The air was dry inside the arena. The taste of dust stuck to the roof of Xerxez mouth, and covered most of the occupants inside the arena. Many have gathered to take on the bet between the two goddesses. They each spoke their fill, raising or lowering the morale of the gathering. Metal suits clinked, and hard voiced soldiers yelled. They all had gathered for a single purpose. Together, with the power of friendship or something they would overcome the trails of the five mazes and put Dalanesca, the sirin, in her place. Personally, it was bull shit. He didn't want to take place in the goddess's games. A pawn piece for gods to laugh at in their spare time. If it wasn't for the prizes they promised, he wouldn't of wasted his time in this petty trial. But what a prize was waiting in store for them. The strongest clam juice elixer known to man. Made by the goddess of desire her self. 

While he wasn't overjoyed at the idea of fighting the gods entertainment, the fact that he knew Angela did help. He was grateful for the help that she gave when he rescued. And even though he had no part it in, he was thankful for her help in helping Nemesis and Celeste with Sergi. He did despise the gods, but Angela had proved to break the mold he thought the gods were. Dalanesca, despite never having met her, he was thankful for also. The trouble she caused upon Revaliir served as an excuse for him to go all out. The Mo Mey Stepps will always be a cherished memory for him. News of him never did reach back to the Volkov's, but he suspected that Serafina knew somehow, but it was never a problem. 

Speaking of his lovely mate, he stood with his arm draped over her shoulder, gently pulling at her hair, wathcing the curls bounce up and down. He leaned his neck over to her hear and whispered while the gods continued to bicker between eachother. "Yada, yada, yada. Let's get on it with it already." He burried his face into her neck as he brushed his nose against her neck. He inhaled the pleasurable perfume she wore as his canines glided across her neck. He gently found a soft spot and sank the fangs into her neck, squeezing her hand as he drank a mouthful of her copper blood. To the average bystander it was a romantic embrace, a kiss of reassurance for them both. Upon release, he gently kissed at her neck, excited as the gods finished there speech and the warriors began to move into the arena where the challenge was to take place

.When they entered the arena, lights flashed as people began warping to the desired maze. Upon the wall in dark scripture read the various rules and realms the challenges took place. With a quick glance, he turned to his beautiful mate. "Death and Desire. Monsters abound, traps set. Let's go ahead and knock it out first. It seems like it'll be more time consuming if anything. The monsters in there are half as scary as we are. It'll be a breeze." He said, trailing off with a brazen tone. With Sera's approval, he entered to combination of the orbs and a warn sensation covered his body as they were warped into the maze the humans feared most. 

As soon as he regained his heightened senses, Xerxez scanned his surroundings with an alert eye. Grey walls stood at an impossible height as they towered above Xerxez and Serafina. They stood infront of a long path that spilt left and right. An eerie wind howled through out the maze, stirring up the denizens. If one listened close enough, howls and moans could be heard from various directions of the maze. Xerxez took his mate's hand, placing a soft kiss. He exposed his neck, tilting his head back for her to feed, if she desired to. "For strength, Sera? This shouldn't be too hard, but we shouldn't take it as a joke." He asked, a slight hint of something akin to concern in his voice, his eyes wide with anticipation of what awaited them. 

Serafina slapped at Xerxez’s hand as he tugged at her hair, playfully of course. “Stop that,” she said dismissively, though in truth she enjoyed having him back at her side, and the physical attention and affection he showed her was very welcome. She still felt a bit skittish that she would wake up one evening and he would be gone again - but she did everything she could to push that thought from her mind. Instead, she now focused on the feeling of his fangs piercing her neck, letting out a soft moan as she bit of pain coursed through her. “Blah, blah, blah,” she muttered as he drank from her, clearly mocking the two deities. She had the utmost respect for Angela Rose, of course, as she had assisted quite a bit in making sure that Sergei was born without anything bad happening to the baby or Celeste. Dalanesca, on the other hand, was nothing but an overly confident whore in Serafina’s opinion. Sure, she controlled Death and Desire, two of Serafina’s favorite things, but what qualified her to be a god anymore than Serafina could be?

