Chapter 52

'Jo,' Lus's voice stopped her in her tracks, as she led the strange Miraid towards her parents' room.

Turning round she was unsurprised to see Helen with him. After all, the last time she'd used her powers to check in with them there was only one possible way their relationship was going to go. Lus, however, was clearly surprised to find her with a companion, especially a companion who looked like Miraid did. A clear shiver ran up his spine, as he forced his gaze up to meet Jo's.

'Your brother,' there were more than a few awkward tones in his voice, 'he's kind of going Titanic on hell right now.'

'I know,' she sighed, 'but there's nothing I can do about it.'

'Why not?'

'Because it's not me he needs right now.'

'I don't see who else he could possibly need Jo.'

'Oh how delicious,' Miraid sounded almost excited, 'is there no rule you Lutonis won't break?'

Gritting her teeth, Jo did her best to ignore the question. Her dislike for the girl was quickly growing and it was about all she could do to stop herself from attacking her. A part of her wondered if there was still a little chaos left in her or if she was just getting used to being Order again. Either way her temper was a lot shorter than she was used to.

'Excuse me, but who are you,' Helen's voice was as sharp as a knife.

'The name's Miraid.'

'Miraid what?'

For a moment Miraid looked caught out, as though she'd never been asked for her last name before. Then a sour smile pulled its way across her face, as she drew herself up proudly.

'Miraid Dark.'

'Dark, hey?' Helen's gaze narrowed. 'Well I guess that means you're neither Silkoneon nor Odraian, since I fancy I know all of their house names and last I checked Dark wasn't one of them. So what breed did you say you were?'

'I didn't.'

'I didn't think you did,' he voice remained strangely firm, 'mind humouring me with it now?'

'Humouring you,' Miraid sounded amused, 'you sound like such a child saying that.'

'I see you're not offering up an answer.'

'Well I wouldn't want to be easy, unlike the pair of you,' she flicked her gaze between Helen and Jo. 'How much persuasion did it take you to be bedded exactly? And by your own brother too,' her eyes fixed on Jo. 'Do you have no sense of womanly pride?'

'If you're trying to humiliate us Dark, then it won't work.'

'Addressing me by my last name there Holly?'

'So I was right, you are Vii Sen,' Helen folded her arms, 'how else would you know my name so easily?'

'I guess you can never hide a Vii Sen from a Vii Sen,' Miraid shrugged, 'we have a sense for each other like the common cold. None of us wants it, but we all seem to get it anyway.'

'I didn't know you were friends with Vii Sen Jo,' Lus spoke up for the first time in a while.

'I'm not friends with her,' Jo rolled her eyes, 'she's looking for Catilin.'

'Why?'

'I didn't think to ask.'

'Well why are you,' Lus turned his attention towards Miraid, 'if you don't mind me asking.'

'Only if I don't have to look at you when I reply,' Miraid scoffed, 'the only thing worse than fatties are talking skeletons.'

'Hey,' Lus was clearly offended, 'I've not been well.'

'Well they do say eating disorders class as an illness now. Maybe you should be put into a clinic for a while.'

For a few moments Lus made rather flabbergasted noises, as he struggled for some kind of comeback.

'He no more needs to be in one than you do,' Helen shot at her. 'You've not got that much more on your bones than he has, so why don't you look in a mirror before insulting people.'

'Because I never find mirrors really do me any justice,' she shrugged. 'I always feel like such a vampire looking into one.'

'You having no reflection wouldn't surprise me,' Lus sulked.

'What's that supposed to mean exactly?'

'Just that you seem to be less of a Vii Sen and more of a…' he hesitated.

'More of a what,' the amusement in her voice grew.

'It doesn't matter.'

'No, you must tell me now, after you've made it seem so intriguing.'

'More of a demon.'

At that she laughed lightly and turned him over in her gaze.

'You think I have a little devil in me, do you,' she smirked. 'Well you never know, I just might at that.'

'Oh come on,' Helen rolled her eyes, 'Vii Sen rarely have Plexesynth, because they're incompatible with our nature. You should know that.'

'Plexesynth,' Lus frowned at her.

'Soul demon, skeletor,' Miraid remained amused, 'and you're wrong Holly, they're not incompatible with us; we're just told that to stop us from trying to get one. The truth is much more disturbing.'

'And what is the truth,' Helen frowned deeply.

'That they cause us to live forever in a strange kind of symbiosis.'

For a few moments Helen examined her closely. There was something in the expression on her face which suggested she didn't quite believe what Miraid had just said. But it was more than that…

'Those are just rumours you know,' Helen coughed nervously, 'the Vii Sen equivalent of ghost stories. No one really believes they still exist.'

'I believe they still exist,' Miraid was calm and self-assured, 'I mean, there's nothing to prove they don't, now is there?'

'But no one has seen them in millennia.'

'That's because they've all been locked neatly away somewhere. But that doesn't mean they don't still exist. The four daughters wouldn't die so easily you know.'

'I never said I don't believe the four daughters still exist,' she shook her head, 'I just doubt they're still hosted by the same Vii Sen.'

'You mean you believe the stories that Dayena selects her favourite four charges every hundred years or so to keep her children alive?'

'Dayena wouldn't lie about something like that.'

'Then let me ask you this; do you know anybody who knows anybody that's ever been selected for that task?'

'Are you calling our Lady a liar?'

'I was just asking you a question Holly,' she smirked, 'I wasn't accusing anyone of anything.'