LOST IN TIME

Pleading for Salvation

Life continued on as if nothing had happened... well at least that's what the mansion's staff was going through, but for the Clave Family? Certainly not.

When Father Linus died the next day, the duke and duchess became uptight with almost everything. They lessened their attendance on parties outside and even stopped their own in the mansion. They hired bodyguards — all fifty of them — stationed in and out of the mansion to give the family protection. They also hired two in-house physicians and three nurses to cater to their health needs and be present should any emergency accident arose. If there was one word that would describe the duke and duchess' overprotective behavior, it would be the word psychotic.

Truly, they were s**t-scared with what they have dubbed now as 'the curse' of the Clave Family.

Because of this, Duke Wyndall had been in and out of Soren, frequently visiting Vatican to ask for help. To calm the poor man's fears, Pope Sixtus decided to establish a secret brotherhood of guardian priests for the Clave Family alone. A second priest was sent to the mansion to act as a guide and spiritual support for the members. Father Jerbaum was his name, called to be the second guardian priest as the first one, Father Linus had died.

Duchess Chyntelle decided to defer any suitor hunting. This of course made Selene happy. At least there was something good that comes out of this 'mess'— as what her mother had specifically dubbed. As a result of this, the duchess spent lesser time with her. Well, it's not like she had actually been an active and supportive mother to Selene in the first place. Dinners had become pretty awkward too without the constant arguments. With the duke's continued absence and the duchess' unwillingness to mingle with her, Mrs. Latrice was the one left to ever so willingly cheer her up and comfort her.

Selene wasn't an emotional woman. Crying wasn't her cup-of-tea, but for at least seventeen days, all she ever did was that — every f*****g single night. Yes. Every time darkness accompanied her. It made her think of him... of Khronus and his passion for her.

The loneliness in the dark made her think of his touch, his kisses, his face and the way he looks at her. Every memory about him was like the current of a waterfall; never ceasing, bound to flow forever. She had acted normally during the day and whenever she was with her parents, but come nightfall every suppressed sadness in her heart she pours it out into her pillow.

Her crying gradually ceased when she found out after the eighteenth day that she was pregnant with Khronus' child — which was an undeniable fact. Of course, her parents were devastated. They even went as far as to suggest abortion with it, but Father Jerbaum being a faithful priest, was against the idea. They didn't have any choice though as Selene was adamant on carrying the fetus to term. This was her remembrance of Khronus. She may not be sure if he feels the same way, but having a tangible part of him with her was enough.

As normally as any other pregnancy, exactly after nine months, the babe was born. It was a home delivery though, not wanting for Duke Wyndall to inform the population that they had a demon baby in their family.

The babe however looked very much like a human. She had no horns adorning her head and no tail attached in her buttocks. Her eye color has the same hazel shade as her mother's and her skin, the same pinkish ivory whiteness. Exactly five days after the babe was born, a doctor specializing in neurosurgery and expert on demonology was sent by the Holy Pope. Dr. Sanders Ghuntey ran a couple of diagnostic tests on her, who was named Mariae by Selene, and later found out that the babe was nothing near abnormal. The color of her blood looked normal. Other medically scientific examinations during the time showed everything within the normal limits of a human. It perplexed the doctor of course, but in the end, deemed the baby to be fully human with no traces of any demon genes.

The duke and duchess were overjoyed with the findings obviously, while Selene, although finding it weird, was content. Mrs. Latrice instantly became the caregiver of Mariae and the hexagonal room became a full-on nursery, expelling the dark shadows of the past and changing it to more brighter and cheerful shades.

During Selene's post-pregnancy recuperation, she also decided to finish the dome painting in her room. The snake that Khronus placed in the bush painting remained as is, but Selene added a woman, the Goddess Psyche specifically, standing behind the bush, all nude and beautiful. She also added a nude painting of the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, pouring her heart and all of her feelings towards Khronus in this specific painting.

Selene's love and care for Mariae was strong and genuine. The mother and daughter bonding was the best Mrs. Latrice had ever seen in her entire life. However, Selene wasn't able to meet her motherly duties properly to the babe because of pregnancy complications. On and off fever continued to persist for the next eight months, then her immune system drastically dropped causing one of her ovaries to inflame. Exactly a year after Mariae was born, Selene died. The duke and duchess were saddened by the event, but at least, their hearts had little by little opened up to Mariae. Aside from Mrs. Latrice, they too took turns on caring the child, until it grew into a young beautiful woman and became the heiress of the duke's wealth.

The untimely death of Selene was perceived to be curse-related by her parents. The in-house doctors weren't able to explain her failed improvement from her pregnancy, but they did have a theory that it was probably due to post-pregnancy depression. Whatever reason it was though, the duke still tied it directly to the curse.

