Daddy? (Kyte)

Rumors spread of a small, yellow-haired girl asking around town for a certain Kyte Avytrius. Of course, there weren't many of these rumors, but they managed to reach the ears of the man himself, a man who went to great lengths to protect his identity.

The name had reached other ears, as well. Hired men tracked the girl down and confronted her, trying to discover what she knew about this 'Avytrius.' Their employers knew this name, and it was of interest to them to find out what they could of its owner. Those men were left dead with several broken bones. Witnesses said the girl had smiled even as she snapped one man's neck, a joyful gleam in her blue eyes.

Now the young girl was here, at Sharky's Grill. She was happily munching on a burger she had bought, thanks to the money she had taken off the previously mentioned hired men. She was wearing a red sweater and blue jeans, along with some sneakers.

She was here on important business. She was looking for Kyte. There wasn't much information on him, but somebody had left the girl an anonymous tip that he was in Jump City. She had a feeling she would know him when she saw him.

Her eyes suddenly opened wide. Somebody was coming, somebody with magical energy. There were a lot of people like that in this town, but this one was considerable in its intensity. It was almost as strong as the aura she had felt since entering Jump City a few days ago.

On the other side of town, Shivering Jemmy smiled. The girl, Rico, had sensed Kyte's approach. She had also sensed Jemmy's presence in Jump City, despite Jemmy's half-hearted efforts to hide it. Rico was still young, but she was learning to use her powers quickly.

A man landed outside. He landed, meaning he had been flying. Rico swallowed hard. She was a little nervous. This person was obviously powerful. She wouldn't be able to kill him like she had killed the other people. Perhaps she wouldn't have to, though. She felt hopeful that this was the man she was looking for, Kyte Avytrius.

The mysterious man killed someone who had dared to speak to him. Rico became more nervous. She didn't care that somebody had just died, but she did fear for her own life.

He called her Shivering Jemmy. This was the first time Rico had heard that name. She frowned up at him, shaking a little bit. "I don't know who that is. I'm Rico. Rico Avytrius. Are you my daddy?"

The man removed his mask slowly and stared at her with wide eyes. Judging by his reaction, Rico decided that this man was, in fact, Kyte Avytrius. She smiled, even as he stared into her eyes with humorless intensity. She smiled, her eyes filling with tears, for she had found her father.

Kyte said that he was angry that someone would speak her name. Rico wondered who this woman was. All she had said was his name, right? Apparently, she had done something wrong, even though she didn't know what it was.

He said that if she wasn't Shivering Jemmy, then he would allow her to live. She wiped some of the tears out of her eyes, still smiling at him. She knew she wasn't this Jemmy person, so she would be fine.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know I was doing anything wrong, but my name is not Jemmy. I'm Rico. My mother brought me to an orphanage when I was a baby. I don't know my mother's name, but I know your name. Mother left me a note, and told the people at the orphanage to tell me that my father was Kyte Avytrius. I don't know why she didn't want me to know who she was, but she wanted me to know who you were. And now I've found you. I'm so happy. Can...can I give you a hug?" She held her arms out wide.

Across town, Jemmy followed the conversation. She was hoping that Kyte had gotten smarter over the last thousand years or so. Otherwise, he might mess this up, and Jemmy would have to intervene. For now, she was willing to just observe from a distance.

Kyte apologized for getting angry at her, and explained that 'Avytrius' was actually the name of a woman he had once known. Once. That meant she was dead now. Avytrius had given her name to Kyte, which was strange. Usually it was the other way around, wasn't it? Rico wondered for a moment if this Avytrius was her mother, but it didn't seem likely. Besides, she had just found her father. She could think about her mother later. This was a time to celebrate.

Kyte smiled and allowed Rico to hug him. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, but not too tightly. She didn't use any of her magical strength, even though she was sure he could probably take it.

