Vigdis Saya van Damage

‘’Where is your father?’’

‘’He went to the dungeon with Iki and the boys.’’ I respond looking up at grandma from the boxes I’ve been helping Nikita pack away for the trip.

‘’And his brother?’’

‘’Sirgur went with,’’ I say understanding why she might want her three sons to be reunited before the world turns to shit.

‘’Good, and you really should be more respectful to your uncle you know.’’ She says playfully coming over to sit on one the boxes.

‘’Pfffh,’’ I find myself snorting on reflex before I can stop myself and before I think I've offended her I hear her girlish giggle and smile at the mirth in her eyes.

She sits on the box crossing her left leg over her right and as she does the slits of the long flowing dress reveal her smooth white legs. She leans back and smiles at me with a knowing smile. ‘’I used to think you only respected men that could put up a good fight against you until you brought Michael home.’’

I feel my cheeks heat up but I turn my back to her and resume packing Niki’s stuff. "What are you talking about grandma, I respect da don’t I?’’

Her laugh again rings out from behind me and I scowl as I turn to face her, trying to keep back a smile as well.

"What’s so funny?’’

‘’Child, Sachi may behaved oddly but if I know my son he is likely the best equipped fighter n this household or he will be at some point.’’

I sit down next to her and lean forward. ‘’He honestly worries Mira and I sometimes, I was worried he will lose the fight against Gaia and I’m glad to say I was pleasantly surprised that he didn’t.’’ I sigh, ‘’I don’t know what you may know grandma but I haven’t seen da training seriously in years. And you can’t call going to Master Sergei to practice magic or going to the dungeon with Iki and all the other things he disappears doing training.’’ I add quickly.

‘’He has been working on trying to keep this family safe hasn’t he?’’

‘’Yes grandma and he has been concerned about making coin so we can finish the Keep but in doing so he has neglected himself, I don’t know why you and grandda Damage let it slide but da used to be a warrior first and foremost. I used to hear stories of his first duel with a zanpakutō and how he destroyed Richard van Stomm.

‘’People used to speak well of his actions during the War with the South, he was our ambassador to the Hito and came back with sword smiths of previously unheard of abilities. Lead an assault against a sorcerer over 300 years old and manage to deliver the killing blow himself. I used to follow all of da’s accomplishments but slowly they either got more secretive or he stopped accomplishing things, what happened to him grandma?’’

She smiles at me warmly and I realise we are holding hands and leaning into each other like gossiping little girls. ‘’Sachi is very stubborn you now this, once he has made up his mind about something it is very difficult to change it again. His current path is that of a father, a husband, a son and a friend.’’ She sends directly to me as we remain seated in the lab holding hands as Niki comes in looks around and retreats.

‘’I’ve seen him pursue meditation and the arts of the mind and I thought he would be a cultivator or someone that deals with the mind, I was concerned of course as at the time that was no path for a Barbarian. I then saw him pursue hunting with all diligence for years and I was sure he would be a hunter, then his friend died and he was lost a while.

‘’Then fighting but he didn’t learn as easily as the other children with the then training methods of the tribes, and keeping in mind that he was a runt compared to the boys his age group. He managed to stand his ground for years though and gained a reputation as both good at taking a beating and controlling his Rage well even at a young age. Then he joined raids and refused to kill wantonly as is expected of our people.

‘’To say I've been worried about Sachihiro through the years would be an understatement, especially when it became clear that his younger brother Daewon was going to surpass him both as a fighter and talented in spirit enough to join the Seers. Then he discovered women thank the gods, for even in that department he was slow at the uptake somewhat,’’ grandma Divina says with a little smirk on her face.

‘’My point is that it takes a while for your father to decide a path and when he does he pursues it with an obsession and diligence that is both admirable and concerning. For when he eventually decided he wanted to be a fighter he left home with a complete stranger and came back some sort of sword monk.

