3. The Acquaintance...

Bringing the sword down on the neck of the man that was now in front of her, but then finally seeing him and realizing who he was, with all efforts she brings her slicing intentions to a halt, stopping right on his neck.

"You should just do it, My Lady. The only penalty for a guard that fails his master is rightfully death, so just do it"

"Shinok," she calls his name, confirming who he was.

"I'm sorry I came too late My Lady. I should never have left in the first place. I should have taken his place instead." You could hear the regret in his voice.

A part of her truly wished it was this way, she knew it was selfish, but she could not help but wish someone else would have died in his stead.

At least he would still be here. But she knew better than anyone that he would have hated that more than anything.

"And you think you dying in his stead would have saved him? You know you're not just his personal guard, you're his best friend. Would he want his best friend dying for him? Virgo? I don't think so..." She said, as she hugged him.

...

"How is Rin?" Kiara asks.

His face totally changes at the question, and a shadow of sadness filled his entire body.

"Is something wrong?" She asked confused.

"Rin, huh, I lost her. She died after the birth of our baby." At the news, Kiara felt a kind of pain hit her in the heart.

Rin was dead too. She was such a sweet lady. Why did bad things always happen to good people?

"I'm so sorry Shinok." She takes her hands in his own. "How are you?"

"Life's never easy after a loss, that's why I couldn't come to you earlier. I was too busy grieving over the loss of the two people most dear to me. But it's okay, she left me Zaya, and now I've met Zairo."

"Zaya? It's a baby girl?" He nods in response.

...

"Come with me, Kiara. You both can't stay here alone. And he also needs to be around his kind. He needs to learn how to be Arkzarian. And one day rises to take back what is rightfully his. Come with me."

"Shinok, I want my son to be everything, but not any of the things you just said. And he's just half-demon, so I'm also his kind." She replies bitterly.

"And if possible, I don't want him to know a single thing about Arkzar, or his lineage. I just want him to live a simple life as a human being, not as a demon."

"But Kiara, he—"

"No buts Shinok, no buts. I don't want to lose my son too. I lost Virgo, I don't want to lose him like that too." Glisters of tears could be seen in her eyes as she spoke.

"I'll always follow Virgo's wishes, and he always said your wishes were as good as his. And if that's what you want, then I can't do anything about it."

"Thank you Shinok."

"But if ever you change your mind, you'll find me here," he places his hand on her head, pressing his thumb slightly on her forehead, and she could see it, a kind of temple, a martial arts school. It looked so real in her head that it felt like she'd been there already.

The road and address were clear in her head. When he was sure she got it clear, he takes his hand off her head.

"I better get going. A demon like me should not be interrupting the life of an ordinary human." He stands up from the edge of the bed where he sat.

" Shinok."

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For coming for us even though he's gone".

"He is not gone. He's right there," he points at little Zairo on the bed.

...

{some years later}

As the years slowly went by and the child grew, so did his demonic powers. It was getting harder and harder to hide him.

Even though Kiara had told him multiple times not to do certain things that would make him stand out, it was hard to hold down the child of Virgo.

Like his father, he was ever agile and extremely stubborn. And very cunning.

She could still remember the first time they met...

"Stop blocking my path. I am a demon hunter, and I will slay any demon that trespasses and hurts a human." She defiantly said to him, even though he was at least a foot and a half taller than her. His huge and domineering features did not scare her.

Or so she wanted him to believe.

"So you're the demon hunter I've heard so much about," Virgo said, still not planning on letting her go through that easily.

How could a pretty little thing like her be so fierce and never budging?

"Kiara is it?"

"Yes, and who might you be that you dare block my way. I was told I would find the demons that caused havoc in Helia here, get out of my way so I can go hunt those demons down!" She tried pushing and walking past him, but ended up being spun around, and landing face buried in his arms.

She looked up at him with annoyance.

"Who the hell are you?" she boomed angrily.

His eyes were blue, looking directly into them now, so up close, she couldn't turn away.

He lowered his head to her level, his face so close to hers, his sharp nose half a centimeter away from hers.

"W_what do you want? W_who are y_you?" She faltered. Then he cooed above her lips.

"Your fate... Hunt me"

She still got those delightful goosebumps remembering their first encounter, she could still feel the thrill she felt then as if it was merely yesterday.

She was bold and fearless, and he was fierce and fine. She ended up taming his wildness, as he did hers.

So if she could successfully tame the father, how hard could the son be?

But five years had passed, and every day her son was a different kind of mischief. He was a mixture of both, bold and fierce and fearless and an extra flavor of super naughty.

He was all kinds of show in one body.

"Zai! Zai!! Zai!!!!" He was no were to be seen. She was about to go looking for him when he ran into the house with mud all over his body

"Mom did you call?" he said smiling, revealing his perfect set of teeth and cute dimples.

His eyes were sky blue just like his father's, but he's were a bit different, they almost seem like they glowed.

Kiara looks at her son in disbelief, he looked like an elephant having a mud bath.

"Zai!!!, I just cleaned you up now look at what you've done." Seeing his mother walking up to him he starts taking steps backward, ready to take off.

"What are you doing? Why are you moving backward? Don't you dare take another step, I said stop right—" before she could say another word he was already out the door.

She starts chasing him round the house. They do this for almost twenty minutes.

It was like Zairo never got tired, he was just full of energy.

But then he fell down.

She ran to where he fell, he had a slight cut on his knee but it closes up quickly, like he was never injured.

She looks at him for a second and asks, "Does it hurt?" he replies smiling...

"No"

"That's good. So now tell me why you are covered in mud..." The smile on his face changes as he just now realizes that he has been caught.

He tries to run again but this time he is caught by the ear as she drags him into the bathroom.

After cleaning him up she feeds him even though he complains of wanting fried chicken instead.

"You can't just eat fried chicken all day long. You have to eat something else to balance your diet." She tries explaining to him, as simply as he could understand, but understanding her words was for him to choose, and he most definitely did not understand the language she just spoke.

Any word against chicken was complete gibberish to him.

"Eating Chicken is balanced enough for me. It has oil, and water, and minerals, and proteins, and vitamins, and _ and _ and the rest of the other ones." Zairo faltered as he had no idea what other classes of food existed.

"The thing is I can eat fried chickens all day long. You don't have to worry about a balanced diet. I can live on fried chicken forever." He flashed her a smile as he stuffed his mouth with some dumplings.

"I'm sure you can. But I just won't let you" She ruffles his hair like a little puppy.

After dinner, they do the dishes together, singing and wiggling their butts as they worked. They watched a short cartoon, and then she tucked him into bed.

"Would you like to go out with me tomorrow? I want to go visit an old friend," She says as she pulls the cover over his little chest.

He was clearly excited at the news and was about to answer when his pretty little brain suddenly saw an opportunity.

"I'll come with you, only on one condition," he said with his hands up like a little negotiator.

Kiara looks like she already knew what his condition was going to be.

"One condition, okay let me hear it."

"I want fried chicken tomorrow, lots of fried chicken. No fried chicken means no outing." He blurts out, his hands placed together as he prayed and wished and hoped that she would agree.

She loos like she was pondering on what he said for a little while and then she says "Deal!"