16 Eirik 16 (2/2)

Dante finally felt content with Arius's condition, but as he stood up and began walking towards the man at the door a hand grabbed onto his wrist. Arius leaned forward onto one knee and pulled Dante behind him. He knew Dante would be fine, but it was more like an instinct to protect the child.

”I was on my way!” Zuna shouted. The man began ignoring her though, as he saw the movement from Arius and Dante. His expression changed when he noticed the cute face peeking out from behind Arius. He went from stern, to peaceful.

”I forgive you.” He said as he looked Zuna in the eyes. ”Now let's go.”

Zuna sighed, she was used to his sudden changes in mood. He had been looking towards Dante and Arius when he suddenly became docile, so it must have been Dante. She simply knew him too well, he had a weakness towards small children. Using that to her advantage was easy.

”Dad, I need to tell you something about them first.” Zuna said. His eyes didnt move from her, she had his full attention. She pointed to the two behind her. ”They are both immortal.”

Shock should have been clearly displayed on his face, but that's just not like him. His somber demeanor would not betray him even in a moment of peril. Though for Zuna, it was somehow easy to tell his emotions even when he always seemed so plain.

He stepped around Zuna so that he could see Dante and Arius. ”Father and son?” He believed that Dante was about seven years old, it would make sense that his parents would be somewhere close by.

”Sort of.” Arius attempted a smile, as he stood up. Zuna had seemed to calm down, so he felt it was safe. ”I adopted him.”

”At least one of his parents should be immortal, where are they?” He seemed intrigued, but Arius couldn't tell.

Zuna stepped next to her dad. ”Dante is a special case. You probably won't believe me, but Dante is almost 700 years old, and both his parents are dead.”

”You're right, I don't believe you.” The man looked at his daughter. ”How can you tell how old he is, anyway?”

”He told me.” Zuna looked a bit hesitant to keep talking. ”I believe him.”

”Hazuna, I love you to death, but you're extremely gullible.” His face didn't change, but it wasn't hard to sense the disappointment. He then turned to face Arius. ”The name is Eirik.”