The Custodes

Chapter 28 - The God Killer

Synthia
Synthia was up later than usual, yawning as she made her way downstairs in little more than fluffy pyjama bottoms and a sports bra. Their house was small, though it was more than big enough for her, Axel and their mother to live in. As she reached the bottom of the steps she peered right through the entrance to the living room, finding no one, then turned left and walked down the hall to the kitchen. She unceremoniously scratched her armpit as she entered, finding a few dishes set by the side of the sink; which meant that Axel had already come and gone. A sigh escaped her lips - it irked her when he just left like that without so much as waking her, even if he lived a busy life. In no time at all she was sitting in the living room herself, turning on the TV as she ate cereal from the bowl in her lap. Her phone buzzed - Noah - and she quickly sent him a response letting him know that she was in fact awake and hadn't been jumped by thugs once again. Realistically she should've been hurrying to get ready, since her ride was gonna be there soon, but as she lay there lounging across the couch watching cartoons she figured she had all the time in the world. That statement was rendered untrue however, as she heard a quiet cracking sound right in front of her, before a huge encasing of ice formed and shattered in the same instant - right in the centre of her living room. "Shit!" She shouted, nearly spilling the milk from her bowl as she jolted on the couch, then hurried sat up. The boy who now stood in the centre of her living room snickered, brushing dark blonde hair out of his features as he grinned teasingly at her "Morning sleeping beauty." "Never do that again." She said irritatedly, settling back down onto the couch as she flashed Milo a cold look. "You know how many times I've waited at that front door for you to get off your ass and answer it? If you weren't so lazy I wouldn't have to go to such extremes." He replied with a hint of amusement, receiving no more than a raspberry from Synthia as she ate more cereal. "Get up, its nearly midday." Milo said sternly as he gave her leg a quick smack, before walking straight past the couch and wandering into another room of the house. "Can't I just finish-" "No!" He shouted from what sounded like the kitchen, followed by the noise of him rummaging around the cupboards. "Are you stealing my food? Again?" This caused Synthia to rise to her feet, setting the bowl down as she begrudgingly moved for the stairs. "Yes." Came his reply, before he swung out from the doorframe of the kitchen and flashed her a smile across the hall "If you go while I'm getting food you won't risk me teleporting in while you're changing." His voice had a patronising chime to it, eliciting an eye roll from Synthia as she moved up the stairs again. He did that sometimes - acted flirty despite being fully aware that she was with Neo - and at this point she'd simply accepted it as being part of his nature. Come to think of it, she was pretty sure he'd acted like that in front of Neo...as well as to the other girls. Huh. Not long after she was back downstairs with Milo, donning a simple brown jacket over a white top and jeans. She messed with her hair slightly - her ginger locks needed thoroughly combed to prevent them from curling and protruding at awry angles. Milo was waiting for her by the front door, smiling as he spotted her descend the stairs "You know, I gotta admit, I'm kinda missing the sports bra now." He feigned a thoughtful look as she threw a middle finger his way "Have you met my boyfriend Neo? Short tempered kid, devastatingly strong powers, lovingly devoted to yours truly?" "Eh, I've seen him around. Not too worried though; I've heard he's a fan of mine." Synthia scoffed, double checking she had everything she needed on her before looking back at Milo. For a boy he had a surprisingly good fashion taste. That wasn't saying much though; it was still just a basic sea blue shirt with a peach orange short jacket, but she liked the way he pulled it off. "Ready?" Milo asked, already turning to face his back to her for the teleporting. At least he'd learned that much. Just as she was about to go to him her doorbell rang, causing her brow to furrow as Milo flashed her a questioning look. She walked to the front door, opening it to reveal a middle aged man standing right on her door step, fidgeting with his hands nervously before his eyes locked on Synthia and his face lit up. He had a rough patch of greying, slick brown hair on his head and he was donned in a grey overcoat, with a white shirt and blue tie underneath. He couldn't have been over fifty, but his face had been marred with stress lines and wrinkles which gave him a far older look. Synthia expression immediately soured, and she had half a mind to slam the door back in the man's face, but she held herself back by resorting to gripping the doorknob tight. "Hello, Synthia." He shoved his hands in his coat pockets, then took them out, then put them behind his back only to resort to letting them hang by his sides. He was awkward, nervous, though Synthia knew it wasn't because he was seeing her. He'd always been like that, though she had a feeling his anxiousness was only enhanced by meeting her. "Dad. Why are you here?" There was no affection in Synthia's voice; she wanted to cut to the chase and be done with him as quick as possible. "I...well, I-I didn't see Heather's car...or Axel's...but the light was on so I thought I'd take the chance to-" "Alright well I don't have anything to say to you, so feel free to continue on your way." Synthia's voice was dripping with ire as she tried to shut the door on him, but Milo grabbed the doorknob over her hand and looked at her with a perplexed expression. "Why are you acting like that?" He spoke quietly to her, despite the fact her father could likely hear what he was saying. "This isn't any of your business. Back off." Synthia warned, seriously unimpressed with Milo preventing her from ending the conversation with her father. "Synthia, please." The man in the doorway said, looking at his daughter pleadingly "I just want to talk with you. A-And...try and convince you to come hone." "How many times do I have to go through this with you for fucks sake? I'm not going back. Stop coming here to pretend you give a single shit, alright?!" Synthia suddenly raised her voice, which almost seemed to make her father take a step back. "I do care! You're my daughter, Synthia." He tried feebly to defend, but even Milo knew there was nothing tangible in his voice that would've convinced Synthia otherwise "Shut up! What's wrong with you?! Does coming