortures they put Zora and their unborn child through. Meanwhile, Reaver had dispatched the guards and could hear their men outside raining down on Ramsey’s. They had overstepped their place in the food chain and it showed in the most brutal of sense. He took Zora away from the carnage momentarily but within time, she tried to go back inside.

“Fine, but don’t do anything reckless. You still have your child to protect”, he spoke sternly to the Champion before he helped her back inside. He sighed as he could plainly see that Tidus lost control over himself. He released her to head over to the vampire as he was shoving papers into the broken man’s mouth while he was pleading to no prevail. “It’s over Tidus. Zora needs you now”, Reaver spoke as he pulled him up and away. Tidus gave a few huffs before he turned to see that the redhead was clearly alright now.

“Zora…I’m sorry”, he spoke as he felt her touch again. It had been clearly too long even if it was only a few days ago. His face softened as he brought her up to him in an embrace. “You are right. They will suffer far worse than death itself.” His eyes lingered onto the daughter and the wretched sight of her made him nearly sick. How can such a woman that was willing to kill a child so easily live with herself? It was beyond disgraceful. He helped her out of the building, seeing that she hadn’t regained her strength yet and he could hear the heartbeat of their child, bringing him closer to comfort for the time being. Reaver marched out behind them, unconcerned about the fates of either of them. Their own nightmares would infest the rest of their lives; Nemesis would see to it.

“One should already be waiting at the wing. We had to make sure that the child would still be alive once we rescued you”, Tidus chimed in. In the back of his mind, the fear over her master lingered greatly. Would he be punished for not having protected his Champion and the child better? He had grown to loath the crimson eyes when they fell onto him with such wickedness. But as he held her close to him, those thoughts seemed to melt away for the time being.

The journey back seemed to take forever before they arrived back at the castle. The staff was waiting outside and immediately two of them took Zora from the carriage and glided her towards the room where several midwives were waiting and would inspect her. "My lord, they were rushed over here last night from the Bastion at the request of Maalik", one of the servants said. "They also brought in a couple of healers to rejuvenate the lady's energy as well. They said that it would take some time but there would be no expense spared to make sure they were alright."

Tidus nodded and slipped into the castle, more worn and tired than he had realized.  "At least she's okay…", he said with a tired smile. 

"I noticed that she's without a ring yet", Reaver said behind him. "I took a second notice while escorting her outside. I take it that you haven't proposed yet?"

"N…no. It hadn't crossed my mind that time passed so quickly with the excitement of the baby and everything."

"Well, for what's it worth, you have Nemesis' blessing. Just don't screw this up. Zora's past hasn't been the kindest from the small bits I was informed of. She thinks the world of you, trust me." 

Tidus slowly nodded; he wouldn't have taken anything from her for granted. Not when everything was going so right until now. But this only reinforced his feelings for her. "I will do so, but right now I need to make sure that she's back at her peak before I do so." He headed off towards the room where she was being tended to.