Once more, Jean traveled over the open land by horse with Basker running beside him. As the façade required Basker to be treated like an ordinary dog, the distance from the Memorraw to Bremen worked as a good morning run. Though he hadn't said anything to Celezar, Jean quietly intended to stay with him for the entirety of the day.

As he rode the horse in a gallop, Jean's heart beat at a steady pace despite his anticipation and, admittedly, excitement. Every now and then, his lips would spread into a small smile. He knew what he was doing. He knew what it meant—could mean. But those things would not happen to him. His eyes followed Basker.

He was not doing anything wrong.

After letting the horse rest at the same inn's stable, he realized Basker was missing, like last time. He smiled and continued his walk through the city with the same central park in mind. It wasn't as early in the morning as before; shops had a steady flow of customers, more people and vehicles were about, and school would be starting soon.

One thing that did worry him was that he saw more familiar hunters at a distance. He did his best to avoid them, weaving through the streets and staying away from the main roads. He wasn't of the mind to speak to anyone else.

Once he arrived at the park, he moved to stand at the top of the hill overlooking it. It was a crisp spring day, smelling fresh and calming. It was still a bit cool but not so much that it prevented the beginnings of spring growth. The park had been raked of its leaves from autumn and leftover from winter, revealing the young grass springing from the earth.

Early morning chirps of birds fluted through the air, and he looked around to catch a few. He liked this park, at least during this time of the day. It was quiet and welcoming, a wonderful place to relax. Some distance down the hill and around the overpass leading to a bridge was the spot he and Celezar had spoken two days ago. He stared at the dark passageway, recalling it fondly.

A strong arm slid around his waist, and a nose nuzzled into his hair along with a deep inhale. His expression brightened, eyes slanting, and he stalled before leaning against the taller body. He was brought closer to Celezar, and he exhaled deeply with contentment. He looked up to be graced by a tender smile and shining green eyes.

Celezar then took his hand and led him down the hill. Wordlessly, they walked underneath the underpass of the bridge and down the patchy dirt path. Seldom did someone walk by, as there were still morning walkers in the area. After a while, Celezar cut through the forest, and Jean did not question him. They walked some distance inside, the fresh smell even stronger now, and passed trees and their young leaves. Every nearby branch, every flower within arm's reach, was caressed by Celezar with his free hand. Jean would swear some of the verdant magnetized to him as he passed.

Celezar brought him to a clearing. It was large and evidently off the beaten path as only the barest of small trails leading into it were visible. Jean looked around. Flowers dotted the edge of the clearing, budding and some already in full bloom. Out the corner of his eye, Celezar was staring at him. He turned to gaze at him, noticing his partner's eyes were darker than before. It seemed as if a rim of black had formed at the edge of his sclera.

Without much effort, Jean knew this was a...very good sign.

Celezar placed his hands on the sides of Jean's face, pressing their foreheads together. "Do you trust me?" he murmured.

Jean parted his lips to hover them over his partner's. "With my life."

With a gentle smile, Celezar lightly pushed against him, forcing him back. Without hesitation, Jean allowed his body to fall backwards while staring into the dark eyes.

The moment he hit the grass, the world gave away. As if he fell through a trapdoor, the ground disappeared, pulled from underneath him into a darker place. A cold autumny smell immediately overwhelmed his senses. Looking intensely at him, Celezar's eyes glowed brightly in the darker surroundings. Holding Celezar's hand, Jean was rightened so he was falling legs first and gazed around his new environment with awe.

Leaves in browns, reds, purples, and muddy greens twirled as they passed through the sky. The heavens were clear with dancing stars glittered across as far as the eye could see. The moon, so large, so perfectly round, overwhelmed the horizon. The landscape was of blackened, deadish trees and open, brown lands of grooved ground with hazel grass for miles and miles.

