XIX | Mine

Pride-Niklaus's point of view

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"I feel nauseous," Dove cried, holding onto my arm. "I'm used to Persephone's full on display anger, but I've never seen any of her brothers like this. Atlas treated me like a lady, he was a kind gentleman, even though our… our mom killed the person he loved the most. He's still kind and a sunshine. But seeing him break, and seeing how Persephone did something she never does to get to him, and help him, it's too much, Nik."

"And she didn't shed a tear," Anna whispered, still staring at the spot her Captain disappeared on. "She never sheds any tear, it's only anger."

Stella, who dates her, passed her arm over the girl's shoulder, "She said Atlas has a hero complex and bottles everything up to himself, but I genuinely think that suits her more than him. Maybe not a hero, but she definitely doesn't let anyone near her, nor even her brothers, even though she is with them when they need her."

Clenching her fists, Adeline nodded, her eyes stormy, "No one ever listen to what she says when she tells us it's not even. I don't know what she hides from everyone, even from her father, as she exclaimed in class earlier today, but I am genuinely afraid that she's the one who's breaking and tearing herself apart behind that façade of being mean and evil. We can't forget that she's helping them, even though she is the one who saw her mother being murdered in front of her eyes when she was a 10-year-old child. Who saw her father almost being killed. I don't know about you, but that would fucking destroy me."

Adeline turned to Stella and Anna, "I have a feeling the headmasters did this thing on our classes to get her to try getting closer to us. Headmasters Diana and Samuel are probably the ones she's closest to, but they are Gods, that doesn't fucking count. And what the hell happened in Draki Mountain? What did Ophelia saw when she messed with the Captain's memories? Why did she said she went through some trauma as heavy as her mother dying in front of her eyes?"

She scoffed bitterly, "In fact, does any of you even remember how Captain used to be before she left for the mission on Dragon' heirs go through when she turned 15? Did any of us even noticed how much she changed? She was an angry girl before, but she wasn't this closed off, she didn't avoid contact as she does now, she didn't cover herself from head to toe as she does now. She isn't evil, she is hurt and broken," she stared at her own hands, as tears stormed on her eyes.

"Do we even know who the real Persephone Callidora Bathory-Moreno is? If what I heard you talking about earlier is true, we don't even know what color her hair and eyes are of. Not even her siblings do. You all treat her like a monster who has no reason to be the way she is, but would any of us stay as composed as she is, in her own way, after passing through what she did?"

"We all are together is this fucking academy since we were 7 and 8 years old, damn it. How can we know nothing of this girl? Why haven't any of you ever tried to understand her? You all treated her like she was insane for being angry and wanting revenge after her mother died, for fuck's sake. We don't even know what actually happened. If her twin siblings and her father don't know, you really think any of us do? Why do you even fucking judge her?"

"She was a kid. A little child. Do you understand that she was fucking alone with her mother, without her father or siblings around, when it all happened? We all fucking know how ruthless the Archangel Queen is, and how troublesome the Demon King used to be, why do you all act as if her parents were in the wrong when they were always the peaceful rulers?" She full yelled this time.

Her angry eyes turned to me and my sister, "My older brother died that day, did you know that? He was one of the Queen's guards and he died when your mother went after Queen Athena. She had twenty guards and she seemed to be in a delicate health for some reason that was kept a secret. The King and the boys had been away for months, and they were alone. Your mother used that to murder them all and only leave a traumatized 10-year-old girl to tell the fucking tale. And she was so traumatized, that she never even told the fucking story to anyone."

What? Her mom was in a bad health?

"Addie," Stella tried to calm her friend down, but it didn't work.

"My parents are devastated by it until this day. He was the dream son, the perfect child, and the best older brother I could have ever asked for. The Queen was a good person with a good heart, and she treated him wonderfully, as if he was a son. She did that to everyone. She was the best Queen all vampires and dragons could have ever asked for, and before she died, Persephone was a bright kid too. She was more serious than her brothers, but she has a genuine smile on, always."

"Your mother took that away from her. She never smiled again. All she does is smirk and grin mischievously and viciously and bitterly. There's no sign of happiness in that girl, and I can tell that her sadness overcomes her anger, even if she bottles it up. She's angry because she's so fucking sad that she can't even cope with it. And you all are full of shite. My brother told me how your father attacked the King, it was never an even conflict, he was fucking evil incarnate, and the Queen simply protected her family by saving her mate from death and killing the one who tried to kill him."

"No matter how you act as if this was even. As if she had no right to do want revenge. As if this is an old conflict, because it ain't," her voice broke. "She is the one who saw it all. She fucking knows what happens. But you are so fucked up and untrustworthy that she will never tell us anything. I can't even imagine what actually happened to break her the way it did. And I'm scared, alright? I'm scared for her. I'm scared that she will go too far in her own grieve and lose herself," she tried to hold the tears by they rolled down furiously. "Ugh. Fuck."

"Addie, breathe," Anna caressed her back.

