“Are you sure you want to delve into that?” Aubyn asked.

With the way his brows furrowed, I could tell I wasn’t going to like this story. But I had to know the kind of history humans had been involved with that left people of Othanai scarred. Countries like Karys and Tsuk’ki put rules in place to prevent humans from freely travelling to and around their countries. For whatever reason, the leaders of these countries didn’t want humans around anymore or wanted to keep the population small and control their numbers. I’d like to think it wasn’t for nothing, that they just hated humans and made those rules to keep a leash on them. On me.

“Yes,” I answered. I needed to know.

History was a touchy subject in school, especially for the teachers of the subject. Some units were taught with certainty like the twentieth and early twenty-first century going onto the early twenty-second century. Information became dubious around the twenty-third century when Othanaians were rumoured to have first made contact with humans in the East. Then became limited once the mid to late twenty-fourth century came around – and the Peace Era or Postwar Era began – information got dubious. From what I could remember from occasionally paying attention in class, it was around then that World War Seven – or The Final War – began.

Decades after the rumoured first contact, the entire world became aware of their existence. Othanaians and Earthlings learned about each other and from each other worldwide which prompted travel to Othanai. If they could come to us, we could go to them. Around that part in the timeline, teachers would jump to the end, the severance of the connection between Earth and Othanai.

Before my days in high school, I was taught that the Othanaians slaughtered many humans in The Seventh World War, even keeping some trapped on Othanai as prisoners. Most humans barely escaped with their lives and their families. Othanaians became the enemy. Only, no one really knew how true that was.

With every class taught, there were ten times as many books, articles, blogs, and videos popping up on the internet all claiming to reveal the truth behind the divide. A good chunk of the media was ridiculous theories brought about by superstitious bullshit that didn’t make any sense. But the part of the media that raised hell taught that the textbooks that painted Earthlings as the victims of an Othanaian-instigated war were false.

There was a war. That much was right. Humans were also victims of this war. But it was a war they had started themselves after grossly underestimating their opponents. The specifics of how humans lost the war never surfaced leaving consumers to invent their own theories. In the end, the question of how much we really knew about these beings from a strange planet plagued every reader’s mind. There was no way to find out more since for over a century after the war, Othanaians didn’t return to Earth.

Aubyn straightened out the missing pieces in the story. Tales had been passed down to his generation about what happened with the humans and why his kind, the shapeshifters known as votni, were no longer interested in a relationship with them.

“They were curious about us when they came to Tsuk’ki and rightly so,” Aubyn said. “Just like we were curious about them and their way of life. They dressed strangely and spoke in even stranger tongues. Their relationship with animals and nature, the food they ate, and their way of interacting with each other were so peculiar. We wanted to learn as much about them as they wanted to about us except that their curiosity turned dark.”

“Dark? How so?” I asked. My voice was just barely above a whisper.

“The more they learned about us, the less they treated us like people. When they found out we could shapeshift, we became… entertainment. My grandfather said that people started to go missing. Humans took them to do experiments, to find out how we could do what we did. But we weren’t the only ones. The nadaren, Othanaians like Coen, were taken and forced to use their gifts. Vacura were painted as demons. Our animals were hunted and killed… for fun.”

“The countries that had higher human populations experienced the most terror. The humans grouped together to intimidate the inhabitants of weaker, ‘poorer’, smaller countries. Eventually, the people of those countries had to ask for help from more powerful ones like Karys and Putong. Leto and Eiga were hit the hardest. As the human population increased, the native population decreased as they fled to other countries. Whoever couldn’t afford to flee became experiments, captives, slaves… or turned up dead.”

This sounded all too familiar. Invasion, captives, and slaves. Treating victims of this barbaric behaviour as less than people because of their differences. Humans have done this before on their own planet giving rise to hatred, greed and devastation and, without thinking twice, they took that same plan of action to Othanai.

“Zedikai, are you okay? We can stop here.”

“No. Keep going.” I gave his hand a gentle squeeze from across the table even though I was nauseous and on the verge of breaking out into a cold sweat. “Please. I need to know this so I can understand.”

Aubyn watched me for a moment in silence, then continued his story.

The smaller countries reached out to bigger and more powerful countries. Putong and Karys came to their aid all while smoking out the humans in their own countries, the guilty and innocent alike. The imperial family of Putong wanted to join forces with other nations to protect the more vulnerable countries, thus giving birth to Daun’ton Zetien, what is popularly known on Earth as Downton Isles or the Downton Empire.

