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Rika
Reunion Part 2
As I was saying, I was part of Lord Drakyn's True Hand, his own personal militia that acted primarily as his bodyguards and elite soldiers in his vast army.
It was only a few months ago that I was out on guard in Lord Drakyn's newly acquired territory for the Feratu Reich, his grand empire that he said he held control of so that he could offer a safe haven to his oft hunted brethren. It was the forgotten land of Tsubomi in Orreth. My uncle, Silver Wolf, had happened to be in the area, not knowing that it had belonged to Lord Drakyn. When my uncle had set foot within the ruins of the old Orrethian capital, Lord Drakyn had approached him, asking him if he was indeed the esteemed leader of the Moonstriker family. Silver Wolf proudly told him that he was, and that was when Lord Drakyn had taken him to the tallest building in Tsubomi, the Siren Corporation building, that was acting as a garrison for us. Silver Wolf asked him what he wanted and Lord Drakyn sent for guards to fetch me from my patrol.
I walked into the room and I bowed courteously to Lord Drakyn and said to him,
"You called, my Lord?"
"Yes, Rika. I've brought you here because this man here before us is your uncle."
I was in disbelief. It was so long since the day I was captured and taken in by Lord Drakyn. I had thought of my family and my mother that was killed, but I stayed with Lord Drakyn because he was kind to me. He was like a father to me, training me in swordsmanship and magic. Silver Wolf walked over to me and brought me close to him, hugging me. I saw his eyes tear up a bit and he told me how much he missed me and how my father had ceaselessly looked for me. He told me about how the loss of my mother and losing me had drove him to insanity. He was very depressed, but then it began to develop into a fierce bitterness, a pure hatred for everything. He was very lonely, and the sight of happiness sickened him.
Silver Wolf told me how my father had gotten caught up in the affairs of Pheonix, the Guardian of Earth, and the Shenzing family. Pheonix's brother was the essence of evil, the singular force that kept the balance of the universe with the essence of good, Pheonix. When Pheonix had killed his brother, the essence of evil found a new host. My father. My father had become the essence of evil and the King of Hell. I was very sad to have heard this, but Silver Wolf said that he would take me to see him anyway.
He took me with him to his castle and he called for my father because he did not wish for me to go to Hell just to see my father. When he arrived, I was very shocked. He looked completely different than what I remembered. Although he still had the relatively young look of the immortal he was, his piercing glacier eyes sent a shiver down my spine. I could feel his sorrow and anger, it was an unbearable force. Silver Wolf had been right. I only looked into my father's sad eyes and all I could think about was his sadness. I could barely hear Silver Wolf begin to speak,
"Brother… Ryukai, this is…" but then he stopped, and I could hear my father interrupt him clearly, because when he spoke, his sadness went away. The dark, negative emotions faded instantly.
"Yes, it is my daughter, Rika…"
I had barely known my father, but from what I had felt from his expression, I had a good feeling of what he had went through. And to feel those years of sorrow and hatred stop that abruptly, I knew that he was very happy to see me, as if it was the only thing in the universe that could have done that to him. From the look on his face when I first saw him, I knew what kind of face it was. It was a face that would never smile for anything, but now he was smiling. The face that would never smile was smiling. The darkness had lifted and was replaced by the light, but he was so far gone, I knew he would never be the same again. His smile, while true, still held his dark, evil self behind it, but he was as happy as he would ever be. I felt sorry for him, but I didn't blame him for what he had become. I know it wasn't his fault, and he had a right to be what he was now.
"Rika…" I heard him say to me softly. He walked forward and hugged me. I was cold for a moment, but when I put my arms back around him, he began to warm again. I could feel his sanity returning to him. I was happy that he cared about me that much.
"Rika, I have missed you so very much. I had feared that you were slain along with your mother, but I am enlightened to know that this was not your fate… Rika, my darling daughter… Rika, it's really you…"
I looked up at him and smiled brightly, my eyes staring into his and I tiptoed up to give him a small kiss on his chin,
"Yes, daddy, it's really me," I said to him sweetly and I giggled a bit. I realized that it was the first time I had laughed since I had been with my parents. I was just like my father. I knew I could relate to him in that instant. I looked back up after my quick pondering and tears were rolling down his face in joy.
"Your voice, Rika… It is the sweetest music that these ears could ever hear."
I giggled again, and I knew it lifted the darkness around his heart to hear it. He put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face a bit, looking into my eyes.
"What has become of you, Rika? Your eyes…"
I hesitated to answer him, but I told him,
"I am what you think I am, daddy." I told him, and of course he knew what I was talking about.
"I will kill whoever did this to you, Rika. Was it the same vile being that slew your mother?"
I held my arms around him harder and I shook my head.
"No, it was another who killed mother. I was changed by Lord Drakyn. He did it to save me. I was starved and mistreated by the dungeon guards."
Then I told him how Lord Drakyn had taught and trained me, and years later when I had developed the festering hatred for the one who had killed my mother, he took me down to my old cell and showed me the one who killed my mother. He gave me the opportunity to exact my revenge. In the heat of my emotions, I went into great detail explaining my slow and torturous execution of the one who murdered my mother. I had developed the same sadism that my father had, but I didn't want to tell him. I knew that he would worry about me. Before me, he was ashamed of what he had become. I knew that he would not want to hear that I too had become like this from what had happened to my mother. I was relieved that even after my sadistic retelling of my revenge, he mostly thought nothing of it.
I know now that since I have recorded my true feelings in this tome, he will read it and know, but after the time we had been apart from each other, I cannot keep any secrets from him. I simply could not bear to lie to my father after what he has been through. We spent a long time catching up on things. I got to know my father again and he was able to know his daughter once more. He's finally happy, and so am I. We are finally together again and nothing will change this…