Karl walked slowly down the coast, making sure that 26 was always in his sight. He was beginning to regret letting her pick where they'd walk. His memories of this particular beach were not of the good variety. He began to hear 26's honking noises, which meant that she was running. He sighed and jogged after her. He heard another yell of surprise and figured 26 just ran into Amelia's aunt or something. When he found 26 she had Amelia pinned to the sandy beach with her nose. Karl just grinned and sat down on a washed up log right next to them.
"You certainly have made a friend there," he said.
"I'm beginning to think she likes me more than she likes you!" Amelia said finally getting out from under 26's grasp and sitting on the log next to Karl, brushing sand off of her. Karl brushed some sand off of her hair and lifted her hair up to brush some off her back. The moment he lifted her hair up she jumped off the log away from him. He sighed.
"You really are self conscience about those scales," he said.
"It's not the scales…" she confessed.
"You mean there's something else wrong with you?" he asked her. She just glared at him before walking back toward the Hatchery. He stood up and chased after her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to him. She struggled but he managed to pull her hair off of her back and see what she was hiding this time. She stopped struggling so he looked at her head and then up at what she was looking at. Samantha was standing at the top of the hill looking at them. Amelia took the time to get away from him and ran up the hill to Samantha. She and Samantha exchanged a few words before walking to the Hatchery. 26 nudged Karl in the knee to announce that she was there. Karl had seen something, but he wasn't sure if he believed it.
David looked up from the books when Amelia and Samantha barged into the Hatchery talking about something. He heard Karl's name a few times and came to the decision he probably didn't want to know what they were talking about. Marion closed one book and leaned forward and opened another. She began to search that page. After a few moments she stood up and walked over to the egg, then back to the book.
"David…" she said and he stood up and looked at the book where she was pointing. He looked at the egg, and then back at the book.
"That's it! That's the symbol! What book is this?" David asked her.
"It's about the World Beneath," she said and she and David looked at each other a little worried.
"We have an egg from the World Beneath?" David asked her.
"Well this picture tells the story of the Ultimate God of the World Beneath," Marion told him pointing to the pictures.
"Ultimate God? There's more than one?"
"Yes. He was the creator of the saurian languages, supposedly. He was the first of the line of gods. When they came up from the World Beneath it was the tenth god."
"What does that have to do with the symbol?" David asked.
"It says here that the children of this Ultimate God have this symbol somewhere on their bodies."
"Why would a god come in an egg?" David asked her.
"They were half human and half dinosaur, so I suppose they could reproduce with both dinosaurs and humans…"
"So when that egg hatches, we'll get a half god, 3/4 dinosaur, ¼ human… thing?"
"I'll suppose we'll have to wait to see when it hatches," Marion said with a sigh.
26 was busy sleeping off the trip so Karl decided he'd go get another look at the egg. Everyone else had gone to the farm so Karl was on patrol to make sure nothing bad happened to any eggs. He walked over to the special egg and looked at the symbol. He then looked at the picture in the book. Marion and David had explained to him what it meant, and he had watched when they explained it to Amelia. He hadn't been surprised when they told him, not after his and Amelia's little vacation to the World Beneath. The symbol on the egg was the same as on the back of her neck. So this egg was what? Amelia's half brother or sister or something? Karl also wondered if Amelia was hatched instead of born… He sat down next to the egg.
"Your sister is going to creep you out. Hey but it'll probably be mutual there. So you're a little god huh? Don't smite me or anything, okay? And don't let your big sister smite me either, I know she wants to…" he said and turned to the egg as if waiting for an answer.
"Yea I know, but she's a friend of Marion's. Hey… I wonder if Amelia could help me get Marion… Oh but she thinks David and Marion should be together, yes… Maybe I should start getting information from Samantha, she wouldn't mind me for a brother," he said and turned to the egg again.
"Oh right… The Matriarch, I know she likes me, well, tolerates me… but I think she'd prefer David for a son."
"Who are you talking to?" Amelia asked walking in from a different room. She walked over to the wall of eggs and looked over the ones at her eye level.
"Your brother or sister here," he said pointing a finger to the egg. She looked at him angrily.
"I'm not related to an egg," she told him.
"This symbol from the Ultimate God would suggest otherwise…" he said and she charged toward him.
"And I'm not a god!" she yelled at him. He sighed.
"Amelia, face it, if I can even believe this you should be able to. You've lived in this magic place all your life. Why is this so hard for you?"
"I'm sick! Alright! And this, this thing on the back of my neck is a birth mark!"
"What are the chances of two sisters have the same birthmark?" he asked and she fell silent, "Mary had one too, didn't she? That's how you know what it looks like. I've been in your house, there are no mirrors anywhere."
"My sister is of no concern to you…" she told him.
"She's no concern to anyone anymore!" he said and immediately regretted it. The look in her eyes told him she wanted to hit him, and she was now within striking range. She looked like she was about to hit him but she sighed and looked down at the egg.
"How is that symbol on the egg?" she asked him to his surprise.
"Maybe Valde finally had offspring," he suggested.
"No. He'd never send it to the Hatchery. Besides the Matriarch found the egg before we met Valde."
"Yea and he was pretty desperate for a mate…" Karl said and received a look from Amelia.
"I'll get you back for that one later," she said as she placed the tips of her fingers on the eggs.
"UH!" she said as her knees gave way. Karl quickly caught her before she fell.
"What the Hell?" he asked as she regained her stance. She held her head in her hands before looking at him worriedly.
"What was that?" he asked her and she shrugged.
"It was like a wave over me. I, I think your right."
"About what?"
"This egg, I think I am related to it…" she said looking at him obviously worried. Karl started to laugh slightly.
"And I thought my family was bad."
Miami and the Matriarch walked toward the Hatchery. The sun had set and they were walking by moonlight. All of their children had already gone to the Hatchery so the two mothers decided to walk slowly.
"How long until the egg hatches, Rosemary?" Miami asked her.
"Could be weeks, could be months."
"So it is Levo's child, isn't it?" Miami asked looking down at her feet. Rosemary placed a hand on her good friend's shoulder.
"He once explained it to me. He was very happy with the three of you Miami, he was as happy as he could be. But it was only half of him that was happy. His saurian half was-"
"I know, I know Rosemary. But I do miss him…"
"He misses you too. I believe he sent this egg to you. To his family, because he knew you would raise it well," Rosemary told her.
"Amelia will be going off soon, it'd be nice to have a child around the house. Even if it is mostly saurian."
"You'll survive Miami, they'll all survive."
"I would like Amelia to be here when it hatches. Unless Levo or the mother appears, Amelia is the only family that child will have…"
"I'm sure she won't leave, not after what she's been going through. She'll stay until she learns what's going on."
"So will Marion, and those boys presumably…"
"They're all welcomed to stay."
"Those boys, do you trust them?"
"I trust them with my daughter."
"Then so shall I."
