Daughters Of Pierce

Interlude

Edwardian- Present Time. 

    This world is overpopulated with the lack of mysterious disappearances that plagued the world in my time. They're killing one another. They've lost track of their purpose. Edith is right. Mortals no longer fear anything other than being unable to feed their greed. They have moved passed their primal stages and have reverted into their subliminal and materialistic relics. 

    "Who taught you how to use a laptop?" 

    I turned around to see Ethious Montgomery. He reminds me of a young Alpha who loved to get in trouble when she was a pup. Harriet was one of my favorite wolves. It pleases me to know that there are still small lingering traces of the old world. 

    "Rayleen taught me how to use the interweb," he chuckled. 

    "Is that what she called it?" I nodded. "The internet. She's a handful don't let her make a fool out of you," 

    "Noted," I smiled. Rayleen reminds me of Dominion.

    "Come with me. Rayna wants you to meet someone," I shut the laptop in front of me and stood up. He pointed at my leggings and my sports bra. "You're not cold?"

    "No, I don't feel cold. Ever," I answered following behind him. 

    "Okay," I think I made things awkward.

    "Do you?" he glanced back at me. 

    "Do I feel cold? Yeah, sometimes. It's always cold here but I'm a wolf so. It's easier to handle,"

    "I knew one of your ancestors," he stopped turning to look at me. He's tall. Not as tall as Armadian but almost there.  

    "Yeah? What was his name?" 

    "Her. Her name was Harriet Montgomery," he smiled. 

    "Was she an Alpha?"

    "Of course she was. She was also a fierce warrior. The alpha King adored her," 

    "Do you know the Alpha King?" I nodded. 

    "He's mated to my aunt. Elianne Duke. Luna Queen," 

    "Wow, I didn't know that. Is she like you? Half and half?" 

    "No, Elianne Duke is one of the last Vampire Purebloods. She and my mother are identical twins. Duke is my mother's maiden name," 

    "Edwardian Duke Pierce," I smiled. 

    "Exactly," 

    "Why were you named Edwardian?" I sighed remembering the way I had left things with my father before the war had begun. 

    "It was my father's name. His name is Edward. My mother called him Eep. She named me Edwardian because I'm the firstborn. Edwardian was her attempt to feminize the name," we both laughed. "Why were you named Ethious?" 

    "It's a fluke," he laughed his eyes lighting up. "My mom wanted to name me Helios after the Greek god but when she screamed it out to my dad and the nurse when she was in labor they thought she said Ethious. When she saw my birth certificate she thought it was funny so she kept it," 

    "That is beautiful," I laughed with him. 

    "I've never told anyone that story,"

    "You should. It's adorable," he opened a pair of double doors and motioned me inside. 

    He let me walk in alone and then shut the door behind him. There is a waterhole in the middle of this library. I looked around walking over to it. It's deep. There is sand at the bottom along with a dome of faux coral. The walls are decorated with white marble shelves with hundreds of volumes of thick leather texts mounted on top of them. 

    A red shimmer below caught my attention. A woman or fish, maybe both. She swam along the bottom of the waterhole with an infant the same species she is. I have never seen anything like this. I know about Atlantis. About shifters of the ocean. Sirens but not these creatures. 

    Rayna's head came out of the water. Her hair had changed from its deep red shade to gray almost metallic silver, her skin hardened, to adapt to conditions of the ocean. Her eyes glazed over emerald green. The vibrant color melting away onto the smoothness of her skin. 

    "What is that?" I asked pointing at the red-tailed creature and its child swimming in the water. 

    "This is who I wanted you to meet," the woman swam up. She's beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like her. 

    She cradled the hybrid infant in her arms as she swam on her back effortlessly without taking her eyes off of me. This is not a creature of Darkness. It's mortal. I can smell it in her blood. She doesn't have any power that makes her unique to us. Is she Rayna's pet?

    "What is she?" 

    "She's a mermaid," Rayna pulled her body up to sit on the edge of the waterhole. 

    I sat next to her before crossing my legs so that I wouldn't touch the water. I don't have complete control of my powers at the moment and it would be a shame to freeze Rayna's pet Mermaid. 

