A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Immediately, Eira's guilt and shame skyrocketed. At the same time, she remained quiet, which told Erik that he'd struck a nerve—a nerve Eira already knew was there.

"I— I—"

she finally stammered in clear distress, unsure what to say. Her emotions flickered around in a panic as Erik's bond with her wavered slightly.

"You don't need to answer now,"

Erik told her softly.

"Just think about it for a little while. I won't blame you, no matter your answer, just as I don't blame you for what happened with Edda."

His voice grew a little sterner, "That said, it's important we both know the truth, because if, fundamentally, you see me as a tool, then we need to fix that before we can even start building the kind of relationship you want."

Eira mentally gulped as her mind began to calm down a little.

"I— C— Can it be all three?"

"It can be anything, so long as it's the truth,"

Erik smirked back slightly.

"Just think about it for a while, alright? Being honest with ourselves and to each other is an important step in our journey together.

"

Slowly, Eira nodded, a little miserably, but mostly preoccupied and thoughtful.

Meanwhile, Erik chuckled to himself, 'Better she ponders about a problem she can actually solve, rather than one she can't. I'm betting that, as soon as she's figured out her answer, she'll have moved passed the Edda thing.'

But then he frowned a little more seriously, 'Besides, it's still a question that needs an answer…'

With that done, he focused back on assessing his body.

His white fur was no longer caked in blood, likely cleaned up with a wave of Elora's Seidr magic. Meanwhile, the main source of that blood, the tens of cracks in his skin that formed from playing with powers that his body couldn't handle yet, had already succumbed to the power of his regeneration and his wives' healing magic.

Thus, most of his body had returned to its normal state—taut, healthy, powerful, and covered in pristine white fur.

Except for one spot: his chest.

A fist-sized, hairless spot of reddish skin sat mere inches from his heart, radiating intense pain throughout his body. Fortunately, Elora was sleeping next to it, on top of his heart.

In a moment of brave foolishness, he flexed the muscles in his chest slightly to test their status, but was instantly forced to muffle a loud groan as the pain nearly blinded him.

'F— Fuck,' he snarled inwardly as his face grimaced painfully. Instantly, his sleeping wives became a little restless, as they felt a slight alteration in their bond with him.

But Erik quickly suppressed it and send them soothing emotions instead. He could feel they were still exhausted, and wanted to let them sleep a while longer.

Soon, they calmed down again, and Erik breathed a sigh of relief.

'Well, at least it's not a hole anymore,' he chuckled wryly when the pain had started to ebb away. 'But I wouldn't be surprised if it left a nice scar.'

Then, he frowned sternly, 'Although… I have to wonder how long I've been unconscious for it to have healed up to this point already. Even with my natural regeneration as a werewolf, my status as a second ranked Runebound with several powerful bloodlines, Elora's support, and Emma's healing, it must have already been days, or even a week, since I got wounded.'

He raised a thoughtful eyebrow and looked up at the grey stone ceiling, 'Which makes me wonder all the more about where the fuck I am.' Then he looked down at the fairy on his chest, 'Or why Elora isn't merged with me right now, to speed up my recovery.'

For a moment, he sank into thoughts, as the various reasons for his current situation flitted through his mind. But then, his eyes widened when he thought of something.
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'Shit!' he cursed inwardly, before turning his attention inward, to the dimension inside, and quickly found what he was looking for.

In the training room of his dimension, he found a lonely, desolate figure who'd clearly been training for several days without rest. Her small body was covered in sweat and trembled from exhaustion, yet her brows were furrowed and her jaw tightened.

She refused to stop. Instead, she simply considered the time she spent on comprehending her runes as 'rest'.

For a moment, Erik watched her with a wry expression. He couldn't help but wonder how long she'd been alone in here, and if he'd done the right thing by leaving her inside. At his last moments before unconsciousness, he'd pulled out everyone except Alice, as he judged the situation far too dangerous for a first ranker.

Yet, since he was the only one able to open the dimension, that meant Alice had been stuck here all alone.

Currently, she was doing various physical exercises with special weights attached to her arms and legs. As she trained, aetherium seeped into her body, refining it, and advancing her way to the second rank

Finally, he sighed and decided to face the music. Thus, he appeared as a human-form projection behind her, just like he'd done with Naeku before.

"Hey, Alice," he chuckled awkwardly. "I've got a sneaking suspicion you haven't been following the schedule I created for you…"

Instantly, Alice halted in her current stance and her body began to tremble harder. Because he was facing her back, he had no idea what expression she wore, but he could guess at the struggle she was likely going through.

Finally, she seemed to get herself under control and continued the exercise. "I— I guess y— you made it… Good for you…!" she stammered slightly with a grumbling, somewhat cracked voice.

Erik sighed wryly while pursing his lips, but otherwise remained quiet as he watched her make an attempt at ignoring him.

Yet, it didn't take long for her to give it up.

Her body continued trembling harder and harder, while her heart quickly went out of her exercises, until she finally tossed down the weights, and whipped around to look at Erik. At first glance, her face appeared to be twisted in anger, but she was still far too young to pull the wool over Erik's eyes.

"Are you just going to stand there?!" she seethed furiously.

"Well… You seem a little tired, so I was planning to invite you to sleep with me and your mothers," he smiled gently, making it a point not to seem affected by her hostility. "Assuming you still care about us…"

"Of course I still care about my mothers!" she harumphed, while turning her gaze away. "They did all they could to keep me company through Elora's connection with this place and the still-active viewing screen in the main room."

"You, on the other hand, left me alone in this place for ten days!" she exclaimed, while pointing at him accusingly and narrowing her eyes.

Despite her words, however, Erik could see her emotions were mostly coming from a place of frustration born from helplessness and worry. She knew he would have never put her in an uncontrollable situation like that, and she hated the fact she was unable to help her new family due to her youth and weakness.