Fox 21

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. It was just so strange seeing the bird that we had known for months now sitting in my living room as a man. He sat tall on the pristine white couch a stark contrast to his entirely black attire.

The ankle of one leg rested atop the knee of the other as he surveyed his surroundings, taking in everything. His head would jerk up, down, left and right before he looked back at whatever had originally caught his interest. His actions were so aviary in nature but so fluid that I don't think he realized that he was no longer in raven.

'So are we just going to pretend that Cano doesn't look like an older, more Daddy version of Tae?' Levi questioned, breaking me from my thoughts as he glanced at Cano.

'Can you not?' I whispered over the link as I looked over at him once more.

'What? It's true!' He countered.

'Levi's right Tae. He looks like an older version of you.' Alistair agreed.

'I know that. I'm not disagreeing with you but I'm just saying that it's weird that he's describing him like that.' I muttered.

It was eerie looking at him after Levi announced that he looked just like me because I had to agree completely. That's why he had looked so familiar to me. He looked just like me but older. He turned his head to the kitchen where we were hiding out under the pretense of getting him something to drink and snack on.

"It would be better if we discussed a few things sooner rather than later." He called out.

"Oh...Um...We're on our way." I called back as we gathered up everything we could and brought it back to the dining room where we invited him to come eat something. As he walked in he immediately went to scanning the room and everything before approaching the table.

"So question...Where's Merula?" I questioned.

"She didn't want to come. She thought you would hate her; well hate us." He explained as he reached for a granola bar.

"Why would we hate her?" I questioned once more.

"Just you. She thought that you would hate her." He answered as he took a bite out of the fruit and nut bar.

"Why would Tae hate her?" Levi questioned slowly not really sure where this was headed.

"Well I think that by now it's obvious that I am the..um... daddy version of Tae." He commented before winking at Levi with a smirk.

"Wha-How?" Was all Levi could stutter out with the faint blush covering his cheeks.

"I'm able to intrude on the connections of others. It's stronger when I have some sort of bond with one or more of the beings in the connection."

"And you've formed a bond with one of us?" Alistair questioned.

"I think you already know the answer to that. Since it's obvious that I look like Tae you must now be wondering why it is that we bear a striking  resemblance to each other." He continued.

"Um...yes we kind of are." Levi answered for us.

"It might come as a shock but I am Tae's real father." He announced as if he was simply discussing the weather and silenced every thought in my mind. Although it would have been easy to sit there in disbelief I couldn't help but accept the information as it came.

It would make sense though. All these years I wondered why I never looked like either of my parents of any one of my family members. I never truly fit in with them either, I was the odd man out at any function we attended.

But how was it possible that he was my father? Wouldn't that mean that Merula was my mother? Which would explain why she took a liking to me that first night that we met in the forest. It's why she didn't attack after she realized who I was.

"But why? Why? How? I have so many questions!"

"It's an extremely long story part of which I'm sure Alistair has told you. What no one knew besides Helion, Merula, myself and our fellow familiar was that Merula was pregnant at the time this all was happening. The black magic was infused into your very being and you were born a few weeks before they fused the two of us together to create the creatures we are now.

We knew that things wouldn't be good for you in our world so I managed to sneak away one night and get you to someone we trusted enough to bring you hear. They left you hear, I suppose, thinking that this family would be a good one for you. Judging by the memories that are practically being screamed over the link I'm guessing that it wasn't the best. I'm truly sorry for that."

"It could have been worse but there would have been some better times had I had more loving parents." I admitted.

"We are sorry for that." He sighed. "It was our intentions to keep you safe and happy always but it seems like this was your destiny. Somehow you've managed to be brought back into our world and you've become a strong familiar."

"Why didn't you come back for him once you escaped?" Levi questioned.

"It is hard to travel between worlds without being detected. But more importantly as much as we wanted to come and get you we knew that it would have been too dangerous. We live our lives looking over our shoulder, not able to trust too many people and having to always be on guard. We didn't want that for you." He explained.

"So why did you come for him now?" Alistair questioned.

"When you three came to Rhyeal we were alerted to your presence. We came to the campus to see you but had no idea who you three were until it was too late. We are sorry about attacking, it was not our attention to injure any of you."

"So what happens now?" I questioned. "What do we do now that I know who you really are to me?"

"Nothing can change. It's not as if we can suddenly take you with us everywhere we go." He confessed.

"Why not? Why can't we go with you?" I questioned not understanding. I finally could have the family I've always wanted. Granted we were broken and a little on the crazy side but at least they were like me. They were messed up like me and they were magical like me. I wouldn't have to explain anything about my magical life to them they would already know and be able to help me.

