III. Jenny

Back at the main lab, Jennifer oversaw some of the more dangerous experiments and captures. She noticed since her return that Thomas and Forrest were fighting more often. Some days, they refused to be in each other's company. She worried how this would affect her and Jensen's positions amongst the twenty families. Jenny did not concern herself with any such things. She spent her time tending to the firebird. Blinded, the beast's illusions were no longer a concern. The bird had grown very large, almost as large as the room it was kept in. It could no longer stand in its room nor fully extend its wings. Jenny fed the bird remains of humans, animals, and other beings the families had captured. The bird never tried to attack her and seemed to enjoy being petted and brushed. "I miss hair." The bird said. "Hair?" Jenny asked. The bird held its head up high. "I miss when I had hair to wear on my head. Golden thread. Gold like Thomas." "Gold like Thomas...blond. A wig?" Jenny had an idea. She cut and saved up blond hair from people they experimented on. There was plenty of hair to choose from at their asylums. She sewed together the strands into a large wig. Jenny brought the wig to the firebird and placed it on the bird's head. The bird was very pleased with the wig. "Golden again! Gold like Thomas!" "You like gold, huh? How about I call you Goldy? I don't think Father ever gave you a name." Jenny said. The bird chirped excitedly, accidentally knocking its wig off. "Goldy! Goldy!" Jenny laughed and put the wig back on the bird. She spent longer hours in the bird's room after that. Jenny would cuddle up against the bird and pet it after she fed the bird. "Goldy, you sound like you liked Thomas. Why did you kill him?" Jenny asked. Goldy lowered her head and mimicked human crying. "Thomas was bad. Thomas was a bad bear. Became a bad bear when Jensen came. He didn't love Goldy anymore. He hurt Virgil." "He hurt Virgil? But you killed Virgil too." The bird cried louder. "Virgil no longer loved. Virgil got scared. Wanted to run away, kill Goldy. Had to kill Virgil. Didn't want to kill Virgil. I am baby. All parents gone. All bad bears." "You killed them because they saw through your illusion and you became afraid they would kill you." Jenny patted the bird on the head. "But what did my father do?" The bird hid its head under its wing. The bird alternated between very childish speaking and proper speech. "He was a bad bear. Bad bear. Bad bear. Hurt Thomas. Hurt Virgil. Hurt Goldy. Hurts Goldy. I want to go back to Virgil and Thomas." "Poor Goldy." Jenny said. She could imagine how Jensen might have hurt the firebird, but wondered what the bird meant by him hurting Thomas and Virgil. While Jenny grew closer to the firebird, Jensen was moving closer to his own goal. After some months visiting different countries, Jensen had collected up multiple suitcases full of documents. He was now at his final stop on his trip, the old Blackwell family's castle. Distant relatives of the Ó Rinn family members who were part of the twenty he aligned himself with were managing the upkeep of the castle. No one lived in the castle itself, but many in the area visited it. From what he gathered out of the locals, it was being used as a temple to a pair of deities the people in the area associated as tied to the Blackwell family. One was a god associated with storms, archery, hunting, battle, dreams, and ravens. The other was a god or goddess, depending on who he asked. If a goddess, she was the wife of the storm god. If he was a god, he was the brother of the other god, a twin split in half from an older god. Whether a god or goddess, the being had the same associations; storms, rivers, hounds, wolves, healing, knowledge, and flames. A very small handful of followers believed they were both gods and lovers, but the majority of the followers dismissed this view as absurd. The storm cult pretended to be interested in preserving history to avoid local christians from questioning them too much. They all attended major church events to further hide their true devotion. From what little Jensen could gather on the history of the cult, despite claims of being an ancient practice, he found he could not find any evidence of anyone worshipping these deities before the mid-seventeenth century. He did find the powers of the gods interesting. According to the legends of the twenty families, the goddess they all were supposed to be worshipping was a storm goddess who would "choose" a vessel in a girl among the families. During the original pact, Leon Blackwell had made sure to conduct the fake ritual during a thunderstorm. Perhaps, he thought, this goddess he saw being worshipped here in his family's old home was the origin of that connection. What he did find perplexing was that hounds were part of her worship. Leon Blackwell notoriously hated dogs and vilified them after the ritual pact. Since then, none of the twenty families were permitted to own any dogs. He wondered if something had gotten mixed up over time. The goddess or possibly god was known in the area as "Lin" when