FicWad

Chapter 21



Jean-Claude walked into the manor to apleasant surprise. "Chief!" he exclaimed as the chief rose to meet him. They embraced, and then another said, "Boy, you gonna forget your big uncle?"

"Old Jim, how could I forget you!" said Jean-Claude as they all embraced.

They all then took their seats, and then they saw Karin. Immediately they rose to their feet and bowed, saying, "Psyche, it is an honor!"

"Actually," said Karin, "That's former Psyche."

"Former," said the one called Bear Fang,(the team medicine man,) "I don't understand: you give your blood for a time, and then, that's it."

"Well, there is one that did something for me, because the fount DID run dry," Karin said, "and because of the circumstances, the mantle of Psyche has been handed off to one Innocent Katiri. Because it was handed over, Iwas not changed into an undead."

"Wait, undead?" asked the chief, "Are you saying..."

Jean-Claude jumped in and said, "I filled you in on the 'undead' business in my last letter to you, remember?"

"That's true," said Old Jim, "Yet, how was all this possible."

"Well, Ryuu said that the knowledge to save..."

Everyone in the room froze, and said,"He's involved?"

"He's also fighting against Teresa," said Jean-Claude, "An ally like that is beneficial."

"How did you get him to turn?" said Bear Fang.

"He just figured out how he had been manipulated and used over the centuries," answered Jean-Claude, "There's only so much one can take. Anyway, he said that the knowledge on how to save the life of a fount of psyche had been lost when it became forbidden to create the undead. He just utilized that. He later told me that some blood from the fount was saved for this very purpose, but we didn't have that advantage. However, another girl was born as a potential fount if something happened to Karin, and her traits were recessive. Yet, one taste of Karin's blood changed all that, and she then gave Karin an infusion that fixed her right."

Bear Fang shook his head and said, "Just how much has been lost to us?"

"Never mind that, Bear Fang," said Jean-Claude, "Look at all the good changes around."

"Yes," said the chief, "These are changes that are threatened by the ignorant, or those guided by a lust for power."

"Yeah," said Karin, "Every time I look at my nephew and niece, I see such good things."

"Speaking of which," said Old Jim, "Where are the little ankle biters?"

Jean-Claude laughed, and he said, "Hold on, I'll get them!"

He then went to his house to fetch the family. In the meantime, all of the seven in the room looked in amazement, and said, "Wow, a fount of psyche that did not die-if that don't beat all!"

"Were you able to make the transfer to normal vampire life okay?" asked the chief.

"Well, it was a bit of an adjustment,"said Karin, "but with the kind of family I have now, they helped me make it happen."

Karin then went to her mother and father, and gave them a squeeze. Henry said, "I was so glad to know that my daughter did not have to be some sacrificial lamb."

"I'm glad to know that she can really be complete," said Calera, "It's nice to be able to see more of her now."

With that, she gave a squeeze to Karin's hand. Karin looked her in the eyes and smiled, knowing that their relationship was so much better than it had been. At about this time, Jean-Claude returned with the family in tow. The twins were acting shy, but Jean-Claude knew he could break the ice. "This is my better half, Yuriya," said Jean-Claude, and he presented her. After greeting her warmly, he then said, "These two are a major reason why I keep getting up every day. This is Michael, but we call him Mickey. This is Shelia."

Of course, they stayed close to Jean-Claude, and he shoved Shelia over to Old Jim. "It's okay, honey," said Jean-Claude, "He's like a big uncle."

He scooped her up and gave her a friendly bear hug. However, Sheila said, "Uncle smewee," pinching her nose. Everyone laughed, and that loosened Mickey up some. He then got frisky, and pounced on Old Jim. He tumbled over in a jovial laugh. "Let me tell you, boy," he laughed, "I know we trained you right, because it's rubbing off on them!"

"Yes, I do wonder what you did to Jean-Claude?" said Calera.

"Tarnation!" exclaimed Old Jim, "He was afine boy, but he was willing to put up with it if it meant that things could be different. Yet, he was quite a joker, and we sometimes had to apply the 'board of education' to the 'seat of knowledge!' That, however, only went so far."

The chief came up and put his hand on Jean-Claude's shoulder, and said, "Yes, when you teach someone like him to rip up trees, then to spank him, one took his life into his own hands!"

As the kids played with Old Jim, Bear Fang began to take a close look at the twins. He slipped over to Clarice, and asked her if she had certain herbs in her bag. This she did, and handed them over. He then put them in his mouth, and then began to mumble a Native American chant. He then ran his fingers before his eyes, and his jaw dropped. He looked over at Jean-Claude and said, "May I have a word with you and your wife?"

