Demigod Lover: Ari (complete)

I am the cousin to Czarina Mila of the Polar North and I have been shadowing her as part of my studies. Mila is scary and fierce, but she has never acted that way towards me. I think if my parents knew what she is  teaching me they would take me back to boarding school. I don’t want to leave, Mila is nice to me and I like the things I’ve learned from her. She taught me how to throw knives properly and how I can intimidate a room full of dignitaries with just a look on my face.

My twelfth birthday is coming up, and Mila has promised to throw me a special tea party. I didn’t ask for it or even want any sort of fuss, Mila simply made a promise to me she would do something nice.

“I need something nice to look forward to as well.” She was writing in the massive leather bound ledger she kept. Recently, she has been traveling to the south and the Rakshasa kingdom a lot.

“With all these troubles popping up left and right, it will be nice to have something pretty on the horizon.” She smiled at me, which I had been told was rare. “Is there anyone who you would want to attend, Vaska?”

I wasn’t really sure. I didn’t know very many other people my age. I was mainly kept around older royals and dignitaries and at my boarding school it was rather strict and I didn’t get much chance to make many friends while there.

I told her I would consider it and tell her who I wanted, but really I didn’t have anyone in mind I would want to come. I think she figured me out because after a while she stopped asking. She did send out invitations though, so that had me very curious as to who was on her guest list.

My parents showed up early. My father is the youngest brother of Gregori and he and my mother have been traveling a lot. They’ve recently been donating time and money to renovating some of the old hospitals in the north and their reach has gone down into Rakshasa country as well as visiting with the Kobold medical schools.

“You’ve gotten so tall!” My mother gasps. “We’re going to have to adjust your hems.”

“Mama,” I sigh.

“She gets that from her royal blood,” my dad says proudly. “Just like Nicolai, before we know it she’ll outgrow him.”

I’m not sure which is worse, my mom’s constant worrying or my dad’s outlandish expectations. 

I start to walk with them inside when a great gust of wind kicks of a cloud of snow at the door. I’m blinded by all the snow and my mom and dad are shouting over the wind.

“Calm down!” Mila roars about everything. “That’s simply my other guests arriving today.”

“Other guests?” My mom asks.

I blink snowflakes from my lashes and look up. Standing in the entrance is a strange but beautiful creature. They’re tall and their long dark hair flows like water around their head. 

“Maradon, so good to see you.” Mila approaches, taking their hands as they kiss each other’s cheeks.

“Thank you for the invite. I was starting to wonder if the Polar was ever going to have me back again after the whole avalanche incident.” Maradon winks.

“That was the old regime,” Mila laughs and lays her palm on her chest. “This is the new regime.” 

Standing beside Maradon is a handsome man, his skin is a deep tan and his hair is fading to white. Then, between them, there is someone my height. They look like a good mix of Maradon and the man. Their hair has the same water quality that Maradon’s has and it’s a stormy sky shade of blue. Their eyes are very big and bright green in color. They turn, spotting me and their lips part. 

“Zaza,” they tug on Maradon’s hand. They then point at me. “Look.”

Maradon smiles at the kid. “Why don’t you go say hello if you’re so curious. Don’t point and make her feel self conscious, Ari.”

Ari gasps and drops their hand. They step out of the snow and approach me, rushing up fast then skidding to a stop. They are wearing clothes not suited for the Polar, they’re barefoot and wearing an open vest and shorts. Their skin looks like all it has ever known is the sun of a summer beach and they have gold and blue markings all over their body.

Ari kneels down as they look at me then rises back up as they study each inch. I frown and take a step back, unsure how to take them.

“You’re so white,” Ari marvels.

“I’m a Polar Bear,” I sniff. “Of course I’m white.”

Ari blinks a couple of times. “Oh. It’s just really pretty.”

I frown and look away. “Thank you.” I fidget with my skirt and keep my eyes down on the floor.

“I’m Ari,” they jab their hand out to me. “What’s your name?”

