Chapter 286: 286. Reunion – 3

“What do you mean, Anne? Where is your son at the moment?” Tamasya asked, her voice filled with unease and alarm.

Before Anastasia could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the stone corridor outside the cell, which made both women instinctively turn their heads toward the entrance as the dim light from the lava outside cast a long shadow that slowly took shape.

A few moments later, William’s silhouette appeared at the doorway, his figure outlined against the flickering glow, and as he stepped forward into clearer view, his gaze immediately found Tamasya.

“Tamasya,” he called out with a calm but firm voice.

“Ahh, yes,” Tamasya replied as she came out of her stupor, her thoughts still tangled in the confusion left behind by Anastasia’s earlier words, but she still diverted her attention to William.

William looked at her with a faint smile. A part of him wanted to step forward and hold her after everything she had just been through, but he held himself back, knowing that this moment still belonged to the reunion that had taken place between her and Anastasia, and that his presence should not disrupt anything between them.

“I have freed everyone in the other cellars, and from what I have observed, their condition is extremely critical because they appear to be severely poisoned like Lord Elion, and unfortunately, I do not currently possess an antidote that is strong enough to counteract such toxins,” William said.

He continued without hesitation.

“I am planning to purge the toxins using my special fire, but since such a method carries certain risks and may cause unintended damage if not handled carefully, I came to ask whether you have any potent antidotes for neurotoxins that might reduce the danger, and I also came to seek Sister Anastasia’s permission before proceeding with such an approach.”

William knew the fact that everyone here belonged to the moon clan, and in the absence of Elion, he could only ask Anastasia.

Tamasya listened carefully and nodded without delay, because despite the emotional storm within her, she understood the importance of the situation.

She reached into her storage and took out several antidote vials before handing them over to William.

“Try these, they might be useful, and even if they are not enough on their own, they should at least reduce the risk of permanent damage,” she said, her voice steadier now as she focused on something tangible.

William nodded in acknowledgment as he accepted the potions, and then he turned his gaze toward Anastasia, who was still standing there with a conflicted expression that revealed the turmoil within her.

“Miss Anne, am I allowed to use my fire to purge the poison from their bodies, or would you prefer a different method?” William asked respectfully.

Anastasia looked at him for a long moment, but no clear answer came from her lips because her mind was still caught between the truth she had yet to reveal and the consequences that might follow once it was spoken.

“Do what you think is right,” she said finally, though her voice was heavy, as if her thoughts were scattered.

Tamasya noticed the shift in her tone immediately, but she could not yet understand what was causing it, because her own mind was still struggling to process the earlier revelation.

William nodded simply, accepting the answer without questioning it further, but as he prepared to turn away, his gaze suddenly fell upon the small ornament in Tamasya’s hand.

The bracelet. It reflected the faint glow of the lava; it stood out in the dark cave.

William’s expression changed slightly as he recognised the bracelet.

In fact, he had been searching for it recently after system had advised him to look deeper into his own origins a few months ago, because there had been certain unexplained moments of irrational anger, episodes that did not align with his usual state of mind, and although those incidents had lessened over time after the Grimlock incident, the unease they left behind had never fully disappeared.

He had heard a weird voice calling out to him, telling him to break something unknown.

Because of that, he had begun searching for anything connected to his past, and this bracelet had been one of the few things he had tried to locate.

Now, seeing it here, he instinctively spoke.

“Oh, I have been searching for this lately, and I am glad that you had it with you, because I would have completely misplaced it,” William said casually as he looked at Tamasya, expecting a simple response.

Instead, he was met with a hard and unmoving frown.

He ignored it at first, assuming she was about to scold him for his usual carelessness.

“I wonder how it ended up with you, though, because I distinctly remember losing it a few months ago,” he added as he stepped forward and extended his hand to take it back.

Tamasya did not release the bracelet.

Her grip tightened slightly.

“I think you are mistaken, because this does not belong to you; it belongs to Anne,” she said firmly, her voice carrying a seriousness that made William pause.

William frowned in return.

“Tamasya, I am certain that this bracelet is mine, and I do not think I would confuse something like this with anything else, because I remember losing it not too long ago,” he replied, his tone still calm but now tinged with confusion.

Tamasya shook her head.

“William, this is not something you should joke about, because this bracelet carries the memories of her son, and it is not something that can be casually claimed,” she said in a tight voice that told him to restrain.

“It…” William began to respond, but his words stopped abruptly.

Something changed.

His omniscient eyes activated suddenly without his permission. And in that moment, he saw it.

Tamasya was not lying at all.

This meant that the bracelet did belong to Anastasia’s son.

“What… how is this possible?” he asked in a flustered tone within his own mind as a sudden and overwhelming confusion began to take hold of him.

His head turned instinctively toward Anastasia.

He saw her sitting there, tears silently flowed down her face as she struggled to contain the emotions that had been building inside her for far too long.

Her lips were pressed tightly together, her entire being trembling under the weight of something she could no longer hold back.

William’s heartbeat slowed.

A cold sensation spread from the back of his head and moved down through his spine, sending chills across his entire body.

His legs began to lose strength beneath him. He stumbled backward until his body struck the wall of the cell behind him.

The sounds around him began to fade. Tamasya’s voice became distant.

Everything else disappeared.

All that remained was the image of a mother standing before him, crying silently as she looked at him. His legs finally gave in, and he slid down against the wall until he was sitting on the cold stone floor.

His hands joined together and rested against his lips as he stared at her.

At her blue hair.

At her blue eyes.

The way she was looking at him.

“Sys…” he whispered faintly.

[Yes.]

*Silence*

William did not tear up; he was feeling the first stage of grief.

’Denial’

William looked down at his own hands, then raised them again as if trying to confirm something that his mind refused to accept, and then he began pinching his own skin repeatedly, harder each time, as if pain could wake him from what he believed must be an illusion.

But the pain remained.

The reality did not change. He tried everything. He used omniscient eyes again and again.

“What are you doing?” Tamasya asked, her voice filled with alarm as she looked at him, because the man before her no longer seemed like himself and instead appeared like an empty shell with hollow eyes.

“Tamasya,” Anastasia’s voice called out from the side, heavily weighed down with grief.

Tamasya turned her head and saw her.

Anastasia’s face was covered in tears, and despite her efforts to remain composed, her sobs could no longer be contained.

She struggled to steady her voice.

“The bracelet…” she spoke as her words were being hushed by her grief.

“It’s his.”

Then, with trembling lips and a heart that could no longer remain silent, she spoke the truth she had been keeping to herself.

“He is my sun.”

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