{"sf1_id":805800,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Of Moonlight and Madness","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2680,"posted_at":"2015-01-10T15:48:00.000Z","tags":["Backstory","Bonding","Emotion","FAMILY","Human","Love","M/F","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","dedication","sex"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/805800-of-moonlight-and-madness","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/805800","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=805800\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#84 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nThe next few chapters may take a while. I am still sorting out the upcoming incidents to refrain from contradictory input from all of those people involved in the encounter. This is not likely to be pretty scene by the time it is done. Just remember, I am only the writer relaying into word the actions of others.","content":"                There\nwas a pressing need to make some telephone calls, and since they were highly\nimportant, they made them in private. Edward made one that he found to be quite\ndifficult, while Maggie had the time of her life talking to her connection.\nOverall the matter didn't take long, though Edward looked the worse for it. He\nsteeled himself and put his best foot forward.\n                \"Ok,\nwho's up for story hour?\"\n                It was\nseveral hours later, with the darkness having taken charge of the once bright sky,\nbefore Edward and Maggie filled them in on even the barest of details. Alexei\nand Maria knew their parts well enough, but there were a few details that were\nnew to them. Overall, there were more than a few looks of incredulity amongst\nthe faces in the crowd.\n                Anna\nspoke her thoughts quite lucidly. \"I have seen much in my long life, but you\ntwo have done more than I could ever have imagined in a relatively short amount\nof time. Are you truly telling us the truth about Master Leonardo?\"\n                Maggie\npuffed out her chest proudly. \"You had better believe it gran. The guy's pretty\nincredible. I'd almost hate to see what he's made of the past five hundred\nyears worth of science and history since we left him.\"\n                \"And\nhe's working for the pope?\"\n                \"Yeah,\nbut there doesn't seem to be any conflict of interest. The pope seems to think\nthat religion and science are mutually separate but still compatible, if you\ncan believe that!\"\n                \"That's\nnot like any modern pope I've heard of, to be certain.\"\n                \"No, in\nthat he's a very liberal person. I like him.\"\n                \"And\nLeonardo? He's alright with his present position?\"\n                \"As far\nas I know he is. Maybe you'd like to ask him?\"\n                \"Ask\nhim? How?\"\n                \"When\nhe arrives here tomorrow or the next day.\"\n                The\nroom went silent. \"What are you saying child?\"\n                \"I\nthought I made myself clear. We put a message in to the pope and he's sending\nLeonardo with a package.\"\n                \"You're\njoking, right?\"\n                 \"Nope. The pope takes us quite seriously.\"\n                \"And\nwhy would he do that?\"\n                Maggie\nwas nearly cavorting in her glee.\"Because I showed him what a real werewolf was\nlike.\"\n                \"YOU\nDIDN'T!\"\n                \"I did.\nHe was pretty down with it. Says I was just another of God's creatures. It's\none of the few times I have felt like I wasn't a demon or something, to quote the\ntypical religious viewpoint. Besides, he's a bit of...\"\n                Edward\ncoughed. \"...an open minded person. He's more accepting of things than most.\" He\nstared her down until she remembered that the pope's condition wasn't open for\ndiscussion.\n                Anna\nwas incredulous. \"No one accepts what we are except each other, and even then,\nthere has been tales of dissent among the Kind.\"\n                Maggie\ngave her a severe look. \"And how would you know? Who do you know outside of\nanyone we have already talked about?\"\n                \"I knew\nGregori for one. He told us all a few stories. I know some of the old legends.\nWe are still essentially human dear. That means we are tainted with all of the\njealousy and anger, the envy and greed that infects the rest of the\npopulation.\"\n                \"Hmph!\nI see you left out things like love, caring and compassion. It seems to me you\nmissed out on a lot.\"\n                The old\nwoman looked to be near tears. \"More than you will ever know dear.\"\n                The\ngirl suddenly felt very small. \"I'm sorry gran; that was rude.\" She gave her a\nhug and didn't let go.\n                Edward\nlet them have their moment. There was a lot of making up that needed to happen\nin a short amount of time. \"Leonardo is coming in via airplane thanks to a\npapal decree. He's coming into the airport here, so he will need to be picked\nup. On top of that, I still need to figure out where we are going to meet this\nLeeds person. I hardly want to have it out in a public venue. One public\ndisplay like there was in New York is enough.\"\n                Billy\nwas cracking his knuckles. \"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. That\nplace remains on edge after that mess. Some people still consider it to be a\nterrorist attack.\"\n                \"So,\nany suggestions?