FIDGET, BATRISHAN PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Time For Truth
"Thank you for taking me to Everglow Beach, Hernan," Geneva said. "It was a delight."
The sun was setting and the happy couple decided it was high time to go back home. As they rode their stallions back to the Denada Cortés Estate, Hernan was quite giddy on the inside, for he couldn't wait for Geneva to see the surprise that Carmen, Fidget, and the rest of the staff prepared for her birthday.
"Hernan, are you alright?" Geneva asked teasingly. "You look like the laughing teenager I met when we were younger."
"I'm just a lucky man, that's all," Hernan answered simply, in order to avoid ruining the surprise for his wife.
They rode up the pathway of pines that led to their mansion, where the front of the house was lighted with lanterns. Carmen and the rest of the staff were waiting for them in front of the main entrance. Geneva gasped at the sight while her husband helped her get down from her horse.
"Happy birthday, Mistress Geneva!" the staff chanted.
"Oh, my friends! Thank you so much!" Geneva cried. "Hernan, you're such a devil!"
"Why, thank you my love," he said as his wife planted a kiss on his cheek. They went to join the others, who shook hands with the mistress of the house and congratulated her for her 36th birthday. Geneva was so happy from the surprise until she noticed that a beloved face was missing.
"Where's Fitzgerald?" she asked.
"The little master hasn't come down all afternoon, Mistress," Jerome said. "He refused to see anyone at all, even Carmen!"
"Carmen, what is the meaning of this?" Hernan asked, getting worried.
"I…I don't know, Master Hernan. First, I saw him going upstairs to decorate a few rooms with flowers that he selected for Mistress Geneva. Next, he snapped at me and refused to leave your room…" Carmen stammered.
Hernan and Geneva's popped open in horror when they realized what this probably meant. Oh, no…
Without an instant, they ran inside the mansion, with Carmen and Jerome trailing behind. Using all the speed they had, they made their way to the staircase that led upstairs…only for them to be blocked by an angry Fidget who was waiting for them at the bottom of the staircase.
And nobody was kidding when they meant angry. Fidget had the darkest angry face he had ever made throughout his entire childhood; even the angry faces he made when his parents punished him for small misbehaving were nothing compared to the one he gave right now. His angry, frowned eyebrows made to perfect shape for an upside down arch. Black shadows grew under his frozen, red irised, golden eyes; it was as if he never slept. He definetly did not have a happy smile and his arms were cross-folded for the very first time. This child meant business.
"You never told me the truth," he said quietly.
" Fidget…w-what do you mean?" Geneva asked anxiously. To answer her question, Fidget thrust something out of his shirt and held it in front of the Denada Cortés and Carmen. The adults were mortified to see that Fidget was holding by the strap the medallion that they had locked away in their cupboard six years ago.
"Fitzgerald, I thought I told you to never open that cupboard…" Hernan began to say firmly.
"Why? So I couldn't find this?" Fidget kept saying angrily as he clenched the medallion in his hands. "Why aren't you telling me the truth? And why are there people like me on that medallion?"
Geneva and Hernan looked at each other nervously. They had hoped that such a day would never come, especially while Fidget was still young. They were now tongue-tied. Fortunately, Carmen took the lead.
"Fidget, do you remember when the ex-commander Pizarro and a few other Aldoradians called you a Batrishan?" she asked as she sat down on a step so that her head could be at the same level than Fidget's.
"Yes." Fidget frowned. "What about it?"
"Do you know what a Batrishan is?"
Fidget shook his head, not noticing Carmen's eyes sending a silent message for Hernan to continue. The latter took a deep breath.
"Batrishans were a unique civilization. Any scholar or knowledge-seeker in the entire world would fight to learn the Batrishans' arts and sciences, which influenced a lot of human cultures," Hernan explained. "The Batrishans…were your people, Fidget."
"What? I'm a Batrishan?" Fidget gasped as his parents nodded. He fell on the steps in shock and Carmen held on to him for support. "But…if I'm a…Batrishan, then how come I'm here?"
