The weight of the world was once again on the balance. The words of insectoids attacking their sister continent were ushered through the winds of Parvpora and eventually hit even Kurayo. The news only carried further weight in the fact that those things were able to kill a “Goddess”. In a life so long ago, Nemesis would often find himself on one side or another of these conflicts, usually to preserve the other realm so that it would be by his hand that it was captured one day. Such arrogance he had, which he could admit to as he grew older and wiser. He and all of his former associates had been fools to believe that they could take the world.

He had no personal stake in going out there and fighting a war that the gods, their followers, and those that lived in Canelux should have been fighting. Besides, he left that life far behind ago when he started the Volkov Clan. He had a wife and child to look after now, and speaking of which…one that he still had to make amends. Yes, there were apologies exchanged from him to Celeste. Plenty in fact, but no matter how much he had and how sincere he had been about the affair, it was hard to shake that he had destroyed the long made trust between them. Millennials of years of trust that had been born and raised between them thrown away like a rag due to a night where he couldn’t control his rage.

This whole situation resulted in him becoming much more reclusive to society- merely dealing it when he needed to and nothing more. Aside from his family and few acquaintances, he couldn’t be bothered by anyone else. His hunts were brief and kept close to the shadows in the city. Nemesis ignored the conversations of whether or not they would be exterminated by the invasion- he wouldn’t worry about it until they came to these parts. But for now, he continued to look for a solution to repair what he damaged. No words could be powerful enough- he needed actions.

It took a great deal of time before a solution would find its way into his lab from his bookshelf and even longer seek out a mage with the necessary talent and willingness to perform such a task on his behalf. Fortunately, Nemesis was very persuasive in expressing that his need was not only in his best interest but in the mage’s as well. It would be on this night that he returned with the man who was visibly shaken but otherwise fine. Nemesis led him into his chambers, calling out to Celeste to come to join him. When she would arrive, he would close the door and explain quickly.

“We have been through a lot and I what I’ve done was unforgivable. Apologies aren’t good enough and my word means so little in light of my betrayal.” While some would think that he was only making a case of this because he wanted to make himself feel better, it was far from that actually. His list of his faithfulness being tested and failed was long but Celeste did not deserve such from him. He was willing to put everything on the line for her, and that was exactly what was to come. “Moonstruck…He’s moonstruck to propose this…”, the mage spoke quietly, hushing up immediately as Nemesis gave him a look before turning his head back to his wife, his eyes and tone softened. “I’m fine with being mad, but not with hurting you. Which is why he is here. I seek out to make a vow to you, that I will never betray you again. He will put that into a spell that will bind me to it or else I will lose my life.” Nemesis was absolutely serious about this despite the constant concerns from the mage as he pleaded not to go through with this.

“It does require your permission of course.”

Life had not been kind these last few years. Nay, they had been nightmarish in decades past but for Celeste having Nemesis sleep with another that she had not approved hurt her soul. With Serafina off on her own, it meant that she and Nemesis were truly married to only each other. The Vaewolf mother was getting ready for the day as she brushed out her long pink hair that looked closer to a white in the light she was. Silver veins flickered across her skin whenever the moon managed to slip through the curtains.

Red eyes were attentive to her brush. Soon it was all brushed out and she got some pins in order to put her hair up. However, before she could Celeste heard her name being called. It was unlike Nemesis to call out for her and not come get her. Her brows scrunched a bit in worry but soon she wore her stoic face as she stood up from her vanity. Gently she set her brush down and made her way down to Nemesis’s lab.

The lady of the house was beautiful in mind and body. She had the right amount of curves for her slender frame, the way her hair framed her body helped as well, then there was the glowing red eyes that watched what was laid out before her. There was a light head tilt to Celeste as she listened to her husband. He was damn right that words weren’t enough for this. He was going to have to prove himself… and in front of her, he was going to from the sounds of it.

“Moonstruck?” Celeste’s voice was timid as she turned her attention to the mage. She felt the Vaewolf lord watching her and she moved to watch him as well. The way he looked at her was in the same vein as the night he turned her. The night they told each other of how they felt for one another. He loved her for all of her flaws and yet in his moment of weakness she could not be understanding and love him still. Her fang found the side of her lip as she chewed only a bit as not to bust the skin open.

