Her breathing was heavy; the air sucking in and out of her lungs burned from the insane amount of running that she'd done. Passing tree after tree, she knew she was lost, but that didn't matter at the moment. A hand on her back urged her forward, keeping her moving and never stopping even though her legs felt as if they were going to break if she took another step. The tears she'd been crying just moments before long since dried from the breakneck pace she'd been holding. Taking a single moment, she glanced over her shoulder to see the single glow of orange far in the distance behind her. That orange glow was in fact a fire, one that had long since engulfed her house along with everyone else in it. She felt another pang of anguish pulse through her chest, making it even harder to breathe the air she needed.
The hand of her Guardian reached around her front and pulled her to a jarring halt. With a soft gasp, she looked up to see why he'd stopped them even though her father had told them not to stop no matter what. Both breathing heavily, they were confronted by not one, but three figures moving in the darkness. The young man pushed her just behind him and swiped the air, opening his magic system. He worked it rather quickly and dragged off the spell just as one of the figures with glowing red eyes flicked their hand at them. The explosion rocked the very trees, or so it seemed, and threw him backwards, hard onto the ground. She screamed for him.
"It has been one hell of a night, hasn't it?" the one with red eyes said, his voice thick with sarcasm as he grinned. Stepping into the little moonlight that flooded the canopy of trees, she noted he had black hair and skin with those piercing red eyes. On either side of him were two other Gods. Taking a step back away from him, her heart lurched to her throat as he was suddenly right in front of her, his fingers cupping her chin. Each breath shook as she trembled under his hold. He grinned at her, tilting her head back and forth as if he was examining her pale face, deep black hair and violet eyes.
"You know me?"
Tears filled her eyes, a soft choke of the air as she tried to find her voice, trembling she muttered one word, "Oni."
Oni laughed, "My, what a well rounded Seer. But you know, little Seer, you're really not supposed to be able to see us or interact with us. You see, the amount of Seers is at it's limit right now, and you're... how should I put this. An oddity. Not that we're complaining of course. The more Seers we get to play with, the better."
Shaking her head she ground her teeth and tried to pull away. Oni's arm wrapped around her shoulder, dragging her towards him with a slight clucking of his tongue, "Dear dear, can't have you running away like you just did a moment ago. That's no good and frankly I'm quite tired of chasing you. One last question, my lovely little Seer before you're drunk off my power. Do you know what God I am?"
She trembled, "Yes."
Leaning down, he pulled her head up with a finger under her chin, "Come now, don't keep me waiting," he whispered, his red eyes glowing brightly, "I'm not very patient after all."
"Oni... God of... Gods."
He gave a sigh of relief as he leaned back slightly, "Good. Very good my dear. So now, I think it's about time to get reacquainted yes? You see, I have many enemies right now during this chaotic time of War and I need your help, lovely girl. You'll help me, right? Of course you will, you really don't have a choice. Now sit still, it'll all be over soon," he cooed to her. Glancing over his shoulder, he motioned for the other two Gods who were attending him, "Kill the boy," he growled then dipped down and embraced the girl.
Her screams covered that of her Guardian's as the other two Gods attacked him. Oni sunk into her, invading her small frame with his larger one. The power he held burned through her limbs, molding into her very skin and bones. It was several minutes before the forest was silenced again. Her small frame lay still on the ground with the two other Gods hovering over her, waiting. After what seemed like hours, her fingers twitched and her gaze opened up. Their once violet color was now a deep purple, almost red the way they were tinted. Her lips pulled into a small grin as she sat up smoothly and got to her feet. The two Gods bowed to her.
"Oni," they said in unison.
Her smile grew as she looked down at her hands and flexed the fingers. With a sigh, her voice was strange. There was a hollow echo of the God's deeper voice behind her feminine one, "Now then, lets see what she is capable of."
Day 1 ~ After Leaving Tristan's Home
After locating Peter, Soran had told his Guardian where his home was. It was a good hour and a half drive from Tristan's place and located on the other side of the large city. To Soran it felt like that city was a giant ocean separating him from the peaceful home of the Belvedere's and caging him in the dark, terrifying home of the Reigailia's. As the car drove up to the house that was located on the edge of the street, Soran glowered at the large, pristine home. It was two stories tall, but looked to be three because of the attic. Leaving the car, he took a deep breath and went to the front door. Inside was dark, just as he knew it would be. It was always dark. It felt like ages since he'd stepped foot inside the hall, but in actuality he'd been there the day before, right before he'd gone to class that morning hoping for a normal life. Yeah, that soo did not happen. he thought sourly to himself.
