Chereads / The Seventh Resonance / Chapter 18 - Hell to Pay

Chapter 18 - Hell to Pay

A dashing Leonidas stood in front of Ana, wearing a long sleeved black T-shirt and a pair of tight long pants.

"They grow up so fast..." Ana said with crocodile tears threatening to rain down her pretty face.

Leonidas rolled his eyes at this sight.

'Psschh... Whatever...'

"Don't roll your eyes. You looks so handsome all dressed up and finally going on a date" Ana almost screamed fanatically, causing Leonidas to almost blush. When had he ever been this embarrassed. It had been more than 100 years.

Leonidas remembered that this was what his mother wanted from the beginning and couldn't help but shudder...

Did she will this into existence?

No matter what, this woman's schemes were absolutely terrifying.

"You better treat her well... Or else..." Ana looked at Leonidas scaldingly as she dragged her fingers across her neck.

"Don't worry. I need to focus on my work and my school. I can't be having whatever this is... So I'll make sure nothing happens." Leonidas said and right before she could retort a sound interrupted their conversation.

*ding-dong*

The sound of the doorbell rang through the house. Leonidas was currently standing in the kitchen while Ana was making snacks so he could easily go and open the door.

Behind the door was a beauty that would absolutely make any man weak by the knees in a few years.

She was wearing a blue dress with frills that showed off her legs, and blue flat heeled shoes. Although her face had no makeup, it had natural color and suppleness that was indicative of her youth and radiant beauty in the future.

Leonidas secretly nodded his head in appreciation.

'Nothing too fancy. Thank the heavens'

"Hey Fiona" Leonidas said while leading her in.

"Hi Leo..." Fiona greeted shyly. She didn't know why but she became very nervous when she saw the boy who opened the door for her.

A booming voice came from the inside.

"Is that... Oh my God... You're so pretty!! Isn't she pretty Leonidas?" Ana innocently looked at Leonidas while waiting for an answer.

'This woman...'

"Yes. She's very pretty today" Leonidas said casually without any emotion in his voice.

"Thank you..." Fiona said, her face fully flushed from the looks and the compliments.

"Come Come, Leonidas told me he's still waiting for Lucas to come pick you guys up. Help yourself." Ana said while pointing to the snacks on the table

"Thank you for having me" she said as she sat down in the kitchen table area.

Leonidas took the time they were getting comfortable to check on Lucas.

Lucas had been given a raise in salary and position. He had gone from a driver to a manager who manages multiple drivers.

Leonidas checked his text messages and saw that Lucas had told him the driver would get here within the next 2 minutes. He stopped worrying and put his phone down.

He sat next to Fiona at the table and helped himself to the cheese and ham sandwich poppers while listening to their conversation.

"So Fiona, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Hmm... I don't know. I wanted to be a Business woman." fiona said with her eyes shimmering brightly in anticipation.

"Wow, someone here is already a business man. You should ask for his guidance.", Ana exclaimed while intently looking at Leonidas for his reaction.

"Really? Leo never told me that..." Fiona said amazed. She knew Leonidas was doing sorcery and going to school. If he was also a business man on the side that would be terrifying.

Leonidas ignored everything and just grabbed more snacks to stuff in his mouth. As long as his mouth was full there was no need to talk.

As if noticing Leonidas' reluctance to join in, Ana couldnt help but add more fuel to the fire

"As you can see our favorite boy is a bit nervous. He's never done this before"

*pffft cough cough*

Leonidas coughed out his drink as he stared at Ana unbelievably. Turning black into white... Truly a terrifying woman.

Before she could continue destroying Leonidas' reputation, her phone rang and Ana had to excuse herself to pick it up.

This left the 'nervous boy' with the nervous girl. But the awkwardness didn't last for longer than 10 seconds as the front door bell rang again.

"That's the guy... Finally" said Leonidas while cursing the driver for not being quick enough.

"Auntie Ana, I'll see you later"

"Bye mom."

