{"sf1_id":782236,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Retracing the Route to Rome","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1566,"posted_at":"2014-11-15T17:28:00.000Z","tags":["FAMILY","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","russia"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/782236-retracing-the-route-to-rome","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/782236","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=782236\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#70 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nA little short, but I stopped where I felt it was a good breaking point.","content":"                The\nairplane was a massive cargo hauler, which should have come as no surprise. Maggie\ncommented on its utilitarian nature.\n                \"Hey! I\nhave a nice area up front. I'm not wasteful. How many planes does one man need\nafter all?\"\n                As they\nwalked through the massive thing, barren except for the straps and nets used to\ncontain cargo, they finally arrived at the cabin he spoke of. Inside it was a\ntotally different world. The walls were appointed in hardwood paneling, and the\nfloor was padded and carpeted. It had also been sound proofed. In addition to\nthat, there was a refrigerator well stocked with food, and a bar filled with\nalcohol. \nEdward smiled. \"I take it you don't\nhave a problem with alcohol?\"\n\"How do you mean? Am I against it?\nNo. Can I drink it? Not so well.\"\n\"Try some once we get airborne. You\nmight find you'll suddenly have a taste for it.\"\nMaria spoke up. \"The stuff turns my\nstomach. Even diluted it made me feel sick\"\n\"When was the last time you tried\nit?\"\n\"I'd say around nineteen sixteen.\"\nEdward smiled. \"Then perhaps it's\ntime for a celebration!\"\n              The\nplane rattled down the runway, gaining speed as the lumbering Antonov An-124 picked up speed. Once it was\nairborne, the vibrations smoothed out to a dull hum.  Everyone settled down, and on a whim, Alexei,\nfeeling a little daring, pulled out a bottle of Aquavit. \n                \"I keep a variety of liquors on\nboard for my guests, and some of them have smelled most tantalizing. This one\nhas always been a favorite. But what makes you think it will set with me now,\nwhen it hasn't done so in the past?\"\n                \"Trust me on this. Try some.\"\n                Glasses were pulled from the cabinet,\nthe bottle opened and the contents poured.\"Tebe!\"\n                \"Cheers!\"\n                Alexei\nsipped the liquid, rolled it around his tongue and swallowed. He waited for the\ncramp to start. It remained at bay.\n                \"Ok,\nso what is it then? The ring I assume?\" he remarked, holding up his hand.\n                \"In\npart. Once you wear it long enough, some of the temporary effects become more permanent.\nLike eating.\"\n                \"Yes,\nanother bit of unpleasantness.\"\n                Maria\ncocked her head. \"Why is that unpleasant?\"\n                \"Eating\nonly human flesh? Why, what did you eat?\"\n                \"Anything\nand everything! Human yes, but boar and deer are also very good!\"\n                Edward\ncut in. \"It seems that whatever causes the eating problem is something in the\nenvironment. Maybe it's just nature taking its course; I don't know. Just because\nbeing of the Kind makes us different, and I suppose you could say more\npowerful, it doesn't make us completely invulnerable. We are still living\ncreatures and thus subject to the laws and the quirks of nature.\"\n                \"So\nyou're saying I can eat normally?\"\n                \"Have\nyou got anything to eat on this tub?'\n                \"Tub!\"\nAt first he was going to be indignant. Then he realized he was being teased. \"Yes,\nI always have food to go with the drinks.\" He opened a drawer and pulled out a\nlarge tin of caviar and fine mustard, and some silverware and china plates from\nanother. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a container that had sliced\npotatoes in it.\n                \"Don't\nworry, the food is placed in fresh before every flight. I don't normally serve,\nbut I have learned that on occasion, a client wishes to have our conversation\nbe totally private. Therefore no servant.\"\n                He\ndeftly arranged the potatoes in a semi circle, drizzled a thin line of mustard\nover them, and scooped a healthy portion of the caviar in the center. It was a\nsurprisingly simple yet elegant display.\n                \"Not\nbad!\" said Edward, as he spread some of the black roe on a slice and ate it.   \"Where\ndid you learn this?\"\n                \"My friend,\nI have been around for a long time and have learned many things. I went from being\na boy to being dead. After that, everything else was easy. I worked as a cook's\nboy for a while, moving from restaurant to restaurant so that no one caught on\nto my never changing looks.\" He sat back, bit into some himself. His smiled was\ngenuine. \"Oh the things I have been missing.