“Paz had just returned home from his first feeding venture. I remember it so well. His young face was flushed with excitement and his dark purple hair was more disheveled than usual as he all but bounded into my personal study.
‘Enjoy your first meal did you?’ I asked with a smile. It is always pleasant to see that one’s child is happy and refreshed after a meal.
He laughed and replied, ‘I more than enjoyed my meal! You never told me how fascinating humans are!’
I went back to my reading without further comment. There was no reason to continue this discussion. I knew my son would get over his fondness for humans after feeding a few more times. It’s not uncommon for our young to become enamored with humans after their first feeding. They grow out of it, but we certainly do not encourage the feeling. Discouraging the feeling is also a bad idea since this also usually the time of their rebellious phase.
‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ he asked in his irritated tone.
‘There’s nothing to say,’ I responded without looking up.
‘You don’t want to know why I find them so interesting?’ he asked me.
I looked up at him and replied, ‘Aishuw, I know you well enough to know that you probably are intrigued by their technology, despite the fact that it is a subpar version of our own technology.’
He glared at me and responded, ‘It is nothing like anything that we have. They rely on the nature of their realm to provide them with what they need. We create; they manipulate. I want to learn more about them. The girl that I fed off of had so much to talk about…’
‘Most of their women do. Perhaps next time I will send you to a country where the women are more subdued.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘So that you can learn about their different cultures,’ I lied. I didn’t need to tell him that I thought that a more subdued woman would excite him a lot less.
‘That actually sounds like a good idea,’ he replied cheerfully as I went back to my reading. ‘I’ll probably feed again in a week or so.’
‘That’s fine with me.’
With that, he walked out of the room still in high spirits. I thought that would be the end of it. I had gone through the same thing when I was his age, and I had basically grown out of it. Granted I would occasionally take a human newspaper back home with me and peruse it at my leisure; I was particularly fond of keeping up with the events in what humans call the Middle East. Even so, I was no longer obsessed with humans and their varying cultures. I couldn’t be and still be the family’s head.
It was only twenty years later when I realized that my son might actually have a problem. We had decided to spend some time together bonding, if you will. So, we went into the human realm together. My son spent the entire time explaining all of the different aspects of human life and the culture that we were dealing with. When I suggested that we each find some food, he went into a lecture about what humans eat. I didn’t know what to do, so when we returned home I informed him that he was no longer allowed to feed on humans.
I knew that he would not take this well and that he would most likely not follow my instructions, but I hoped that it would cause him to at least calm down about humans a little bit. I hoped that he would realize that our traditions would not allow for such obsession. I hoped that he would at least try to hide his obsession as my own brother was looking for a way to dethrone me from my position. He would take advantage of my child’s obsession, and I could not have that. He did not take it well, but he did agree that he would stop going to the human realm, which he did, much to my surprise.
The next incident did not happen until another thirty-five years later. Paz and I were discussing traditions. I had every intention of bringing him up for the position of head of the family, and we were discussing all of the things that he would know.
‘Ooramin,’ he said as he looked up from the family history, ‘I don’t want to disappoint you.’
‘This is not the right path for you, is it?’ I asked as I looked into his bored eyes.
‘No, and I honestly don’t understand how you can do it. I’ve seen some of the newspapers that you have hidden throughout this study. You hide them like a teenage human boy hides porno magazines from his parents.’
‘It disturbs me that you would make that comparison,’ I responded.
‘Shouldn’t you be more disturbed that you understood that comparison?’ he retorted.
‘What are you driving at, Paz?’ I asked in exasperation.
‘I just want you to admit that you are just like me, ooramin. I want you to admit that you do not want to hold onto these ridiculous traditions. It’s time that our people take a step out of the past. What have these traditions really done for us?’
I sighed and shook my head. ‘Paz, you know that I cannot agree with you. It is my job to promote and protect our people’s and our family’s traditions. I am sure Kim will be able to take over for me if this is not the path that you want, but I need you to keep these thoughts to yourself.’
‘How can you say that?!’
‘I have to, Paz. I have to think about our family. You know that. I have to think about what is best for everyone. That means putting my wishes and desires on hold. You’re going to have to do that, too.’
‘Why does our sreiloon have to be in power?! If we could just let go of the power…’
‘Gerell would have us all disowned the minute he became the Yyystiiril.’
‘Would that really be so bad?’
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before saying, ‘Pazorelli Henry Esteferri, I never want to hear you say that again. Being disowned from the family is the worst thing that could ever happen to an Incubus. You should know that. If you do not want to be the Yyystiiril that is fine, but you will not hurt our family.’
He turned from me and said, ‘I thought that you, of all people, would understand what I want… I don’t want to hurt our family. I want to help our family to move forward and be a beacon for all of the other families. A war is brewing between the realms. There are whispers that someone is trying to free Pnexxus…’
My eyes flashed. I had tried to protect my children from that knowledge. ‘They’ll never succeed. There are too many security measures put into place. Fourteen seals, Paz, and no one being knows all of the names of all of the beings who handle these seals.’
