Closed The Truth

[Axel Zhefarovich]

Axel Zhefarovich groaned as he got out of bed, reaching for his metal leg to attach to his mid-thigh. Blasted spirit. It had taken him a long time to heal, even longer to learn to use the prosthetic leg. Half of the time, at home, he didn’t even use it unless he needed to go down the stairs, which he did in this case. He walked down the stairs and went straight for the kitchen to start cooking breakfast. A couple of days ago, Leviathan stopped by to give him a letter, written by Drakon, when he disappeared. Axel had decided to keep his death a secret for a while, but after reading the letter and why he left, he realized that Drakon was not a deadbeat father but just a dumb kid haunted by his past. He must not have realized that this family, the Zhefarovich family, would have kept him from harm. Half of the time, he thought that the kid wasn’t worth it, but seeing his daughter, Athena, grieve, it made him think twice. Axel might have given the restaurant to Chaos to run now that he had grown up, Axel still loved to cook. The aromas flowed through the house. However, one thing he hoped for was that Athena would not seek revenge.

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Time had a way of dulling the edges of particularly difficult situations, and Athena knew she was in a better place. Having moved back into her childhood home had been the best decision for her children even if she had done so kicking and screaming at her lost freedom and independence. It was still difficult to stomach, but Athena could understand the benefit of that decision. Once again, her father had rescued her. This time from herself and her grief. Her boys weren't in bed and she found them in the living room playing a game with some miniature dragons. She settled a kiss on top of each of their heads before heading into the kitchen where her father was cooking. Every day she attempted to work up the nerve to tell her father she was moving out, but she could never get the words out and so they remained. "Good morning father" Athena stated as she settled herself at the table. She stared at his leg, a reminder of a terrible time in her life, and then glanced away. She was determined to make today a good day.

 

[Axel Zhefarovich]

Axel flipped over the sausages, and glanced behind him as his daughter walked into the room. He smiled gently as he continued to cook. He cherished having Athena back home. After all, she was still his baby girl. Well, one of them. Ever since Kamaria divorced, he had been bugging her to come back home too, but she was adamant about staying where she was. Axel fixed the plates up, and sent the kids to their own table in another room. He set one down, absolutely full of meat and fruit, near his daughter to take. He set one for himself, but he leaned back in his chair while he figured out what to say. “Athena, I think it is time we talked.” Axel could almost feel the letter burning in his jacket, but he ignored it for the time being.

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena pulled the plate her father put before her a little closer, reaching for her fork. She was hungry, though anytime her father cooked, she typically was. She had a piece of pineapple halfway to her mouth when her father spoke. Something about his words made her uneasy. A chill seemed to work its way down her spine and she forced the fruit into her mouth to buy some time. Finally, she spoke. "About what?" she asked, her tone icy which wasn't how she usually spoke to her father. He and Kamaria seemed to be in cahoots these days where she was concerned, and she had a feeling this was going to be more of that. Both of them telling her how to live her life seemed to be becoming her new normal.

 

[Axel Zhefarovich]

Axel frowned a little bit at her tone, but disregarded it for the time being. He sighed, before starting the story, "Has your dad ever told you how exactly he lost his leg?" Axel was not a fan of talking in the third person, but he started it off with that. He explained how angry he was when Drakon left her. He assumed that he had abandoned her and her children, so he did what he did best, which was hunt the boy down. Axel also used his connections, well, his twin Benjamen, to start the rumors about Drakon disappearing or deserting whatever gang they were in, in order to actually find the boy. Axel explained how he met up with a friend of his, who was married to the ex-wife of Chavdar. Purebloods were certainly interconnected. They managed to find him, but Drakon ran into the Borley Mansion. Axel paused to allow this to sink in for a moment, and frowned, "I heard a scream, and went inside. There was a lot of blood so I assume he was dead. That spirit chopped off my leg and my associate carried me out. But, I feel that this was in vain. When we all cleaned out your house, Leviathan found this." Axel held up the letter, and held it out to Athena. "Drakon wrote it. I think you should have a look at it. He wasn't a deadbeat husband or father... I think he was just a scared kid."

Dear Athena,

I am so, so sorry that I have to do this. You see, my sister, who is responsible for killing most of my family. She was after me but the authorities arrived. I have been scared of her ever since. I have seen her around New Zealand and I did not want her to find out about you and our precious babies. I didn't want you and our babies to suffer the same fate. I don't know why she went crazy and murdered everyone, but she is sneaky, sly, and knows how to cover her tracks easily.

Remember that I love you with everything I have. I want to return when I know that you are safe, when our family is safe. I did not want to involve my family affairs with your family, because I am afraid it might be too late. Athena, please take care of our sons. I hope that they will at least remember, should I survive my sister.

With love,
~ Drakon

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena wasn't exactly sure where her father was going with this, so she gave a quick shake of her head before dropping her gaze towards her breakfast. She listened, knowing some of what her father was telling her, though she'd been too busy in it to really have noticed what anyone else was doing about it. It was the part about her father actually finding Drakon that caused her head to shoot up. She couldn't believe that her father had actually found Drakon and hadn't told her. That he'd allowed her to mourn and cry about a missing person when he'd known exactly what had happened to her husband. She snatched the letter from her father, her face drawn as she prepared herself to read.

She could hear his voice as she read over his words, read over his fears of a sister she couldn't remember ever having heard about. By the time she'd finished, Athena's hands were shaking and tears stained the page, warping some of the writing. Then, her gaze hardened. She pursed her lips unable to meet her father's eyes for a moment. When she did, her eyes were not the light gray they usually were. They were nearly black. "When are you guys going to stop?" she began, her voice shaky though beginning to rise in volume. "You and Levi and Kamaria sit around and talk about me all the time! I'm not a child anymore, father. I have children now." Her older siblings and father had always babied her, and while she had enjoyed the benefits of it for many years, now she did not. She felt they couldn't trust her, that they all thought she was becoming her mother. "Drakon is dead to me. He left me, and my children will never hear about him. I don't need you all trying to make him into some kind of martyr to make me feel better" she yelled at her father, something she'd never done before. The words she'd just read, they were simply not true. There was no way. What made more sense to her was that her family had concocted this story to help her. "I'm leaving. I'm packing today and I'm leaving" she stood from the counter, backing away.

 

[Axel Zhefarovich]

Axel expected grief, sadness, maybe even forgiving yet Axel would never forgive the kid for not thinking. Leaving Athena. Axel truly believed he got what he deserved. However, when Athena blew up and yelled at him, Axel fought to hide his smirk. It was difficult not to be proud of her right now. “Don’t get me wrong, my dear. I still hate the little bastard and I always will. He was still a coward through and through.” Talking about her late husband in a negative manner still would never change. Upon her statement of moving out, Axel stood up after pushing his plate away without much force. “I hope you mean you are packing for your kids, as well as yourself. I wouldn’t want you to repeat their history already with one parent deserting them.”