14. P O W E R : Heroes

CHAPTER II

The Cervidian children were still laughing when they came back inside from their snowball fight. However, when they saw their parents seated at the kitchen table looking as if they'd just come back from a funeral, the laughter quickly died away.

"Uh... hi?" Autumn greeted Knox and Sol.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" Spring asked cautiously.

"We're not in trouble, are we?" Summer whimpered.

"Depends on how you look at it," Knox muttered under his breath, earning himself an elbow from his wife.

Sol cleared her throat and began, "Kids, sit down. We need to talk."

"Okay. What about?" Autumn inquired, taking a seat as the other did the same.

"We'll get to that," Knox assured him. "First, we just want you all to know that we did not lie to you. We just... didn't think this would ever be necessary. Everything we've seen... everything we've gone through... other people have always handled it."

"What? What are you talking about?" Spring asked, confused.

"There's trouble brewing in the Capital City," Sol explained.

Winter raised an eyebrow, feigning maturity. "What kind of trouble?"

"Dark Celestial trouble," Knox responded, leaning back and crossing his arms. "All of you probably know those guys are bad news."

"I'm guessing they're worse news now," Spring deduced.

"You got it," Sol confirmed. "They've uncovered one of the havens' deepest secrets—if not the deepest."

"Ooh, secrets?" Summer asked eagerly. "Spill!"

"This isn't something to gossip about, Summer," Sol told her in a serious tone. "These secrets were meant to be kept forever. They're dangerous."

The children fell silent, waiting patiently (and nervously) for the secrets to be revealed.

Sol let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes.

Much to the kids' surprise, swirls of light began appearing on the table, taking the shape of the events Sol described.

-

Long ago, in the days after the Great Flood, people and creatures like the ones in our Safe Haven were hated and oppressed. Shifters and sentient animals were ostracized and even hunted, to the point where many of them began to go extinct. There was even a time when it was believed that every Wonderkind would disappear altogether.

Winter: "Wonderkind"? What's that?

Sol: That's us, honey. And everyone like us. Shifters, sentient animals, creatures of myth... we're all Wonderkind.

Winter: Wow. I never knew that...

Knox: Most still don't.

Spring: What happened to them? How'd they make it?

Sol: Well... as the rest of the Earth had become virtually uninhabitable for them because of the so-called "god-hunters", they needed somewhere they could hide. So seven of the most powerful Wonderkind came together and agreed to establish places where their kind could be... safe.

Autumn: You... you mean the Founders? The Original Peacekeepers?

Sol: That's right. Father Sky, Mother Earth, the Sluagh, the All-Seer, Howlmoon, Bloodfang, and, of course, Xirxine.