I look at their hand and follow up their arm. “It’s Vaska.” I take their hand and shake it. Ari is so warm and their grip is really strong.

“Oh! The birthday girl!” Ari grins brightly, showing off all the sharp, shark-like teeth they have in their mouth. “We brought you a present!” They turn and look up as their parents approach. “Papa, Zaza,” they say. “Can I give her the present now?”

Ari’s father, Ariston, chuckles and ruffles their hair. “Why do you want to give it to her now? It’s not the party yet.”

“She’s pretty!” Ari exclaims. “I wanna give it to her now.”

Maradon chuckles. “I’ve taught my Ari that honesty is the best way to go about things,” they say to Mila. “They took it to heart.”

“You should also teach them proper manners,” my mother says from behind me. “Yelling like that isn’t good.”

Mila side eyes my mother and turns back to Maradon, both of them sharing an eyeroll. 

“Ari doesn’t have many kids their age to play with,” Ariston replies. “Ari has very good manners, but they’re excited to meet your daughter. I see no reason to squelch a child’s excitement for the sake of manners.”

“Excited or not, a child should still be respectful in someone else’s home.” My mom says with a triumphant sniff.

“You’re not in your own home, and yet you still see the need to criticize my guests.” Mila says without even looking at her. “As long as they are here they can consider this their home.”

I try not to smile. My mother has all good intentions but her methods are out of date, or at least that’s what I’ve learned from Mila. I look back at Ari who looks a little embarrassed. Their smile is gone and they’re looking down at the floor while backing up into Ariston’s side.

“Vaska,” Mila turns to me. “Would you show Maradon and Ariston to the tea room? I’m afraid I haven’t gotten their rooms in order, so why don’t you share your tea time with them?”

“Me too?” Ari pops their head back up.

“I insist.” Mila turns to my parents and walks away with them, tending to other business they’ve brought with them.

I show Maradon, Ariston, and Ari to the tea room where the maids are already getting it ready. 

“Taya,” I go up to one of the maids. “I’ve got company today, I’ll need an extra tea pot, please.”

“Of course, young lady.” Taya smiles at me. “I’ll fetch some extra treats while I’m at it.” Her eyes glance to Ari. “They’re very cute,” she whispers to me. She then giggles and leaves to fetch the extra tea pot and snacks.

“Please have a seat,” my voice squeaks as I say this.

Ari takes a seat beside me and swings their legs under the table. They lean on the tabletop, reach out and snatching petit fours from the top of the desert tray. 

“Ari,” Ariston gives them a warning look.

Ari plops back down in his seat, double fisitng the peitit fours. “Sorry Papa. They just looked so good.”

“And after we lied and said you had manners.” Maradon smirks at him. They then turn and look at me. “Thank you for inviting us to your party, young Vaska. I’ve been so excited to visit the Polar again. Last time I was here I had such a wonderful time.”

“Zaza nearly destroyed the cathedral,” Ari whispers to me.

Maradon gives them a harsh glare. “Don’t out me like that, baby. I will throw you out the window.”

Ari giggles and continues munching.

I look down at the table. “I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I didn’t invite you, Mila did. I actually didn’t invite anybody.”

“Did your mom tell you not to?” Ari asked in shock.

I shake my head. “I don’t really know anyone my own age.”

“What’s that?” Ari asks.

I glance up at them, looking into their big, bright eyes. “What’s what?”

“Your age,” Ari leans forward. “How old will you be?”

“I’ll be twelve,” I squeak.

Ari’s grin is radiant. “Me too!” They grab my hand and shake it. “You know me now. That’s better than before right?”

I smile shyly back at them, squeezing their warm hand in mine. “It is,” I say with a soft nod. 

That evening, after having shown Maradon and Ariston to their room, I go back to my own where I study. My mother had brought home a bunch of books from the Kobold schools they had gone to. Both my parents wanted me to become a doctor, but I wasn’t too sure how I felt about it. Blood made me feel queasy and I got really nervous around strangers. I don’t think any of that is good for becoming a doctor.

