Lightning cries

Decisions

'I will do anything to protect you,' Xeno's words replay over and over in my head. I need to find a way that he can get out of the trials unharmed. Maybe if I win, he will be spared as long as he isn't killed before then. I can not lose him. After we made a hasty escape and came back to my home, I have been in my training room ever since, not even having the time to change clothing. My brain is scrambled, I'm scared, I don't like to be scared. I throw another fist at the bag with more force than I should and watch it fly from the chain and hit the wall. Sighing, I hang my head. I shouldn't have attended the trials. I wonder if I should make a deal with the wolf so that Xeno is protected. I can do that. I will protect him with my life, but the more the merrier. With that resolve, I walk over and grab another sand-filled bag off of the floor and place it onto the chains.

"You should come and eat, Oren has cooked for us," Xeno's black aura fills the room, giving me a sense of calm and a hint of protection. "I'm not in the mood to eat," I reply and start hitting the bag again. My knuckles begin to crack and cover the leather surface with smears of my blood. I know we made a hasty escape after our blood went into the chalice, but I wondered if anyone had seen what I saw my blood begin to do, the golden light slowly beginning to take over the other colours. If they did, I would be dead by now or hunted. Yet I was saved by Xeno. I now feel like he has tied himself to his fate, and I can't help but blame myself for that. I have known him for too long and care for him too deeply to let anything happen to him. "Regin, as your familiar I am asking you to eat," his scent fills my nostrils even more as he steps closer. My now pointed ears twitch with the slight sound. My sigh is the only noise now that Xeno has stopped moving. I nod in defeat. I would do anything for him, and he knows it. A smirk lifts his lips, I control the sensation of a beast in my chest, the squirming comforting as he takes my hand and starts to drag me out of my training room.

"It's a good job I came and not Oren. I can sense you, your feelings on every single cylinder imaginable. I doubt you would have been so malleable with him." I chuckle and punch him in the arm and run to the kitchen before he could get there.

"You can't run from me little Valkyrie, I will find you wherever you go," I duck behind the counter as soon as his shoes come into view. I grab the bag of flour and unleash the powdery substance all over his head. He blinks at me for a couple of seconds not believing what I have done, before shaking his head like a dog, cascades of powder floating onto the floor like snow. The hand covering my mouth doesn't do its intended job and my throat produces the loudest laugh and tears fill my eyes.

"Think your funny do you babycakes?"

"Yes, I like to think so," I reply while dodging backwards from his outreached hand, "FYI, you are my familiar, it stands to reason that I am stronger and faster than you," while I step backwards, he matches my footing with his own.

"Right children, food. Now!" Oren shouts with his arms crossed and his leather boots tapping away on the wooden chair as he stands upon it with a tilt of royalty and annoyance on his chin. The second I looked away from Xeno, it was my mistake. I know better than to look away from a threat. Well, he would never be a threat to me. That's what I told myself. There is no way I would have done it with anyone else.

Bands of steel wrap around my arms and back, I whip my head around to be smothered against Xeno's chest. I relaxed instantly, with him not expecting me to become dead weight in his arms. I almost hit the floor, he pulls me up and lifts me into his arms like a child. Chuckling to himself, "You nearly had me there," he whispers into my ear. "We have a lot to discuss, so sit down and eat," he says, dropping me unceremoniously into my chair at the head of the table, jarring my tailbone. He places himself on my left, leans forward, and starts adding a little bit of everything to my plate and then his own. I inhale the delicious food in front of me, I don't know where to begin. "I take it you kept up to date with the kid's lingo," Xeno scoffs at me, there's a light in his eyes that wasn't there before, as he bites into crusty bread.

I shrug, "I had no choice in the matter. Oren made it clear to me that I would draw attention to myself with the way I said things. In that regard, I am old, it is difficult to speak in such ways when one is not used to it." I know in that sentence a little of my accent came through. It seems that when I am dealing with emotions, the accent I originated from peaks through. It is subtle now after so many years.

