Four Years Later

{The density of my warrior frame and weapon-laden leathers gradually take form on the balcony of the Penthouse, a hulking shadow, diamond sights trained on the chaotic mess beyond the glass sliders, hundreds of little footprints marring the high polish shine of the marble...not even Fritz could keep pace with the twins once they'd mastered the 'one foot in front of the other' routine, a size fourteen shitkicker narrowly missing crushing one of the many brightly coloured toys strewn across the Penthouse floor. Wild, wonderful creatures, they fought like..well, like brother and sister, insanely competitive..but in spite of it all, when the shutters came up for the night, Tory and I inevitably found them curled up together like yin and yang, one or other of them having crept into the other's bed while we slept. Happy, healthy, normal young....secretly, I hoped, prayed that Xsykhe's diamond eyes were the only genetic trait they'd inherited from me, but damn, that freakish flamethrower episode with the Omega gnawed at the back of my mind...and Khaos' glowing touch jump-starting Xsykhe's breathing..that was no apparition, true..Stepping inside, the assault comes at me from two directions, a stampeding charge of little bodies barreling into me with a force belying their insubstantial weight, each hauled up one powerful arm, Xsykhe's raven hair whipping my shoulder, the surgically attached skelanimal plushie she called Meggy, Tory's pet name for the Omega, dangling from one hand, Khaos' spiky mop mussed in gloved fingers to husky laughter as the second wave of assault, the verbal battering, hits DEFCON 5, regaling me with the nights adventures playing warriors and lessers... a sobering reminder of the war with the Lessening Society that raged on despite the passing of years...years measured in childhood milestones, first smiles, first shaky steps, first words uttered...more reason that ever to fight, motivations condensed to crystal diamond clarity.. protecting Tory and the young she nurtured with a fierce love that rivaled even the titanium bonds cleaving us together} <<Mahmen says we can go to the Sauce'tist Cera'money if you say yes....say yes, daddy..say yes..SAY YES!!!>> {It's Xsykhe who speaks, but the 'say yes' is chanted in stereo, a begging mantra... pleading diamond eyes dancing with excitement, uncannily like my own, but reflecting an innocence mine had never known. 


The Winter Solstice..longest night of the year. Damn, last time Wrath tried to resurrect this old country, ceremonial bull-shit, the Lessers went all Snow fucking White, planning to take out the entire race with arsenic flavoured apples...and then there was Wellsie....fuck.... yeah...not exactly a Kodak moment for the Brotherhood, true... but for the young, the apple festival was the closest thing they had to a Christmas. Try explaining to a four-year old bombarded by Santa and Rudolph and all the paraphernalia why they don't get to celebrate...shit.. just imagining the convo in my head 'So, children, in their lexicon, Christmas celebrates the birth of the son of God, born to save the world from sin and help end suffering, while in our world, the son of the Scribe Virgin is...yeah...that would be me...and I came to show the world inventive new ways of sinning and suffering, reneged my responsibility to become Primale, passed the buck to my Brother, Rapunzel and mated your Mahmen instead..and that, children is how you came to be... Yeah. So not getting into that grim Brothers fairy tale, true... so against better judgement I find myself surrendering to the pleading with a tight smile} Yeah, we can go to the Solstice... maybe Nalla will let you try on her pink dresses, Xsy, true {Xsykhe's scowl is razor sharp, her little fist swatting the plushie across my pecs...damn, so like her Mahmen, who has just emerged from the bedroom looking hot as hellfire in tight leathers and one of my oversized shirts, propping up the door frame with a smirk of devilish amusement} <<I. Hate. Pink>> {barked laughter flooding the Penthouse as the young clamber down from my arms, racing across the marble to share their victory with Tory}