"Bye kids" said Ana, seemingly with less energy than she had been expressing this whole time.

Leonidas was a bit worried but he figured it must be work related so he left it at that.

The drive to the theme park was characterized by Leonidas trying to lighten the mood with small talk, music or talks about school.

When the topic turned towards Leonidas' goals and dreams, Leonidas felt that there was no need to lie.

"I want to become the most powerful and most influential person in the world"

"..."

"..."

"I knew you were crazy, but this..."

"Pfft hahaha" Leonidas couldn't help but laugh at her response. He looked at her and saw the prettiest smile.

He couldn't help but sigh in response. If he was inexperienced or the same mental age, he would definitely have fallen for this girl.

"What about you?" asked Leonidas, changing the focus of the conversation.

Seeing Leonidas gaze at her deeply, fiona couldn't help but blush as she said meekly, "I just want to be happy..."

"..."

"..."

"pfft hahaha"

"hahahaha"

And so the ride went until they arrived at Gold Reef City Theme Park.

Although Fiona said that she wanted to go on all the rides and eat all the food, Leonidas didn't believe she could accomplish that at all. But Leonidas was surprised as this girl's stamina was more potent than his own!

If this was an RPG, her stamina Stat and the level of her *Gluttony* passive skill would definitely be cracked. There was no way a girl her age could eat so much.

And although Leonidas himself was a grown man of 160 odd years of age, he still had fun like a kid would. Although he wasn't allowed on some of the rides, much to the joy and satisfaction of Fiona.

By the end of the day, Leonidas and Fiona were both tired. They both sat in the car silently, as if no words needed to be spoken in that moment. But Fiona spoke first.

"I really enjoyed the day today. Thank you!"

"Oh please, it was my pleasure. I haven't had fun like that in so many years" said Leonidas truthfully.

He really hadn't had that much fun in probably 80 years. Although he was dreading the day, he really ended up enjoying himself way too much.

Annoying.

Fiona laughed at Leonidas comment and said "What are you saying... You're 13."

"You're so weird sometimes. The way you talk is like an old man that's always complaining." teased Fiona.

"Hey... What? I'm not complaining. I'm admonishing the universe for not giving me what I want quick enough... There's a difference" said Leonidas with a smug look on his face as he corrected her error.

Fiona just smiled in silence and gazed at him quietly.

She didn't know when but she started enjoying being around this intelligent, handsome boy who was shorter than her. Everytime he was around, she felt her heart beat faster.

She was not an idiot. Of course she knew what this meant. She liked him.

But she was scared. He was so dazzling. So bright. And she... She was just, her...

But Fiona was brave. She wanted to tell him how she felt at least once. She bit her lip and calmed her nerves as much as she could.

"You know Leonidas I have something to tell you..."

"Really? That's interesting I have something to tell you too." said Leonidas while looking at the girl intently.

He had been watching her facial expressions waver for the past few minutes now. He knew exactly what she may want to say within the next few minutes. And he wanted to nip whatever was blooming in the bud.

"You go first" said Fiona while visibly relaxing.

Leonidas noticed this and just decided to bite the gun.

"Actually, I think you're a great girl. You're smart. You're funny. You're pretty. You're perfect... But"

Fiona felt her heart sink at that last word, but she kept her breathing steady and kept listening.

"But I don't think I can be in a relationship right now. I'm dealing with a lot, even you know. From school, to work, to cultivation." continued Leonidas. But he didn't stop there.

"And to be honest I think you can do a lot better than me. I'm unemotional. I'm manipulative. I'm violent. I'm a bit broken..."

Leonidas sighed loudly as he said this. He had to let her down softly. He couldn't help feel a pang of guilt as he said this, because his need to be soft was born from his need to keep Fiona around as an experimental subject and a partner.

He was surprised about this. Leonidas never felt guilty about most things he did. He realized that deep down he cared about the girl.