As they entered the arena along with the other prospective competitors for the mazes, she eyed the others around them. Nobody looked too threatening, and after all - she and Xerxez were probably the most deadly things in that room. She nodded as he addressed her, suggesting they traverse the Death and Desire maze first. “I agree,” she said, smirking at him. When the transportation overtook them, she had to admit it was quite an odd sensation, but it was over almost as uickly as it had begun.

Serafina stood with her hands on her hips, surveying their surroundings once she had gained her footing when they had arrived in the maze. She was dressed in a much simpler manner than normal, wearing a white tunic with a black corset over it, and simple leather leggings coupled with thigh-high boots. Her head whipped to one side as she heard the faint howling and moaning emanating from different areas of the maze.

When Xerxez took her head, she turned her full attention back to him. As he tilted his head to one side, she moved her mouth to his neck. “One can never be too safe,” she whispered as her lips brushed his skin. She kissed his exposed neck, before piercing the flesh with her fangs, suckling lightly at the blood that began to flow from the wound. After no longer than a minute, she pulled away, pricking her thumb with her fang and rubbing it against his wound, which promptly closed. “Shall we?” she said, turning towards the path that split in two directions.

“My instincts tell me we go left,” she said, gazing in that particular direction. “However… the sounds I could make out seemed to have come from the right,” she added, looking a bit mischievous. Without another word, she grasped Xerxez by the hand and pulled him along, heading down the path to the right.

Nothing seemed out of place at first, until a snarl ripped through the dimly lit path. Serafina stopped, and immediately sniffed the air. “Smell that, Xerxez. That is the foul stench of a feral,” she said. “I don’t know how much of your were history you have brushed up on, but to our kind, a feral is a werewolf that has alienated itself from its humanity. They remain in their wolf form permanently, no longer resembling a human…” As if on cue, a mangy looking humanoid wolf emerged into their path, letting out another snarl. “Wolf form would be a bad idea right now… we need to overcome it with our speed. Go for its throat, and rip it the fuck out,” she said, her voice turning to a snarl at the final words as she crouched down, getting into attack stance. “I want to watch you end its worthless existence,” she hissed, her look something awfully devilish as she urged her mate to attack.

Xerxez grunted as Serafina bit into her neck, his hand falling to her thigh, squeezing until his knuckles ran white. When she was finished, he quickly kissed her, lapping up the blood from the corners of her mouth. He let out an obnoxious snort as she talked about her instincts, but left the subject untouched. He would hate to be the first one to die in the maze. He gladly followed her to the right path and hissed as something approached from the shadows. His mate lectured him on what a feral was and advised how to proceed. She urged him to take down the pathetic mangling Lycan. He dropped into a fighting stance and circled off around the Lycan as he continued to hiss, baring his fangs. The stench from the beast was appaling. A mixture of urine and decaying flesh attacked nose, nearly making his eyes water. The Lycan it's self was a dull red with a dirty white front. It's fur lay in matted patches, full of bald spots, scars, and leaking orfices. As it circled Xerxez, it never stopped growling, keeping it's head low, waiting for an opportunity launch in and take Xerxez's throat. Xerxez favored the black garb her wore, fearing close range attack would get whatever the Lycan was leaking onto his tunic and leather pants. Xerxez quickly dropped his hand to his side and retrieved the spiked flail he had wrapped up. With a fluid motion, the entire length of ball and chain unravels, scratching against the cold stone floor. With inhuman speed, he tossed the flail up slightly, catching the chain half way with one hand, the other hand at the end of the ball and chain, creating an improvised garrote. He lunged in, focusing on the beasts movements. The beast launched forward, keeping low which went accordingly to Xerxez's calculations. He held the garrote downward until he felt the chain wrap around the neck of the Lycan. Xerxez leaped forward, hopping over the beast and landing behind it, with his arms over his head, the chain entrapping the Lycan' s throat. He bent down at his knees, bringing his arms in, causing the Lycan to lift off the ground, controlled by the neck. As soon as the wolf's feet left ground, it flailed about, making gurgling noises as the garrote prevented it from exhaling it's awful breath. A minute and half was all it took for the wolf to stop moving and go limp. Xerxez released the tension, regaining his posture as the corpse slumped against the ground. He walked towards his mate, dusting off his black tunic. "They dare waste my time with such a pathetic excuse of an obstacle." He walked up infront of her, her grabbing her by the throat and applying pressure. "Maybe you'd be more of a challenge, my dear." He leaned in, exposing his fangs with a devilish smile. "Maybe." He taunted, as he let go of her neck, quick to straighten out her attire. He kissed her cheek, before speaking again. "I only joke, my beautiful alpha. But we are past due on a sparring match." He said, with a half smile on his face.

