Chapter 4

About three years ago

Zhalia felt her breath stuck in her throat and her blood pressure rise, until she finally came face to face with the person who interrupted her sleeping progress. Heaving a sigh of relief, she checked if Kasim was still asleep and suddenly the man's grip seemed a lot softer.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" the man asked apologetically and Zhalia shook her head in denial. The man rubbed the back of his neck out of nervousness before eyeing her from head to toe, noticing her quite exposing outfit.

"Are you cold?" he kindly asked, but Zhalia knew he was trying to make an introduction for the subject he wanted to talk about in the first place.

"I am fine Dante, genies don't feel cold easily. But I don't think this is your main concern, is it?" she asked calmly, causing Dante to chuckle in discomfort.

"You caught me" He confessed before he cleared his throat and grew serious "It won't take long till we arrive in Germany. Until then, would you be kind enough to give me at least a clue of what is going on? I believe that I deserve to know. Also, you told Kasim before that if he trusts me, then you can trust me too. I know that Kasim makes you think I am trustworthy but I want to vouch for it myself." He paused to see if she was paying attention and found her staring at him indifferent

"You can trust me Zhalia" he admitted and Zhalia heaved a sigh, before standing up and carefully placing Kasim to her seat. She signaled him to go a bit further to not wake him up and so they did.

"Listen Dante, I don't doubt the fact that you are a good person. You have treated Kasim the best way anyone ever has and you let him keep me even after the trouble I caused. I trust your kindness, but I don't know you that well to know how you will react to this" she confessed, locking their gazes to be able to see what he is thinking. Even though it was dark, his amber orbs could easily find her hazel ones. Dante hummed, thinking he has understood her concern.

"Don't worry; I won't doubt any of your words. I might not know you as well, but I know I can trust you. You have been by Kasim's side and supported him when I couldn't even see he was suffering" he paused and looked back at the exhausted tiny figure of the boy, disappointed of himself that he hadn't suspected anything about Scarlet earlier. "If you think I won't believe what you say, try me" he challenged and simultaneously encouraged her to speak, but Zhalia only raised a brow.

"This is not my concern Dante, I know you will believe me, you got no choice but to do so. It's Kasim I'm worried about" she clarified and Dante shot her a questioning look, causing her to heave another sigh.

"Think about it, he has been hiding this from you all this long to keep you safe. He is afraid that with this information, you will do something reckless and he will lose you. From what I've heard about you from him, you are doing such things very often, so it has become my concern as well. I won't be 'here forever… he will be alone if he loses us and I don't want this to happen" she explained and caused Dante to understand her. He had no say in this; she was acting like him, doing anything to ensure Kasim's safety and happiness. However, Zhalia has to understand that this is his job as well and he is not a fool to do something dangerous enough that will cause him to leave Kasim behind.

"I understand your concern, but I have been his father for three years, I want the exact same thing you do. I wouldn't endanger myself at the point of leaving him. If you don't feel like sharing anything now, I understand, but when we will land and rest properly, you will have to explain me everything. I am taking that this attack wasn't for good, since Doctor Cody wanted your existence secret" he said and after some thinking, Zhalia nobbed in agreement, surrendering. He has to know everything and he knows what he is doing.

"Fine, you will learn everything. We don't have a choice, you are already into this. But tomorrow, let him rest first. And yes the attack was not good. Up until now, Kasim had managed to remain untraceable, until this Scarlet appeared. She is the reason Klaus managed to find us but he is the least dangerous person compared to what we have left behind in Saudi Arabia" she confessed, causing Dante to knit his brows and frown in displeasure. Those weren't good news at all. He wanted to ask for more, but remembered his promise and stopped himself.

"I see" he simply mouthed, displeasure clear in his voice "I guess it will all be cleared tomorrow. I am sorry for keeping you up" he apologized and Zhalia lifted her hands in a meaning manner

"Don't be, you are just worried, I understand that." Just after she assured him it was ok, a voice from the cockpit announced their arrival in Germany and woke up Kasim.

