Chapter 9: Revelations
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	As a tall stranger walked into the room, Driel scrambled over to the
side of the bed and reached over, trying to find Graedus, which had dropped to
the floor a while ago.  Her fingers slid over the blade, cutting her a bit,
but she managed to get it into her hand without slicing off any fingers.  She
held it uncertainly in her hand, throwing back the covers in case she needed
to move quickly.  The blankets bunched up on the end of the bed, then slipped
and fell off.  The man just stood there, regarding her with a distant look.
Something about the look he gave her seemed very familiar...

	"You have no need of your weapon.  You may set it down now."  The tone
of his voice suggested that was not a request, but an order.  She ignored it,
and he sighed.  "Very well, keep your little knife.  It will do you little
good, though."

	"And why is that?"  Lola asked.  She was slowly edging away from the
man, although there was really no space to run to.

	"It would not harm me.  You see, I am Leviathan, the King of Summoned
Monsters."

	Both Driel and Lola giggled a bit nervously.  Lola poked Driel in the
side.  "I didn't think he was really real.  You know more about him than me.
Can he really be him?"

	"Uh, I doubt it.  Not too many people have ever seen him, so I'm not
sure if he really exists.  The stories are fun to read, though.  They really
tend to..."  She trailed off as she realized there was still an intruder in
the room.  She blinked twice, then peered at him closely.  He grinned back at
her, but there was no humor in his smile.  Clenching his hands, he stretched.
As he did so, his face extended into a reptilian snout, and his eyes turned
golden.  The rest of his form stayed human, though.  Lola jumped out of her
chair, backed up, and tripped over the same chair she had just been sitting
in.  Her eyes opened wide, and her mouth gaped, but no scream emerged from her
throat.  She was too shocked.  Driel just stared.

	"Is this enough proof for you?  Or would you care to see me as I
really am, a fifty foot sea serpent?"  His tongue flicked out of his mouth as
he said this.

	Driel cleared her throat.  "Um, no, that will be fine, thank you.  Uh,
well, uh... so, what do you want?"

	He gazed at her for a while, making her very uncomfortable.  "I want
you."

	"What?!" she squeaked.

	"I mean what I said.  I have reason to believe you are my daughter,
and I would like to bring you, my heir, back with me so that I may train you
as you should have been trained a long time ago."

	"Well, um, that's a very nice speach.  But I really think you have the
wrong person.  I already have parents.  People often mention just how much I
look like them.  Don't they, Lola?"

	Lola nodded, and finally closed her gaping mouth.  "Uh, yes, she's
right.  I've known her since she was a kid.  She looks a lot like them."

	Leviathan eyed Driel.  He seemed rather fond of doing that, rather
like someone else she used to know.  He didn't let up his stare, although he
finally spoke once more.  "Be that as it may, I am reasonably certain that I
am your father.  My subordinates told me that after your ship sank, they saw a
bluish-gray sea serpent drifting towards Maranda.  And I have found you here,
in the very same town.  As I am the only sea serpent alive, it stands to
reason that you are my daughter."

	Driel nervously glanced at Lola.  She had not mentioned finding Driel
as a sea serpent, plus she looked extremely surprised.  Driel assumed she
didn't know what had happened.  "Well, you say they saw a sea serpent?  That
doesn't mean it was me."

	"Then how do you explain how you ended up here?  You were only two
days away from Kohlingen when your ship sank.  That is quite a distance for
you to have traveled in only a day, if you were drifting."

	Driel squirmed uncomfortably.  She glanced at Lola, who must have
realized that Leviathan had a point.  Swallowing hard, she tried to turn the
subject away from that.  "Why aren't you sure whether or not I'm your
daughter?  Don't you keep track of your children?"

	"I have not had any children until now.  I thought I could not have
any. And my wife Asura left, about two hundred years ago in your time, without
letting me know what she was up to.  I think she left because she realized she
was pregnant, after eons of providing me with no children."

	Driel stared at him, murmuring, "This is starting to sound like a bad
novel I once read..."  Clearing her throat again, she spoke up.  "Well, that
should prove it.  I'm hardly two hundred years old.  I turned twenty-three
just last fall.  Right, Lola?"

	Lola nodded.  She seemed to be in shock, which was not helping
matters.  Driel was very nervous, and she was not sure she could win this
argument under this type of pressure.  The last thing she needed right now was
for this creature who claimed to be Leviathan to drag her off to the Land of
Summoned Monsters.

	"So then, you admit you turned into a sea serpent then?"

	Driel jumped up out of the bed and placed her hands on her hips.  She
realized she didn't seem very threatening while lying in bed.  "I did NOT say
that.  I said I was not two hundred years old.  And even if I DID do what you
say, that does NOT make me your daughter."

	Leviathan just folded his arms.  "This is quite amusing.  I would
think that you would want to believe you were my daughter.  You did name your
ship after me.  You do try to collect as many books about me as possible."

	"That's just because Miss Avedri got me interested in them."

	He tilted his head.  "Who is that?"

	"My old tutor.  Hey! You know, that's who you remind me of.  She
always stared at me like that."  She pointed at him excitedly, then murmered,
"Yeah, and then if I got her really mad, she'd sit yoga style and float three
feet off the floor.  Just to prove that I had a long way to go in learning
magic."

	"What?!" he said sharply.  "You had a tutor who taught you about me,
and could float?  Tell me, did she look a bit... exotic?"

	"Uh, yeah.  You always said she seemed like a fairy or something,
right, Lola?"  Lola nodded.  "Lola, quit that.  You're starting to worry me."

	"Sorry," Lola murmered.  She continued to watch the reptilian man with
unease.

	Leviathan, meanwhile, was smiling broadly.  "Aha, I finally have
proof.  Your tutor was obviously my wife in disguise.  She wanted to watch
over her child, but wanted you to be raised by humans.  She knew I wanted
peace between humans and monsters, and must have attempted to train you as the
link."

	Driel sighed, growing weary.  "Look, you really have very few facts
to go on.  As interesting as your theories are, I have a hard time believing
them.  Since you seem so keen on finding your wife, why don't you go track
Miss Avedri down and ask her personally.  Then you can get back to me on it."
Driel would normally feel guilty about dumping the burden on someone else, but
Miss Avedri always made her feel uncomfortable.  She liked the thought of that
woman squirming under Leviathan's gaze.

	Leviathan regarded her cooly.  "Very well.  But you must remain in
this town in the meantime.  I will return when I have spoken with... Miss
Avedri."  With that, he nodded to her.  "By the way, I regret to inform you
that we found Jared's body."

	"What?!" she exclaimed.  Her face bunched up, and she seemed to be on
the verge of tears.  She whispered, "What about Locke?"

	"Who?  I am sorry, but I don't know any Locke.  We did save some
people, but I cannot tell you who.  Now if you will excuse me, I must take my
leave of you."  And he left.

	Driel sat down heavily on the bed, placed her face in her hands, and
began to cry.