Blue Moon, Chapter 7 - Carys POV

Bit of a warning: this chapter includes a potentially uncomfortable conversation about the inner working of dhampir conception.

It's the last one, I swear!

Carys couldn't remember the last time she was at a loss like this. She knew there were times like that - heck, she felt as if she was handling this a lot better than she handled finding out about vampires - but she couldn't remember the last time. Was this what she should have been thinking about? Possibly not. Nevertheless, it occupied her thoughts as she stared down at the shimmering dark brown of her decaf coffee and wished it was sixty percent more alcoholic. Yes. Sixty percent sounded good. Sixty proof or above.

Dhampirs were real; this, she knew already.

Carlisle knew a dhampir; not too much of a surprise now she'd thought about it. Not considering all she knew about her husband.

Carlisle was once so drunk that he believed he had a family and convinced a drunk dhampir to swear allegiance to them ... this one was harder to understand, but she could get past that.

It was the rest of what Matt had said that set her teeth on edge. They were all at risk because of this. She might die (though Matt had yet to explicitly say this), Carlisle might die, and their child might be left without either of them.

And Matt seemed to think he might be killed for his involvement, which didn't bode well either.

Matt had given them time to absorb the information, during which he'd helped himself to another round of coffees, finding some of the caffeinated stuff in the cupboard. He'd even replaced Carys' cup when it had cooled. And now time was stretching on.

"Do you all have abilities?" Carlisle asked. "Apart from the memory issue and the shifting. And are they specific to you, or can all dhampirs...?"

There was a pause, when Carys thought about asking what memory issue Carlisle was referring to specifically, and then Matt said thoughtfully:

"We're a little like vampires: some of us have additional powers, some of us don't. If you're thinking that the shifting might help at this stage, you'll be disappointed - it takes roughly twenty or so years before we can learn to do it on command but we'll discuss that later. I have the power to..." Another pause. "I can sharpen memories, reveal things that you might think are gone forever. I can borrow them from you and share them with another. I can also conceal them to the point that you wouldn't be able to recall them if you tried for an eternity, and..."

"And?" Carlisle prompted. He sounded almost excited, which wasn't too surprising. It was only a matter of time before Carlisle moved past his shock and shifted on to pursuing all the information he could.

"The way it works, it's uncomfortable. It weakens the person or vampire I'm using it on. I'm sure you noticed the difference when I made you remember me?"

"Yes." Carlisle shuddered.

"Yes, well. That. And it's not that I can remove your memories exactly. Aro - you're familiar with his abilities - I'm not entirely sure he wouldn't be able to see past the fog." A smile worked its way into Matt's voice, adding to the wistfulness of his next words. "It's useful in battle. Show them the worst things they've done while they're frantically fighting the uncomfortable fog and-" He broke off with a dark chuckle. "I don't need to tell them why they're about to die."

Carys shuddered at the thought and felt the eyes of both men on her. She took a sip of her coffee. Part of her thought it was quite poetic, and she said so.

Matt chuckled. "It is. Truly."

"I don't relish the thought," Carlisle said softly.

"I doubt you have much I could use against you," Matt countered. "You gave me hope, you know? Before all this."

Carys glanced up in time to catch Matt's all-encompassing gesture.

"All this," she said. "As in creating another of your kind?"

Matt nodded. "It's nigh on impossible for a vampire to make one, and that's when they know what they're doing. Carlisle stumbled upon it." He shook his head. "Ridiculous."

"How is it nigh on impossible?" Carlisle asked.

"Well..." Matt paused, his silver gaze slipping to the ceiling, where it held for a few moments. "I probably shouldn't tell you."

"I doubt we're going to make another," Carlisle said softly. "Besides, you could take the information from us when we no longer need it."

"True..."

"It might help is all. My son, Edward, he's ... he has a human mate like I do."

Matt's gaze darted to Carlisle - and clung. "They're sexually active?"

Carys nearly choked on another sip. "Sorry," she said when she'd recovered. Carlisle rubbed her shoulder. "I don't think they are, unless something's changed?"

Carlisle shook his head. "Not until they're married. I doubt Edward would change his mind about that."

Matt nodded sagely. "Then I doubt they'll make one."

"Why not?"

"Most vampires wouldn't make them if they knew the risks."

"The risks being...?"

"Us," Matt said casually. "And the risks to this Edward's mate."

"Bella," Carys said.

"Bella," he echoed.

Carlisle, to his credit, took this in his stride. "How long does it take to create one?" he asked Matt.

