Chapter 2: The Umbra

Dinner was impeccable, albeit tensioned, and Blaine could not remember what exactly was it that he ate, had he managed to actually swallow anything, if you asked him.

Witch Hunters. Illustrati. Sacrifice. Kurt.

Those were the only words that were swimming in his thoughts the whole time he was having dinner with this family.

The Andersons of Westerville were your typical upper class, suburban family. Its current patriarch, Clint William Anderson was an only child. He had married the late Ramona Gertrude Schiavone when he was twenty-four. They had three children: Michael Devon Anderson, the eldest, and the twins Prudence Eileen and Temperance Lily Anderson. Michael Devon Anderson (Mike) would then marry Elise Angela Cruz and have three children as well: Cooper Michael, Blaine Devon and Charlotte Denise. Prudence and Temperance (Prue and Tempy) would remain single their whole lives. Now in the third generation Andersons, Blaine Devon was finally engaged to be married to his soul mate, Kurt Elizabeth soon-to-be Anderson-Hummel

But, that isnt the entirety of our story, Im afraid.

You see, The Andersons of Westerville have been called as such for many generations now. Since the British Invasion, there have already been Andersons in Ohio, even if it wasnt named as such yet. However, our tale commences long before that –encompassing almost a century and a half of history.

Good and evil are subjective. Ones belief, contrasting against anothers can be construed as wicked, regardless of intent. It has been no secret that the world is fueled by this inevitable struggle for supremacy. It is as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It was either or. There seemed to be nothing in between.

Oh how wrong they were.

For centuries, there have been those who were never in any side of the age-old war of good versus evil. They were never Black nor White. They were called the Shadows. In the dead language, they would be named The Umbra.

The Umbras main belief is that neither light nor dark should overcome the other. There was a balance that needed to be maintained. For centuries, the Umbra, as their name suggests, operated in the shadows, never revealing their identity to the masses. They have been responsible for several upsets, victories and losses in some of the worlds most notorious clashes, battles and wars. They have appointed, assassinated many an important world leaders and dictators. They have contributed in the shaping and destruction and the reshaping again of the world as we know it.

But of course, nobody knew that they even existed.

The Umbra was an elite squad of trained men and women who have been chosen for this membership at birth. Most of the time, membership was hereditary, especially with the ruling family –the Andersons.

At first the Umbra operated with an elected leader, a general if you may, but time would pass by and would prove this type of leadership to be shaky, as anyone can just challenge the current general and if the challenger won, it would usually result to a split faction within the group, which quite frankly is not useful when you were assassins/ guardians/ protectors of the world. In fact, that specific challenge was what gave the Andersons their custodianship of the Umbra. The current General was Emille Dominique Le Grand, a powerful druid. She was ruthless and crooked and those under her detested her rule. Her right-hand man was Sebastian Carlisle Anderson. He was favored by the people and was pressed to challenge Emilles leadership one a many times. Sebastian however knew that if he challenged Emille that he would have to kill her lest she led an opposing faction to his rule. Hence, his decision…

He married her.

As his wife, he was able to subdue her more tyrannical decrees. And in the end, he was able to promote a law decreeing that challenges to the rule are no longer allowed. The Umbras leader would have to be from his family and his family alone. If the people werent happy with the current Anderson in position, they can depose him and the next in line would take over. At first, people were okay with this until came Dmitri Rozkav. Dmitri had wanted the power for himself, so he planned on seducing the current Umbra leader, Celestine Anderson, Sebastians many times granddaughter. But when Celestine rejected Dmitiri, the man planned to assassinate her. His plan was discovered however, and that led to him being ousted from the Umbra. Dmitri was supposed to be killed in order to protect the secret of the group, but he and a handful of his followers escaped. This breakaway faction renamed themselves The Illustrati, a name that meant the enlightened ones. Dmitri liked to think that he and his people were the real guardians of the balance between good and evil, never mind the fact that the only thing they did was counter whatever the Umbra was doing. Centuries would pass and the Illustrati would evolve to a gun-for-hire group composed of druids, witches and other professionals that were inducted. All those years, the Umbra would try its hardest to control the monster that had come from their ranks once upon a time. It was and has always been painful struggle. It appeared to be never-ending.

