The Secrets Surfaces (I)

I was stunned. To see and hear that the woman in front of me was my aunt made the pit of my stomach churned with bubbling nervousness but, at the same time, a growing anger. The feeling was indescribable, almost as if it was there all this time.

"To see you here alive and well." A smile appeared on my aunt's lips. "I am glad." A fake tear slid down her face, giving me a false illusion that she cared.

I didn't know how I knew, but my guts told me that everything she was saying now was a lie.

"I heard that you have injured your head." She replied with concern as she tilted her head, looking at me with her best warm smile she could muster. "That's so horrible. To hear that you have lost your memory from your father…." Her tone of voice slightly changed as she glanced up towards me with a bit of glimmer in her eyes. "I hope you haven't forgotten me." She gave off a soft, gentle appeal that told everyone that she was a harmless woman. "I'm Julia, your aunt."

I wasn't sure what to say. I knew from the past discussion my aunt wanted to kill off the Dragon Maiden line, so she could become one. To know this information made me tense up as a slight snarl appeared on my lips. When I didn't answer, she continued to chatter on.

"No matter," She replied with her nose slightly turned upwards into the sky in a slightly arrogant manner. "I'll take care of you."

Her statement made me twitch, not liking the thought of a stranger bursting into my life and taking control of it. It actually made me feel mad that she would come into my life without even asking if I wanted to.

"No," I replied with a low, threatening growl, lowering my head slightly. I watched her. She was dangerous, and I knew it. There was no way that she would be kind to me, especially if she was the one who killed my mom, but then again, I never had met my mother to feel any sentiment for it. All I knew was this feeling to survive, and my aunt probably didn't have any slight thought of letting me live.

"No?" She was startled at my response, but she didn't seem phased by my answer. Instead, she was more forceful. "You do know, I am your aunt."

"So?" I replied. Not caring one bit who or what she was.

"What do you mean so?" She gasped, bringing her hand up to her lips, covering her mouth, surprised that I had shot her down. "You and I are family." The word family was stressed to the point where I felt like she was purposely saying it to make me feel like we belonged. " We must protect and help each other."

I snorted. There was no way I wanted to be friends with a murder. "Lies." I hissed angrily at her words.

"Lies?" She dropped her hand to her side and stared at me, confused. I have never lied to you as well as I have your rare blood ties. We should be helping each other, allowing us to grow and become stronger."

"Are you sure that is really what you mean?" I replied. My tails flicked back and forth until finally, it stopped.

"Absolutely." She replied sternly. Even still, there was something that was telling me that there was something more to this than before. "I have been searching for you for a very long time."

"I think, Aunt." I stressed the words "that we should part ways here."

"Absolutely not." She replied sternly, pouting at my decision. "This is what I have been waiting for, especially since your mother had passed away."

I was just about to say, just because it's you doesn't matter. But I kept my mouth shut and watched what my aunt was going to do next.

Julia walked a couple steps bravely forward, looking up at me as my gaze caught hers. Then she stopped as a group of Orcs rushed over to her side as if she needed protection.

"Darling, don't be like this." She replied with a sigh of my answer. "I am your aunt. We're blood."

The way she said blood made me shiver. It actually horrified me to be related to her. I didn't know when she would fight back or even possibly kill me in my sleep. The thought of living with her was even worse.

"Do you not know how long I have waited for this?"

"No." I sharply replied. "What are you really doing here with the Titan?" I asked, watching her every movement as my eyes slightly squinted.

"With him?" Julia slightly looked over her shoulder at Rei, who was frowning as he stood up. He was displeased that she was here, but when their eyes met, he flinched. "Don't worry, darling. He's not a problem."

"Not a problem?" I asked, confused. "He's the reason why my friend has been kidnapped!" I furiously yelled. I knew that he wouldn't let Coco go so easily and that she was tortured. It's just that right now, I just didn't see it. Coco covers her pains and illness very well, and I usually don't find out until a week later when the injury is almost gone.

"Your friend?" Julia tilted her head a bit confused, then she gazed across the field to see what I was talking about. "Do you mean the dirty girl on the floor? She's just a servant? What does it matter?"