"I never blamed you," she said. "You never even knew I existed, right? I've been so lonely, but now we can finally be together, like a real family, forever." She released the embrace and backed up a few steps. "I have so much to show you. I have special powers, like you. I don't know if we have the same ones, though." She picked up an empty table next to her and held it above her head with one hand. "I'm really strong. I'm tough, too. I can also sense magical things, too. I could sense you before you even got here."

Rico watched her father's face for a reaction. She wanted to impress him, to show that she was special. Maybe that would make him love her more.

Across town, Shivering Jemmy laughed out loud, uncontrollably. It was working. Soon she would have Kyte right where she wanted him: beneath her heel.

Kyte didn't react to her demonstration, but he did say her strength was impressive. He also confirmed that he had been unaware of her existence until now. Otherwise, Rico was sure, he would have come to take her away from that awful orphanage. Kyte said that she would indeed be staying with him now.

Rico was happier than she had ever been. Kyte asked her if she could sense anyone other than him using her power. Rico wrinkled her forehead, as though thinking really hard. "Right now? I can only sense one other source of magic." Fear covered Rico's face as she considered the overwhelming aura across town. "I don't know who they are, but they are really powerful. They scare me."

Across town, Jemmy bit her lower lip. Kyte had found his daughter, but he hadn't formed any sort of emotional bond with her yet. Until that bond was formed, Jemmy was not ready to put her plan into motion. There was no point in a confrontation with Kyte at this time, so Jemmy decided to leave Rico's range of sensory. She teleported away, returning to the estate of a certain Mr. Hawthorne.

Rico would suddenly look surprised and relieved. "They're gone now. Whoever it was, they left." She looked up at Kyte. "So...Dad. What do we do now?"

Kyte seemed lost in thought for a moment before answering Rico's question. He asked if she was hungry. Rico glanced at the half-eaten burger she had been eating. Even after finishing the meal, she would probably still be hungry. She had gone a long time without food. She looked back at Kyte and nodded. "Yep. I didn't really eat anything yesterday, so I'm pretty hungry." Despite how hungry she was, though, she didn't pick up her burger. It had been bought with change she had collected. If her father was going to buy her something, then she wanted to enjoy it. She wanted to make sure she had enough room to finish it all.

"If you would buy me something, I'd be really happy. I'm not picky. I was the only kid at the orphanage who liked eating vegetables."

Kyte said that he was proud of her, and Rico's smile grew. She had tried to be a good person for as long as she could remember because she wanted to make her daddy proud. Kyte said this was a special occasion and handed her a $50 bill, telling her to order anything and everything she wanted off of the menu.

Rico looked at the bill in disbelief. She had never held this much money before. She hadn't ever even seen a $50 bill outside of movies. She walked up to the counter, her hands shaking a bit. Holding so much money made her feel nervous.

She didn't just want to get a burger again. That would be redundant. She ordered a chicken salad. Kyte had said whatever she ordered didn't have to be healthy, but it looked really good in the picture. When she got her salad, she sat down at a table and started eating it. She looked up at Kyte and smiled, hoping he would sit down, too.

"So what do you do? What are you? What..." She realized she was asking too many questions. "Tell me about yourself."

Honestly, Rico wasn't too surprised that her father was a demon. She knew he had to be something extraordinary, unless she had gotten her powers only from her mother. But she didn't want to believe that her mother had given her anything. While Kyte had been unaware of Rico, her mysterious mother had given Rico up, like she hadn't wanted her.

But Kyte wanted her, and she wanted him.

Rico listened to his vague explanation of what he was. He promised to be the best father in the world. Rico wondered if a demon could even be a good father, or a good anything. But she was so excited to meet him that she was willing to give him a chance.

Now that she knew what he was, she wanted to know who he was. "What do you like? What do you hate? What...do you fear?" Hopefully, these questions weren't too personal. Families could talk about these things, right? She decided to answer her own questions first. "I like guns. I like shooting things, and the burnt smell a gun makes when it fires. I hate being different from everyone else. It's hard to make friends sometimes." She looked up at her father. "I was afraid that you would be gone after the Vanishing. A lot of people disappeared, and I didn't want to lose you before I even had the chance to meet you."