The Rooftop of a Hotel near the Center of the Capital City

Allen narrows his eyes as he crouches next to his wife on the rooftop, simply looking out at the balcony of a building across the street from the hotel they’re standing on. And he can’t help but feel anger as he sees the woman in the room of the building immediately meet his eyes the moment his own lock onto her.

Of course I wouldn’t be able to catch her off-guard…

He glances at his wife to find her already nodding her head at him before he jumps off of the roof alongside Cynthia to land on the balcony. And before he can even step inside of the room, he hears White ask, “Why are you here?”

“To ask you why you did all of this,” Allen says while raising his head and beginning to walk into the room with his eyes narrowed, his wife walking next to him while practically seething in her own rage. “Why you left Scarlet to me to be raised as an orphan. Why you were at first against the adoption. Why you had a child with a demon.” White’s eyes narrow at that in a dangerous way. “And why you chose now to try making amends in your own screwed up way.”

White doesn’t say anything for several seconds, making Allen tense up. Because despite all of his bravado, he knows that it would be as easy for White to erase him from existence as it would be for him to kill a fly.

The woman just stares at them for a time, briefly alternating her gaze from the two before she finally sighs and answers, “To save the universe.” Then she turns around and begins walking over towards a couch lying in the middle of the room of the apartment they are in.

Allen’s eyes widen in shock at that, and out of the corner of his eye, he notices his wife’s doing the same.

Right when he opens his mouth to ask about what she just said though, White says, “Do not ask about it as I cannot say more.”

His mouth closes again.

Of course she can’t…

A few tense moments of silence pass before White leans forwards slightly in the couch facing them and says, “You know, I really don’t like either of you.” Both Allen and Cynthia tense up even more, only for White to continue, “But I can very much appreciate all that you’ve done for Scarlet. So I will give you a warning.”

Allen’s eyes narrow slightly as the woman sits back again.

“Watch out for Scarlet during the Class V Fracture,” White says rather cryptically.

“Why? Also, could you at least answer me why you had a child with a demon? A blood lycan no less?” Allen prods, hoping to get an answer.

White’s eyes narrow again as she says, “And what makes you think you deserve the answer to that?”

The man doesn’t back down, instead stepping forwards, his eyes narrowing despite the danger, “Because I’m the one who raised your daughter since she was an infant.”

Both Guardians glare at each other for several seconds before White lets out another sigh and her glare softens.

“Right,” she says, sounding a little sad, “you’re right.” The woman then shakes her head and looks up again as she answers, “Her father... despite all of our fights, despite our different views on things, and despite my… conflicting loyalties… I love Leonidas. We first met because of the witches. We were both trapped in the same place for years, unable to leave, unable to separate from each other, and unable to do anything but fight alongside each other.”

Allen’s eyes widen as he realizes she’s talking about the witches of the demon world Tartarus. Meaning this all happened on Tartarus itself.

“Over the years trapped together, we learned to see past our differences a little. To see who the other truly was underneath their Titles, even if it took three years of being forced to fight alongside each other for us to stop automatically hating each other for what we were,” White says while reaching for a table where a glass of what Allen assumes is wine is sitting. She then takes a sip of it and continues, “And after five years in that place, we even grew to love each other. In our own messed up ways. But love was love.”

“So you had Scarlet?” Cynthia asks, her tone softer than Allen would’ve expected.

White nods. “We had Scarlet in that very place, in a turn of events that surprised both of us as neither of us ever expected to be able to have a kid considering our levels. Neither did we realize we had wanted one in the first place. But it wasn’t as big a surprise as finding out that that was exactly what we needed to do to leave.” Her face sours at that. “The damned witches manipulated us to realize our prophesized love for each other by wearing away at the mutual hatred we had for each other as a human and a demon. And while I know they can’t actually manipulate our feelings or anything like that and that our love was still ours, it still…” She stops as she takes another sip of her wine. "It still pissed me off to be manipulated."

Allen relaxes slightly, feeling like he’s beginning to understand the woman seated in front of him just a little bit better. Not enough to forgive her, but a little bit, nonetheless.

“Scarlet’s father ripped the head off of the first witch who told us of the prophecy they had foretold over a decade ago,” White says, sounding slightly amused at that fact. “The very moment they told us what they had done to drive us together and why, particularly the leaving our daughter on Earth alone part, he ripped their head off without an ounce of hesitation.”

Yeah, I can definitely see a blood lycan doing that.

“But I…” White says with her head down, sounding slightly choked up, surprising both Allen and Cynthia in the process. “I have experienced prophecies before, and I have ignored them before.” She raises her head with a sad look in her eye. “They didn’t turn out well.”

“So you decided to go along with the prophecy?” Allen asks with a frown. “What did Scarlet’s father think?”

White shakes her head and says, “He was absolutely against it.”

Hence the dead witch. Makes sense. The prophecy had them abandoning their daughter after all. And blood lycans care more about their family than anything else in the world.

“In the end, it came down to a battle between the two of us to decide how we would move forward,” White says, sounding slightly despondent. “And I won, if only through immobilizing him. Took Scarlet with me, leaving him behind to be sent back to Tartarus without me, Scarlet, or a choice.”

Allen’s eyes widen at that admission. That if she hadn’t immobilized him, she could’ve lost.

Is Scarlet’s father…

“So you followed the prophecy,” Cynthia asks, sounding unsure of what to say, but still angry.

White just nods her head while downing the rest of the wine in one last gulp, likely not feeling anything due to just how powerful she is. The woman then stands up from the couch, the sad look in her eyes gone, replaced with the very same neutral expression Allen more often than not sees on Scarlet’s face.

“I will not repeat this again, Sylvesters,” White declares, a flash of white light shining around her and lifting her hair slightly upwards. “The part of the prophecy where Scarlet must learn to be on her own will be ending the moment the Class V Fracture begins, meaning her father will send someone to bring her back to Tartarus. And I am not allowed to intervene unless her life is in danger, leaving me stuck dealing with the other Class V demons of the Fracture. So whether or not Scarlet stays on Earth or goes to Tartarus will depend on the two of you and Scarlet herself.”

White steps towards Allen and Cynthia, making the two back up as their eyes widen, “I have secured a favor from my brother to protect her once during the Fracture, but that can only go so far. If you wish to keep Scarlet on Earth, then protect her. Keep her safe.”

Then, as if she were never here, the White Knight of Humanity vanishes, leaving the two Class IV Guardians staring at where she was just standing.

Nearly an entire minute passes in silence before the two share a glance and then nod.

We need to prepare.