Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Two Friends

Chapter 242 – Two Friends

Cassius arrived at the location in under five minutes, his feet feeling as though they were guided by wind and something unknown deep within him.

The first thing his crimson eyes settled on, the moment his feet touched the ground below, was the distant yet sorrowful, magical figure of Nafissatou, her witch hat atop her head, standing with her right arm stroking her sleeveless left elbow.

Cassius couldn’t see her face, but he didn’t need to see it to smell her fear and apprehension, like a snake sniffing out prey in a dark forest.

The next thing his eyes took in was, without any suspense, the body of his own friend on the ground, in a condition he’d never once seen Klaus in.

Klaus’s pants were lowered, his eyes closed shut, and yet his eyelids trembled as if he were going through internal nightmares none could ever imagine.

His nose was visibly broken, twisted upward, and the blood seeping from it had drenched his mouth and teeth in a sheet of red.

The sight was not horrific, nor was it in any way rare.

In fact, Cassius had seen far worse and had been far less moved by any of it.

However, on that day, at that time, Cassius felt a rare sense of anger slithering, hissing, begging to be released.

His crimson eyes shrank and dilated at once, and his left one almost took the shape of a dragon’s slit pupil.

But it was not the time to be blinded by anger.

Taking a deep breath to control himself, Cassius stepped forward, walking toward Klaus.

Nafissatou, standing beside him, said nothing, wisely choosing to remain silent and wait until he spoke to her.

She could feel it.

Angel was angry.

"Who did this?" Cassius asked in a soft tone, crouching down before Klaus.

"...I don’t know." Nafissatou whispered in turn, as if somehow afraid to speak aloud in his presence, "whoever did this was gone before I arrived."

"You didn’t touch Klaus, did you?"

She flinched slightly before hurriedly answering, "No! I only touched him when I searched his phone to call you. Nothing else."

Cassius didn’t respond. The gears of his mind were turning, and it took him a couple more breaths before he parted his lips once more:

"Then you’re able to use a Tracking Spell, aren’t you? That’s the easiest spell for a magician to learn." He said, turning his head enough to transfix her with his flaming eyes, "There are shredded clothes around us. Take one, use your spell, and..."

He smiled faintly.

Yet Nafissatou shuddered inwardly.

"...find me whoever did this, will you?"

The Magician felt a deep sense of indignation in that moment. Since when, she wondered, had Cassius been able to order her around as if it were the most normal thing in the world?

She twisted her lips inside her mouth a couple more times before setting her jaw and nodding stiffly.

"I will." She replied, then mustered her courage, "but I also called because I wanted to speak with you about...you know what. When can I come to you?"

"I will come to you myself, Nafissatou. Sooner than you expect." Cassius said, already wiping the blood from Klaus’s face after giving him a Tier 5 Healing Potion, "Do the task first. I truly hope you’ll have something for me by the time I come."

Hearing his words, she nodded faintly, took two shredded pieces of clothing, and teleported away in haste.

Cassius immediately focused solely on Klaus, who was soon about to wake, his breathing having stabilized greatly.

He wondered, in the meantime, how his friend had ended up in this state, and why he’d even been outside this late at night.

But no answer came. Or at least one came, but it was attached to far too many possibilities to settle on just one.

’The problem with people who enjoy antagonizing others is that it’s always hard to find the culprit when something happens to them.’ He chuckled dryly.

He thought of the many people willing to go this far, but Cassius didn’t know enough about Klaus’s life to make any real guesses.

Just what had Klaus been doing lately?

At that exact moment, finally, the wounded man fluttered his eyes open into the darkness of the alley.

His eyes were confused for a moment, blinking repeatedly as if trying to make sense of where he was and who he was.

And then a flash of understanding lit through them, and his eyes cleared.

Cassius watched as Klaus’s face twisted first into intense anger, then agonizing shame, before the man lowered his head to the ground.

"This...this isn’t—!" He cut himself off before sighing wearily, his face still wincing in pain, "I’m sorry."

"Sorry?" Cassius echoed, "For what?"

"Look at the hour. I made you come all the way out here in this darkness because of my own problems."

"A fateful coincidence, I’d say." Cassius brushed it off with a smile, "I was strolling outside to enjoy the night and happened to walk here."

"Is...that so?"

"Of course. Or did you forget?" Cassius arched an eyebrow with theatrical flair, "Didn’t you tell me you’d always know when I was in trouble and would come help me because you’re a...hm, what was it again? Oh, yes! A He—!"

"Hey!!!!" Klaus shouted, immediately trying to clamp his hands over Cassius’s mouth, his face flushed crimson with embarrassment.

Cassius laughed and dodged easily, smirking at him.

"What, Klaus? I’m just—!"

"Don’t bring up childhood secrets now!" He said, wincing as the back of his head throbbed with pain, "the four of us promised not to say anything about it once we were older."

"I have a terrible memory. How can I keep my word if I don’t remember? For all I know, you’re making up this promise." Cassius smiled before slowly standing up.

"I see you haven’t broken your lying habit."

"It’s my nature." Cassius then cocked his head, looking at him, "Your wounds are deeper than I thought. Especially the back of your head."

"It doesn’t hurt at all." Klaus muttered, trying to hide a low groan of pain.

Cassius said nothing. Instead, he simply hoisted his friend and slung him over his own back like a worthless sack of rocks, then began to walk away.

