Alright, so instead of doing huge chapters, I'm trying to get them each around 3000 to 4000 words. For this year that is. Let's see how it goes.
Thank you for all the Reviews.
Enjoy,
Nick
Elijah was there when Kol came back, carrying the unconscious girl with him "Zara," the older Original breathed, appearing at his youngest brother's side immediately "What did you do, Kol?"
"Why do you automatically assume that I did something?" Kol exclaimed, shifting the girl in his arms. He wasn't sure whether she just fell asleep or whether she passed out. From the tiredness she had shown earlier, he would guess that she was merely asleep "She was attacked, Elijah."
"Attacked," Elijah deadpanned before a look of realization crossed his face "She's a demigod. I had forgotten about that little fact."
Kol huffed "If you're done accusing me of hurting people… I think it would be a good thing to get her to a bed."
"Yes, yes," the older of the two nodded "Go." He wanted to apologize to Kol for jumping to conclusions but he didn't know how. The younger Original had always been a wildcard. No one knew what he would do next. It was because of that, he wasn't sure what to think about Kol being as close to Zara as he was. Despite what the girl had undoubtedly been through over the course of her life, she was innocent. Elijah shook his head. Kol wouldn't hurt her. He just had to hope for the best and if anything happened, he would have to clean up the mess.
Upstairs, Kol had carefully put down Zara on the bed of her room. The vampire brushed a strand of her hair out of the girl's face with a small smile. He hadn't known her for long – a few weeks at most but in that time he had seen the kind of person she was. Even before he found out that she was a demigod and the daughter of Hades of all people, Kol knew that she was special. While most girls would have tried to flirt with him or his brothers to get their money, she argued about everything. He heard that she even argued about eating their food, that she could buy her own and that they shouldn't waste money on her. Compared to that, her sister was a real bitch. The only times Kol interacted with Katerina were meal times and even there, he tried to ignore her. She reminded him too much of Tatia who was the exact same.
"Kol?" a small voice stopped him from leaving the room. The Original turned to look back at the bed where Zara was fighting to sit up "Thank you. Without you there… I don't know what would have happened."
"It was my pleasure," Kol smiled "It wouldn't do for a pretty lady to die, would it?"
Zara laughed a little "Indeed not."
The two were silent for a moment before Kol continued "Do you plan on telling my brothers about your father?"
"I don't know," the daughter of Hades bit her lip "Not yet. I don't want to be defined by how my father is." She threw a quick look at Kol before lowering her eyes.
The vampire sat down at the end of her bed "I am not going to treat you any differently now," he pointed out "Sure, your father is a powerful man but I hope that you would stand up for me should I ever get on his bad side."
Zara's expression lightened up "I believe every man around me is on his bad side by default," she teased, leaning back against the headboard.
"I'm sure you have loads of good stories to tell, right?" Kol questioned curiously.
"Maybe," the daughter of Hades nodded "I met a few deities, had some weird babysitters and almost died a few times."
The Original raised his eyebrow "Tell me more. Only if you want to, of course."
"Sure," Zara shrugged "I haven't told anyone about this before."
Flashback
Zara was six the first time she got lost in the Underworld. The first year of her visiting her father, she had stayed close to him and her Aunt Persephone. They had always made time for her when she came here but as soon as the girl's visits became more frequent, the Underworld got busier and as a result, Hades and Persephone didn't have as much time to spend with Zara as they wanted.
The daughter of Hades had been walking around for what felt like hours when she crashed into something. The little girl had been looking around, not noticing when someone stepped into her path "Sorry," she whispered immediately, curling up into a small ball. While her father had promised that no one would harm her, she was scared of strangers. The man she crashed into was tall, taller even than her stepfather and he had huge black wings.
Thanatos, the Lieutenant of Hades looked down in confusion when he felt something hitting his legs. He heard about the young daughter of Hades coming to visit on occasion but the Lord of the Underworld had kept her from going out of the palace much. Thanatos had heard a lot about her from Persephone and the grapevine… The gossip in the Underworld was surprisingly accurate when it came to everything to do with their Lord. Whatever he had expected of the girl though, this wasn't it "Hello, little one," he smiled, crouching down in front of the scared-looking girl. He had to deal with many scared children before. After the poverty hit, there were many children dying and he had been trying to make it as easy for them as possible. It required knowledge of how to speak to them "You don't have to be scared. I won't harm you."
