Family
After Mo put on the kimono, they went to the theater where Sophie would be performing later that night. They had no other place to go. Mo was feeling awkward in his new attire but no one else seemed to notice. Elanora had found him a new sheath out of nowhere and as she handed it to him, he suddenly recalled when she had suddenly found him a sword that afternoon when he had fought Laughing Octopus.
"Wait a minute, where did you get this? And where did you get the sword in the first place?" He asked her.
"Comes with the demi-god status," was all Elanora said.
"You keep saying that..." murmured Mo.
Sophie had been sitting in a chair on the stage talking with Travis when she noticed the large, odd-looking group enter. It would have been hard not to notice. The theater was empty since the performance wasn't to begin for several more hours and the girl actually seemed grateful that they were there. She excused herself from Travis and came down the stage and over to them as they approached.
"I'm so glad you're here. Those two have been complaining nonstop about how this theater is too dusty and how it's not sufficient enough to host me. They even tried to get me to let them find a more "suitable" place for me to sing. Please, just get them out of here."
Mo was puzzled. "What are you talking about? Who.."
Mo trailed off when he heard voices coming from the back of the theater.
"Honestly, that restroom was atrocious. Simply abominable! You know, I've probably contracted a virus. This place should be shut down immediately!"
A woman's high-pitched whining voice echoed and grew louder as she entered the theater from the back. She wore expensive looking clothes and the man with her wore an extremely fancy black dress suit. The woman walked with her nose upturned in a snotty manner.
Elanora shifted in place. "Sorry Mo, I called them and they wouldn't even hear what I had to say. As soon as I mentioned your name they insisted I tell them where you were..."
Capricorn did not see who these people were. "And they would be..?"
Mo sighed as the older man and woman reached them. "I don't know these people," he muttered.
Unfortunately the man and woman were within earshot and the woman seemed appalled at Mo's words.
"Don't know us?!" The woman screeched at Mo. "Honestly Mortimer, the least you can do is acknowledge your parents!"
This drew a smile to Capricorn's face and his henchmen chuckled. Dustfinger himself even smiled slightly and Elanora looked apologetically at him.
"Okay fine. Mom, relax."
"Relax!" His mother yelled, pointing a finger at his chest and poking him hard again and again.
"Mortimer Folchart don't you tell me to relax!"
Mo's face was turning beet red in his embarrassment as his mother raged on with everyone witnessing it.
"How long has it been, hm? How long has it been since you bothered to come see your father and I?"
"Um..I don't-"
His mother interrupted. "Eleven years! Eleven! Are you that ashamed of us Mortimer? Do you loath us so much?"
Then for the first time she seemed to notice his new outfit, the kimono. Her nose wrinkled up in disgust.
"And what is that you're wearing? How distasteful. Really, are you so poor you must dress like that? I've offered again and again for you to take some of our money. We have more than enough, but no, you're too proud aren't you! Stubborn child."
"Mom you're overreacting just-"
Once again she cut him off. "Where's that wife of yours? And your daughter?"
She looked around at them as if perhaps his family was hiding among them.
"I cannot believe I haven't seen my grandchild since she was a baby! Now she's all grown up and I've missed it all. How dare you rob me of that Mortimer. I never had a chance to get to know her, to see her grow up."
"Oh Emily, shut up," the man with her finally spoke up.
The woman seemed shocked by what he had said. Her mouth opened and closed as she stared at her husband in disbelief. The man ignored her floundering state of being and looked at his son.
"Answer boy, who are these..associates of yours?" Mo's father asked him.
His father looked suspiciously at the group of men that were with Mo and then at Elanora and Sophie.
Mo ignored the question and instead asked his own. "Why are you here, dad?"
It was his father's turn to ignore his son. "Resa left you didn't she. I always told you that woman was no good for you. Marrying beneath yourself..are you trying to give your mother a heart attack, Mortimer?"
Mo looked like he was ready to explode at his parents and so Elanora quickly interceded.
"Mr. And Mrs. Folchart, I was the one who called you."
Mo's parents turned their eyes on her and instantly disapproval shone in their eyes.
"And just who are you, young lady?" Mo's dad questioned.
