>>Amber

Hael read through the pages that were missing from the original biography.

And I walked around the room to get some exercise in. I still have to ask him about what happened in the first timeline but maybe we should sort out the miasma case before, "Is there anything useful in there?" Hael read a page and then took it out, placing it at the end of the bundle in his hands to read the next page

"Well," He let out a soft breath, "It seems Persephone was under a curse."

"A curse?" I kept my eyes on Hael as I kept walking around. His gaze was stuck on the words, "What curse?"

"By an ancient dragon. They don't exist anymore, it seems that the last one alive cursed Persephone's mother."

"What? Why?"

"She got lost in Dark Woods once while she was pregnant with Persephone. There she found the dragon who was injured, his torso was torn and his heart exposed." He took out another page and put it in the end, "Her mother was desperate to keep herself and her child alive, so she ate the dragon's heart who was too weak to move to defend itself."

Oh man...

I did not expect something like this.

"And the dragon cursed her?"

Hael nodded, "And because the dragon's dead body was left in dark woods, it turned into poison." His gaze stayed on the paper, "Ancients dragons had to be buried with a ritual, if their bodies were left out in the open, their carcasses begin to poison the surrounding."

Ah, so that's how Hollow Woods came into being? Because Persephone's mother ate the heart and left the dead body to rot there.

I stopped, "But to such an extent?" It was terrifying, "Hollow Woods is a very big place!"

"The text says when Persephone came in contact with the dragon's carcass, it amplified the poison in the forest, turning it into Hollow Woods." He glanced at me, "The poison was already running around when they went in."

"Oh..."

"It seems Persephone's curse was a trigger that amplified the poison in the forest."

"I see... But then, did King Valenor betray Persephone?" I asked

"In the biography, Vaerion wrote about how the Royal Witch and her servants had instilled in Valenor's mind that the bringer of death was pure evil and she had to be killed."

"But still! Persephone was his childhood friend! Did he not know her?"

"..." Hael didn't answer immediately, and when he spoke, his voice was softer, "Perhaps that is why he couldn't kill her."

!!!

Oh

"He was told over and over again, that this great evil will come in the form of his most precious person and that he shouldn't get manipulated."

I frowned as those words swirled in my mind.

"Isn't that,,, sort of wrong? It did make sense but the wording makes it seem like the great evil took Persephone's form, but that's not how it is, right?"

"That's right," He finished reading, "Persephone was a normal child, whose curse activated and she became the great evil, not the other way around." He put the papers on the table and turned to look at me, "But in a way, Valenor was lied to. And the whole scene in front of him made him think that the person in front of him was not Persephone..." He paused, "Or that the Pen he loved was no longer there..."

"Why?"

"Persephone was losing her mind to the curse it seems. The curse was to take over her mind and body, turn her into something her own would abandon. She would often zone out and once in Dark woods, she went in a trance and ended up eating a fellow member,"

My skin stood up, "RoseMary!"

He nodded, "RoseMary and Theo might have had a thing going on at that time but Persephone's actions made everyone turn against her."

'And eventually Valenor imprisoned her and went back..." The information was slowly settling in my mind.

"He then started his own kingdom. This Kingdom, 'Aurelia'. But he soon realized that the words of the witch were wrong. Persephone was cursed but then he could do nothing about it."

"...." The story was tragic. Peresphone and Valenor loved each since they were kids, but look how they ended."But will she turn back into her original form? Become a human? Can I purify what she is?" I folded my arms, "I couldn't purify the bonewraiths."

"You could purify their cores, that stopped the miasma."

"But that was it." replied.

Hael shook his head, "Deus told me something interesting."

"Yes?"

"He said destroying the core of bonewraiths didn't only slow them down. It eventually did kill them, but the thing was, they could remain standing and fighting for a little time even after the core was destroyed. It gave the illusion that they couldn't be killed easily."

Oh!

"Really!?" I was happy for a moment, then a thought crossed my mind, "And how will this help?"

"It means the knights don't have to and swing their swords to sever their head, they can stay far away and launch their bolts to destroy the core." He nodded to himself, "It means, we can have a no casualty win."

"OH!!" I got it, "If we fight from inside the shielded cities, that can be possible!"

He nodded, "Though, staying inside and fighting won't go together. Bonewraiths don't show themselves in plain sight."

