This is not my Kingdom

“The bird will have to do for now. She’ll populate the world with Dougals, guaranteed. But not until she’s completely rid of her horrendous anomaly.” Of course he was talking about the wings., the things he hated because they were the external reminder that they were all freaks there.

Kyle took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll get her...” he said. And that he did but not before assuring Madeline that he would bring her back. That he would do everything in his power to stop Zadrian. He supposed brother finally turned against brother but then again...had they ever been truly that? Or had he just simply been a replacement, stuck in playing a role he no longer wanted to play? He had done well and never asked Zadrian for anything. Now he did it was clear what Zadrian truly cared for. Which was his own blood. Which was Aurora and not him. 

When Kyle returned with Elizabeth every viber in Kyle’s being was reluctant to hand her over to Zadrian. Handing a baby to devil. Still, he tried to make it look as naturally as possible. “Madeline named her Elizabeth...” Kyle said, though he realized the name wasn’t as unusual as the Dougals might prefer. “Please...be careful.” he said.

Felix had never killed anyone before, but he’d been an accomplice to murder. He’d been on the other end of it as well, with an attempt on his own life, and the successful murder of the one asshole he might have considered his friend if pressed. The man had died beside him, and it left an imprint on Felix.

If they were paying close enough attention, the Dougals would notice a twitch in the right side of Felix’s face. It was a reflex, a reaction to the memory of his friend’s blood splattering his face from the passenger’s side of the car they’d been in. He’d swerved into the guardrail, flipped over it, down into a ditch. Assumed dead, the men who shot his friend didn’t come to inspect the crash; that’s the only reason he was alive today.

“Understood,” he parroted Zadrian with an empty stare. “You need someone to eliminate a threat.” He glanced at Kyle. “I’m fine with that.” If it meant getting out of here, he’d do anything they asked. “Whatever you want, I’m your man.”

“Very promising to hear.” Zadrian muttered, not wanting to get into further details at the moment, but ready as he’d ever be to face his enemies. He knew getting the hell out of there was something that needed to happen sooner, rather than later, and with things falling into place, it seemed like things might actually be working in his favor, though they always seemed to work in his favor if he had anything to do with it.

“Your test could come at any time, so be prepared. Do not let your guard down.” He advised with a stern look, before standing from the table and raising his glass of wine. “This toast is for you then Felix, new brother of the Dougals, so long as you prove your loyalty and ties to the family. We stick together, and no matter where we go, we are one family now.” He took his wine glass and downed the contents with a smug look. “There’s still work to be done, but I’m going to handle everything. Keep your guard up though.”

Kyle noticed the little twitch in Felix’ features. “Don’t worry.” Kyle said to Felix. “When the time is there I’ll be there to pick you up, drop you off and get you out again the moment you’ve completed your...test.” he smiled while taking a hold of his wine glass. 

“To Felix. Our new brother.” he repeated with a smile. “We do not bend. We do not break.” he said before taking a sip of his wine. “And to freedom that soon will be ours.” he smiled. Kyle couldn’t wait to get out of this place.

“After we take care of this little issues all that’s left is getting our sister back.”

He spat back, “I don’t care what it must be like to hold your own child. Aurora will never be able to do something like that. This is why I must give her this child!” Zadrian fumed back, shoving past Kyle. “If you don’t do this, you will regret it Kyle. If you don’t do this, I’ll have to do it myself, and I don’t know what I’ll do to her Kyle. But I know you won’t like what I have in mind for your little girl toy.” He said with a devilish smile. “Perhaps I’ll give her a child of my own, and keep her as my pet. She’ll populate the world with the next generation of Dougals. Is that what you want?”

Kyle’s eyes widened a bit and for a moment he took a step towards Zadrian, almost as if he was about to punch him. But then he regained himself. He had to fight this battle wisely and make sure to convince Zadrian there wasn’t a battle to begin with.

“You’re right.” he then said. “Forgive me, I’m being foolish. It must be the lack of sleep during the birth.” he told Zadrian. “I can’t think straight.” he admitted. “But I’ve given you my word. And I’ll keep it.” he said. “In fact, I’ll bring you the child right now.” he said. “So you can finally make things right with Aurora.” he stated. “And you won’t need Madeline for such thing, you have your own little bird for that.” he added. 

