The sun had just risen when Shetter woke from his drug induced slumber. His green hair was greasy from not showering in a week and a horrid smell came from his crumpled clothes. Though the five foot four inch man didn't have time to notice as the hungover from the night before sunk in. His yellow eyes glanced around the room for his pipe. He had just lit the intoxicating substance when there was a knock on the door. Slowly, he unstuck himself from the bed and stumbled down the stairs with the pipe sticking out of his mouth.
"Who is it?" Shetter hollered as he made his way to the door. Nobody answered and he wondered if anyone had knocked or if they had left. However, those thoughts were quickly thrown out the window when another strong knock sounded against the door. He moved closer to the door and swung it open. The first thing he noticed was the light that seemed to aim for his already aching eyes. As the shapes came into focus, he recognized the two men; it was Finnick and Galick.
"Finnick, What's going on? Why are you knocking on the door? Where is Cora?" he asked but quickly regretted uttering a word as the boy's angry red eyes seemed to get more intense. Finnick stood with his arms crossed in front of him with a vengeful glare aimed at the trembling Nymph. Galick stood half behind the teen with an equally menacing look on his face.
"You son of a bitch, don't you ever say her name again! You finally have gone too far, you old drunkard. You are to pack your sparse belongings and move out by the end of the day! If you refuse, you will be forcibly removed by me. This house is no longer yours from this day forward. '' Finnick spat at the man he no longer considered his father. He ripped the pipe from the shorter man's mouth and snapped it in half. It gave the teen a strange feeling to finally stand up to the man who had ruined his childhood. The man who was meant to care for his two children but instead hid within his own grief.
"What the hell are you doing? This is my home and that was my pipe. Who do you think you are to take either away from me?" Shetter argued as he glared at the two larger men. He gulped as he backed away from their threatening steps forward.
"You tried to take advantage of my sister, your own daughter! Yet, you seem to think that you deserve to remain in our home? Where I raised that girl and put food in our bellies? The place mother bought to raise me and for us to always have a place to come back home too?" Finnick cautioned the older Nymph but neither seemed in the mood to back off.
"When I am not in my right mind, she looks exactly like my wife. I just miss her so much and I always regret it later. Plus, she isn't biologically my daughter. Hell, you aren't my son either!" Shetter yelled angrily before he seemed to realize what he had said. Galick looked taken aback by the implications. Finnick was a different story as he stood there confused for other reasons.
"The hell do you mean? Have you finally lost your mind? Even if you are not my biological father, you were still the only father I knew. However, you became nothing more than a stranger once my mother died. The only reason I kept you around was for Cora and this is what you do behind my back? Ha… you are sick in the head. Now, get the fuck out of my house." Finnick Shouted as he grabbed the shorter man by the collar of his shirt.
"Wait, you knew that I was not your father?" Shetter asked in disbelief and Finnick nodded as he dragged the man to the front door of the house.
"Besides the fact that you and I look nothing alike, you were married to my mother one year after I was born. I have memories as early as the womb. You think that I wouldn't make the connections?" Finnick answered as stopped in his tracks. The grip on Shetter's shirt tightened as he looked to the sky that was now above them.
"Then do you know who your father is?" Shetter asked as though he had all the secrets to Finnicks troubled mind. A sick smile had spread across the older man's mouth as he thought he had a bargaining chip. However, the teen only shook his head and tossed the other man into the dirt before them.
"I had several ideas of who my father could be but to this day I am still not sure. However, it is not something that I need to know. I have gone this long, I can wait longer to find the truth." Finnick stated as he turned away from the old Nymph man.
"Are you going to tell Cora?" Shetter asked dejectedly and that was when Finnick froze. The man had the audacity to say her name not only once but twice. The young man swirled around and kicked the man square in the face. Shetter was lifted from the ground and sent flying several yards before he fell to the ground in a heap of pain and bruises.
"Haven't I already told you not to say her name, idiot. Don't even breathe, look, or be in her general vicinity if you want to live. You have seen me hunt and I doubt very much that you want to be my next prey." Finnick warned as Shetter groaned from the vicious impact. Finnick turned around and walked back into the house.
