Life of a Phoenix - Chapter 22 - Bonds

Notes: Karee: beloved child. The word came from Grandfather himself as he referred to his own children. The language itself is a mixture of the I'Tay'ran, the first language in existence, and the more common form of elven, Qu'tah.
Parrde: I think I gave this before, but I'll give it again. A Parrde is a group of were-leopards. All were massacred save for Ashitare, to which he owes Aryun a massive debt.
Perdy: This word my friend AJ calls Ashitare. ^_^ *slauts* So here's to you Arijan! Hope you enjoy your trip to Eurpoe! *huggles*

"So what are you going to do about your father?"

The woman who was supporting him sighed. "Erdric, you know if you keep asking that question I'm going to dump you on the stone floor and leave you there."

"You wouldn't." Erdric smiled at her, hidden laughter dancing in his eyes.

Aryun's lips pressed together. "Do you want to chance that though?"

"No," he laughed slightly. "I just don't like you thinking so deeply about something. It's nerve wracking." He turned his head to look at her. "Your forehead will crease when you're deep in thought. I don't think I've really seen you any other way." He tightened his grip upon her arm. "Although I'd like to see you in another situation."

Aryun shook her head, clearly trying not to laugh. "You seem the same, except when Thanatos upset you."

Erdric coughed politely. "That really wasn't me. Then again, it was." Erdric fell silent. "It's like two halves of the same coin. Do you show the same side to Lord Tyral that you do Lord KimVay? Do you show your true self all the time?"

Aryun stopped and tilted her head to look at him. "You don't seem like that is your true self."

Erdric turned his face away and down, not looking at her. "There are things you do not know about me. I am not all that I seem."

Aryun smiled slightly, just a quirk of her lips, and touched his cheek with her free hand. "Nor am I, Prince Regent." She started to walk again, supporting Erdric's body with her own. "I wasn't always so sever, you know. I used to laugh easier, smile easier, but things changed and I changed. I think the line is that time rearranges things, and it's true. Time changed you as well."

Erdric sighed. "Yes, time does."

They walked in silence for a few more minuets.

"So, what are you going to do about - "

"Erdric!!"

He snorted, smiling. "All right, Aryun. All right."

"Good. Glad you see it my way."

"Well, I don't." He smiled again, a soft curving of his lips. "But I can understand you don't want to speak of it."

They continued on in silence for a few more moments before they turned a corner and came face to face with Lethe, Tyral and Ashitare.

Aryun paused and felt a little awkward at their scrutinizing gaze before she shifted Erdric's weight into a tighter grasp.

She tilted her chin forward and mock sneered at the group. "Well, I see the Perdy is getting better."

Ashitare rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, Aryun. You would think you'd be happy to see me!"

"Of course not, Perdy. You're royalty."

Ashitare gave a wry grin. "Don't say it. I know. 'You're a royal pain in the ass.'"

Aryun's face dawned in a small smile. "Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to take Erdric to Iraina."

Tyral until now, had stayed quite. "Aryun, I do not think you should go there . . ."

She arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

Tyral let Lethe bare the slim weight of Ashitare. He came forward and placed a hand upon her cheek. "Are you so eager to see your father, young one?"

The change that came over Aryun's face was instantaneous. It was almost as if a mask slid into place over her features, blocking out all emotions. "Why didn't I think that?"

Erdric looked at the new arrivals in interest, as Lethe was looking at him.

Lethe cocked her head and grinned at the bemused Erdric, causing him to duck his head. She smiled as she sat Ashitare down whose tail was thumping against the stone now. She walked over to him and gently took his chin into her palm, brushing her thumb across his cheek.

"You do look like my daughter, karee." Her violet eyes were sparkling with tears as she tilted his face various ways. "So much like my daughter." With her free hand, she loosened Aryun's grip upon him and wrapped her own around his waist. With a watery smile, she walked him slightly away from Aryun and Tyral to speak with him. "I know you don't like strangers and don't like touch. I apologize."

