Chapter 177 - One Last Time

The Grand Mariotte Hotel...

Both Eva and Czar were sitting right opposite each other on a sumptuously decorated private table inside that glorious exquisite hotel. A mild soothing violin consonance was playing at the side of the hallway creating a peaceful aura around them. They were served with succulent Wagyu beef steak along with the super unique Romanee-Conti wine. The entire date was planned quite flamboyantly which surprised Eva pretty much. Sitting inside such an exquisite environment, she was twitching the fork holding in her hand, glancing around nervously.

"Does the steak tastes bad?" 

"Huh?"

Suddenly, she flinched hard hearing the sonorous call from Czar who was staring at her smiling on his own. She abruptly shook her head in denial, placing the fork back on the platter.

"No...Not at all... The...The steak tastes so good... I...I never had a delicious steak like this in my life..." Her timid voice sounded much skittish as she reciprocated his query.

"Well, it's the Wagyu beef which is quite an exquisite dish in the world. Also, this special wine I have solely prepared for you to savor." He twirled the wine on his glass, resounding meekly. 

"Oh, I see... But..." She gulped quickly glancing around the restaurant they were sitting in. All the other tables were empty and apart from them, no other customer was present there. This absurd desolateness piqued her curiosity as she mumbled, "why are there no other people here other than us?"

"Because I have booked the entire restaurant for today."

"What?"

"I didn't want to have any unnecessary interruption from humans, so I chose to book this place just for us today. Aren't I smart?" Holding a wide sly chuckle on his jowl, he winked at her whispering fondly. 

Eva was getting more startled with every passing moment but couldn't bring herself to speak out her palpitations. Slowly she lowered her head, nodding to his verdict.

"You must be wondering, why am I being so considerate towards you today, right?" Resting his chin on his broad palm, he continued looking at her perplexed grimace intensely. 

"Yes...I was. But...I couldn't ask you about that," cutting a small slice of the lush steak she muttered her response in a deep note. 

Czar straightened his back on the chair and softly glanced outside through the giant glass walls. His blank gaze was fixed at the endless horizon while he responded, "the best thing I ever enjoy in my life is...having a meal with someone. I have been always accustomed to eating alone, so...whenever someone joins me...it pleases my appetite." 

Eva slowly lifted her chin up from the platter and silently looked at him while his dark gaze was fixed outwards. His eyes were profused with an undefined sadness which she could visibly notice.

"To be honest... I have never treated a woman wisely on a date. I was horribly rude or brazen around them but never intended to show my considerate emotions to anyone. But for today...I wanted to become the best cordial person who can treat you in the best possible way a man should be towards a woman...

And, only you are allowed to see this side of me just...for today." His dubious voice reverberated like an echo while he shifted his deep glance back towards her with the mild sunrays shimmering his brown gleaming eyes. 

"What does it mean? Damn...he is confusing me so much." Clenching the glass of wine in her hand, she wondered silently with an anxious gaze towards him.

"Ahh...I don't want the sun to set today... I wish...I could stop the sun from setting down..." Looking a bit rattled from his eloquence, he whined those words gulping down the rest amount of the wine in a go.

His gestures were baffling Eva quite immensely as she stared at him without uttering a single word. "He is being very weird today... I don't know...but why did he plan all these? I can sense that he is...not his usual self today..." She was thinking, scrunching her brows.

"Eva?" All of a sudden, he called her name aloud while she was immersed in her thoughts.

"Y-Yes?"

"There is still some time remaining till the eve... Let's go grab some ice cream somewhere else after we finish the meal." He asserted softly with a small sneer.

"Huh? Pardon?" His absurd request indeed flinched her hard, as she swirled her eyes peering at him. 

"Well, I really love to savor sweet desserts after a meal and for a long time...I wanted someone to accompany me to my most favorite places. Let's have a lot of sweet dishes. It's... not an impossible request for you, right?" He asked her in a tender utterance, holding a jovial expression on his face. 

Her mind was getting suspicious towards his strange sincere gestures but she chose to stay calm rather than opposing him to provoke his anger instincts. Slowly, nodding her head, she looked outside the walls at the endless bright sky. Since the beginning of the day, her heart was throbbing with an unknown anxious feeling arising inside. She thought with a concerned heart, "has Zeus...really left the city today? I wonder...what is he doing now..." 

