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Realms Converge	By : Candice Category: +G through L > Legacy of Kain Views: 3562 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.Don't get to Nosgoth itself til chap 5

Chapter List
- 51
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This chapter gets a little dark. Trigger Warning for character suicide attempt...
Chapter Fifty-two: Keep on keepin' on...
When I awoke hours later, Kain was gone with nary a hint of his Aura to be sensed. I took my time leaving the bed however, luxuriating in his lingering scent and my memories. Finally I got up and went downstairs. I shoo'd Brice and Lucius out of the building again, telling them to go report to Altair or, well, wanting to be alone with my thoughts until Vorador and Alma arrived. I'd kept the Path Stone ready in the main room of the mansion and waited patiently for the portal to open once more whilst I thought. Kain was not one for drawn out goodbyes and yet the past several months had essentially been his farewell to me.
Roughly midday the portal opened and Alma and Vorador stepped through. Once more the bloody stones left me flabbergasted, as fifty years had passed for them in that time frame. I took some time to show them about and explain a few things to them while I waited for my Siblings to return with my Sire and Nikolai. I would need to talk with everyone together in the same time regarding my own plans for the future and regarding my Nosgothian Clan-mates new lives.
The group arrived back at the mansion, Brice and Lucius not currently included in our little group as they were still out per my orders, late at night and in very good humor, though Janos' feathers seemed a might bit ruffled. Nikolai was soothing my Sire adequately and I looked to Joan with a raised brow at the sight.
"What happened?" I asked softly.
"Eli wanted to take them to see a movie," she explained in an equally soft tone. "I do believe that we should have started with a more subdued movie in truth."
"Oh dear," I let out a soft sigh as I watched Vorador approach Janos to make sure he was alright. "I take it Eli picked an action flick?"
"Yes," she answered, though there was both humor and concern in her eyes. "Thankfully we had booked a private theater room, so we were able to prevent any kind of socially awkward incidents but it was still a bit harrowing for the Eldar. I am sorry Sister."
"It's alright," I shook my head and let out a bemused huff. "Maybe some old movies next time? Like the 'King and I' or perhaps 'Les Miserables'. Those might be more to his preference and would be an easy for them all to adjust to."
"Hm, I'll mention that to Bene," she said. "Eli normally bows out, semi-gracefully, when we go to those kinds of shows."
"Figured as much," I said with a chuckle.
We shared a bemused look and I took the time to lead the others to the main sitting room. Janos and Nikolai took up one small, two person couch. Vorador took a large, sprawling suede-covered chair and Alma plopped right onto his lap without asking. His hand closed on her hip automatically and I rolled my eyes at the pair. My Siblings spaced out around the various other couches and chairs in the room and I, as hostess, made sure that everyone had a glass of blood-wine if they wanted one. I let out a small sigh as I finally took a seat myself, my own glass in hand. Jean moved from her own seat and cuddled up against my side without a word. I knew in an instant that she had picked up on my slightly sour mood.
One by one my Siblings seemed to realize that Kain's until-then-constant Aura was gone and what it meant that Vorador and Alma were now present upon Gaia when Kain was not. Each of them shot me a concerned look as they did so. I had honestly expected some sort of an outburst from Elijah, or perhaps Sigrun, but it was Cuthbert who abruptly let out a growl of anger and annoyance.
"He stole away in the middle of the night like a common thief, didn't he? Why are you not angry?" he finally asked as he cut through the attempts at small talk that the others were making about the differences in societal norms between the two Realms.
I shared a bemused look with my adopted Sire, who was looking far better considering his earlier 'adventure' especially since Nikolai was cuddled up contentedly at his own side. I chuckled faintly as I turned back to my Brother.
"These past several weeks have been our 'goodbye', Cu," I said. "Neither he, nor I, wished to belabor the subject further."
"He did not even do you the courtesy of a formal farew-" I cut him off with a snarl of breath and flared my Aura at him.
"He gave me the greatest gift that he could last night," I said firmly. "I did not need a farewell with fanfare and Clan involved!"
Vorador's eyes widened in shock, an expression that was usually rare to see on the Eldar's face, and even Alma sat up straight in surprise.
