Chapter 4: The Last Supper

Light, bright and strong, streamed down into the room; illuminating the rough wooden stairs and the barely padded floor, making the figures stir from their spots. The light cut through the darkness of the room and when it touched the six figures and they seemed to come to life. A figure stepped into the doorway and the shadow cut into the light. It was tall, angular and defiantly male; it made light steps down the stairs. Suddenly the figure from the doorway reached along the wall and flicked a switch, flooding the whole room with the harshness of florescent lighting. The well dressed figure spoke and from his place on the floor Sasha could tell it was Lindsey's grandfather, the roughness of his voice was too chipper when combined with the light; like a blade driven between the eyes

"Good morning all," He clapped his hands, "it has been a week, you're families have left clothing for you. When you are all decent we will celebrate your arrival to adulthood."

"Yay." Lindsey voice drifted groggily.

It was funny, Sasha noticed, he couldn't remember anything; not a single detail of the past week. Even now as he sat up the redhead could only really remember the final hours of the carnival, the picture, the rides, and the crappy chili dogs but other then that it is all haze. One definite thing that Sasha could pick up was the feel of the air; it was damp with sweat, musk and one other smell that the redhead could barely remember but it left a pleasant tingling in the base of his spine. Finally making it to his feet, Sasha stretched cat-like towards the ceiling and sighed with the pop of his spine. At the same time he became away of the fact that he and the whole of everyone else for that matter was naked, not that they were uncomfortable like that it was just an odd place to fine themselves.

"Here Cam let me help ya up." Again it was Lindsey's voice

The larger incubus grabbed Cam's forearm and hauled the lithe man to his feet, attempting to steady each other Cam's hand slid up to his friends shoulder. Once sure his feet would hold his own weight the bronze incubus turned toward Sasha and flashed him a smile. The way, in which the harsh light bounced off of the smaller boys smile made Sasha crumple softly, somehow through the time none of them could seem to remember Cam had finally perfected his heart-melting grin. It was bigger and brighter then anything Sasha had been flashed before, even when the pair has sneaked around slightly. Following in the wake of Lindsey's grandfather, the group's naked bodies line the stairs out of the chamber.

A white heat pulsed out from all of them; a warm comforting blaze that Sasha felt at any moment could catch fire completely. There was something magnetic about the feeling the heat gave, it wanted to draw Sasha in to Charis; her slim body twisting lazily in front of him. She rolled her hips as he climbed the stairs and instantly the redhead was glad that Lindsey was leading the pack because he couldn't help but watch. A few steps and Sasha found himself bathed in light and nearly blind in the coatroom sized closet, as he adjusted to the lighting he was aware of the close quarters that they had been given to change.

"Here's your stuff Red." Epica tossed the tunic and pants at Sasha.

Sliding the red cloth over is head Sasha grumbled a reply, "Thanks."

Atty brushed her hand on Cam's shoulder and helped straightened the boy's tunic, joking about how odd the rusty color looked on him. The bronze incubus teased back about the fact that the twins, even now were still dressed in the same clothing. Just before either of the blondes could jump him, the door opened and the sounds of a crowd rushed in. It then occurred to Sasha where they actually were, it was the Counsel Chamber; it was a lot like C-Span as far as Sasha could gather. Member of the community would come and bring forth ideas, suggestions and mostly complaints for the Counsel to rule on. That meant that today the chamber would be packed full as was the custom for greeting newly changed kin.

Knowing the protocol by heart now after several walkthroughs, the six children walked through the open passage way and on to the stage that normally only seated the seven members of the counsel. Today however the platform that normally housed the counsel member was absent and in its place was what appeared to be a great glass contraption that Sasha had never seen before. It looked a lot like a lava lamp but instead of one solid cylinder it was made of tubes and bulbs. It flowed with a pulsing green plasma that cut through the empty air and on the far side of it stood the whole of the counsel.

"Welcome all!" Aloysha's voice boomed over the crowd, "Today is a most important day; not only do we recognize the maturation of six of our kin but with this day we will see the continuation of two bloodlines cut disastrously short."

Sasha flinched and was pretty sure that Lindsey had the same reaction, it always hurt when it was mentioned but for it to be used to single them out seems cold hearted. As the oldest on the counsel and its head no one would ever say something otherwise to him. The redhead felt a pair of fingers trace the side of his leg and he smiled softly, making sure Cam could see it. Before he could gage his friend's reaction, the eldest incubi spoke again.

"So let us begin, children you will be called, anointed and then you essence will be added to the Eternal Mechanism." Aloysha stopped and turned towards the young ones. "Once added you will always be able to return here and we will know you are safe. Lindsey please come forth."

