Heritage
Eighteen

I never expected to be so thrilled on my eighteenth birthday. In my hands were combat fans that the spirit woman gave me and I was so excited to start learning on how to use them. I opened up one and admired the sky blue paper that had cherry blossoms painted on for decoration.

“Oh they’re so wonderful!” I cried and began twirling around happily whilst unfolding the other one. She was watching me as I added leaps and did a little kata that she had taught me a while ago. My very own combat fans! The fans before were merely normal fans that were used to help learn katas. I felt like such a traditional elf now! I was happy. I paused when I heard a thoughtful chuckle and turned around to see an amused smile on the spirit woman’s face.

“I too was excited when I got them,” she said as I folded the fans and regained my posture “There’s no need to be rigid and stiff, Zelda. It’s your eighteenth birthday. All elves are excited about their eighteenth birthday. It’s the day that they will start to learn proper adult traditions.” I couldn’t help but smile wider. It felt so…awesome! Yes, I’ll use such a word for this feeling. Awesome. I just wanted to hug the ghost in front of me. My smile faltered as I realised something.

“After all these years,” I said softly “I’ve never learnt your name.” The spirit woman’s smile faltered too.

“Zelda…now’s not the time for you to learn my name,” she said gravely.

“I’m sorry but I just would like to know,” I implored “I want to know who you are.”

“Zelda, you must be patient. It’s too soon for you to learn about my identity.”

“But…”

“Zelda!” I jumped when I heard Zack call my name “I’ve got a little surprise for you my little princess!” I sighed impatiently and tucked the fans into the sleeves of my kimono.

“He’s probably going to teach me how to apply mascara to my eyelashes again,” I grumbled and walked towards the door.

“Remember, Zelda. You mustn’t accept Zack’s influence upon you. You only need to put up with your façade for just a little longer.” I looked up sadly at the spirit woman as I placed my hand on the doorknob.

“If you say so.” I left the attic and made my way down to the sitting room. I sat on the sofa and waited patiently for Zack to find me.

“Ah-ha! There you are!” I turned my head to see Zack come into the room with a flat white box, tied up neatly in a pink ribbon. He began humming Happy Birthday to me and placed it on my lap. “Open it,” he smiled and ruffled my hair. I carefully tugged the pink ribbon off and lifted the lid off. There was a black dress inside, it looked like it was made out of silk. I stood up to take a better look when I took it out and my jaw dropped in horror. No straps to hold it up, a tear up the skirt and a slight parting in the front to show part of my bosom if I dared wore this…monstrosity.

“I hope you’re not suggesting that I ever wear this?” I managed to get out and looked at Zack. Zack laughed and stood up to ruffle my hair again.

“Zelda,” he sighed “This is the latest fashion amongst girls your age. You have a beautiful body, it’s a shame that you keep hiding it under your kimonos.”

“I wear kimonos because they are comfortable and I am well covered,” I argued “If I wear this, men might see…well, my indecent areas.” Zack laughed and I felt like I wanted to smack him. If I showed anything more than my hands and face, I feel like I’m inviting men to bed me. Not only will men be seeing my legs in this dress, they’ll see my neck, my shoulders and even some flesh from my breasts! This is not only the most hideous dress, but the most revealing I’ve ever seen! I slowly lowered the dress down and gave a stern look towards Zack. “I refuse to wear this.”

“You are going to wear it,” I flinched at Zack’s tone of authority “You are going to wear it tonight at your birthday meal at Elliot & Tony’s.” I swallowed. Elliot & Tony’s was a high class restaurant that Zack often took me to meet his co-workers. The thought of wearing this dress and a lot of old men seeing me in it made me shudder. As Zack left, my hands clenched on the fabric in anger, wishing to tear it apart and leave nothing but pitiful scraps.

