*Some mild language and violence in this chapter*
*BANG! CRASH!* Lord Valen and Michael immediately readied themselves into a defensive position before they saw who caused the damage, then immediately lowered their weapons when they saw Wren. "Your family trait?! What the hell is going on Valen!" Wren looked over and saw Michael, she snarled slightly, "And you," she made a growl-like sound as she moved towards Michael. He was startled, 'her eyes seemed to change into something more animalistic,' he thought to himself as he backed away. "That's enough Wren!" Lord Valen's voice snapped her back to her senses, "I will not tolerate-" "Why?! Why is all this...why are you," she pointed at Michael, then dropped her hands and sighed deeply. "And this," she motioned too the form fitting dress she had on, "My engagement? What and when the fuck did I ever agree to that?!" The room was full of tension and anger, most of which was radiating off Wren. "Engagement?" Michael mumbled to himself, "Yes Michael, an engagement. I was told Claude's proposal wasn't official and I assumed that, because it was my life, I had some choice in the matter. Next thing I know I'm being summoned by Doreen and she told me this was my engagement dress...*sigh* What is going on Valen?!" She had began to calm herself and sat down in a chair near the window.
Michael looked around nervously at the damage she caused, 'This is worse than I presumed,' he thought to himself as he cautiously walked to the other chair. 'Wow, I know it's not a good time, but she looks amazing. The dress fits her body so well...it's tasteful but still se-' "Michael, you are aware that both the people in this room have the capability to hear you right?" Wren said as she slowly turned to face him, his face heated up, "Oh, and thanks for the compliment I guess," she huffed as she turned to look at Lord Valen. "Now spill it Valen. These past few days have been absolute shit! Tell me everything you've been hiding. My engagement, my brother, my birth father, your family trait...all of it," She crossed her arms as she stared at Lord Valen who had taken his seat as well. "Promise me something first," Wren was skeptical, but nodded her head once, "Fully listen to everything I have to say before making your decision. Once I have finished, I would like the both of you to talk amongst yourselves. This will be a lot to process, but once you heart us out, you are free to do as you please, I won't try to persuade you otherwise." Lord Valen said as he rummaged through a drawer, producing a liquor bottle and a couple glasses. "I know this is out of character, but I highly recommend at least one." Lord Valen opened the bottle and poured an equal amount into the 2 glasses. Once he set them down, Wren grabbed them both and downed them one after another. "Talk...now," she was radiating even more anger and hate, causing Lord Valen to become slightly nervous, even though he didn't show a change of expression.
He filled one of the cups again and drank it before answering, "Alright, I'll tell you everything..." *(Flashback/Explanation) I was abandoned by my father as a baby and my mother couldn't handle me on her own. We lived with relatives but as time progressed, then my mother became addicted to an underground drug and soon abandoned me and my other relatives never wanted me, so when she left, I left. I was only about 6 at the time and my abilities had began to develop, which no one in my family ever told me about, so I was left to discover them on my own. Being the age I was I was never able to find a way to make money, so I resorted to stealing to survive. One day I picked the wrong pockets and ended up in a local jail. After some time, a well-mannered and well-dressed man came by to pick up one of the teens, who I later found out was his son; for whatever reason he took me with them. At first I worked as a laborer outside tending to the animals and in the little bit of free-time I had, I would practice my abilities. Once, while I was tending to the horses, I was spooked by another of the laborers and teleported to an area not that far away; he also had some abilities and took me into his small hut. Fast forward a few years and I was working closer towards the main house of the estate and my abilities were more under control. There were a handful of laborers, both men and woman, that had abilities, but no one had the exact set of skills as I did, so we stayed close to one another.