"Certainly, Doc," said Jean-Claude, and he led the medicine man to the back porch.



"What's up?" said Jean-Claude.

"As you know, you two were never supposed to be able to reproduce," said Bear Fang.

"Thanks to Karin, all that changed," said Yuriya.

"Yes, that's true," concurred Bear Fang,"It used to be thought that, because dhampirs were sterile, this was a mark that they were not supposed to be. No one ever considered a fount of psyche making the difference."

"You know, Bear Fang," said Jean-Claude,"I do believe you are familiar with my beliefs, and the laws of sowing and reaping."

"Yes, of course," said Bear Fang, "That is fairly universal. What are you getting at?"

"Sometimes I wonder if the sterilization of all vampire was paybacks for their attacks on humans that had nothing to do with the inquisition, or with the killings," said Jean-Claude, "It was hard to get these people to understand that it is wrong to visit the price of one's sins on their children, especially if their children were willing to be the opposite of their parents. They didn't learn. I recall the story that the Markers told me about a family here that tried to make sure that they were the only ones that got to the fountain of psyche, and they were willing to bleed her dry to insure that only they had the ability to reproduce. That was just as bad as Hitler, and anyone else that believed in the 'virtues' of eugenics. First, that just shows me that, truly, all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, and that includes vampires. Everyone has the potential to be that evil if they choose to be, and the right conditions are there to foster that. They had quite a battle to save Karin, and establish a system where all the vampires could benefit, and not dry her up in a matter of months. It would seem that the presentation of Karin was like an offer for redemption. Apparently, that did not work."

"That is where you come into the picture, my son," said Bear Fang, "No one in the vampire would have ever foreseen adhampir like you becoming as powerful as you are. To us, your birth was also a wake-up call to our kind. Further, your actions have truly shown that a change was coming, and was long overdue. Just because there were evils in the past does not mean that their children have to repeat those mistakes. However, what has happened with you two makes this more poignant."

"Explain," said Jean-Claude.

"Again, you two were never meant to reproduce,"said Bear Fang, "that is, as far as the vampire world was concerned, you were never meant to do this. However, the fact that you two defied the odds demonstrates two things, and that is that neither humans nor vampires are gods, and that neither can truly say what the Great Spirit has meant for us until He Himself makes it known. Sometimes, the Great Spirit has to drop reminders on us every once in a while."

"I think I follow," said Yuriya, "But what are you saying? Are you saying that our children were sent by God to slap vampires in the face, so to speak?"

"You are on the right track, sort of,"said Bear Fang, "What I believe is that all sentient creatures needed a wake-up call. No one has the right to say that things in nature are going to go one way or another. It's only when we try to tip the fruit basket one way or another is when things go wrong. Take, for example, the whole thing on global warming. A handful of humans noticed a shift in nature, and assumed that man was all to blame for the problem. While all of us-humans and vampires-could do a better job of being stewards of the lands, there is something greater to it. What have we always taught you about nature?"

"Only what my dad and granddad taught,"answered Jean-Claude, "Use but don't abuse. If you lash out at the land, the land can lash out at you."

"Very good," said Bear Fang, "You have kept your teaching close to your heart. However, while some of this lashing has taken place, we must be careful not to mistake a natural cycle in nature with a lashing. While on the one hand, the earth mother spanks her children hard for hurting her creation, on the other hand, there are things that are just meant to happen, and no sentient creature had anything to do with it. This is why I cringe at some of these radicals. They are taking both a small problem, and a cyclical change, and blowing both out of proportion for their own power gains. They could care less about both. Yet, as long as pushing either one brings votes, they will say anything. Therefore, if a normal cyclical change is meant to happen, man had nothing to do with the change, and tries to stop it anyway, what do you think will happen?"

Jean-Claude thought for a moment, and then he said, "I guess if something was meant to happen beyond our control, then, just like how nature lashes back at abuse, nature will lash back at the interference of the change she intended."

"Excellent!" said Bear Fang, "Just to make the point, you know about all the things that happened in the northwest United States?"

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Jean-Claude, "That dealt with the whole spotted owl thing!"

