Threads of the Soul

Chapter 460 - 460: Young Love

While he should have been focusing on the two versions of his brothers, and having his mind completely blown by it, Woe did not even notice them. Instead he had been staring at the flying girl from the moment she appeared.The fact that such a tiny body held such insane strength was not only ridiculous, but amazing. However that wasn't all that was on his mind. The more he stared at her, noting her goofy smile and the way she floated without a care in the world, the more a single thought filled his mind.

'She's sort of... cute.'

Now, she was too young for him to consider doing anything at the moment, he was Sixteen and her age was hard to gauge, but if he had to guess he's say about Thirteen. It was already breaching on the creepy by modern societies standards, but Woe knew that.

It was just rare to find people close to his own age that had abilities. Kids didn't exactly survive in a world of blood and death, whether by the hands of beast or man.

Even if they lived long enough to develop abilities and learn how to use them, it was the first few hunting trips that ended most of their lives. So the fact this girl had survived this long and become so powerful was already an amazing feat.

His mind drifted to thoughts of the future, wondering that if they were to meet again when they were older that perhaps something might happen then, when it was more appropriate and they were more secure in the mortality of their lives.

Honestly, just meeting someone sturdy enough to have those thoughts and not feel like they were delusional was enough to make Woe smile. However as he was in the middle of his future day dreams, the girl in the sky looked over in his direction.

For a moment they locked eyes before Woe immediately looked away. His eyes focused on the grass and the plants around him, as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world.

When he risked another glance towards the girl, his heart nearly leapt out of his throat as he saw her flying over in his direction, her eyes still focused on him. Panic flushed his entire body. His palms felt like they were immediately doused with a gallon of sweat and conversely his mouth felt drier than a desert.

That's where the sweat for his hands must have come from.

His eyes darted around, unsure of what to do or what to look at and then there was his feet! What was he supposed to do with his feet? What did he usually do with his feet? Why was this suddenly so difficult?

The girl landed Infront of him with a bounce and skipped over to him happily, sticking out her hand for a handshake as she gave him a wide, beaming smile. Her cheeks were slightly rosy with blush and she wiggled her fingers nervously as she held out her hand.

"Umm... Hi, I'm Nixie."

Everything about her just blasted Woe in the face with how unbelievably cute she was. He stared at her outstretched hand for a few seconds, panic clear in his eyes as he desperately asked his mind what he was supposed to do now. It took far too long to bring back the obvious answer, and he quickly and roughly rubbed his sweaty hand on his trousers before clasping it in hers.

He shook her hand quickly, stumbling over his words as he managed to get out his name.

"W-w-w- Woe. M-my name is Woe. It's nice to meet you."

The girl smiled wider which squeezed Woe's heart for reasons he couldn't understand. Unfortunately at the same time, she squeezed her hand tighter, and he felt the bones in his hand snapping like twigs.

She didn't seem to notice though, as she said,

"Hehe, Yeah! It's so nice to meet you. I mean, I can't believe I have an Uncle!"

Uncle. That word hit Woe harder than any beast could. Even the T-Chex the girl punched to death got off lightly compared to the complete obliteration of his strange and confusion feelings. Just when they were starting to bud and grow, they were blasted into oblivion by that singular word.

His body completely froze up, his eyes widened in confusion and horror and his nervousness had been flushed from his system. Even the pain from his ever so slightly mangled hand was dulled in the presence of this earth shattering revelation.

Nixie... The name sounded familiar, he was sure that Ophelia had mentioned Seth having a daughter called the same thing. But... But there was no way that this could be the same person, could it?

Was his brother some kind of dog that had a child when he was his age?!

Nixie was completely oblivious to the mental turmoil that she had put the poor boy through as she just kept talking away, not even realising that she had crushed his hand either. After so long around people close to her own strength, and especially Honey, she had forgotten that not everyone was the same.

From Afar, Seth watched the two with an amused smirk on his face. Xander had pulled Corvus away to talk about alliances and other important things that was reserved for 'important leaders only', which also gave Corvus an opportunity to show off the arm he had collected.

The reason he had held onto it the entire time was to show the tattoo on that arm, a brand in Nordic runes that showed that he was a servant of the traitor gods. Most likely a way to keep an eye on their pawn.

But that was no concern of Seth's at the moment. Instead he sent a quick message to Lee, asking him to bring Ava over so she could use some of her healing, not just on Woe's hand - and not on his shattered heart - but also on the rest who had suffered.