After the meeting with the Duke and his merchant friend from Spain, Mathias had to return to the quarters he shared with Alcina to try to rest a little there, having not slept for more than 48 hours now in because of recent events and this lack of sleep was beginning to affect his health. Despite his mutant power, he had retained some human conditions.

But as he painfully opened his eyes, a feeling that was both strange and familiar, it was to find himself in a place he already knew. He was still in the large bedroom, lying on the imposing four-poster bed, but the atmosphere that reigned was different, like heavy and empty at the same time, the colors being much duller and above all, the presence of these Mold veinlets and these Mold stains all over the floor, walls and ceiling as part of the decor.

The consciousness of the Megamycete. The invisible but very real world to which all entities possessing a part of it were connected, whether living or dead. Presumably this also included the Megamycete itself, for even after its destruction, its consciousness remained alive. During his sleep, Mathias had already found himself in this world several times, he was getting used to it. He only hoped not to cross Miranda's mind. But then who had brought him here this time? He wondered as he got out of bed and went to open the bedroom door to get out.

_"So Mathias, still not decided to play with me?" said a childish female voice he recognized.

He turned, to see this pale-faced, dark-haired girl, smiling grimly and sitting on one of the chairs in the room, her legs swinging gently in the air.

_"And you Eveline, still not decided to leave me alone? Seriously, don't you have someone else to bother?"

_"Oh you're not funny." sneered Eveline, playing the false disappointment. "There's this new toy, Ethan, but he's so boring...Too bad, maybe next time."

With these words, she disappeared as if she had never been there, leaving Mathias who sighed softly and went out into the corridor to finally find the person who was waiting for him and who had brought him here. Standing in front of one of the windows and appearing to be gazing outward, a woman in her mid-fifties with semi-long brown hair turned to him with a friendly expression. Mathias smiled at her too, but couldn't hold back the small twinkle of melancholy in his eye.

_"Hello Mom." he said.

She came up to him and they took each other gently in their arms, hugging each other tenderly.

_"I miss you so much..." added Mathias during the embrace.

_"I know, you've been thinking about me a lot lately, I could feel it in your heart and in mine." she replied. "I wish I could tell you the truth about our family and our blood, but now you know why I had to."

Mathias understood him well now indeed and didn't blame him anymore, after all, the only person responsible for all that had been Miranda and she had now paid. Mother and son walked together slowly along the hallway of Dimitrescu's quarters.

_"You and the last Dimitrescu together..." said Mathias' mother with a little chuckle not mockingly. "If I had known, but it's not that surprising. Our two families have always been more or less close and this since the friendship that linked our two founders, according to the legend."

_"Yeah..." Mathias breathed thoughtfully and darkly, as if looking worried about something as he stared ahead. "But today our families are threatened by an enemy far too powerful... For the first time, I felt so helpless... I am not afraid for myself, but for Alcina... I could not bear to lose her."

The mother understood perfectly the doubt that animated the heart of her son, being able to easily feel it as if it were in her own. She took Mathias's hand in hers and smiled at him with certain comfort.

_"What knight would not be eager to protect his lady?" she says with a small wink. "It's perfectly normal to be afraid, even for mutants... It proves that you have a heart, something your enemy lacks, and that's what makes you superior to them... You need Alcina, Mathias, and she needs you too, now more than ever."

Mathias smiled at the words of his mother, who when she was still alive had always been there to comfort him in his moments of doubt and loneliness, when he no longer believed in him or when he was a child and rejected by all other children at school. He came to kiss her on the forehead, then, when he blinked, he found himself awake, in the world of the living, lying on the bed in the bedroom, his heart heavy at having seen his mother again but also animated by this new flame of hope that she had been able to reinvigorate in him.

**********

Meanwhile...

Unable to rest due to her excessive stress, Alcina had wanted to isolate herself a little and had come to find refuge in another part of the castle on the other side of the courtyard, in the room where the grand piano was and dominated by a floor visible from the balconies above.

The countess walked slowly in the deepest silence, leaving only the faint sound of her heels on the ground. With her hand, she touched the piano, cold. How much time they had spent in this room playing compositions and teaching her daughters to play for their education as young ladies of the Dimitrescu family. She could see it as if it were yesterday... During the long winter evenings, when the dark night, the white snow and the howling wind reigned outside... She and her three daughters gathered in the warmth of this room... She, sitting in one of the armchairs while sipping a glass of wine of her own creation with the blood of the last virgins, and listening to the melodies her daughters had learned to play on the piano, ringing peacefully in her ears... Bela, sitting behind the piano and playing with a incomparable talent... Cassandra, standing near and singing along to the music... And Daniela sitting on Alcina's lap and snuggled up to her and listening to the melody...

With a lump in her throat, Alcina came out of this happiest memory, but which today was as painful as a stab in the heart. She saw this tear that was born from her eye and fell on the piano. She quickly wiped the wet smudge from her cheek, pulling herself together as best she could and not wanting to let the pain of her own memories overwhelm her, even if it turned out to be a most difficult ordeal...

_"Oh my dear daughters...I miss you so much..." Alcina sighed sadly.

_"We will save them, as I promised you." said a friendly voice behind her.

Not even surprised, she turned around and smiled when she saw Mathias who had just entered the room, having guessed that she would be here because having gotten to know her and knowing that she often came here when she needed to be alone. The young man joined his wife and noticed that she had shed a tear but chose not to say so. He looked around this room that he also knew very well now.