A large man met the pair in the doorway. He resembled Soran, though the blonde hair was shorter and his blue eyes were colder to look into than into his sons. Leo Reigailia was frowning deeply, a deep fire of anger growing in his gaze. Soran bit his lip as he stood there. Slowly the man looked over to Peter. Glancing over to a doorway that led to a different part of the house, he motioned with his head for someone to step in. Another male moved into the hall. He was almost as intimidating as Soran's father, but with little to no emotion on his own face. Cold and abrasive... both of them, he thought to himself.
"Tray tells me that you disappeared yesterday after being possessed by a God at the college. He couldn't find you."
Soran swallowed dryly, but didn't answer, just stood there. His Father's gaze returned to him, harder than before. Soran flinched slightly, "A lot happened," he tried.
"That doesn't matter!" Leo snapped, his fist hitting the side of the wall, "Where did you go and why did you leave Tray?"
"I had a Guardian, it wasn't like anything bad was going to happen! Why does it matter that I left your Guardian behind?! And, he's not even your guardian, he's Mom's!"
His Father gave a low growl and Soran immediately backed off. Taking a step back he watched the taller man warily. After a moment, the immediate danger seemed to pass as his Father glanced back to Peter, "This is your Guardian?"
"Yes."
"Into the next room, Guardian, and stay there. Tray is going to teach you what it means to be a Guardian for a Reigailia," Soran's Father ordered.
Touching Peter's shoulder, he gave him a gentle push, "Go make yourself comfortable. Tray's pretty cool... he won't bite," Just please don't disobey anything my Father says... things will go so much better Soran thought to himself as he offered the other boy a smile. Once his protector left the room, he looked back at his Father.
"Who were you with until now?"
"No one," Soran lied knowing full well if he breathed a word about the Belvedere family all hell was going to break loose.
"Where did you go?" Leo growled, taking a menacing step towards the shorter boy.
"A friends house." Shit...
His Father turned his head slightly, "'A friends house'. So you decided to put a human in danger by going to their house instead of coming straight home like you should have?"
"N-no! Nothing happened! We were just fine, everything happened so fast that I just... I didn't know what to do right then!" he stumbled a bit, but kept going. He refused to say any names, even if it killed him.
"Then this?" His Fathers large hand grabbed his face and turned his head so that he could see the clean bandage over his eyebrow.
"Happened during the fight at the school," he said, his voice slightly slurred due to the way he was being held. Leo released him roughly and Soran took a deep breath.
"Should I find you've lied to me, boy, you're going to regret this. The other Families are not to be trusted, or interacted with, you understand? This isn't a playground. They're too soft and they'll make you soft. Now that you're a Seer you better start acting like one if you want to live longer than the next year or two," his Father turned on his heel and left the hall. Soran fell against the front door, panting slightly. Holy shit... he thought as he caught his breath. The adrenaline rush was almost too much to handle and his head was starting to hurt again. I hope you go and die in a hole, you bastard, Soran thought as he shoved off the door and made his way to the stairs. The solitude of his room was not to far away and he wished to be away from everything and safe in his haven. Unfortunately there was little he could do for Peter.
His Father's strict training regime was about to start for the other boy and Soran knew he wasn't going to see the Guardian for a while. Being obedient, quiet like a shadow and efficient was what his Father believed a Guardian should be. Someone who never asked questions, did as they were told on the spot and efficiently. Eliminate the threat immediately. Leo's motto. Soran shook his head as he made the landing and turned into the hall. His room was immediately to the right and he wasn't looking when he reached out for the handle of his door, muttering under his breath. As he opened the door, a strong hand wrapped around his shoulder and shoved him inside without warning.
He gasped, lost his balance and went stumbling across his room as the hand released him and slammed the door shut, "Where the hell have you been hu? What? Thought that now you're a Seer you could go and run off and do whatever the hell pleased you? Whose house did you end up at now, slut?"
Derrik... he turned to his brother's voice and glowered at the other, "None of your business now get the hell out!"
The curled fingers in a hard fist caught the side of his cheek, sending him flying to the floor, "Ah! Asshole!" Soran shouted and reached for the closest thing. One of the metal casings to a computer he'd been taking apart came into his hand and he hurled it at his brother. The other boy hissed as the metal cut across his arms. Dropping down over Soran, he gripped his clothes and hauled the Seer up to his feet.
