Chapter Three:

Ambrosia POV:

    A week has gone by and Xander still hasn't made his appearance yet which made me question what he was up to. Braxton and Troy have found out he has been going to surrounding cities but for reasons we don't know. "I need to know everything about how the two of you grew up so we can figure this out." Jackson said, pulling me from my thoughts. "I need Pythia to hear it as well. We all need to put our heads together and it is probably a good idea for me to start training again in case he decides to challenge me." I replied. "I already told Tye that they needed to come over. The kids can play upstairs and Courtney can watch the twins." Jackson said easily. There were good parts of my upbringing and then there were bad parts to it. I've lived a very long eight hundred years and didn't get to be as heartless as I was for nothing. "How come you never talk about it?" Jackson asked. "Some memories I would rather stay away from honestly. I have been thinking over and over again of our childhood and I can't figure anything out." I replied truthfully.

    Jackson wrapped his arms around me, "I'd like to think he wouldn't be that stupid but then again I haven't seen him prove otherwise. We will figure this out." Jackson whispered. "Well he has tried three times over the centuries but we will see." I replied, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll get some snacks and stuff ready and check on the little rascals. Your son has been on another level lately." I said laughing. "What can I say? He is literally me." Jackson chuckled. I walked out of the room and walked down the hall to the play room where I could easily hear the two of them giggling. Artemis has been such a good big brother and has been very protective. I cracked open the door and both their heads snapped towards me. "What are you two doing in here?" I asked, sitting down next to them. "I'm teaching Ari how to build stuff." Artemis said with a smile. 

    All I could see was Ari grabbing different things and hiding them behind her. "Aunt Pythia is coming with uncle Tye, Apollo and the twins." I said finally. Excitement shot across their faces, "I'll have uncle Tye bring up Apollo when they get here okay? Are you two hungry?" I asked. They both shook their heads and went back to playing. "Okay well whenever you are just let us know okay? We can make you whatever you two want." I said standing on my feet. It was as if I no longer existed to the two of them. They went back to playing. I walked out of the room leaving the door open and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. I pulled a tray out from the cabinet and placed it on the counter as Courtney walked in. "Do you need some help?" She asked. "Actually yes, Pythia, Tye and the kids are coming over here soon and I would like to get some snacks and stuff ready for when they get here." I replied."Oh I just got a bunch of salami meats, cheese and crackers." Courtney said, walking to the fridge. 

    I walked to the pantry and opened the door to see she had fully stocked up on everything. I grabbed the crackers and opened the box and placed them on the tray while Courtney cut up the meat and cheese. I heard a knock at the door before it opened, "Hello?" Pythia called out. "In the kitchen!" I yelled back. I looked up to see she was holding Amina and Tye was holding Archer. I could hear Apollos little feet running up the stairs just before I heard my two little ones yell out in excitement. "So what is going on? Are you okay?" Pythia asked. "I am fine, we need to discuss Xander." I replied. "What has he done?" Tye asked. "Nothing yet but he has been going around neighboring cities and we can't figure out why." I replied. "I told her we needed to go over their upbringing so we can try to get ahead of him in case he does something stupid." Jackson said as he walked in the kitchen. 

    Courtney helped me take everything to the living room before she turned to Pythia. "I'll keep the twins occupied so you can all talk." Courtney said. "Are you sure?" Pythia asked. "Of course. I have the den all set up for them and I have the camera from the play room on the TV so I can watch the other three as well." Courtney replied with a smile. Tye and Pythia followed Courtney to the other room and it didn't take them long to come back and sit down. "Okay so let's start from the very beginning. What do you remember?" Pythia asked. "Well I was born first obviously but I remember our parents being strict most of the time. Our punishments were a little extreme at times but we started learning more of our duties as we got older." I replied. "What were your duties?" Jackson asked. "I had to sit through endless hours of training on how to rule vampires, the punishments and how to keep them controlled. Who I could trust as guards. I trained with the toughest warriors and did tasks." I replied. "What about Xander? What was he suppose to do?" Tye asked. 

    I had to think, I wasn't with him when he was trained so I have no idea what all he was taught, "He was supposed to be the one that lead our army, my second in command. He was the one that watched over all the training to make sure no one slacked off. If something were to happen to me he would take over and appoint another second in command through a series of trials." I replied. "As kids we were always pinned against each other, we had to fight each other when it came to training because our parents needed to know that we weren't weak." I added as my memories started to flood my head. "What would happen when Xander would lose? Was he punished or anything?" Pythia asked. "Yes, and vise versa. Depending on how bad we lost depended on the punishments. We were never allowed to discuss it thought and if we showed weakness we would get punished again." I replied. I could still hear the cracking of the whip when it touched my back. I was thankful that over the years my scars have faded but the memories remained. "Our mother wasn't really a mother, she was like a robot in a sense, never once went against our father because he liked things a certain way." I said. 

