Chapter 31
Christmas Eve 2022
Thailog's POV
"Talia's injures healing remarkably well. She had a night terror after lunch though so we gave her Lorazepam. After that, she slept for few hours and ate a third of her meal." The doctor, who's name I was told was Ricche, looked over her.
"How much longer until she healed?" I crossed my arms.
"The way her injures have been healing, I believe another month and half. But perhaps we should have a psychologist-"
My fist connected before he could finish. "NO MORE PEOPLE! YOU SUGGEST ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN; I'LL KILL YOUR FAMILY."
"Y-yes, sir." He held his face.
I turned and paused, wiping her gag with a tissue. She glared at me. I smiled.
"That gag is mostly iron, if you try to bite through, you'll break your teeth. Maybe Santa will give you a treat if you're good, little sister." I ruffled her hair, reminding her that I was in charge. Her eyes blazed at the demotion in sibling status. She struggled against the restraints. I waited until I knew she wasn't going to break free then I left.
Thailog's POV End
Elisa's POV
There was a knock on my balcony window. I opened it and let my brother in. They took off their winter coats. We hugged then I hugged Theo and Claire. Theo still had lion cub like fur. Claire's fur had some slightly noticeable spots in it now that she was in inside. We didn't know if she'd grow out of them. Maggie and I shared a friendly smile as she had brought a dish of something. She put it on the table as Mom, Dad, and Beth greeted the others.
"Is Goliath coming?" Talon asked.
"He'll be by in a little bit, but he said not to wait for him." I said.
"I can't imagine flying back up to the castle is easy in weather like this." Maggie uncovered her dish. It was honey glazed ham.
"You learn how to read winter winds as a hatchling." Goliath had padded in.
"I thought you were going to be late, big guy." I stepped toward him so he could wrap his wings around me.
"I thought so too." He stroked my hair.
He ended the embrace after a few moments. We sat at the table and Mom lead grace. Then we put food on our plates. Derek coughed before turning to my mate.
"Is the search going ok?" He asked.
Goliath thought. "It has not been easy with the snow and ice, but we have made progress."
We all grimaced at the implied slow.
"I remember how hard it was when we thought Elisa and Derek went missing. How's Alex dealing with it?" Beth asked.
"He has been handling it well, but I think that he's upset that she's not going to able to be there for Christmas." He told her.
"How does he know she's alive?" Theo asked and Maggie jabbed him.
"Thailog needs her alive for his scheme to work." Goliath frowned. That was our only silver lining. But I knew everyone was prepared for it to tarnish.
It was silent until Dad brought up a new subject.
Elisa's POV End
Brooklyn's POV
"My love, I still don't understand why Thailog-san took Talia-chan." Katana asked.
I paused. A flurry of snow chilled the few people below. We had been watching the warehouse since we woke up. We would have broken in, but it was gargoyle resistant. Goliath said not to do any damage if possible. We didn't want to give Thailog any reason to kill her.
"You have to understand that Talia wasn't meant to live this long. She was supposed die when she attempted suicide the first time. She hasn't aged in 5 years and wasn't being taught by Puck during that time. Her magic is potent stuff. I don't know how's he's going about it, but he wants to use her to live longer." I shook my head.
"… Poor child." Katana frowned.
"Yeah, but it only gets worse. From Elisa told me, she came from a struggling household. Her birth parents couldn't care for her. Then Xanatos gets his hands on her and locks her away from the world." I growled. Katana looked at me. "Not literally, mostly… He kept grounding her and when he did let her go out, he kept a tight leash on her."
"He has changed very much in the past five years." She hummed.
"Hey, I think those are workers." I pointed.
There were some people opening the garage door. We swooped down carefully.
Brooklyn's POV End
Puck's POV
"I don't wanna!" Talia shouted at me.
"Talia, you need your magic lessons." I told her.
"No, I don't wanna!" She repeated.
"Talia, you're doing it and that's final." I said again.
"Not if I die." Talia said with sudden steel in her voice.
"I won't let that happen." I watched her.
An iron net trapped me in my seat. It burned. Her lip curved up. Her canines seemed too sharp and wide.
"It's amazing what technology can do now." Her voice changed, much too malevolent and deep to be anyone other than Thailog.
He had covered Talia's mouth while holding her up to his chest. She clawed at his arm, but she couldn't do any damage due the plate. He bound her feet with his tail. "It's a shame really, she's got potential, but she's going to be a thorn in my side someday."
He pressed his lips to her head, tears were streaming down her face now, and then he raised a knife to her throat.
"NO!" I yelled.
Then the clone dropped her to the floor and jumped out the window. She burbled blood as the iron whittled her magic, her life away. Her eyes, now almost completely brown, gazed over.
"What happened?!" Lord Oberon raged.
"Talia's hurt." I said.
As quickly as he raged, he paled. He tried to heal Talia, but there was nothing he could do now.
"IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SUCH A BAD FATHER, SHE WOULD BE ALIVE!" He destroyed the room except us. The debris flew around in the whirlwind.
"This isn't my fault!" I looked up at him.
"NOT YOUR FAULT? WHO INTERFERRED WITH HER LIFE, WHO LEAD HER TO XANATOS, WHO DROVE HER AWAY?" He roared.
"I made a mistake!" I shouted.