"Kain allowed you to Mark him?" he asked in stunned shock. "The stubborn whelp who would rather chew off his own arm before asking for aid? The same male whom always scoffed derisively whenever I spoke to him of our Sire's obvious 'marital bliss' with regards to his sharing Marks with Nikolai?"
"He has not brought that up in centuries and you know precisely how independent he is!" I said with a laugh.
"Note that I said 'asking' for aid dear Sister," Vorador started with a drawl, "Not 'demand' aid. And you did nothing more than prove my point by highlighting his independant streak."
"Eh," I blinked and then chuckled. "A fair point..."
"He did seem the type," Sigrun chimed in. "I am surprised to hear that he would do as such."
"He is a stubborn man," I acknowledged with a shrug. "But yes, he did allow me to Mark him before he left. I did not even have to ask him, nor would I have ever asked."
"Ah... Katrina, my Childe," Janos started hesitantly. "Did you...?"
"He gave me permission to be with and Mark whomever I might please during my time here," I said soothingly, yet firmly. "I could do no less in the face of such a Gift. I would not leave him shackled by his actions, nor would I have our... affection for one another to be tainted by any hint of my being unwilling to allow him the same courtesy. He prides himself on his free will just as I pride myself on my own. He is free to be who he is, especially given the fact that I only plan to be here for at least four-hundred or so years, whilst for him several thousand years will pass. If I had denied him his own freedom of choice well... that would be a long time for such a wound to fester, would it not?"
"You love him," Joan said softly, filling the sudden silence that had fallen once I had finished speaking.
I froze with my glass half-way to my mouth. I lowered the glass and looked to the side and away from my Sister's piercing gaze as she stared up at me from where she was cuddled in against my side. Elijah let out a choked noise from his own spot as he realized what my silence meant.
"You never told your silver-haired bloke that ya love him?" he asked bluntly and I stiffened.
"Actions speak louder than words," I responded with a defensive hiss of breath.
"Easy now deary," Alma purred as she slipped from Vorador's lap.
She wandered over and sat herself down on my own lap in a way that allowed Joan to remain cuddled against my side. I frowned at the Eldar female.
"We know, and have known for years," she started, "how you feel about your Lord. What your Siblings do not realize is that neither you, nor he, are the type of person to use such words easily, if at all. You are both creatures of action."
"Indeed," Vorador added with a chuckle. "When he told us of what you had shared of your past when you first arrived, I knew that he would, at the least, attempt to claim you for himself. It was the first I had heard him speak, almost praisingly, of another person. 'A stubborn-willed little one, yet unbroken by those that would have seen her tamed and brought to heel like some beaten animal,' he had said of you. Even my Umah had not earned such high, if admittedly back-handed, praise from him."
I blinked at that and then tilted my head a bit. I had not know that he had said such a thing to others.
"He did surprise us though," I raised a brow as he continued and he waved his hand. "Oh, not in his pushing and prodding in an effort to see you made stronger and your power honed to a razor's edge. No, he surprised us by actually putting you in situations to prove your adeptness in such a way that it was eventually made plain to all that he thought you his equal, his Queen. For a long while we thought he would merely keep you as Captain and Concubine, as he had never before seemed the type to share his power with others."
"It helped that she never once demanded more power nor the ranks that she quite obviously earned," Nikolai offered. "In fact, that fight with Cillian did more to prove that she was earning her place in the Clan hierarchy than one might have realized at first."
I blushed as the others from Nosgoth nodded their agreement and, after explaining the history behind what they were talking about, my Siblings nodded their own understanding. Eli let out a small huff of breath though as he looked at me.
"Seems a bit of an antiquated relationship in some ways sheila," he said as he stood to set his glass aside. "But if he managed to make ya happy, then that's all one can ask for. Anyway, enough talk about your old man, yeah? Let's go flyin' or something! In fact, I know some great areas around here for a good free-fall."
"You are a tosk Brother," Sig said with a groan as she face-palmed.
"So?" he shot back with an unrepentant grin.
"Do not listen to her Brother," Joan said as she stood up and stepped away from me. "Foolish you can be, but you are not a fool. And we love you just the way you are."