I yawn and rub my eyes as I read, wanting to find Taya and sneak a hot cocoa before bedtime. I hear something tapping on the glass of my room and I turn to see Ari’s face. I nearly scream, and I rush to the window and throw it open.

“Did I scare you?” Ari asks, leaning in on the windowsill.

“How are you doing this?” I gasp. I look out the window and down. I then look up at Ari who is floating in the air. “Get inside before you fall!” I grab Ari’s hands and pull them inside.

“I won’t fall.” Ari lands with a soft thud onto the floor. “I have never fallen.” They grin proudly then look up at me. “I just wanted to see you.”

“But how?” I gasp. “You were flying?”

“My Zaza is a god, which makes me a demigod.” Ari points their thumb at themself. “Since my Papa is human I can’t do everything that Zaza does, but I can fly whenever I want.”

I gasp softly, imagining how amazing and fun that must be.

“I wasn’t tired and this place is kind of boring, so I wanted to come and spend time with you.” Ari looks around my room. They stand up and go over to the shelf which has some of my toys but mainly books on it.

They take a book off the shelf and look it over. “You must be really smart.” Ari looks up at me. “You have so many books!”

“Not really,” I giggle.

Ari takes one of my dolls down from the shelf and sniffs the top of their head. “It smells good.” They hug onto the doll tightly and nuzzle their face into the doll’s curls.

“There’s lavender in the doll’s stuffing.” I say. “It helps me sleep some nights when I’m feeling really nervous.”

Ari looks up from the doll, their eyes peering through the many curls. I then see that their hair looks exactly like the doll’s only with their stormy blue color. “What have you got to be nervous about?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I murmur guiltily. “I always feel nervous.”

Ari frowns and walks up to me. “You can’t help it?”

I shake my head. “Even when I was little. I used to get awful panic attacks.” I look back at Ari. “That’s why I don’t have many friends. They all think I’m weird.”

Ari is still frowning. “A friend would take care of you.” They place the doll down on my bed and then take hold of both my hands. They squeeze my hands tight. “I’ll be your friend. I don’t care if your nervous.”

I look at them, a bit intrigued. “Really?”

“Sure!” They wave their arms out wide. “Lots of the lizards on our island are nervous, but I always get them to like me!”

I cover my mouth with my hand as I giggle. “Like the lizardfolk?”

“No!” Ari looks positively dumbstruck. “Lizards! You got so many books and you don’t know what lizards are?”

“There aren’t many animals up here in the Polar,” I reply. “And most of them are mammals.”

“You’ve never seen a lizard?” Ari gasps. “What about a frog?”

I shake my head. “No. Sorry.”

“But lizards are the coolest! I mean, besides sharks!” Ari is pacing as if this is the most troublesome news to them.

“I’ve seen a shark.”

Ari turns to me. “Where?” They rush up to me. “Was it a great white? A hammerhead? Was it a thresher?”

“Uhm-” I’m not used to such exuberance, except from my cousin Nicolai. “I’m not sure. It’s in the library here.”

Ari grabs my hand. “You have to show me! I want to see!”

“But it’s nighttime!” I shake my head. “We can’t go out into the halls or we could get in trouble.”

“What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Ari asks me. “Would you get grounded?” They squeeze my hand.

“Yeah,” I murmur.

“Then what?” Ari asks me. “Are you afraid they’ll get really mad?”

I nod, already feeling the tight, queasy knot in my stomach. 

“Oh,” Ari murmurs. “That’s what makes you nervous?” They smile at me. “No one stays mad forever. And you can say it’s all my fault if we do get caught.”

“I couldn’t do that,” I murmur.

“I’ll say I tricked you. You won’t have to say anything at all.” Ari squeezes my hand again. “It’ll be fun. I promise.”

I smile at Ari, feeling at ease with them. “Ok.”

We sneak out of my room and down the hallway. Once we’re out of the corridors with bedrooms, it’ll be a bit easier to sneak around. We still have to keep a lookout for staff and anyone who may still be awake.

