He’d never gone very far completely alone. At most, he took a plane between the Yukon territory and NYC by himself. He was always greeted at the airport by family or friends. And given that his immediate circle comprised of badass vampires, elves, shapeshifters and witches, he never had to worry about safety or comfort.
Hell, he hadn’t even gone on a high school or college spring break by himself, like other academically inclined young adults his age did. His one exotic experience was the trip to the Middle East and Egypt with his parents, Sophia, Ere (before he wasreallyEre), Eveline, Cloud and Aella. That had been over a decade ago.
He really ought to get out more, Ben reflected. Claim his independence, as it were.
Except, hewantedto be with his family and friends whenever he could. He liked alone time too, to dream, think, read, research. But when he wanted company, he always chose his loved ones.
He would never be one of those “cool” kids who frequented bars or clubs or private parties. He wasn’t interested in sports either, team or otherwise. He didn’t even have a social media account, for fuck’s sake. Nor did he feel the need to ever get one. He had a smart phone for emergencies, but he never used it.
Recently, thanks to Ava’s medical innovation, every member of his closest acquaintances had nano tracers bound to their blood. If anything happened, as long as they stayed in the modern human realm, they could be traced and found.
Which did nothing for him here in this time.
But, oh well. Uncalculated risks and all that.
The point was, Ben had never been the typical, boundary-pushing, rebellious teen and just turned twenty-something. He hadresponsibilitiesto uphold. Like training to be a dragon warrior and simplydragon.
That’s what Cloud told him anyway, that he was destined to be an earth-bound dragon. That he had all of the necessary “ingredients,” whatever that meant.
And Sophia told him that, one day, his Pure soul would Awaken. The buried memories from his past life (or lives) would be revealed.
Through this process, he might finally understand why he was so different from everyone else. Even the children who grew up amongst Immortals, like Isolde, Kane and Annie.
Only Isolde had a Pure soul amongst the three, being the natural born daughter of two Pure parents, Tristan and Ayelet. But hers seemed to be a new soul; she didn’t have past lives. She was a clean slate.
Kane’s parents were the superhuman geneticist, Ava Monroe, and the Dark Assassin, Ryu Takamura. Apparently, Kane was mostly human, but he healed faster and was physically stronger. Other than that, thus far, he hadn’t manifested any other Gifts. No fangs either.
And then there was Annie, the adopted daughter of Eli,thepreeminent shadow assassin, Lord Wind, and Clara Scott, a fire witch. Annie was a blossoming fire witch herself, and Ben was still agog over how badass she’d been during their last quest together to Victorian Britain.
Ben didn’t have any cool powers himself as far as he could tell. Just the ability to see people’s true selves, which came in handy amongst Immortals who could illusion their appearance, but wasn’t particularly useful for anything else.
He possessed a Pure soul, and likely, after his Awakening, he would come into his Immortal Gifts. Or, he might not have any Gifts. Not all Immortals were blessed or cursed with them, depending on the perspective.
Thus far, the only inkling he had that he possessed unplumbed depths were the times when he felt very old. When a strange, heart-clenching melancholy descended upon him, shading his habitual sunny demeanor with the bitter taste of regret and loss. As he aged, these moments of sadness visited him more frequently, especially in dreams that he didn’t recall upon waking.
Ben considered himself an optimistic, idealistic, can-do type of person. He hadn’t really encountered any insurmountable obstacles in his life (fucking Hydra notwithstanding). He was well loved and wanted for nothing.
But…
Something was missing.
He could feel it. An important part of himself was lost somehow. And the more he experienced life, the more he felt its absence.
Like a hole in his chest.
A tear in his soul.
Abruptly he stopped, taking a deep breath to center himself, pushing back unpleasant emotions.
He didn’t even realize he’d arrived at the outskirts of the village until a group of tiny humans (all under six feet) pushed brusquely past him, as if he were an inanimate object obstructing their path.
One of them muttered under his breath and shot an impatient glare at Ben as he passed, then spat a wad of something rank into the dirt near Ben’s toes, almost hitting him.
“Pure scum,” Ben thought he heard.
He took in his surroundings and realized that he stood out like a sore thumb.
He was head and shoulders taller than everyone else. As people milled around him like a river flowing around a large boulder, they mostly ignored him. Once in a while he got a silent look, at best curious, at worst scathing, or somewhere in between, like pitying.