Laying in bed after his talk with Arche, Raven tussled and toiled as he struggled to sleep. Even hugging Mel's body from behind didn't seem to help, as his mind was racing regardless of how his body felt. However, finally near dawn as he fell asleep, his eyes fluttered in his sleep and once again, he found himself standing in front of the colossal dark fairy.
Her burning silver eyes were glued to his body, and though her hands and legs were tired–somehow she managed to circle around Raven, her binds still locking her to the wall behind.
"You're lost," She muttered though her lips never moved.
As if a mix of an angel and a devil, her voice carried a unique hint neither good nor evil. Instead, it was on the verge of being human, but not entirely there, however, one thing's for certain her voice carried a motherly flare.
"Like a lamb without a shepherd, unsure and afraid," pulling on her chains, she brought her face as close to Raven as possible. "So allow me to reap some of that burden by asking. Whom exactly do you serve and what is it that not they but you wish to do with yourself?
A child of mine for sure you are, but even deviousness has its variations, so tell me, what is it that you want to achieve and answer not me but thyself."
Raven had no answer to give, not right now anyway. Umbra knew it already, and so giving her child more time to ponder, her lips barely grazed his forehead as she bid him goodbye. The next thing Raven knew, his body was baking under the sunlight creeping in through his room's window.
Looking to his side, Mel was nowhere to be found, but as he turned around, he saw Moxy sitting on a stool beside him with the brightest smile across her lips. It had been a long time since she'd seen Raven, and so she wanted to greet him the moment he woke up.
Sharing the cup and the fork, both of them somehow felt a lot closer than anything else had made them feel. A small token of appreciation towards each–not through their bodies, but an innocent act, there was just something magical about that moment, basking in sunlight, sharing a meal together, all the while the morning birds chirped out through the window.
Raven was finally at peace after the events of yesterday. He even managed to figure out the last piece of the puzzle required to control himself and the monster within.
Much like his time with Moxy progressively getting more and more charming and the warmth in his heart spreading through the rest of his body, he has to let the monster out–understand it a little, and as time goes on, he'll need to give it more room to explore.
Eventually, if everything goes as planned, he should be able to control it, but unlike the current situation, the monster was no innocent maid running an inn with her father.
'Lean into my fae side while also holding on to my sense of self...' He thought watching Moxy walking out of his room, while hoping in the back of his head not to lose his love for her or any other because of this little experiment.
However, for now–it was time to get up and explore something else entirely. The mess being caused by Maria at the castle, the request to the new king to allow benevolent monsters through the streets, and lastly to spend time with his girls, individually.
Then and only then would come the turn to carry out his experiment on the people of Athenia–to let the monster out and do what it desires the utmost, breed women and torture anyone deserving of it for fun.
'I need to take Lana to the maze and check on Linkle too...' Making a mental note of it all, Raven decided to get dressed and finally leave for the castle and figure out what the hell was happening there first.