Everyone laughed at Elijah's blushing sputters and the rest of that day was spent companionably.
The following years were, in a word, difficult. The fallout of Auron's actions and the lengthy recovery of those that had survived and remained... salvageable... made for tense times between the Clan Kelborne and the other Clans. It did not help that the Kelborne Clan continually attempted to sweep things under the rug when it came to reparations. They could not avoid it though, it had been their Clan-mate who had captured and secreted away hundreds of victims over the years from all of the Clans. It did not help matters when it came to light that there were several like-minded Full-bloods and Half-bloods who had helped the monster carry out his depraved desires and, to make matters worse, said individuals were numbered primarily amongst the Kelborne Clan which held the second largest number of those who had survive the destruction of the Vampire's original home world...
Capturing those that had assisted in such depravities had become a long-term goal of mine and through the efforts of my immediate Clan-mates, my Clan-subset really, we were able to confirm that Auron had a second, 'open to others', hellhole that was hidden away in the very heart of the Kelborne Clan territory; Bolivia. We barely managed to prevent the outright slaughter of those within the hidden, underground building. We had to fight and disable Kelborne warriors who had been ordered to purge the stain on their Clans honor, orders that had no regard for the lives of those within that might yet be saved. When we found proof within the building proper that several high-ranking individuals amongst the Kelborne Clan had ordered the strike to hide their own depraved actions, outright war between the major Clans seemed a likely result, especially as I held firm to my resolve...
I did not want scapegoats or only some of the fiends that had perpetrated such horrors. I wanted everyone who had knowingly aided Auron or had turned a blind eye to questionable actions because of his war-hero status or due to his 'generous donations to a cause'. By the end of that first century back on Gaia, the Kelborne Clan was far reduced from their previous status and was considered by all to be the least of the 'Three Great Clans'. Many had broken from their Clan in disgust and chose to be welcomed into other Clans or creating their own Clans in order to distance themselves.
Eventually, tempers between the Clans cooled once those responsible had been slain or punished as appropriate.
Surprisingly though, despite the strained relations between the Clans, Vampiric/Human relations did not suffer over much. Even with all the technological advancements, Vampires remained rather private creatures whose internal strife was able to be, to an extent, kept out of the public eye. Everyone knew that there had been all but war between the Clans, but as it did not affect their immediate lives and as it was not the explosive sort of war, most humans simply ignored it.
Sad, but true...
During that first century, Alma remained my sole lover and closest confidant outside of my Turned Siblings. Once the in-fighting between the Clans died down though, she started to show a growing interest in Prince Armon. The younger Half-Blood had apologized to me for his prior attitude and had proved himself a number of times during the hunt for those who had aided Auron. I noticed her growing interest in the royal male, different and remarkably subtle given her usual 'grab the bull by its' horns' flirtations and I realized that she was truly interested in him as Mate material and not just as a lover. As I needed to begin my research on ways to aid Nosgoth, with Cuthbert's aid, and was no longer needed quite so much on various battlefields or missions, I gave her leave to pursue her interest without having to worry about my own needs and began to idly keep an eye out for others who might interest me.
The 'Royal' Mating between the pair was announced within a decade of her beginning her pursuit in earnest and I found myself highly amused by the entire thing, especially when there were a few news postings immediately following the announcement saying that she had 'usurped my place'. A few nosy reporters managed to dig up the fact that my Father and the Draconian King had originally hoped that I would pair up with the King's son and thus tighten the bond between our two families. My open amusement with such statements did more to quiet the rumors than any outright denial statements ever would have...
Vorador proved to be both the natural hentai and businessman that I expected him to be once he had his feet under him with regards to the new technology and culture. His skills as a Blacksmith and the runes that he used for his craft were a surprise to the Vampiric Weaponsmith's of Gaia and he fast found himself a place in the rather reclusive and exclusive group. His specialized blades rapidly became a 'must have' amongst human and vampire alike, as even the least of his blades was made to his exacting standards and sold for several hundred dollars/pounds/etc. the world over.
And with said money rolling in, my dear Hentai Brother turned around and bought the still popular Playboy/Playgirl properties and company...
