Chapter 404: Trust and Truth.
Aris removed her hand from Rullein, witnessing what Aider saw during his disguise mission. She glanced at Rasmus, who seemed to be deep in thought while writing a letter, and knew what he was thinking. She had the same curiosity as Rasmus, especially toward the statue of an Angel that those demonic cults seemed to worship. However, she decided to push that thought aside since there wasn’t enough information related to them.
She took a deep breath, staring at the stars with the trees around her. It was peaceful but felt heavier than ever.
Rullein let all the Blackhands understand the situation by letting them see the glimpse of the altar, the hidden cave underneath the Sun City. She also gave Mira and the other ringleaders’ memories so the Blackhands could investigate the Wraiths even more since there were a lot more of them on different continents.
"Joshua, Erdinand, and Herman, I want all of you to create four different teams, and try to dig deeper about the Wraiths from the memories you got from Mira, Jurgen, Normen, and Vergeus. Once you dig up enough information about them all, come back to me," Rasmus said as he folded the letter and sealed it with the Blackheart seal. "Ayla, I want you to go to the Holy Nation and give this letter to Great Sage Lenin," he offered the letter to Ayla.
Joshua, Erdinand, and Herman nodded and immediately gathered all the Blackhands after Rullein finished sharing what they needed to know. Ayla took the letter from Rasmus’s hand and bowed her head before she walked to her horse and rode her horse to the Holy Nation. Not long after she left, all the Blackhands moved to do their task, to gather more information related to Luke and what kind of cult that he was in.
"Why are we not going to the Holy Nation ourselves, Rasmus? Videl needs to know what you know, and I know you’re curious about that as well, so why?" Aris asked with her arms crossed.
"Because I don’t trust him, Aris. I need to hold this information as long as I can and gather more without him knowing. He’s the Devil after all," Rasmus said with a serious expression. "And I don’t want to be anywhere near the Holy Nation, not after I made a deal with Nemu. We need to be here, to unravel everything and keep an eye on the demons, remember?" He raised his brows.
Aris didn’t say a word and just nodded, but Rasmus could see that something was bothering her.
"Talk to me, Aris" Rasmus said as he leaned against the tree.
Aris glanced at Rullein with a stern look on her face, and immediately Rullein puffed into black smoke, leaving them alone. Aris slowly placed her right hand on her chest as she stared at the stars once again.
"I feel like something within me is changing, and I don’t know if the mark that Satan left inside me is growing or if it’s something else. But, I just want this mark to be removed from my body. It’s bothering me," Aris said as she clenched her fist against her chest.
Rasmus stared at her chest before he looked at her face, seeing a hint of fear. She had been dealing with uncertainty, something that slowly gnawed in her mind. He knew that having someone like her to be dulled by things that bothered her would cause a huge drawback for him. However, at the same time, he didn’t know if the mark would reveal Videl’s existence or not because Satan would know the only being who could remove such a marking would be another Sovereign, the Devil.
"Go, and if Videl asked, just told him that I knew and I would still want him to remove that mark from your body," Rasmus said as he nodded with understanding.
Aris nodded as she looked down, slowly pulling her down back to her side before she looked Rasmus in the eyes.
"When you said something about trust, I have been wondering if you trust her, your mother," Aris asked. "You said that trust is similar to allowing yourself to be fooled in a way."
"No," Rasmus answered without hesitation. "There’s no reason for me to trust her since she never asked me or told me to trust her words. She never said anything to me because she had something to hide when we met. So no, I don’t trust her," he explained and shook his head.
"What about me? Do you trust me? Everything that I have said, you trusted all of them?" Aris asked, staring into Rasmus’s eyes even deeper, searching for any reaction or differences.
"Yes, I trust you. It’s because you don’t have a reason to lie, you have nothing to hide, nothing to protect, nothing to lose, nothing to gain. You have no reason to lie, and that’s why I trust you," Rasmus answered, staring back into Aris’ eyes.
Aris averted her gaze, processing Rasmus’ words and trying to find out if he was right about her. After a long pause she nodded her head, realizing that he was right, she had no reason to lie.
"Should I trust you?" Aris asked, once again staring into Rasmus’ eyes.
"What do you need to trust me for?" Rasmus asked back with his brows raised.
Aris’ eyes narrowed slightly as she looked into his eyes back and forth. She wondered why she wanted an answer to her own question. She realized that she didn’t need to trust him, and he was right, she didn’t need to trust him, and yet, she wanted an explanation, an assurance if she should or shouldn’t trust him.
"You don’t need to trust me, but I will always tell the truth. Everything that I have shared with you, they’re all the truths. However, not everything you ask of me will always be revealed as truths. I have reasons, I have purposes, and I have intentions. It’s you to decide whether to trust me or not, and I will never ask you to trust me. We both are using each other, Aris. The moment you put trust in me, that’s when I’ll use you even more," Rasmus said with a serious expression.
"That’s not enough," Aris said as she shook her head. "I want you to stop being ambiguous, Rasmus," she furrowed her brows.
"Don’t trust me," Rasmus answered without hesitation.
"But you uphold truths?" Aris muttered.
"I uphold truths, nothing but the truths," Rasmus nodded.
"And yet you don’t want me to trust you..." Aris closed the distance until she stood right in front of him. "Why?" She asked as she slowly reached for Rasmus’s suit, gripping it with both hands tightly.
Rasmus was mildly shocked when Aris stood in front of him, holding him like an anchor. However, he didn’t get swayed by it, by the situation that was happening between them. He could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice.
"Is this fear?" Aris asked, tightening her grip on Rasmus’s suit to the point she ripped and tore his suit.
"Yes, that’s fear," Rasmus answered, staring into Aris’ eyes filled with uncertainty. "You fear of the unknown, fear of uncertainty, fear of losing yourself, fear of doubting yourself," he pointed out.
"Why?" Aris asked as she closed the distance even more, her forehead almost touched with Rasmus’.
"Because you’re questioning your existence, your purpose, and none come out as an answer that you’re looking for," Rasmus answered, feeling the trembling hands of Aris’ on his chest.
"Why that bothers me? I shouldn’t be bothered by it," Aris asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"That, I don’t know the answer," Rasmus shook his head.
"Why? Don’t you know everything about other people? You always do," Aris asked, pushing Rasmus even harder against the tree.
"Because that’s something that only you can find the answer to, Aris. I might be able to understand and change others’ perspectives, but I can’t change who they are. I can understand your perspective once you find the answer, but until then, I can’t give you any answer," Rasmus answered. "Now, why don’t you go and deal with what has been bothering you? Go and get that mark erased, and use the time to find the answer to your question," he pointed out.
Aris took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, loosening her grip on Rasmus’s suit before she slowly took a few steps away from him. She slowly nodded, but to her surprise, Rasmus offered her the Dragon’s Breath. She looked at it for a moment before she looked at Rasmus with a confused look.
"Use it when you think that you can’t find the answer. The only one who knows you better is no other than your predecessor, my mother," Rasmus said, offering the Dragon’s Breath to Aris.
"You’re giving me this?" Aris asked as she grabbed the Dragon’s Breath from Rasmus’ hand.
"As I said, I trust you," Rasmus answered and watched Aris look at the Dragon’s Breath in her hands.
Aris chuckled softly as she shook her head.
"I’ll be gone for a while..." Aris said as she stored the Dragon’s Breath in the spatial ring.
"I know, take your time," Rasmus nodded with understanding.
Aris nodded and then turned around, walking into the woods until she disappeared into the distance.