\" He looked to his sister.\n                \"Age\nhas treated us differently sister, but is not the fact that we are still alive\namazing? We must be some of the oldest people in the world!\"\n                She\nsmiled back at him. \"Yes Alexei. But what of you?\" She looked up at Edward.\n                \"Will\nhis aging commence rapidly?\"\n                \"If you're\nasking if he'll suddenly become old, then I don't know. As for when he will\nstart to find his body maturing, then I'd say it already has. It's obvious the\nring is working on him.\"\n                Maggie\nwas listening, still stuck on that uneasy feeling she had at the restaurant. \"Father,\ncan I have a word in private?\"\n                \"Sure\nMags.\" He stood and followed her outside of the cabin. \"What's up?\"\n                \"I\ncan't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.\"\n                \"Like\nwhat?\"\n                \"How\ndo I say this? When you were out, after first recovering from your feral\noverload, I snuggled up next to you. I had some unsettling dreams. One of them,\nnow that I look back on it, was very similar to the restaurant where you found\nAlexei. Only, instead of it being calm and collected, there was gun fire and I...died.\"\n                \"But\nyou didn't die, now did you?\"\n                \"No,\nand I'd like to ask you about that. Why?\"\n                \"Why\nwhat? Why didn't you die? Because no one fired a gun. A dream is, after all,\njust a dream.\"\n                Her\nagitation became apparent. Hair was sprouting from her face. \"Father, I know\nwhat I saw! And Alexei was in the dream. I didn't put them together until now,\nbut the boy in my dream was him.\"\n                \"So\nwhat are you saying?\"\n                \"I'm\nsaying that we were supposed to die in that restaurant.\"\n                He\nchuckled. \"Were we? What did I say about the future? It can be changed right up\nuntil it becomes the present.\"\n                Her\njaw dropped. \"You son of a bitch! You can still see the future!\"\n                His\nhand came down on her mouth. \"Keep your voice down!\" He let go.\n                \"But\nwhy did you lie?\"\n                \"I\nused to be sort of dense Mags, you know that. Whatever that bullet did to my\nbrain has changed things in a big way. If too many people found out, then\nimagine all the questions I'd get. The fact is, what might happen with\nforeknowledge is one thing. Once you know it, you can change it.  So it's not set. You see, if I think of\nsomething, I see it. If I think on it again, it might be the same, or it might\nbe different. If I think about say, the president of the United States, I see\nthe same thing over and over. Why?\"\n                \"Because\nyou have no influence over him?\"\n                \"Correct.\nWhy do you think I chose the flight plan for this flying tub?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know.\"\n                \"Because\nit was going to end up over the Ukraine, and one plane going down because of\nthose idiots is enough. I chose a different route because we ran the risk of\nbeing shot down. This plane is not Russian military anymore, so it doesn't have\na proper transponder.\"\n                \"Holy\nfucknuts!\" She dropped to the floor. \"I thought I was good! Are you saying all\nthis is on account of that damn bullet?\"\n                \"Yes\nand no.\"\n                \"Fuck\noff father! You know, don't you?\"\n                \"Of\ncourse I do. But here's the thing. The effects may not be permanent. Sometime in\nthe future I may lose this ability. In fact, part of me is already wishing for\nit.\"\n                \"But\nwhy? Think of all the things you could use it for!\"\n                \"That's\nthe problem. I already have. I don't need that kind of moral dilemma Mags. I'm\njust me. I never wanted to be more than that, and while I wouldn't trade this\nall for the world, the fact is, there are some things we just aren't meant to\nknow.\"\n                She\nsat there in silence for a bit. \"Father?\"\n                \"Yes\nMags.\"\n                \"Do\nyou know what I'm thinking right now?\"\n                \"No.\"\n                \"What?\nWhy not?\" She was honestly surprised.\n                \"I\nsee possibilities Mags. I don't read minds. I can predict outcomes, and logical\nprogressions, and a host of other things I can't begin to explain. But unless I\ntouch you...\" He put his hand on her head, \"...then I can't see into you.\"\n                \"What\ndo you see now?\"\n                He\nsmiled. \"I love you too Maggie Peterson!\"\n                She\nsmiled back. \"As long as we're on the same page then.\" \n                Just\nthen, Alexei stuck his head out. \"Is everything alright? If you don't come back\nsoon, all of the caviar will be gone.\"\n                Edward\nhauled her to her feet. \"We're coming. We just had a little private discussion;\nI think we have things worked out.\""}