Sasha watched as the blonde incubus moved slowly across the stage towards the center and when he was right in front of the glass contraption, a shadow slipped free of the counsel members. After a second the redhead realized it was a counsel member. Draped in various black cloths, the figured slid across the stage. From underneath the black hood, Sasha could see a pair of yellow eyes looking fron within an unremarkable sable face. The redhead knew who this was, more from word of mouth then actually meeting it, this was the counsel member known as Erebes. It was rarely seen in the public world and spoken to even less often, it was the only thing that no one could seem to figure out if it was male or female. It height and broadness suggested a masculine body but the war it moved its head and limbs spoke of pure feminine.

Erebes leaned down towards Lindsey as if he whispered something in his ear, the young blonde then held out his left hands. Long black fingers gripped the young incubi's wrist, producing a long blade of sliver from the folds of its many robes. Poor Lindsey's eyes grew wide in fear of the weapon and he was forced to stifle a scream as it split open the palm of his hand. If Erebes has sympathy for the little incubus it didn't display it, he simply pushed the bleeding hand to the lowest and largest glass bulb. Sasha watched as a small bit of green plasma, the size of a golf ball, formed where lindsey's hand was pressed.

"Welcome Lindsey!" The whole crowed shouted as Lindey's and Erebes returned to there groups, but not before the clocked being handed off the blade.

Aloysha stepped forward, "Epica please come forth."

As Eppy walked to center stage, her fingers lingered for a moment in her sisters hand and Sasha swore he could taste her apprehension; thick and tart like blackberry jam. The succubae that came forward from the counsel was everything that should be considered beautiful in the world but her appearance was marred by two things. First was the way her face seemed preset to a viscous hateful scowl and the second being the small circular scar that discolored the caramel skin above her heart. Irina, rumor has it that not long after she had changed, she had fallen for a frontiers man and when she showed him her true form. It's easier to say he learned his colt dosn't kill everything; if he lives, he should make a list.

"Produce your left hand." Her voice was smooth, but barely contained her venom.

Doing as she was told, a whine slipped out of both of the twins mouths as her palm was cut. Once again when Epica's bloody was placed on the mechanism and removed, she was healed just like Lindsey and the lava lamp had another ball to add to is seemingly countless numbers. Then came the deafening roar that filled the camber.

"Welcome Epica!"

"Attoinette please come forth." The elder blond called out

Almost before Sasha could blink, the angry visage of Irina was replaced by almost its exact opposite in Seraphita. Short but incredibly busty, Sasha could help but hum and whisper to himself; Ow, she's a Brick-house, She's mighty-mighty, Just lettin' it all hang out. There was a snort off to he right and elbow that dug into his back to shut him up. Even without the musical cues, the way Seraphita's long shock pink hair continued so shift and her green eyes took in the young group seemed to continue the song. When she held the blade for view, she rolled her hips slowly turning the whole act into a highly erotic situation; bringing forth pleasure from the pain.

"Welcome Attoinette." Sasha noticed a hazy awe on Atty's face as her walked back.

"That was amazing." She whispered softly.

To which Cam's voice called back, "I knew you were a kinky bitch."

"Charismatic please come forth." The call of Aloysha covered the sounds of Cam being smacked.

Before walking the redhead murmured to herself, "Oh god."

Charis' indication wasn't remarkable, mostly because it was done by Cyzarine; the only person to truly think that basic cable was corrupting the youth of their kin. Sasha did feel a little bad for her because Cyzarine had cut deeply with the blade, so deep that there was still a thin slice, like a paper cut, when Charis walked back to them. Before Sasha could supply her with redhead love, Lindsey caught her up in his arms and stood like a shield towards the counsel. As Sasha began to speak, the words of the elder overshadowed his own.

"Sasha please come forth."

Walking across the stage, Sasha instantly became aware of the hundreds of eyes that followed him. Somewhere in the multitude he could feel the proud eyes of his Aunt Shi but they were lost under the pressure of the others. He vaguely wondered if that was what this had been like for the others, walking towards the Eternal Mechanism, although most of them had families; Sasha reminded himself to ask Lindsey if he had felt this was after the ceremony. Eyes shifting back in front of him, the red head felt a bit of a smile grace he lips as he looked at the incubus walking towards him and everything seemed to slow down like a running sequence from Baywatch.

The incubus was short, shorter then Cam if that was possible, probably even shorter then the girls but he couldn't be sure. What he was sure of was the fact that the incubus counsel member who looked younger then he did was checking him out. Devilish smile in place, the older incubus let his orange eyes to wander all over Sasha from beneath their curtain of dark violet hair. Feeling as if he missed his invitation, Sasha allowed himself to scope out the young man's body; his eyes paused for a moment as the bare skin between the top of his pants and the bottom of his tunic, the fingers of neon pink teasing at the waistband. Suddenly the incubus lifted onto his tip toes and lean against Sasha, his lips just barely grazing the redhead's ear.

