"I know, the whole secrecy of the island. I didn't even know it existed until I received the invitation.", while it once struck as odd to her, Basté knew well the need to hide the island from common folk... Her father has faced some discrimination, not big ones because he was an adult and had the size as an intimidation factor.
Speaking of her father... Ivana seemed interested in him. After she finished her coffee and asked for another, she would tell as requested while awaiting: "My father was an adventurer in heart. Courageous, honest, kind, one to throw himself in the line of fire to protect anyone, regardless of age, or even hate toward him. Heh, it's even ironic, what I did back there pales in comparison to how my father has got acquainted with the firefighters and even earned his job. After some training, of course."
"He saw a mansion ablaze and flew over the firetruck screating a hole in the raging flames on the second floor by simply crushing the air there with a flick of wrist, diving in afterwards without a thought. He said for him it felt like almost an hour to find old woman that passed out in there, reanimate her and then take her out, just to dive back in and create a vacuum at the base of every flame and track the source to the broken heaters."
"Father sure had his ears blazing from getting told not to interfere, the chief was really pissed off at is recklessness, but in the end of the day... Found it in his heart to not complain of him to the police and asked him if he wanted to undergo a training. From then on, he was getting involved in every major incident, as his abilities proved to be efficient in rescuing victims, navigating collapsing areas and putting out most types of fire with ease!"
"Sadly one day... He didn't come back home. A few months shy from my 11th birthday, he was called to duty because what was once a hostage situation got worse as the perpetrator ignited the entire tenth floor while holding a CEO's son hostage. Dad defied him and was shot on the right chest while protecting and taking the boy outside. By the time he got outside the building... Some say the air around him was red and he had a sad smile on his face."
A brief pause was made, her order had come and she stared at the black void of the cup of coffee. That last bit was always heavy for anyone, no matter the age, but she still had a little more to go.
"When mom went to prosecute the shooter, she looked more like she wanted to murder him but was holding back as to uphold proper justice in court. As for dad's team, to this day they have his photo on the wall of the department, as well as a crew photo where he really stands out. It's not hard to see why they miss him: not only was he a man you could always rely on, but he also stood out for being taller than all and having horns and tail."
That bit had made basté laugh low for a while, then sip the coffee, amused at the mention of Ezan's unique features.
"Imagine this, he was almost ten feet tall when he passed away, and that was in his HUMAN form. His alien form was easily over that. If you remember my "aura" back then then you might have a good idea of what he looked like."
Back then that had been not an aura really, just a dense mass of air shielding her like a secondary skin with an inhuman appearance over her human one...
