Chapter 26

November 25, 2000 – noon

"In his letter, my dad said that they wanted to get away from Lord Meozo, they even hid in Egypt for a few months… but what happened? I've got all of these groups telling me about why I should follow in their footsteps, while others keep telling me that they got killed because they worked for him. Honestly, I ended up signing with the EBEE to go against those telling me I should take over what they started, and that made me question whether they really wanted to get away from him. In what exactly were they involved?"

"Who talked to you? If you spoke with the Swamtons or anyone in Anita's family… don't trust anything coming out of their mouth, they're the worst type of shady. Your dad was right: they wanted to hide from him. Dawn could tell you more about your dad, but I do know that he never went to an elemental school: he was homeschooled. His father kept telling him he needed to refrain from using his inner energy as much as possible, and to not mark his mate, but he couldn't understand why."

Coralis didn't touch the food and didn't bother to ask what was in the pitcher, but kept looking at it. She didn't know her father had never been to a school and wondered what else she'd find out. She also wondered why he was told not to mark his mate.

"Me and Anita went to school together, in the UK. Her family was connected to a lot of fay and elf families who were involved in a movement trying to overpower humans. Anita wanted nothing to do with it and even considered taking a human boyfriend just to piss her family off, but she didn't. Just before she graduated from school, her family moved to Montreal: they started working for Lord Meozo and wanted to establish a supporter base here."

Coralis could feel her eyes getting wet, as what Dorothy said was soaking in, but fought against it. "Mom wouldn't have minded me bringing home a human boyfriend," she thought, while keeping her mind walls up.

"Three years later, I came to Montreal to spend the summer with Anita. We went to a lot of rallies, but would always stand in the back of the room. She met your dad there. From my understanding, he was tired of his family trying to hide him, so he was intrigued by Lord Meozo's message. Lord Meozo never cared about humans, he only wanted power, but Anita's siblings… kept working against them and were using Lord Meozo's rally to expend their influence."

Dorothy got up to grab more tissues and handed one to Coralis, noticing her eyes were getting wet.

"When Lord Meozo found out that your dad was a spirit mage, oh how much he wanted him. Your dad wasn't sure about it, the rally didn't convince him to join their cause, but he wanted your mom and didn't want to get on her family's bad side, so he ended up joining. When Anita found out she was pregnant with you, they made preparations to go hide in your dad's family temple. Anita searched for ways to cut off her bonds with her family. The temple's energy was hiding her from them, but they knew they wouldn't be able to stay there forever."

Coralis stopped fighting with herself and let a tear fell down her eyes.

"Meanwhile, I made some friends among the CMMA and helped them set a trap to capture Lord Meozo. I really tried to spare your parents, but they deemed your dad too dangerous and your mom's family was too close to him. I think the CMMA would have spared them, but… but the EBEE were firmly against it. It all happened to fast. You were only a week old. EBEE and CMMA agents just flooded the room and destroyed everyone in there, but me."

Dorothy stopped talking for a minute, sobbing.

"I knew… I knew if his associates and groups working for him found out about what I had done, how I betrayed them, they would all come after me. I was willing to take that risk, but didn't want them to take you or kill you, so I requested that the agents there dissolve my guardianship to you and hide you somewhere. Clearly, that failed, they found you anyway. I'm so, so, sorry."

Dorothy hid her face in her hands and cried. Her body was shaking. Coralis didn't know what to say. It was a lot to take in. She wanted to stay mad at Dorothy for her part in getting her parents killed, for abandoning her, but she couldn't: she understood why she did what she did. Coralis got up, went to sit on the armrest to Dorothy's right and hugged her.

"I'm not mad for what you've done. You did what you had to do. I have been mad at my parents for a long time and didn't want to talk to you when I first read my dad's letter, but not anymore. I forgive you for the part you played, and I understand why you chose to let me go."

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Coralis got up to grab a tissue and went back to sit on the couch across from Dorothy.

"Thank you. That… that means so much to me, you telling me that. How… how did they find you?"

Coralis told her about the attack on Julian Dewarp at school, about the demons, about all of those groups who tried to approach her, leading her to accept the EBEE offer, about the groups against humans rising again.

"Anita was so afraid that Lord Meozo would ever find out about your birth name, and so was your dad. He wanted her to bring you to him that night, but your dad intervened and the meeting started. The next day, I tried to reach out to Donny' sister, to see if she could take you, but I got no response. Found out a few months later that Lord Meozo had her captured in Alexandria the day after we left the Temple. She didn't want to tell him anything, but he searched her mind, found that information and stole all of her elemental essence as punishment for resisting him."

"That's how he knew…"

"Dear, please keep resisting these lunatics. Trust me, your parents would be so, so proud of you."

They spoke a little more about the current situation in the supernatural world. At some point, Coralis looked at the clock above the fireplace: 15:23.

"I'm sorry, I need to get going. I've got plans for tonight," Coralis said as she got up.

"I just have one more question before you go. I keep hearing about you and the vampire princess: are you really together or is it a cover to keep some lunatics away?"

Coralis didn't tell her about Frank. She forgave her, but trust would take some time to build. She had to protect Frank at all costs.

"Between Princess Veronica and the Swamtons, who want to push Ollyo down my throat… the choice isn't hard to make!"