He gained a rather... dedicated... following amongst the masses as a result, which suited his hedonistic and self-indulging nature to a T...
Nikolai also grew over the years as an artist of talent, his skills growing in leaps and bounds with the new artistic mediums made available to him. Oils and colors were rare things on Nosgoth, yet readily available on Gaia and he eagerly made use of that difference in order to bring his already amazing works to life. Computer graphic arts eventually caught his eye and, after years of courses to understand the how-to of it all, he branched out occasionally to work on movie SFX. Still, even with him branching out so much, I would often find him in one of his studios working on his charcoal still-life's. All of which sold quite well in various art galleries, though mostly during and for different charity events.
He and Janos preferred the quiet, reflective kind of existence that Gaia could readily provide.
Speaking of my Adopted Sire, Kain had been right to warn me to watch my Sire closely. The backslide that I had been expecting did not happen right away, but more and more often I would notice a kind of wistful, yet pained expression cross his face on those occasions where he believed no one was watching him. Rather than allow the Eldar to brood on such negative emotions, I went to Alma, Vorador and Nikolai. Together we managed to arrange for Janos to see a mind healer, along with my Sibling Joan, in an effort to help him work through his harsh past. He showed extensive improvement over the years and while the others started to relax at his progress, I found that my worry for him did not wane one bit and I would often check in on him despite the work that I needed to do...
I just... I still could not trust it when he smiled, as there were still so many times that his smiles did not reach his eyes. Those sad smiles that still happened when he thought no one was looking...
When his attempt at suicide came, it was not the usual attempt that a human might make. Slitting one's wrist open would not work for a vampire due to the natural healing factor. Poison would not work for the same reason. Drowning was out for Janos, despite the fact that he was the only 'living' vampire in existence, as water was acidic to his flesh and he was not one to wallow in the agony of such a slow death... No, my dear Sire was the sort to go for a more immediate, and foolishly noble, sort of end.
Upon his arrival on Gaia, he had begun to study Gaia's healing arts extensively and exclusively. Not a surprise given his gentle nature and his magical skills with such a craft. He found his true calling amongst the still existing 'Doctors without Borders' and often visited those areas that were war-torn or illness ridden and in need of medical assistance. Even after so long, illness and plague still cropped up. With so many humans on the planet, it was a given that some locations would still have epidemics break out and vampires were the best suited for such tasks given that they could not get ill themselves. Vorador, Nikolai and even Joan and his Mind-healer had all believed that Janos would be fine, especially as he had found a true calling in being a travelling DWB. But I will be the first to admit that I could be both paranoid and possessive when it came to those close to me.
It was a damned good thing that I was so mindful...
Two and a half centuries after my return to Gaia, Janos had chosen to take a mission to assist with plague victims in a war-zone. War had broken out between a newly formed Great Egypt, which comprised of the northern half of Africa and the Kingdom of Pangea, which was comprised of the southern most half of Africa. The war itself had started to quiet down as they two new countries worked on peace talks, but had then flared back up in earnest when both halves of the continent were suddenly affected by a bio-weapon in the form of a new plague that worked horribly like rabies. Dubbed the 'zombie plague' by drama-loving news stations, all of the Clans had come together for the first time since my own sensational return in order to help contain the plague to Africa and work towards a cure for the horribly infectious illness. Sadly, our efforts did nothing to stop the fighting in the interim and that meant that the DWB had to work in the middle of a war-zone to try to create a cure.
When I found out about his choice to work in the middle of said war-zone, my worry for him grew to the point where I could no longer work with Cu on our project. Given that he was the best mage that I knew when it came to magic, it was easy enough for me to convince him to come with me to check on Janos. Given my own stealth-based Gift, we were able to work together to get to the DWB camp without anyone seeing us and without being hit by random shrapnel.
The timing of things could not have proved better. Given that we had flown in ourselves rather than take the lengthy route of obtaining permission to arrive via plane, we manage to arrive just as the camp came under attack by insurgents that felt that Janos and the others were the cause of the plague rather than working on a cure for it. As we landed in the center of the camp, a grenade was lobbed into the midst of the Doctor's and their assistants. Janos, being the closest, immediately lunged to protect his charges from the explosive device, intent on using his own form as a shield.