Countries fought back violently for their land and their lives when efforts to communicate with humans failed. Havens were provided to people displaced from what was the first-ever semblance of war on Othanai. Travel was prohibited, leaving some Othanaians stuck on Earth and many humans stuck on Othanai. Humans in many countries started a witch hunt on Earth, slaughtering anyone they believed to be Othanaian or who sided with them. On Othanai, humans were eradicated like pests.

Once the war ended and ties with Earth collapsed, each nation took time to rebuild. For over a century, travel to Earth was forbidden.

“Why would anyone want to reopen communication with humans after what happened here?” I asked. I was numb, unsure of how to feel about the entire thing.

“Do you understand now the precautions that are taken with humans? More than half the countries in Daun’ton Zetien have bans or limits on the human population. Eiga and Leto have yet to get back to what they once were. What happened might have been centuries ago, but the scars linger.” Aubyn linked our fingers. “We remember what opening our doors to humans did for us before. No one wants to live through what our forefathers did. As for reopening communication with humans, Karys took charge of that. From what I have heard, they were not welcomed with open arms.”

“Which is why there’s this air of imbalance on Earth.” It is a fact that a good deal of humans disliked the vacura to some extent. Some believed that the return of the vacura nearly caused another world war. Some speculated that they had returned for revenge and that was why they took control of the major countries on Earth. “I understand why they now have all these rules and precautions in place. What I don’t understand is how you can have feelings for me after knowing all this.”

Aubyn slouched slightly in his seat, his eyes on our intertwined hands. “I know what you are capable of and you are more dangerous to yourself than to anyone else. I do not believe humans are evil beings. I only know they are capable of evil things, just like everyone else.”

“Not you.”

“I am not an exception.”

“I doubt that.”

“Zedikai, your confidence in my morality flatters me but I am no better than anyone else. I told you that we Othanaians were just as cruel to the humans as they had been to us in our own way. Votni shifted and tore into the flesh of human beings, watching the light leave their eyes as we took revenge for our fallen people.”

I squeezed his hand so hard he looked at me. “They picked a fight, lost in the end, and were so bitter about it that they warped the truth to make you all out to be the enemy. It’s no wonder some humans hate Othanaians. Many humans don’t even know the truth.” I felt like I was betraying the human race but it wasn’t about siding with my own kind. It was about knowing what was right and what was wrong. “I’m going to Tsuk’ki, and I’m going to prove to them that not all humans are the same. That, even though I may be capable of evil, I don’t have to resort to that. Neither do I want to.”

The left corner of Aubyn’s lips rose to form a small smile. He suddenly stood and gently pulled me from my seat. I followed without hesitation as he led the way to the bed and got under the covers. His body against mine, as he held me, was so warm that I couldn’t help the audible, content sigh that left my lips.

“You know, Zedikai, ever since you admitted to having feelings for me, I never doubted you once. You show me every day. You are so obvious with your affections that others have started to notice.”

“Shit, sorry,” I said, my voice muffled by his chest.

“Do not be sorry for showing you like me, only for your repeated cursing.”

He’d gone easy on me since we moved so I’d been getting away with a lot. I mumbled my apologies again.

“I like it when you show your affection, and I like you. That brings me to my next topic. Us.”

I lifted my head from his chest to peer up at him. “I want to be with you in whatever form that takes. I’m sure I’ve made that obvious.”

“And you are not saying so because you think that is the only way you get to stay here, are you? Because I will continue to be your guardian regardless of your answer.”

“For fucks sake, Aubyn,” I groaned, sitting up.

“Watch it, Zedikai.”

No more getting away with it then. “What do I have to do to prove to you how much I like you? Do you want me to list all the reasons I do? Or the shameful number of fantasies I’ve had about us and our future because I’ll gladly expose myself if it means you’ll really believe me.”

“I know you have feelings for me.” He pulled me back to his side. “But do you want what I want for us? I will not force my ideals, my plans, or what I want for us onto you.”

“What do you want for us?”

“At the risk of creeping you out, I will be forthright. I want you to belong to me and only me. Your mind, your heart, your soul… I want all of you to be mine for as long as you breathe.”

Maybe I was too damaged to be creeped out by his words. To me, they sounded like a sweet and sticky trap I’d gladly walk into. “All of me? Even though you’ve said you don’t want my body?”

Aubyn slid his hand up the back of my shirt to touch my bare skin. “Your body… has not been yours for a while. This is all mine if you will let me have you.”