"I hate this. I hate how she pushes us away. We are always there, always open for her, but Apollo told me she thinks we hate her. She thinks we find her bothersome and we don't like her near us. I…" she clenched her jaw. "I just wanted to show her that she's not fucking alone, because she definitely thinks she is. She definitely thinks she has no one she can possibly count on. Or maybe she's just scared to love us and lose us eventually, like she lost her mom. It's agonizing."

"Whatever conflict our parents had," my sister muttered, "Persephone was not the only who lost someone. I also lost my dad, and he was everything to me. He was an amazing father," to her. Only to her.

That's the thing. He was never a father to me. But she's clueless about it, after all, he always wanted a daughter, never a son. That's why I avoid talking about him, because I'm actually glad Athena Victoria Bathory murdered him. I'm only sad that she died because of it. Regardless, I understand that mother did it because she lost her mate and it was unbearable.

Even if he was a horrible father to me. Horrible is an understatement.

"The two situations are entirely different. Your father got himself killed because he was a fucking ruthless troublesome bastard. You mother killed Queen Athena on purpose and in a moment where she wasn't in her full strength!" Adeline hissed, brushing the tears away. "And you didn't watched it like the Captain did."

I never knew exactly what had happened, except that Athena killed my dad and my mother killed her for it. They were always said to be even in power, now I get how she did it, since Adeline said Athena was in a bad health. Mother did it in the Wrath-Grey-way and used her fragile moment when her mate wasn't around to get revenge. She played dirty, and Scarlet's life was destroyed because of it. No wonder she hates when someone tells her it was a fair conflict.

Apparently it was anything but fair. I wouldn't even be surprised if my mother had used Scarlet, who was defenseless at the time, to make sure Athena wouldn't do anything against her. Mother was father's mate after all, and though she loved me in her own way, she always matched his ruthlessness when needed. But the way Diana spoke of how uneven this actually was earlier, plus the mention of something traumatic having happened to her in Draki Mountain?

I've tried to avoid thinking about it the entire day, but did my mother did something against Scarlet when she was defenseless in Draki Mountain? But if she did, why would she do it? Was she trying to silence her about what actually happened when she killed her mom since she's the sole survival?

If yes, what the hell actually happened? Why would she try to go that far? What exactly did she do to Athena aside from murdering her 20 guards and killing her in front of Scarlet? And why didn't Scarlet tell her father about it? Or her twin brothers? Is she trying to carry all the heavy weight to herself? Isn't that too self-sacrificing for someone as crazy as her?

More importantly, what can I do to help her? How can I get her to lower her shields and let me in? What do I need to do to get closer to her? If she's adamant in a way that she doesn't even let her brothers or father near her, how will I make her let me, of all people, inside?

Because seeing her like this breaks something inside me. It makes me want to crawl out of my skin and go out of my way to help her.

I don't think I would be able to murder my mom if that was the cost to have Scarlet. Even if my mother isn't quite a good mother either. What she does to me, she does it because it's her way to remember father, it isn't out of genuine evil and disgust for me like father. It helps her cope with the loss of him, and it's not like she's trying to kill me, since she knows she can't.

But I need to have her. I need her to crave for me as I crave for her. I don't mind fighting with my mom if that's what it takes. However, I can't just go to her and tell her I'm a psycho who's obsessed with her and wants to be with her and give her the world. She'll only think I'm fucking with her and that I'm full of shite.

Not to mention that I doubt she would believe me. I don't want to be fake about anything either. I want to let her in, to show her all the darkest places in my mind even if there's a chance that will only push her away. I want to lay myself bare to her I'm way more ways than just sexually speaking. I've been holding my own for her for years.

It's always been her. She's always been the only one in my mind.

Mother just fucked it up when she killed Athena.

I wouldn't give two shites about her mother killing my father if that was all that had happened. I would still want her as fervently as I do. My soul calls for her in a dark way, and every time I'm in the same place as she is, even if she hasn't appeared in my sight yet, I can tell she's there.

Fuck. We might even be mates.

To know that she has to open up for it. And it's all harder now because of what mother fucking did. Seriously. This is maddening. In all honesty, father got what he deserved, and deep down, my sister knows that too. But how do I make Scarlet stop wanting to murder me? I know that her hatred is actually for my mom, but how do I make her be satisfied with the idea of only killing mom?

The stabbing can stay, since we can't die from it, and it turns me on, and I think it does that to her too, but what if she actually finds a way to murder me and make me stay dead? If she insists on it, she might definitely kill me and Dove, and I don't want my sister to die at all. Well keep fighting over this if she insists on killing my sister, because she the only true genuine family I have and I can't lose her, even if that was the cost to have Scarlet.

Just as she wouldn't bear losing her siblings.

Will her determination wave if I show her who I am? If I show her every single thing I hide from everyone? Will my pain and traumas resonate with hers? Will the darkness inside of me dance with hers? Will that move her heart? Will I be able to get under her skin enough for her drop her weapons and let me in?

All I want is to be the pillar she doesn't have.

All I want is to be the everything she wants.

All I want is for her to trust me.

All I want is for her to show me all she hides, all her dark secrets.

All I want is for her to be with me, for me to have her in my arms.

All I want is to love her, the way I know only I can.

All I want is her.

Persephone is all I've ever wanted for myself.

I want to call her mine.

My Scarlet.