Mo's mom, Emily, questioned. "Is she your new girlfriend Mortimer? Like them even younger now?"
"Mom, no! She's 17!"
"Well I don't presume to know what you like anymore. You've already made it quite clear that you don't want us in your life."
"I can tell..your parents are keeping something from you."
All eyes went to the speaker of these words, Sophie.
That included Mo too. "What are you talking about?"
Elanora looked sharply at Sophie. "What makes you think you know something?"
Sophie narrowed her eyes at the girl. "What makes you think I don't?"
Elanora shrugged. "Well don't presume things. You'll only start more trouble."
Sophie gave her a slight smile. "I don't presume things. I have dreams and they are always true. What's the matter, Elanora? Are you afraid I'm going to tell Mo about your secret?"
Elanora and Sophie stared at each other. Mo stared from one to the other looking extremely confused.
"Okay, what's going on here? What do you know Sophie?"
"I'll tell him." Elanora informed Sophie reluctantly. "Mo..I wasn't completely honest with you before. Lynne and I both weren't."
Emily was frowning big time now. "Lynne? The Lynne you used to date, Mortimer? She was quite a lovely girl. I liked her."
Mo barely spared her a glance before returning his gaze to Elanora.
"You see..I'm not your only daughter besides Meggie."
Mo's parents looked shocked. "What is she talking about Mortimer?"
"I'll explain later," was all Mo said to them.
Emily started to snap back at him but her husband placed a hand on her arm and shook his head, signaling for her to be quiet.
"I have a twin sister, Elle. But I didn't tell you about her..because well, she's..let me put it this way. Compared to my sister, Capricorn is practically a lovable puppy."
Mo stared at her, clearly not understanding, so Elanora went on.
"One time..when we were both four..she killed our neighbor. She didn't like him because he had dogs that barked. I saw her do it. Elle walked over to the neighbor's front yard and snapped each of those dogs' necks as if they were mere twigs. Our neighbor came home and found the dogs dead. He knew Elle had done it because she was just standing there on the sidewalk staring at him as he discovered his dead pets with the most satisfied smile on her face. He started shouting at her, telling her that he was going to get the cops. He got in his truck and my sister lifted her hand and flipped his car three times."
"A four-year-old child flipped a car?" Mo asked.
Elanora nodded. "Part of her inherited gift as a demi-god..she has the ability to move the energy in the air around her. She can even fly."
Dustfinger seemed intrigued by all of this. "So do you have those powers?"
Elanora shook her head. "I can't fly but I can create force fields and heal others. We both are extremely skilled with bladed weapons and we can heal our own wounds quickly. Though, Elle can probably heal faster since she rarely uses her healing powers..but I can't be sure. We haven't seen each other for awhile. Anyways, I didn't want to mention her because I'm not positive that she's working with Baralei."
"I have a daughter..that is evil..and is working for the man we're trying to prevent from destroying the world?"
"I'm still not sure on that. I can't imagine Elle wanting to work for someone..but I suppose if this man has a plan that she likes well enough..it's possible."
Mo shook his head. "This is too much."
Sophie piped in. "Then maybe we shouldn't mention what your parents are keeping from you..."
Elanora looked like she wanted to smack the other girl upside the head for bringing the subject up again while Mo's parents were looking at each other worriedly. Clearly they had never wanted to tell whatever it was that they were keeping from him.
"I can't." Mo's mother said, placing a hand to her mouth as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
She rushed past Mo and the others and left the theater. Mo's dad started for the exit as well but before he went far, he paused and turned back to Mo.
"I'm sorry we never told you..Mortimer. You were adopted."
"What? You're not my real parents? I mean, my biological ones anyway?" Mo looked absolutely stunned and horrified.
His dad shook his head. "Your name is real, when we went to the agency, they informed us that your family had been killed when you were just a child and that your body hadn't been found so they had assumed you were dead like the rest. You were fourteen and you couldn't remember a thing about what had happened to you in all that time. We were grateful you couldn't remember, so we decided not to tell you. I'm sorry Mortimer."
Without another word, Mo's father turned and left the theater, leaving Mo in his shock and misery.
