Saku, as a matter of interest before school started, decided to take it upon himself to explore. He had already visited the Slayer school, where he had bumped into Friday. Now he felt it was time he actually visited the Paladin school.
A part of him was a little tentative about this. After all, it was a spitiual order, and it was not any ancient Egyptian god that they worshiped. He wasn't sure what kind of reception he could expect.
It was in his cat form that Saku approached the grounds. He could feel it the second he stepped onto them that there was something different about this place. It seemed to eminate from the church, which Saku realised by virtue of his latent protection magics was specially designed to prevent undead, demons, practitioners of the black arts and others of that ilk from entering. Uncertain as to whether that included the sons of pagan gods, Saku decided it was wiser not to tempt fate. He wondering briefly what the divine power that protected it would think of his vampiric cousins.
"Good afternoon."
Saku paused, and looked up at the elderly gentleman who was addressing him, and shifted into human.
" 'Afternoon," he replied.
"Father Bob," he introduced himself.
"Saku. Saku Hanson. How'd you know?"
"I had a feeling," Father Bob replied with a smile. "Welcome to the Order of Light."
"Thank you. I didn't know if I would be. Welcome that is."
"I wouldn't suggest you walking through the Church doors myself, but then I don't know how the protection that guards that hall would percieve you."
"Neither do I."
"Sensed it did you?"
"I have some protection magic. My specialty is actually fire. Protection seemed to come along randomly about a year or so ago."
"Interesting."
There was a pause in the conversation as Gwyn walked past, chatting to a very pregnant young lady who smelt badly of Medea. Father Bob started then, realising that Saku was eyeing off the young lady - Alexa, if he remembered her name correctly - and actually growling!
"You!" he shouted, running over.
Barak, who seemed to appear at the scene from nowhere, stepped between Saku and the startled Alexa.
"You cannot hurt her," he told him firmly. "Your own heritage prevents you."
Saku snarled at Barak.
"She drugged my father and raped him," he hissed, fire dancing between his fingers. "She smelled wrong then, and she smells worse now. She may as well have 'Medea's tool' stamped on her forehead."
Alexa swallowed, both afraid and confused. That only person she had ever done that too was Zac, and the young man with the firey hands was almost his age. How could he be Zac's son?
Then she shook herself and looked down at her own son. Sextus was nine months old, but looked 3 years old. Sextus was in chicken form and tembled fearfully between her legs, having let loose a squwark of terror the moment Saku came into notice.
"Nonetheless," Barak said. "You cannot hurt her. She is a woman, a mother, and she's with child."
Saku snarled again, but reluctantly turned off the flames. He pointed a finger at her.
"Count yourself lucky," he growled at her.
"Now really," Gwyn frowned. "Is that any way to talk to her? She made a stupid mistake, for which she repents, and is paying for it a hundred fold. Have you no compassion?"
"Do you have any idea what it felt like to know what was going on, and not be able to do anything about it?" Saku shouted. "To try to prevent someone from date-raping someone you love, to be dismissed, pushed aside and locked up, and then to find out that he has no memory of what happened a day later? I was just a kitten!"
Alexa started, remembering the cat at the park. The one she had been so annoyed with at the time for trying to knock over the drink she had especially prepared. The number of times she wished she had succeeded, although it would not have prevented her from becoming a werequeen as she had already consumed that by that point.
"You... you were the cat!"
"Yes, I was. Thought I was just some stupid animal, didn't you?" Saku spat.
Alexa shook her head., trying to wrap her head around this. No wonder Zac wasn't interested in her. First she finds out he's an alien, and now he has a werecat for a son. And of course, it certainly explained Sextus' terror, cats being natural predators of birds.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"It's a little late for that," Saku said, then paused, and glanced down at Sextus.
What was that Barak had said? A mother?
"You have to be kidding me."
Sextus seemed to take that as his cue to turn human. Saku pursed his lips, seeing another obvious sibling.
"Medea," Alexa swallowed, "made me a werequeen. When I ran away, I could only take one. Sextus."
"Sixth child? How many were there?"
"Six. Medea and Aranince have them. Sextus is a werechicken, and he has x-ray vision. I... I can't remember what the others were. Alpha is a werebear. Beta is a werebat. Ummm..."
"They all have names like that?"
"Uh huh. Medea named them. I think Delta is a swan. Wait, no she is a snake and Gamma is the swan. Quinten was a werepirana. I don't remember what all their umm," Alexa swallowed yet again, "alien powers were."
Saku snorted.
"So. You know."
Alexa nodded.
There was silence all around.
"How... how is he? Zac, I mean."
"Fine."
He held out his hands, then shook his head.
"I don't know how I'm going to tell him about this."
And on that note, Saku turned into a cat and stalked away. Alexa chewed her bottom lip.
"I'm such an idiot."
"Let's not go through this again," Gwyn said firmly. "Come, we need to talk to the priests and maybe Helen Hart as well."
"Do... do you really think they'll be able to help me?"
"At the very least, we should be able to prevent Medea from taking you back again," Gwyn replied, as she picked up Sextus. "She can't scry Order of Light lands, so she won't even know where to look."
Alexa nodded and allowed herself to be led away, the meeting with Saku engraved in her mind.