Chapter 9

The harpies have zero understanding of how diseases spread, and Leo was not sure why he thought otherwise.

Leo was under the delusion that Queen Sybil would actually know how to prevent the disease from spreading, despite the fact that germ theory was not a theory here.

Normally, Leo would just isolate himself as he had during COVID-19. It was a simple matter of working online, going to the store for food, and the occasional visit to his parents when he knew nobody was exposed. Aside from all the necessities he never left his apartment all that much. The news constantly talking about the people dying from the disease was enough to spook him.

That plan has not changed, he was not about to become a footnote in history as someone who died from a pandemic. The only problem was that nobody understood how diseases spread, not one single person.

This was especially a problem because the harpies did not get sick from the disease. For some unknown reason, they were naturally immune to the virus, along with all other monsters from what Leo could tell. This meant that he was at constant risk for secondhand exposure.

"Leoooo~" Irini whined, "Come out and play with us."

He turned around and gave her a flat look after putting down the wax tablet he had in his hand, "I can't leave here and you know that. Quarantine and all."

She walked over and sat in front of him before leaning into his face and pouting, "You said you wouldn't get sick so you can come and play with us!"

Leo sighed before leaning back on his arms, "It doesn't work like that Irini, I have to take care of myself to not get sick. Just because I said I wouldn't get sick doesn't mean I'm free to do whatever."

"One day won't hurt though…" She said slowly.

"One day will definitely hurt. People get exposed to the disease and then get sick from it, that's how it works.

"But I don't want you to just sit in here all day. It's no fun."

Leo laughed, "Of course it's no fun. But it's something I have to do."

Irini leaned over to the wax tablet that Leo had been writing on, "What's this?"

Leo picked up the tablet and moved to sit next to her so that he could read it with her, "I've been practicing my writing, some of the letters are still pretty hard but it's starting to make sense. Might as well work on it since I can't do much else."

Irini looked intently at the written letters, he could tell she was trying her hardest to understand what he wrote.

"I didn't really write anything, it's just a mess of letters I need to work on," Leo said.

"... It's so good," Irini whispered to herself.

"I still need to work on it, can't get these ones to come out right," Leo said before pointing to three of the letters that were clearly disfigured.

"But how'd the other ones come out so nice?" Irini asked, "I've never been able to do it like this."

Leo shrugged, "I just keep pra-"

Leo burst out in a coughing fit. It was one after the other, constant and relentless. He could feel a thick mucous in his throat trying to come out and no matter how many times he coughed it never moved.

He dropped the tablet onto his lap in the process before reaching his hand to his chest in an attempt to ease the pain that came from each cough.

"Leo!" Irini shouted before she started rubbing his back with one of her wings, "Are you okay Leo?"

After around ten seconds the coughing fit died down and Leo was able to catch his breath. He slouched over and placed his hands on his forehead slowly rubbing it to make sense of what just happened.

"...Leo?" Irini's concerned voice shot through his ears.

He lifted his head up and looked at her. She looked scared, her eyes were opened wider and her mouth was slightly open like she wanted to say something else but could not find the words.

"I'm not getting sick," Leo said to Irini, he tried to speak confidently but his voice wavered. His eyes fell to the ground and his next words dragged as if someone had attached them to an anchor.

"...I'm not getting sick."

"Leo I'll get Mama!" Irini said quickly before rushing out of the house.

Leo idly turned his head toward the door as it slammed behind Irini.

Not like this.

Anything but this.

Leo had hardly done anything in his this life. He had been taken away before he could truly help his mother on the farm. He had only spent six years in this world and there was so much more he had to learn. So much more he could potentially do before it was his time to leave this world.

He still needed to help his sister, he could not let her grow up without someone to guide her and help her along the way. This place was cruel, this world was cruel, and he had to change it one way or another.

Leo felt a chill travel down his spine and then radiate throughout his body. He went from being perfectly fine to cold in a matter of seconds. He looked down at his arms and saw several goosebumps along them. Leo slowly ran his hand down his arm and felt them, once he did another chill radiated throughout his body.

He had not expected anything to set in this fast. But he guessed his body had been trying to fight it for some time and he just broke. His body could not keep up and the disease took over.

Leo pulled his arms closer to his chest in an attempt to feel warmer, but nothing he did mattered. There was still this sense of cold that he could not shake, that he could not get rid of.

He slowly stood up and once he was on his feet he could feel the weakness that was not present before. It was not severe but he could tell he was not at full strength.