The motion was so fast and smooth that Klaus was left speechless, dazed.

It took him an obvious moment to realize what was actually happening. But by then, Cassius was already speaking, walking slowly and steadily toward the Street Housing.

"Do you remember those days?" He said, his voice holding a distinct smile, "those days when you would often carry me on your back because I always hurt myself when we were playing."

Klaus paused, then nodded slowly, "I...do. You were weak, yet you loved dangerous games far too much." He smiled, reminiscing about that time, "so your mother told us to watch over you."

"But you did more than that. You, Natalia, and Keisha...you were always there, making sure I didn’t break my arms by accident. I was indeed so bloody weak."

"But you’re not anymore." Klaus said instantly, his voice low, "You’re the Palatine now, Cassius. You’re the monster who defeated the monster. You...you’ve become really strong."

"Didn’t we all?"

"Not as much as you."

"Does that bother you?"

"Huh?" Klaus exclaimed, then clenched his jaw tightly, not actually answering.

But no answer was already an answer to Cassius.

"Why?" He asked again, his steps silent as the grave, "Why do you want to be so strong?"

There were numerous answers Klaus could have given. Multiple ways to steer the subject elsewhere...somewhere less shameful and embarrassing to him.

However, his mouth betrayed him before he was even aware of it, and the words spilled out:

"At this rate, I won’t even be able to see your back anymore. And if I can’t see your back...how can I stand beside you? And if I can’t stand beside you..."

His voice lowered.

"...how will I keep my promise to you? My promise to always protect you, no matter what?"

Cassius smiled at his words, remembering how, when they were children, Klaus loved to play Hero. How he would always say he’d protect all of them because he was simply the strongest.

That was true. Klaus had indeed been the strongest in their childhood.

So Cassius could perfectly understand how it felt for him to now lag behind the one he had made such a promise to.

And yet...

"Are you that blind?" Cassius scoffed, "You saved me not long ago, Klaus. The Entrance Test. Did you already forget?"

"Eh?"

"I was on the edge of losing consciousness. I was on the edge of losing despite all my efforts. And then you came to help me stand when my knees hit the ground."

Klaus immediately fell silent, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that scene.

"You see now, Klaus? I’m not telling you to stop trying to match my power. I’m telling you to stop thinking that only by reaching my level could you help me and save me." He shook his head, "all you need is the wish to stand at my side. There’s no condition like having to be as strong as me first."

He continued to walk, his words still echoing around them.

"So stop fixating on such a rigid way of thinking. Are you forgetting who you are?"

"...who am I?"

"Aren’t you chosen by Wind?" He asked rhetorically, "not just any wind, but Spirit Wind. Your innate nature is to be free, to be whoever you want and whatever you want, without anyone — even yourself — forcing you otherwise. Don’t waste your power, Klaus. You’re stronger than you think. You simply don’t know how to use it because you’re blinded by something else."

Those words, spoken in the depth of the darkness with nothing but wind and footsteps whispering around them, struck deep into Klaus’s chest like a punch to the gut.

In that instant, he replayed everything he had gone through, all the moments that had led to his current situation.

The Royal Event.

Ever since he’d seen the fight between Cassius and Emrys back at that event, he had been training, no doubt.

But only with the goal of matching Cassius.

That was not a bad thing in and of itself.

But for someone like him? Someone whose whole family said could be the strongest Spirit Blessed because of his high affinity for both Wind and Spirit?

That was simply crippling himself.

’I am Wind. Why...why was I so intent on confining myself to one place?’

It was because of fear. The fear of losing the only man he thought of as his friend. Of being someone inconsequential in a life he wanted to be useful.

However, Klaus now knew it was useless to keep overthinking.

Cassius was not the type to abandon someone just because he had become something more in the eyes of the world.

No matter what happened, Cassius would always remain Cassius.

That realization coincided perfectly with their arrival in front of Persephone’s Building.

"Aye. Your free ride is over." Cassius said, "Next time, you’re paying."

"Pay?" He said, his voice hoarse with restrained feelings, "I should make you pay for all the times I carried you during childhood. It would probably be enough to cover what I spent on that woman."

"Woman?" Cassius exclaimed, "Klaus is spending his money on a woman?"

"It’s absolutely not what you’re thinking, bastard."

"And what am I thinking? That you’re in love?"

"Don’t ever say it like that again." He twisted his face in disgust, "in fact, don’t ever say ’love’ in front of me. Bad word. Disgusting word."

Cassius chuckled, "Love did you good, huh?"

"A bitch."

"That she is. Want me to handle her?"

"How would you do that?"

"Simply frame her ass and send her off to be tortured."

"Too easy." Klaus scoffed, sliding down off his back, "torture? Sure. But physical torture? Cassius, that’s something from the past. We’ve evolved. We are no longer barbarian."

He looked at him for a moment, then tapped Cassius’s shoulder repeatedly.

Then he began to walk away, heading to his building with light steps, as if an invisible burden had been lifted from him.

"Thanks for today." Klaus said, waving his hand, "Don’t miss class again tomorrow."

"You sure you don’t need help with what happened today?"

"Oh, no. I’ll handle it." He cracked his neck.

"Can I trust you? I can’t promise I’ll accidentally stroll your way again next time, you know."

Klaus laughed.

"You can trust me."

His voice lowered dangerously.

"I will handle this."

—End of Chapter 242—