"Okay hotstuff, the name is Uphori and I kinda need your hand. People are waiting." The counsel member teased.

Doing as he was told, Sasha allowed Uphori to slice open his hand, a sharp intake of air followed by the warm rush of blood. It was sticky and partly made Sasha's stomach want to turn but he held it down and as his friends had before him, he placed his bleeding palm onto the glass. Only with his hand pressed to the mechanism does Sasha understand what exactly he had been witnessing before. This contraption, this lava lamp of plasma, was absorbing a tiny bit of their essence from their blood and converting it to the raw energy; in some strange way so that part of them would always be home on the faery plain and they would always be able to find a way back to themselves. This was the core of the hearthing spell.

A great bliss rolled over the redhead as the crowed roared "Welcome Sasha!"

"Cam please come forth." Sasha could barely seem to pay attention as he best friend went through his initiation at the hands of Lesta. Unlike Erebes, whom not much was known, Lesta it was agreed upon by most of the adults that the less children were told about him the better. And more importantly the safer for everyone to just know less.

"Welcome Cam!"

With a grand flourish of his hands Aloysha silenced the entire chamber at once. It was an odd gesture to see, the elder incubus' age and overall pretentiousness seemed to make that movement outside of his ability. In the vacuum left by the absence of sound, the blonde incubi began to run through a series of words in the old tongue; it was customary to end all official meetings of the full counsel with this and he added something extra for the occasion. Of what Sasha managed to catch Aloysha had said, 'and thus we pass our judgments forward for yours is the truth; the only way' and the additional part of, 'Be protected, be prosperous, and be plentiful'. With those words silence descended into the camber again as the counsel members made there level; when they had gone the rest of the crowd clamored to life. It took only a few minutes before the group was surrounded by family and friends, like a suffocating sea of bodies.

Before another hand could grab Sasha, the young incubus found himself wrapped up in a hug, "Hello little Sash, got any love for you favorite aunt?"

"Aunt Sabine?!" Sasha muttered in disbelief

"That's right kiddo; I figured I'd snag you before you got swept away by Shi and the other adults."

Sasha turned in his aunt's grip, "You aren't coming to dinner?"

"Not invited, black sheep and all that." She pushed a newspaper wrapped box into Sasha's hand, "A gift, from an old black sheep to a future one."

As quickly as he had been embraced, Sasha found himself released and his aunt nowhere to be seen. Quickly, the redhead slipped his gift into the pocket of his pants and found himself in the group again. This time however they were no longer standing they were all migrating towards the exits, seeing as they had brought no clothing with them; Sasha was a little surprised to find his necklace in his other pocket. From the corner of his eyes Sasha could see the sideways grin and chain of necklace firmly in place. If it wasn't for being surrounded by friends and family he would drag the bronze incubus back down under stage and go at him but he restrained himself and slipped on his own necklace when he was sure no one was looking. All of a sudden a gurgle of hunger came free from all of the young ones and they grinned at each other

***

The city bustled around the group as they walked down the street, it was some major metropolis and the bright lights cast playful shadows and hues. The sounds of happy of celebrating incubi and succubae filled the air and the smells; sweat, water, bodies and even the scent of the impending snow. Sasha was suddenly aware of something as he walked along the streets; the redhead could feel a slightly tug at the back of his neck like it was falling asleep. It suddenly occurred to him that this was what Lindsey's grandfather was talking about, it was the tether to the fae plain and the moment he noticed it; it vanished.

The group suddenly turned into some nameless upscale restaurant that he was sure was going to be way over priced for something that wasn't going to taste nearly as good as the five dollar burger that he was gonna get afterward. But as the redhead went to enter the glass door a hand gripped his shoulder. The door closed and Shi turned Sasha toward her; the elder succubae ruffled the boys hair.

"So Sasha, how does it feel to be a man?" Shi asked jokingly.

"Like I felt a week ago."

"Ha ha," Fingers ran through Sasha's hair, "Do you're ready to go out into the world?"

Sasha lips pulled into a half smile, "yes I do and you said you would let me."

"I know but I'm still hoping you will reconsider."

"Aunt Shi, if I can help even one person isn't everything worth it?"

"You're the only bit of my sister I have left." The elder succubus brushed her fingers over her nephew's ear, "I just don't want to lose you."

"But I'm also the last part of my father, it's in my blood."

Shi looked her charge in the eyes, a mix of maternal love and fear washed out from her gaze in waves. Just then the waters of her emotion threatened to drown Sasha; Shi relented, pulling the red haired boy into a hug and whispering into the top of his head. "We will talk about this later; Say not a word to anyone."

