hapter eight: The last night home
About half a solan after Afjack moved in with Intress and Yokkis, something went down in the Underworld. Most of the Underworlders were happy about it, but it made Von Bloot feel sick. He was happy that Takinom had someone to make her smile now, but he hated Chaor even more now than he did when he first heard Takinom say 'I'm getting married.' He hated Chaor almost as much as he hated the Remokintas. But the twins were a different story. He loved his nieces so much.
Vinneva had Chaor's coloring, except she was much lighter than her father. She had her grandfather's eye color; green. So did her sister Nivvena. The two looked just alike, but their colors were sort of reversed. Vinneva had blue hair like her daddy and pinkish red skin while Nivvena had pale blue skin and hair that was slightly darker than her sister's skin.
Even though they were so young, it was already clear that they had very different personalities. Vinneva was full of smiles and some of the guards even claimed to hear very soft laughter coming from the other side of the nursery's door late at night. They were sure it was Vinneva's because her sister was too much like their daddy. But they loved her anyways; she was too cute for them to not.
Those two brought Chaor and Takinom so much joy. Takinom would take the girls for walks around the castle every now and then to help them learn their way around before they started walking, and getting into things they shouldn't. The last thing she wanted was for them to somehow end up in Chaor's training room and get hurt. She could see them trying to pick up one of their daddy's weights, mistaking it for a toy. Several times she passed a couple of guards with Nivvena in her arms and the girl would ball up her hand into a little fist and shake it at them. Takinom thought it was the cutest thing but it scared the guards like you would not believe, even if they agreed that it was cute. It was one of the few things that made Chaor smile. After the first few times he held her, she started sticking her tongue out at him. Takinom giggled at it but Chaor just looked at her with a confused expression on his face. Vinneva would smile at him when he held her, occasionally reaching her hands toward his face like she wanted to hug his neck.
They knew they would have to let go of the girls one day. Even if it was just for a few days, they didn't want to let the girls go. Maybe once they got a little older and they showed their parents they were capable of taking care of themselves the two wouldn't have problem but looking at them now, Chaor didn't want to take his chances. He now understood why his mother was always telling him not to talk to strangers before she passed away. He understood the fear she had of losing him. The thought of something happening to one of his little girls was the only thing he feared more than losing his mate. And five month after their birth, his worst nightmare came to life.
It was about the middle of the night. The girls were both crying, and they woke the ruler of the Underworld. At first he thought they just wanted attention since they knew Takinom wasn't going to feed them at that time of night. She was trying to train them to sleep at night and save breakfast till after sunrise. So far they were doing well, so Chaor figured Nivvena just woke Vinneva up again. She would do that sometimes, and the younger twin would cry while the other would just lay there until someone came into the room; then she would cry as well in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that she made her sister cry. But Chaor soon realized both of his girls were crying, which was very unusual.
When he walked into their room, he knew something wasn't right. He could feel a presence, but he couldn't see anything. Then something moved from behind one of the little drawers Takinom kept the girls' stuff in. It was moving toward the twins! And it was moving quickly. He had to protect his children. He threw a flame orb at the creature, and the fire made enough light for him to see that the creature looked like a cross between a cat and a Mipedian.
That looks too much like how Takinom described a Remokinta. He thought before more of them jumped out at him and his girls. Some of them had guns and they shot at him. He screamed in pain, causing guards to bust into the room. In seconds there was a small war occurring in the room, waking Takinom. She joined the fight, just as the Remokintas had planned. But they weren't expecting such a challenge. They were defeated, but it didn't take long for Takinom to fly to the cribs, and see that her babies were gone. Somehow, during all of the fighting, some of the Remokintas had grabbed them and took off out a window without anyone noticing.
Chaor had the entire Underworld looking for them, worrying about the daughters of their ruler. Even most of those who didn't like Chaor were worried about the children. Most of them. Some saw it as a good time to strike; he was having trouble sleeping after all. But there was one who saw it as her chance to get Von Bloot to notice her. She was gothic and emotional, so a lot of creatures didn't accept her. Gotho was the one who accepted the creatures society looked down upon for no good reason, such as people who die their hair crazy colors or the overly sensitive, and let a majority of his servants live in his house. She was one of his maids.
She was cleaning like she normally did when she heard somebody walk down the hall. She looked and saw it was Von Bloot. Perfect she thought nobody is here to shut me up, and he looks upset. This is my chance.
"Forgive me, my Lord, but have you heard anything yet?" She sounded so concerned even she started to think she was.
"No!" He yelled. Things were going exactly as she planned. She acted surprised by his yelling, her eyes growing wide and her mouth forming a small o.
"I'm sorry." She lied, continuing to clean.
"No." he sighed "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. I didn't mean to, honest."
"It's alright, my Lord." She still sounded scared. Von Bloot's heart broke even more. He really hadn't meant to scare her or yell at her, but that was what he did.
"No." he told her "It's not."
"If you say so." She looked at him and asked "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Now that he looked at her face, he was starting to like her. She had pale skin the matched her blue eyes very well. She was thin, and her hair was long and white but tip of her hair was died blue so that it matched her eyes. Her dark clothes made her skin look even paler; so much so that he worried something was wrong with her.
"Are you sick?" For the first time in twenty seven hours, he was thinking about someone other them his missing nieces.
"No, why?" She wasn't expecting that. Why would he think she was sick?
"It's just, you're so pale." He wasn't sure if he should have said anything at all. He didn't want her to feel bad again, but what could he have done? Would it have been right to act like he hadn't heard her and just walk off?
"I'm always like that." Now she was sure she he would walk off, but he didn't do so right way.
"It looks cute on you." With that said, he walked away.
That was even easier than I thought it would be. I thought it would take weeks, if not months, to get him to compliment me. Was he flirting already? Who cares? Now that he said that, I can ask him about it later. Maybe I'll finally have a friend. Was all she thought as she watched him walk away. She knew she would see him again soon, and she could hardly wait.
