Theo furrowed his brow in confusion as his mind raced to processed Alec's words.
"Family?" he echoed. But even after that, he wasn't sue of what he had heard.
"Yes Theo, I said family."
Theo chuckled.
"You cant be serious..."
"What can't I be serious about? The fact that I'm your uncle?"
Theo stared at Alec racking his brain, and forcing every cell in it to understand the bombshell he had just heard. All his life, he had been alone, and that only made the concept of actually having a family feel more foreign, almost absurd even. He had always thought of family in a traditional sense—those who cared for him, who had been there through thick and thin. But Alec? This, enigmatic figure who had just appeared absolutely out of nowhere in his life, and whose origins were shrouded in shadows was claiming to be his family?
'No! Something must be wrong here.'
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm a bloody orphan, I have no family."
"Is that truly what you believe? Or is that what you want to believe?"
"It's what I know!"
"Well then, Theo, what you know is a lie."
"A lie? So my entire life, all my struggles in the outskirts, all the disgusted looks I woud get from passers by who thought of e as nothing but a stain on the wall... all of it, was for what, nothing but to emphasize a lie?"
"Yes, Theo, that is what it was. Every moment of your suffering in the outskirts, all of it was the result of a person's selfishness, and a single lie."
A lie? All of it, every waking moment of suffering, every day he went hungry, every day he envied those who had the opportunity and privilege to attend good schools, eat at restaurants, casually go out without fear of being kidnapped and used as a slave, or even having his organs harvested, none of it meant anything.
After deliberating on those words for a few minutes, he turned to Alec.
"Alright then, if what you say id true, where are my parents? Are they, aware of the struggles I have been through? Of the hell the put be through by bringing me into this world only to suffer? Are they even alive?"
"Unfortunately Theo, not long after your birth, they.... lost their lives. But don't worry, while it might be true that you have no living direct family as you were the only child, that doesn't mean all your living family are no more. For we are here."
Theodore stared at Alec with such intensity and scrutiny that he could burn a hole straight through him.
"You? You're being serious?"
"Of course! Why would I be lying?"
"Okay, where have you been all my life then?"
"Well, for certain.... reasons, I have been unable to leave this place."
"I've been meaning to ask by the way, where exactly is this 'place'?"
"Let's just call it, a hide out for now."
'A hideout? What kind f bullshit is that? Is he, hiding something?'
Theo pondered for a while, and eventually, decided against caution. After everything he has heard, he could no longer hold back his curiosity.
"Why all the secrecy? And even if you couldn't do it directly, why didn't you just find some other way to tell me you were not only my uncle, but my only surviving family?"
Alec sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"It's... well... complicated. Theo. Let's just say that my... our family... has a lot of enemies. And keeping you in the dark was the best way we could think to protect you. And to correct your statement, I am not your only surviving family."
Theo raised a brow.
"There are others, then?"
"Of course, you've known one of them for many years in fact."
"I have? Who?"
Alec chuckled.
"Who else? Maria, my daughter, and your cousin."
Theo's mouth hung open for a while as he stared in absolute disbelief.
"That's impossible," Theo said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I would have known something was off if she really was... no, she would have told me!"
"You would have known something was off if she really was what Theo? Your cousin? Family? What's so hard to believe about this, Theo?"
Theodore shook his head.
"If she really is family, why has she never even mentioned it after all these years. Not even the slightest..."
Interrupting his thoughts, the memory of the last thing Maria told him suddenly flashed in his mind.
***
"Remember Theo, I did... everything, and kept... everything away... for a reason."
***
'Is this what she meant? Mari... Maria knew about this? And she kept it from me?'
"But, don't be too angry with her, she had no choice but to keep it a secret."
A vein bulged on Theo's forehead.
"Oh, and whose god damn fault is it then?! Whose fault is it tat all my life I've felt so alone?!"
"I'm sorry you felt that way, but you have to understand the reason we did it."
"Please, enlighten me!" Theo demanded as his pupils flared a golden hue and a wave of heat wafted off his body. A number of heralds stationed nearby quickly summoned their weapons. Sparks of light erupted from their palms coalescing into spears, swords and daggers.
At the sight of Theo's deteriorating state, Alec sighed and waved a hand, dismissing the on rushing guards.
"The reason she did that was because, I knew that if anyone found out her identity , and in turn suspected she was connected to you, they would trace your origins. And that would put you both in danger. So she was tasked with discretely taking care of you."
"And what authority did you have to do any of that?"
"As your father's only surviving family, I was tasked with the role of clan head. Which meant that I had not only my own life, but the lives of everyone connected to our clan to consider."
"So as clan head, you thought isolating me from the family would be a good idea?"
"Yes! And for good reason."
"Well, go ahead! I'm all ears!"
Alec sighed.
"As the son of the two strongest heralds of their time, your mother and father, or as they were more commonly known, King of ruin, and princess of storms birthed you. And to the world, a child of two of the strongest humans to ever be born was going to be both a chance at glory, or a future burden. As such, I determined keeping you hidden from those who would both seek to use you as a bargaining chip or remove you from the board completely."
"I see, but guess what? Your master plan had a flaw! Because we, no she, your daughter, Maria was still put in danger, and nearly lost her life in the process."
Turning away from Theo, Alec's shoulders tensed as he continued down the hallway.
"That was, an unfortunate situation brought about by your awakening."
Theodore's eyes opened wide as hi grit his teeth. The wave of heat wafting off his body intensified and he began chasing after Alec.
"How does my awakening have anything to do with her being put in danger?"
Alec turned to and stared at Theo for a few brief moments, sighed, turned his back on him. They made their way up a set of, and following closely behind, Theo's mind racing with an unending stream of questions.
He just couldn't bring himself to believe everything he was hearing.
"So what you're saying is my life! My past! Everything I knew about my family was a lie? A carefully constructed facade by what is left of my family to protect me from dangers I had no idea even existed?"
Alec continued down the mazy corridors of the building, continuing to ignore Theo's constant demand for answers.
"Hey! Don't just walk away from me! I deserve an explanation! How does my awakening have anything to do with Maria getting hurt?"
"It has everything to do with all this."
"How does it have anything to do with all this?, No, what is all this?"
Alec stopped at a massive door.
"Your awakening changed everything, Theo. It made you, and anyone close to you, a target."