Pride x Familiar (26 page)

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Arisa had told me about Celica Awakening as a
Familiar and being recruited into Artemis. I learnt all this after
I Awakened so Simone’s words were not news to me. But a mission to
infiltrate Crescent was, and I found it hard to accept that Celica
was the right person for the job.

I gave Simone a hard look. “Is this what
Prissila was going to tell me at the amusement park?”

The Countess looked hesitant. “Perhaps. We don’t
know what the Ventiss family knows about your sister’s involvement
with Crescent. But we couldn’t take the risk of having Prissila
reveal the truth. Prissila probably thought we wouldn’t try to
intervene in a public area, but she was wrong. And we were afraid
of how you would react.”

“You tried to stop her because you were afraid
I’d do something in public?”

If so that meant that the Raynars and Lanfears
didn’t trust me. It meant they didn’t trust me with a Fragment. In
that case, why give me such a powerful Fragment?

But what disturbed me the most, was the fact
that Simone didn’t trust me.

I realized that her opinion of me mattered to
me.

I asked her rather harshly, “What did you think
I was going to do?”

She shook her head fervently. “I don’t know. I
just know that I didn’t want her talking to you.”

“Why, Simone?”

“Because I wanted to be the one to tell you the
truth.”

“What truth? Are you talking about Celica, or is
there something more?”

The Countess took a handful of slow breaths.
“Caelum, listen to me carefully. Before you transferred to Galatea
Academy, my mother spoke to me privately. She said there were
things I needed to know about you. Important things.”

“Such as?”

The Countess exhaled softly. “My mother told me
about your sister. She also told me about your parents, and about
your ancestors. She told me about your family bloodline.”

“My bloodline?”

Simone nodded. “My mother said that originally
it was my blood that was supposed to trigger your Awakening as a
Familiar.” She pressed down upon her chest. “My mother wanted the
two of us to be bonded to each other. Arisa Imreh was not part of
the plan.”

“Then why weren’t we bonded?”

She shook her head and her ash grey locks
swayed. “I don’t know. At the last minute the Raynar Primatriarch
sent word that you were to be left alone. In fact, she contacted
the Lanfears and offered you to them. Arisa Imreh jumped at the
opportunity. But the Ventiss Family was livid. They had plans for
Prissila to bond with you. When she learnt about the Primatriarch’s
directive, Prissila took matters into her own hands. Her family may
have considered breaking the agreement, but it was Prissila who
actually broke it. She sent Constance to your school, but Constance
saw that Caprice was also headed your way. As a result, Constance
clashed with Caprice and tried preventing the Lanfears from getting
to you.”

I narrowed my eyes at the Countess. “Prissila
broke the agreement? Was she punished for what she did?”

The Countess grimaced. “Severely reprimanding
the only daughter of the Ventiss Family would have affected the
stability within our Pride. The Ventiss Family has a lot of support
within the Raynar Pride, so there wasn’t much our Primatriarch
could do to them or to her. And the Ventiss Family knows this.
Primavera Ventiss was almost elected Primatriarch of the Raynar
Pride here in Pharos.”

I frowned. “Primavera Ventiss?”

Simone nodded. “Prissila’s mother. To say she
resents an Alucard being elected as Primatriarch is a gross
understatement. But these days Primavera has the support of almost
half the Pride, while Serenity Alucard is supported by the
remaining majority.”

I couldn’t help but sigh loudly. “I get the
feeling that if Prissila had bonded me to her, her standing would
have improved within the Raynar Pride. Not only that, the Ventiss
Family might have gained from having me in their ranks of
affiliated Familiars.”

The Countess breathed in slowly. “Yes, that’s
true. Over the last fifteen years or so, it’s become popular for
prominent members within a Pride to bond Familiars to them. By
bonding you to her, Arisa Imreh gains considerable standing within
the Lanfear Pride even though she’s the niece of the Lanfear
Primatriarch. She’s using her new found standing to progress her
plans. Unfortunately, now that you’ve lost your Fragment, her
standing has taken quite a hit.”