One step at a time he walked toward his bed and once he had the chance he grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around him. It was soft and warm, it allowed him to feel something other than the constant chills that ravaged his body.

Leo moved his arms up and down his legs and along his chest as best he could. He had to search for bumps, anything that could potentially be a rash. He shifted the blanket around so that he could see but each and every time he looked it was still the same skin as before, except now it looked slightly paler than normal.

His body looked fine aside from the paleness that was slowly setting in. He must have been getting paler by the day and he never noticed, nobody noticed. Leo could not figure out when the weakness initially started. He felt like he would have noticed it, but at the same time, if it was so gradual then there is no way he would have noticed it.

The door opened faster than Leo could realize and immediately Sophia and Irini rushed in, followed by Vasil and Natassa. Every one of them had a look of concern on their faces, while Irini's was the most pronounced of anyone.

Sophia kneeled down in front of him, staring him in the eyes before reaching her wings out and hugging him. Leo did not resist, as much as he wanted to, he knew that he needed to save every ounce of energy he could and a fight about her being too close to him was a fight he did not need to take.

"Leo," Sophia whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He felt her wings through the blanket, the simple pressure against his body was something to help calm him down. However, regardless of what Sophia or the kids did, nothing would be able to soothe his mind.

His voice came out as a whisper, "...Not like this."

Leo did another check along the skin of his body, feeling for anything that was out of place. He felt the goosebumps but aside from them, everything seemed normal. Nothing was out of place that he could pinpoint.

Sophia still held him in her arms as another batch of chills went down his spine and radiated throughout his body. She simply held him tighter as his body shook. One of her wings reached up to his head and she began to run it through his hair as best the wing could.

It was weird, the feeling of feathers against his head. They were soothing, yet at the same time, it felt like someone was trying to lightly rub a pillow against him. He felt some of her feathers rest against his shoulder. The light pressure against his body aided in calming the chills while her petting confused Leo enough for him to take his mind off the illness for a few minutes.

After a while, Sophia let go and placed her wings on her lap in front of her before looking Leo in the eyes.

"Did that help a little Leo?" She asked while placing a light smile on her face.

Leo looked away from her to find Irini, Natassa, and Vasil all still watching him. Irini looked like she was about to break out into tears. Not only that but he could see her leg twitching, almost like she was holding back from running toward him. Which Leo could entirely see her doing.

"...Thank you, Sophia."

Leo clearly saw her smile brighten. It was not much but he could tell a simple 'thank you' went a long way.

Yet at the same time, it pained Leo. It looked like a simple kind gesture with nothing behind it. But Leo knew otherwise. He knew it put him more in Sophia's debt, more that would keep him here, more that he would have to either work off or find a way to put behind.

He had to survive this on his own, his body was strong, and Leo was sure of it. If he was able to hold off this long without catching something then surely he would be able to hold off this disease.

But going on alone scared him. It was a disease, something that killed people regardless of social class and hierarchy, both good and bad individuals. It was not something that he could control or manipulate and it was at the point where the only thing Leo could do now was hope and pray.

This world had nothing to combat it, he was sure of that. Magic could work, but at the same time, he was not sure what exactly magic could do in this world. He was not sure how the laws of this world limited it. Despite that, one thing was clear to him, it was that this village did not rely on magic. It was their sense of community that kept them strong.

Regardless, he would be damned if he let Sophia bring in an outside mage to heal him. If Queen Sybil had not already done so then he could see two options. One, the mage was too expensive or too preoccupied with other cases, or two, there was no such mage that could take care of this disease.

Leo jumped when Sophia put her wing on his forehead. He was so lost in thought that the world around him blurred. Once she pulled her wing back she spoke.

"That's a fever, I'll brew you some tea, Leo. It should help some more."

Safety now, or an unpayable debt. That was the question that was posed to Leo. He could either have faith that he would not turn out like the other boy, or he could have enough to be able to escape without Sophia hunting him down till the end of the world.

It was… not an easy decision. Regardless of the care given to him, there was always a chance that he would not make it out, that was simply the case when it came to disease and pandemics. He had already blown his chance to come out unharmed.

"I'll be okay," Leo replied softly.

"Please Leo!" Irini shouted before rushing up to and holding onto Leo, her wings wrapped around him and squeezing him with a strength that he did not know Irini had. "Please let Mama help you! That's all she wants to do!"