_"I remember the first time I came here..." he said with a smile. "Bela, Cassandra and Daniela had invited me to dance with them to a Five Finger Death Punch song... I must admit that even though I was worried at first, I had fun."

_"Yes..." answered Alcina. "I remember it very well. I was there, watching you do it without you knowing it. Seeing you like this with my daughters, seeing them so smiling and you... your look... you weren't judging them for what they were, you accepted this as your new reality... That's when my feelings for you really started to change, to evolve into something I never thought I'd ever live ..."

She chuckled softly and Mathias smiled to see her smile again and then saw her kneel down in front of him to come up to him and gently cupped his face in her hands, looking at him lovingly.

_"And I have absolutely no regrets about my choice." she breathed in a loving and seductive tone and the couple kissed tenderly.

Her lips were soft as roses, and Mathias gently ran his hand through her silken hair, kissing her back and deepening it a bit more, beginning to bring his body closer to hers and caress her waist with his other hand, which made her moan softly with pleasure in the kiss. However, too carried away in their kiss, the couple fell, fortunately without injury, and Mathias found himself lying with his back on the ground with Alcina leaning over him, their faces close to each other. Alcina and Mathias looked into each other's eyes without saying anything, both blushing and ended up chuckling together at this situation. She helped Mathias to get up and he gave her back her hat which she had lost in the fall and she put it back on her head. Looking at her, Mathias was happy to see that he could still make her smile and laugh despite the dark situation they were living. Yes, Bela, Cassandra and Donna were in danger, but letting fear dominate their thoughts would only empower their enemy, who was waiting for it.

Then, Mathias noticed something next to the record player which was on the cabinet against a wall. As he approached, he saw that it was a pile of old vinyl records, and among them, that of an old Jazz band, Miss D and the Pallboys. Looking better, Mathias thought he was mistaken at first but finally... Yes, he recognized the woman who was on the album cover and turned to Alcina.

_"But... it's you... Alcina, you never told me that you had been a jazz singer." said Mathias, stupefied.

_"Oh, that was so long ago..." answered Dimitrescu coming near him and looking at the album cover with a nostalgic pensive gaze. "But I admit it was a great experience, before... well, you know..."

She doesn't finish her sentence, not needing to. Mathias understood very well and then decided to listen to this jazz music by activating the record player. A slow and beautiful melody, like a kind of waltz, began to resonate in the room and the singing and beautiful voice of Alcina was heard. Mathias then turned to his wife and held out his hand, like a gentleman inviting his lady for a dance, which she accepted with a small, charmed chuckle. They came to stand in the center of the room and began a very calm and slow waltz to the rhythm of the song. Although the moment would have been not right, they chose to agree a moment together in order to keep their minds united and not invaded by the darkness of the enemy.

_"Dancing like this, you know what it makes me think of?" Mathias then said as he looked into her eyes. "The night we got married."

Alcina blushed softly, and indeed it brought back the most pleasant memories.

It had happened three months after Miranda's defeat. During a romantic dinner, Mathias had taken his courage, got up and knelt down, presenting a magnificent ring to Alcina, who accepted without hesitation. A few days later, the wedding took place in the grand salon of the castle. No big, pompous ceremony with hundreds of guests. The only people present were Bela and Cassandra as witnesses. Donna Benevento and the Duke were of course also present. For the ceremony, Mathias had dressed in his lord's outfit, his black frock coat, black trousers, black boots and black mittens, and tied his hair in a ponytail. Lady Dimitrescu wore a splendid elegant white wedding dress in a Victorian style, which was made by herself and the help of her two daughters, and also a large white hat adorned with swan feathers, and her adornment of pearls around her neck.

Both, reunited face to face, exchanging their vows and promising each other for eternity by these rings on their fingers... their kiss forever sealing their union... and not being able to go for a honeymoon for obvious reasons, they chose to make it right here, at the castle, in their quarters...

Sitting side by side on the big bed in the bedroom, the newlyweds smiled lovingly at each other and looked at their rings on their fingers.

_"If I had known that one day I would marry a countess, I surely would not have believed it." Mathias laughed softly.

_"Just as I had long since given up on the idea of finding the love of my life." replied Alcina. "Shortly before the war broke out, I was supposed to marry a man in an arranged marriage but he was killed when the Nazis bombed the mansion...And fate decided otherwise."

She took off her white hat and put it down, and Mathias remained silent at first, admiring the beauty of his wife in that magnificent dress. He took her hand and moved closer.

_"Let's leave the past where it is." he said. "What matters is here and now, both of us."

Alcina agreed with him and was the first to break the distance between their lips, starting a sensual and loving kiss which Mathias joined and returned it without hesitation. Without breaking their kiss, they began to fondle each other and then undress, helping each other, thus beginning a long night of torrid love...

Alcina came back to reality after remembering what was one of the most beautiful moments of her long life and it made her smile again.

_"That's what I wanted to see..." then said Mathias lovingly.

_"What?" she asked.

_"To see you continue to smile." added the young man.

Lady Dimitrescu was touched by so much attention from her man and then stopped her waltz with him to gently lift him off the ground, holding him in her arms and forcing Mathias to wrap his arms around her neck to hold on. She looked at him seductively which made him blush.

_"Thank you..." was the only word she uttered before coming to kiss Mathias again lovingly, her heart, although bruised, still being animated by this flame which united them at every moment, even in the deepest darkness.