"Cu!" I shouted at my Sibling even as I shoved Janos backwards with a telekinetic blast.
Cu reacted to my shout instantly, hands and wings rising up and a tri-layered shield was raised around the grenade to contain the sudden explosion. By his strained expression and the multiple flashes of light that went off, it was not an easy thing to contain the obviously magically-enhanced device. I rushed over to my now disheveled looking Sire and snarled angrily at him. His body would have done nothing to contain such a blast and even had he called up a shield at the same time, said shield would have failed upon his death and his charges would have still been harmed by the blast. As the others worked to raise stronger shields, I focused my attention on him.
"Dammit all Sire! What do you think you were doing?!" I growled as I wrenched him up onto his feet. My head was pounding with my worry and... and something else. "You know the shield spells that can contain those damned things and yet you leap to cover it!? You put yourself and your charges in danger!"
"There was no-" he started, flustered and angry. I cut him off.
"Do not dare try to spoon-feed me bull-shit Sire!" I roared in rage.
I was tired, extremely so, from the long flight, from the long hours working on the problems of Nosgoth with Cu and what answers there were to find and from worrying so about my Adopted Sire's physical and mental well-being. The past several months had held with it an ease with which I developed migraines, which usually signaled the development of a mental-based Gift and that had not made things easier nor my temperament better. It did not help that I was, in truth, long over-due to develop my first natural Gift. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose as I growled low
"Katrina," Janos' voice changed in pitch and turned to that hard note of warning as his Aura flared. The flaring of power of an Eldar unwilling to put up with a younger vampires disrespect. "You will mind how you speak to me my Childe. You are not a Queen any longer and-"
My own Aura flared in response to his words and something in me snapped as if popping into proper alignment. Whilst he was correct in the fact that he was my Eldar and that I no longer held the status/rank of 'Queen', his argument was invalidated by the fact that he had just attempted suicide. My rage that he would dare to use such a pitiful reason to neutralize my anger did nothing but piss me off.
My Aura coalesced in the air around me for one crystalline moment and, when I slashed my hand through the air in front of me, it disappeared into a narrowed, laser-sight wide beam aimed for Janos. For a split instant I could see the very heart of his Aura, all the way to the bright-dark, churning-conflicted core before that beam struck like a lightning bolt. A roar of triumph escaped me as a yelp of shock was torn from his own throat. My sight failed me for a moment and when it returned I found Janos sitting on his posterior with his wings akimbo and his expression lost. Cu and the others were watching me warily.
"How do you feel Sister?" Cu asked into the stunned silence. "Is your headache gone?"
"I..." I blinked and shook my head slightly. "Yes actually. Do you have any idea what just happened?"
"I believe so, yes," he answered. "Let us get under cover first however before I examine the situation further."
With Cu's help and instruction, we managed to get the others more organized and proper shields back into place to prevent another grenade from getting through to the camp. Janos remained quiet and silently helped to place protective runes into the surrounding stone to help solidify the shields, something that he should have thought of earlier. Once that was done we slipped into one of the caves that had been turned into a temporary office and I forced my Sire to sit in one of the few chairs within the room. I glared at my contrite-looking Sire as Cu placed up a privacy ward. He wandered to my side a moment later and hummed as he looked Janos over.
"Still subdued and quiet, is he?" Cu murmured thoughtfully and his wings twitched with contained anger. "I figured as much."
"What the hell did I do to him?" I asked with an uneasy grumble, my own wings showing my agitation as well.
"'Aura strike'," Cu replied promptly. "Or 'Aura Snipe' as it has been called in the more recent years by the younger generation. It is an extremely rare ability that allows a younger Alpha the ability to overwhelm and subsume an Eldar's Aura when properly used."
I raised a brow at my Brother and then turned to look at my Sire once more. Janos had looked up as well, but he flinched at my yet-angry gaze and looked back at his taloned hands a second later. I blinked and turned back to Cu.
"And he is still acting like this, why?" I asked. One might be able to defeat an Eldar to gain their respect, such as my fight with Cillian and the occasional battles with others over the years to maintain my rank, but usually they did not retain this level of... of meekness. Perhaps a respectfully sullen attitude, but not something that left one near as meek as a mouse.
