Chapter 12

Bella wasn’t sure what quite happened when she regained consciousness, all she knew was that she wasn’t in Mystic Falls anymore. It took her awhile to register it, but it looked like Charlie’s home in Forks, but not. Something was off. Sitting up from her spot on the couch, she looked around to see what was different and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Ah! You’re awake!” Charlie’s voice sounded from outside. “Come join me on the beach!”

Beach? Yeah, that was new. Bella got up and when she stepped outside the backdoor, she could feel sand underneath her feet. “Dad? What’s going on?”

Charlie smiled as he held out his hand to her as an invitation to join him watching the sea, basking in the sun. Not that Bella was complaining that for some reason Charlie’s house had moved to a sunny destination, but it didn’t make sense. She joined him, curiosity filling her mind. “Psyche investigated your soul and you’re a good egg, Bella,” Charlie smiled at her. “And you have no idea how glad I am to hear that.”

She narrowed her eyes on her father. “You’re my father, you should know me by now, why would you have someone investigate my soul? What is that even?” She then realized he was probably referring to a witch. “And since when are you aware of the supernatural?”

“Psyche. The wife of Eros. Or Cupid, if you like to refer to him as that. The Goddess of the soul and love, come on, Bells, keep up.”

Her jaw dropped at Charlie’s tone, it was impatient and a little belittling.

“I have to hand it to that vampire of yours; he was on the right track with calling you a Goddess adjacent and his whole idea about the Greek Gods,” Charlie continued as he still gazed over the sea. “Your refusal to believe any of it was quite… strange to say the least, but I suppose without evidence, it’s hard to believe that any of it was real.” He then motioned with his hands to their surroundings. “Consider this your evidence.”

“Am I in a coma? Dreaming?”

“Nope. Would you like me to tell you who you are? What you are?”

“Yes, please.”

“Very well, but when you’ve learned the truth, you’ll have several decisions to make,” Charlie said as he held up his hand and a glass of wine appeared. Handing the glass to her, he started to tell her story. “I could start with the boring ‘in the beginning’ speech, but let’s just say that we all owe our life to the Earth Mother Gaia. Eh, fuck it, she’s my grandmother and Uranus, her son, is my grandfather.”

“That’s… fucked up.”

“Don’t you judge, you’re dating a vampire,” Charlie chided her, amused. “My father is Hyperion the Titan God of heavenly light. He married his sister Theia, Titaness of sorcery and the Goddess of sight. They had three children. Eos, Selene and myself, Helios or Sol, Titan god of the sun, a guardian of oaths, and the god of sight.”

Bella blinked at that. Was her father insane? On drugs? If it hadn’t been for their strange familiar reality, she would have believed he was ripe for a nursing home. “But you’re my father.”

“No, pumpkin. I’m your grandfather. Just like the other Titans and Gods, I had many children and one of them was my daughter Circe. I either fathered her with Hecate or Perse, I can’t remember and neither do they, so… hey, she’s mine. That’s all that counts. Now, you may be interested to know that your mother is the Goddess of sorcery and skilled in the magic of transmutation, illusion, and necromancy. Does that sound familiar to you?”

Transmutation… well, she could turn people into animals and back. She hadn’t had experienced the illusion part, and necromancy… well… she saw dead people and had just resurrected Kol. Of course it sounded familiar and Charlie – Helios – knew that.

“Circe is one of my problem children, I’m ashamed to admit that we’ve butted heads a lot of times and I even banished her to an island at some point. While she had a big heart, she had some darkness inside of her and used her powers more for bad than good. Now, I’m the last person to say that the Greek Gods were saints. We’re not. Hell, according to Christianity we were the biggest sinners ever to exist,” Charlie let out a slight chuckle. “Circe was well versed in her herbs and spells, you might even say that she originated witchcraft although most wiccans pray to Hecate. Circe poisoned her husband, a mortal king. Hmm… what else did she do? Oh yes, then there was her taking over the rule of her husband until she was finally deposed because of her cruelty towards her subjects. Then there’s the famous story of the Odyssey, where she basically kidnapped Odysseus and turned his men into swine. She hated men the most, and after her banishment, she was allowed to have only women to tend to her and live with her.”

