Blue Eren

Hahlfost

Three days Eren had repeated her underwater dive trying to unlock more of her potential, it was getting there but not quick enough for Eren.
She had seen visions of when her mom had stood up against Yusha after he had lost his temper with Eren, Eren had been sent to her room and Yusha's anger had turned on Megan. Why had her mom stayed with this guy? It had never happened again though, especially after Megan had smashed a dinner plate over his head.
Things had somehow calmed down between them in that time but Yusha had begun to like Eren less over time and Eren was sadly fully aware of it.
"I can do stuff, look dad." Eren blew on her fingers, little icicles emerged from them.
"Can you force a demon out of your cousin's body with that?"
"No dad, but..."
"You have to enter the water again."
"I'm afraid to dad, what if I fail to emerge or you can't resuscitate me?"
Fawez stroked his daughter's head and kissed her on the crown. "Enter, I will not let you die."
Eren did as she was told, taking a deep breath she entered the pool of fairies.
Same as before she felt her senses shutting down, she couldn't fight the feeling of submission, she accepted with resignation.
She was at home, Christmas Day, one year before her mom's death, she no longer accepted Yusha as family.
Eren stood in the garden which was bigger than usual and a single beam of the sun shone on the windswept fauna.
Eren looked up and two creatures sat in the winter-dead tree with the malformed feature.
Eren knew she'd already lived this memory before, mom had cooked goose and Yusha had left to get drunk at the MC and didn't return until it was New Years Eve, high on cocaine, alcohol and violence.
Megan had read a book to Eren as a child about mythological creatures from Arabia, because although Megan was Welsh she knew the importance of Eren's heritage from her real father, wayward as he was.
She recognised one the female Anqa and a Roc which looked to big for the tree's strength to hold.
The Anqa resembled a pterodactyl crossed with a macaw, it was a quarter the size of the massive Elephant eater. Roc had the feathers of an autumnal leaf in October.
The Roc squawked and flew away, the Anqa dropped an egg from the tree, it landed by Eren's feet.
Eren knelt down then looked up. "May I?" She gently picked up the egg.
Anqa flew away.
Moments later she was being pulled from the waters by her father, this time Eren opened her eyes and choked out the water, an egg lay by her right leg.
Fawez gave Eren a towel. "Dry off, dress, warm up, we have your egg here."
"My-my egg?"
"From your garden?"
Eren nodded.
"Okay, don't be too long, this will open soon."
A few minutes later Eren, still shivering and walking on the spot was waiting for her father to say something, he looked at the egg.
It was painted in gold, red and purple, Arabic words.
"Hey dad?"
"Yes dear?"
"So you're brothers with Evie's dad Fai too, like Yusha?"
"Yusha is Fai's brother, I'm their half brother, I was born in Beja Tunisia though we have the same Saudi Arabian mother, your beautiful grandmother Mumtaz. Me and Fai used to be close and I trusted Yusha, I shouldn't have trusted him."
"Will I have liked uncle Fai, would he have accepted me, my auntie Emma too?"
"Why wouldn't they?"
"I guess because I'm not Corey anymore."
"They'd love you, why did Evie or Maria say something?"
"No, they said what you said."
"Respect their answer then, they're right."
"I'm sorry dad, I just...I wanted to know them."
"They would love you, end of story, take the egg."
"Okay dad, I believe you." She gently took the egg from him.
It started to move in her hands, spooked she dropped the egg, it just landed in soft snow.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Eren went to pick it up then put her hands to her mouth in shock as the shell broke to reveal a strange looking bird.
It looked like a vulture with the bottom half of a camel, a set of sky blue wings flapping helpless at its side.
It coughed, sputtering spittle turned to ice as it fell from the hybrid's ooze racked beak.
"Hell." Eren said shocked.
"Fyost." The creature gurgled.
"Let's call it Hahlfost." Fawez added. "The frozen bird from Hell."