\"\n                \"Yeah. Find\nsome place in the middle of nowhere. Not only am I sure you want to avoid any collateral\ndamage I also assume you want to keep a low profile. That's going to be tough\nregardless of where this goes down.\" \n                \"Thanks\nfor stating the obvious,\" he said drolly. \"Thankfully there is more to the east\ncoast than meets the eye. \" \n                \"Yeah,\nbut you had better pick somewhere well away from civilization, like a state\npark or something. That's assuming this son of a bitch will even meet you face\nto face.\"\n                \"I\nthink he will. I'm guessing he wants Maggie pretty badly.\"\n                Her voice\nrang out. \"Well too fucking bad. I'm taken!\"\n                \"Yes\nyou are, and I'll never let you come to harm while I still live.\"\n                \"I know\nyou won't.\"\n                After\nthat, the conversation broke apart and everyone went their own way for the\nnight. Billy, Alexei and Maria went back to the hotel, while he and Maggie stayed\nwith her mom and grandmother. They were staying at his urging. As he said it, \"You\nare going to be going into a battle whose outcome cannot be foretold. Take what\ntime you have to reunite with your loved ones.\"\n                She had\nother ideas. \"I know this sounds mean, but I can lose again what I once lost\nbefore. But losing you will kill me. I have lost you before, and it nearly\nbroke my heart. If you die, I'll honestly have nothing to live for.\"\n                \"And I\nyou Mags. I do love you, very very much. I am only allowing this collaboration because\nyou have insisted upon it. I would rather do this my own way.\" \n                \"I know\nyou would and I'm very proud of you that you have relented. Maybe I can show\nyou my appreciation for your reluctant acceptance before we drift off to sleep\ntonight.\"\n                \"I\nthink I'd like that very much.\" While his words were genuine, his attitude was\na little more morose than she would have liked. Whatever he saw in the future\nhad to be unspeakably awful.\n                She\ngrabbed his arms and held on tightly. She tried to read his thoughts and was\nthwarted by his immediate, mental defense. He shut her down. She did manage to\nslip through a crack, but opted to leave him be. That which pestered his\nthoughts was not something he intended to share. She projected a smile and a\nthought of something a little more involved, and proceeded to retreat the way\nshe had come.\n                \"Nice\ntry Mags. Only one of us needs to suffer through this ahead of time.\"\n                \"I\nstill think you're being a stubborn jerk about it.\"\n                \"Maybe I\nam. My choice.\" He leaned in and kissed her.\n                \"Men!\nIf you die in all this, I'll kill myself, you know that, right?\"\n                \"It's no\nmore than the way I feel. But there have been things tearing up families for a\nwhile now, and if I can clean house, it will be all for the better.\"\n                \"Hmmmm.\nI must admit I am curious to meet my real father. Nothing personal, but it\nsounds a lot like he's a pretty bad dude. That doesn't mean I'll like him, but\nit might explain a lot about me.\"\n                Edward nodded,\ngetting his clothing off and dropping it over a chair. He set the contents of\nhis pockets on the night stand. \"I think that you should meet him. Heck, maybe\nyou'll want to go with him.\"\n                She was\nstaring at his naked body. \"Oh hell no! I've got what I want right here!\"\n                She\nshed her clothing like an autumn tree does its leaves. She shivered a little,\npart in anticipation and part out of fear; fear for their future. Sometimes she\nfelt extremely bad about ever pulling him into her life. If it weren't for him\nhowever, she wouldn't even have a life. And look at what he had accomplished!\nAnd yet, it could all come tumbling down around her ears. She had looked up\nthis Jersey Devil myth. It sounded weird and farfetched, even by her standards.\nThere wasn't much out there on it though, especially in regards to modern day\nsightings. \n                If her real,\nbiological father and that legend were somehow one in the same, he was a\ncomplete freak of nature. So what did that make her?\n                At the\nmoment, it made her feel scared and emotionally overloaded. She needed to work\noff some frustration so that she could think clearly. She converted to her \"anime\"\npersona, putting on the charms as best she could. She figured that her best\nattack right now would be one he couldn't resist. That little fetish form he\nloved soon appeared, from her pointed ears to her fluffy tail. His eyes hovered\nsomewhere in between.\n                \"I\nthink your maturing, unless it's just something you've forced into being.\"\n                Her breasts\nwere beginning to show more, rising off of her chest like little apricot\nhalves. They weren't there prior to this, at least not as noticeable before her\ntransformation. \"They might be. Do you like?\"\n                \"No.\"\n                Her eyes\nwent wide, but before she could voice her dismay, he said; \"I love. Everything\nelse is impertinent.\" \n                She\nnearly became a puddle of werewolf fuzz on the floor. As it was she swayed on\nher feet. \"You know, there are times when I really hate you. This is simply not\none of them.\" With a leap she pounced on him, driving him back where he was and\nknocking him against the bed. Her kisses were coming so fast her head was\nnearly a blur. It took him a moment to slow her down and to sync up with her.\nAfter that it was sheer bliss.