“I…I see….”

Again she pressed down upon her chest. “Caelum,
you’re right—all of this is my fault. After what my mother told me,
I didn’t know how to handle it. When I learnt Prissila had whisked
you away to the amusement park, I panicked.” She looked down and
grimaced. “It would have been better if she’d never told me the
truth. I wouldn’t have over-reacted. Now everything has gone to
Hell.”

I watched her tremble slightly as silence
descended between us.

I chose not to let it linger.

“Simone, you mentioned something about my
bloodline. What did you mean?”

She wet her lips slowly, and then swallowed.
“Caelum, what do you know about your family’s ancestry?”

I gave her question some serious thought. The
truth was, I knew almost nothing about my family, or my
grandparents. Neither my parents nor my sister ever spoke of our
relatives. After my parents died, Celica and I learnt that it was
confirmed we were both orphans. But our genealogy wasn’t made
available to us. At the time I was too young to be interested in
our family tree and I was grieving over the death of our
parents.

I shook my head at Simone. “Close to
nothing.”

She nodded but it was more for her benefit than
mine. “That’s to be expected.”

“Why?”

“Because your ancestry has been classified by
the Prides. In fact, in many instances it’s been rewritten to hide
the truth—to keep others from knowing about you.”

I blinked quickly in shock. “Why? Why go that
far? What’s so special about my family?”

“It’s your bloodline, Caelum. Your bloodline
dates back to the Cataclysm. But there are no records of your
ancestors from before then. It’s as though your family came into
existence
after
the Cataclysm took place.”

My shock jumped up a notch. “No records before
the Cataclysm…?”

For a heartbeat, Simone actually looked afraid.
But she nodded ever so slowly and ever so faintly.

My voice was barely above a whisper. “How…how
can that be?”

Simone shook her head. “We don’t know. My mother
says that nobody knows where your family came from. And it’s not
just your family, Caelum. There are eleven other families that have
no origins.”

I mulled her words over.

Eleven other families.

Twelve families in total.

I asked cautiously, “Prissila mentioned
something about the Original Twelve. Is this what she meant?”

Simone stepped closer to me.

Her sweet fragrance reminded me of our time
together in the storage room.

She spoke softly. “The Original Twelve refers to
the twelve families of Familiars that fought for the Aventis during
the War of Supremacy. The twelve families that originated
after
the Cataclysm. It is said they wielded Artifacts of
immense power, and that they helped bring an end to the war between
humanity and the Aventis.”

“The Original Twelve were Familiars?”

“Yes.” She leaned forward, our lips only inches
apart. “Just like everyone in your family.”

I inhaled loudly. “What do you mean
everyone
?”

“Everyone in your family line has been a
Familiar, all the way back to the Cataclysm. Your parents, your
sister, your grandparents and great grandparents. Even when your
family line branched from the main line, they too were Familiars.
All the members of your bloodline have had a high compatibility
with the Fragments.”

I blinked in disbelief. “All…all of them?”

She nodded. “And all of them have served the
Raynar Pride. You are the only exception. The first to be bonded to
another Pride.”

I swallowed hard then abruptly burst into
nervous laughter. “Simone…tell me you’re lying….”

Simone’s face fell into faint despair, killing
my forced mirth in a heartbeat.

She shook her head gently. “No, Caelum. It’s no
lie. Your family—your bloodline—have been Familiars since the
earliest records we have of them.”

Even if I doubted her, I saw that she believed
her words. Simone was convinced that what she was telling me was
the absolute truth.

I lost my will to laugh in the face of her
conviction.

She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Caelum, but
it’s the truth. You and Celica are descendants of an Original
Twelve bloodline. This is what Prissila meant when she said you
were special. This is why her family considered breaking the
agreement. They wanted to keep your bloodline in the service of the
Raynars, not the Lanfears.”

She reached out and took my hands, holding them
tenderly.

I lacked the will to break free of her hold.

Simone spoke in a reverent tone. “If you’re
ancestors hadn’t fought for us, the Aventis would have lost the
war, and you and I would have never met.”

