It is after sitting a few more moments in silence that Papa speaks up again. "Sometink is on your mind."

"Uh. H-huh?"

He shakes his head."Missy, you're not zee type to zone out in broad daylight."

I flush. "Ah. Well, to be honest… I didn't get a restful sleep."

"And vhy is zat?"

I look at him, concern growing on his face. "The wisps. I-I was haunted by the wisps."

Concern turns to sadness, and sadness to frustration all in a matter of seconds. He rubs his face down with one hand and sighs.

Realizing my mistake, I quickly correct myself. "Oh no! They didn't follow me or anything. It's just… The memories they showed me that night lingered in my mind. Which gave me nightmares."

An audible sigh of relief escapes his lips. Still, tension remains on his face. "I truly visch I had more information on zat matter. But, sose visps are somevhat of an anomaly to us. I have no idea how to handle zis, I'm sorry Missy."

"No. Don't apologize, you haven't done anything wrong. I just, I guess I'm letting them get to me."

More awkward silence.

Now it's starting to annoy me, if I'm going to be spending all day indoors, it can't be like this. Wanting a change of subject, and aware that there is nothing else either of us can add to the topic, I ask a question. "Hey, Papa."

"Yeah?"

"Your mother was human, and your father was orc. Was he, full-blooded orc?"

"Mhm."

"So, that makes you a half-blood. A direct hybrid of two different races."

"Mhmmm." He raises his eyebrows.

"I was just wondering how human blood can affect a lineage. In terms of appearance, I mean. At school, I've seen plenty of nativeseeds with traces of other races in them, and then I've seen it the other way around. Nativeseeds with traces of human in them. From what I've witnessed, those who are mostly human, appear human. Save a few obvious characteristics. But those who are mostly Otherworld beings look more fantastical than human. And I've met a girl who belongs straight down the middle. Directly, half and half. And her sylph traits appear far more dominant than her human ones. Honestly, even if she didn't have the wings, it'd still be hard for her to pass off as fully-human. I suppose she could dye her hair, but her pointed ears and slightly-arched eyes give her away."

"Ahh. I actually sink I know just voo you're talkink about." He chuckles.

"I was just wondering how someone like you, who is half-this and half-that could look so predominantly human. I mean, you have those little pointed ears, and your incisor teeth are noticeably sharp…" I point.

Papa grins cheekily. "To be blunt. You haven't seen me naked."

Caught off-guard by his brazen statement, my mouth drops open.

He guffaws. "Ahahahahah! You're so adorable sometimes Missy!"

My cheeks reddening, I puff. "You're such a dirty old man!"

Wiping a tear from his eye, he continues. "In all seriousness, zat is an important detail to brink up. I actually have striped skin." Before I can question whether or not he wears an illusion over himself, he stops me. "I have brownish pigmentations zat stripe my back and arch over my shoulders. I have some zat flank my thighs also. It ends zere. So because I don't vear particularly revealink clothes, you'd never see zem. If pusch came to shove, I could alvays pull zem off as tattoos. You vouldn't know zis, but my fingernails are much more claw-like zan yours."

I feel a little stupid for not noticing.

"Heehee. It's nice to know zat I can still surprise you. Sturm has markinks on his face and arms, so it's more of a hindrance to him zan zee rest of us. He, Thunda and Hurrican vere zee lucky ones to inherit horns."

So… Horns are considered lucky, or attractive, maybe manly? I feel like everything that has to do with orc culture revolves around being manly...

He yawns and stretches in his seat, I mimic him, feeling the urge to do the same.

"Now it's my turn to interrogate."

Aw crud.

"Missy, dear. Have you ever once met your father?"

But I told him this already. I shake my head.

"Do you even know his name?"

Again, I shake my head.

He slumps. "So zere is no vay of knowink if he is alive. I could send scouts…" He grumbles.

"No point. He's dead." I deadpan.

Papa bolts up in his chair. "Dead?!"

I nod. "I'm sorry, I was pretty sure I told you this a few years ago. But maybe we never got to that part? Just so you know, I've never encountered his spirit, but I know for sure that he is dead. Um. So what I know about my father is from what Naiara was willing to share. I know he was a drunken one-night stand, which resulted in me…" I feel a twinge of resentfulness. But one look at Papa makes me compose myself. "Uh. Based on her fuzzy description, he was Native-American. Long, black hair, brown eyes. Most definitely HUMAN." I thoughtfully add.

"He must be, because you are not a hybrid, like myself. But for years I've theorized you could be a cross-pip all along... Maybe you had some extensive magickal heritage from your faser's side you didn't know of..."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait... Cross-pip?" I feel like I've heard that term before at at school.

"Yes, Missy. A cross-pip is a halfling. Directly magickal and non-magickal parents."

