~~~Apollos
As I sat in my house, holding my baby boy, I realized how big he had gotten. "Jesus Christ, you look just like Anastasia. So beautiful." It's then that he grabs my face with his small fingers and then I begin to play with him. "Nom nom nom" As he begins to giggle softly, I continue to laugh, and then at that moment, I think about Claire and then I sigh heavily.
"My son, I hope one day I can tell you what I've gone through and I hope you'll still love me after I tell you, or maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should suffer in silence." 'Da-da' It's then in that moment, I hear him say it. He called me Dada I then I smiled. As I smile, I hold him tightly. "My little prince."
As I hear the door open and close, I compose myself. I wasn't crying but I was visually shaken up. I wish I could cry, though so I could feel something other than this unending anger yet that's all I feel. All I feel is anger, for not being a good husband, for not being able to help those children, anger at my goddamn self for being so weak.
'Apollos, are you in here?' I open my mouth and then say, "Yes, Priscilla. I'm here. What's wrong?" I ask. 'Well, Mother said that she'd like to speak with you later.' "I'll be there soon then. Is there anything else?" 'Well um, nothing really. I just wanted to say I'm sorry.' "What are you sorry for now?"
'I really should have stood by you and I feel like I didn't.' "You didn't." I say to her, simply, "You want to know what I'm going to do as if I'm going to stab anyone in the back." 'I was just trying to look out for you. I was just trying to see where you were at.' "Priscilla, the one thing that I cannot stand is the fact that you, someone who has been a part of my life for the longest, accused me of being a traitor, accused me of being disloyal. When my family died, I had nothing, Priscilla, nothing, and yet I still fought forward. When all of my children were removed from this world, I still stood by my mother. I didn't blame her for every damn thing that happened but yet here you are, feeling guilty for questioning my loyalty. Does anyone even know what you've done? All the men you've killed? Does anyone even know what you're capable of?"
It's then that there's a wave of deep anger in her eyes as she says, 'You are such a child. Do you honestly think you can blackmail me? If you honestly think I'm going to keep apologizing to you,' "I don't have any intention of dealing with you right now. I asked you not to do that and I told you what was going to happen. I can not trust you if you're going to test my loyalty and authority. If you truly think I'm a traitor, then you can stand against me but don't expect me to show you mercy. You've questioned my loyalty one too many times and I don't care if I'm a child to you but at least I'm an adult." I felt myself sink low when I said that to her.
It's then that her eyes turn from utter shock to anger, deep anger I haven't seen in a while. It was an insecurity that she had but I used it to my advantage but Priscilla clearly was reporting back to Mom about my actions. She was clearly worried about something and it was clear that I had upset her. I knew she was talking to mother and I knew that Mother was clearly worried about something. Zamiel had a deep influence on me and that's something I had to understand. I also had to understand if I needed to be prepared to defend myself.
Priscilla needs to understand that if she's standing with me, she needs to be able to lie to the queen, she needs to be able to lie to her mother. If she can't understand this, we will forever be at odds. I don't want to force her to pick but the problem is she's putting me in a lot of dangerous situations by questioning my loyalty or by coming along with me to Europe. There was no reason for her to come but yet she found a reason to come. It doesn't matter if she sees me as her brother or not, it matters that she understands that I will not allow her to be close to me so that I can get stabbed in my back by my own sibling. She will be the first to answer the call and she would be the first to stop me, that reason is undeniable.
'Of all the things you could have said to me, you go after my age. Damn you, Apollos, Damn you!' She says with bloody tears falling down her face. 'Just because I'm small doesn't mean,' "It doesn't matter, Priscilla. I don't care what you think. You questioned my loyalty in front of people and I've gone out of my way to be loyal and do the things that even I didn't want to do yet Mother doesn't know of your extracurricular activities or she lets you run amuck. How many people did you kill, Priscilla, in her name? How many bodies do you really have, Priscilla? Because from the missing person reports I've read, you have a higher kill count than you led on."
It was then that I felt it, a punch to the stomach. I was not expecting it but what else happened shocked me even more. I did not feel anything as I have invulnerability, it was still enough to weaken me. She began to use full vampiric speed, something that I didn't expect her to do. I tried to dodge it but I knew it was over. With each punch, she tore into me and I had no choice but to guard my face but it was too late. I had hesitated before I could get a proper defense up and she capitalized on it.
