Crimson Rebirth

Part 40

 One week.

 They stayed at the farm for one week. Long enough for Gene to make sure Ione was healthy and allow Gene to get some rest, long enough for Riskel and Jewelle to get to the farm. Long enough to calm nightmares in Ione's head, with old songs that Gene remembered from her childhood.

 Definitely long enough for Gene to try and keep Ione from seeing the vampires, or so she hoped. But even then, it didn't work quite as well as she had hoped.

 When Ione saw Riskel and Jewelle, there was a lot of screaming. It took a solid ten minutes for Gene to get the girl to let go of her skirt, and even then, Ione clung to Kaiju. It took even more convincing to get the girl to calm down enough to climb OFF of Kaiju and onto the ground. There was no chance of Gene explaining to Ione that Riskel wasn't all bad, just somewhat bad, and he had no hand in what happened to the clan, that he tried to stop it.

 It was easier to let Ione follow either Gene or Kaiju around and avoid Riskel. Granted, she did seem to enjoy playing with Jewelle inside during the day, but that could be due to the fact that Jewelle was about her age, and had no hand in anything that had happened. Jewelle, as it turned out, was more than happy to have someone to play with while she was stuck inside during the day.

 But, as the week drew to a close, Gene still had to tell Ione that she and Kaiju had to go to the Capital.

 "Why?" Came Ione's question, one that Genevieve had half-hoped she wouldn't ask.

 "Because Kaiju has business in the Capital." Gene responded, carefully arranging her skirt around her knees, sitting on the tatami mat in front of Ione. 

 Ione frowned and asked Gene, "Will you be staying then?"

"No..." Gene said gently. "I have to go with him, to help him. Do you want to come with us?" The idea had struck her head, to make it easier on Ione, on Kaiju, on even Riskel.

 Ione frowned. She looked around the house, then at Gene. She whimpered, "But...I want to stay here..."

 Gene chewed her lower lip, rubbing Ione's arm soothingly. "I know you do, little flower. But Kaiju's got lots of important business in the Capital this winter, and he asked me to go with him to help him. You can stay here if you want, but Riskel and Jewelle will also be taking care of the farm while we're gone."

 Ione looked down. She scowled, "So the mean vampire has to stay here?"

 She sighed and nodded, before asked, "...when do we go?'

 "Yes he does, he owes Kaiju a favor and that favor is taking care of the animals." Gene said with a giggle. "And we leave this afternoon..."

 She thought about how to make this more of an adventure for the girl, before an idea struck her head. "Remember how I'd read you all the stories about the castles and stuff? We'll get to actually see one and go inside of it~!"

 Ione perked. Castles? She asked, "The one at the capital?"

 Gene nodded her head, her red locks loose about her head. "The very same! I'm sure your teddy will also love to see the castle~"

 Ione leaned to her bear, as if to listen to its whispers. She nodded.

 "He'd like that very much!"

 Gene smiled warmly, running a hand through the girl's hair. "Then best go make sure you get your clothes nice and packed so that you have them." She teased. "I'll go let Kaiju know that you want to come with us, alright?"

 Ione nodded. She asked, "Will Father Midnight be okay with it?"

 Father Midnight? An alias? That was interesting...