by Lee Morgan
“I won’t be too long.” Veronica said with a teasing smile as she caressed her tail along Sorono’s.
He smiled intimately at her and they embraced one last time before they all took off together. Mark and Kara decided to stay behind because they were ordered by Raphael to prepare for his arrival. They said that they would come home soon after all is said and done.
Not needing to rush, the three of them flew together at a reasonable pace and told each other what they did the day before. Apparently Veronica had it easy compared to the rest of them. She only had to kill fifty nine before the enemy could even attempt to make the fault line slip. She said there was a close call once when five of the enemy tried working together to pull one side of the fault to make it slip, but they were taken care of before any actually succeeded.
By the time they spotted the familiar home, Connor’s fear had been realized. The entire street was lined on both sides by news vans, reporters and even the police were all gathered. What began to anger him most is that his mom’s house was completely surrounded by people, cameras and local onlookers. Sarah, Veronica and Connor looked between each other and knew what needed to be done. The two mothers looked to him to lead them to their surrounded children.
“Come on and let’s get this over with.” He said and leaned forward.
The three of them approached Jenny’s home on the bright summer day. No one was able to see them because they were using the sun to their advantage. As they continued descending Connor saw his granddaddy’s red pickup in the driveway. At least the kids and Jenny weren’t alone with all these hounds around.
Someone noticed their shadow and looked up to yell that they were here. The cameras aimed straight up as the three slowly came closer. People ran around the house to see better and were shouting like the rest of the people. There were some shocked people as they noticed Veronica for the first time. Then they backed up and gave enough room when they realized where they were going to land.
As they touched down together on the driveway people were shouting “Connor!” “Mr. May, Comment!” “Mrs. May!” “Where do you come from!?” and many more instant shouted questions were dumped upon them. Microphones and recorders were outstretched and aimed in their direction. It became difficult to speak normally to such a boisterous group.
“ENOUGH!” He shouted louder than them all.
Some staggered back while everyone else silenced. Connor glared at them and once he gained their silent and undivided attention he spoke conversationally, but his words were like a sword pressed to their throats. “I want each and every one of you to clearly understand me. Right now you are all getting on my nerves. You are distressing my family and my children for your own personal gain and that is disrespectful and will not be tolerated. You have surrounded them like a mob trying to see the accused. You will not do this for a moment longer, am I clear? If you continue to annoy my family there will be consequences. If you wish to speak with us we can call for a press conference at our convenience, but what you are doing is nothing more than harassment. We have just come home from a fight you couldn’t have won or survived and we want to be with our families.” Then his eyes narrowed and hardened on each and every one of them. to the point that they all had to look away. “I will give you just this one warning, get away from my home or you will be sorry. If you believe I’m giving an idle threat, let me give you a demonstration.”
He raised an arm and upturned the left hand. They watched what he did with wide eyes. Before them all he created a dark blue fireball the size of a softball. They could all feel the immense heat it gave off, but watched as he dropped the sphere of flames down on the concrete driveway. The fireball melted the pavement and was finally extinguished after it melted the ground into molten glass, a foot below the surface of the solid ground.
Once it disappeared he announced “Today I’m spending time with my family.” Then Connor saw a familiar face and his tone wasn’t as harsh. “If things go well enough, I’ll call a one on one conference with you, Jim.” Jim realized he spotted him in the back, but he became as frightened like the rest. “You will get an exclusive interview with me first. I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, as you can tell I’ve had a lot on my plate.” Connor’s smile broke the tension of the crowd and some people took a breath because they forgot how. “Please leave us alone for the day. If you leave right now I might also give a conference to some others of you.”
When no one moved Veronica dropped to one knee and entered all of their minds to say “You heard him, Scram!” and then she snorted a puff of smoke, and that did the trick.
The uninvited guests slowly started backing away or running in terror. Then his attention turned to a single person who wasn’t moving. It was Deputy Burrow and he was watching all this with curious eyes and a large grin. Once the reporters were out of hearing range and heading to their vehicles he stated “Welcome home.” Then he scratched his bald head and looked as the vehicles were leaving. “That was sure an entrance you gave them. One they aren’t likely to forget in the near future. For a moment there you almost made me even piss myself.” He chuckled and met Connor’s eyes again. “I wish I’d have gotten here sooner and blocked off the road here. I didn’t think they would have found where you lived so quickly. When I did arrive I had placed officers to keep those reporters back, but there were just too many of them news hounds to keep track of.” Then his eyes shifted and his smile grew even more. “It looks like I’ll take off and block off the road here for now. Once they all leave with their tails between their legs, that is.”
As he turned around, so did Connor.
Upon the entryway were six beaming expressions. Rhoda and David held hands while David cradled Pearl in his free arm. Jenny held Darrel and were both smiling widely. Then Shannon was grinning and showing all of her white teeth.
The first to speak were the twins as they mentally shouted as one “MOMMY! DADDY! YOU’RE BACK!!!”
