Kyle2: The ilumini baby demon

A shriek made both Isabel and Avett look around startled. Everyone else was shocked too, all except Magnus and Haidis. Magnus had an impatient look on his face as he looked at his wife and his wife’s aunt who was furious. Apparently it was his wife’s aunt who had screamed at him.

“You let Riut avoid marriage by letting him use up his reserve ilumini?” the woman demanded at Magnus.

Magnus sighed “Aunt Nora, it wasn’t like that. Riut offered to make a noble sacrifice.”

His wife Solange glared at him “You mean he offered to be a noble pain in the ass.”

Everyone looked around for Riut. Avett gaped as he saw Riut. Riut was now a six year old boy sitting on the lounge beside Magnus looking up mischievously at his sister and aunt, licking an ice cone.

Magnus made an impatient noise and said “Let me explain you two. The war at the western frontier was getting too difficult. Every time it gets close to being secured new batches of anazari were coming in and honestly we were trapped there and getting restless by the day because non of us were sleeping and they had blocked access to food and water. We couldn’t attack the anazari headquarters as a group without giving us away because they had radars that alerted them that we were attacking. The last time we tried attacking as a group, two of us died and we had to go into hiding. I couldn’t risk more of my warriors dying just like that. Their radar did not pick up the power if only one of us goes in with his power cloaked. Riut offered to go in. It was risky, but necessary. You know all the others have suffered at the hands of the shaxtris. I couldn’t ask them to make the sacrifice. It was only Riut among us, who had happy memories as a kid. He could bear being in rejuv mode unlike us. I didn’t have much of a choice.”

Solange sighed looking at her twin brother making a mess of the ice cream. He looked angelic sitting there with long platinum blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes. But only she knew the amount of trouble Riut could cause as a kid. Riut was now a kid because he had consumed all his energy and his body had automatically started using up all the reserve lumini he had stored up over more than 200 years.

Once the whole reserve was used up, he would be a little kid. To recharge again, he had to go into rejuv mode which was a type of uninterrupted sleep in which you stay in a protected shield circle for forty eight hours and sleep. The sleep had healing powers, but once they go into the healing sleep they couldn’t get up until they face all their demons or see all their nightmares over the years repeated in their sleep. The worst thing about it was they couldn’t get up from the nightmare as it keeps repeating over and over in their mind until they find a way out of it and their mind is at rest.

Solange could understand why her husband had been reluctant to ask other warriors to make the sacrifice. They all had deep emotional scars from being enslaved. Some of them, like Haidis even now, didn’t trust anybody. Magnus had been like that too, until he married her. She couldn’t exactly find fault in her husband’s decision. Warriors like Haidis would rather just go into battle and die, rather than face their own past.

However, she still wasn’t ready to face a kid Riut. Riut wasn’t just naughty as a kid. He had strong powers that could make a little naughty trick a disaster. Also, Riut had been quite unhappy lately with his aunt pressuring him to marry and get a heir to continue their line. The most important plutonian family lines were getting extinguished due to war. Riut always said that he would marry when he saw someone he thought he could love. But more than two hundred years had passed, without him finding his love and his aunt was threatening to cut him off his inheritance if he didn’t get married in a week. She had even found a suitable wife for him and Riut had said he wouldn’t marry her. They should have seen this coming.

Solange gave a pained look at Riut who smirked back at her and she said soothingly “Darling, isn’t it time for you to sleep?”

Riut shook his head “no” and said in a very snobbish little boy voice “This icy is melting. Get me another one Ange.”

Solange glared at her husband “I don’t have time to be his nurse maid. Riut, was a big snob as a kid and he had servants doing everything for him. Honestly, I have patients who need my attention more than him. Believe me, he is more than a handful. Husband, you started this. So you look after him. He has a tendency to create mischief like a little devil. Don’t you see the little horns in his head that he is trying so hard to mask?”

Magnus looked worried at Riut and saw past the illusion he was creating to make his little horns disappear and said “Uh, Riut, I really think you need to sleep.”

Riut’s eyes changed red and he bellowed “I don’t wanna sleep. I want to play.”

