'Happy birthday Ever and Urban,' their family called out as they entered the living room, there stood her mother Ashlyn, a golden beauty, a female version of her brother and beside her stood their father Maddox, that dark haired, violet eyed warrior winding his arm around the former of their parents. They were the most beautiful and odd wedded couple she had ever seen, but then again what had she got to go on? All the couples, married or not, that she knew were half demon possessed as it was, that or they were different types of immortal women. She wouldn't want it any other way; her crazy demon possessed family were the best she'd ever had.
'Here open my present first Ever,' Aunt Anya said as she drunkenly stumbled forward, the scent of Ambrosia on her breath as she threw her arm around Ever's neck and hugged her, more like strangled her! Drunk already?! Well this was Anarchy; never give her a reason to drink!
'Sure thing,' she said as she took the thin rectangular box from the goddess. Nobody messed with Anarchy! Ever wasn't scared but she was wiser than most; she knew that she did not yet have the strength, if not the years to win a battle against the goddess and would surely fare worse. She was merely half demon, she would never begin a fight with a goddess she wasn't sure she could win against.
And when she tore off the wrapper she saw that Anya had bought her yet again another inappropriate birthday gift. Well at least this year she was old enough to accept it, and even wear it if she really wanted to. As she picked up the ice blue halter neck and matching skirt that was identical to her Aunt's she didn't have to force the smile that came. She truly did love this colour, had envied Anya for her outfit. And it turned out the goddess had bought her one. She probably did it to anger her parents, for Ashlyn and Maddox would never even think about their daughter having a boyfriend let alone wearing something so skimpy, but she cared not she loved it.
'Thank you so much Anya!' She gushed, putting it back into the box, making a mental note to wear it later, not just to piss her parents off but it was a start. She turned to look at her brother and saw that their Aunt had bought him something equally inappropriate, except it was more masculine obviously. Anarchy was cruel but not that much, nobody was that cruel as to put the most masculine eighteen year old half demon man in a halter neck and skirt. And what a shame that was Ever mused and looked at Anya knowing the goddess thought the same.
'Next is my present!' Her fey Aunt Josephina exclaimed and waddled forwards, her bump getting almost too big for her to carry. She was carrying their Uncle Kane's child and even William, the expert on demonic children, could not tell them anything about the pregnancy. It was really quite odd because he remained more silent than usual whenever she walked into the room. But then again everything seemed to fall to pieces whenever the pregnant wife of Disaster walked into the room. Even Ever could tell that the demonic child or children had inherited their father's demon's power, that or the demon now lay waste in her.
'Tink what have I told you about moving too quickly and getting too excited. I hope you didn't buy Ever anything fragile!' Kane exclaimed and Ever smiled, he'd overcome many hurdles and odds to have the woman he'd wanted more than anything else. Why couldn't Ever have someone like that? Maybe because the only males she knew were angel warriors, or her cousins. For the most part Ever wasn't bothered about men or having children, she was only eighteen, she had time for all of that when she'd reached immortality and had become as strong as she could. It was Ever's dream to surpass White, the strongest woman that she knew. Well the strongest demon woman she knew, after all White was one of the four that would herald the apocalypse, the only woman who would help herald the apocalypse, she had to be strong.
When Ever opened the box her Aunty Josie offered her she found something quite the opposite of what she'd been given from Anarchy. At her first glance she could not tell what it was and looked up at the pregnant woman confused before she realised what exactly it was. And she didn't think these things could be taken from the person who had them.
Aunt Josephina had given Ever a glove, a glove which had a lot of power into it. This was Josephina's power, or at least one of them, the woman had given her youngest niece the power to take a being's strength just by touching them.
'Why?' She wanted to cry, but she spoke the word normally.
'I have no need for that anymore, it only hindered me, I have a child on the way and I would not wish to drain the little strength that he or she might have. I give you this gift as you are my beloved niece and I want you protected from the evils of the world,' Josephina said as she rubbed her swollen bump lovingly. Above the happy couple a light bulb shattered. As Ever gasped Kane brushed the shards off of him and his wife, and she realised that he was used to it.
'But I will never visit the world, mother and father say it is full of evil human beings that want to eradicated the Lord line, or hold us all ransom until we give them what they want, and what that is I do not know,' she mused and Josephina shared an apologetic look at Ever's parents. 'But thank you for your gift anyway Auntie,' Ever was quick to add. She knew that it was excruciating for a fey to give up their powers willingly.
After all of her aunts and uncles had gifted her with what they had thought appropriate for her, clothes (Anya), powers (Josephina), make-up (not hard to guess), a great sword with a pearl in the centre (white) and many other gifts her parents turned to her and handed her a present that looked as though it might contain a scroll. Ever loved old scrolls, as many of them contained spells that a demon like her could use. Others contained stories of the Greeks and the Titans, such brutal war stories that they made Ever cry and sigh with longing. She wished she could be there too.
'Thank you,' Ever said as she accepted the gift, not noting the weary looks on her parents faces. For this was no scroll and it was no trifling story of heavenly battles (Sienna's was the best, Aunt Sienna was Uncle Paris's wife).
Whilst she uncurled the paper she heard every being in the room hold their breath, lucky things they could hold it for as long as they wanted, an immortal could not die from loss of oxygen. When she saw what was on the paper she herself almost held her own breath.
'What is this, why are you giving me this?' she demanded of her mother and father, wondering why she and not Urban would be gifted with something as precious as this. This was her family legacy, their beginning. 'Are you all sure about this?' she asked of her aunts and uncles.
'As sure as we'll ever be,' the agreed as one.
'But…why?' She questioned of them and they all met her with serious stares.
'It needs to be protected.'
