Half Innocent Half Evil
Part Seven, Happy Birthday
By Relm
As more and more time passed it was starting to be more apparent that Xellos wouldn't be showing his face. This was never a certainty when it came to Xellos as he was very unpredictable after all. However since the party Xellos had been showing his face more often so this recent absent stretch made those in the Ul Copt household believe it would be awhile before they would see Xellos again.
This was a bad idea but given what things were coming up they didn't have the time or the energy to waste on worrying about Xellos. No they had bigger things to get all worked up about, like the egg.
Owen had about a week and a half till he was due to start hatching. Given that Filia laid him early it wasn't a stretch to believe that Owen may hatch early too. So with the hatching looming over their heads everyone was busy getting things prepared for the new baby.
Since it hadn't been too long ago that Val was a little hatchling the house was already baby proofed. And they already had the crib set up and ready in Val's room too. It was more of the issues of clothing, diapers and other miscellaneous supplies they needed. There was also other matters to deal with. Like for instances, how was the baby's monster heritage going to factor into things? Would he still be able to eat mortal food or will he had to feed on emotions? Would he be in a humanoid form when he hatches or would he be in a dragon form? Did Filia need a transformation collar for Owen? So many things to consider that it had Filia all in a tizzy.
"What do you think he's gonna look like?" Jilas wondered as he, Gravos and Val were staring at the egg. Filia's two workers were supposed to be helping her clean but instead they had chosen to take a quick break and sit with Val and Owen.
"Probably he'll have blond hair like the boss." Gravos concluded.
"He's going to have dark or black hair." Filia interrupted as she madly cleaned around the house. She was annoyed that Gravos and Jilas were sitting around but she was too busy to get mad with them.
"How can yous be sure?" Jilas questioned his boss with a quizzical glance.
"The colour of the eggshell reflects the colour of the baby's hair and sometimes eyes as well. If the shell is red the hair will be red." Filia explained. "Since Owen's shell is dark his hair will probably be the same."
"The baby is half monster though, so that could change how things end up." Gravos was quick to point out.
"Yes, and it already has. Baby golden dragons never have dark hair. It's always warm golden colours." Filia corrected him.
"Owen moving!" Val exclaimed while pointing.
"Honey he's in an egg he can't move." Filia explained while ruffling Val's hair affectionately.
Val swatted his adoptive mother's hand away in irritation. He didn't like what he was saying being brushed off and dismissed. "Da egg is moving!" Val insisted angrily.
Gravos, Jilas and Filia looked at the egg very closely waiting for something to happen. Of course nothing did at first but after a good minute or two the egg wiggled.
"He's hatching ALREADY?" Filia screamed in full panic. "But the shop hasn't finished making the transformation collar yet! I don't have anything ready!" Filia went into hysterics zooming around the room.
"Boss pull it together!" Gravos grabbed Filia by the arms and gave her a quick shake. "Just tell us what you need and things will be fine!" He almost yelled at her as he tried to snap some sense into her.
"Um... we need blankets... towels... clean water... and wash cloths." Filia mumbled as she tried to gather her thoughts.
In a flash Gravos and Jilas were off to retrieve the needed items.
"Owen get borned soon!" Val exclaimed happily clapping his hands.
Val may have been excited but Filia was feeling faint.
...
Sitting in his dark room Obsan stared at his walls in boredom. For a monster general with no lord to serve and no aspirations to motivate him, Obsan spent his days like this a lot. He could have ruled the world if he wanted but he just didn't care. If it had not been for Sheol, Obsan would probably never would do anything.
Sure on occasion Obsan would cause mischief and terror but that was usually just to eat. Usually it was Sheol that got Obsan to leave his room. If not for anything but to figure out what the insane priest was up to today.
Having Sheol randomly burst into his room spurting nonsense wasn't a strange occurrence for Obsan. He often expected these random intrusions. And as it turned out this day wasn't going to be exception.
"It's coming! It's coming!" Sheol almost shrieked in excitement teleporting into Obsan's room and teleporting out.
With a slightly amused grin Obsan teleported to where Sheol had gone. The priest must have some news that would at the very least abate some of Obsan's boredom.
Obsan found Sheol looming over his viewing orb. Actually looming wasn't a proper word to describe what Sheol was doing. If anything you would say that Sheol appeared to be dancing around the orb. But with no music or apparent sense of rhythm even that was hard to believe. "What is it Sheol? What is coming?"
"The light! The beautiful dark light!" Bubbles of giggles erupted from the white monster priest.
Obsan frowned. In nature light wasn't a dark thing. Light was the opposite of dark and something couldn't be both things. "What are you talking about this time?"
"It's coming!" Sheol insisted shaking his head almost violently.
"What is coming?" Obsan almost growled at his kin.
"The dark light!"
"What is this damned dark light?"
"The creature... the creature whose dark light will set our master free!" Sheol's syncopated dancing seemed to speed up as he whirled around the orb in circles.
Obsan frowned but this time for a different reason. This was a time he had feared. "Where is it Sheol? Where is the creature?"
This line of questioning halted Sheol's dancing. He stop mid step frozen in place as though someone had casted a Stop spell on him. Sheol turned his head in a manner not at all unlike a puppet struggling to move its head and he stared at Obsan. His kin's questions had taken the air out of Sheol's sails making him feel flat. "Not yet... I haven't found it yet..." He murmured unhappily.