"A while," he said and then laughed. "Can you imagine if it was easy? Have sex one time and you've created one of the rarest beings in history? That would be utterly ridiculous!"

Carys and Carlisle chuckled uneasily.

"We should start from the beginning," Matt said, serious again. "Conception is difficult because a vampire needs the control to go through the entire process. It takes at least a year to do in all and requires a period of adjustment on the human's behalf. We're not entirely sure of the exact mechanics of it all but ... I can tell you this: a vampire and a human need to have a sexual relationship for months, then a period of inactivity wherein the human's body is free to adjust and change, followed by ... and I hope I'm not risking your blushes to say this ... extensive copulation."

Carys coughed.

"How extensive?" Carlisle asked in the voice he reserved for clinical discussions.

"Many times at once," Matt replied with a slight smirk. "The more you" - he gestured with his hand - "the more chance there is of the egg catching the sperm. Your venom replicates itself quickly, covering the underlying fluids still present in your body following the change," he explained. "The vampire needs to" - he gestured again - "enough that he moves past his bodily venom (which differs slightly from the venom that pools in your mouth, as I'm sure you know)–"

"I didn't know it differed quite so much," Carlisle said.

"Oh. Well, it does. If you have sex enough within a tight enough timeframe, it gets down to the actual sperm before the venom can catch up. The preserved fluids if you will. It takes a while and there's only a finite amount left in each of you so it's a risk to waste yourself." He shrugged. "Most vampires waste it once they've met their mate. One of the triggers of the war was that your kind were trying to create dhampirs for themselves and their mate and didn't understand why they couldn't. They were threatening dhampirs and demanding secrets, all for naught. By the time they turned on us we were on our way to it ourselves."

"Interesting," Carlisle said. "I had wondered over that."

"I have no doubt."

"And you say Carys had to adjust to this as well?" Carlisle looked at Carys. "It was my fault for leaving?"

Matt laughed. "You mean this really was pure chance?"

Carys nodded. "It was."

"I expected as much," Matt sighed. He ran a hand down the side of his face, rubbing at his jaw. "Yes, there's a period of adjustment and adaptation, as any change in human physiology. By the time you two came together-" He paused to snort at his Freudian slip. "Sorry. By the time you returned to each other, Carys' body had become ready to..."

"Recieve centuries old frozen sperm," Carys said in a monotone voice.

"Yes," Matt said, tugging on his collar. His t-shirt had tightened over his frame, adjusting to the broader shoulders and more muscular physique. The movement warped the fabric. "Is it just me, or is it hot in here?"

"Perhaps we should move on for now?" Carlisle offered, equally as awkward. "You say Carys needs sun. Tell us more about that? I'd-we'd appreciate anything you can tell us about what happens next."

"We're not entirely sure if we're going to keep it," Carys explained. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to, but she did, even though her mind had all but been made up. "Not if it's going to kill me."

Matt slowly inhaled, his nostrils flaring. "It's good that you're discussing this," he said slowly. "I've not heard of many humans who have had the discussion."

Had the choice, he meant and they all knew it.

He continued: "If you keep it you should know that it won't be easy. You need blood for a start. As you're still walking around I'm sure you know that?"

Carys and Carlisle nodded and Carlisle supplied the information he remembered, along with what they'd found through their research. Much of the latter was instantly refuted but much of the former was accepted as either truth or close to it.

"Carlisle's keeping the local butchers in business," Carys said when they were done.

"I think it's you who's doing that," Carlisle teased, coaxing a brief and uneasy smile from her.

Matt's smile lasted longer. "Good. And sun as I said. You need sun. Not sure why, but it's important at this stage." He tipped his head from side to side. "Maybe it always is. We enjoy the sun and do well with it. If we go for too long without it we can become a bit cranky."

"You're plants then," Carys said.

Matt chuckled. "I guess we are. We don't sparkle like our fathers but we do shine, so we have to be careful to shift if we're going to live in sunny places inconspicuously." Fiddling with the handle of his empty mug, he cleared his throat. "When it comes to the potential of death, it's not just the birth that kills most, it's what happens after. Yes, the birth can kill but the sac is malleable and diamond-hard both to protect the dhampir and to protect you from the dhampir's strength when it kicks. As I said, it's not vampire hard, it's diamond-hard."

"So we'd need a sharpened diamond to perform a c-section," Carlisle said immediately. "Or something which can cut diamond."

"Exactly." Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "Or a tooth of yours or ours if all else fails. You get it. Gods, I don't know how much I can talk about this in one go. Tad awkward, isn't it?"