"The extremists were worried about the number drop," said Bear Fang, "and they believed that it had something to do with nesting losses due to lumbering. While there was a little bit of truth to all of that, there were some that wanted to take power, and they did so by destroying a thriving lumbering business. Since that time, colleagues in the northwest are horrified at the poor forest management there. Forest fires run rampant, and the old growth trees are being choked out by new, weaker, and thinner growth around it. Sure, the spotted owl had the trees it needed to nest. However, now the forests are so thick there that both they and their prey cannot maneuver through the woods. Their prey cannot get through, and they cannot fly through the trees. However, those conditions were ideal for the barred owl. What made me laugh was when I had heard that the spotted owl was moving into the cities-where the food was-and that the barred owl had been moving in long before the whole mess started. They were already pushing out the spotted owl. However, by these people's 'generosity,' they made it worse for the spotted owl, which just adapted, and actually accelerated what they were trying to prevent! This was a case of a natural cycle being interfered with, and then having that interference blow up in the faces of the so-called well meaning."

"While I agree with all of that," said Jean-Claude, "What does this ecology lesson have to do with what we see here?"

"There has been a cyclical change taking place with the vampires," said Bear Fang, "but mother earth saw fit to provide a couple of potential fountains of psyche to deal with that. There was also a paradigm shift taking place where humans were becoming more aware of vampires, and more accepting of them. It seems to me that this was meant to be, and the fountains were a wake-up call, as were the births of you two. When the vampires continued to refuse to go with the change, one of those two became the very instrument that was going to bring the change whether they liked it or not. It was not by chance the two of you met and fell in love. This all was meant to be. This is where the children come into play.



"Before I tell you about the twins, and what both I and Clarice just saw, I want to say that there are those out there that see their own power slipping because of this paradigm shift. Yet, they take a chance of being left behind if they are not able to adapt. The vampires are starting to get it, but there are two factions in the human world that are not catching the clue, and they stand to make matters worse by trying to interfere with what nature intends. One faction you face now. The other may not be a threat, depending on how ambitious they are. Teresa, while not a faction, is another concern, for the power she thinks she wields over the vampire also stands achance of being rent from her. Because of this, I do believe that is why your children came to be."

"What is it that Teresa fears?" said Jean-Claude.

"It is so beautiful," said Bear Fang,"Because of what the two of you are, your wife may have given birth to two demigods. Tell me, have your children done anything that is outside the ordinary?"

"Remember the other night, darling," said Yuriya.

"What happened?" asked Bear Fang.

"Teresa threatened Jean-Claude and me,"said Yuriya, "Mickey sensed a threat, and shot forth an astral flame. It gave her a good scare and she fled."

"He did this at three years of age!"exclaimed Bear Fang, "It is indeed as I though!"

"I don't quite follow, Doc," said Jean-Claude.

"Since you and your wife have the genes of vampires, humans, and dhampirs running in you," explained Bear Fang, "combined with Psyche blood, and then the absolute benefits of all four elements have combined in them. They are pure blood vampires, no question, but they are also pure humans, can walk in the sun, and can even be fountains, but at their whim. In other words, they will only have a rise in blood when they call for it. They can also drink it. They will have all the power of a vampire at an early age, and they may even awaken before they get out of elementary school. As the age, they will become more powerful. If you raise them to be benevolent, and to respect all life, then they may just be the two to lead the paradigm shift. They are living proof of what things can be. Teresa fears this because she knows that she will become irrelevant. They will have they ability to overcome what she can do. Therefore, she wants to destroy them. She sees the bokor wanting to stop things for their own reasons, so she figures that she can fulfill her own ulterior motives by using them. This is what we face."

Jean-Claude paced the porch for a good minute, and then said, "So, what do we do?"

"Let's wait until Ryuu and the Devil sisters return," said Bear Fang, "I can repeat all I told you, and Ryuu may have some suggestions. Perhaps we can bring the fight they want before they are ready for it, and bring all their plans to naught."

"How do we do that?" asked Jean-Claude.

"If Ryuu agrees," said Bear Fang, "then how we do it is have a wedding!"

Jean-Claude looked askance at this, and then a smile began to curl on his lips. "I think I dig it!" he said, "I think I dig it!"



While all this was going on, more and more foot soldiers were arriving. Mimoun was camping them out well outside the bounds of Tokyo. He was saddened at the loss of one of the bokor, but this would more than make up for it. Teresa was going to vamp the lot of them, and then they could attack. The only thing was that Teresa did not like the willy-nilly terrorist strikes that Mimoun was trying to do. She finally told him that the best way to do it was to wait for the majority of them to be all in one place and then wipe them out. What they would do is bide their time and wait for that chance. Lull them into a false sense of security, and then strike. "You half-breed abomination," she said inside her mind, "you shall not rend my creation from me! God shall pay for His tyranny, and He'll have to surrender his throne. Lucifer shall reign! He knows better how to do it anyway. God shall pay for his arrogance. How dare He think that there would be none to ever be equal to him!"