“Renée is Circe?”

“Oh no, Renée is a mortal witch. Well, technically she’s a witch, just a bad one. I chose her to raise you because of her supernatural instincts.”

“But I’ve seen pictures of her being pregnant. She told me how I was born, that I was stubborn during my birth. I’ve seen pictures of you and her while she was pregnant.”

“That’s the power of magic or god powers,” Charlie explained. “Renée truly believes that she carried you for nine months and that she and I produced you, but that’s not right. I only came into her life after I chose her to raise you. I wanted to keep an eye on you.”

“Because I’m Circe’s child and Circe is insane.”

Charlie started to laugh. “That’s one of the reasons. I was bored, I wanted to be human for a while, that’s another reason. Also, after the Olympian Gods banished most of the Titans to Tartarus in the war, they made it impossible for the rest of us to ever interact with humanity again. Those not in Tartarus were made to stay here, in this special plane created just for us. It exists alongside normal reality, but it’s not. Over the many years, some have found a way to escape and bothered the humans. A handful of us are now the guardians of those produced by indiscretions. We either destroy them, or take everything that makes them a God or Goddess away from them for them to live their life as a mortal, being none the wiser after a memory wipe. The time of us playing with humanity as if they were toys is over. Done. There’s no room for us in the modern day and age and that’s fine. We’re still here.”

“Then what about me?”

“You’re special, Bella. You have no need to interfere with the lives of the people on Earth and only wishes to do so on a last resort. You could have resurrected your vampire while he was still being spiteful and you didn’t. You showed him that there is a light inside of him and that it was the better path. Mind you, he’s still a vampire and he will still kill,” Charlie replied reminded her. “However, you’ve shown Psyche, but also me in our interactions, that you’re happy to live your own life and look at problems objectively. You like to analyze things and pull things apart to see how it works. That ability makes you the great writer that you are. Psyche also believes that you won’t abuse your powers gifted by your mother and the rest of her bloodline, that it won’t consume you as it would have consumed others. In other means; you are perfect, Bella.”

Bella huffed. “Hardly,” she replied as she allowed the information to sink in. Kol had been right, she was related to the Ancient Gods. Hell, she was related to Titans! “Wait, who’s my father? Is he a mortal?”

“He was,” Charlie nodded. “Circe made a deal with her cousins Dolos and Apate, both known for their trickery and deceit to get out of this place. We’ve since then banished Dolos and Apate to Tartarus, but Circe found her way to the realm of the humans and before we could intervene, she slept with a man. Of course, she returned with child.”

“Who was he?”

“Do you really wish to know? It’s not important. What is important is that you’re half Goddess and half human, it makes you a demi-God.”

“Dad, please.”

“Zach Salvatore.”

“Salvatore?”

“A distant relative of your current vampire landlords, I believe.”

“Oh, fuck me,” Bella muttered as she frustratingly ran a hand through her hair. “So Damon, Stefan and I are related?”

“Very distantly. Zach’s ancestor was the half brother of your friends.”

“Gross,” Bella shuddered.

“When you wanted to emancipate from Renée and myself, I only allowed you to because Zach offered the guest house to you. Zach was a member of the town council and the supplier of vervain to them so I knew that I could trust him in keeping an eye out. He never knew who you truly were, but there’s no doubt that he had his suspicions. His family has had to deal with strange things happening to them for centuries,” Charlie then laughed. “But hey, don’t let that little thing stop you, you’re a Goddess. We don’t blink if you have sex with a relative!”

“Ew! No!”

“Alright, now, should you ever decide to get pregnant, you can. Now that you’ve unlocked your true self, you’re immortal but you haven’t died and thus, everything still works. Should you bare children, they will be fully human. Again, they will grow old while you won’t. I trust you in making the right decisions.”

“Kol’s a dead immortal, I think I’m good,” Bella laughed.

