Chapter 3

CiCi didn't know if her parents weren't aware the walls of their creepy little house weren't completely soundproof or if they'd wanted to be overheard, but either way one week ago she and her brother had heard the worst kind of language either of them had ever known. The venom in which it had been spoken had been enough to send Damon into tears. Then, for the first time in her life, CiCi had spent hours trying to comfort him, whilst at the same time trying to overhear what her parents were talking about.

It had taken nearly a week of listening in on as many conversations as possible, but she'd finally pieced it all together. It appeared that CiCi's declaring Kaiba and Tristan as her parents had bound her and her brother to them, in a kind of spiritual adoption. This posed a problem to her birth parents because it meant that unless she or her brother revoked that declaration or willingly gave themselves to them, then the only way her parents could legally own them would be if Kaiba or Tristan gave handed them over.

That thought made CiCi shudder; the idea her parents wanted to own her and her brother left a sour taste in her mouth. That taste became sourer still when she found out that her father had tried blackmailing his brother into handing her and Damon over. But the second she learnt how Kaiba had tricked her father, her heart had leapt in joy and…

'CiCi,' Damon half hissed her name, breaking into her train of thoughts as he did, 'when's Ulk Seto coming for us?'

'Soon,' she promised, 'he just has to work out where we are and how to get us first.'

'That's what you said yesterday,' he pouted, 'and the day before. It has to be soon now.'

'It's just going to take a little bit longer Hateling,' she half sighed. 'It's not that easy trying to find us you know; not when they have to hide too.'

'Why are they hiding too?'

'Because everyone is playing a big game of tracker.'

'Tracker?'

'Mm-hmm, it's like hide and seek,' she gently started playing with some of his soft white hair, 'only everyone is both hider and seeker all at the same time.'

'Why?'

'Because that's how it's played.'

'Is Kay Kay playing too?'

'I don't know.'

'Are we playing?'

'Yes, I think we are,' she gently kissed his forehead.

'Ow,' his voice whined with indignant pain, 'I thought you said no more burning.'

'I…' she stammered in confusion, as she noticed the slight burn mark her lips had left on his forehead, 'I didn't mean to. I'm sorry Hateling, forgive me?'

'You're still mean CiCi,' he squirmed away from her. 'Less mean, but still mean.'

Sighing heavily, she watched her brother play with some of the little wooden toys their parents had given him. She personally couldn't stand touching anything they had and would have given up on eating if she wasn't so worried her brother would do the same. She knew he was too young to really understand what was going on, so until they were rescued she had to do her best to make everything seem as normal as possible, even if neither of them could use any of their powers.

That thought made CiCi frown deeply and restudy the mark on her brother's forehead. On the first day they were there she'd tried to use her power to burn her mother, in order to escape. It hadn't worked. That was how she discovered their powers had to be down somehow; so why then had her kiss burned? It wasn't like her kisses had ever burned anyone before. At least not as far as she was aware. It might have been a new power or an extension of her old one, but if that was the case she wasn't sure she wanted it.

'Damon,' she kept her voice as soft as possible so her parents wouldn't overhear her use of his name, 'what was your gift again?'

'Hm?' Damon stared up at her in confusion.

'Your gift,' she repeated. 'You know like how Taylor can make things come to life and Lus can make himself invisible and how my touch can burn people. What is your gift?'

'Don't know,' he shrugged, 'me and Kay Kay said we didn't want to know.'

'So Kasey doesn't know what her gift is either?'

'She said she didn't want it to be taken away like her brother's was,' he half turned his gaze back towards his toys, 'and I said I didn't either. So we both said that neither of us would find out ours.'

'Do you think yours might be like mine?'

'No,' he shook his head, 'I don't want one like that. I want a nice one.'

'You can't control the gifts you get, but that doesn't make them nasty you know.'

'Yours is. Yours hurts.'

'I know.'

'So I don't want one like that. I want one that's nice to people.'

'I thought you didn't want to know what yours was.'

'I don't. But if I did know, I'd want it to be a nice one. I want to make butterflies.'

'What?' She frowned at him again.

Kneeling up towards her, Damon clapped his hands together. He then brought his hands in towards his chest, before flinging them away from him. A disappointed look instantly crossed his face when nothing happened.

'Guess it doesn't work if I don't have a worm,' he sounded a little disappointed.

'Huh? Wait, are you saying that's your gift? You can turn things into butterflies?'

'It's not my gift,' he shook his head, 'I don't want to know my gift, remember?'

'I know,' her face pulled into a tense smile, 'but this power of yours, does it just work on worms?'

'The butterflies are always shinny and blue,' he shrugged as though he didn't completely understand her question, 'they fly round and round and round and then…'

'Then what?'

'Then they land here,' he held his hand over his heart, 'and go bye, bye.'

'You mean they disappear?'

'Mm,' he nodded, as he started pushing one of the little wooden toys along the floor; clearly missing his cars. 'It makes me feel funny. Then when I do it lots and lots of times I feel full.'

'I see,' she nodded slowly to herself. 'That sounds like a very strange gift you have Hateling.'

'Told you, it's not a gift. Gifts can be taken away.'

'Okay, it's a very strange power then.'

'Still nicer than yours.'

'Not to the worms it's not; not when you're eating them all.'

'Not eating them, making them butterflies.'

'Which you then absorb,' she rolled her eyes, 'that sounds like eating to me.'

'No it's not CiCi!' Damon shot her a hotly angry look.

'Okay,' she relented, not wanting to bring their parents in, 'you're not eating them.'

'Just making them butterflies.'

'Right,' she gave a strange half laugh, 'because you like butterflies, don't you Hateling?'