Chapter 35
Talks and complications
Alex's POV
Daddy took me to go teach Kai. Uncle Owen was too upset to help. We taught Kai that Tai was a Chimera and her mommy was Lady Earth. Tai was a little bit gargoyle. We taught Kai that she needed to be protected from the bad people who wanted to use her new powers.
"Daddy?" I craned my neck to look at him.
"Yeah?" He paused, moving me to one leg.
"What do babies have to do with fertility?" I asked.
He was quiet for long time. "Fertility has a few meanings. For people, it means that someone can have babies."
"Ok." I nodded.
We taught Kai a little bit more then Daddy decided it was good. I played my room until Uncle Puck got me. We went to the classroom.
"Alright, kiddo. Today's lesson is about Talia's magic. What you do remember from earlier?" He asked.
"Tai got 2 magicks now and Lady Earth is Tai's mommy. And Tai also gargoyle." I told him.
"Yes, but it's a bit more complex than that." He pulled a chalkboard out. There was an outline of Tai. It was empty. "This is just a graph."
Uncle Puck split it in half. He scribbled in the left side with green chalk. "When I gave your sister magic, it made her a…"
"Halfling." I said.
"When your daddy adopted Talia and then got married, she became Titania's granddaughter." He made an orange fox mask on Tai's face. "And sometime after that, Goliath claimed her as family." Uncle Puck scribbled purple in Tai's right foot.
"Uh huh." I nodded.
"But as her magic got stronger, it woke up another bit of magic she had from her mom. Nān Ganhān's." He scribbled in a bit with yellow.
Then he labeled them with mortal or Avalon. There were three Avalon, his, Grandma's, and Lady Earth's, and two mortal labels, Goliath and her human mommy.
"Talia is a Chimera because she has multiple magicks active. And she also is part of the Second and First Race. Humans and gargoyles." Uncle Puck looked at me.
"S'not equal. More Avalon." I pointed.
"No, Alex, I suppressed her birth father's DNA." He said and I stared at him. "It isn't active. Like your mommy's magic."
I nodded. "Ok."
He wrote 'Birth father: Not active' on Tai's left side. "Any questions?"
I frowned. "Why do bad people who want to use her new powers?"
Uncle Puck spoke slowly. "The gargoyles and Children have difficulty with having babies. Gargoyle eggs take 10 years to hatch. The Children have a lower fertility rate due to our immortality. Because Talia is part of every Race, it means her babies will be too."
My eyes glowed as I howled. The bad people wanted Tai's babies. Uncle Puck winced as my voice hit him. I lost my breath and slumped on the desk. He gave me some water.
"Alex, you have to understand that there was no way I could predict that Goliath would claim her. I couldn't tell that her ancestor was Nān Ganhān because the blood was so thin. I thought she was a normal mortal." He touched my shoulder.
I stuck my tongue out and blew a raspberry at him.
"Drink your water." He said and I did.
Then lesson time was over and Mommy took me to bed.
Alex's POV End
Kai's POV
Earlier
Alexander and Creator left. I needed to find Mistress. Mistress was getting new powers. I went to clan's section of the castle and saw they were gathered.
"But Father, if what Lady Earth said is true, she's in even more danger now." Angela cried.
"Puck told me that Halflings can only breed with other Races if they change into that race." Goliath said.
"I don't think that applies to Talia anymore." Brooklyn muttered.
"But Thailog doesn't know she has fertility powers." Broadway added.
"He doesn't know yet. He could still add her DNA to clones." Elisa reminded them.
They growled. My ears flattened. Thailog was a Bad gargoyle. He took Mistress and he hurt her.
"We cannot all go looking for her. Thailog would become suspicious. Perhaps two pairs…" Golaith thought. "Brooklyn, Broadway, check the northeast side again. Katana, you're with me. Everyone else, go about your normal routes."
They nodded and spilt off. I waited to see what device Goliath would take, he had a necklace. I jumped in it before he got left the room. They took off and flew west. This wasn't the way to Nightstone. I used my magic to make them turn the way Mistress was.
"This is an odd gust of wind." Katana said.
"We best ride it out. The wind in Manhattan is normally calmer this time of year." Goliath told her.
They were silent as the Nightstone building came into view. I barked as they landed on a rooftop adjacent to it. Mistress was in the other building.
"What was that?" Katana asked.
"The communicator." Goliath answered.
I told him my name was Kai.