On a stormy night one of the horses escaped and I went to retrieve her, I was able to find her and bring her back to the estate without any injuries. When I arrived to the stables, the Lady of the estate was there and demanded I showed her how I was able to survive, so I did. She immediately brought me into the main house and had me give a demonstration of my abilities to her husband. They had a son, named Donavan, who had some abilities, and they wanted me to help him hone his technique. They soon noticed I had much stronger abilities than their son, and inadvertently showered me with attention they should have been giving him. I tried my best to ignore his remarks and bullying, as to not make things worse, but one night I couldn't sleep, and got up to walk around the main house. I saw a light coming from a far room and to inspect it, never assuming I'd find something so horrible. There were 2 laborers I knew well and I had grown close too, chained up to a wall. Their clothes were torn and their bodies were bruised and bloodied, I rushed over to them to try and help them escape, but they told me to save myself and that it was Donavan, conducting experiments with anyone who had abilities. I heard a loud cracking sound behind me and quickly turned around to see Donavan holding a gun, the cracking sound I heard was the impact of the bullet in my friends ribcage, just missing my head. I grabbed the closest thing to me and we fought, nearly to the death. A guard happened to pass by the room and separated us, summoning his father soon after.
Donavan tried to blame everything on me but with the testimony of my other friend and myself, he believed me and threw his own son in their personal jail cell of sorts. His father talked with me and told me they formally adopted me and due to my empathy for others, leadership, and the strength of my abilities, that I would be the one to inherit his estate once he died, not Donavan. I was in shock but grateful. I went to my room and tried to process everything I was told, then the next morning he held a meeting with the staff and formally introduced me as his son. As an 11 year old with no stable family life, I was ecstatic, so much so that I never realized just how much rage my adoptive brother, Donavan, had towards me. He was 5 years older than me and was naturally set to inherit our fathers business before I came along. Afterwards, there were many months and even years with only minor incidents between us. As I trained and grew stronger, his hatred only grew. Our mother came down with a terminal illness and died shortly after, causing the three of us, as well as many others, to be in shambles. Her kindness was infectious and her smile could shine a light in the deepest, darkest, abyss. I turned my head to the books and began spending time with my adoptive father to understand the business world better, and for a while, Donavan was just as motivated and our relationship improved immensely.
I noticed my father was getting more and more fatigued as time went on and I grew more concerned. I went into a nearby town to find a healer I heard the other laborers mention. When I arrived to the small medical hut, the healer was out but I met a girl around my age with the most brilliant deep blue hair I had ever seen. Being 14 at the time, I couldn't stop myself from seeing her. I began to visit everyday, finding any excuse I could to talk to her. I think the healer, which was her father, caught on and invited me and my family to dinner one evening. I didn't waste anytime telling my dad and Donavan about it and although he was reluctant, they both agreed to come; which if I had known how things would turn out, I never would have done such a thing. The healer didn't realize I came from such a wealthy family and both he and his wife were slightly embarrassed when they met my father and Donavan but, the night went smoothly and it seemed like my father was in a better mood than I had seen, in months. After dinner we excused ourselves and I made some time to give the girl, Mariella, to give her a small charm I made. I was on cloud nine, I didn't think anything could ruin how I was feeling. However, as I got into the small carriage with my family, my world began to falter. Donavan had his eyes set on Mariella, and my father, unaware of my feelings, was excited to hear his son took an interest in someone and never once gave me the chance to tell him my feelings for her. I found out from her later that my father had made an agreement with her father, for them to marry once she turned 17. I couldn't believe it and we meticulously came up with a plan for us to run away together, every time we met.
One day, just after she turned 16, I went to visit her like a always did, and I didn't see her anywhere. I ran into her father who was less than pleased to see me; he told me she was not available because she was with Donavan and for me to never come back. I was angry, so I ran off after leaving the trinket I made, on the edge of her window. I pleaded with my father time and time again to call off their arrangement, just as I had done many times before, but he accused me of trying to sabotage my brother and punished me. A few more weeks passed by and I decided I would do something about it and went to talk with Donavan for the third and final time, hoping he would call off the wedding. He pretended to be sympathetic and oblivious to my feelings and said he would talk to father. I didn't believe him so I left in the middle of the night to meet Mariella. When she saw me she began crying and held me tightly, I did my best to comfort her and we ended up spending the night sitting outside under a large old tree near her house. We agreed that we were going to run away the following night and parted ways before dawn. Somehow I was found out and my family was outraged. I tried to tell them how much I loved her and that they could disown me or beat me all they wanted but I would still leave with her, which they did. After an unknown amount of time, the guards finally released me; I was wounded badly and could barely stand.