a goddess and "Rin" when a god. Jensen speculated on if the two were original separate deities merged into one. The god was known by "Roan" or "Rohan". Those using the temple would mostly ask for good weather for their crops, improved health, protection for those who went hunting or became soldiers, for prophetic dreams, and for good luck fishing. The head of the Ó Rinn family managing the property kept many records on the Blackwells, but the locals were forbidden from reading them to "preserve" them. Jensen, being a Blackwell himself, was able to convince the head of the Ó Rinn family to allow him to make copies of anything he wished. Locals in the cult, upon finding out his name, offered their blessings and gifted him rowan flowers and water lilies. He was not sure what the significance was, but he assumed those must be tied into the pair of deities in some way. Those in the area were so excited to see a Blackwell return he was allowed to stay in the room that was once for the king of the castle. He spent his days reading and copying old journals. Jensen was a master at forging handwriting. He copied everything faithfully, and kept the originals for himself. Something was beginning to bother him in the records. He searched the castle for old paintings, but could not find them. Then, he asked the head of the Ó Rinn family. He was shown a room full of paintings. Jensen spent days sorting out who was who, until his fears were confirmed. His bloodline was not as pure as he had been told. When he reached the King Leon Blackwell that the Leon Blackwell who created the cult was named for, he could not deny what he saw with his eyes. Leon was not a white man. He wasn't biracial. Jensen saw with his eyes three races within that man, white, asian, and black. He stood there, stunned. Jensen found a portrait of the generation before that, to Leon's parents, Wren and Rosabella Blackwell. Both parents appeared to be half white. Wren was half asian, Rosabella was half black. Going back one more generation confirmed this. A painting of Wren with his older brother, Rowan, and their parents made it clear which side was which. Argus Blackwell was white, Ran Blackwell was asian. For Rosabella's side, he could find no family portrait, but there was a portrait of her mother, Eleonora Gráinseach. There was no mistaking she was the one Rosabella's darker features came from. He burned the portrait of Eleonora that night out of shame. Jensen returned the next morning to view the portraits again. "A damn moor. How can this be...African blood within my veins..." For all his life, the family had always taught him being white made him superior. It was in their teachings that the races of the world had an inherent order to them with white at the top. He feared returning home and finding a record somewhere of an Indian mixing in their blood. Jensen looked in the mirror. He saw no trace of anything non-European. Jensen self-soothed by convincing himself enough generations had passed between him and King Leon for all the "bad blood" to no longer be within him. This discovery disturbed Jensen so deeply he was unable to continue copying any records for a full month. "How can I return to tell anyone this? What will I say about Leon's mother...Rosabella didn't look quite as obvious as her own mother. Perhaps I could claim her ancestry hails from the Mediterranean...One of those diaries did mention her mother spent much of her childhood there before her marriage...but what about the other things in the diaries? Should I burn them all?" Jensen was lost in his absurd horror. He forgot what he had originally come to the castle for, to search for information about the black deer. Eventually, Jensen continued on recording. He decided that when he returned home, he would allow a few select people to know, but he would create fake diaries for the other upper members of the cult to see. Portraits of obviously mixed race individuals would not be returning with him. If this information got out to the general cult members, it would destroy everything he'd worked so hard on building up and controlling. His troubles only grew from there. The more he read King Leon's diary, the more he knew he would have to censor them. The rest of the censorship would be a bit easier on his mind, but he had much to rewrite and remove. Like himself, Leon had no particular preference toward one sex over the other. He had two wives, but his last love was with a man, his then deceased brother's former lover. Jensen resented Leon a little for that. Leon's brother and sister would also need their diaries censored. Leon's brother preferred only men, like Jensen's own brother, Virgil, did. Leon's sister was the same as Leon, though she spent most of her life with one woman. At their father, Wren, he found more. Wren was of a similar way to himself as well, and his brother was like Virgil. Wren's brother's lover kept many diaries too. Those were so explicit that Jensen was actually grateful. He would only need to copy a small portion of them for the fake ones. The lover could easily be rewritten as a faithful knight