บท 8: Chapter 8- Talia – Getting Ready (VOLUME 1)
*~*Talia's POV*~*
Things were changing so much already. Reagan and Rika had left the castle. They weren't living here with me and the other kids anymore. And I guess that was the whole point of it. I was sixteen, but to the world I was still a kid. And the quads were only eleven. Reagan and Rika were about to turn twenty, and that made a difference to them, but to me, we weren't that different.
When it came to what we had done in the world, I had probably been more involved than they had. I was the one that helped them to figure out where the DOE went after the attack at the stadium last year. I had told them that their leader was murdering his own men because he was crazy.
And when we were dealing with the Jaegan, I was the one that helped to free all those souls from their bodies where they had been trapped. I was the one that used my powers to rip the soul out of the Ancient being that was behind all of this and ended the entire war.
And let us not forget that when I was four, I was the one that got Mom home from the underworld. I was the one that found where she was and told Dad what was happening. I was the one that was a part of all of that, and I was the one that helped the most.
However, I also knew that me acting this way, feeling upset and petulant like this, meant that I was not at all mature enough to be out of the house on my own yet. I knew that I still had my flaws. Even though I was studying as much as I could, and I was training to become the future Goddess of the Underworld, I was still a kid at times.
I had a lot of growing up to do, and I understood that. There were times in the past that I let my emotions get to me, and that led to problems with everything that was going on around us. I was learning, and I was trying my best to grow and change.
I think that all of these things, knowing that I wasn't as mature as I wanted to be, was probably why I didn't get upset when I got that lecture from Dad a couple of days before classes started. We were in the living room of the tower, Lex and I, and Dad was speaking to us both firmly as he gave his orders. He was still the King, and my father, so we had to listen to him.
"You are to watch her like a hawk, Alexio." Dad had said angrily. "I do not want anything happening to Talia while she is in your care. She won't be able to have the same issue that Rika had last year."
"Dad!?" I probably sounded offended. And that was because I was. I mean, my sister had been naïve when she started school last year, and she was in a hurry to grow up more. She wanted a real boyfriend, her first. She hadn't dated in high school because, like me, she knew that our dad wouldn't approve. She was an adult though, so she wanted to prove that she was able to handle anything. Well, that didn't work out at all.
The man that my sister had met was an exchange student. And he was part of the group known as the Jaegan. That group was going around the world and killing nonhumans at an alarming rate. No one had ever heard of humans having such a stroke of luck when killing our kinds before.
Well, they weren't human were they? They had been altered over the generations, modified with the blood of a type of being known as the Ancient Ones. They were like the polar opposite of the Gods. They didn't want to be worshipped and recognized. They hated humans and wanted to be left alone. They had similar powers, but they started to fade without faith from the humans. No one even knew that they were still alive, in a hidden realm of the Underworld.
Well, with all that had happened, Rika and her relationship with Clovio, she had come very close to the group of actual killers. And had she not been saved by her guard at the time, she and Alyssa might not be here anymore. I was worried about her, but at the time she was acting like a child, complaining about what had happened to her and not realizing what was going on around her.
That had been when Rika had started to change. I had seen it over the last several months. She wasn't the same as she used to be. She was growing up, maturing, and she was taking other people into consideration even more. I was proud of her, I really was, but I wasn't ready to take on the situation that she was in.
"I assure you, Reece, I will protect Talia from all harm." Lex nodded at Dad as he made his vow. "She is my future Queen and Goddess, she is mine to serve and protect until she takes the throne. And even then, if she chooses to keep me in her service."
"Of course I will, Lex. You are the best guard that I know." I assured him, but he for some reason thought that I was going to want a different Demonic guard when I took the throne. Maybe he thought that Lucifer, Satan, or Hades would have a different man in mind to guard me. I wouldn't let that happen though. He was my guard, and had been since I was four years old.
"Thank you, Talia." He gave me a smile, but it didn't look like he was convinced with my response. I had to leave it at that.
I listened to Dad lecture Lex for a long time. His words were sparingly for me, no matter what it was that he had to say, he was telling Lex to watch over me and keep me safe. I just wanted to interrupt him and tell him that I wasn't stupid and that I wasn't going to do anything that I wasn't supposed to. Though, I decided not to.
Dad and Mom had heard all of that before, from Reagan and Rika. And that had been right before my sister wound up in the clutches of a spy with delusions that the man was her mate, all because she wanted to meet her destined man so desperately.
I knew all too well what could happen if you didn't keep yourself firmly rooted in reality. Or, at the very least, tethered to it. I didn't want to drift away and end up lost and confused. And that was why I had no problem with Lex coming with me to the university.
Also, I thought that it would be interesting to watch Lex deal with that situation. He was a Demon from the Underworld, he was a warrior that had been created about one thousand seven hundred and thirty-five years ago. And he was created to look just as he did now.
Well, almost like he did now. He was dressed differently. Lex was a lot more modern than he had been when I first met him, but he was a bit of a walking cliché. He was tall, burly, and really intimidating. He walked around in jeans, black t-shirts, and leather jackets. He looked like a cross between a biker and a villain, but also somehow exactly like a bodyguard. I didn't know how that worked, but it was the truth.
I must say that, aside from sitting through that lecture from my dad, I was getting really excited to start school. I guess that, deep down, I was a bit of a nerd. I had grown to love learning quite a bit, and now that I was heading off to university, I was going to be able to have a little more freedom with my educational pursuits.
Later that night, I started to go over everything again, making sure that I had it all. I might not look like it with my somewhat goth appearance that I have had lately, but I was still easily excited and had actual emotions. I just didn't often show them to other people.
While I was busy working on my own thing, I still made sure to help the littler kids as well. I was almost four and a half years older than Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley, the quads, and they were getting ready to start middle school this year. They would be in the same building and all, but they would now be in a new part of the school. They were just as excited as I was, and just as nervous as well. And, with Reagan and Rika being gone, it was down to me to help them out as the only big sister at the house.
"Talia!?" Zaley called out to me in a panic. She was the most nervous about school because of what had happened to her in the past. She had been bullied and picked on, though she never told our parents. And the reason they made fun of her and acted like they hated her, was that she had the reincarnated soul of our grandfather, Gannon Edmond. He had been an evil warlock bent on destroying the world. However, he realized what he had done was wrong, a revelation that came after his death and his soul was being tortured in the Underworld. He saved the boys, Zachary, Zander, and Zayden, and was sent to rebirth, giving Zaley life where she had no soul beforehand.
"What's up, little sis?" I asked her as I went into her room.
"I don't know what to do!" She looked like she was about to cry. As it turned out, she was worried about what would happen with the bullies in the halls while she was trying to go about her day. She didn't want to tell the boys about this though, because they would just get into fights about it. And she didn't want them to get in trouble.
I gave her what advice I could, which included sticking to her new best friend, Breanna. To keep her phone handy to record the bullies if they came after her. And above all else, tell someone when there is a problem. It would be handled right away.
After that talk, she was feeling better, and we were both sharing our excitement about our new journeys in life. There wasn't much time until classes started for us both. And I, for one, could hardly stand the wait.
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