Inferno

Part 12: Granddads and Goodbyes

I reluctantly sit on the edge of Mr. Keiver's bed, and wait a few minutes while he adjusts himself on the sheets. After a while, he stops moving and looks at me expectantly.

"What is the story with Onyx," I ask, trying the most vague question so he can give me a longer answer.

With a sigh he answers, "Onyx Keiver is my son. I was a Fire Mage, and a powerful one at that. Everyone was so expectant of my son, waiting to see how accomplished he would be. Since Fire Magi are rare, no one knew how Onyx would turn out. When he was born, we found out he wasn't a Fire Mage, he was merely a Time Mage."

"What's so bad about being a Time Mage?" I question. "I have a friend who's a Time Mage."

"You're still so new," Mr. Keiver snickers at me being naive. "There are seven different types of Magi. All organized in a power pyramid. The most common and the least powerful are the Time Magi. Then come the hippies of the society, Earth Magi. They have a special connection to the Earth, so they're in charge of planting."

He continues, "Afterwards, you have the Air Magi, then can do basic defensive magic. If there were to be an invasion, they would be the bulk of our army. Water Magi come next. They are average in the pyramid. Their only use is drowning victims. They're feeble against us, even though they're supposed to be our practical enemy. Fortunately, in the community we don't do terribly with them, as time goes on we've grown a develop a tolerance for one another. Venom Magi are higher than them."

"Sadie's a Venom Mage," I contribute.

He smiles. "Yes, she is. They can obviously poison people. Venom Magi and Fire Magi together are a dangerous mix. If the two have a child, they'd make a defective offspring. Next come Illusion Magi, they're pretty uncommon, but not as much as us. They can make you pretend you're seeing things. There was once a powerful Illusion Mage, and she did terrible things to humans. She made people think they were experiencing their worst nightmare, until they finally died from fear and shock. That's why they're needed in the battlefield."

"We're at the top." I comment.

Mr. Keiver nods. "We are. The most rare and powerful group of Magi of all. We're the Fire Magi. We're terribly violent, and can light anything and everything on fire. The fire in us is consuming. It sometimes messes with our mind and makes us do things we regret. It's like a drug, you have no idea what you're doing."

"That sounds like the most negative category." I frown.

"Darling, that's because it is. With great power comes great responsibility."

"Did you just quote Spiderman?" I grin at the old man.

"I may be in my seventies and isolated, but that doesn't mean I don't keep up with the human world." He pulls a sly smirk and I almost completely forget the reason for my anger. Almost.

"You still haven't explained your little plan and why Onyx is blackmailing you." 

Mr. Keiver looks to the side as if keeping a bad memory, then says, "Onyx wants to take your powers dear. He wants to finally become a Fire Mage."

"He can't do that, right?" 

"You can do nearly anything with powerful dark magic. That's the group that poor Onyx is working with. There is a group of Magi out there who hate our society. They hate the way we carry ourselves here, and they desperately want to burn it all down." Mr. Keiver looks back at me to make sure I comprehend everything he's saying.

"Stop you said 'burn'," I realize. "Are they all Fire Magi?"

Mr. Keiver solemnly nods his head. "They have all stolen powers from Fire Magi and left them for dead."

"How is that..." I jump to my feet in frustration. "How is that possible?" 

Mr. Keiver stares at his lap and remains silent. 

"Is he my father?" I whisper. "Tell me the truth." I don't mean that. 

Mr. Keiver moves his head to face me, and through his eyes I could see it all. I could see Onyx, and my mother, and most of all, I could see how tired he was. Mr. Keiver was too tired for it all. He was exhausted of having to look out for his son, yet he was too scared to lay his head down and wait for beyond. Thus he found himself here, explaining the troubles of his life with his granddaughter. 

My tears have a way of threatening me that I just can't control. Sadly, Mr. Keiver takes that as a sign of me being upset with him.

"April..." Mr. Keiver puts his hand on my shoulder to try to comfort me.

"Mr. Kei--" I stop myself remembering that we're related. "Granddad, I'm sorry. I'm not ashamed to be related to you at all. I'm just sick of seeing you so tired. Not tired as in, sleepy or sore-- tired such as not enough energy to live."

Mr. Keiver barks out a harsh laugh while a tear rolls down. "You see me better than my son. He may not have been the proudest part of my life, but he definitely brought me the young girl who is."

"Granddad," I put my hand over his. "It's okay. It's okay to give up on Onyx. There are just some people who are left to be lost causes. You don't owe him anything."

"It's not that I owe it to him," Mr. Keiver cups my face in his hand. "I owe it to you to have a good father."

"My step father already gave me that experience. I'm happier with his memories than I'll ever be with Onyx's." For the first time I truly smile, really taking that statement to heart. "My step father may not have been blood related to me; but he gave me the advice and childhood of a true father. That's all that I could ask for."

Mr. Keiver closes his eyes and smiles as he slowly falls into a deep sleep. I gently kiss him on the cheek and whisper, "Good night Mr. Keiver. Thank you for being there for me." 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I've been making more chapters but I think I'm going to just collect all of the chapters and then publish them at once. Thanks for reading, the hiatus starts now. 

--Helen