Chapter 1

One month. One month had passed since their twins had unexpectedly began aging rapidly and the only way to rectify the situation was to send them to Faery. There was no other option and though Niall had vowed to keep in contact with the parents left behind, all they had received over the past four weeks was a couple of letters, letting them know things were fine and they would not age rapidly any longer, allowing them to remain looking as though they were 18. They would age like any other fae while in Faery but could no longer live in the human realm. Because of the vamp blood within the twins, it had created a unexpected effect and had caused them to go from toddlers to ten year olds to eighteen within a matter of minutes. It was thanks to Niall managing to cast magic stopping it albeit temporarily, to allow Eric and Sookie to decide what to do. To lose one to give the other a slower aging process as well as revert them to a toddler state. Or to send them to Faery.

The choice had been easy yet difficult. For it allowed their kids to live…to both live….but would not be allowed to live with their parents. And they would now live as adults and learn under Niall for the time being rather than Eric and Sookie. It was a bittersweet thing, really. Now, as they sat on the roof of the cozy yellow farmhouse that had felt emptier the past month, they looked a the sky as clouds were rolling in. "Smells like a storm coming." Sookie breathed in the sticky night air. It Didn't take her fairy-vamp abilities to tell her that. Bon Temps was due for a good old fashioned thunderstorm. "Seems like we are always getting storms of other kinds lately though." she mused.

"Hmmmm." murmured Eric as he leaned back against the roof of their house. Looking up at the storm brewing overhead, he turned to look at her sprawled next to him. "But we always seem to come out better than ever with every one. As much as I don't care for the situation myself, the alternative would have been-"

"Worse, I know…..but I didn't hardly get to fill in the baby books….and all the stuff we got from the baby shower…..well, I guess it would be good to donate it to those in need but-"

"you're rambling again." he grinned at her as she got all in a tizzy. "Niall promised he would let us know when we could visit, that he needed to work with them to help them adjust. He's not trying to take our job away from us. But they need to be aware that there could always be another Mab out there."

"Always practical….well, mostly, when your temper is not overwhelming your common sense." she said with a sigh.

"That temper has helped get us out of many a bind." he reminded her.

"It's also left the woods out there a hot mess." she retorted. "At least you followed through with having the crew come in to fix it…..what they could, anyway. I know you need your release when you get like that and I would prefer trees to be the victim rather than people."

Clasping her hands, he turned back to the sky above them as drops of rain began to fall, yet neither of them moved. He meant to say something else to reassure her but a flash of lightning swept around them. Then they realized it wasn't lightning and saw they were being joined by the erstwhile Niall

Chapter 2

"May we have a chat where it's not about to rain cats and dogs?" Niall asked as they both got to their feet and nodding, Sookie used her power to transport them to the living room where many a important talk had taken place over the years, tonight no doubt, would add to that storied history. The rain began to slam against the window as real lightning this time lit up the sky.

"How are they? Can we visit them? Are they mad at us for sending them-" Sookie blurted as her grandfather sat in a new leather chair they had bought the other day, part of an entire new living room set actually.

"That is why I came to see you two. There has been some….trouble." Niall bit his lip, unsure of how to continue. "Apparently the cleansing of those who were secretly working for Mab was not entirely successful and the ambush that followed…..if I had only been able to see it coming…"

"What. Happened?" demanded Eric as he grabbed Niall but the collar, lifting him off the ground several inches as Sookie swept over, panicked as she grabbed his arm and tugged at it. It was only for her that he stopped but it took a couple moments for him to release the faerie and to put his fangs away. Still, he radiated anger, frustration and, yes, there was a sadness to him that only Sookie and perhaps Pam could ever be allowed to truly see, to notice in him.

"They fought valiantly, using the skills inherited from both of you….but before I upset you any further, I should tell you they are both fine, though Adele sustained serious injuries she is almost fully recovered from. She is, however, feeling rather…angry."

"Angry?" Sookie frowned. "At us?"

