7

Iris was out of her bed and out of her room the next day. She had breakfast at her room alone with Cass. She normally had breakfast with her father, Eva and Nova in the dining area of the Carpio's personal part of the state. But when her father had important matters to attend or was out on missions for weeks. It was just the three of them. Iris had to admit that on those occasions the atmosphere was a bit awkward.

She began her daily routine. The same routine she had before her sickness. Her days always started earlier than normal people's standards. Normally when the sky was still a bit dark. Surprisingly, after the encounter with her father yesterday, she felt much better. Although the hold on her powers went a little bit out of control she didn't feel sick at all which she thought was weird because when she used them on Eva she almost died. But this time by doing so, it was as if instead of getting her sick, the powers gave her health back.

On the other hand, she knew her powers were deathly when used on other people. And yesterday she used them on her dad, despite him being the only person close to her. But she completely let her control go. She didn't hold herself back. Because she knew she wouldn't kill him. She couldn't.

She still feels betrayed and hurt. Two feelings she has learned to identify very well the last few months. She has learned more from the last few months compared to her whole life when it came to feelings. However, she knew she doesn't hate her father. She just needed time to heal she supposed and she felt weird when she saw the hurt expression on his face when she completely vented out what was bothering her for the last few days.

Although she doesn't want to see him today, or even tomorrow for the matter. She also knows she can't allow such a long period of time pass as before without seeing him. He was still her only ally. And she needed him to know what she had and how to control it since she will soon turn twelve and then she would only have a year left. A year until she leaves to study at the Halls of Crestere. She needed to control her powers at least a little bit more for her to be sure she won't hurt or even kill anyone.

After dressing up and having breakfast with Cass inside her room. Cass couldn't help but notice how Iris's face had a bit more color and how her appetite was slowly beginning to come back. Instead of her pajamas she now wore her usual black cloak a dark gray sweater and black tight pants for exercise. Her hair was being held back by a pony tail. Which permitted Cass appreciate her features.

"I won't be coming back till nightfall Cass" Iris says. Making Cass jump a little bit as she was interrupted from her thoughts.

"Oh. Why so late my lady?" She asked curiously

"I'm a bit behind from my studies since my sickness prevented me from doing anything else" She says with a neutral voice. She picks a few of her things from her mahogany desk. Some books and pieces of paper with little notes, grabs her shoulder bag and puts them inside.

"I'll spend these days catching up" Iris then looks at Cass's direction. "I'll be in the main library around twelve o'clock in my usual spot. Call me when lunch is ready. Also tell my combat trainer that I will be expecting him in our usual training grounds by two"

Before Cass can answer in confirmation Iris turns around and leaves through the door. Cass knew Iris wasn't as behind from her studies as she claimed to be. Her lady has always been too smart for her age. She knew she even was intellectually more advanced than her older brother. But Cass has noticed how Iris's relationship with her father hasn't been the greatest lately. Maybe Iris needed to keep herself busy to avoid thinking about that matter.

Elio woke from the stinging pain on his right arm. Manananggal bites hurt like a bitch. It's been a bit more than two months since he first started working here and he had to admit that it was hard. Harder than he expected. But what could he say. It was the strongest house of Demi-Angels for a reason. And this house reputation didn't disappoint.

Elio has been in around six missions out there in the real world. Most of them in his home's realm Daisa. To say he was a little bit nervous on his first mission was an understatement. He was still trying to get used to the whole working undercover thing. Most of the missions lasted days and during those days they had to act like normal humans in different worlds. What made this mission more difficult was that humans couldn't discover in any way the existence of Demi-angels. That's why the whole working undercover thing was so important. But a part of him also enjoys it. He felt satisfaction because after twenty years he finally has the opportunity to practice and perform the duties he was born to do. He loved knowing that humans could live a bit safer because of him.

After his first two weeks of being in house Carpio he went into a number of assessments. By the end of his first week here he swore he never felt more tired in all his life. His trainings went from six in the morning until six in the evening. Just stopping for meals and lunch. He wasn't the only one. All twenty newbies felt like dying on their first week. The second was the same although they all knew what they were dealing with, so it wasn't as torturous as the first. By the end of the second week they were assigned to their respective groups depending on how well their performances were during that period of time.

Elio knew he performed well most of the time. He was a bit above average which was a great achievement since it was under house Carpio's standards. And he was content with all the members of his assigned group.