Erdric watched her with slightly wide eyes as he nodded. "You're right . . . but . . . I do not mind you." His hand reached out to brush a few free pieces of her sun-spun hair out of her face. His fingers gently traced a cheek before he pulled her into a hug, knowing intuitively that this was indeed the mother of his mother. "You have no need to be sorry."

Lethe wrapped her arms tightly about him, holding him for all that she was worth. After a few moments, she pulled back, her hands gently clasping his shoulders. "You're a lovely young man, Erdric." Her finger traced his cheeks that shimmered with tears. "I am proud to call you my grandson, that is, if you would allow it."

Erdric smiled genuinely. "You are kin. Why would I not allow such a thing?" He searched her face and smiled brighter before he wrapped his arms around her waist, burring his head in her shoulder. "I've lost so many . . . So many lives were lost." He shook slightly. "So many people I loved died horribly."

Lethe, tears of her own falling down her face, smiled. Her hand came up to gently brush Erdric's soft hair away from his face. "So have I, dear one, so have I. They were not upon your hands, but upon that which you've already avenged."

Erdric, in a very vulnerable moment, pushed himself tighter into her arms. "But it was. I am Chosen, and they gave their lives in defense of me while I was still young."

Lethe laughed lightly. "I know, Erdric. I saw it and I still see you as not at fault. I followed my daughter's incarnation far closer than Tyral." She sighed and pushed her face into Erdric's hair. "He was so wounded that, even when he did create the Listerians, he couldn't bare to look upon them without feeling his heart breaking." She smiled as she brushed a few strands of Erdric's hair out of her face. "He's far too tender hearted."

Erdric nodded slightly. "He is a god of Wisdom and of Life. He will always be tender hearted." He turned his head, resting it on her shoulder as he looked at Aryun and Tyral talking quietly. "He means much to Aryun. She listens and heeds his advice. She's very strong."

Lethe laughed. "She's stronger than most of the world realizes. She's destroyed worlds with barely a thought. It torments her so to think and to remember." She sighed slightly and rested her chin on Erdric's head, watching the two being spoken of like he was. "She's . . . far more vulnerable than anyone would give her credit for. She's soft, tender, loving. If I didn't see it, I wouldn't have liked her like I have. It's a shame that KimVay insisted that in order to make her strong, he had to shun her. That has hurt her far more than what her stepfather did to her. You know, she had a brother. Well, a young boy she called her brother. Kistal killed him. Ripped him to pieces in front of her before he kicked her out of his home, just immediately after he had Faxon rape her."

Erdric shuddered, his eyes focusing upon Aryun. Her face was set in a cold stone mask that seemed impenetrable. Her blue eyes shimmered with something he was quite familiar with: Fear, uncertainty, and faint hope of a chance.

She wanted to be friends with her father. It was very evident in her eyes.

"It was a horrid thing to do to her. He should have paid."

Lethe watched Aryun, a sadness within her eyes. "He did. So did the whole palace, the whole town, and the whole country. She destroyed them all, every single one of them, the men and the women alike for they did nothing to stop the corruption that spread in waves from the palace. The children were spared, for children are the only innocence left in the world. Those she took to various people who were barren, and gave them into their keeping. It tortured KimVay as much as it did her.

"After that, she went on her quest to find her father. She found him, but he turned his back to her thinking he would be helping her. He didn't know she was on the brink of madness, on the brink of falling into the abyss of darkness. She became the Dark One born of Blood, Sh'ith'an."

Erdric's brow furrowed slightly. "What does that mean?"

"It means, karee, that she became a powerful dark sorceress. The strongest spell caster that mankind has ever seen. Her name was whispered fervently, some adoringly, some in the deepest fear on a puff of breath. She was not someone to take lightly, for she would kill for the smallest infraction of her rules. The kingdom she rules, she rules with an iron fist. She said she'd rather have the fear of the people, then their love. Love is fickle, she confided one night. She had never felt love before, and she expects people to use her, for that's all that's happened to her."

