The Hybrid Fateful Sorrow

The Howling

The sky’s illumination, the unrelenting storm, and the hovering enraged Devil was roaring above Masse. Everything looks familiar and eerily similar, knowing that there are worlds alike, but somehow you know it is not the same.

Gray and the witch stand at the top of a snowy hill from a distance as they overlook the village of Masse. They gaze at the horrifying state of Masse as if they are some kind of spectator. The vicious crows cawing as they hauled up the townsfolk out of their home and mutilated their bodies mid-air.

Gray could perceive a Devil hovering above Masse, identical to him, the reddish complexion on his bare body, his furry elongated arms, the fluttering of his dark bat-like wings and tails as he surveyed below Masse. The difference between them is that the other one has a black hair and differs from his gray hair.

“I am a monster,” Gray uttered.

“Remember Gray, all we need to do right now is to wait,” the witch said.

“Wait? What do you mean wait? I followed you so I can save my daughter!” Gray said.

“We need to wait for the events to transpire,” the witch replied.

“That Devil right there is me! I know where he is going and I know what he’s going to do. We don’t have much time left,” Gray said.

Gray crouches to the ground as if he was preparing to run. He straightens her arms and widens his hands. Then he leans forward with his knee bend and his vast wings hugging the ground as he raises his hips. Finally, stretching out his legs as his feet push onto the ground.

The land vibrates as a result of his preparation with a glare and determination in his eyes. Gray’s feet and wings have left the ground as he is about to ascend, only to be toppled back to the ground with a magical snaring spell. A golden-like liquid belted and snared his body back to the snowy land hindering his movement.

“What are you — doing?” Gray asked in an annoyed voice.

“Preventing you from making another mistake,” the witch said.

“Don’t you remember? I am — a mistake!” Gray yelled.

The magical snare liquid circulates outside his body, although, with difficulties, Gray could still move as he struggled to stand. While the witch watched Gray struggle, she opened her book and directed her hands at him. Shortly after, the magical golden snare has become tighter, completely impeding Gray’s movement with some of the liquid blocking his mouth to shut him up.

“No!—” He uttered as he gulped to breathe.

Seeing his other self vanish in the air can only mean one thing. He pondered in his mind. He found their home. Not again, don’t you dare become a mistake! I can’t let him, No! I can’t let myself kill my own child again.

Enraged by his thought, he glared his eyes as his body underwent a transformation. Gray’s body grew larger, his gray fur extending, his legs and arms stretching out from the magical snare. His already vermillion red eyes emblaze fiercely, his fangs emerging as he becomes Wolfvir, the God of the hunt.

The witch steps away from the enormously growing beast in her sight. However, Gray is still snared by the witch’s magical power. She invokes another spell from her book that contrasts with the growing power of Wolfvir. The magical golden snare bulked up as the witch embedded into the depths of the land.

‘Fenrir if you could see how you and your son are so much alike right now,’ she thought.

Wolfvir growled in annoyance as he tried to seize the witch with his massive paws; he failed to reach her. However, the witch could still immobilize Wolfvir’s body from the intense magic.

Every moment passed brings only anxiety to his heart. I can’t let this happen. The pain that I endured, remember it, Gray. Become mad! Embrace all the guilt and regrets. Remember her adorable face, every goddamn detail of her lifeless state!

“NO!” Wolfvir yelled in a divine voice.

The Godly Wolfvir howled so loud that it cracked some of the magical snares on his body. Blasting his cry all over Masse as if he was telling himself to stop.

“Look at my eyes! Witch!” Wolfvir ordered.

“Your

“You need to trust me, Gray! I have seen everything. I know how your story will end,” she pointed her finger at Masse before she continued to speak. “And I know how his story will end,” the witch said.

“Who are you!? How dare you oppose me this way?” Wolfvir uttered.

“Galiet Gray, I am Carmelia Esparia,” she answered with a calm voice.