I stumbled in the high heels that Zack gave me to wear with the dress across the floor. Zack was walking ahead of me, talking on his phone and half-dragging me across the marble floor of the food court area of the shopping mall where Elliot & Tony’s was located. I heard a wolf whistle and shuddered, pulling the fabric more over my thighs. Zack gave me a black feather boa with black silk gloves for my arms then a big fat heavy diamond necklace to decorate the skin above my breasts. I felt like a high class hooker in this getup. I could have ordered a festive kimono for this occasion but no, Zack says it will be too strange, too weird, too elf to wear such a beautiful, traditional kimono for my birthday. He acts as if it was his birthday! It infuriated me.

My heart skipped a beat as I felt a pair of eyes pass my form. But with these eyes, I didn’t feel excitement, arousal nor lust. I turned my head and saw a young boy, probably about my age, staring at me briefly as I was dragged down the hall. His bright pink eyes were the most beautiful pair of eyes I had ever seen in my entire life. His golden hair was overgrown, nearly concealing his wonderful eyes completely. When I managed to tear my gaze away from those stunning eyes, I examined the boy who was hunched in the corner of the hall, dressed in beige tattered clothing and shivering while using his torn blanket to keep him as warm as possible. I felt a strong sense of sympathy well in my chest and wanted to go over to place some coins into the little rusted cup by his bare scarred feet. But soon he was out of sight and Zack and I were waiting outside Elliot & Tony’s to be taken to the table Zack reserved. I kept my eyes firmly glued to the lush red carpet as heads swerved, eyes examined and a couple of mouths uttered their admiration of my body.

“Ah, Mr and Miss Brodka,” the waiter greeted us with a wide smile “I didn’t recognize you for a second there, Miss Zelda.”

I wish Zack had at least given me a jacket. Seeing those blue eyes look me up and down just wanted me to hide. I felt exposed, exploited…like a prize animal in a show of sorts. I followed behind the men to the large table at the back of the restaurant. I sat in the chair that was pulled out for me and watched as the politicians conversed across the table and complimenting my looks. I fiddled with the end of my hair nervously and stared at the white table cloth as I began thinking about the different elf sayings the woman taught me.

“Sorry we’re late,” a deep baritone cut through my thoughts “Traffic was bad.”

“Happy Birthday, Zelda.”

I lifted my head and looked at the newcomers. I recognized Dune and his father and shivered underneath Dune’s hungry gaze. He grinned and sat next to me as his father sat at a different place on the table. I kept my eyes trained on the table cloth as Dune began talking to Zack, who was sat opposite him, and I grimaced when I realised that I was the only girl by the table. At the head of the table no less. I felt like such a trophy. I looked at the scallops that were presented in front of me. I picked up one of the forks beside the plate and began eating quietly. Dune ate and I supressed the urge to glare whenever he glanced at me with those icy blue eyes of his.

“So, Zelda, what do you like to do in your spare time?” Dune asked with a soft purr in his voice.

I opened my mouth but it was Zack who answered for me.

“Oh, Zelda enjoys to cook all sorts of dishes,” Zack began bragging about my domestic skills that he attempted to brainwash me into having “And of course, she enjoys going out to shop for clothes, groceries…” What Dune said next, in all honesty, shocked me.

“Pardon me, sir,” he turned his cattish eyes towards Zack “But I believe I asked Zelda what she would like to do in her spare time. I would like to hear from her if you do not mind.” The look on Zack’s face made me want to giggle and Dune’s father gave Dune a disapproving look from his place. But with Zack put in his place, my mouth and voice began working automatically.

“I enjoy meditating then taking walks in Zack’s garden and making perfumes out of the different flowers and herbs I find,” I said excitedly in one breath. I felt myself blush and grabbed my glass of water to sip and mainly hide my face. Dune blinked in surprise then chuckled before laughing loudly.

“I’ve never heard your voice before,” he said and wiped the tears away from his eyes “Oh my, wow. You make perfumes you say?” I nodded shyly and Dune leaned in. “Tell me more.”

“Well…I collect the petals from the different flowers and used warm water to soak them then crush them carefully…” I began speaking and for the first time, was able to look up at Dune’s face.

“Zelda,” Zack cut me off “That’s enough.”

“He wanted to hear more, I’m telling him more,” I replied, my voice getting quieter and looked up at Zack.

