Jack
After walking for almost two days we were no closer than before to find Lyan. Orus kept saying that we were getting closer and that we should have patience, but that didn't work on me, and much less on Oscar, who side eyed Orus at any chance he got.
We had been walking for so long that even I was beginning to think that we'd never find her. That was when out of a nearby tree I saw Lyan appear.
As soon as I saw her my heart began beating again and my gloomy mood lifted. We had found her! Since she had gone missing I had been so worried I had been unable to breathe, but as soon as I saw her all the anxiety melted away and my heart was at peace again.
The moment the suns, this world was weird and had two of them, laid their rays on Lyan's head I could see her red hair shimmer, longer that I'd ever seen it. But her appearance wasn't what assured me it was her, no. It was the way she smiled at something behind her back.
Her smile made my heart contract and I wished she would only smile at me. I ran to where Lyan was, totally decided to get her back and hug her senseless, but then I saw a demon besides her. He had two black horns protruding from his skull and green eyes, just the same tone as Lyan's.
They were so similar that I stared at them for a second too long, and in that second they were gone. One second they were right in front of me and the next they began shimmering and disappeared, even as I ran to them and begged Lyan not to go.
At the last second she turned to face me and her eyes bulged. She extended her arm towards me, but before I could reach them they were gone.
" Jack, where the fuck did you go?" Oscar's voice was laced with annoyance.
I just stared at the spot where Lyan had disappeared. Lyan was gone, again, and right in front of my eyes. Just like my mother.
Before my eyes I saw Lyan getting dragged away and her head been exposed on a spike for everyone to see, just like they had done to my mother. She was going to die just like her and I'd just watch while they attacked and kidnapped her, while they killed her. I was always useless.
" What are you doing? Snap out of it!" Oscar shook me as hard as he could, but although my body was present my mind wasn't. I was still thinking about a dead Lyan right on front of me, just like before Orus had told us she wasn't really gone.
" You saw her, didn't you?" Orus's question came out of the blue, but I could kind of understand where he was going. He had felt her too.
I nodded with my head and a second later Orus was all over me.
" Did you see where she went?" His voice snapped me out of it and I focused back into reality.
" No" I said in a low voice. Oscar let go of my shoulders while muttering I was useless and Orus growled. " But I did see who was with her" Both their heads snapped my way and I was left having to deal with their penetrating gazes. " It was a demon" I all but whispered.
Oscar's face contorted with rage and he laughed in something that resembled a maniac breakdown more than a laugh. Orus just looked at the spot where Lyan had been with hatred in his eyes.
" Let's go get our girl back" He said as he walked right through where Lyan had been and kept walking, taking us North.
Lyan
Training with dad was hell. He didn't go easy on me even though I was his daughter. He had thrown me over his shoulder, punched me and even tried to stab me. If it was a fighting action he had done it to me.
My whole body was covered in sweat and hurting and my beautiful clothes had changed colors. They were no longer blue, they had turned a dark greenish color due to the mix between the grass in the forest and my sweat. It was enough to say I didn't smell very good.
I winced when I saw dad get back up from where he had just been resting by my side besides a wall and pick up his dagger again.
" No more" I begged.
I was really tired, we had been doing dagger exercises all the time, and just wanted to sleep and rest for a while.
" Don't worry, I'm just picking them up to put them away" Dad said in between chuckles as he side eyed me.
" You better" I muttered.
Dad must've heard that because he laughed harder from the racks, where he was indeed putting everything away.
After dad put everything back in it's place I went back to my room, where I took a loooong bath and changed clothes.
A few hours later.
I was dressed as beautifully as I could. I had picked a blue gown with green butterflies sewn all over it with puffy sleeves and a lenth that went past my blue high heels and had put my hair up in a ponytail to compliment it.
In my hand I still had the bracelet Oscar had given me and I was wearing the earrings Mark had gotten me. When I had discovered that I hadn't lost those when I appeared in Jinasia I had been so relieved I had almost cried. I really didn't know what I would've done if they had disappeared. They were the precious gifts my guys had given me. Luckily the Christmas gift was still safe in my room. If I even had a room after I had disappeared for so long.
Without looking at myself in the mirror another time, that of having a good mirror and long, lucious hair was really a bad combination, I grabbed dad's arm and we headed to the dinning hall.
The dinning hall was just as big as the training hall, with one big table, big enough to fit over twenty people, in the middle and little side tables surrounding it. In total the room could easily be set for over a hundred people, and it was.
All the seats were occupied by demons of different colors, ages and characteristics, but what they all had in common was that the moment I stepped foot with my dad inside the room they all went silent and stared at me.