and good friend. Finally, when he reached the diary of King Leon's great-grandfather, Christopher, he found a new lead. Jensen, eyes wide, read over the entry: 'November 1, 1423, Last night, I put my dear Valentine in the ground. I shouldn't be as heart-broken as I am. Given his condition, he should not have lived to ten and yet he nearly lived to thirty. I should be grateful for the many years I was gifted to spend with my boy, but it is not enough and for him to leave this world in such a way...damn you, Argus. I know you will kill me in time, but this madness will end with you. It will not pass to that child that girl you've captured is carrying. We have ensured it, Valentine and I. As Valentine lay dying in my arms, I called out to the old gods for help. One of them answered me. He told me our bloodline had been cursed. Long ago, our ancestors made a deal with a strange monster in a black well for power. But we were cursed so that those in the family would kill each other continuously. Whoever was the most powerful would reign, until another, stronger man could take it from him. So it has been. Generation after generation, killing siblings, killing parents and grandparents, nephews and nieces, cousins, aunts and uncles, all for power. But there will be no more. So long as we stay within our ancestral lands, the murderous impulse will cease. Valentine offered his soul to guard the lands until the curse itself is lifted. For the family to be safe outside of these lands, we must find the beast who cursed us before. When it has swallowed the greatest darkness in a field under a summer rainstorm, under a lonely oak in a land far from our home, whoever makes it there and witnesses this must cast aside our name. Then, it will end and Valentine will be free. I do not know how we are to find this place or what this darkness is. I fear Argus will kill me before I can end this. I write this down for those who may one day find this. Cast aside Blackwell under the lonely oak in the summer field under a rainstorm after the darkness is swallowed in the land far from here. You must find it. The being who cursed us is a man-eater. He is wicked and always seeking flesh. You do not need to seek this being, but find a greater darkness. If you cannot find this darkness or find where to go, stay home. Protect these lands, so that no more blood will be shed for power.' "This monster...that must be the one I met. He said he would return to watch me be swallowed by something he intended to eat himself..." Jensen felt a chill down his spine. "There is no chance in hell I am ending this curse. It guarantees the strongest Blackwell power...Why break it? I'll ensure that is me, and with the bird, I'll keep on living past all of them." Jensen finished copying out the diaries he intended to keep. He changed some details in that entry of Christopher's diary for the fake diary. He didn't want anyone from the twenty families returning to the old castle to search for Valentine's ghost. Instead of sacrificing Valentine's soul, he wrote in that Christopher sacrificed half of what remained of his life. After gathering what he wanted, Jensen went back out to sea. His mind became filled with wicked thoughts as he moved closer to America. With the knowledge that the family was always bound to be controlled by whoever was strongest, he thought up new ways to control Thomas and Forrest, and how he would eventually get rid of them. He also wrote out new propaganda for the cult to spread. Rather than rethink their racial beliefs after his shocking discovery, he would push them even harder than before. He also decided he would promote their anti-homosexual, anti-recreational sex stances more as well, though he had no intentions of changing his own behaviors. When Jensen arrived home in 1900, he found Thomas and Forrest at each other's throats. "I am the older one! I will not be controlled by you any longer. The Goddess, the company, and the fairy should be under my control!" Forrest yelled at Thomas. "I am the one chosen to carry the title of Doctor. I am the one who will guide our family with the Goddess." Thomas spoke more calmly. "You don't guide anything! You let Jen tell you what to do because you are weak and don't have a single thought of your own rolling around inside your empty head!" Forrest shouted. Jensen got between them. "Men, please. What is going on here? Why are you fighting?" "I don't want to hear anything from you. You're the one who made sure he was in charge. You always liked him more than me!" Forrest turned his anger to Jensen. "Could you both stop whatever it is you're arguing about for a moment? I have something important to tell you. Something no one else may know about, not even Jennifer or Alice. Women gossip too much. I've learned many secrets since I've been gone." Jensen had Gwynn carry in his many suitcases. "What I am to tell you must never leave this room." Curious and afraid, Thomas and Forrest agreed to stop their argument to listen to Jensen. Jensen locked the doors and covered the window. Gwynn was allowed to stay in the room. Quietly, Jensen