Or so it seemed…

In the late 1800s the Illustrati would evolve to become a sort of coven of witches –Wicca practitioners who have amassed enormous amount of powers due to their sacrificial rituals involving humans. From a breakaway group of guardians, they have morphed into a renegade assembly of Wiccans, Druids and other nature-worshippers. The only thing that remained the same was the fact that they had wanted nothing more than to upset the balance that the Umbra had painstakingly worked hard to maintain through the centuries. During this period, the Umbra had lain low in their appointed tasks and had instead focused on thwarting the misdeeds performed by the Illustrati. The current Umbra general, Michel Anderson began retraining his men to deal with this new threat. Thus, they were more known from then on as witch hunters, although the term was loosely accurate in fact as the Umbra also included some of the most powerful witches among their ranks.

Nevertheless as the century turned, the Andersons of Westerville began to be recognized –their identity, while remaining covert from the common folk, became known as a secret group of witch hunters –the archnemesis of the Illustrati, the elite coven of powerful dark witches.

Witch Hunters. Illustrati. Sacrifice. Kurt.

It was a closely-guarded secret only for the member of their family who have already come of age.

Blaines family was from a long succession of Witch Hunters apparently, and supposedly he and his younger sister Charlie wouldve been inducted into the group on both their 21st birthdays… but recent events would speed up that process.

Illustrati. Sacrifice. Kurt.

The Illustrati of recent times were headed by a powerful witch known only as The Great Selene. She was a ruthless woman who saw to it that the groups traditions and rituals were upheld with utmost severity… and that included the source of their immense powers, their habitual sacrifice of human flesh to the moon goddess to ask for her blessings. This ritual was done once every 23 years –a cycle they called Illumina Genesis.

Sacrifice. Kurt.

The criteria for the said sacrifice was very specific: a male over the age of eighteen with pale, luminous skin and eyes that reflect the clear skies –this was to appease the moon goddess. He must also be of Illustrati blood, an offspring of an Illustrati, consecrated at birth for this sole purpose.

Kurt.

It just so happened that all these descriptions fitted one Kurt Elizabeth Hummel perfectly. Not many knew but Elizabeth Rebecca Hummel nee Prince was once a powerful Illustrati member. She had been part of the elite coven from the time she was sixteen and was poised to become the leader of the said group in the distant future. As such, she and her blood had long been consecrated for the moon goddess. Elizabeth had no problems with it.

That was until she had met and fell in love with Burt Hummel during their college years and not too long later, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Elizabeth could not just bear the thought of sacrificing her beloved son. She had tried to get out of the Illustrati and avoid their long-reaching claws of influence. For eight years she had been successful. But one rainy afternoon, a car accident took her life. Or so, the world at large thought. Nobody knew the real reason why Elizabeth Hummel had to die.

The story telling took about three hours, long after the dessert of cheesecake and mint tea were gone. Blaine ran his fingers through his still-gelled curls. Beside him, his fiancé Kurt was white and unmoving. Across the couple, Charlie was uncharacteristically quiet. Still, it was Blaine who broke the silence first.

"You guys have got to be – How long did you know about this –that it –its Kurt? I mean, this is just insane!"

"Since his birth, Blaine," Grandpa Clint Anderson told him grimly, while fixing Kurt a worried glance. "When your father told me about you dating Hummel, I told him to forbid it –"

"You must understand, Blaine," his father Michael began. "We were surprised when you came out to us, but we didnt resent you for it. There were reasons why we had hoped that you werent –"

"But thats another story to tell," his mother Elise interjected softly. "You must understand that we didnt want you to get hurt. And knowing Kurts fate –" she shook her head. "We were skeptical."

"But of course, it was a moot point," his Aunt Temperance spoke from across him, beside Charlie. "In the end, whats important is that youre happy, B."

"And being close to this generations offering cant hurt either," said his Aunt Prudence on Charlies other side, next to Cooper. "it would serve us better to stop the ritual –"

"Im not killing Kurt!" Blaine spat out heatedly, all of a sudden grabbing a distraught-looking Kurts hand and pulling him closer. "No! You can all forget about it if you think I will do anything to hurt him! You can forget about your stupid family traditions and –"

"Hold it! " Cooper stood up in an effort to get to his frantic brother. "Did you not hear a word we said a while ago? Nobody said anything about killing my future brother-in-law. That would be rather counter productive. Thats what the Illustrati would want. And just to clarify, Kurt isnt one of them. Hes not the enemy so no worries. His mother had been killed by them for breaking her oath. He is in our familys good books just for that." Cooper winked at the countertenor. "And Im sure everyone would agree that hed make a kick-ass wicked witch hunter one day."

