A Dozen Aramante

Andrea had started off by asking Kalvrie if she knew she was part of the Xendor bloodline. It was probably a dumb question but he did not really know how to start telling her that he was her father who had been absent for the past thirty years of her life.

They were currently in Kalvrie's house and after Andrea asked her the question, she was confused for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Kalvrie asked.

"You are a Xendor." Andrea said. "A regal."

The expression on Kalvrie's face showed that she thought it was some kind of joke but seeing how serious Andrea was when he said it, it was obvious that he was not joking.

Andrea had been gone from Veda longer than he had anticipated and he knew Sky was most likely home alone now. He had to hurry up here on Vaxoryn and head back. He had not found out anything about Jake but he had learnt his daughter was alive and that was still a partial win for him.

"I don't understand." Kalvrie said. "How can I be a regal? I never knew my parents but I am very sure they were not regals if not somebody would have at least come to take me away from that house."

"Did Lumian ever tell you what exactly happened to your parents?" Andrea asked.

"He never spoke to me until I turned nineteen and even when he did it was always about the tasks he had given me." Kalvrie replied. "I was only allowed to talk to him about the tasks I had been assigned."

"I don't really know how to say this and I know I shouldn't be saying this to you like this." Andrea said, struggling with the words to say. "I'm your father." he blurted out.

Kalvrie sat still for at least a minute. Not doing anything except for looking at Andrea. She seemed to be in a state of shock which was understandable. Andrea gave all the time she needed until she was ready to speak.

"How can you be my father? If you are in fact my father, where's my mother? Why wasn't I banished with you? Why did..."

"I realize you have a lot of questions and I will do my best to answer them all." Andrea said, stopping her from asking a continuous stream of questions. "Let me explain."

Andrea explained and narrated to Kalvrie how he had loved a non-regal named Athriel. He was the chief of the Xendor bloodline so of course it was against the rules but he had done it anyway.

He narrated the whole ordeal and explained how he was banished and never knew what happened to Athriel or his unborn child. He told her how he confirmed that she was his daughter through his visit to the castle and now here he was, telling her everything.

Kalvrie had tears in her eyes as Andrea finished the narration he had been doing. He wiped a single tear from his eyes and was about to approach Kalvrie when she sniffled and stood up from where she was seated.

She began pacing around the room, trying to process everything Andrea had just said as she wiped the tears away from her eyes and sniffled again.

"Why didn't you come back before now?" Kalvrie asked Andrea and turned to face him. "You didn't care enough to come back?"

"Of course I cared." Andrea said and also stood up. "There's nothing I could have done if I had come back all those years. After my father, the Master, took my energy from me I became ill for months. Almost a year. I couldn't do anything and when I got better I started looking for ways to get my energy back. I needed to get it back if I was going to come back and find out what happened to you.

"Through the years I had been in contact with Lumian and I practically begged him to tell me what happened to you and Athriel but he didn't. I can't begin to understand how you feel right now."

"Why did you come back now?" Kalvrie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you couldn't come back because you didn't have your energy in case you needed to fight. I can tell you still don't have your energy again so why did you return to Vaxoryn now?"

"I came back to see if Lumian or my father knew anything about Jake's whereabouts." Andrea answered. "He's my first son and he's missing."

"SHIT!" Kalvrie exclaimed then sat down again and bowed her head with her hands on both sides of her head. "No. No. No."

"What's wrong?" Andrea asked, worried by her reaction.

"If you're my father then that means Jake and Sky are my brothers." Kalvrie said.

"I don't..."

"Their mothers are dead because of me." Kalvrie said quietly, in a tone that was barely as loud as a whisper and tears fell from her eyes again.

Andrea had managed to hear what she said then he went to sit with her and put his hand on her back.

"It is not your fault." Andrea said to her gently. "You were following orders from the only person you had probably ever thought was family. Lumian. How could you have known Jake and Sky were your brothers? This is my fault. I should have been here."

Kalvrie looked up at Andrea with tears in her eyes and hugged him.

Andrea hugged her back. "I'm sorry I wasn't here all these years. All this would not have happened if I had been here to take care of you."

"They're never going to forgive me." Kalvrie said.

"You will need to give them time." Andrea reassured her. "But you need to come back to Veda with me."

"What? Why?" Kalvrie asked as she wiped the tears from her face.

"Now that I know you're my daughter, Lumian will come for you."

"Why does he hate you so much?"

"I don't know." Andrea said. "But that's just how it is and I'll be damned if I let him keep me away from you again."

"But I have a life here. I can't just..."

An explosion right outside the house blew up the walls and sent Andrea and Kalvrie crashing through another wall.

Outside, around a dozen melynxs with white hair that seemed to be made from energy could be seen standing. They were wearing black overalls and their eyes were glowing white.

"It's the Aramante." Kalvrie said, getting up from the floor and assisting Andrea in getting up.

"We have to go." Andrea said and they both began running out of the house through the other side.