"That's what it means, yeah! Most of the kids at school are cross-pips then."

"No. I am sure zey are not. Zey are most likely hybrids."

"Why not Papa?"

"Vizards are an absurdly small part of zee global population. Human vizards even less so. In order, magickal society is predominantly made up of: Oservorlders (non-humans), hybrids (offspring of humans and Oservorlders; like myself), scions (vat vee call full-blooded human vizards), cross-pips (half magick and half mundane humans) and finally vildseeds (human vizards born to an entirely non-magickal family)."

"I... What? Why didn't they teach us this in school?"

"Because it is sometink zat is learned in zee home. It is not necessary to boil sinks down to zee bloodline."

"Because in the real world blood doesn't matter right? Like being mulatto?"

He sighs a pained, but amused sigh. "Yes... It vould be highly inappropriate to teach such sinks in a school environment."

"But I'm guessing there's more to than that isn't there? Social prejudices and such..."

"Unfortunately... Yes. I am glad you caught on."

"So why ask about my father? Didn't we go through this years ago? He was mundane. I never even knew him."

"How did he die? If you know." Papa says rubbing his forehead.

Surprisingly enough, I do. With extra detail at that.

"He… Killed himself."

Papa slowly drops his hand from his forehead and opens his eyes in an extremely cautious and alert manner.

More ashamed of my father, rather than sympathetic for him, I continue. "I'll recap from start to finish: She said that I was an accident and that's why I looked so far apart from my brother and sister. She had a fight with her 'husband' one day, and left to go drinking. She got herself plastered, she wandered off with a strange man and had unprotected sex." Getting annoyed, my pitch changes. "To make matters worse, they were both so drunk, they had no idea they were OUTSIDE. When he was done he zipped up and left, leaving my exposed mother passed out in the street, by a dumpster, adjacent to the bar." Gritting my teeth now, I continue. "She was charged for public intoxication and indecent exposure. And thanks to the wisps- I know exactly what happened afterwards. She was sobered up, kept for a couple of days and tested to be positive for a sudden, unwanted pregnancy. This in turn, destroyed her current relationship, resulting in my brother and sister's father to abandon them in anguish. He threw them out, and my mother, not even twenty yet, couldn't fend for herself. After numerous failed attempts to get him back, which included her trying and failing to abort me- she developed an addiction to anti-depressants and pain killers on top of her alcoholism, and was put in rehab by my relatives. I was regretfully born and plans were made to give me up to the foster care system. But! She couldn't just throw me away without getting in contact with my father. There was an ugly custody battle- she wanted to dump me onto him, he wanted to leave me with her, the whole thing became a family scandal! It would turn out he has no other family, no siblings which would be my aunts and uncles and his parents were long-dead, leaving me no grandparents from his side. My mother's family would not take me in either, they all having families of their own to care for, while a handful were playing hot-potato with my mother's kids. From what she told me, it looked like she was going to win. He was at a legal standpoint where he was financially fit to support me, and aside from his reckless partying behavior, had no crippling reason that could excuse him from taking me in and being my legal guardian."

I bite my lip and close my eyes as I say this. "So… Rather than take responsibility for his actions and assume the role of fatherhood- he decided that he would rather die." I don't tell him that he was found in his home, hung by his own belt. I hope he doesn't ask me where his grave is, because that, I do not know. In terms of inheritance, whatever assets he had left didn't go to me, they went to his debts- which thankfully, I'm not burdening.

I take a look at Papa. He is clearly shocked, having never fully heard the entire story. Over the years I have told him bits and pieces, but specifically worded them to avoid getting to this point. I can see his expression is also riddled with disgust. That only aggravates me further.

"Dass Mutterficker!" Papa shouts, startling me. "Euugh! I can't believe! I don't understand! I just- AAGH!" Papa bolts from his chair and begins pacing- well stomping, around. He runs his hands through his hair in stress. Then he whips around to me. "TO HIS OWN DAUGHTER!" He yells, arms open. Grumbling to himself, Papa continues to pace.

I get up. "No more, Papa. Sit down. It's all in the past."

I put a thoughtful hand on his shoulder, he reaches over to squeeze it. "Now I know vhy you vere alvays so quiet about zat. And about your MUM! To take out her anger on you! To blame you for HER MISTAKES! I ought to-!"

"No!" I raise my voice. "I know it's unfair, and I know the story is nasty. I'm not proud of it… But it's the truth." I look at the clock, and realizing how long we've been idle, I make a suggestion. "It's a little past 5'o clock. Russet should be awakening soon, I'm up for getting something to eat." A monstrous rumble from Papa's stomach seconds that notion. I turn around to make my way to the kitchen, but Papa stops me.

