5 - The Return

Some days I look around and it feels like the years have sped by, other times I feel every hour weighing on me. It was almost time... one hundred years since I became an Entaent... Almost one hundred years since my son was taken…

It was about ninety years ago Sama threw everyone into a state of chaos. Twice. Once by becoming the first Darkling then again by proving that Darklings can be created from Vampires. We learned very quickly that Seph had been in trouble when that happened. The Grandmaster spent a few weeks arguing with the Vampires over who had jurisdiction in this situation – they had intended to put him on trial but because he was not technically a Vampire, they had no hold on him so he was released – though it had taken a few decades for the other Vampires to set aside their grudges and distrust.

What got the most attention, though, was his seeming resurrection. It was concluded that Vampires are not truly dead – they simply exist in a form of stasis. Frozen in the moment just before death. She did not resurrect him, she simply resuscitated him. A small number of Vampires had approached asking for her to do it again but most had heard Seph admit that it was by far the most pain he had ever endured and that included a few returns from the brink of destruction.

Those two were happy, still living in Sama’s apartment building and watching over the city. Grant and I... well, we had been using illusions to age ourselves but it was now time to decide whether to change our names and claim to be our own relatives or move to a new city.

I sighed as I watched the city slide by. Grant was quieter than usual as he drove – he had been getting more withdrawn as we neared the end of the hundred years. I probably had, too... I could think of little other than Steven. Sighing, I tried to focus on the world outside the car.

Not much had changed in all these years. Thanks to Oberon allowing the Sidhe to quietly move into the cities, those capable of passing as human had begun doing so. They got jobs and worked their way up in big companies nationwide, gaining power and influence. They had prevented a lot of ‘advances’ from reaching people, holding them back, preventing expansion. They had made some progress in environmental conservation.

Gas vehicles were only used for show now. Most vehicles ran on renewable energy. Ours was one of the nicer electric cars and though I liked it... well... sometimes I missed our old gas drinkers. We still kept a few of the classics we both loved hidden away. They were as much an investment as a pleasure to look at. If we ever needed money – auctioning one would bring in a fortune. That didn’t look like a concern, though.

The Elves had infiltrated the fashion world, dictating everything from clothing to architecture. They encouraged building up rather than out – creating large apartments with every few floors being dedicated to open air gardens and markets. The trend was quite popular and offered even more places for the Sidhe to call home within the cities. Vampires found it quite easy to get along as well.

There was still a ‘bad side’ of town. The area most people avoided. Seedy bars, run down hotels that charge by the hour, unfriendly looking folks that watch you without seeming to. People who resisted or couldn’t afford change. As long as the majority of the city is nice, all the parts visitors are likely to see, most people just look the other way. It’s places like this where Vampires still control things. Quietly.

Of course a great many live in the nicer parts of town, hiding in plain sight. As long as the lawn gets cut, flowers watered and newspapers are picked up – no one cares that they never really see the ones living there.

All in all, a balance had been found. Of course there were the usual pranks. Old habits borne of boredom are not likely to die and many of the Sidhe are long lived. Boredom is inevitable. Some of them had found a useful direction to turn their attention, though. A handful of Sidhe had gotten together and studied technology.

They pioneered some great advances in virtual reality and found ways to make it as affordable as any other game console. Though a number of independent groups were making games – they produced the majority of them. A large number were billed as ‘fantasy’ but there were quite a few relaxing titles that were more like miniature vacations as well as some organic sci-fi titles available. Most of them were being used to subtly get humans accustomed to the Sidhe and their ways.

There was also a ‘hidden image’ game developed that Oberon had forbidden them to release. We had gotten to play it and it was really a lot of fun. In it you walked through a forest, trying to find and take pictures of Sidhe. Were humans to begin playing it they would quickly learn how to see fairies, goblins, gnomes and all the other creatures they habitually overlook. Not knowing what to look for, their brains only register sticks, leaves, or rocks and they keep moving.

It was almost time for Titania and the traditionalists to decide whether to admit that the new ways were working or insist on a return to the old ways. The Sidhe had enough social, economic and political power now that they could easily shut down a large part of the civilized world if they wanted. I doubted she would give that up. A lot of the Sidhe hatred for humanity had fallen away over the years. They still weren’t entirely fond of them and certainly did not see them as equals but that was slowly changing, too. A little at a time.

I looked away from the window and leaned over, resting my head against Grant’s shoulder. Just a couple of weeks left... a couple more weeks and Steven would be released.

“Stop worrying.” Grant said softly. “It won’t do any good.”

I nodded but I couldn’t help it. So many years of waiting and guilt. So many years lost... would he forgive me?