Celeste watched the man who would give her everything tell her his plan. A sigh left her lips and she knew that if she did not accept this that he might still torment himself over this. “I don’t have to ask if you have really thought about what you are offering My Love.” Celeste struggled with words if only for a moment before she paced around him and looked him over. “Even if I don’t accept you will continue to torment yourself as you have been. I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on you… Not because I don’t trust you but because I see you destroying yourself to try and make this better. If this gaes will make you feel better… and I know it will I will accept. It will also clear my conscious of this ever happening again.”

She stepped back in front of him and put her hands up to his face holding him softly. “I will let you do this…” The once moon elf pulled him down to her and kissed his lips tenderly. “I would be a fool if I said it did not bother me. I am old and for as wise as I am… I cannot bring myself above my torment. I know that you are like this too. I will support my husband as he supports me. Even in this moonstruck plan of his.” There was a gentle smile from Celeste as she looked at the mage.

“Proceed with the Gaes.” Her word was firm as she let her husband go and backed away just a tad so the spell could be cast. “Moonstruck or not, this man has decided to show his dedication to me through blood. He will die if he breaks it. However, the man in front of me does not make the same mistake twice without reason or cause.”

Things haven’t been alright for them since that awful day…sure she had said that she had forgiven him, but Nemesis knew his wife better. Her insecurities seem to only grow from the betrayal and the distance between them had to grown further. Though his reasoning for doing the terrible deal was due to anger rather than lust, it might as well had been all the same in this situation. Even now, his eyes lowered as soon as Celeste had entered and the memories flooded back to him- of luring that phinex woman at the tavern and having his way with her, only to be guilt strucken enough to bring her back and face his wife in his feeble moment of weakness. Seeing how he had hurt his beautiful bride only served to silently kill him from the inside.

“Be it through madness or not, I am willing to do anything for you, love.” Just so that they can move on with their lives and for the trust to be rebuilt between them. “I have thought of this for a while now, the negatives are throughoutly outweighed by the positives that it will bring.” The mage still silently protested this, but there wasn’t much he could do. If he had, the risk for harm to come to him would be high and Nemesis hadn’t been known for keeping his temper at all times. “Only one thing keeps coming back to me- and that is I can’t lose you…my life isn’t worth going on without you by my side. The gaes are fitting for this situation and actions speak louder than mere words.” Nemesis stood rigidedly as Celeste moved in front of him.

The hand that had once been given to him out of care…the very one that had also struck him viciously that night…it came onto his face and before it laid onto his face, he had winced in rememberance. The alpha quickly regained himself and fell onto her embrace; she wouldn’t hurt him without merit like before. “I sensed it well in you. The bridge that connects us hadn’t been completely rebuilt. We play the parts of husband and wife, but we haven’t…”

His hand took to hers and placed it against his heart, “We haven’t gotten back to how things had been with us, many moons ago.” All the while, the mage sighed deeply and shook his head. The last of his defiance gave away once she gave the order. “Hold each other’s hand.”

When they complied with the request, he took out a wand and started to weave magic from the air around them. It followed like a river around the tip of the wand as it drew upon their hands. Nemesis could feel it almost like it was tying around them, the weave only strengthing with the passing seconds. “Do you, Lord Nemesis Volkov, swear on your life that you will never take to another woman without Lady Celeste Volkov’s permission for as long as both of you live?”

“I do swear.” The words nearly leaped from his lips immediately.

“Are you aware of the consequences of such failure?”

The magical coil tightened further but he remained determined. “I do”

“The gaes…is completed.” The coil faded off their skin and fell out of sight. But…it still remained. The vaewolf felt its presence in him and finally he was able to look at her, to look into her crimson eyes for the first time in a while without feel a great deal of shame and remorse. “Leave us.” The mage took off in a haste when the command was given and Nemesis lead her outside into the gardens in the backyard. His hand still wrapped around her dainty, slender hand and watched as the moonlight danced on them. “Celeste. I want to move forward with you, starting this day and finally put any worry or fears you have carried in our time together. You are the only one I desire and love. It has only been you and you alone that could bring out the man out of the monster that is myself.” He brought up her hand and kissed it tenderly before doing the same to each of her fingers.