The young boy lazily lifted his body from the chair, rubbed his eyes, and heaved a small cute yawn, before stretching and eyeing the adults with a cloudy gaze, eyes half open.

"Are we landing already?" he weakly asked and the two adults smiled at him. This boy is the reason they will have to collaborate and do everything in their power to fight against whatever has started in Saudi Arabia and Klaus, to keep him safe… to keep his smile safe.

"Dante!" a voice with clear German accent echoed through the living room of the HQ in Berlin.

"Metz" Dante returned the warm greeting and the two adults exchanged a manly friendly hug. When they separated, Metz's eyes fell on Kasim. The presence of this boy never failed to place a loving smile on his lips just like that moment, until he noticed the bruises all over the parts of his skin that were exposed.

"Kasim, my little boy, what happened to you?" He asked with concern as he kneeled to match his height. All those three years, Dante had taken him to visit Metz many times. The man considered Kasim his family and Kasim had gotten used to calling him grandpa. They got along just perfectly, playing chess, making jokes, sometimes he would tutor him or tease Dante. Kasim looked on the floor and played with his sweater nervously while rubbing the floor with his right foot, his ponytail on the side.

"It's a long story grandpa…by the way, you haven't met Zhalia yet" the boy noticed with enthusiasm, trying to lighten the atmosphere between them and caused Metz's eyes to fall on their new companion, his worry only rising as he noticed the female's state.

"I am guessing you are Zhalia" he stated and the woman nobbed.

"Pleased to meet you sir, even under such circumstances" she replied and the elder frowned a bit.

"What circumstances?" he demanded to know. Watching his grandson's and Zhalia's state, he could tell those circumstances were not good at all. He turned to Dante who held an equal frown.

"We will know tomorrow Metz, now Kasim and Zhalia need to be treated properly and we need to rest. A lot of things happened today, we need to calm down and think straight" he politely said and gave him a reassuring nob before turning back to the other two.

"Alright then, I'll call a nurse to treat you two properly. It's nice to meet you Zhalia." The man announced before patting Dante's shoulder lightly and then leaving the room.

They waited at the living room for the nurse and when she came, she healed them pretty quickly. Kasim only had bruises and some minor cuts while Zhalia had a large bruise near her diaphragm, cuts and the big wound in her head, which the nurse turned into a smaller scar. Kasim was the first one to fall asleep and Zhalia returned to her bottle as long as she ensured of his safety, which displeased Dante, since he wanted to have one last talk with her. He didn't know what exactly he wanted to tell her, he just had that strange feeling nagging in his head, the feeling that he has forgotten something to say, something he had to. Dante assured himself that whatever that is, he will remember it and talk to her tomorrow. However this reassurance wasn't as helpful as he had hoped it to be. He stayed up almost all night, tossing and turning in bed, his mind occupied by million thoughts, about what he is about to find out tomorrow, about Kasim's well-being, about the possibility of getting attacked again and at the end, about what he hadn't told Zhalia. He was a little harsh at her at first, but the situation was complicated and she understood, at least she said so. She promised to talk about whatever is going on the next day.

So why is Dante bothering his mind about her? Maybe the realization of hosting a genie without him knowing, or the fact that Kasim has had another friend, who could gladly have been a parental figure all along, seemed a bit disturbing, but it wasn't what bothered him the most. Besides, Kasim had given a promise and was only protecting Zhalia, something that makes Dante proud of him.

So if it's not that her secret existence took him by surprise, that he was harsh on her or that she endangered them without intending to, then what the hell is keeping him up?

His head started aching due to realizing that he is unable to answer that question and after sometime, he finally felt the sweet darkness overtake him.

The next day, Dante woke up by the intensively bright light that penetrated his room through the window, causing the adult to blink a couple times before lifting his body and closing the window. Stretching a bit and washing his face, he took a deep breath and felt awkwardly refreshed, considering that he had hard time falling asleep. Dressing in his usual attire, he went to the room besides him to wake Kasim up. After knocking a couple of times, he assumed the boy was still asleep. Who would blame him? He had a tough day.