They were three males and two female demi-angels. And he was the only one that belonged to a royal house. All five of them treated the other with respect and they were still trying to get to know each other a bit more as well. It was crucial for their team work since it was widely known that without creating strong bonds teams could suffer more casualties. At first his team members were a bit awkward, specially to him as a result of Elio's noble birth. But they slowly began to warm up to him. Elio admired all four of them. They were extremely hardworking despite not having as much privileges as him. But they still made it this far. Achieving what a great number of nobles couldn't.

Last week they were on their first mission on earth. Earth is known for having the most complicated and dangerous missions. Having such a big population, even more on the last few decades. It was easier for evil creatures to hide themselves among the earthlings.

They were in a city called Ostrava in Czech Republic. There was suspicious activity in the northern part of the city. A number of deaths were already encountered and the humans thought it was a serial killer that practiced cannibalism. But no serial killer needed to drain other person's entire blood to survive. They found a group of Manananggal inside an abandoned building. But unfortunately, they were only five Demi-angels against thirty of them. It was blood bath. However, they still were able to made it out alive. Barely. But they did. That didn't mean they made it out untouched.

A Manananggal bite wasn't like any normal animal's bite. If it were then it would've completely healed in a couple of seconds or a minute at maximum. When you receive a bite from these creatures, if not treated on time you could experience a slow and painful death. Elio unfortunately receive two of them on his arm. And he experienced the first sided effects.

The first sense he lost was the sense of sight. It was terrifying not being able to see anything. But he not only saw darkness. He could feel as if he was inside the creature's own head, he felt his mind being slowly corrupted and that was what made it so terrifying. Then he began to hear his own insides. How his blood ran though his veins. How his heart beat so rapidly. And he felt burning all over. That was before he blacked out.

He spent five days in bed. His team members were in similar conditions or even worse. They were lucky a couple of Demi-angels that received their call for back up were close by.

Now as he woke up he saw through the window beside his bed how early it was. The sun had not even completely come out yet. Elio knew he wouldn't be able to fall sleep anytime soon. His throat was dry and it hurt. Also his right arm was throbbing painfully. Last night one of the castle's healers gave him a number of herbs and an unpleasantly bitter infusion to relieve his pain. But now it seems the medicine stopped working. Elio lifted his upper body from the bed with a groan. At the other side of the room was Lance laying on his respective bed sleeping peacefully.

Lucky bastard.

He stood up with difficulty, wrapped himself with his blanket and went to his closet to put on some shoes. He heard Lance stirring on his bed and an annoyed groggy groan coming from his mouth. Elio didn't bother to keep his movements silent and keeping them from interrupting Lance's sleep.

"Asshole. Keep it down. Some of us have to work today thank you very much" Lance mumbles with a raspy voice.

"It's not my fault that you are a light sleeper. I need a glass of water. My throat is killing me."

"I liked you better when you were unconscious" Elio gives him a glare. Lance just rolls his eyes.

"You could've asked one of the castle's staff members to bring you a glass of water genius. There's a phone next to your bed"

"I want to walk. I spent too much time in bed" Lance makes and exasperated sight.

"Ugh whatever. Make sure to close the door on your way out" He turns his back to Elio and goes back to falling asleep.

Elio gets out of his and Lance's room. And begins to walk through a huge corridor passing countless of doors identical to his. There are around eight floors in this part of the castle. All of them containing numerous chambers for demi-angels. And luckily, he lived in the third one. However, Elio knew there were more buildings like this one in different parts of the state. And just thinking on how many rooms like his there could be made Elio's head hurt.

The long corridor was desolated. And the whole structure emitted a gothic and antique air. He finally reached the wide stairs that met the end of the long corridor and began to make his way down and into the main kitchen which was a pretty damn long journey. Despite being here for almost three months, it was impossible for him to memorize the whole structure of the state. He just knew were the most important and frequent places he will be using where. That's why he didn't know where the closest kitchen was.

After a fifteen minutes' walk. He finally reached the main kitchen and served himself a glass of water, drinking the whole glass in a matter of seconds. He served himself another glass and began to make his way once again towards his room. As he was passing thorough one of the countless corridors something he saw in one of the windows he was passing by made him stop on his tracks.

