Cruz Castle, Windenburg, 2036 Bastian approached the castle and noticed a letter on the ground in front of the door. Suspecting what it was, he picked it up, slit open the envelope and unfolded the paper. It read, "Grim wants a divided nation." He knew exactly who had left the note - Henry's grandmother Siobhan Fyres. She had now moved on in the afterlife. Something every ghost wanted, to move on. "Right," he said to himself. "Time for a chat with my son." He had known why the Grim Reaper had locked him in the red room, because he was the only one who knew how to stop the sweaty shivers pandemic. Just then, Henry walked up to the front door, without registering the ghost. "I'm home," called Henry. "How was the coven, hm?" Alex pushed his bottom lip out. He hadn't seen Henry all week. "I've missed you," said Henry, pulling his husband into a warm embrace. "Yeah, it was good. I learnt how to make a pearl out of a shark's tooth." "I hope you didn't kill any sharks in making it," said Alex. "Nah," said Henry. "They're very respectful with their resources. Besides, my mother's a Disney princess, meaning animals are friends, not fodder." "Esmeralda's a Gypsy, Henry, from a French novel... no, I mean, your mother's just a witch that happens to look... " "Yeah, yeah, I know," said Henry. "I like to wind you up." Alex held Henry very tightly, in case he was thinking about scarpering. Later that morning, Alex was in the palace gym, boxing. He only boxed when he was upset. It helped him manage his emotions. One thought kept haunting him. What if Henry preferred the coven over him? "Alex! Is this a bad time?" said his father, Bastian. He had been standing there watching him for about ten minutes. "Eirik," said Alex. "What?" "Eirik. It's your real name, is it not? I asked mama if you had an Old Norse name and she told me." "Oh, well... yes. That is my name..." Alex's eyes weld up and he hugged his father for the first time since when he was 17 and confessed to being bisexual. The rest of those teenage years were spent ignoring his father, not because he didn't love him, but because his father represented something Alex didn't want to be associated with: the Royal family. But there were those rare moments where Alex couldn't resist the comfort of his father's arms and hearing that he was loved no matter what. "Are you okay, Alex?" "I'm lonely, faðir," said his son. "Oh, I'm so sorry," replied his father. "You have Henry, don't you? Henry, that is his name, hm?" Alex nodded. "He's got his coven now." "Oh, one of those days, Alex?" said his father. "Are you worried Henry doesn't love you?" Alex nodded. "Has he said or done anything to make you think he might not love you?" Alex shook his head. "Do you think your mind might be playing tricks on you?" Alex shrugged. "I'm tired, I need to go to bed, faðir," said Alex in a disheartened monotone. "No, I need to tell you something," said his father. "What?" said Alex. "You know the stories I used to tell you about Loki?" said Bastian. "Yes," said Alex. "You used to tell me one of his adventures each night before bed." "Well, it so happens that the spirit of Loki runs through the veins of our..." Woof! Woof! Alex, I am your ancestor... technically speaking. "You're a demigod?" cried Henry. "That's so... Rick Riordan!" "If you say so, Henry," said Alex, dragging his feet into the living room. His father and Loki, had given him the ingredients to make a vaccine for the Sweaty Shivers. How they managed to find the snot of Fenrir was beyond him, but right now he needed to rest a bit before setting to work in his secret lab. "Oh Alex, you're going to save the world," flapped Henry and he kissed Alex's cheek. "Yes, Henry," said Alex. "Now would you mind, I'm going to rest for a bit before..." "Yeah, cool, you go make that vaccine while I go upstairs to rest for a bit," said Henry. Right, thought Alex. No rest for the demigod, I get it. And Alex took the secret passage down to his lab. And set to work on the vaccine for Sweaty Shivers. Meanwhile up in the Royal bedroom... Henry coughed. He wasn't feeling too good. He could feel his head burning up. So he took an afternoon nap. Later that night, Brindleton Bay Something had caused a stir among the witches. "And you are absolutely sure that this is what you saw?" said Minerva. "Positive," Martha replied. "I caught a vision of him coughing up blood. He's caught the Sweaty Shivers. I've never been wrong before." "Then it's done," said Esmeralda, who had been listening in on Minerva and Martha's conversation. "We perform the ritual tonight." "You know that ritual could kill us all," said Nadya. "He's my son," said Esmeralda. "We're doing the ritual." "A son you've only recently met." "We're doing the ritual!" There was a pause. "It's too dangerous!" Nadya replied "... besides, no one can take you seriously in that coat." "I get cold," Esmeralda replied. "Besides, what has my coat got to do with Henry?" "Nothing, other than the loss of your credibility is the result of that coat." "Rubbish. I don't know how you can wear practically nothing out here." "I'm not wearing nothing." "And there goes the sisters," said Martha. "How come they always resort to picking on appearances when they can't win an argument?" said Minerva. "Okay okay, we do the ritual," said Nadya. "On one condition." "And what's that?" "If we don't all horribly die in this ritual, I would like you to help me change the law that forbids witches and vampires from dating each other." "Is this about you and Jareth?" said Esmeralda. "Is it a deal?" said Nadya. Esmeralda considered the proposal. "I really don't get what you see in him," she said, "he's cold - literally - and very old fashioned, but if you insist then I accept." Nadya smiled. "Everyone, we're heading back to the coven to save Henry's life." "Sort of," said Esmeralda. "We're only giving him another ten years." "Don't destroy the vibe, sis. Besides, there are those rare occasions that the subject exceeds their due date." I would like to thank Bugsie2016 for lending me her sim, Riley Burton from her fabulous simLit, The Burton Legacy, to play Martha Good, the Witch. Comments are closed.
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