As he opened the door as carefully and soundlessly as he could, he peeked inside and found no sign of him. The worst thought immediately coming to his mind. What if Klaus or another bastard from Saudi Arabia took him? No, this can't be happening! As if to confirm his fears, he heard a scream coming from the living room downstairs. It was Kasim!

Without second thoughts, Dante rushed to downstairs, any sign of sleepiness vanished. His only concern was to get there, kick his enemy's away from Berlin and see that his son was safe and sound. Another scream was released… Finally reaching the first floor, he restlessly jogged and entered the living room, the amulet of Caliban in his head and the word of the infamous spell Ray pulse at the tip of his tongue.

However the sight he confronted deactivated his alerted senses and his tensed muscles. Putting the amulet back to the pocket of his trench coat, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the wall of the entrance. A smirk of amusement made its way to his lips and he rolled his eyes before chuckling lightly.

In the middle of the room was Kasim, trying to keep the air in his lungs as he was squeezed to death and tickled by the fear of all the colossus titans, who is no other than Montehue Lockwood. Tersely was jumping around them, trying to pinch Kasim's cheeks and play with his ponytail, quite hard to do since Montehue was spinning hi around and wouldn't stand still at one spot. The poor young boy was trying really hard to catch his breath due to insane laughter and screaming. Seeing him laugh like that and being so lively and happy compared to how sad and tired he looked yesterday warmed his heart. He kept standing there for a while, until his eyes fell on another entrance leading to the living room, where Metz and Zhalia entered.

Yesterday he was too busy fighting and trying to digest the new information he received, that he didn't have the time to actually notice what a beautiful woman he is and how pleasant her presence was, something which he could clearly see and sense now that he was calmer and refreshed. His eyes were lingering upon her feminine figure, her silky midnight blue hair, and her hazel eyes with golden and chocolate brown brushes, her full fruity raspberry lips, her olive complexion. He found himself mesmerized by her beauty and captivated by her majestic eyes, feeling awkwardly weird for not noticing it before. She is indeed a beautiful woman and her presence seemed to leave her own unique light in the atmosphere.

He also noticed that now she wasn't wearing her Arabian attire, but a long sleeved white shirt which was oversized, light jean shorts and black army boots. The outfit suited her just fine and if Dante didn't know she is a genie and Kasim's friend, he would have considered flirting her. Are genies being born in their bottle by other genies? How are they made really? Maybe Zhalia was a human once and was turned into a genie….

Making those series of thoughts caused him to realize what was bothering all along and felt stupid for not figuring it out before. He was seeing her as nothing more as a magical being. He even woke her up in the middle of their flight without actually caring whether she was tired, all because he wanted and explanation. True, he apologized before about being harsh before but was this just him following the savor vivre or was he honest? He didn't even know if he actually feels comfortable with her presence. Now that he had the time to see how human like she is, how she worries, reacts, smiles like a human, he felt genuine guilt for not seeing her like that in the first place. After all, who is he to know how a genie acts? He had never seen one in his entire life and has no idea where do genies come from. Dante decided that he should face her as an equal and not as a supernatural entity that should be treated accordingly.

He was still standing in one of the entrances with an empty corridor behind him, leaning in the wall still unnoticed by his companions, when Montehue and Tersely stopped playing with Kasim, who crawled on the carpet, trying to regain his breath and stop his laughter, as they noticed Metz's and Zhalia's presence.

"Good Morning sir" Tersely greeted Metz politely

"Hello Metz! How are you doing? And who is that lovely lady?" Montehue greeted Metz as well and checked Zhalia out, causing Dante to raise a brow. Zhalia just looked at the men with an empty gaze, when Metz smiled upon seeing his visitors.

"Hello Montehue, Tersely, everything is alright for the moment. And that lovely lady is Zhalia; she came yesterday with Dante and Kasim. Apparently they were attacked" Metz informed them and Montehue frowned lightly. He knows Dante well; attacking his well-protected house is not easy for a common enemy like Organization suits, so he concluded that something fishy is going on here.

