Blix:Blah,my comp was all twacked out and it wasn't working,but it's up again(for now) so heres the next installment of my story.
Nana:Wow,fast
Dressi:She stayed up two days working on story stuff
Ebon Thunder
Chapter Five-A Witch In The Kitchen
Sere stirred the simmering sauce while Tweak prepared the noodles.
"You make it sound like most witches can't cook," Tweak laughed as he voiced his opinion.
"Most can't. A lot of us are too busy to. Males learned to cook out of self preservation. At least that's what Lucivar told me. He also told me cooking isn't that hard. Hmph, the kindred were so busy running from the kitchens they didn't notice they trampled half of the herb garden," Sere told him. Tweak laughed and buttered some bread.
"Seems like witches can do a lot in Kaeleer, but there's just some things you all will never learn," He joked.
"Don't revel too deeply in it," Sere growled. Tweak continued to chuckle and put the bread in the oven.
"How much trouble do you think they got into?" Sere asked Tweak as she looked at the clock. It was already eight in the evening.
"None. If anything they got so drunk they passed out under the bridge," Tweak told her. Sere sighed. Knowing Severnar, he would do that.
"More for us," Sere told him. Suddenly she felt someone touching her mind. She recognized Daemonar's feel.
'We're all fine cousin. We decided to go to this party, interested?' Daemonar asked on an ebon gray spear thread.
"Want to go to a party?" Sere asked. Tweak looked at her oddly.
"Not especially," He answered cautiously.
'No cousin. I'm not up for it, neither is Tweak,' Sere replied. She felt Daemonar's growing interest.
'Plan on filling that consort position anytime soon?' He asked. Sere growled and mentally hit him. She heard Daemonar's whine and shut him out of her mind. Tweak looked confused.
"Umm, is it me, or did I heard Daemonar asking about consort a second ago? And what was he talking about anyway?" Tweak asked.
"Well, we all know you're going to be powerful," Sere snorted as she tried to avoid the consort topic. She had already told Tweak she was not going to even have sex, and that was a huge function of the consort.
"Yeah, yay. What was he talking about?" Tweak demanded.
"I'm a Queen. One of the three main males in a Queen's court is a Consort, which is like a husband except they're not officially married. The other two positions are Steward and Master of the Guard. My mother came up with a position to temporarily fill the consorts position, and that was First Escourt. It was because she was waiting for my father," Sere told him.
"SO, when a Queen forms a court, she picks three main males?" Tweak asked. Sere nodded.
"Sounds hard. How could you choose?"
"Grandpa told me a long time ago that males are drawn to their Queen, and that we don't choose them, they choose us," Sere replied. Tweak smiled.
"Sounds like a cause for open warfare sometimes. What if several men chose the same Queen?"
"Well, the Queen chooses one."
"Yeah, that's crazy. Man, the Blood sound so smart at times, yet at other times, you guys sound like you place an awful lot of trust in others,"Tweak told her. Sere smiled.
"I know that you're used to a place that is filled with fear and greed and mistrust, but Kaeleer is a lot different. People trust and it's because that trust is built on the past. People have always been pretty steady, and that makes other comfortable in the fact that they can count on others."
"Sounds boring and safe."
"It might sound boring, but one thing the Blood will never be is boring Tweak. You should see the surprises that pop up. Like a unicorn suddenly coming in for breakfast,"Sere told him. Tweak felt his mind almost shut down after the mental gymnastics it tried to pull with that simple example.
"Wonder what party they're going to," Sere wondered aloud. Tweak almost laughed.
"Probably a rave. That should be interesting," Tweak told her. Sere giggled.
"What's a rave?"
"Think of a huge party with lots of flashing lights and loud music," Tweak told her. Sere wrinkled her nose.
"I guess it could be fun if people were in the mood, but usually I prefer small gatherings. Winsol is my favorite. I don't know if I'll celebrate it this year though," Sere whispered sadly.
"Why not?"
"Traditions seem so far away. Winsol is in three weeks, but I don't know if everyone will know by then. Besides, from what I read, everyone celebrates something called Christmas here." Tweak chuckled for Sere had pronounced the 'I' in Christmas as if she was saying Christ's name.
"First off, it's Christmas, He said pronouncing it right. "And second off, most of them will go celebrate with their families. Actually, all of them will. I won't, my mother died when I was little, so I'll celebrate Winsol with you and your cousins," Tweak told her. Sere smiled happily.
