Ancestors & Descendants [Sirius Black x OC]

Chapter 21 | 'Vengeance & Departure |

My heart hammered against my chest violently in fear. Theodosius was exactly like in my dream; lean and built, handsome if it wasn't for his lumps covering his face and his body, and a wicked smile curved on his mouth.

"Descendant of Attila," Theodosius spoke, his voice raspy as I remember. "So nice to finally meet you."

"Theodosius, not so nice to meet you," I remarked with a forced smile. Gripping my liuyedao sword tightly with both hands, I readied myself for a fight.

The Roman empire chuckled in response, the noise sounding like putting a bag of sand inside a blender. There were two more Roman soldiers standing behind their empire, looking equally evil. All of them were wearing full armour, gladius swords strapped on their hips. However, the emperor himself had a bow hung on his back, a recurve bow.

The Hun's bow.

"Uh, Lian?" Sirius leaned towards my ear and whispered. "Who's that? Who's Attila? And what're they doing here?"

I kept my eyes on the three men and muttered back, "Theodosius I. A Roman Empire during the 'Fall of the Western Roman Empire'. Attila was the leader of the Huns and was the cause of the empire. And I'm pretty sure he came for revenge because Attila was my ancestor."

"What?!"

"I'll explain the whole situation if we're able to survive this," I answered impatiently.

"We're going to die?!" Sirius looked at me incredulously.

"Most likely." I released one hand from the hilt and pulled out my knife and handed it to him silently. "Just in case, if they come attacking us, I want you to run," I explained.

I felt his hand give the knife back to me and I peeked at him questioningly. "I won't leave you alone to fight some crazy Roman soldiers on your own," He replied. I gave him one-sided smile and glared at Theodosius.

"Well, Lian Long. I am guessing that you already know my motive but, I'm going to explain it anyway," Theodosius said. "You're ancestor, Attila, was the cause of my empire's fall. Not only that, but Attila was also the cause of my death," His voice was full of venom directed to me.

"I thought you died from swelling," I commented, reflecting back to my research on him.

"I was dying from swelling, never the reason why I died. No, Attila was the one who had killed me. He shot me in the throat with an arrow," Theodosius traced his fingers on his said throat, and there it was, a ghastly scar imprinted on his skin.

I pursed my lips. Well, that explains why I kept on having dreams of me getting killed by an arrow. However, I couldn't imagine my ancestor, Attila, killing anyone after that peculiar dream I had of him. The image of him, smiling at me kindly came back to the front of my head. Although it was slightly weird, it was still warm and made me look through his intimidating demeanour.

"Your blood is filled with brutalness and your veins are always hungry for blood."

I spoke with a raised voice, "Well, I don't let my ancestral blood-line define myself." The words reminded me of Attila's own saying. "If you have forgotten, I also have the ichor of Athena."

"Do you really fool yourself with such lies?"

"I do, because it's not a lie," I uttered with a smile. "But I don't understand, how were you able to rise from the dead?"

Theodosius grinned, a curve of a mouth that makes you feel a sick feeling in the stomach. "I have made a deal with a certain goddess." I took a mental note to tell this to Chiron and Annabeth if I survive this fight. "And now, Lian Long, daughter of Athena and the descendant of Attila, is going to pay the debt your ancestor has made."