Suddenly everything felt right.
Soon his son was in his arms as was Sarah who clutched Pearl to her breast and they were both weeping in joy. Everything is the way it should be.
The last memorable thing Connor remembered this day before it ended was Shannon and Veronica embracing one another in hope and relief.
Now and into the Future
It has been two years since the battle with the Keepers and much has happened in that time.
First and most importantly, the immortals were quickly accepted by most of humanity and their leaders, after a major change in politics and religious misconceptions. And today was very special for the world as it closely watched the day’s preceding. The immortals were all invited to the United Nations to be deemed a worldly nation amongst themselves as they wished to live in any nation they pleased without discrimination. The governments knew that most of these ancients were far older than any currently surviving nation and would be here long after that country died. That being said, Connor’s family stood amongst the crowd as all the new world leaders were gathered here. It was a great day for immortals and mortals alike.
As the four of them waited, he began to reminisce about some of the small details that have happened throughout these two years.
After the world learned of the immortal presence, Connor and his family became a local and international celebrity. That usually means trouble for those who value solitude and peace, but it wasn’t that bad after his demonstration was taken seriously. The reporters and paparazzi scheduled appointments, or risk being harmed, and once a month Connor would spend a day answering their questions. There were a few people who didn’t respect his family’s privacy, but they were usually dealt with by the local police force that seemed to have quadrupled. Still some found a eway around human efforts, but couldn’t circumvent a Harmonizer’s abilities.
Apparently the U.S. Government backed the local police force to make sure no one attempted anything foolish that might force anyone’s hand. Sherriff Burrow couldn�
�t have been happier to have gained additional help. It gave him more time to deal with his own problems rather than always trying to help only his friends.
After Veronica made sure that Shannon had been on her best behavior they left that day to meet back up with Sorono in D.C. But before Veronica left Jenny gave back the gold and jewels that Sorono gave in the event of their death. She took the heavy bag easily back, but as a gift for all Jenny’s hard work, Veronica gave her a red ruby, the size of one of her large golden eyes. Jenny wasn’t going to take it until Veronica said it was a sign of friendship between them. Then Shannon got in her mother’s robes and they flew back to Sorono’s side.
About two weeks after the return home, Sarah and Connor surprised Jenny with a vacation cruise that she was overjoyed to accept. Jenny vacationed for close to a month as her trip to the Bahamas was completely taken care of, financially. When she returned she brought home a man friend who was very respectable of her. His name was Ethan and he is a legitimate construction worker only a year older than she. Connor knew she deserved to be loved, but she didn’t know that he read his Ethan’s mind for personal reasons and found out him to be an honest and trustworthy person. What made them all laugh was that she didn’t tell him that Connor was her son. After Ethan got used to Connor he could see how much Ethan loved his mom and he couldn’t have been happier for her.
Being the grandparents of Connor, David’s metal working gained quick recognition and Rhoda was being constantly interviewed. Unfortunately, being in the spotlight didn’t make her rethink her clothing style. Even after all this she was as eccentric and personable as ever before.
Kara’s paintings were still as breathtaking as ever, but as an interviewed immortal herself, her paintings has gone to world class status nearly overnight. She sold five paintings and received close to two million for each. Luckily her personality didn’t inflate any more than usual. It couldn’t grow anymore.
The in-laws were quick to get back to doing what they normally did. The only difference is that their customers had tripled. Jack opened a second shop while Jillian had to hire help so that she could make her customer’s deadlines
Even Connor’s business boomed once he restarted teaching survival lessons. He used to average about ten or so customers per weekend, but now he’s dealing with a minimum of fifty. If it weren’t for Mark’s unwavering dependability it would be difficult. Even the original customers, who remained loyal and weren’t terrified, helped Connor out when he was needed in more than one spot at a given moment. Once he had the interview with Jim he saw Connor remained the exact same person and he continued bringing his family to the seminars. Tyler and Billy were always the biggest helpers, especially after Connor took them flying with him. Jim’s reputation and skills as a reporter gained more notice after meeting Connor and became the primary interviewer for the May and Branderson families.
Sarah was the only one who didn’t do too much. She decided to take time off from teaching as the kids needed a full time parent who didn’t want to be around a crowd for too long or being in the spotlight herself. When they did go out as a family they’d only take off when she’d nervously begin biting her bottom lip, if they ever got surrounded.
The remarkable changes in the children were spectacular these two years. Both of them are now walking upright and looking about a year old themselves. Their physical shapes aren’t round like most babies, but early pubescent would be more accurate. They take much of their features from their mother, but they will one day grow larger than Sarah, reaching close to their dad’s height in a few decades. They have both began to teethe and love to eat just about anything they can get their little hands on. They are both potty trained, but it didn’t take them any time to figure out how to take command their bodily functions. They can both pick out their wardrobe and put on their own clothes. Pearl has grown her hair out into long ringlets whereas Darrel likes to keep his light brown hair somewhat short, like his dad. Their strength is stronger than most infants, but no more than a toddler’s. Their mental range has grown, but not by any significant amount, maybe a meter or two. They prefer to speak to others by telepathy, but are able to speak eight languages fluently by mouth as well.