Sophie went onto the stage and nodded to Travis who was seated in a booth, ready to start the music on her command. Mo and the others stood a few yards away from the stage discussing the Baralei problem.
"There has to be some way to find him." Elanora figured out loud. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. If we find my mom, we find Baralei."
Mo agreed. "Yeah, but how are we supposed to find her?"
Capricorn found the answer to be simple. "We find what he cares about most and take it. He'll come to us."
Mo frowned at the other. "Is that your solution for everything?"
"It worked with you, didn't it?" He retorted.
Elanora ignored the brief moment of tension between the two men. "Capricorn's right. But I don't know what it is that he cares about..."
Elanora seemed to be thinking it over when Sophie starting to practice for her performance. The music started, echoing throughout the theater and all eyes turned to watch her. The music started to play and her eyes were closed as she listened and let the sound surround her. But that was not what now drew in their attention. Behind her the curtain was disappearing. Travis and the sound booth disappeared and it was only Sophie, standing in what now was darkness. Mo and the others stared, looking around in shock.
Cockerell was staring at Mortimer however. "Silvertongue, what's happening to you?"
Mo looked down at himself. White beams of light were flowing out of him, floating towards the stage. Mo lifted his hands, wonder filling his gaze as more light came out of him. The beams of light mingled on the stage and then before their eyes they began to take form.
There was a farmhouse of some kind and then the image switched to inside the home to a bedroom. An image of Mo himself formed, before it shrank and in Mo's place was a young boy no older than six with his identical brown hair and deep blue eyes. Clearly this boy was Mo when he was a child. The boy crawled into the bed and a woman who couldn't have been much older than 30, sat in a chair beside the bed. It was his mother, she was reading him a story and the boy that was Mo, sat listening with wonder.
Sophie began to sing and they could hear her voice but all eyes were now on the images that had replaced the stage.
"Turn around, and smell what you don't see. Close your eyes...it is so clear.."
A woman's scream followed a man's shout. The woman stopped reading and looked terrified as she glanced towards the doorway.
"Here's the mirror, behind there is a screen. On both ways you can get in."
"Come on!" The woman cried, grabbing the boy's hand and pulling him off the bed.
She dropped the book onto the bed and it toppled off, falling face down onto the floor. The book's title reflected in the moonlight from the window. Meiji Era was printed neatly in bold letters. The image faded from the book to the fields outside now. Mo's mother pulled him along as they ran through the grassy meadow, away from the house which was on fire behind them. Behind the two of them were other children and a few adults also running away from the house looking terrified.
"Don't think twice before you listen to your heart, Follow the trace, for a new start."
The sounds of men laughing. Three men wearing dark colored kimonos had caught up to an adult male and two of the children. One of them ran past while the other two attacked the defenseless group, slashing until the kids and man lay on the ground, dead. Then they continued on. Mo's mother glanced back and saw what had happened to some of them and ran faster. Mo was little and he stumbled over his legs.
"Come on, Mo. We have to move faster!" She looked so frightened.
"Mommy who's chasing us?"
The six-year-old Mo asked as his mother pulled him back to his feet and the two began running again.
"Bandits," was all she said as she pulled him along and Mo said nothing more as he was too scared to.
More screaming from behind. The laughing and shouts from the men were getting closer.
"What you need and everything you'll feel. Is just a question of the deal."
Mo and his mother reached the hill and stopped short. Just beyond the hill, a fire roared in their path, barring their escape. Another woman nearly caught up to where they stood but then one of the bandits made it to her and with a single slash, she fell. A middle-aged man who had been with the woman when she was struck down stopped in his tracks and punched the bandit. He'd caught the man off guard and the man dropped his sword. While the two fist fought, Mo walked over to the sword which lay forgotten on the ground and picked it up. Glaring at the bandit he gripped the sword tightly, pointing it at the man as if he were going to attack him.
"In the eye of storm you'll see a lonely dove."
Mo's mother saw what her child was going to do and grabbed him. Surprised, the sword slipped from his grasp and his mother threw them both to the ground, shielding him with her body.
"Don't look Mo!"