“TAKE THAT!” Seph crowed amid the sound of explosions. Sama grinned, looking up from her book to see their daughter reach our, push him over and begin her retaliation. The girl had grown up with a controller in her hand – she and Seph were pretty evenly matched in most games. The two sat on the floor in front of the TV playing one of the many ‘capture the flag’ style games they loved so much.

“However will I recover from that?” Ace lamented sarcastically just before Seph’s character stumbled across one of the traps she had set and died.

Sama watched the two with a happy sigh. Seph looked quite different these days. Everyone had been surprised when his hair began growing again and turned out to be a dark blond. She had trouble getting used to it – he just looked wrong without black hair but he quickly got tired of the dye. It hadn’t been much of a problem when he was a Vampire since it took a lot of focus and blood to make hair grow by will alone – one of the few physical functions the Vampires had trouble with for some reason. Most didn’t bother, preferring wigs if they wanted long hair. He had enjoyed most aspects of being alive again. The worst part had been the constant presence of curious Entaent who wished to question him. It was the first time there had ever been a chance to learn about the differences between them and Vampires from someone who had experience as both.

The decade after that had been busy... Things were strained with the Vampires. Some feared or hated her for stealing one of theirs, worried she would start turning them all so she could control them. No amount of assurances could calm them and it didn’t help that quite a few wanted to change. Seph talked a few of them out of it and after agreeing to try it on one of the others, Sama tried talking the rest out of it. Seph had put forth a lot of effort to keep quiet during the process... even then his pain had been evident. The others... their screams and convulsions were horrific. Ma didn’t care but Sa found it very hard to handle.

Still, Ma didn’t like doing it, either – it left her weak. For a day or two afterward she couldn’t maintain focus and barely spoke at all. Sa hadn’t noticed the first time – she thought Ma was just being polite by staying quiet. It was a few days before she learned that the silence had not been intentional and the little she had spoken took significant effort.

With both of them being Darklings, Ma hadn’t been quite as loud about her disapproval of Seph. Eventually he started to grow on her, too, though. It took about fifty years but she had become quite fond of him. Watching him negotiate with Vampires and Sidhe – Ma had to admit he had an almost Demon-like mind. Sa was relieved to not put up with as many rude remarks and general feelings of revulsion. She still had to deal with it when there were Vampires around but Ma had gotten better at not being too loud.

Then there was their daughter... Grace. She and Seph had just enjoyed life together for a couple of decades before deciding to have their first child. The other Darklings seemed to be able to have one every twenty years or so. Ma said that was about twice the length of time possible for Demon children so it made sense. It brought up more questions from the Entaent, though.

Something that did make everyone happy was that when a Darkling and Entaent couple had a child it would either be one or the other. Because of this the number of Entaent had increased over the years. There were questions as to Sama’s limitations – it was known that as the first – she was an exception to a few things. She alone could make a Darkling out of humans and Vampires. The others who had tried had only failed. A few were pushing her to find out whether she was an exception to the limitations of bearing children but she just didn’t want a bunch of kids running around. Maybe someday.

She had been worried enough with Grace – her own birth parents had been so neglectful and generally terrible that she worried she would either end up as awful as them or overcompensate which was just as bad. Seph had assured her everything would be fine and it had been. Both of them had enjoyed raising Grace (who proclaimed her name to be ‘Ace’ when she was thirteen and decided she was going to be a pilot after mastering most of Seph’s flying games).

True to her word, as soon as it was legal she began studying to get her license. For her 21st birthday her grandparents bought her a small airplane. Because of their connections she even made some good money flying some of the wealthier Sidhe to business meetings when they didn’t want to wait for a regular flight.

Things changed a bit after her awakening, though. She had to pay some of the Elves to develop a special set of VR goggles that showed her the dash and skies without being blinded. Once they had the design settled on she had them make a few pairs so she would always have a backup set on hand.

Though Ma had grown accustomed to Seph, she adored Ace. The girl was clever, enthusiastic to learn everything and a bit snarkier than Kiera ever was. Something Mom thought was hilarious.

She missed having Ace home all the time... but she did make it a point to stop by every day. She had her own city to look after but insisted on popping in to challenge her Dad to a game before sundown. It had become almost a ritual over the years and there were few things as amusing as seeing the two of them dancing around like children every time they picked up one of the newly released games and got to play for the first time.

Ace crowed triumphantly as she pulled off a great shot with a sniper rifle from a near impossible distance and Seph’s character died again. “Ready to surrender yet, old man?”

“Never!” Seph laughed.

