Ethan narrowed his eyes for the pain while a groan of pain and anger escaped from his lips, all the other snakes soon jumped on him biting him all over his body.

Ethan cried out in pain he managed to stand up and throw away a few snakes from his torso as he jumped and twirled around himself to get himself free from the other snakes. He was blooding yet he didn't waste time and attacked two snakes on his left crashing them against the ground and ripping a snake's body in two. The yellow liquid fell like a cascade onto the ground and all the snakes escaped from it like if it was a lethal poison.

Ethan smirked noticing he found out one of the snake's weak points, he walked toward them holding the snake's head and walking in the middle of the liquid, when his feet and his fingers came in touch with it Ethan felt a burning sensation and a pain so excruciating he had to tense all his muscles not to let the snake's body drop on the ground. The liquid burned his skin but Ethan bore the pain.

"Stop!!" from the statue echoed a scream and all the snakes immediately frozen from charging Ethan and gathered around the statue.

Ethan knitted his eyebrows down as he realized he may have discovered another weakness of the snakes, the statue. They listened to every order of the statue, if he found out who was hiding inside it he could successfully discover who freed them too.

Ethan finally let the snake's dead body fall onto the ground and he walked toward the statue, as the music began the animals fell in trace once again, their eyes turned dark and their gaze blank.

"Ethan..." When the statue called his name all the snakes created a passage for him to walk toward the statue.

Ethan passed through them almost aghast to see the statue's effects on the snakes, he noticed that the more he walked closer to it the more he fell asleep, he felt dizzy and hypnotized by the statue as well. He shook his head as he groaned, he stared at the statue's eyes that were flashing in the darkness of the night, and as soon as the statue met his gaze Ethan's vision darkened.

He unconsciously closed his eyes and he started to revive all the negative memories of his past, the day her mother gave birth to him, then when she rejected him and called him a disgrace. The images seemed so clear and real that he even felt the same emotions he felt back then, blood boiled through his veins as all of a sudden he was furious, the anger in his body was prevailing on him so much that he couldn't think of anything else but revenge.

"Ethan, wake up now."

As if he couldn't control his body anymore his eyes opened and his vision got cleared, he could recognize the surrounding.

He was back in the wood surrounded by snakes in a trance but something changed from earlier, he was more furious and irascible. It was like all of a sudden he understood how much John and William hurt him in the past and his love dissipated to welcome only anger and thirst for revenge. Ethan groaned at the statue.

"What did you do to me?" Ethan burst out as he frowned his forehead glowering at the statue.

"I just wanted to remember what happened in the past so that maybe you can make a smarter decision now. Who do you want to side with now Ethan?"

The snakes suddenly woke up and all of them turned their head to the side to stare at Ethan waiting for his answer.

***

Meantime in the castle...

Roselyn John and William were still waiting for Ethan's arrival, they all remained quiet since he left probably both inwardly praying for him to be fine.

Even if the most concerned one was probably William who didn't say a word since Ethan left having Roselyn wonder how much he would be worried if the one who left was John.

John, on the other hand, tried to assume his composed expression but he couldn't fool Roselyn who knew him enough to recognize he was deep down was concerned.

"Excuse me, can you make us tea?" Roselyn asked one maid who gently smiled and proceeded to listen to Roselyn's request.

Roselyn took a deep breath, "I can try to link with him and find out if he is alright." She gazed at John who as soon as he heard her, shook his head.

"No, we can't risk …." John bit his tongue before he could finish his sentence, "no, I will go look for him if in few more hours he won't be back." John rectified and Rose nodded.

How she wished Ethan would come back soon, she couldn't endure the additional preoccupation of John leaving and be in danger, she knew William wouldn't let his other son get in a dangerous situation. Indeed, William soon shook his head vigorously, "no you won't go. I can't afford to lose you." he intervened frowning his forehead as he glowered at John, from Roselyn's lips escaped a smile as she took a breath of relief.

"I am sure he will be back soon anyway," John commented wrinkling his nose to hide his doubts.

The silence fell back in the room as they all were worried about Ethan, it had been almost two hours and he wasn't back yet, he was supposed only to talk to the snakes and convince them to trust him.

"Why is he taking so long?" Roselyn asked whispering to John, she took a deep breath right after and William offered her a kind smile.

"I don't know, but we should have faith," John stated making Roselyn frown, it was bizarre to hear someone talk about faith especially if that person was a supernatural creature who never believed in destiny before and who had taken so many lives.