"You little shit, Father's been on my ass because you left and didn't come back yesterday! Who the hell did you go see? Got another boyfriend you disgusting little pervert?'
"Let go," Soran growled, "I said it's none of your business," he hissed and launched a kick at the boys side. He was released as Derrik stumbled from him coughing slightly. A wave of dizziness struck him from the exertion of fighting with his brother. Panting slightly, he caught himself on the edge of his desk, glowering at the boy who was only a year older than him, "What? You're pissed off because you weren't chosen as a Seer last year? Well guess what, you're not missing much. Be happy it's not you."
Derrik laughed then, the sound freezing Soran's blood, "Oh. I see. So now you get to gloat about it. Not all it's chalked up to be hu? Well then, little brother let me make it easier for you since you don't like it." Derrik lunged at him and the both slammed into the desk before crashing to the floor. Soran gasped, the air in his lungs lost completely as his brothers knee collided with his stomach. With that, he lost all strength to fight back. Soran lost track of the time as he struggled with the older, stronger boy. It wasn't until he took a particularly hard hit to his head again that he just crumpled. The cold darkness was a welcoming feeling though. From the haze he heard Derrik shout something and then leave the room, slamming the door shut.
Day 2
The woman moved to press a cloth to the blonde boy's face. Keeping the wounds clean had been dubbed her task and though she was elated to help the boy, she was also worried. Soran's Mother wiped at his sweat, cleaning his face as he groaned slightly. The original injury was probably the cause to his being unconscious since the fight with his brother. A frown pulled at her lips. The two boys had always fought, but this was the first time Soran had ended up like this.
"Tris...tan."
His Mother stopped. Frozen by a bit of fear, she quickly glanced over her shoulder to the closed door. Hopefully no one heard the name being said from Soran, "Tristan... Belvedere?" she muttered to herself. Her son muttered the name again and she bit her lip. Leaning forward she continued with cleaning his cuts and changing the bandages.
Day 3
Opening his eyes he noted that there was someone there, but he couldn't quite focus just yet. A woman's voice gently called out to him and he turned his head slowly. Ugh... everything hurts...this sucks he thought.
"Soran. Soran?"
"Mom," he called out, recognizing the voice.
"Hey baby," she said, sounding relieved as her hand stroked his forehead.
"Momma, what time is it?"
"11:30."
"Morning?"
"No, baby. It's almost midnight."
His heart lurched, "Midnight? What day is it?" He came up but immediately regretted it as everything swirled and he felt like he was going to pass out again.
"Hey hey, easy. Lay down. Your brother did a number on you this time. I'm very worried... This... isn't good, Soran."
No really? he thought sarcastically but didn't say it to his mother who was the only one that was sweet to him, "What day is it, Momma?"
"The 23rd."
He gasped oh no... it's been that long? I've been asleep that long!? The flower... I promised him... tears edged into his eyes as he lay there. Grinding his teeth he clenched his fists on the sheets of his bed. His Mother's hand stroked his cheek gently, "What's wrong baby?"
"Nothing..." he muttered, "Just... I promised something to someone. It's broken now."
She frowned, "Go to sleep. I'll be here tomorrow. So long as you stay in here you'll be alright okay?"
"Yeah..." he said, but he knew that wasn't true. He drifted off to sleep after that.
Day 4
As he woke up, he looked out the window. The sun wasn't rising and it was very bright outside. Looking over to his clock across the room he frowned as he read the time. 3pm... Fuck he thought, swearing to himself. Rolling to his side, he curled up in a small ball fighting the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The flower, by now was gone. Soran had promised to return before it faded away. Even so he'd known he was taking a risk. Still, he thought he might have gotten lucky, but it seemed that his brother had some sort of vendetta going on. He hadn't accounted for that to happen. Derrik was pissed. No, he was beyond that. The elder boy had always despised Soran, both because of his sexuality and because he had known that Soran was going to be the Seer.
Groaning he rolled onto his stomach and did his best not to cry. After a while he finally pushed himself up slowly. His mother wasn't in the room like she said she would be. He felt a slight bit of hurt by that fact but he knew it wasn't her fault. Leo most likely had her go somewhere else having already spent -in Leo's thoughts- enough time babying him. "Thirsty..." he groaned and stood. Making his way to the door, he opened it and took a quick look out into the hall. No one... good he thought and entered the hall. Seriously... who has to go sneaking around in their own house?!.
