Cursed Fables - Generation Two - Chapter Twenty Four
Wow, so here it is. Finally. The last chapter of generation two of the auracy! Who would have thought it would have taken so long? Wow. Good news, I have a lot of the next gen planned, I had to change it recently due to events, but I’m hoping the story is just as strong and compelling.
So the first part of this is just a little into the background of the auracy, and how it all started. It does get a little…complicated and may seem strange at first. But go with it? It’ll make more sense as the current generation uncovers more.
Secondly I apologize for the actual mission part of this, it should be so much better but lack of poses and what not set me back a little. But I did the best I can. So…enjoy?
As if my life, my existence itself wasn’t mysterious enough…I got the feeling that it would only get more and more confusing with every word she said.
While I stood there, dazed and trying to pull any sense from her ‘explanation’ Danni, again reminding me of her husband, appeared calm and ordered her to sit down and steady herself. Confused as to why, I finally looked up.
And saw Formetia, the entity that Daniel described as being heartless and cruel, shuddering, eyes hallow and rimmed red.
“I know this is confusing for anyone unfamiliar with the ways of how life used to be in my lifetime…but I will try my best to ensure you both understand. Than maybe…maybe the mistake I made all those centuries ago. The moment I trusted someone else with the safety of my children.”
I watched Danni carefully, and for a moment I saw a flash of sympathy in her eyes for Formetia. My hand slowly drifted to my still flat stomach. Those protective urges that I so often heard of weren’t really here yet. But still the thought of my child being taken….
“You said that…that you cast an forbidden spell on your children to save them from possible attacks? How do you even learn of such things? What did the spell do?”
She looks up at me, gazing through the hair that obscures her eyes. Hands gripping her own arms tightly. “I didn’t cast the spell on my own. That’s how. I invoked the help from a demon.”
“A demon?” I repeat angrily. “Do you think me an idiot? They don’t exist!”
Danni shakes her head and watches Formetia. “I believe that they do. Your grandfather is a djinn, a form of demon. What makes you doubt she is telling the truth?”
I realised I was still trying to make myself hate her. I wasn’t being fair..and even though it burned me…I had to do so.
“I assure you that they do. You see…my family had long been the most powerful witches in our coven. Unfortunately that granted us unwanted attention from the dark spirits that live between the worlds of the living and the dead. I caught the attention of a demon while performing a purifying spell to keep the creatures out to harm us away. My sisters couldn’t risk a demon among our midst. Fearful that we were possessed they sought to kill us all. So I gathered my children and ran.
For a while…I believed us to be safe. There had been no more attacks for weeks, and I hadn’t sensed anyone else approach us within my telepathic range…
But there was another problem surfacing. Amongst ourselves.
My children were to young to learn magic at that time. Nathaniel, my eldest had only just started to understand the tomes from the books I had allowed him to read. So all they could do was sit and wait. My youngest, Henry took the whole ordeal the worst. Seeing his friends turn on him in a single instant damaged his kind nature beyond repair. He would sit, slumped over in a corner and sob throughout the days. Elizabeth would stay with Nathaniel, the two were always unbearably close.
But they grew restless. They didn’t want to spend the rest of their days in hiding. And I knew I couldn’t keep the wards shielding us from the demon up forever. What kind of life could I give my children if we were constantly on the move?
But after some time…Noah began to question into the demon further.
“If our people are so determined to hunt us for something that you cannot help, then why don’t we embrace it? Use the demon to strike them down! Talk about poetic justice!” He would suggest with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Noah had always been the more vindictive of my children. I put it down to him being jealous that Nathaniel was to inherit everything as he was the eldest. I tried to explain to him, that there was no stopping the demon if it should catch up with us. But if you didn’t feel magic, you wouldn’t understand.
I knew that if I didn’t do something soon, I would lose them completely. But I didn’t know how I could possibly fix this? How do you stop the unstoppable? I looked into every finding on demonology. And one fact seemed to always surface, though mixed results would always follow.
Demons, despite their nature. Were sealed by their word. If you dealt with one, whatever you were promised must be delivered. Even at the cost of your life. I didn’t want to die. Didn’t want to leave them on their own.
But I needed to protect them. I got them into this mess. And it was my responsibility to get them out of it. No one would take my children from me. I’d protect them from every possible threat out there.