here...I-I don't know, clear yourself fucking conscience or something?" "No! Listen I-...there's-...things are complicated, but you need to come back with me. Come back to your family, please." Her father begged, seemingly only mere moments away from actively dropping to his knees. "Synthia, calm down." Milo placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, genuinely stunned at how angry she was getting when her father hardly seemed to be doing anything wrong. He'd seen her trembling, clenched fists, and out of worry that she would do something serious to the, admittedly puny, man, tried his best to quell her rage. She spun on Milo, though her hands remained firmly by her sides as she looked at him, showing not just anger as he expected, but conflict and confusion behind her eyes at the same time. "Alright, I think you should leave before things get blown out of proportions." Milo offered, looking at Synthia's dad who rubbed his hands together before slicking back his hair "I just-...I have to talk to her." "She won't listen, whatever it is." The boy said, glancing over at Synthia who remained turned away from her father, staring off past Milo like the man would disappear if she thought hard enough. "Ah..." The man said, growing disheartened as his eyes filled with genuine disappointment and regret "I see...you know where we are Synthia...if you ever-" The girl suddenly grabbed hold of the door and slammed it shut, right on her father's face before she stormed away into the living room. "Synthia. Synthia!" Milo said, watching as the girl blatantly ignored him and instead dropped onto the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest and hiding her face. The boy let out a sigh, checking from the window to ensure her father had left before he followed her into the living room and stood in front of her, not quite sure what to say after all that. Luckily it was her who spoke first, mumbling into her knee before raising her head and gazing up at him, looking completely emotionally drained despite how short the encounter had actually been "That...isn't what I need today." "Talk to me. You freaked the fuck out - which makes me think that that wasn't the first time he's come here." Milo said observantly as he took a seat beside her on the couch, receiving a dreary shake of the head from Synthia in response "It wasn't. It happens a few times a year, though only when Axel and my Mom are out. He's scared shitless of them." "Seriously? Do they know that he comes to see you?" Synthia gave yet another shake of her head, looking down slightly as she pressed her nose against her knee "He begs me not to tell them every time. And I mean begs. He gets all frantic and refuses to leave until I swear that I won't tell them. It's...really pathetic actually. I think pity is the main reason why I keep it a secret." "Right." Milo said, not quite sure how to take the information about Synthia's father. From what he'd seen, it did seem like something he would realistically do. "So...why did you go ballistic?" Synthia hesitated, looking Milo in the eye for a second, before glancing away "With everything that's been going on recently I forgot all about him...having him come here reminded me exactly why I hate him coming here. It brought back all the emotions it makes me feel." Milo didn't entirely understand her cryptic statement, but he was doing his best to pry for information to piece together what she was trying to explain to him "What'd you mean?" Synthia paused once again, trying to figure out the best way to articulate her words, before speaking "He just-...every time he comes here he never tells me why. He tries convince to go back to him and my real Mom, but then whenever I ask him anything about it he gets all...worked up. And starts stuttering about not being able to explain and shit. And I just don't understand! He-...he makes everything so confused. I once asked my Mom if I could meet him and she was completely okay with it, but then over the phone he made up a shitty excuse to avoid me. Who does that? And why?! I just-...I just don't-" She sucked in a breath, trying to stop herself from freaking like she always did when she thought too hard about it. Things refused to add up in her brain, and she reacted to that by getting herself into a panicked mess. "Hey." Milo placed a hand on her knee, a surprisingly tame action considering how easily he could've taken advantage of the situation "It's no use thinking yourself into a frenzy. I would bet your Dad is as conflicted as you; it's probably why things seem so weird right now." "I don't know what to do...or what to think. I hate him for making me feel like this." Synthia said, sounding more defeated than properly upset at this point. "Listen, just take it easy. You don't need to have all the answers - and at least he won't be back for a decent while." Milo said, trying his best to at least make things a little better. Synthia gave a tiny nod but didn't say anything else, which left the two of them in a slightly awkward silence. Not more than a minute later however, she suddenly stood up and stretched her back as though she was waking up from a nap "Well. Let's get going then." Milo wasn't entirely sure that she was okay despite her efforts to put on a smile, looking at her suspiciously as he rose to his feet "Synthia." "I'm over it. It's fine. Let's go." She said, too quickly for him to be convinced, but it wasn't exactly his place to say anything else on the matter. "Alright." He said as he stood opposite her and turned his back. For a second she didn't do anything, before he suddenly felt her arms wrap around him in a quick hug. "Thank you for the advice. I don't need all the answers, you're right." She mumbled to him solemnly, though it took him a while to actually process what she had said. "Oh...no problem. We're friends, right?" "Course we are." She told him, staying attached to him for a second more before removing her arms and standing back to back with him. "Although friends do sometimes also-" "Don't!" Synthia shouted, cutting him off to prevent him from ruining the moment with one of his oh so witty quips. He snickered slightly, before stepping a little closer to her as the ice began to form around them both. With her back to him, Synthia remained ignorant to Milo's suddenly sullen expression, as he stared firmly ahead like trying to silently reaffirm his inner goals. There was conflict there, however, like he knew something was out of reach but he wanted to reach for it anyway. Not even he knew what it was, but before he had the chance to dwell on it the ice finished encasing them and teleported the pair instantaneously into Hector's alleyway.