Family.
"Havillah!"
"Havillah!" Killion shouted once again unable to restrain himself from banging his fists on the heavily gilded doors. The barrier was down, he had noticed it that night and even though that worried him, he was more concerned about Havillah's welfare and the fact that she seemed to be continuously avoiding him.
Grandma Kezzia's words were still ringing in his mind.
He had been charged not to go back home without Havillah and any protests his mother had made to defend him had been met with a glare and a cold shoulder, an event that rarely occurred between his two guardians even though they bickered all the time.
Things were that serious, but who could blame?. On one side was his mother and her friendship with Selene. A friendship that had withstood the test of time despite the two women being largely different in form and disposition. It was a great friendship,one that had started in their youth even as little girls. Seeing that the two had been raised together, being neighbors all and despite the not so subtle differences in their characters, the affection was there and it ran deep cemented by a hope that their two families would be joined through a marriage of their only children. On the other side was grandma Kezzia and she herself was a force to be reckoned with. A strong woman who despite being old was not frail and one that delighted herself in the awkward and who desired to be different if only to challenge the status quo, which in this case was the unwritten law that Killion and Calla should end up together.
The presence of Havillah had challenged this much to her delight and the fact that Killion did not take the two mothers seriously, seemed to fuel her dreams making things worse especially where his mother and Calla were concerned.
It did not matter to them that Havillah had insisted on looking at him as a brother and now, because of all these, the drama and women's shenanigans, because of his mother's attitude towards the girl, because of Calla reactions and her jealousy, everything had played out into a big mess. One that he had no idea how to fix.
"Havillah! Please, hear me out!" he called out once again even after she had ignored his first 'hundred' attempts. The girl was stubborn, but then again, that was the price he had to pay for what he had taken through. Hadn't she been gracious enough to save him and risk everything for him? Yet, this was how he had paid her. This was how he paid her for saving his life and restoring health back to him. For restoring him whole back to his family.
He was so deeply strung in his thoughts that he did not hear the subtle changes in the wind or the soft patter of feet until they were directly behind him and speaking.
"Who are you and what do you have to do with Havillah?" a strong feminine voice suddenly spoke and Killion turned around startled. The sight that awaited him though was more startling. For before him now stood a woman. One whose appearance was quite strange and rather far removed from this world.
The woman was almost the age of his own mother. She should have been with those wise grey eyes and the severe look on her face stretched upon the canvas of a dark caramel that was the colour of her skin. Her hair was grey but instead of making her looking older, it gave her an appearance of youthfulness that seemed timeless. However, that was not what surprised Killion.
Her long golden embroidered robes did.
For like Havillah, the woman had that same long silken robes with golden embroidery, only that hers were a deep purple that contrasting sharply with the wavy silver tresses that cascaded down her head to the back of her robes before quitting at the very back of her knees. Her face was angular and the more dwelled on it and gazed into the silver irises that matched the ash blonde of her hair, the more he saw the similarities that she bore to Havillah.
Who was she? He questioned himself. Her mother? Her sister? Killion shook his head. She had to be her mother.
"I am her friend. She saved my life." He finally decided to say, breaking the silence and the staring contest that had been happening between them even as they studied each other albeit unwittingly.
"So it was you?" another voice spoke out from the shadows even as an incredibly yellow head came out into view. As she drew closer, he noticed that her robes were the same. Only that hers were green, the same colour as the startling emerald that was the colour of her eyes.
"Cjaira!" Killion looked up in confusion as yet another face appeared from the shadows. This time however, the woman or girl was a tall with red hair the colour of her robes. Robes that looked familiar, but not the fair skin or the stunning blue eyes on a rather long face.
"You are the reason Havillah was cast away?" the blonde girl whose name he assumed was Cjaira proceeded to interrogated him, sizing him up even as she circled him, pointing an accusing finger that she used to prod his chest. It surprised Killion how much strength in her small finger for he felt it even with the armour he was always wearing.
"Cjaira... We do not want to wound him. If it is really so and Havillah risked her life and everything that she had to save him, do you think that she would approve of us wanting to harm him?" The red head reasoned with her even as a thoughtful look crossed the older woman's face. The blonde girl referred to as Cjaira shrugged her shoulders as she turn towards the older woman, little looking at her for guidance
"You say that Havillah was here? " The woman asked as Killion frowned at her use of past tense.
" She IS." He insisted. "but now, she is not answering my calls... Not that this is the first time..." he trailed off again not sure if it was safe for him to disclose the details of that long wait orthe shame eating him. If he was to be honest though, Killion would say that he was feeling like he really deserved the treatment, the silence from Havillah's reclusiveness and even the looks that he was getting now for he was somehow responsible for it all.
"Mmm..." The woman, the leader of the group, muttered before walking around Killion to trace the coat of arms that was ingrained on the gilded panel beside the door. Like Gabriel had narrated to him, the seal gleamed a dazzling white before opening up like the young man had also said. As the woman stepped into the darkened hallway, a series of lights burst forth from the ceiling illuminating the path that was revealed before her.
"She is not here." the woman stated as she turned to face him.
"What do you mean? Where else could she be?" As expected, the woman did not answer him. Instead, she posed yet another question as she resumed interrogating him.
"When did you last see her? When did you last see my daughter? " she demanded even as her eyes gleamed in the light of the barrier that had just activated and was now illuminating the entirety of the temple and the houses in inner circle.
"This morning..." the young man stuttered, terrified at what this strange woman could do.