Chapter 5

Iris remained sick in bed for two and a half months. Her servants and those who took care of her informed her father Callen about her condition. She was feverish and remained most of the days sleeping. It was worrisome to say the least. Callen's worry for his daughter was so big that it came to the point of interfering sometimes with his work. Almost everyone knew there was something bothering the head leader. He had dark circles under his eyes for the last month. Only those close to him knew what was really happening.

It didn't help that Iris refused to see anyone. Including the father she once trusted so much, the only people she allowed to see were her servants and doctors that came to check on her and that was only because if she didn't she would most likely be dead by now. It pained Callen's heart. Knowing her daughter was in physical pain and yet he couldn't do anything. It pained him even more remembering the circumstances in which they last encountered each other personally. Callen hasn't seen Iris since she lost control and almost drove Eva into madness. Her wife still asked him questions he couldn't answer about that day and the events that came to unfold. Callen can never let Eva realize that the terrible things she witnessed that particular day were caused by Iris's rage.

He was very aware of the rumors that accused her daughter of being weak and powerless. But he knew those were only lies he created. And no one but himself knew how he wished those rumors were true. Her most beloved daughter was not in any sense powerless. On the contrary, she was all too powerful. And he knew it once Iris turned five. It was an extremely rare occurrence since gifts normally manifest at the age of ten. Yet he hadn't encountered anyone like her in all his years of existence. She has such tremendous power that even her body fails to hold it under control. Leading her to suffer from a number of illnesses. She keeps suffering from a weak body since she was still so young. Her body was like a vessel to that power and it was barely holding it together.

Despite both of them knowing the intensity of her gifts, they barely knew more than that. Iris learned since a young age to control her most basic feelings, she learned to master them. Or at least she thought so before the incident with Eva a couple of months ago. Both Callen and herself discovered that her feelings were what triggered those gifts to manifest. They didn't know what they exactly caused or did specifically. As strange as it sounds they varied from time to time and what scared Callen the most was that they didn't know her gifts full potential. There wasn't a way of knowing either without creating chaos, or without preventing them from draining her life completely, at least not yet. The mere thought of it almost made him cry.

"How is your daughter fairing Callen?" Nicolas, his right-hand man and closest friend asks him as they are having lunch in the dining area.

His team of eight strongest and most talented demi-angels including himself are sitting on their respective table at the front of the vast room. They are sitting one beside the other facing all demi-angels who are officially working under house Carpio and having lunch. The eight of them are most of the time unaware of the number of stares full of admiration they are constantly receiving form the others.

"Oh he is doing great Nick. I just received a message from him notifying me how well he did on his tests. Still he has a long way to go" Callen finally answers him after a long pause. Nicolas chuckles.

"I was asking about your daughter Cal, not your son." He says amused. While the others at their table laugh.

"Oh…." Callen responds

"She is doing great too. Still experimenting and exploring with her new developed gifts. She just cured a number of our people last week. After being injured in combat. You heard about the vast attack in Berlin. A high number of ghouls were spotted and taken care off. However, they were a lot of casualties. And Nova was crucial in saving a lot of lives" Callen answers in a monotone voice. Obviously with his head somewhere else. Nicolas sights.

"He was asking about your daughter Iris sir" Demetri, the newest member of his team speaks. Callen after finally realizing his mistake laughs nervously.

"Well. I'm not sure…. I haven't seen her in a while" He finally answers with a sad tone. "Still sick last I heard"

"You haven't seen her all this time?" Victor a bald and dark colored demi-angel from the sixth realm Acquarem, known for its harsh, extremely hot weathers and vast oceans asked surprised.

The last image of her daughter appeared in his memories. Her awfully pale skin and tired eyes that he knew she was trying to fight with all her might. Despite her efforts she looked like she was about to faint. How her cheek seemed so red and mistreated by the harsh and ignorant actions of his wife. He was still furious at Eva for treating Iris like that despite being almost three months after the incident. He wanted to yell at her and even quick her out of the family's quarters if possible. He gave her the cold shoulder since last month. And did everything to avoid meeting her. Just as Iris was avoiding meeting him too.

He knew that what she did to her mother was wrong. And the first couple of weeks after the incident, for the very first time in Iris's life, he was furious at her too. He never tried to visit during those weeks either. And stayed beside his wife since she was still recuperating psychologically from that traumatic event. But by the third week she was perfectly fine once again. Yet her daughter was still in bed, fighting for her life.

Iris wasn't at fault either. How could you possibly say to an eleven-year-old girl to stop feeling. It was cruel. And it pained him every time as he watched the cold and emotionless expression on her cute and adorable face every time he saw her. She hasn't allowed herself to truly feel happy, sad, jealous, angry. How to love. Not only herself but those around her. She didn't even know how to love him either. The only thing she learned was to fully trust. She completely trusted her father. And despite Callen knowing Iris didn't love him, he felt content knowing at least she trusted him. But that wasn't the case now. He lost the only kind of emotion that connected him to his daughter. What made him different from everyone else. And then he could only hear the last words she said to him.

Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost.

"Callen!" He heard Nicolas said loudly as he shook his shoulder.

"What?" He says. His tired eyes not looking at anything in particular.

"Are you alright?" Nicolas asked with a worried voice. He saw the others on his table and saw that everyone looked concerned.

"I'm fine Nicolas. You don't need to get yourself worried" He began to eat once more.

"You should try talking to her sir. She is still young and needs her father beside her no matter what she claims she is feeling. And if I'm not wrong, I heard her birthday is approaching. Is better to clear this matter before she turns twelve. You know how short a year last. You have one more year to share with her until she leaves her home and finishes her studies abroad." Lilja says with a gentle voice. Just as his wife, she is from the third realm, Berieri.

Callen begins to panic. Lilja was right. What was wrong with him? He spent all these months sulking and feeling mad and miserable instead of spending valuable time with his precious daughter. Even worse. He left his daughter alone when she almost died of fever and needed him the most. Instead He just left her with a number of strangers that didn't even deserve the blessing of her company. Callen stood abruptly.

"Gotta go. Nick I'll leave you in charge for today. If something gets out of hand you report directly to me." Callen says determined and leaves before he hears and answer. All seven of them look at each other and share a small laugh.

Iris felt the couple of last months pass in a painful blur. She wasn't sure at the beginning how much time had passed. It felt like decades since most of the time she spent her days fainting because of the pain. She let herself fall all the time in a dreamless slumber, it was the only way to truly escape from her sickness. Only to be waken up to eat even though she didn't had an appetite, or to go to the bathroom. At least she felt some kind of peace. No one was bothering her. She didn't need to worry about hurting people around her.

The last few weeks she didn't sleep as much as the first month and a half. But she was getting used to living like that. She demanded a TV to be brought. One like most earthlings had at their homes. She remembered them from the small period of time she lived among them. When she was around seven. Although she only spent a bit more than a year with them, it left a great impression on her. It was an experience that will remain imprinted in her mind as long as she lives.

Unlike her siblings. She didn't spend that time in a big and crowded city. It was too risky considering her condition. She could hurt herself and most importantly she could hurt others. Klaus lived In Singapore while Nova lived in London. Both of them were fascinated by the tall and flashy buildings. The variety of people and things they used on their daily routines. The fun toys and places that were meant for human children of our age. Eva constantly visited them on their respective cities. She never visited her, not even once. But Iris never needed her company. She only needed Callen's company. His company was more than enough.

When their parents couldn't visit them, they were left under the care of another two demi-angels working for them. Ones they fully trusted. And for appearances and not create suspicion among humans, they pretended to be her real parents. She remembered they were called Nicolas and Kiera. They were good people to her. And very understandable. Most people would feel annoyed towards her odd and uncaring attitude. But surprisingly they never did.

She lived in a small and humbled town called Ubate. It was located in south America in a country named Colombia. She discovered that despite the poverty and difficulties most of the villagers lived in, they never stopped being positive and caring for those around them. She remembered how it was to live surrounded by nature. Surrounded by animals, by wheat and flowers. She could still hear the sounds that felt like blessings to her ears. The sound of the wind, the sound of the small choruses it left behind when the hectares of grass began to rustle in union. The sound of dogs barking and following her almost as if protecting her from harm. The crickets that were heard at night when the moon began to rise. Those were more pleasant than any kind of lullaby. Because she felt as if God himself was singing to her.

She remembered the small and humble houses they lived in. Some even made by themselves. She remembered how despite not being in the greatest conditions they never lacked warmth nor love. She didn't understand those things. She still can't. But she still remembers seeing them in their eyes. Their smiles and laughs. They found happiness in the simplest things. Also, they tried to spend their small savings in things such as TV's and other artifacts called radios. Rather than bettering the conditions their houses were in. Instead, those were considered more valuable and worth having, those were things that let them escape sometimes form their realities. See the world through someone else's eyes because never in their lives could they afford to travel.

So yes. She demanded a TV. She didn't know if it was to escape from her reality as most of the villagers did. Or if it was because she wanted to remember those memories again. Being close to them and reminding herself that those memories were true. That they weren't fractions created by her imagination. Maybe she felt as some people called nostalgic.

She watched a lot of things in her new TV. She watched a woman who travelled the whole world to be close to her love. A man who leaves the protection of his home and the company of the woman he loves because of war. She saw children going to school. Teenagers being fools. Adults being robbed. She saw countless of expressions in who knows how many people's faces. She saw death and pain. Friendship and betrayal. The last one stayed a couple of days in her mind because then she understood what she felt. What she has felt for the last couple months.

She felt betrayed.