Zara tilted her head at him with narrowed eyes, as if she was debating whether to trust the man or not "You have wings," she blurted out suddenly.
The daughter of Hades blushed when the man started laughing a rich, deep laugh "I do, yes. Here." Thanatos stretched his wings in the direction of the small child. Normally he wouldn't allow anyone to touch his wings but the God would do everything to get this little one to trust him. Not only was she bound to be around often but he respected her father a lot. Hades was a good friend to his mother and the older God always respected Thanatos for who he was. Others had feared the winged God but Hades… He never judged him for anything but what he did "You may touch them if you wish."
The six-year-old raised her hand hesitatingly before pulling it back "Who are you?"
"My name is Thanatos, child," the Lieutenant said "And you must be Zara, correct? Your father has spoken about you a lot."
"He did?" The expression on her face almost broke his heart. She looked so hopeful, so… doubting. Whoever hurt this girl would die painfully.
Thanatos nodded "Of course. Both him and Persephone have spoken of you fondly." He glanced around, noticing where they were for the first time. They were close to Tartarus. Not the right place for a child by far "Zara? What are you doing down here?"
"I got lost," she whispered, peaking up at the God's face. One of her hands lifted again, reaching for the wings closest to her. She was still scared but he seemed nice and he knew about her. That had to count for something, right? The people in the village knew about her but they weren't very nice. Her face lit up when she felt the softness of the feathers.
"How about I bring you back to your father, hm? I'm sure he is worried about you," Thanatos offered, holding out his arms. The girl stared at him again, her hand stilling on his wing before she finally moved closer to him. Zara was still unsure about what to do with the man but she was willing to trust him purely because he spoke fondly of her father. As soon as she was close enough, Thanatos lifted her into his arms and stood up. In addition to his arms, he kept one of his wings curled around her. The feathers seemed to make her happy as she tangled her small hand in the appendage, careful of not hurting him.
At the palace, Persephone was already waiting for him "You found her," she breathed in relief "I was about to go and look for her."
"She said she got lost," Thanatos pointed out, handing over the small child without hesitation. He reached out to tilt up her head "It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Zara. Thank you for keeping me company."
The six-year-old blushed, hiding her face in Persephone's neck. The Goddess of Springtime smiled at their interaction "Thank you for bringing her here, Thanatos. I believe this incident showed that we need to find someone to watch her when we're busy."
"If you ever need help, I would be happy to look after her for a while," the God offered "She is a sweet kid. Very unlike her father." The last part was said with a teasing glint in his eyes. Thanatos had felt Hades approach and couldn't help but annoy the older God a little.
End Flashback
"What is Tartarus again?" Kol questioned, his brow furrowed.
Zara hesitated "Well, Tartarus is the deepest, darkest area of Hades' realm. The Gods imprison their enemies in there. It's also where Kronos is currently residing."
"He was chopped up, right?"
"Yup," the daughter of Hades nodded "And I really hope that he'll stay in there. It would be more than annoying to have to deal with him. Although… I would rather deal with Kronos than any of the other Titans or Primordials."
Kol tilted his head "Why?"
"The only Primordial I met is Nyx. She's Thanatos mother and one of the better ones. Plus, there are the game nights that my father doesn't want me to know about."
"What kind of games?" the Original questioned.
Zara shook her head "Erm… It doesn't matter. Hey, do you wanna hear about my first babysitters?"
"Who?"
"The Furies," the sixteen-year-old smirked.
Kol blinked "Why did I ask again?"
Flashback
"Lord Hades, are you certain?" Alecto questioned, looking at the girl in her Lord's arms. She wasn't quite sure what she should think of having to babysit the daughter of Hades. She heard stories about the child – Who hadn't but that didn't mean that she knew what to do with the child. Her sisters weren't any better. They were torturers, not childminders.
"Of course, I'm certain," the Lord of the Underworld sighed "Persephone and I have too much to do, to look after Zara. The last time she wandered off, she ended up being found by Thanatos. I need you to make sure she doesn't get hurt. You only have to keep an eye on her."
Alecto hesitated for a moment before she sighed in defeat. She would do as her Lord asked but that didn't mean that she had to be happy about it "If that's your wish."
