Sins of the Fathers- Chapter four

By Pavana Lachrimae

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: If Squaresoft was mine, would I be writing fanfic? .

Teaser: Six years after the final defeat of Sin, a young part-guado girl named Darra seeks out the only remaining link to her parentage in a last attempt to find out who she is. But when the truth finally surfaces, will she really want to know? Seymour x ?. Lots of twists. Not a sue, and if you read it, you'll see why ;) …

A/N: Argh! This is all turning out to be one big horrible mistake! My hopes of creating a feasible explanation are, sadly, diminishing by the minute. Oh well… I'm going to stick with this, simply because I keep starting too many stories and then abandoning them (which is a really bad habit), but if it turns up on GAFF then I'll call it a day ..

-x-

''This can't be happening. ''

I turned around, very slowly, and looked at her. ''You don't believe me? ''

''I believe you. But only because I don't think I have any other choice. ''

''I see. ''

Darra had sat down again, probably due to the shock, and she was tracing her finger along the folds of her long black skirt, teasing out the fabric nervously. I could see now where the skin of her fingers had grown coarse and scaly, and where her half-formed nails, scathingly purple, had coiled inward, pinching the skin into a slight point. She had suffered from her heritage. Guado and human blood does not mix well.

''I don't understand how-'' she said finally, then trailed off, and started again. ''I mean, are you trying to tell me my father was a hermaphrodite? ''

''Not exactly, '' I replied, sitting opposite her. ''That's what made it so… unusual, if you may. Had he not become… pregnant, I doubt we would have known anything was wrong with him. ''

The girl put her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her spindly knees. ''This is all too strange, '' she said, in a weak, defeated tone of voice that struck chords deep within my memory. ''I'd say you were insane, but…''

''…but it makes too much sense? '' I attempted.

She gave a feeble smile. ''And at the same time, none at all. ''

''I know it may be hard to accept. But surely you remember that the ancestors of Seymour's race were successive hermaphrodites? Even from what scant medical knowledge we have left, I could tell you that some guado men have a vestigial uterus. And children are delivered differently… Darra. You have a thin mark beneath your stomach, yes? Like a crescent? ''

''…sort of. '' Tentatively, she lifted her shirt, pulling the waistband of her skirt down a little to reveal a long crease in the flesh- like a caesarean scar, but more formed, more innate. I nodded.

''The remnants of the birth canal. Like his, yours will not be fully developed. I am sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you might have problems conceiving in later life. ''

Darra just shrugged. I carried on.

''Even so, to this day I don't know the details, '' I admitted. ''Up to only a few years ago, it was illegal to even conduct an autopsy on the dead- impossible, as well, because most people were sent before we had the chance. Scientific study of this… phenomenon is sadly lacking, as it is in most areas. I don't know how he could have become pregnant- or at least, I don't know the mechanics of it. ''

The girl shook her head slowly.

''I thought the last time that happened was four hundred years ago, '' she said. ''I thought it was a myth. ''

''In the last century, there have been three incidents altogether that I know of, '' I replied, sitting opposite her. ''Their deaths were recorded as accidents. Your birth was the only one in which both parent and child survived. ''

''So they were never recorded. ''

''No. My mother only knew of them because she delivered the other two herself. Jyscal's family carry the defective gene, it seems, which is partly why they took such pains to cover up… what happened to Seymour. ''

''I see. '' Defective. I could see her running the word over and over in her head- I regretted saying it instantly.

''Darra, I'm sorry, '' I attempted. ''I should have broken it to you more gently. I don't mean that you were a mistake. Seymour-''

''Then why didn't they terminate me? '' she blurted out suddenly. ''If they didn't want me, why didn't Seymour just kill me? I don't understand. Why did he let this happen in the first place? Did he… was he raped? ''

''I don't know, '' I lied. ''As I said, he never told us who the father was. But it's possible he might have… well, he had… issues. With himself. Sometimes I… got the impression that there was something within him he couldn't accept, something that wasn't just the way he looked or who his parents were. It's complicated, '' I found myself repeating. Darra looked up at me.

''Tell me everything, '' she said.