"Yeah, to be honest, it's not like she goes out, she's trying to stay alive, but it was best that she learnt as much as she could," Oren speaks up from my right. I offer him a grateful smile and dig into my food. In this surreal moment, I am going to enjoy it. It has been too long since we have been together like this, and I am going to enjoy as much of it as possible. "What did you do with yourself? Did you meet anyone of interest?" I ask Xeno before placing a forkful of food into my mouth. I wonder if he found anyone worthy of his heart, that would slightly complicate things with the trials and everything. But I hope he did, he deserves someone waiting on his hand and foot and to be cherished so deeply.

"No babycakes, I kept myself to myself really, did a few jobs here and there when I became bored. But just gathering Intel, to be honest, which is why I am here," he says but doesn't clarify on what at my pointed look, just shakes his head. "Well, the good news is, Regin can go out now, and enjoy the freedom." Oren offers after having his fill on the food. I raise my eyebrow in question not understanding why he said that.

He huffs in annoyance, "You weren't listening to what the man said, did you?" At my obvious befuddled look, he whispers to himself, "of course, you didn't," He flaps his wings and hovers in front of my face. "Lance has said that anyone in the trials is safe, that involves from anyone, but once your in 'said' trial at the time then all bets are off," what? oh s**t, does that mean that no one can attack me now? no supernatural outside or inside the trials can have a crack at me. I heave a sigh, it wouldn't matter once they found out what I was, they would rescind the offer and kill me anyway. But I need to start living this life that my sister sacrificed hers for.

Putting my plate to the side I rest my elbow on the table and palm my chin in my hand. "We need to discuss the trials while we are here, I think the wolf might be a good ally to a point, I still won't trust anyone as far as I can throw them, but it's a start. What are your thoughts?" I ask. I trust these two with my life, so getting any input from them would be great.

"There was a demon eyeing you up, I overheard their conversation when you were dancing, he could be a potential ally too. But the wolf, "Xeno shakes his head, his pupils enlarge slightly, and there is gravel to his voice that I have never heard before, "He just wants to get into your pants, trust me, that could be a bad combination," Would that even be bad? I haven't had anyone in between the sheets in a long time, I'm most likely rusty and wouldn't even know what to do anymore. That's saddening. My fingers twitch and start playing with the necklace around my neck which was my mother's, the amethyst crystal calling me to look into the middle of it, I stopped a long time ago, otherwise, the pain would come back ten-fold. "What are you thinking?" Oren asks, clicking his fingers and making the dishes vanish. "I'm thinking, get me a meeting with the wolf and the demon. Different locations and not at the same time. It's about time I take back my life." I tell them, Xeno nods and disappears into the shadows. Standing up I make my into the sitting room, "Come on Oren, show me what's good to watch."

Several hours later, I'm bent at the waist laughing so hard I am crying. The movies Oren decided to show me were comedies. I should have started watching them sooner. The one we are currently watching is called Deadpool? Anyway, so funny.

"I knew you would come around at some point, Aren't they good?" Oren asks enthusiastically. I wipe under my eyes and beam at him, I would hug him if he was bigger, but unfortunately, I can't, so in return I offer him a genuine smile. The end credits roll across the screen when the door bangs open, "Honey I'm home!!" Xeno's voice shouts from the hallway. Chuckling, I get up to meet him. I wonder what took him so long? Our eyes meet and I can sense the hesitation in them, almost like he doesn't want to tell me what was said, which has butterflies dancing in my stomach, he sighs harshly and rolls his shoulders back. "They want to meet with you, separate meetings of course. The wolf wants to meet in the forest, within the hour. The demon wants to meet at some nightclub in town, apparently he can't pull himself away and you will have to go to him," he says while walking past me and grabbing himself a bottle of water from the fridge and taking a healthy swig. Typical he would want to meet me in the forest, he thinks he will be at an advantage, or so he thinks. I'm not too sure what the demon is playing at. "So? why was you hesitant to tell me this?" I ask crossing my arms.

He finishes the rest of his bottle of water off as I watch the ball of his throat move up and down with the rythym, my brows furrow in confusion, what is wrong with me?

Once finished he throws the bottle away and replicates my stance.

"Because baby cakes, they want you to go alone, I would rather cut my d**k off and feed it to myself in one of my animal forms."

He un-crosses his arms and envelopes me in them, "I ain't letting it happen!" but I need these allies right? I can't just pick and choose what's going to happen, no one else is willing or wanting to meet with me, so this is what I am going to have to do.