An enigmatic smile played at Sasha's lips, but he nodded, it wasn't often that Shi spoke of his mother; her sister. When she would actually speak of her, Sasha always did as she asked. And they would talk about it later, when ever she managed to track him down. It wasn't that he didn't love her or that he wanted to lie to her but she would never allow him to do it if he didn't just go for it. She wanted to protect him and keep him safe; but the life of a hunter was more like throwing him to the wolves then protecting him. It was in his blood after all, that wasn't something Aunt Shi had hidden for him; she kept a few of his father's things in the hall closet. His leather jacket, his hunting journal and his belt, those were the only things of his father that he had known.

The pair entered the restaurant and instantly found the rest of the group had settled around a small round table. The waiter came and took orders all around; Sasha found himself sipping on a coke and waiting for a steak and baked potato. As an uncomfortable silence feel on the table, Sasha finally got to look around the table. It was him, Aunt Shi, the twins and their fathers, Charis, Chastity and their parents and at the far side of the table was Cam and his mother and father. Lindsey on the other had wasn't with them, Aloysha had taken the younger blonde away to some place else; not that anyone seemed to truly miss the elders joy crippling presence.

"So," Aunt Si spoke first, "this is fun."

"Oh god," One of the twins father's called, the black haired one from the carnival, "Shiarra you always did know how to make things more awkward."

"Call it a skill Montague."

Instantly, the black haired incubus pouted and Sasha was reminded of Atty, "Shi, stop calling me that!?"

"Love, come on you knew this was gonna happen when we promised ourselves to each other. I mean hell Shi and Sol called us that when we were fricken kids."

"But at least you have a badass name, Capulet. I get Montgomery or Montague, either way I'm a dusty old man." The fathers looked at each other solemnly, Montgomery obviously horrified.

"Kinky" Both Cam and the blonde, Capulet, said together.

"I'm sorry Monty." Shi apologized.

Capulet turned the conversation gracefully away from the awkward tension that was bound to build up by a stroll down memory lane. He turned to Cam's parents and launched into a new topic, while ignoring the puppy dog look from his lover. Sasha fought to suppress a chuckle, they were undeniably made for each other as far as the redhead could see and he envied them. Well not entirely envied them because he did have Cam. His perfect bronze beauty sat across the table from him but couldn't look any more uncomfortable between his parents if he tried. Of course the difference in the family's appearance must have had something to do with it. Both his mother and father were dressing in fine fabrics, each fussing with their watch or jewelry. And when the pair took a moment to pause from inspecting their appearance in a reflective surface they were lighting each others cigarettes; Virginia Slims for Cam's mother and Marlboro Green for his father.

"So Nark," Capulet asked, "Do you and Isis come here often?"

"It is Narkissos, if you please," Dark brown eyes turned towards the incubus and Sasha was at the tone, they weren't like Cam's humble tones, "but yes actually, Isis and I love it, we come here when we work a job."

"A job?" Capulet pressed,"What do you mean."

"You know, what is the gift we bare but sex like know own will ever believe and we offer it."

Isis interrupted, "For a price."

"Of course" Montgomery looked slightly ill.

"You have not earned the right too look down your nose at us Montague," Narkissos growled, eyes flashing red. "We are creatures are blessed with an extraordinary power. We turn human's into our play things and meals but when we offer pleasure they line right up. That is where evolution favored us over beasts like vampires, if their bite was euphoric, more vampires would be around now. Spending so many years after you changed turning tricks on various cities, taking how many dirty back ally lays? Yet you look down on Isis and me, simply because we found a way to make us richer and more well connected then you or your porno husband could ever be. Yeah that right Capulet or do you prefer Romeo Phantasm, I can't seem to recall. The only person so has any right to make a comment about us is Shiarra, you on the other hand can such your filthy mouths."

Before a silence could settle, Shi spoke in small voice but venomous voice, "I think dinner is over."

"I guess it is."

"Come on Cap, Monty, girls; lets go get a burger or two." She said with a sideways smile.

As they all turned to leave, the redhead looked back towards the table, his friend's face and eyes clouded with embarrassment and hot tears. Cam's face was turned down towards his lap, so he didn't even see the look of longing that Sasha attempted to shoot his way as comfort. The next moment he found himself walking down the street looking for a greasy dinner, ahead of him he watched as Aunt Shi went to calm down the fathers who obviously wanted to go back and beat the hell out of Sasha's father. Part of the redhead agreed with them, but a stronger part did want be part of watching Ca be hurt. It didn't matter though because a few minutes later the horrid dinner was lost to a tight pleather booth and cheap food; milkshakes and burgers all around. Hours passed and evening gave way to night before they left, satisfied and joyous, for home. The three children hearthing for the first time on their own, though it came like second nature the parents still split their hearth to insure they returned all in one piece.

Sasha half wondered if Shi expected him to just run off into the city.

A/N: Alright, one more chapter in the prologue. I decided to not end the happiness just yet. Happy Holidays everyone. Please review.

-WordDemon