Variables and Deviants

Reginald cleared his throat, he had a stern look on his face.

"Boys. I believe you have somewhere to be." He narrowed his eyes. He then turned to Kara. "Follow me. We have no time to waste."

She gave the boys a little wave before hurrying after him. He looked weaker than the last time she'd seen him. Was he suffering from an ailment? Would it be rude to ask?

She got distracted when she noticed their surrounding. He was leading her through the forest to the river.

Kara laughed nervously. "You know Mr Reginald, this feels like an abduction or like I'm walking to my death. I mean, the school is practically empty so no one would notice that I'm gone. Sure you have two witnesses and it would be easy to be rid of them. But they are shadows so that might be a little overwhelming, although..."

"Call me Uncle Regi or just Regi is fine." He interrupted.

She stumbled but caught herself in time. Mumbling a curse, she hurried after him. He didn't look back. For someone that looked weak, he could move.

"Why?" She asked.

"I had planned to start training you today, even without Hartridge's approval." He continued.

Kara paused and stared. They had gotten to the clearing.

"Wait, what?" Her forehead creased.

Reginald turned to her, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "My name is Reginald Karan Deville. Brother of Anastasia Lucille Deville."

Kara blanched. For some minutes she just stared. All this time... all along... she didn't know what to think.

"First you'll feel anger of not being told. Anger that there are other things you haven't been told. Then resignation because you don't know what to do." The wind brought his whispers to her ears.

Her crestfallen face tugged his heart. "You seem to have figured me out."

"You are just like my sister, your face can be an open book sometimes."

Kara clenched her fists. "Why didn't you say anything on the first night? When I arrived."

He said nothing. Why hadn't he? It had nothing to do with Hartridge. So why?

She nodded her head and rubbed her face, swallowing the ache she felt. "First my dad wants nothing to do with me, next I'm actually related to Reginald. Mara was so close then." She laughed.

He knew why. She was going to lose him. Wasn't it better not to get attached rather than be attached and feel hurt. But then again, he was putting himself on a high pedestal. Only his sister would truly care that he was gone.

"You are angry." Regi stated.

Kara laughed, her fists shaking. "No kidding. So why are you telling me this now?"

Reginald shrugged. "You are right, I could train you without you knowing of our ties."

They stared at each other, waiting. He sighed and turned away, walking till he got to the edge of the river.

Kara drew in slow steady breaths and counted in her mind to calm herself. She looked up at the blue-grey sky, a sign that night was close, and tried to control her emotions. She was going to handle everything well. Or she would die trying.

"You haven't given me an answer." She stated and moved to sit a couple feet away from him.

He wasn't looking at her. He was looking straight, beyond the river. He was quiet and unresponsive for some minutes. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"For selfish reasons. I do not have a child of my own, nor any other family. No one is going to miss me when I'm gone."

Kara picked the first response her mind gave her, nonchalance.

"Well the deed is done, I'll likely not forget you. So what are you teaching me?" She picked a stone and threw it. It skipped 3 times before sinking.

"Everything that I can. As you can see, I don't have much of myself left." He chuckled and turned to her.

His vision has started playing tricks on him because all he could see was Anastasia having one of her stubborn episodes. When Kara turned to him, his heart hurt. Yes, his reasons were selfish. He wanted someone else to remember him. Would she?

She said nothing and waited for him to continue. She wasn't going to be curious and ask what he meant, no matter how hard it was not to.

"All wolves used to be free spirits. They roamed, never settling down. When their population increased, some wanted stability so they settled. They were the first supernaturals. Some say the water tribe came much much later. They came from humans. The first human war that seemed to not have an end in sight prompted the birth of several water weavers. They were simple people who only wanted peace. They were forced to migrate to the supernatural realm when the humans viewed them as a threat long after the war. They were viewed as devils and so the name... Devilles." He paused. They could hear the crickets and the rustling of the trees from the gentle breeze.

Kara scooted closer to him. Reginald had a soothing voice that drew people in when he spoke for long. Just like Hera...

"But of course, humans left to their own vices start a war. The wolves couldn't care less if the humans went extinct. Good riddance. But the Devilles cared, they intervened. Many years after, they were treated as threats. Again. And so the Devilles made a vow not to concern themselves with humans." Reginald sighed. "By then, the fates had played a joke on them. Their matings with humans brought them others. A shadow, a different kind of water weaver, a fire bender, earth bender and air bender. To top it, a mind weaver."

Reginald seemed far away with his glazed eyes staring into the water as if he could see the history playing out. Everywhere was still, nature seemed to strain its ears to listen. Kara almost scoffed, the history didn't fully make sense. New supernaturals born every time a 'great war' came to play?

"So what is it this time? Some Great War? Only this time in the supernatural realm uh?" She asked mockingly but he wasn't listening.

He gave her a lopsided smile. "You got it. This time it is in the Supernatural realm. Everything always goes according to plan but there are always variables. This was all supposed to have ended years ago but the fates didn't account for the variable. The variable that can influence the deviants."

"Hold up, rewind. You lost me. Deviants, variable... what are you talking about?" Kara's face held confusion. "How do you even know all these? Last I check, they aren't in the history books of your kind. At least from what I've read."

Reginald moved his wrist and balls of water rose up, settling between them like solid shapes. He turned his entire body to her, his legs folded under. She did the same. The balls of water took human shapes, about ten.

"See this right here, this is a deviant." He said, pointing one which had a little sword shape on its back. " Fates send deviants, people that move away from the normal movements. Sort of like superheroes but slightly different. They make changes or come in times of changes. They are the signs of changes. Their paths have been mapped out." He explained, moving the shape aside. He touched another that kept changing shape. Human, wolf etc " But whenever a deviant is born, so is a variable. Those the fates are blind to. They cannot control what happens to them, they can't write their path. Variables can not be predicted. When Hera was born, Loid was also."

"Hera is the deviant and Loid is the variable." She beamed, feeling proud of herself.

Reginald grinned at her and flung beads of water at her. She giggled and wiped her face.

"So I'm a deviant?" She looked at the one with the sword on its back.

"This time, you are the variable."

She looked up at him. She wasn't the main character. She wasn't the hero. She was the villain.