Galick sat on a bench in front of an empty fireplace with a grim expression on his face. Finnick knew why the man was so upset as he was one of the men he had expected to be his mothers lover. Galick was an Elf and Finnick had the ears and cat-like eyes of the Elves. Finnick sat on a cushioned stool next to the fireplace. He did not speak as he lit the logs with a quick fire spell.
"You knew that he was not your father? For how long?" Galick asked in a sorrowful voice that reflected his grim mood.
"Since I was born, I have Hyperthymesia. I can remember things from before I was born such as my mother singing. I never heard his voice until a year after I was born when he showed up as my supposed father. I knew it was bull once I learned the traits of various species. My ears and eyes are that of an Elf, not a Nymph. Not to mention I grew to the height of a small bear." Finnick explained as he stared at the fire. Galick, however, could not take his eyes away from the young man.
"That must be one of the reasons you act too old for your age." Galick mocked lightly but the teen didn't laugh nor did he argue. It was true, he had seen much over the years and had learned quickly from it. However, nothing about it was fun nor was it joke worthy.
"There were several people I had considered when I thought about my biological father. You were at the top of the list for many reasons but the biggest was because I wished for you to be my father for so long. Though, you were disqualified when I did the magic paternity test." Finnick answered the unanswered question but did not look at Galick.
"They can give false negatives if you don't have enough power to cast the spell. Meaning it might not have been a negative test but a negative on the provided Mana." Galick recited something he had learned long ago.
"What?" Finnick faltered as he whipped his head around to look at the older man who looked more and more guilty by the second. He never thought that it was true, that this man would have been his mothers lover. Let alone that he could be his father; though he had dreamed if things had been different.
"Do you want to find out?" Galick asked as he stared at the floor between them. He was nearly certain of the result but at the end of the day Finnick had to decide the next step.
"We should head back to the workshop." Finnick stated just after the other had stopped speaking. He needed time; time to think about everything that happened, to talk to his sister about it, and lastly to decide if he wanted to go through the disappointment once again if it turned out negative. Galick seemed to understand as he snapped his fingers to put out the fire and led the way out of the house. Unfortunately, a disheveled Shetter was perched on the front steps.
"What are you still doing here? I thought I told you to beat it!" Finnick snapped, the day's events having worn out the rest of his good will. Shetter stumbled off the steps as he attempted to stand and looked at the glaring men.
"And where, do you suppose, I should go? This has been my home for the past fifteen years. It has my things, my memories, and is the only place I can remain close to her." Shetter cried out as tears built up in his eyes. Finnick knew it was an act but the man was truly pitiful.
"I don't care where you go, let alone whether you live or die. So, Just be gone before I turn you into nothing at all." Finnick said in such a cold voice, both of the other men shivered. Galick seemed the most shocked between the two older men to see the teen act so cold-blooded.
Shetter had no illusions on what would happen to him if he stayed. Finnick already had blood on his hands from bandits and thieves who dared to attack those he loved. It was at the age of seven that he first got blood on his hands. Though it was an accident, it desensitized him to some extent; taking another person's life had become just another distasteful activity. Especially when only minutes later, Finnick witnessed Shetter taking the lives of three others who attacked his mother.
"Fine, just don't kill me and I will sell my eatery. I will be out of town by the end of the week." he offered but did not dare to move until the deal was accepted.
"Like I said, I do not care if you live or die. Just leave!" Finnick ordered but he did not wait for the man to move. Instead, he put all of his strength behind his leg as he swiftly kicked him into the forest.
Galick was stunned at how heartless the boy acted. It was as if the boy he had nearly raised was someone else. What frightened the man more was when Finnick turned to face him, the boy's eyes had turned a dead, emotionless blue. However, seconds later their color turned to a powerful black.
"Come on, let's head out a bit farther. I need to put a barrier up." Finnick said as he led the way toward the forest opposite of the way his father had gone.