Immortality (Sequel to Apprentice)

Chapter 7: There are some things in life

Ridgedog's POV

My head was throbbing. My eyes squint even though they are already shut. Groaning a little, my hand reaches instinctively for my head. Finding that my hands were bound, I frown and jerk them a bit. Pricks of pain are inflicted on my wrist and I wince. Where was I?

I had been flying in the nether, and then I remember Mexxy...

My eyes snap open. Mexxy must have knocked me out or something. All I remembered was his smug grin before everything went black. Where was Tia? Fear clutched me like a vice. Where had they taken her? Was she OK? 

Confusion blinds my focus for a moment and I finally allow my eyes to adjust. The room I was in was bare, and very...grey. That was the only way I could describe it. Grey, dull, boring. Iron bars covered one side of the wall and on the other side was more boring grey. Stone bricks-how dull. To think they were Tia's favourite kind of block...

"Finally woke up, huh" a voice breaks the silence bitterly. My head snaps to the side to the owner of the voice. "Mitch? Where are we?" I ask, my voice strangely hoarse. "Somewhere in a Voxeltopia dungeon or something. I don't even know anymore" he groans, obviously tired. The dark bags under his eyes mean he's had many sleepless nights and the stress has turned his usually sure and steady hands into a quivering mess. What had Mexxy done to turn the pvp master into this?

"Somewhere far away from Tia, that's for sure" a deadly voice snakes into my ear and I bristle. "What the hell is all this, Mexxy? What have I done now?" I spit with a little more venom than I should of. "Nothing. I just hate you, that's all" I can almost smell his amusement and my nostrils flare. "Where's Tia? What have you done to her?" I almost shout. He chuckles menacingly, and I see Mitch flinch when Jerome enters nervously behind him, smiling at Mitch confidently. I glare at the furry creature. What the hell was he here for?

"Tia is safe, I suppose. Somewhere on a little quest I sent her on. It was time for her to learn more about her past. And yours, of course..." He snatches a glance at me and I scowl hatefully. "I have nothing to hide" I declare. "Have you told her I'm her father yet?" he muses. I swallow hard and shake my head slowly, ignoring both Mitch's and Jerome's shocked stare. Mexxy notices their surprise. "Yes, that always seems to surprise people. She still does not know, hm? That her very boyfriend is enemies with her own father? Wonder who's side she will take when she finds out what you did to her mother..."

Panic sends me into shock. Oh no...no...that wasn't...surely she...

Mexxy snickers at me as I stare at him, eyes wide. "Yes Ridgedog, you remember don't you? You tortured her for years and years...until I saved her. Wonder how the tables will turn then, hm? When she finds out you defied her father and tortured her mother before ditching the new born baby who was Tia in the cold for her to die. The small child who gave you the star charm, who you later found and almost killed for just being an innocent child, one that you could never have, that was Tia. You almost killed her twice for your own reasons. Is it all coming back, murderer?" he says, almost softly.

I sit, glaring at the floor. "That was the past" I mutter. He chuckles lightly, kneeling down to try and make me meet his eyes. "You hated me. Loathed me. You took my only daughter and turned her into a mortal by killing the only woman I ever loved and changing the baby into a mortal. Does it feel strange to be dating my daughter? Someone I created?" he asks. I spit in his face. His reptile eyes narrow and I shiver as he grabs my hair and yanks me forward. I hiss a little at the pain of his grip.

"You knew right from when she landed on that island that it was my daughter. You despised her. You took her in as your apprentice. When you found out she wasn't so bad after all, you began to feel connected to her. She reminded you of the days when you were young and you realized she had just been an innocent child when you almost killed her twice. She doesn't remember that, of course, but she will now. Wonder if she will still want to rescue you after she has learned the truth."