"Irini!" Sophia called out, "If he doesn't want it, he doesn't want it. There's nothing more to it than that."

Irini slammed her foot on the wooden ground below her, before glaring back at her mother while refusing to let go of Leo. "You don't understand! Leo doesn't trust you! How do you not see it?"

Sophia put her hands on her hips before walking toward her daughter, "Irini, that's enough. Stand up."

"No!" She shouted, "I'll be there for him! He knows I won't hurt him. I just want him to get better."

Leo reached out a hand from under the blanket and placed it on the tip of one of her wings. "Irini, it's okay. Yo-"

"No, it's not Leo!" The young harpy interrupted, "It's not okay." Leo could see tears starting to form in her eyes, "We just want to help you, why won't you let us do that… I don't want to see you die."

He reached pulled his arms around her as best he could and brought her in for a hug.

Leo knew she was hurting, he knew that his mind was racing and his priorities were beginning to go left and right. He wanted to help Irini, it pained him to see her like this. It reminded him so much of Maya and Leo would never let his sister deal with pain like this alone.

His priorities were switching and he did not like it. Leo needed to get home to care for Maya, but at the same time if he left Irini would break. She would be a shell of her former self just like Maya probably was right now.

His family, or a monster that was the daughter of the harpy who kidnapped him away from his family. The decision should have been easy… yet it was not.

It was a decision between one person he cared for, and one person who he was beginning to care for. Both the villages scared him, one from direct fear, the other from intrigue. The similarities just made everything harder.

"...Leo?" Irini said with tears in her eyes, "Please don't leave us."

He looked toward Irini with a somber smile, "I don't intend to die here and now."

Irini's only response was to hold him tighter.

"Believe it or not Leo, but you're family now." Sophia snapped Leo out of his one-on-one with Irini and he looked over to see her kneeling on the ground with her wings in her lap.

"We take care of each other and respect each other. I know it's been such a short time for you but we still have a lot of time together. This," She motioned over at his body, "Is only for now, if we treat it, it'll go away. We're not here to hurt you. I'm not here to hurt you."

Lies, it's all lies!

She's just looking after her species so that she could groom him into a suitable husband, just like David was.

He would get better for Maya, and for Irini. The others he could care less about, they were either in on the scheme or clueless of it altogether. Both made them dangerous in their own right.

They were not his family nor would they ever be. It angered Leo for Sophia to even consider him a part of her family. Kidnapping someone from their family does not make it so you can place them in an entirely different one, it does not work like that.

Their family was theirs and it was sacred. It was a bond that nobody could break without immense effort. Leo refused to let Sophia fully break his family, there would be struggles as there were with everything, but she would never break him.

"Can I just rest?" Leo asked, "I think I need sleep more than anything."

He would go with them for now. He would pretend to be family, with them. More conflict was not something he needed. More conflict could bring in Queen Sybil and that would only bring even more problems to Leo's already massive list.

"If that's what you want then I won't stop you," Sophia said calmly, "Just know that if you ever need something, all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you," Leo responded.

Leo slowly let go of Irini, and she did the same before he laid down on his side. He could feel Irini still next to him as she refused to move, and at this point, it felt like she was watching over him. Which was both endearing and creepy at the same time. Regardless, it was something he did not mind.

He felt small bits of hair against his face before Irini's quiet voice rang in his ear, "You can always talk to me, about anything, Leo."

Leo nodded his head, not wanting to hold a further conversation after what had just unfolded. It was a mess of emotions all at once, from everyone involved.

But all things considered, he might take Irini up on her offer.

Coughing. Rough coughing was how Leo woke up the next morning. It felt like his throat was tearing from the force of the cough and he placed a hand on his chest and one above his mouth. The lump in the back of his throat never cleared but the cough eventually subsided.

Leo took a look at his hand and was relieved at the sight of no blood. He had not ruptured anything at least, so that was something going for him.

He looked down to his side and saw Irini clutching onto his waist, tilted at an angle from her bed, slowly waking up from his coughing.

Once her eyes opened she let go of Leo and moved to sit up and stretch, with her wings out behind her back.

"Good morning Leo." Irini said with a yawn, "Did the rest help?"

Leo rolled his shoulder that he slept on and stretched his legs before sitting up in a more comfortable position, "Not really, it'll take time."

After all, he could still feel the fever present. It was warm but at the point where it was slightly too warm. Not only that but there were infrequent chills that still went down his body, he had several throughout the night and each time it threatened to fully wake him up.

