Gavrael held Gideon's eyes. He could see that his brother was shocked at what he had just revealed. Well, of course he would be. He had not given any indication that he was any different since he stepped back into the Under Lands.
Gideon had hidden himself so damned well back then that Gavrael took years to realize that his brother did not actually leave him that time, hoping that he would die. He was actually hidden and was still protecting him, making sure he would not get killed by those monsters.
But Gavrael thought that it was a bit too late when he had finally realized it. He had already hated Gideon for such a long time that it was already hard for the two of them to even look at each other, much less speak. And Gideon also did not try to even do anything to reconcile their relationship. Instead, he continued distancing himself farther and farther away that Gavrael did not have the chance to ask him why he had told his parents that he had abandoned him when actually did not.
"I had long found out that you actually never abandoned me." Gavrael repeated when Gideon remained silent. "I am still not certain why you had to lie like that and get yourself punished so badly though."
Gavrael tilted his head, and his tone became a lot more relaxed now, even sounding like he was starting to tease his older brother about it. "But I'm assuming you felt so bad for watching me get beaten up right before your face into a pulp that you let father punished you as hard as I had suffered to make up for it. Am I right?"
Gideon's brows creased really deep now.
"Seems that I am right." Gavrael mumbled and Gideon turned away, unable to say anything at all, causing Beatrice who was still silent in utter disbelief at what she had been hearing to become even more surprised at Gideon's reaction.
She knew this son very well. This reaction of his only meant one thing. That whatever Gavrael was saying is the truth, and both her and Gavvy knew this about Gideon so well!
"W-wait…" Beatrice quickly held onto Gideon. Because she remembered that just like in the past, when he was younger, whenever Gideon could not speak during certain confrontations, most especially when the one who made him react that way was his brother or her or Belial, Gideon usually ended up walking away or disappearing and escaping instead of talking back or defending himself.
And that was why Beatrice subconsciously came at him to make sure he could not escape this time around.
"You really didn't abandon your brother?!" Beatrice's eyes were a little hot as she questioned her son. These two boys did not know how heartbroken she had been feeling all this time about this incident. Knowing that your eldest son could even do that to his own younger brother was just something so unacceptable, so incredibly heart-breaking that just hearing it was not true even after so many years had made Beatrice feel like breaking down and crying out in loud wails with so much relief.
"Then why? Why did you tell your father that you abandoned him?" Beatrice wanted to know. "Why did you watch your brother get hurt to that extent when you were there all along?"
Gideon dropped his head and still remained silent.
"I believed that he did that to force me to awaken my dark fae abilities." Gavrael answered and Beatrice's head snap at Gavrael. "Before I collapsed that time, I was finally able to use magic for the very first time out of utter determination and desperation to stay alive. My anger and hate at him was also a big part of it, I believe. My hate for what he did blinded me for quite a long time though, that I didn't realize that I had started becoming stronger since that day." Gavrael explained to Beatrice while Gideon just stood there, utterly mute as he stared at his younger brother blankly.
"I think that brother knew all along that my abilities will awaken only if I am on the brink of death or something of that sort, and that's why he didn't help me and only watched me. I'm not sure how he knew about that and also why he had to do it at that time though. There's still a lot of things that I don't understand yet, and I am still hoping he'd give me more explanations about it. But for now, it can wait. After all, I've already been waiting so long." He added with a shrug, glancing at Gideon again.
Beatrice was utterly speechless. Never did she expect to hear this as an explanation. And to think that Gavvy was the one to be saying all this. She could tell that Gavvy really no longer resented Gideon.
"Oh my…" Beatrice's hands flew over her mouth. Only the gods knew how happy she was right now! "This means… this means you had long stopped resenting your brother as well, right? Gavvy?" Beatrice had to make sure she was not hearing things. She still could not help it because she knew that even before Gavvy left the Under Lands, their relationship did not get any better at all. If he had long stopped resenting his brother way before that, why did Gavvy never say anything or do anything make their relationship better?
Gavrael nodded. "I had long thought about talking to brother again, but… he didn't give me the chance. And he just continued doing things that made me feel that he didn't want to even see me or talk to me at all. I also had the feeling he had deliberately done all those things to make me hate him and he had been determined to continue doing that. I always wanted to know why but he just kept hiding away until I eventually left the Under Lands."
Beatrice looked at Gideon this time. She cupped his face with both her hands to make him look at her.
"Gideon… please say something, son." She urged him. "It's your turn to explain now please. Tell us your side too, Gideon."
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A/N: to my readers who aren't informed yet, <Hellbound With You> is finally being updated daily again.. Check it out now but i still want everyone to vote for Spelllbound so don't forget to vote for Spellbound first before reading hellbound. Thank you ^^