"Daddy?" Eli asked her father as the walked home from the grocery store, bags in both of their hands. Or for her, skipping.
"Yes, mijo?" Leo looked down at her four-year old daughter. Her dark eyes joined his.
"Why could we not buy one of those little stuff animals? They were so cute!" Her curly black hair bounced up and down in the double braids that Reyna had put in that morning.
Leo hesitated. He could not tell her that there was not enough to afford the stuff animals. But she is so much like her mother that she would know he's lying.
"We can't afford the stuff animals. We need the money for food, and to keep our house. Maybe for your birthday, mijo." Leo answered sadly.
Eli frowned, then she smiled, the smile she inherited from Leo. "Está bien, papá. You say to Mommy sometimes how things had been tough since you and her left the Lee-gin."
Leo stared at Eli. She was still smiling, like she was completely innocent. Dang she was smart. "How did you know about the Legion?"
Eli shrugged. "You and Mommy talk privately sometimes about the Lee-gin. Why is the Lee-gin important? ¿Por qué?"
"The Legion was where we met, sweetie. But we had to leave." Leo answered. Eli raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth" But you wanna hear a joke?"
"¡Sí! ¡Sí! " Eli started jumping up and down. Things she inherited form Leo, sense of humor, smile, energy (maybe it was the normal amount for a four-year old, he did not know.)
"Ok, let me think..." Leo started stroking his imaginary goatee, his hands still holding the bags. "Oh, I've got it. Listen closely, princesa."
Eli nodded eagerly, then put her finger to her mouth.
Leo dropped his hand down. "SO, why does a sea-"
"OH! OH! I know the answer! I know it! I know it! Pleeeeease let me answer! ¡Por favor!" Eli gave him her puppy dog eyes, sticking her lower lip out slightly, and making little whimpering noises.
"You know, I have to finish the question first before you can answer, mijo."
"Fine." Eli made a pouty face, and glared at him. One of the things she inherited from Reyna. But the pout ruined the glare.
"Ok, why does a seagull fly over the sea?" He asked. "Now, I will call on a lucky audience member to answer the question."
Eli started jumping up and down, raising her hand and yelling, "Pick me!"
"I choose that lovely little lady right there. With those pretty braids. French braids, right? What's the answer?"
"Well, technically speaking," Another thing she inherited from Reyna, her professionally. "If a seagull flew over a bay, then it's a bagel, and there already is a food called a bagel, so it's a seagull."
"That is correct, Miss Eli-V! Give me five." He held out his hand, and Eli slapped it. They crossed the street, Leo holding onto Eli's hand.
"Daddy! Look at those birds! By the church!" Eli pointed to the rickety church that was down the street from where they were.
Leo squinted. He saw three large birds on the roof of the abandoned church. People were aweing at the birds and the sunlight glistened on their white feathers.
White and brown feathers.
Leo's eyes widened in shock. They were eagles. Roman eagles.
After nearly five years, they had found them.
"Eli, we need to go home now!" Leo tugged on her hand, and Eli's eyes snapped away from the eagles.
"Are the eagles bad?" Eli stared at Leo, who in turn had turned very pale.
"No, on most cases, but three at one time means trouble. It means the Legion knows we are here. Then we're frijoles refritos." Leo summarized.
"Frijoles refritos?"
"We need to get home and tell Mommy about the eagles, then we will explain to you why the eagles are dangerous, and about the Legion."
"Ok" Eli could see that Daddy was scared. But she did not know why. But eagles were bad, if they were going to become frijoles refritos if they found her, Mommy and Daddy.
They ran thought the endless ally, until they reached the street where they lived on. They walked quickly down the street to where their shabby house was.
Leo opened the back door for Eli and they ran inside and placed the food on the counter. Reyna walked in, and Leo grabbed her hand.
"Eli spotted three eagles by the old church on our way home." Leo told Reyna.
"What? They have not done a search in this area for many years! Do they know we're here?" Reyna asked as they walked to their room, closing all the curtains.
"Not sure. I don't think any of the eagles saw us." Leo grabbed Eli, and placed her on his and Reyna's bed and locked the door. The room had a queen sized bed, a drawer and a vanity, and a small bathroom linking onto the bedroom.
"It might be possible that the praetors now might have sent a search. Hazel and Frank did not when we first left, and it's been more than four years since they took charge. They are not praetors anymore."
"I know, but it's time..."
"No, not yet Eli's too young."
"I'm old enough. I'm four! You and Daddy talk about the Lee-gin a lot and Daddy said we would become frijoles refritos if the eagles saw us!" Eli yelled, and she crossed her arms. She started crying into the pillow.