"Those are definitely bad news" Montehue stated as he averted his gaze from the concerned Metz to Zhalia, who was now staring at Kasim and Tersely playing in the carpet, a small sweet smile on her lips at the sight of his smile which brightened up his royal blue eyes.

"I hope that all three of you weren't badly injured" he inquired with worry, gaining Zhalia's attention. Montehue might like to joke around, but he can be very serious at important matters, such as his friendly competitor and friend's health and state. Zhalia's smile vanished the moment she met Montehue's eyes.

"No, we are just fine. Thank you for your concern." She replied and approached Kasim and Tersely. As she seated herself besides tersely, the boy gave her an awkward smile, not used on being so close to a girl, and Kasim shouted her name out of joy and jumped to her arms. Zhalia chuckled and hugged him back in a warm loving embrace, before playing with him.

After Metz greeted them to go to his office, Montehue, having noticed how Zhalia acts different around Kasim, decided to make a show off to impress her.

"You really like kids, huh?" he asked with a smirk and Zhalia looked up to meet his eyes.

"Just this particular little piggy" she said as she tickled Kasim's tummy and the boy complained.

"Hey! I am not a pig; I am the Lord of the seven seas!" The boy stood up proudly and took a heroic position, causing the adults to stare at him and chuckle in amusement, when Zhalia rolled her eyes. They all knew how much Kasim loves the sea and water in general. His titan, Memphis, is connected to water and he can easily learn water spells. After he gained interest in water, Dante taught him how to swim and often travelled with him to places with crystal clear waters to swim and have fun, or at least for Kasim to have fun while Dante is having a mission.

"Is that so?" he asked Kasim amused before turning to Zhalia with a smirk of pride "Let's see if the Lord of the seven seas will survive a bottle with the titan of Squeezing!" he said and dashed at Kasim who let out a scream and started running all around the room to avoid getting squeezed my Montehue.

"You'll never catch me again uncle Monty" the kid shouted as he jumped over couches, armchairs and continued running around while Montehue was slowing his pace on purpose and grinning victoriously as he noticed Zhalia's smile of amusement.

After a while, Montehue stopped, huffing and panting, he put his hands on his knees and looked down. Kasim stopped as well and came close to him, eyeing him with worry in his big eyes.

"Uncle Monty, are you are right?" the little boy asked as he leaned to take a pick at Montehue's face. A move which was proven to be a huge mistake… The moment the poor child was close enough; Montehue let out a loud roar and made a face which would make you believe he has been the monster under the bed that kids have been afraid for ages.

Kasim let out a scream as the colossus guy trapped him in his big strong arms and started squeezing him and playing with his ponytail, tickling him, throwing him in the air and catching him. Zhalia got actually scared whenever Montehue would throw Kasim in the air, her mother instincts were always activated around this kid.

Before Montehue drained all the air from Kasim's lungs, Dante decided to honor his companions with the sound of his voice, revealing his presence. Al this time he had been standing there and smiling in amusement, while he constantly raised his eyebrow every time his friendly competitor would attempt to flirt with Zhalia.

"Since when has my son become your teddy bear? Put him down, you will making pass out" Dante ordered and gathered all three gazes to his direction as he stepped in the living room. Montehue placed Kasim down fast and let out a heavy laughter.

"Don't worry so much mother hen, we are just having fun. Something I could teach you about, you seem to really need it" Montehue commented, but Dante remained indifferent. He crossed his arms in his chest and looked at him with a sparkle of amusement; having prepared a good come back he never got a chance to say.

"If I wanted to have this kind of fun I would have chosen an amusement park, seems my less dangerous in my opinion" Zhalia said sarcastically while shooting bullets with her eyes to Montehue as she noticed how Kasim was missing steps while walking towards tersely. Montehue only gave her an apologetic look and a smile.

