The Heir Of Ice And Dusk

Where I'm part of the worst family reunion in the history of man

"That's fine," I said. "I'll tell them I won't go."

"But you will meet up with them, won't you?" Jeff asked. 

"Trust me," I said, "Even though hybrids are welcome in both realms, I have no intention of going back there."

"Maybe you could live in both worlds for a while," Raegan suggested, but she didn't look too happy about it.

"It wouldn't work," I smiled bitterly. "Everything would be different now --- I have huge powers and not a lot of control."

Back then, every time I felt like I was losing control I managed to blow something up. With my mind. What was going to happen if I went back to the human realm now, my powers amplified and not held back?

"If they want to make an effort and reunite after all these years, you can ask Flora to work in her shop above ground and they could visit," my grandfather said. He probably wanted to make up for all the very unflattering things he'd done.

"I am a son of two Ancient Families who can see the future," I said. "I'm a loose cannon, even in the Aether realm. And I have studied black magic. I do not trust myself around humans."

Nobody knew how to reply to that. I figured they were just trying to help me --- they didn't want me to go, but they respected my wishes. I felt conflicted, but I had a job to do. And if it was like the last time, I would be lucky enough just to stay alive. 

"So," Jeff summarized. "You're going to meet up with them just to tell them that you won't go back to living with them?"

I nodded. "We haven't seen each other in years," I said. "But I feel like they deserve to hear it from me, face to face. I can't just let them know in a message."

Jeff shifted his weight from one foot to another, uneasily. "Well, good luck then. I know they're not the best."

I thanked him silently, with a smile, and I grabbed my phone from my grandfather's hands. My fingers were trembling as I was writing my reply, but I knew I was doing the right thing. In that moment, I wished I had Edgar by my side. I tried to think about something else. It's not that without Edgar nothing would make sense. It's just that very little would.

The following day, I went to the human realm to meet my adoptive parents. I tried not to panic, but it was hard when I had the feeling that everything was about to go very wrong. 

Evelyn and Lucas wanted to meet me in our old house. I started thinking about my childhood --- there was something I remembered only in bits and pieces, but of which I never wanted to talk about to my friends of aquaintances.

When Evelyn started becoming more disenchanted with her life, and no doubt regretting adopting me, she always had a friend coming over. At first I didn't see the implications, but at the moment I couldn't help but wonder whether she was cheating on her husband with the guy. And the man was not nice to me. But the more I tried to remember the details, the more fuzzy they seemed, as if I'd dreamt him.

Walking towards their house, I figured there was a magical reason why my memories were blurred. After all, I was put in a human orphanage because of a deal my grandfather struck with the government --- something along the lines of, Enchanters won't strike as long as you have one of ours. It was a place built for the children who'd lost their parents in the exploded building, and everyone knew I was a hybrid there.

I smiled bitterly. When I was a child, I thought my life seemed like a punishment for crimes I didn't commit. Turns out that it was, only I was being punished for my father and my uncle's crimes.