"Fidget, we hated lying to you, but we didn't want you to dwell on the misery." Geneva knelt in front of the Batrishan and held his hands as they looked through each other's eyes. "Six years ago, the news reached Aldorada that the homeland of the Batrishans was destroyed by a god. We don't know why it happened, but scouts came back confirming that there was no more Batrishan walking the earth."
"We believed the rumors of the Batrishan extinction until you came, Fitzgerald," Hernan continued. "We don't know how it happened, but somehow, you managed to survive the genocide of your people. And somehow, you managed to be taken away from your homeland and at the other side of the world, where Aldorada is."
"I'll never forget the day we found you," Geneva sighed. "It was on St. Fitzgerald's Day. We were late from mourning to our late son, your brother William, and when we arrived at St Alejandro's Chapel, the tuck had found you at the doorsteps, outside, in the rain."
"But who left me in front of the chapel?" Fidget asked. "I don't understand…"
"Neither do we. But once I saw you in the casket were you were held, I…I knew I wanted you as my son! You were left in the rain, probably cold and hungry, and once you saw me, you…you started laughing happily! How could I refuse the Lord's gift after I lost my first opportunity of being a mother!" Geneva began crying and Fidget began to look horrified. He did just what he never wanted to do: he made his mother upset.
"Mommy! I'm sorry…I didn't mean to make you cry!" He gave his mother a hug. The latter quieted down as she hugged him.
"Fidget, I know it's a lot to take in one day," Hernan said, resting one hand on Fidget's left shoulder, "but your mother and I love you no matter what. We adopted you so that we could all be a happy family and we made sure that you could have the best life possible despite your loss."
"But…what about the medallion thingy?" Fidget asked.
"We noticed it was on your neck when you first came inside this house," Carmen explained. "But when Hernan tried touching it, it started burning his hands, and since we were afraid that you'd suffer the same way, we took it away from you."
"Your mother and I then consulted Melchior, a mage," Hernan continued, "and we were able to learn a little bit about your heritage. The carving on your medallion depicts Batrishans worshipping your people's god, Ashiva, and the gold's value was much richer than 30 carats of gold. It meant that you were born among the priests of your people and are supposed to be the purest of them all."
"But…I thought priests couldn't have kids," Fidget frowned. "And what about the black stain I saw behind my medallion?"
"Melchior said that with the rarest purity came the rarest darkness," Hernan said sadly. "And that, if you succumbed to darkness, Fidget, you'd become the darkest villain in history."
Fidget hugged Geneva, burying his face in her dress.
"I don't want to be a villain! I don't want to!" the poor child cried.
"We know, honey," Geneva caressed her son. "But your father and I tried everything! We tried rubbing the medallion, having a goldsmith examine or melt it, and throwing it down a well. But nothing worked. Your medallion just came back, untouched and with the rooting stain remaining. So we resolved to keeping it locked away in a cupboard."
"I don't blame you for what you did, Mommy," Fidget sniffed as he gave puppy eyes at his mother. "You and Daddy only wanted what was best for me."
"Thank you for understanding, Fidget," Hernan smiled. "We're sorry we didn't tell you the truth sooner."
"And I'm sorry I looked through your stuff. I stumbled on the box while I was looking for a doily to put under the vase that I placed on Mommy's table…"
This made Carmen laugh. "You were looking for a doily? Why, my dear lass, why didn't you just tell me? I keep all the doilies in the kitchen closet where we stack all the table decorations for when we have guests!"
Fidget raised his hands in frustration. "Well how was I supposed to know? Mommy's the only one who makes doilies in this house."
"Good grief, he's starting to talk like Jerome," Hernan chuckled. "Geneva, how shall we punish him?"
"I wonder," Geneva gave a pondering face until an idea popped. "I know!"
She started tickling Fidget's stomach, which made the young Batrishan fall on his back and laugh a lot.
"NO! AAAAAH! PLEA-AAAAAH! NOT THE-AAAAAH TICKLING!" he laughed as he was being assaulted with lovable tickles.
"I agree, Geneva. He needs to be punished with tickles." Hernan joined in the tickling while Carmen sighed at the sight of the happy family.