Moon Lovers: Bound by Blood and Revenge

[ Zhou Empire… ]

Enrique had been busy lately. His mind was in shambles. His grandfather was in grave danger. His father was still in the hospital. His mother was missing. His sister did something to Marceline.

The Zhou Family would never be the same. It would never be peaceful again. The Zhou Family was already broken.

Enrique didn't know what to do anymore. So he spent his whole day working in the company. He wanted to divert his attention away from his family.

But at the end of the day, he would still remember the conflicts and issues involving his family.

He wanted to talk to someone. He was dying to call Marceline but he felt like he didn't have the right to do it. Then Lyca popped up in his mind. She was always there whenever he had a problem. Now he had the urge to call her.

Enrique picked up his phone and was about to call Lyca when Natasha suddenly barged into his office.

"Brother!!!"

Enrique's expression darkened upon seeing his sister. He was unhappy to see her because of what she did to Marceline.

"Why are you here?" His voice was as cold as winter. He didn't bother looking at her. He just focused on dialing Lyca's phone number.

"Brother, listen to me! Our mother! She was hurt because of Marceline. She hired someone to kill our mother. You have to see her situation now and you will know that I'm telling the truth!"

Enrique stopped what he was doing when Natasha mentioned their mother. He glanced at her with his questioning gaze.

"What do you mean? Do you know where our mother is right now?" Enrique walked over, holding Natasha's shoulders.

"Yes. Come with me so that you will know how cunning and evil our bitch cousin is!" Natasha continued cursing Marceline. She wanted her dead! She wished Marceline to die an ugly death.

This time Enrique listened to his sister, not because he believed her words, but because he wanted to know what happened to their mother.

"Let's go. Bring me to her," Enrique uttered firmly, guiding his sister out of his office.

The Zhou siblings left the building as they headed to the medical facility of the Triple W headquarters where Evelyn was being treated. She was still unconscious.

It only took them fifteen minutes to reach their destination. Natasha pulled her brother in a rush, leading him to their mother's ward.

Upon entering the room, Evelyn's body which was covered with bandages greeted Enrique's sight. There was a tube connected to her nose. And several metal plates were attached to her arms and bones. Her eyes were also covered by bandages. Evelyn could no longer see as she lost her sight because of Marceline's attack.

Furthermore, Evelyn suffered from severe bone fractures. Aside from being blind, she would also become a cripple.

Enrique couldn't look at his mother's sorry state. He wasn't expecting this kind of scene.

"W-What happened to her?" Enrique felt sorry for his mother.

"I told you already! It was Marceline! That bitch hired someone to do this to our mother! That's the reason I tried to kill her with my own hands! I heard it from her own mouth.  She did this to our mother! So stop siding with her. She is an evil woman!"

"She almost killed our mother. Don't associate yourself with her! She's a murderer!"

It was very ironic as Natasha was calling Marceline a murderer when in the first place, she was the one who tried to kill her. But Enrique just stayed silent. He knew that his sister hated Marceline and he didn't know why the two didn't get along well ever since they were young.

"You don't have proof, Natasha. Don't accuse her." Enrique didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Here we go again, Enrique! What Marceline did do to you? Why are you turning a blind eye to this? Don't you see our mother's condition? Will you still side with that bitch!" Natasha yelled at her brother. She was so furious that she started punching and hitting his chest.

"Why are you choosing her over us? Your own family?" Natasha couldn't believe that her brother couldn't hate Marceline. "Don't be a fool, Enrique! Wake up from your delusion! That woman is pure evil!"

The siblings were still arguing when Vladimir entered the ward. He heard Natasha's loud angry voice so he went inside to check what was happening.

Vladimir frowned upon seeing the siblings arguing with each other.

"Can you stop that? Can't you see that your mother is still in her recovery state? If you want to argue then go outside!" Vladimir rubbed the space between his eyebrows when Natasha finally stopped yelling at her brother.

She just moved closer to Vladimir, asking him a favor. "Mr. Vladimir, can you please help me. My brother is a fool. He is turning a blind eye to our cousin's evil deed! Please tell him what you know. You and our mother are really close. Our mother is innocent! It's all Marceline's fault." Natasha begged him.

Vladimir fell silent for a moment, darting his gaze back and forth between Natasha and Enrique.

"Since you are both here, it's now the time to tell you the truth. Come with me and I'll tell you everything that you need to know." Vladimir had finally decided to inform them about their role and responsibility as gatekeepers.

Vladimir motioned Natasha and Enrique to follow him. They left the Triple W Headquarters as they proceeded to the Northleaf Timberland Forest where the Portal Gate was located.

Enrique and Natasha were puzzled as to why they were traversing that forest. Half an hour later, they finally reached the location of Portal Gate.

"Why are we here?" Enrique asked Vladimir. As much as he remembered, this area was near the Zhou Ancestral Mansion where Marceline was living.

They could see the stone arch. There were several symbols engraved on the ground around that Stone Arch.

"This is a magical door going to another world called Kingdom Phantasia. The Zhou family is the gatekeeper of this portal gate. You are the descendants of the gatekeepers."

Enrique and Natasha couldn't understand what Vladimir was talking about. His words didn't make sense to them.

'Gatekeepers? What is that?'

Seeing their puzzled look, Vladimir sighed deeply. It would be hard to explain it in words. He had to show them his true nature to make them believe that there was another world behind this portal gate.

"Your grandfather, your uncle and aunt as well as your parents… they are all gatekeepers. And this responsibility will be passed to you, the next generation of gatekeepers. Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches exist in this world. They come from another world, Phantasia."

Natasha and Enrique couldn't utter a word. They were staring at Vladimir with disbelief in their eyes. They didn't know if he was telling the truth or not. But his expression looked very serious. There was no way he would joke about this.

"The person who did that to your mother is not a human… but a vampire," Vladimir said, making up some lie. He knew that a werewolf was the one who gave those wounds to Evelyn. Vladimir didn't want Natasha and Enrique to hate werewolves so it was better to blame a vampire.

Furthermore, he still believed that Kira controlled a werewolf using his mind ability. Vladimir was clueless that it was Marceline who did that to Evelyn.

"Kira is a powerful vampire. your cousin's husband is the one who did that to your mother. And I believe that Marceline influenced him and ordered the attack."

Enrique was shocked beyond belief when he heard that. "Are you kidding us? What vampires? They are just fictional creatures. They don't exist." Enrique insisted, still refusing to believe Vladimir's words.

Vladimir had no choice but to show them the proof. "Let me show it to you."

In front of Natasha and Enrique, Vladimir shifted into his wolf form. This scene made the two speechless as they froze in their spots. Their eyes went round and their jaw dropped after seeing Vladimir transform into his werewolf form.

*Growl!*

A giant werewolf growled at them. This made Natasha hug her brother in fear. It was true! Werewolves existed, and so, vampires!

"No way," Natasha mumbled, still assessing Vladimir. She blinked several times, checking if her eyes were just deceiving her. Enrique also did the same.

After a few minutes, realization came into them. Vladimir was telling the truth!

It did not take long when Cleo joined them, holding a wooden chest box. This wooden chest box contained the book of rituals and chants for the gatekeepers.

Cleo showed the book of rituals and chants to the Zhou Siblings and explained to them that only gatekeepers could read the written text on that magical book.

"Since your father and mother are both ill, it is now time for both of you to accept the responsibility of the gatekeepers. We will do the ritual today." Cleo declared to them.