Cursed by Mako

The crimson poet sighed lightly. He hated lying to his daughter, but he had to rotect her to the best of his ability. There was no way he was going to let his new family be rent asunder… “Don’t worry about me, Zenith. As long as I’m around, nothing will harm you.” How much longer could he keep this pretense up?

"......" Trouble was the girl knew he was lying, that he was hiding something, it scared her, terrified her. What out there was so dangerous that her parents would openly lie to her just to 'keep her safe'. "I always worry." she stated. "How can I not worry when my entire life is being built around secrets?" she demanded as she finally walked off. Maybe it was finally time to plan her escape from Banora. Tonight sounded like a good night.

Her expression turned solemn and she pursed her lips, trying to think of what to say. She knelt down to her level, gently resting her hands on her daughter’s arms. “Zenith… it’s not just you who needs to stay hidden. It’s me, too. Daddy protects us both. We’re the last of our kind, dear, the Ancients, and ShinRa wants to hunt us down, use us for their own gain.” She left out the Mako part, not wanting to worry her too much. “And it’s not that you can’t leave, it’s just that we’d prefer you have one of us, if not both, with you, so we can protect you if something happens. You know we couldn’t bear to lose you…” Her hand moved up to gently comb through Zenith’s hair, expression softening as she waited for her reaction.

“But… I wanna see the outside, Mama. So badly.”

“That’s understandable. Some of those monsters can be quite the pain.” She nodded in agreement, scrunching up her nose a little before moving on to her next question. “Well, as a Cetra, we, in a way, keep the Planet balanced. You know that the Lifestream is the Planet’s energy, right? Sometimes, the flow of it can get… stuck. We have the ability to open up new passageways, keep the energy flowing. We can also listen and talk to the Planet, and we have a bit better green thumb than most - as you’ve seen with my garden.”

"Mama... Why do you say I must remain hidden? Why can't I go outside or leave Banora...? Why must I always be watched?"

“Oh!” The brunette was surprised by the hug, but quickly smiled and wrapped her arms around the younger female, shaking her head. “I was just celebrating new years with a friend. What about you, young lady? What are you doing up so late?” She raised her eyebrow questioningly, but could not seem to rid of her smile, especially at the eagerness Zenith showed to learn more about their heritage. “Alright, but you are going to have to go to bed sometime tonight.”

"Bothering Daddy." she replied, really why else would she ever be up so late. "He's training again though so not much time for me to really bother him, I don't feel like facing those nasty monsters he's fighting against!" Course anything more than a simple Flan was 'nasty' to Zenith. "But uhm uhm, tell me more about my abilities as a centra, tell me more about what it all means."

Could he ever tell his daughter of his fear, that which even he was afraid to admit to himself? No… and though Zenith did seem able to tell that something was afoot, Genesis would not allow her to be too exposed to it. “… I don’t even know myself, but I know it’s dangerous.”

"....." she could tell once again he was hiding from her, hiding something huge, something important. "I see. Well, whatever it is, I know you'll be able to conquer  whatever danger lies ahead. I have faith in you."What Zenith didn't say is how terrified she was. The way her parents acted, had always scared her, made her jumpier than a rabbit. But... She stayed quiet and listened to what they said.

“So I see…” He couldn’t help but feel at ease around his daughter, aside from the fact he tried to keep his worries hidden. “I have to be prepared to protect you and your mother. Always…” And when Genesis Rhapsodos declared something was to be protected, he protected it fiercely.

She could sense it, something out there frightened her parents, made them jumpy, made them yank her out of the streets before dark, they were hiding and they were hiding her. One day though she'd break free and explore.

“Ah well…yes,” she remarked, looking around before returning her gaze to the child. The question hit home, and Usagi gave a solemn nod of her head. “Yes, it happens a lot really…Um, could you tell me which way I walk to get to Tokyo?” She inquired, eyes withholding a soft plea. All she wanted to do was get home, or at least, find something familiar.

"I can't help you..." Zenith finally stated. 

“Zenith!” The poet smiled warmly at his daughter, picking her up and giving her a gentle hug. “I’m just training at the moment. You should be in bed, young lady.” His melodic voice had a stern overtone.

"Heehee! Should be, could be, but I'm noooot!" she giggled,  throwing arms around him, just glad to be held. "Daddy why are you always training... Do you fear that something may happen...?" she honestly couldn't understand at times why her parents were always so on edge, always training or making sure they had stuff packed, ready to leave at a second's notice. It was always so peaceful after all.

“Let me lay on you.”