A Surprise Guest

Just as everyone was picking up their gift bags and returning to their quarters, the head butler came into the parlor with an old man. The man looked like a beggar. His clothes were ragged, his skin clung to his bones, his face was gaunt and I could smell him from across the room. He had long greasy hair that hung from his head in clumps.

I immediately wondered why the butler had let this man in. That was until I noticed that what remained of his robes were lilac colored and there was a faded family crest on the breast of the robe; my grandfather's crest. Gregory? Had he returned after all this time? Not once had I seen my grandfather in all of my thirteen years. I was pretty sure he was dead, but everyone else seemed unbothered by his absence.

A powerful yet raspy voice shattered the silence that had come over the hall, "I hear that my beautiful granddaughters are having a birthday today!"

"Grandpa!" and, "Dad!" Echoed back in response from my family members. I stayed silent. I didn't know this man. He wasn't going to weasel his way into my heart easily. As far as I was concerned, he was a deadbeat grandad! Leaving this wonderful miss for her entire life and not even writing, the audacity!

My family rushed over to greet him despite the smell. I stayed put. While Gregory was hugging everyone and exchanging pleasantries he seemed to notice he was a granddaughter short and spotted me sulking in the corner. He tried to coax me out, "I brought presents!" He hollered over.

Damned right he better have brought presents. Thirteen years worth of presents. Then I might consider being cordial. I walked over despite my misgivings. Better at least see what presents the good-for-nothing gramps brought. I don't know when I started hating my grandpa for being absent, but it had clearly been long enough to develop into loathing. I was somewhat surprised myself at how bitter I was.

Surprisingly the beggar before me possessed a storage ring and began pulling gifts out of it. First was a beautiful and exquisite dress for Vivian. I somehow couldn't picture her wearing it. She tended towards more practical clothing and eschewed pointless baubles. If this was the standard of his gift-giving, he wasn't going to appease me. He didn't even know what we liked. But only seconds later Vivian responded enthusiastically, "I absolutely love it!" She was even more enthused than when she received my gift. Perhaps I was the one that was wrong? Maybe she actually liked pretty baubles? No, that didn't seem right. It was the person giving the gift and not the gift itself that made her happy. Was this absence making the heart fonder? I felt sad that my bond with Vivian was being challenged by this stinky gramps.

He then gave Vivian an exquisitely designed abacus. It had more rows than her current abacus, and the beautiful design also made it desk decor instead of desk drawer clutter. I had heard just last week of Vivian complaining that her current abacus was about to break. How did this old gramps know? Vivian, of course, was absolutely ecstatic. I felt like my Vivi was being stolen right in front of me.

After giving Vivian her presents, he gave a few treats to Rosie. I could tell from Rosie's expression, they were the most delicious thing she ever tasted. He was stealing my fox too!

Gregory then turned to me. I'm on to your tricks old man, you aren't winning my heart so easily.

"You were not easy to find a present for, young lady. I heard you decided to become a cultivator and you've done nothing but train since then. A true cultivation maniac," He began, "First, I'd like to give you a gift of power," Gregory pulled out a simple key, "This key unlocks an inheritance ground. I could tell you where it is, but the fun is in the journey."

Gregory held the key in front of me. Greed flashed in my eyes. I salivated in spite of myself. A key to an inheritance? I could reap an enormous mountain of goodies. As to not knowing the location, that didn't matter, the key would be drawn to the inheritance at the appropriate time. I could see what Gregory was doing. He thought I needed to be taught how to manage our bloodline's power. How to use it without letting it take control. In this case, he wanted me to learn how to follow my passion and enjoy myself along the way. But he didn't really need to teach me this, I had my bloodline under control, and I never had problems with it. I really wanted that key though, it could increase my power by so much.

Gregory placed the key in front of me, just out of my reach, I lunged for it, and he pulled it back. He was really quite spry for an old guy. After teasing me with it, he tossed it to me. Okay, I might have a problem with my bloodline. Just a small one though.

"Next I'd like to give you a gift of passion. Vivian might kill me for this one, but it should help you evade your guards a bit better than turning into a fox. This is a stealth technique, I'm told it will minimize your presence and will even work on those those with a high cultivation base." Gregory tossed the manual to me. Vivian did indeed give the old man a glare for a moment, but then she turned and glared at me. What did I do? I felt wronged!

I took a glance at the technique and saw it was a Supreme technique. Dammit, this old geezer was making it hard to hate him. I knew the proper response now was to hug him. But I didn't want to hug him; he stunk so badly. Ultimately I wrapped my hands around his back without touching him and awkwardly patted him him on the back while hating every moment of it. He was thin enough that even a little girl like me could wrap my arms around him loosely.

After the presents were given, Gregory sat down with the family and talked about his journeys. Nikol, Phineas, and Vivian were all eagerly devouring his words. I stood in a corner brooding. Li Kai came and stood next to me. After a few minutes of Gregory's distant monologue, Li Kai asked me quietly, "Why do you hate him?" I stayed silent. Li Kai had asked an extremely difficult question. Technically I had just met the man, and he gave me excellent gifts upon meeting. Even before I met him, he was the one responsible for my current comfortable life. Could I simply say that it was because he had been absent my entire life? Was that even a reasonable demand to make of someone? I knew it wasn't. How was it even possible that I missed someone who was never present in my life? It was like going to a family reunion and seeing several people you don't recognize. You don't miss them because you never knew what you were missing in the first place. But was it like that? Gregory was my grandfather. He was supposed to be present in my life. He wasn't some great aunt or uncle twice removed, that lives far away. This was his home too. I had been told of his exploits all my life. Not only that, I was often compared to him. I always imagined him as a great and powerful man, he had to be to be compared to me. But here he was, a ragged, stinky old man. I always thought he'd be coming home at any time. But as years went by I grew more and more disappointed he still hadn't returned.

Li Kai gave me the time to organize my thoughts. I didn't notice that tears had started streaming down my face. "I ... missed him." I turned to look up at Li Kai with my watery eyes, "Li Kai, how is it possible to miss someone I never had? It ... it's like a void that has always been in my heart. And now ... this stinky stranger is trying to fill that void. Li Kai, I don't like this feeling." I frowned.

"I see," Li Kai began explaining gently, "You've built up an image of your grandfather over all these years and now along with all the pain you feel for him being absent you also can't reconcile the image of him in your heart with the actual man. It will be difficult, but there's only one way to solve the issue of your heart. You need to get to know Gregory better, you also need to tell him how you feel about his absence. That old geezer needs to take a dose of his own medicine. Trying to teach you about how to manage your bloodline, when he's neglected his family for over a decade because of the same bloodline."

"I see," I replied, "I'll make an effort, but not tonight." After a moment I smirked, "Who are you calling old geezer? You've got to be his senior by many generations!" I teased Li Kai.

"Oi! I'll have you know I'm quite young! That geezer ... never mind, it's not important," Li Kai shouted almost loud enough for the rest of my family to hear. He seemed to be winding up to insult my gramps but stopped to avoid influencing me against him.

For the next couple of hours, I watched my family converse with Gregory from a distance before silently departing to my bedroom.