He went down the hall and turned for the stairs. A gasp filled his throat as he ran into the one person he really didn't want to Damn this house!. Glowering he back stepped as Derrik followed him up the rest of the stairs, "What's wrong little brother? You're an all mighty Seer now, shouldn't you be acting like one?"
"Shut it. Go away, I just want something to drink and then I'll be out of your sight."
"Out of sight but not out of mind, ass. You stole that from me, and now all I hear about is how I'm a failure and can't do a damned thing for myself. Father hates me now, I can't even work for him at the company because he says I'm a disgrace. All thanks to you!" Derrik back him up into the wall.
"Yeah? Well why don't you take it up with the old man and leave me alone. I didn't want this either, jerk."
"Oh no, you're the reason. This has nothing to do with Father."
"Yes it does! Don't go screwing this up in your fucked up head you dumbass!"
Soran ducked as the boy slammed his fist at him. The wall shuddered. Skittering out from under the taller boy, he reached for the first thing he could find. Grabbing the vase, he whirled around and slammed it across Derrik's face. Water and glass shattered. Below, he heard his mothers voice. Momma? What is she doing!? he thought frantically. She was never in the house, so what was she up to? He didn't have too much time to think on it as Derrik's voice howled in rage and pain. The older boy grabbed him and wrestled with him for control over the broken vase. It was a long struggle until finally Derrik managed to get the vase from Soran's fingers.
"You disgusting little slut! You could have killed me with that!"
I was sort of trying to... Soran thought as he narrowed his eyes. Soran gasped, moving backwards he avoided the first swipe that Derrik launched at him, but his back hit the wall next to the dresser where he'd gotten the vase. The next slash caught him, tearing open his shirt and slicing into his chest. Pieces of the vase shattered upon impact. Derrik pulled his arm back to shove the vase at him but his mother whom he had forgotten about, screamed something and wrapped her arms around Derrik's, to keep him from doing that.
"Stop! You'll kill him Derrik, stop!"
"Momma..." Soran gasped as he slid down the wall shaking.
Derrik struggled with her for a while before the commotion caught Tray's attention. The dutiful Guardian seemingly appeared right between Derrik and his charge. This swayed the brother into backing off. Of course you would only come when she's in trouble... asshole Soran thought dully. His body was on fire, but for some reason it didn't hurt at the same time. His mother turned and knelt down next to him, her hands moving to touch him, but not doing so at the same time.
"Oh baby... it's alright. It's alright, I called the Belvedere's home. I... I couldn't. I knew this was going to happen, I'm so sorry."
"Momma... why?"
"You said his name," she said as she hugged him to her chest, "I knew who it was when you said his name, Tristan. That's where you were before wasn't it."
Tears sprung up in his eyes, "Momma... you knew."
"Mother knows best, right?" she replied, but her voice cracked, "I'm such a terrible mother... why don't you hate me, baby?"
Soran smiled a bit, "Because. I can't."
"You..." she stopped and sighed "They're on their way, I told them to come quickly, I'm sure they heard the commotion just now too... I... didn't hang up the phone. Anyway, here. This is important also," she pressed a piece of paper into his palm, "There's been something going on the past few days. I'm sure the other two Families know it, but I knew your Father would keep it from you. You had better be extra careful out there, baby. This isn't natural," leaning forward she whispered in his ear, "There's another Seer, and they've been possessed by something very powerful. I don't know what it is yet, but the news is full of it. Small towns and other places are being destroyed. It's getting closer to home every day. Promise me you'll be careful?"
Soran nodded slowly, growing too tired to really pay attention to her or even answer, "Yeah..." he breathed as he rested against her. She hugged him close, holding him until the doorbell rang. How long that was though, he didn't know. He was too tired, it hurt too much to move so he just leaned into his mothers shoulder. Looking up she nodded to Tray.
"Open it."
Four Days Later
Kilia twisted a strand of hair around in her finger as she listened to her Mother go over the details of the magic system for what seemed the hundredth time. Admittedly she'd begun to drift off into her own little world as her Mother continued on. The woman soon caught on though as she started talking about the weather and then stock market and finally asking Kilia who Robin was exactly. To each part of the speech, though, Kilia only nodded, humming in agreement : 'Mhmm'. For a while her Mother sat there staring at her. Then she calmly reached over and flicked her daughters forehead. Reeling backwards she clutched the spot that stung.