told the men everything he had discovered about their family. The news left both men completely shaken. "Everything is built on lies. Everything." Forrest paced back and forth. "Cast off the name...cast it off...I won't call myself Blackwell anymore." Thomas said. "There's no reason to anyway! It's a filthy bloodline! We have to switch to a different surname. Someone will find one of those records one day. If this ever gets out...no, we need to change it now. The power from Delilah Blackwell can't come from that line...Delilah's mother, Primrose...we can take her maiden name. We'll become Summerfield." "We don't need to do that..." Jensen said. Forrest shook his head. "Like hell I am. Blackwell is the only thing that gives us any power, not because of some damn goddess in a field, but because of an old god. The most powerful should rule. Exactly as I already thought...Thomas, you are free to cast off Blackwell. I will keep it, and I have no need for your nonsense. You can keep Moone & Wolfe. I'll form my own company and my own group. We'll see who's most powerful. Give me the fairy." "You can't have him. He's mine!" Thomas stood in front of Gwynn. "You'd only abuse him anyway." "I am the one who wishes to continue the Blackwell line. The fairy should go to me!" Forrest argued. "And the Goddess. Give me Alice." Jensen now intervened. "We're not handing over Alice or the fairy. If you wish to found your own group, you can capture your own fairy. As for the Goddess, as a peace offer...I have an idea. If you can manage to get enough people together for your little group, the next time we need a new goddess, both groups will show up and present their own candidates. Whoever's girl survives keeps the goddess for that round." "You'll cheat. We've always cheated on who was chosen. What do I have to gain out of that?" Forrest asked. Jensen presented his offer. "No cheating. I swear it. I will oversee all the rituals, and I will perform the chant. I know you think I do not care for you, but you are both my family. I will act as a neutral party. Today, we will create a new title between the Blackwells and the...Summerfields...or whatever name Thomas wishes to choose...the ritual of the Goddess will be overseen by the Advisor. For now, that title will be mine until a more suitable candidate appears. As for the title of Doctor, both groups may use that title for their leaders if they wish. As another means of showing you my good will, I will allow you to take half of the beings we have captured. You can choose any of them, except for the firebird as I need that one. You may also create copies of any records you wish to take with you, but your records you allow your people to read must look the same as the censored ones." Forrest thought it over. "Half of them? I'll take half." The following day, Forrest and Thomas announced their opinions on the origins of the magic. Thomas claimed the family's magic actually came through Delilah Blackwell's mother, Primrose, and that all Blackwells should chance their name to Summerfield. Forrest argued it came from Christopher Blackwell, who sacrificed half his life to an old god, as Jensen had made up for the diary, and that they should stay Blackwell. Those who wished to side with the Christopher theory left with Forrest and those who were convinced of Thomas's theory stayed and continued working at Moone & Wolfe Corp. Forrest founded a new company with the defecting members of the twenty families, Aurora. The remaning lines left from the twenty families who originally formed the cult split across the two sides. Those married into the twenty and the more distant members followed whichever of the family lines they were closest to. Beaumont split in half between the two companies. Aurora was a company that focused outwardly on helping criminal investigations, and secretly on experiments on humans and magical beings. Jensen shifted even further to the background within the families as he used Thomas and Alice as his personal mouthpieces. With the surname change, Jensen decided it was time to become a new person. He introduced himself as the son of Jensen and Jennifer Blackwell, Jen Summerfield. Jennifer changed her name to Summerfield and pretended to be someone else as well, and Jenny was introduced as their daughter despite looking too old to be the daughter of such a young looking couple. Jensen had mostly wrestled control of Gwynn out of Thomas's grasp. He created a new rule. Outside of emergencies, the fairy could only be commanded with the permission of the Advisor. The creation of new propaganda shifted to Thomas. Jen had grown bored of much of their experiments. He had a new goal, lab-designed people. He wanted to make people he could fully control. Jen became so wrapped up in this task he didn't pay much attention to the families and what they were getting up to. So long as he could shift Thomas, he needn't worry about them. Their lives were shorter than his anyway. He may not be immortal like the fairy, but he had the firebird. The bird was immortal, and so long as he could feed on it, he nearly was himself. But