Chapter 106: Reunion (1/2)

As the blood continued to gush out of the wound, the guard fell to the ground while he made his last feeble attempt to desperately gurgle for the saving grace that the air would have meant to him.

There was no saving grace for him. He had his chance but because of his own arrogant haughtiness, he didn't take it.

”Better luck with your next life…” Drake said looking at the now-corpse of the last guard. Stepping over him, Drake tried pushing on the door, only to find it locked.

”Figures…” he mumbled in annoyance.

Turning around, he crouched next to the dead body. With a frown on his face, he quickly went through the dead guard's pockets. Eventually, wedged between the two connecting plates, hidden with the heraldic design he found the singular copper key.

Now, with the key in hand, he walked back to the door. He was already feeling positive, as while there probably was some sort of dampener etched into the walls of this place, he could still feel the light buzz of Marf's excitement.

It felt the presence of another artifact, and it wasn't the one that the mysterious woman that came with his group carried with her. It was another one, carried by someone behind this metal door.

”Relax buddy, I know, I know! I'm excited too… I waited so many years for this moment…” he muttered. His face contorted into a painful smile as he remembered the last moments when he saw his dear sister and two brothers being carried away; his father's emotionless face as he watched this happening… Clenching his fists, he smeared the few teardrops that were about to slither down and escape their eternal prison.

Inserting the key to the rusted keyhole, he had to exert a small bit of strength to make the key turn around. Once it did, and he heard the satisfying deep-toned clicking sound, he grabbed the metal hold and pulled the door.

It was much thicker than he expected, in fact, it was almost like what the nobles used to keep their wealth safely stored away in their vaults. This was a genuine, bonafide vault door; several inches thick, and probably weighed at least a few hundred pounds.

In fact, it was so heavy and rusted that Drake had to use both hands and exert almost all of his strength to slowly pull this last metal barrier that separated him from her missing sibling.

Once he managed to create an opening wide enough for him to squeeze in, he nervously peeked through. A dark, damp room greeted her, that only had a single source of light, a sort of contraption mounted on the ceiling that glimmered with a faint white light.

In the corner of the dimly lit room, he could see the silhouette of a feminine figure, sitting, hiding in the shadows. Agitated, he took a step inside the room and stopped right at the entrance. The pommel of his sword glowing in bright, powerful blue light, illuminated his visage.

”Scarlet?” He nervously called out to the silhouette, not taking any step, standing still, forcefully radiating a calm and collected aura, even if he was incredibly nervous. He dreamt about this moment at least a million times in the past years, carefully planning what he was gonna say.

Yet, now at the moment, he didn't know how to begin.

There was no movement or any sort of visible reaction from his first call, so he tried again, this time with a bit more force and certainty in his tone.

”Scarlet? It's me, Draco, your brother. Do you remember me? I have finally found you…”

On his second call, he saw the head, still hiding behind the shadowy corner jerk towards the invader. Shortly after a weak, faltering voice came from it.

”D-dra-co?” It clearly struggled to form the word, yet Drake could feel the emotion behind it, the will to push it out, and let it be carried with the air.

As if tasting something delicious, something new and exciting, the figure inched closer to the light, still sitting on the dusty ground, repeating the name and adding a rhetorical question, as if to test its own sanity.

”D-draco? B-brother?”

The emotional weight that these two simple words carried were like hammers to Drake, he struggled to keep standing. Unable to hold his tears, he burst out crying as he let out all the pain he accumulated over the years. He slowly, unsteadily started wobbling forward, towards the figure who was also crawling towards him.

”Y-yes, I finally found you… After all these years…”

As the distance between them slowly decreased, the figure slowly got up to its knees and eventually, it was on its feet, closing in on the silver-haired man.