He took a minute to reexamine his surroundings. He didn't want to get lost this early in the maze. "Something occurred to me, dear." He said, stroking his full black beard. He pointed towards the direction the feral come from. "Although your instincts tell you to go left, there might be a reason a feral was put on the path to the right. It might be guarding something." He said, a grin on his face. "It might be nothing, leading to a dead end or a trap. Or even more monsters, but it's a hunch I'd gamble on. We can always use the corpse as land mark to find our way back. It's up to you, sweet Sera."

Serafina, while quite confident in the fighting capabilities that Xerxez held, remained in her offensive stance as she watched her mate prepare to take on the feral lycan. The beast itself was a rather unpleasant site, but it was nothing compared to some of the unpleasantness that she had caused in the past. It was laughable, really - this was supposed to be a challenge? She watched with pleasure as Xerxez pulled out a flail, utilizing it in a manner other than normally meant for such a weapon.

A grin spread across her lips as she watched Xerxez strangle the life out of the creature, before discarding its useless corpse onto the ground. As he approached her once more, Serafina pouted out her lower lip slightly. “Quick work, but not quite the carnage I was hoping for,” she said, playfully poking fun at the fact that he did not entirely follow her suggestion. Sure, he had killed the beast with no issue, but not in the bloody manner she had suggested for him.

She made a soft noise as Xerxez found her throat, tilting her head to one side in a submissive gesture. Though she could always overpower him, it was fun to let him have his moments here and there. She was just preparing to snap at him when he released her, and she decided that she would let him have this little victory - this time, anyway. She leaned into him as his lips caressed her cheek, stepping back as he continued to speak with her. “Indeed, we are…but might I remind you the sparring matches aren’t likely to remain sparring matches for long… I know how you can’t help yourself once you get your lecherous hands on me,” she said, smirking at him with a seductive glint in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t trust anything this maze throws at us. Dalanesca is a conniving bitch from what I’ve heard,” she said, hissing slightly. “I have a feeling we would have run into something along the same lines had we gone left,” she added. As she spoke to Xerxez, she moved until she was crouching down next to the now-defeated lycan laying on the ground. “A trail isn’t a bad idea, my love,” she said, looking up at Xerxez. Without warning, she grabbed one of the lycan’s arms and gave it a wrench severing it completely from the body. She proceeded to do so with the other, and tossed one to Xerxez. “We’ll use these are markers, too,” she said, smirking again before standing up while carrying the severed arm with her. She walked past Xerxez, down the darkened path in front of them. With an extra sway in her hips, it was clear she was making an attempt to entice him, even with the severed appendage swinging from one of her hands. “Come on then,” she said, turning around and glancing at him over her shoulder.

She made it a ways down the path with Xerxez in tow before pausing abruptly upon hearing an inexplicable noise from within the shrubbery that made up the maze. She sniffed the air again and dropped the arm, which landed with a dull thud on the ground near her feet. She could make out movement in the shrubbery, but she could not quite discern what it was - until she heard a hissing sound… but it was not the hiss of a common snake… this was something a bit more sinister. “Eyes down,” she called back to Xerxez. The sound was not of something she had ever seen before, but it highly resembled what basilisks had been rumored to sound like. “That sounds like a basilisk… one look into its eyes will kill even us,” she cautioned.

