8Evangeline: Coming of Age
Dublin, 4 December 1870
I waited for the clock's last toll for midnight, when I would turn sixteen and earn my wings.
For any seraph, their sixteenth birthday was a marker in their lives. Seraphs grow up as humans until granted their wings.
I had mixed feelings about getting my wings. Learning to control our glamour, aging, and powers were a great responsibility. Every seraph and demon was granted the basic power: telekinesis, but each race was also given a special, more personal power. My brother, Darien became an empath, which was expected. He was always in tune with others' feelings. But I was the wildcard of the family. I had no idea what my ability would be, except powerful, that's what frightened me the most. I am the only female descendant of the first seraph, another one of my great responsibilities. Not to mention my mother was a Demon.
My mother met my father in 1789. She was running from her kind, the Demons. She had betrayed them; so in turn, she was an ally of the Seraphs. My mother pleaded protection for the Demons' secret. In short, the Grand Council agreed to her arrangement and my father was assigned to defend her from anyone or anything trying to hurt her. I would be lying if I said my father liked shielding a demon from her kind. Though, Mother changed his mind about it with a little persuasion. So after sixty years of trying, they had me, the only half seraph half demon child ever to walk the earth. My father had been married before and had Darien, a full blooded seraph. Father's first wife died in a raid just after Darien was born in 1778.
Darien never cared much for my mother. I presume because Father moved on so soon after Darien's mother's death. He was also neglected; Father's attention was always for Mother. But he learned to love me when I was very young. I suppose he saw it as I was his sister and there was nothing he could do about it. My brother knew he could not kill me. I was a child, youthful and innocent. With his attunement to emotions he would have felt the guilt more than twice as much, along with my parents' grief.
Finally, the last toll sounded and I held my breath. With my family around me I could feel them do the same. I felt the Power flow into me then. I felt it remake me into my true form of the winged beauty we all come to be. I rose above my family and the lit ceremonial candles around us. My wings broke through my skin out of my scapulas. I had never experienced anything like this. My anatomy was changing to accommodate my new form. My bones hollowed and my skin became flawless.
A great light encompassed me and my powers were given to me. First was the telekinesis. The light grew brighter and started pulsating. My final power was to be distributed.
The Power sent electric shock though my nerve endings. I seemed to float there for hours. Finally, my great ability was bestowed upon me.
I glided down slowly, feeling exhausted. I sighed when I touched the hard wooden floor.
Darien came to me to help me stand. I leaned against him a little, not trusting my feet to hold my full weight.
"Are you alright, Evie?" Darien asked me.
I couldn't find my voice so I only nodded.
My family gathered closer around me, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my parents looking at me in wonder.
Darien turned me to face the mirror. I gasped at what I saw. My skin was a ghostly white, a sign of my Demon heritage. While I was fair in color I was never this pale. My auburn hair was only made brighter by my skin. My eyes were a piercing blue, the color of the sea. But, what shocked me the most was my wings. It was one thing to dream about having wings but an entirely different experience to actually have them.
I stretched my wings out to their full span. I heard the gasps come from my family. My wing span was about five to six meters long. They were perfect. My wings were the color of charcoal, a symbol of my mixed mores.
My father broke the silence first, "Evangeline, what is your power?"
I stepped away from Darien. I followed my instincts; I wouldn't know what to do other wise. I turned to face my relatives, and closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths and opened my eyes. My family was frozen in time.
I walked around them all. I touched my mother's hair, and she did not turn toward me like she usually did, she gave me no reaction. I walked the way around them until I was back where I had started.
I closed my eyes as I had done before to summon my power. I opened my eyes again and saw my family unfrozen. They were back to normal, whatever that maybe for Seraphs.
I looked at Darien. "Well?" he asked.
"I can bend time," I told them.
A murmur filled the room as my relatives discussed this.
"She may even be able to control space with some practice!" my uncle, Thaddeus shouted over the ruckus.
Time travel? I thought. Hmmm…
My mother and father walked to me. Each of them kissed me on the cheek and said their congratulations.
"Thank you," I whispered. I smiled and hugged them.
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