Chapter Ninety Five

*Ariya*


“Do you know why their parents were killed?” I asked Boss.
“It was for a similar reason to the rest of the Navi. The attack was launched by my predecessor. He had this idea that if all of the Navi Wolves were killed, it would seriously hurt the Navi Vampires. He failed to see how close you all were with each other and didn’t take into account that the Navi Vampires wouldn’t just let all of the Navi Wolves die. He took out a large amount of Navi but it didn’t do too much damage. We lost more people that night than we took out.” Boss explained.
“He wasn’t completely wrong. There were only 3 Original Navi Wolves left after that. Ivan and Caleb made 5 but that wasn’t known for another 3 or 4 years. There were still Navi Wolves but the ones that would hurt the Navi were the Original Navi Wolves. They’re the only ones that can bond with a Blood Born Navi.” I explained.
Boss’s eyebrows pushed together, “What do you mean bond? How are the Navi Wolves different from the Original Navi Wolves?”
“The only thing I know is that the Navi Wolves didn’t have the same abilities as the Original Navi Wolves. Original Navi Wolves shifted and didn’t shift back for about a week after their first shift. Original Navi Wolves were the only ones that could survive being fed on by a Blood Born Navi if they were drained completely. For some reason they basically had an unlimited amount of blood but they also needed to be fed on. That’s how the Blood Born Navi didn’t have to kill all the time. A regular person couldn’t feed a Blood Born Navi as much as they needed. But an Original Navi Wolf can. The regular Navi Wolves tended to be around the Navi Vampires while the Original Navi Wolves were around the Blood Born Navi. Bonding was something that only an Original Navi Wolf and Blood Born Navi could do. My understanding is that there’s a process to be able to bond but once they do, the Original Navi Wolf doesn’t age anymore unless the one they’re bonded to dies.”
“So Ivan and Caleb were meant to bond with you and Keothi?” Boss asked me.
“Yes. Ivan was to bond with me. Caleb was to bond with Keo. But only if both sides were ok with it. I think we talked about it when we were kids but I don’t remember that yet. No one knew for sure if Keo and I would turn. It was assumed but until it happened it was always up for discussion. The same thing went for Ivan and Caleb. No one knew they were Original Navi Wolves until after they shifted for the first time and didn’t shift back for a week. But after the attack, Caleb was the one that took care of me. So Caleb had planned on bonding with me if he had to.”
“Did you bond with him?” Boss asked, intrigued.
“No. I didn’t remember how and neither did Caleb. Drake locked both of our memories before we left. So even if I had turned before they found us we wouldn’t have known how to.” I answered.
“So there’s hope for Ivan yet. I told you that boy loves you. He’ll come for you once he remembers everything. I still want to know why his eyes are blue and not yellow like Caleb. There’s something with that. I know it.”
“If there is, no one ever told me when we were kids.” I answered.
“It’s interesting that you’re getting your memories in a random order. I would think it would happen in order, but it seems to be jumping all over the place. Your most traumatic was first which makes sense but the rest seem off.” Boss said, thinking out loud.
I sucked in a breath as the realization hit me, “You mentioned my Mom. Every memory I’ve gotten back outside of the full night of the attack has had her in it.”
Boss laughed, “Actually, you’re almost right. Every memory you’ve gotten back has had something to do with Ivan. He’s also been in every single memory. But he’s been a main point of all of your memories. That’s probably why you can’t see him yet. Why he’s a blur in your memory. You don’t know what he looks like because HE has to find YOU. He’s been the key to your memories this whole time. It doesn’t matter if I don’t know what he looks like. He’s going to try to rescue you. Like I said he loves you. He’ll come to me. I don’t have to go to him. The same goes with the rest of them. They’ll come to me to try to get to you. All I have to do is wait.”
I gulped, unsure of if I wanted the answer, “What does that mean for me then?”
Boss looked at me confused, “The same as it always has. It doesn’t change anything. I want to know what you learn from your memories. I want to learn how to fight your kind. As long as you continue to behave you keep what you have and you have the possibility of earning more.”
“What happens when I don’t have any more memories to go through? Are you going to torture me?” I asked.
“Only if you don’t behave. You’ve continued to give me what I want every time. The only way you will get held down and tortured is if you don’t behave.” Boss answered.
“If you’re not going to torture me then how are you going to learn more about fighting the Navi?”
I knew I was treading in dangerous waters and I wasn’t sure I totally wanted the answer. But I would rather know and have time to mentally prepare myself over being thrown into it one day.
Boss smirked at me, “I have something being built and worked on for you. As long as you follow every rule I give you, you stand a fighting chance. Each and every time. I’ll even give you rewards after each one if you’d like. But we’ll figure out the details later. For now, just know that you aren’t going to be held down and tortured. That should give you some peace of mind, right Ariya?”
“It does but it also confuses me. Why are you being so nice to me? Why are you changing the plan instead of torturing me?” I asked.
“You’re earning it. Whether you realize it or not, every time you tell me about your memories, you’re giving me valuable intel. Things that I’m not going to get from reading a book. This is information that we never knew. The more we know, the more equipped I am to deal with not only finding them but getting rid of them.”
I looked down. I wished that he didn’t only see the information that I was giving him. I wished that he would start to see us as people just trying to exist in this world. But that’s how it goes. One person does something terrible or a couple people and suddenly that entire group is guilty. Regardless of the actions of anyone else. It’s happened time and time again. Terrorist attacks that have one thing in common and suddenly everyone from that has that commonality is part of the terror group. Regardless of the truth. Instead of judging each person as an individual, Boss was lumping all of them together. 1 or 2 Navi that killed someone meant that we were all killers. Even if we did everything we could not to kill. We were just trying to survive at this point. But we’d had enough. Eventually if you keep putting pressure on something it’s going to break or come back even stronger. There were only 5 of us left and we weren’t breaking. I’d shown loyalty to Boss when I worked for him and it didn’t matter. As soon as I turned I was a monster to him. I understood some of his rationale but it wasn’t a good enough excuse to commit genocide.
This world was broken and it hurt to just be constantly misunderstood.