GRAVICTA

CHAPTER 41.

Finally reaching the city of the Frees, we start heading for Mrs Purplestorm's house. The Freestars are acting weird. Everyone who sees us smiles and waves as though they know us. I turn to see that Zed isn't wearing a hood and they must have heard his voice when he saved Gravicta earlier.

"So now they don't hate us again?" I mumble to myself.

Now that I think about it, Zed mentioned something about something big happening after the night of the zero moon. Decklan also mentioned that they will make Zed the next King of Gravicta. I look to see that he has a frown on his face. He must still really hate them. My eyes land on the necklace I gave him and I smile to myself.

We reach the house and when we settle in, Zed and Puffer sit to talk about stuff while Mrs Purplestorm, Buttertooth and I clean up the place. I've decided to stay here and not go see my mom until we figure out what to do.

"What should we do next?" Buttertooth asks Mrs Purplestorm.

"Obviously we'll have to fight," Mrs Purplestorm replies, keeping the broom she is holding.

"But how could this happen? How is Decklan able to do all these even without being the Chosen. Is it because he's also the late King's son?" Buttertooth says and I glare at her, trying to shut her up.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Mrs Purplestorm looks at the both of us, clearly shocked that we know.

With a sigh, I reply, "We saw your letters. The ones you and the late King Lucifer wrote to each other."

"Oh. He kept those," Mrs Purplestorm says, her face flushed.

"You had his son, didn't you?" I say, picking a rag and cleaning the kitchen shelves.

"It seems you two found out." She looks away, avoiding eye contact with any of us.

I smirk and make my way to where she's standing. "Oh, trust me, Zed and Puffer also know about this."

"What!" She screams.

"Yeah. We all saw the letters together. Now back to what I was asking," Buttertooth says, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, what was your question again?" She walks over to the kitchen door and shuts it.

"How is Decklan able to control the demons? Is it because he is also the late King's son?" Buttertooth repeats her question but Mrs Purplestorm looks even more confused.

"Decklan is Lucifer's son?" She asks, staring at us like she doesn't really have a clue.

"Now you're acting like you don't know your son? I told you we already saw everything in the letters so stop acting dumb," Buttertooth says, crossing her arms.

"I'm going to forgive that attitude. I can't believe you think Decklan is my son. Lucifer had only one child and that's Zed," she says.

"You don't mean..." Buttertooth starts but shuts her mouth immediately.

"Yes, I do. I am Zed's mother so get that Decklan thought out of your head," she says and my eyes almost fall off.

"O. M. G!" Buttertooth exclaims, covering her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.

"Then why was Decklan's name in the letters?" I ask and her confused expression answers my question. "You two never mentioned that name huh?"

"It must have been tampered with. Decklan might have even been the one to do that," she says, sighing and closing her eyes.

"Wow. I can't believe you're Zed's real mom. I have a lot of questions," I say and she nods.

"Let's go to my room first," she says and leaves the kitchen.

Buttertooth looks at me and smiles. "This whole thing is twisted. Why must they be so secretive?"

"I don't know but it's eating up my brain capacity. I can't keep up with the new stuff we find out every now and then." I sigh and Buttertooth hums.

"Let's go upstairs. I think she has a lot to say so we should hear her out," she says and I nod, keeping the rag and heading upstairs.

Mrs Purplestorm taps her bed when we walk in. We sit beside her, an awkward silence taking over for a while before I clear my throat.

"I said I had some questions," I say and she nods.

"And I'm waiting for them," she replies plainly, her serious tone now intimidating.

"Okay then. Firstly, if you're Zed's mom then why does he have white hair? Secondly, what spell were you talking about in the letter? And thirdly, why haven't you told Zed all these years?" I say.

She inhales deeply before letting out a heavy breath. "The first and second question should already answer each other."

"Oh shit, you did that?" I say, running my hand through my hair.

"I don't get it," Buttertooth whines.

"Do you remember the part of the letter where the late King said, the spell is also working just fine?" I ask and she nods.

"Yeah that's when he also mentioned Decklan's name," she replies.

"It seems that Mrs Purplestorm really placed a spell on her son who happens to be Zed. Only that the spell was to change his hair colour," I explain.

"So, you made everyone think Zed was the late Queen's son by making his hair colour white" Buttertooth says, looking at Mrs Purplestorm.

"Yes. It had to be done to cover my mistake," she says, lowering her head.

"By mistake, you mean sleeping with your best friend's husband, right?" I say and she chokes on her own saliva.

After coughing a while, she stares wide eyed. "You really know everything then. Someone must have told you."

"Maybe," I say and she smiles briefly.

"Yes, that was my mistake. Giving birth to Zed was a blessing though. Something I don't regret." She smiles again.

"My third question. Why haven't you told him all these years?" I ask and her smile fades.

"Well I didn't think I should. I still don't," she says, covering her face with her hands.

"Why? You're his mother and you have been really quiet about it. His father is dead, you know. Nobody can stop you," I say but she shakes her head.

"If his father couldn't accept me as the mother then what makes you think Zed will? I just don't want to ruin my opportunity of watching him grow up," she explains.

"Oh." I feel sad for her. It's no wonder she's been keeping to herself, looking out for Zed in the dark.

The ground starts shaking just like it did when we were at the cemetery. Something is wrong. Mrs Purplestorm stands up and runs out, Buttertooth and I following behind. Getting to the sitting room, Zed and Puffer seem to have gone outside.

"It's Decklan." I hear Zed say angrily when we get outside. "He's close to the city already."

"Speak of the devil," Puffer says.

Zed lets his wings out and with a devilish grin, he says, "The devil huh? That would be me."

With that, he vanishes. We look up to see that he's headed towards the Gates. I have never seen him fly this fast before even though I've heard about it. I start breathing fast and my body feels so alive all of a sudden.

"Why am I panting? I also feel so hyper," I say, staring at my hands.

"It's Zed." Mrs Purplestorm smiles and lets her wings out. "He's having an adrenaline rush. Let's go help out."