Chapter 30
Planning
Adri's POV
Fox lead Alex and me out of the office as everyone tried to voice their opinion at once. She washed Alex's face and put him in his pajamas. He didn't want to sleep alone, but Fox had to go back to Mr. Xanatos' office. I stayed with him.
"Adri, tell me about Tai." He cuddled up to me.
"Tai is creative, she always likes try to push her limits and make interesting things. She encouraged me to make art. I wouldn't have done it without her. When we were kids, she'd play pranks to make everybody laugh. Even though she got in trouble. But despite that, she was a good student. A good friend. Always there for you, ready to get anything you needed." I reminisced.
"… Why did she leave? Why would she leave if she missed us?" Alex asked after a bit.
I frowned. I knew she wasn't talking to her father, but she didn't talk to Alex? She really understated the severity of their fight. Just like when we were kids…
"Tai- Talia doesn't know how to go about confronting family problems, doesn't know how to bring it up. Her parents argued a lot. They were short-tempered and they had money problems. So she tries to keep quiet about them then it'll boil over and she'll remove herself from the situation, either physically or mentally. That's why we have to ask what's wrong and it might take a few tries, but we'll work it out. She never meant to hurt you or your family, Alex." I told him.
I started drawing patterns on his back. Simple and smooth patterns. He yawned and quieted down. My eyes started drooping when I heard him sleepily whisper. "You're family too…"
Adri's POV End
Xanatos' POV
"Goliath, we don't know where to look." I explained again.
"He sent you a message, track it!" He snarled.
"I tried!" I yelled back. Everyone was quiet. "I tried and it said the message came from the public library, which is not open right now. I- I need more time. Research any warehouses that he might use or any off shoots of Nightstone in the nearby area. Give me the day and I'll have some places by then."
"Very well, we will patrol as normal until we have locations." He nodded and led the clan out.
"Owen, search the castle for bugs and change the computer system. I don't want that to ever happen again." I told him.
"Yes, sir." He left.
Fox was the only one still in my office. "Puck checked her apartment. There weren't any wards, Fox; she risked her safety so we wouldn't find her."
"You know how stubborn she is. She kept trying to run away to go back to her parents' home." She told me.
"This is different. Even if she doesn't understand what being Avalon's princess means, she knows what being my daughter means. She knows we have enemies." I slumped in my chair. "I know we have enemies."
"David, there's no way you could have predicted that Thailog would kidnap her." Fox insisted.
"Maybe not, but I left her unprotected all the same." I grimaced.
"You don't get to take all the blame. I'm as guilty as you are. I was blinded by my love for you and responsibility to Alex, I forgot about Talia. She's mine too." Her voice became thick.
"Fox…" I stood up.
"I keep standing by and letting her get hurt. I might as well not be here!" Tears welled in her eyes. "We can't let any more chances slip by us, David."
I held Fox in my arms as our failures finally broke us down.
Xanatos' POV End
Alex's POV
Uncle Owen woke us up and we ate breakfast. I didn't have to go to school today since it was Sunday. After breakfast, Mommy was talking on the phone and Uncle Owen was too busy on the computer to play with me. Adri was painting. Sorta. She was still drawing what she was gonna paint. I found Daddy in his lab. On the computer too.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"I'm making something to protect Talia. I finished the list of locations for the gargoyles awhile ago." He explained.
"I wanna help." I sat on his lap.
"I'm writing code, teaching the robot how to do things. Tell me something you'd like it to do for Talia. Something simple." He asked.
I thought. "Open doors."
"Ok, first we have to teach it what a door is." Daddy typed something in a specific way. "If it's not typed in a certain way, the robot won't be able to do what you want. Next we have to teach it how doors open. You probably don't think about it, but there's a bunch different kinds of ways for doors to open. Pushing, pulling, and turning a knob. Does the door swing in or outward? We have to give it some examples so it can compare what kind of door it's at and won't break other kinds of doors. Understand?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Good." He typed another thing in code. "And now, we can teach it how to open doors."
