Chapter 6

*8 years later*

“I hate you!” Thea screamed before slamming her bedroom door closed. Her grandfather made her so mad. He never let her have any fun. He was all work, work, work.

All he wanted her to do was to forget she had powers and was Daemoni like Damian. She didn't want to do that. She liked her Daemoni side but he didn't seem to accept that. Instead, he always ignored her protests.

“Tsk, tsk, Zoqa. You know you don’t hate him,” Damian’s voice stated gently before he appeared in her room.

He glanced around the lavender colored bedroom. On the walls were posters of unicorns and kittens, and images of the freedom a child experiences in their dreams. Yet, her room wasn't the typical bedroom of a child of thirteen. Rather there were dolls and doll houses that she still regularly played with. Her bedroom seemed to be more of a sheltered child that was lonely. There were no photos of friends beyond those of her and Liam that she kept around her mirror.

Damian could see why Galena was worried. Thea's whole life revolved around D Corp. Darius thought because she had experienced childhood in her training experiences that it was enough. Damian wondered as he looked at Thea's room, if it really was.

“What do you know? You don’t have to live with him. All he wants me to do is work and train,” she complained as she flopped down on her bed. “I don't even get to go to a regular school or have regular friends. Instead I just train, train, train.”

Damian sat down on her bed beside her with a soft smile. “If he were to go away forever right now, would you be sad?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then you don’t hate him, Zoqa,” Damian stated as he petted her long pink hair. “Darius and Helen decided that a human school wouldn't be right for you because if you were to be teased or bullied, well that could lead to unforeseen problems. Besides, with your training, you already know more than any of those children could possibly ever know.”

“I know but none of that was real. It’s like a painful dream. Why can’t I live with you in Ikisat? Why do I have to be human? My dad was Daemoni. You’re a Daemoni prince. I don’t understand why I can’t show my Daemoni side. What is so wrong with it?” Theanna whined.

“You know why, Zoqa. Your soul is too beautiful to risk. Plus, your father's curse is not something you want or ever deserve to have upon you. I have an idea, would you like me to send Galena to spend some time with you? She can teach you about being Daemoni.”

“Yes, please! I love Galena! Besides, all that training gives me headaches all of the time. With her here I can take a break.”

“Wait, Theanna, what do you mean by that?” Damian asked, suddenly legitimately concerned. At thirteen, she could be overly dramatic at times. She’d never really liked having to do the training but maybe there was a real reason for her obvious displeasure.

“When the trainers are done my head hurts,” she shrugged nonchalantly.

“How often does it hurt?” he prodded, his concern and anger level rising very quickly.

“All the time. D just thinks I’m being a brat. He told me so. But it’s true! I always have to take medicine for it and to stop the bloody noses. Lately, there has been a lot of medicine, too.”

“Zoqa, I’m going to join with your mind, I want to see what it’s like. Is that ok with you?”

“Ok, but don’t be all nosy in there like the trainers are.”

Damian didn’t like what he was hearing, not at all. His protective beast was rising to the surface quickly. He took a deep calming breath before he touched her temple and lightly joined with her mind. By doing so he experienced the pain she felt, the embarrassment at that pain because of the trainers belittling her for “her weakness”, as well as what it felt like to have them invading her personal memories.

The more he experienced the angrier he became. How dare they make his beautiful Thea feel like she was lower than dirt. She was thirteen, just a child.

Ending their mental connection, Damian pulled her into a hug and placed a soft kiss on her temple. “No one has a right to make you feel that way, Thea. They’re doing this because you're better than they are. Compared to you, they are nothing. I’m going to talk with Darius and put a stop to the sessions immediately.”

“I don't want to cause any problems. I just don't like what they’re doing. It hurts so much.”

“I know my sweet, Zoqa. I’ll be back,” he said as he stood up, touching her cheek tenderly before leaving her room. Damian stalked out of the bedroom and found Darius and Helen in the kitchen talking. Interrupting their conversation, he demanded with a deep growl, his eyes glowing red, “We need to talk.”