Irini shifted over and latched onto Leo's arm with her wings, "I'll help you, Leo. I'll help you get through this."

Leo did not push her away but simply sat still with his hands on his lap under the blanket. "I just need time and rest Irini, you don't have to worry."

She looked at him in the eyes, "I can't help it, I want to do something." She looked toward the ground with a solemn gaze, "I can help this time."

Leo looked out toward the window and saw the edges of the sun with a red horizon showing over and through the trees, "Then just be patient with me, I'll let you know Irini."

He would actually let her know. Leo could feel her desire to help and from what he could tell there was not anything malicious coming from her. It felt like genuine concern and genuine compassion, not forced, not coerced, but genuine.

It was hard to place and describe, but he just had a feeling that she was not out to get him, and that worried him. There had to be a reason behind it, going with his gut feeling was always fifty-fifty for Leo, it's why he always looked for a reason. There had to be something that he could definitively place.

Irini eventually shifted her head so that it rested on his shoulder. It was comforting, in a way he did not expect from a monster. He had always had the idea of monsters being just that, monsters. Creatures that held no value for human life. Yet at the same time, his time in Harpy Village has both proven and disproven that.

Harpies like Irini, who felt the desire to live with the humans, and harpies like Queen Sybil and Sophia, who used the humans for their own games and schemes.

It confused Leo. He still hated the harpies but Irini made it so hard to classify the entire race as evil and write them off as untrustworthy. He knew there were exceptions to the rule but he could not put aside the possibility that Irini was the rule rather than the exception. He just needed more time that he did not want to spend.

Leo felt around his body again looking for something off, something different. He looked at his arms and they were fine. The back of his neck was fine. Leo moved his free arm down his legs and felt nothing out of the ordinary. Then he moved to his chest and once again felt no-

There was something.

He moved his arm around more and more, comparing the feeling to his arms and legs before he eventually pulled his dress down from the top.

Small red lumps littered all over the top part of his chest that branched off to his side, ignoring his abs.

He could feel Irini's gaze on him, looking at his chest over and over again. Feeling the same emotion that Leo was feeling.

Fear.

Leo sighed and simply looked down. His hand slowly ran across the bumps and he could feel his hand trembling.

"Leo is t-"

"Yes," Leo interrupted with his voice wavering, "It's the same rash."

"Leo, I'm so sorry." Irini cried softly while wrapping her wings around him as best she could. When she fully grabbed him she pressed her tearfull face into his arm.

He placed his hand on her wing that covered some of the lumps, "You didn't cause this."

After a few minutes, Leo covered himself back up and watched everyone else wake up for the day. Natassa and Vasil were excitable as always but he could see the atmosphere of the house wearing on them. Their smiles were not as bright as they normally were, and they had said almost nothing since he started showing symptoms.

Sophia showed her typical kindness toward everyone but Leo could tell she was fighting her inner demons. Her kids could not pick up on it or they chose not to say anything, but he could tell his illness and the state of the village was wearing on her.

The rest of the morning was about to go as it always had, wake up, food, a minor plan for the day from Sophia, then everyone went out to play. The main difference was that it was silent, there was no plan for the day, and only Vasil, Natassa, and Sophia left the house.

Leo took the wax tablet and went to work on it, practicing as he always had. While Irini followed in his footsteps for once and picked up another tablet. It was clear to anyone that Leo was significantly more focused on the writing than Irini. But the fact that she was taking time outside of the lessons to practice was promising.

Eventually, Leo decided to stop with the new language and letters and take some time to remember the language of his home. English.

Slowly but surely he managed to carve out his and his brother's names. Nobody could ever replace their bond and he would make sure to never forget what the two of them had done for each other and with each other.

Leon Nikolaou.

Alexander Nikolaou.

It hurt to write but he knew his brother would truly be there for him right now if he could. He would be finding some way, whether moral or not, to find a cure for whatever illness Leo had. Alex would not stop until the world made him, that much Leo knew and it brought tears to his eyes.

"Leo?"

Almost immediately Leo brushed away the names he had just written before turning around to see Irini looking over his shoulder at the tablet.

"I-I was just w-writing random things," Leo quickly said before wiping his eyes in the hopes that Irini did not see the tears and was more interested in what he wrote.

"I could almost see a word from it," She said in awe, "You're so good with that pen you can make anything look good!"