So one day when they were out gathering supplies that we needed, I dropped my shields completely. I stood in the middle of our cabin and I waited. It took only a few minutes for the door to fly open, letting in a sudden and unnatural gust of wind into the shack. The pages of my books flapped, the temperature dropped to a chilling level…and then all of a sudden I felt a presence behind me. I turn and stare down my nightmare.
“Greetings Sorceress. So good to finally met you in the flesh.” He purred, an amused grin on his face. Drakos.
As much as my instincts told me to run, I clenched my fists and fought against them. I slowly take a step towards him. “I’m here to deal.” I declare. He gestures for me to approach.
“Kneel.”
I do. And he runs a hand through my hair, I feel my scalp burning, even though he doesn’t touch it. Personified evil sat right in front of me. And I let him.
“And what do you wish to deal for? Power? Eternal beauty? A place at my side?” He chuckles clearly amused by the conflictions coursing inside of me.
I look him dead in the eyes, his dark endless eyes. “I want you to protect my children. So no one can harm them. No mage, no demon. No one.”
He raises an interested brow at that, leaning back for a moment. Hands under his chin as he thinks. “I could do so. Though I’ve never been asked of such a ‘noble’ request before.”
His words brought me hope, hope that I was doing all of this for a good reason. I let my guard down for only a fraction of a second. And then he pounced.
I was pinned to the ground. His weight pressed on top of me, one arm kept me pinned, the other caressed my cheek, before snaking to my neck, squeezing gently.
“Know that dealing with me requires the payment of ones life. Are you willing to pay that?”
“Yes,” I wheeze, wishing with everything in me that I could use my powers to strike him. But if I struck back now.. “Save them. Anyway that you can.”
Once more he laughed, the sound was chilling. “I will turn them into something new. Not like the bat like creatures to the north, or the new Wolves to the east. Something that can withstand all. And you my dear….will be forced to witness it all.”
I didn’t understand what he meant by that. He lowered his lips to mine. He kissed me violently…and as he did, I felt my soul, my very life fading. It wasn’t quick or painless and by the time death greeted me, I welcomed it.
Or so I thought.
When I awoke everything had changed. I soon realised I no longer needed to breathe. I was alone in a seemingly endless white room. The emptiness hit me hard, and I wondered if this is what death was like. This seemed to pure and bright considering I had sold my soul to a demon.
Suddenly I could hear anguished screams. My heart ached. “Nathaniel?” His were soon joined by that of all my children. I ran into the never ending light. I could hear them crying out in pain, unable to do anything.
Why? Why were they screaming? Drakos promised he would prevent them from ever being killed. So why?!
It was only after it stopped, and I could finally see them that I realised what had happened. Drakos had transformed my children into something…new. Their skin appeared pale, and stronger than mere flesh. Their eyes the red of blood. Features looking more beautiful and otherworldly than I thought even possible.
They went through unimaginable pain. Because of me. That is why I am to blame for what happened next.
It didn’t take long for Noah to take advantage of his new powers. His thirst appeared to be the worst, as no more than a week later did he head to our old hometown. He broke his way into his old lovers home, Lelani, and drained both of her parents dry.
She and her little brother Jaython were so distressed. I had to watch on, screaming and pleading for him to stop as he drank from Lelani’s neck, promising her that if she was deemed worthy enough they could be together as man and wife. Forever.
I don’t know how he learned that his venom could Turn others. Maybe it was Drakos. In either case, the young boy had to watch as his sister too was attacked. Noah even smirked at him and promised something ‘greater’ in store for him.
I don’t know how much the boy has told you now he has grown, now known as Jace about his past. But it’s all lies. Noah, as Lelani’s Maker compelled her to think he was well looked after until he was old enough to be turned. In reality he was sent away and used as a test subject for Noah to see what he could do. Once Jaython was twenty two he was turned and given to Noah’s group of vampires to train as a weapon. Jace has no memories of his sister or his actual age.
When Nathaniel learnt of his brothers actions, he confronted him. Told him and his other siblings that they were not to harm anyone. Nathaniel…he was so determined that I was still alive out there. He wanted nothing more tan to find me.
“How can you forgive those that turned on us for something that we couldn’t help? Whatever happened to us…whatever this is it makes us better than them. So let’s use it.” Noah suggested with a sinister look in his eyes.
“No, this isn’t what mother, what any of our ancestors would want. Why should we act like that? Like a demon! We will have no part in it!” Nathaniel argued. He looked over at Henry and Elizabeth. But neither said anything.
