Chapter 29. Plans

The elder had a bad premonition. He knew exactly where this was going. He could guess already who it was.

"You there, can you explain from the beginning what happened?" Calista asked pointing to a guy.

The person who was pointed could feel his heart racing. She had noticed him. He had the honour to talk to her. He was going to speak truthfully and leave an impression on her.

"Leon and Juliet had just fought with Leon being sent flying off the stage. None of us noticed when the person came and from the looks of it, he had watched the entire battle.

"All of us we excited and we did not realize when he started clapping and we all joined in. This angered Leon as he looked around and saw the guy.

"He then went to him and asked for an apology and when he failed to hear one, he attacked and soon they were fighting on the stage where it seemed Leon was winning but he suddenly was killed.

" None of us here saw how he acted and we only know he had been acting weak," the guy summarized everything and Calista just shook her head. Acting weak? But the guy did not notice and he continued.

"The guy does not place our family in his eyes and he even dared to threaten us if we attempted to go after him, he would give us a painful death. We came here to plead for the family to take action against that guy."

"Do you think that he should place our family in his eyes?" She asked which left the crowd confused. "Go back all of you for now. I will go find him and Elder Dan will go report the matter.

The crowd could only oblige as they dispersed though they had a feeling that this was not going to end as they wanted. But they were about to realize his words when he said strength will be the medium of communication.

Calista could already feel a headache coming in. She knew he was a very odd piece in the play. He was one person who was unpredictable. But it met her by surprise that he had the heart to kill someone so easily.

She was sure that she could not even bring herself to kill someone. She could not help but wonder what is it that he had encountered all this time he had been in the danger zone.

What he did could be seen as wrong but she knew better. From what she knew, before the demons were sealed, strength was what spoke and killing someone was not that big of a deal because anyone could easily do so.

She walked towards his assigned house and stood at the door as she knocked. This was going to be awkward. She waited and there was no reply and she sighed.

Just how nervous was she that she forgot about the bell and knocked instead? She pressed the bell and in a few seconds the door opened and Athan stood there his elbow leaning on the side of the door.

He wore a smile as he waited for her to speak but she was hesitant.

"Are you here to get justice too?" He asked sarcastically. She sighed and was at loss.

"You can say that. Soon you will be facing justice," she replied seriously. She knew that her family would not let that matter pass.

"Did you have to do it? Just how long has it been since you came? Is keeping a low profile really not your thing?" She asked in a low tone.

"I really never go looking for trouble. It is usually them who come looking for trouble," Athan replied honestly which was more of sarcasm in her ears.

"So, how do you plan getting yourself out of this situation?" She asked.

"If you think there is anything you can do to me, then do not hesitate," he replied nonchalantly.

Calista was at loss. He was not even showing any signs of repentance or regret. If she continued to discuss the matter at hand, she was only going to get frustrated unendingly.

"If that is what brought you here, then I think we are done," Athan said as he stood straight and wanted to lock the door as her voice came.

"You really have no patience," she sighed as she continued," With my current strength, I have no opponent in this family other than my older brothers. They too also do not have time to practice with me often so if you could ... You know..." She stuttured at the end when she saw his look.

"So you think that I am your opponent and want to train with me?" He asked with that knowing smile which made her flustered.

"No no no," she almost yelled as she waved her hands. "I am not your opponent but you are closest in age to me and you are stronger than me. I want to learn from you.'

Athan chucked when he heard her reply. She was still hiding something and he wanted to know exactly what it was and he wanted her to say it.

"Fine. I was asked! Happy now?" She asked frustrated. But his reply was only that one knowing smile which caused her to grit her teeth. "Why are you so difficult to speak to?"

"It seems that you don't understand my language," Athan did not wipe the smile on his face.

Calista was on the verge of losing it. He was deliberately making things difficult for her.

"Fine. What are your terms?" She gave in in the end.

"Its not what I want but what can you offer me? As you can see, I was in the middle of doing something," Athan replied.

"Ha!" She chuckled. This guy. "I will give you my word to fulfil any of your request."

"How can I just take empty promises?"

"You don't trust me?"

"Like I ever could."

"I will make an oath."

"Fine. I will not take your word but I will take the reason why you were asked to come as enough payment," Athan said.

"Are you doing this on purpose? It is a secret. I could also lie to you," she replied.

"Well, has it not been long enough? What happened to the princess? I thought that she would be here by now?" Athan changed the topic.

"There has been a delay but she will be here before nightfall," she replied. "Are you that eager to leave?"

"You should tell you father that I usually don't stay in one place for long for reasons I cannot explain." Athan said and gave her that knowing look.

"Let's go first to the Arena. It will only be the two of us," she said and this time she did not wait for his reply as she started walking towards the arena but Athan locked the door.

Calista was helpless. Had she met a person this stubborn before? Now how was she going to make him open that door? It was obvious he was not going to do so easily again.

Maybe she should just give up. He was a lost course. She changed her direction and headed towards the main mansion but the door opened immediately and he walked out with the sword on his waist.

"I am taking your word. I trust that you can keep it," Athan said as he headed for the arena. His words were clear. He had placed his trust on her. Which was very fragile.

Calista undertood his words and she knew that she could not afford losing his trust. But she was not sure about her family. She followed him happily as she walked by his side.

***

"See that, it is as I told you."

"But that boy. He is difficult to understand."

One could see two people standing together. One was older almost in his 60s and the other was you 20 at most. The two were Calista's older brother and the old Patriarch of the family.

"You know even the Byrons dared not do anything to him?" The old man said looking at the skies."His identity is too dangerous. You know about the rumours about his birth of after fourteen months, right? I wonder if he is on our side or one of them."

"From what I can see, he neither is on their side or ours. Its about who makes an enemy out of him. Let's not make an enemy out of him," Glen replied. He was the future patriarch if all went well so he was disclosed some insider information.

"Let's observe him for a while. If we can bring him into our family, we may rise faster than the Byrons. I don't think he really cares about them. After all they mistreated him. We can offer him a position and even that lass for himself." The old patriarch said staring at the two who were walking side by side.

"How will we convince the Byrons to let him go? I am sure that the delay has something to do with the information about his strength being leaked after killing Leon. Damn the spies! We will have to do a thorough cleaning. No one wants to let him go. I even think the Byron Family's patriarch will be coming," Glen said already feeling a headache coming in.

"Only he holds the final say. If we side with him, we can convince him not to go back and become a member of our Quiren Family," the old patriarch said as he released a long sigh.

The fact was that they needed to bring more Athans into this world and whoever had him first was going to be a few steps ahead. They knew what was coming next was going to be difficult to pass if they did not change their ways.