"Don't cook. No cookink today. You're stressed and tired, and you've done enough. I'll order take-out."

The rest of the day passes by quickly, the food is ordered and hastily devoured. I'm left alone in my room while Papa bellows below to Russet about the history behind my existence. Russet has especially surprised me lately, because now I know e concerns emself more about my welfare than e lets on.

I'm sitting criss-crossed on my bed, munching on a small mountain of fortune cookies, passively skimming the fortunes and placing them in a neat little pile.

"The object of your desire feels the same about you."

Yeah, sure. In my dreams. It's painfully one-sided.

"An admirer is concealing their affection for you."

Well he must like something about me if he thought it was worth kissing me. Then the memory resurfaces and it makes gush.

"Love is necessary to human beings as food and shelter."

I agree with that, I think that's true…

"Your worst enemy is secretly pining for you."

My worst enemy? I don't really have any enemies. People I don't like yes, people who don't like me, most definitely. But if I had to compare that to him, then "pining" isn't exactly the right word. Hey, wait a minute! What's with all of these love fortunes?!

It's one particular fortune that springs me into action. "An unexpected relationship will become permanent."

…That's it, I need to write a letter to him.

I hop off of my bed and rush around for decent paper and pen. I dare not write to him in pencil, which is prone to smudging, but I also dare not write to him with scratched out grammatical errors, due to the permanence of ink. That is a cause for several sheets. As for the paper itself, he'll just have to settle for lined paper. Excuse me for not having expensive parchment or a variety of stationary at my disposal. Ain't nothin wrong with a good piece of lined paper- heaven knows without it my sentences would slant. I have the right mind to keep the edges neatly torn off.

"Dear Hieronymous,

It is done.

I am sorry to say that it wasn't as easy to follow through with as I hoped. Mind you- I regret nothing. I was even there to witness the event.

Now I know what you are thinking- that is reckless and irresponsible. But I had full permission. I was merely a bystander. I suppose it was my silent way of saying goodbye.

As Papa was undergoing the spell, I experienced a rare anomaly. Willow wisps appeared in the area, and they were drawn to me. Or perhaps I was drawn to them. I truly believe it was a little bit of both. Papa could not see them, and to my surprise he didn't even sense them. I had to audibly bring his attention to the mysterious wisps. They did not interfere with the spell, but they affected me extremely.

They are the most hypnotizing sight I've ever seen. They glow like soft embers and they float like balls of smoke. I was circled and confronted by them, as if they were studying me. I felt something from them- I sensed a consciousness. The wisps do not speak, they do not emit sound or smell. But they are undoubtedly alive!

At first, the wisps slowly crept their way into me. As soon as they touched my flesh I was transported to another plane. I'm not exaggerating! Everything I relay to you in this letter is absolute truth. I cannot stress this enough.

One minute I was in a dark room, during the dead of night frightened, and facing these strange orbs I had never seen before. The next I was outdoors, it was bright, warm, and I was so incredibly small. My vision was fuzzy, my senses were warped, it all felt dream-like. This was when I realized I was not in my own body. I even looked different! I thought I was undergoing an out-of-body experience, but it was more of a body-switch. With my brother to be precise, he was the first to have his memories wiped. Only I was in a different time, in a different place, feeling everything he felt and seeing everything he saw. I saw a few of his memories, and I was him for a little while. When the ordeal was over, I saw a blinding flash and transitioned back to my proper self, back to my present time. Woozy and confused, but quite alright.

This process was repeated over and over with every family member. Papa would begin the spell, I would feel a strange sensation of being watched and the wisps would show themselves. The wisps acted differently for each spell. The first person, my brother, perhaps made the wisps passive. It is the best term to describe his feelings for me. Passive, uninterested, and a little bored. The wisps seemed to consider me a stranger -what I am to my brother- and once I noticed them, made their way over to check me out.

When the time came to deal with my mother, the wisps were relentless. They were swift and merciless, as were the memories they showed me. Her memories were what brought me to tears, to almost fainting actually. I was in immense physical and emotional pain. The memories were so full of rage, sadness, and a dark, deep hatred.

Finally, my sister. The wisps appeared unsure. I actually had to approach them first, to ask them to go easy on me. That seemed enough to satisfy them. I did not see many of her memories, but I felt so much fear, towards myself. I was her, and she was afraid of me. As her memories were being washed away, so was her visible stress. Once the spell was complete, I could see a faint smile on her face. Relieved that her biggest object of fear was ridden from her mind.

That was that. That is what happened, and I was utterly exhausted from the ordeal.

So there you have it, as promised, you are well-informed. Papa has assured me that my distant relatives will be affected by the spell as well, and he will send scouts for extra measure. Thank you for hearing me out.

-Yours, Lumina"