The trees. At first, they appeared ordinary, if not dead. But as they came closer, their alarming size dawned on Jean. They were monstrous with swirly branches, thick-limbed and seemingly black as night. If not for the light of the inconceivably large moon, it would be impossible to see anything.

The lights. Bulbous, wispy sapphire-blue and pumpkin-orange lights danced everywhere. Immediately, they reminded Jean of will-o'-wisps; he was sure that's what they were. As he fell, some moved up to dance around him, as if welcoming him to this surreal would. Because he surely wasn't on Earth anymore.

Or was he?

They were falling towards a tree. Said tree kept getting bigger.

In his world, there was a limit to how large a tree could get. Sequoias were one thing; Jean would never forget the first time he saw one. But this monstrosity of a goliath of a tree just kept getting bigger. Worst yet, it wasn't the only one. In the distance of the landscape, trees of different shapes and varieties, from those akin to baobab to those akin to weeping willows, were just as large. Just as magnificent.

Just as downright frightening.

Jean felt so small, so painfully tiny. He was an ant among mountains. The tree was a rich, earthy brown with several large strips of blackened bark, but it seemed perfectly healthy. Even its leaves were a dark, muddy green. Despite this, he couldn't see a single thing wrong with it. At his right, he caught sight of mostly indiscernible creatures traversing the dark land. They were obviously massive, if their size at such a distance was any indicator.

But not as large as the tree.

After what felt like long minutes of falling, they slowed in their descent until they landed gently atop one of the tree's curled limbs. Jean took a moment to gaze upon the new world once more, then focused on Celezar beside him. The hybrid was also looking around, his lips spread in a happy smile.

Somehow, Jean knew why his partner was smiling. This was Celezar's homeland, and he was sharing it with him. For fourteen years, Jean lived as an inhuman hunter. It was dawning on him that he was witnessing things and currently in a world no normal hunter could ever imagine seeing.

Celezar was fully opening up to him, inviting him into the world that would also become partly his.

Jean tugged lightly on Celezar's arm, prompting his partner to look at him. The contented, happy smile was infectious. A smile of his own forming on his face, Jean leaned forward to kiss him.

Celezar was perfectly still, but his mouth moved. He unfurled his tongue within Jean's mouth, giving him a shiver, then roamed lazily, licking and caressing and chuckling at him. Jean slightly pulled away, and Celezar's tongue was still partially in his mouth. As it rolled back, he watched the black muscle disappear behind a grin.

"Welcome to Hallowed Ground, love," said the hybrid, reaching up to place his hand on the side of Jean's face. "My home."

Exhaling softly, Jean licked his lips while leaning into the touch. "I like what I've seen. Now, if only I wasn't rightly terrified as well..."

"That's healthy," Celezar chuckled. "This is a safe place. It's where I live with my family."

"Safe?"

A mischievous smirk was given to him. "Safe safe. I didn't want to bring you to any old place for mating..."

Jean hadn't forgotten about that. He was thankful Celezar had taken safety into account, but it was more than a bit ironic to him that the safest place to be was in an inhuman world.

Taking his hand, Celezar led him down the limb, which was wide enough to be an entire landscape. As they walked, Jean again took notice of the dark creatures traversing the lands. Some were even in the sky, but they didn't bother them. Considering his and Celezar's distance from them, they were larger than life. They were all dark-colored and had tentacles and misty bodies, wings, and large, glowing eyes.

He raised his free hand as the will-o'-wisps continued to dance around. "What are these things?"

"Nightfires. Will o' the wisps. Ghost lights. They have many names." Celezar lifted his other arm which seemed to call the lights to his hand. They gathered just above his palm, hovering in a pile. "You can say they are living remnants of decaying matter."

Jean watched them float away as Celezar blew on them. "Ghosts, essentially?"

"In a way. Only they're alive. They eventually consume themselves and cease to exist. They're almost like the flies of this world."

Looking to his right, Jean caught sight of a large lime-green eyeball peeking from behind the limb of the furthest nearby tree. "Ah...Celezar..."