"You agree with him? With this madness? Why would you want to harm anyone?” He questioned them desperately.
Henry looks like he would have been anywhere else. The boy who once treasured his friends above all else. “They turned their backs on us. They were going to kill us all. Why shouldn’t we do the same?”
“Lizzie?” Nathaniel all but begged for her to see sense. My little girl.
“I’m sorry Brother. But I don’t want to feel like a scared little girl ever again. If that means I need to tread all over those beneath me. Than fine.” She replied coldly. And then sickenly she smiled.
“So you see Nathaniel…we are through listening to you. You can either join us, or separate. Your choice. I don’t care. Frankly I could never get on with you. You tried so hard to suck up to mother. It sickened all of us.” Noah too turned on his brother, glaring at him with such hatred as a mother I couldn’t comprehend. Why had I never seen such hatred?
But still Nathaniel didn’t waver. “You can think what you want about me…but I am the eldest, and I will see that you three are well looked after. I will guide you back to the righteous path.” In that moment I could not have been more proud of my son.
I never expected what followed. Noah, Elizabeth and Henry look to one another and then held their palms out. To young to know magic, I don’t know how they gathered enough power between them to do it. Or where they got the knowledge.
But they combined the powers inherited from me, to seal away Nathaniel.
It was named the Solaxus Seal. Again, I know not where the name came from. I can only speculate that something…or someone had given them guidance. Maybe it was Drakos himself.
In any case, Nathaniel’s conscious was sealed away, and a spiritual lock placed on the top of it. Seeing as he is just like his siblings he cannot be killed. So this was the only other alternative to them. He is probably the only one that could have stopped them.
She breaks down in tears, head in her knees as Danni and I exchange looks at each other. Processing everything that she claimed. If it was all true…than I should hate her more than I already did right?
Yet why was it when I looked at her like this, all I could think about, was what lengths would I go to protect someone I loved? And it was clear that none of this was her intent either. The age old question about the line between good and evil came to mind.
So she was innocent for that….but still.
“So you sent Daniel and the others into battle…and you say they won’t win!” I argue back at her. Fear overcomes me completely for him. For everyone. I’d always believed they would win this. They’d come back alive. And then I’d never have to face fear like it again…but now?
“If they get into combat with any of my children…than they will die. That I’m certain of.” Formetia declared solemnly.
My heart dropped. “No..” The reality of hearing someone else say it. The idea of never seeing Daniel again. I literally felt like I was breaking apart. My thoughts were muddled, I was shaking. Luckily Danni was there to demand answers.
“How can justify doing that! Especially after you’ve spent so much time with everyone here. Don’t count them out Formetia because I know my husband, and I know those kids. They are lot more skilled and resourceful than you think.”
I don’t know how she managed to sound so strong. But I was grateful for that strength of hers. It made me determined to do the same. Daniel would never forgive me if he knew I doubted him for even a moment. And Danni was right.
This woman clearly had no idea what kind of bonds we all shared. The faith in one another and all the time we spent together preparing for this. There was several factors that I was certain she had overlooked.
But Formetia shook her head. “I don’t doubt for a minute that against any other opponent your team would prevail. But against foes that have lived through as much as them…they are to ruthless now. Those strong bonds of your friends…will be their downfalls.”
“However, I do believe that I know of a way to overcome them. Although considering what I’ve told you, the idea is pretty obvious to those with a functional mind.” She finished.
Oh boy, where had the sulking sorry for herself Formetia go?
“You mean seal all 3 of them away as they sealed your eldest? Didn’t you say that it took a great amount of power to do so. And that was to seal away one person. How are we supposed to amass enough to seal 3?” I hurled question after question at her, figuring that as long as I kept busy, I wouldn’t think about what could be happening at this very moment.”
“The key to all of this is you, Opal. More precisely, your bloodline. And the powers that your eyes possess.” I’m taken aback. I had wanted these answers for so long. Now I might actually be getting them, and I’m conflicted.
“What do you know about my eyes?” I asked boldly.
She rubs her temple. “The Solaxus Seal that Nathaniel is sealed into needed a locking system. It’s the balance of all things, nothing is final. So a trial was set throughout the ages. If a single bloodline could overcome 10 trials, overcome 10 of the human emotions that plague all of us. Then they’d have the power to open the seal. The person that is fated to do some, combined with Nathaniel should be enough to banish the rest of them.”