"You are yet upset with him and he knows very well why the reason for your upset," Cu explained in a dry tone. "For the moment, you are the superior Alpha that had due cause to be upset with a lesser Alpha. It does not matter that he is your Eldar as far as instinct is concerned. The 'Aura Strike' ability bypasses all of it."
"Ah," I responded thoughtfully and I tilted my head. "Just how rare is this ability?"
"Only four people currently have the ability," Cu said and then he let out a soft chuckle. "Five I should say, now that you have it."
"Common denominator?" I asked with a raised brow, somehow knowing the response but still wishing to hear it.
"Our S ire," Cu said with a hint of pride in his tone. "As you know, Father was the only one of his Blood-line to survive the transition to Gaia. What you may not know, is that this Gift was the primary reason he was able to maintain his rank as King Altair's right hand over the long centuries. My own two Turned children, Elijah's Mate that he Turned himself and one of Benedict's Turned children share the Gift and have decent ranks amongst our Clan-subset and the Draconian Clan in general."
I let out a snort of amusement at his words. It made sense. Cu hummed a moment later.
"If I may, I wish to confirm my own theory," I waved for him to continue. "You have likely long been able to focus your Aura on a specific person, to an extent, in order to enforce your Aura over their own?"
"Not like this," I said with a wave in Janos' direction. "But to an extent, yes. Those that wanted to challenge me would only normally back down after I've won a fight with them, then they would respond to my Aura to a greater extent. That's normal though."
"It is, for the most part," he allowed with a nod. "Another question; How many actually challenged you a second time? A rematch if you will as if they yet questioned your rank amongst the Clan? And I do not mean those who would circumvent your rank or outright betrayals. I mean a formal, rank-altering fight in front of the Clan."
I blinked rapidly at his question and had to think back carefully. Four-hundred and two years was a lot of time to think back on and it had been two more centuries since my return... I let out a thoughtful hum of breath.
"Only one person challenged me a second time," I said in thoughtful wonder. "And when I defeated them again, they never questioned my place as Queen and Captain at Kain's side. Others tried assassination attempts, out and out betrayals or more subdued and subtle attempts at slandering my person and loyalties."
"And once more my theory holds," Cu said with satisfaction. I raised a brow and he clarified. "The primary difference between someone who has the Gift of Aura Strike and one who does not, is that those with the Gift are able to maintain their rank within a Clan with less strife then those without. You would have been faced with repeated challenges far more often otherwise. Indeed, Elijah's Mate is young and developed the Gift as her first one nary after a century of being Turned, as is common amongst Full-Bloods. She challenged him after one of his little social stunts and has been his immediate Alpha ever since."
"Even though he is her Sire?" I asked as I gaped at Cu.
"There is a reason that Eli is oft teased for being obedient to his Mate's wishes," Cu said with a wave of one hand. "He is her Sire, yes, but she is his Alpha. She might differ to him as the Eldar at times however, as they say, she 'wears the pants' in their relationship. It is not as if he is overly bothered by the matter either."
"Alright, that makes sense," I jabbed a thumb in Janos' direction. "Save for the fact that I did not fight him outright."
"This is one of those instances where one did not need to be in the middle of a fight for this to happen," he said with a shrug as Janos looked up at us warily. "One; your Gift was due to show anyway and Janos was the outlet for it to do so. Two; he was issuing a challenge of a sort in trying to tell you to back down. Three; he attempted 'Nobilis Mortem' or 'Noble Suicide'. Even had the two of you broken into a fight, you would have won. Easily from what I can tell of his current attitude. A strong enough Alpha can stabilize and neutralize the suicidal tendencies of other vampires, for a time at least. He would need to be able to voice a reason that you would be able to accept to have beaten you and maintained his rank as your Alpha now that you are no longer a Queen Alpha."