"Thank you. I think you'll enjoy it. We exchange small gifts and dance for the Glory of Witch,well, that might sound cocky. But we share a cup of blooded rum with someone and generally be happy."
"Blooded rum?"
"It tastes better than it sounds. Tweak, why are you being so nice to me? Yesterday you were rather…" Sere trailed off.
"I was an asshole yesterday because I had seen you in a dream, and it confused the hell out of me," Tweak told her. Sere sighed.
"Tweak, there's a lot you don't understand yet. There's so much that will happen soon, so much that can destroy the balance Kaeleer has achieved. SO much that could destroy this land," Sere told him.
"Then let it. This land is nothing but a toxic poison that needs to be cleansed of the hatred and fear. Those here who are Blood are feared because we have different powers. We're taken to science centers and made into lab rats," Tweak told her with his back turned.
"Did that ever happen to you?" Sere asked quietly.
"No, it almost did, but my mother saved me. She was strong, that's why they tracked us down. She set the entire house on fire and destroyed even herself, just to make sure I didn't end up in the center," Tweak said.
Sere put her arms around his waist and let her tears soak into the back of his shirt.
"How old were you?"
"Ten."
Sere wanted to take all the bad memories away, to comfort him. He had been a child when his mother had sacrificed everything just to save him from life in a cage.
She didn't realize that an ebon glow had surrounded the both of them, surrounding them in a feeling of safety.
"Sere," Tweak said after a few minutes. Sere sniffled.
"Yeah?"
"We're floating."
"What!" Sere exclaimed. She looked down and noticed they were with a bubble of ebon thunder's power. How had it happened without her realizing? Had the ebon thunder reacted to her distress?
"Wow, this is amazing. It reminds me of your jewel," Tweak said as he watched the lightning zig zag a pattern of different jewel tones across the shield.
"It's like a thunderstorm," Sere said. Tweak nodded.
"They've always been calming to me. It's like, each time I saw lightning, it was my anger being released, and it time thunder sounded, it was a scream I never let escape," Tweak told her. Sere nodded.
She sat on air with her legs crossed and relaxed as the lightning zigzagged over the bubble of power.
"That's kind of unnerving, you doing that," Tweak told her.
"Oh, I'm really sorry," Sere said as she let herself stop floating suddenly. She fell with a thump to the bottom of the bubble. Tweak laughed as she rubbed her bum.
"I was kidding. It's actually kind of cool," Tweak told her. Sere giggled and let herself float back up.
"When you get your birthright jewel you'll be able to do it too," Sere told him. Tweak smiled.
"Kick ass," He told her. Sere looked at him oddly, but let it slide. She'd probably never get used to the slang terms here.
Some time later, Sere let the bubble around them fade and set Tweak on the floor gently. He looked at the sauce.
"We'll need to heat it, but it should be okay," Tweak said as he put the ingredients together and stirred them. He turned the dial on to the stove, having turned it off earlier when he first realized he was floating. His powers came in useful for small things at least.
"Okay. SO, when do you think the party will be over?" Sere asked.
"If they went to a rave, they won't be back till tomorrow," Tweak told her as he put the fettuccini in a bowl and handed it to her. Sere smiled thankfully and set the table.
Oddly, Sere felt the easy comfort between herself and Tweak was lost for the night, and that saddened her, because he was the only one so far who knew of the Blood. She reflected that it would have been nice to have a friend.
After they ate, Tweak put the dishes in the sink and put the rest of the noodles in a Tupperware container.
"Want to watch a movie?" He asked, trying to break the silence. Sere looked at him quizzically.
"What's a movie?" Sere asked him. He smiled. Finally another thing he knew more about than she did. Movies and television.
Three hours later Tweak almost gave up. Sere had not sat back and watched a movie at all. Instead she had flipped through the movie channels, watched five minutes of the movie, and then decided she didn't know enough of the world it was set in to understand the movie.
Tweak went through his head to try and figure out what she could watch without asking questions or feeling lost. And then it hit him. He rummaged through his book bag and pulled out Mists Of Avalon. He walked over to the VCR and popped the first tape in. She looked at him with curiosity and he smiled and motioned for her to be quiet. He had jacked the tape from blockbuster and watched it every time he crashed at a friends house.
The movie began and progressed, and Sere stopped asking questions after the first ten minutes. He switched between watching her rapt face and the movie. Some parts made her face wrinkle in disgust, and in others she looked confused.