Moment after the warning had left her lips, a large serpent struck out from the brush towards her, to which she rolled and narrowly avoided, being sure to keep her eyes down the whole time. “Ugh,” she said, as she hit the ground with a heavy thud. With only a moment to think, she tore the sleeve of her tunic off and then in half, tying it around her eyes like a blindfold. “Heightened hearing,” she yelled to Xerxez, tearing her other sleeve free and tossing the scrap of fabric to him before the basilisk could emerge again.

"Well, she isn't all bad, Sera. Mo Mey was quite the party when she raised hell." He said, not thinking. He quickly covered his tracks. "Or at least, so I heard." He added, in attempt to avoid questioning. It was told smoothly, his voice never waivered but Sera had a way of knowing when he was lying. Luckily, she was busy inspecting the feral's corpse and perhaps missed his lie. She bent down, quickly tearing the limbs, and tossing one his way. A grin exploded across his face. "That's my girl!" He shouted, giving her an applause, his free hand clapping the severed arm's hand. He started down the darkened strait path, grateful his eyes quickly adjusted to the dimly lit area. Serafina quickly overpassed him, shaking her ass as she went.

The mazes were built to test the strengths and weaknesses of mortals. The death and desire maze tested the physical weaknesses of a challenger. Their endurance. Their muscle. Their ability to make last second decesions that could cost them their life. Luckily for Xerxez, he already exceeded at these. And with the perks that came with being a Vaewolf already pushed his excellent physical strengths to a new level. However, the other mazes were about mental and emotional weaknesses. Xerxez was about to test his non physical weaknesses early as Sera walked past him, swaying her hips as she went. Xerxez's weakness was women. Years of sneak attacks, double crosses, duels, trained archers, and plots against him had never felled him. However, Sera was able to kill him in less than an hour of knowing him. Xerxez's weakness was women. And Xerxez was an ass man. As Sera made her way ahead of him, clearly putting a show on for him, he relaxed and enjoyed the show. Infact, he was so focused in on it, he failed to hear the danger in Sera voice as she warned him to keeps his eyes down. "Oh, they are babe. And they're not coming up for a while." He said, growling as he moved in closer behind her, hunger in his eyes. She she continued, explaining the basilisk was when he was able to shake off his trance, inches away from the basilisk's surprise attack.

Serafina quickly tore her sleeve and handed him half the fabric. He caught it with ease, tying the fabric around his eyes in a quick fluid motion. "Great plan, babe!" He called out, "This sure does make things intreasting." He said, under his breath. He stilled his movements, listing with his ears to where the serpent would strike. He the near by brambels behind him rattle. Seconds later, branch's snapped and the sound of hissing shot through the air. Xerxez dodged to the side, reaching out to see if he could grab the basilisk. He only grabbed air. Frustrated, he held the severed arm out and broke it in half over his knee. He held the part with the arm and threw it as far as could down in any direction. A few seconds later, it landed with a soft thud, quite a distance away. The serpent emerged from the brush once again making a bee line towards the distraction.

When he felt it was safe, he lifted his blindfold and made his way to Sera. Careful to speak before he layed his hands on her hips. "I threw an arm, that should distract the big guy for a bit. He'll be back for fresh flesh once he gets to it." He paused, checking his surroundings. "I'll distract him, get him looking at me. When I tell you, lift your blind fold, and do anything to wear him down. Take scales off, scratch infected skin. Once he's hurting enough, he'll start making mistakes and thats when we'll do the big damage. I suggest not shifting. We're skinnier in this form. Shifting to where we stand horizontally only helps the snake." As he ramabled, he could hear he basilisk hiss angrily, knowing it was played a for a fool. Xerxez could hear the slithering getting closer. "Okay, here he comes, be careful." He said, planting a passionate kiss on her lips, with a slap on the ass for good luck. 