Hades inclined his head "Thank you, Alecto. It means a lot to me. You may stay in the palace or you could show Zara the Underworld. I'm sure there's a lot she hasn't seen before."
"Could we?" Zara perked up, looking at the Fury with wide, pleading eyes. In the time she has spent in the Underworld, the girl had become somewhat desensitised to the weird creatures she occasionally saw. As long as her father said they were trustworthy, she could get along with anyone. The Fury had large leathery wings that didn't look as nice as Thanatos' but they were wings, so it was fine in the six-year-old's mind.
Glowing red eyes drilled into Zara's black ones before Alecto nodded, her face showing her displeasure "Come along then," Alecto called, flying out of the room.
Hades placed Zara down, watching her scramble after one of his torturers. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea… He could have asked Thanatos or Charon to look after her but he trusted the three sisters. They wouldn't let anyone harm his child… Even if Alecto hadn't looked pleased to be stuck with the blonde child.
Outside, the daughter of Hades caught up with Alecto, grabbing her hand. The Fury blinked down at the girl and shook her hand out of the girl's. Just because she was doing this didn't mean that she had to hold hands.
An hour and a half later, Zara and Alecto reached Cerberus. The huge three-headed dog panted happily and even crouched down to have the daughter of Hades pet him. After watching Zara play with Cerberus for a few moments, Alecto called for her to come along, starting to walk back towards the palace. Her time with the girl was over and she had to get her back to her father.
What the Fury didn't know though, was that the six-year-old didn't notice her leaving, so she continued playing with the three-headed dog.
"Alecto," Megaera called, walking up to her sister with a smile. She stopped, looking around in confusion "I thought you were supposed to look after Hades' child?"
Alecto tilted her head "What are you talking about? She's…" She looked around and panicked when she didn't see the girl anywhere "What? She was right there."
"Did you lose our Master's child, Alecto?" Tisiphone grinned at her sister.
"Just help me find her, will you?" the head Fury hissed, glaring at her sisters.
The three hurried through the Underworld, trying to seem as if they weren't running around like headless chicken. If their Lord found out about this… It took the Furies half an hour to reach Cerberus and when they did, Megaera couldn't stop cooing. Zara was asleep with Cerberus curled around her.
End Flashback
Zara couldn't help but laugh at the memory "I was told about this later on. Apparently, it was amusing to see the big bad torturers of Hades running around, looking for a little kid."
Kol snorted at the mental picture "And you were with Cerberus?"
"He's cute," the girl smiled "I love playing with him… Plus, I think he likes me more than my father."
"You're going to have to introduce me one of these days," the Original hummed "I was always interested in seeing a Cerberus."
"Maybe I can arrange something," the daughter of Hades nodded "But not for a while yet."
Kol nodded "I have to admit. For someone as young as you are, you have some pretty cool stories."
Zara shrugged "I also saved Hermes from becoming Cerberus' chew toy."
"How…?"
Flashback
Cerberus froze, stopping his pursuit of the idiot who stole his toy. His favourite was here. He could smell her coming closer. The huge dog started panting, wagging its tail happily.
The messenger of the Gods frowned in confusion and more than a little relief when the three-headed dog laid off him "Well," he shrugged "I'm certainly not complaining."
"About what?" a voice asked from behind.
Hermes whirled around in shock, blinking down at the young girl in front of him. She couldn't be older than ten at most and there was no doubt that she was still alive "Who are you?"
"Zara," she replied, walking over to Cerberus.
"Er… Maybe you shouldn't do that," the God pointed out nervously.
The daughter of Hades smirked at him, reaching up to scratch the middle head "Why not? He seems to like it."
"How? What?"
An amused voice sounded from the shadows "Are you having fun with my nephew, Zara?" Hades questioned, shaking his head at his daughter's antics.
"Maybe," she replied innocently "What are you doing here, father?"
Hermes let out a strangled sound "Father?" he parroted.
Hades raised his eyebrow at the messenger before placing his hand on the girl's shoulder "Your Aunt Persephone is looking for you. She said she wanted to show you something."
"Really?" Zara brightened up "Does that mean she finished it?"
"I believe so, dear one. Go on… Don't leave her waiting," the Lord of the Underworld urged, shooing his daughter towards the palace. He had no idea what the two girls were up to and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know. The expression on his wife's face alone was something to be careful of.