Celeste knew that he was speaking the truth. He was the sire but he listened to her. He let her hit him that night and he did not punish her. Instead, he had self-exiled himself until the day she called him back home. As much as she knew she couldn’t lose him either, Celeste stood by what she had told him. She would leave him and with Sergei if he ever betrayed her in such a way again. The once moon elf wasn’t even sure what life without Nemesis was like… That alone should have scared her but she had ripped her life apart once and started again, she could do it again.

Once her hand reached up to him she watched as he flinched. It was only a moment of weakness but she knew why he did so. Celeste had hit him quite viciously. Her thumb caressed the cheek she hit but it was hard to tell what the moon elf was thinking. Soon he was holding her hand and she let out a gentle sigh. “No, we haven’t. That much you are right about. We never got to heal from Sera before this happened… It’s left a bit of a limbo in our marriage. With this… We can move forward.”

Taking hold of his hand her red eyes watched as he completed the terms of the gaes. He was bound to her in more ways than one now. Or had he always been? It was a curious thing in the back of her mind that kept whispering now. She silenced it once Nemesis ran the mage off. Celeste tilted her head as she took hold his hand a bit firmer as they made their way out into the gardens.

Her red eyes drifted up to the sister moons in the dark night sky. The moonlight refracted the silver flecks in her skin. Like sun to water. He attracted her attention back to him as she gave him a soft smile. Finally, she let the stoic nature she had been holding drop as she watched him kiss her hand and her fingers. “And you gave me another purpose Nemesis. I don’t want to lose you either. You are my heart and my soul. You have been ever since that night so many moons ago.” She shook her head a bit as she chuckled softly. “It is weird with it only being the two of us… Because that was never a thing before. We will have to adjust but I don’t think it will be much of an issue. You, Sergei, and I can all be happy together… Whatever little ones we decide on in the future will be happy too.”

She pulled him close and down to her for a kiss before wrapping her arms around his waist and hiding her face into his chest. Her nose took in his scent deeply and her arms tightened just a bit more. “In over two thousand years we’ve never had to stop and ask what is next.” It was a hard truth to swallow. It had always come so easily before but now they had stopped and needed to start again. “So,” she pulled herself just a bit away from his chest so their eyes could meet. “Where do we go from here?”

The night sky and the stars above were their own audience; the pair stood outside, feeling the cold wind breeze by then. Glaciem was coming ever so close to the world and it was only a matter of weeks at this time before its chilling reach grasped them. His crimson eyes closed softly as he listened to Celeste. There had been no secret that she was crossed with him, something that had never been seen between them before. His actions, whether justified or not, had placed a strain on their relationship and nearly cost him his beloved and child. Nemesis couldn’t bear to go on without her or Sergei, not after all the hard work and the years spent trying to conceive a healthy child. Not after all the happy times they have had spent together.

And now his life was literally in her hands, something that was so unfamiliar to him yet it was something he was willing to live with. “It is. It’s hard to think otherwise considering how used to the old life I…we have been. But we are both survivors and have dealt with changing all our lives. Our recent, perhaps our biggest trouble yet, was just another hurdle to jump through.” It had taken something painful to remind him of the family he still had left here and she was right, the three of them could be happy together as they moved forward. She did make him smile when speaking of more children; Sergei was considered a blessing and he knew that she would have wanted more than just one child for them. “I would like that, but I would like for us to have that spark again first. The one that made us meant for one another.” The vaewolf gave into his wife’s urges as their lips locked briefly and he became a bastion for her from the cold and anything that would dare hurt her in his presence.

As he held onto her, Nemesis thought long and hard, finding himself in a similar state that she was in. Everything usually came easy for them so where to go from here was uncertain. If asked what his goal was, it would have been to take Kurayo for himself and increase the power and influence that his family had. A simple answer compared to what was next for himself and his mate. “Perhaps we could finally find the cure to your moon aliment? Sergei is growing fast and strong which would leave us with more time together, plus we could finally end this bloody curse that was so unjustly placed onto you… “