"She's not dirty, and she's not just a servant!" I snapped. The way she said servant irked me. I saw Coco, Tart, and Moca as more than just servants. They were friends and family, someone I couldn't replace so easily.

"Then, what is she?" She scoffed. "Servants are meant to serve their master; anything more is preposterous."

"She's my friend." I growled, "and she's worth more to me than you."

Julia froze, staring at me as if I was crazy. She then snorted once and rolled her eyes at me at the words that I had said. "Servants are servants. They are dispensable and can be easily replaced." She waved her hand in front of her. "Now, let's put this boring topic behind, and let's go home, Berry. The family misses you."

The way she said it grated on my nerves. So far, my father didn't say anything about meeting the family. Honestly, he didn't even meet or talk with me once and just left instantly with the king.

"What family?" I spoke peeved. They were no family or mine, especially my aunt. "Please don't tell me you guys love me; you know just as well as I that it is a lie."

Julia gasped, covering her mouth as she stared at me, appalled by what I had said. "I would never think such thoughts."

"Then what about my mother?" Words started to flow out of my mouth like water. I couldn't hold it back. I was just too angry. How dare she think of me as family after what she had done.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" She asked, confused, wondering where I was going with it.

My eyes became wide, unable to believe in what she had said. There was no way that she didn't know what happened to my mother when she was its cause. I couldn't hold it in any longer, and I blurted out my words. "You killed her!"

"I killed….her?" Julia's hands dropped to her side, confused about what I had said. Then she tilted her head to the side, searching my gaze for an answer. "Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter who," I replied. "Why would you even care?"

"Because whoever told you that is a liar." She didn't like how she was accused of such a thing.

"Please, don't lie to me." I didn't believe her for a second. "You're working with the Titan, and you think I will believe your words after that?"

"Working with?" Julia's face darkened, then suddenly her expression changed. A laugh erupted out from her beautiful lips, causing everyone to jump in surprise. "Oh please, he only did something for me. It was just a simple deal. He is nothing more than a pawn."

The word pawn rang in my ears, and I knew a lot more about her in that one word throughout the whole interaction. She was definitely not the type of person I liked to interact with, especially how she sees people and other species as no more than pieces to a chess puzzle.

Suddenly, Rei cut in. He wasn't happy about the accusation of what Julia had said and came stomping over.

"I am not your pawn," Rei spoke angrily. "We had a deal, witch. You let me deal with Berry."

"Yes, I did. You dealt with her by bringing her here." Julia responded with an uncaring tone. She wasn't phased by his anger.

"That wasn't part of the deal!" Rei stomped angrily, furious that his words weren't going through to her. "I said I wanted her!"

Julia waved her hands, then she shook her head. "What for? You don't need her."

"Yes. I. Do." He stated, stressing each word. "The humiliation that she had caused me. Both that and the wretched elf!" With a point of his finger, he glared towards me. "I need my revenge!"

Rei's body started to shake from pure anger. He didn't like the idea that he was being stalled at his revenge by Julia. Instead, he wanted to make sure that I was harmed and possibly killed from how he was glaring at me.

I glared back, not liking how he was staring. There was no way I was backing down on a glaring contest, especially against him.

"I said, no." She replied a bit stronger than before. "She is my nephew, and I have a say in this."

"You promised!"

Julia sighed, rolled her eyes as she twirled her fingers around her fingers. Black magic swirled around her hands, giving off an ominous pressure as it blazed forth in power, causing all the orcs and even me to shudder. Something about her magic was deadly, almost toxic to the point where the air was getting even difficult to breathe.

Rei even wavered, seeing the energy wrapped around her hand like a snake as it roared with life. Eventually, the fierce blaze of black magic started to simmer down, and instead, something appeared in her hand. A small ruby red crystal that sparkled underneath the sunlight.

"The blood jewel." Rei gaped. His eyes became round as if he was delirious. He was entirely enthralled by the jewel in her hands and completely forgotten about me, which I was glad for, but it made me wonder what was so special about that jewel.