\n                In her excitement\nshe had allowed her form to revert to being human, and it made no difference to\nhis delight in her. Love knows no bounds, and the form of the lovers might\nenhance the physical experience, but nothing could ever top the feeling of two\nsouls entwined around each other. \n                What transpired\nnext was quiet, sensual and burned them both to the core. There was no thrashing\nabout the bed; there was no howling or growling; there were only two lovers who\nwere caught up in each other and nothing else. For the moment, nothing else mattered\nin the least.\n                When they\nwere done, Maggie was wrapped around her lover like a second skin. She was half\ndreaming, but with one eye cracked open, simultaneously looking at the pale\ncrescent moon through the curtained window.\n                \"Father?\"\n                \"Yes\nMags.\"\n                \"Have you\never wondered why the moon has such a pull on us? I mean, we know it doesn't control\nus, but I tend to feel a strange sensation when it's at its fullest.\"\n                \"I\nhave, once or twice. I've not had that much time to dwell on it.\"\n                \"True,\"\nshe whispered as her fingers pressed against his sides, \"But why do you think\nthat it's so?\"\n                \"Are\nyou asking me out of general curiosity, or from some need to see how smart I am\nnow?\"\n                \"Both I\nguess. I am curious about that. I\nmean, the moon doesn't have its own power source; all it does is reflect the\nlight of the sun. Why should one have a pull on us when the other doesn't?\"\n                He\nsighed. \"I don't know. I could hazard a guess. Sunlight is full spectrum light.\nIt has all the colors we see around us inherent to it. You do know how we only\nsee those colors when they're reflected back, right?\"\n                \"Basic physics,\nso yeah.\"\n                \"So can\nyou see red in the light without it reflecting?\"\n                \"Only with\na prism.\"\n                \"Correct.\nSo what if there is something in the dust covering the moon that reflects a\nparticular waveband of light? And that light triggers something within us?\"\n                \"That doesn't\nmake sense though. Why wouldn't it trigger it in us during sunlight too?\"\n                He\nthought for a moment. \"Consider for the moment your favorite song. Let it play\nin your mind.\"\n                \"OK.\"\n                He pressed\nhis hands against her head and thought up hundreds of songs, all at once. He flooded\nher mind with them simultaneously.\n                Her\neyes went wide. He spoke again. \"Now, can you still \"hear\" your song in there?\"\n                \"NO!\nTHERE\"S TOO MUCH NOISE!\"\n                She couldn't\ntell she was shouting.\n                \"Right.\nEven though it's there, you can't hear it. It doesn't stand out and it doesn't call\nout to you. But remove the background and isolate it once again...\" he removed\nthe link, \"...and it's back just as strong as it was before.\"\n                \"You\nknow, if you keep this up, you're going to give old Leo a run for his money.\"\n                \"I wish\nthat I had lived back in his time. I think it would have been easier for our\nkind to live.\"\n                \"Well,\nI might not go that far. There were fewer people and more wide open spaces, and\npeople were pretty superstitious. That's something that hasn't changed much\ntoday. I think that people today might be just as prone to hunting us down as\nthey did in the olden days.\"\n                He kissed\nher head. \"And you're awfully smart for your age. Remember that morality is a\nmatter of philosophy, not nature. A wolf kills for food; a weasel may do so for\nno apparent reason. They do what is in their natures. Our minds have the\nability to go beyond that and predict the results of our actions. This both\nenlightens us and encumbers us.\"\n                Her\nmouth opened and her tongue came out, licking his skin until gooseflesh appeared.\n\"Sometimes I think I liked you better when you were dumb.\"\n                \"Ignorance\nis bliss Mags. I envy my old self sometimes too.\"\n                \"What\nare we going to do? I just want to have some peace and quiet. I don't mind adventuring,\nbut this had gotten out of hand.\"\n                \"That's\nan understatement. This situation has literally exploded around us. But I have\nbeen thinking...\"\n                \"Oh\ndear.\"\n                \"I have\nbeen thinking that maybe this was all meant to be.\"\n                \"Fate?\nI don't believe in that stuff. The world spins because it spins, and our lives\nwill transpire both because of what we do with them, and the influences other\npeople have on them. I don't think it was fate that drew us together, but some\ninnate sense within us that recognized our kinship.\"\n                \"That\nmay be. But if we truly have control of our lives, I can't say what the result\nof this meeting is really going to be. What I see disturbs me, and I still say\nI should do it alone.\"\n                \"I'm\nnot going to discuss this anymore father. The matter is settled.\"\n                He\nkissed her again.\"Yes, I believe it has.\" He settled down into the mattress,\nand she curled up by his side. \"Sweet dreams Maggie Peterson.\"\n                \"Sweet\ndreams father.\"\n                In the\nmorning, she was awakened by the persistent beep of an alarm. It was Edward's\ncell phone. She smacked at the table until she found it and turned it off.\nRolling over, she was prepared to say good morning. \n    He was gone."}