~x~ Chapter 41 ~x~
"Kai!" Martin snapped, clapping his hands together in front of my face to drag me out of my panicking.
I blinked at him. "What?"
"What are you panicking about this time?"
"Everything?" I replied meekly.
"Go through one thing at a time."
I stared at them for a moment and realised that I was being surrounded by grownups. Even Ali wasn't a kid anymore like I was back then. I felt a little isolated, but knew that I was in good hands so I wasn't too worried.
"Well, I just didn't quite think about the severity of what would happen once the truth got out. I mean, I might say that I prefer to have people know me for who I am rather than me as a royal, but I guess I never really took into account how such a secret might affect them after it gets out. My friends are going to be seriously shocked, I know that much, but it's impossible to tell how they'll react. And well… hearing that Ozera thought so highly of the Ivashkov princess six years ago, it makes me think that I want him to be the last person to find out."
"Let's just hope that he won't find out for a while." Ali scoffed.
"Let's hope that no one finds out for a good long while. Let's pray that at least for the next couple of weeks no one else finds out. Otherwise, the trip is going to be a complete nightmare." Martin grumbled.
"Can I at least know what guardians are coming along?" I pried.
"Joseph, Guardian Jenson and Brooks are the ones you know well I believe?" Aunty Jules listed.
"You know Brent and Black as well, they were on your list." Joe added.
"Then there'll be a few other guardians that I doubt you remember much of." Aunty Jules waved her hand dismissively.
"Will any Moroi be joining us?" I asked curiously.
"I won't be going as I'm head nurse, but Jill does just as good a job as I do. I believe you know Jill well. She speaks very highly of you, Kalani." Rosette told me with a warm smile. "She'll be going of course as doctor and nurse in case there are any injuries. Raphael will be going as well since the pair of them are almost inseparable. I wish that they'd admit that they're a couple already. It's painful to watch them."
I scoffed and stared pointedly at Martin and Rosette. "Oh I wonder who they remind us of."
"Kai!" Martin started, shooting me a reprimanding glare.
"What, it's true. We've already talked about this so don't go giving me evil glares." I retorted indignantly. "I'm back now, so your silly reason no longer stands."
"It was not a silly reason as you call it," he protested.
"Martin, I have to agree with Kai, it was a stupid excuse." Aunty Jules told him bluntly. "None of us had the heart to say so but now things are different. Hurry up and start something already. You two are even worse than Jill and Raphael."
Martin and Rosette both blushed and refused to look at one another. Martin let out a deep breath and chuckled nervously. "Well, we've just been told, haven't we, Rosette?"
"I suppose we have," she agreed with a small shy smile.
"So are you guys finally going to set up a date now?" I urged.
The silly couple turned to face me with stunned expressions before they both exclaimed, "Kai/Kalani!"
"What? Might as well. You've been putting it off for more than a decade already so get to it you two! Otherwise I never see you two get together." I told them bluntly.
"I can't believe I'm being told to go on a date by a teenager…" Martin grumbled in disbelief.
"Be thankful that it's a teenager you know well." I grinned cheekily with a wink.
"If it had been any other teenager saying something like that to me, they'd be in detention faster than they could say 'What?'" he scoffed.
I watched for a moment while my beloved family unit began to throw casual comments and jibes at each other back and forth and smiled. I was back, I was finally home. It was a wonderful feeling, one that I never thought that I would have after the death of my parents. I didn't think that it would be possible for me to feel like this again without my parents around, but I knew that even with their death, they would always be here, here in our hearts and memories. I couldn't drown in sorrow over their deaths anymore, I had to move on and cherish the people who were here with me now.
It didn't mean that I would forget about my parents of course. I'd always be upset about the fact that they died and that I couldn't talk to them every day anymore. But I knew that they'd both give me a serious pummelling if they knew I was trudging along daily while constantly mourning over their death. I had to move forward. We all did.
Then something occurred to me. "Um… if you guys are all here, won't other guardians find it a bit weird that you're all off somewhere together?" I asked curiously, munching on another snack.
"Kai, don't speak with your mouth full." Aunty Jules reprimanded.
"They won't, because we'd always done this. At first, sure they found it a bit confusing, but those who've been here for a long time know how close we are so they don't question it." Rosette explained patiently.
"As for newcomers, well, they learn from other guardians that it's normal for us to occasionally meet here after hours." Joe added, shrugging.
"How often do people come to this house, if at all?"
"It's off limits." Martin told me with a smile. "The immediate area around this house is off limits and has been since you left. The only people allowed to patrol near this area are the people in this room now."
"So, if I were to occasionally come back here, I'm not likely to be caught by a stranger guardian?"
"The chances are low," Martin nodded, "but let either Juliet or I know that you're coming here first. That way, we'd be prepared to make up an excuse in case a guardian does catch you around here."