Magnus hissed shaking him hard by the shoulders “Now, damn you Riut. I know you are not a kid inside your head. For god’s sake you are more than two hundred years old. So, don’t try being a brat. You are sleeping one way or another.”

At that Riut smiled up at him really slyly for a kid “You think?” he asked with a smirk. “You think making me sleep will make me grow up in a week? Magnus, I don’t want to grow up in a week. No amount of forced sleep would make me grow against my will. I want to be six years old but maybe I might be old enough to fight by your side in a week’s time but I won’t let myself be old enough to marry.” Magnus immediately knew this wasn’t the kid Riut speaking. Riut was speaking his mind.

Riut had the brains of a two hundred year old but the emotions and physical strength of a six year old. Obviously his little kid emotions wouldn’t make him want to grow up and his mind was also asking him not to grow up, because being a kid would make him avoid marriage. But that wasn’t what alarmed Magnus. Magnus needed Riut to play a major part in his final attack against the anazari. But, he couldn’t fight his best if he was going to be a kid. How could he convince a kid the importance of war so that he would grow up?

He was startled out of his musings when he felt fire on the lounge where he was sitting, beside Riut. Magnus got up and immediately and extinguished the fire Riut had started. He gave a wide eyed look when Magnus looked at him. Suddenly one man exclaimed “Good god. Is that Riut? Magnus, I heard what had been happening. How could you, how dare you allow Riut to sacrifice all his lumini? Now he wouldn’t grow up. You knew how he wished he could avoid the marriage.”

Magnus gave a cold look at him and said frostily “Excuse me for not calling up a senate meeting to decide whether or not our lives were worthy enough to live. Georgis, are you questioning my judgement?”

The man named Georgis bristled up and said haughtily avoiding his question “The senate does not believe Riut was dispensable. Now we cannot use him in the war. It’s almost like you have killed one of the most important members of the senate.”

“I never said Riut was dispensable and Riut is quite obviously not dead as he is sitting right here.” He said indicating the area beside him. Georgis raised his eye brow and Magnus looked at the empty lounge. Riut was feeding some little insects into the snacks machine. Magnus groaned as he quickly went to Riut and dragged him to the seat taking him the collar. Riut was squirming around and glaring at him.

“Well, I don’t see how that brat could help anyone in a war. He might be better off dead.” Georgis said arrogantly and started walking away, head held high. In a few seconds his shirt and trousers disappeared and Riut was saying beside him “He doesn’t look a very handsome emperor in his new clothes does he, Magnus? He looks yuck. I didn’t know he had a pot belly.”

Magnus tried hard not to laugh at Riut’s antics and his wife glared at him. Magnus cleared his throat and called out to Avett who was looking at every thing very curiously “Come here, Sebastian, Isabel. I officially hand over looking after Riut to you both.”

Isabel looked at the beaming Riut, horrified and said “Maybe not. Cant you ask Haidis?”

“It’s an order.” Magnus said narrowing his eyes.

Isabel grimaced and said looking at Avett “I think more patients await me, sir. There are very few nurses in the hospital wing. Perhaps, I should go and tend Seb’s brother, right Sebastian?”

Avett smiled inwardly. This was too good to be true. “Oh yes, Avett needs treatment now. I’ll look after Riut.”

Magnus nodded his approval and started walking away but turned mid stride and said with a funny look on his face “Um, Sebastian, could you try to convince him to grow up? We really need him in the war. Maybe you should take him to the kid’s compound here for the time being. Also, you need to be in the ilumini meeting in twenty minutes. Bring Riut with you then. And if he misbehaves you could throw him at a wall or break one of his fingers or whatever. He wouldn’t die or bleed. Just a hint on how to look after him. I’d give sixty thousand juans to anyone who convinces him to grow up again. ” He said with a wink.

Avett nodded looking at Riut who was walking around and around him, making him dizzy.

“Hey, hey, relax Riut. What are you doing?” he asked looking at Riut who was flying around him now in a circle, like a little fairy.

“Purging you of the demons.” He said sweetly and suddenly the granite ceiling above him started shaking and as he watched he saw a circle being cut off the granite ceiling and it would have fallen right on him if he hadn’t moved. Furiously he asked Riut “Is that how you purge me off my demons?”

