Xander vol.1 Transmutation (4 page)

Standing across from him
was Seraphina, who had stayed in the arena to speak with Sven about
Saphora’s return. They were both interested and surprised at the
information, and seeing as though they could not accompany Xander
to speak with Edmon, they decided to talk amongst
themselves.

“
Saphora
returning?”

Sven nodded as he lowered
his hand back to his lap. His Guardian squeaked in protest, its
wings blurring as it followed the flower and perched on Xander’s
index finger.

“
Kiran may not be lost
after all.”

“
Don’t be foolish,” Sera
scoffed. “I highly doubt Ares has enough forces to take down two
thriving kingdoms. Or have you forgotten that Oisian will be a part
of this war, too?”

“
I haven’t forgotten,”
Sven insisted. “But I wouldn’t underestimate a daughter of
Kiran.”

“
Would you sooner
underestimate us?”

“
I just might.”

“
Sven,” Sera scolded in
distaste, while Anavae squeaked in agreement with her.

“
I’m just saying,” he
chuckled, his hands raising in surrender, or perhaps apology. “She
comes from a family that was able to bare an Ekechi. I’m not trying
to mess with
that
.”

“
I always knew you were a
trader,” came the sharp voice of Ziva, who was walking in through
the entrance on the other side of the arena.

Her hips, covered, just
barely by the hugging fabric of her black spandex-like pants, were
giving a generous sway, as they always did. Her torso covered by a
fashionable, just-functioning corset. Her skin, pale indigo in
colour, was bare from her shoulders down, allowing her long, wavy,
dark violet hair to contrast against it as it fell.

Sven allowed his eyes to
settle on the curve of her torso a moment too long before coming
back up to meet her wicked rust eyes. They narrowed at his
greeting. He smiled, his free hand flattening against his chest,
late in response to the insult.

“
I would never
betray
you
,
Ziva.”

“
Only your kingdom,” Ziva
scoffed, moving away from the arm he tried to loop around her
partially exposed waist.

She moved to stand closer
to Sera, who noticeably tensed in response. Sven’s eyes dropped
once again as Ziva walked away, before he flinched, being poked by
the long beak of his Guardian. Sven shook the hand Anavae was
perched on, mildly glaring at her. She flew over towards Sera, the
three women now visibly sided against him. He rolled his eyes,
raising his hands again in surrender as he explained
himself.

“
I’m just saying it
wouldn’t be easy to defeat her,” he reasoned.

“
But she
will
be defeated,” Ziva
argued. “Ruining lives to take what is not yours is not
acceptable.”

“
It’s not like I’m not
rooting for us,” Sven noted. “I’m just wary of what she’s got under
her sleeve. And I know I’m not the only one.”

“
No, I suppose you’re
not,” Sera agreed, her arms crossing. “But you’re right. Kiran’s
defenses will be considerably higher now that Saphora is back,
regardless of her skill level.”

“
Regardless?” Ziva
repeated skeptically, sliding her gaze in Sera’s
direction.

“
I’ve spoken to Hydra.
She’s the one that delivered the message to Oisian. She’s told me
some of the things she’s seen of Saphora’s power, as unexperienced
as she is.”

“
Like what?” came
Sven.

“
It’s quite interesting
really. She told me that during one of their collisions with Tebias
that her body defended itself.”

“
What do you mean?” Ziva
furrowed.

“
She was hiding behind
this – one of their land vehicles, trying to protect its driver.
And the vehicle exploded. Right there with her beside
it.”

“
Point-range explosion
contact?”

“
Yes,” Sera nodded. “Hydra
had thought her dead. But when she washed over the area, Saphora
had surrounded herself – and the driver, in a force
field.”

“
And? What’s so great
about that? I’ve got a cousin that can do force fields,” Sven
shrugged. Ziva was silent in her agreement.

“
Because,” Sera pressed.
“Saphora looked at it as if she herself was just as surprised to
see it. She didn’t
know
she was doing it. That her body was protecting
itself.”

“
But bodies don’t do
that,” Sven argued.

“
Athenian bodies,” Sera
pointed out. “We know nothing of an Ekechi body’s
capabilities.”

“
But I mean … the body
needs the mind to function,” Sven went on.

“
Haven’t you ever done
something without realizing it?” Sera challenged. “Take
breathing
for instance.
You hardly ever notice it’s being done until you call attention to
it. What if her body’s self-defense – for her, is as subconscious
as breathing?”

“
Could such a thing be
possible?” Ziva asked in almost obvious amazement.

“
Saphora may have just
proven it to be.”

“
But if that’s so … Would
she not be unstoppable?” Ziva pondered aloud. But Sera shook her
head in response.

“
I’m sure everything has
its limits. Even the Supremes are not immune to death.”

“
Still. That’s pretty
awesome. I don’t think my cousin can do that,” Sven
admitted.

“
I don’t think anyone
can,” Sera agreed.

“
Hm,” Sven mused, his hand
finding his chin as he silently shifted subjects. “Now that’s
Saphora’s back … Is the marriage still on?”

“
Oh, no,” Sera answered
immediately. “Aredelle and Vida have already spoken. And it would
be immensely inappropriate on all of their parts if they were to
continue as planned, considering the circumstances. Surely if the
time she’d been away was not so vast, perhaps the arrangement could
have been honored. But now?”

“
No, I’m glad. I didn’t
like the idea of them getting married, anyway,” Sven
clarified.

“
Wanted her all for
yourself?” Ziva said with narrow, but sarcastic eyes. Sven
smiled.