“Well, the score there says you might as well.” She smirked, dropping the controller. “And I have to get going. Never a boring day, right?”

“Rematch!” Seph grinned. “I demand a rematch!”

“You got it.” She smiled, hugging him before hurrying over to hug her Mom. “See you guys tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Sama hugged her tightly, smiling at the girls’ wild hair. She still put a colorful streak in her own now and then but Ace was all about one-upping her parents. Her own blonde hair was streaked with black and blue. She fit in quite well with the Vampires of her city and even a few of the Sidhe had taken to emulating her. Ace was charismatic enough that she managed quite well in her position. It seemed almost like everything was as easy for her as it had been difficult for Sama.

Unfortunately that charisma was not enough for the Grandmaster to have found her a partner. There were a few partial matches but nothing strong yet. She didn’t seem to mind, though – if she was lonely she didn’t really talk about it. Every time Sama broached the subject she just laughed and pointed out that if she had someone else to deal with there wouldn’t be time for video games anymore.

Seph put the game away and dropped onto the couch next to her. “I have to get more practice in... or just stop buying her copies of everything so I can get an edge.”

“It’s your own fault for getting her hooked on them.” Sama pointed out, grinning. “Maybe next time challenge her to Pong?”

“I do have a better chance with that one...” He chuckled, kissing her. “Any plans for today?”

“I need to go visit Mom. It’s almost time and she sounded pretty stressed last time I talked to her.” Sama sighed. “I’m still debating whether to tell her about some of the others seeing more people from the Order hanging around. I heard they are getting more noticeable in a few places but they aren’t doing anything yet.”

“Them again?” He groaned. “After that last thing with the cruise ship I was hoping they’d stay quiet for a lot longer than this.”

“That was over five years ago.” She reminded him. Though the people were annoying... so far everything they had done was with a purpose and as hard as it might be to just let things go... well... It was worth it. Any time she started to get too annoyed she just reminded herself that it was because of them doing horrible things that they had been pushed to desperation and she turned Seph into a Darkling. If not for them she would have been alone forever.

“It doesn’t seem long enough.” He muttered. “I suppose as long as they don’t start a war it will be alright...”

She nodded, hugging him. “So... once Steven is home let’s show him what it’s like to be an uncle.”

“Really?” He grinned.

“Sure. Maybe move to a new place, change our names and start over, hm? We don’t have too much longer before the Grandmaster will demand it anyway – might as well get a head start on it. I’d rather stay in the city, though. I like it here now that everyone is used to us.” Sama laughed as Seph hugged her tightly. She was glad he lacked the extreme strength he had as a Vampire. That and the incredible speed were the only things he still missed.

“Have you thought about your new name yet?” He asked, still smiling like a madman. He’d been wanting another child for a few years now.

“Not really. We’ll have to discuss that to find something we both like.” She sighed. That may be troublesome. Ma could be so picky.

“There’s time to think about it.” He kissed her. “Are you going to tell your Mom about the plan or surprise her?”

“Surprise her, of course.” She rolled her eyes. “If things don’t go well with Steven she’ll need some good news.”

With Seph greatly cheered after his crushing defeat in the game, they headed out for their patrol and a little bit of house shopping. They would end up renting out their old building. Her gardens would remain, of course. The second floor was half indoor garden and half training room. A number of young Vampires came to work on weapon and martial arts skills. Not that it was generally necessary – it just filled the long hours. Ace loved it there, too, stopping in a couple times a week.

The first floor had become apartments for some of the Vampires and the basement a safe house for those from out of town. That was part of how they had made peace with everyone after the chaos following Seph’s change. A few of those still loyal to him, including Genia, had moved in to prove that it was safe. It was a slow process but Sa felt better having some of her friends nearby.

There was still tension with the local Master – he was not quite ready to let go of the grudge. Still, most of the others had come to terms with the changes and Lily was leading that charge. She had put forth the effort and gained real power – she was more highly regarded than the Master these days though she was still too young to be granted the title. Seph said it would probably be at least another hundred years before they would allow her to take over.

Still, she was happy and had become one of Sama’s closer friends. Ma disapproved, of course – but not much could be done about that. She thought everyone was beneath notice. Even Tir wasn’t worthy of friendship though he had proven himself to be loyal, kind and helpful. He often helped with the tricker negotiations when it came to the more obstinate Sidhe. Seph had a few little jealousy issues to deal with when it came to Tir but he was careful not to let them be noticed. Sama only knew because he couldn’t hide all his emotions from her.

She took a deep breath of fresh air and wrapped an arm around Seph as they walked, silently debating the pros and cons of every house for sale they passed. Life was good.