Beyond

About Ace

Amethyst and Logan had gotten into a fight about which one of them was stronger. This is funny considering that Logan is a lion which is the predator of Amethyst who is a deer. Still Amethyst was determined to show both Logan and Raven that she can be just as strong as anyone else. Raven closed all the blinds in the room and shut the door.

It was the first time in nearly a month that the three of them shifted. Logan remains identical to the pictures of Matt in the early years after Seth's death. Tan fur, early mane. Amethyst is still the beautiful girl that she has been since the baby that Thomas held in his arms crying at her mother's funeral.

Ace walked into the house in search of Theo. He called into the house knowing that no one would care. After a moment of no response, he headed into the kitchen and grabbed a can of soda. With no sign of the person, he was looking for he headed upstairs to the bedrooms.

As Raven saw her little cousins as their animals she felt comfortable for the first time since she moved to America. Raven reached up and began what looked like a flip as she folded forward and transformed into a bird.

Ace opened the door to Theo's room. His mouth opened and his eyes widened. Raven dropped to the floor and shifts. Ace turned on his heels and walked downstairs.

"Oh crap. Ace." Raven rushed down after him.

"Whoa!" Sandra said as Ace ran into her at the front door. "What's happened?"

"Ace!" Raven came running behind him. "Ace you have to listen."

"Raven? What is going on?" Saundra asked her as Ace went around her out the door.

"He uh..."

"Ace!" Saundra shouted without Raven finishing the sentence. Raven followed Ace outside.

"Ace! Listen to me."

"Fine, I'm listening." Ace spun on his heel and looked at Raven in the eye.

"Wow. Okay. I have never done this before..." she started.

"Never done what? Never transformed into a bird!" Ace yelled.

"Shh..." Raven told him.

"Ace. Raven get him inside." Saundra hissed.

"What the-" Ace said as Raven pulled him into the house.

"You have to understand that we wanted to tell you. All of us did, but we also needed to keep not only us safe but also you." Raven started. "My Mom. Red. She started calling us shifter's and when she was kidnapped by her dad she met everyone here who is also shifter's..."

"Wait so, Seth?" Ace asked. "That's your granddad right?"

"Yes."

"And Seth was a shifter?" Ace asked

"Yes."

"And Jake and Red?" Ace continued.

"Yes. Along with all of the adults."

"Wait. Conner?" Ace asked confused.

"Well, okay, no. So everyone who was captive of Seth. So all the adults except for Saundra, Ciri, and Conner. Oh and Cole but he's never really around." Raven explained.

"And the kids...?"

"All but Theo."

"Wait so this whole time you have been lying to me? To the world? To my sister? Please tell me my sister knows I am living with an actual animal." Ace started.

Raven felt like she had been hit in the stomach, all of the air was pulled from her lungs. She was named indirectly after Apollo and his foster son called not only him but his whole family an animal.

"Stay away from me." Ace told her. "All of you better stay away from me."

With that Ace left the house. The house shook as he closed the door. Raven gasped. Saundra walked up to her slowly. She remembers how she felt when she was told but she also knows what it's like to tell people this secret. She was there when Ciri learned. 

"I don't think that went well," Saundra said to Raven.

Raven shook her head.

"Oh, honey. I know it's hard."

"No," Raven said.

"No what?' Saundra asked her.

"You don't know." Raven looked at her. "You know. I never asked for this. Any of this. Not the family, not America, definitely not this huge secret I keep. None of it." 

"Raven Frost. You have no right to talk to me that way." Saundra raised her voice. "However. You are right. I did not grow up like you. Ace didn't grow up like you either. Give him some time to get used to the idea. Until then do as he asks and gives him space. Now I have to go call Apollo and Connor so they know what they are in for when they get home." Saundra breathed.

"What if he doesn't go home?" Raven worries

"I know Ace and his history well enough to know he will go home," Saundra explains. She figured that he would not leave without his few things but more than that, without his sister. (1/1/19)