Bickslow looked around again. He didn't like this. The last thing that he remembered was being in his daughter's room.
He shook his head and it all come flowing back. Cetus had possessed him. How long had he been under? Why was he in bed with Flare instead of Lisanna? Did Cetus start a relationship with Flare?
Flare made to groan in her sleep. She was sweating a lot. She had to be sick. He checked her soul with his eyes and discovered that she was dying. But why was she dying? Her soul was weak, but it looked like something else was dragging her away. He just couldn't figure out what it was.
He pulled himself out of the bed. This couldn't be right. He thought everything over and now he was faced with reality. Cetus had taken over his life. Aboslan had to be gone. The question was how long? The fact that he broke his wife's heart was not only painful but disgusted him. And what about his daughter? She had to think the worst of him. He had been so weak. He had let Cetus in and now what was he? Nothing. That power meant nothing without Lisanna by his side.
He turned back to Flare. His eyes were dark as a new darkness started to take hold. Dark thoughts circled through his head. Cetus has ruined his life. It was only fair to ruin his in return.
His eyes focused on her throat. It wouldn't take long. Especially with the state she was in. He felt himself smirk as his hand inched toward her neck. All he needed was a couple more inches.
"What do you think you're doing?" He heard Cetus say in the back of his head.
He laughed to himself. "Something I should have done a long time ago." With that he reached forward and latched onto Flare's throat. He heard her wheeze as Cetus screamed at him in the back of his mind. He felt Cetus pushing on him but he wouldn't relent. He would have his revenge. Flare's body stiffened only seconds later and he let her go as he laughed. "It isn't fun to be taken from what you love, isn't it?"
"You bastard!" Cetus screamed in his mind.
Bickslow chuckled darkly then froze as he heard a growl behind him. A young boy was standing there. "What did you do to mother?!"
He was blown away. The boy was clearly a teenager. That meant he had to under for more than fifteen years. How old would his daughter be now? "What year is it?"
"Why does that matter?! You just killed mom!" The boy snapped. The redhead's eyes flashed in the darkness.
He followed suite as he brought up a shield around himself. "I'm not your father. That monster was."
The boy's eyes changed. "So you're the weakling my father used? How pathetic. You went after my mother who was already dying. You're disgusting!"
"And your father isn't. He stole everything from me! My wife, my life, my child… I'm left with nothing!" He snapped.
The boy laughed. "You're talking about Xenia?"
Rage filled him. "What do know about my daughter?!"
Again the strange boy laughed. "You mean my bride?"
Chills went down his spine. "You will not touch her!"
"I already have." He hated this boy. At first he may have felt some sympathy, but now he felt nothing but pure hatred. He wanted this child dead more than his mother.
Cetus laughed darkly in the back of his head. "Good work, Ziph. Your mother would be proud."
"I only aim to please you father." Ziph said back.
He felt confused. They were able to read each other's minds. He thought that was something that he one shared with his family. He had to remind himself that his family started with Cetus. Of course they could do that. But that seemed to do it. He was distracted long enough for Cetus to push forward. He felt himself pass out and he fell back into the darkness.
Cetus turned to his son. "So that's where you went?"
Ziph nodded. "I wanted to see what there was in Fiore. I didn't know mom was going to die or I would have stayed put."
Cetus looked down at Flare's broken body. Her soul was still there. It was barely hanging on. An idea entered his head. He would have his wife back. He moved quickly as he gathered her soul. "Ziph, go and find me a jar."
His son didn't question him. He only moved. He appeared with a jar seconds later. "What are we going to do father?"
Cetus chuckled. "Good back to Fiore, my son."
"What for?" Ziph answered.
"your mother needs a new body. There will be one amongst the trash. Find her and bring her here." He ordered.
Ziph nodded. "Whatever you wish, father"
With that, his son disappeared. Leaving him alone with the soul of his beloved. "Don't worry, my love. We will be together again. That ruffian did us a favor."
Lisanna giggled as she watched her daughter talk with Gunner. Xenia looked a little annoyed but was holding back. Remy and Ivan must have taught her some manners.
She remembered the days when guys looked at her like that. The days when Bickslow was still around. She was beginning to think that those conversations had been all a dream. He hadn't talked to her since the last time. She sighed as she watched them. Hoping that someday she could have that again.
Remy frowned as he woke up. Someone was knocking loudly on his door and he wanted to punch them for it. Ivan twitched next to him. They had been up late having some fun.
The door opened and he practically jumped to cover himself and his lover. He glared up to find Corwall and Brass looking at them. They both looked serious. Corwall turned green and Brass just looked away.
"Can the two of you get up. It's an emergency." Brass stated.
"What's your deal? Get up and dressed. I swear these kids these days." Corwall snorted.
"You know that this is our room right. We can be as naked as we want to be." Ivan groaned.
"Just get out of bed. It looks like the shield is complete gone. We need to go over a battle plan." Brass said.
Now that got his attention. He jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. "That's the last thing I wanted to see today." Corwall croaked.
He glared at the man as he finished up. "No one said you had to watch."
Across from him, Ivan had gotten up and was finishing up as well. "Just shut it, old man."
