(BL) The Villain wants a Divorce!

Lucian did exactly as he said, feeding all of the men in the room. That included Cass and Mr. Collins, who was rather surprised that he got roped into the statement. The poor man was unaware of the fact that just because he was in the room he was getting taken care of.

Even though Mr. Collins said that he had dinner plans, Lucian didn’t care. He told him just to tell his partner that he was at Cass’ place and he was being fed whether he liked it or not. Lucian seemed to forget that Mr. Collins wasn’t a magical being, or capable of magic like he was able to. Or Edgar or Cass.

Sam however, had gotten over his complete anger at Mr. Collins, given how Lucian was treating him and offered to let his dinner partner know that he was running late and that he would probably miss dinner.

Mr. Collins didn’t want to bother his companion, but Sam insisted, and sent Byron to deliver the news. Cass did think it was rather funny, and he had high suspicions that it was Christopher that he was supposed to have dinner with.

Lucian, as per usual, dictated where everyone sat. He had come up with a regular system. Everyone who was new sat next to Gideon, and he sat next to Cass and Edgar. Edgar sat to the left of him and Cass sat to the right. Gideon got the left overs.

The preference was obvious, and made Cass chuckle this time. Mr. Collins sat on the other side of Gideon so that Sam didn’t have to sit next to him. Cass did his best not to laugh since poor Mr. Collins had no idea why the others didn’t quite like him.

The meal was a feast. Cass wasn’t sure when the dragon had gone out and gotten more meat, but he had done a good job. Ser Hune and Sir Sanders even came down to hang out, Lucian being extra cautious with the woman who was planning to get pregnant.

However, Cass enjoyed himself, and he was able to send Mr. Collins off with a goodie bag for Christopher. The man was embarrassed, but he appreciated the kindness that they were showing. Cass was grateful for the man who had stepped up and helped Cass out in a way that he wasn’t used to. Mr. Collins was just happy that he could be of more help to him.

Cass let Mr. Collins know that if he came across any buildings that he thought were suitable that he should send a letter to the estate addressed to Ser Hune. She would be an expert in what kind of homes they were looking for, and Ser Hune agreed. She told Mr. Collins that she would be glad to help spend Cass’ money.

Mr. Collins looked horrified at that statement, but Cass just rolled his eyes. He bet that she was happy to help with that, and he didn’t mind.

After he sent Mr. Collins home, Cass and Sam went over the last of the packing, a final check before they all went to bed early. Cass wasn’t going to allow any of them fool around, it was only sleep time. He was going to pester Gideon and Edgar when they were traveling the next day and neither of them could escape him.

Tonight, they all needed to rest since Cass had no idea what they were going to find when they arrived at the dungeon. There was still a rather large part of Cass that was terrified about what they were going to do without Fiona. He knew that he had hero powers and that he now had Gideon as a backup saint, but he didn’t know if the powers that controlled the world would agree to that.

Yes, the gods were intentionally interfering, but they themselves had said that they hadn’t created this world, someone else had. What if they came back? What if they had a bigger role in this then Cass thought? He’d thought he’d been dealing with mid tier to high tier gods. He’d pushed the fact that there was something even bigger than them away until he was lying down in bed, Lucian curled around him like a giant furnace and Edgar backed up until his ass was against Cass’ dick.

They had no problem falling asleep, while Cass felt his mind spinning. Was he going to be good in this dungeon? Was he going to be a good hero? What if something went wrong? Cass knew that this was a dangerous story, since Cassian had died and Lucian had said that people did die in these dungeons, so what would happen when four people went into a dungeon meant for six?

It was a serious concern, and even if he knew that everyone was powerful and that he’d gotten a power boost and so had Gideon, he couldn’t fight the feeling that something might go wrong. He wasn’t sure if he was just overthinking things, or if he had a reason to be scared.

~

Cass barely got any sleep that night, rising earlier than the other two and even Sam to go down to the basement and speak to the nursery tree. He hadn’t been by to visit them for a while, and guilt ate at him for it. He wasn’t sure if it was the lack of his sleep and his own concerns that made him more anxious.