"More than a tad," Carys said.

"Yes," Carlisle agreed. "It's different to what I'm used to."

"I'll just go for it then," Matt said. "Get it out of the way. You can get something hard and sharp enough to cut the sac, that's fine. The issue on the table is that once the dhampir is removed it takes the human's life force with it. Even if you survived a C-section, which is possible, without a vampire there to change you, Carys, you would die."

Carys clicked her fingers. "Get bitten right after, got it. What about the dhampir?"

"Ah, well." Matt sank back in his chair. "That's another problem. I said it takes roughly twenty years before we're able to shift on command. For the first couple of years we age at just over twice the human rate. Once we reach about the age of seven - about three years - we tend to slow down. I say tend to because some dhampirs continue on at an advanced rate. A dhampir takes between seven and fourteen years to reach physical maturity - it all depends on how safe they are."

"Safe?" Carys echoed.

Matt nodded. "It's why we tend to take them as soon as we can. They're safe with us and so their aging isn't forced. A human might mature faster mentally because of adverse surroundings - a dhampir matures physically so that they can protect themselves. If they're safe and protected, they age at a far slower rate which means they can live amongst humans as they grow up. In the old days we'd take out the vampire who created them and bring them up in our human forms–"

"Which is why it says they tend to leave or die after seven years? Because of their speed and you taking them away every seven years," Carys concluded.

"Precisely. Seven years is generally all we can give them before we need to shift. By then they know more about what they are and we can move on and continue to protect them in our true forms or in human form, whichever they'd prefer. I should add that they link to one of us - one of their choosing. After they've aged to seven we can almost control their shifting until they're old enough to learn it. When they turn twenty they take full control and only they can influence their shift."

"I imagine that protects them in case there's an attack," Carlisle said.

Matt replied as if it was a question. "Indeed. If we were discovered, or vampires passed through and we were at risk, the older dhampir might need to shift. Influencing the child to shift protects the child. It also protects humans - it means we can force them to remain in a human-esque state while they come to terms with their abilities."

"Well..." Carys slowly nibbled on her bottom lip. "What if they're brought up by vampires?"

"It's only been done once before," Matt said. "The mated pair I mentioned."

"What happened? Was the child safe?"

Matt hesitated, looking between them. Silence fell and held. Carys could hear her breath, Matt's breath, the faint ticking of a clock. Nothing was said for long minutes until Carlisle declared:

"We're not getting rid of you any time soon, are we?"

And Matt shook his head. Quietly, carefully, he said: "Not unless you want the world to know what's out there. Vampires can't control the shifting. Before dhampirs realised we could influence the younger ones ... the world was a much more open place once. People knew of the supernatural. It's where stories, legends, myths - it's where they all come from. Truth."

Carys pursed her lips. "You'd take a parental role?"

"Usually yes, but not if you're still around. Then it would be more of an uncle."

"One who lives with us."

"Yes."

"In our house."

"Or nearby."

"And yet Carlisle can't stand you, which means neither of us would be able to stand our child?"

"No," he said. "You'd be able to stand them and they wouldn't scare you or be scared of you. The difference between me and them is that I'm ... Well, to be candid, I was angry enough to be open to killing Carlisle when I shifted. So long as you don't annoy your child to the point of homicide, you should be alright."

"But others? If they met others?"

"It all depends on how they've been brought up," he said. "My mother - the dhampir who brought me up, Neithotep - not the queen, in case you're wondering–"

Carys was not, but Carlisle hummed interestedly.

"–she believed in the potential of vampires until they killed her."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Carys said gently, her sentiments echoed by Carlisle.

Matt swallowed. "Yes, well, it was going on four and a half thousand years ago now. The point is, before she was killed, before I lost all faith in vampires, I posed little threat to them without provocation."

Carys swallowed her tongue, gripping Carlisle's thigh. He moved his hand on top of hers and squeezed. Now was not the time to be commenting on Matt's age or that fatherhood likely counted as provocation in Matt's eyes.

"Time dulls the pain," Matt said, "but it doesn't take the memories. I'm lucky to have more than my fair share of good times with her before it happened."

From deep in the house a grandfather clock began to signal the hour and the group followed Matt's lead, listening out despite the watches both he and Carlisle wore and the clock within sight.

All fell quiet after eleven slow bongs and Matt slowly dragged his hands back across the table to fall to his lap.

"I should be going. There's lots to do and not much time. Carlisle," he said. "I'll return at one for our hunt."

