"Finn!" Zeth spoke loudly just as he stepped out of the castle after signing some papers that Egor had handed him. The Main Hall was empty and everything was silent inside, but out here the wind was blowing hard and the sound of trucks was deafening. "Finn! There you are! Tell me everything is in order."
Finn was standing with a clipboard in his hand and a pen on his ear, supervising the workers and everything they were carrying into the trailer.
"Never better. Everett is almost done disassembling the portable stage in the courtyard," Finn said, glancing at Zeth briefly before turning back to his work. It wasn't like it took a lot of work to make sure that all the chairs and tables were being taken into the trailer. "And I'm almost done here. I spoke to the manager of your hotel, he will take care of everything."
"I don't trust him. Running a hotel and preparing for a concert are two different things. Maybe I should go take care of it myself," Zeth grimaced, "Hey! What about Alex and Draco?"
"They have the 'surprise' song and who will sing what, and they are working on the track list which you also forgot." Finn glanced over at Zeth again.
"Shit! I've been so busy all week that I forgot," Zeth rubbed his forehead, "And the..."
"The bodyguards have their new suits, everything's perfect," Finn nodded, "But Blackbull reported that his daughter had an accident, so he will be replaced by Goldenlion." Finn said, pulling out his phone, "Frank already has his new eye but he hasn't put it on yet, he's about to talk to Evie in the Broken Tower. There is a water leak on the second floor and requires repair, I took care of it, the plumber will come tomorrow. The pantry also needs to be replenished, I already ordered a shipment of food. The air conditioning of the fourth floor of the Yeti Tower also broke down, they will repair it the day after tomorrow. Oh! And Kimberly wants to switch apartments, she wants to live with Evie. Oh! Evie said she wants to join..."
"Anything related to Lyonfort I will check on the way to the hotel," Zeth nodded. He looked around. Everything was pretty much perfect, there were a few things that needed fixing here and there but overall, things were running smoothly. "Anything else? Concert related?"
"Laska was already informed of the human makeover, I asked the guys for specifications and I already have them and sent them to Laska. Penny will take care of the makeup." Finn checked his phone again, "The waiters and cooks at the Darktide Hotel have already been informed that there will be a special dinner, the menus are already being printed."
"Dinner?"
"I thought it would be a nice touch, the tickets were expensive. It will not affect the budget, don't worry," Finn said, using his calculator, "We will recover the investment, I reduced some costs and in addition to the profits for charity, we will also have a profit margin ourselves. It's not much, we'll each have a juicy income at the end of the night to fix all the problems of the castle. Oh! And I added a meet and greet. I thought after the concert we could go and greet the guests personally, and Cadence O'Pry and her daughter are on the guest list."
"Did you have time to check the list?" Zeth whistled, unable to hide the surprise on his face.
"Yeah, there weren't any issues," Finn shrugged.
Zeth smiled.
"Good, good."
"There's a woman who actually bought tickets for her entire company," Finn said, checking his phone, "Artemisia Roman."
"That name brings back some memories," Zeth said with a shudder, "My niece."
"I was sure you had a nice," Finn snapped his fingers.
"Yeah, she had a great impact on human history, and caused a lot of confusion for historians."
"Your niece's name was Artemisia, right?" Finn raised an eyebrow.
"Athenisia." Zeth clarified, "She ruled Caria alongside Mausolus and commanded a fleet when the island republic of Rhodes objected to the fact that a woman was ruling. Long story short, Athenisia captured many Rhodian ships, and the Rhodian men who disembarked were killed in the marketplace."
"Your niece sounds dangerous," Finn said, swallowing hard.
"Oh yeah! Athenisia conquered Latmus alone, she was quite the strategist," he chuckled, "You know? When Draco and I, and the other Envoys, relocated to Greece to fight the Zeldrichs, Athenisia was named 'Goddess of War' by the people of Athens but was mistakenly referred to as Athena. And I must say that King Arthur fell in love with her when a Zeldrich attacked Britain and we were sent to defeat it. King Arthur fought by our side claiming the Zeldrich was a dragon." Zeth laughed loud, "God! You should have seen his face when Athenisia gave him Hexcalibur as a reward for his bravery."
"You mean Excalibur?"
"No. Hexcalibur," Zeth clarified, "It was the sword with which the Rahmans tamed dragons long before I was born, a gift from the Goddess Rahmana. It's quite a sword, Vorpal Steel, made by an Evalonian smith and forged in dragon-fire. But back to what's important, this Artemisia Roman owns... What company is it?" Zeth raised an eyebrow.