He rubbed the back of his head lightly before chuckling, "Thanks. It's one thing I can do but I know I can g-"

Leo suddenly started coughing again, just like most of his fits they were always out of nowhere.

Irini instantly started to rub his back with her wing before sitting down next to him.

The fit lasted for a little over a minute before it calmed down. However, while the coughing calmed down he felt the chills come back with a vengeance. Leo felt his face become pale and his vision began to blur.

He wanted to throw up, he felt like he needed to get something out of his body.

Leo tried to stand up and walk to the door but the second he stood on his two feet his legs gave out from underneath him.

He felt Irini put his arm over her neck so that she could hold him upright, "I've got you, Leo. Let's get you to the bed."

Leo's mouth hung open as he tried to make sense of what was going on. His body felt weaker than he had ever felt before. His head was constantly spinning and his vision was completely blurry at this point.

His eyes struggled to stay open and Leo kept blinking over and over again in an attempt to refocus his vision.

Once Irini laid him down on his blanket his breathing slowly began to come back to normal but the chills never left, not for one second. Leo reached for the blanket underneath him and eventually managed to cover himself with the help of Irini.

She sat down next to him and kept her wing over his hand, whispering to herself something that Leo could not make out. From what he could guess it was probably a prayer to whatever god she worshiped.

Irini's head whipped to face the door as it flew open and slammed against the wall behind it.

Leo slowly picked his head up to see Sophia and Queen Sybil standing in the doorway before Sophia rushed in.

"Irini! How's Leo doing?" Sophia asked frantically, "I saw the rash this morning and Queen Sybil said she had something to help."

Leo scowled at the two of them, unless this Mikayla had some form of a cure he doubted they could come up with something so fast. Sophia mentioned the rash so it could not have been the coriander they were talking about, it was something different.

Irini's head perked up with most of her saddened expression fading away. "Really!?"

Queen Sybil spoke up after lightly flying in and placing a bowl she had in her talon on the table, "Yes, really. What is his condition like?"

Irini made sure to stay at Leo's side but made eye contact with Queen Sybil, "He just started coughing really badly and he fell when he tried to stand…"

The Queen sighed, "Leo, you'll have to take this. It'll help you regain your strength." She then picked the bowl up again and slowly flew over to Leo's side opposite of Irini.

Leo gave her a skeptical look and made constant glances between Queen Sybil and the bowl in her talon, "What's in it?"

"It is a mixture of several herbs boiled in stock. That will help to reduce your fever and give you some strength back." Queen Sybil then started to move the bowl towards Leo, indicating for him to drink it.

Leo pulled his head back away from the bowl, "What herbs are in it?" He said more forcefully.

Irini then pulled on his arm forcing Leo's attention to her, "Leo just drink it, please. Queen Sybil said it would work, so it'll work."

Sophia spoke up with a voice that shared Irini's concern, "Queen Sybil would never try and hurt you Leo, just like none of us would try and hurt you."

"It is a mixture of coriander seeds, oregano, sage, fennel, and lemon balm boiled in vegetable stock. Others have had the same mixture." The Queen answered confidently before pushing it toward him again.

Leo once again shook his head and moved away from the bowl, "That won't work. How do I know this won't kill me? You don't understand what all those herbs could do to humans."

On the other hand, Leo did know what they could do. That was nothing, it would not kill him… But he could not be sure that Queen Sybil did not poison it with other plants that would actually kill him. She gave Leo no reason to trust her, and he knew she was scheming. Maybe this was her way of getting rid of him? Maybe she deemed him a risk to her plans and this was the perfect opportunity.

"Leo!" Irini shouted before moving behind him and holding his arms and body in one place, "Mama has nothing to do with this! Just drink it."

He struggled to move from her grasp but it was to no avail, she was much stronger than him at the moment and there was nothing he could do. Irini had him stuck and she was going to get him killed.

All the times she tried to help. All the time she tried to look out for his well-being. She meant well but she did not understand, she would not understand, she was too innocent.

"Irini, let go!" Leo spoke loudly while continuing to shake in her grasp.

"No!" She shouted before gripping onto him even tighter.

Taking the opportunity, Queen Sybil moved the bowl to his mouth and poured the liquid in. Not wasting a second, she placed her wings on the top and bottom of his head and pressed to keep his mouth closed.

Leo could feel the lukewarm liquid slosh around in his mouth when shook his head and tried to force his mouth open. Each burst of effort was met with an equal force of Queen Sybil's wings. Slowly but surely he felt the liquid slide down his throat. Drop after drop until it eventually reached the point where most of the liquid was gone.

