April 12th, 2028
...
The gardens had never looked so alive. Birds chirped and had sung in the trees during the bright, sunny day.
Lyra's second birthday had just came today.
The servants spent hours with the high quality food, inflating regular pink balloons and silver ones that had the number 2 on them. There was a pink banner that read: Lyra turns 2!
There was a big pink and white cake on the table with other goodies on it. Blue wasn't one who ate that many pastries, though he did on occasion. Ivory, on the other hand, had a sweet tooth and was the most excited for cake.
Ivory stared in awe at the ballroom. There would be at least 100 people coming: Blue's family, the gang, some close Seraphyne members and friends, and lastly, Ivory's siblings.
She watched as the servants used scissors against ribbons for presents. She watched as they finalized everything.
Ivory turned to see Lyra running away from Rover. The two were playing Tag You're It, and Rover was it. He was going easy on Lyra, though. Lyra ran around and laughed the entire time before stopping and grabbing onto Rover's right leg.
"Look at how fast you are!" Rover pinched her cheeks.
Ivory smiled.
Lyra was the child who changed everything.
From the moment she was born, Blue saw her as the beginning of a new era. She carried the future of both species within her, and to him, she represented proof that the Seraphyne could continue.
Lyra looked more like Ivory. She had her mother's romantic features, her warmth, and the same expressions that reminded people of the woman Ivory had always been. She inherited Blue's hair color, intelligence and strategic mind.
Lyra loved both of her parents deeply. Though, Ivory noticed that Lyra understood that her father was a powerful man and went out of her way to make him proud. Whenever she learned a new word or got her math correct, or drew a nice picture, or learned a new fact from her private tutor or the T.V., Blue was the first person she went to.
More than anything, Lyra wanted to make her father proud.
Lyra always followed Ivory everywhere and tried to copy her mom. She was curious yet trying to figure out how to navigate the validation she wanted from her dad and the admiration she had for her mother.
"Mommy, birthday party!" Lyra said.
"Yes, sweet girl. It's your birthday!" Ivory smiled.
Harley stepped inside the ballroom. "People are coming. Get the music started," she told a servant, "And not too loud!"
Lyra went up to Harley. Harley took the girl in her arms and went down the hallway, and she yelled for the guests to enter the ballroom.
Before anyone had time to breathe, children ran across the grass chasing one another, music drifted through the afternoon air, every table overflowed with food, and flowers line the stoned pathways right outside the door. Lanters lit up the stone path, and the banner celebrating Lyra's second birthday fluttered gently in the breeze.
From a distance, it looked like an ordinary celebration, but Ivory knew better. Nothing Blue organized was ordinary.
Every guest had been chosen. Every invitation approved. Every conversation anticipated.
Blue stood near the entrance greeting arrivals.
Some approached him with genuine smiles while others lowered their heads before speaking.
Some looked relieved simply to be invited while others looked terrified to disappoint him.
Ivory was older, wiser, and trained to become very emotionally intelligent. It was strange watching people interact with him.
He remembered every name. Every family. Every child. He even asked one elderly man about his granddaughter and congratulated another couple on the birth of their son. He thanked retired members of The Dominion for rebuilding one of the western districts.
They smiled, because they genuinely respected him.
But not everyone.
Ivory noticed a woman across the garden who accepted Blue's greeting with stiff politeness.
The moment he walked away, her smile disappeared. She wasn't the only one.
Fear still lingered beneath the celebration. The Dominion had brought peace, but peace and trust were not the same thing.
"Ivory?"
She turned.
The woman who walked in stood before her. Ivory noted that she was in her early fifties --- dark hair touched with silver, and eyes that looked painfully familiar.
Ivory stared at the woman.
"You have your father's eyes."
Ivory's breath caught.
The woman smiled softly. "I'm Miriam."
"My..."
"Your aunt."
The word sounded foreign.
Before Ivory could answer, another voice interrupted.
"So you're really here."
A young man stepped forward. He looked to be only a few years older than her.
