Family Inheritance

"Family Inheritance" is a mini-story that is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.

The Story
It was around five years before Empath returned home for good from Psychelia when a man named Gargamel found himself in an argument with his mother. "I want you out of my house right this instant!" she shrieked.

"But, Mummy, I'm still in the middle of my research of how to create the Philosopher's Stone," Gargamel protested.

"I've had enough of your research," his mother said. "All these years, all that money spent on getting you the best education at the sorcerer's guild, even being an apprentice to your dear old godfather Lord Balthazar, and what have you got to show for it? You're just as worthless as your father, and your brother...well, it makes me only wish that I had only one of you to deal with."

"So my brother Gourmelin wanted to go off and be a poet instead of a sorcerer like me," Gargamel said. "It's not like he would amount to much of anything himself."

"Let's face it, you're just the spitting image of your father...a weak and worthless sorcerer who makes me feel ashamed that I ever gave myself to him just so I could have a son that would take care of me in my later years," his mother said. "You're going to spend the rest of your years toiling away on the Philosopher's Stone instead of making money from your potions like the other evil sorcerers. And you'll still be in the same place as your father...going absolutely nowhere in your life."

Gargamel hated every word his mother said about him and his father. "You are an impossible woman to please, Mummy. I've done everything I can to live up to what you want of me, and it still isn't enough for you. Maybe it's time that I found myself someplace else to live so that I can have peace and quiet without your incessant ramblings."

Then there was a knock on the door of his mother's house. Gargamel opened the door and saw that it was a messenger. "Excuse me, but is this the L'Feroce residence?" the messenger asked.

"Of course it is, you numbskull," Gargamel snapped. "What is it you want?"

"I have a message that is meant for Gargamel...the last will and testament of your father, I believe," the messenger said. "It was given to me by his request a few days before he died. There were some people who gave your father a proper burial, but this is what he has left for you, the only son that he has considered his closest relative."

Gargamel took the scroll that contained the will and read it thoroughly. "I hereby bequeath unto my son Gargamel the property of my hovel located in the forest near the Cursed Country, and everything that is within it, including a very special book that he might find useful in his line of work," he read aloud. "Oh, what joyous news it is...I mean, how terrible it is for my dear father to have passed away like that. I only wish that I could have seen him one last time before he died."

"I'm sure that your father misses you very dearly and wishes you well, Gargamel," the messenger said. "Anyway, my job is done...the property is yours to claim as soon as possible. Have a good day."

After the messenger left, Gargamel turned to his mother. "At least I now have a place where I can continue my experiments in peace and quiet, Mummy. I'm going to take complete advantage of this and start moving out right away."

"Well, don't forget to take your miserable fleabag Azrael with you when you go, Gargamel," his mother said. "It's the last thing of yours that I want hanging around my house."

"I'd rather have Azrael around me in the place I'm going to live in instead of you hounding me all the time, Mummy," Gargamel said.

To be expanded on.