He could not only admire one of the castle's gardens as the morning fog was beginning to diminish. The sky was painted in hundreds of blue and yellow hues as the sun was beginning to slowly rise to the morning sky. Colorful bushes with endless number of different flowers were surrounding a round gazebo with Greek style columns made of limestone. At the center was an ancient looking statue of a nude woman made in marble. But the beautiful scenery wasn't the only thing that made Elio stop. A figure with a black cloak was sitting inside the gazebo with a book in hand. Turning its pages with calmness.

Curiousness and excitement were rising in Elio's gut thinking of the possibilities of who that person may be. He began to walk faster towards the garden in hopes of confirming his inquisitive mind. Upon reaching the garden and coming closer to that person by the second, he saw how his presence was no longer unnoticed as the cloaked person's body began to tense.

It has been over an hour since Iris began reading in her favorite garden. Since she was young, she realized how much she enjoyed being surrounded by nature. Iris always felt that nature was a peaceful and uncorrupted company. Its company never brought her trouble nor tragedy which helped her appreciate it fully. Although she had her personal garden in the Carpio's personal grounds, a garden which she wouldn't have to worry about being seen. To many unpleasant memories followed her there. So even though this garden was pretty far from her chambers and there was always the risk of drawing unwanted attention, she preferred going there every morning. She was never seen. Until now.

She felt a slightly familiar presence. Someone she has encountered before even though the people she has met in person besides her family were almost nonexistent. She considered the possibly of walking away. But she decided against it. She only had one year to get used to other people's presence. So why not start now? She closed her book, put it next to her over the bench and waited for the intruder to reach her.

Elio stopped walking as he saw the cloaked person put the book aside. He expected for that person to start running away from him any time soon. But he was surprised when it remained sited. As if waiting for him to arrive. That gave him enough reasons to keep walking until he reached the gazebo.

Now being closer. He saw his guess was right. The person sitting under the gazebo and in front of the marble statue was the same one as he encountered almost three months back on his first day working here. He confirmed it as he saw strands of long dark auburn hair out of the person's cloak. He was surprised. How come there were people who have been working here for decades and yet they haven't seen the mysterious daughter of Callen Carpio, not even once. And yet he was lucky enough to meet her on his first day. Not only that but now he was meeting her a second time.

Now what? He didn't know what to say. Or what to do once he was no more than a meter away from her. Maybe he could thank her since none of his superiors found about the incident she witnessed. But he didn't know how.

"Do you know who Aphrodite is?" A calm and neutral voice interrupted him from his thoughts. He looked at her and remained mute for a while.

Was Iris Carpio starting a conversation with him?

She lifted the hood that was hiding her face. And now he saw the big dark eyes he remembered seeing last time, now looking at him once again. He realized she was waiting patiently for his answer. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"I remember her being mentioned once. Back when I was still studying at the Halls, but I can't remember much" Elio finally answered with the most clamed voice he could muster at the moment.

"Hmm" She was now looking at the statue before them. Not saying anything else. As the wind was rusting around them.

Elio began to slowly walk towards the bench, tightening his blanket around his body. He sat beside Iris making sure there was enough space between them. He had a hunch that she was the type of person who didn't appreciate physical contact. Specially form strangers.

"Is that her?" Elio asked as he was now looking at the statue too.

"Mhmm" She affirmed not taking her eyes off the statue. Elio didn't know what else to say now. So they fall into silence for a couple of second before she talked once more.

"According to Greek mythology she was the Olympian goddess of love and beauty. She rose from foam and her beauty was such that once she entered the assembly with the other great gods for the first time, all of them wanted to have her as their wife" Elio heard with interest.

"Well, she is beautiful" Elio said admiring the statue. Iris just shrugs.

"I suppose. It's a bit ridiculous in my opinion. They wanted to spend the rest of their lives with someone they didn't even know. She could've been cruel, cunning, evil. But all they cared was that she looked good"

She says as a matter of fact. She doesn't particularly look mad or annoyed. Her face didn't reveal any emotion at all. Which kind of bothered Elio a bit. She was so young to have that kind of expression.

"And they called themselves gods. Despite being too human" Elio had to agree to that.

"A bit like us don't you think?" Elio asks.

"We don't exactly come from gods, but we do come from celestial beings. However, we are far from perfect. We feel, make mistakes and sometimes think as humans do. We are more human than angels in my opinion" He says once more. Iris turns to look at him. She stares at him while she thinks on what he just said. However, Elio can't help but feel bit uncomfortable under her stare.

"Yes. Exactly like us" She agrees. And they fall into silence once more.