"How –what then?" Blaine asked with a frown. "Why did you keep this from me? From us?"

"Blaine," his mother sighed. "We didnt think that things would be this serious. But after today –" she gestured at Kurt. "Proposing to Kurt just makes him even more of a target than he was before.

"What –"

"I knew this time would come," Kurt suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone in attendance. Blaine met his fiancés azure eyes. "Kurt? You –you knew about this?"

"Not so much. Definitely not in the manner this is all coming together." The college student admitted, grabbing Blaines hand tightly. "My mom died when I was eight. A car accident, they told my dad. But I didnt believe a word they said. My mom was the most careful driver you could ever meet. Not a ticket in all her years of being behind the wheel. So for her to suddenly die of a freak accident, it did not make sense. Especially after I found her diary, two years later when we were cleaning out the attic." Kurts voice wavered at this point, but Blaine was ready to calm him down. He pulled the older boy closer into a hug as Kurt continued his convoluted tale.

"There –there were entries that did not make sense to me when I read it first hand. But the further back I went, I realized that they were written in codes, much like Hieroglyphics. In one of her earlier journals there was a codex. Once I broke it, reading the rest of her entries became easier. I was eleven when I had finally learned about the Illustrati."

"So –so you knew –"

"I had hoped it wasnt true," Kurt cut Blaine off, the rest of the family were awfully quiet as the two conversed. "For years, I had kept an eye out for anything, anything at all that may confirm what was written in Moms diary. But eventually I realized that they may have already forgotten about me. But of course, it was a stupid thought. Of course they were only waiting for the right time –the time that they would need my hide to sacrifice to their crazy moon goddess."

"Does Burt know?" Blaine asked, still trying to reel in from the fact that not only did his family keep this secret away from him, but the fact that his own fiancé managed to forget mentioning almost the exact same thing to him in their many lengthy conversations in the course of their relationship. Kurt met his honey eyes once more.

"I did not tell a soul. Honestly, would anyone believe me? And besides Dad already had too much to deal with –the shop, his health, his gay son… And besides, I told you I thought it was already forgotten. Nobody had tried to harm an inch of my hair since Mom died, well if you dont count Karofsky and his thugs that is." Kurt then shook his head. "If I had known that this was still going to happen… that you, of all people were involved in this… you know I would have told you, Blaine, right?" There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice that made Blaine just wan to kiss him and keep him wrapped in his arms for all eternity.

"I trust you, Kurt. I know you would have." Blaine then turned to the rest of his family. "Please tell me we have a plan worked out to stop this crazy."

"As a matter of fact, we do." Grandpa Anderson smiled at him. "Kurts knowledge would just make things easier. "Young man," he addressed Kurt. "By any chance have you encountered the concept of the Umbra in your mothers diary?"

"Yes sir," Kurt nodded. "Although it wasnt mentioned who they were. If it were, I wouldve recognized Blaines relation to your family.

"Then you are aware of he training we subject our new members to?"

"Training? Cool!" Charlie piped up. When the rest of the group looked at her, she added, "What? Blaineys getting trained. So does his future husband. Dont tell me Im excluded. After all, you did just reveal the family history to me. Might as well get inducted to help protect my future brother-in-law."

"Its as much as protecting Kurt as protecting our line," Michael Anderson declared. "Which brings me to the next part in the explanation long overdue."

"Would this explain why you had a hard time accepting my sexual preferences?" Blaine asked.

"Leadership in the Umbra is defined by a law of succession, much like in a monarchy," his father explained. "The only difference is, it does not follow seniority, but power levels and skills."

"I dont get it still."

"You will if you let me finish." Michael admonished his second son. "In you grandfathers generation, he was the only child, thus the power transferred over to him directly. In mine, there are three: myself, your Aunt Tempy and your Aunt Prue. When the three of us had all been inducted to the group within a couple of years of each other, we immediately tested our power levels and skills. I emerged victorious. Hence, I will inherit your grandfathers mantle and the privilege of the next successor coming from my direct line"

"Okay, still waiting for the axe to drop, Dad," Blaine said, causing his father to roll his eyes.

"I swear he did not get his impatience from me."

"But he did get your obliviousness, dear." Elise told her husband laughingly before taking over. "Blaine, what you father wants to say is that in order to preserve our familys rule over the Umbra, each member of the current rulers brood must provide an offspring to be considered worthy of the position of Grandmaster or mistress. We had hoped that you would reconsider your choice of partner before –"

"Why does it matter?" Blaine looked puzzled. "I mean, Coops the eldest and hes straight. So is Char. They can get pregnant and provide heirs, so to speak. And Kurt and I can get surrogates should we wish to have kids."