    "They're beautiful," I commented. "What do they do?"     

    "What do you mean?" she asked looking over at me. 

    "Don't pets usually do something their owners teach them to do?" the mermaid stopped before she hissed at me. 

    "Oh, my god," Rayna laughed. "No, no. She's not my pet. She's a person. A princess actually," 

    "Oh, my apologies," I lifted my hand to face embarrassed. "I didn't mean to offend your friend," 

    "I am very offended," it-she hissed before disappearing into the coral below. Rayna stood up motioning me to follow her. There's a grin on her face telling me she thought it was funny. Her features all returned to their human-like state.

    "Why did you think she was my pet?" she asked when Carter came over to her to hand her a towel. "Thanks, Car," 

    "Ro, wants me to tell you tea is served in the main room. It was cleared out for you and lady E," Rayna dismissed him. 

    "It-she's not of Darkness. She's mortal. There is nothing special about her," she smirked at me before she took my hand and led me into the main room. This house is beautiful. I love the decor. 

    "Mermaids were created by the creator to assist humans that were at sea," she explained. 

    "I didn't know that. Is this a new creation? How long ago were they established?" 

    "When Atlantis was," Atlantis was here before Darkness had been established. Before Adam. They were the only ones that were worthy of remaining on Earth after the first millennium.

    "Wow, they've been around a very long time. Why do you have one in your waterhole," she smiled.     

    "It's called a pool," she motioned me to take a seat. "Because she's in danger out on the ocean. She's a kid. She'll be eighteen in a couple of weeks," 

    "Oh, I see. You are her ward. It's very noble of you to take in a mortal like this. Most Darknessian's wouldn't bother," 

    "You don't like mortals?" 

    "Of course I do. I've just never had a use for one. Where I come from, mortals are essential to our survival. We protect them, make sure they're well, make sure they breed,"

    "Like cattle?" she asked. It bothers her that this is what these creatures are to us. 

    "I understand your position," I clarified. "You were raised to the customs of this world. They're the dominant species for now," 

    "Do Darknessian's feed off of humans?" she asked. "How did everything work back then?" 

    "Humans ran around pretty much the way they do now. Darkness was protected by barriers created by witches. We would harvest them. Take what we needed, erased their memories, and put them back. There times when some of them didn't make it back. Some aristocrats liked to keep them as pets. Some of them were too special to let go. They became formers and stayed within Darkness with there masters. Some were even mated to our kind," 

    "But ultimately, they were snacks," I nodded. 

    "The magic Darkness provides this planet keeps it from what is happening now. This pollution is killing the natural resources we all need to live off of. The breach in the earth's atmosphere if not properly taken care of can end badly for us all. The overpopulation is ridiculous. They are not just essential to our survival. We are essential to theirs as well. With us gone, they're falling apart without any real purpose,"     

    "That sounds a lot like you think they were put on this earth for us to snack on," I laughed. 

    "Rayna, do you know what we all are?" 

    "Darknessian's?" I nodded. 

    "Yes, but aside from that. Do you know why we exist?" she shook her head.     

    "Luck?" I chuckled at her bold guess. 

    "We are not of this world, Rayna. Each species within Darkness are children of the moons that the creator destroyed on his quest to find his mate. We are what's left of our Goddess's sisters. There were twenty-six stars and only one survived. Zuluna, mother of Darkness. The Creator's one and only love. 

    "This universe was created in the consummation of their love. This planet was created to house the greatest gift the Creator could give his beloved. He wanted to give her a world that she could come to visit and so she could be with what is left of her family. The family who tried to keep them apart. The family he obliterated to get to her," 

    "That's a real story? You believe that?" I laughed. 

    "My grandmother Dilianne Duke, my father Edward Pierce, King Lucien the wolf, Michael Chambers, Lucifer, they were all there. They can tell you exactly how we came to be. The creator created the human race to protect us from the Celestial. His father. We are immortal may be as strong as the Gods themselves. The fates, the creator's sisters forged our paths to coexist with mortals. He gave us a home. He gave them life. His children rebelled and his mate, the love of his life. She loved him for it,"