Questions For Tepnos

Andrew stood still—flabbergasted. "You know Grammy?" he asked once she had been gone from the room a full minute.

"Yes."

"How long have you been in our world?"

"A few months."

"So when did you meet? Because I know I haven't mentioned you to her."

"I'll have to meditate to remember the exact date."

"Okay."

Andrew pulled out a chair for Tepnos then dished up a serving of casserole for both of them. He pulled out his character sheet and asked Tepnos the questions regarding his character that he was struggling to answer.

"I know you can morph, you speak telepathically, and your body renews with Phoenix fire. Can you fly?"

"I can."

"Run?"

"All creatures run."

"Yes. But how fast?"

Tepnos tipped her head to the side.

"Faster than a cheetah? An antelope?" he asked.

Something shifted through Tepnos and she closed her eyes. She took several deep breaths.

"What was that?"

"A loss of the now," Tepnos said.

"A loss of the now?"

She nodded before turning to Andrew. "In order to maintain a morph, a morph-child must remain in the now. If they do not they'll morph into something else."

"What about when you are in your true form?"

"The same."

"How do you maintain the now for so long?" he asked.

"Practice," she replied. "Nightly meditation to clear even the energetic distractions."

"How long did it take you to get it down?"

"Here. Now."

"No, how many years, months, etc did it take you?"

"To be able to attain the here and now it took moments. To be able to maintain it as I do, it took me a few decades. Even now, I'm still working on it."

"Still working on it? I'd say you have it down."

Tepnos shook her head. "If I had it down, you would not have seen the ripple."

"So, how are you maintaining the here and now with my questions?"

"Because I am here. My attention is remaining on the now of your questions, not wondering of its own accord off to yesterday or tomorrow."

"Huh. Have you experienced your renewing phoenix fire?"

"Yes."

"How many times?"

"Once."

"So you are a few hundred years old already?"

"No."

"A morph gone wrong?"

"No."

"So, what happened?"

"My father killed me."

Andrew sat up in his chair, eyes wide with shock. "W… why?"

"To verify I was truly a morph-child."

"That's horrible!"

Tepnos didn't respond.

"Doesn't it bother you that he did that?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It needed to happen."

Andrew rested his elbow on the table, hand by his mouth. "Is it often that the offspring of the phoenix and the griffin is not a morph-child?"

"No."

"Do you know what makes the others not a morph-child?"

"It's an energetic thing."

"Energetic in what way?"

"In order to create a morph-child, both beings must be at their strongest energetic peak at the point of conception. Anything less than that creates something else."

"What is that something else?"

"Ask me again sometime."

"Okay. I noticed in your true form, your mane and the tuft on your tail remain the same color as your Human hair. Why not red like the rest?"

"It's the color of ash."

"Is that typical for morph-children?"

"Not always. It depends on the griffin and phoenix that join."

"What other colors can they be?"

"Red, black, white, brown, gray. All those colors."

"Do all morph-children have the perpetual flame like you do?"

"No. Only one in every hundred do."

"Does it signify something?"

"Gifts relating to life and death."

"Well you are the child of a phoenix."

"For others, Andrew, not just my ability for self renewal."

"For others?"

"Yes."

"But you aren't a fierce creature."

"Yes."

"Fierce creatures destroy things; peaceful creatures do not."

"Peaceful creatures destroy things all the time."

Andrew wrote that down and thought for a moment. "I'll have to give that more thought. Is the griffin always the father in a pairing?"

"No. The pairing goes both ways."

"Do the abilities between morph-children, or the appearance of the flame, differ with father phoenix?"

"No."

Andrew nodded.

"Do you have any more questions, Andrew?" Tepnos asked.

"Not tonight. Can I walk you home?"

"No. I am more swift on my own."

"Is there a way I can contact you if I have more questions?"

"The library."

"Do you not have a phone or email?"

"No."

"If it's only one question, I don't want to go all the way to the library to ask it."

"So ask it in your dreams."

"But how will I get the answer?"

"You'll know."

"Okay." Andrew walked her to the door. "Will I see you Monday?"

"We'll see when that moment arrives," Tepnos answered.

"Alright. Be safe."

Tepnos nodded then left.

Andrew watched her disappear in the shadow and a sparrow flit off in the direction of Tepnos' house.