Mighty Jewel | LO'AK + NETEYAM

chapter twenty

"Where's Kya?" Lo'ak asked to his family as he was the last one to wake up from his long night of deep sleep. He had dreamt about the girl and even if her face was fresh in his mind, he longed to see it in real life and meet her jeweled eyes.

"On the beach," Tuk replied, causing the young boy's head to turn in her direction. The youngest Sully was by the entrance of their hut, she was curled up in the arms of Neteyam, both of them looking at the girl who was still sitting by the shore. "As always." The young Sully added, waving at her brother to join them.

But before he could step closer, Jake entered the hut, his pace rapid and his face rigid which caught Lo'ak's curiousness as to why his father was so tense on this morning and if he had learnt things about Kyalayi's situation he hadn't.

"Family meeting." The man ordered, causing every member to crouch by the ground in a circle. Lo'ak searched for his brother's gaze in need of reassuring answers but Neteyam's eyes stayed focused on his hand as he played with the necklace tied around his wrist, already knowing what his father was about to say. The eldest son didn't even feel bad about eavesdropping late last night, at least he would know the truth and not some beautified one that his parents would make up to avoid telling them the atrocities of Marrek's doing. Jake laid his gaze on each of his children before speaking up as he foresaw their reaction since they all grew found of the white haired girl. "Until she chose so, Kyalayi will stay with us. As you saw all yesterday," He started, referencing to the scars on both of her hands she had revealed to the family. "She has suffered quite enough so I want you to treat Kya as one of us. She has a strong heart, don't pity her. Just make her feel like she don't have to live through this alone."

The Sully children all nodded to their father's words. Neteyam hiding his rage toward the girl's father by shaking his head more aggressively.

"Can we know what happened to her?" Kiri gently asked to her parents, her curiousness taking over. The question still burning on her lips as she said the words out loud. Neytiri scrunched her eyebrows while her saddened gaze flickered from her oldest daughter to her mate, wondering the good it would do if they decided to tell them.

"Just like all of you, Kya was," Jake shook his head before correcting himself. "Is an hybrid." The poor man who always seemed so strong finally let his walls crumbled as he struggled to find a decent explanation for his kids, causing Neytiri to step up. The children surprised to see their father so vulnerable before them.

"All you need to know is that someone tried to rip her individuality off for what he thought was the better and those scars you saw was the result of it."

Neteyam irritatedly scoffed after hearing his mother's turn of the truth. He didn't meant to, the sound had escaped his lips. Lo'ak quickly turned his head as he frowned to his brother's raw and yet so genuine reaction and figured that he must had known something he didn't.

"Understood?" Jake, who had now regained his senses, asked his children as they all nodded meaning the end of their family meeting. Neteyam regained his place by the hut's entrance and continued to watch over the girl. She hadn't moved from her seat on the sand by the beach, waves hitting her stretched legs. The eldest sensed his younger siblings approaching and staring toward the same way he was. Neteyam picked up Tuk in his arms like he had previously done this morning as the Sully all felt the exact protectiveness feeling for the ocean girl.

"You know something." Lo'ak whispered for only his siblings to hear as he didn't want to attract their parent's attention. The boy also knew that Neteyam wouldn't want to talk if he knew they were listening. At first, the eldest stayed quiet as he debated with himself contemplating his options but they deserved the truth. Lo'ak deserved the truth.

"Marrek did it." Neteyam revealed, his voice subtly cracking when he tried his best to hide the rage that was crippling inside of him. Lo'ak, Tuk and Kiri all redirected their gaze from Kyalayi to their older brother. "He visited late last night and admitted it to mom and dad. I heard them." Neteyam's words echoed in Lo'ak's mind as he felt his blood warming up, his muscles tensed up and his eyes stinging from this revelation. How could a father do this to his own daughter? He thought. Lo'ak find himself wishing he had met the Metkayina girl before her fate had been chosen by someone else. Neteyam noticed his brother slowly becoming agitated as he figured he would let him talk to Kyalayi first, to honor his promise but they were both cut off by Kiri.

"I'm going to talk to her." She simply stated as she passed by her siblings and walked toward the girl. She didn't know why but Kiri felt connected to Kyalayi. They had a similar story, both being born from avatar and still to this day suffered the consequences from it. Indeed, her mother would never come back from the dead, she stayed comfortable with Eywa but Kiri didn't know which was worse: grieving a loved one you never even met or grieving a loved one that was never truly deceased. Either way, both of the girls somehow shared matching wounds.

"Hey." Kiri said as she stood behind Kyalayi, causing her to turn around, her eyes squinted as the sun blinded her. "You want to join me by the rocks?"

Kyalayi smiled to the proposition and followed the eldest daughter to the spot where several rocks topped each other, forming some kind of floating platform. They sat side by side and both stared into the horizon.

"Your parents told you." Kyalayi started while turning her head to face the forest girl. "I can tell." Kiri smiled, her eyebrows furrowing as she realized how obvious she was. But the girl hadn't came to pity Kyalayi like her father had warned them not to do.

"I never met my mother." Kiri started, causing Kya's traits to softened to the stunning revelation as she find herself longing for the Sully girl to continue. "She was a human and sometimes an avatar like Evelyn but she died way before I was born."

"I'm sorry." Was the only words Kyalayi could speak as a familiar feeling pumped into her heart.

"So, I know how you're feeling." Kiri paused, trying to find the right words to describe the feeling both of the girl sensed building up. "Like you can't seem to find a place where you truly belong."

"Yeah." Kyalayi slowly nodded, relating to Kiri's words, soaking them up like an ocean sponge would do with water. "But what am I supposed to do now that the source of all my pain—and my dad's—has come back from the death?"

"I can't answer that but I can tell you that you're not alone." Kiri placed her hand on one of Kya's, giving it a comforting squeeze as the forest girl nodded behind her. Kyalayi looked toward the way Kiri indicated while her smile grew wider when she spotted the rest of the Sully siblings, standing on their hut's porch and watching over the girls. Kya's eyes flickered back and forth to both Neteyam and Lo'ak as she noticed the exact expression on both of the brothers' face: hurt. "You're one of us now."