"You told her that we would become refried beans if the eagles saw you?" Reyna glared at Leo.
"Um...maybe."
"Eli, we will not become frijoles refritos." Reyna explained to the crying Eli while Leo was rubbing the back of his head from the slap. "Daddy just means that we might be in a little bit of trouble. ¿Lo entiendes?"
Eli stared at her mommy, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She knew that the Legion was dangerous, a lot more dangerous than what Mommy had said. She knew that Mommy and daddy might die if the Legion caught them. And she would be alone. Mommy and Daddy were both alone for a lot of their life. She did not want to be alone, with no one to talk to or tell her feelings to or to play with when her friends were mean to her.
"Lo entiendo, mamá." Eli told her. "But I want to know what the Lee-gin is."
Reyna looked at her daughter. She was a spitting image of herself. And Leo. She was too young. At this age she was at Circe's island, trying to brush hair. She did not want her daughter to suffer from her knowledge.
"I know it's hard, but it's time she knows." Leo murmured to her in Latin.
"Ok..." Reyna calmed herself. "You know those stories that we told you. About the Greek and Roman gods and the Battle of the Camps and the Quest of the Argo II."
"Sí."
Leo butted in. "They are real, mijo."
"Really?" Eli's eyes widened. She loved those stories.
"Yes, querida." Reyna assured her. "But are lives were in danger all the time, and those tales were something we wanted you to know."
"You were the praetor, mamá?" Eli asked. She loved the adventure, but they were the characters...they nearly died many times.
"Yes, and your father was one of the seven on the quest for the Argo II. The builder of the ship."
Eli stared at her parents in surprise.
"The Lee-gin was the camp for the Romans, right? And you were Roman, Mommy. Why did you leave with Daddy then, when you said it was safe?"
Reyna stared at the ground, Leo wrapped her in a hug, and Eli crawled across the bed, and wriggled herself into her mother's arms.
"When we found out that I was going to have a baby," Reyna whispered, so they could barely hear her voice. "We were muy feliz. But we were very scared. I could not hide the fact that you were in my belly for very long, enough to get my tenth stripe on my tattoo and be able to live in New Rome, and I knew that." A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Daddy would not be allowed to take care of you, because he was not Roman. You would go and fight in the Legion and get a tattoo like mine, and go and kill monsters for ten years. It was dishonorable that I was going to have a baby while I was still in the Legion, and if I fought, then you might of gotten hurt, when you were in my belly, and you would of never been here today."
"We did not want you to know about the gods." Leo told his daughter. "We had been hurt so much because of the gods, that we did not want you to get hurt. We wanted you to go and make friends, not to fight scaly monsters. That ment that we had to leave our friends."
Eli snuggled closer to her mother, and she wrapped her arms around Reyna's neck. Reyna held her close and Leo held them. Eli's tears started falling to the ground again.
"Can you get Conejito for me?" Eli asked, breaking the silence. Leo got up silently and he walked out the door to Eli's room, and brought back her stuffed rabbit, Conejito.
He was a ragged hare, with part of his ear burnt off. Pieces of cloth were randomly glued on in different places. A purple ribbon tied around his neck, a spot of denim on his right knee, flowered ears, a red heart. A zipper was placed in the back, where some of the stuffing was removed and a couple of pictures were there and a bottle of glue. Eli unzipped the zipper and took out a photo.
The photo was of Leo and Reyna at the hospital, and a baby Eli was in Reyna's arms. They were both grinning and Baby Eli was sleeping. It always made Eli happy, as it did with her parents.
"Everything will be alright. Just like you had always said." Eli pointed out.
"You're right, everything will be alright, mijo." Leo got up and unlocked the door. The conversation was over.
Eli snuggled into her small bed, in her bedroom. It was white, but the room was covered in pictures, dried flowers, food labels, wall stickers, pages from magazines, practically anything that struck her fancy was put up on the wall.
Her bed was made up of a fluffy blanket, a quilt, two fluffy pillows, and Conjito. A small chest full of toys was in the corner, along with a drawer, and a vanity.
Eli inched closer towards the wall, the house making eery noises, as it always did at night. But now, it was much more different.
Eli knew her parents were brave. They lived on the tough side of town, and barely anyone moved here, especially when there was a child with them. They were up for a challenge.
But she knew that the monsters might come after them, that they would try to kill them and might eat them with mole sauce. They were more dangerous than the teenagers smoking behind the grocery store.
