ii

Professor Dalton smiled down at Ophelia, causing her to back away slowly. "Wh-What're you doing here?" Ophelia looked over her shoulder and noticed that the large shadows were very large men with enough hair to make a shag carpet. A very rough shag carpet.

"Please, call me Perseus. I need you for something important, Ophelia. You'll play such a huge part in the movement of power." Perseus looks to the men standing about 8 feet behind Ophelia, nodding his head for them to move and grab her.

Ophelia gave a sharp breath as she whirled around and looked up at the towering men. "You won't touch me!" Her voice squeaked out. The man in the front barked out a laugh. "We won't. Abraxas didn't teach his daughter how to protect herself very well, look at her stance!"

Perseus cleared his throat, causing the hairy men to look at him. "Get her!" He demanded as Ophelia looked for a way out.

Before Ophelia could make a run for the building, a loud grunt caught everyone's attention. The men, Perseus, and Ophelia all looked towards the source. A lith shadow materialized beside Ophelia and Perseus groaned.

"Of course Caspian would show up and try and stop everything!" He complained. Ophelia knit her eyebrows together and looked at the figure beside her.

It looked exactly like Caspian, but he was wearing things no modern person would wear. A black cape brushed the ground and his shirt reminded her of pirate wear. He wore black boots that ended at his knees and a large ring with a ruby on his left ring finger. Who is this man? Ophelia took a step away from him.

"Ophelia," Caspian said, her name dripping off of his tongue like honey. "Stay close." Fear clutched her chest, causing her to back away a little bit more.

"Ophelia," Caspian said once more. "Now. It isn't the time to be stubborn." Ophelia's breath caught in her throat and a memory surfaced.

It was her and Caspian sitting in a sunlit garden. They were reading a book and Ophelia had grown bored. She had jumped up and ran, Caspian chasing after her. "Ophelia! Now's not the time to be stubborn! Your mother will kill us both if you get your dress dirty!"

Ophelia felt her head start to throb again, and she closed her eyes and pressed the heels of her hands into her temples in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure. Caspian cursed and rushed to Ophelia's side.

"Darling, now's not the time to do this." He looked between the men and Perseus, who held out his hand and had started making his way towards them.

"It hurts." Ophelia groaned out, leaning into Caspian. He looked back down at her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I know, I know."

Caspian was trying to think of a way out when Perseus stopped right in front of them.

"Oh, you're not leaving so soon, I hope. It's just starting to get interesting." Perseus simpered towards Caspian. "Caspian, I know you just love a good fight."

"I have someone I need to take care of. I don't have time to deal with you or your goons." Caspian growled.

Ophelia whimpered and slowly stood up. "I don't care what is going on," She stopped and pressed her knuckle against her forehead. "Caspian, please walk me home, I don't think I'll be able to by myself."

Perseus looked between the both of them, shocked by Ophelia's demand. "She's grown into her mother's role of queen well. Let's hope you'll live up to Abraxas' expectations." Perseus sneered at Caspian as Ophelia leaned against his shoulder to keep upright.

"You're just a half-demon. You'd never be able to live up to your king's expectations," Caspian unclasped his cape and wrapped it around Ophelia's shoulders and picked her up. "You'll only just be a lowly commoner who made a deal with the demon who wasn't interested in helping a mere sick, weak mortal."

Perseus glared at Caspian, the testosterone thick in the air. Caspian turned away from the half-demon and pushed his way through the group of large men.

Ophelia had rested her head against his shoulder, more memories flooding through her mind. Important ones haven't broken through yet, though, like who she was actually, why she couldn't remember anything about her childhood, who Perseus actually was. She couldn't fathom the fact that her whole life was actually a lie.

"We're here." Caspian spoke quietly, and set Ophelia down gently. She reached into her bag and pulled out the keys to her apartment and flipped to the right key and unlocked the door. She held it open for Caspian to walk through, and followed him in.

"You have a lot of things to explain." Ophelia walked into her kitchen and grabbed a bottle of excedrin. She reached into the fridge and grabbed two water bottles and handed one to Caspian, who took it and set it on the table beside him.

Ophelia took the headache medicine as Caspian started. "As you know by now, there are things that've been blocked from your memories." Ophelia nodded as she unclasped the cape from around her throat and gave it back to Caspian. He draped it over the back of the couch.

"Your father did it for your protection. He wanted to keep everyone who wanted to hurt you - the half-demons and anyone who wanted to get back at him - away. He wasn't going to, but when your mother died, he couldn't bear the thought of you dying."

Ophelia looked down to her lap. "My... mom's dead?" She felt tears prick the back of her eyes and heard the distinct tinkle of happy laughter. Caspian reached over and squeezed the hand that rested on the cushion between them.

"I'm sorry." Caspian said quietly. Ophelia blinked up at Caspian, finally meeting his eyes without him looking away. That was a mistake. Ophelia felt herself fall forward and her vision went black.