"Roman Industries?" Finn checked his phone, "I didn't pay attention to the details, but I heard she is one of the biggest manufacturers of prosthetics outside of America, The website seemed to be under renovation so I couldn't see much of it."
"Never heard of it," Zeth said, scratching his chin. "Well, I guess we can get a meeting set up between us?"
"No, I don't think so," Finn shook his head, "I think she's a foreigner, she arrived in Hollow Woods this morning. I'll ask Evie to look into it."
"I see," Zeth nodded. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes..." Finn took a very, very long breath, closed his eyes, and then dropped the bomb, "Jade and I are in a relationship," Finn lowered the clipboard, looking at Zeth carefully. He was shocked. "That's right."
"So you're dating?" Zeth asked, taking the clipboard and looking at the papers. His eyes skimmed the first page. "When did you start?"
"A few minutes ago." Finn sighed and grunted when Zeth hummed yes while reading the documents, as if what Finn had just said was completely normal.
"Are you sure?" Zeth moved his eyes very quickly.
"Yes." Finn grunted.
"And are you happy?"
"Yes," Finn replied.
"Why are you telling me this until now?" Zeth turned to the next page, nodding.
"Because we've only been dating for a few minutes, and even though we've been together less than an hour, I'm very sure..."
"Have you told the others?" Zeth interrupted and read the next page, "Remember that in a poly relationship, communication is crucial."
"It is," Finn grumbled, "It's crucial to pay attention to what I'm saying too."
"I am paying attention," Zeth paused at a page, and nodded before continuing reading.
"Yeah, to the checklist," Finn crossed his arms, "Are you listening to me?"
"Obviously... Hey, where are the microphones? They're not in the inventory."
"Page seventeen, with the speakers and all the sound equipment, the third trailer already took them to the hotel, the next trailer will be here soon to pick up the stage and a couple of other things," Finn clenched his fists.
This whole conversation was a waste of time, it never seemed worth it to talk to Zeth about something other than work and much less now.
"Zeth, I'm not complaining about you working too hard but..."
"But?" Zeth didn't even turn to look at him.
"Why commit yourself to a relationship if you never have time for it?" Finn asked, rubbing his forehead.
"Yes, I do," Zeth replied, frowning.
"You're not even paying attention to me." Finn was already getting angry.
"Of course I am ... Where are the LED screens?"
"Page twelve," Finn rolled his eyes, "By the way, Kevin told me about Evie joining the poly relationship, she'll tell Frank how she feels."
"Sounds good," Zeth continued checking the inventory, "Where are the reflectors?"
"Page twenty-two," Finn was turning red with anger.
"Why did you put everything on the list out of order? It's a nightmare to navigate through these pages!" Zeth complained.
"I have my order in my disorder," Finn sighed heavily. "Hey, by the way... Jade and I kissed."
"Sure, it's about time," Zeth still didn't pay attention.
"I'm not a virgin anymore," Finn said, without going into details so as not to be a jerk.
"I'm glad... Where are the cameras that project onto the screens?"
"Page twenty-five," Finn gritted his teeth, "The Solar is on fire," Finn lied and Zeth just hummed yes, "Draco made popcorn again and it got out of control. Should I call the fire department or should I throw you into the fire and see if you will listen to me?!"
"Sure, whatever you want," Zeth blinked rapidly, "I mean, I'm sorry, I just.... What was the question?"
"It doesn't matter," Finn rolled his eyes, "You always say something like you're busy, and sometimes even you just disappear for hours and..."
"I know, that's part of my job and I try not to let that affect me," Zeth frowned again when he reached the fancy dinner page, "Are you going to offer food from chef Robert Irvine?"
"He is in town," Finn sighed, "He said he is willing to work for charity."
"You said each of us would make a profit to fix Lyonfort's problems but Robert Irvine won't get paid?!" Zeth looked upset, "That's a terrible idea! Do you even have a business plan?!"
"Zeth..."
"No! No, listen to me!" Zeth held up his hand.
"No, sir! You listen to me now!" Finn yelled, startling Zeth. That's a first. Usually, he would have calmed down despite Finn yelling. Instead, the loud tone made Zeth wince and his ears ring and his chest hurt. The pain was almost unbearable, but somehow, it was better than the anger he felt bubbling inside of him. "I am in charge and this is my project, so I say we do it my way! I am tired of your indifference! I'm tired of you not asking for help! Tired of you not caring about anything else!"
"Since when is the band your project, Finn?!" Zeth yelled, clenching his fists tightly, "I always take care if everything! I handle everything all the time! I have worked my ass off, I have sweated and bled so that you guys get to only experience the fun part of this job! And I've done it for years so it's not your project and I don't need help!"