‘’When he decided that he needed to be a killer he killed hundreds in that single war with south. When he decided to pursue women he went beyond any known expectations and standards bringing back exotic beauties of power to the tribes and great honour to the family, the clan and the tribe. When he decided to have friends he introduces me to men and women I foresee great things from if I don’t directly see their power immediately.

‘’So you see, Sachi may seem a bit slow on the uptake to you but I assure you that he isn’t the slouch he fear he may be.’’

I absorb her words as she speaks and I digest them a while as we stay silent still holding each other’s hands. Sachi is such a silly person sometimes, but I really can’t dispute anything that grandma has said as I evaluate his life from my perspective. I just didn’t see it before for some reason, still frustrated by the fact that I never see him fight anymore...

I look up at grandma and her head tilts slightly as she looks at me with those beautiful brown eyes of hers.

‘’What’s da been doing these last few years grandma, why has he stopped fighting?’’ I ask in a low voice, her smile turns slightly sad and it hurts me a little to see her sad.

‘’These last few years Sachi has been obsessively pursuing fatherhood and rearing his family. This apartment block we call home here we didn’t get because of my connections with the Council of Chiefs but through his connections with the fae. Deep Keep is an undertaking the likes of which no Barbarian has undertaken in recent memory or song, the greatest thing we’ve built for ourselves within 400 years being the Meeting Longhouse in Hilton.

‘’I’ve not seen nor heard of a Barbarian man spending so much personal time with his children and being so attentive to his mates. The funding he is receiving from the Conclave and his partnership with the twins is nothing compared to the monthly expenses of our family and yet we are never in need, ask yourself how he does it.’’

I again absorb what she is saying and she has many valid points I somehow overlooked for whatever reason. I mean da didn’t spend as much time with Didi, Aurora and I as he has with the others but at some point he started paying a lot more attention to all of us and maybe I was already too late to enjoy him as much. I thought Shea was paying for Deep Keep but now that I think about it... it’s a big underground fortress in the middle of nowhere personally built and being built by Conclave construction methods. They don’t give away their secrets to just anyone at the Conclave and Conclave Construere is still very much overstretched, so why would they prioritise Sachi’s needs even a little all these years?

‘’He has dedicated a lot of time building relationships with the necessary people in authority and he has dedicated a lot of time being available to the kids... and his women,’’ I say slowly and grandma nods gently.

‘’He is obsessive your father. Ever since he got it in his head that there was a coming calamity he changed all his priorities and started spending more time with all you kids, even with his extended family in the form of his cousins and aunts. He makes sure that we all spend a meal together on a daily basis if possible even with the large numbers in this household so we don’t become strangers to in the same house.

‘’He has focused on building a defendable home and hunkering down instead of rushing in personally with his axe and sword this time. All this should tell you a lot about his state of mind and how worried he is for all of you. Remember how much he used to like wondering? Now he hardly leaves for more than two days and the furthest he goes alone is Honshu the Hito settlement or the old temples up in the mountains.’’

To be honest with myself I've always envied my younger siblings our father’s attention a little bit. Aurora, Nikita, Hannah and Ikigai. Those four spent time with da from a young age and got a lot of his attention before he had to leave for a conclave mission. Didi and I only had a little time with him as children and by the time he got back I was mostly old enough not to need him to hold my hand anymore.

I’ve been slightly resentful over that through the years, but funny enough my youngest brothers and sisters Lysandra, Kira, Orochi, Rayna, Anya and Morpheus are part of the greatest joys of my existence. One of the reasons I get alone with da’s mates so well is because they have produced such beautiful siblings for me I think, ‘cause I don’t really like the concubines much except Thandeka.

‘’Sorry grandma, how did this conversation start again?’’ I ask looking up at my musing to find an amused expression and a little smile on grandma Divina’s face. Her grin extends into a full smile lighting up the room slightly.

‘’Michael, how did you meet him, how did you decide he was the one you would mate?’’ She asks gently. It’s difficult to notice with how busy things have been but ever since the sexual orgy thing that happened grandma has been a lot more happy and relaxed, or is it just my imagination?

