|Ch.42

________

Secrets,is there a way to seal a secret forever? Some may wonder,is death the only way? Maybe yes. That is why they say to take the secret to your grave. However,will death really seal the secrets away just like you wish?

No.

As long as the sun and the moon exist,the secrets will resurface like a new born life. It could be either beautiful or ugly but no one knows. But the secrets hidden under the name of death will always be ugly. The scars will reappear. The wounds will fester. Bleeding will start.

Heeseung stared at the ten different paths ahead of him. A place hidden like this,it looks like a desperate attempt to keep outsiders away from this place. He was no fool to this fact.

"Xavier,I didn't actually want to ask this but I can't go on without knowing this. Just....whose tomb are we searching here?"

Xavier was silent as he also stared at the ten different paths.

Heeseung,"I don't think we should continue"

"Heeseung,stay here. I will not force you to come with me. I never forced you to come here to begin with",he sounded a lot calmer than he should be. 

Heeseung gulped hard,the fear creeping into his bones. His whole body felt aura around here. It was ominous and creepy. He felt like only death existed here. "I'm sure you also feel it,Xavier. It's not safe here"

"....I know. But I must see it to the end. I want to see it"

"What do you want to see?"

Xavier looked at Heeseung,his face was still calm,but his eyes were laced with something akin to a desperation. "Don't ask further. You shouldn't concern yourself with my matters"

Heeseung did not want to continue. His whole body screamed to run back to a safety. He watched as Xavier continue to walk forward towards a certain entrance.

"Do you even know what is the right path?",Heeseung asked.

"I don't"

"What if there are traps? We could really die"

"We won't know until we go ahead. As I said earlier,you could stay if you are scared"

Heeseung's fingers were slightly trembling. His body forced him to take a step back but a sudden chill froze him like a statue.

"Heeseung"

A voice.

An eerie voice of a woman called him. Thousands upon thousand chills rose up from his body,he saw his own death as an illusion infront of him because of the voice he was forced to hear.

"Heeseung"

Again!

His knees gave up in fear,cold sweat dropping from his forehead.

"Xavier!",he manages to let out one scream through the laboured breathing.

Xavier looked back with an irritated face but soon widened his eyes seeing Heeseung's state. "What the....what's wrong?"

Heeseung looked up through his eyelashes,sweating buckets from his entire body,and extended his hand towards the seventh entrance,"...It's there",he whispered.

Xavier eyes narrowed in confusion and then disbelief,it seemed like he had a lot of questions but ultimately he asked,"what is there?"

Heeseung swallowed,"Someone —Someone is calling me. A woman. "

"What"

Xavier stalked towards Heeseung and crouched down,"What do you mean?"

Heeseung looked at him trying to breath properly,the fear slowly fading away with Xavier next to him,"Didn't you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"She called me by my name. She knows me"

"Are you sure you are not imagining?"

Heeseung shook his hear vigorously,"I felt it through my entire body! I felt like —I felt like I might die any time soon!"

"Bloodlust",Xavier mumbled to himself before taking a closer look at Heeseung. His face was pale as a ghost,there was no way he would end up looking like that just because of an imagination. "Can you walk?"

Heeseung nodded hesitantly,"....Let's go"

Xavier was a little take back,"You....want to go?"

Heeseung stared at the seventh entrance,where he was damn well sure the voice came from. The voice called him,not Xavier. Not the Pendragon beside him but the weak Lee Heeseung. It could be a death trap but he could feel an invisible pull towards that entrance. Someone wants him to go there.

Little did he know that he was already under a trance. It wasn't his will to continue but the unknown force behind the seventh entrance. He wasn't himself anymore.

"Yes,let's go"

Xavier nodded before helping him up. "Do you need help to walk?"

"No"

Xavier's brows raised as he watched Heeseung staring at the entrance. "Are you sure you are alright? "

"Never been better",he started heading towards the entrance along.

Xavier tilted his head slightly,as he watched Heeseung's back. Then he looked back to where they were coming from to make sure no one was following and followed Heeseung.

"This place probably recognises me as a Pendragon",Xavier mumbled to himself as he looked around the tunnel to see hidden traps. "No way dad would make this easy"

Few steps ahead,he could see a human skeleton lying on the ground,"Yup. We would have been long dead if I were not a Pendragon"

Xavier's eyebrows furrowed as he walked past the skeleton. Then what about the grave robber from few days ago? I definitely heard dad saying he escaped. Just who the hell was that? No way,is the robber a Pendragon?  No,that can't be. The alarm system would not have gone a rampage if it was a Pendragon. Like right now,the alarm system isn't going off because of me.

"Heeseung,do you still hear the voice?"

Heeseung nodded his head without a word and kept his eyes forward.

Xavier was suspicious as he eyed Heeseung. Why is it only him? Is this one of the traps because he is not a Pendragon?

After walking for almost an hour,they finally entered a massive room with a marble floor. There were black pillars with carvings of roses. And in the middle of the room was a tomb.

Heeseung seemed to snap out,his eyes wandered around the room in astonishment. He remembered coming here but his brain felt a little foggy. "What is this place?"

Xavier was already infront of the tomb with eyes filled with some sort of excitement and impatience.