“You’re the one who saved me? On that fateful night?” Wolfvir said.

As soon as Gray learns her name, somehow it touches his heart, soothing it down. However, a hint of regret is still sticking around his thoughts. It was the m******e of the destined cult. He killed every cultist and Carmelia’s husband, Santi Esparia.

“Yes, Gray,” Carmelia said in a pleasant voice.

The once enraged Wolfvir is now gradually transforming back to his human form. The witch Carmelia realized this as she took back the magical power that was trapping his body.

“And now, are you saving me again? Or are you just helping me to my death?” Gray said in a weary tone.

“In the end, that is all up to you, Gray. I’m only here to show you your path,” Carmelia said.

“Why is, why has your body aged that long?” Wolfvir said.

“You will learn everything all in time, Gray,” she could make out a silhouette from hovering above the sky, “Look at the sky Gray,” Carmelia said.

“It’s me! And he’s holding my baby,” Gray said.

“All in time,” Carmelia let out.

Gray was so relieved as soon as he found out the Devil spared the baby. Seeing her breathing gave a smile to his face. He could even listen to her whimpering that quickly warmed his frozen heart.

Carmelia turned around and started to walk below the hill as she called out for Gray.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

“Where are we going this time,” Gray asked.

“To get what you need, and of course to help ease your suffering,” Carmelia said

They strolled on the brightening forest as the lowered sun had finally reached them. The familiarity of the pathway Gray knows where it would lead to, his nose that catches the smell of berries. Beyond these trees is where the cloudberries are, and that also means where Amelia’s body is.

“How could I let her out in this cold, I was so focused on myself, on my desires,” Gray said.

“Well now you can give them a proper rest,” Carmelia said.

“Them?” Gray asked.

Through the trees, they finally reached the spot. His eyes were appalled as soon as he saw the charred body was not alone.

“Who… who is the other one?” Gray asked.

“It’s Elise…” Carmelia answered.

Gray gritted his teeth, and intense pain struck his heart once again. How could they do this? He pondered in his mind. The other Devil was stronger than me. He witnessed their deaths, yet he endured all that and managed in his resolve alone to spare my child.

“I’m so weak!” Gray let out.

“Gray, you have never shown weaknesses. All the things that you suffered no man could live through all that,” Carmelia said.

“I’m not a man! I don’t even need a heart to live! I’m an immortal beast that longs to die,” Gray said.

“Seeing your child alive, would you still want to die?” Carmelia said.

“But their outcome will be the same,” Gray said.

“Cherish every moment that you’ll get to see her. I know all about you, Amadeus, Galiet, Gray, everything and never have you shown weakness,” Carmelia replied.

Carmelia procures a potion from her pouch, a vial filled with bright liquid with the lasting fragrance of nightingale and magical expertise to preserve the beauty of the one it embraces endlessly.

She gazes at Gray’s eye as she takes another vial, a deadly concoction, the potion meant to kill God itself. The Godsbane is the lavender-like liquid that resonates inside, eager to come out and to be used.

“You will need this nightingale potion, and here is the Godsbane that you wish,” she said as she handed the potions to Gray.

“What is this nightingale potion?” Gray asked.

“It will help you preserve their bodies for a very long time,” Carmelia replied.

Hidden from her robe was a heart-shaped stone pendant. She proceeded to remove it as she offered it to Gray.

“Here take this, this originally belongs to you,” Carmelia said, handing over the heart stone.

Gray gazes at their deceased bodies once more as she notices the other one holding in her hands a flower unbeknownst to him.

“You need to bring their bodies with you and rest them in this exact spot,” Carmelia ordered.

“What do you mean with me?” Gray asked.

“The portal is still open, Gray. You haven’t changed anything yet. But you will, I know you will so now go, go to your destiny,” Carmelia explained.

“What is my destiny?” Gray asked.

“Your daughter will live and you will get to die.”.