“Damian, I don’t have the patience for you. Thea is simply upset she has another training session in the morning,” Darius explained exasperated.

“When were you going to tell me about the pain she’s experiencing? I guess their treatment of her and the damage they’re causing is acceptable,” he growled as his human persona started to slip.

Darius sighed. “What on earth are you going on about?”

“If you have to ask that then you haven’t taken the time to truly listen to Thea and to what she’s been trying to tell you. Have you connected to her mind to find out the truth? No, I don't suppose you have.

“It wasn't important enough for the immortal Darius to take time out of his day. Let me enlighten you then because I have. Your ‘trainers’ that you entrust MY Thea with force her to be awake for her sessions. They rummage through her mind while she’s training and purposely inflict damage to her mind. After they bully her to make sure she keeps quiet.”

Damian hadn’t been this angry in a long time. He’d failed to protect his precious girl. They all had. He wanted to make sure those human scum suffered ten times the pain they forced upon an innocent child. “They’re trying to destroy her mind and we’ve been letting it happen!” He spat out as he noticed that Helen wore a horrified expression with tears in her eyes.

“She told us training was no fun and it hurt. She also asked us why the trainers were always in her head while we were at dinner. I thought she was just referring to her sessions,” Helen explained softly, her heart breaking at what they hadn’t seen. “She never used to hate her training so much. We should have tried to figure out what had changed instead of being so quick to blame her age and temper.”

“I’m going to send Galena to spend some time with her to help her heal. Thea is not to have any more of this training until I return,” Damian ordered as he tried to calm his temper.

Darius nodded. “Alright, but let me go talk to her first.” As he headed towards Thea’s room he was furious with himself. Could what Damian was saying be true? Could the trusted trainers of D Corp be purposely hurting Thea and using her for information? How did he let this happen? Knocking softly he opened the door. “Thea, may I come in?”

“Are you going to yell at me?” she asked tentatively as she sat on the edge of her bed.

“No. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.” As he entered he noticed that she quickly hid the bloody tissue in her hand. “Theanna, did you have a bloody nose?”

“Yes, just a little one. It wasn't too bad this time.”

Darius sighed worriedly, “May I see what is happening so I can make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

Thea nodded as Darius touched her temple and saw her recent memories as Damian had. She didn't mind them doing this as it simply felt like a gentle caress, as if someone were lovingly petting her memories. The trainers felt like they were taking a sledgehammer to the inside of her head.

With a deep sigh, Darius ended his connection. Thea saw the angry yet worried look in his eyes. “I’m sorry Thea-mia. It’s not supposed to hurt at all and they aren’t allowed to be in your head like that. What they were doing is against every single rule we have for training.”

Darius was livid. When the trainers put her in a state of sleep stasis, it allowed for them to add memories of learning techniques and skills that would otherwise take years, even a lifetime to learn. That was when they did it correctly. What they were doing instead was forcing her mind to receive the memories without the buffer of sleep. This caused damage and thus pain. Their rummaging through her existing memories, that broke every single protocol. It was an invasion of privacy and could permanently damage her essential short-term memory.

“Really? They aren’t? Kaya has always done that. She always makes me hurt the most. I thought her poking around was normal. I don't think she likes me much. I heard her once say I deserved the pain. Why do I deserve it? I always try to be nice. I even hide when I cry because I don’t want her mad at me,” Thea said softly as she wiped away her tears.

“I don’t know, my sweet girl. But I will find out,” Darius stated as he pulled her into his arms.

“I’m sorry I said I hate you. I don’t. I just got so mad,” Thea explained as she hugged him.

“When you’re a teenager those feelings are normal. It’s my job to listen and see through the emotion and find out the truth. I didn’t do a very good job. Damian had to yell at me instead so I got into trouble, too.”

Thea giggled at that. “Galena says he’s good at yelling.”

“That he is. What else does Galena say?”

“That I’m lucky to have so many people love me so that when one is being a blockhead the others can be sensible.”

Darius chuckled. “Yes, we can indeed be blockheads.”

“Is it ok if Galena visits me? I wish it was Damian but he doesn’t spend a lot of time with me any more.”

