"Mom—Dad?"
"Phelan—it's good to see all of our boys together in one place again," his father said.
"Disturbing you isn't something we did lightly. We were forced to relocate to Earth when our suns began to fail, and recently we discovered Tavel has been here all along—experimenting."
"He must be stopped!" his father's voice echoed in the empty room.
"We're trying, but we don't know his pattern or what he's after."
"You want to know how we died?" his mother asked.
Phelan lowered his head. "Yes."
"When we found out what Tavel had been doing we were livid. We told him he had twenty-four hours to get his things packed, destroy his experiments, and vacate the planet. He came for us at night. Hit us with a gas he released in the room. He was really proud of that later. He bragged about it while we were strapped onto a table, unable to use our powers." The picture his father painted enraged him. He bit the inside of cheek to remain silent.
"He needed our blood, our marrow, anything he could get his hands on and preserve. He was aging right before our eyes. Tavel said he set out to make a better Shar, one who would be the ultimate super soldier, and live forever. He'd started off experimenting on himself and when things went wrong he'd been forced to move to others." His mother squeezed his father's hand. "That's when we caught him in the act."
"He's trying to create the perfect donor," Kade whispered.
"What do you mean, Kade?" his mother asked.
"He's been procreating with humans, using all kinds of chemicals from our galaxy and those surrounding it to make the pregnancies viable. I've been trying to locate all the elements, but I couldn’t figure out why. It seemed too deliberate to be random or sporadic."
"By now he must be out of what he took from us, or close to it," his mother said.
"Depends on how frequently he administers his—elixir." Disdain dripped off every word Kade spoke.
"I still don't understand, why you?" Phelan asked.
"Because our line was the oldest on Tagget, he said it was pure. I think he hoped it'd reverse what he did. He ran tests and when the results didn’t come back correctly he destroyed the lab and put us to sleep. It's the last memory either of us has."
It was relief knowing they hadn't been tortured. It was a fear he'd lived with for far too long.
"Thank you, Mom and Dad; this is the break we were looking for," Phelan said.
"We're happy to help," his father said.
"The boys would like to speak to each of you alone now," Rivka said. Her voice was different, lower, full of power.
"We'd like that," his mother said.
"I can only allow each of you a small period of time with them. It's draining to keep this portal open, and there are many of you."
"We understand," Phelan said as they all murmured their agreement. "We'll go by age."
"Oldest to youngest?" Kade asked.
"Works for me," Mars said.
"I'll allow you your privacy," Rivka said, following the mass exodus outside of the ballroom. The mood outside the room was tense as they stood in a circle. He couldn't help but sneak a glance at Rivka. She was gorgeous, cloaked in power and confidence. Her eyes glowed a brilliant purple, and her white hair stood out against her dress and milk chocolate skin. The door swung open, and he turned to face Phelan.
"You're up," Phelan said.
Bastien felt like heavy weights were shackled to his ankles as he trudged into the room. He moved back inside the opening in the star formation, shoving his hands in his pocket, as he stood in front of what was left of his parents. Suddenly he felt like that eleven-year-old boy telling his parents goodbye.
"I-I'm not real sure what to say. I spent a lot of time going over the years planning out what I was going to say, wondering why you seemed so emotionless when you sent me away. I was a scared child, and all you had to say was the time for childhood was over. Why would you do that? Did you care, or was I written off the moment you heard the prophecy?"
His father sighed. "Your mother said I was being too harsh. I was out of my element and grasp