He picked up the necklace with his thumb and pointer talon. "I will have Lexington look at my communicator when we get back."
Oh, he was talking about the thingy I was in. It didn't feel sick, but Goliath was clan leader. He was smart.
"Thailog will not like us being so close to his home." Katana frowned.
"I agree, but the wind is too strong for us to cut across it." He hummed.
I told them Mistress was somewhere in Nightstone headquarters. I knew she was and that she was in danger. Mistress needed us.
"Mistress?" Katana mumbled.
"What was that?" Goliath asked.
"I thought I heard something." She said.
Oh, the wind must be too loud for them to hear me. I turned it off. They jumped off the building and flew away from Mistress. I swiped at the communicator. My claws scratched it. I barked louder this time, but they kept flying away.
Maybe they didn't understand my intentions. I would show them I wanted to help save Mistress. I followed the communicator back home and hopped out of Lexington's laptop.
I was still outside. My claws clicked against the stone as I tried to a tunnel to go inside. They were faster than hallways. That's why I didn't get to Fox fast enough. I saw patch of grass and I went to it. I sniffed around. Bronx and Fu-dog had been here sometime after we left.
My ears perked up as I heard something. It was below the dirt. There must be a tunnel there and something was in it. Maybe I can ask where this tunnel goes.
My legs tensed, it was so close… I jumped, sticking my front paws out. I caught the thing and fell sideways. It was furry. I tugged my face out of the ground and shook the dirt off. The thing in my mouth stopped moving now. I put it down. It was a mole and it was dead. But that was good because moles could be eaten. I pushed the dirt back into the hole with my nose.
I picked it up again; Creator would not like if I had left it in the grass, and walked around a bit more. I saw a tunnel entrance above a tower door. I climbed up and tried to go through, the mole was too big. I used my magic and it fit. Mortal things must not fit in the tunnels well.
I found Creator's office. I jumped down and tried to find a place to put the mole. I didn't want anyone other than Mistress's family to find it. They will like what I caught. I tried to dig a hole, but the ground was too hard. It must be stone. I looked around. There weren't a lot of places to keep food.
I hopped onto the chair and it pulled something open. There were small things inside. I nudged them aside and put the mole in. Then I closed the thing and went back to the 'lab.' I curled up in my den, thinking of ways to show everybody I wanted to help Mistress.
Kai's POV End
Owen's POV
I stared at the ceiling as my alarm went off. Puck sighed. Grandmother's visit had given me so many things to think about. I got dressed and served the Xanatoses breakfast. I stood by as they ate, trying to stay focused. The family finished breakfast and then Fox took Alexander to school.
We walked into his office. Mister Xanatos sat at his desk and wrinkled his brow. I was a few feet away from him, but I could tell something was off. He sniffed the air. Hesitantly, he checked all the drawers of his desk.
"Owen." He grimaced.
"Yes, sir?" I answered.
"There's a dead mole in my drawer." He told me.
"A dead mole?" I repeated.
"It looks like its neck was snapped by a dog." He squinted, not wanting to get too close.
"How can you tell?" I asked.
"Bite mark." He said.
The phone rang and he answered it.
"Hello? You found what in the courtyard? Buy traps, get rid of them. I didn't move this castle from Scotland to have pests in my yard. Is that al- Then scoop them out!" He snapped, hanging up. The situation was unnerving him.
"Sir?" I asked quietly.
"They're everywhere. Moles, fish, mice. In my house." He jabbed the air.
I thought. "Sir, I believe Lady Earth did that. Bring the animals, not leave the mole. She probably didn't like how unnatural it felt."
"We're literally sitting above the clouds. What about this is any sort of natural?" He asked.
"It's your sort, sir." Puck teased.
His eyes narrowed. Then the phone rang again. "Hello… My wife? Let me transfer your call."
He did so then he looked at me. "That was Demona, Dominique, I don't care at this point. She wanted to talk to Fox about her proposal."
His cell phone rang. He got it out, exasperated. "The detectives are on their way. They want to see the broken elevator doors. Go escort them where they need to go. And have someone come clean my desk." He added, getting his work laptop.
"Yes, sir." I said.
We went our own ways and I met the detectives at the door. They got out and Elisa huffed in resignation. Detective Bluestone squinted his eyes like the sun was shining in his face. I frowned then Elisa frowned.
"We're here because one of your workers reported one of the elevator doors 'suddenly caving inward and falling down the shaft.' You know what happened?" She asked.
