CHAPTER 10
GIFT
(for those who haven't read Demon Prince: The Dream)
---> angels and demons are not immortal but they have undying beauty...
"What took you so long?" I bellowed.
Athrun ignored my glare and sat on the black leather couch across me. "It was your fault that I got late. You should have seen Ethan's face. He looked more dangerous than you did. You made him very angry."
"I courted Ely for his sake too..." I defended.
"Why did you court him in the first place?"
"Ely could be a big help. Now I do not have to worry that much about the demon who kept on stalking me." I do hope she will stop stalking me, though she just wanted to make sure that I was safe. I know that if my father found out that Analee was still stalking me, he will kill her. In addition, I do not want her to be with me if the zoa - demons attacked. The zoa - demos could easily kill her...
"What was her name?" Athrun asked and motioned me to sit down too. "I really want to meet her."
"You don't have to know her name," I snapped and sat down, leaning my head on the soft back of the couch. "There is no reason for you to meet her... she is not as interesting as Ely."
"You sound like a little boy who won't let his playmates to touch his favorite toy car," he muttered under his breath.
"I'll beat the crap out of you if you won't keep your mouth shut," I threatened. "You are not helping me."
Athrun suppressed a laugh. "Relax, Kira. Tell me, what is bothering you? No, do not look at me like that and do not even try to deny it. Look at yourself. Your hair is tousled and your eyes look like -"
"I know, I know," I cut in. I should have combed my hair first before going here but I was too lazy to do that.
Athrun yawned and stretched his arms sideways. "Now, why do you want to meet me? If you are here to ask me who the servatrix is then you can go back to the demons' lair and tell them all to go to hell."
"I'm not her for the servatrix."
"Then why are you here?"
"I have... a problem..."
He arched an eyebrow and looked at me with assessing eyes. "Let me guess... about the female demon?"
Of course, it was about Analee! Lately all my problems were all about Analee! Analee! Analee! Analee! Women always mess with men's mind! My life was a hell lot easier without Analee - without women!
I hope after telling all of these things to Athrun I would feel better.
I sighed warily. "My father wants me to get rid of Analee. He said that if I will not get rid of her he'll kill her."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you..."
"That's your problem?"
I sighed again. "No, there is more. I pushed Analee away from me to save her from my father. After doing it, I felt horrible. I cannot sleep at night because I cannot get her out of my mind. My first thought in the morning was not that of find - the - fronterra - and - kill - my - father but of Analee."
He put his feet on the table and crossed his legs at the ankles. "Is there more? Come on, tell me."
"When she is beside me I always say tactless things to her so that she will leave me alone but when she's not beside me I miss her. When I am walking alone and thinking about her, I cannot help myself but smile then I will look around to make sure that nobody witnessed it. I tell you, Athrun, the girl is messing up my mind."
He smiled maliciously at me. "I know now what is wrong with you. You are suffering a very very very dreadful disease. I think you got that disease from Ethan and Justin."
I looked up at him, startled. "What do you mean?"
"You. Are. In. Love."
"No... I'm not," I denied while I shaking my head slowly. "That can never happen! That is very impossible."
"You have all the symptoms, Kira." He said with a knowing look. "Can't sleep at night... can't stop thinking of her... missing her."
I looked at him blankly, swallowing the words he said to me. I shook my head again and leaned on the couch. Athrun was wrong. He did not know what he was talking about. He had never been in love before so how could he be so sure that I was in love with Analee?
I cannot fall in love with Analee. I will not fall in love with her. Not now... not tomorrow... never.
"You can't deny it to me or to yourself, Kira." He stood up and started walking toward the door.
"No," I croaked. "Where are you going?"
When he reached the door, he glanced over his shoulder to look at me. "What is it that stops you from loving her? Why can't you just allow yourself to freely love her? To tell you the truth, Kira, I like the characteristic of the girl. She loves you and she is willing to do everything just to make you hers. Like me, she also believes that if you want something you have to fight for it."
Before I could answer him, he was already gone.
If you want something you have to fight for it, I thought. I brood over it for moment and then I came up with a final decision. I want her... but I cannot have her... not now. I know that as long as I am a demon - and as long as my father is alive - I will never have a happy ending with her no matter how hard I fight for her.
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When I went back to my room, I was not prepared to what I saw. There, on the floor beside my bed were too headless demons. Blood was all over the floor and even my bed was covered with blood. I conjured my sword and looked sideways, looking for a demon that might attack me.
But there was no one. I went closer to the bodies and realized that they were starting to turn into ashes. I turned around to look for their heads and saw a red - haired head at the foot of the table and realized that the head belongs to Michael. The other head was only a few inches away from Michael's head and it was easy to distinguish whose head it was. Thick auburn hair and a long scar on his jaw - it was Steve.
They were zoa - demons. What are they doing in my room? Who killed them?
The door of my room burst open so I turned on my heel and raised my sword to the demons that were approaching me. But I know those auras so I put down my sword. It was my father and Ashtar's aura. Then a few seconds later, I felt Lachlan, Analee and Dax's aura too. They stopped on their tracks when they saw me.