It didn't change the fact though... At the end of the day he was still objectifying someone he cared about. He hated himself for it.

"If you still feel the same way after you turn 18, then we can give it a shot. But right now I don't think I can be what you want me to be."

"..."

"..."

Silence...

Leonidas looked at the shriveled up figure of the girl who was gazing out of the window. No longer did she seem like the same girl who was running around like there was no tommorow. Just an empty husk of her former self.

Although she was crying, she would silently wipe off the tears, not daring to look at Leonidas in the eyes for fear of totally breaking down.

And just like that, the trip back was as uneventful as the trip to the place. But everything was just a little bit emptier.

The car stopped in front of Fiona's house and Fiona got off immediately, not even looking back to say goodbye. She even unconsciously banged the door on her way in. Leonidas sighed to himself as he saw this. This was going to be difficult to fix.

He went back to his house after thanking the driver and immediately noticed a somber atmosphere. Ana was seated on the living room couch and in front of her were 2 wine bottles.

"Mom? Is there something going on?"

"Leo... Nothing much, just some work stuff. It's stressing me out a bit, that's it."

"Are you sure?" said Leonidas noticing the deception. But Ana reaffirmed and told him that dinner was in the fridge. She then picked up her trash and threw it away carelessly on her way to bed.

"Haahhh... More work for me I guess" said Leonidas, while taking out his phone.

It didn't take long for the person at the other end to pick up. Leonidas greeted the man casually, as if the man was his age mate instead of the 37 year old he was.

"Hey fatty."

"Yes boss?" asked Jeffrey Respectfully.

Ever since their first meeting at the park, it had been 2 weeks. Leonidas drew up a new employment contract for Jeffrey and had Jeffrey set up a business identity for himself and his business to prepare for large scale professional cooperation.

Jeffrey did as ordered because of the utter fear that was driven into him at first, but after reading the employment contract and finding out the terms, he had even started calling this demon in the skin of a child by the name 'Boss'

Leonidas knew Jeffrey was a greedy pig. All he had to do was triple his salary, and Jeffrey became ready and willing to quit his old jobs and enter a new one.

The carrot and the stick.

"I have more work for you." said Leonidas casually.

"Please feel free Boss, I'll take care of it as soon as I can."

"I want you to investigate my mom's work relationships. Find out if any thing's going on. If there's anything funny, you tell me as quickly as possible"

"I'll get it done Boss"

"Great." said Leonidas while switching off the phone without waiting for a reply.

Tomorrow would be Monday again. The day of the class camping trip.

'Damn Sundays... This is why I hate Sundays. Nothing goes well on Sundays'

Leonidas but into a sandwich and went to his office where he worked until he felt like he couldn't work anymore and then finally went to sleep.

On Monday, Leonidas arrived at school with fully packed bags for a five day trip. Ana had really prepared for any occasion, rain or shine, and showed another way where she could be terrifyingly doting.

On school trip days, students would wait by the front of the school for the mega busses which would take them to their destination.

Leonidas was currently occupying himself with his phone, reading the world news when he heard the annoying sound of idiots behind him.

"Heh... Look at this guy." said Mark while looking down on him with his massive height.

Leonidas merely smiled back causing Mark's earlier taunt to look idiotic and mark flinched slightly. But surprisingly he never backed off. Leonidas looked to his right and realized that Mark had some backing.

"Leonidas Mira... How's your precious mother, Anastasia?" said Julian, while looking smugly at Leonidas.

"She's fine. Thanks for asking. How's yours?" said Leonidas back to him.

Julian became visibly angry but calmed himself as he realized that none of his classmates knew that his mother killed herself years ago. He replied casually, changing the subject.

"Are you sure? Last time I heard she got fired from her job... pfft hahaha!! "

Leonidas face was brightened by a devilish smile. Everything clicked into place. So this is the scumbag who hired Jeffrey...

He was okay if people targeted him. But if they targeted the people he cared about... There would be hell to pay.