"Like hell you will," Carys said, surprising all three of them. She hesitated, feeling uncomfortable. "I mean ... I mean ... I mean, you just said you'd be open to killing Carlisle. Now you want to hunt with him and expect me to think you'll be safe?"

A grin made its way slowly across Matt's face.

"I doubt Matt will kill me," Carlisle placated.

"I'm not taking that chance," Carys said firmly to him. She turned to narrow her eyes at Matt. "I want your word, in exactly the way you gave it to Carlisle, that you won't hurt him."

"I promise," Matt said, struggling with his amusement, "on everything I have been, everything I am, everything I will be in the future, that Carlisle will come to no harm in the next twenty-four hours. Unless he attacks me first," he added quickly.

"Which would be a highly doubtful turn of events," Carlisle added to Carys. Turning to Matt, he said, "We're planning on leaving London. We were going to do so at the end of the week but if you're willing to assist us we'll go earlier."

"Where are you headed?" Matt asked. "Forks would be too cold and wet for Carys at the moment."

"Brazil," Carlisle said before Carys could ask how Matt knew they'd come from Forks. "Or, an island off the coast of Brazil at any rate."

"You're renting an island for your honeymoon?" Matt asked suspiciously.

"I gave it to-"

"Carlisle," Carys hissed, tugging on his hand.

His eyes widened. "What is it?" he asked.

"Matt only swore not to kill you today. You're telling him too much."

Carlisle smiled softly. "I believe him, darling. I don't feel as uneasy as I did before." He flared his eyes as if to say: And we need him.

Carys flared hers as if to say: You're being too trusting.

"Not to interrupt this charming display," Matt said, "but it's not as inconspicuous as you think it is. I won't kill Carlisle unless he leaves you to die. How about that? Does that work for you, Carys?"

"What about these other dhampirs?" she asked.

"I'm not planning on telling them just yet," he said. "And before you say it, I'm not planning on disrupting your honeymoon more than I need to either, but we need to make plans if you're thinking of keeping touch with your coven-"

"There's no question of that," Carlisle said.

"Right, then that should probably come before I tell my lot. I've got to work out how to do it without bringing the world crashing down around our ears, after all." He rose to his feet and then, once Carys and Carlisle had followed, paused to look at them. "The Quileutes are still wolf-shifters?"

"Yes," Carlisle said, as surprised as Carys. "You know about them?"

"No," Matt deadpanned. "We've spent thousands of years with our heads in the sand. Of course I know about them, Carlisle." He sighed tiredly and rubbed his jaw. "I apologize, it's been a long week."

"Why do you ask?" Carys asked.

Matt shook his head. "They might be good allies is all, if it comes to it. If we have to reveal ourselves, this might call for a neutral conclave: representatives for the humans - you might be an easy choice, Carys, or Bella. You already know about vampires; dhampirs - that would be me; vampires - Carlisle, you could take that one as head of the second largest coven, and considering you helped get us into this mess–"

"I did do my fair share of it," Carys defended.

Carlisle slid his arm around her waist. "I–"

"Carlisle's the one who put his–" Matt paused his interjection, forcing his scowl from his face. "No matter who's fault it is, we could do with a wolf-shifter on the conclave if we're having one. Make things fair. I'd say to add a Child of the Moon but they're all wiped out, poor things."

Matt and Carlisle fell into thoughtful silence as they headed for the door but Carys felt more determined than thoughtful. If Matt thought a neutral conclave would be a good idea, Carys knew who she would want there. She just needed to work out how to get her to the meeting before an alpha order stopped her in her tracks.

A/N: After this we return to our regularly scheduled non-info dump storyline. Think of Blue Moon as a novella in which stuff is explained so we can run through the rest of the story without lingering on them. This isn't going to be Breaking Dawn where the baby is the sole storyline for everything - get ready for:

New love, old love, friends, Edward and Bella no longer running the show, all our favourite vampires, our favourite wolves, the Volturi, dhampirs, travel, alliances, forgotten histories, the past, present and future, sibling rivalry, and a whole lot more. I'm also planning on Leah having a story which runs parallel for a bit so we'll see about when that one starts!

Thank you to: Joseph Cullen, Guest, Momochan77, BMBMDooDoo-Doo-Doo-Doo, SkittyBug, NeonKat (Ahh! Thank you! I'm so nervous about these ones becaus I feel like they're giving us a lot of information which I know but you lot don't, so I'm not sure if I'm telling you enough or too much at once haha!), GuestMG, Rosiekay, and Guest for your reviews! I'll reply to any I haven't yet later today or tomorrow!