"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone." (Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy)

Everyone stood in tense silence. Fayez could feel his mates's worried gazes on him, but for once, he didn't pay them much attention.

He was too busy looking at the two persons standing behind Zeph and Ashur. They were half-hidden by the prefect's tall figure, but he would recognize them anywhere. After all, he had been around them for three painfully long centuries.

"Faye, darling" his mother finally said, her voice hopeful. She stepped inside the room, uninvited.

Fayez instinctively took a step back, making the woman wince. He felt a bit guilty for his unwelcoming reaction, but he wasn't going to apologize for how he felt about his parents.

He couldn't help it. His mother might have been a bit less distant than his father for the past centuries, but he wouldn't go as far as to say she truly loved her youngest son.

She tolerated him, at best.

"Mother. Father" he replied in a curt tone. "What are you doing here?"

His mother hesitated. She kept looking at his three mates, her expression now a mixture of uncertainty and wariness.

Fayez couldn't blame her. He was so used to his mates' presence that he had forgotten how intimidating they might look, for an outsider.

Of course, they would never hurt Fayez's parents, but his mother didn't know that and Fayez didn't intend to tell her.

"Can you ask your three bodyguards to leave us alone for a moment?" his father suddenly intervened, making Zephyr hiss, while Akhenaton put a hand on Fayez's shoulder with faked nonchalance.

Of course, the gesture didn't go unnoticed by Fayez's mother.

"Are you - are you in an intimate relationship with this man?" she asked, eyeing Akhenaton with curiosity.

"The three of them are my mates." Fayez replied proudly. "Mother, Father, meet Ashur, Akhenaton and Zephyr."

Ashur greeted them politely, his expression quiet and pensive. Zephyr, on the other hand, childishly refused to even shake their hands. As for Akhenaton, the man merely nodded in their direction. He was standing very close to Fayez, as if he expected his mate to be attacked any moment from now.

"C-congratulations" his mother faltered. "That's - unexpected."

"What is unexpected, mother?" Fayez asked bitterly. "The fact that I found my mates - or that they love me enough to remain by my sides, although I'm a freak?"

"Faye-"

Ashur didn't seem too happy to hear his mate referring to himself as a freak. On the surface, he looked as collected as ever but Fayez knew him well enough to be able to decipher his micro-expressions.

It's true, though, he thought. I'm still a freak, even if my hands are no longer cursed.

No you're not. Stop calling yourself a freak, if you don't want my handprints to decorate your bottom.

Fayez almost jumped when he heard Ake's voice in his head. He hadn't realized that he had projected his thoughts to the man standing next to him.

You're doing great, Akhenaton added. I imagine you must be feeling uncomfortable right now. Let me know if you want us to send them off. I can always talk with Ash and Zeph through our mental link.

I'm fine, Ake. I can handle my parents. Thank you, though, Fayez replied, feeling grateful for the support.

"You haven't replied anything" Zephyr commented, sending daggers with his eyes to Fayez's parents. "Why is that? Do you really think that your son is a freak? What does that even mean? Do you want to fight or what? I'm ready to-"

"Zeph. Enough." Ashur intervened, bringing the vampire close to him and rubbing the small of his back, in a discreet attempt to calm him down.

Fayez's father entered the room and stood next to his wife, his stance guarded. The two older vampires looked like they were in a fighting arena and not in their son's bedroom.

"Camelia" he said warily. "I told you it was a bad idea. We should go. Fayez clearly doesn't want us to be here."

Fayez looked at the man. He didn't like that his father was speaking in his name. He always did that, back at the castle.

At the same time, the elder man wasn't entirely wrong. Fayez didn't really want them to be here. By their mere presence, they were threatening the fragile bubble of safety that he had built with his mates' help.

"I just wanted to make sure that my son is okay, Robert." Camelia protested.

"Why wouldn't I be okay, mother?" Fayez asked icily. "Remember, I have my mates with me now. I also have two great friends, called Helmut and Nassiba. I'm not alone anymore."

His parents looked surprised at Fayez's admission that he now had friends. They wisely chose not to comment on it. They were walking on thin ice and they knew it. Their son was extremely upset at the moment and they had to choose their words carefully.

"I learned from the Headmaster that you were in coma. I got worried" his mother explained.

He felt Ake tensing next to him. Ashur's fists started clenching and unclenching. Zephyr's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You knew I was in coma." Fayez said slowly. "You knew, yet you're only coming to visit now? It's been months, mother."

His mother gasped, grabbing her mate's hand while looking at her son with a pleading expression.

"I - we weren't sure it was a good idea for us to come here." she tried to justify herself. "Over the years, I started to realize how wrong we were for treating you this way. I felt guilty, and instead of trying to reach out, I avoided you as best as I could."

Fayez closed his eyes briefly. He had been doing good lately. He was feeling better, and his mates were playing a huge part in his recent progress on his path to healing.

He wasn't going to let his parents jeopardize all his efforts. He needed to remain strong. This was a painful but necessary opportunity for him to let go of the people who had already given up on him a long time ago.

"It wasn't my fault." he said. "Ana's death wasn't my fault" he added, this time with more conviction.

Akhenaton squeezed his hand, while Ashur nodded, smiling at him in approval.

"I know" his mother said softly. "You were just a child at that time. It was doomed to happen."

It was weird to hear his mother recognize that he wasn't responsible for the little girl's death. It felt like some of the burden he had been bearing for centuries was suddenly alleviating.

They should have explained to their son that he needed to be more careful around other children, and that he should keep his gloves on at all times, even if other children wanted to see his hands.

Instead, they had started to treat him like he was an anomaly, forcing him to live as a recluse with very little contact to people apart from the domestics.