"Ow! Mom!"
"Pay attention, Kilia."
"I was!" the young Seer pouted a bit as she rubbed the spot that was surely to be red for a little while.
"No you weren't. I asked you who Robin was and you only nodded. You were not paying attention," Yve glowered at her daughter as she crossed her arms.
Kilia frowned a bit as her face turned a slight color pink. Her immediate thought upon thinking of her Guardian was when he'd rushed into her room a few days ago completely shirtless. Her heart pounded, wow... she thought as she drifted into daydream again. Her mother must have caught it because Kilia's gaze slowly shifted off to stare over her right shoulder, slightly glazed. With a roll of her eyes and a heavy sigh, Yve reached over yet again and flicked her daughter a second time.
"Ow! Mom! Seriously! Stop that," she groaned and rubbed the spot again.
"Get your head where it belongs, daughter of mine," she snapped. Kilia only gave a soft, pitiful moan in response.
"Now then, back on track. The magic system-" Yve was interrupted at the sight of her Guardian entering the room. The tall, black suited man crossed the room quickly and dipped down to speak to her quietly. Kilia watched intently, wondering why the Guardian had left Robin to come talk to her mother. Did something happen? Is Robin okay? she thought frantically. They'd been together since that morning with her mother's Guardian going over specific details of what it meant to be a Guardian and how to react to certain situations as well as the feeling that a Guardian gets when their Seer is possessed. Which meant that Robin should be alright... right?
Yve's eyes widened as she listened to her Guardian. When he pulled away, the woman stood quickly. Her sharp gaze shot down to Kilia and held her there with a strange look. It sent chills down Kilia's spine, even more so when her mother spoke curtly, "Get ready. We're leaving, now."
"Mom... er... Mother! What happened?"
"Get ready, Kilia, don't make me ask twice! Tell Robin that we're leaving too."
"Where? Where are we going?"
To the Belvedere residence. They're going to want to hear this..." her mother muttered the last part as she left the room.
Kilia stood up, turning to watch her mother exit the kitchen and go down the hall to her room. Moving, she went to the living room where the Guardian and Robin had been talking, "Hey. We're leaving I guess... Um... You're ready, right?"
"Kilia! Now," Yve called as she left her room. In her hands were her car keys and wallet -her mother never carried a purse before as far as Kilia could remember-, motioning with her head, she moved to the door leading to the large garage, "Come on. We don't have time. I'll tell you in the car. Robin, follow me," Yve called as she exited the house.
Kilia nodded to her Guardian, half disappointed that she couldn't ride with him on his bike, the other half worried about what was going to be said in the car. Getting in the back seat while the Guardian took the front, Kilia buckled the seat belt and leaned forward, "What's going on, Mom?"
The car pulled out of the garage and down the driveway. Her mother didn't answer until they were on the street and driving rather quickly towards the highway. Kilia was slightly surprised, she'd never seen her mother drive so quickly before, "There's another Seer."
"Eh!?! What do you mean another Seer?"
"Exactly that," her mother glanced in the rear view mirror at her daughter, "There's another Seer and there shouldn't be one. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't think it would become a problem. Whatever happened, her Guardian obviously isn't with her and there's no sign of her parent's Guardian which has me worried. She's been possessed by a God or Goddess and she's started wreaking havoc. It started a few days ago, two days ago actually. It must have taken them a while to adjust to the Seer's body. That's not the point though right now. The point is that they've started attacking people and killing them. A handful of small towns have been hit... destroyed really is a better word.
"Just now though, a report came that this Seer has moved to a small town just outside the city limits. It's getting closer and its best if we're all together. I honestly don't know what to do in this kind of situation. This is the first time something like this has ever happened. Nothing like this has been recorded in any of the Families histories as far as I'm concerned. I need to speak to Alauric," Yve ground her teeth, "Leo would just dismiss this so the Reigailia's are out of the question. I would much prefer that anyway, they would only make problems for us."
"Mom," Kilia frowned a bit. She didn't like it when her mother was negative like that, especially towards others that they really didn't know that well aside from rumors and past acquaintances.
"Your best not getting close to them, Kilia. I don't trust them at all," Yve sighed heavily, "Well be there in a few. An hour at most... that's if traffic is good to us..." the woman muttered and the car seemed to speed up faster.