She then pulled out a knife and with one slice of her knife, she had immobilized my right arm, and then another, she had immobilized my right leg, taking me to my knees. I then hear my son crying in the other room and it's then that she does something that I didn't expect. She stopped the onslaught as she glared at me and then speeds to my kid. I knew she wasn't going to hurt him but I didn't want her to have her hands on him, not at all. Within that moment, she grabbed my son and she then said, 'Sleep, my sweet prince. Daddy and I have so much to talk about.'
I could see a sinister smile come across her face as she began to put him down in his crib. I felt my anger get the best of me, I allowed my healing to take place and it was then that she says with a smile, 'Do you think your anger will help you?' As she looks deep into my eyes, I could see it, pure unrivaled infatuation and unrestrain to rage. She was taking the ladder out on me. 'If I'm such a little girl, you can fight me like a little girl.' She knew how to get under my skin, she knew that I could use prowess to overcome her or my limit breaker to crush her but she knew I didn't want to hurt her. She knew that I could fight well but she knew the second I used my ability to overwhelm her, she would have won the argument.
I found myself being put in a situation that I would not be able to walk away from without any form of defense. At that moment, I defended and defended but she kept wearing me down with each punch. Every time she hit me, she kept hitting me in places that it would be hard to catch her at, from behind the legs to right in front of my face. She was a very good fighter and I decided to pick a fight with someone who could easily outmaneuver me if I am not careful.
It was at that moment that I used my time-stop ability, something she didn't know that I could control. "The World" I wasn't about to let a child beat me down to the ground, "Goddmanit, Priscilla," I say, coughing up blood. As I grab her and throw her out of the room, I feel the pain in my body overflowing. I shut the door and allow my body to heal, the pain was immense and at that moment, I realized how much she had been holding back.
As I unfreeze time and go into the bathroom, I look at my body and realize how beaten up I was. It was then that I was blindsided again as she said, 'I was wondering when you were going to use that ability?' It's then that she hits me behind the legs again but this time, I wasn't about to be fooled. She realized her blade did not work on my body so she went after every part, her blades would crack against my torso, my invulnerability was all over my torso and I didn't tell anyone about that, not even Anastasia.
'You seem to be very adept at fighting, brother but since you've unfrozen time, you've been keeping everyone from hearing this bloodshed. You must have had countermeasures installed in the room. That means everyone else doesn't know about it. You're not the only one keeping secrets. My blades chipped as soon as they hit your body and I didn't want to risk hurting you anymore.' She said as she was punching my face. What made this situation worse was that she wasn't using her words, she was using her telekinesis to talk to me.
'Did you really think that I didn't know how strong you were? The only reason I'm able to do this is that you underestimate me. You've always underestimated me but since it's all out in the air now, I want you to know that I know every day you've underestimated me. I want you to know that every day you've done it, that I've wanted to smack the hell out of you because you were a child when I first met you, and when you fell and busted your ass, I was there. If you didn't know how much I love you right now, just know I've known all about your little tricks, I know you don't run out of ammo. I know you do not have the ability to teleport. I know that form you take is not a berserker state, control over it. I know so much more than you think.'
It's then that something else surprising happens, her eyes turn to gold as she smiles and says, 'Do you think Having golden eyes makes you dangerous?' A silence fell upon me, because the truth was, I didn't want to remember my old self. I hate remembering who I was, because for me, he was just a coward. Her face contorts into a cunning cruel smile. The eyes that I maintained out of sheer force of will, she used easily, I could tell and it highlighted my insecurity, something I had to face time and time again. As she's grabbing my face to look at hers, she says, 'I love you so damn much.' Through her smile, I could feel the intense anger she felt for me but she chose to channel it allinto a deep love, it was quite disturbing.
I wasn't healing fast as she severed the tendons in my arm, the blade must have been made from silver and I know how her blades work. They're not just meant for slicing tendons, they're meant to stop you from even healing and she has a surgeon's accuracy. I used my left arm to bat her hands away from my face as she then says, 'I'll give you time to heal. I'll give you time to do your best, too but I'll let you know this now, my brother. If I ever wanted to, I could make you mine and mine only. That angel bitch won't stop me.'
End of Chapter: A Sister's Obsession