"Yes, don't mind them. Don't mind any creature that looks at you." Celezar squeezed his hand. "So long as you're with me, they can't hurt you. They wouldn't dare."

Even though Celezar couldn't see it, Jean nodded in understanding. He stared at the eyeball a little longer before looking forward.

They were nearing an interesting sight. The canopy of the tree was full of leaves, but a part of its trunk was entirely open, showing a misty white light within. Once they neared, Jean looked down. It was almost entirely hollow, in a not-so-literal sense of the word.

It wasn't hollowed out, like many possibly unhealthy or unsafe trees in Jean's world. There were platforms and passageways, alcoves and ledges, nests and holes. The light came from glowing white fungi that were far larger than Jean's body and gave the space a ghostly glow. Jean wondered to himself what possibly lived in such a place.

His question was answered when there was a loud chirp from below. The sound echoed through the tree, and it was followed by many other blaring chirps and chirrups. A wide smile broke out on Celezar's face upon hearing them.

"My siblings," he said to Jean. He was also looking into the tree. "My much younger siblings, rather."

Jean recalled Celezar mentioning that he had a twin brother in his human guise. "How many do you have, aside from your twin?"

Eyes dancing with mirth, Celezar hummed, "Oh...many. More than a hundred."

Jean blinked long and hard. "Your parents were busy."

"Are busy. Hallow families are always outrageously large. I'm used to a large family. When I was young, the nest was always crawling with my siblings." Shaking his head dismissively, Celezar let go of Jean's hand. "In any case..."

Clothes, hair, and skin morphed as he transformed into his inhuman form. Jean stepped back a bit, looking up at him, then took several strides away when Celezar lowered on all four of his hands. There was a sudden, hollow cracking sound. In a moment, large, chiropteran-esque wings emerged from Celezar's back. They were the same color as the carapace that was his "skin". He beckoned for Jean to climb up onto him with his head.

Jean eyed him, a blond brow rising. He wondered how he was going to get atop him, moving to the hybrid's side. Instead of trying to figure it out too deeply, he raised himself up by manifesting one of the magical blue platforms beneath his feet. He then grabbed one of the black spines down Celezar's back and climbed up.

The long black appendages that were Celezar's tentacles gently guided him to the only area on the hybrid's back that was bare of spines. That spot was right between said appendages. He settled in position, then watched some tendrils wrap around his hands and feet as he dug his fingers into the craggy parts of Celezar's carapace and rested his boots on some spines. The tendrils securely held him in place.

As soon as he went still, Celezar jumped from the ledge and dove into the tree. While what he was doing was entirely new to Jean, he didn't even flinch at the sudden movement or the whisking of the wind against his body. His eyes did flutter a bit, and he took in the sights as they descended.

The interior of the tree was far more astounding than what he could imagine. With the aid of the glowing fungi, the entire space felt ethereal and unreal. The light cast dark shadows underneath crags and in corners where eyes occasionally glowed from within. Creatures of all sorts watched them from what appeared to be enormous moss, leaf, and twig nests on ledges. The vast majority appeared vaguely similar to Celezar's inhuman form, if not astonishingly larger.

While falling, they were greeted by roars and chirrups, flashing orbs and teeth. Some swipes were made from clawed limbs and low hisses echoed from some nests, but no one approached. Overall, it was a mixed greeting, Jean felt.

They suddenly swooped in the air, causing Jean to slightly jolt form the lack of force, and Celezar descended to a wooden platform carved from the heartwood of the tree. There was a passageway deeper inside the wood as well as what looked like the beginnings of a moss-covered nest on the platform. Hiding most of the area from view was the partial "wall" of the heartwood. It kept the nest entirely hidden.

Celezar landed atop the wood. "Here we are." His wings retracted into his back further ahead of where Jean sat.

The tendrils let Jean go, and he jumped down onto the softness of the moss underneath his feet. It almost felt wrong to be atop it with his boots. "Is this...your nest?"

