Twilight Fanfiction - Written in Third Person
The Forgotten Children – Chapter 25
Arvil/Singer pays Carlisle a visit and answer all his questions.
A Visit from Arvil, Singer & Bennett
Carlisle had deeply mourned Christopher for over a week now. He felt that he needed to get his head out of the clouds once and for all. But just how was he supposed to get his head out of the clouds? He wasn't sure exactly how to accomplish that.
Carlisle decided to go alone for a walk in the forest…he secretly knew where he was heading…he just wouldn't admit it to himself. Soon Carlisle stepped out into 'Edward and Bella's' meadow.
Carlisle knew what he was doing…hoping to catch some scent…or any kind of remembrance of Christopher in the meadow.
Suddenly Carlisle caught a scent…a scent of 'Minstrels' nearby. Carlisle looked towards an opening in the forest and was surprised at what he saw there.
Stepping out into the open meadow was Arvil and another man who looked somewhat like Bennett. Only Bennett now looked taller and more muscular. A handsomeness seemed to flow from Bennett that Carlisle had never noticed before.
Carlisle walked closer to Arvil and said, "Welcome back, Singer."
Arvil/Singer's violet eyes looked into Carlisle's golden eyes and replied, "So…you finally recognize me now? You finally know my real name."
"Yes," said Carlisle, "Now that Christopher's 'wall' is down, I clearly remember who you are."
Arvil gave him a perplexed look with his violet eyes and said, "Yes…and I remember how you laughed at me that first time I saw you…when Demitri slapped me across the throne room."
Carlisle's eyes filled with regretfulness as he said, "I apologize for that Arvil…I was trying to find my wife, Helena, and was only masquerading and pretending to be a part of their loathsome Volturi cult."
"Please forgive me, Arvil," Carlisle begged.
"Of course I forgive you." said Arvil, That's the reason why I've come…but only if you forgive me for treating you and your family so horribly. I was angry and hurting…afraid for Christopher…and I took it out on you and your family," Arvil confessed.
"How did you mange to kill Emmett then bring him back to life?" asked Carlisle.
"Everyone has a life spark...what you saw me do was take Emmett's life spark." admitted Arvil.
"Why were you so upset when Bennett tried to return Emmett's life spark?" asked Carlisle
"Because, Arvil began, "Bennett was going to replace Emmett's life spark with his own...this would have killed Bennett. That's why I had to quickly give it back, so that Bennett wouldn't have given his own life spark in order to restore Emmett.
"Can all of you take a life spark from somebody?" asked Carlisle.
"No," said Arvil, "Remember long ago when we escaped from the Volturi together?"
Carlisle nodded in answer.
"I had told you about the Kelflings of my people. Being a Kelfling gives me greater powers than the Minstrel norm. I alone of my kind can rob somebody of their life spark. However, most Minstrels can replace some or all of somebody's life spark with their own," said Arvil.
"I merely replaced Emmett's life spark with his own before I absorbed it into myself. Bennett would have died using his life spark to revive, Emmett. That's why I had became so angry." Arvil informed Carlisle.
"I think I understand now," said Carlisle, "I once saw Christopher restore a hummingbird to life using some of his own life spark.
Carlisle shifted his gaze to Bennett, who smiled a warm hello. Carlisle knew Bennett, like most green-eyed Minstrels, had trouble speaking…so he asked Arvil instead.
"Why does Bennett look so different…so tall, muscular and handsome?" Carlisle asked
"Because," Arvil began, "Bennett is in his estrus or fertile cycle for the time being. It will wear off in a few weeks and he'll again be the Bennett of your memories."
"Shouldn't he be with his mate then?" Carlisle replied.
"Bennett's mate is dead….and has been dead for quite some time now," said Arvil.
"Besides," Arvil added, "Most of us don't even bother with mating any more…we've not produced a Minstrel child for hundreds of years."
Carlisle eyes widened in disbelief.
"It's true unfortunately," Arvil said, "In fact Christopher was the last Minstrel to be born that I'm aware of."