"Okay, I'll be sure to remember that."
For the next hour or so, we simply chatted and I told them more about my life outside of the Academy and the friends I had. In turn, they filled me on what had been happening for the past six years regarding the royal families and court. Publically, I might not be known as a royal at the moment, but it was best that I kept track of things so that when the truth does get exposed, I would at least be a little prepared for how to handle the court. After that, we decided to call it a night since we all needed to get some rest. I helped them clear the counter and Joe escorted me back to the dorms. Since it was so late, there was no one else around so we didn't bump into anyone.
"Kai…" a voice drifted through my dreams. At first, I paid no attention to it and continued to dance. "Kai, get up or you'll miss the pancakes!"
"Pancakes!" I squealed and shot up. Dizziness shot through me from having moved too fast and with a groan I slowly sank back into bed.
"Kai, come on, I've been calling you for the past five minutes." Roxy complained and even though I couldn't see her, I could just imagine her putting her hands on her hips in exasperation. I opened my eyes to find that I had been right. She really did have her hands on her hips and she was looking at me with an expression heavy with exasperation. "Honestly, I don't know who's worse, you or Els…"
I glanced around and noticed that only Roxy and Ingrid were in my room at the moment. "Where's Els?"
"She's just getting ready." Ingrid told me with a sweet smile in greeting. "Morning, Kai."
"Morning, Ingrid." I yawned and sat back up again.
"Seriously, how that girl can be so fashion orientated and such a terrible riser I'll never know. She's going to be late in the morning for the rest of her life."
"Well, not if she has you around." I laughed. "You're a pretty good alarm."
"Speaking of alarms, I see that you've mindlessly destroyed another one," she commented dryly as she gestured at the mechanical parts lying on the ground near the far wall.
"It wasn't mindless." I said defensively. "It was done sleepily. Give me a moment, I'll quickly get changed and wake myself up a little."
Slowly, I got off the bed and ruffled my hair as I walked to the drawers. I pulled out my usual clothes, a tank top, a square patterned cropped shirt and a pair of combats. I headed into the bathroom, hastily got changed and followed my morning routing. Once I was done, I walked back into my room and was welcomed with a shriek.
"Kai!" Els shrieked and I winced.
"Yes, Els?"
"Please tell me that's not what you're wearing!"
"That would be lying."
"No!"
"Yes. Now let's go to breakfast. I'm getting hungry." I grumbled and rubbed my stomach a little. I didn't wait for Els' approval of my outfit, I simply walked out of my room and stared at them expectantly. Els shot me a glare as she passed and she pouted.
"Morning," four voices called out in greeting.
Turning around, we noticed the four royals heading towards us and I noticed a strange cut on Quinn's cheek and Dan's hair looked a little singed. "Um… did something happen?" I asked with arched brows.
"Drew happened." Jackson grumbled.
"Huh?" I blinked and turned to face the slightly grouchy looking Moroi.
"I'm no good at getting up in the morning…" he grumbled.
"That's an understatement!" Quinn scoffed.
"You've nearly killed us on many occasions, man." Dan complained.
I had to grin at that. Finally, I met someone who was even worse at handling getting up than I was. "You get so violent that you actually use magic?"
"It's a rare occasion, but it does happen." Drew told me.
"We're glad that you're a dhampir and not a Moroi then. We definitely do not want to be in the same boat as your alarm clocks." Roxy said, shuddering at the thought.
"I'm not that bad…"
"The alarm clock is broken beyond repair. There are mechanical parts surrounding the poor thing. How do you throw it so hard that you actually smash open an alarm clock?" Ingrid sighed, shaking her head.
"I have no reservation about my strength?" I laughed nervously.
"Let's get to the hall, otherwise all the pancakes are going to be gone." Jackson suggested.
"Pancakes!" I cheered and nearly ran the rest of the way there but I managed to hold back that urge.
Again, I found Nick glaring at me as soon as we walked in but at least this time he didn't try to stir up trouble which was certainly a smart move on his part. Breakfast whirled by in a flash and I managed to stomach four pancakes before we were kicked out. That morning, lessons proceeded as normal and for once, there was nothing going on, just plain old lessons and nothing more. After lunch though, I remembered that I had a 'wonderful' two hours to spend with good old Guardian Brooks again. I grumbled the whole way to the classroom but made sure to make sure I wasn't scowling in distaste when I walked in.
I froze and just stared when I saw who were there. I gaped and dropped my books when I saw them and both turned to face me.
"Ah, you're here! We were making bets on whether you'd actually turn up or not." Dan told me and with a flick of his hand, a small gust of wind shot past me and shut the door.
"Looks like you lose." Drew smirked, eyes gleaming with mischief. "I'm surprised you turned up."
