Dawning Skye

524 The Lei Family

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE***

“Are you Sure that it was Ahriman?” Senator Lei inquired with a tense expression.

“How did he get through Sai’s boarder defenses?” Tidas asked as he looked around with his heightened vision.

“Ya gotta be fuckin’ around, right Genie? Did he follow us here?!” Skye nearly yelled with a mixture of surprise and annoyance.

Genie shook his head lightly as he replied; “I don’t know why myself, but regardless of his reasons: Ahriman is here.. And he’s not getting away this time.”

Skye felt a shiver run up her spine as she watched Genie’s face twist with darkened thoughts. She knew that Ahriman had killed Genie’s Second-in-Command years ago. But what she didn’t know is that his VC had been one of only two women that Genie had ever romantically loved.

Tidas and Skye had known Genie since they were children, but neither of them actually knew much about their mentor. He was the world’s most deadly assassin named Jin Laos, and he was Genie. The two sides were so vastly different, and yet they were the same person..

‘How can he have such drastically different personalities? Must be exhaustin’ for ’em.. I wonder which is his true face? Oh well.. Genie’s Genie ta me.. I just wanna see Mei, and relax a wee bit before shit hits the fan...again...’

Although they were acting as Representatives of Alcon, Skye and Tidas’ trip to Sai was supposed to be a small break from their usual dire drama. They wanted to start a family as soon as they returned, so this was supposed to be a kind of vacation for the two.

.....

They knew from Genie that is wasn’t going to be a vacation, but compared to the Highlands; it was to Skye and Tidas. They had to manage a small army on top of their own personal duties, be diplomats and defenders, and take care of Zazzy. Although the Highlanders pretty much did most of the work out of love for her, it was still a lot to do for two people.

The Highlanders had come to adore Zazzy, which increased the support for the alliance with Alcon. She was more than just a mascot for Alcon: Zazzy was a national treasure to them. And the sentiment was growing.

The people’s cheers of admiration from the city were so loud that they had reached the palace. Zazzy and Skye stared off towards the clamor with smiles, but Tidas kept his eyes on Tokuga and his people. A few were whispering, and he could hear what they were saying..

“How is the situation salvageable?! It was all for not..”

“I’m sure that there are more possibilities.. He wouldn’t chance only once..”

“Really? I don’t see how a second one is possible..”

“We’ll prove it to you, my brothers. Just give it time..”

Tidas’ language skills weren’t as good as Skye’s. But he had caught enough to know that Tokuga and his people would most likely try getting to Zazzy again. An anger he was finding difficult to control began to well up in Tidas as he glared at the group of Senators.

“Calm down, love, or you’ll scare the politicians,” Skye partially joked as she gestured to the other Senators watching the entire thing.

“Did you hear?” Tidas asked as he and Skye stood side by side.

Genie was in the middle of listing off all of the places for his ninja to search as Skye replied low; “Aye, and they willna even get close ta her. We’ll make sure of that..”

As the two bumped fists like they had learned to do in the Highlands, Genie called out for Tidas. He wanted to know what the guard had said word for word when he’d been caught. The way he pronounced certain words would help link him to a specific Senator via learning his regional dialect.

Tidas couldn’t help much since he wasn’t as proficient at languages, but if he heard it again, he’d be able to identify it. After that, they started to discuss an investigation into the incident, which Zazzy thought was her que to leave. Only when she told her parents that she was leaving did the entirety of the situation register..

“Ima sorry me scaly bairn, but ya canna go flyin’ off without me, Da, or Genie wit ya. Not until we kick some bad guy arse later.. Dinna give me that face! Tis outta me hands! I’ll tell ya what? How bout we go fer a ride ta see Mei? Ya havena met her yet, and she’s got a wee bairn ya can coo over..”

As soon as Skye turned to face Genie, Zazzy stretched her neck over her parents, and hovered above his head as Skye asked; “Can ya take us ta Mei’s before ya get into all of that? We need ta send fer Peggy and get settled.”

Genie looked to his brother with a pleading expression as Zazzy huffed menacingly into his hair. His brother stopped a grin from forming, then nodded before replying; “We’re actually staying at my brother’s home for now. It’s safer, and Mei has always loved being there.”

Senator Lei turned towards the majority of Senators; “I suggest that we allow my brother to escort our esteemed guests to gather their things, and get settled while we all have an emergency session. It is imperative that we discover who was trying to sabotage the peace pact.. And if that was their True intention or not.”