“
You’re the only one for
me, Ziva,” he assured, placing his hand over his chest sincerely.
Ziva rolled her eyes as he sat back up in his chair. “But I don’t
think it’s a very good idea to have the only two respectable
Athenian kingdoms joining together. What would that mean for the
land? Would they attempt to move castles? Or have merely one? One
kingdom? Leaving people with no area to choose their whereabouts is
dangerous territory.”

“
But there are people that
are not bound to either Kiran or Oisian. What of them?” Ziva
argued.

“
I’m not talking about
them. Not all citizens of Kiran get along with citizens of Oisian,
and vice versa. And forcing them to coexist may do more harm than
good. Resulting on a lesser scale of either party deciding to leave
the kingdom altogether, or you could end up with kingdom-wide
violence.”

“
I doubt it would come to
such a thing,” Sera scoffed, crossing her arms in
skepticism.

“
And what would you call
the new kingdom?
Kirasian
?
Please
. They’d
have
to combine kingdoms in order
for them to sit side by side on their thrones.” Sven shook his
head, waving his hand dismissively. “I just think it would have
been a big mess. And not to mention me not being a fan of the whole
arranged courtship thing.”

“
Well I guess it’s been
avoided then,” Sera huffed. “I wonder how they’ll take the
news.”

“
I’m sure Xander will be
jumping for joy, being a free man,” Sven laughed.

“
And Saphora?” came
Ziva.

“
Meh,” Sven shrugged. “If
what happened is still in any effect, I doubt she even remembers
being engaged.”

“
Xander knew because he
was older,” Sera reasoned. “But I don’t think Vida had told Saphora
about it before she was sent away. She was barely a child, let
alone a young adult.”

“
True,” Sven agreed. “She
probably doesn’t know.”

“
I wonder what Vida will
do now,” Sera sighed. “I wonder what Saphora’s future will be
like.”

“
Welp,” Sven sighed,
leaning back in his seat and reaching over the table to grab and
vine of grapes. “We’ll see after the war.”

********

“It’s not
really
just one person
leading,” Maverick explained to Xander. “Even though they’re the
present, they can’t make decisions by themselves. Other people have
to approve it.”

“
What?
” Xander scoffed with narrowed eyes. He shook his head,
waving his hand in disapproval. “How is it that the man in power
must seek the approval of others? Does that not defeat the
purpose?”

“
Kind of, I guess …
Especially since the people who have to approve never agree with
each other.”

“
With each other? Why does
that matter?”

“
Well – it’s
complicated.”

“
That, human, is an
understatement.”

Maverick laughed,
nodding.

“
I know. I don’t really
fully understand it myself, either.”

“
Madness,” mumbled
Xander.

“
I like it here, though,”
Maverick admitted. “It seems a lot simpler. And people seem a lot
happier.”

“
People
are
happy,” Xander
agreed, leaning back on the sofa bench that sat near the throne.
Maverick nodded.

“
I hope I can
stay.”

Xander arched a
brow.

“
Why wouldn’t you be able
to?”

Maverick snuck and glance
at Vida, who was still chatting with both Aredelle and Edmon.
Maverick’s eyes fell as he shook his head, trying to laugh it
off.

“
You never know,
right?”

“
Would you like someone to
tell you your future? We have people that can do that, you know,”
Xander offered. But Maverick was quick to shake his head no
nervously.

“
No, no. I’d rather not
know.”

“
If you insist,” Xander
shrugged. “I have the same thinking. I’ve yet to have my future
told.”

“
Does it frighten you,
too?”

“
Frighten?” Xander
laughed. “Of course not. But if I were to know everything, life
would be so boring! Boring or stressful, if I spent the remaining
time trying to change it.”

“
Hm. There’s a story on
Earth about that. Trying to change your fate and doing more harm
than good.”

“
A story?”

“
Oedipus Rex.”

“
Ha! I have an uncle that
goes by the first name there.”

“
Yeah, well. He had holes
in his feet.”

Xander’s eyes widened in
sudden disgust, grimacing as he glanced away. Shaking the thought
from his mind, he sighed, looking back at Maverick, who was
fidgeting with his hands.

“
So, explain this whole
president thing to me again,” Xander said to Maverick, who laughed
in return.

Their heads lifted when
they heard the pitter patter of feet coming down the hall and the
faint sound of yelling in the distance. It wasn’t long before they
saw Lyla sprinting into the room, grabbing their
attention.

“
Lyla?” Maverick
questioned.

Xander peeked over him,
leaning to the side to peer around at the little girl.

“
Is that the human girl?
She looks scared.”

Vida, Aredelle, and Edmon
stopped their conversation to see the little girl running into the
room, followed by the stumbling in of a confused and hesitant
guard, who looked at Vida questionably. Lyla skid to a stop in
front of Maverick, panting as she looking around him, her hands
reaching out for him cautiously.

“
What is it,
Lyla?”

“
Where’s Saphora? Arol?”
she asked frantically.

“
Saphora’s training in the
forest with Dakota. Arol’s probably on his way to join them,”
Xander answered, arching a brow as he looked down at her and her
bare feet. “Are you the human girl?”

Ignoring the question,
Lyla whined, her grip on Maverick getting tightening as she looked
back down the hallway from whence she came.

“
Why are you looking for
them? What’s wrong?” Maverick asked, his concern
obvious.

“
Can you bring me there?”
Lyla asked. Maverick hesitated, his head moving from side to
side.

“
I’m not so sure that’s a
good idea. I don’t think it’s safe to interrupt their
training.”

“
Is it normal for you to
go around without footwear?” Xander questioned, completely
disregarding the apparent urgency of the situation.