"The bloodline is important, Blaine." Prue told him. "Your child must be of Umbra blood. If you and Kurt got a surrogate, she must be a consecrated Umbra member. You cant get anyone else. And besides, you three kids all have to provide children. In our generation, your Dad and Tempy and I were tested earlier on, so he was the only one that was required to provide and offspring. In your case, Cooper had to wait until you and Charlie were at least old enough. Preferably when you were all over the age of 21, barring any mitigating circumstances. Remember, it doesnt mean that Coopers the eldest it would be him whos the strongest. You can very well might be the one." She gave Kurt a smile. "But well cross that bridge when we get there. Now, we focus on the task at hand, and that is getting our newest members inducted and ready."

"True, Squirt," Cooper grinned. "I have been trained by Aunt Tempy and Aunt Prue. You will too, now that the Illustrati are active again –all the more once they learned that their offering had just been engaged to an Umbra heir –thats almost certain since youve managed to involve half of Ohio in your proposal. Also, their sacrificial ritual shall commence this year, if Im not mistaken, in the Winters Solstice. You, Charlie and Kurt would have to be ready by then."

"Not to mention thwarting any attempts to Kurts life," Tempy seconded. "Our men can only help so much in guarding Kurt. But those near and dear to him need to be on the alert –"

"My Dad!" Kurt exclaimed all of a sudden. "If they are after me now, he would be in danger!"

"Two steps ahead of you, young man." Grandpa Anderson said. "Your father and his wife are being secured as of the moment. No harm will come to them. They are in the care of one of our most trusted people. Someone you might know."

Kurt furrowed his brows. "Someone I know is an Umbra? Who?" He looked at Blaine who shook his head as if to tell him that he had no idea. Grandpa Anderson grinned.

"I believe she addresses you as Porcelain. And you know her as –"

"Coach Sue!" Both Kurt and Blaine exclaimed at the same time. "Coach Sue is an Umbra?"

"Sue Sylvester is one of our higher-ranking members." Michael confirmed. "Of course, she had been asked to keep her identity secret from you two. But yes, she is now in contact with your father as we speak. We think shell be able to explain things better without causing much strain on your fathers heart, as well us lead the security we have provided for him as he travels between Lima and D.C."

"Thats true, I guess," Kurt agreed. "Because my dad would either think that Sue is crazy or that shes baiting him, if not outrightly believe her words. Otherwise, Carole would keep him calm. I shudder to think how hed react if I broke the news to him that a bunch of crazy witches are out to get me and that Mom was one of those crazy witches. Nope, I dont want to be in that room. But I would want to talk to him afterwards, if that is possible and would not endanger him further."

"Any other people we might know that are one of us?" Blaine inquired. "It would be nice to know whos a friend or foe."

Just then Cooper pulled out a folder from behind him and slid it across the table. "Youll find familiar names in there, I think." He winked. Blaine took the folder which he shared with Kurt.

"Wait, Wevid? Wevid are Umbra?" Kurt exclaimed as the couple scanned the printed pages. "And, bite me –Sebastian? Meerkat-face is an Umbra? I thought membership was for over 21? I knew it! That face had to be older than eighteen!"

"Okay, youre kidding me. Neil Patrick Harris? Jessica Chastain? Rebel Wilson? Michael Bloomberg? J.K. Rowling? Come on, Ryan Murphy? The Dalai Lama? Josh Whedon?" Blaine marveled out loud. "Darren Criss? Okay, I may not be surprised at that one, but Chris Colfer? Are these for real?"

"Membership is extremely confidential," Elise said. "But once you are inducted, you may reveal your identity to a fellow Umbra."

"Okay. Just when I thought that my family is crazy, it redeems itself. My family is a bunch of evil witch assassins. Definitely on top of the cool list!" Charlie said as she took over the folder from her brothers hands. "Im thrilled to start training! So when do I get to start kicking asses quite literally?"

"Well, as you three are still in school –"

"Kurt has to get back to New York soon," Blaine interrupted. "I will not let him go there alone. Not after this."

"You will have to graduate sooner, Blaine." His father said. "We have arranged for an accelerated private tutorial program for both you and Charlie. And as Kurt would have the least flexible schedule among you three, weve decided to relocate the four of you –including Cooper –in New York."