"Yes. I started making it when I became of age." Celezar morphed back into his human form. He shook his head, running his hands through his hair.

Watching him, Jean looked up at where a softly glowing fungus hung above the space. "How old was that?"

"Ten thousand."

Scoffing, Jean observed his partner as he neared. "You really are a young one, aren't you?"

A familiar mischievous smirk was flashed at him. "I told you. Like a teenager, Jeanie-boy." Celezar gently placed his hands on the sides of Jean's face, pressing their foreheads together. "I've waited a long time for this..."

The meaning behind these words wasn't lost to Jean. He made a lopsided smile, raising his hands to hold Celezar's wrists. "Sorry it took so long to be born."

Laughing softly, Celezar kissed Jean's forehead. He then moved back to take his hand and led him into the passageway within the heartwood. It was possibly large enough to yield the largest of the creatures Jean saw in the other nests. Enormous round chambers were visible down several maze-like halls. The entire space and the chambers were also lit by scatterings of fungi. Moss covered most of the walls and ground and the distant smell of freshwater met Jean's nostrils.

Celezar led him down a particular hall that curved to the left and sloped downward. After several turns, they came to a similarly ethereal, unevenly-shaped space where the massive roots of the tree were partially submerged under a spring of highly reflective water. The "ceiling" of the area was extremely high, at least two hundred feet, if Jean had to guess. Looking up, he saw the fungi were growing from what appeared to be short roots of the tree. They were underneath it.

Along the entirety of the rock and dark roots that made up the walls in front of them were waterfalls of varying sizes. Lowering down along massive roots after the passageway, Celezar brought Jean onto dark black and brown islands that were more roots sticking up in the water. Some roots were covered in moss as they neared the waterfalls. It was still wonderfully soft and thick beneath Jean's feet.

He didn't ask where they were going. He only knew one thing: They were going somewhere private. As he followed Celezar, he realized there was something they had yet to do. If they were going to mate, they might as well do that, too.

The strong sound of rushing water pulsed in his ears. It could have been irritating, but it wasn't. The waterfalls were thousands of times larger than any he had seen on his world. He marveled at them, then looked at Celezar when the hybrid went still.

Still facing forward, Celezar's shoulders rose and fell in a deep exhale. He then turned around, taking Jean's other hand, to look into his eyes.

Before Jean could speak, he felt a gentle, foreign prodding in his mind. He blinked, slightly narrowing his eyes, then recognized what was happening. This was exactly what he was thinking of. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he nodded.

Celezar's lips spread into an elated smile, and he once more reached to take Jean by the sides of his head. "Thank you, Jean," he whispered within Jean's mind. "Thank you so much."

His partner's evident pleasure brought a genuine smile to Jean's face.

"You can read my mind, too," Celezar assured.

Jean gave a nod, then closed his eyes, at ease.

Soon, a gentle swell of emotions and memories and thoughts entered his mind. They were all from moments he spent with Celezar, but from Celezar's perspective. There were also moments when his partner was alone, thinking of him, hoping for and desiring him. Slowly, his hands reached up to take Celezar's wrists.

Not all the stimulations were pleasant. There were more than a handful that were pained and distressed, times when Celezar suffered from the loss of Jean and the knowledge he was lying to him. Heartbreak, terror; the event in Augusus brought those emotions to the forefront. Celezar's hearts had screamed in pain. His mind could barely contain coherent thoughts that weren't full of anger towards himself, fear at what he had done and what had been done to him. He was afraid. He was ashamed. He was angry. He didn't know what to do.

He had left after healing Jean to keep himself sane and to prevent himself from hurting Jean further. But that didn't make the shame or self-hatred go away. It only made it worse.

Tears began to form in Jean's eye. He held onto Celezar, slowly rubbing their heads together. When he saw Celezar in the forest near Cadron, the hybrid was barely holding himself together inside. He put up an impressive and relentless mask, but he hid how pained and torn he was.