It all seemed so complex, so unimaginable. That this curse that I had been born into was merely a task set for me without my consent. To rescue someone born centuries, maybe millennia ago? It all seemed unfair. And not just for me…for my mother as well. And everyone that was ever near us.
“I don’t know how you people did things in the past, but this seriously sucks. What right did any of you have to unleash this on us? My mother…she’s been hunted for her entire life. Because of it, my father was hurt. I was hurt. Because of a power that I didn’t know how to control I hurt my sister. You tore a wedge between my family for years. How is any of that fair!”
It felt good to finally unleash all of my frustrations. I suppose it helped that I unleashed it all on her too. Danni stood by watching me, looking concerned and yet taking a step back and letting it happen. But I guess we all had to do things we didn’t want to. My case just seemed more extreme than most.
“I never said that it was fair. And your family isn’t the first to be burdened with it. Yet….you are the first to reach the second stage. For that, I commend your parents. And it cannot be said that this trial hasn’t benefited both of you. You, Opal are a stronger person that you ever could have been without it. And through it you found Daniel. Your love for him, even though it was merely as friends to begin with, managed to do something not even I could do. Give him emotions. A hope. A life. That’s all I ever wanted for him. For all of them.”
I hold up her hands to stop her saying anything else and confusing me further. “Wait, hold on. How did you know to send Daniel to me in the first place. You are saying you had all of this planned out? Since when!”
Formetia smiled softly. “Daniel had always been…different since spending her time with Brooke Tale and her family…so I kept a eye on your family through the years. And admittedly it’s quite a tale. Ironic no? I digress, when I saw that your father had met Alyssa, the latest child born into the Solaxus how could I not send him to their child?”
Realisation hit me in at once. “You sent him here…to help him find peace. So then…why did you torture him for all those years..to try and force him not to feel!”
Again when I look into her eyes I don’t see an empty void as Daniel often described them. I see sadness, and pain. Guilt. Human emotions I didn’t expect to see. “..I had to keep up appearances. I would rather be hated by one of my children than give all of them false hope.”
As much as I didn’t want to, I found myself respecting Formetia more and more. Even if part of me still loathed her.
Please Daniel. Please return to me. Prove her wrong.
“Now what do we do? It’s only a matter of time until one of the bodies we knocked out is discovered.” Rose panted, leaning against the wall of the hallway we were currently creeping through. I wanted to snap at her for her actions, did she not realise how serious all of this was? We can’t afford to rest in this place.
“We keep cool headed. Panicking will do us no good.” Hayden chimed in, putting a hand supportively on her knee. A stab of jealousy shot through me. I’d tried to switch off my thoughts of Opal but it was no good. I wanted her with me. I was glad she was safely out of the way. My thoughts made no sense.
“Well we can’t stay here for to long. Edward monitored patrols and said they switch by the hour. Meaning we have at the most 30 minutes until it’s discovered that something is amiss.” I reminded grimly. At times like this I wish I had more powers to contribute to the team instead of age and experience. But I’d make do with what I had.
As soon as I said it, I realised my tone must have been more irritated than I had planned for it to be. Seeing as they both stood with me. I chuckle lightly as I lean against the wall. “For what it’s worth…I’m sorry.”
Hayden puts a supportive hand on my shoulder and gives me a good shake. “We know how you’re feeling man. We’ll get you back to her. No child should grow up without supportive parents.” I look back over my shoulder and Rose nods.
“Thanks guys. Now what is the plan?” I repeat. Feeling a bit more at ease than I was a minute previous.
Rose smirks, pulling a wand out of her boot. “We keep on pushing through. I blind, Hayden storms, you subdue.”
I grin. “Good plan.”
Being back in this position brought back horrible memories and emotions within me. The last time I issued an attack of this scale…3 young lives that I had played a hand in preparing had died under my watch. Not a day went by that I didn’t rethink things, think of a way to have avoided them. But Danni has so often reminded me not to live in the past.
Which is why I’m pushing onwards now. I know that we cannot take down these vampires. It would be suicide to even attempt it. Which is why under any circumstances was the lead group to be interacted with. This mission was a simple extraction.
Find Jace, and get him out in one piece. Simple enough right?
This seemed like such a big effort to rescue one single life. And in truth, maybe it was. But this was Jace we are talking about. Not only did I want my best friend back, the one person I could talk about the Council freely with. The one person who understood the darker side to me.
We needed his instincts, his knowledge and his presence if we one day hoped to end all of this.
