Sorry about the double post, but this should be easier
to read... I hope.  ^_^;

This is either a teaser for a longer fic, or just a
complete shortfic, depending on whether or not anyone
wants to see more of this.  :-)


Family Ties


Rezo felt it, when the boy was born.  Half a continent
away, right in the middle of a casting a complicated
spell to heal some foolish street urchin who had
broken his back falling out of an apple tree... and he
still felt it.

*What is this?* he thought, so surprised by the
overwhelming call of the newborn's strangely familiar
life force that he nearly lost his concentration for
the spell.  The crippled boy lying at his feet moaned
in pain, snapping his attention back to his current
situation.  Cursing silently for allowing himself to
be distracted, Rezo finished the spell by rapping the
base of his staff against the stone-cobbled street. 
The metal rings that adorned the jeweled ornament atop
his staff jangled with commanding resonance, and the
boy was bathed in a bright halo of bluish light that
expanded to fill the surrounding area.  The crowd that
had gathered to watch the spectacle shielded their
eyes and gasped as they felt the tingle of residual
power ripple across their skin.  Later, those people
would notice that any minor aches, pains, scratches,
cuts and bruises that they had accumulated throughout
their daily labors had all vanished in that blinding
moment.

Rezo didn't even spare a moment to reflect on the
usual irony that, while he could mend a severed spinal
cord with relative ease, he couldn't even open his own
eyes.

The moment the spell was complete, Rezo lifted his
head and gazed into the distance, ignoring the
urchin's cry of delight and gratitude as the boy
slowly staggered to his feet like a newborn foal;
ignoring the usual gasps of amazement and awe from the
crowd.  His sealed eyes saw nothing but the
ever-present darkness, but his inner sight was already
far beyond the confines of the walled city, beyond
mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers, searching,
searching... 

...finding.

A large, comfortable room.  Thick carpeting. 
Lacquered oak furniture.  A canopied bed, all velvet 
and lace and sweaty, blood-stained sheets.  And a
woman in the bed, still gasping from exertion, her
skin and hair damp with perspiration; yet she was
beautiful and smiling as she reached out... 

"A healthy boy, my lady," the midwife said, placing
the bundled infant in the woman's arms.

Rezo wasn't in the least bit surprised to find that
the woman was his daughter.  He had suspected it from
the first moment he had felt the birth.  He *was* a
bit surprised to discover that she was now a woman,
old enough to be married and bear children.  Almost
*too* old to bear children, he realized, for she
appeared to be in her late forties.  *Ah,* he thought
with mild amazement that bordered on annoyance at the
reminder.  *Has it been so long?*

He had never known the girl personally, having left
her mother before she was born to continue his search
for the cure to his blindness.  And he had no desire
to consort with another ill-begotten result of a lapse
in  his personal judgement.  Besides, it appeared the
girl  had fared well enough, even without whatever
dubious fatherly guidance he might have given...  

But this was nothing out of the ordinary.  She had
given birth, and he had yet another unwanted grandson
to his name.  Why, then, had he felt the infant so
strongly?  The birth of his own children hadn't even
stirred his notice in the least... and yet, with this
child, the pull on his soul had been strong -- strong
enough to distract him in the middle of a healing
trance, which was unheard of... 

The answer to Rezo's unspoken question chose that 
moment to walk through the bedroom door, thus giving 
him one of the greatest shocks of his life.

Rezo's forty-something daughter raised her loving gaze
from the infant in her arms... and favored Rezo's
other grandson -- the son of his son by another woman;
a strapping young lad in his mid-twenties -- with a
radiant smile.

"He has your eyes," she said warmly.

Shaken to the core, Rezo snapped his inner sight back
to his physical body.

He noted absently that the crowd was pressing around
him now, begging for more miracles as usual, not
noticing or not caring about his momentary lapse into
an astral trance.  Without a word, he pulled his
scarlet robes protectively around himself and vanished
from under their grasping fingers. 

He materialized in the main hall of Shabranigdo's
tower.  Using his staff to support himself, he
staggered like an old man to a nearby cushioned chair
and sank down wearily.  A twitch of his fingers, and a
goblet of wine appeared in his hands.  Sipping
gratefully, he wondered if he could possibly calculate
the odds... and immediately gave up.  Who could have
predicted, when he had indulged in affairs with two
completely unrelated women who lived on virtually
opposite ends of the world from each other, that their
offspring would meet, marry... and have more
offspring?

His daughter.  And his grandson.  That meant that the
infant was both his grandson... and his
great-grandson? 

Rezo groaned aloud.  By the Dark Lord....  What a
mess.

At least he now understood why the infant's new life
had called to him with such unusual power.  His blood
ran in the child's veins twice over, after all... 

Rezo frowned at the thought.

This could cause... complications.

Leaning back and resting his head against the back of
the chair, he reluctantly cast his inner vision out
once again.  Whether he liked it or not, this bore
further investigation.

The midwife was gone from the room when he returned, 
and Rezo found his daughter and grandson cuddled 
against each other, acting for all the world as if
they didn't know they were blood-related.  Which,
under the circumstances, was quite possible.  The
oblivious couple gazed adoringly down at the bundled
infant.

Even now, Rezo realized with a start, he could feel
the power coming off the boy in waves.  Power that was
raw and untamed.  Power that was sure to attract all
kinds of attention -- mostly the wrong kind of
attention.

There were several resentful Mazoku, he knew, who
would immediately recognize the source of the child's
power, and wouldn't hesitate to use such power against
him.

Yes, Rezo mused grimly.  Something definitely needed
to be done about this child.

And perhaps, just perhaps, something...
advantageous... could be salvaged from this breeding
disaster...

"Have you decided on a name for your firstborn son?"
his daughter asked, looking up into her husband's
face.

"Zelgadis," his grandson replied without hesitation,
as he reached down to gently brush a lock of pale
violet hair from the infant's forehead..

"Zelgadis," his daughter repeated with soft approval.

"Zelgadis," Rezo whispered, and his solitary voice
echoed within the walls of the Tower of the Dark Lord.



Um... to be continued? ^_^




__________________________________

_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com