SPELLBOUND

"Yes." The answer came out short and simple. Not even a tinge of hesitation could be heard in his voice. After finding out that not only Vera had seen the future but Evielyn as well, Gideon had realized that there was no use hiding all of these matters to himself anymore. "I tried to intervene. I tried to drive you out of the Under Lands, thinking that if you can never return to the Under Land's again, perhaps your fate might change." he explained, voice becoming incredibly grave. "But I was gravely mistaken in thinking that the portals would be able to hold on forever and would never be broken by anything. I never once thought that this problem would actually escalate even as far as to the surface. It has grown to become a much bigger problem, to a scale that I had never anticipated. Seems that there was actually no place where you can hide to change this fate of yours."

Gavrael could not even say a word. All he could do was stare at his brother as he tried to comprehend all that had been told to him.

"When I found out that the portal was broken, I realized all my efforts during the long years before this were utterly futile. However, I was not willing to just give up right off the bat after I had put in so much effort. Thus, I visited the surface to check on you and saw your battle with that ancient dark fae. I saw how you've grown so strong. And I also had noticed your peculiar power. I…" Gideon paused for a while then looked away. "It gave me a new idea. I wanted to use your power. I saw you somehow manage to draw in such an impossibly massive amount of magic and redirected it all and stored it into a dragon. I wanted you back here because I wanted you to do that same thing… to me. I wanted you to draw in and collect the darkness in the abyss and store it all within me. And once that happens… I planned to have… Evielyn kill me." His voice had softened so much that if Gav was not so near to Gideon, he would not be able to make what he said clearly.

Another short silence followed before Gideon continued. "I knew that this plan was dangerous. There was a huge risk factor in it and that something bad might happen, or perhaps doing that might even trigger the beginning of you fulfilling your fate. But I couldn't think of any other ways that were better than this. I knew the abyss is expanding and soon, it might even swallow up everything within the vicinity of the Great City. If we just take a defensive position and don't do anything proactive, the abyss will still be unstoppable. So I had thought that it was better to risk things than just sit around waiting to be plucked off like flies."

"Why…" Gavrael finally spoke, anger flashing in his eyes. "Why do you always decide things on your own like this? Do you really want to die that badly? Huh?!"

Gideon's jaws clenched. "Yes. Before I met Vera, yes!" his voice became louder. "All my life, I only had this one goal… to destroy the abyss even if that meant sacrificing myself in the process. And keeping you, father and mother… and everyone else safe."

Gavrael shook his head, rage gleaming in his blue eyes. "You always try to solve the problems concerning me all on your own. When I was younger? Fine. You can chalk it up to me being a kid. But now that I am an adult? What would be your excuse? Now you even had it all planned out to take my place and die in my stead too –" Gav choked and could not continue in his anger. He had to stop and breathe before he ends up strangling this stubborn brother of his.

"Aside from the fact that I had truly wanted to die, I also didn't have any other reason to keep living, unlike you." Gideon cut him off. "I made this decision when I went to the surface and found out… that your wife is none other than Evielyn, the woman who was fated to be the queen of light. Do you know what this means, Gavrael? You're the fated king of darkness… and yet you got married and fell in love with the very same woman who had been destined to end the darkness itself… to end you!"

Denial hit Gavrael like an arrow piercing through his heart. What Gideon just said made his throat run dry. Evie… was destined to kill him?! Impossible! That would not happen… right??

"That can't be…" Gavrael could not bear to finish his own sentence. The fact that he immediately felt that all that his brother was revealing were the truth only made it harder for him breathe. His lungs felt as though there were bands constricting around them, depriving them of the life-giving air that he needed. It was like his body recognized the truths that were told to him despite all his denials. "How…" he forced himself to talk. There was no use being in denial now. What was more important right now was for him to understand more, to learn more about this and to gather more in-depth information so that he would know the next step they needed to plan. All in the hopes that perhaps… just maybe there was a single path that they could take that would spin them off from this terrifying future that seemed to be already set in stone.

"Tell me, brother," Gavrael breathed out shakily, "how did you even find out that… that Evie's the one who's destined to kill… end the darkness?" He still could not bring himself to say the words 'to kill me'. Just thinking about it alone was enough to cause so much hurt to his heart.

"I found out not too long ago. The last time I jumped into the abyss, I had heard the whispers. The darkness had wanted me to make the first move and kill the queen of light, the one who will kill their king. It… showed me her face… the face of your wife."

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Thank you so much @MonsterUnderTheBed and @_Basia_ for the supergifts! I can't thank you guys enough!