“Your powers are still growing and I expect you to handle those with just as much grace and respect as you’ve done with them so far, but you have to make a decision based on what I’ve told you. We grew into a habit of destroying our indiscretions mainly because Psyche told us that they were wrong. She’s a big fan of yours, as are many others of our group and you are granted a choice. Either be the demi-Goddess that you are, or be mortal without any powers. It’s your choice.”

“Are you going to leave now that I know who you truly are?”

“That depends on your choice, Bella,” he replied kindly. “I know that I’m not your real father. I’m your grandfather. But if it were up to me, you’d choose to remain who you are.”

“Life’s a journey, right? What if this is my path? I mean… I was born this way, why change it?”

Charlie nodded. “Another question; would you like to stay here or return to the human realm, rejoin your vampire?”

“Life. Not here. At least not now. I want to enjoy life. Explore. Love.”

“Don’t tell Renée you’re not her real daughter, it’ll break her heart.”

“I won’t.”

“Be careful who you tell your secrets to. Not everyone needs to know that you are who you are because despite you being one of the most powerful people walking the earth, people will try to harm you or manipulate you into working for them and making you bad things. Trust your own judgement, Bella, like you always have,” Charlie then got up with a groan. “You can find me where I’ve always been, in Forks, but I’m keeping my eye on you like I always have. I enjoy watching you love so much, it’s refreshing.”

Bella got up and hugged Charlie. “You’re sending me back now?”

“Not just yet,” he said as he handed her a note. “Time works different here, you’ve been gone for two weeks, but while you were waking up, I found this note in my mailbox. Seems like your vampire has connected the dots and found us.”

Surprised, Bella opened the note.

Get out now, while you still can.

Just kidding. Come out whenever you’re ready and tell me I was right.

Kol.

She eyed Charlie curiously. “Where exactly are we?”

“We’re in Forks in the house you’ve spent your summers in and looks like a normal house to mortals and those who are not worthy. Basically to everyone but us.”

“Has there always been a beach?”

“Yep.”

“And has it always been this light?”

“Of course. I’m the ruler of the sun, I love my light.”

She smirked then. “Can Kol see this? It would totally blow his mind.”

Charlie seemed to think about it for a moment and shook his head. “No, pumpkin, not quite yet. I’d love to meet him some day, too, but not quite yet. Vampires are an abomination.”

“You’re an abomination. You’re the product of incest,” she countered playfully and hugged him again. “If I walk out the front door, I leave this place and will be reunited with Kol?”

“He’s still standing in front of the door. He must really love you.”

“As he should,” Bella giggled and walked back inside the house to get out of the front door. And Bella was surprised to see Kol standing there with a big bouquet of red roses. And he looked great. Sharply dressed and taken care of, not like how she had left him only a few hours prior. “Kol!”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Bella,” Kol smiled widely. “I knew I’d find you here!”

“Valentine’s?” Bella said surprised before remembering what Charlie had told her; time had moved differently for them. “I am so sorry.”

“You’re sorry? Bella, you brought me back to life. Why should you be sorry?” He softly kissed her. “I’m just glad you’re back. Did you get any answers?”

“Yeah, but not here, okay? Let’s go home and I will tell you everything.”

“Do we really have to return to Mystic Falls? Nik told me that perhaps it was best if everyone believed I died, including our siblings.”

“What about Silas?”

“Yeah well, nothing I can do to stop him now, they raised him and Katherine ran off with the cure,” Kol said bitterly. “I swear, they’re all like little children!”

“Uhuh,” Bella said amused as she looped her arm through Kol’s and started to walk down the street. “I suppose we could go somewhere else for a few weeks and celebrate your new life,” she smelled the roses and sighed. “Make our Valentine’s Day a week long celebration in the nicest hotel we can find… just not here. Somewhere warm. Hawaii or Australia.”

“And then you will tell me?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, come on! Give me a hint, at least.”

She thought for a while as they walked, breathing in the brisk air of Forks. “You really stayed out there for two weeks? In the freezing snow?”

“Well, a week and a half. I had to find your mother first and ask her where your dad lived and then I went. I caught your scent at the right house, so I stayed. Come on, tell me.”

“You were partially right about something, that’s your hint,” she said as she hailed a taxi. “Now, please let us go? I hate this town.”