Xerxez slid the blindfold back over his eyes as he listned for cracking of branches and rustles of leaves. Soon enough, an area to his left exploded with sound, as the basilisk leaded from the bushes. It landed angry hisses as it circled Xerxez and Serafina. Xerxez called out the snake, taunting it, daring it to turn his attention Xerxez. He took the last remaining bit of severed arm and threw it at the basilisk. The arm connected with the snake with a soft clink, it turned to face Xerxez, releasing an annoyed hiss. Spit and saliva covered Xerxez, as he wiped his face trying to clear the liquid. He called out to Serafina with a disgusted shudder. "He's on me, babe. Let him have it." 

Serafina nodded to Xerxez, indicating that she understood his last phrase as he let her know that the serpent had it’s full attention directed towards him rather than her. She thought against audibly acknowledging her understanding, as that would most likely have drawn the serpent’s attention away from Xerxez and back to her.

Without so much as a sound, Serafina crept up so she was positioned behind the basilisk, entirely out of its view. She drew a small dagger from a sheath she had concealed at her waist, and within moments, she pounced, landing herself directly on the large serpent’s back. The basilisk let out an angry hiss and thrashed wildly, seemingly forgetting about Xerxez. Serafina managed to get a good grip on the serpent so she wouldn’t be thrown off, and sank her dagger into the basilisk’s back, right beneath its head. She slid down the length of the serpent, dragging the blade through its skin as she did so. Without warning, she dropped the dagger and shoved her hands into the wound, each hand grabbing a flap of the snake’s wounded skin. She pulled, using her vaewolf strength, until she had flayed the beast and it fell dramatically to the ground, its eyes closing as it lay dead, no longer posing a threat to the pair.

Serafina got up from where she had landed on the ground, her hands full of gooey blood and other things from the inside of the creature. “Disgusting,” she said, kneeling down and wiping her hands on the ground in an attempt to get rid of some of the viscera. When she had done all she could, she stood back up, walking back over to her mate and checking him over, making sure that in the chaos he hadn’t accidentally looked into the serpent’s eyes.

When she was satisfied with what she saw, she planted a quick and rather rough kiss on Xerxez’s lips, pulling away and looking at him directly in his eyes for a moment before she turned away. There was a hint of some kind of emotion in her eyes - what is was was a bit too difficult to say, but perhaps it was happiness that he was alright given the circumstances. “Come on,” she said, clearing her throat as she began to walk away from him. “It’d be best if we keep moving,” she said, and when she was sure he was following her, she fell back into step beside him as the pair ventured a bit further into the maze.

They walked for a few minutes, before Serafina stopped dead in her tracks. It was clear she had heard something, as she had closed her eyes and drawn in a sharp breath, remaining completely silent and still- and then, she heard it again. It was barely above a whisper, but she could hear it on the breeze - the voice of Nemesis, calling out to her. “Do you hear that?” she asked Xerxez. Her expression had changed to something that somewhat resembled fear, but she grew silent again as she heard it once more. He was calling out to her, calling for her to leave ‘the dog’ and come back to him. The whispers were full of insults towards Xerxez, no doubt variations of what she had already heard Nemesis say.. “No,” she whispered softly, as none of the words reflected her sentiments towards Xerexez in the slightest.

She turned to look at her mate to see his reaction to the whispers, if he could even hear them. She had a look of distress on her face, knowing full well that if Xerxez thought Nemesis was there and talking down to him, nothing good would happen.

With the basilisk slayed, and what a finish it was looking at the opened corpse of the what he thought would be a tough opponent. Xerxez could only imagine what Serafina did to cause such a mess, either way, the pair continued onward, unfettered at the temporary road block. The physical challenges that the maze threw at them proposed no challenge to the sadistic attitude coupled with the physical prowess of the vaewolf couple. The pair walked forward for a short amount of time, reflecting upon the adrenaline rush of besting a basilisk. However, the maze decided to throw another challenge at the pair. As they walked, images would flash infront of Xerxez. At first, the flashes were gone in a fraction of a second, preventing him from seeing what the images were. But as the flashes persisted, the images stilled in his mind. Serafina was wrapped up with Nemesis in a heated night of passion. As the images stilled, he could see every detail from the sweat, Nemesis's fucking white hair, all the way down to the dirt and blood on their skin.

