Isaias was finished fighting elementals when he looked over at where his mother was and did a double take. “Zen? Is that our dad?”

Zen looked to where Isaias was pointing and gasped. A man with the same mahogany eyes as theirs and the same tone of skin stood before their mother wearing a grey uniform with red outlining. The same uniform as the elementals they had just killed. “Isaias, Dad is with the GAA and likely their commander.”

Isaias turned his head. “But dad never fought!”

“Five years can change a person and not for the better.”

Isaias nodded and got ready to shadow warp, but Zen stopped him. “We’ll wait for the others to get here. Then we’ll plan on what to do. It could be a trap.”

Come on what’s the worst that could happen?” he asked, shadow warping. Zen groaned and held her head to stem a headache before shadow warping as well. I can’t leave him alone with Dad. Who knows what he’ll try to do to Isaias?

###

Ricardo smiled as two shadows coalesced into his children. One he wanted to see desperately the other, well he couldn’t care what happened to her. She was an abomination although she looked as beautiful as her mother had been at that age. She doesn’t look like a world destroyer. Maybe I made a mistake and was too hasty. Oh well, Garrett wants her now anyway. There’s no way to save her from her future as a breeder but maybe I can help her forget her role like I’m making Isaias forget his past? Hmm, we’ll see.

“Hello, Isaias, Zen.”

“Hey Dad,” Isaias muttered while Zen glared at him. Well, I did try to excise her.

“It’s nice to have the family here again after five years. Sadly you two will be coming with me and leaving your mother if you want her to live.”

Isaias bristled. “What are you going to do to her!”

A shield went over Rosalinda. “Try it,” Zen muttered.

Ricardo smirked and looked at Rosalinda. A black shadow began to grow around her and she fell to her knees panting.

“Stop it! What are you doing to her,” Zen cried, rushing to hold her mother who was weak and shaking in her arms.

“Due to our intimate contact, I can excise her soul from within her. You don’t want that, do you? Come with me then.”

Isaias growled but put one foot in front of the other til he was facing his father.

“I hate you,” he said.

Ricardo laughed and pulled something from his jacket.

“Soon you won’t son.”

“What!”

Ricardo clipped a collar on Isaias. It instantly lit up and two neural cables sprang from the back and buried themselves into his brain. Isaias screamed and tried to claw the necklace off but it was far too late. Isaias’s eyes lost their inner sparkle and became clear as glass. He stopped moving and became still-too still for Isaias.

Zen looked at her brother who had stopped screaming and now stood like a droid, devoid of life. She could see her reflection in his eyes and knew that something horrible happened to her animated twin. She stood and came closer

“Isaias,” she whispered.

No movement.

“Isaias,” she screamed, rushing at him and jerking him to face her.

“He won’t listen to you. Isaias come here,” said Ricardo.

Isaias' eyes burst to life and he shook her off to join Ricardo’s side.

“No,” Zen whimpered and ground her teeth. “Isaias! No! Give him back!”

“Stupid girl he belongs to the GAA now. This is temporary till his memories can be tampered with. Now it’s your turn to come here.”

“No! You will not erase me! How do I free Isaias?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to kill me Zen. Could you do that?”

Zen smirked. “For Isaias, anything!” Zen got down into a stance, knives out and Ricardo sighed. “Isaias go get your obstinate sister. Use any means necessary.”

“Yes sir” Isaias replied before taking out his whip.

“You would use those on me, Isaias,” she said sadly as he snapped his wrists backward and swung. She froze as she watched the scythes fly at her and closed her eyes, a tear falling to the ground. A shield of ice sprung up and two strong arms picked her up from where she collapsed. The shield was ripped into tiny glass shards.

“You ok? What happened? Why is Isaias attacking you?” Stephan asked as he watched Isaias snap his wrists and swing again. He jumped with her in his arms.

“He’s being controlled by that collar around his neck! I have to kill my father to liberate him! But I can’t fight Isaias! I freeze and-”

“Shh, it’s alright Zen.” Stephan rubbed her back, “We’ll find a way to get him back and- whoa!” He jumped as Isaias rushed them and swung his katana. Stephan kicked out and smashed Isaias in the side, sending him flying into a tree.

He carried Zen a little farther away before setting her down.

“I have to fight him, Stephan. He won’t stop until he’s beaten down. But I don’t think I can defeat him and my father. He’s after me on Daddy’s orders.”

“‘We can...here he comes again with that dame whip!”

Stephan made a water shield over Isaias and trapped him til he was out of oxygen. Then he let him go. Isaias thumped on the ground in a wet heap.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Stephan grinned. “See easy. Now go get your…”

“Isaias enervate. You have a job to do.”

A shock ran through the collar, shocking Isaias awake. He got up and sighed muttering about workaholics and no breaks and charged again.

Zen and Stephan evaded. “We may have a problem,” Stephan muttered as he watched Zen dodge her brother again.

###

Zen dodged Isaias’s whip again. She looked for a way to knock out Isaias without harming him. That collar will just enervate him again! I have to trap him in some form. How though?

We can put him in an eternal slumber and wake him when we get rid of your father.

How do we do that Ishevara?

First, you must have contact with him. I’ll do the rest. He’ll appear dead.

It’s our only choice?

Short of killing him, yes.

Then we do it. How close do I have to be?

He has to grab you

Ok

Zen smirked and dodged to the left but Isaias read her movements and swung his katana clipping her shoulder. She hissed, bringing an arm up to her shoulder not believing her brother had made her bleed. She narrowed her eyes and took out her knives.

“Fine! If it's a fight you want! It’s a fight you’ll get, hermano.”

