The Taste of Seduction

"But it has been three days…"

"No need to worry. This is normal for people who used magic for the first time."

"But Meredith…"

"It\'s alright, Atlas… she\'ll wake up soon."

The woman who lay on the bed creased her brows together as two familiar voices talked beside her. Her head was slightly aching, not wanting to open her eyes for a moment.

\'What are they talking about?\' she thought, knowing that the voices are Atlas and Austin talking to each other. \'Three days? What do they mean?\'

She wanted to wake up completely. She was in a half-awake, half-asleep situation, so she was also confused with what was happening.

Meredith recalled that she was doing the ritual of breaking the soul tie. Everything was going smoothly; she was even connected to Marcus\' subconscious.

With her hearing that she had been asleep for three days and did not wake up… was she just dreaming about the ritual?

With that in thought, she immediately shot up from bed, already in a sitting position.

"Aaaah!"

It made Austin and Atlas scream in unison, making her look at them with a panicked expression on her face.

"I… I was sleeping for three days!?"

Two men let out a sigh of relief. They looked back at each other and then to Meredith, Atlas sitting down on the side of the bed to pull her in an embrace.

"Meredith… finally. You\'re awake. You—"

"Wait, answer me…" she interrupted, slightly pushing him away as she was confused as to what happened. "I was asleep for three days?"

"Yes," Atlas answered, a worried expression appearing on his face. "Are you alright? Are you hungry? Need to go to the bathroom?"

She shook her head profusely. As anxiety washed over her body, she looked at Austin, her words rushed as she demanded answers.

"I remember that I was doing the ritual. I was linked with his subconscious and I was breaking it." There was hesitation in her voice, yet she was brave enough to ask aloud. "The ritual… is it… successful?"

Atlas and Austin looked at each other in silence, then back at her.

"Meredith—"

"And Marcus—" she interrupted Atlas once more, her eyes widening in shock as she realized that he isn\'t in the room. "—he\'s not here. Don\'t tell me—"

Just as she was about to say that he\'s not around, the door barged in open, revealing the man she was about to ask. With furrowed brows, he stepped inside the room, his voice heard.

"I heard shouts. What happened to Meredith? Is she—"

His eyes locked with hers. The moment he realized that she is awake, he suddenly felt weak to see her conscious.

"Meredith… she\'s awake," he mumbled, still enough for everyone to hear. "Thank goodness she\'s alright and now awake."

Silence filled the room in an instant. As Meredith struggled to absorb everything that was happening, from her hearing that she was asleep for three days, to them worrying about her for being unconscious, and not having an answer about the ritual… she grew desperate by the second.

"Please…"

Her hands on the sheet tightened, making it into a ball inside her palm.

"Tell me. Did the ritual succeed or not?"

Meredith looked at Atlas, Marcus, then at Austin. As they were not talking to her immediately, she grew impatient by the second, already demanding for an answer.

"Tell me! Did I succeed or not!?"

"Meredith, you did." Marcus answered himself, a pained expression on his face as he further talked to her. "Atlas and Austin didn\'t say a word because they knew how it pained me so that it happened."

The room fell into another awkward silence. With Marcus\' eyes a bit glassy as he forced his tears to stay, he further spoke, his voice almost breaking.

"Remember what Austin said before about it hurting? Even though it was done properly… and in an arduous ritual… knowing that I no longer have my tie with you broke my heart into teeny tiny pieces."

Meredith looked at him and didn\'t know what to say. As she was about to open her mouth to say sorry, he already knew what he was about to say and spoke to her before she could even manage to get the words out.

"You don\'t have to apologize," he said, forcing a smile. "I stayed despite that. I proved my loyalty to everyone. To you… and to Atlas especially. I stayed whilst you were unconscious because I worried about you."

"Marcus—"

"You don\'t have to worry about it failing," he interrupted once more, a tear escaping his eye. "You\'ve succeeded. You finally broke it. But I\'ll still be here until you need me. For now… let me be."

He left the room once he was assured that Meredith was okay. Austin and Atlas looked at Meredith, further explaining why Marcus was emotional.

"The moment you woke up, he woke up the same but with excruciating pain as the soul tie inside him faded slowly. It was a burning sensation, but with the help of the potion that we took, it was bearable for him. It hurt him, but his love with you stayed."

The moment Austin said that, Meredith looked at both of her hands, not knowing what to say.

"I no longer doubted his loyalty. He was not angry about it. But I understand his grieving now. He decided to stay behind even though he could already leave. But because he is worried about you, he chose to stay until you\'ve woken up."

"So…" Meredith looked at him, a forlorn expression on her face. "Will he be really leaving now? Since I am awake?"

"Not yet," Atlas answered, feeling slightly bad for Marcus. "He decided to leave with us when we\'re back on earth."

"Oh…" Meredith\'s lips were on a tight line, letting out a sigh. "But I want to train myself for a few more days still. If he wants to leave, or to stay, then it\'s up to him."

"Alright." Atlas stood up, excusing himself. "I\'ll talk to him, then."

With that, Meredith let out a sigh, speaking to Austin.

"I\'ll need to talk to you about training but for now… I want to be alone."