Janos' wings twitched with shock and my eyes narrowed on him. I recalled one of the few conversations that we'd had over the centuries regarding those who had survived the initially raising of the Pillars and the subsequent silence from the Ancients 'God' and suddenly a few things made sense. The Ancients already had enough of a Clan-like nature to them that was only strengthened by the Vampiric Curse, enhancing the Alpha/Beta/Omega mentality that had existed in their culture. Janos and the others had used their Aura's, their strength as Alpha's, in order to prevent the immediate mass-suicide of their race. The others all eventually perished, giving into their sorrow and... and he and the others had understood and eventually refrained in stopping them... until he was the only Ancient left standing. Cu turned to my Sire abruptly.
"Eldar, can you offer up an acceptable argument to your Alpha for your actions?" he asked in a cold tone. "Actions that may very well have caused harm to those under your care and not just yourself?"
Janos shook his head meekly and looked down once more. He knew how much I cared for him and knew as well just how pissed I was by the feel of my Aura that he had put the others in the camp in danger.
"See? He knows his error and your own rage," Cu nodded to himself. "Not only that but he knows that he has an entire Clan-subset that regards him as family, who both rely upon him and wish to help him. He planned this well, separating from the Clan like this in order to try to carry out his intentions. He knew that any one of us would stop him."
Janos seemed to shrink in on himself the longer Cu spoke in a meticulous, cold tone. His wings furled about his form as if to hide himself from our combined ire. I rolled my shoulders slowly, my wings raising and beating at the air as I worked on calming my emotions. Finally I let out a heavy sigh and turned my back on the Eldar in a dismissive gesture.
"The people here yet need your skills as a healer Sire. You will remain with either myself or Cu whilst we are here," I said in a deadly-calm tone of voice. "After the area is secured, we will leave for home where you will speak the truth to your mind-healer, to Joan, to Vorador and most important of all to your Marked Mate Nikolai and from there you will remain with at least one of us at all times. I will not allow this to happen again! Am I understood?"
"I... understand Katrina," he said in a soft voice. "You..."
"I what?" I growled when he fell silent.
"You are disappointed with me," he whispered softly and I ran my hands through my hair as I spun about.
"Yes. Yes, I bloody well am," I moved to kneel in front of him and cupped his face in my hands. "You are my Sire now. You have become the Father of my heart and I care for you as if we were truly of the same blood. If my birth Father had a chance to know you, he would have been honored to have called you a friend I am sure. And you do not just have me. You have Vorador, your first Childe and your brightest. You have made dear friends amongst the Doctor's and my Birth Clan. Most important of all; you have Nikolai! Your Marked Mate! Did you think that no one would miss you? That we did not need you any longer? That I did not need you!?"
"My childe..." he started in a broken voice and I dropped my hands to his shoulders to given him a near-to-violent shake that cut him off.
"We love you, Sire," I continued in a softer voice and I knew that I was on the edge of tears. "We are here to help you. We always have been. Talk to us, let us help you. Please Sire... Father... stop shutting us out. Stop smiling those stupid false smiles... I..."
I closed my eyes as I fought against the need to cry and his arms were suddenly around me. He shuddered and trembled as I returned the tight hug. I wrapped my wings about us both and let out a small, trembly croon of sorrow. His trembling grew worse and I knew that he had started to cry. Wetness gathered on my shoulder and I let out a soothing croon as I brushed my fingers through his shorter hair. Cu extended his Aura around us both in a soothing wave to offer comfort, but he remained distant to allow us some privacy.
"Every... everything I believed in..." Janos started brokenly. "Everything we fought for... it was naught but a lie..."
"Don't you say that," I hissed softly as I pulled back and looked at his face. I had hoped...
"But the Elder God... the Wheel," his voice was broken. "Too much made sense..."
I closed my eyes again and let out a weak huff of breath. I had hoped against hope that he had not overheard one of my discussions with Kain regarding the false 'God' that was the parasite. Now those hopes were dashed like a child's dream and I knew that I would have to speak carefully or no amount of effort would keep him alive. He would eventually fall to his sense of grief and failure and the belief that all his efforts had been in vain... His faith had been the only thing to sustain him for centuries...
I straightened my shoulders and opened my eyes as I cupped his cheeks once more.
"Sire... Father, I need you to listen to me carefully," I said softly. He nodded weakly, tears trailing down his cheek to gather against my fingers. "Do you recall that day when we passed judgement against Cillian? Just nod if you do."