Turning in an instant to face the young man. “Can’t do what?” He spat back almost immediately, anger tinging every word as he spat at him, “If this is about your child, I don’t give a shit if you don’t think you can do it. You’re going to do this. If you had any respect for our family name, you would follow through with your word.”

The words were harsh but true and Kyle was obviously so conflicted. “I don’t want to disapppoint you...I...” he shook his head. “But I saw her. I held her. You don’t what it’s like...to hold you own child.” he said.

As far as his power was concerned, well… that’s where things got a little hairy. A lot of it depended on his emotion, and since he’d been in a constant state of stress and anger his whole life, including the time after getting these abilities, there was no in-between when it came to displaying it. It was either tiny and none-too-impressive, or huge and destructive. Obviously, the former wasn’t going to keep these people off his back, or get him out of this place.

“Okay,” he said cheekily, with a rise in his voice that suggested he was playfully saying ‘you asked for it.’

Taking a deep breath, Felix tried to shake off the nervous energy, but it wouldn’t go. ‘Just as well,’ he thought, ‘it might actually help boost my performance a little.’ There was a short silence as he focused on the outside, recalling memories of places he knew and drawing energy from them. It wasn’t necessary, but it made it easier when he couldn’t actually see the exact space he was affecting. There were no windows in this room, but Felix was confident that his storm would be heard and felt.

Five more seconds passed by, and the young man’s irises began to turn that milky white, surrounded by a halo of pitch black. Outside, above the ocean just a few miles from the coast, the sky was darkening. Wind speeds kicked up to ten, thirty, fifty miles per hour and increasing rapidly. They twisted and swirled into a massive spiral, bringing the cloud cover down and the seawater up to meet in the middle. Rain erupted from the sky, torrential and as violent as the winds now knocking things over, ripping signs from walls, hurling garbage cans through the air. 

Felix had never cared for other people, and so his lack of guilt made it very easy to ignore the hundreds of thousands of NYC citizens he was willingly trapping in the middle of a sudden hurricane… all in the name of pleasing someone he thought could help him.

It wasn’t long before the storm’s effects reached their facility, and despite the fact that they were in a windowless room–perhaps underground, Felix had no way of knowing–they could still hear the ferocious howling outside, the constant white noise from the water thrashing the roof and sides of the building, and the occasional massive crash! as something large slammed into it. Snippets of shouting that managed to drown out the sound of the storm let Felix know that he’d done well in causing a commotion, and his eerie gaze seemed to come back into focus, settling on Zadrian, unchanged.

“It’d be more impressive if you were stuck in it, but you get the idea.”

Once the young man had been egged on by both he and Kyle, it seemed that he was willing to show off for them, something that Zadrian was more eager than he was willing to admit to see. And, the room grew eerie and quiet as the young man began to work his own magic, and while everything was still, Zadrian saw the white eyes in a freaky possession sort of manner.

“Interesting.” He murmured after a moment, noting how concentrated the other looked. It wasn’t until moments later that he realized just how big of a threat thsi kid could become, and as soon as the building began to shake it seemed, Zadrian had to commend the other in a single clap. “Very nice.” He added with a grin. “There’s just one last thing that I need you to do…” He started out, a devilish grin taking over. “I need protection. I’ve pissed off the wrong crowd, and I need security, from both of you. We’re Dougals, we do not bend, we do not break. We do not use our abilities one each other.” He vowed with a swirl of his glass of wine. “Understood?”

Kyle took in the little show Felix performed and had to admit he felt a sense of pride on how good the boy was doing. He was keeping Zadrian’s attention, he said the right things, showed off his power in a perfect manner...Kyle couldn’t help feeling hopeful that this little arrangement would actually work out for the best. 

Once Felix was done Kyle gave him a satisfied nod, as sign that he done well. At Zadrian’s next comment Kyle could tell that not only his brother was impressed but also maybe a little bit threatened by the amount of potential of Felix’ power. Kyle knew better than showing that noticed this though. He looked at Felix. “It’s our most sacred law.” he stated on never using their powers on one another.

He raised his glass. “We do not bend. We do not break.” he repeated.

He looked at Zadrian, as sign it was time to move on to the most important part of the night. To test how far Felix was willing to go to prove he could be one of them. “Someone is very likely planning to make a move to take Zadrian out...” Kyle explained further while looking at Felix. “If they threaten one of us, they threaten all of us. We just need to find out how far you’re willing to go to protect your own.”