"AND NOW TALIA IS GONE!" His magic whirlwind grew louder and louder until I couldn't hear him anymore. I blinked and he was gone. Talia's body was gone. Fox was mauled. Alex was shot down before I could react. I began to age rapidly in a body that wasn't my own.
Puck's POV End
Owen's POV
I wiped the tears from my eyes, steadying my breath. I had fallen asleep again. My phone rang.
I answered it. "Hello?"
"Hello, it's Peter Lee, Talia's uncle. Her birth father's friend. I know it's late where you are, but I haven't heard from her since Thanksgiving and I'm getting worried. She was going to come for Christmas Eve. Is she ok?" The man asked. I racked my brain. Peter, Peter… Ah, the hazelnut grower. I weighed my options.
"Talia… was injured while visiting Manhattan. We want to be sure that it's not serious before we let her go back home." I said.
"What was it?" He asked.
"She hit her head badly." I told him.
"That's terrible. Give her my well wishes." Peter frowned.
"I will. Good night, Mr. Lee and Merry Christmas." I hung up.
Owen's POV End
Sevarius' POV
I just turned to pour my morning coffee and when I turned back, three identical women were standing in my kitchen. "Gah!"
"Calm yourself, mortal. We wish to learn more of your feats." The blond one smiled.
"May I ask who you are?" I asked.
"I am Luna." The white haired one said.
"Phoebe." The blond introduced herself.
"And I am Seline." The black haired one was last.
"What did you mean by 'my feats'?" I frowned.
"Like how you made another gargoyle from Goliath's blood." Seline explained.
"You want a clone?" I got the distinct feeling that they were older they appeared.
"No, a rival for the princess. What would we need to make a child from… mortals?" Luna furrowed her brow.
"Well, I would need something with their DNA. Blood preferably, but hair and saliva work as well. I can't do anything before I have material to work with." I wondered who their princess was.
They looked at each other. Phoebe shook her head. Seline gestured to her hair. Luna glared. "We will have something for you in a few days."
They disappeared. I sipped my coffee and blanched. Why had I let go cold?
Sevarius' POV End
Adri's POV
Alex had Peaches tucked under his arm as he looked through something. He wouldn't let the toy fox away from his side for long. Tai didn't remember Peaches' name until I told her. His brow furrowed as he flipped back and forth.
"What're you looking at?" I asked as I changed the channel.
"I'm helping Daddy make a robot for Tai. He's letting me choose what it's gonna look like. But it's hard." He frowned.
"Let me see." I held out my hand and he gave it to me.
The packet had several detailed body types, ranging from average to tall and buff. I figured making a fat robot was counterproductive. Next page was a height chart. One row was men and the other was women. The next page was hairstyles on faceless heads. Then it was face shapes. I realized Alex was supposed to choose what he liked one at time.
"You choose what you like and I'll draw it." I got my sketchbook and colored pencils. He pointed which he liked and I sketched a human figure part by part. We ended up with a 6 foot 3, buff 20 something with long red hair and a beard. He had dark green eyes and square jaw. It looked a lot like…
"Alex, this is just you." I frowned.
"Nu huh, he's tall. He can reach the cups without magic." He pointed to the page.
"It looks enough like you. That might confuse Tai. Let's change it." I suggested. I knew he wanted to protect her, but it'd be weird to have a robot Alex around the house.
"Ok." He agreed.
Instead of being buff, I gave the man more of a track star kind of build. We settled on a heart shaped face. I changed the hair to black and made it thicker. Alex decided to get rid of the beard entirely. I scribbled until I found a pretty copper then added a light gold undertone. I colored him in.
"You forgot his eyes." Alex pointed.
"I always forget to color them." I put most of my brown colored pencils back.
The TV glitched and made a loud noise. We watched it. Then it went back to normal, playing a documentary on sea glass. The camera panned over a collection of them. I saw a light blue piece. I colored his eyes in.
"Do you want me to draw another design?" I asked.
"Nu huh, I like it." He told me.
"Ok, but let me know if you do." I tore it out for him to show to his dad.
"I love you." He hugged me.
"I love you too, little man." I hugged him back and he slid off the bed, taking the picture with him.
Adri's POV End
Xanatos' POV
I watched as Owen looked through the code. I almost missed when he furrowed his brows because I was biting into my apple. Scrolling back up, he reread a few lines. Then he turned to me.
"How long has Alex been helping you?" He asked with odd inflection.
"Since the beginning. Is that a bad thing?" I asked.
"No, but we may want to keep eye on this." Owen fought back Puck's delight enough to warn me.
"Why?" I asked.
"This tin can's gonna have magic!" Puck crowed.
"What, how?!" I stood up.
"Whenever one of the Children makes something, it gains a fraction of their power. Depending on what it is and the intent while making it determines the amount. Alex wanted this robot to protect and care for Talia no matter what. He has given it enough magic to equal that of hers." Puck explained.
"Will the others be able to tell?" I frowned.
"They will know it is of Titania's line, but she has always favored foxes. Their cunning attracts her." He smiled. "I knew your son would amaze me."
"Daddy, Daddy! Adri helped design the robot! It's really pretty." Alex ran in, the page flapping about. "Hi, Uncle Owen. Are you helping Daddy too?"
I looked at the man in the swivel chair. There was no trace of Puck or his magic. When Puck was excited or furious, it tended to leak out of Owen. Sometimes just his emotions, other times…
"I am merely supervising." He got up and looked at the design.
Oh, you son of a bitch.
Xanatos' POV End