Senator Lei looked poignantly at Tokuga as he had finished speaking, making the man shift uncomfortably where he stood. He was no fool: he knew that Tokuga was the perpetrator. But without a witness to say that he had handed out the orders himself, Lei knew that he’d get away with it..

‘This will be the Last time that man threatens my home and family.. If I have to: I’ll kill him myself..’

As the thought crossed Senator Lei’s mind, he kept his expression stoic as he bid the Alconians and his brother a temporary farewell. They would have a small, private dinner tonight, and tomorrow they would all dine with the rest of the Senators, and his brother. It was rare for them to eat together unless the Senate was in session, and he had been summoned to report.

Genie was happy to be able to see his family while he was home, but worried about the fact that they only felt safe at his house.. ‘When Bai goes home with Mei, should I just tell them to stay there? Or assign more guards? No, I think she’ll be fine as long as Skye is with her.. But she can’t be with Mei All the time..’

Diplomatic guests were treated well in Sai, but who the delegates were did hold some sway as to how good their time in Sai was. Requests to attend dinners, parties, and other varying social gatherings were always presented to those in high demand by the wealthy. And the wealthy were always happy to throw a random party just to invite their temporary idol.

‘Tidas has probably dealt with multiple parties back to back before, but I doubt Skye has.. She’ll have to hone her tolerance for stupidity in between training.. She and Tidas have a lot to do, and not long to do it..’

“Hey Genie!? How long til we get there?!” Skye yelled as she and Tidas climbed onto Zazzy.

Snapping back, Genie grinned as he replied; “Around fifteen minutes or so, why?”

Skye grinned back impishly; “Good! Ya can tell us what yer family’s like a bit on the way. Ya never really talked about ’em when we were growin’ up, and we need conversation ta fill the time til we get there.”

Genie chuckled; “I can tell you some. To be truthful: I wasn’t recognized by my family until my brother became the head of the main branch. Let’s just say that my Father and Grandfather were...passionate men.”

“Oh aye. So that’s what ya call man-whores here,” Skye replied with heavy sarcasm.

As Tidas laughed hard behind her, Genie stifled his to answer; “Yes, well.. That is certainly one way to put it.”

After the three had taken flight, Genie told them a bit about his family and it’s structure. He knew it was best to satisfy Skye’s curiosity now since he doubted that they would have time later. On top of the real reasons they were there, Skye, Tidas, and Zazzy would be in high demand by the upper class of Sai..

The entire city would be in an uproar if the Lei Family tried to keep the Last Dragon all to themselves, not to mention Skye and Tidas. They were celebrities before the world had learned of Zazzy, and now they were in even higher demand. Sai may have done away with their titles, but the wealth that the families had hoarded for generations had stayed with them.

Senator Lei maintained his position as the head of his family, which was also the main branch. Right after he had assumed his place, he took the majority of the family’s hoarded wealth, and opened various charities. Several attempts on his life were made, but the combination of Bai Lei and Jin Laos could not be refused.

The few troublemakers were dealt with, and the family had flourished under Bai Lei’s leadership. He recognized Genie as his official brother, and they established and cemented his control of the family with minimal bloodshed. Skye seemed slightly disturbed by the idea of killing one’s own family members, but Tidas was used to such barbaric and archaic traditions.

Up until Magnus, even the MacArthur Family had killed each other over their crown. As they discussed the deep-seeded greed connected to power, Genie interrupted to point out his home..

The shape of the soft gray stones reminded Skye of a picture she’d seen in a book about the Fire Nation. The architecture was completely different from all of the other buildings they’d seen while flying. Genie had personally designed his mansion to have elements from both, making it a beautiful work of art.

The off-white, almost dome-shaped tops of the three ceilings had intricate carvings along every edge and boarder. Several gardens sectioned off by courtyards were beautifully manicured and maintained all the way around the inside and outside of a massive wall. A rustic golden-red color that almost matched the dragon bones surrounding the city lined the edges, and had more intricate carvings on it.

While Skye used her Tank trait to see the details as they closed in, a woman with long black hair entered the closest courtyard. As soon as Skye saw the small child following after her, she knew who it was. So excited that she forgot that she was riding on top of a dragon, Skye screamed at the top of her lungs; “MEI!!!!! Ima up here!”

Tidas partly sighed, partly chuckled as he spoke loud enough for Genie to hear him; “Ya might want to wait until she can see us before you start calling out to her. Otherwise, she might get the wrong impression..”

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