"It took up the whole screen." I pointed.
"Yeah, it takes a lot of code to program a robot, especially one as complex as this one." Daddy smiled. "Now, take me through the steps to teach it how to close doors."
Alex's POV End
Third Person
The Weird Sisters were back on Avalon, at their seeing pool, unable to stand being so close to so much iron any longer.
"We must learn the princess's secret." Phoebe ate a grape.
"It will be a challenge; she has already proven she's as troublesome as her father." Luna frowned, rubbing her bandaged hands.
"Her kind is difficult to guide, but we have done it before." Phoebe hummed.
"Oberon cannot know of our plans. He may take it as an insult to his rule. Nor the queen." They all shuddered at the thought.
"That mortal I controlled, he turned humans into monsters using a 'mutagenic formula.' He has also made the gargoyle that took her from Goliath's blood." Seline mentioned, looking out.
"Why do you bring this up, sister?" Luna asked.
"Perhaps we can use this mortal's knowledge to craft our next pawn. One more like the princess…" They watched as Raven and Coyote wrestled.
Third Person End
Talia's POV
My stomach rolled and I shut my eyes, trying to stop myself from vomiting. It was still worth it. I swallowed it down and tried to focus on something else. Besides all the pain, I was tired. I hadn't slept since the Weird Sisters interrupted my nap. But I had felt a little cruddy before lunch too…
Thailog's footsteps hurt my ears. "Sevarius found something interesting about your reaction to iron. When you come in contact with it, your body decays. Why is that?"
"Is there a little hiccup in your immortality serum?" I laughed.
"I can make things much worse for you. But since I feel nice, I'll ask again. Why does your body decay when exposed to iron?" He warned.
"Once upon a time, I didn't access to a gun and made do with bleach and knife instead. Turns out you still die pretty slow." I smiled, not bothering to keep the macabre longing out.
"Your magic keeps you from dying." He frowned.
"Technically, yes." I agreed.
My magic didn't keep me from dying; it stopped me from dying from all my old wounds. I hadn't had my magic for a long time. Unlike Alex who had his magic his whole life. However, as my power grew, my magic would not only keep them closed, it'd heal them.
"Explain what you mean." Thailog demanded.
"I mean I'm only still alive because of it." He growled, but unlocked my cell.
He paused as he undid my shackles. "Your hands are trembling."
"They are?" I asked.
His nose twitched. My blood went cold as he lifted up my shirt. His fingers pressed on my stomach and I winced, vomiting a little.
"Who hurt you?" Thailog snarled.
"…Sevarius." I panted.
He picked me up and took me to the infirmary. I didn't think he had one. I passed out as I settled on cushioned table.
Talia's POV End
Thailog's POV
I had the medical doctor treat Talia right away. I stalked out, barely keeping my talons from ruining the floor. My eyes glowed uncontrollably.
Servarius had discovered that there were microorganisms and bacteria in her blood that her magic kept at bay. The more she was injured, the more her magic weakened with her. It didn't matter that she was separated from her blood. I had choked her last night, and along with his beating, our samples were ruined. I had no idea what damage it would have caused if the serum had been near the testing stage. Or completed.
I grabbed him by the shirt. His head hit the wall with a crack.
"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU BEAT UP TALIA?! I NEED HER ALIVE!" I roared.
"What are you talking about? I didn't go near her cell." Sevarius frowned, confused.
"She has bruises on her stomach, bruises the size of your shoe, doctor. And the back of her head was scabbing over." I gritted my teeth. "I need her somewhat healthy for her blood to be of use. I thought you understood that."
"I do understand." Sevarius said.
"Then how did she get hurt?" I asked.
"I don't know." He shrugged.
I swiped my talons across his chest. "You're not allowed to be alone with her and I'm lowering your clearance and docking your pay until she's healed." I tossed him on the ground. "Shari, come."
Thailog's POV End
It's been a whole year since I first uploaded this and I wanna say thanks for reading. I realize it's the 30th chapter too. So, happy birthday, Talia Xanatos.