"Arvil, why did you decide to come back?" asked Carlisle.
"Because I know how badly I behaved the few times I was around you," answered Arvil.
"I was just jealous…that's why I've always been so rude to you when I was in your presence," Arvil admitted.
"What would you be so jealous about?" asked Carlisle.
"I was jealous of your closeness with Christopher. I'm sorry but I loathe vampires and it killed me to know that he loved you above anything else. I was also jealous that your race is going to outlive my own. Already there are just a limited number of us…soon the Minstrel race will be dead and extinct," admitted Arvil.
"Why?" Carlisle asked.
"We thought we could live and survive on this world…unfortunately we've never thrived here…so we interbred with humans knowing that we'd only have Minstrels. We were hoping that these new Minstrels would have more of a immunity to this world…but it didn't work. Over time we've diluted our blood until we don't even give birth to Minstrels anymore," acknowledged Arvil.
"Then what exactly do you have?" Carlisle asked.
"The few children we're able to bear any more are totally human. Even Christopher had human aspects being born with 'human' blue eyes. Even Christopher's children were born totally human," answered Arvil.
Carlisle's eyes opened even bigger as he asked, "Christopher has children?"
"Had" Arvil stated, "His human wife and his three children have been dead for ages. After all of them died eventually of old age…Christopher came looking for us…and he finally found us."
"Can you tell me where his descendants are? Maybe I could be of some help to them," Carlisle begged.
Arvil gave a serious look with his violet eyes and said, "I don't think that would be wise. They're hidden and are unaware that vampires or Minstrels even exist."
A realization hit Carlisle as he said, "You're the one….you're the Minstrel that Rachel said tried to heal Christopher. You're the one who recognized him and tried to get his time-shift power to work properly."
"Yes," Arvil admitted, "that was me. However I never could get that particular power to function properly for him."
"Where did the Minstrels and vampires come from? How did we both get here?" asked Carlisle.
Arvil took a deep breath and said, "Well..it all started eons ago…before humans were alive…they were more like proto-humans."
Arvil's Story:
"There once was a race called 'Therans'… that race has been extinct for ever so long. They were reptilian…huge and lumbering beasts…but they were intelligent. They came to this world just as humans were beginning to develop. The Therans took human DNA back to their world, Therys, and began to develop and mutate the DNA in order to produce servants. One race was the musical "Minstrels" who had the power to sing and produce instrumental music with their minds. There were many human-like races produced by the Therans. Another race was the Drakuns, which were a type of guard. The Drakun race was immortal….their skin as hard as granite…and they subsisted on the life essence of their prey.
After thousands of eons of war and strife…only one race was left…and that was the race of peaceful Minstrels. We lived happily on Therys for millennia. Then our blue colored star began to die, and unfortunately we couldn't restore the star to life again. We knew that our DNA originally came from this world…so we returned to our homeworld, Earth. Unfortunately for us, the Therans had altered our DNA so drastically that we found it almost impossible to survive on this world…hence why we tried to interbreed with normal humans. You're kind is here because Minstrels have the latent DNA of Drakuns within our cells. That's why we call Drakuns and Vampires our 'Shadow Brothers.' All the races were inter-related…somehow some Drakuns were born to a few Minstrels. They looked like Minstrels at birth…but when they reached their sexual maturity…they metamorphatized and changed into Drakuns. We believe that a virus, produced within the saliva (or venom) allows the Drakuns to reproduce by a bite. The original Drakuns did NOT reproduce in this way. They had an estrus cycle just like us and reproduced sexually as all the races did. But the Minstrels never intended for your vampire race to come here. It was pure serendipity.
Carlisle stopped Arvil speaking by raising his hand in order to interrupt.
"Tell me about souls? Do they really exist?" asked Carlisle.
"Yes," answered Arvil. "That's how we knew that Christopher had passed on. His soul quickly passed through our small colony. Once we saw it, we knew he was gone."
"But what you really want to know is: who possesses them and where do they eventually go? Am I correct?" asked Arvil.
"Yes, said Carlisle, "I want to know if I'll ever see Helena or Christopher again."
