Remy looked over at Ivan. He still had no idea way they were out here. Arma was acting so secretive about this. It made no sense. He could be getting after Xenia for her actions. She could have been killed. Sure there was no one who would dare in Fiore, but the threat still stood. She was the last thing he had of Bickslow. He wasn't just going to let her go.
Ivan sighed. He must have wondered when Arma was going to show her face. They could be asleep if it wasn't for this. Between Xenia and this, they weren't going to get shit. "Maybe we should come back in the morning." Ivan started.
He shook his head. "I want to see what was deemed this important. He grumbled.
Ivan seemed ready to interject when a young girl walked into the tent. She looked terrified. He noted that she was small for her age. Her growth was stunted. She must have not had much. It reminded him of why he hated Fiore.
She looked up at him and he have her sad face a smile. Her green eyes looked on the verge of tears. There was something about those eyes that looked familiar, he just couldn't place them.
Ivan looked at her . "What is a little girl like you doing here?"
She walked up to them warily. "Daddy and I had to run. We had to leave on back in that place."
Now he was confused, what were they running from in Fiore? "Where are from?" He asked.
"Miresa. We escaped through a hole in the shield." She said tearfully.
Miresa? But that was impossible. Cetus would never allow something like that. Did something like that to happen. Would he? "How?" He didn't mean to sound so rude to the child but she seems fine.
"The Queen is sick. He wasn't paying attention." The girl said. He was kind of impressed, her English was a little broken but that was because she hadn't been taught properly.
I can have her a smile and patted her on the head. "What's your name?"
The girl smiled. "Lily."
"That's a pretty name." He said.
The girl laughed. "Well, Dad, always says that since mom was a rose with thorns, that I was a Lily. Pretty to look at but poisonous."
He wondered what that meant. She looked harmless. "Why would he say that?"
She giggled "Because I got his magic."
So the girl could use magic. It wasn't too surprising most of Miresa was filled with it these days. Now he had to wonder what kind of magic Lily's father had. It had to be dangerous. Now he understood why Arma had called them.
He looked over at Ivan. They had to get her back to the council. Ivan nodded at him and they were about to move as Arma walked in….She wasn't alone.
His heart stopped. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. "Vik..?"
Ivan had jumped up from his seat. "Is that really you?"
Vik gave them a smile. "Sorry it took so long. That bastard really likes his fancy shield."
Tears welled in his eyes. This couldn't be happening. He was dreaming. He seriously believed that Cetus would have killed Vik. He would have seen him as a threat. He made to stand. He had to know if this was real.
Vik just walked forward. It looked like he was also in a state of shock. His son must have trout that he was never getting out of there. "You know, I'm really here, right." Vik teased.
He couldn't take it anymore. He lunged forward and hugged his child against him. He was real. He was there. This was a miracle. "How?" That seemed to be the only word he could say.
He made to pull away only for Ivan to tackle Vik. "We thought you were dead."
Vik turned red. "No..." He looked like he didn't want to talk about his ordeal.
He put his hand on his songs shoulder. "Take your time. You can tell us when you're ready."
Vik gave him a smile. "I appreciate that. Just being out is a lot to absorb. And I'm not even seeing this for the first time."
He wondered for a second what his son was talk about, when Lily walked up to them with a puzzled look on her face. "Daddy, who are those guys?"
He froze up, then looked between the young girl and Vik. He could see the similarities. Her short black hair, her nose, even the shape of her eyes was the same. "But I thought you were…."
Vik gave him a sad frown. "I am…It's just after spending so many years alone, Rosa and I just couldn't take it anymore."
His mind flashed back to Rosa. If what Lily said was true. She had been left he behind. Only Vik and his daughter had escaped.
Vik walked past them and pulled her over to them. "Lily. These are your grandparents."
He watched the young girl stare at them in wonder. "Grandparents?" From her tone, it was as if she had no idea what that meant.
He only smiled as he lowered himself down to her level. "Your daddy is my son."
Ivan chuckled. "He's also mine."
She looked between the two of them and started to smile. "You mean it's not just me and daddy out here?"
Both of the shook their head and she jumped forward, giving him a hug. "Really, Vik, what have you been feeding her?" He joked.
Vik just frowned at them. "We weren't completely without food. Cetus had his interest in Lily after all."
He gave him a dark look back. "What do you mean by that?" He hoped that this wasn't going where he thought it was going.
Vik sighed. "She was supposed to marry Cetus's son."
He breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a good train of thought, but it was better than where he started. "So Cetus has a child?"
Vik nodded, but Lily spoke up. "He's not very nice. He's scary."
Vik put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Lily, why don't you go get something to eat? 25 said she would get you something." She gave him a smile then ran off. He watched his son look after his daughter with a smile on his face.
"So tell us more about this kid." Ivan said, offering Vik a seat.
Vik took a seat and the two them moved back to where they had been sitting. "Well, the prince of Miresa is possibly one of the most dangerous people in all of Miresa, or he would have been."
"I don't like the sound of that." Ivan stated.
