The Prince Returns

Speechless, Zander and Sophie stood and watched Cyrus embrace his long lost sister, a vampire, who just gave them a tour of the hidden city of Haven, which was run by the Hart family. 

"Mother and Father will meet you tomorrow brother, let me take you all to your rooms," Zoey politely said.

Wiping his tears away, Cyrus said, "thanks sis," to which Zoey smiled widely. 

As they walked into the castle, let in by two Minotaur guards, everyone was too busy to notice anything other than people entering the castle. 

One of the Chimera guards, who stood on all fours, but was still nearly five foot tall. He had the head structure of a lion, with the body of a wolf and the tail was a serpent. His mane was a deep red, while his head was dark brown, with sharp, black eyes that eventually changed into a black wolf body, and a dark green serpent swinging back and forth. He was the blessed Chimera and considered the highest ranking Chimera, including the originals Theo created as well as the Chimera of Phantoms Keep. He was created by the Father of Solace to help protect Haven. 

"My lady, and who are these fine young guests?" the Chimera said with a bow. 

Zander and Sophie noticed his aura swirled a very dark orange and gold. 

"This guy must be very honorable," they both thought. 

"Hello Ethan, this is Zander, his wife Sophie,"

Before she could finish, the Chimera had dashed over to Cyrus, stood on his hind legs and given him a big hug.

"Young prince, I've waited fifteen years to see you again. I agree with your parents' decision to have you grow up in a normal world with your aunt and uncle, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss you," Ethan said as he was crying tears of joy. 

This had finally caught everyone's attention as Ethan roared, "Prince Cyrus has returned home," to which everyone stopped what they were doing and started cheering. 

Crowds of people within the kingdom, knights, staff, guards, of all types of races surrounded Cyrus and Zoey, welcoming him back. 

"Well, for once he gets the attention, this is kind of nice," Zander thought. 

Zander had managed to pull Zoey to the side and asked where he could find their room, to which she pointed to an elevator, "take the elevator, insert your card, it will take you to the floor with your room, marked number 1. It's been cleaned out since your parents death but you will be able to access it. We foresaw this day, so we made you a room. We didn't know you'd be married, so, please make it to your liking," Zoey stated. 

With that, Zander and Sophie snuck away, unnoticed and entered the elevator. They followed Zoey's instructions and Zander scanned his card. 

Eventually, after what felt like five minutes, the door opened to a single, werewolf guard, who immediately turned and snarled at Sophie. 

"I believe there's been a mistake, this is my wife and I am Zander Elrod, Zoey directed us this way," Zander said calmly, as Sophie stood her ground. 

"Oh, apologies Sir Elrod, this corridor has been rather empty for some time now, I didn't expect you to return with a wife. My sincerest apologies Madame Elrod, I am Ricardo Valentine and I oversee this floor of three rooms," the werewolf said with a polite bow. 

"No worries at all and you don't have to bow to us, it's us who should bow to you for protecting this place in Solace's honor," Sophie said with a smile. 

Showing them to their room, the two of them were amazed at how large and beautiful the room was. It had two bathrooms, one connected to the master bedroom, where a new bed set and mattress had been placed. Everything in the room was new, including all the appliances, a whirlpool hot tub and to both of their delight, a sauna. 

"This controller here controls everything in the room, including, duhnuhunnuhnun," Ricardo said as the ceiling retracted, showing the moonlight, and it appeared as if they were almost as high up as the security branch.

"Your Mother and Father always were so kind to me, and I'm glad to have met you. Rest up, tomorrow shall be a big day with the return of you and the Prince," Ricardo said as he closed their door. 

The remote wasn't so much a remote as a tablet, which had everything from the retractable ceiling, to television controls, to sauna controls. It was quite the remarkable contraption. 

"Sophie, can you please cut my hair?" Zander asked embarrassingly. 

"I've never cut anyone's hair before though, but I could give it a try. I don't have scissors though," Sophie said. 

"You have talons," Zander said with a large smile. 

