Chapter Twenty-Three: Frog

"Where have you been?" I asked, trembling with anger.

My father didn't answer my question. Instead, he smiled. "It's so good to finally see you, son. You can't know how much I've missed you."

"Where have you been?" I repeated, louder this time.

His smiled faltered. "I've been here."

"Here?"

"In Gulbrania."

I glanced over at my mom and she gave a slight nod. I looked back at my dad.

"What have you been doing here?"

He chuckled and spread his hands in front of him. "Running a country."

I guess that was probably supposed to impress me, but I just felt myself getting more angry at how casual he was acting in this crazy situation.

"So I guess that justifies leaving your wife and son for over ten years, does it?" I spat.

He took a step toward me. "Frederick, you need to calm down."

"Calm down? Are you kidding? Sure, let's all go out for a burger and talk about how miserable it's been for us since you left. We'll just laugh about the fact that we haven't seen you for all these years."

My mother cleared her throat. "Actually, Frederick, I've been visiting your father regularly."

This was too much. I lost it. "What?!" I yelled. "So it's just me that's been left in the dark? What is going on?"

My mother placed her hand on my back. "Frederick, this was necessary to keep you safe."

I stepped back from both of them. "Necessary? Necessary?" I shouted the word over and over. I was on the verge of a break down.

My father grabbed me by the shoulders. "Son! You need to understand that there are things that are bigger than you! Bigger than our family!"

My mother came between us. "Gerard, he's been through a lot and he's just a teenager. He can't grasp things like that yet."

"Well, he'll have to soon. The Jumerum is becoming more aggressive and he might have to take charge any day now."

My mother closed her eyes and shivered. "Gerard, let me talk to him alone."

"Evelyn, I-"

"Please." It was more a command than a request.

My father nodded and started to leave, but then he turned back and came straight up to me until we were face to face.

"Frederick, I have had to answer to greater responsibilities, but I want you to know that leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Know that I love you more than life, son." He embraced me for a second, then walked briskly out of the room.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding, stunned at his unexpected show of affection. I felt my mother take me by the hand.

"Come sit down, Frederick." She lead me to a small table and chairs situated in the corner of the room. We sat down across from each other and I looked at her expectantly.

She took a deep breath. "Frederick, I asked you not to leave the house."

I threw up my hands. "You keep all these secrets from me for years and now you're going to scold me for breaking one promise?"

She sighed. "Thank goodness Zane alerted me as soon as he saw you leave."

"Zane? What does the neighbor kid have to do with anything?"

"He's your bodyguard."

"My… what? An eleven year old is my bodyguard? Are you serious?"

"He turned twelve in July, Frederick," she replied in a patronizing tone, as if this was supposed to make me feel like having a child protecting me was completely normal and not at all emasculating.

"What does he do? Annoy all the bad guys away?"

"He's a technological genius, Frederick. His surveillance and his devices have saved you more times than you know."

I rubbed my temples. "Fine, I have a juvenile bodyguard," I grumbled. "But why do I even need to be protected?"

My mother spread her hands on the table, as if bracing herself for something unpleasant. "First of all, Frederick, you should know that I'm not a business consultant."

I snorted. "Yeah, I gathered that. I haven't seen many consultants grapple with a guy twice their size and knock him unconscious."

She gave me a warning look and I shut up. Now was not the time to be cheeky.

"Every time I was out of town, I was actually here helping your father."

"Helping him with what?"

She closed her eyes. "Honey, it will be easier if you just let me finish and then ask questions afterwards."

"Okay." The only reason I agreed so readily was because she was finally giving me answers.

"We left Gulbrania twelve years ago when your grandfather died."

I nodded. This was all familiar.

"He was killed by the Jumerum."

I gulped. This was new information.

"At the time, we were unfamiliar with the Jumerum and their power, but we understood that all of our family was in danger, so we decided to move to the United States while we gathered information about how to defeat them. We learned that they wanted complete control of the Gulbranak."

My mom must have seen the confusion on my face.

"Alright, let me back up. Frederick, do you remember what Gulbrania specializes in?"

I frowned. "Um, underwater technology?"

She squinted at me. "Something along those lines. Gulbrania is the only country in the world with the resources to extract and refine Gulbranak, which is a rare metal found on the ocean floor, and which has the potential to generate extraordinary amounts of energy.

"Ah, I see where this is going," I said, recalling the plot lines to a dozen or more action movies. "If that stuff gets into the wrong hands, the whole world could end."

"Pretty much," my mother replied.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised that she had agreed with my facetious statement. This was getting serious.

"Anyway, in order to get to the Gulbranak, the Jumerum had to go through our family, or more specifically, you and your father, as the access to the Gulbranak is passed down through the male line."

"Naturally," I said, still having no clue what she was talking about.

"After a couple of years in Indiana, your father was nearly killed by one of the Jumerum, and we realized the situation was far more severe than we had imagined. It became necessary to take more dramatic measures. Your father left and was concealed in Gulbrania, while you started taking the dissimulating capsules."

I stared at her. "You mean the pills?"

"Yes. You don't have liver disease."

I opened my mouth, but she cut me off before I could say anything.

"The capsules masked your DNA. They disguised you to keep you safe from the Jumerum, but this…" she gestured at me, "is who you really are."

I got the feeling she was referring to more than just my recent transformation. "And who am I?"

She smiled. "You're the prince of Gulbrania."