Mariae ultimately became the next duchess by twenty-one and was married via fixed marriage by Duke Wyndall to a notable European royal blood, Lord Northon. They only had four children: a girl and three boys. Their family tree became the start of the many family branches over the next thousand years, without them even knowing that in one of the Clave members, the demonic power of Khronus was breathing. It was only lying dormant, waiting for the right time to surface in the human world through a demon mark in the neck.

~ S ~

(Present)

Aurora Alexis Clave, a direct descendant of the Clave bloodline, became the end-receiver of the demonic power. She has a demon mark exactly in her neck, the only evidence that the power of Khronus to wield time and space is true and real; the only evidence that the Clave members are indeed descendants of an ancient demon. Cirrus Samael, the Archangel of Death, was specifically chosen by Fate to protect her against it and to exactly keep the dangerous power away from any demon hands. Posing as an exorcist priest in the human world, he became her sole guardian.

After weeks of investigating and finding a way to take the demon mark out of her neck, Cirrus, Aurora and two of their companions, a loyal butler and a sacristan boy, ended up in the Clave Ancestral House where the hexagonal room of Selene was located.

Aurora's safety, happiness and love are Cirrus' topmost priority. However, with the demon mark now acting up due to the near alignment of the crescent moon and the Venus star, the countdown to her safety had started.

"Why?"

Selene's voice suddenly appeared during the process of Cirrus' mind reading of Aurora; a process done through kissing her lips and extracting a good amount of blood. Of course the Archangel of Death was surprised to hear the woman's voice inside Aurora's subconscious.

"Why do you doubt her love?" Selene asked again. A white light suddenly appeared in one of the caverns of Aurora's memories and it formed into her formal self, standing with all of her beauty.

"Who are you?" Cirrus went to ask in the subconscious plane.

"I am Selene," she replied.

"So a part of you does live inside her?" he clarified; thinking of what the supposed-to-be-dead Khronus had said the night before that he and Aurora are connected in some ways. Cirrus greatly believed that this was one of those f*****g ways he had been talking about.

"Yes, I am her ancestor in the first place," said Selene in a cold spiritual hush.

Just minutes ago, Selene felt Khronus' spiritual presence in the hexagonal room. She could feel it ever so clearly. She could feel him, his touches and kisses through her great great granddaughter. She felt the desire and passion bubbling inside him wasn't directed to Aurora, but directed to what little essence of her remaining inside her granddaughter. She could feel that Khronus longed for her, just like her to him.

"Then don't drag Aurora in your crazy lover's quarrel!" she heard Cirrus say. She believed undoubtedly that he was purely jealous of what Khronus had done to Aurora.

Selene smiled softly, a little bit of a mocking hint in the end. "Lover's quarrel? Huh. That's a first."

All of the memories of Khronus began to flow inside her spiritual self and most especially the concrete love she felt for him. However, amidst this, she feared for the safety of her granddaughter because of the demon mark. The mark is dangerous for a human being. Many demons would love to get their hands on it, most especially Khronus who will stop at nothing to get his power back. With those facts laid on the table, she knew she needed to do something to protect her granddaughter.

"But to tell you honestly, I am not dragging my granddaughter into it. I am actually protecting her. Who do you think made her forget all about Khronus and his order to deliver the key to him?"

Cirrus' eyes widened instantly and realization flashed in front of him. "You did it?" he said.

Selene answered him with a short nod.

"I can see why Aurora loves you so much. Your love equals hers too. You are compatible with each other, so why doubt her?"

Her granddaughter was exactly just like her. They both fell in love with a demon. What was different with both of them was that Cirrus had already proven his love to Aurora, while Selene had yet to hear the three words in Khronus' mouth. She did have a ray of hope that he loved her too. He showed that ray of hope during the time when he was surrounded by the divine electricity. He had stretched his hand for her and his eyes showed a loving emotion as he disappeared into thin air.

"Simply because I am afraid to lose her," was Cirrus' precise answer to her question, "she is my life and knowing that your demon is connected to her through the neck mark, it makes me think that I am insignificant anymore."

Selene giggled a little and felt happy for her granddaughter. "Hmm... such a jealous demon you are." The jealousy that Cirrus was showing was exactly the jealousy Khronus was having towards the suitors the duchess had been throwing at her.

"I know," she heard him answer crisply.

She didn't reply anymore so there was a long silent pause in the end. After this though, her spiritual light disappeared gradually in Aurora's thoughts. Selene was sure now that this demon-and-archangel combined will do anything to protect her granddaughter. Whatever the demon mark would do by the time the alignment strikes zero, she was sure everything would end up fine. Khronus did order Aurora to deliver the demon key to him in Hell, but she knows that as much as she was vehemently against the idea, Cirrus too wouldn't allow for that to happen.

By the time Selene's remaining essence left Aurora's body, her full spiritual self traveled into a certain place of peace in an attempt to do something no spirit has ever done before... plead to the Divine for mercy and a second chance for a certain demon.