"No, detective." I told her. Her eyebrows wrinkled. "I was instructed to take you where you needed to be."
"Just take us to the broken door." Elisa growled.
I walked front of them, taking them down to the main storage room. The gray and dull dark blue metal was wrapped around the lower third. There were also claw marks overlapping several times. I counted eight original marks. And the elevator's buttons were also scratched as well.
Kai had done some damage, but much less than an average fox spirit. I also suspected that he was behind the mole as well. We had known since he had said hello to us. Puck found it hilarious that he rode in Fox's purse like a tiny dog. And the fact that Kai's tail was wagging happily made it more amusing to him. Kai was a Whitemark fox, a 'domesticated' type of red fox. We were slightly annoyed that Kai had eaten our apples, but we knew that he was just a kit. His behaviors would lessen, in at least half by fox standards, as Mister Xanatos programmed more.
The detectives were looking it over too. They took pictures for formality sake. Elisa sighed. "Show us the tapes, we're not gonna learn anything by looking at this."
I lead them back up to the surveillance room. I found the camera and date they needed and let it play. Fox was walking to the elevator and then she got in it. Detective Bluestone let out a strangled cry, jumping back.
"Matt?!" Elisa turned to look at him.
"Migraine. Real bad… one." He rubbed his head.
I took the tape out as Kai was scratching at the door. This was a copy anyway. "You may keep this as long as you like. I will escort Mr. Bluestone to the medical wing."
"Like hell I'm leaving him alone." She shot back.
"Alright." I said and we went to the nearest elevator.
Detective Bluestone hunched over like he was dizzy and ill. Elisa tried to steady him as it lurched. Puck could smell the sweat building on his brow. He was quickly losing his ability to stand. We reached the floor and the doors slid open. He turned away from me as I assisted Elisa. He threw up not a minute later. Dr. Sato was coming back from lunch. He rushed to get the door as he noticed what was happening. We got him to the examination table and Matthew passed out.
"Shit, Matt. Matt?" Elisa asked.
"If he does not wake in a few minutes, Elisa, then we will worry." I loosened his tie and turned to Dr. Sato. "He said he was getting a migraine. It was very sudden."
He frowned. "What he doing before he got the migraine?"
"We were watching security footage. But I didn't see any sudden flashes or whatever." Elisa wiped the vomit off of his lips.
"Is he allergic to anything?" Dr. Sato asked her.
"No." She shook her head.
"I can see it we have some Treximet, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The best I can do is probably Excedrin Migraine and Compro." He walked out.
We waited in silence. Matthew twitched a few times before waking up. He cut it very close. Elisa watched him.
"Hey, Matt." She spoke softly.
He groaned.
"I know. Dr. Sato's coming back with something soon." She soothed.
The doctor came back and I motioned him to be quiet.
"Matt, what did you see in the footage?" He asked.
"Dunno. Too fast. My eyes hurt." He moaned.
Dr. Sato spoke to Elisa and gave a bag filled with medicine. She helped him up and they left. I went back to work, trying not to let Puck's curiosity distract me.
Owen's POV End
Third Person
Grandmother and Lady Earth returned. They were back in the Great Hall. Some Fae had lingered, but most of them had gone. Titania walked up to the two.
"You smell of the mortal world." She said.
Grandmother started to explain when Lady Earth's voice overtook hers. "Why did no one tell me my daughter was missing?"
"Your daughter?" Titania asked softly.
"Yes, Talia, my daughter." Lady Earth had an edge to her voice and the island rumbled.
The queen was silent for a moment. She glared at the remaining Fae. They scurried away. "Explain."
"I had a vision about Talia's magic. She is a Chimera. Nān Ganhān's magic has awoken…" Grandmother explained.
"Show me." Titania ordered.
Grandmother showed her. She knew the vision did not include the thoughts that preluded it, but she anxious all the same. The queen was still as the vision came to her. She frowned deeply.
"How is this possible?" She asked.
"Goliath claimed her as clan. Nān Ganhān was always a part of her." Grandmother said.
Then Braḥ Phum, Lord Earth, and Muchilinda, the nāga king, appeared. Lord Earth was wearing a green sampot hol and some gold armbands and cuffs. His black hair was slightly shorter than Lady Earth's and not as thick. His skin was a dark, rich brown with an orange undertone.
