Explaining the past couple of days to the two men took a lot of effort and energy, they engaged in the conversation by urging me past the traumatic events of my kidnapping.Dividing his attention to cleaning the room of the broken debris, Damian scratches his head and moves to grab a pad and pen from a drawer as he writes down the described events; deciding that it was probably best to just leave the big stuff for later when I wasn’t telling my story.
“So what you’re telling us is, you got jumped on your way back from your check-up, were tied up with the other kidnapped Mythicals, and have little recollection of your little…episode?” I nod my head in response.
“And what of your earlier incident? Last I checked, Undine were in complete control of their power and don’t just cause objects to fly around the room in chaos. What’s the deal with you lad?” Damian moves and picks up the remaining debris from the floor and sighs at the remaining water damage. I cringe at the thought of spilling some of my personal information. The last time someone had asked me the details of my heritage, it hadn’t ended well…or at least, that’s what m dad had told me. I had some blank spots from my childhood regarding this whole “glowing and incapacitating people” business. I try to look the other way to come up with a believable excuse when Damian holds his hand up for me to stop. He had apparently noticed my discomfort and grew slightly miffed.
“Either way, you did a number on this place Ripples. I hope you’ll come to tell us what’s up with all of this so we can solve this matter.” Moving over to Tony and placing a hand on his shoulder to shift him up, he cast his eyes to the ground. “I’d hate to see anymore people get hurt because you refuse to talk about what’s going on with you.” I feel a twinge of pain in my chest. He continued his analysis of Tony and then proceeded to pick up the remaining pieces of debris, aside from the water damage. “You need to learn to trust us more, lad. We’re not your enemies, so learn to loosen up.” He’s right. If I’d have been a little more honest in the beginning, Tony may have been more prepared for my counter-attack. Instead, I held back my power for fear of judgement. I imagine different scenarios: in which I had told them the truth and received more training or if I had somehow had more control over myself.
I continue to go through these feelings when an exasperated voice calls out,” Well of course he didn’t open up, you idiot! How would you feel if you suddenly got a shape-shifting mentor, who easily kicked your butte in a training session, and a cranky British nanny who scolds him for being a kid?” Turning our head we see a irate Cole and a smirking Doc as they intervene in the conversation.
“Damian,”he began as he struggled to hide his irritation,” I appreciate the advice, but we have no right to push Spyro to reveal anything if he feels uncomfortable. We have to respect his decision.” Turning to Tony, he pulls a book out and hands it to Doc.
“Will this one have enough information about shapeshifters? I’ve only skimmed through part of it so I’m not sure if…” She waves him off and flips through the book at blinding speed and closes it with a sharp snap, walking over to the edge of Tony’s bed. She whispered an incantation and placed her hands on his head. Within moments, Tony’s body glowed and healed itself; although, he ended up looking slightly nauseous.
“Bleh,” he commented with a grimace,” why does magic always make a guy feel sick?” Guffawing at his reaction, Doc smacks the back of his head.
“Think of it as a small price to pay for worrying the kid. I told you two to keep him calm. Now look at him,” she yelled,” he’s as pale as an apparition! Now we’ll have to speed things along to get him situated.” She glanced at Damian and shook her head with disapproval. “What could he have possibly done that unnerved you? You usually blow up at only Tony.” Turning she muttered in a barely audible voice,”literally and figuratively in that case, you walking grenade”
" Okay, Mari, that’s enough! What’s more important is that we know get Spyro to his usual source. That shouldn’t be hard, right?” Cole sighed. He places a hand on my head and jumps back. “Cripes,kid! You’re freezing cold! Don’t you want a blanket?” Finally acknowledging that it’s time for me to speak again, I shrug.
“I don’t really feel cold,”looking at their unbelieving faces I facepalm,” I’m usually cooler than most, and I feel…decent. Okay?”
“Well, do you feel up to going to your energy source? We really should get you charged up as soon as possible.” I grimace.
“That’s not exactly a smart idea…” I trail off. Last time my father and I went to recharge, there was a group of Undine who threw rocks at us. They kept chanting about how evil hybrids were and scorned my father for having a relationship with someone not of the Undine culture.
“And why is that?” snapped Damian,”I’d prefer you tell the whole story to prevent any mishaps. You didn’t answer my question.”
" I did!”
“I didn’t mean a recap of something I already knew about, you bloody wanker!”
“Oi, Damian, that’s enough!” Cole slams his fist into the dresser, splinters flying from the impact and leaving a smoky hole in the furniture.
I sigh and blink back tears of frustration. Damian doesn’t need to get so angry over this! Looking around the room, Tony is shifting around in his bed while Doc is smacking her brother upside his head for breaking something. Tony, with pleading eyes, locks me into a staring contest.
“Ripples, I don’t know if something bad has happened to you in the past, and I have no right to demand you reveal everything. However, we just want to help you get better and get you help. Undine aren’t the only Mythicals with secrets and we’d really like to help you.” Gulping a knot in my throat I gaze into everyone’s faces. Cole’s pleading eyes, Damian’s frustrated ones, and Doc’s encouraging stature. I wipe my face with a hand and finally crack.
“Undine don’t always like things that are different. I mean, they’re accepting of anything else, but having an affair with someone whose heritage is not the same is looked down upon. When they found out my identity as a hybrid, they created Hell for my father and I. They’d throw rocks at us, spit at us, call us degrading name…it was the worst. One day, the harassment went to far. A group of strong Undine lured me away from my father and trapped me in a small clearing near our lake.” Swallowing the knot in my throat, I try to steady my voice.
“In that clearing, they ambushed me with all kinds of…things. They did something to prevent me from shifting, or using my powers, and they threw rocks. Then they progressed to tie me to a tree, stripped me, and poured bits of liquid nitrogen onto whips and beat me for hours.” I took off my shirt and unwrapped my bandages, much to the dismay of Doc, and hear a collective gasp. “My dad found me as they were about to dump the rest of the bucket filled with nitrogen down my throat…I had never seen him so furious.” Shaking, I feel myself slowly lose control of my voice.
“Well, they’re idiots.” I hear Damian blurt out. Snapping out of my stupor, I look at him in disbelief. I agreed with him, but was shocked at his words.
“Yeah…big idiots…”
“I think we can all agree that we don’t care if you’re a hybrid, pure-breed, or a fucking mer at that. We all care about keeping you safe. You are a part of the familia now, dark past and all.” Damian walked over and ruffled my hair and helped to place my bandages back. Pausing, he looked at the stripes on my back and whistled. He then chuckles, which then turns into full-on laughter, and looks me in the eye.
“We’ll protect you, lad. We will keep you safe. Right, Tony?”
Tony has eyes full of tears and full on pounces on my bed and glomps me. He transforms into a cat and snuggles under my chin to bring me some comfort. The tremors,that I had been unaware of, ceased and I feel a sense of warmth spread through my being. Cole and Doc join in on the hugging session and, for the moment, I wish they would not stop. Cole pops out of the hug and then takes a stance full of purpose.
“Well, gentlemen, I say we go sock it to those Undine and get this kid recharged. After that, we’ll resume training and pick up where we left off.” A collective, ‘Yes Sir’, rings in the room as we begin planning for the next couple of days. I wish this moment would last forever.
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