On their anniversary both Connor and Sarah went away to spend time together and left the twins in the care of Kara and Mark. While they were away a shadow group of the government hired mercenaries with the latest technology and weaponry to kidnap both Darrel and Pearl for experimentation since they found out an adult immortal to be far too powerful to control. They didn’t dare attack Connor or his wife and thought an opportunity has arisen to take out the babysitters and spirit the children away.
All the elite mercenaries didn’t count on one fact, a very angry Aunt Kara. She killed all but the leader when she caught the scent of men and gunpowder coming from the woods behind her home.
Hearing about the incident the President surprised them two days later with a personal visit and came up with a proposition. While his grown children played with the twins he spoke of ferreting out all of those within the government who uses deceit and the shadows to harm decent folk and use their power to further their greed by oppression. The President, along with consent from the Elders came up with a plan to scan the minds of all upper political and military personnel. It was voluntary, but those who declined the scan were asked to resign. To prove he was no exception the President himself agreed to be scanned and proven that his motives and ethics were focused on helping his fellow man and not for his own gain like most political tools.
The plan proved so effective that other powerful and minor governments requested to have their staff and those in power scanned. Nearly forty percent out of all of upper governmental control were tested and fired or resigned and honorable people were chosen or elected to take their place. The result was so significant and successful that nearly seventy percent of warring conflict in the world came to an abrupt end, without shedding a drop of blood.
A year later the president returned with better news, but first he came to greet the twins without an ulterior motive. He had brought his entire family to meet again. After another brief introduction, he became entranced by the twin children. His favorite word for them was special. During his stay with the May’s that day he explained how many of the buildings and streets were officially repaired thanks to the joint efforts between the immortals and mortals working together for a common purpose. Then he explained about the United Nations Summit.
Just before he left, he took Connor off to the side to explain the reports that he received. Between D.C., Los Angelis and New York City, just under three thousand humans in total were killed during the assault. Of the Changer’s, fifteen hundred were counted among the dead and were handled carefully by Hasmat so that the blood virus didn’t cause harm, even if it became harmless after being shed. The Balancers lost seventeen hundred and the Keepers on their side were around five thousand. They were heavy numbers as a whole, but they could have been much worse if certain events had gone in any other way.
Apparently Sorono has stayed behind and helped both financially and physically in the reparation of the damaged cities. He and the other Elders worked together so that they could prove that they were around to help. Connor asked to help them out once, but Sorono was adamant that only the Elders should do the work. Connor understood exactly why they were doing it and it wasn’t strictly for rebuilding trust with the exposed world. He was showing, subtly, that the Elders worked together as a unit and just as hard as anyone else. They were showing how balanced the world really is.
“Daddy?” His attention returned to the present as Pearl began tugging on his pant leg.
He dropped down to say “What is it, Baby Girl?”
She smiled and her hazel and green eyes twinkled as she said “Daddy, is it true that once this day is done we can go wherever we wish in the world and be accepted with open arms?”
“That they will. The humans realize they won’t live as long as we will and
they want us to be as helpful to them so that they might be remembered later, in time. They want to give a good impression so they too can achieve a semblance of immortality. And this just is the start of the mortal and immortal alliance. This will be a good day, so don’t start worrying like Mommy.” She then giggled as he rubbed the top of her head.
“That this will.”
They all turned to a strong mental voice and Darrel was the first to say aloud “Uncle Sorono! It has been a long time.”
Sorono chuckled and dropped to a knee. “It has been a long time, nephew. Come closer so that I can see how much you’ve gown.”
“They are walking now. Even I can tell how much they’ve developed.” Veronica said, walking up behind her mate with Shannon keeping up.
Pearl then squealed “Shannon!”
Sarah came up to Connor’s side as Pearl ran over and wrapped her spindly arms around Shannon’s leg. Once she released her grasp, Shannon was careful to wrap her arms around Pearl’s body and picked her up. “It is good to see you as well, Pearl.”
Not long after, Sarah’s parents found them as did his sister and Mark. Kara and Mark were both in their Fwen forms because it helped the humans distinguish between Balancers and Changers. It only helped the humans, even though all they had to understand is that all Changer’s eyes were always the same color of liquid silver.
After everyone finally came back together after two long years, there came a trumpet that had been sounded. As the crowd quieted, a man with a bullhorn stated “Welcome ancient ones. We are all thankful for your timely arrival and have made preparations and accommodations per your Elders requests. Please follow me inside for the gathered world leaders. Once there you will receive your unique badges and papers for your entry anywhere around the world.” The bullhorn clicked and he turned around.