Muchilinda had decided to be in full nāga form rather than half human. All seven of his heads were focused on Lady Earth, though a few of his tongues flicked. He was large enough to wrap around several mortals and still coil beneath them. Right now, he was grass green with yellow bands. He must have had been sunning. He would mostly likely return to a brown or black now that he was inside.
"Sister, is it true? You have a daughter?" Lord Earth asked.
"Yes, Brother, it is." She told him. "Her powers are coming. She needs me."
"Fuck." Everyone turned.
Grandmother was the one who had said it. A few of the tricksters, Coyote, Raven and Rabbit, turned visible from shock. Nobody was surprised. Of course they would want to hear about Talia's new linage.
"Puck hasn't seen her in years." Grandmother said weakly. "And for her powers to come at time like this…"
Coyote whispered to Raven quietly. Not uncommon, but it was usually the prelude to a prank sometime later. Although with the serious nature of the conversation, it made their whispering ambiguous. Lady Earth's features clouded over.
"Nān Ganhān, do not let your emotions overtake you. We cannot tell them everything, not yet. Thailog has the means to hurt her." Grandmother told her telepathically.
"You agreed to their promise, not I. I gave them until the end of summer." Lady Earth replied.
"Talia does not heal like a normal Halfling. She needs her magic." Grandmother added.
"Who hurt my baby that badly?!" She shouted and Grandmother winced.
"Talia was not happy in her childhood home. Her family did not have enough to feed her. They were too stubborn to ask for help. Her mother and birth father often fought. She… hurt herself badly." She said carefully.
Lady Earth hadn't realized how much her daughter had been through. She was upset that she had been kept out of the loop. She nor her siblings had been told anything. Granted, they were allowed more freedom than the general court as Oberon believed they could rip apart Avalon if enough of them were provoked or upset. (He wasn't wrong.)
Grandmother tried to block out Lady Earth's emotions and attempted to soothe her. It wasn't her fault that the magic had faded. It happened with all mortals. All the Children stumbled as the earth rumbled again, only much stronger this time.
"What is going on here?" Lord Oberon appeared.
"The princess is a Chimera, my lord. And part gargoyle." Titania touched his arm, sharing her memories of the last few minutes.
Grandmother sighed as it thundered.
Third Person End
Third Person
At the same time
Fox saw Dominique sitting far from the other patrons. The scent of fairy magic filled Dominique's nose as Fox walked in. Ever since her son was born, it clung to the human. She sat down and the waitress returned. Fox ordered coffee.
Dominique waited a minute before speaking. "Explain what you meant. Why the trickster's daughter? Why is she so important to Angela?"
"Probably because they're around the same age. And they like similar things." Fox sassed.
She glared at her. "If you're just going to waste my time, human…"
"Angela may be young, but she is a good judge of character. She can tell that Talia is a good person. She was the one who discovered Raven's illusions." The former TV star told her.
"Raven…" Dominique trailed off for a moment before growling. She remembered when the tricksters of the land were curious about her. They had been as annoying as Puck was.
"Here is your coffee." The waitress returned. "Would you like anything else?"
Fox smiled and shook her head. She poured some cream and sugar in before sipping it. The young adult looked at the other women and decided that she was cranky and left them.
"Family is important to Angela. She does want a relationship with you, but not if you don't change your attitude toward humans. And especially not at the cost of hurting the clan or us. That doesn't mean you have to frolic around with humans, just not hurt them. Most of them." Fox said.
Dominique hummed. "I promise nothing."
"I don't need you to. I'm just telling you how to get closer to your daughter." She kept her face slightly playful.
They went silent. Fox was thinking about how the coffee Owen made was better and suspected that he used magic. Puck had found a way around Oberon's punishment, but he still couldn't fully return to his normal body. David had asked once and Owen said it was taxing. They hadn't gotten anything more since.
Demona remembered when Thailog had captured Angela and how afraid she was for her. How relived she was when she saw her daughter flying around a few weeks later. She had to heal from the burns and broken bones; it was more difficult with Puck's curse. Angela was young, she needed to be trained. The humans she had been raised by weren't warriors. She needed to be taught by a real gargoyle. If making sure her daughter was safe meant 'not hurting' the clan or the Xanatoses, then fine.
"How?" Dominique asked. "How do I show them I want to be allies?"
"Not attacking them would be a start. It's going to take time-" Fox said.
"Time I have plenty of." She grinned.
Third Person End