“Of course Galena can visit. Damian is very busy but cares a lot about you. Don’t forget that, ok? And
after Galena leaves I promise training will be better,” Darius stated as he hugged her tight.

“Ok. Training is kind of kewl when it doesn’t hurt,” Thea replied with a smile as she hugged him back. “I love you, D.”

“I love you! Finish up here, and get changed into your pjs. When you’re done, come to the kitchen. I bet we can find something yummy for us for dessert.”

“Ok!”

Leaving Thea’s bedroom, Darius closed her door before heading back to the kitchen where he immediately said to Damian, “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again!”

“Good! I expect you to turn over those responsible to me. No one will ever be allowed to harm my Thea and get away with it.”

“Of course, after I have a go at them and find out who they’re spying for and why Trainer Kaya seems to have it out for our Thea. When Galena is here, I’ll have her check to see what kind of damage was done. Oh, and by the way, Thea sprouted horns when she got mad earlier. I don’t think she realized it because they were gone as fast as they appeared.”

“I know we expected this to happen about now. We already had the ‘girl-changes chat’ and the ‘birds and the bees chat’, but if Galena can talk to her about her Daemoni side and what to expect I would really appreciate it. You both know so much more about that side than I do,” Helen smiled.

“Were you around for those particular chats?” Damian asked Darius with a smirk.

“Nope.”

“He stayed hidden visiting Gaia of course,” Helen giggled.

“I knew you were smart,” Damian laughed.

Just then Theanna walked into the room wearing a cute top and pajama bottoms, her long pink hair in two braids. Walking over to Helen, who opened her arms to her and pulled her into a hug, she said, “I’m sorry I yelled.”

“Thank you for the apology. I’m sorry we didn’t listen to you. We love you and don't want anything to happen to you. Darius is going to take care of this. Now, I seem to remember some chocolate pie in the fridge.”

“Yum! Damian, do you want some, too?”

“I’m sorry, but I must return to Ikisat, Zoqa.”

“Oh,” Thea replied somewhat dejectedly.

“Walk with me outside before I leave instead,” he suggested. With a nod to Darius and Helen he headed towards the back door and the backyard, a somewhat sad Thea following behind.

Darius sighed watching them. He knew he wasn't doing as good a job as Nira would’ve done. It was times like this that he was reminded how much he missed his daughter. She would know how to handle the deep crush that Thea had on her Daemoni prince. Damian was aware of her feelings as well and it was why he tried to keep her at arms length. It wasn’t the time for them yet. Thea was too young.

“She’ll be ok, my love. One day she’ll understand it all. She’s only thirteen, she’s still so young,” Helen stated as she dished out chocolate meringue pie for them. Darius nodded, knowing she was right but hating to see Thea unhappy.

Outside, when they were alone Damian said to Thea, “I’m sorry that I’ve made you sad.”

Thea’s head shot up, “No, not sad. Disappointed but not sad. I just miss you so much. You’re the one person who always listens to me and makes everyone else listen, too.”

Damian smiled at the beautiful young girl. “I miss you as well. Being the Prince of Ikisat is a very large responsibility and I can’t be gone for long. Galena will come to you soon. Besides, she’s much more fun than I am. Always talk to her, Zoqa. She can tell me if the others aren't listening to you. I know your life isn't easy but you’re not alone.”

Thea nodded before she pleaded, “But please, can you come back to visit me soon?” Thea threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

Pulling away from her gently, he cupped her cheeks with both hands and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Esaeu aelr zes saonq, Zoqa,” he stated before vanishing. *(You own my heart, beloved.)

Thea sighed deeply as several tears fell. She hated being thirteen. Her emotions were a mess and she just didn't understand why. Her understanding of others and their lives left her feeling like she didn't understand anything about anything.

She needed to ask Galena to teach her Daemoni. She was tired of it being off-limits. She was tired of being made to feel like a part of her was evil. She didn't feel evil, she just felt confused. Maybe, if Galena taught her Daemoni then at least she'd be able to understand Damian.