‘’Well, Michael and I...’’ and so I tell her how I met my husband, I tell her how I tested him and what I discovered of his character and personal philosophies, I tell her everything.

*

Aurora van Damage

‘’Grandma is doing the rounds again,’’ Nikita says and she enters the room and slumps on the bean-bag couch with her palm over her face.

‘’Who is she talking to this time?’’ I ask in a low voice with both trepidation and excitement at the possibilities of having a one on one with Grandma Divina.

‘’Saya,’’ a sigh escapes me at that and a groan comes from Hannah at the same time. We look at each other and all four of us giggle at the shared sentiment.

I smile at my sisters and lean back into Hannah’s lap for her to continue braiding my hair. ‘’Saya will keep her busy for ages,’’ I say what we are all thinking and it’s smiles all around at that for a while.

‘’What do you think they are talking about?’’ Hannah asks leaning forward while her nimble fingers continue braiding expertly even as her focus shifts to other things.

‘’Probably Michael and her issues with da, she’s been needing to talk to someone about da for a while now,’’ Nikita says with a sigh.

‘’Aren’t you also sleeping with Michael?’’

‘’Shut up!’’ Niki yells throwing a pillow at Erebus for the sensitive question. I’ve been wondering how that works as well but I’ve been hesitant to ask since we all know how unlucky Niki has been with men.

‘’Shouldn’t you be out protecting Cici or something completely unnecessary like that?’’ She jabs back at him and I lift a finger to forestall the coming argument.

They both keep silent, Niki pouting and crossing her arms over her chest before visibly shaking herself and scowling at her own antics. ‘’Sorry,’’ she says to Er who acknowledges her with a nod but otherwise remains silent.

For whatever reason Er’s father Gaia and all the children he bears are under a gease to protect Cicilia and her line for as long as they live. It sounds like a really unreasonable form of punishment to me no matter what Uncle Gaia did but that’s how it is and Erebus is very sensitive about it.

‘’So you think grandma will eventually come this way?’’ Hannah asks as though completely oblivious to the argument and likely fight that almost broke out.

‘’Not if she’s talking to Saya, that girl has a lot of anger issues,’’ Thandeka says as she sidles into the room silently and finds a chair facing both the window and the door.

‘’Find out anything juicy about da’s new concubine?’’ Hannah asks with a mischievous smile at the new arrival, Thandeka is quite strange but very easy to love. Everyone was surprised when she joined our clique when she finally got over the fear of being discarded or abused. Though to be honest whenever I read her emotions after she’s been with da I feel like she probably is getting abused.

‘’Nothing yet, her mother always spots me,’’ Thandeka says.

Niki groans loudly and puts a pillow over her face to hide her forming blush. I grin at that cause I know she’s probably embarrassed thinking about what Saya is saying to grandma about her and Michael. I’m also quite curious about that dynamic but I hesitate to ask, the mating is still recent after all...

‘’I wish I could have a talk with grandma,’’ Hannah says with a sigh and Erebus nods before getting up and leaving the room. I wish I could have a talk with her as well cause I’m really worried about all the emotions I've been reading from da, mama Ingwe and mama Shea. Grandma has a way of getting to the bottom of one’s problems, even unearthing emotions and thoughts I didn’t want to face, hence the trepidation.

But then in the same way she has a way of healing with her presence and her talks, her advice always has a ring of truth and wisdom to it...

‘’So we are really leaving huh?’’ I say. I can hardly remember my time in Pangaea to be honest but what I do remember I remember fondly; we were so young back then. But the excitement in my chest is palpable.

‘’Yes, and soon.’’ Thandeka says solemnly. The Foothills don’t hold pleasant memories for her as they do for me, her emotions leak out and her fear, hate, sorrow are easy for me to read before she gets control of herself. That’s another one that needs to have a talk with Grandma Divina.