He nodded with an impish grin on his face. Avett sighed. He had thought twenty minutes of baby sitting couldn’t be that bad but here he was with a little demon literally.

Avett asked him “Riut, why is it that you don’t want to grow up?”

Riut gave him an arch looked that looked incongruous on his kid features “I will grow up in a month’s time when the marriage plans are over. Magnus just doesn’t want to be on the bad side of my aunt. My growing up or not in a week, in my opinion should not matter.”

Avett said “But I thought after rejuv sleep everyone grows up to what they were before.”

Riut smiled like a little elf and said “Everyone except someone powerful enough to control rejuv sleep. I can do that. I can stretch out rejuv sleep over a month, so I don’t need to wake up after sleep at my age. I will grow but I will control it so that I am not a man in a week’s time. When my aunt’s wedding plan goes awry, then I will grow up.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous? I thought you were playing a major role in the big day. How could you survive if you don’t have your full powers?” Isabel asked as she came in and saw Riut with Avett.

Riut frowned at that “I will have powers Isabel but not the physical strength perhaps. I would do fine.”

“That’s your superior snob kid heart talking, not the logical man, Riut. You will need your full powers to fight the anazari leaders.” Isabel said.

Riut looked away in a way that said he didn’t want to think about it and said sulkily “I have covered your asses for so long Izzy I need a break too. I am not saying I don’t want to participate in the war but, you know what my aunt is trying to do. If you can convince her to reprieve me of the horrible marriage thing I would gladly grow up. Otherwise, I want you guys to understand that I couldn’t sacrifice everything for you people, for once in my life. Besides I am having so much fun as a kid, I don’t want to grow up.”

He ran off flying to the kids area. Both Isabel and Avett watched him in aggravation as he jumped on the swings making them swing too high that the little girl next to him started crying for her mother. Riut shut her up by a stunning spell. Isabel stormed over to him and Riut flew over them again as Isabel said angrily “Riut that was a kid. Your stunning spell could have killed her.”

Riut snorted “I just stunned her voice silly. I can see she is a noisy one. Her parents would be happy that she had stopped blabbering for two days. They need a break too and I hate kids.”

Avett shook his head in disbelief as she asked Isabel “Is he always like this?”

Riut answered for him “Yes. I always hated kids. They are a headache.”

Isabel sighed “Well, he doesn’t attack kids when he was grown up at least. He avoided them like the plague. He is definitely more down to Earth, literally, when he is mature. So, I should say, Riut grow up.”

Riut rolled his eyes and suddenly with a grin he came to Avett and said “Hey, you could marry her, hell if anyone else would marry her, I’d be free. I have tried to match her with Haidis but it didn’t work.”

“What’s wrong with Cali? She belongs to an ancient family. She is illumini herself and she is beautiful, not classically but I heard men say she looks sexy.” Iabel asked him.

Riut gave her a rueful look as he came near her and said “She is all that. But, she doesn’t love me. Worse, I know she loves someone else. You can see how calmly she had taken the news of my rejection.”

Isabel sneered at him and said “Excuse me, give us some credit will you. What did you expect her to do when you rejected her? Start crying? We are much stronger than that and we certainly have our pride.”

Riut rolled his eyes and said “Whatever.”

After some time of silence Riut looked at Sebastian and said “You don’t know what’s going around here now do you?”

Avett shook his head “no” and Riut said with a sigh “It’s worse than before now. Many of the illumini are comatose. That’s why all of us are sharing the shield power, protecting Armedien city from the Anazari. If they gain entry to the city so many innocent people who couldn’t fight back would die. Now because we have only 63 warriors left shielding an entire planet is harder. You can’t even sleep without the anazari playing mind games trying to force you to lower the shield. If even one of us cracked, our pride, Armedien city would be gone. Not to mention the power lost on shielding the planet gives them an added advantage in fighting us. I just hate the lot of them.”

Avett nodded and seeing his watch he said in an alarmed voice “It’s five minutes past the time for the meeting.”

Riut flew out and Avett zapped himself to the meeting room while Isabel ran off after Riut as a wolf.