We turn a corner and then quickly go back behind it. Coming up the hallway is my Uncle Gregori and my dad. 

“What are we going to do?” I gasp, already starting to cry with nerves.

Ari grins. “Hold me!”

“Huh?” I sniffle.

“Hold me.” Ari puts their arms around me and I hold tight to them. My feet then lift off the ground and in a moment we’re up on the ceiling. I stare down, watching as Uncle Gregori and my dad walk by without noticing us at all.

“You ok?” Ari ask me.

I nod. “Mhm.”

Ari floats us back down to the ground and we finish our trek to the library. Once inside Ari rushes ahead, looking this way and that. “Where’s the shark? You said there was one!”

I point to the wall above the great fire place. “There.”

Ari looks up and his excited expression melts away. His eyes go huge and his jaw drops. Hanging above the fireplace is a giant set of jaws still filled to the brim with terrifying teeth. There are more bones lined around it from the massive shark it came from.

“Whoa-” Ari gasps. They turn to me. “Where did you get that?”

“Uncle Gregori told me his father caught it when he was a boy. My dad wasn’t even born yet. He said his dad wrestled it from the icy sea himself.” I sigh. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

“That’s twice the size of a great white,” Ari coos. “It must be prehistoric!”

“It is.”

Ari and I both scream and Ari pulls me behind their back to hide. There is a laugh from above and then Maradon floats down to the ground with a book in their hands.

“I can remember these things back in the day.” They smile up at the jaws. “The waters became too warm for them, so they either died or found their way here to the polar. I’m sure there are more of them below the ice where they are most at home.”

“Oh Zaza,” Ari sighs and releases me. “It’s only you.”

Maradon smirks. “Only me?” They put their hands on their hips. “What are you two doing out and about at this hour?”

Ari flinches and swallows. “Well, you see uhm-” they drop their head. “I really wanted to see the shark Zaza. I made Vaska show me.”

Maradon looks at me. “Did Ari really force you?”

I shake my head. “Ari said they would take the fall if we got caught.”

“Well then,” Maradon takes their book. “I won’t tell anybody I saw you as long as you two head on back to your rooms right now.”

Ari grins brightly. “Thank you, Zaza!” They grab my hand again and we rush down the hall together. Ari takes me back to my room and we sit down in front of my fireplace.

“I wonder if I went out into the water if I would find one of those sharks.” Ari ponders as they tilt their head onto their shoulder.

“Are you joking?” I snap at them. “Do you not know how cold the water here is? You’d get sick, or worse, you’d get killed!”

“I’m a demigod, remember? It’ll take a lot to kill me.”

“You’re still part human,” I pout. “And that part could get really hurt! It’s not worth it.”

Ari grins at me. “I wouldn’t. I just really want to see those giant sharks Zaza was talking about.” They lay on their stomach and prop their head up in their palms. “I’ve never seen anything that big before. Something that size, what did it eat to stay alive? How much does it eat?”

“Everything, I guess.” I smile at Ari. “You really like animals, don’t you?”

“They’re the best!” Ari grins. “I wanna see all the animals you have here too. Papa told me that almost all the animals in the Polar are pure white, like you.”

“Camouflage,” I say with a smile. “Like the animals in the jungle that look like leaves or have stripes. The animals here are white to blend in with all the snow.”

“If I can find the rare legged viper, I can find some white rabbits!” Ari grins excitedly.

I frown. “Legged viper?”

Ari and I make plans to go out the next day and look for some animals in the snow. Ari then leaves through my window again and we both go to bed. I’m excited, and I rarely ever get that way without feeling nervous about it later. But even when I wake up, I can’t wait to get ready and go outside with Ari.

I find my boots and my coat and I dress warm to go out into the snow. As I’m leaving my room I see my mother coming towards me.

“Vaska, why are you dressed like that?” She asks curiously. “Where are you going?”

I start to feel anxious. “Oh uh-” I swallow down the lump in my throat. “I was going to go outside and play with Ari, Mama. They’ve never been to the Polar before and I wanted to show them-”

My mother sighs and shakes her head. “You can go after you finish your work.”