he wanted more than that. His other human experiments were on aging. Jen wanted to be able to control it all--to slow it, to speed it up, and to stop it. If he could do that, he wouldn't have to be dependent on the firebird either. When he went abroad, he brought a large supply of the bird's meat with him, but he eventually ran out. Jen had aged slightly during that time period. He discovered that Gwynn was able to reverse some of the effects, but like healing his big wound, it would have to be done gradually. He needed a better solution. Moone & Wolfe Corp and Aurora faced many set backs in spreading their ideology in the decades after the family split in two. Two world wars and the great depression decimated much of their wealth and numbers. Jen's research on creating people was paused due to lack of progress. Many cultural shifts were happening that Jen was not pleased with. To maintain their members, the cult had to rewrite some of their bigoted beliefs in more empowering sounding words and loosen up on some longstanding rules. Jen hated every bit of it. At every secret meeting, Jen emphasized his one line in the sand, no Indians allowed. The family moved the company headquarters and main lab to Rome, Georgia in 1950. Zachariah Summerfield, Thomas's son, blackmailed several families in the area for the land. As Thomas was getting on in age, Zachariah was the obvious choice for the next Doctor. Jen didn't care for the man. He intended on replacing Zachariah as soon as he could and hoped he could keep Thomas around until Zachariah had a son old enough to take the title and manipulate. To his dismay, Zachariah had his own father murdered and took his title. Jenny did not care about any of what was going on in the family. She tended to Goldy, but was becoming restless always having to be near her parents. Some days, she wandered around town. One day, she met a young man. His eyes made her heart flutter, his smile made her weak in the knees. Jenny would find excuses to visit the man. He was more handsome than any man she had ever known. He was sweet and soft-spoken, always considerate, and gentle as a lamb. There was only one problem. He was black. Her father would never allow it. She felt shame in her love. Jen had burned it into her those people were beneath them; disgusting, ignorant, foolish, violent. Yet, it was her father who left marks on the fairy's body and talked down to her for being a woman. The man in town gave her roses and called her a goddess. Jenny couldn't deny her love. She would meet with the man in secret under an apple tree at the far end of town. There, he would wait for her with a basket of green apples he had picked for the two of them to share. They fed them to each other in silent joy of each other's company. Jenny hoped her father would never know. But he knew everything. He always did. One evening, after Jenny had finished tending to Goldy for the day, she was caught by Jen outside the lab. He grabbed her wrist tightly, twisting it until she fell to the ground. "Going somewhere, girl?" Jen asked. He smiled with teeth bare. Jenny's heart raced. He only called her girl instead of her name when he was angry with her. "I was going into town. Why are you hurting me?" "You're going to see that negro again, aren't you?" Jen twisted her arm tighter. "I-I don't know who you're talking about." Jenny lied. "Please, stop. It hurts." "You better hope I don't break it. But you will break today. How badly will depend on you." Jen forced her to stand by pulling her hair. "Do not lie to me, or this will be worse. Are you a virgin?" "Yes. Please...please stop..." Jenny begged him. "We'll see about that. But first, let's pay your boy a visit. Cyrus, isn't it? Cyrus Corbin. Two generations off from being a slave and still poor as dirt. So much for that freedom. Worthless apes." Jen forced Jenny to walk with him to his car. He threw her in the backseat, then tied her hands behind her back. "Don't you dare think of doing any magic. I will make you regret ever living." "What are you going to do?" Jenny asked. Jen smirked. "Teach you a lesson on order and obendience." He slammed the door and went around to the other side of the car. Jen drove them down to the apple tree. Cyrus was waited patiently in the shade. Jen made Jenny walk toward the tree first, leaving her hands tied behind her back. Cyrus stood up. The warm smile on his face quickly turned to fear when he caught sight of Jen walking behind her. Jen took out his gun. He greeted Cyrus with a friendly malice. "Hello, Mr. Corbin. I hear you've become quite familiar with my daughter. Care to enlighten me on what your plans were for today?" "N-nothing in particular, Mr. Blackwell. I was only going to bring Miss Jenny some apples. I know she's quite fond of them." Cyrus looked around for some way to escape. He prayed Jen would leave him be if he was nice enough and lied convincingly. "Apples? My family is wealthy enough to buy orchards. Why the hell would my daughter need you to pick apples for her, Mr. Corbin?" Jen's fake sweetness vanished. "I-I don't think she needs me to