Xavier chuckled as he stared at the tomb with his crimson eyes. "Dad had talked about this tomb with my uncles more than once. Finally,I am here"

He pulled out a pair of black leather gloves before putting them on. Smiling to himself,he touched the lid of the coffin. And then pushed it away. As he looked inside,his smile faded in a matter of second and confusion took over his beautifully cruel face.

Heeseung also peeked inside and raised an eyebrow seeing a set of knight uniforms and a sword. "....is this what you came for?"

Xavier gritted his teeth,"This can't be! Is this a fucking joke?!"

Heeseung rolled his eyes seeing the kid throwing a tantrum. Without thinking twice,he pulled out a set of uniform but Xavier caught his wrist.

"Don't touch anything without asking me! It could be dangerous!"

"It's just a uniform?"

"You!! You don't understand. The only reason you and me are alive in this place is only because of my blood! Even a slight misstep could cause our death"

Heeseung sighed,dog tired at this point. Ever since he met Storm,when was he not in danger? Storm was the first to threaten his life with death and till this point,he had been riding the journey with death sitting beside him like a fucking sidekick.

"Alright,my bad,I guess I was too comfortable with the death himself"

Xavier rolled his eyes in annoyance,"shit",he cursed as he looked at the set of uniforms and the sword. He stared at them for a solid few seconds before picking up the sword and throwing it away.

"That's rude!",Heeseung gritted out.

Xavier continued to throw away all the other stuff from the coffin and emptied it out completely.

"You rotten bastard",Heeseung grumbled under his breath,"Storm is way more better than you"

Xavier finally looked at Heeseung because of that comment,"Don't compare me with that psycho bastard. And look",he pointed at the inside of the coffin.

Heeseung,with a little angry pout,looked inside only to see another rose carving. "Another one? What does this rose mean? "

"Who cares what it means",Xavier's lips curved up as he slit his palm yet again. "This must be the same as the entrance"

Heeseung hissed seeing him injuring himself again! "Jesus dude! Go easy on yourself"

Xavier,"Who is 'Jesus' ?"

Heeseung made a face and looked away,"My great grand father"

"Oh"

Without thinking much,Xavier placed his palm on the rose carving,letting his blood run through the lines of the carving.

A minute past.

"How long does it take?",Heeseung asked,tilting his head to a side with his hands crossed over his chest.

Xavier seemed to be confused too. He took his palm away and stared at the carving,"Why doesn't it work?"

"Maybe it needs a spell or something?",Heeseung suggested.

Xavier shook his head,"My dad is not a mage. There is no way this would work with a spell"

"Then a key?"

"Do you see any key hole here?"

Sure enough,there was no any key hole.

Xavier sighed,"Heeseung,take a step back"

Heeseung,"What are you going to do?"

"Just step back. I'm going to try smashing this"

Heeseung immediately jumped back,"You.....is this really fine? I don't think your dad is the type to just smack you and call it a day"

Xavier stretched his wrist,twisting it a few times,"Oh he would definitely kill me if he found out"

"And you are still doing it?"

The brat shrugged his shoulders,"I don't think about consequences"

"You probably should"

Xavier got inside the coffin and raised his fist. "Nah"

A loud sound came with Xavier's punch and wind blew from his punch nearly knocking out Heeseung. But the coffin bottom stayed intact as if it didn't just receive the punch of the century.

"Holy shit! Did it work??",Heeseung was flabbergasted as he stalked towards the coffin to take a look.

Xavier gritted his teeth seeing no single scratch. "It's too strong. Fuck!! Damn it!! What should I do?!"

Heeseung,"Hey....maybe calm down and think? I know I haven't known you for a long time but I know you are smart. If you can't figure this out,I bet no one can"

Heeseung wasn't bluffing. He truly believed that if Xavier couldn't figure out what would open this coffin bottom,then no one would.

Xavier looked at Heeseung with a blank gaze,".....You....why do you think I could figure this out?"

Heeseung had a face as if saying 'isn't it obvious'. He pointed at Xavier's eyes,"Because you are a Pendragon? Duh"

Xavier paused suddenly. "What did you say?"

"You are a Pendragon?"

Xavier looked at the bloody rose carving,"...right. That's it. Only a Pendragon should be able to open this. But the Pendragon blood does not work. Think think think. Mmm....yes yes....as far as I know,only the Pendragon elders have visited this place. Only the elders. Not me,not my mom,not Gabriel,.....a thing only elders can do. Cursed Pendragons".Xavier's eyes lit up. "The snap"

Heeseung was having a brain rot after listening to the teenager's mumbling.

Xavier's excitement of figuring out the answer soon faded,"...they do not want any other Pendragon to enter this place. Once all the cursed Pendragons died,no one would be able to open this place. It's as if.....they want to take the secret inside this place to the grave with themselves"

Xavier was not a Pendragon born with a curse. Thus,he did not have 'the snap'. He only had the inherited strength of a Pendragon and mana.

"If that is the case,....then we should probably stop",Heeseung said slowly. "This is not a good place Xavier. We should —"

"Heeseung"

Again!!!

The voice!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Hey guys

Hope you enjoyed

See ya soon

Vote and comment