Chapter 56: Rita’s Past
The moonlight shining through the bedroom window cast Rita’s body in a beautiful glow, but Percy couldn’t really appreciate the view since he could tell that there was something wrong. Percy moved closer to Rita, and he looked down at what she was holding close to her chest.
’The Key.’
Percy hummed curiously as he realized that Rita had taken the second half of the Chronos Medallion from his lab downstairs, and she was now holding it to her chest like a mother protecting her child. Rita was obviously sleeping, but her face was scrunched up in a look of terror. Like she was having a bad dream she couldn’t wake up from.
Percy climbed onto the bed slowly, and he put his hand on Rita’s shoulder.
"Rita. Wake up."
Rita’s eyes snapped open in shock, and she lashed out with a blow that could split a mountain. But Percy easily caught her hand, and he used his magic to counter her own magic so that it would cancel out into nothing. Percy pulled Rita’s hand down while speaking reassuringly.
"Calm down, Rita. You’re not in the dungeon. You’re with me."
Rita was breathing heavily as she stared at Percy, and it took a few seconds before her eyes widened as she realized what she had just done! Rita’s face squeezed in anguish, and she reached out to touch Percy’s face.
"P-Percy? Oh gods, I’m so sorry. I-I thought-"
"It’s okay."
Percy leaned into Rita’s touch with a smile as he said this. This wasn’t the first time that Rita would be having nightmares. Back when she was just a little girl, Rita had been taken by the Horox faction, and they beat her many times to try and make her father surrender to them. Those memories had stayed with Rita, and it took a long time for her to be able to sleep without waking up in terror.
But it had been a very long time since Rita had any sort of nightmare, and Percy thought that the nightmares had finally left her since she was now powerful enough to take care of anyone who attacked her. The fact that Rita was having another nightmare meant that something must’ve happened recently, and Percy had a feeling that it had something to do with the vampire that woke up.
Rita still looked absolutely furious with herself for attacking Percy, and Percy shifted on the bed so that he was sitting behind her. Percy pulled Rita into his chest, and he wrapped a hand around her body before he asked.
"What happened, Rita? Why did you take the Key from my lab?"
The golden half-pendant was lying on the bed beside them, and Rita leaned back into Percy’s chest and let out a long, tired sigh. Rita didn’t even know how to start explaining what had been going through her head for the past few hours! Ever since Rita spoke to Ethan earlier, it felt like all the memories that Rita had locked away a long time ago began to surface again, and Rita didn’t like it at all. Back when Rita was in the dungeon, this Key was the only thing that kept her company, and when those memories became too much for her, she just had to go and take it again to try and suppress them. But it obviously hadn’t worked.
"I don’t really know where to start."
Rita said this in a low voice, and Percy ran his hand over her flat stomach while saying:
"How about you start from the beginning? What happened after the vampire woke up?"
Rita hummed, and she leaned even more into Percy’s chest before she finally began to talk. Rita told Percy everything about what had gone on while he was away. She told him about Ethan waking up and how their interaction went. The news about Rita’s family and how they found the pendant. The missions to the future and the way her father had died without any explanations.
Rita then told him about the mysterious letter Ethan had received and then how Ethan and Rita’s sister had gone to the future, and they saw the Ashton clan massacring the Pastoni. That future was the reason why Ethan came all the way back here, because apparently, the Key and lock were meant to help him fix the future.
"I don’t know how he plans to do it, but he seemed so sure of himself, so there’s a chance that it’s true. But I refused to give him my support. The future is already set in stone, and changing it is only going to cause problems. After that, I left the clinic, and I thought that would be the end of it. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to think about my family again. But every time I close my eyes, I feel like I’m back in the dungeon. I hate it."
Rita gripped Percy’s hand tightly as she glared at the wall, and Percy hummed as he held Rita tighter, and Rita spoke up again.
"Did I ever tell you what happened with my brother?"
Percy made a sound to say she hadn’t, and Rita seemed to fold in on herself even more. Percy whispered in her ear:
"You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to."
Percy and Rita had known each other for a very long time now, but Rita had barely spoken about her brother. Percy only knew that he had been a very kind boy and that he died at a young age. Rita shook her head slowly.
"N-no, I... I feel ready to talk about it. I want to talk about it."
Percy nodded silently, and Rita continued.
"I wasn’t the only one captured by the Horox that day. My mother was killed, but my brother and I were taken away along with a few other nobles to be used as bargaining chips. But my brother had been injured during the attack. He was a little boy, and his magic wasn’t strong enough to heal him, and since none of the prisoners were good at healing magic, we could only beg the soldiers to help him. But they all ignored us. They didn’t see the point in using a precious healing potion on him, and they believed that having just me as a bargaining chip was enough. I watched my brother die slowly, and there was nothing I could do about it. This medallion used to belong to him, but I managed to grab it before they took his body away."
Percy glanced at the Key lying at the side and asked:
"Is that why you took the Key from the lab?"
Rita nodded.
"Mhmm, it used to help me to calm down in the dungeon, and I thought it would help me this time too, but it was useless. Forget about this; it’s all in the past, and thinking about it isn’t going to bring my brother back."
Rita pressed herself tighter against Percy, and Percy placed a kiss on her temple.
"Thanks for telling me, Rita."
Rita hummed.
"It’s fine, baby. Besides, I couldn’t keep it inside forever. I hate the way it made me feel."
Percy smiled sadly when he heard Rita’s irritated tone, and he placed another kiss on her temple. Rita shuffled into Percy’s hold, and she felt herself relaxing when she felt Percy’s body heat. Rita didn’t know why she even tried to use the stupid pendant to calm herself in the first place. For the past ten years since she had been with Percy, Rita’s nightmares had stopped completely. Rita thought that the reason for this was because she was now powerful and she could no longer be a victim like before, but that wasn’t the case at all. The entire reason why her nightmares vanished was the man sitting behind her right now. Being in Percy’s arms allowed her mind to settle and drove her nightmares away.