His fists clenched, as his eyebrows furrowed but remained silent. He quietly kept the images to his self, as they continued to walk forward, navigating the maze. The family, no doubt Serafina most of all, were getting tired of Xerxez's distaste in Nemesis. Serafina had reprimanded Xerxez many times about the subject so he had repressed the thoughts and idea's, but here in the maze of death and desire, Xerxez desired Nemesis's death. His train of thought was interrupted as Serafina stopped in her tracks. Xerxez could hear it too. Nemesis's stupid fucking voice whispered through the air and into their ears. A voice longing for Sera to come back to him, and harsh threats towards Xerxez.

Xerxez's hands balled up, clenching so hard his knuckles ran white and he started to visablly shake. He growled through bared teeth. "I wanna kill him, Sera." He continued to make low growls of anger as Serafina turned around and rolled her eyes at him. Something in the motion made Xerxez snap. The rage that had been boiling inside Xerxez overflowed and he was in Sera's face in an instant, as his finger poked Serafina just below her collar bone rather forcefully. "No. You don't get to roll your eyes at me." He breathed. He retreated away from Sera, as he growled through his teeth. "You don't get to make me fall in love with you as I watch you still love another man." He snarled. 

Nemesis's voice continued to whisper threats and put downs at Xerxez, he let out a hiss from where the voice was coming from. When he was done, he continued, the anger in him out weighing his common sense. "There are times, Sera, where I wish you would've let me die that night. At least then, it would be easy for everybody." He saw Serafina flinch at his words, but Xerxez continued, only seeing red as fury drove his actions. "Nemesis would've caught you eventually, sneaking and fucking around. He would've slapped you around a bit, make you feel bad about your self. And you would've came crawling back on your hands and knees. And everyone would've been one big fucking happy family." He said slowly. "Because you still love him." He said quitely. The air around them was thick it was palpable. He let the silence fill the air as his tantrum continued. "Even when he sired Celeste. Even when he choose her over you. Even when he tried to kill you. Even when he threat to kill me. Even when he slept with another woman while Celeste was pregnant! You still love him." His voice started as a whisper as it grew louder and louder until he was screaming at Serafina, then his voice went as soft as a whisper. The images continued to flash in Xerxez's head as he snarled though bared teeth, his entire body rattling with anger. "Is it bad I feel this way, Sera?" He asked. "Is it bad I want to take everything from him knowing everything I do. Knowing he is a father. Knowing Celeste would send the entire family after me." He met eyes with Serafina and spoke slowly and clearly. "Even knowing, you would kill me. I still want to bash his brains in." He said, gritting his teeth. He inhaled to spout more insults untill Serafina slapped him across the face with a sharp ring echoing through out the maze. 

Xerxez and his desire to end the existence of Nemesis was nothing new to Serafina, and she had to be honest with herself - she understood why he was so frustrated with the man. Xerxez was a hot head, after all, and Nemesis was not exactly the most likeable person in existence. Couple that with the complications in all of their relationships and it was a rather volatile combination. She rolled her eyes at him, clearly growing tired of the constant snide remarks about her maker. She had grown to expect his overreactions - but what happened next had been wholly unexpected.

As Xerxez turned on her, getting right up in her face and jabbing her in the chest below her collar bone. Her lips parted slightly in surprise, as she was so taken aback by his behavior that she did not know exactly how to respond. His words stung as he retreated from her - he was accusing her of making him fall in love with her? That had never been her intention. She had chosen Xerxez to change because she had seen something within him that was very reminiscent of her own attitudes. She had never planned on the pair necessarily becoming romantic - that was something that had just happened. She had planned on him being a companion, someone to share her time with.

