Chapter Twenty-Eight - Meet The Parents

"Mum!" Tyler called, rushing towards her to hug her, "I see you've met Roxy, so I'll skip the introductions."

"Stand back. Let me get a good look at you! My god! You've changed so much! I see you've been to the gym! Looking better than ever!" She told, looking him up and down thoroughly. Then, she took out her phone and loaded the camera, "Both of you, stand in the doorway! I want to get a picture of you both in your new house to show Linda." Roxy giggled, seeing where Tyler got his silliness from.

Tyler and Roxy stood in the doorway, his arm wrapped around her waist, whilst his mother snapped a picture. "Perfect! Look at this house! It's beautiful, you guys!" She wiped a proud tear from her face, relishing the idea that her only son had grown up so fast.

"Come have a look inside!" Roxy told, ushering his mother inside.

"We need to talk about this, baby! I'm not going to tell you how to raise it or anything. I want all the details! How far along are you?"

"We went for the first scan yesterday-" Tyler's mother cut him off before he could finish.

"So your fourteen weeks?"

"Try seven months." Roxy chimed, bringing in a tray of drinks and placing it on the table.

"Seven months! And you just had your first scan? That's terrible of the doctors!"

"It wasn't the doctor's fault. I was barely showing a couple of months ago, so we thought when I took the test that I was only two weeks, but clearly, we were wrong, and it had been much longer than that. So we haven't got a clue about gender. We want it to be a surprise."

Tyler's mother's eyes began to flood with tears; "I'm so sorry!" She said, wiping them away, "I am so proud of how you've grown up, Tyler. And how incredible you seem, Roxy! I wish your father were here to see all of this." Tyler got up, looking for a box of tissues to give his mother, leaving them alone for a moment.

"Tyler never talks about his father. Were they close?" Roxy asked softly to sound considerate.

"He never met his father. He died whilst working one night. I told him not to go, which was too dangerous of a call to do alone, but he went anyway. I was just like you, around seven months pregnant with him. I told him stories when he was little about his father, but as he got older, I just stopped. I think it got too much for me after a while. Tyler looks just like him now. He's almost the spitting image of him."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking, what did he do for work? Was he a police officer or something?" Roxy lent forward, taking in everything she was saying like an interrogation.

"No, not a policeman. He tried his best to protect people, though. I doubt this will mean much to you, but he was from a long line of people who tried to do good for the people of this town. So I suppose, in a way, he was a superhero. But that's how I remember him. He had a tattoo on his forearm - he told me it was the symbol of his family, like a crest."

Roxy grew intrigued, growing more curious by the second. "Do you remember what the tattoo looked like? It might be a nice symbol for his father to tattoo it on himself."

"I can't picture the whole thing. I remember a shield with something inside, an animal, with two sticks or swords crossing behind it."

Roxy picked up a close notepad and began sketching, "This is going to sound crazy, but I've heard a coat of arms like that. Did it look like this?" Roxy showed Tyler's mother the sketch, revealing a shield with two swords crossing behind it and an eagle's head drawn neatly in front.

"Kind of yes, but now I remember, it wasn't an eagle, it was a ram. I always thought it was strange. Have you heard of his father's lineage before?"

"I think I have, but I'm sorry to tell you this, but that isn't the crest of your husband. I'm going to sound crazy right now, but this crest here," She pointed to her drawing, "this is my crest. Not my family's crest, but by Creed's crest. My religion." Roxy paused, letting her mother take in what Roxy had just said, allowing Tyler to walk in. He looked at both of them and the picture Roxy had drawn.

"What's going on here?" He asked, confused and concerned.

"Tyler, I think you need to sit down. We've just been talking about your father, and I think I made a discovery."

"What are you talking about? I remember stories about my father, but what's with that drawing?"

Roxy sighed and looked at Tyler's mother, "I'm sorry to have to be the one to explain it to you, but Tyler, this is our Creed banner. The Hunters. Your father had one just like this tattooed on his forearm, but with one slight difference. His was a ram's head instead of an eagle-like ours."

A confused look crossed Tyler's mother's face, "What do you mean, Hunters?"

"I'll explain more briefly, but your husband, Tyler's father, was a Magician. But, unfortunately, a sorcerer of Magic doesn't exist anymore."

Tyler looked just as confused as his mother, "Don't you see, Tyler! You're a hybrid!"

"What is going on here? What are you talking about?" Tyler's mother grew frustrated by the lack of answers she was getting.

"Your husband was from a lineage of magic wielders. A long, long time ago, there were three factions. The Magicians, like your husband, wielded magic the best of humanity, helping it progress and protect the people of this world. Then there were the Dark Magicians. Those who wanted even more power resorted to black magic blood sacrifices. Evil stuff for their gain. Then there were Hunters. Those who stayed away from magic were a pure bloodline of trained killers who protected people from monsters and the Dark Magicians. Your son and I are Hunters. We protect the people of this town from the scary stuff that's been happening. I know that's a lot to take in, but please don't be angry at Tyler. It's my fault he is even part of the Hunters."

"Mad? Why would I be mad at Tyler?" His mother asked calmly.

"Because he's a Hunter? He goes into dangerous situations every day fighting monsters and demons?"

His mother began to laugh, "I'm not mad! I knew his father was a Magician. As I said, he was some superhero! I didn't know about the Hunters of the Dark Magicians, but I always knew Tyler would grow up to help people. In all honesty, I thought you were the Vigilante that's been running around!"

"We know the Vigilante." Tyler began, " He's a friend of ours, quite literally. He helped us take down an Oni a little while ago. But, if my father was a Magician, what does that make me?"

Roxy looked to Tyler, her face filling with dread, "The R.E.A.P.E.R.S hunted the Magicians, those people on the rooftop the day I met you. They wiped out all of the known and unknown Magicians on the planet. Your father was one of them, alongside millions of others. So if your father were a Magician, that would make you the last one standing. A lone survivor. That explains why they came after us on the rooftop!"

"What rooftop? What are you talking about?"

"When I first met Tyler, I had no intention of bringing him into the Hunters Guild. We were watching the sunset when we were attacked. Armed men stormed the rooftop, bearing the name 'R.E.A.P.E.R.S' on their chest and attacked us. That's when Tyler found out I was a Hunter. Now, Tyler, this could change everything for you in the Hunters. We cannot tell them about your potential abilities or your father's true nature."

"Hang on a second. I'm still caught up on one fact, though. I took the Poppy Root, which revealed my Hunter ancestors, which gave me the abilities I have through the Hunters Guild, but if my family are Magicians, how could I have those instincts and not magical ones?"

"But you did! Remember? After my gymnastics lesson, you wielded a shield out of nowhere! That was magic. I thought it was down to be the Poppy Root! Maybe you used Magic, so Alister Crowley had a message for you!"

"Alister Crowley. Why does that name sound familiar?" His mother pondered, trying to recall any information she had.

"Magician from the 20th century? A young girl told him he had a message for him which was weird enough, but now we know he is a hybrid, a Magician and Hunter. Maybe it'll make more sense. Tyler, you do realise that you are the most dangerous person to exist at the moment once we get your Magic training underway?"