CHAPTER 52: LOST.

Everyone stares at me like I’ve gone mad.

"Do you know what you are consenting to?" Fargo asks, his voice etched with concern.

I want to say yes, but I realize that I don’t have the slightest idea.

He rubs his eyes from fatigue and levels me with his ancient gaze.

"There’s every probability you would die. The poison usually kills the host within days, at most."

I refuse to let my fear show. I am banking on my inability to die. The fact that Fang’s poison is involved makes my survival uncertain, but I’ll never know what will happen if I don’t try.

"There’s no other way. Let’s proceed with the Transfer spell".

My voice comes out rigid and brittle instead of confident.

Kross and Rames shake their heads but say nothing.

I won’t give up on Xian Xi. This is my chance to do something good for someone apart from myself.

"Is the poison meant to kill him, or turn him into a demon?" Jakota asks.

We all direct our curious gazes to Fargo.

"I can’t tell. The poison progression is slow but lethal. Normally, he should be changing if the poison was meant to turn him into a demon".

Death it is.

"What is required of me?" I ask.

Fargo lays a hand on my arm comfortingly.

"You have to hold his hand while I wrap your hands with a special silver cord. I can’t make any promises. I don’t know what will happen after that".

I nod at him.

"I only have one condition". I say and let my gaze skim over everyone present.

I wait for my words to sink in before I continue.

"No matter what happens, Xian Xi must never know".

They all look like they expected me to make a more demanding condition.

Fargo nods at me, so does Kross.

"Let me get the silver string. I won’t take long".

He leaves the room quietly and an awkward silence settles in his wake. No one dares to say a word to me - and I’m glad they don’t.

I don’t know how I’d react if they did, though. My self-control has been stretched pretty thin with everything that has happened.

Fargo returns with a shimmering gauze of silver string wrapped in his hand.

He is wearing a grim look - further evidence that he is not pleased to carry out the responsibility set before him.

Everyone draws back to watch from a safe distance.

At his signal, I clasp Xian Xi’s hand in mine.

He winds the string slowly, as though he is unsure of the process.

I decide to keep my thoughts to myself.

Once he finishes, he steps back to examine his work.

He waves his hand over our joint ones and mutters an inaudible incantation.

In this case, all I can do is trust the process. Magic has never been my territory at all. I have only been interested in the art of opening portals, nothing else.

Our joint hands start to glow. The silver string becomes white and blinding.

I shield my eyes from the glare of the light with my free hand.

The black poison drains from Xian Xi’s skin, slithering into mine like ink bleeding into paper.

The feeling is strange and unsettling. The poison crawls under my skin like icy veins threading through me.

It spreads over my wrist and starts covering my lower arm.

My heart claws at my ribs, each beat a reminder that there’sno turning back.

It doesn’t travel further than my mid - arm.

Xian Xi’s arm has been completely cleared of the poison.

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. Relief washes over me.

Xian Xi is no longer going to die. My own fate remains a mystery.

I look down at his smooth face. His hair is pure white. His last actions were justified. But, I notice some hints of black among the long locks.

Maybe... not so justified.

He looks as if he is in a peaceful slumber. No creases beneath his eyes. He looks impossibly young, untouched by pain, like life has granted him a rewind.

His hair frames his face like a halo. Even the sides of his lips are quirked up in the slightest hint of a smile.

He must be in a peaceful place.

I, on the other hand can never find any form of peace anywhere. I can’t even find it in my slumber. My dreams are never escapes - they are branded with nightmares.

A memory flashes through me. It’s the same memory I saw when Hikaru held me. I am with a man. I feel happy, content, even safe. The memory feels too good to be true.

Who is this man? Why can’t I remember him?

My throat starts feeling dry and my gaze gradually becomes hazy. I shake my head to clear my head.

"Isn’t he supposed to wake up?" Kross asks Fargo.

The question jerks me out of my thoughts. Yes, he’s supposed to wake up any minute now.

What is wrong?

Fargo crouches down beside Xian Xi’s body and touches his forehead.

"Do you know exactly what happened to him?" Fargo asks me.

I had arrived long after the showdown. Fang’s weakness had only added to the mystery.

Whatever happened between them must have been very serious. He had scored a huge point against Fang.

"I arrived too late". I respond, skipping the fact that I had been dragged there because of my bond with the Demon Queen.

The bond. Is it even possible for me to break such a powerful bond? She has so much control over me.

I sigh as I realize that I am more of a threat and a liability, than an asset in the fight against the demons.

My side has already been chosen for me without my consent. Is it possible for me to defy such a path?

Choi, who always chooses to stay quietly in a corner with his instrument, steps forward.

"I can try to find his consciousness with my song". He volunteers.

The situation is a desperate one. Any form of help is more than welcome.

He sits cross-legged on the edge of the rug and sets his string instrument in front of him. I am not familiar with the instrument.

He closes his eyes and tilts his head to the side as he begins to play a soft melody.

The song appeals to something in me.

I watch in awe as his skillful fingers skim the strings with the dexterity of practised ease.

Even Fargo leans his head back against a cushion and closes his eyes.

I curl my hands around Xian Xi’s wrist. His pulse is still a soft throb.

I look up at Choi after a while of basking in the melody.

He stops abruptly, his hands freezing mid-air.

Fargo opens his eyes.

"I can’t find him".

I take in a sharp breath.