"You need help!" Finn shouted back, clenching his fists tighter, "You need to trust that the rest of us can help you! Why don't you trust us? We are a team! We have always been there for you, we have always supported you, but you never let us make decisions! You are stubborn and controlling and it seems like you only trust Draco blindly! You always do everything alone because you're a control freak and..."
"I always do everything alone because the last time I asked for help, the people I called family stabbed me twenty-seven times and I woke up with no internal organs and a golden heart inside my chest!" Zeth yelled, too loudly, "And I don't want another family to betray me by letting them get involved in my decisions! Happy now, Finn?! Or do you want me to also talk about how my second family betrayed me? Do you want me to also talk about why everyone in Evalon hates me?! Do you want to know why the people I fought for decided to exile me?!"
Finn's face went pale.
"What are you taking about?" Finn narrowed his eyes, his voice low, "Where is all of this coming from? Do you think we are going to betray you? Is that why you always control all our decisions?"
"There has only been one person in thousands of years who has always been with me, and that is Draco," Zeth said, looking Finn in the eyes, taking slow steps forward, "We are immortals, Finn. Time means nothing." Zeth walked menacingly, speaking through clenched teeth, and Finn took slow steps back, terrified of this new, unfamiliar face, "In my eyes, I barely know you. You and Everett and Kevin, Jade and Evie, even Frank and Alex. You're only a few hours old to someone my age and you want me to trust you?!" Zeth's eyes glowed gold, and his teeth were clenched so tightly it looked like they would break. That face of anger, of fury, would be in Finn's nightmares forever, "I don't know them, I don't know you, and you don't know me, Seamons. Oh! But I know this... I already died once for trusting too much, and it wasn't cool. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, only pain and darkness and endless nothingness. I died a second time by having to personally hang my murderers, and I died a third time when I killed someone I blindly trusted because she was my blood. I'm not going to die again, no. I've died inside over and over again because of every damn human conflict I could do nothing to stop, and even if I had done something about it, you stupid mortals will die anyway so it will all be in vain." Zeth's eyes returned to normal, and he finally walked away from Finn, cracking his knuckles, "It's easy for you to trust, you'll die in a few years anyway, but I'll go on, Draco will go on. What a fucking difference it makes, right? I'm just trying to make sure a lot of mortals have some meaningless fun for a while."
Finn was speechless, pale and still shaking, but he dared to raise his voice.
"You..." He muttered, "You are an asshole, Zeth."
"Yeah, I've been told," Zeth looked down but laughed nonetheless. He tried to calm himself down and focus, but he couldn't, "They've called me a jerk, an asshole, heartless, a murderer, a traitor... There's a long list, Finn. And it keeps growing."
"And you're happy to live in that kind of hell?"
"I've lived worse," Zeth shrugged, "I've seen death and chaos. And then there's the good ones."
"The good ones?"
"Yeah," Zeth shrugged again, "There's me, and there's people like you, and you always die, the good ones always die. Only the worst of the worst survive, and I am immortal, so what does that mean?"
"I know what it means," Finn had no idea of what to do or say, he could only stare at Zeth while the wind blew hard around them both.
"Good." Zeth smiled bitterly and turned to leave, "Maybe you should pack up and leave if my leadership bothers you so much."
"Hey..." Finn called.
"What is it now?" Zeth growled, stopping abruptly, facing Finn.
"Thank you for telling me I am no one to you." Finn had never stared at anyone with so much hatred and disappointment like right now, "But I'm not leaving the Mashers, nor my family, just for you. Leave the band if you must, take Draco with you if you think he's your only friend. At least now I understand that my heart was always in the wrong place."
"I don't have a heart, and it was because I trusted too much," Zeth snarled.
"Then stop playing with me and Jade," Finn took a few steps towards Zeth, "Stop lying. You don't love anyone, not the Mashers or the guys, you only do this because you always want to be the centre of attention."
"Do you think that is why I do everything, Seamons? To be the centre of attention?"
"You said it, not me," Finn held his gaze, full of coldness, "You said you only do it to entertain mortals."
"You don't know anything about me, Seamons," Zeth repeated, shaking his head, "You and I... This is over."
"You can't finish something that never happened, Zeth. You don't commit to having a relationship if you don't have time for it," Finn said as Zeth walked towards the castle, "You can't walk away from your problems."
"You really believe that? 'Cause I've been running from my past for thousands of years, and it's worked so far," Zeth whispered to himself, holding back anger tears, wiping them with his forearm, "Stupid Finn. You have no idea of what a horrible person I am, but it was your mistake for falling in love with me."