"She feels abandoned even though I explained to them the full story, that because they were conceived when he was briefly human." Niall nodded to Eric. "But that the spark of vampire still resting within his blood caused them to age too rapidly, so suddenly. That to stop it, they needed to move to Faery. Nevertheless, she feels as if you both have given up on them. Abandoned them. And now, we have some lingering rebels loyal to Mab to deal with. Needless to say your kids both want vengeance on those who attacked us."

"Sounds like they really have taken after their father in that respect." Sookie wiped a tear away as she looked sideways at Eric, who looked almost proud at hearing of his kids lust for a good battle. "Can we go see them…please?"

"Yes but we need to be careful. My people have been able to eliminate all but three of the rebel fae and three may not seem like many but the power they wield was inherited, taught to them by /mab herself. Dark faerie light is quite dangerous magic to possess, though good fae can wield it. Caution must always be used however, as the roots of such power is in darkness. I have seen it ruin many good fae and it is the reason why I have been forced to put down so many in the past. The dark light took over their hearts and minds, turning friends into foes."

"Great…..I don't have any of that power, do I?" she asked.

"No, it is not something one is born with. It can be absorbed into one and even then, it takes a great deal of power for it to bond with the host. The three running around Faery right now, are as wicked if not more than Mab herself; and with their strength and the power of their dark light, it is possible for them to turn more to their side, spreading the dark light to those of good. That being said, dark light magic can be used for good."

There was a tense silence as they took in this information. "Let's go see the twins." Sookie said, trying to put a brave face on, fearing what the dark magic could do to her if it came to facing one or all of the three apparent "dark fae".

Niall nodded and opened the passage to Faery and in the blink of an eye, the three passed through into the other realm.

Chapter 3

"Should we be prepared for a fight with them? How much do you think they hate us, especially Adele?" Sookie was babbling as they approached the palace. "They have to know we didn't have a choice, I mean we did, but if we made the other choice-" she stopped as Eric grabbed her by the arm and stopped her from walking any further.

"We made the only choice we could have. There was no way we were going to sacrifice one to save the other, to allow that survivor to grow up fairly normally. We saved both of them this way. don't second guess yourself. We were right in doing what we did."

"He's right. I only told you of that other option because I wanted to be honest, that there was a way to save one and allow them to live I your realm, aging normally. I knew you would choose the ethical choice, granddaughter and for that, it only proves you are worthy to be in my royal bloodline."

"Well, right now, I am not feeling too regal." she replied glumly as they finally were let into the palace, guards were posted everywhere, all on alert for the rebel fae that could be anywhere.

They kept waling until they reached a wing of the palace that Niall had granted to the twins. "And there is a suite for the two of you whenever you choose to visit." Niall said as he explained the twins living situation. "They want for nothing yet have asked for very little. Spoiled brats, they are not."

"That is good to hear." Sookie said as they stopped at a set of double doors, guarded by the most elite of the fae guards. Letting them into the suite, they closed the doors behind them as they stopped in a sitting room, where there was loud music blaring and the smell of blood was detected by both Sookie and Eric, knowing full well that the kids did need to have some blood in their diet to be at their best. And then, the music stopped as the two sitting on the couch looked up from their magazines. Both were dirty blonde and their eyes had changed color slightly, to blue with strange yet beautiful streaks of brown. A perfect combination of their parents, the slender and tall twins got up slowly from the couch, Adele looking almost thunderstruck while Hjalmar actually walked over to his parents and gave them hugs.

"It's good to see you….mom…dad." he said, sounding slightly awkward. They hadn't met in a month yet it had seemed far longer like that. "Sorry about her, I guess she's having-"

"You Don't have to talk about me when I am right here!" Adele screamed angrily as her fangs came out. Storming upstairs to the second floor of their plush suite, she left her brother looking almost embarrassed for her behavior.

"Look, I understand how she feels but I don't feel the same….you guys did what you had to do save us. But she….she's had a hard time since the attack. She felt like she was unprepared for this, abandoned. Said something about feeling like how Willa must have felt when dad skipped town for half a year."

