CHAPTER SEVEN: Grandfather

Her hand stopping just on the door knob, slowly it slid to her side and she clenched it into a fist. She gloated "why? Because you think I'm not reliable?"

She chuckled an turned around. Anger and resentment in her deep black eyes "it's so like you. You've always thought of me as a baggage, something death had left behind to drag you down so you stayed far away and locked me out. I wasn't even given the chance to prove that I could have been useful for once"

"That's not true!" The Man defended. Standing to his feet in a hurry. He was shocked to know she had such a conclusion in her head.

"Not true? Then tell me why you shut me out?! You were my last family left yet you threw me to the side and pretended to have forgotten about me. Yet on the side you made sure I was never brought out to the spotlight. Was I so much a disgrace to you? Or did I bring back painful memories and for that you chose to cast me aside?" She queried. With every word she uttered, she felt heartache, like the iron cords around her heart were being pulled out. 

Kaiser looked to be in pain like Raaya was. His elderly face ridden with hurt and a Hesitant frown "it's not that_ I just didn't trust you" He spat out and turned towards the stairs.

He didn't trust her?

Offended, Raaya ran forward and blocked his path. "You didn't trust me? Do you even hear yourself?" She spoke angrily.

"you trust those weak humans to safeguard this stupid city you are so proud of, yet you don't trust me? And you say you don't look down on me. What? Did you think I would destroy your legacy? What did I ever do to you to make you think so shallow of me like this?!" 

Kaiser exclaimed "Because you are you!" A momentarily silence echoed. The man exhaled loudly, pulling his head of white hair in frustration. He took a step back and leaned on the wall. His eyes looking at her in a knowing look. "you want to why I trust them? I trust them because they are reasonable, I trust them to think before they act because they can't afford to die. But you... I look at you and all I see is anger and rage. You scare me. I'm scared that you would throw your life away if I let you out of my sight.

The both of them have in deep breaths. Like heavy clouds, the said words lingered in the air, dampening the room in a melodramatic atmosphere.

Raaya sniffled back her tears and chuckled "like you are one to talk. You don't even know a shit about me. Perhaps you're just making excuses"

"Deep down you know I'm saying the truth"

"The only truth I know is I had a Grandfather that wasn't even there to hold me when my own parents died. A Grandfather that wants me to live in the shadows like I never existed!"

"I never said that"

"Then what?!" Raaya exclaimed. "I want to know what was more important that I wasn't even a second option?!" 

"I wanted to protect you that's what!" 

"I wanted to protect this" he pointed round him. Not seeming to be talking of the four walls around him rather the Dome that sat ontop the city like a shield.

"We had just lost the war. Everyone was grieving so much that no one was making a move to utilize the second chance we were given. I had to step up to protect the legacy your mother left behind. It took a lot to get us to where we were today. I wanted you safe and happy. I knew protecting this meant also keeping you save..and I was ready to do what it takes but it seems that I had hurt you instead" He tried to explain.

His words totally made up for the decade he had spent as the Kaiser. He thought she would understand him after hearing it. She should have but Raaya was too angry to listen to anything he had said. 

"It's this supposed to make me forgive you?" She sneered.

Ten years...

Ten years of loneliness and despair. He left that was all she could remember, all she knew and all she ever understood. She had just lost her parents and the person left in her family distanced himself from her. He was never around, neither did he act like he cared.

All she remembers was his absence. All the times she sat at the long dinner table all by herself, she remembers walking the halls and feeling like she was alone in this world. What about the countless night she jolted up from her nightmares with a screaming yet he wasn't there to even notice. He was one of the reasons she had left this house. She thought when she finally left he would notice her absence yet he didn't seem to care. Yet now he expects her to forget all about it with just a bunch of words?

The Kaiser shook his head soberly "I don't expect you to forgive me. I just... I just want you to understand that all I have ever done was for your own good. I want nothing more than to see you safe and sound, in a world your mother had payed a huge price to protect. If I can't even protect you then I have failed her"

"The only thing you managed to do successfully was drag my personality to the mud. You know what people see when they look at me? They see a loser. Do you think I'm living a good life like this? I can't even breath the air without people asking what I had done to protect the air"

"At least you're safe"

"what's the point of being safe?" Raaya grumbled "My own mother made sure of that with her life yet I have to sit and watch others give their life for what was meant to protect me. How do you think that's make me feel? I feel miserable!"

"I'm sorry" The Kaiser apologized. For once he finally could understand what she felt. 

"It all ends now" Raaya announced firmly. She was done hiding in the shadows, enjoying what others had fought to preserve. 

Though her heart was still filled with rage and getting revenge was all she could think. It made no difference to her whatsoever. She would turn her rage to a fuel for power. Just like they did to her parents and every one human on Earth, she would take them down little by little. 

Kaiser sighed "I won't stop you anymore. As long as you promise... promise to protect yourself"

"I promise" Raaya swore. It was a promise she was making not only to him but to herself too. Untop of getting Revenge. Above the list where revenge sat as number one, she had a new goal to achieve. Survive.

How was she supposed to make Abaddon pay for taking the lives of her family, if she lost her life before then.

"I should go now. We still have preparations to make for our journey" She turned to leave again.

"wait" The Kaiser called out once again. "There is something you should have" He stood up and left the room. Raya watched him walk back upstairs. A bit of curiousity in her heart as she wondered what it was he wanted to give to her. 

Shortly after he came back down. This time not empty handed. He held two wrapped boxes in his hand. One long and one like a ring box. He walked to her and passed them to her one after the other. The small 'ring box' was first. And as he passed it over he said.

"This is from your mother" He mentioned.

Raya looked surprised. Slowly her hand stretched forward and receive the box. A small smile appeared on her lips. She could imagine how her mother looked like when she packaged the gift 

See the smile on her face, her grandfather smiled too "It was supposed to be your 18 year birthday, but I figured you could receive it now. After all you might still be on the mission when your birthday comes. It's a month away remember?"

Raya nodded. Her eyes growing teary a little bit, as much as she loved to receive the gift, it brought back hurtful thoughts. "Why didn't she wait to hand it to me herself?" She murmured in a sad voice. Her fingers caressed the box with a loving albeit sad smile on her lips.

"I'm sure she would have loved to more than anything" 

Raya nodded again. She picked at the ribbon ends and the beautiful knot came loose. The wrapping paper needed no effort to take away. With a slash of her finger, it was torn away. The box lid was lifted and she could finally see what the gift was.