Hedgesville, West Virginia
Caspian Residence
Sunday, August 25, 1996
5:11 PM

“Ouch,” Jennie mumbled as she leaned forward against the back of one of the kitchen chairs. She placed her head on the headrest and groaned as Lucia bandaged the raw flesh around the trembling wings. “They keep twitching.”
“Give it time,” Lucia said with a strained laughed. “They‘re a little new and your body isn‘t to it.”
“It?” Jennie whispered, trying to peer over her shoulder. Her eyes couldn’t see past the red feathers of the angelic wing. A frown formed on her face she as she turned away and flopped her head back down on the chair.
“”The demon blood flowing inside you,” the nurse whispered.
“What?” Jennie exclaimed as she felt Lucia’s hands push firmly on her back.
“Calm down,” the woman remarked, “it’s nothing to get worked about. Didn’t Nick explain it to you?”
“Explain what?” Jennie questioned.
A heavy sigh filled the air. “Figures.”
“What?” Jennie called out.
“You’re the Seraph,” Lucia stated. “There’s more to it than just being the savior to the demons and humans.”
“Huh?” Jennie asked as her wings flinched and the girl grimaced at the pain it caused.
“It means your body is going to go through changes,” Lucia said, continuing the bandaging, “You’re going to develop into the Seraph slowly over time.”
“I’m going to go through puberty again?!” Jennie shouted.
“No,” the older woman groaned, “you’re just as bad as the boys.”
“Sorry,” Jennie mumbled.
“It‘s okay,” Lucia whispered with a chuckle, moving to the other side of Jennie‘s body. “To become the Seraph, your blood slowly starts to strengthen until one day you become as great a demon then greater. Eventually you should be able to become one with the goddess. And do her bidding. That’s what it means to be the Seraph.”
“Oh,” Jennie whispered.
“But,” Lucia said in a stern voice, “that doesn’t mean you can just go about and start fights with every one. You’re just as human as the next guy. Lose enough blood and you will die. Or get your head lopped off…”
“I get it,” Jennie called out.
“Good.”
“So…did he leave?” Jennie asked quietly as she felt Lucia stop with the cleansing of the other lesion. The air in the room felt heavier as a throbbing was starting to drum in the front of her head.
“Coriander?” Lucia inquired.
“So that‘s his name,” Jennie said softly. When she received no answer, she turned her whole body around in the chair to look at the older woman who seemed to be at a loss for words.
Shaking her head, Lucia forced a smile on her face. Her hair appeared to be falling messily in her face while her clothes seemed careless. It was easy to see that she had gotten there in a rush.
“There’s no need to worry about him.” she said, waving her hand at Jennie casually. A shadow cast over her face as the smile slowly faded. She looked away. “Just think of Nick as your dad. After all, he should’ve been your father in the first place.”
“What?” Jennie asked.
Reaching out a finger, she tapped Jennie on the nose and smiled warmly. “Nick loved your mother. More than he loved any other person in this world. More than he loved Lynnea. More than he loved his own children. More than…”
A sad looked passed over Lucia’s face as she shook her head, dropped her finger from Jennie’s face. Jennie could easily tell what she was trying to say.
“Then what happened?” Jennie questioned.
“It’s a long story,” Lucia whispered. “Turn around and I‘ll finish your back while telling you about what happened…”
“Alright,” Jennie replied, pressing her chest against the chair again. She leaned her arms over the back piece and let them dangle as she felt the sting of the ointment being applied to her injury. A melancholy came over her as she sighed then leaned her head against her arm.
“You do understand that we’re just as human as you,” Lucia said as Jennie lifted her head for a brief moment then dropped it back down.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“We get angry and upset over small things just as easily as you,” the nurse whispered.
“With Rem that’s an understatement,” Jennie muttered.
“With his father,” Lucia stated, “it was the same.”
“Oh?” Jennie questioned.
“There’s a saying,” Lucia said calmly, “’Fate deals a cruel hand.’ For a Caspian, he is meant to marry the Seraph when failure is imminent. That means because the Seraph is lost to another man.”
“I don’t understand,” was the confused reply of Jennie.
“The first man the Seraph sleeps with will cause her to become pregnant. And when that happens, she loses the power to be the Seraph,” Lucia said. “Didn’t Nick explain any of this to you?”
“No,” Jennie remarked sternly.
“Stupid man,” Lucia bitterly snapped. Then sigh came. “Probably afraid to talk about it. Fathers do have a problem taking to their daughters about sex.”
“So,” Jennie said as her brow knitted together, “I can’t sleep with anyone.”
“Not unless you want to lose your powers or have a child,” Lucia said, “but we’re getting a little off track here.”
“Sorry,” Jennie whispered.
“Now,” Lucia said, drawing away from Jennie slightly. Pulling from her blouse a necklace that held a dangling crystal, she held up the gemstone. A faint glow began to form as Jennie felt a warm envelope her. “Let this do some work and I’ll continue the story.”