Niall patted Sookie's arm gently. "I think I will leave you two to handle this situation. If you have need of anything you have only to say it aloud, I will hear you wherever I happen to be." and he left the suite.

"There's so much I want to tell you both….." Sookie said as she looked up at her son, who was nearly as tall as his father. "I am so sorry for-"

"Why Don't we go have a drink and let those two deal with that they need to and hopefully tonight, we can have time to catch up, together. I can give you a tour of our place, if you want, its so big, it doesn't feel like two suites in one, it feels more like ten."

"I'd like that." She said as she wiped a tear from her eye and looked at a uncomfortable looking Eric who seemed to be unsure of his next move. Comforting Sookie had become second nature to him but the kids, ha had barely gotten used to dealing with them as babies and now with them as teenagers….it was yet more unfamiliar territory. She walked over to him before heading off with her son. Taking his hands into hers she looked up at him. "Come on, you have dealt with far worse in your life than a sullen, angry teenager. You can handle this."

"it's just…so strange….but another challenge I will of course triumph over." he said slowly, a trace of his usual arrogance and swagger returning to his voice. He let her hands go. "If I go flying across the room due to her light blasting me away…."

"I'll come to your rescue if I hear any commotion. Though the image of you being blasted is something I would prefer not to happen." she kissed him before they went their separate ways. With a sigh, the Viking headed up a set of stairs headed to parts unknown and hoping for once, that maybe his kids didn't in fact, inherit his infamous temper.

Chapter 4

He came to a open door that looked like any typical teenage girls room. Save for the balcony that overlooked a actual faerie kingdom. Slumped on a cushy pink loveseat, Adele was angrily rifling through a book, trying to ignore the unwanted guest. Finally, she had enough. "What do you want?" she asked, throwing the magazine aside. Dressed in black jeans and a dark navy t shirt, she hardly dressed like some prissy faerie princess. Which was a relief to her father, though certainly he had no issues with faerie princesses. He had, of course, married one.

"I came to visit you." Eric replied simply. "And no doubt you have heard the whole tale of everything that brought us to this point. But if you had stayed back in our world-"

"I know, I know. Would have shriveled up into faerie dust. Or vamp goo, or, whatever. We're such freaks! We are, according to grandfather Niall, apparently a perfect blend of you and mom, yet thanks to the vamp blood, we can't stay in the other realm. Yet she became part vamp and she's fae too and yet-"

He wanted to explain the sticky mess as best he could. He and Sookie had talked about it at length over the past few weeks and on one of the few letters they had gotten over the past month, Niall had come to conclude officially that it was the magic that had temporarily rendered their father human save for a small, still vampire spark within him, that had caused the trouble. And Eric revealed this information to his daughter, who looked slightly less furious but still appeared ready for a fight. He couldn't; help but smirk at that fighting spirit within her. "If there was any way you two could return to live in the other realm, if we had had any clue that this would have happened when-"

"What? If you had known this was going to happen, you wouldn't have had us?" Adele was back to full angry mode.

His own temper was being strained and he felt his control on is being tested. "We never expected we were even able to have kids, even when I was in my…altered state. But here we are and there is no changing any of this. I was hoping that I could teach you and your brother some fighting skills. Rumor has it there are some rogue fae lurking about."

Adele's face paled a little and her anger abated slightly. "Grandfather has taught us how to use our powers…..but he was not much help in helping with our other side" Adele finally managed a weak smile at her father as she made her fangs pop down. "Niall's told us all kinds of stories….even managed to show us things with his magic about you and your past."

A knock came at the door as a timid looking Sookie poked her head around the doorframe. "Safe to come in?"

"Yeah…..I guess it is."

Sookie, Hjalmar and Niall entered the room and the faerie ruler gave the reunited father and daughter a appraising look. He cast a hand out at a mirror that hung over a ornate fireplace and flashes of events from the past appeared upon its surface. The trouble with Marnie and the witches, the situation with the maenad…..it was like watching old home movies. "I made certain your twins knew the character of their parents, that they were born of noble, regal stock."