After about 30 minutes of very cautious trial and error, Sophie surprised herself with how well she did. Zander's hair was back to its normal, golden, spikey self. Zander always felt his hair was straight out of an anime or RPG game, just not as tall. It always stood in thick spikes. After enjoying a nice sauna, they laid in bed and fell asleep. 

Meanwhile, Cyrus and Zoey had finally made it through the large group of people and they had made it to Zoey's chambers, which made Cyrus feel a little awkward. 

"So, what do you think? Are you mad? Sad? Happy? All of the above? I was 7 when our parents made the decision to let the Elrods take you with them to live with your aunt and uncle. They loved you dearly and it killed Mother to let you go, but we all agreed it was better for you to grow up a normal human with your own path in life," Zoey explained. 

"It's all, just, a lot. I'm glad to know my family is so open to all the different souls of the world and I'm glad to know I have a sister. What are mom and dad like?" Cyrus asked. 

"They're both fighters and our father is the first and only approved human to be turned into a vampire. He told the Father of Solace he would protect Haven forever, until he died, but couldn't bear to think of what would happen to Mother without him," Zoey said. 

"That's cool, and you're a vampire and I'm a human. Our grandparents were a human and a werewolf. Our family runs this hidden Kingdom and city. What a long day," Cyrus said. 

Cyrus eventually fell asleep on his sister's sofa to which Zoey laughed and went to her Father and Mothers bedroom. 

Three knocks, one pound on the door, followed by two knocks. It was the knock Zoey always used and she heard, "come in," 

Her father and mother were both lying in their bed, reading a book and chatting away and her father asked, "well how was today my angel? Your brother has finally returned with Zander and Zander's wife! What a surprising blessing from Solace," her father asked with a large smile. 

Her father was around six foot, rather pale since turning into a vampire but had kind eyes and was muscular with black hair that he kept neatly tied up. Unfortunately, because he was turned, his eyes were always red. Fortunately, because it was the Father of Solace who gave Calla the blessing to turn Cyril into a vampire, no one seemed to mind his red eyes. It suited their family colors and their last name, Hart. 

"Yes my dear, how did he enjoy your tour and when did he finally realize it?" her Mother asked with a smile. 

Zoey was the spitting image of her beautiful mother. They were both 5'8, with black hair and perfect bodies. Both of their eyes were a light blue, until they activated their vampire form, then would turn red. They would be considered beautiful in any nation. 

"It was great and the company he keeps is great. Sophie is a phoenix as well, I could sense it right away and their wedding bands were a dead giveaway. They might have answers as to why the Father of Solace hasn't visited in quite some time," Zoey said. 

"Aw, I wonder if Cyrus was Zander's best man, Olivia and James always told us and kept us updated on how great Zander was. We should connect with them soon," Zoey's mother said. 

"Do you think the three of them will be ready for the initial ranking trial tomorrow?" the King asked. 

"You're really going to make them all do it the first day," Zoey said while rolling her eyes. She knew her Father well. 

"Of course I am. It's tradition. If I'm not mistaken, you still have the highest score with an A rank takedown on your 18th birthday," the King spoke confidently. 

"Exactly, I was 18. When the ritual is supposed to take place," Zoey argued. 

"We all saw that televised speech. We don't have the luxury of waiting," her Mother, the usual voice of reason, asked. 

"Which is exactly why we should give them a week to train and get used to being in Haven," Zoey said. 

"That is a fair point actually. Ok. One week from tomorrow they will each have their test. We will prepare a ceremony to welcome Cyrus and his friends back. By the way Zoey, where is he?" the King asked. 

"He fell asleep on my sofa so I gave him a pillow and blanket and said good night. The Elrods are in their room. We will start the ceremony at noon then," Zoey asked. 

"That sounds good. Get some rest sweetie you look burnt out," her Mother told her. 

"Good night mom, good night dad," Zoey said as she walked out of the room. 

Using her earbud she asked her security team if they were able to recover the hand and the card the intruders came in with. 

"Yes mam and the card was a fake, or at least appears to be, so no breaches yet, go rest, you're always working," the guard said. 

With a sigh of relief, everyone slept beautifully that night, as the Prince of Haven finally returned.