Celezar softly exhaled, and something different happened. It wasn't something Jean could physically feel, but he could sense it. It enveloped him, held him, kissed and caressed him. Though unsaid, words of devotion, affection, protection and even lust came to his awareness. A wave of emotion trembled through his body from head to toe, and tears spilled freely from his eye.

He was experiencing Celezar's love for him at the very moment. Celezar's promises to care for him and stay by his side resounded within his consciousness. And he believed them, more than ever before. A thumb caressed his cheek, wiping his tears away.

Then, there were Celezar's current thoughts.

His smile dropped.

Blood.

There was so much blood.

His eyes snapped open as he pulled away, taking several steps back. The expression on Celezar's face was one of horror, sadness, and unadulterated rage.

Celezar reached for him. "Jean—"

"I didn't want you to see that." He shakily inhaled. So quickly, he was coming undone, as the memories always did to him. He hated it.

But this time, it was as if he was experiencing them all over again.

"Jean—"

"I'm...I'm sorry." Shaking his head, he continued moving back. Body rigid and jaw locked, he screwed his eyes shut, as if that would make the memories go away, die down. But he continued to see the images replay beneath his eyelids. He felt Celezar's hand touch his, and he recoiled. "I..." He swallowed as his voice began to break.

He wanted this. He did. He wanted to be with Celezar so intensely. There was little he wanted more.

His body shook as he hyperventilated. The world seemed to close around him, choking him.

But, he wanted this.

He wanted to do this.

Promise me you will never repeat his mistake.

He abruptly recoiled once more as his mother's words echoed eerily in his mind, a haunting reminder of exactly what it was he wanted to do.

Wrong. It was wrong, it was wrong, it was wrong, it was—

"Jean!"

Celezar's voice in his mind pushed the memories away, and he gasped for air. He hadn't even noticed he had fallen to his knees and was dry heaving until he opened his eyes. Arms were around him, strong and warm, and this time he didn't move away. The kind, gentle action only prompted his tears to fall faster. Part of him, spurred by the memories, wanted to shove Celezar away. The rest of him just wanted to be in the warmth, surrounded by the comforting presence he so adored.

His whole body suddenly, shakily heaved up. The moment he lowered, sobs spilled from his lips. Nearly three decades of fear held within him erupted to the surface of his being. He recalled the sensations of the dark magic as they licked at him, felt at him, and were used for violence. He recalled the blood—Creation, the blood.

"No one will hurt you again, Jean. Remember?"

Quickly, he held onto his partner, nodding rapidly. He knew this. He trusted Celezar indisputably. But it was painfully difficult to fight against the memories, the embedded fear. Surely, Celezar understood?

"I do, love." A gentle kiss was planted on his forehead.

Where Celezar's lips touched, Jean's skin tingled. Shivering, he once more shut his eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm so—"

"No, love. Breathe."

He swallowed before ceasing his sobbing to forcibly take a deep, shaky breath. Steadily, after many breaths, he began to calm. All the while, Celezar held him close, not rocking, not making any noise, simply a steady anchor to keep him stable in the waves of his turmoil.

He slightly opened his eyes. Celezar's many heartbeats sounded in his ear. It was an unusual sound, but Jean found it calming. Briefly letting his eyes shut again, he inhaled his partner's scent for the umpteenth time. He would never get enough of it. It greatly aided his descent from his overwhelming emotions.

With the help of deep breathing and time, he calmed. He stared off between his eyelids, drained of energy. In Celezar's arms, safe, warm, and unconditionally loved, he recalled his memories. He couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his face, but he was quiet.

The sound of water falling was the only sound in the entire area. After many long minutes, he softly exhaled.

"When...I was six, I was playing in the forest near the Cellar. My...mother came to get me. Even then, I knew. Something was wrong." He knew Celezar had a clear idea of what happened, but he needed to say it aloud.

Twenty-five years of trauma was long enough.