My father was the first one who recovered from shock and looked at the headless bodies behind me then to their heads. "You did this?"
"No," I said as Ashtar went behind my father and looked at me heatedly. "When I arrived here they were already dead."
"I am sure it was the frontterra's aura," Ashtar muttered, not breaking his glare on me. "I felt the frontterra's aura. No one could have an aura as dark as the frontterra's. The amount of energy I felt was immeasurable."
The frontterra? The frontterra was the one who killed the zoa - demons? I looked at Zed whose head was still bent down and then to Lachlan who is standing behind Analee. Why would Lachlan kill the zoa - demons?
"Clean this mess, Kira." Zed turned around and Ashtar moved away to let him pass. "Go to my office when you are done."
Ashtar gave me one last fiery glare before turning around and followed my father as he left my room.
"What happened here?" I asked the three.
It was Dax, the blonde demon with almond shaped eyes, who answered. "While I was in the kitchen, I suddenly felt the auras of Micheal and Steven. The zoa - demons rarely go here," - he glanced at Lachlan - "except Lachlan, so I got curious and decided to track them through their auras. Their auras led me to your room and when I was about to open the door I felt another aura. The aura made the hair at the back of my neck stand..."
"Describe the aura," Lachlan piped in.
"It's hard..." Dax frowned. "All I know is that the aura was cold... it made me shiver. It was then that I realize that the aura belongs to the frontterra. The energy that the frontterra released was so powerful it knocked me off my feet."
"Did you see the face of the frontterra?" I whispered, trying hard not to look at Lachlan.
"No." He sounded so embarrassed. "I did not open the door because I'm too afraid. I just waited outside your room."
"You can leave now," I ordered. Dax bowed his head, straightened his broad shoulder and then left through the window.
"Let's go, Analee," Lachlan whispered in her ears. "Let's leave this to Kira. There is nothing left you can do for him."
Analee looked up at him and smiled. "You go first. There is something I want to say to Kira."
They continued in looking at each other for a long moment. Before I could turn my head to look away, Lachlan suddenly planted a light kiss on Analee's forehead and then left my room. I felt the urge to go after Lachlan and wring his neck but I - using all my self-control - ignored it. I cannot do it to him, knowing that he was the frontterra.
"Are you alright?" she asked as she walked toward me.
"Yes," I answered. "What do you want from me?"
She blushed and slightly bowed her head. "I just want to ask you a favor."
"What kind of favor?" I asked suspiciously. What was her plan now? What does she want from me?
"Five o'clock... Luna park..."
"What?"
"Meet me there..." she mumbled.
"Are you asking me for a date... again?" It was my intention to say it in an are - you - stupid - or - something way but instead, I said the words in a calm way.
"Yes."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"I'm turning fifty years old this coming May 8..." she mused. "Can't you just say yes? Let us just say that your 'yes' will be your birthday gift to me."
She was turning fifty next week? So that means she was a hundred years younger than me. "If you want a gift then I'll buy you a gift." Maybe a necklace or bracelet.
"All I want is a DATE with you. No, don't turn your back on me! Face me!" she shouted as I turned around to examine the bodies on the floor. "Please give me one last last last last chance."
"Why would I give you a chance?" I challenged. Please Lord, let this girl stop or else I will end up saying yes. I do not think I could still say no if she will look at me through her lashes with those pleading blue eyes.
"I just want to have a date with you before I -"
"Before you?"
She seemed to be looking for the right word to say. "Before I leave..."
My head jerked to her direction. "Leave?"
She avoided my gaze and nodded.
"Why are you leaving?"
"You don't want me to leave?" she asked hopefully.
Yes. I do not want you to leave. I want you to stay with me forever.
I wanted to say those words to her but instead I said, "I don't care if you leave this place."
Was she going to give up? Did she finally decide to leave me and go away with Lachlan? Was that the reason why they looked at each other that way? Was she going to leave the castle? Will I ever get the chance to see her smiling face again or hear her laughter?
Should I take back the things that I said to her earlier? Should I tell her that... that I think I love her too?
Damn! Shit! Hell!
"Kira?" she said in an undertone.
She will leave me...
"Kira, what is your answer?"
She will give up...
"Okay," she said, aghast. "If you don't want it's okay with me. I understand you..."
She turned around and walked away. She walked away like a little girl who lost her favorite Barbie doll. She was not crying... but I know that when she reached her room she will cry.
As she walked away, I asked myself. Is this how everything should end?
She opened the door and I shouted, "Yes!"
She glanced at me. "What?"
"I will meet you tomorrow."
Her face brightened and gave me a dashing smile. "Thank you!"
"Now go, before I change my mind."
She nodded and left. I looked down and noticed that the bodies of the demons were now ashes. Great, now I had more problems. I had many problems: Ashtar, Analee, Lachlan, Analee, Zed, Analee, zoa - demons, and last but not the least Analee.
Where the hell was my happy ending?