It was amazing how one conversation could turn one’s entire world upside down. Bliss turned her motorcycle towards the city with one thought bubbling through her brain; this is not how things were supposed to turn out. It was supposed to be a simple trip to Boyle’s camp to talk to some highly placed church mucky-muck. It wasn’t a trip she wanted to make but Seth’s threats towards the safety of the hospital and the people in it had struck solidly home. All during the ride to Boyle’s encampment she had turned things over in her mind. She’d answer the questions asked and get her own answered in return. She would find the owner of the ring, her mother’s precious ‘Angel’ and her father. It wasn’t as if she wanted anything from the man except to know who he was. It was a very simple plan, on that was completely blown to bits the instant the video screen crackled to life.
Death stared back at her with lifeless eyes. The image of the blue lipped reverend flitted through her mind. For an instant Bliss had figured it was some sort of sick joke on Boyle’s part but the stricken look on the commander’s face quickly put an end to that thought. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the dead man was a friend of Boyle’s. In the space of a few heartbeats Boyle had gone from being that ‘smarmy church commander’ to Jarredd, fellow human being. It was a surprise to Bliss to discover him to be human. So maybe it was charm and not smarm. One thing she now knew for sure was that she was going to deal with Commander Jarredd Boyle with a more open mind in the future. She would have to interact with the man, not the uniform. To do any less would be an insult to everything her grand parents had ever taught her.
Bliss tried to keep her mind on the terrain in front of her but it was proving to be difficult. The discovery of the identity of her mother’s beloved ‘Angel’ was proving to be almost more than she could stomach. Sidd Neverr the most revered Reverend of the Church of the Nuclear Messiah. The most reviled man on the planet, in non-church circles, was her mother’s great love. She had to stop the bike before she crashed it. It was all too much.
She lifted her face skyward. "Sid Neverr Mother? What, was Siena still in diapers? Couldn’t wait for Etrigan’s return?" Her voice rose to a rage filled scream. "Why did it have to be Sidd, bloody, Neverr?" The rational part of her brain reminded her that her mother had met the man more than eighteen years ago, long before Sidd Neverr became the most revered reverend, but it didn’t help to calm her.
Bliss’ fist pounded down on the bike’s tank. ‘Angel’ was Sidd Neverr. The ring currently resting in the breast pocket of her duster belonged to him. A token given by a young man to the woman he loved. She didn’t know which was more mind boggling, the fact that the young man in question grew into Sidd Neverr or that Neverr had once loved her mother and been loved in return. When did the ‘Angel’ turn into the demon he was now and why?
"You’ve been dead for almost half my life Mother and here you are continuing to make it a misery." Bliss shook her head. She was going to have to tell her friends and associates back in the city something, but what? It didn’t take her long to decide on the truth. Anything else was dangerous. Boyle wouldn’t know to keep his mouth shut. Better to tell folks she’d spoken to Neverr himself, it wasn’t like she had to explain the details of the conversation. If pressed she would tell them that the ring did belong to Neverr but only if she had no other options short of lying. Life wasn’t hard enough as it was; now she had to live down her mother’s choice of lovers.
She revved her cycle. "Laugh it up Venexx! Cause when my spirit crosses over I’m coming to find you and I’m going to kick your scaly butt from one end of eternity to the other!"
Bliss reclined in the chair; her feet propped up on the desk as she waited for the Elliot 7 computer to process the batch of botanical information she’d just downloaded into his data banks. She slowly turned a thick gold band over in her fingers. Sidd Neverr’s ring. The ring belonging to her mother’s dear ‘Angel’. It had been over a week since she’d journeyed to Boyle’s camp and spoken with the ‘Angel’. She’d had the ring with her then and could have handed it right over to Boyle but something made her lie, stall for time. Now she was wondering why she’d felt the need to do that.
Was it some childish need for revenge against the man who never once during their short conversation had referred to her by her name? ‘Girl or young woman’, that was all he called her. It wouldn’t have been at all like Boyle not to report the name of the person seeking the information. Neverr knew who she was, would it have been so difficult to call her Miss Lovejoy? Thinking back on it she realized he went to great pains not to acknowledge her or her connection to Harmony Lovejoy in any way. She watched the ring glitter as it rolled over the backs of her fingers. "What’s the matter Neverr, afraid your past will come back and bite you in the butt?"
"Pardon, Bliss?"
With a free hand she popped a fresh disc into Elliot’s drive. "Nothing important ‘E’, just thinking out loud. More information coming you way." She pressed the send key. "That should keep you busy for at least the next thirty seconds."
The Elliot 7 silently absorbed the data she’d imputed, leaving her to her thoughts. Bliss continued the monotonous task of feeding Elliot all the information her grandparents had accumulated during the last fifty years of their lives. She was careful not to speak her thoughts aloud again. Elliot, for all his vast array of abilities, was not known for having much in the way of tact. The last thing she needed was for everyone at the hospital to know of her talk with Neverr.
Bliss suddenly sat straight up in her chair, the ring clattering to the floor. "Son of a…" She slid out of the chair, quickly retrieving the ring from the tiles. The answer to why her stomach had been tied in knots since her talk with Neverr had erupted in her mind. He’d declared the ring was his. He’d said that he’d been in love with Harmony Lovejoy, but he never admitted to being her father. The one thing she wanted in return for the ring, the identity of her father, he had denied her. Did he believe her to be stupid? Unable to put two and two together and come up with four? Her father had given the ring to her mother. The ‘Angel’ was her father and the ‘Angel’, by his own admission, was Sidd Neverr. She knew he was her father and so did he. His studied refusal to acknowledge her in any way was glaring proof of that.
Those that knew of her talk with Neverr and also knew of the source of the ring would easily be able to put it together. Shad still looked at her at times like he half expected her to sprout horns and a tail. What would happen when others found out? What would Garth say or do, or Cyclops, or even Quent? It was a sure thing that she’d never get close enough to Mik again to so much as wave. Her friends and associates would look at her as Shad did now. It wouldn’t be all the time but every once in a while they’d wonder when the darkness was going to spill out of her. Even Boyle, once he figured it out, if he hadn’t already, would treat her differently. After the death of his friend, and his belief that Neverr was responsible, he probably wouldn’t be too friendly either.
She was going to lose a lot. Some of the trust she had worked so hard on gaining with certain people would be lost. A silly young woman’s dream of a particular handsome young man as a possible part of her future was nothing but dust now. And what would she gain in return? Nothing. Not even the words from his own lips admitting his small part in her creation. Bliss slipped the cursed ring back into a pocket. "Enjoy the wait ‘Pops’ cause it’s going to be a real long one."
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Friday, June 04, 2010