Lethe rested one hand upon the back of Erdric's neck. "Tread with caution, karee. She's as frightened by you as you are by her. Let her come to you, despite your feelings to go to her. She'll expect the worst if you go to her. Just bide your time, sort out if your feelings for her are true, and when you do, she'll know as well."

Erdric started, jerking his head back to look into knowing violet eyes. "You know," he breathed.

She smiled slightly. "I do. Just concentrate on finding the truth within your soul. She must come to you, as prophecy foretells. The bloodied one will walk to the Chosen and enter into a pact with he."

Erdric looked at her and nodded his head before looking at Aryun once more.

"You fear for her." Lethe nodded towards the two of them.

"Yes . . . I do. That in it's self frightens me badly. I do not wish for another to die for me."

Lethe touched her fingertips to his face. "She will not die for you. One of her gifts is never-ending life. When she receives a mortal wound, her body does indeed die, but then bursts into flame. From those flames, she becomes reborn and rises. She cannot die. It is a flaw she holds tightly to herself, for she has indeed tried to kill herself many times. This is also one of the reasons she hates her father. It was his genetic gift to her."

"She has told me she's tried to kill herself many times."

Lethe nodded. "She has. A few times in very violent ways." A wry smile curved her lips. "I'd say trying to gut herself was pretty extreme." She let her finger slip to his lips. "You know nothing of this, karee. Aryun will tell you in her own time."

Erdric nodded. "Agreed."

Aryun had let Lethe take Erdric over to speak with him, but was more interested in Tyral's serious face.

"So KimVay is in there?"

"Aa."

"So . . . will he be more civil?"

"He was civil before, and he was very sorry. I think he may want to try and talk with you."

Aryun's anger came back. "Of course he would."

"No, Aryun, no anger." Tyral gently touched her face, brushing back a few red-gold strands. "No anger."

"Why?" Aryun trembled slightly as she looked into Tyral's slivery blue eyes, a soft hope within them.

"You've no need for anger towards him. He was very misguided in his intentions."

Aryun nodded, but looked away, biting her lip in consternation. "Anger is a fine shield, and has served me well."

"I know, Aryun, but you must change. This anger is eating you."

"I know."

"You must let go of that bottle you hold."

"I know."

Tyral laughed lightly, touching Aryun's cheek. "Now you are sounding like your father."

Aryun looked at Tyral out of the corner of her eyes. "I act like him too."

"You figured that one out? But I think you act more like Kieran when you're angry. You're intelligence and wisdom are from both your parents. I see my brother within you, Aryun, and that I cannot deny."

Aryun smiled slightly. "So . . . I will be able to talk to him? And . . . try to make things right?"

Tyral smiled lightly. "Of course, Aryun. You're always more than welcome to talk to anyone politely. You've earned that right, and you are a very honorable child. We can come with you if you'd like."

Aryun looked at Tyral and wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her face covered by his soft silver hair. "I would like that, Tyral."

Ashitare, who had been watching both sides and understood what Lethe was telling Erdric, started to whine. "Everyone's getting hugs but me. Well, fine then." He sniffed in mock offence and stuck his nose up in the air. He crossed his arms across his chest as his tail thumped quite loudly upon the stone.

Aryun laughed and wiped a tear away. "I'm sorry, Ashi." She pulled herself out of Tyral's arms and fell into the Parrde's arms. She nuzzled his cheek in greeting and he did to her. "I've missed my bodyguard."

"I'm glad, I've missed you as well, freak." He pinched her side, causing her to laugh.

Aryun smiled and tilted her head. "Well, you've found me, so how about you guard me?"

Ashitare looked at Erdric and smiled secretly. "I think you've already got a guard."

Aryun turned around and looked up at Erdric, their eyes catching and holding. For several minuets they looked at each other before they both smiled and nodded. "Yes, I think I've got another guard."