"Oh don't worry Zhalia; we do that every time we meet"

"Which is why I take care it's not that often" Dante added, causing tersely and Kasim to laugh and Montehue to frown in displeasure.

"I feel a bit better now" Zhalia admitted, looking at Dante with gratitude before chuckling upon Montehue's priceless expression.

"Kasim could use a dose of laughter from time to time" she added, causing now Montehue to smile victoriously and look at Dante, the words "I win" could have been written on his forehead and Dante barely frowned.

Zhalia was very amused by the men's little competition. She didn't know what exactly was their relationship, only that their reactions were enough to amuse their audience, which is her, Kasim and Tersely. Dante cleared his throat and decided to change the subject.

"If it's ok with you, we could go and see Metz now, unless you need some more time" he said and felt how Zhalia's eyes were scanning his own amber ones. The woman looked at him emotionless. Dante admitted to himself that those sudden transitions of hers were surprising him. She only seemed to smile or show any kind of emotion when the subject of their conversation contains Kasim…and he has barely known her for twenty four hours.

"I think Metz has to finish some business first. He will call us in his office himself when he is done. He promised he won't take long" she announced and earned a nob from Dante, who then turned to Kasim.

"Did you sleep well buddy?" he asked with a slightly concerned look and the boy nobbed multiple times with a huge smile on his lips, brightening his eyes, his ponytail jumping up and down, following the motion of his head. Dante smiled too.

"I did dad, I am perfectly fine. Uncle Monty gave me some of his cappuccino!" the boy confessed excited, causing Dante to frown at Montehue, who lifted his hands on the air in a defense manner. He knew how Dante didn't approve coffee at such a small age; he had made himself clear when he said that Kasim will be allowed to drink coffee after he gets sixteen.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad if he drinks just once in a while" he defended himself and rubbed the back of his neck, before turning to Zhalia for support. Unfortunately for him, she had the exact same expression with Dante, indicating she agreed with his disapproval of coffee at the age of 9.

"Really… you guys are no fun. Are you his mother or something?" Montehue asked Zhalia after he was done pointing out their lack of fun. Instead of getting an answer from the mentioned female, Kasim moved away from tersely and jumped into Zhalia's arms, cuddling her warm white woolen shirt.

"Yes she is!" the boy happily announced. Montehue and Tersely turned to eye Dante wide eyed, while Dante found himself at loss of words and Zhalia felt simply awkward.

"Uh- I am not his biological one. Celestial beings can't have children" she admitted, causing only more confusion to bloom in Montehue's and Tersely's eyes, who were begging Dante for explanations, too socked to mouth a word.

"What-What do you mean?" Tersely managed to utter, moving a few seats away from Zhalia who finally realized what was going on.

"Oh, they don't know I am a-….I'm sorry, I assumed you told them….have you at least told Metz about it?" She asked Dante in bewilderment and he shook his head, indicating he hasn't.

"What do you mean celestial being? What are you?" Montehue now asked Zhalia, turning from shocked to interested about the matter, but Kasim managed to steal the answer from her again.

"She is a genie and I am her master. But I don't want to make my wishes so the she can stay with me forever and I will protect her" Kasim innocently admitted. He is too young to think that the world he is familiar with is something very aloof to others, which is why he laughed hard when he saw Montehue's and Tersely's faces and Dante's face palm. Dante would have preferred to leave them out of this, or bring it to them in a smoother way, when Zhalia felt stupid for not being more careful with her words.

An awkward silence engulfed them where Montehue and tersely were trying to find the right question and Dante with Zhalia the right words. Meanwhile Kasim would avert his gaze from one of them to another, staring in bewilderment and wondering what happened all of a sudden. Shrugging his shoulders –accepting that he will never understand the world of adults- he decided to continue voicing out his thoughts without paying any mind. A specific idea was stuck in his head for a while and he considered it brilliant.