~o.O.o~

Kol went overboard and booked them a hotel on Hamilton Island, Australia. It was quite a trip to get there, but once there, Bella wanted to make up for lost time, to thank him for being him and to apologize, for him having to stay outside the house in Forks for nearly two weeks.

After finding a beautiful spot on the beach a few days later, Bella sighed happily. “Yep, this is the life. Such gorgeous views.” She plopped herself down in the sand and looked at Kol. “You are just bursting to find out, huh?”

“Patience is not one of my virtues, you know that.”

“Well, good news is that I’m no longer a mortal. I’m immortal, just like you.”

“Yay, you’re more durable now,” Kol smiled as he sat down next to her. “What else?”

“I think that there are nymphs in my family, but then again, so are vampires, apparently.”

“What?” Kol blinked. “Did you just say vampires? That doesn’t make any sense! You can’t have nymphs and vampires in your family, that’s just… huh?”

“Sure I can,” Bella smiled at him. “Distant human relatives of mine are vampires. It’s not like my blood has vampires in it or something. That would be weird.”

“So you’re half something…” Bella could see the cogs in his head go overdrive before it hit him. “No way, you’re a demi-Goddess?”

“I owe you a huge apology, you were on the right track all along.”

“You’re really a demi-Goddess? I mean… deep down, I thought it was far fetched but… seriously?”

“Yep. Ancient Greek, too, so you were really on the right track there.”

Kol just stared at her in awe.

“Stop it,” Bella laughed and playfully pushed his face away. “Nothing’s changed, we simply know what I am now.”

“You’re a demi-Goddess and you’re hanging out with me, are you insane?”

“There’s no one better than you,” she said as she crawled into his lap and softly kissed him. “I love you, Kol Mikaelson, get used to having me around and doing nothing.”

“I’m not worthy.”

“Well, you haven’t spontaneously combusted while we had sex in the past few days so… yeah, you are worthy,” she grinned and brushed his hair with her fingertips. “I’m yours. I’m not going to leave you and when you leave me, then so be it, I’ll have to live with that. But until then, you’re stuck with me.” Bella shifted a little in his lap and kissed him again. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Bella Swan,” he replied and kissed her before breaking off the kiss as he had a wild thought running through his mind. “Wait. If you’re half human, is Swan even your last name?”

“My mother is Circe. She had sex with a mortal.”

“And his name was Swan?”

“No, it’s likely a name Charlie chose for himself for some reason,” she said thoughtful. “It doesn’t matter, I like it. It’s been my name ever since I can remember so it’s fine.”

“So that means that you have a biological human father, right? Then there are vampires in his family.”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s likely that I know them! Would you like to meet your distant relatives?”

“Oh, I already have,” Bella said with a knowing smile on her face. “And so have you.”

“But you haven’t been in contact with that many vampires… Just us and… oh please tell me that you’re not a Salvatore!”

“I’m Bella Swan. I’m me. Now shut up and kiss me.”

5 Comments:

  1. Oh I was on the right path guessing goddess or demigoddess. Interesting learning everything from Charlie/Helios. Was not expect Zach to be her mortal father.

  2. Yes go Kol for leading her in the right direction. Nice. Love you mixing in greek mythology. I love me some greek mythology so that was awesome. Life with these two should be oh so interesting.

  3. TheDarkestFallingStar

    *dies laughing*

  4. Loved it!! and I can’t wait to see his reaction when she breaks down and tells him she is actually related to the Salvatores lol. I also can’t wait to see what sparkly creature she turns the Cullens into if they come back. Hmm maybe she can turn Edward into a whiny sparkly Butterfly 😉

  5. I thought it was bella that said that when you gave the hint lol. I thought she would have the blood of a god within her. her magic ws to much like the myths of *Circe*. lol very nice i can’t wait to see everyone reaction to her being with Kol. and I thought Zach might her her dad or something he was to protective of her. Can’t wait to read more. Update again soon!her and kol are going to be hell on wheels especially if the cullens come back lol she can turn them all into sparkly reflective sun fish lol

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