But most of all Stefan needed him. He needed a father who had been absent from his life for over a decade. Jace would be so proud of the man he has grown up to be. He wasn’t always the way he is now though.
At first, when a young boy he had begged me to begin his training early. He wanted to be a part of this council, he was determined to bring his father home. That lead to himself pushing himself, he became rash and impatient. On several occasions he threatened to go off solo if I didn’t grant him permission to do so in a team. But he wasn’t ready. Physically he may have been our most gifted, but he wasn’t ready for it emotionally.
Luckily I managed to talk sense into him, and when one of his friends became almost fatally hurt during a exercise, he realised the importance of my words.
Now he was helping lead his own team. And in doing so found someone that he loved and treasured. Sure I may make jokes about that someone being part, fish….but it’s only my humour. I’m happy for both of them.
Suddenly I’m forced out of memories of the past as I hear a noise in the distance. An echoing sound. I recognise the noise as clapping just a moment before a figure rounds the corner to face me. Though it’s not who I expect to face. This isn’t one of the Old Ones. Although her eyes looked dark enough to be. And her features reminded me of someone.
“Funny, my presence alone is now reason enough to applause?” I joke dryly.
She laughs, it’s cold and cruel sounding. “Our records said you were a ‘comedian’ I see they were correct. What I don’t see is how you of all people were able to corrupt my brother.”
I raise a brow. “I’ve ‘corrupted; a lot of people allegedly. All girls though. Sorry, I don’t swing that way.”
Her gaze narrowed. “I’m not laughing Quinn Savio. I had a plan, it was a good plan too. Well thought out. Jaython was supposed to infiltrate that pathetic little ‘Council’ and shut it down. Instead, how is it that he now refuses to drink from the source, thinks it’s alright to associate with lower borns, and bows down to you?” She curled her lip. A gesture that Storm used to do when she was a teenager and didn’t get her own way.
I huff. “Look, I’m really in no mood for this. So get to the point would you? I don’t know any ‘Jaython’ as you mentioned.” I was already scanning the room. Looking for anything I could use to escape or subdue. So far…nothing.
And then all at once, she blurred forward, I throw my arm out to knock her back. But she’s already behind me.
She breathes heavily in my ear making me cringe. Then I feel the tingle of silver being pressed into my back. A silver knife. Yet how could she be wielding it so casually?
“My name is Lelani, Mate of Noah. And you Quinn Savio, destroyed my brother the moment you addressed him as ‘Jason.’”
All at once everything slowed as what she implied sunk in. That is why her features looked familiar. I’d been looking at them for centuries now. But…how? Jace told me he was a child of seven when the council bought him from his parents. That was only a few centuries before my own time. None of it added up.
“You lie!” I grit my teeth as I lean back, bringing the knife deeper into me, but also knocking her back to the floor. In a single moment I had her pinned, knife to her throat. “Now…tell me everything.”
“Rosie!” Hayden’s scream was almost ear shattering. He, himself was visibly shaking and it was taking all of my strength to hold him back as he glared at the vampire who had a arm around her delicate throat. How it had come to this so quickly I couldn’t comprehend.
We had cleared a small gathering of vampires who appeared to be in a dining room of sorts, when the doors slammed closed and the lights went off. Hayden leapt forward and pinned a vampire…clawing his throat out, while Rose chanted a spell which filled the room with light.
She was preoccupied. So Hayden and I had to fend off any other attackers. They crawled out of everywhere. Walls were torn down, some burst from the floor. And then she screamed.
We both turned to see the scene before us.
“I never in a million years thought someone would be so stupid to attack us with these numbers,” The blue haired vampire smirked and actually licked Rose’s throat. Laughing at the reaction it got out of Hayden. “You know it really disgusts me how low our species has become. Breeding with humans now? That makes me mad.”
I cock my head to the side as I step in front of Hayden. There was something….familiar about this woman. The lines of her face, the almost almond like shape of her eyes. “…Have we met before?”
The look of disgust on her face said it all. “The only humans I associate with, no longer breathe,” She paused. “And yet you’re not quite human. What are you?”
I look over at Rose, her eyes filled with terror. And yet the expression on her face was defiant. Typical stubborn Rose. When I first became corporal, she was one of the first to openly accept me. She taught me how to blend in with other kids our age, she talked to me about Opal, and my confusing feelings for her. Despite how she appeared on the outside, she was such a caring soul who didn’t deserve to be brought into this at all.