do...I was only giving them as a gift..." "A gift? What sort of gift is that? My daughter doesn't need her food handled by filth." Jen shot Cyrus in each leg, then in both his arms. Cyrus cried out in pain, but he knew no one would come to his rescue. He was aware of how wealthy the Blackwell family was. He pleaded for his life. "Please, Mr. Blackwell, I'm sorry. I won't bother Miss Jenny ever again. I didn't mean to cause any harm. I'm really sorry. I'll do whatever you say." Jen grabbed Jenny and tied her to the apple tree. He took out his knife made from unicorn horn and cut down her skirt until it fell from her body. "Father, what are you doing?" Jenny's legs shook. Her mind ran through horrid scenarios stitched together from all the things she knew very well her father was capable of. Jen cut her underwear off. He looked at Cyrus and shot him in the leg again. "You better pray to your god now. You die today. How I kill you will depend on whether or not she is still a virgin." Jenny expected her father might humiliate her by examining her body. He undid his pants instead. Jenny was so mortified by her worst fears unfolding before her she fainted. That did not stop Jen from acting on his plans. After violating her, he determined Jenny was telling the truth about having been a virgin. She was no longer, but he would rather she lose it to a white man than it be to a black man. With this information, he went forward with his chosen death for Cyrus. Jen had never allowed Jenny to be used in the child sexual games they held to get blackmail on wealthy elites in the country. Jenny was meant to be his toy alone to manipulate, fully belonging to him in a way even Gwynn and Jennifer did not. Jen took Jenny back to the car and left her to rest in the lab while he fed Cyrus's body parts to the firebird. When Jenny woke, she was greeted with the sight of Cyrus's dismembered torso. She screamed louder than she had ever in her entire life. Jen smiled and dragged the torso over to the bird. The bird gobbled the remains up. Jenny sobbed and screamed, shaking on the floor. The firebird looked over at her. "Why is Jenny sad?" Jenny couldn't look at the bird anymore. It was no longer "Goldy" to her. She only saw another monster. Jenny got up from the ground and ran out of the lab to search for her mother. When she found Jennifer, she held her mother tightly. "Mother, Father...has...he has..." Jenny couldn't bring herself to say the words. Jennifer smiled, her eyes full of despair. She put her cold hands on Jenny's face and said, "Jen's fixed everything, dear. You won't have to worry about that evil man tempting you ever again. He could have forced himself on you one day. Make sure to thank your father later. He's always been so good to us." Jenny let go of her mother. She backed away from her. The tears stopped. She wanted to disappear. Jenny ran to her room and dressed herself. She curled up under her blankets and cried for the rest of the day. The next day, she didn't want to get out of bed. She only wanted to cry more. Jennifer tried to get her out of bed, but Jenny wouldn't listen to her. As far as she was concerned, Jennifer and Jen were no longer "Mother" and "Father" either. They were other monsters. Her mind filled with new thoughts and changes to old ones. For all her life, she had always believed what Jen told her was the truth. Whatever harm they caused, he assured her it was the right thing to do. It was justified, the only way. What were they really doing, she wondered. Jenny clawed at her stomach, afraid of what could be growing there inside her. In the evening, Jen came to her room. He demanded she get out of bed and come to dinner. Jenny refused to listen to him. She buried herself deeper under the blankets. At that, he joined her in the bed and violated her a second time. Jen forcefully dragged her to the dining hall to eat with him and Jennifer. "You should be grateful to me, girl. You are lucky I pretend you are my daughter, fairy." Jen twisted her arm before pushing her down into her chair. He had never called her fairy before. She knew she was half fairy. That was explained to her a long time ago, when she was learning how to heal with magic. She never thought of herself as such. Jen had always called her his daughter. He made sure her wings were burned off regularly to keep the truth of her birth a secret. Jenny had thought before he did that because he loved her. Jenny looked over at the fairy standing behind Jen. His eyes were empty again. Jen must've been ordering him around a lot again, Jenny thought. The fairy was her real father. Jenny feared Jen would turn her into his new fairy slave. After dinner, Jenny went back to her room and began to plan. Keeping quiet, Jenny did everything Jen wanted of her while she secretly stole pieces of fur from the lab. She stitched the scraps from every beast's fur she could snatch into a cloak. If the fur had been saved, she reasoned, there were likely some magical properties to them. By combining so many, she hoped it would give her some protection in her escape. Making the cloak was easy. Getting