The Caravan of Hope

Chapter 22: Life with Father and Uncle Xan

"Aww, c'mon Alex!" Zaecondis stood laughing and patting Alex's back like they were old friends. "Don't call me Father; it sounds too old fashioned! Call me Daddy!"

"Father."

"Daddy!"

"No."

Zaecondis laughed. "You're too much like Xan! So rigid and stern at times!" He tried to pat Alex's back, but he flinched away.

The Caravan of Hope was just standing there, with Daiko reading and everyone else just gawking at Alex.

"Err...Alex, is he really your father?" The two men, Alex and Zaecondis, stared at Bella after she asked the question.

"Of course. Why do you think I hate the name Alexander? It's because I hate my birth father, who gave that name to me."

Zae looked with astonishment at Alex. "How rude Alexander! Now I'm really curious to see what has happened to you after you killed me."

He touched Alex and Xanolemnad brought in a bowl of water. Alex looked at Xanolemnad and said, "I should've known that you'd follow Father, Uncle Xan."

Xanolemnad shrugged. "Of course. He's my twin brother after all."

Daiko closed her book and looked with anger at Zaecondis. "Tú eres un cerdo! Está copiando mi magia!"

Zaecondis held up an invisible object. "Translate," he commanded. He listened to something for a bit, then he said, "Did you just call me a pig?"

She looked at him. "It's meant to be insulting; I said swine."

Zaecondis shrugged. "Oh. And so what if I use your magic? I'm going to kill you all after this is over."

Jarred widened his eyes, for he just realized something, but Daiko sat down and said, "Okay, I like stories anyways."

Alex wondered why she was giving up, but he shrugged and sat down with the rest of them.

Zaecondis grinned. "Okay! This magic I'm using is called clairvoyance magic! It lets me show other people memories! Alex, since these are yours, narrate!"

He touches the water with his palm, and a big screen of a little boy with black hair appears.

"That's me. I was five," Alex says.

As mini Alex was walking around, a younger Zaecondis comes over. Alex gets excited and says, "Daddy, Daddy!"

"Hey, kiddo! I'm going to use my magic to make sure you don't feel a thing! Let me just take something from you..." Young Zaecondis puts his hand on the right side of Alex's face, and with a little bit of trouble, pulls it back.

There is the sound of something ripping, and mini Alex put his hands up to his right eye.

Young Zaecondis was tossing something small up and down in the air. "Thanks for your eye!"

Everyone, with the exception of Daiko, looked with horror at Alex. He took off his mask to reveal an empty hole where hours right eye should've been.

Alex turned back to the memory screen. "Every since that day, I hated my father, even though I liked him well enough. But that day, I met someone know that I liked."

Mini Alex was shown crying, and a man was walking up to him. It was a younger version of Xanolemnad. He squatted down, and mini Alex asked, "Who are you?"

Younger Xanolemnad bowed. "Pleased to meet you. I am your uncle Xan. I will teach you how to work your life with one eye, since my brother, your father, doesn't want to give it up."

Alex smiled. "He did."

Later, mini Alex was sitting with the younger Xanolemnad, and mini Alex asked, "How are babies made?"

Both the younger and the present Xanolemnad coughed.

"Err,... they are made and brought by the stork!" Younger Xanolemnad obviously did not want to tell.

Zaecondis covered his face with his hands. "I still can't believe you did that."

Alex looked at Xanolemnad. "That reminds me: I just learned that it was a lie! And nobody would tell me the truth!"

Xanolemnad sat down, ashamed. "I'm not married, okay? Married people are okay with telling these things; I'm not."

Zaecondis looked back to the screen. "I think this is where you kill me, right Alex?"

----------------------

Hey! About ten chapters in a week (whew). Don't expect that for a while. Now, I may not update this story for another week. (Check next part for why)