"NYC! Here I come!" Charlie cheered. She then turned to Kurt. "You have to take me to Battery Park and Times Square."

"Kurt, you roommate Rachel." Elise addressed him once more. "She could be in danger if –"

"Ill have to move out," Kurt sighed dejectedly. "I cant put her in a position like that. I just hope shell understand."

"She will, Kurt," Blaine soothed his fiancés worries. He then turned to his mother. "Where will we be staying?"

"A penthouse apartment in downtown Manhattan has been procured. You will stay there in the foreseeable future or until the threat of the Illustrati has been neutralized, that is until after the Winters Solstice. For if they miss this years ritual, they will no longer be able to redo it until the next 23rd year cycle of the Illumina Genesis. But even so, we cant be too sure. They might still retaliate if we manage to foil their plans. The only certainty we can get is if we manage to kill the current leader, the Great Selene."

"We will be flying in and out to train you guys," Tempy said. "Me and Prue, mostly. But in our absence, Coop will see to you guys."

"Yep, call me baby-sitter." Cooper laughed. "Itd be much more fun than filming anyway."

"Once your training is completed, we will have to proceed with your wedding," Elise continued on. Her words were met with wide eyes from Blaine and Kurt.

"Mom –but –we planned on a long engagement!" Blaine reasoned out. "I mean, Kurt and I need to finish college and everything –"

"That is true, Mrs. Anderson." Kurt added. "We planned on not marrying until at least Blaine is in his junior year in college."

"Oh, Im so sorry, dears," Prue apologized. "But for Kurt to be well-protected, he has to be within our sphere of influence. And that will only happen if he is a consecrated, inducted Umbra. As long as he is still an Illustrati by blood, those witches would be out for his head. But sooner we can get him within our ranks; the sooner we can be rid of that greater threat of him being used as an offering to the moon goddess."

"Why do we have to get married for that? Cant Kurt just get inducted like any regular member?"

"A regular member is just that, a regular member," Tempy explained for him, "Kurts blood endangers him, but being consecrated as one of us means that he will be of our blood for all purposes significant to the Illustrati. And that can only happen if you take him as you spouse, legally and ritualistically. That would also mean that should you choose to have children, any biological offspring of Kurts would be considered of our blood. You must understand, Blaine, this isnt just because we want to spite you. We want both you and Kurt to be happy… and safe. The fact that doing that to protect our familys legacy and the balance of the worlds good and evil only comes second no matter how much it seems the contrary at first glance."

For a while, everyone was silent, that is until Blaine took Kurts hands in his once more and led the countertenor a little further away from the dining table where everyone else was seated, for a little privacy. Blaine stole a glance at his family before meeting Kurts gaze.

"You can back out now if you want. I will not blame you."

Kurt gave his fiancé his best bitch-please face and rolled his eyes.

"Youre kidding me, right? Youre Umbra. Im ex-Illustrati by blood. I think that all the more confirms your theory of us being together in lifetimes past. Only this time, we can choose to face this craziness together. And I –" he brought their joined appendages to his chest and held it there. "Choose to do this with you, Mr. Anderson, whatever exactly this entails. If I were to be bodily threatened by a bunch of loony witches out for world domination then there is no other man Id rather spend the rest of my hazardous life with than you. So what if we get married a little earlier than planned?. Your Mom did express an interest in wedding plans. As long as I get the last say in everything, there is no cause for worry. Although this may be another conversation Id dread having with Dad. I hope we can get Coach Sue to explain this to him as well."

"Kurt –I just –I love you, you know that, right?" Blaine hugged him, which Kurt returned. "I just dont want you to –you know Id do anything in my power to protect you –even if that meant that I wouldnt get to be with –"

"Dont you dare finish that sentence, Blaine," Kurt pulled out of the hug and glared at the younger man. "Whatever happened to fearlessly and forever? Or are those but empty words?"

"Kurt –" Blaine let out a heavy sigh before breaking out into the most relieved smile he had ever sported. "Of course, were in this together. Fearlessly and forever. Come what may. " Kurt beamed.

"Come what may. Thats what I thought."

"Hey! Are you two done being mushy, or are we about to plan conquering New York?" Charlie yelled from her seat. The Andersons were all looking at the newly-engaged couple expectedly. With their hands intertwined, and fingers interlaced, Kurt and Blaine walked back towards them.

"Lets get this started!"

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