His smile was hesitant. "I'm Elias." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess..." He laughed awkwardly, "I guess that makes me your brother."
Ivory stared.
Brother.
The word echoed in her mind.
"From mom ---" Ivory smiled.
"It's nice to meet you guys."
Another figure joined them. A young woman who was confident and had sharp green eyes. She knew who this woman was.
"You have mom's eyes," Ivory replied softly.
The younger woman nodded. "I'm Nora."
Unlike Elias, she didn't smile. She simply looked Ivory up and down.
"I've wondered what you looked like."
Ivory managed a small smile. "I've wondered if any of you existed."
Nora's expression softened. "Fair enough."
Nora seemed to be distant and not easily as trusting as Elias. Ivory couldn't blame her. Blue had a lot of secrets. She looked at Miriam.
"It's nice to meet all of you," Ivory smiled. She felt her heart flutter and was genuinely happy. She couldn't believe she had family left.
"We have a lot of catching up to do, that's for sure," Elias replied. "Come! The rest of the family is outside."
Ivory followed them outside where other children were playing, people were in the pool, and others were sitting around drinking and eating and chatting. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Ivory saw Blue with an elderly woman.
Blue turned to Ivory and took her hand.
"I'm your great aunt!" the woman said. "Oh, you look just like us! Come! Sit!"
Ivory looked at Blue who nodded. "Chat with them. You guys have a lot of connecting to do."
For a while, the conversation stayed simple. Childhood stories. Questions. Small laughs. Years of missing history compressed into minutes. Her dad's family and mobster friends told her stories about her parents and how her dad was a funny, charming, witty guy. He was super smart and made the room light up.
It wasn't enough. But it was a beginning.
As the afternoon continued, Ivory began noticing something else. Not everyone around her family felt the same about Blue.
Elias glanced toward Blue often. Almost admiringly.
"So, what do you think of Blue?" Ivory asked them in a hushed tone.
The older members stayed silent. They knew they had to be careful with what they said.
"He gave us work after everything fell apart," Elias said. "My family would've starved without him."
Ivory turned to see most nod in agreement.
Across the table, Nora looked unconvinced. "He also decides who gets that work."
A few of the elders nodded.
Elias frowned. "He rebuilt the cities."
Nora shook her head. "He controls the cities."
Elias narrowed his eyes. "They needed someone."
Nora shrugged. "They needed a choice. Humans were the easiest and the most biologically capable."
Silence settled over the table.
Ivory looked between them.
It wasn't just politics. It was family.
Different people had survived the old world in different ways. To some, Blue was a savior. To others, he was simply a better king than the last one. Only a few saw him as the cruel man he was. Ivory noted that was why Nora kept a distance.
Neither opinion erased what he had done. Nor what he had built.
Ivory glanced across the garden.
Blue was laughing quietly with several former gang members: they were two mechanics who had rebuilt vehicles during the rebellion.
Ivory understood then.
The Dominion wasn't held together by one thing. It was held together by many.
Loyalty.
Gratitude.
Fear.
Dependence.
Hope.
Superiority.
Survival of the fittest.
Evolution.
And every one of them pointed back to the same man. Blue.
Blue looked across the garden; his and Ivory's eyes met. He gave her the slightest nod. He wasn't asking if she was all right; she knew she would be. Blue approved of her: Ivory held all the titles that The Seraphyne and The Dominion believed in. Ivory had been a part of his plan.
Blue gave her power, success, wealth, and the family she never knew she had. But he also controlled every aspect of whom she could speak to, who lived and who died, and what someone's job was.
Ivory's family had arrived in the only way Blue knew how: carefully selected, carefully managed, and under his watchful eye. Blue knew her family would be loyal to his future plans, and he also knew that he trusted Ivory enough to have them meet.
Blue wouldn't have had her meet her family unless she was fully committed to his empire --- she had to be now more than ever. For Hawks and Lucky, for Viper, for Lily, for herself, and for Lyra.