"Well, they're certainly your daughters," Rhonda muttered and sat down next to the now grinning Eve. "Go ahead. Show yourself."
Eve began to glow in a vivid haze of pink and gold as she transformed before our eyes into the exquisite woman I'd seen on the porch of the old folks home.
"Blanche and I weren't seeing things," I gasped.
"Who in the Hell is Blanche?" Lucy asked, looking around in alarm.
"She's gone as you knew her," Eve said quietly. "You don't need her anymore."
"You did kill her," I said.
"No. She was here to serve a purpose. You created her and you let her go when you were ready," Eve said.
"I didn't let her go. You turned her to dust," I accused.
"Dixie, she's you. She just won't manifest outside of you anymore because you were ready to take her in and own her. You are now the true master of your destiny and fate."
It made sense, but it made me angry. I created her to replace a lot of the things Eve should have done for me as a mother, but didn't because she wasn't there. However I was grown now and I had a choice. . .wallow in the past or try to understand the woman who went away.
"Your job?" I asked.
Eve hesitated and wrung her slender fingers. "I control temptation. I am temptation. I feel it and I cause it. . .thus creating chaos."
"Well, that must suck," Lucy blurted out.
"Why in the Hell would a True Immortal's job be Temptation?" I asked as I approached her. "Why?"
"It keeps good and evil in check. It keeps the thirst alive for wisdom and the need for emotion honest." She bowed her head in shame. "And I have let them all down. I can't do it anymore."
My draw to her made more sense. Everything that should have repulsed me about her was appealing. "Was my father this drawn to you?"
"Yes, and so was his brother." Hmm, that was interesting.
"Were you what caused the rift?"
"I was part of it. There were many more issues than desire for me," she explained.
"And my father?" Lucy demanded.
"I'm sorry." Eve looked away as tears rolled down her lovely cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Lucy."
"Sorry doesn't really cut it, Eve," Lucy said acidly. "However, I'd like to thank you for finally revealing yourself. I will no longer glorify you in my dreams."
Eve was silent, and as harsh as Lucy's statement was I agreed. My mother was weak. Maybe more in Lucy's case than mine, but she was weak. Her Dragon protector now made sense.
"Everyone is looking for you," I told her. "You have fallen down on the job and now some big clusterfuck is looming and I have to fix it."
Her eyes went wide and she gasped. "What?"
"You heard me, Mom. Why have you not done your duty?"
"It hurts," she whispered.
"Tough titty." Lucy shook her head with disgust. "Pain sucks and then you go eat dinner. I've been doing it for thousands of years, Mommy. I don't buy this poor me crap. You're selfish and playing some kind of game, but if my sister. . .who I just freakin' found dies because you're too narcissistic to do your damn job, then I'll kill you."
"We're True Immortals," I whispered to Lucy.
"You can't die?" she asked, relieved.
"Not really, but neither can she."
"Whatever," Lucy snapped. "I'll just fuck her up real good then."
I realized in that moment how bad my sister's existence had been. I'd been without a mother for twenty-one years, but I had a father and sisters and grandparents who loved me in their own warped way. Lucy had none of that. She had nothing, yet she was still here. She still laughed and felt compassion, love and anger. She climbed Mt. Everest and sold real estate. . .She was amazing and would never be alone again as long I was around.
"That'll work," I told her and hugged her to me hard.
"One more question, Mommy," Lucy said emotionlessly. "Why did you abandon us?"
Eve shook her head and sighed. "I couldn't take care of you."
"Couldn't or wouldn't?" she snapped.
"I..." Eve was cut off by a violent explosion.
"Motherhumpinshithatscocksuckercrap," a welcome and familiar voice shrieked as the owner fell from the sky in a massive cloud of glitter and sparks. "I am missing Downton Abbey for this shit and I'm not happy," Mother Nature shouted as she righted herself. "Hi Dixie." She giggled and waved.
"Hi, Grandma Gigi." I waved back and blew her a kiss.
"That's your grandma?" Lucy whispered in a strangled voice.
"I prefer Gigi, but you can also call me Mother Nature, sweet child," she said as she bestowed a wet kiss on Lucy's cheek. "I've been watching you and I think you would make a fabu pole dancer. I officially invite you to Nirvana. You are tough as nails and I do believe you could help me knock Dixie's sisters Lust, Wrath and Greed into line. What do you think?"