He nodded his head a second time.
"Good, good," I took a slow breath and plunged on. I needed to give him some sort of foundation to stand on if he was to heal. "I spoke about the Wheel, remember? How the Ancients believed in it, how you believed in it and how it was real, yes?"
"But the Elder-" I touched my thumbs to his lips to silence him and he blinked blearily at me.
"Parasite," I said softly. "A parasite infected Nosgoth's Wheel and perverted it. A parasite claimed God-hood in order to feast upon the natural Wheel, but that does not mean that the Wheel itself is not real."
"But then war-!" he cried out in a broken tone. I hushed him and drew him close once more, held tight and safe in my arms and wings.
"Even if you had known the truth, it would not have stopped the war," I said softly. "You might even have been slain if you had known and spoken out."
"But that means that everything I have done was for nothing my Childe..." he whispered.
"Not so. Not so. Nosgoth is a clever and stubborn and vicious old girl," I said firmly as I placed my forehead against his. My words earned a weak chuckle of breath from him and I smiled. "She developed her own way to fight the parasite. You remember what you've learned about red and white blood-cells, platelets and the like, yes? The bodies natural defenses?"
"Yes... I follow you," he murmured weakly, looking confused but listening as his healers training forced him to follow my logic.
"Good," I took another slow breath and plunged on. "Nosgoth's natural defenses were subverted, but she managed to develop a greater defense in the vampiric curse. Human's are short-lived and without proper documentation, or even with it, they would not be able to continue the fight. Hylden and Ancient are both longer lived naturally, but only by a century or two originally. With the Vampiric Curse, those who survived have long-term existences to fight a long-term foe and could thus work toward two major factors to fight the infection; the Soul Reaver and the Scion."
"Were those not lies as well?" he murmured and I flicked his ear with one claw.
"Stop assuming anything and let me finish," I said firmly and he winced like an errant fledge. "The Soul Reaver and the Scion are Nosgoth's goal. They never existed for the Parasite to use to his advantage."
"The Scion... Raziel?" he asked hesitantly and I shook my head with a small smile.
"Raziel is the Soul of the Reaver," I said softly. "Kain is the Scion of Balance. Both are the agents of Nosgoth and her last line of defense against the Parasite."
"I... truly?" he asked in that broken voice. I nodded and rubbed his cheeks lightly with my thumbs.
"Truly Father," I said and I kissed his forehead before standing. "Your efforts have aided them both even if you were kept unawares. Remember your time being possessed. That particular Hylden was an ally to the Parasite and if you had known the truth of Kain and Raziel, then it would have learned the truth then. Even though you are only learning this now, you did help the Scion and the parasite will not win. Stand up and stand proud Father, please. You did not fail Nosgoth and the true Wheel."
"So many lives..." he said as he allowed me to pull him to his feet.
"Don't," I said softly as I clasped his taloned hands tightly in my own. "Don't let their sacrifice, knowing or not, be in vain Father. You have always heard me say that the best vengeance is to live and to live well, to thrive despite the actions of ones enemies, yes?"
"If you take your own life," Cu said suddenly, "then the parasite wins and Nosgoth looses another son, even though you now live on Gaia. Deny that cancerous beast such a victory. Believe in the stubborn old woman that chose you for your task and the young one that has accepted you with open arms and wings when you arrived here on Gaia's soil and her open skies. You did your duty and did it well Eldar. You deserve the peace and love and family that Gaia offers you. Not death."
"I... I..." Janos swallowed roughly and, while I knew that we had not fully swayed him with our words, we had at least got him thinking. "I will... try. Thank you... for your kind words... both of you..."
He visibly shook himself and then let out a sigh that shuddered with weariness and sorrow. He straightened his shoulders when the sounds of the camp grew louder with almost joyous excitement and he glanced at the entryway of the cavern. He swallowed again and looked back to me, eyes haunted yet thoughtful.
"We... we have the injured and ill to tend to first... yes?" he asked softly and I nodded.
"We do. You have work to do still," I smiled gently. "Let us assist your friends and then go from there, one step at a time yes?"
"As you say my Childe," he said softly and we started for the caves opening.
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