Malachi Azure
Kai had so many regrets, his life was filled with them. He had spent his entire life trying to do the right thing, but it seemed as if nothing would ever be enough. That is, if his efforts to do the right thing didn’t backfire on him. For the entirety of his teenage years, he put himself through hell, put up every wall he could, just to hide the real him, all to do what felt like he had to in order to help the people that mattered to him. That’s where the snowball effect started. For years, he kept the real him locked away inside, only to go through so much pain, to fail in every possible way when it came to anything he cared about, anything that let the walls crack and facade fade. He couldn’t make up for the mistakes he made, but nothing seemed to be enough to keep from making more. He didn’t know how to keep living with all of the regrets. At this point, Kai was begging to not add yet another weight on his shoulders, to have one thing in his life that he could do right and be enough for. If Kai was being honest, he knew that everyone was better off without him. No matter how hard he tried, it didn’t seem like it was possible to be everything he needed to be, not for everyone. Everything he did went wrong, and Kai knew there was no way to recover. Meeting his daughters, it was selfish, but he needed it. It didn’t matter if they even knew who he was, he just wanted to meet them, to know he saw them knowing who they really were.
The whole situation was frustrating. He didn’t know how to feel about any of it. Anger, disappointment, sadness, guilt, and so much more. Some of it, towards himself and his own actions, some for everyone involved, and the rest simply in general, towards the universe for his life turning out this way. He didn’t even know what to say to Jess in response to her words, but he didn’t have much chance to respond anyway as that was when a slight vibration began. Nearby objects started to rattle, and there was only one reason why. Earthquake. It didn’t matter what was between them anymore, the first priority in that instant was to make sure Jess was safe. As much as Scarlet was on his mind, it wasn’t necessarily safe to go run and find her. It was better to find her once it was over. For that moment, his focus was on Jess and helping make sure she was safe.
Certain that Jess was alright, and knowing where to go to find the children he had never known about, Kai made his way to the person he most wanted to make sure was alright. She saw him first, and once he saw her he bent down to her level as she ran into his arms. “Daddy” she said with a slight sniffle. Kai held his little girl in a tight hug, not wanting to let go of her. He lightly kissed the top of her head. “I’m here, it’s alright. You’re ok, I’m ok. We’re both ok. I love you.” He kept her close, hearing her slightly muffled response, before pulling away just enough to wipe a few tears from her cheeks. “I love you too, daddy.” After a few minutes, he looked at his little girl, sure that she was doing better. “There’s somewhere I have to go, some people I have to check on, do you think you’re big enough to stay here without me for a little while?” Kai didn’t want to leave his daughter, but at the same time he didn’t want to bring her out there just after that earthquake when things could be chaotic, and finding his other daughters was something best done alone. He didn’t want her out there if things got messy, but he knew she would be safe there. When she gave a slight nod, he knew she would be fine. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
Cerulean high senior prom, certainly not somewhere Kai expected to find himself again, especially not after 20 years. Though, it was far from the most surprising part of the situation. He turned down a hallway, only to come face to face with someone he never imagined to find. For a couple seconds they stood there, staring at each other, equally shocked, but then she turned to run back the way she came. Kai hurried to catch up with her. “Cas…” he began, but she stopped in her tracks, turning towards him with a cold stare.
“Don’t you f^^king dare.”
“Wait, we all thought…” he tried, shocked to find her there, not sure what to say.
“You thought I was dead. And let me guess, you were worried about me. Well you can all just go f^^k off.”
“But…” she barely let him get a single word in.
[color= skyblue]“Just stop f**king lying to me, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you, and sick of everyone else.” [/color] Kai had hardly begun to open his mouth in protest when she snapped. There was no hiding the fire in her eyes, she was angry, and there was nothing he could do. [color= skyblue]“Shut the f^^k up.” [/color] Kai hardly had a second to process her movement, and he didn’t realize what was coming until it hit him. “It” being her fist making contact with the left side of his face and jaw. Pain radiated from the impact, and despite her size, there was no denying she had a solid right hook. [color= skyblue]“Say one more word, and you won’t like where I aim next.” [/color] She paused, just for a mere second to see that he understood. [color= skyblue]“Now leave me the f^^k alone. Forget you saw me, and stay out of my life. Better yet, forget I even exist, and get the f^^k out of here.” [/color] She glared at him, as if waiting for him to respond or try to stop her, before she turned, quickly making her way out of the hall.
All Kai could do was watch as she left him standing there. How the hell she was there, he had no idea. He never imagined finding her in Beryl, especially not like this. It was a surprise, but even that wasn’t enough to push him away from the priority at hand.
He had to find Paige Pierce, and Annie Williams. As soon as he knew they were in Beryl, at prom, Kai knew he had to look and see if Blue Royalty had said anything about them, which was how he knew that Kiara was Annie. Paige and Annie, daughters of Anna Pierce, though who their father was, would be something not even Blue Royalty knew. All that mattered, was that Kai knew who they were, he just had to find them.
The senior prom appeared to still be reeling from the aftermath of the earthquake and everything before, but Kai stopped when he overheard a part of a conversation. They were talking about Annie. She had been arrested.
Every minute seemed to take things further from anything Kai could have predicted going into the night. It was only a matter of time before he found himself walking into the police station. He wasn’t going to let them just keep her there, but soon came the question of his connection to her. He knew she didn’t know him, and he knew she had a family, and someone who was undeniably a good man for a father even, but all Kai could answer was, “I’m her father.”