I really didn't like stares. I started fidgeting and sweating. The way all those demons were looking at me was no different from the way a dog would look at his Master's new pet rabbit, as if waiting for them to mess up to be able to eat them whole.
" What's so interesting?" Dad asked, a tone on his voice that I knew meant violence was coming.
All the demons immediately focused their attention back on the plates filled with food that were on display in every single table, but curiously enough none of them were empty. All of them were as perfect as if they had just come out of the kitchen and no one was eating.
" Are you better?" Dad asked into my ear.
He had noticed I was bad and had solved it. My heart warmed up and not for the first time I wondered if all this love was making me weak. Before I never would've thought glaring at a few demons was an act of kindness, but now I did, and what was even worse I felt a warm emotion towards the person that had done it.
I nodded with my head instead of answering, I was still too shy and didn't like the way the demons looked at me from the corner of their eyes when they thought I wasn't looking, so I raised to my tiptoes and pressed my lips against dad's ear.
" Where's the dog?" Dad looked at me confused for a second, but then a smile spread across his face.
He might have forgotten about his promise to show me the dogs, but I hadn't and I would be extremely disappointed if he didn't keep it.
" Right there" Dad said, pointing to the big table in the middle of the room where only three demons were seating on the seats closest to the head. Ruan and Els were seated on the left side and on the right a red haired demon I had never seen before had left a spot between the head and himself, no doubt my spot.
There were demons all around the room, but no dogs. I looked at Dad confused, did he confuse demons with dogs? If he didn't know the difference I'd have to teach him.
" That's not a dog" I whispered into his ear.
" Yes it is, you'll see" He said as he dragged me into the middle of the room, where everyone could see me.
I knew I had said trays were annoying but I was starting to think they weren't so bad. Maybe I should ask dad to give me the tray again. Anything as long as I didn't have to come to another one of this things.
I felt all the demon's eyes on my back as I took my seat near the red hair. It was creepy as fuck.
" Here's the dog" Dad said as soon as I was seated, his arms around Ruan's shoulders.
I looked at him confused. He definitely didn't know the difference between a demon and a dog.
" That's not a dog" I said, my tone a bit too high. The demon besides me huffed and shuffled his weight as Els, who was in front of the red haired man just snorted.
" Of course it is" Dad said, petting Ruan's hair as if it was a dog's fur." He's my good dog" I saw Ruan shift and moan so lowly that I only heard him because I was right in front of him.
When dad heard him moan he smiled even harder and gripped Ruan's hair so painfully that I really saw him tearing out his scalp. Ruan's head tilted and dad whispered something into his ear so low that I couldn't hear it, but Ruan shuddered so hard that the whole table trembled.
Dad was no doubt threatening him again.
" Stop threatening poor Ruan" I said. Ruan may have screwed me over when he took me to the stripp club, but I thought he had paid enough.
" Okay, bunny" Dad said, letting go of Ruan's hair and taking his seat.
Once dad got seated all the demons at the other tables began eating, finally touching the carefully prepared plates. When I saw them eat I assumed it was safe for me to eat too and began eating.
We hadn't even finished our first courses when I saw Els leaning over Ruan to whisper something into Dad's ear.
A smug smile spread all over my face and I couldn't contain the words that scaped my mouth.
" Love is in he air " I sang, butchering the lyrics.
All the demons at the table turned to look at me.
After my disaster of a song Els had gone back to her seat with a dark expression and Ruan looked at her as if she had betrayed his whole family. Meanwhile dad only had eyes for me and the red hair's eyes went from me to dad to Ruan and back to me.
Had I really said something so weird or was their relationship a secret? That had to be it. They weren't able to tell anyone. I immediately felt awful. I had all but said their secret out loud.
Without waiting for the second course to come I got up from my seat.
" Where are you going?" Dad asked, grabbing my hand.
" I'm not hungry and want to go to sleep" I lied. Dad nodded and let me go.
" Ruan, go with her and open her room" Dad whispered so low that only those at the main table could hear.
Ruan got up from his seat and lightly pressed his hand against my back as he guided me out of the dinning hall and into my room.
When we reached my room Ruan immediately opened my wall and pushed me forward. Then he closed back the wall real fast and leaned against it with a curious and kind of pissed expression on his face.
" Did you mean it?" He asked, a dangerous tone in his voice.
" Mean what?" I really didn't know what the conversation was about.
" About Els and Ashmoder"
" Oh, that"
The sad look in Ruan's eyes made me pity him so much that I decided to tell the truth, consequences be damned.
" The truth is...."