    Our mother never once stood up for us. "Tell us about when you two were a little bit older. Did he have any friends? Did you?" Jackson asked. "I preferred to stay to myself and study, he got mixed in with the troublesome children. If I made him mad he would send those idiots after me thinking they could take me out." I replied. "Why would he want to do that?" Pythia asked. "Because around that time we found out that I would officially take over, I was stronger and smarter and was better to lead because even though I could be heartless I was fair. He was not, he was just straight heartless when it came to everything." I replied. "Okay so we know he wants to be king but he can't accomplish that alone. Where are his friends now?" Jackson asked. "They parted shortly after I took over, they haven't caused a fuss or anything but they are spread out." I replied. Could Xander be looking for them? Surely after all these years they don't hold any malice right? 

    "Anytime anyone would try to pick on Xander I would be there to protect him but he has always loathed me for a reason I don't know. I don't know what our father did to him and he doesn't know what was done to me but I have never once blamed him or hated him for what our father did." I said. "Maybe it is a good idea to have an actual sit down with him. See where the problems actually are. It seems like you were both treated fairly in different ways so I'm not fully understanding where things went south." Pythia said. "I'm not sure if he would actually be an adult and do that. His temper gets the best of him, that much he got from our father." I said trying to think of a way I could possibly pull that off. "Can Jasper and Jenson still tell what people are thinking?" I asked curiously. "I think so but I can ask." Pythia said. "If I could get him to sit down with us I'd prefer you three be there. You can feel his emotions and they can tell me what he is really thinking." I said. "Delilah can get a better read on him as well so I can have her here with us." Pythia said. 

    My mind went back to our punishments, I hated the very moment we had to go down to our cells. There would be days we would have to go without eating and little water depending on what we did. I tried my best to stay out of trouble while he seemed to search for it. Part of me felt bad for him, I wanted to have a normal relationship with him but he just didn't want anything more than to get rid of me. "What are you thinking?" Jackson asked. "I just want to know why he hates me the way he does. I wonder what he went through. Maybe our father did something or said something? Did our mother do something? I have no answers and it is very frustrating. He knew if he acted out he would be punished and it was as if he purposely looked for it." I replied. I feel like there is something I have blocked out that my mind is refusing to let me resurface because none of this makes any sense. "Can Alley access memories?" I asked, looking at Tye. "I would have to ask her why whats up?" Tye asked. "I feel like I can't access the important stuff no matter how hard I try so I was hoping there was a way to see if there is something I am missing." I said. 

    They all looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "It is possible that your memories have been tampered with. Describe to me what you feel and think." Pythia said, looking at me. "It's like I only remember what I went through and the somewhat good memories of me and him. Then it gets blank kind of like a fog that won't lift." I said, scrunching my eyebrows together. There is something there I just don't know what it is. "It sounds like parts of your memories have been either wiped away or kind of like they have been put in a locked box in the very darkest parts of your mind." Pythia said. "Sage? Is there a way that you can find out?" I asked quickly. "It will take some time and you might get a headache or feel pressure but I will see what I can do." Sage said quickly before I felt her retreat. "Sage is trying to see if maybe she can figure something out." I said. "Let's try to call Xander and Tye and Pythia can go talk to Alley and see what she can do." Jackson said. "What about Lucinda? Is there anything she can do?" I asked. "I'm not sure, she is with Athea for a little while. I don't know when she will get back so let's exhaust all our options until she comes back." Pythia replied with a soft smile. 

    I sat there while the other three talked and I started to feel slight pressure but nothing too serious. My mind kept replaying different areas but there were chunks that were missing and I was beginning to get really frustrated. We didn't grow up around any type of witches that I knew of unless they were hidden. I didn't learn a lot about them, I was always told that we could only depend on ourselves and not to rely on any witches or wolves. I never had any anger towards them and never trusted them until we were forced to and that was the turning point for us all. A lot of what I was told was a lie because no one wanted to mingle with the other. Sure we all had a few bad apples and I always made an example out of them. "Alley will be over here as soon as she can." Pythia said, cutting me from my thoughts. "I can feel your emotions, what is bouncing around your head?" Pythia asked. "I didn't know of any witches growing up that lived near us. Who would do that and why? What are my parents trying to hide?" I replied. "Witches tend to stay well blended in with others if they are not in a coven. I don't know what your parents are trying to hide but we will figure it out." Pythia said gently. 

    "I need to know, was any part of my memories real? I mean is what I remember real or were they put there? None of this makes sense and it is just very frustrating." I grumbled. "What about your dad? You said he was strict." Jackson asked. "He was, he did have a temper problem but I never saw it first hand because I walked in a straight line." I replied, trying to remember what I could. Bits of pieces were starting to surface but nothing toward me or Xander. It was more on the lines of him making examples out of people when they did something wrong and I was starting to feel a headache working its way out. I had a feeling that whatever was hidden was meant to stay that way and I wouldn't like what was tucked away.