Cerberus' Heart

Cerberus' Heart 19

Having bought almost everything that Violet looked at, with the ever so helpful Angela, we left Areum with bagfuls of various clothes, of which, mine were the least. Violet made it a point to make me carry all of it for ignoring her but little did she know that I was planning to anyway. As she stomped her way in front of me, I let loose an easy smile at her thinking she had me in check. It's cute how she's so naive. Innocent.

Moving down the bustling streets, covered in snow and bundled humans and humanoids, I watched her take in the snowy landscape of snow-covered shops and upstorey apartments. She seemed fascinated that such old buildings stood the test of time and against the elements. I let her take it all in at her pace, last time having rushed through here. The memory reminded me that I still have information to tell her. I frowned, not sure when I should bring it up though, all my moping came to a halt when I heard the slight grumble for food from in front of me.

We both stopped and Violet slowly turned to face me, daring to ask, "Did you... hear anything by chance?" The widening grin on my face told her all she needed to know as she hurriedly bent down and scooped a handful of snow in her hands before flinging the atrocious excuse of snowball at my face. It landed smack-dab in the middle of my face before plomping to the ground. Shaking my head from side to side to rid of the remnants of snow and drops of water, I rubbed the rest away with the sleeve of my jacket. Sighing, I approached the fumbling Violet and roughly ruffled her hair.

"Cheeky little human," I muttered, walking past her. She trailed a few steps behind as I led us to my favourite fast food place. Despite the numerous bags covering my arms, I reached out behind me and tugged her to my side. She sputtered, probably expecting some form of payback for earlier. Well, she wasn't wrong.

Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, "You owe me a meal, Ms. Violet, for that stunt you pulled earlier."

"But I'm broke as dirt! There's no way I can buy a meal," she whispered back.

"I don't intend you to, but surely you can cook?" I teased, raising an eyebrow. She huffed, shoving me away, "So that was your master plan, lazy Edgelord," she grumbled.

I chuckled, "Well, it's either that or a snowball fight. And I mean a real snowball fight, with actual snowballs," I teased smugly. Her face reddened as she pointed an accusing finger at me, "Oh, it's on like donkey-kong, Edgelord!", she exclaimed her war-cry, valiantly. I guffawed, doubling over, "Donkey-kong? What on earth is that?" I questioned through laughter.

She merely huffed, turning her back to me. Stumbling after her in my fit of laughter, I grabbed hold of her hand, dragging her back towards my favourite fried chicken restaurant.

Pulling a resisting Violet through the doors, still not managing to contain my laughter, I made my way to one of the empty tables. My laughter stopped though, when someone addressed me.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Ryder actually laughs so carefree. You've already done a world of good for him, lass," the approaching male from our left said. My tensed muscles relaxed when I realised that the male was Judiah Maxilian. His burgundy hair caused a glinting red halo surround his head in the store's lights while his unique lavender eyes were soft and calming, though the dark tattoo peeking out through his black turtleneck gave him a somewhat threatening vibe; contradicting his otherwise somewhat mellow aura. I approached him and embrace him in a tight hug before pulling back and giving him a hard pat on the shoulder. Us, being around the same age and both being Gatekeepers to boot, helped us get along much better with each other than with the other Gatekeepers.

Leading him towards Violet, I introduced him, "Ms. Violet, this is Judiah Maxilian. Judiah, Ms. Violet Morgan."

Gently grabbing her hand, Judiah placed a kiss on her knuckles, bowing slightly at the waist, "Nice ta meet ye, lass," he said, foregoing his standard English accent and rather using his native one. Violet awkwardly removed her hand from his grasp, nodding, "And to you as well."

He laughed loudly, turning to me and hooking an arm around my shoulder, "She seems ta be smitten with yer, ey Ryder?"

I rolled my eyes, "Hardly. She instead loves the fact that I'm her personal gourmet cook," I sighed, laughing too.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Violet frown slightly before moving away from us to find a table. Both Judiah and I glanced at her retreating figure, before he nudges me, "I think ye hurt her feelings."

I threw him a bewildered look but he just sighed, muttering, "Utterly f*ckin' hopeless ye are," before leaving me standing dumbfounded to go sit with Violet. I shrugged to myself, moving to go order for both Violet and I but decided at the last minute to include something small for Judiah. Returning to them, I took a seat with Violet to my right and Judiah to my left. I watched silently as Judiah finally managed to elicit a small laugh from Violet. Honestly, if he had a special power, it'd be to befriend anyone in a matter of seconds. Something I admired about him.

I continued to watch their interaction, enjoying seeing her at ease with someone else as well. The fumbling of her fingers, nibbling of her lower lip and her curious eyes told me she wanted to ask something however. "You've got a question, Ms. Violet. Don't be shy, ask this blockhead anything," I joked.

Judiah offered a hurt look in my direction, "Was that all ye see me as? A blockhead?" At my grinning silence, he snorted derisively, turning his attention back to Violet.

"Regardless of what he said 'bout me, ask away, lass," he encouraged, sending me a playful glare.

I snickered, "If the cap fits, wear it." At that he threw his hands up defeatedly before hanging his head, though Violet speaking caused him to pay attention to her again.

"So... Are you a...vampire...like him?" She whispered. Judiah responded with a simple nod. "A vampire yes, but not on the same level as our boy, Ryder, 'ere. He's one of da especially strong ones. They used ta, and some still do, call him da Beast of Leviathan," he began till I cut him off by clearing my throat. I sent him a warning glare not to proceed any further and he sheepishly smiled in apology.

"Sorry, lass, da rest is not my story ta tell," he said, fumbling with his fingers now. I caught Violet staring confusedly at me, silently asking that I explain why I stopped Judiah but I just sighed, glancing away from her. A tense silence descended on our table. An order was called and a customer went up to fetch their meal.

Using the noise, I turned my attention to Judiah. "So what brings you here, Judiah?"

"Ye, actually," he said, scratching his earlobe. My silence urged him to continue.

"I heard ye got yerself a Danti. A she-wolf no less," he began. He jutted his chin in Violet's direction, "I figure it's da lass. But she don't smell like one of 'em." I remained motionless for a spell, contemplating if I should explain it all to him. Sighing, and casting a downcast Violet a quick glance, I turned back to Judiah.

"Not exactly." At my admission, his widened eyes sparked with questions. I swallowed, " You know what my eldest brother, Ixchel is like." Judiah nodded.

"Well, when I first helped Ms. Violet, her scent was that of a were. So that's what I thought she was till I got a good sniff of her scent days later. Turns out she's human and just then Ixchel decided to show up so I passed her off as a were and as my Danti in the hopes to keep her safe," I sighed. Judiah gawked at me, utterly speechless. He soon recovered, searching my face for more answers.

"That's not all of it, ey?", he stated rather than questions. I gulped down the lump in my throat, "And you'd be right."

"Shit!" He cussed softly. He glanced at a puzzled and curious Violet before looking at me again, "And if yer not telling me the rest, that means it's some heavy shit, huh," he assuaged. I nodded grimly. Leaning back, he ran his hands through his hair, sighing roughly.

"Is da anyway I can help ye?", he questioned. I ponder over it, silently and was about to answer no but quickly changed it. "Yes, as a matter of fact. There is." Just then our order was called and I moved to get up when he joined me.

Making our way to the pick up zone, Judiah guffawed just realising, "Ye still have that fried chicken frenzy?" I say nothing on the matter. Rather, I changed the topic, "I need you to keep Violet with you for the time being."

All his jovialness disappeared, "That's fine but why?" Lowering my voice, I whispered, "Someone's after her and they want her dead."