....

The HeaveHorth Tropical Forest, South-west of Rome;

It was one of the ancient and thick forests with large, mysterious giant trees growing very close to each other. The forest was so dark and dense that even the daylight can't penetrate inside through the intense tall trees. It was the home for several wild animals along with other beastly creatures who cohabitated together in that shady forest for ages.

Humans had been always tentatively avoiding the forest due to a rumor of getting disappeared.  Several people who had entered the forest to gather Timberwood didn't return back because they were either lost or gobbled up by a wild animal. People also named it the "Forest of Death" since the probability of coming back alive is almost negligible if you lost the direction. 

Walking barefoot at a staggering pace, Zeus was panting heavily as if he was suffocating to breathe in. Covered in perspiration and grabbing the stem of a giant tree, he tried to lean against his back fanning himself hard.

His shirtless bare muscular upper body was incised with deep countless reddish-brown burnt scars increasing in number with each fleeting moment. The portion near his abdomen where he was stabbed with wolfsbane had formed a large chisel-shaped wound mark that was bleeding profusely.

The scars engraved over his arm and below his neck region had also started to bleed on their own. The blue jeans he was wearing on were stained with blood droplets dripping down the abdomen portion. Moreover, the scars had also started to grow enormously all over his face and his barefoot. Those burnt marks were causing an unimaginable painful scorched sensation over his body.

"Fuck... I...I can't breathe properly... The pain...it's suffocating my insides..." Tapping his chest a few times, he growled intensely staring up at the darkish sky-rise trees. Huffing hard, soon enough, his legs gave upon the strength. His knees arched on their own and he fell down on the ground hitting his side face.

"Damn...why... is it so painful? I can't feel my strength anymore...I can't feel anything...

No...No...I can't lose hope! I...I can't die like this... I am the true alpha! I am the strongest among all! A...A mere curse can't kill me... I have to live...I have to stay alive for...for my pack...for...Eva..." A warm drop of tear bearing his heavyweight of emotions dripped down the corner of his eyes as he wondered, staring with an empty gaze within that desolated forest. 

All of a sudden, a strange scathing sensation rushed inside his body with a terribly sharp pain near the chisel-shaped scar. Groaning in pain while clenching that part, he tried to sit on the ground but suddenly, he started coughing out loud covering his mouth with his palm.

His soul shuddered with dread to witness a terrible sight! He was coughing out dark blackish-red thick lethal blood. Worst, his nose started to bleed profusely which shocked him furthermost.

Sitting numb for a few seconds after witnessing this horrific sight, he slowly lifted his chin up trying to glance at the skyline. His vision was turning dizzy and clenching his fist, he mumbled on his own, "It must be eve already...The eclipse... has begun..."

........

Walking next to each other on the subway of the street, absolute silence was persisting between Eva and Czar. Although, he was holding a small sad sneer on his face while stealing glances at her simultaneously. 

While strolling, she took a small glance at the eve sky and noticed the red full moon slowly getting veiled by a black umbra. Swirling her eyes in awe, she whispered out, "wow, the eclipse has already started!" 

Hearing her words, the sneer on his face immediately faded into the dark and he glanced at the skyline scrunching his brows. All of a sudden, his motion halted holding a serious expression on his grimace.

Eva noticed him halting quite abruptly with a stern appearance. She stopped walking too and standing before him, she inquired gently, "Mr. Czar, is there something wrong---"

Before she could even complete her interrogation, Czar discordantly marched towards her, tugging her within his warm embrace. The hug was so unexpected and sudden that she rolled her eyes in awe, and tried to push him away from her.

"Mr. Czar!? Wh-What are you doing!?"

"For the first time in my life...I had a precious blissful time with you today, Eva... Thank...Thank you for making me happiest My heart...feels really light..." His voice crooked a little as if he was trying hard not to sob.

Standing numb and petite within his arms, she was deadpanned in shock hearing his unusual answer. "Mr. Czar? Wh-Why are you behaving so weird today? Wh-What did I do? You planned this date so...why you are thanking me? You are confusing me..." She muttered anxiously.

Tossing a small sad smirk, he took a heavy sigh out before drawing her apart from him. "Before you give me your answer, let me take you somewhere...for one last time today..." He murmured softly grabbing her right arm tight.