"But it's going to be born soon?" Obsan prompted him.
This question perked Sheol back up and he giggled in response. "Yes yes! I can feel it! Today is its birthday!"
"If it is to be born why can't you find it? Doesn't it have a strong enough life force to detect?"
Again Sheol was deflated. "It is, but it's more than it should be... So large that it disperses into the air diluting its power. It knows how to hide well." He concluded.
"Knows how to hide? But it hasn't been born yet!" Obsan stomped his foot in frustration.
"Its dark light is special. Makes it no him special... And there are those protecting him too. Makes things hard for me..."
"What is it Sheol? What is this creature?"
"A special dark light! A creature not seen before!" Sheol answered cryptically.
"Sheol! I wished for once you'd answer my question properly instead of assaulting me with these damned riddles. What is it made off? Where did it come from? Who made it?"
"Alcohol and lust made him. And love keeps him safe." Sheol of course didn't bother to listen to Obsan's demands. But then again his 'riddles' were not riddles after all. To him it was proper and logical thought that went with what was in his brain. Sheol's brain wasn't something that Obsan was privy to and Sheol didn't understand that.
"Damn Sheol! Was he created by magic or alchemy? Is he a chimera or a summon?"
"No, no, no! You don't get it at all! He is not a thing! He is not a beast! He is born not created!"
"So he has a mother and a father then?"
"Yes, yes! A mother of golden light and a father of the darkest dark!" Sheol insisted.
"And what are his mother and father?"
"Good and evil." It was possibly one of the most direct answers that Sheol had managed but it didn't help Obsan's growing headache.
Obsan gave up. He wasn't going to get proper answers from Sheol anyway. He assumed his insane kin didn't even know the answer to the question anyway. "Let me know when you find him."
...
Though the hatching process had started early that didn't mean they were going to have a baby monster/golden dragon just yet. It could take hours maybe even days before the baby would finally be free of its shell.
Filia didn't expect that Owen would take days to hatch but she figured it would be at least be a few hours. But that did little to halt her uneasiness. Filia had been waiting for this day since she laid her egg and had even been excited about it. Her baby would hatch and she would be a mother all over again. It was a wonderful thing but at that moment Filia was terrified. She had no idea what was going to come out of that egg and though the baby was half monster she wasn't afraid of it. What she was afraid of was that with the baby being half monster it would make him need special attention that Filia may not be able to provide. Filia was afraid that the baby might not survive.
Often when two different races mixed to produce offspring the results could be unexpected. Sometimes the children could have the best of both races and be very powerful. Other times the mixture results in defects and the children do not survive.
Monsters were strange creatures that had multiple forms and lots of power. For those reasons alone you would assume they would have more things in common with dragons than any other creature. However that wasn't the case. Humans or elves had much more in common genetically with monsters than dragons. If a monster were to successfully mate with another race the offspring's best chance of survival would be the non monster parent was an elf.
Dragons were more like lesser dragons and lizards. If a golden dragon was to mate with another race it would probably be best if it were another dragon race like an ancient dragon. Mixing the blood of a cold blooded type creature with a warm blooded creature wasn't a good thing to do. There was a very good chance that Owen might not survive because of what he was.
These were things that Filia never let herself think about the whole time she carried him and cared for him after she laid him. She had other more present things she had been worrying about. But now it was all that she could think about.
What if the baby died after he hatched? Val was there right in the room with her as was Gravos and Jilas. If the baby were to die Val would be devastated. How would she explain to him that his baby brother whom he was so excited to meet was dead? How do you tell any three year old about death?
Filia was on the verge of a full blown panic attack that had her so crippled with fear that she couldn't move. It took all her self control not to start hyperventilating. Nervously her eyes darted around the room bouncing between the egg, Val and her two helpers. But none of there were aware of this. The looming possibility of death was the elephant in the room that only Filia could see.
"It's cracking!" Val announced pointing. He sat there on the floor so excited that he could barely contain himself. The young ancient dragon fidgeted on the floor not able to sit still.
Filia's eyes were now glued to the cracks Val and pointed out. As each second passed the egg moved more and more with more cracks forming. Bits of shell started to break off the egg as the baby was very close to being hatched.
The four members of the Ul Copt household got closer as they looked down into what was exposed in the shell. All they could see was black.
"What is it?" Val wondered looking up to his adoptive mother.
Filia didn't answer as she didn't know what to say.
What remained of the egg exploded revealing what looked like a normal baby golden dragon except for one thing. The baby was completely black. A first glance you might have thought you were looking at an ancient dragon. But if you looked closer you were see that the shape was all wrong.
The baby dragon yawned and opened his eyes. He looked up searching the faces he saw looming over him till he found what he was looking for.
Filia stared into the baby dragon's big beautiful ebony eyes and the baby stared right back.
"Gawh!" The baby cried out as he desperately tried to get to Filia.
Joyful tears fell from Filia's eyes as she scooped up her little baby holding him close bundled up in blankets. She kissed him on the head not caring that he was dirty.
The baby cooed as he happily snuggled up to his mommy. Happy birthday little Owen.