"I'm not up for incurring Brooks' wrath." I grimaced, settling comfortably onto the table at the front. "Why are you two here? I thought you only had the duty of helping me out on Thursdays?"
"He didn't tell you?" Dan blinked in surprise. "Brooks can't make it today, said that he had something else to take care of."
"He didn't tell me. Probably thought that I would run off and not turn up if I knew that he wasn't here to torture me with bucket loads of information."
"Would you have run away if you knew he wouldn't be here?" Drew glanced at me, curious.
"Of course!" I told him, no shame whatsoever. "Who in their right mind would want to spend two hours stuck going through Vamp 101? That's just stupid."
"So you're not a model student?" Drew was still staring at me and amusement gleamed in his eyes.
"Would a model student almost get into a fight on the first day, or break out of school in the first week?"
"Girl's got a good point." Dan chuckled.
"Do we actually have to go through Vamp 101 right now?" I asked them cheekily. "I can read all about that sort of thing in the books."
"Will you actually read the books though?" Drew pinned me with a surprisingly serious gaze.
"Oh no… please don't tell me that you're a model student…" I groaned.
"I'm not a model student, but I am at the top."
"Was that a hint of pride I hear, Ozera?"
"It depends on how you want to see it. Your answer?"
"Probably not…" I trailed off lamely.
"How good are you at reading?"
"Speedy once I get into it."
"Hey!" Dan cut in enthusiastically. "How are you guys with catching up on the work?"
"It's going downhill." I told him flatly. "It's killing me."
"How about we have a library session? That way we can help you guys out and you can read up on Vamp 101 then."
"I just told you I'm drowning in work and you're adding more work?" I complained.
"You just said that you're speedy with reading. It won't take you more than half an hour." Dan reasoned.
"Problem is, everything else will." I grumbled. "But reading beats having to go through it now so I'll deal."
"Glad to know we're on the same page." Dan beamed and gave me a high five.
"Hey, do you guys have any inside news on what's happening for the trip coming up?" I asked.
"Oh no, you've got to wait just like everyone else." Drew smirked, shaking his head.
"So you do know!" I squealed.
"I didn't say anything."
"Your mischievous 'I know it all' look says it all."
"I don't have one."
"Of course you do, Ozera, don't try to blag your way out of this."
A phone suddenly rang and Drew and I frowned when we heard the theme of Ghost Busters. We turned to Dan who looked defensive. "What? It's a perfectly good song!"
"It is, there's no doubt about it." I agreed. "But your ringtone? Really?"
"It's a good one," he insisted, glancing down at the caller ID. He frowned for a moment in puzzlement before answering. "Hello, Mum?"
Drew shot him a curious glance and I simply sat on the table, patiently waiting for the call to end. For his mum to have called during school time, it must've been pretty urgent.
"Yeah, I'm with her now." He paused, listening to her response. "Wait, now?" Another pause. "Alright, I'll ask her."
"Is everything alright, Dan?" Drew asked worriedly.
"Yeah, everything's fine." Dan told him before turning to me. "My mum was wondering if you had received the invitation to the dinner yet."
I felt my face heat in embarrassment and I squealed when Drew gave me another amused look and a cheeky wink.
"Say you're attending." Drew whispered.
"Do I have a choice? I can't exactly refuse, can I? That would be rude and probably dangerous." I scoffed with a nervous laugh. "Dan, please let Lady Zeklos know that I am honoured to have received the invite and that I would be delighted to join you all for dinner." Dan repeated what I said. "Oh, and please apologise to them on my behalf that I haven't give them a reply just yet. Things were a bit manic last night and I haven't really had the time yet."
Dan ignored the apology and told Lady Zeklos bluntly that I was going to attend the dinner. He winced at her reaction and promptly said goodbye before hanging up.
"Don't worry about apologising, Kai," he told me. "Mum's an impatient person so she wanted to know as soon as possible."
"They're not going to kill me for putting you guys in danger… are they?"
"Not likely." Dan scoffed.
"Our parents are all rather eccentric people. Since we weren't hurt at all, they have no concern over what happened except for a report on everything we'd seen and experienced. They seem to have a really strange fascination with knowing more about humans." Drew sighed.
"Not in a creepy way of course." Dan added hastily. "But they know to know just how different they live and the like."
"I suppose that's kind of understandable if you'd never lived a human lifestyle before, especially for a royal. So they don't want to kill me?"
"They're more likely to thank you and grill you for information rather than kill you." Drew reassured me.
"Grill me for information? Oh dear…" I groaned, slapping my forehead in nervousness.
"Not just that. With your looks and body, Aunty Tessa and Rhiannon will be dragging you on countless shopping trips." Dan informed, giving me a quick once over with his eyes.