“Men don’t like women who talk too much,” Zack said in the most patronising tone yet “Men don’t like it when women lie either.”

“But I do make perfumes,” I said and I felt the anger building up in me. But as soon as I tried to repress the anger and calm myself, Zack spoke again.

“Well it will stop now, you can’t show creative skills in front of men. Men don’t like that.”

Everything began at this point in time. My anger exploded, my hand clenched so hard on the fork I was holding that I left a dent which was too weak to support the head of the fork so it dropped off and into my plate. Dune looked alarmed while everyone stared at me like I was some sort of wild animal that had been let loose from its cage. I glared fiercely at Zack as the lights flickered above us.

“You’re embarrassed at me for being a woman and the fact that I like to create perfumes as a hobby instead of shopping for tacky dresses that only pathetic human women want to show off that they’re available for sex,” I growled as confused murmurs went up and down the table.

“Zelda,” Zack made that tone of authority again but no more! I will listen to him no more! I heard the glasses on the table crack slightly as I stood up and towered over Zack, who looked so weak and vulnerable. I felt myself smile happily.

“I have had enough of your sexism, your discrimination and your racism,” I snarled and looked up and down the table of his colleagues “How many lies has he told you about me? How many times has he dressed me up like a little doll to impress you lot and perhaps use me to make business connections?”

“Zelda!” Zack’s voice was getting a bit higher and I just smirked.

“Has he told you that we’re not really brother and sister?” I kept speaking “Has he told you that I’m not human?!”

“Zelda, that’s enough!” Zack snapped as everyone did a collective gasp. I smirked and pushed back my hair, showing my elven ears.

“I’m not ashamed of who or what I am,” I said and stormed out.

“Zelda, wait!”

I kicked off the damn heels and began running barefoot down the hall. I turned the corner to see that the poor boy with the beautiful eyes was gone. I sighed softly and sat down in the spot where he had sat, leaning against the marble wall behind me and caught my breath, clenching my fists as the anger kept pulsating through my veins. I jumped in surprise as my fingernails tore through the silk and left some rather nasty holes in them. Scowling, I tore them off and cast them aside where they got trampled by the night crowd. I curled my knees into my chest and stared ahead whilst the humans walked past me and stared at me like I was an animal kept in a zoo pen.

“Hey.” A pair of leather shoes stopped in front of me and I looked up to see Dune with a sympathetic smile on his face. He sat down next to me and sighed, sniggering and shaking his head. “I cannot believe that just happened back there,” he chuckled “You’re very brave, Zelda. I respect that.”

“…Thanks, I guess,” I shifted uncomfortably and shivered. Dune noticed and he took off his jacket, offering it to me. I gratefully accepted it and snuggled into the warm fabric. I wrinkled my nose.

“You have a bad taste in cologne,” I commented and Dune gasped.

“How dare you, it’s deodorant!” he snapped and I grinned nervously “If you don’t like it, I’ll have my jacket back.”

“No!” I said and inched away “I take it back, I’m sorry.” Dune smiled and tilted his head to the side.

“I thought you were too pretty to be human,” he said and I raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“Really? You’re trying to pick me up with a line like that?” I said. Dune looked confused and frowned.

“I’m not trying to pick you up,” he said then looked around carefully “Actually, seeming as you revealed your secrets, may I reveal some of mine?” I nodded while buttoning the jacket up. Dune bent over and I saw him blink a couple of eye contacts out and my heart lurched. He placed his hands on his blonde hair, which turned out to be a wig, and pulled it off to reveal his silver hair. He looked at me with sparkling blood red eyes and I tilted my head to the side curiously.

“You’re an albino?” I said and Dune laughed.

“No,” he chuckled “I’m a vampire that happened to be born with silver hair.”

“Wait, does that mean…” I inched closer to him curiously “You’re adopted too?” Dune shrugged with a toothy grin. Now I know that he’s a vampire, I could see his fangs easily. Dune leaned in and I caught the scent of lemons off him.