I looked into her eyes, feeling almost
overwhelmed by her revelation. But if there was more to know, then
I needed to know it now.

I squeezed her fingers gently. “Simone,
please…tell me everything you know. Don’t leave anything out.”

Her smile made my heart skip a little. “I’ll
tell you everything I know. At least, I’ll tell you everything my
mother told me.”

#

(Haruka)

School Week Two. Tuesday morning.

I came to school feeling like a wet rag.

I’d tossed and turned most of the night, trying
to figure out Caelum.

Trying to figure out my feelings, and wondering
if there was a chance to bridge the gap between us.

Wondering if I should even try.

I was feeling confused, depressed, despondent,
and useless to myself and anyone else.

I arrived at my classroom more than half an hour
before homeroom was scheduled to start.

I had an unexpected guest.

Duncan Armand Avenir was a senior, and someone I
grew to know over the past few months.

To say that we dated was not a stretch. In fact,
we were
almost
dating. We spent time together whenever I
joined Siobhan and Alistair in the company of Duncan and his
friends, which was to say quite often. Very often. So in that
respect, we were both standing at the proverbial dating line, just
waiting to take the next step.

I was comfortable around him, and in truth he
made me feel special. He was kind, courteous, and he paid special
attention to me on each occasion we were together.

At school we ate lunch together a few times, and
while I heard rumors and gossip behind my back, I was thankfully
untroubled by the usual bitchiness that seems to accompany the
jealousy that girls my age can express.

Oh, I should mention that in any girl’s book,
Duncan is quite the catch.

He’s tall, easy on the eyes, and lithely built,
which suits him well as a member of the competing basketball team.
He isn’t the star player, but he’s rarely benched, and last year he
made a name for himself as a promising rising star.

So here I was ‘almost’ dating an eligible
senior.

I guess I was lucky.

Caelum was right. He had made a mess of my love
life, but I’d held myself back as well.

The end result was that I lacked experience when
it came to dating the opposite sex.

I could have been tricked by an unscrupulous
senior, but I lucked out.

Duncan was someone that I felt I could open up
to.

He eased the emptiness in my heart, the void
that resulted when Caelum and I parted ways.

By the time my second year of high school
started, I had pretty much decided to open up to him, and was ready
to say ‘yes’ if he ever asked me that all important question.

No, I’m not talking about getting engaged.

I’m talking about the other question – the
boyfriend-girlfriend question.

But then Caelum stormed right back into my life,
rear-ending my first week back in school.

Rear-ending all my carefully laid out plans!

Aggh, he could be such a pain in the ass!

So I arrived at my homeroom, and a short while
later I saw Duncan peek in through the open door. Surprised to see
him, I quickly met him in the hallway outside.

“Hi,” he said, looking a little embarrassed.

I smiled stupidly up at him. “Hi back.” Stupid
heart calm down! “Why are you here?”

“To see you.”

“Ah…oh. Really?”

He gave me a bemused smile. “Well, yeah. This is
your homeroom.”

I looked up at the sign beside the door. “Yeah,
I guess it is.”

Stupid, stupid heart! I’m having trouble hearing
him. Stop beating so loudly.

Wait, why was I getting so flustered? Last year
and over the break I was totally at ease beside him. Then again, it
was rare for the two of us to be alone. Siobhan and Alistair were
usually beside me whenever Duncan was around.

I frowned inwardly.

Maybe this is was how I was supposed to
feel.

Maybe this was a natural reaction for a girl
when she’s…falling in love?

“Haruka?”

“Hah—yes?”

“This Saturday, are you busy?”

“Heh—Saturday? No, I don’t think so. I’d have to
check with Siobhan and Alistair, but I don’t think anything was
planned.”

My palms were beginning to sweat. I hid my hands
behind my back. I worried my face would break out into a sweat.

And my damn heart was being a nuisance.

I can’t hear him if you keep drumming like
that.

Duncan swallowed noticeably. “Great, then would
you go out with me?”