The Chain

Truth Revealed

Orion Soto leaned against the doorjamb of his mother's place as he waited for her to come home.  It was not a large home by any stretch of the imagination, but it was nicer than anything he had grown up in.  They had shared a studio apartment for years until she married his step-father, Tyvik Soto, and they had moved into a rundown home that had seen better days.  He had taken his last name out of respect for him and... because it had always bothered him that he didn't have his real father's last name... whoever the hell that was.

It still bothered him, even at twenty-nine years of age, that he didn't know who his father had been.  He scowled again, thinking about it.  He would probably beat his father's ass if he ever did find out.  What kind of man lies about who he is just to seduce a sixteen-year-old girl? He hoped that he was killed the night of the nine tails attack.

He straightened from the doorjamb as he saw her in the distance.  He couldn't stop the slight smile that crossed his face as he watched her chatting with his little sister, Phoenix.  His heart warmed a bit.  She had been a great mom, despite being so young.  A look of surprise crossed her features before she smiled broadly, "Orion! You're back!  Best surprise ever!"

Orion closed his eyes a moment as she threw her arms around him excitedly before pulling away.  Her hazel eyes, just like his own, was almost dancing with her joy at his return from his most recent mission.  "I'm going to make your favorite meal!" she then declared as she turned to unlock the front door.

He leaned down and scooped Phoenix up, tossing her into the air.  She squealed loudly.  She was almost too big to do that now.  She was only four, but she was starting to get a bit leggy.  She was going to be tall like her father had been.  He felt bad that she would grow up without a dad like he did, which was why he tried to fill in as best as he could with his crazy schedule.  God knows he was old enough to be her father.  It was strange having a sibling so much younger than him sometimes.  He had peers that had kids her age.

All because of a rogue Ninja.  

Tyvik had been a farmer.  Orion was gone on a mission when it happened.  He had been out in the fields working when he heard a woman scream.  He went to see what was going on, saw a small group of travelers being robbed and had tried to intervein.  It had cost him his life and Phoenix a father.  His mother had been devastated and very pregnant at the time.  Phoenix never even got to meet her father.  He had been a good man, gone too soon.  Seemed to be the way things went in this accursed world.  That's when she had started writing those books.

He groaned inwardly, raking his fingers through his spiky, black hair.  He had to have a talk with her.  One of the guys on his team was reading the damn thing and mentioned how much the main character was like Lord Sixth.  He had been so emphatic about it; the book had then started being passed around with the others.

 "Mom, we got to talk..." he said in a tone she would recognize.

She stilled from chopping up some vegetables she had pulled out of the refrigerator.  She shifted her eyes to Phoenix, who was sitting in front of the television watching a superhero cartoon.  She then looked back at him and raised a brow, "Yes?"

"I think you might have gone too far with your last book and Lord Sixth," he said bluntly.

Her face turned a little red before she looked back to the bell pepper she was chopping up.  "Oh honey, it's not that noticeable."

"Mom, I just spent the last two days listening to my team going on and on about how much Kade is like Lord Sixth," he sighed.

Sarah waved her hand, refusing to be lectured by her own son.  "Nah, just a few similarities."