"Yeah." agreed Hjalmar. "And I would really like to get my hands on that sword of yours, dad." he grinned at his father who looked as pleased as could be. But then there came a realization that for some reason, had not hit any of them until right at this moment. "We can't go meet the rest of our family, can we? Unless we want to go from 18 to dead in minutes."

"Never say never." Niall said with a sneaky looking smile. "It may be true that you can not stay in the human realm for long, I am working on something to help you so you can travel without fearing your own demise. For now, I need help purging the realm from-"

A violent noise from outside forced the family from the room out to the balcony. Looking down from their vantage point, they gasped as they saw a series of explosions. Several buildings in the city were damaged. "Looks like a fight's a comin'" Adele said with a grim look on her face. "And there seems to be more of the rebel fae than we thought."

Swarming towards the palace, launching a coordinated attack of dark, burgundy balls of light, no fewer than fifty fee were making a beeline for the magically protected palace. Niall had no intention of hiding within the safety of the palace and as he followed some of the palace guards out of the palace, he beamed with pride at the unified family racing behind him, ready to join him in the lopsided battle.

Chapter 5

Light flashed overhead, to the sides and straight into the bodies of those trying to attack and defend the palace and what it stood for. The dark faerie rebels were fearless and had swiftly made quick work of several of those trying to defend the palace, Niall and his strange blend of a family. Sookie watched out of the corner of her left eye her daughter unleashing violent blasts of light at every rebel she could and looking to her. And then Adele leapt up, higher than any mere fae could and hovered in mid air for a moment. Grinning wickedly, the teen swooped down and in a smattering of fangs, blood and light, Adele made quick work of a pair of rebels that had so nearly reached Sookie.

"Thanks." Sookie said as she herself took out one of the rebels, who were rapidly dwindling in number.

Adele landed softly on the ground. "I didn't know I could do that until just now. And let me guess….that comes from the other side of the family?" Adele nodded towards her father who was dispatching many more rebel fae with his own brand of violence. Heads were rolling, literally as he seemed to relish bathing in the blood being spilled. "Viking, through and through, huh?" Adele said, gaping at the messy scene and her father, in the center of the fae that were turning their attention on him now for the most part.

"Yeah…..that's your dad." Sookie said with pride, watching her husband make easy work of the rebels and for a moment, his blue eyes met her brown and in that instant, she knew he was clearly enjoying the fight, but that he was fighting to keep them all safe. It was all he wanted for those he loved and as brutish and as violent as he was acting in this instant, she knew the goodness within him. And she believed that Niall had made that point come across to the twins. That their father was much more than some ancient Viking warrior, that there was more to him than all of that. But there was not time for being sentimental, rather, they needed to fight and destroy the latest threat to them all. And flanked by her twins, Sookie took charge and summoned both sides of her being and worked on cleansing house. Seeing their mother fighting alongside them, the twins gained a new respect for their parents and felt like they were bonding-not in the typical way a family would bond. But then again, they weren't exactly the most typical of families. Niall dispatched of a handful and looking around, Sookie saw the dust piles all around them that signified dead fae, with slicks of blood splattered around as well. It was carnage, to be sure. All was seemingly calm as the family was finally able to relax.

"Where's…dad?" Adele had a hard time saying that word, for they had been so briefly reunited and it felt like they were still strangers in a way. Still, the battle had shown the twins the determination that their parents had had for them, what they would do to protect them. Certainly, there was love for their parents from the twins, of that there was no doubt.

Niall frowned. "He was just over near that building, last I saw. I saw a fae go flying and then there was a blast and a blur…." he trailed off as Sookie raced towards the alley between the two faerie buildings in the city. He held the twins back as they went to follow. "Sookie!" he called out to her in anguish. "Don't-"

He was cut off by the sound of a scream so anguished, so mournful that it even caused the ancient faerie to feel and share the pain she was experiencing

To Be Continued