Theodulus Aies Olcay I May 19th,20XX

The kid woke up dazed and his annoying golden hair clashed against the silver aesthetic of my room. It made me a bit happier to see the few strands of silver going through it but they were so thin that it would be invincible to a non-goblin. I doubted even he had noticed it yet.

He blinked blankly as he sat up and made to stand up. His wings caught him slightly off balance as he did so and he unconsciously used a buffet of magic to help him rebalance himself. As he gained his bearing and looked around the unfamiliar room I was struck with the notice of how similar he looked to his mother like this. From facial features, all he had gotten from her were the eyes and cheeks, but the jawline, nose and forehead were almost exactly like his fathers, and therefore like mine.

“Huh? Theo- Gramps? Great-Grandfather? G. Grandad? What exactly am I supposed to call you anyway?”

Of course, the first thing that came out of his mouth was foolishness. In what universe was that the way to greet the person that had nearly killed you and then abandoned you for almost a week?

I dismissed the complicated feelings that plagued me and began to interrogate him. What type of idiot would head out on such a risky mission only days after waking up from a coma? A look at the cloth stylishly wrapped around his forehead showed me just how badly I had botched up the awakening and made me even angrier. I forced myself to choke it down and speak calmly.

“I see you’ve already started your journey to the Witch land?”

I wasn’t planning on stopping him since Votric’s boy was already in the witch’s lands, who knew why, but I wanted to make sure he would be safe.

An awkward expression flitted past his usually goofy face and he began to explain himself before even questioning why I knew where he was. The fact that he still trusted me should have been burdensome but somehow it only made me want to live up to that trust.

I laughed at myself and how soft I’d become but didn’t let it show outwardly as I cut off my silly great-grandson from giving me whatever ridiculous reason he had come up with.

“I don’t want to hear it Aies. I called you here to tell you to look for someone named Ion Cael when you get to the witch’s land. Use this to identify him.”

I tossed him a diamond filled with blood, mine and Votric’s, and internally chuckled as he casually caught it and tucked it away into his pouch. I wondered how he would react if he knew exactly how much that small stone was worth.

“It will react when he touches it at the same time as you. It also has a message in it for the boy.”

I wondered just how much I could tell him without exposing the bet completely but then was put in an even worse mood by the fact that I had to concern myself with a bet right after returning to the empire.

The empire itself was a mess. Ever since they closed up after my grandson’s death seventeen years ago their development had stalled so much that it was tragic. No, what was tragic was the fact that they let go of a monarch's child because he had a bit of fairy blood in him. One would think that they would have fought especially hard for the child after a monarch’s death but these idiots had even gone as far as to let him get lost in the human world.

“I’ll make sure to do that but can I have a picture?”

“Why would you need a picture when you have that stone? I don’t think there are so many goblins in the witch lands to mix them up. And even if you do, the truth will reveal itself soon enough.”

Meanwhile, this brat had made a deal, hadn’t he?

I could all but smell it on him from how obvious he was being about it. I wasn’t going to ask in case a part of the deal was secrecy but the pride that filled me was enough to make me smile. Him using his goblin powers, even if they were a bit unstable, was enough to make me hopeful that one day he would choose to come to the goblin world instead of just staying in the fairy world.

I doubted he would ever completely abandon his mother’s people but I hoped that he wouldn’t abandon his father’s people either.

While he wandered around the room and tried to locate himself I gave him a quick scan to make sure he was okay. I wouldn’t be able to fully see the consequences of the fairy and goblin magic that he carried until he had properly been awakened but so far things looked positive.

I reached out an arm and grabbed him by the ear, making sure the earring had been properly lodged into his ear. Goblins had very thick skin, so it would usually have been impossible for that fairy girl to have stabbed into my precious grandson as she had, but he was still ‘unawakened’. His skin had regenerated over the metal and the earring was now effectively a part of his ear. A single drop of golden blood had gotten sucked into the earring and a small section of its pure diamond exterior had become laced with gold. It wasn’t enough to notice instantly, especially in the sea of his hair but it was enough to show me that it worked properly.

I prepared to send him back to his little scrappy crew of 'heroes' when he suddenly paled like all the blood had been drained out of him and his happy expression was replaced by one of worry. The foul stench of fairy magic flooded the room as the long-distance spell was activated and his knees buckled under the strain of both long-distance fairy magic and goblin magic weighing on him. In a flash, I was there to prop him up and let him lean on me to catch his balance. It was a lot for me to let him watch me like this, but I wasn't about to let my great-grandson make friends with the floor.

“Aies! Are you okay?”

He nodded and waved me off, trying to fake being okay.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just.. can you send me back?”

There was little more I wanted to do than to keep him here, safe in the goblin land but the fact that the deal had activated at the same time told me that it was related to his stupid mission.

This reckless punk.

I held him up as he regained his balance and pointed at the stone in his pouch.

“If you find yourself in danger, any sort of danger. You crush that thing immediately okay? If I find out that you managed to get yourself kil- hurt in any way during this little escapade of yours, I'll have you watch as I raze the fairy queendom to the ground. You understand me?”

He seemed startled at my sudden concern and looked back at me with a forced smile.

“Wow, gramps. I lo-“

I sent him back before he could finish whatever ridiculous sentiment he was about to share.

A low growl emitted from the other end of the room and Votric made his presence clear. I turned around to see him with an annoying smile as he imitated my great grandson’s expression and pretended to be weak by holding a hand to his forehead.

“Wow, Gramps I love you too. I'm just so- “

I launched myself at him and we began to fight. We each softened out blows to prevent breaking the lair I had just gotten rebuilt but I made sure to use enough strength to make him hurt.