"We're literally tracked everywhere we go. Even this realm is not safe for us for too long. We have been hunted down with magic that you've never even considered possible and fought against creatures that should never exist." He sighed before looking up at me with sad eyes. It was then that I saw how much older than me he was. The lines that creased underneath his eyes caught my attention I could see the tiredness that lie within them.

"Then why give me this false hope? Why come here and tell me who you are only to tell me that you can't take me with you? Why leave me here with these people who don't love me in a town of people who probably wish I never existed? Why? Why the fuck would you make me hurt so much right now?" I questioned as the tears began to fall.

Furiously I wiped at my eyes, desperate to stop them but it was no use. They fell faster than I could stop them so I let them fall. I stared at him as he stared back at me with a grim look on his face.

"This is why I needed her here. I don't know how to handle this. I knew I would screw up." His sigh was more like a huff as he ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't mean to make you upset. I just...We just thought..." He was trying to explain but it seemed like he couldn't quite grasp what he wanted to say.

"What? What did you think was going to happen? That I would just be overjoyed to find out that my life has been a lie and that my real family loves me but can't really take me with them right now; or ever? Did you think I was just going to smile and be all happy about this?" I shouted.

"I thought that you'd understand. I thought that you would see how much we cared." His calm and calculated demeanor fell as he stared up at me pleadingly. "I didn't...We didn't know. We didn't know that you'd react like this. But then again how else would you have reacted? The outcome is so obvious that it's painful. Clearly this could be the only way it would turn out." He muttered more to himself.

He shot out from his seat muttering more things to himself, completely forgetting that we were there. He paced past me before turning back, his eyes never leaving the floor as he simply walked back and forth, back and forth.

"How could we have been so careless?" He questioned no one in particular. He continued his pacing and muttering before his head shot up, snapped towards the door and then back at me. His eyes were wide and it was clear that he was scared of something. Without uttering a word his shifted before our eyes into his raven form and flew out of the room just as a knock sounded on the front door.

"Who could it be now? I seriously don't have the patience for this today." I sighed massaging my temples with index fingers.

"I'll go answer it and you and Alistair just stay and here and relax." I announced walking from the room and to the front door. Opening the front door cautiously I was shocked to see a familiar face on the other side. She had her patented glare plastered on her face and one hand on her hip.

"Can I help you?" I questioned.

"I was sent to you with a message from Alex." She huffed.

"And..." I urged her to continue.

"He wants Alistair to change the frequency on the phone so that he can contact him." She explained.

"Couldn't he have just come see us himself?" I asked perplexed.

"It's easier to transport me to and from places then to send himself back and forth."

"Well if that's all you wanted to say..." I began to close the door when her arm shot forward and she stopped me from closing the door on her.

"Listen to me. I know you don't very much like me and you don't have to but I have a piece of advice for you. Don't trust everyone, not even those you consider your friends. Not everyone is as they seem. I should know..." She finished cryptically as she turned around and walked off.

"Hey! Thanks for the absolute cryptic and cliche warning!" I shouted out after her before shutting the door.

"Who was it?" Levi questioned.

"Vivian. She stopped by to deliver a message to us. Apparently Alex just wanted to let us know to switch our phone's frequencies back to Earth so that he could call us." I explained leaving off the warning for later.

"Oh! I completely forgot." Alistair mumbled as he reached into his pocket to adjust his phone.

"Whenever we switch realms we have to adjust the frequency of the phones so that it works better in whatever realm we're in." Alistair explained before slipping his phone into his back pocket.

That was certainly the least of our worries at the moment though. My actual father was here, hiding somewhere in this house and I had a million unanswered questions that either he or Merula needed to answer. I wondered why my adoptive parents never told me I wasn't theirs.

"Cano!" I called out to him knowing that he would hear me from wherever he was hiding. Soon enough the sound of flapping wings echoed in the empty home as he flew back into the dining room. He shifted mid-air and stood in front of me.

"Yes?" He questioned tilting his head to the side.

"Why have you come back now? Why have you come to tell me now what's happening? You never explained yourself." I questioned without hesitation.

"It seems like the Council of Mages have doubled their efforts to find us after you three appeared at Rhyeal Academy. It didn't help that we practically exposed ourselves and allowed them to know our location." He sighed. "We've been staying well hidden but it's become harder now that all the students have left the school. They've shut down the entire school, locked the borders in place and no one can get in and out. We managed to get out before then."

"So what do you plan on doing now? Will you simply be hiding in this realm from now on?" Alistair questioned.

"No. We have to keep moving. We'll stay here for a day or two before we leave and then we'll come back once you guys are ready to leave for Rhyeal once more." He explained before another sound at the door caught our attention.

"Could it be Vivian again?" I questioned.

"I dunno but we'll find out in a second." Levi replied as he walked to the door. Trailing behind him I peeked around the corner to watch him open that door. He opened it just a crack and then sighed heavily as he stared at the person on the other side of the door.