But Mo watched anyways. His eyes wide as he peered through her arms and watched as farther down the field his family was being slaughtered, his home burning. The bandit close to them found his sword and struck down the man who had tried to stop him. The man had been Mo's uncle.
"The experience of survival is the key, to the gravity of love."
The bandit turned his gaze on the woman kneeling on the ground and grabbed her by the hair. She cried out from the pain of being picked up by the hair. As she was pulled away, the terrified boy stared with big eyes. Grinning, the bandit plunged his sword through Mo's mother's neck. She gave a gasp and started to bring her hands up as if to grip the sword, but then he pulled it out and dropped her to the ground. Mo stared in horror and fright as he met his mother's gaze. She lay there, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Mo..you have to live..Mo-"
She whispered weakly to him and was cut off abruptly as the man plunged his sword into her back and through her heart. Mo's mother gave a startled gasp and then went limp, her eyes still partly open but no longer seeing. Then the bandit turned towards the boy but Mo's eyes were still on his mother.
"Mom? Mommy..?"
A shout of surprise from behind. The man whipped around to face the opposite direction of the little boy. His two fellow bandits were being assaulted by a man wearing a large brown coat, underneath the coat he wore a dark blue kimono. The stranger cut them both down with his own sword and then proceeded towards the remaining bandit.
"Who are you?!" The bandit demanded.
The stranger replied calmly. "I don't introduce myself to the dead."
Angrily the bandit charged the stranger and he was cut several times. Mo watched wide eyed as the man exploded into blood and gore as the stranger ripped him into several pieces with his attack. Then the stranger left Mo sitting there on the ground to continue staring at the bodies of his family that littered the field. The images disappeared.
"Try to think about it...That's the chance to live your life and discover. What it is, what's the gravity of love."
The images revolved into the sun setting, a day had passed. The stranger had returned to the farm and he was walking into the field when he stopped short, his eyes opened wider, startled by the sight before him. There were graves everywhere with makeshift crosses as grave markers in front of every one of them. Standing in the midst of them was the boy he had left there the other night. He approached and stood slightly behind the boy.
"You buried even the bandits. Why? They murdered your loved ones."
Without turning, the boy answered. "Everyone deserves to be put to rest when they die."
"My name is Seijiro. Come with me if you want to learn how to protect the ones you love," the stranger told him.
"Look around just people, can you hear their voice."
The boy slowly turned around to look at the stranger. Then the image faded and now the boy was several years older and training. He ran at the stranger, Seijiro, with a katana but Seijiro easily deflected the attack and knocked the young Mo down.
Seijiro spoke to him. "Die and be free of pain..or live and fight your sorrow."
Determinedly, Mo got back to his feet and charged again, Seijiro smiling proudly. Then the image of the slightly older boy transferred into Mo a few years older than before. He now looked to be a year or two older than his own daughter Meggie was.
"Find the one who'll guide you to the limits of your choice."
A man that wore the same clothes as the bandits who had murdered his family those years ago was walking down the road of a town at night. The road was pretty much deserted and the man had several other men with him, carrying swords as well. It seemed he had recruited other men to join him after he had left the book. The teenage Mo came running out of the darkness and attacked, cutting one of the men down immediately. The others attempted to defend the man from the book, the bandit, and Mo took them all out. He slaughtered them all, his sword soaked in blood and his expression was completely cold and emotionless.
"But if you're in the eye of storm, just think of the lonely dove."
Instances of this continued, where the teenage Mo appeared and slaughtered many different groups of men until a time where Mo was knocked into a wall, causing him to fall off the roof of a building he had been running across. Before the bandit could kill him, Seijiro came out of where he'd been hidden in the darkness of another building and took out the remaining bandit and his men. Then he was carrying the unconscious teenage Mo through the streets of a city. People stared, but no one dared come near. Seijiro entered the hospital and then the image faded altogether as Sophie finished the song.
"The experience of survival, is the key, to the gravity of love."
Sophie opened her eyes and looked at them. "What's wrong? What is it?"
Everyone was staring at Mo.
"I remember it now..all of it," he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.
Elanora stared hard at her father. "I'm sorry Mo. I had no idea."
Sophie looked completely lost. "Guys, what's going on?"