away was going to be difficult. Since Cyrus's murder, Jen forbade her from leaving the lab without him. The lab itself was heavily guarded. Frustrated and growing ever terrified of being near Jen, Jenny hid in her room and cried under the blankets. No matter how often she washed them, they smelled like Jen to her. The warmth they gave her reminded her of his body against hers. Her own bed had become a place of torment, yet it was one of the only places that belonged only to her. There was nowhere else to hide. Jenny put the fur cloak on and put the blankets back over her. The indistinguishable, blended scent of various beasts was so strong it covered up Jen's smell that lingered on in her mind. In her mind, she called out for help. She wished their goddess was real, so that someone might answer her prayers. Someone did hear her cries. Gwynn sat at the egde of the bed. He pulled the blankets back, seeing a bundle of fur beneath them. Gwynn whispered. "You called for me?" "I didn't call anyone aloud." Jenny peeked out from her fur sanctuary. "How did you hear me?" Gwynn smiled sadly. "I was made to hear the voices of those in need." "Who made you? What were you made for?" Jenny asked. Gwynn looked away. "A being of life made me. I was created during a winter storm as he wandered a land to the far north and saw much death. He took a snowflake in his hand and split it in two. From that, he created my wife and me...a pair to form a whole. When I was born, my body was exactly as you see it now. I never possessed a child's form, though my mind was innocent and child-like back then. He cared for us and trained us. Our purpose was to come to those in need, especially in the coldest, darkest of winter nights...and save them from death. My purpose has always been to heal the weak and lost. That is what I was born for." "He made you from a snowflake? Are all fairies born like that?" Jenny asked. "No, most are born the same way as humans are. My birth was unusual." Gwynn said. "You share those gifts he gave me. There is no cold that will kill you, no frost that can sting you, and no winter wind that can move you. So long as you practice magic, you will always excel in healing. If I could train you myself, I would show you how to control snow and ice. But I cannot. If you leave this place, someone else might be able to show you all that you can really do." "How would I escape?" Jenny asked. "I can send you anywhere on Earth. Jen can't stop me unless he commands me first." Gwynn petted the fur cloak. "Where do you wish to go, my dear daughter?" "He'll hurt you if he finds out." Jenny said. Gwynn nodded. "He will, but he hurts me always. I can't escape from here right now, but you can. And you should." "Where would I go?" Gwynn touched her forehead. A light surrounded her, then faded. Her blue wings had regrown. Her brown hair was now white and shorter. It stopped just above her shoulders. "You are half fairy. Forget the human world. I'll send you to where your wings will be ordinary." Jenny sat up. She touched her hair. "Why did you...?" "It was my trickery against Jen. That is your natural hair color. I transformed your appearance before you were born. Now, I've changed it back. Just as I named you before he could, so that he could never own you." Gwynn looked her in the eyes. "Your real name is Nev. Don't ever give it to anyone you don't trust." "Nev..." She said. "Wasn't that your first daughter's name?" "We called her that for short, but her real name was the same as her mother's. I'd like you to have the name, as you are my daughter too." Gwynn's eyes watered. "How it pained me and gave me joy that you grew to have a voice the same as hers." Jenny put her hand on Gwynn's. "I am afraid. How will I survive out there? I don't know anyone." Gwynn took her hand and held it. "I will send you to someone I know will keep you safe. There is an island in the other realm human women shelter at when running from horrid human men. Two immortal human women rule that place. They will help you. Their names are Flora and Avis. Stay with them for a while. When you are ready, seek out Osán. He is the man who made me. He will know where you should go from there." Jenny got up from the bed and looked around the room for what she would take with her. Everything reminded her of Jen. She decided only her cloak would go with her. "Father, could you make me new clothes?" Gwynn nodded. A light enveloped Jenny once more. When it faded, she was dressed in a white and blue gown. "Are you ready?" "Not yet..." Jenny hugged him. "Before I leave, could you tell me your name?" He laughed. "And here I thought Jen would have told you. My name is Gwynn." "I wish you could leave with me." Jenny said. Tears fell from her eyes. "I don't want him to hurt you." Gwynn wiped her face. "Don't worry about me. I'll survive. May we never meet again, unless these shackles on me are gone." Jenny hugged him tighter. "I'm ready." He kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye, Nev." Before she could say another word to him, she found herself alone in a forest under a night sky. IV. Meh