His next words bit even more harshly. She stood, frozen, having never expected such behavior from Xerxez. She knew he was hot headed and volatile but he had never taken it out on her before. She made an attempt to hold her ground, not wanting Xerxez and his words to affect her in such a strong way, but it was to no avail. Most of what he said was nonsensical and sensationalized, accusations birthed from the anger he felt from hearing Nemesis bantering on and on in the wind. Serafina was confident enough to know that it was just the maze toying with them, but it had messed with his head enough that it had triggered something. Tears of blood had welled in her eyes and were now streaking down her face as her mate, the one she truly did love, the only one she truly loved, screamed at her with words of distrust and hatred.

Things continued to escalate until Serafina did one thing seemingly out of her own control - she slapped Xerxez square across the jaw, as hard as she possibly could. She had stared at him intently, making an honest attempt to stay as calm as she possibly could, but it had failed, ending in the slap.

Serafina found herself shaking as she stared at Xerxez, whose hand had instinctively come up to his jaw in the place where she had slapped him. She had been so taken aback by everything that he had said, she hadn’t gotten a word in edgewise. But now, now she was seeing everything clearly, and just as Xerxez opened his mouth to speak to her once more, she pounced.

“No,” she said, overpowering him and pinning him to the ground. The blood tears still streaked from her eyes as she straddled him, holding him to the ground with ease. He may have been bigger than her and appeared stronger than her, but in the end she would have no trouble over powering him. If she had wanted to, she could have compelled him to calm down, but there was no point - this was something that needed to happen.

“Shut up, and fucking listen to me,” she said, sobs now beginning to wrack her words. She had hardly ever been this emotional before, and it was new for her to feel so hurt by someone she cared about. Hell, it was new for her to truly care about someone besides her maker. “If I had let you die that night, you wouldn’t be this powerful creature that you have become. It wouldn’t have been easier for anyone, because I would still. Be. Alone.” Her words were raut with anguish, clearly distraught from the confrontation that had arisen between the two.

“You can think what you want. Of course I still love Nemesis, I love him as any child would love their father,” she said, her words broken. It wasn’t a lie - she would always love Nemesis, but any romantic inkling she had felt for her creator was completely negated now. She felt nothing for anyone romantically save Xerxez - something she had never thought possible. A sob escaped her lips as the tears continued to flow, and she continued on. “There are so many things that you don’t understand, Xerxez.. Because you won’t try to understand them.”

She still held him down, falling silent for a moment before continuing once more. “Don’t you, for one second, proceed to tell me how I fucking feel,” she hissed, and with one fluid motion she stood up. After a moment when Xerxez had also stood once more, she turned to look at him. The blood had smeared on her face, she was an absolute mess. It was clear that her intention in pouncing on him hadn’t been to hurt him, but only to make him listen.

“Xerxez,” she said, quietly, taking a step towards him. She reached out for his face again, and she saw him flinch as though he thought she were going to slap him again. Instead, she tenderly reached up and laid her hand on his cheek, looking up at him with sadness in her eyes. “Even in the rage and the pain that I would feel if Nemesis was gone, I could never kill you.” She looked at him, blinking once and causing another tear to stream down her cheek. “To kill you would be anguish for me, pain beyond what I would feel even at Nemesis’s death,” she said. “You can think what you want, and feel what you want, but in the end, I will not stop you if you want to leave. If you wish to be rid of me, then go. I can release you,” she said, a sob breaking her words. “But no… in a romantic sense? I do not love Nemesis. I love you, Xerxez. Only you. And you are who I want my eternity to be with,” she said, her eyes reflecting her sadness now. “But I cannot force you to love me. I’ve never once compelled you to love me. Anything you feel for me… it’s you, Xerxez. I’ll never force you to love me, or force you to be with me. If you can’t accept that Nemesis will remain a part of my life, perhaps it would be best if you and I parted our ways… but I pray that you can accept this and see it for what it truly is,” she added. “It’s time to get out of here now, and move on to the next maze. I’ll do it on my own, if I have to… but I wonder if you’ll remain by my side.”