Hermes cleared his throat, catching his uncle's attention "You mean to tell me that Persephone knows about your daughter and she's still alive? How did that happen?"
"It's a rather complicated story," Hades hedged. He had no intention of telling his nephew about Zara's stepfather and how she was treated at home. It was none of his business "What happened here?"
"Oh," the messenger blushed "I think I angered Cerberus. He was chasing me around and then he just stopped."
The ruler of the Underworld nodded "He probably smelled Zara coming. I swear those two are more trouble than their worth. The number of times I nearly had a heart attack when she was riding on his back…"
End Flashback
Kol was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes "How do you know about their conversation?"
"I was spying on them," the daughter of Hades shrugged "Father probably knew I was there but… I wasn't sure what to think of Hermes at first. He was different from the Gods of the Underworld. Something I hadn't seen before."
"Have you seen him since?" the vampire questioned. By now, he was leaning against the headboard next to the demigod, keeping his distance.
Zara nodded "A few times. He taught me a few pranks he used to pull on Apollo."
"A God taught you how to prank?" Kol gaped "You'll have to show me."
"I don't know," the demigod murmured "It's a bit… out there."
Kol sighed, slumping back down "Fine."
In the days after Zara was attacked by the Chimera, she tried to avoid being alone with Klaus as much as she could. The first time he cornered her, he wanted to find out who her father was by trying to compel her. Needless to say, it didn't work and he was determined to find out. Elijah, on the other hand, wasn't as persistent. While he was interested in her Godly parent, he understood her need to keep it to herself.
"What's this word?" Elijah questioned the sixteen-year-old, pointing to the page of the book that was lying on the table in front of them.
Zara rubbed at her head, blinking at the page in frustration "I don't know," she mumbled "The letters don't make sense."
The Original hummed "Tell me which letters you see in the word."
"Vliiago," she shrugged, trying to place the word. It just didn't make any sense to her.
Elijah tilted his head to the side and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill towards them. He wrote out the word 'village' once in his handwriting and once where the letters were a bit further apart "How about now?"
"W – Villago… No, village?" Zara questioned, looking up at the Original. Her head was starting to hurt and she was getting a bit annoyed. That's why she preferred to read the texts that Persephone gave her on occasion. At least they were in Ancient Greek.
"Correct. Can you describe the difference between the one on top and the one at the bottom?"
The demigod looked back at the parchment and pointed at the word on top "It moves. Like… the letters won't stay still. They constantly change around, so I can't really see which ones they are?"
The vampire nodded in contemplation. He had never heard of that before but it seemed to be annoying Zara a lot. From what he had seen she enjoyed reading but doing so frustrates her. It's one of the reasons why he had taken the time to work with her. Maybe he could find out a way to help her "And the bottom?"
"It was a guess," she sighed "It's a bit clearer cause the letters are apart but there's still some movement. I don't understand why it's so hard to read and write… There's no problem with Ancient Greeks. See?" She took the quill from him and wrote out her name without a hint of hesitation "According to my father it's normal for demigods but I don't understand it."
The daughter of Hades was on her way back from visiting Mrs Farley when she heard her name being called. She still hadn't found someone she would readily entrust the care of the older woman, so for the time being Zara would go to her every few days to check in and see whether she needed something.
"Zara," Klaus called, stopping in front of her "Could we talk?"
The sixteen-year-old raised an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder at the figure of her older sister. Katerina was glaring at Zara for taking Klaus' attention away from her. It wasn't as if she wanted him to talk to her… She would prefer him to stay away "There is something…"
"Zara." Kol stepped out of the treeline, looking at the demigod excitedly "I found a place to train."
"Really?" Zara questioned, turning her attention to Kol completely.
The younger Mikaelson nodded, grabbing her arm "Come on, I'll show you." With that he started pulling her away, leaving Klaus behind. The Hybrid stared after them with a baffled expression on his face. He knew they had gotten closer but this? No matter, he would get his chance to talk to the girl and she would tell him about her parent one way or another. Despite the way he acted, he actually started to care for her. Klaus shook his head and walked back to Katerina, offering his arm with a charming smile and an apology. The older of the sisters was clueless to his plan and while Zara didn't know the details, she noticed that he had planned something. All the more reason to spend some more time with her. The girl was sharp, something he admired greatly.