Drew's eyes widened slightly and he stared at me sympathetically. "You guys aren't going to help me out of that, are you?" I narrowed my eyes accusingly at them.
"No sane person would dare try to step between my sister and her shopping," he told me simply with a shudder.
"Your sister? You have a sister?" I asked, interest piquing. I couldn't really remember much about the royal families, mainly because I never used to pay much attention to all that as a tiny pipsqueak, but I definitely couldn't recall him having a sister.
"Yeah, she's five years older and graduated from here. God, being here at the same time as her was terrifying…" Drew grumbled.
"So there's something that you can't really handle either." I smirked.
"Of course," he grunted. "I love her and all, but she's a total airhead. She barely managed to pass her graduation exams. In fact, I'm pretty sure that she was on the line for every single subject except for art."
"She's an artist?"
"She's a fashion orientated maniac." Drew grumbled. "A terrifying one."
"And who's Aunty Tessa?" I frowned, confused. I really needed to catch up on all the names of the royal families… We'd been talking about some of the main things that have happened during my absence in the vampire community, but we didn't really go into depth of the names and people. Considering these were the parents of the four prodigies, I probably should know who they were.
"That's Jackson and Quinn's aunt, their father's twin sister." Dan explained.
"Twins?" I blinked in surprise. "So I guess it runs in the family…"
"It seems like it. Is Trace going to attend as well? Being the youngest son and all… it must be terribly boring for the little kid."
"You know about that? Them being related I mean."
"Not a lot." I shook my head. "I just know that they're siblings and their relationship is a little fragile, most likely because of misunderstandings."
"It's nobody's fault, except the idiotic twins sometimes don't know how to express their feelings the way they want to. When they're unsure of how to behave, they tend to become really stern and closed off."
"But why is Trace so scared of them? He mentioned something about Jacks' power being scary. Why is that?"
"Trace wanted to see them in school and happened to stumble into one of their magic training sessions. Jackson, having the power over earth, specialised a little more on offensive techniques and accidentally injured Trace. It wasn't anything serious, but instead of being concerned the normal way about Trace's injuries, they got angry that Trace appeared."
"Let me guess, they were trying to say that Trace shouldn't be there because it was dangerous but they didn't get that across properly?" I commented dryly. "That's kind of predictable."
"Oh?" Drew glanced at me, arching his brows.
"They seem like a pair of impulsive idiots." I stated bluntly. "They're lovely, don't get me wrong, but everyone has their faults and I guess that one of theirs is that they don't know how to handle certain situations they right way."
"They're the worst when they're around Trace." Dan grumbled. "They love him to bits, but they're so stubborn that they don't know how to show Trace that they actually care about the little kid. Then it just got worse when Trace started getting scared of them. That upset them and in turn made them even worse."
"Gee… talk about family complexities." I whistled.
"Oh trust me, that's just the tip of the ice-burg."
"But we should leave the rest for when Jacks and Quinny are around." I told him. "I might be nosy, but it wouldn't be right to pry about their family matters behind their backs."
"They don't really mind I guess. Everyone knows about their family after all."
"Just because everyone else knows already doesn't mean that they don't mind, Dan." I told him firmly.
"Well, then, since we're already on the subject of families, what is yours like?" Dan asked, innocently curious.
I blinked in surprise by the turn of conversation and for a moment my mind reeled, not sure of how to respond to that. I could see the both of them staring at me with curiosity heavy in their eyes, but for some reason, Drew seemed the most interested. The way his eyes gleamed was so intense and I had to fight to shrink away from it.
"Was." I told them after a while.
"Was?"
"What was my family like." I explained. "I'm an orphan. I'm surprised you guys hadn't heard about that yet." I smiled wryly.
"We had, but we weren't sure if that was just a rumour or the truth." Drew told me. "I'm sorry to hear that it was the truth."
"It's alright." I shrugged.
"What happened?" Dan asked, probing further.
I pursed my lips, wondering what to tell them. If I lied flat out, I would have to remember what I'd told them to keep the lie consistent. But if I only told them vague details that wasn't quite a lie but not the whole truth either then that would probably be easier.
"They were attacked when I was young and I started to live by myself because my aunt was unavailable to look after me." I told them simply, making the story as vague and true as I could.
"Is that why you're such a good fighter?" Drew asked, interested.
"Yeah. I was useless back them in protecting them and that drove me to train harder, to make sure that I wouldn't have to face that kind of situation again."
"If you knew your parents, how did you manage to stay out of the Academies for so long and be so oblivious to our community?" Drew probed.
"They probably wanted to keep me sheltered so that I wouldn't be in danger. Above anything else, they cared for my safety. They were the best parents in the world." I smiled warmly, reminiscing about my parents.
The two boys seemed to stare at me for a good long time and I began to feel a little self-conscious from the way they were staring.