Inside, Felix was prompted to discuss his abilities. His eyes raked over the room slowly, absentmindedly playing with the cuff link on his sleeve. “I’m surprised you were able to swing this… the people who ripped me from my home and kept me locked up in a basement for weeks didn’t really strike me as the type to host fancy little dinner parties.” He let his gaze fall until it met Zadrian’s, whereupon a small smirk alighted on his lips. “You must have some kind of pull.” Shrugging with one shoulder, Felix continued. “Anyway, as far as I’m concerned.. I can control weather elements. You know, lightning, hail, rain, wind, storms of varying degrees and types… that sort of thing.”

“Some kind of pull?” Zadrian threw his head back in a laugh, one not so serious, but actual belief that it was a joke indeed on his own ability. “I control people’s minds. I can make them say or do anything I ask for.” He stated rather nonchalantly, after being used to the ability for sometime, he was all the more willing to show off to others that weren’t a blessed.

Of course, when Felix said his ability was to control the weather, there was an intriguing idea of mischief coming into play. “Then go on, control some weather aspect then. Make it torrentially pour or something outside.” He mentioned in a short chuckle, hoping to at least see if the young man would follow through, though in the room they were in, you wouldn’t have been able to tell what the weather was like outside. “Perhaps you could come in more use than I originally intended.”

Kyle chuckled at the same comment. He pointed to Felix where he could sit down. As Zadrian put out a request for Felix to show of his power, Kyle nodded towards the boy in encouragement. 

Zadrian’s upbeat mood was definitely a good sign and the fact he wasn’t sneering at Felix yet was even better. Perhaps there would indeed be a different dynamic between the older and youngest this time.

“Don’t be shy Felix, show off a little.” he smiled friendly. “You won’t get in trouble. If anyone asks about it Zadrian will simply make them forget it ever happened.”

Now he had that chance to be true to himself, and the more he pondered it, the more he liked the idea. It was a relief to not have to have his guard up all the time… in fact, during Kyle’s teachings, Felix came to realize that he rather enjoyed having someone else tell him what to do. He didn’t have to think about it, or worry, or consider the consequence of his actions. He was finally free to let someone else do the planning, so he could sit back and relax for once in his life.

Well, figuratively speaking, anyway. He was doing quite the opposite, currently.

Felix wanted to complain that the suit felt stuffy, but he held his tongue. Simply by the things he’d been told, he was beginning to understand that that would generally be the best course of action. Just smile and nod. His patience wore thin as Kyle fixed his tie however, and he rolled his eyes with a sigh. 

“Yes, brother, I think I’ve got it,” he grumbled, still allowing the other to fuss over the last details. At the reminder about the slang, Felix groaned inwardly. This was going to be harder than he thought. Staring at the door, hands clasped behind his back, Felix did his best to not look overwhelmingly awkward in his suit… at least it fit. 

@zadriandougal​

Zadrian was well aware of what tonight meant for all the young men who were to wine and dine, and perhaps speak ill of the rest of the facilities, in fact, that was what was going to happen if Zadrian had to force it all. He himself had gotten into his own formalwear, checking himself out one last time in the full length mirror when the knock at his door put an extra pep in his step.

Akron had always been the black sheep, even with their bastard sister on the line. There was just something so unearthly disturbing about the third brother into the mix, but, it was need to balance out who they were as a family, and Zadrian trusted Kyle and proceeded to open the door and greet them. “Are we ready?” He asked quickly, leading the way out and down the hall.

“I’ve set up a dinner for us in a private room, so we can discuss matters of business.”

Kyle nodded towards Zadrian. “Brother.” he greeted him. “This is Felix.” he introduced the boy next to him. Kyle’s hand was on his back, pushing him forward a bit to encourage him. “Our guest of honor tonight.” he said, with a hint of smile directed towards Zadrian.

“Yes, we are ready.” he said as Zadrian lead them down the hallway. “That’s sounds perfect. I made sure to bring us plently of proper wine. As you know no door is closed to me.” he smiled. “We have important matters to discuss indeed.” he said as the entered the private room. The combination of their powers, left very little impossibilities for them. 

“Felix, why don’t you tell Zadrian here about what you can do. To break the ice so to say.” he said friendly, wanting Felix to feel at ease because he knew what it was like to be him. And once they got the matter of Felix’ power out of the way, they could discuss the things that were really important. Such as the test of his loyalty.