“Okay,” Jennie said, staying very still.
“If I remember correctly, it all began twenty-three years ago,” Lucia said, “when Nick’s older brother disappeared and he was given the leadership of the Scions. He had a lot thrust onto him. And it was a bit much for one boy.”
“How old was he?” Jennie questioned.
“Just a kid,” Lucia answered, “eleven, I think. Not really old enough to become a leader. But he had to take control of a group of men and learn to protect a girl that he didn’t know.”
“Sounds familiar,” Jennie replied with a sigh.
“It always does,” Lucia sighed, “it’s always the same story for each Caspian. It never changes. But for Nick, his heart wasn’t into his job. All the problems started with a simple crush and it ended with…well…”
Lucia didn’t say anything as she dropped her hand and the crystal clattered to the ground. Jennie turned in the chair and peered at the woman who seemed downtrodden.
“What?”
“It ended with you.”
Jennie’s eyes widened. What happened?
“Nick and your mother grew up together,” Lucia said, reaching down to pick up the fallen gem. She held it in her hand, staring down at it forlornly. “He adored her. Would go out of his way to treat her kindly, but tried to hard not to show her any feelings that he was not suppose to. After all, he knew his fate. To fall for the Seraph.
“The first true mistake occurred when Coriander first met with the Seraph,” she stated. “When she first stepped foot in front of the Scions, she captured his heart on the spot. But he was just a child at the time and hardly knew what it meant to even be in love.”
“How old was he?” Jennie questioned in awe.
“Only eight,” Lucia said.
“Only eight,” Jennie repeated, mouthing the words.
“You have to understand that before Lynnea showed up,” stated Lucia in a calm manner, “that Coriander saw Nick as a role model. He followed him around everywhere. It was hard to separate the two of them. For what to happen, none of us saw it coming.”
“What happened…?”
“The day came of the second mistake,” Lucia whispered.
“Nick got Lynnea pregnant with Rem?” Jennie called out with wild eyes, “Right?”
Lucia laughed for a brief moment and shook her head. “Don’t jump to conclusions. It’s not that simple. Life is never that easy.”
“Oh,” Jennie said downheartedly.
“Nick was being trained by Coriander’s parents,” Lucia said as she dropped her eyes from sight. She clinched her hands around the jewel tightly, holding it firmly. “I remember that day so well. I had been watching Nick, cheering him on. He fought with such enthusiasm. He got the final blow, knocking the weapon out of his hand…”
“Yeah?” Jennie questioned.
“That angel,” Lucia whispered.
“Angel?” Jennie whispered, blinking.
“Yes,” Lucia remarked, “Nilm. He had been the one training Nick. Teaching him to protect the Seraph. None of us understand the purpose, but because he was the one who brought us Lynnea…”
“He was the one who brought you Lynnea?” Jennie questioned in a hollow voice. “Why did he even have her in the first place?”
“The angel always dodged the question when we asked,” Lucia said, shaking her head.
Jennie took a deep breath and exhaled. She noted the tenseness in the older woman. “How about we continue then? Nick knocked the weapon out of Nilm’s hand…right?”
“Yeah,” Lucia said, snapping back from her daydream, “and the sword blade sliced straight through the neck of Coriander‘s mother. Unfortunately, she had been outside to watch the practice and there was nothing any of use could do to save her. A blow from an angel weapon in the neck like that is fatal.
“It was simply an accident. But Coriander didn’t see it that way. That was when the trouble started occurring. Shortly after that, Riley and Rachael showed up.”
“Do you know what happened to them?” Jennie questioned.
“No,” Lucia whispered, “and they won’t say.”
“When Nick discovered Nilm was seducing the Seraph, that’s when he stepped in,” Lucia whispered, “and Rem came into the picture. Coriander felt further betrayed by what Nick. He knew that Nick didn’t truly care for Lynnea. And Coriander also knew about Nick’s feelings for Aysel.”
“And he felt the need to get revenge,” Jennie said, “so I end up getting the junk end of the deal.”
“Regrettably,” Lucia replied in a soft tone, “a Seraph is born from another Scion a year after the previous Seraph gives birth to a child. So we all figured you were to be our next Seraph…”
“But,” Jennie whispered, clutching her hands against the back of the chair, “what if Nick had ended up with my mom? Wouldn’t that mean that I wouldn’t have been born? That this curse would’ve come to a dead end?”
“The Scions try,” Lucia said, touching Jennie in the back of the head, “to go against it, but no matter what they do…”
“They can’t,” Jennie answered for her as Lucia nodded.
“It’s their curse,” the older woman said. “And Nick blames himself for all that is happening to you now. That’s why he wants to be your father. He wants to take care of you. So look to him when you need help. Let me be your courage when you need it.”
“Lucia,” Jennie whispered, eyeing the woman.
“Hmm?”
Jennie pressed her lips together, wanting to ask the woman a question, but feared knowing the question. Instead, she simply shook her head and smiled.
“Thanks for bandaging me up.”