It was Thanksgiving and many of the Belle Sisters were roaming about the kitchen assisting with the creation of their massive dinner. Between the loud clanging of metal pans and the girls’ chatter, the doorbell rang, and Amon went to see who came to bother his family. Looking through the glass storm door, Amon quickly opened it with a wide grin as he saw Leon wearing his Sunday best. Leon smiled, presenting a bowl of mashed potatoes. “Thought I’d stop by and see what’s for dinner.”

Amon cheerily nodded. “Come on in, you bald bastard! The girls’ll love to see you.”

Leon was soon swarmed with lamia as he entered the living room. It had been many years since they last saw him with some new faces in the mix. The younger, much smaller ones climbed up his body, wrapping around his arms and legs, with one almost constricting his neck trying to get on top of his head with no hair to pull on.

“Hey!” Leon said as he struggled to move around, trying to move his head away from the grabby lamia. “How many do you have now?”

Amon laughed. “As many that are required.” He lifted the troublesome girl off Leon’s neck and set her down. “Give the man space. Disperse!”

The lamia followed his command and went back to what they were doing, some grumbling, others laughing, with a few still watching him intently, feeling that he was very climbable and should be climbed.

Bunny, Amon’s wife, soon came to see what all the ruckus was about. “Oh, Leon,” she said with a worried smile. “How nice of you to visit.” She took the bowl of mashed potatoes from him. “Did you make this yourself?”

“Yes. I’m hoping it’ll be better than last time—not too salty.”

Bunny giggled. “I’m sure it’s fine.” She silently returned to the kitchen, not wanting to reflect on the absence of Maven or allow her disdain for Leon to show.

Leon said, “She hasn’t aged a day.”

Amon laughed again. “One of the many benefits of marrying a monster.” He cleared his throat, not meaning to bring up the topic of marriage. “I see some of my oldest haven’t joined us.” He whistled. “Anna! Sybi! Izzy! Guess who came to see us!”

The three girls came down the hall into the living room. Anna had just woken up and went to the bathroom instead. Sybi simply looked at Leon and turned back to her room with no desire to entertain any guests. Izzy’s face filled with glee as she saw Leon, and she raced over to him and hugged him, saying, “It’s been forever since you last visited, Uncle Lee. I bet you don’t recognize me.”

Leon hugged her with his real arm. “Let’s see… brown eyes, copper hair…” He looked at Amon who held his pinky straight up. “You must be Izzy.”

“That’s right!” She smiled as they separated. “Have you been overseas again? Another secret mission?”

Leon wondered what she thought he had been doing since. “Nothing nearly as interesting.”

Amon said. “I’m sure the last thing he wants to talk about is work.”

Leon shook his head. “Work is actually what I’m here to talk about with you, Amon.” He frowned while looking at Izzy. “Privately.”

Izzy nodded with a pout and went off to help the others, leaving the two to talk in private in another room where Leon explained his reason for returning to Sorrow, regretting that he had no good news to share.

Amon frowned and asked, “Things are going to get worse, then?”

“Yes. I’m telling you this now so that you can find somewhere else to—”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I’m not leaving, Leon. This is my home. This is where we will stay.”

“But you’re an abomination. The other inquisitors will not tolerate a mage.”

“An abomination I might be, but I’m no mage. You know I don’t believe in that magic crap—iron and steel are all I’ll ever need.”

Leon shook his head. “It won’t matter. At least be concerned about your daughters—they’ll have to live through it.”

Solemnly, Amon said, “I’ve raised them well enough. They will be able to take care of themselves when the time comes. And I won’t force them to stay if this town becomes a danger to them… Leaving now will only allow more of the riffraff to come in.”

Leon sighed. “Fair enough.”

Amon leaned back in his chair, thinking to himself. “Forgive me for asking, but, why join the Order at all? The Arbiter would’ve—”

“Do I really need to explain it to you? After the child… and Maven… I couldn’t bear to live here anymore… or continue my old work. The Order gave me a place. A purpose. One outside of the past.”

Amon nodded. “You did what you had to do. I understand. But we all feared you weren’t long for this world, either… How are you doing these days?”

With a pause, Leon said, “I quit smoking.”

“That’s good. Hard to imagine you without a cigarette in one hand and a gun in the other, though. What changed your mind about it?”

“It was my heart. All that exposure to mana finally caught up to me—my bad habits didn’t help, either. I had to get bypass surgery… When I got home and saw the open packet, I had zero desire to smoke again. I threw it away and never picked up another cigarette. It was a miracle.”

“I guess everybody gets one… but you got yours a long time ago. I’ve said it before, but you’re damn lucky to still be here. Not all abominations are made equal, and the one that took your arm was a real menace. Even I would’ve been fortunate to come back after that encounter.”

Leon didn’t want to think about that time. “It was only because of Rosa.” He shook his head. “It turned her into a demon… but that’s what it took. We were where we needed to be to stop it from becoming a much bigger problem. Thankfully, there hasn’t been another abomination that can control the weather like that.”

“We’d all be in some deep shit if one could make mana storms on command. Helps that those charter schools weed out any potentially troublesome abominations. Places like Mary Rose keep safer ones grounded until emergence. Lets the mana in their body align in a way similar to a monster instead of becoming a mess like those during the Convergence. That’s my theory, anyway.”

“I wouldn’t know. It never made any sense to me. Abominations can appear anywhere there’s mana. At any time. Even animals aren’t safe. Imagine the things we haven’t found deep in the ocean. Things living underground. Rifts could even be inside of the planet… constantly leaking mana. It makes me wonder if we even made a difference in the grand scheme of things.”

“We did all we could with the knowledge we had. We took back most of the planet, sealed the rifts, and created peace with monsters who wished to join us in society. But with children often getting mana sickness and miscarriages on the rise… I fear we’re flies in a world of spiders waiting to snare us. It’s why I chose not to have human children—assuming I wasn’t made sterile. Those that’ve emerged will have a better time than what sliver of humanity remains in the far future, certainly.”

“Maybe future humans’ll be so stubborn and bullheaded like you that they’ll be abominations that never actually change.”

Amon grinned. “An acceptable future—if only to prove that we were all wrong about killing abominations. That we snuffed out what was meant to be the next step of humanity, as savage as we are.”

Leon joked. “It’s hard to say. Seems more like a step back considering your motto that the only good abomination is a dead one.”

Amon smiled but returned to a more serious tone. “Leon. I know you’ve had your fair share of hardship in life, but don’t let your pain radicalize you. Those old troubles are over, and new ones are beyond the horizon. I appreciate you coming here today… even if only to warn me. I know you mean well, but don’t forget that your family, your friends, would be hurt by your peers who see us as strangers. That is what you endorse every time you wear your robes and armor—even if you don’t personally mean any harm. You will always be welcome here… just leave your wings at the door next time.”

Leon thought over his words and nodded. “I will.”

With enough being said, Leon followed Amon down winding hallways into a large, decorated dining room far beyond the capacity of the house. Sitting at the end of the long dinner table, Leon looked at the morsels in front of him. Some were common meats, like turkey and chicken, but there were imported imp cuts and slugs among the regular dishes. What really had him concerned were the size and number of egg-based dishes. With new monsters came many new delicacies that were palatable despite their appearance, but Leon always avoided the eggs, not wanting to chance that they were locally sourced.