“Want to know another secret?” he whispered and I nodded warily at how close he was “I’m gay.” That wasn’t exactly what I expected. I blinked and tilted my head curiously.

“Gay? Really?” He never really acted…gay when I was around. Dune laughed and shrugged.

“Well, you know the homophobia around those guys,” Dune nodded in the general direction towards Elliott & Tony’s “It’s kind of hard to have to hit on girls and have them take an interest in you and have them wanting you to propose to them.”

“It’s kind of hard to have boys flirt with me, trying to grab my attention and showering me with gifts that I would never dream of even having.” We looked at each other’s eyes and I felt a bit safe around him now I knew that he was gay. With a soft smile, Dune looked around thoughtfully.

“So why did you stop by here?” he asked “I thought you’d just run away until your legs hurt too much to run.”

“I saw a boy here.”

“Oh, does someone have a crush already?” Dune winked and nudged me. I gave him a fierce glare and he edged away carefully, in case I made the lights flicker and destroyed something else. I shook my head and stared at the tiles.

“He was a beggar,” I described him “Bright pink eyes and golden hair…so beautiful but so poor…”

“Oh him?” Dune raised his eyebrows “Yeah I’ve seen him, he seems to be alone though.”

“What do you mean?” I furrowed my eyebrows and Dune glanced around.

“Well, normally beggars like him live in groups, like family. They decide who to use who for what purpose just to scrape some sympathy from the city folk to give them a few bronze coins. That boy would normally be found in the suburban areas where most people can see him and pay him. But if he’s found in the shopping malls like here, he can’t be part of a group. Poor guy.” I looked down and grimaced. Dune stretched and sighed. “So, would you like me to take you home?”

“I don’t know,” I grimaced “It’s a long walk and there are so many dangerous things at night, not to mention the pollution at this time…”

“I can drive my dad’s car,” Dune shrugged and I thought about it for a while.

“Alright then.”

I stared outside at the drunks and the bouncers, the women in high heels and feather boas that somewhat matched mine and the young teenagers huddled together while sharing alcohol and a cigarette, sometimes a cigar. I sighed as Dune drummed his fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel to the music that was playing on the stereo. Dune glanced at me and sighed also. My head perked up when I saw two uniformed men drag a strong looking man with long black hair. He seemed different in a supernatural sense and I gasped when I saw his elven ears. Dune frowned when he saw what I was looking at and sighed.

“Ugh, that poor elf probably never did anything wrong,” he muttered “Only arrested because of his race.”

“I want to save him,” I said immediately.

“Zelda, what can we do?” Dune shrugged.

“Zack mentioned that with the right technology, non-humans could be enslaved and used to our advantage, he just wants a test subject, we can save him!” My voice was getting higher and higher, I wanted to save him!

“Zelda, calm down,” Dune reached out to touch my arm.

I unfastened the seatbelt and jumped out of the car, following the policemen.

“Zelda!” Dune screamed at me “Hide your ears, you’ll get arrested yourself!”

Oh, stupid humans! I growled but I covered my ears with my hair and ran towards the policemen.

“Oi!” I bellowed at them “Stop!” I snatched one of the policemen’s arm and pulled him back which made them turn on me.

“What is it?” he demanded grumpily.

“Release him!” I demanded fiercely.

“Or what?” the other asked tauntingly.

“Or you’ll have my father to answer to.” I turned when Dune came behind me, wig and contacts messily put on. Dune cleared his throat and the policemen stiffened. “You’re talking to Zack Brodka’s younger sister and to Mr Piper’s son. What crime has this man committed?”

“Young Sir,” one licked his lips while looking at Dune “He’s violated the new law of elves in cities.” I opened my mouth to question the law but Dune placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Zack Brodka is thinking of allowing to enslave supernatural beings, such as the young man in your grasp, and he just needs a test run,” Dune explained “Now, what the young Zelda is trying to say is that she would like this young man to be the test subject.” A low growl ripped through the elf but it was quickly silenced with a knee into his stomach. I forced back a growl of my own as Dune settled with the policemen about details. It was pretty lucky that his father was the head of security. But I think it was mainly Dune’s charm that won them over and we helped the handcuffed elf into the back seat of the car and I sat next to him while Dune drove off. I locked eyes with the elf and carefully brushed back my hair to show my ears. He relaxed and leaned in.

