HECATE

VII

Hecate’s POV

“Would you like to play 20 questions with me, love? That way I can get to know you better and there might be a few things you are curious about.” The offer surprised Hecate but it nevertheless intrigued her. With a simple nod of hers the game could begin.

“Then I will start with my question. What else do you do apart from working as a doctor? Is there any other profession you practise?” So he wanted to start off easy. Fine by her.

“Well, I have another hobby that I have managed to make a considerable amount of money with. I have a passion for fashion, I know medicine and fashion as well as magic research are a weird range of hobbies. I have my own brand and am the head designer. Maybe you have heard of it, it’s called ‘Majestique’. It’s a luxury brand that mostly focuses on creating elegant and chic clothing for a special occasion, though we also have collections for everyday clothing. I created the brand four years ago and started with a boutique until it quickly expanded due to high demand and now we are known worldwide.” Asterias’ only reaction to the interesting facts about her life was a small smirk and that was about all he showed.

If that was how he wanted to play, she would be happy to play along.

“So, it’s my turn now. Since we have already started on the topic of professions, what do you do when you’re not busy travelling the world in search of help with your powers? Or do you simply focus on that and fund it through your parents?’”Through her tone, it was apparent that she did not intend to insult him but was simply curious. Asterias seemed to have understood that since he showed no signs of being offended.

“Well, I do fund my travels myself through a certain business back in my home country Japan. Let’s just say that I am in the alcohol business. Maybe I will tell you more at some point in the future. For now, we still have time together, it seems until I depart when my little problem is solved. Now do tell, love, how come you are so different from your family, be it behaviour or talen- pardon me, abilities? I know that Rina is one of strongest Grand Sorceresses to have ruled but even then, your abilities are monstrous from what I have heard from my dear sister.” His posture was lazy as he leaned back in his chair and it was almost like Hecate could see a cat’s tail slowly moving from side to side as he looked like a feline with his lazy grin and feline curiosity, which seemed no different from hers, making her smirk. This turned out to be more fun than she had had in quite a while.

“Tu te fous de moi? We have just begun and you are already asking all the serious questions, mon beau.” Her devilish smile while she said that made her amusement and enjoyment clear, even if she complained about Asterias asking such questions while they played a game. Her enjoyment of their game surprised even herself, especially since she would normally never show it so freely, staying composed all the time and only ever showing a smile that looked fake and provocative to herself in the mirror when she showed amusement.

“Love, no need to pretend you are bothered by my question. Your playfulness exposed you. Now, would you like to reply today or should I wait for us to get old?” Their playful banter made it seem like they had known each other forever but that was just how Hecate felt around him, it was a feeling that surprised her again and again yet she still found it pleasant, nonetheless.

“Such impatience, mon beau. Alright, let me answer your question. The first reason would be because I was adopted, well, more like left on Rina’s throne. She saw it as a sign from ma- I mean the Moon Goddess considering my appearance and took me in. Maybe the fact that, even though she did her best to take care of me, she was mostly busy and was not always there during my childhood made it so that her character and Eric’s, who was equally busy, did not particularly impact me. Perhaps that made me so different from the Delphine, though that might be a blessing if we are honest, and our parents. I matured pretty quickly and thanks to my teacher learned a lot during my short life, all those things influenced me in a way, making me the way I am,” Hecate by no means blamed her adoptive family for not really being there that much during her childhood since she thankfully had her mother whom she saw every night during her sleep and sometimes on the weekends when she could spare the time. Her uncle on her mother’s side also played an important role in her upbringing. She would often visit him when she was small and didn’t have much to do and they would play the entire time, in a sense he took over her real father’s role more than Eric whom she still loved dearly.

“Regarding my high affinity for magic, it’s something that I got from my mother and maybe my father, though I wouldn’t know, having never met him. Let’s leave it at that. Maybe I will tell you more in the future, who knows.” She could see the confusion on his face, even as he tried to hide it, and she understood why. She did not intend to drop the comment about her mother but then she reconsidered since she would not elaborate on it anyway. Who knew, she had a feeling he would be the first who learned about at least part of her origins. Where that feeling came from, though, remained a mystery.

“I apologise if I hit a soft spot with my question, I did not intend to make you remember something unpleasant. And regarding your secrets, touché, love. It seems you like to throw my own words back at me, you cruel, beautiful thing.” His last words elicited a small smile from her lips that she had no problem showing him.

“No worries, it’s not something that I dislike remembering. Now that it is my turn again…you mentioned your home country being Japan, is one of your parents from Europe? I can feel that the imprint of magic on you tends towards Japan as well as a European country? Before you ask, every country has a different wavelength of magic, some are stronger than others yet every country’s soil has a different level of magic potency and as ridiculous as it sounds, the magic actually changes shortly before and shortly after the borders so it is always an accurate way of differentiating between different nationalities. Though in this case, it is difficult for me to tell for some reason.”

“Interesting… To answer your question, both my parents are from Japan. My mother died during childbirth, so I never got to meet her, and I was just five when my father died. My memories are a little hazy due to that but I know at least that much. Regarding your confusion, because you cannot differentiate between every country in Europe, my guess would be that it is because my DNA consists of three parts. My parents take up two thirds and Amelia has the last third. When we made a blood pact, making me her blood-related son, my appearance and part of my inherent magic changed. I have some of her features because of the blood pact and even my magic changed. It turned into the ability I have now, though its colour stayed the same,” Asterias stopped talking for a few seconds as he seemed to contemplate something.

“My mother, Amelia, actually left me with a choice regarding our blood pact, something other vampires would never do. She offered me the chance to stay the way I was without turning into a vampire and simply being her son if that was what I wanted, or she could turn me into one through the blood pack and make me her heir. I agreed to it because I wanted to honour her through that for the kindness she has shown me by taking me in as her own when she had no obligation to do so. Even if I accepted her offer of becoming her real son, I will forever be grateful to her for giving me a choice in the matter. She and Alaric are the best parents one could wish for and that is saying a lot considering they are vampires. I do often wonder how they manage to be such great people when it comes to friends and family, even though they are vampires.” At that, Hecate had to chuckle because she often wondered the same thing when she thought of her family and the way they behaved around others as opposed to when they spent time together as a family.

“You’re right. How are Amelia and Alaric so nice when vampires are supposed to be the most arrogant and brutal race. I often wonder the same with my family since sorcerers are not the nicest of species, maybe even worse than werewolves. Werewolves are terribly possessive and aggressive when defending what’s theirs but we sorcerers simply do not care what we do as long as we can achieve results with our research. I mean, experimenting on other living beings with yet untested methods, regardless of possible casualties or maimed body parts, does scream evil if we’re honest. I think I now know why humans antagonise us in most of their stories, actually.” They both had to laugh at that one.