"Hey dad, since you will not marry Scarlet, why don't you marry Zhalia?" the boy asked excited, bringing more discomfort to the atmosphere. Subconsciously the two mentioned adults locked their gazes before shaking their heads and looking away. Kasim thought about his words for a while. His eyes widened upon realizing what he had just said, so he decided to correct his phrase.

"Oh wait no! Don't marry her! When I grow up, we will g back to Saudi Arabia and find –"he couldn't finish his sentence, for Zhalia, put a hand on his mouth and shushed him. Whoever that guy Kasim wanted to mention was, Zhalia didn't want them to find out. The veil of silence fell over them again, interrupted by "um..." sounds of awkwardness. Luckily it didn't last long, because Metz entered the living room.

"It appears my work is finished. Now Dante, you Kasim and Zhalia can join me at my office." he announced and noticed the discomfort in the atmosphere.

"Is everything okay?" he asked them concerned, his head turned to Dante's direction. Dante just shook his head to come back to his senses and nobbed at him.

"Everything is fine Metz we'll join you" he said and gestured Zhalia and Kasim to follow him. They obeyed and exited the living room with Dante and Metz, leaving a confused Montehue and Tersely behind.

Dante walked beside Metz, Kasim and Zhalia right behind them. Zhalia had an emotionless expression, but if you knew her better, you would see a glimpse of discomfort in her eyes. Not just because of what Kasim had said...she just has a bad feeling.. And whenever she has a bad feeling, it usually proves to be a warning sign that something bad is about to happen. Kasim was casually holding Zhalia's hand with a big smile on his lips, his eyes smiling too, with heavenly shades of blue, as he was hoping his way to Metz's office.

Dante was deep in thought, not just because of what happened with Montehue and because he had to find a way to deal with it, but because of what Zhalia said, that genies are celestial beings. What is that supposed to mean. There were so many questions and so many mysterious and interesting things about her, about Kasim, about what happened in Saudi Arabia, about three years ago and he was about to get answers now.

As they reached the entrance of Metz's office, he stopped them before they could get in. Dante noticed a concerned look on his face. He knew that something had happened while he was doing his work, something that affected him and he felt stupid for not realizing it earlier. Metz looked at each of them seriously and took a deep breath.

"Before you get in, I must tell you that there is a visitor whose presence I don't know what reactions it will cause. I would appreciate it if you treat him with respect, considering his position, have I made myself clear?" he announced and eyed them with a serious expression. All of them, even Kasim, seemed to have understood that their visitor is a person of great significance and nobbed, taking Metz as seriously as he spoke to them. Zhalia felt that strange bad feeling again, the closer they got to the door, the stronger it got. Something about that visitor seemed off and when Metz finally opened the door, she understood why.

Both hers and Kasim's jaw dropped as they eyed a muscular dark skinned man, dressed in army attire, with pitch black eyes and black shaved hair to the sides. Two huge cuts were ornamented his left eye and his lips were pursed in a straight line as he got up from where he was previously seated and stood with his back straight, eyeing them emotionlessly.

"Dante, Kasim, Zhalia, this is Major Declan"

A/N: Hello my beloved human beings! How are you all doing in this cold night!...at least it's cold in Greece...

Chap 4 is up, i am sorry i did not reveal much, but you will know more about Zhalia's and Kasim's past in Saudi Arabia in the next chapter.

Do you remember Major Declan, from chap 1? You didn't see him coming did ya? Dante is really in his own world lately huh? What do you think Kasim's power is about (this must be the third time i ask this ^.^)? What will Dante learn tommorow about genies, Saudi Arabia and Kasim? Genies are celestial beings huh...and i apologize to the guest...celestial beings can't have children...at least not in my story ^.^. Will he manage to find a way to approach Zhalia? What is going on in Zhalia's head? Will Dante find out? What is their impression of each other? How was the Montehue part :) ? What the heck is Major Declan doing here? You think he told Metz something?

And last but not least...Have you fallen in love with Kasim yet? ^.^

That's all my sexy beautiful people! Hope you have a wonderfull night...or day, whatever it is in your country..

Lots of love from Irene Rays