And the Lee-gin fighters. They could be punished and Daddy would not live with her and Mommy, and she would get a tattoo and have to kill monsters. She did not want a tattoo and fight monsters. She wanted to stay in Houston with Mommy and Daddy.
Another creak filled the air. Eli placed a pillow over her head, then she heard...footsteps.
Eli sat up, and she heard mumbling. What if it was a monster. A Roman who snuck though the doggy door?
She grabbed Conjito and hopped down from the bed. If it was a monster or someone in armor, she would go and tell Mommy and Daddy. If it was a thief, then she would take care of him. Or her, for that matter.
She snuck into the kitchen from the hallway, and peered though the doorway. A teenager, a guy, she thought, was stumbling across the carpet, like a drunken sailor. He rubbed his hair, and crashed onto the sofa, fast asleep.
Hm, this will be easy. Eli tip-toed into the kitchen and used a step stool to get to the top of the counter and took the cylinder with all the utensils to make the food. She looked between the metal potato masher and a wooden spoon, then decided on the spoon, because the man was not stealing anything. She pushed the cylinder back and placed stool back in its spot. She ran back into the living room and placed Conjito on the table.
"Let's see what happens when we hit the man with una cuchara de madera, Conjito." She whispered to the rabbit. Then she stood back, and with all of her might, she hit the man with the spoon.
A loud 'SLAP' sounded and the man jumped up from the couch, squawking like a chicken. Eli kept hitting the man, who was standing up, and cursing in English, Latin, Greek and what Eli thought was Italian. Then a sword appeared out of no where.
Eli froze, then she dropped the spoon and started running. Her parents stood in the doorway of the kitchen, a knife in Mommy's hand, and Daddy had a hammer. Eli hid under the table. The light flickered on in the living room
There was a minute of silence, then Eli crawled out from under the table. She ran to the living room.
The man was rubbing the back of his head, trying to get up. Reyna and Leo were standing next to eack other. Reyna's knife was sheathed and Eli hid behind Leo, who was holding his knife loosely at his side.
The intruder stood up then looked at them, and his eyes widened.
"Leo, Reyna? I have not seen either of you in a while." The teenager was wearing mostly black, and had black messy hair. His sword was still in his hand. He looked like he was made of also noticed that he seemed...odd. She wanted to go and hide back under the table again. She felt like when she saw a dead cat in the backyard. Frightened with the sight of its lifeless body. She felt like that.
"Five years, to be exact." Reyna said stiffly. Her back straightened, and her face turned into a blank wall. She walked towards the guy with confidence. Eli remebered her acting like this once, when a police officer came to ask about a theft in the area. Daddy had said that she was like that before they fell in love. She used to scare him. She used to scare everybody. And she did scare the police officer.
"Everybody's been wondering where you went. You guys are lucky, not being found yet. Or killed." He continued, a hand running into his hair. His pale skin made him look like a vampiro.
"Can you just leave, Nico? You're depriving all of us of our beauty sleep. And I am standing here in my boxers." Leo asked. Eli saw that he was wearing his red and blue striped undies.
"Maybe, but I wanna hear what had happened while you were here in Houston. And why Igot smacked with a wooden spoon." Nico picked up the wooden spoon and set his sword on the coffee table.
"That was me, Señor Huesos de Pollo." Eli crawled out from behind and grabbed her rabbit, which was still on the table. "And Conjito."
Nico stared at the little girl, who was glaring at him, while Leo was snickering. Reyna was smiling too.
"What does Senor Huesos...what did you just call me?" Nico inquired while Eli was fixing the ribbon on Conjito.
"Mr. Chicken Bones, Señor." Eli answered, while smiling sweetly at Nico.
Nico stared at her, then at Leo and Reyna, who were both laughing. "What's your name?"
"Eliane. But everybody calls me Eli." She piped up. "You aren't as scary as I thought you were, Mr. Chicken Bones."
"That's good. But maybe you, Leo and Reyna want to talk?" He looked at Leo and Reyna hopefully.
Reyna glared at him. "Fine. Eli, will you get the galletas?"
"Sí, mamá." Eli nodded, then went to go and get the package of cookies.
"Wait, mamá?" Nico asked, astounded, as Leo followed Eli into the kitchen.
"Yes. Haven't you figured it out yet?" Reyna asked, slightly annoyed that he did not realize that Eli was Reyna II.
"Never mind. We can talk." Nico sat down on a chair nearby as Eli brought out some Oreos. He smiled at the girl, and she smiled back. Maybe the Legion won't find them.
