The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (40) Childhood: The Second Encounter ~

The door creaked as Arisa's grandfather opened it.

"Alright." He entered the house, pulling his granddaughter along. "Go bathe and brush your teeth. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Arisa didn't reply. Instead, she looked away with her lip curled.

"Are you going to ignore me and make that ugly face for the rest of the day?"

Usually, the word 'ugly' would stun her, influencing her to debate with her grandfather about inner beauty. This time she didn't feel like storming him with an avalanche of the importance of it; she was too angry to make him smile with her words.

"Humph!" Arisa crossed her arms.

Her grandfather laughed.

"What's so funny?" She glared at him. "Why were you so mean, grandpa? That boy was nice to me."

Her grandfather recovered his breath, gazing at her seriously. "Trust me, you don't want to involve yourself with him."

"But why?" complained Arisa. "He saved me and awakened my power."

For sure he's a good boy.

"He's an Eterian, that's why," replied her grandfather, his tone firm.

Hearing those words, Arisa froze. Out of every Celestian she knew, her grandfather despised Eterians the most. Even though she knew her words wouldn't change his opinion about them, she wanted to try and tell him that the boy from the forest was different from his people.

"But he's nice," she said quietly.

Large hands touched Arisa's shoulders. She raised her head to glance at her grandfather. Most of his dark hair had shades of gray, his bearded face had several wrinkles on his skin, showing his advanced age. Her grandfather's dark brown eyes gazed at her with no warmth present in them.

Arisa gulped, knowing what those firm eyes meant. Her grandfather would either scold her or set a new rule for her to follow.

"Listen here, Arisa," he said slowly. "You're forbidden to see that boy, understood?"

Arisa gazed at the wooden floor, daring to rebel.

"Understood?" her grandfather repeated.

A few seconds passed before Arisa nodded slowly. As soon as she replied, her grandfather wrapped his arms around her.

"I know I can be mean, sometimes," he said with a gentle tone. "But I'm doing this to protect you. I don't want to lose you the same way I lost her."

Arisa frowned. "Who?"

"Someone who was very precious to me," he replied, releasing her from his arms.

Arisa's brows touched. "Was it mom?"

"One day I'll tell you who that person was." Her grandfather smiled.

Arisa gazed at him, confused.

"Okay," said her grandfather, standing up. "Now go bathe; I'll prepare breakfast."

"What?" asked Arisa, her heart pounding. "Where's grandma?"

"She had an emergency to attend," her grandpa replied, a malicious smile forming across his face. "She won't be back 'till later tonight. You'll have to deal with my cooking."

"Ew," said Arisa, disgust dominating her expression.

As her grandfather laughed, Arisa walked away, heading to the bathroom. Her grandfather watched her taking the stairs with her ponytail whipping the air left and right. He sighed.