His eyes widened as he felt the warmth in his stomach and eventually his resistance stopped. Queen Sybil in turn released Leo's head and Irini followed by letting go of his body and arms.

That's it.

He was done.

The harpies got him, just as they planned. Queen Sybil figured she could not control him like the other humans so she killed him off.

Leo leaned over and spat on the ground several times to get what remained of the liquid out of his mouth. He wiped his mouth with his arm a few times before trying again only to realize the liquid was just now entering his body, he could throw it up.

So he reached his hand into his mouth in an attempt to force himself to throw up what liquid entered his body before the poison could kill him.

Only to feel a force on the side of his cheek which sent him to the ground and his hand out of his mouth.

"Sybil!" Sophia shouted before pushing her sister away from Leo, "That was uncalled for!"

Leo felt his cheek, he did not feel any broken bones but god damn it hurt. The spot where her wing connected with his face stung and it stung badly. Each time he pressed against it he felt heat radiate from it and the pain that followed.

He did not say anything to Queen Sybil but rather chose to just stare at her and let events unfold. If he could make Queen Sybil look like the bad guy then maybe Irini would understand what she did, understand that she put his life on the line.

The Queen stood her ground and glanced at her sister while keeping her attention on Leo, "He was about to force himself to vomit the mixture. He cares about his life but doesn't want to take measures that would help him." She stared more intently at Leo, "You still don't trust us, do you? Even after everything that they've done for you to show that they care?"

Leo in returned her glare, "You haven't given me a reason to trust you. I'm used to people wanting me dead or out of sight, why are you any different? How could I know that you weren't trying to kill me."

"We're different because we are actively taking measures to ensure you live. To make sure you have the chance to be a kid that you wouldn't have. We've given you a community in which to socialize and learn, unlike what you had in Happiness Village."

"But if I want to go back to what I had!" Leo shouted, "I'd be safe and happy with my mom and sister. I'd be able to have fun and learn what I wanted. I'd be able to help my mom get the life she deserved after all she suffered for us. I'd be able to help my sister when she needed it."

Leo slammed his hand on the ground only to recoil from the pain, "...But I can't do that now because you took it away from me!"

Queen Sybil continued to glare at Leo, unphased by his comments, "Your family was doomed to suffer because of what your mother did. You and your sister were only caught in the crossfire in the war we have with Anna. We've seen the potential you have and I refused to let someone like you die for something you didn't do."

Leo's eyes burned with a fire that the harpies had never seen before and it scared Irini, the minute his mother was mentioned he turned from angry to furious, "What if she wants to leave her past behind? What if she changed? Because I can guarantee that she is not the same person she was before."

"Do you know how many monsters died by her hand?" Queen Sybil rebutted, "Do you know how many harpies? Anna is one of the main reasons why we are nearly extinct! She was an instrument of Illias and her crusade. Queen Refletsia and her royal guard were the only reason Anna was stopped, and even they couldn't kill her."

Not once did Queen Sybil take her eyes off of Leo, "Queen Refletsia only wanted to help the humans, she loved them, she wanted to protect them and sought to expand our influence so that we could be their protector… But Anna never saw it like that, she and her adventurers thought we were the cause of their problems."

"But she's stopped," Leo pleaded, "She's done, and if she was so much of a problem why would you take her child!? That would just bring her to your doorstep, she could be amassing an army for all you know!"

"She may have stopped but she's still the same threat as before, and we know her every move. We always have since she settled in Happiness Village. Right now she's teaching your sister how to fight and tending to her farm, alone, like she always had. She hasn't made a single move against us."

Queen Sybil had a point, if she knew everything that was going on in the village she would know what mother was doing. Mother hadn't made a move, she didn't try to rescue him. Leo knew there had to be a reason, he knew she would go to the end of the world to keep him and Maya safe. Yet, she still hadn't come to rescue him.

Was it because of the villagers? Were they threatening mother and Maya? Maybe she and Lydia weren't enough people to force down an entire village of harpies in search of him. It hurt Leo, he understood, but it hurt.

Mother wanted to protect Maya as best she could, that was her best course of action. The villagers still wanted her dead and out, so she was just taking measures to make sure Maya stayed safe. That made sense to Leo. He just had to make his own way out, or wait for Maya to come and save him, either way, he still needed time.