Having bared her soul, Serafina leaned up on the tips of her toes and planted a rather chaste kiss on Xerxez’s lips, before turning and walking away from him, spending the next several minutes finding her way out of the maze and back to the entry point, where she waited for him to return to her, if he did.

She was grateful when she arrived in the entry, for there was no one else present - and the female vaewolf leaned against a wall, sliding down it as violent sobs began taking their toll on her body. She pulled her knees up to her chest, holding them close, as she cried.

Xerxez wiped at a stream of blood on his face placed when Serafina had kissed him. He watched silent as she walked away, her echoed sobs bouncing off the the grey walls. He held out his hand infront of his face, examining the blood. He exhaled, shaking his head as he rubbed his forhead. "Well, fuck." He exclaimed. He replayed the fight for a few minutes, letting him self and Serafina cool off. Sera's words stung making Xerxez feel a mixture of anger and guilt. He felt angry at his self, for attacking her. For yelling baseless accusations. His chest tightened as he tried to wrap his mind around how he felt.

A small amount of time passed, and Xerxez made for the exit. Upon entering the arena again, Xerxez felt bittersweet. He felt excited that they defeated a maze, but saddened they didn't walk through the gate together. Finding Serafina it wasn't hard. The broken sobs rang through out the empty building. Sera sat against a wall, her back slouched over, her head burried in her arms. He walked his way to her and glanced down at her. "Get up." He said, bluntly. Serafina briefly looked up, her face streaked with blood streaks. Another sob broke out as her body convulsed. Her head sank back between her arms as drowned crying filled the air. Xerxez sighed, sliding down the wall next to her. He tore his sleeve off with ease, as he pleaded softly with Sera.

"Listen, Sera. I'm not going to rationalize or explain why I said what I said. You are right. About so many things." Serafina lifted her head, her blood filled eyes on his. A solemn expression lay on his face as took the sleeve and began wiping at the corners of her eyes. "I am brash. I am ignorant. And I am selfish." He paused to graze his hand gently across her cheek. "I am so selfish infact, I forget that you depend on me." He whispered, his voice quivering, on the edge of breaking. The sleeve he used to wipe Serafina's gave was dry and only managed to smear the blood. He wet a corner with his tounge and continued. "I see you as my fearless, strong and beautiful Alpha, I forget that you need me as much as I need you. I cant imagine how it must've felt, hearing all those terrible things. I am sorry. Sera." 

He pulled the sleeve back, tossing it aside as Sera's face was clean. He leaned in, kissing her softly on the cheek. "I can… make an effort to…. not… dislike Nemesis." Xerxez said, struggling to find words. He adjusted his postion, sitting infront of her and taking her face in his hands. "For you, Serafina. I will try to understand." He massaged her arm, taking her hand, kissing from her hand to her shoulder. "And I promise you, I will not lose my temper like that again, ever." He said, seriously. His eyes narrowed, as he squeezed her hand. "I promise." 

At this point, Serafina's sobs had diminished in intensity. He took his spot next to her and threw his arm over her shoulder as he nestled next to her. "If we were in a world without magic, or vampires. Do you think we would still be together?" He asked, letting the question hang in the air as he let Sera think about it. "I do. I believe you would be working at that bar on the same chair waiting… waiting for someone, but not just anyone." He said, grinning. He kept his eyed ahead as he visiuallized the story. "Yeah, I would come in after a killing. I would've approached you, slamming my hand down, demanding you come with me." He said, with a chuckle in his voice. "Yeah, I can see it all, babe. We would've spent the whole night talking just like we did the first time." He smiled and shook his head, turning his attention to Sera. "You did make me fall in love with you, Sera. And I'm not talking about siring. Everything you do, makes me smile, every movement draws me in. I love you, Sera." He said, clearly. He grinned a half smile, realizing it was the first time he had said that phrase.

"And I won't do anything to betray that love again. I need to learn my place as your beta, rather than a jealous mate. From here on, I will be obedient to you, my love." He promised. He moved in to kiss her on the cheek before pulling away and looking into her eyes. "What do you say we kick ass and take down these mazes?"