“But-” I start  but she cuts me off with her hand slicing through the air.

“No buts, young lady. You have studies and school work to finish. You can go outside anytime, but not when you have work to do.”

“But I won’t get it all done until it’s too dark out!” I gasp.

“Then all the more reason for you to get started and finish it.” My mother opens my door back up and waves her hand inside. “Go get changed. I’ll bring you some tea to help you study.”

I look into my room and up at my mother. My heart is sinking fast but I turn back to go into my room. “Yes, Mama.”

“Vaska!” Ari calls from the other end of the hallway. “Come on! Lets go! Papa said he’d come with us!”

“Vaska can’t come,” my mother says. “She has studies to finish.”

I look at Ari and shake my head. “I’m sorry.”

I change out of the thick winter clothes for outside and into my usual attire. I sit down at my desk and I stare at my stupid books I sniffle and start to cry. I had been looking forward to going outside and playing with Ari. It felt like my heart was breaking. 

There is a knock at my window and I look up to see Maradon and Ari outside. I open the window and Ari flies in.

“You’re crying!” They gasp.

I nod. “I’m sorry. I really wanted to go out.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Maradon says, sitting in the window. “Mila sent me to break you out.” They grin at me. “Get dressed.”

“Really?” I sniffle.

Ari wipes the tears from my eyes. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

I quickly put on my winter clothes again and Maradon picks me up and flies with me outside. I gasp, hanging tight to them as I fly away from the royal palace. I watch the sky and then down at the ground.

“Don’t look down if you’re scared,” Maradon says to me.

“Oh wow,” I whisper. “Flying is amazing.”

“Do you like it?” Ari asks. “Well, once I’m bigger, I’ll carry you and fly you everywhere you want to go!”

We land in the snow and Maradon tosses me into a snowbank where I laugh and giggle. I show Ari how to make snow angels and already Ariston is building a snowman. I show Ari where the best places are to spot animals. He tries to crawl into a fox den, but it turns out an angry badger has taken it over and chases Ari for a while. I laugh and topple over, losing my breath I’m laughing so hard. 

We then get to see a whole flock of Reindeer run across the snowy field and go back into the forest. Ari is so awed and amazed, even if they do have a badger bite on their ankle. We then go down onto the beach where the sand is black.

“You have volcanoes,” Ari remarks as he takes big fistfuls of it into his fists.

“Out there.” I point beyond the ocean where there are sharp, jagged mountain peaks in the distance. “That’s Hell,” I say.

Ari stares at me with a look of disbelief and bullshit.

I giggle. “That’s what they named it ages ago. Our ancestors called it Hell because, not only did the mountains look like devil’s horns, but they spewed ash and soot and dust, sometimes for months. When they erupted the lava would cover the ocean and create a bridge as if welcoming sinners to it.”

“Whoa,” Ari whispers. They walk towards the edge of the water and place their hands on the damp sand of the shore. “Back home, the water is so warm.” They stand back up and rush over to me, placing their cold hand in mine. “You’d like my home. And I still need to show you all the lizards!”

I squeeze their hand tight. “I’d love to see it.”

When we return back to the palace Maradon greets the angry wrath of my mother who discovered me missing from my room when she came to bring me tea. Maradon doesn’t even flinch, taking all my mother’s panic with an impressive sense of calm.

Mila steps in, fussing at my mother for being so strict with me when my mother had been such a wild child when she was younger. My mother clams up, defeated for now. She says that even if that was the case, I was still her daughter and had rules to obey. I disobeyed and was to be grounded for the rest of the day.

“Oh well,” Ari chuckles before I am to be dragged off. “I had a lot of fun.”

I nod and grin. “I did too.” I step closer and kiss Ari on the cheek.

Ari’s grin grows so big they don’t have enough face to keep up with it. They touch their cheek as it blossoms bright red. “Thanks.”

“How do you feel about a demigod as an in-law?” Maradon smirks wickedly at my mother.