‘Nothing is impossible only improbable,’ he responded coolly.
‘That’s enough, Paz. I will hear no more of this from you, and I forbid you to speak of this to anyone else.’
‘Why would I?!’ he asked angrily as he stormed out of the room.
A mere five years later we had our final fight, and he ran away from home. After that, I had no course of action available but to disown him. Even so, I did keep in touch with him… Secretly, of course. The rest of the family was forbidden to see him, speak to him, or even speak of him, so any contact I had with him had to be in complete secret. In fact, we were pen pals, of a sort, for many years. I used a pen name, of course, but I know he knew that it was me.
The last time that I actually saw him was in 1925. I had made the journey to the human realm after Kim became the Yyystiiril. I had no problem finding my son in your country where he was drinking coffee at a café and reading a newspaper intently. He had bleached his hair to fit in, but I knew him instantly. He was surprised to see me, but he did not seem displeased. I find comfort in thinking that he missed me as much as I missed him. Despite our many arguments, we had always been close. As I said, we were actually very much alike, and I felt he understood why I did what I did… even though he might not have approved.
“I understand that my sister is now the Yyystiiril,” he said casually as I pulled up a seat and ordered a coffee from the young waitress who walked over.
I nodded and said, “Yes, as I suspected she would.”
“She must be pleased.”
“She would be more pleased if you had been there to congratulate her,” I responded.
“If I had been there, there would have been nothing but trouble for her,” he retorted dryly.
“I know. I am sorry; I am not here to cause trouble for you.”
“I know, but now is not a good time for anyone…”
I looked him quizzically and asked, “What do you mean?”
“The first seal has been released…”
We sat in silence for a moment as the young woman brought my coffee. We did not speak again until she had walked away. As soon as she was out of hearing range, I leaned in and asked, “What the hell do you mean?!”
He looked down at his paper and replied, “I didn’t want to believe it, but now I am quite sure that it is true…”
“How?”
“From what I am led to understand, Marcus was one of the seal holders. He joined their side and released his seal.”
“Leave it to Marcus to abandon his brethren,” I responded. “I never have been able to trust that son of a bitch, not after meeting Vara and Aerix.”
“They don’t know the half of it,” he replied coolly.
“Just because the seal has been released does not mean that the seal will be broken. The Sisters’ developed a contingency plan for that after all. A human has to be the one to break the seal, and what are the chances of that with June and her team working to prevent it?” I asked with a comforting smile. “You’re worrying over nothing.”
“No… June has made the decision that we are to allow the humans to handle it.”
“What? Why would she-?”
He pushed the paper over to me to show me a picture of a human man. “His name is Hitler… Adolf Hitler. He has taken power in Germany and is possessed by the seal.”
“Which seal?”
“Wrath.”
“What has he done?”
“Nothing good and things will get much worse before they get even a little bit better. The Oracle has predicted that millions will die because of this man; it has also been determined that outside interference will only make matters worse. June had to make a difficult call, but she did. We have all been ordered to not intervene in any way in the humans eliminating this man although…”
“Wrath has been freed before as I recall…”
“Yes.”
“It possessed a man named Grigori Rasputin, did it not?”
“Yes.”
“But the humans were unable to kill him until…”
“Until Wrath was recaptured. Yes.”
“Then that means…”
“Only the human being possessed by Wrath can break the seal.”
“Then, he’d have to commit suicide.”
“And June has no doubt that he will do so.”
“Why would he?”
He shook his head and responded, “He’ll have no choice. She has some influences in the military of many countries, and she intends to use that influence to put pressure on him. She has looked into his mental state… He won’t want to be taken alive… Unfortunately…”
“Even with her influence, the other countries will not be willing to intervene until it is already too late for many people.”
“Yes.”
“So, the lot of you are just hunkering down and waiting for what is to come?”
He sighed and replied, “Unfortunately.”
I sipped my coffee, which by now was rather cold, and said, “You should come back to the Everto Realm for a while. There isn’t much you will be able to do, after all. And there is nice little house not too far from ours that has opened up. You could at least see the rest of your family.”
“That sounds pretty good, Ooramin, but I want to stay here and see what I can do to help. There’s a depression looming on top of this inevitable war, but I will purchase that house. I’ll need somewhere to go when this is all done with…”
“Good. Kim will be happy even if she cannot speak to you.”
“I hope she is not too angry with me,” he replied as he accepted the check from the waitress and paid her for both of us.
The world around us was gray as we left the cafe; the taste of despair lingered in the air. There was no doubt in my mind that Paz was right about the oncoming depression. It was only a matter of time.
“She could never be angry with you,” I replied. “Take care of yourself, Krinslun.”
“I will,” he responded, and we parted ways for the last time.
I kept up with the events of the human realm and was not surprised when everything panned out just the way that the Oracle had predicted. Paz did buy the house, but he was rarely there. Even when he was there he was locked up, working on something. We continued our correspondence through letters under pen names. He told me about your mother, and I knew that he was falling in love with her before he even did.
jueln 