Time to either learn the routines of the harpy guards and patrols and make his escape, or time to let Maya train enough so she could save him.

"She'll come for me!" Leo declared, hoping to put some level of fear into Queen Sybil, "Mom will come for me and take me home."

"And if she does she'll be put down like she should have been years ago." Queen Sybil said without missing a beat, "She's not as young and strong as she used to be. From what I've seen and what I've read, Anna is slowing down. And without Adrian, she'll be even easier to kill."

"Queen Sybil you can't say that about his mama, it's so mean!" Irini cried out.

The Queen Harpy glazed softly at Irini, "You'll learn in time dear, when you're old enough you'll know the story."

She turned her gaze back to Leo, "You'll also learn Leo. One way or another you'll learn the truth and you'll be forced to accept it. I know you're smarter and much more talented than you wish to let on."

Leo tried not to freeze in place and continued to rebut Queen Sybil, "I'm just a normal kid with a special parent. You just want me to get back at Mom!"

Queen Sybil shook her head, "Leo, you are anything but normal. All the other kids we've saved in the past have adjusted and come to thank us for saving them from that horrible village. Every. Single. One. Aside from you. Is it normal for a child to be so untrusting of people who have done nothing but try to help them?"

She kneeled down to look Leo directly in the eye, "Is it normal for a six-year-old to constantly think about schemes and plots that aren't there?"

"Sybil it can't be that deep, he's still scared of us. The humans at Happiness Village have an intrinsic fear of harpies, it's been like that since before mother!" Sophia said quickly.

"Sophia," The Queen said harshly, a tone which made the kids recoil and almost cower in fear, "You of all people should have realized his fear is more than intrinsic. He was not born with this fear by any means. Leo thinks, and if anything he thinks too much."

She turned her gaze away from Sophia and back to Leo, "Not every action has something hidden, sometimes you just have to take it at face value. After all, if that mixture was poisonous would you still be awake right now?"

"Not every poison sets in so fast, It could kill me when mixed with something else for all I know. You want me dead, so I don't follow in my mom's footsteps. Just like you're going to wait for the time to go out and kill my mother and sister." Leo rebutted with confidence.

Queen Sybil gave a knowing smirk, "Now would a normal six-year-old know about poisons, and that they can be released by many different things?"

Leo actually froze, his mouth opened and closed to find a response but nothing would come to him.

"Leo…" Irini said slowly, her voice wavered, still fearful from the Queen's tone earlier. "How do you know that?"

His mouth opened to say the words but they came out as barely a whisper, "...I overheard people."

"And that furthers my point of why it was the right decision to save you." Queen Sybil said, "The villagers at Happiness Village want Anna, your sister, and you, dead."

His confidence was shot, he had talked himself into a corner. Queen Sybil had a point, but he refused to believe it. Despite what she said, Leo knew she was scheming something. Protection of the humans? Never in a million years would the harpies try to protect humans from anything. They were just tools to them, used for breeding and nothing more.

Leo spoke weakly, "...That's not true."

"You can tell yourself that all you want Leo." Queen Sybil said, "But you believe what I said."

"...No, I don't believe you."

"You have your outlet here, I know the only one you care for here is Irini so I won't take you fully away."

Leo's eyes widened, take him away!? To where? Where else was there to go? He was already at the end of the line, here in Harpy Village. Trapped high above the ground with a Queen who wants his family dead and a harpy who wants to make him a part of hers.

"But you'll be having lessons with me from now on. You'll learn the truth and you'll accept it in time. I'll teach you how to rule with authority and benevolence. After all, you'll be my advisor when you come of age, it'll make the world of difference to have a human opinion."

"No!" Irini shouted before grasping onto Leo, "Don't take him away from me!"

Queen Sybil chuckled, "Don't worry Irini, he will still be around quite a lot. Leo will just be learning from me rather than Sophia."

The Queen stood up and walked toward the door, "I will leave the rest of the day to you all. If his condition worsens again please inform me. I do not wish to take more drastic measures but I will if necessary."

Leo watched the Queen leave and he simply stared into space.

The Queen Harpy wanted him to be her advisor of all things.

He knew this was trouble and that if he did not act fast he would be trapped here and likely forced to be Queen Sybil's husband. Yet, he did not know how he could leave. The disease still ravaged his body and Queen Sybil would take every possible measure to ensure he lived.

Things were not looking good and Leo could only hope that time would work in his favor, rather than the harpies.