Arvil actually had a sad look in his violet eyes.
"From what we know… all humans and human like races possess a soul. Once the soul leaves its body…it returns to the Creator of this universe and becomes a part of Him again. So, if it makes you feel any better Christopher and Helena are together again," confessed Arvil.
"But what about vampires?…do we have souls?….will we be reunited with this Creator as well?" Carlisle asked.
Arvil said, "This Creator has a great fondness for these humans here. He created them…whether by 'magic' or 'scientifically' they are His creation. Although Minstrels were created by Therans, we still retain our basic humanity, thus we also retain a soul."
"Does that help you undersand?" Asked Arvil.
"In a way," said Carlisle, "But you've not mentioned vampires or Drakuns. Do we possess a soul that will eventually return to the Creator?"
Arvil gently looked at Carlisle with his violet eyes and said, "I'm sorry Carlisle, but no. I hate to be the one to tell you, but you will never be among Christopher or Helena again.
Carlisle hung his head in sorrow.
Arvil actually reached out to Carlisle and patted him on the back and then said, "Don't worry about it too much, Carlisle, I'll be sure to tell them how upset you were on learning you'd never see them again."
"You'll see them then?" asked Carlisle.
"But of course…Minstrels are NOT immortal. I'll die some day," said Arvil.
"But then what will happen to me…and my family when our time comes?" asked Carlisle.
"You'll just be dead as far as I know," answered Arvil.
Arvil noticed the stricken look on Carlisle face.
"Listen," Arvil began, "Souls aren't everything…even Hitler had a soul…of sorts anyway. You need to think of is as a trade-off and go with that. You'll live forever, Carlisle…I mean you have the capacity to live beyond the sun's existence. You have the potential to live until the destruction of the universe. You can live billions if not trillions of years."
Despite this knowledge, Carlisle hung his head and began sobbing.
"Don't do that," said Arvil, "That's why Christopher always tried to protect you…why he sent you to America…so you wouldn't be bothered by the Volturi. Christopher wanted you to live forever…since you don't have the capacity to return to the Creator."
Carlisle asked, "Will Helena and Christopher live forever? Will they live past the destruction of our universe?"
"Yes," replied Arvil, "All the souls that reunite with the Creator will live beyond the life of this universe because…frankly…the Creator doesn't 'live' in this universe. Christopher will live to infinity. It's actually mind-boggling if you think about it too hard."
Why do you appear so young? You're supposed to be even older than Christopher. He should have been an old man by now…How can you be so young?" asked Carlisle.
Arvil said with a twinkle of his violet eyes, "Because I mainly stay in slow-time using my time-shift gift. When I do this…I age much slower. I've chosen to do this in order to defend my people against the Volturi…as well as Bennett, Rachel, and a few other Minstrels."
Carlisle thought of another question and asked, "I've been curious about another thing…and so has Edward…Why was Edward able to see Christopher's thoughts when he first met him in the cavern on his hunt. Edward said that he saw himself clearly as a monster through Christopher's eyes."
Arvil just grinned and laughed, "Edward NEVER read Christopher's mind until the very end of Christopher's life. Edward had terrified Christopher so much that he spontaneously sent his thoughts in picture to Edward."
Arvil smiled to Carlilse and said, "I hope I've answered all your questions. I also hope that you'll look upon yourself as a new person. A person who is kind and generous…but also happens to be a vampire," Arvil finished with a chuckle.
Bennett stepped forward with a gift-wrapped box and presented it to Carlisle.
Bennett only smiled while his green eyes shone radiantly in his face.
"What is this?" Carlisle asked.
"Just a gift...from Christopher and all Minstrels," Arvil said with a twinkle of his violet eyes.
Arvil and Bennett began walking away towards the forest.
Before they could leave, Carlisle quickly asked, "Is there anything I can do? Anything I can say to the Volturi for you?"
"Yes," said Arvil with a smirk, "You can tell them to go straight to hell!"
Then both Arvil and Bennett vanished in front of Carlisle's eyes.