“What are you doing, exposing yourself in front of the head of security’s son?” he said in a harsh whisper.

“I can hear you,” Dune said in a singsong voice “I know she’s an elf already and it’s OK, I’m a vampire. We’re all supernatural here, there’s no need to be so stiff.” The elf gave him a glare through the rear view mirror with his fierce golden eyes, which I assume Dune could see because we couldn’t see his reflection, and I leaned back with a tired yawn.

“My name is Zelda,” I said sleepily, rubbing my eyes tiredly “What’s yours?”

“…Vincent,” Vincent said reluctantly. I smiled and closed my eyes to have some sleep as Dune began rambling on about something to do with his home.

“Are you sure it’s OK to just leave you here?” Dune frowned “You said you don’t have a key and Zack has a high tech security system from what I’ve heard from my guardian.”

“I have my ways,” I said as I glanced up at the house “Just drive back take good care of Vincent, OK?”

“Oh, I’ll take good care of Vinnie.” Dune made a cat call and gave Vincent a flirtatious wink. I glared at him and slapped him on the arm.

“I said take care of him, not seduce him!” I scolded as Dune pouted and rubbed his arm “Besides, I don’t think he’s gay anyway or if he’ll even be interested.”

“Not when I’m through with him,” Dune grinned and I folded my arms, giving him my fiercest glare.

“If you dare, I will castrate you,” I snarled and Dune frowned.

“Wow, you’re pretty fierce, are you tired?” I sighed and turned away.

“Just take care of him,” I mumbled. I heard Dune walk away, get back into the car and drive off, back through the gates and off to his home. I carefully ran around to the back of the house, making sure to avoid any tripwires and looked up at one of the attic windows. “Help me,” I whispered.

“Good heavens, girl! What are you wearing?!” I yelped and jumped around to see the spirit woman glaring down at me in disapproval. I pulled Dune’s jacket closer to me and shivered.

“Zack calls it a dress and I call it a hooker’s dream,” I answered softly “Please, help me get in. I want to hide in the attic, away from Zack, away from everyone…”

“Zelda, dear,” the woman sighed “You know you can’t hide forever.”

“I don’t care!” I suddenly burst out “I don’t care, I’m eighteen now and I want to make my own decisions, I won’t have Zack rule over my life anymore!” The spirit woman paused and sighed.

“Close your eyes, dear,” she spoke “I want you to focus on the attic and focus on your elven heritage. I want you to prove that you are an elf and you want to be an elf.”

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and relaxed my muscles. I remembered the attic clearly, I spent a lot of time up there to get away from Zack and learn so much about elves and their history. I remember the dreams of being in fields of Floronies and flowers and blossom petals blowing in the wind as I stood in the long grass and stare up at the blue sky. I smiled as the memories flowed into me and I felt light and happy. It took me a while to register that my bare feet were resting one cold wooden floorboards of the attic and I opened my eyes to see the familiar dust covered boxes and saw the spirit woman hold out a folded kimono for me to put on.

“This was one of my own before I passed away,” she said softly as I took it from her “I want you to have it.” I smiled up at her and bowed to show my thanks before taking the dress off and putting the kimono back on. The spirit woman deactivated the security system long enough for me to run down, grab some pillows and blankets then run back up to the attic where I could sleep. I would worry about other needs later. I just wanted sleep. As I set out the makeshift bed, I noticed the pink petals decorating the floor and frowned.

“They weren’t there before,” I murmured and looked around “Where did they come from?”

“From you,” the spirit woman was smiling widely “They’re proof that you’re an elf and that you’re ready to return to your people. But not yet, Zelda. You must wait until the time is right.” I was too tired to argue so I lay my head on the pillow and covered myself with the blankets. As I closed my eyes, I heard the spirit woman whisper. “Sleep tight, my little princess.”

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