“Let her go, and I’ll willingly come with you and explain.” I said darkly. An image of Opal flashed in my mind. Seeing the heartbreak on her face when I didn’t return. But I couldn’t just like one of our friends die like this.
“Daniel, no!” Rose screamed, causing the vampire to roll her eyes and curl her hand into a fist, bringing it to the back of Rose’s head. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she collapsed. Hayden roared.
“She got annoying pretty quickly…but you. It’s not often that I’m complexed about something, I acc-“ But before I could even react, Hayden surged forward, fangs ready, hands resembling claws than anything else. He dug his nails into her neck, so deep it protruded from the other side. I thought the vampire dead.
Hayden turned to me. “What the hell man? Are you trying to hurt Opal? And what about your kid? No child deserves to grow up without a father you kno-“
Hayden never got to finish scolding me. Because with one elegant yet quick movement of her hands…she twisted his neck. I felt sick.
She merely wiped the blood off her hands as his body slumped to the floor. Inches away from Rose. Her eyes quickly flashed back to me.
“Did you children really think that would be enough to harm one of us? My name is Elizabeth. You’d be best to remember it.”
I was literally looking death in the eyes. That much I knew.
But if I didn’t at least try to fight…what kind of friend would I be? What would be the point of me discovering all of these emotions if I didn’t use them?
Goodbye Opal, my one and only love.
“That’s enough Lizzie. I’m letting them go.”
I turn to see two vampires approach. One I’m familiar with. The other has an aura so strong, I can all but feel it. And every instinct tells me to run.
“Young Alyssa here has agreed to come back to us. As long as I let Jaython and the rest of them leave. I see no reason to decline such a fair offer.”
Alyssa had her head down, her eyes lacked the emotion that I had seen in them only hours before. Before the mission she had asked me to fill her in on everything Opal and I had been through. She’d listened intently. She’d thanked me repeatedly for sticking with her…and told me I was one hell of a catch.She wanted nothing more than to reconcile with her daughter.
So why…
“That’s no fair Noah! I was just having fun!” Elizabeth stamped her feet acting eerily like some of the children I had been assigned to over the years. Someone clearly wasn’t right in the head. None of these people were.
He narrowed his eyes at his sister and gestured for her to follow. She argued but reluctantly followed after more brief hesitation. My gaze went quickly to Rose, who was starting to stir. Slowly I walked over to her, while keeping my gaze on the vampires. Noah grinned wildly before nodding to me and leaving.
If only I was stronger…I’d kill him. I’d kill him and make him feel twice of what he has put this family through.
“Daniel?” Rose asked reaching out to me, her fist gripped the material of my trousers tightly. Almost as if she could already sense what had happened.
“I’m here.” I say gently, wishing with everything in me that I didn’t need to do this. Why should Rose of all people have to lose the person she loved?
Why should Hayden, the boy that overcame so much and still has a good soul die protecting those he loved? Protecting my child…he let his guard down. Because of me.
“Where is?-“ She started, but eerily she turned and saw Hayden’s lifeless body. All at once I saw the light fade from her eyes. The tears that fell instantly down her cheeks. I felt as broken as she looked.
I couldn’t bare to see her mourn the love of her life. I didn’t feel worthy to stand there with her. And yet I couldn’t leave her alone to grieve either. They both deserved more than that. So I stood to the side, fists clenched as I tried to force the tears to stay hidden.
I’m sorry Hayden. You would have been a better husband and father than me, any day.
This was the moment that Stefan had been waiting almost his entire life for. And I was here with him for it…no matter how painful and emotional it was going to be…I was glad about that. I didn’t want him to face this alone.
Quinn had caught up with us. Told us that we were falling back…told us of the causalities we had taken. One was considered a ‘prisoner of war’ the other…Hayden…
I couldn’t afford to think about that…we followed the instructions given to us…we soon found his cell.
As I looked over at the vampire, I could see that Stefan did indeed inherit a lot from his father. Even though there were clear differences. That and the state that Jace was in..
“Christ…he’s comatose. They must have starved him for years..” Stefan said quietly. Strangely reminding me of a little boy, and not a confident warrior as he so often did. But then given the situation…who could blame him?
I slip a hand into his, if possible channelling him the strength that he would need to do this. “I can give you a moment if you want this to be personal?” I offered lightly, smiling to let him know that I understand.