"Then what?"

"I have a plan. I'm going to talk about it with the King and see how it works out."

I thought about it. I actually felt bad for Persephone. Her argument for not stopping was that people would never let her be and that's true.

Hmmm

She didn't look like a person who had lost her mind. Her body was definitely something else, but not her thinking. She talked as if she was in her sound mind.

"When we met Persephone in the rift, she didn't look like someone who had lost her mind though..."

"This is my theory for it." He nodded, "By eating Vaerion, it seems she was able to retain her own sense of self. Her mind wasn't taken over by the curse."

"Hmm?" I didn't quite understand what that meant.

"Elves have a very strong sanity. It's very difficult to break that."

"..." I paused, my eyes went down for a moment, then went back to him.

"You have a look of distrust on your face. What is it?"

"What about your mom then?" It was a curious question, "She was an elf royal and..." I shrugged, not wanting to complete the sentence because I didn't want to say something hurtful.

He smiled, "There is only one thing that can break an elf." His eyes stayed on me firmly, "Unless they've been betrayed by a beloved, they can keep on fighting anything."

"Betrayed be a beloved?" I eyed him.

"Yes," He nodded, "Elves are weak to love,"

"Oh," I scratched my cheek with my index finger. That was new information.

"So your mother have such a bad reaction to your father leaving?"

"Yes..."

"Is it that bad for elves?" I had never heard of something like this before, "Love can come again and go."

He nodded slowly, then he let out a soft breath, "You see, elves don't really fall in love with anyone."

"They don't?"

"No, they're very specific while choosing their partner."

"Hmmm," I stared at him and folded my arms, "Hmm," Now I'm more curious about how things turned out in the past. So elves are weak to love and he fell for me.

Is that why he turned back time? It was like my heart rate expanded, goosebumps erupted and my mind exploded at that information. No! But wait, let me confirm it!!

"Hael?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me what happened in the original timelines. I want to know the details."

***

"So... basically you and Enya did it for me and Ahin?" I was still in shock, "You turned back time for me?"

"Yes," He grinned

!!!

I froze, my eyes went wide

"Because elves tend to love a single person for life." He stood up and began to walk towards me, "For me that was you,"

"Oh," I blinked at him, "Oh!" He enjoyed my reaction.

"I said it, didn't I?" He came and stopped in front of me, taking my hands in his while I stared up at him, "I loved you even when I shouldn't have." His smile was haughty, it made my mouth hang open.

My heartbeat rose and it began to pound.

"I-" I was at a loss for words again. I could never have imagined that I'd be getting something like eternal love! My heartbeat quickened and my face started getting red.

Gosh! Gosh!!

This is too much for me to handle!!

I removed my hands from his and began to walk around the spacious room again, trying to calm myself down as I mumbled to myself.

My God!

Hael would make the romantic of the century, Turning back time for a woman he fell in love with-

I froze once again as a previous conversation I once had with Hael crossed my mind.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as I slowly turned my body around to look at Hael who was standing there looking at me with a gentle expression, his hand tied behind his back

'We don't have much time,' He said a few hours ago, right after he confessed.

My eyes went wide in horror and he noticed how my expressions were changing.

"Orenya?"

He suddenly became so assertive too. A bit too assertive. I get that he had help with his emotions but part of me also knew he had changed a bit too much

No

The fear rose to my throat, my heart drumming slowly in my ears.

"Hael," My voice got shaky.

"Yes, Orenya?"

"You said the performer who turns back time dies when the loop is complete."

His expressions changed and he looked away, avoiding eye contact, "...Yes,"

"Are you going to die?" My heart beat was loud, "You said we didn't have much time together."

He paused, thinking about what to say

!!!

He had never avoided my gaze. It made me feel like I couldn't breathe all of the sudden.

I stomped my way towards him, "Hael, don't lie to me!" I went and wrapped my arms around his arm, "Please. Tell me the truth." I could feel the anxiety trying to eat me up

He closed his eyes in defeat for a second,

"Hael!!!"

Then opened them as he let out a soft breath, "As things stand." He turned towards me, putting his hand on mine, "Yes,"

And I felt my entire being shatter

Author's Note

If anyone wants to read Persephone and Valenor's story in more detail. It's a very short story. You can read it in the book, Till Death Do Us Part