Brass only rolled his eyes. "If all of you are done arguing, I would like to get going. This maybe our only chance."
He nodded and made it towards the door. As he walked by Corwall, he noticed that the man seemed more freaked out than usual. He couldn't figure out why. It was probably more disgust for having witnessed them. "Keep your eyes to yourself old man." Corwall jumped and he laughed as they headed out of there room and down the hall.
He started to wonder what would cause Cetus to lower his shield completely. Was he searching for his son or was the war starting? Was this the demon's plan all along?
The King gave them a sour look. "You're late."
He returned the look. "Maybe if you sent some better people, it wouldn't have taken long." He really didn't understand why he would send Corwall and Brass in the first place. He could have always sent Warner or Carma. The two of them were standing off to the side talking to one another.
"Can we move on? There are more important things than the whereabouts of those two. We need to make a plan." Remy couldn't help but be proud as Vik walked in with Arma. She looked a little off. He could tell what they had been doing. It wasn't that didn't he approved of the two of them. He still wanted answers about Kitt and Edvin. Why wasn't his son going out of his way to find them?
"55 has a point. Right now is the perfect time to strike." The King said as a giant map opened up. He could clearly see the edge of Fiore. There was an X where the old Raven Tail guild was. He felt a pang as he looked at it. He missed his old guild. After this was done, he hoped that he and his family could rebuild the place. They could even become a normal legal guild.
He watched as the King went over the plans and that wasn't the only thing that was going through his head. He had never forgiven the man that had taken so much from him and Ivan and he never would. Raven Tail would never be a normal guild. He would see to the King's death once this was over.
Ivan took his hand. His lover had read his mind years ago. They both knew that their chance was getting closer. They would have their revenge. Not just for the pain of all of those years but now against Cetus as well. They would both pay. The world would be brought to its knees. He would see to that. Then the world could start over. It was the only way.
Xenia sighed. She had agreed to go out for a walk that night. Even if she didn't want to. Gunner insisted. He said that it would be fun. She wasn't so sure about it, but figured it would be better than staying at the guild and being stared at.
She still wasn't sure of her feeling either. Gunner was just some guy. He was the son of Warner and Carma Brass. He was a member of the Fiore Army's special forces. Any girl would be happy to be getting the kind of attention that he was giving her. But she wasn't sure. Even as she let the guild with him, she was still questioning herself. Was this what she wanted?
Her mind flashed to Ziph. She shook her head. There was no way that she wanted that half demon. He was a monster. He had proved it more than once.
But then there was the way that he kissed her. She had given into him so easily. Could it be that she really liked him? Again she shook her head. It was probably because it was her first kiss. If she kissed someone else, she would probably react the same.
"Xenia?" She jumped as she turned to look at Gunner. He had a puzzled look on her face.
"What?" She knew that she wasn't paying attention to him, which wasn't fair.
He sighed. "I was going to tell you that we're here." She looked around and found that they were in the middle of an open field. She knew this place. Her Grandpa would take her here to train when she was younger. "I know it's not much, but I figured that you would want out of the guild."
She nodded. "I'm just tired of buildings."
"I can see that. Was it really that bad growing up in the council building?" He asked as he motioned for her to sit down.
She sat on the ground and sighed. "It wouldn't have been that bad if I wasn't alone all of the time. Grandpa and Papaw were always off working and I barely got to train after I left with them." He seemed ready to ask something, but she stopped him. "I left here because I wanted to train to use my magic, my mother didn't want me to be taken like my father was." She shook her head. "I could never tell anyone that I wasn't my father. That I wasn't going to fall for the same tricks that he did. But then I discovered that they were right. I did fall for those tricks. A demon came for me as well, only this one wanted something else. He wanted my body, but it wasn't the same way that Cetus wanted my father. He kept going on and on about me being his bride." She looked over at Gunner. "Can you really believe that? He came all of this way to make me his bride and he seriously thought I would agree to that."
Gunner laughed. "I would say something, but even for a demon, I think you would be a lot to handle."
She gave him a smile. "I can't be that bad, can I?"
He shook his head. "No, but you're stubborn."
"You don't say?" She giggled. "Tell me something new."
He blushed. "Well, you have warmest smile I have ever seen." She felt herself go red and looked up. She needed a distraction. The stars were out and blanketed the sky. "The stars are always pretty out here. You can never see anything in the city." He started.
She looked down to find him very close to her. His eyes were looking upward though. She questioned her next move. What was the best thing to do? She was tired of waiting. She needed an answer. She touched his arm and allowed her eyes to change as she looked up at the sky. He gasped as he looked up at the change in the sky. It had filled with light.
"That's amazing." He said, dumbfounded.
She giggled. She had never heard the reaction to the night sky before. But she had something else on her mind. She turned off her eyes and found herself looking in his. "Gunner…"
She watched as he leaned in closer. Her heart raced and she leaned towards him. His lips brushed against hers and she lost it, she wanted him closer. His body was warm as he moved his lips against hers. She kissed him back as her heartbeat drummed in her chest.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She heard a snarl behind her and pulled away from Gunner, only to find Ziph standing across from them in the field. He looked like an animal. She suddenly feared for Gunner's life. "Well, I'm waiting."
To Be Continued…