Instead of evading him this time, she clashed with him in a dance of swords and knives. Zen tried to slash and he thrust his blade. Zen spun around the blade and slashed down getting Isaias in the arms then spinning out of reach of his sword again and slashing at his face knicking his cheek. She parried his next strike with one knife and with the other she slashed at his unprotected side. He winced and backed off to hold his side.

“Not so tough huh hermano,” she huffed while Isaias growled and snapped his wrists letting his whip go. She dodged the blades and slashed at his shoulder.

“A little higher and you’d be dead,” she taunted.

Isaias scowled and went after her kicking out. She blocked but he twisted and punched her in the gut before kneeing her in the stomach. She collapsed to the ground spitting blood.

He smirked and picked her up.

Now Ishevara!

A haze enveloped them and for a few seconds, Isaias blinked and was himself. “Huh,” he muttered before collapsing in a heap at Zen’s feet. She bent over and smoothed his hair back kissing his forehead.

“Sleep well.”

“Isaias enervate!”

A shock ran through the collar like before but Isaias did not awaken. Zen smiled and stood glaring at Ricardo. “You’ll fry his brain if you keep insisting he wakes from the never sleep,” she growled.

Ricardo sighed and walked over to where Zen was standing beside her knocked-out brother.

“You have always made it so hard on me Zen. I admit trying to kill you was ill-taken on my part but why do you always have to complicate things?”

“Me? I wasn’t the one who tried to murder his daughter for having a power she didn’t understand! You should have helped me! Instead, you tried to kill me!”

A hand wiped her tears and turned her to face them.

###

Stephan kissed her, keeping his hand on her face. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Don’t let him get to you. We can take him on now that Isaias has been handled.”

“We?” she asked, chuckling.

“We. I’m not about to let you take on one of the commanders of the GAA alone. Who knows if he has any other gadgets like the one on your brother?”

She nodded. “Stephan if he captures me-”

“He won’t! I won’t let him capture you.”

“But if he does, kill me, please. The GAA can’t have a hold of Ishevara and if I die she disappears with me.”

“Zen…”

“Please and save Isaias.”

“I can’t promise that! I…”

“Please if you care for me at all...you’ll kill me.”

“I fucking love you! I won’t let that bastard touch you. You fight! Promise me you’ll fight Zen!”

Zen kissed him. “I’ll fight but if there is no choice…”

“Then I’ll destroy you only then.”

“Ok.”

Zen and Stephan stood facing a grinning Ricardo. “ My you’ve grown up fast. You already have a boyfriend but does he pass Daddy’s test?”

“I don’t know, do I, Carmelo?” he yelled and Zen grinned while Carmelo yelled a yes back at him.

“Seems I do.”

Ricardo smiled. “A smart mouth just like you then? How quaint!” He shadow warped and reappeared kicking Stephan in the side. Stephan dodged and punched Ricardo but the man shadow warped back to where he was before smiling.

“He’s fast. Good. your turn Zen,” and he simply disappeared to reappear at Zen’s side. Zen gasped and barely blocked his strike to the abdomen before twisting and blocking a hit to the back. He’s fast! He disappeared on speed alone!

She dodged a kick to the solar plexus and blocked another punch to the abdomen.

He backed away before disappearing and reappearing in his spot again.

“You’re both fast but can you handle a General’s speed,” he laughed, disappearing from his spot and appearing before both a shadow ball already thrown at them.

“Don’t let those hit you,” warned Stephan as they dodged and weaved past an obstacle course of shadows. Stephan had to pull up his ice shields a few times while Zen teleported evading the balls. Ricardo laughed and attacked both punching Stephan and kneeing Zen in the stomach.

“Amazing what five years of extreme physical training can do,” he said, picking Zen up by her hair and tossing her a few meters away. He turned to Stephan who was standing fury in his eyes.

“You can be a great asset for the GAA.”

“I’ve heard this spiel before. No thanks.”

Ricardo scowled and snapped out a collar. “You don’t have a choice, boy.” Ricardo was about to snap the collar on when Stephan was pushed out of the way and the collar snapped over Zen’s neck.

###

Zen screamed as a burning pain shot into her brain. Stephan watched with sad eyes. “Zen! You promised to fight!”

Zen shrieked as the cables buried themselves within her brain. Ricardo laughed. “She can’t hear you, boy. The process is very painful for willful people but eventually even they fall to the collar,” he said waiting for his daughter to come under his command. Just a little longer and I’ll have both under my command!

Zen was swamped in visions of herself as a young girl playing, laughing, crying, cheering, fighting. The scenes were endless and they were disappearing. Slowly, little by little all she was, all she had been, was disappearing behind a thick black veil. Ishevara saw this and scowled. She walked and tore down the veil.

There. Remember who you are Zen and kill your father.

###

Stephan watched in horror as Zen stilled and Ricardo smiled. “Arise Zen and come over here,” he said.

Stephan gulped as Zen got up and walked over to her father like some droid.

“Good. Now Zen. Take care of your boy toy.”

Zen turned to Stephan and advanced, taking out her knives as she went. Stephan backed up fear in his eyes. I can’t hurt her!

She attacked and he dodged. She threw her knives and pinned him to a tree. Then she leaned into his ear.

“Trust me.”

“What,” he said before she kneed him in the stomach and pulled his hair, kissing him and releasing the same mist she had with Isaias. Stephan’s eyes closed and she walked back to her father.

“You didn’t kill him?”

“I put him in a sleep only I can reverse. He’s as good as dead.”

“Very well. Pick up your brother and follow me.”

“Daddy?”

Ricardo turned to her and his eyes widened in horror as a fine mist began to escape her.

“Hold my hand,” she asked and once more he was the scared man watching the soul of an innocent bird be played with except he realized it was his soul in jeopardy. Don’t touch her!

Try as he might, he couldn’t fight the urge to touch her glowing palm. Then there was a jerk and darkness. He knew no more.