Immediately he shakes his head. “No, no I want you to be here. I hope you’ll be family one day,” He added almost shyly. “Besides…I want you to see all sides of me. Tough and vulnerable.” Slowly he stepped forward, remaining low, probably because he didn’t know what state his father was in.
“Hey….Dad. Bet I’ve changed a lot since you saw me last huh? I remember…when the vampires came I ran away and hid under my bed…I just left you and Mum there. I’ve always hated myself for that,” He pauses to take a deep breath, slowly reaching up to unlock one of the cuffs. “So I trained hard. As soon as Grandpa would let me, I started learning everything I’d need to rescue you. To do what you two do. I…I’m so proud to be your son. Quinn’s grandfather. I hope I’ve made you proud.” He unlocks the other lock, and Jace falls to his knees, still unresponsive.
I rush forward and help Stefan to lower Jace to the floor for a moment. Stefan remains right next to him. “I never knew you felt like that.” I said slowly, “You know…about you feeling ashamed. Don’t. You were a child.”
“But still-“
“If your dad heard you say that…he’d slap you silly.” I reply confidently.
Stefan tutted. “Gosh, it’s like I’ve fallen for my mother…God that was an image I didn’t want.” He actually laughed bitterly and then caught himself. “I’m glad you’re home.” He said quietly.
He looked over his shoulder at me and then smirked. “You’ll be fine after some rest and some blood. Than I can fill you in on this girl, she literally came into my life out of nowhere. Washed up on a beach would you believe! I think I win the contest of ‘strangest’ ways to meet, don’t you think? I really hope you like her.”
Hearing him talk about me like that to anyone always made me blush…but to someone as important as his father? I was practically soaring.
Well I would have been. If we hadn’t have lost Alyssa and Hayden.
The mission was only to last a few hours, but travelling there and back would boost the total duration of it several days. Those days damn near killed me. Every while I would feel a twinge of pain and think that it was an emotional bond telling me that Daniel had died. I know I was thinking the worst…but after what Formetia said..
Brimstone kept me company while Danni was busy filling everyone else in on what we had found out. Considering her time on the council was over now, she was still extremely dedicated. I sigh as Brim dances on my shoulder.
“God I miss him so much Brim….I sound like those girls that I used to despite in school.” I sighed to myself, wondering how my personality could have changed so much in the last few years.
“You still talk to yourself? Wow that’s lame Opal..” I gruff voice says from behind me. My feet move on their own, forcing me to stand as I throw myself into his arms.
Daniel is alive! He made it home!
The kiss lasted longer than any other before it. I wanted to hold onto that moment forever. Because I could tell in his eyes things hadn’t gone exactly to plan. I knew I didn’t want to hear whatever followed. But I had to.
I cried when I heard the news. Not about my mother once again being held captive, although it bothered me how much it bothered me…no, I cried for Hayden. The boy who had always brightened things in this place. A boy who deserved a hell of a lot more than he deserved.
I cried with Edward, who had lost his best friend, I cried for Daniel, who told me he would forever blame himself for his death. But mostly I cried for Rose. Because no one should lose the other half of her heart as she did.
We all promised to be there for each other. Sky was so excited to tell me how her first meeting with Stefan’s parents went…and as expected, they both adored her.
Time passed for us all…
Daniel stayed with me almost every moment since the mission. I didn’t complain. I told him everything that Formetia said…and I was honest with him when I said that I didn’t think she was all evil. And I truly believed that she did care for all of the members of the Shadows. I was even more surprised when he said he would like to try and reconcile with her. Slowly. One day.
Rose moved in with us. We all stayed in Quinn’s training house for now, but we planned to move out in the future. We offered for her to stay with us, we all but insisted once she found out she was pregnant. It was awful. She was facing the exact fear that I had.
She was pregnant going into that mission and she wasn’t asked to stay on the sidelines as I was. It wasn’t fair on her. But she insists she still would have gone. I don’t like to argue about it, as it always makes that haunted look in her eyes return.
Fern went out to find other members of her tribe, Edward was accepted in maintaining security for the Council, so moved to their base. Sky lives with Stefan now, and she is secretly planning for their wedding already. Astrid has found another guy back home. One that she feels loves her for her and not her popularity. It seemed everything was falling into place.
And when Calen Hayden Tale was born and brought into our lives, I truly believed that everything was perfect.
I’d defeated my curse. What Daniel and I had wasn’t lust. It was love.