I knew I couldn't break my promise to Mariella so I gathered some supplies and tried to leave only to be stopped by Donavan. He pushed me down and as I tried to fight him back I saw a flash of blue and stopped; it was Mariella. She was worried and made her way to the estate, only to be caught by a guard. She immediately ran to me and we hugged each other tightly. Everything after that moment seemed like a blur. I remember feeling someone pull her away from me then I saw them hitting and kicking her. I did my best to fight, grabbing anything I could to wound them, but it was no use, due to the amount of blood lost. I finally noticed Donavan was the one beating her and managed to teleport myself close enough to stab a broken spear into his side. He was outraged and had the guards hold me down to watch as he began touching her, she was crying out for me as I struggled as best I could to get free, but to no avail. Donavan hit her so hard one last time that she passed out and shortly after I did too. When I woke up I was in the middle of what looked like a desert with nothing more than the torn clothes on my body. I could only assume the worse of Donavan and found a place to stay; within the next month was Mariella's 17th birthday, as well as my 17th just days after hers. I knew if she was alive, she would be forced to be his wife, and I was now exiled in a place I didn't know. I dropped their last name and just used my adoptive mother's maiden, Kalina, as my own. As the years passed I never heard anything about my adoptive father, Donavan, or Mariella. I found a job and did my best to move on with my life.
A year later I moved to The Islands and quickly moved up the ranks in the Guard Units until I was a general. As you know, there was a massacre at Takeda's residents involving your adoptive parents. When I found you, you were barley clinging to life so I took you to Shoyo. Until then, I had never seen anyone with the same abilities to heal, as I did. So when I saw that your wounds were already closing, minutes after your attack, I started doing some digging and found out more about your lineage. In that time I also found out that Sharron and possibly Gilbert, were working with Donavan, who I thought had no hold in this place. I also found out that Mariella had died a year after giving birth to a daughter. I was furious and sad because we never had the chance to run away together and I'm sure the life she was forced to live was excruciating. After leaving Haruspex Headquarters, I had more information about the child; the age fit as well as the hair color and facial features. I couldn't believe I didn't see it sooner, but I still needed more answers about your healing abilities. Turns out that the last encounter I had with Donavan, a member of his guard took some of my DNA and managed to combine it with his own and artificially inseminate his wife, my Mariella, and the result of his experimentation, was a healthy baby girl, with hair as brilliantly blue as her mothers. From then on, even after Mariella's death, and the child being left to adoptive parents, his research on the girl continued."
* (Back to present) "Wren, Donavan and Mariella are your birth parents. The reason you and I have similar traits and abilities, is due to Donavan introducing my DNA into his own. I found out a few years after the war was over and hid it from you since then in efforts to protect you and this temple. When you were younger, while you were sleeping and even when you were awake, you would seemingly loose control of your abilities and I was worried if you knew the truth it could be disastrous." Wren put her head down and was visibly shaking, "The woman I loved for many years of my life, was your mother, and her husband was, for a brief time, my brother. I initially kept you close to me because I was curious about your history and abilities, but when I found out you were my niece, there was no letting you go. I also found out that Diego was another child born of Donavan and Sharron's experiments and that's why you were both raised as siblings. I'm sorry I never told you sooner and I hope, you can understand why I did what I chose to do. I care about your safety and well being, as well as those who I was appointed to look after. I will take my leave now so you and Michael can talk. Just know, everything I did was to keep you safe, Wren," Lord Valen said in a slow tone as he walked out the door. "...My Uncle..."