Chapter 569: Family Meeting
Stryg bowed his head and took long steadying breaths. He cursed silently to himself. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking. The cold sensation of chaos spread from his twin heart and seeped into his bones. Confronting his heritage and Loh was difficult enough without his elemental mana reacting violently. The last thing he needed right now was for the chaos to cloud his mind and repeat the incident at the Katag’s manor.
Why was this so hard?
Holo had warned him that his body had reached a critical point of sorts; his heart had grown strong enough to contain an ocean of chaos comparable to the titans of old. Apparently, that included the chaos being attuned to his damn mental state. Chromatic mana was nothing like this, it required a lack of emotion to produce the greatest of spellcasting. Emotions like anger could amplify chromatic spellcasting, but it could only go so far.
Stryg couldn’t even rely on anger for his chaos, it was too volatile, he’d lose what little control he had managed to grasp.
He clenched his fist tightly. He needed to get this under control.
Narrow scarlet fingers reached out and wrapped around his hand. He looked up to see Tauri staring at him. “Are you alright?” she whispered.
Trying not to let my own chaos accidentally kill someone, he wanted to say, but the worried look in her eye gave him pause. He did his best to try and smile. “I’m fine.”
Stryg caught Loh’s concerned gaze past Tauri’s silhouette. Loh looked away as soon as their eyes met.
A plethora of emotions surged within him. Some part of him was bitter, angry from all the lies. But another part of him wanted to rush over to Loh and hug her. He was relieved she had survived the attacks at Undergrowth and Hollow Shade. Ever since he had seen her in the council meeting he had wanted to speak to her.
There were so many things he wanted to share with her about his journey ever since he left Undergrowth. He wanted to know how she was holding up after the death of Elzri. But their relationship had changed. And the bitter taste in his mouth reminded him of that.
He was reminded of his mother. Aurelia had kept secrets from his entire life. He held resentment for what she had done. And yet all he wanted to do now was tell her that he loved her, but he couldn’t. She hadn’t awoken from her coma. All he could do was watch her sleep and think of all the things he wished he had said.
Stryg took a deep breath and instead of holding on to his anger and pain, he forced himself to look at his own heart. The truth was he didn’t want Loh to feel alone. She had hurt him, but despite his anger he still cared for her.
How could feelings be so complicated? How could a person hate someone and worry about them at the same time? How could someone be such a contradiction?
Stryg sighed to himself. He didn’t know if he could forgive Loh, but he knew he cared for her. And maybe for right now, that was enough.
The roiling chaos within him slowed its erratic flow and retreated back into his heart.
The doors to the room swung open and Unalla rushed in, breathing hard. “Sorry, I’m late. I got here as quickly as I could.” She bowed, “Lady Holo. Lady Melantha.”
Holo waved her off. “Enough with the formalities, you may call me grandmother, we are among friends and family.”
Unalla noticed the strange gathering of people and faltered in her step.
“Take a seat, child,” said Holo.
Unalla nodded uncertainly and sat between her parents.
Holo clapped her hands together and smiled. “George isn’t here yet, but I’m sure Dolores can fill him in later.”
Loh’s mother ardently, “Of course, Lady Holo.”
“Good. Now, I think we are ready to begin.” Holo looked around the room, her gaze growing serious. “I’m sure we are all still recovering from the attack on our city, but the true enemy is not Marek nor the Valley Tribes. Our enemy is someone far older and more powerful. You may know our enemy as the Monster in the Dark. The realm knows him as Caligo. But her real name— is Ananta, daughter of Love, Queen of the Titans.”
~~~
Stryg watches as his sister divulged the secrets of the ancient goddess to the room. At first, Dolores seemed confused, then with every word Holo spoke her face paled more in terror.
Loh seemed like she wanted to speak up on multiple occasions, but every time the scarlet-haired vampiress standing behind her touched Loh’s shoulder and shook her head subtly. Loh glanced at her with a furrowed brow, but in the end, she relented and held her tongue.