Even as his toes sunk into the fresh grass, the scent of their leaves and the whisper of the invisible wind that rustled their leaves filled his nostrils and body, Cass still felt his mind spinning, his body twitching.

It wasn’t until he touched the bark of the nursery tree and the tree pulled him in that Cass finally relaxed, and found that his guilt was pointless. The tree didn’t blame Cass, and also made it clear that time wasn’t as straightforward for the tree as it was for Cass.

However, they could tell that Cass was anxious, and that something big was coming up for them. They had also noticed how the energy in the house had shifted, how Cass had shifted, and Cass realised that while they had discussed Cass before and how he was worried if the tree would accept him, he hadn’t explained what was happening.

So, Cass did just that. He explained how his body had shifted, what his Mom had done, and the consequences for that.

There was one, awful moment where the tree stilled completely. Cass had never noticed it before, but the tree was never fully still. It might not be obvious, but it was always moving, always shifting slightly. It was how it proved that it was alive.

When it went still, Cass thought the world was going to end. Breathing became harder for that minute, and it felt like all the love and heat in the universe was fading at a rapid rate. He wondered if this was how Ser Hune had felt when she was in the forest around the last dungeon. If that was the case? She needed a big raise.

Then, the moment was gone and Cass was in such shock that he wondered if he had hallucinated it. He knew that he hadn’t when the tree spoke to Cass.

What Cass’ Mom had done was a crime. A serious one. Not only had she gone against the wishes of nature, she had also gone against Cass’ free will. Fairies honoured that greatly, always had. They let their children roam the world, do crazy things, fight for the wrong side if they wanted. They never punished them for what they did until after they came back because kids were precious. Fairies were precious.

Everywhere they went they brought life and love, and Cass felt like that was a secret he wasn’t supposed to know, but the tree continued. This world wasn’t just made for the others, it was made for fairies. If they didn’t visit a place, it would fall into ruin. If a country had no fairies, their waterways would dry up, their forests would burn and life would cease in the area. It wasn’t a well known thing, nor was the fact that if enough fairies gathered in a new area, a nursery tree would begin to grow. It would take years, but the world would come back to life.

However, what his Mother had done? The evil that she had put onto Cass’ name for the benefit of herself?

Cass had never seen the tree so angry. Cass wasn’t even sure if the tree was this angry at their grandfather.

The more that the nursery tree told him, the more that Cass realised that he really should fund an expedition to go around the world and tend and protect nursery trees. That would probably have as much of an impact as defeating dungeons, honestly.

He could just travel around, rejuvenating areas where nursery trees were rumoured to grow, defeating the dungeons around the area and dropping trunk loads of cash to help fairies in the area.

It honestly sounded...very tempting while Cass was on the verge of going into another dungeon.

Either way, Cass was very grateful for the righteous anger that the nursery tree was feeling for Cass. He also told the tree that he was thankful for all that they were doing, and that Ser Hune’s family might show up while he was gone to tend to her.

The nursery tree seemed to settle once it found out that more fairies might be coming to visit. Cass was glad that they found the news as good news, but he just realised he was feeling anxious.

He also confided in the tree his feelings when it came to the men around him, and the fact that Fiona and Ava had left. The way that the tree was able to hug him without arms and limbs was so comforting that Cass just couldn’t put it into words. It was unlike anything that a being with limbs could understand.

Cass wouldn’t have been able to find words for it, ever, but he hoped that others would be able to experience it someday.

The way that the tree called him a sweet fairy and caressed him like a loving mother really was what Cass needed. The way that it accepted everything and anything that Cass was, and that he had big plans for the future and that it might involve death was relieving. Especially since the tree joked and said that they were excited for ’fertilizer’. Cass joked that Lucian might eat them instead and the tree just said that he needed to bury his excrement as a dragon amongst the trees.

It was such a strange, but wonderful conversation that Cass felt better, calmer when he went back to his room. He was wandering the halls barefoot when he ran into Sam about to knock on his bedroom door.

Sam looked shocked to see him up and about, but Cass just smiled at him softly. Sam took in the relaxed way that Cass was walking, the slight flush to his cheeks and the fact that he was barefoot and just nodded. That was something that Cass would do, and Sam was a sweet man who barely questioned Cass’s odd behaviour.