Strange Beasts || Novella

XX

All throughout the journey Raina tried to figure out a way she could explain this mess to her brother. Barely able to understand her own abilities, it was due to the Beast she was able to move past her anger. Rami, as far as she was aware, did not share that same connection and that concerned the young girl greatly.

But when they reached the entrance of the prison, Rami seemed completely oblivious to anything but his sister. With a loud shout, he ran towards her, extending out his arms. Raina slid off the Beast and ran to meet him, unable to keep the smile off her face. When they embraced, for a moment it felt like there was nothing else that mattered, for as long as they had each other everything would be fine.

Never one to overly show affection, Raina surprised her brother by holding on when his arms relaxed. This was both for herself and because she knew he was going to need her more than ever. All she could hope was that he would see the joy in the situation, and finally relish in the ability to say I-told-you-so to his sister.

It was only when she heard a familiar laugh behind them that she let go.

"Grammy!" said Raina breathlessly, eyes widened at the sight of their grandmother, who aside from a couple of small bruises looked completely fine. With finding her father, helping him come to terms with her mother's death, Raina had almost forgotten the reason behind their mission in the first place. Her stomach sank as their last conversation and argument rang in her ears, replaying like a broken record.

Frozen, trapped in her own guilt, Raina bowed her head unable to look her grandmother in the eye. But the elderly woman was not having any of it as she walked up to the child and grasped her hands in her own frail wrinkly ones.

"Hello Raina," she said, her voice absent of any traces of malice or anger. Raina could not help but still feel like she was being scolded, tears pricking in her eyes. Mustering up the courage to lift her head, it only took one look for the girl to break down, the weight of what she'd experienced over the past couple of days finally catching up to her.

Grammy soothed her granddaughter, stroking her hair and letting her sob into her shoulder as young children should be allowed to. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of a man she had presumed dead. But her focus was on the children as it had always been.

"Rainy I went into the deep chambers of Zendon," Rami chattered amicably, snapping Raina out of her own shock and misery. With a weak smile, she wiped away her tears, listening to her brother's ramblings as she had done so many times before. Her father stood awkwardly next to the Beast, not really knowing how he could fit into this picture.

"Rami, there's someone you should meet," said Raina, interrupting his dramatic retelling of breaking Grammy out of the prison cell. With her hand lightly gripping his shoulders, Raina led him towards their father, hesitant in her approach. Caution flashed in their grandmother's eyes.

"You were right, dad came to visit like you knew he would," she said, knowing that he would not recognise the man without the introduction. When Rami didn't show any signs of reacting, Raina continued with false brightness. "Aren't you going to tell me I-told-you-so?"

Young Rami Marshall stared at the man before him. He was tall, but not overbearing. His face was gaunt, but eyes alight and focused. Something about him seemed off to the child, but perhaps the most important part of it all was that Rami did not recognise the man as his father, regardless of what his sister may have believed.

"Rami, you've grown up so much since I last saw you," their father said numbly, attempting a smile but faltering as just as quickly.

Instead of rejoicing as a happy family, Rami turned back to his sister and continued describing his adventure, this time in earnest detail. Raina's heart sank, especially when she met the torn gaze of her father. But when Rami tugged at her sleeve, she couldn't ignore him, letting him drag her out of the castle and back into the streets.

At first Raina was afraid that this would encourage their father to remain where he was, but Grammy had taken care of that with a few stern words and a sharp withering glare. They followed the children out of the castle and through the city, taking time to marvel at all the secret beauties they hadn't noticed earlier. Their strange group; Raina, Rami both in the lead, a reluctant Grammy riding on the Beast and their father walked on towards the field where they had first landed.

"I say, how are we supposed to get home Grammy?" Raina asked suddenly, for they had all tumbled inside a book to enter the Kingdom. It was quite the mystery as to how they would return.

Their grandmother smiled at them both and repeated the same words she spoke in the attic. "No matter where you go, the Earth is the same. The spirit that runs through our land is the same in theirs. We'll find our way home, we've done it before after all," she added with a sly smirk. That launched a million questions from Rami, each one tumbling after the other.

Eventually Grammy laughed and said, "you should ask your father, he was the first to do it after all."

There was a quiet pause where everyone waited to see if Rami would continue his badgering and it seemed this time his curiosity far outweighed everything else. Conversation and hypothetical debates continued between the little broken family, as they journey back towards the real world. Theories about what actually happened were circulating. Ones that involved the stark revelation, to all but Raina, that their father was not the Evil One.

"If you're not Fassa, then who is? Who has been killing all the Beasts and who kidnapped Grammy?" asked Rami, voicing aloud the question that was on all of their minds. Raina frowned, recollecting all that she knew about the Kingdom, it's history and legend. Everything had conveniently pointed towards her father being Fassa; but through her Empath abilities she knew that it wasn't the case. The fear of figuring out who else could have a motive to cause this was far too burdensome for them all to think about.

The sobered mood was quickly broken when Raina froze and exclaimed in shock: "we forgot about Akkian!"

As they argued and bickered as families should about whether they could afford a journey back into the city, Raina smiled at her Beast, confident in the knowledge that no matter what they'd be okay. This adventure had reminded her of what it meant to truly be a child, reunited them both with their father and provided means to a closure for a fractured family.

Unbeknownst to them all, a hooded figure lurking in the shadow stood watch, pleased with how their elaborate plan played out. But that is a story for another time.