"I didn't know you guys made house calls." He grunted.

"Can we speak to your mage and the other familiar." A snarky female voice spoke. I remembered that voice from the assembly, she was a pain and she was rude.

I looked behind me at a confused Alistair and a freaked out Cano. Could they possibly be here for him? Did they know that he was here, hiding out? Even if they did we couldn't allow them to take him away from us. Especially now that I new that he was my real father.

Turning back around I leaned a little further out until I could see the people standing at the door. Two men and one women, dressed in their robes blanketed by the shadows of the night. Had any of my neighbors seen them they would assume that I finally joined a cult of some sort.

"What exactly is it that you would like to speak to them about? If you haven't noticed we are currently on our break from school and we wanted to spend it relaxing and not thinking of anything magical." Levi quipped.

"How dare yo-" That shrill voice began before she was cut off.

"We just wanted to make sure that you were alright. After the attack we have been making sure to keep a close eye on you just in case they do return. They are very dangerous creatures and we didn't want any harm to come to you."  A man's voice spoke over hers. "Can we come in to discuss a few things? It is of the utmost importance."

"No. You can't. Tae's parents wouldn't like a bunch of strange people in their home without their permission. We will have to ask you to leave." He announced.

That's what I liked about Levi. He had a no nonsense approach to life. He said what he wanted and mostly did what he wanted without any sort of remorse for his actions. He was certainly the voice of our little trio.

"Hmm. I suppose that is a valid reason. Contact us if anything happens. We will continue to monitor you just to make sure nothing is amiss and that you are not in any danger. We are only here to look out for you. You can trust us." The man replied with a bright smile before Levi, as politely as he could, shut the door in their face without any remorse.

He walked back to where the three of us were practically hiding and just as I was about to say something Cano reached over and covered my mouth with his hand. Looking up at him I noticed that he wasn't looking at me, instead he was staring out at the door where Levi had once stood.

'They're still around.' His voice echoed in my mind. Immediately I knew that it was Cano speaking to me, to us. We stood there for what seemed like forever but was probably only about five minutes before he released me.

"They were here for you weren't they?" I questioned looking up at him. He sighed, turned his head from me and nodded.

"I knew it was too dangerous to be around here. We shouldn't have come back and I shouldn't have told you who we were."

"But I'm glad you did. I'm glad you told me who you were. It makes me glad to know who my parents really are."

"I wish that we could have done more for you. I wish that we were more for you. Not a night went by that Merula and I hadn't mourned our loss of you. Not a moment passed that we didn't want to come see you. Even now I know that she just wants to barge in here and smother you with all the love in the world but she can't because she's keeping the Council of Mage's from the area.

She used some of her magic so that they would find her trail and follow her. She knows that once you see her again that it will be completely different. She really hopes that you don't hate her. We both hope that you don't hate us." He finished.

"Do my parents know who you are or better yet, what you are?" I questioned.

"They didn't know who I was or what I was. They just seemed like good enough people when I came across them. Clearly my judgement was flawed." He sighed.

"So what are you going to do now? Shouldn't you be going to help Merula out?"

"She can hold her own. Besides she's more worried about you right now. The fact that they came here tonight means that they might suspect some connection between us. They might try to use you to find us and we're not comfortable with that. You three are naturally strong but they've been doing this for far longer than you.

I've got to go now. There is only so long that they'll chase around Merula before coming back here to check on you. I will be around and keeping an eye on you as well as Merula so if anything ever happens we will be there to help you. I'm sorry about everything." His voice held so much remorse that I could feel how hurt he was to let me go.

"I still have a million and one questions but I guess they can wait for another time. We will see you again correct?" I questioned.

"Of course. Now that you know I won't have to hide as much." He smiled. "I can come visit you every so often now if you don't mind. Merula as well."

"I would very much like that." I smiled as he reached forward and ruffled my hair a bit. He said good night to all of us before walking to the front door and quickly slipping off into the night. Tonight had been a roller coaster of emotions and I'm still not sure what really happened but as Alistair and Levi wrapped their arms around me in a tight hug I couldn't help but smile, knowing that I wouldn't be handling this all alone.

"How about we go and get some sleep?" Levi questioned.

"That sounds good to me." I replied as they pulled away from me. We walked upstairs to my room where we changed and climbed into bed immediately. I laid down in the middle of my bed with Alistair on one side and Levi on the other, curled around me, as I thought about how insane my life had become.

It seems like this was my new normal and I was somehow okay with it. Had I never met Levi and Alistair I wouldn't have ever met my real parents and my life would have been hell. I would have been stuck in a life that I didn't want to live. But now here I am, lying between to guys that have feelings for me and I for them.

If this was my new normal then I don't mind it.

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