By the time the movie was over Tweak felt tired, yet he knew that Sere was full of questions.
"So, what did you think?" He asked her.
"It was, akin and different than the way our magic works. Is that truly how people see magic here?" Sere asked him. Tweak sighed.
"Not everyone. Some people see magic as wonderful, others terrible. Some see it as earth based, others see it as a gift from Satan."
"Saetan? You mean he's become myth here? Funny, Grandfather might like to know that," Sere said aloud.
"What do you mean?" Tweak asked suspiciously.
"Well, my grandfather is Saetan. He was the High Lord of Hell, the Priest of the Hourglass, and well, one of them men who helped Witch, my mother, grow. He was a Guardian, and then he made the transition to demon dead. My father thought he had just become a whisper in the darkness, which means his prensence is totally gone. But we found out differently recently. My father, his namesake, took over both positions."
"Are you joking?" Tweak asked. His mind was rejecting the idea.
"Tweak, with everything else you know of me, why does this surprise you?" Sere asked quizzically. She knew that two thousand yours ago, Hell had been a myth, as well as unicorns and the arachnians. But now it was a well known fact they were real. Had Hell become a myth in this world?
"Holy shit, so your dad gets to punish the dead?" Tweak asked.
"Well, only if they deserve it. Everyone who dies and makes the transition to demon dead goes to Hell, simply because it's a place where they'll be more comfortable. I guess that it's hard to comprehend, but I've been there. Saetan was born to be the prince of darkness, and he is a fair judge. The last time I heard he tortured a demon was when he did a purge of Hell. He wanted to rid Hell of Heketah's supporters," Sere said as if it wasn't an earth shaking piece of information.
'She'll have my brain tying itself in knots,' Tweak mentally groaned. Then his mind almost shut itself off as he realized just everything she had said.
"Your father is the High Lord of Hell?" He squeaked.
"Yeah," Sere said after yawning.
'That's it, this is going to kill me. I don't need to worry about magic anymore, this is going to kill me,' Tweak told himself. He groaned and banged his head on the wall behind his head.
"Something wrong?" Sere asked innocently.
"No, nothing," Tweak told her in a small voice. 'Nothing except the fact that I made fun of the Princess of Hell!'
Sere only looked at him funny and then shrugged. She got up and left the room. Tweak could have sworn he heard her mutter 'Males', but he couldn't be sure when his own mind was full of racing thoughts. He knew that more surprises were coming, and they'd all be as big as this one.
The next morning while Sere and Tweak enjoyed a comfortable silence as they prepared breakfast, the front door crashed open and she heard several people groan wearily. She popped her head out of the kitchen and saw several tired people.
"Did you guys have fun?" She asked. Daemonar looked at her like she had lost her mind.
"Fun? I've never seen so many people out of their minds!" Daemonar roared. Liz giggled and yawned.
"He's just mad that several girls hit on him because they were on x and their boyfriends were less than pleased," Liz told Sere. Sere smiled and giggled.
"Anyone interested in breakfast?" Tweak asked as he walked into the living room where everyone had fallen onto couches and chairs, or in some cases, onto the floor. Bob had already passed out.
"Food?" Severnar perked up. "Coffee?"
"Yes cousin. I'll go get everyone some. Tweak, are you sure you cooked enough for all of them?" Sere asked as they bustled around the kitchen.
"Half of them will be asleep by the time we get back in that room. Can't you hear Matt and Sam's chorus of snores?" Tweak joked. Sere listened closely, and Tweak did as well.
"Oh my god, they really are snoring," Tweak muttered. Sere giggled and walked into the living room. Everyone was already fast asleep.
"Should we take pity on them and let them sleep?" Sere asked with a raised brow. Tweak nodded and smiled. Stormy, his street sister, had passed out with her head on Daemonar's lap.
"I'll kill him if he hurts her," Tweak told Sere. Sere nodded.
"Likewise if she ever causes him any distress," Sere replied. Tweak nodded in agreement, knowing how much distress a woman could cause a man.
"So, you think we could find Severnar a girlfriend?" Tweak asked. Sere snorted into her mug of coffee.
"Would you do that to some poor unsuspecting sister?" Sere asked.
"He's that bad?"
"Not bad really. Just, I don't think he's ready to settle yet," Sere told Tweak. Tweak nodded and laughed.
Blix:Please review
Nana:Yeah,it'll make her write faster
Dressi:Plus it'll make her smile