"Lily discovered the hole in the shield because of him. He's been missing for a while. I don't know what he is up to, but he is in Fiore. I just don't know where." Vik sounded frustrated. He could see that being a parent had changed his son.
"What does he look like?" He asked.
Vik looked him in the eye. "He has bright red hair, just like Flare's, but it is his eyes that mark him as a Resus."
He felt dumbfounded. "That doesn't make sense. Only the first born child of a Resus has those eyes."
"I don't know, but he has them and from what I've seen they are terrifying. Cetus has what he views as the perfect son." Vik stated.
He wanted to growl. That demon had really stolen everything from Bickslow. He even got what should have been the best years of his life. Bickslow should have been at home with his wife and his daughter. Now that demon had torn away that life from him as well by having a child with another woman and raising it to be a monster.
"We'll have to make sure that the security is up. We can't have Xenia sneaking off again." Ivan said.
He did growl this time. If someone even thought about touching his either of his granddaughters, he would make sure their death was as slow and agonizing as possible.
Xenia sighed. She knew that she shouldn't have said those things to her grandfather, but it just wasn't right. She shouldn't have to be stuck in a tower all day.
She heard a knock on the door and looked over. The woman with the dread locks entered her room with her son. Gunner frowned at her and she glared at him. "From what I understand, the two of you had an argument."
She looked away from them and out the window. She didn't want to talk to him. Not after he thought so lowly of her father's power. "He can do as he pleases."
The woman sighed. "I know it is hard, but this is all for your protection."
She glanced back at the woman. What would she possibly know? She had her freedom. "Why? Why do I have to be stuck in here, while everyone else gets to go out and fight?!"
"There is a risk involved…" The woman started.
"Because of what happened with my father…" She looked back out the window. "Does everyone just expect me to be possessed by some demon!" She groaned. Her eyes flashed as she spoke.
The woman grabbed her son and they moved behind the door in fear.
She sneered. "Just what I thought."
Suddenly a force moved quickly throughout the room, causing the door to slam shut. She heard Gunner and his mother as they knocked frantically.
"I thought they would never leave." She turned around to find Ziph sitting on her bed. He was smirking up at her.
"What did you do?!" She said, marching over to him.
He chuckled. "I just wanted us to be alone. They were getting in the way. Don't you agree?" He reached out his hand to her.
She blushed as she backed away. "I don't see how they were in the way."
He just gave her a smug smile. "They're afraid of you. Just like they are afraid of me. Funny how that is."
"That's not funny Ziph." She said.
"Come now, you saw them hide from you. There is no reason to deny that you and I are alike." He stated, standing up and walking towards her.
"I don't like to scare people." She said as he walked to her, she backed up into a wall and he had boxed her in. She didn't realize how much taller he was than she was.
He leaned down, so that he was looking in her eyes. "But you like power, Xenia. You've always wanted power."
She wanted to look away, but it was like she was under a trance. His eyes were mesmerizing. "No..I…"
"Come and discover the truth with me." He said.
She felt like a moth being pulled by a flame as his arm went down her side and around her back. She couldn't control herself as she nodded.
He smirked. "What was that?"
She looked down. "I'll….I'll go with you."
He grinned as his eyes flashed and they disappeared.
She opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of nowhere. What was this place? He let go of her and gave her a sly smile. "How do you like your freedom?"
She wondered what he was talking about. This wasn't freedom. "What did you do to me?"
He let out a chuckle. "I did nothing. You made that decision on your own."
She shook her head. "You were going to hurt those people."
"No, I only wished to scare them. They were going to try and back you into a corner." He stated.
"And how would you know that?" She said, getting in his face.
He gave her a serious look. "That boy thinks you are pretty."
She gave him a puzzled look. "Why does that matter? And how would know that? He's never said anything about it."
Ziph grumbled. "It's all over his face. I can see it in the way he looks at you."
"Again, why does that matter?" She said pressing him for answered.
He smirked as his eyes changed color. The sky let up and looked so beautiful. "You are an interesting person. I just want to know more about you."
"That doesn't answer my question." She said, her voice had dropped down to a whisper.
He had come close again. His eyes turned off as they just looked into one another. The lights from the sky had gone dark and it now appeared as if they were surrounded in darkness.
The world had disappeared and they were the only two here. She was having trouble breathing as he leaned forward. "I've thought about this. I've thought about it a lot."
"Thought about what?" She said, leaning into him.
His eyes drooped as he kissed her. She didn't pull away. She gave in. She let him kiss her and she kissed him back. His arms at some point ended up behind her back, pulling her closer against him as her hands moved up his chest.
He wasn't rough. He wasn't frantic. He was calm. He was in control.
His lips pulled off of hers and she only looked up into his eyes. His hand came up and touched the side of her face. "Let's get going. We need to figure this out."
She nodded. "Lead the way."
He smirked. "Just follow me."
To Be Continued….
Author's Note
Xenia, Xenia, Xenia….what the hell do you think you're doing? That's probably not a very good idea.