"As for me, I was in denial." his father added. "I didn't listen to Camelia when she said you didn't look so great. I pretended you were strong and didn't need anyone's help. It made things easier, or so I thought."

His parents weren't monsters and - he realized it now - neither was he. Yet, they had failed him. After Ana's death, when everything started going downhill, he had needed them more than ever. He had needed their love and caring, but they had failed to bring him that.

Today, they might be standing in front of him with good intents, but it was a bit too late.

"You're just making excuses." he finally said, opening his eyes again.

He looked at the slender vampire standing next to Ashur, and almost snorted. Zephyr looked like he was trying his hardest not to rip his parents' throat off.

He wasn't sure his mate would have won against his parents in a fight, though. As gifted as Zephyr was, his parents were powerful and experienced vampires.

"I guess we are." his mother admitted. "Please believe us when I say that we are both so sorry."

"Saying sorry won't fix anything."

"We know" his father said sadly.

"What do you want?" Fayez sighed. "Stop beating around the bush. Father's right : I don't want you to be here."

He hated that he was still feeling so emotional around them. He was mad at them, yet he was also angry against himself. He hated that he had only managed to bring his parents worry and grief.

Why wasn't he more like his other siblings. He barely knew them, but the only times his parents had mentionned them, their eyes had been shining with pride and affection.

They never looked at him like this. Or maybe they did, before Ana's death, but he didn't have many memories of himself at that time.

"We want another chance." his mother replied, her expression unsure.

She probably realized that Fayez had no reason to give her what she desired.

He felt bad for her, but only for a second.

"Another chance at what?" he feigned to not understand, wanting her to admit it out loud.

"Another chance at being your family. Of course, we understand if you want to live with your mates, once your formation at the ISB is completed. But, maybe you could come and visit us, from time to time. Our doors will always be open to you."

"Well, isn't that heartwarming" Fayez snorted, using humor to hide the fact that his mother's words were tearing him in half.

As he was about to say something a bit kinder to her, he noticed a nasty gash on his father's forearm. Without thinking, he surged forward and grabbed the other man's arm.

"Don't touch him with your hands, Faye!" his mother screamed, before her eyes widened when she took the scene in.

Under Fayez's fingertips, the wound was slowly starting to close up. A few seconds later, the skin was completely healed, except for a very small scar.

"Squirrel, look at what you did! You healed your father with your own hands" Zephyr whispered, looking at his mate in awe.

"Is that" her mother said, her voice shaking. "Son, your hands... They're no longer cursed! That's a great news! Now that you're no longer a monster, you could probably assist your father as the head of the family!"

There was a loud crack, and everyone closed their eyes as a sudden ray of light pouring into the room.

After a few minutes, the light dimed, and Faye, Ake and Zeph immediately looked at their fourth mate, as they already knew what was going on.

The quiet Ashur had lost his temper.

His parents, on the other hand, had never met someone as powerful as Ashur, someone who could change his appearance at will.

Fayez's mother let out a small cry and Fayez's father paled visibly.

"Yeah, Ashur is a shifter" Zephyr said proudly, smirking at the two vampires. " A powerful one, at that. The tiny snakes are pretty cool, huh? They make him look even hotter" he added, petting at his mate's hair in an affectionate manner.

Before things really took a turn for the worst, Fayez decided to step in.

"You said it yourself" he addressed his progenitors in a firm tone. "You think I am a monster. Why would you want to stay in contact with a monster?"

"You're no longer - I mean. I didn't mean to say-" his mother started, only to be interrupted by his son.

"Yet you did, mother. I felt so lonely for the last three centuries. That's why I can't see you again for at least three other centuries. I want you to understand how I felt all this time. After the three centuries have passed, then I might consider giving you a second chance. Maybe."

His parents looked at him in horror. They had clearly not expected him to stand firm on his ground.

"But three centuries is an awfully long time" his mother tried in a shy voice. "We are your family, sweetheart" she added.

"A family is the one that you choose, not the one that was imposed on you." Fayez replied in a tired voice. "I don't need you anymore. It's too late. Go, now. I want to be with my mates."

They looked like they were about to protest again, but the way Ashur started moving in their direction in a threatening way, the small snakes hissing furiously, made them change their mind.

After giving a last nod to their son, they quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.

The second the door closed, Zephyr rushed into Fayez's arm, holding him tight.

"You were so brave." he sighed against his ear. "We're so proud of you for standing up to them."

Fayez nodded. He was feeling proud but he was also exhausted. Too many things had happened in a very limited amount of time.

"Look how far you've come" Akhenaton added, his voice shaking a bit.

Fayez looked at him curiously. The prefect was obviously still very distressed by the incident.

Ashur seemed to think the same thing, as he approached the brunette and slipped his arm around his waist, bringing him close to him.

"They don't deserve you" Ashur added, his appearance slowly returning to normal. "Their loss."

Fayez said nothing, looking down at his own hands. It seemed that he now had a new gift - one that wouldn't prevent him from living a normal life, although normal was a meaningless word.

He would think about it later. Now, he needed to train. The day had just started, and he had missed Nassiba's friendship.

In the evening, he would mate with Zephyr and Ashur. If they still wanted to, of course.

He risked a quick glance in their direction.

"Of course, we want to mate with you" Zeph assured him with a smirk. "You won't have to wait much longer, don't worry."

"How comes you can already read my thoughts?" Fayez wondered, making his mates laugh wholeheartedly.

"He can't" Ake finally exclaimed. "He's just very good at telling when people think about sex. That's probably his biggest talent."

Fayez smiled, and the four of them left the room, ready to face the day after this wearisome confrontation.