After Holo finished it was Unalla who spoke first. “So Lunae is with us, Bellum is at least not against us, though we don’t know even where the war goddess has been the last decade. And Stjerne? Where is the god of stars? Shouldn’t he care about what’s happening in the realm?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” said Holo wryly.
“I know he abandoned our people the drows, but surely he wouldn’t abandon the entire Ebon Realm. He is still the patron of humans living in this realm, isn’t he?” asked Unalla.
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“We don’t know where Stjerne is or where his allegiance lies,” admitted Holo.
“Stjerne is my father.” Melantha smacked Holo’s arm with the back of her hand, “He is our father, the Calamity of Death.”
Unalla swallowed. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”
“Death goes by many names; the Traveler, Stjerne. The Blood Sovereign, Mortem… After the Mortem Order fell, let’s just say we haven’t been on speaking terms,” said Melantha.
Holo scoffed, “That’s putting it lightly.”
“The point is we can’t rely on Stjerne for any help,” said Melantha.
“You’re lying…” Unalla jumped to her feet. “You’re lying!”
Melantha cocked her head to the side. “What part would I be lying about?”
Unalla ran her hands through her hair. “Grandmother… I knew you were a titan, I knew you were a goddess, but you never told me… all of this.”
Una grabbed her daughter’s hand. “Sit down.”
She shook her off. “No! You and Dad always skirted around Grandma’s true nature. I never understood why. But now I do.” Unalla pointed an accusing finger at Holo, “We’ve traveled across the Null Realms ever since I can remember, and in all that time the few stories about the Calamities we heard across the world were all the same. They are walking Calamities! Wide-scale destruction is always left in their wake!”
“You know little of what you speak, child. The Calamities are far more complex than that,” said Holo.
“Am I wrong?! We’ve walked through entire cities left in nothing but ruin. Even centuries after their destruction I could still taste the twisted energies in the air. You once told me the Calamities were Aleriune’s vengeance let loose upon the world. Was that a lie?”
Holo said nothing, only stared at her with the calm expression of age.
Unalla shook her head angrily. “This is why you never told me, isn’t it?”
Stryg couldn’t help but smile to himself. At least there was someone here who understood what he had felt when they had told him the truth. Anger. Betrayal. The desire to claw out someone’s face.
“We didn’t tell you because you would react poorly,” sighed Una.
Unalla glared at her mother. “Father was born a Thorn. His family ruled Hollow Shade with an iron fist, they killed thousands who stood against them! Was I supposed to feel happy about that!?”
“I’m sorry,” Atlas whispered sympathetically.
Unalla shook her head, “At least I knew that my mother was a Noir, they helped overthrow the Thorns.”
“The Noir and Thorns both have the blood of countless on their hands, innocents and guilty alike. No House can avoid that if they wish to stay in power for centuries,” said Holo coldly. “That is the way of the world. I know you desire to do well, and that fire burns deep within you, but you must be able to look past it and see the world for what it truly is if you wish to help more than those in front of you.”
“So this is our legacy…?” Unalla muttered. “I am the descendant of a Calamity. How much blood is on your hands, grandmother?’
“More than I’d like,” Holo’s voice broke. “But that does not define you.”
“How can you be so sure?” Unalla whispered in a broken voice. “The nature of titan hybrids is hereditary, right? Dad is like you. So aren’t you like your own father as well? Doesn’t that make me like him too?”
“You’re right,” said Stryg. “No matter what you do, Death’s blood will always flow through your veins. It affects you… Even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself.” He brushed the Veres signet ring on his index finger, “That doesn’t mean you are him. You are Unalla of the Great House of Noir, you get to choose who that person will be.”
“How would you know?” Unalla said skeptically.
He met her gaze calmly. “Because I am Stjerne’s son.”
“Bullshit,” she scoffed.
When no one responded, Unalla's expression slowly gave way to unbridled disbelief, a look shared by Loh.
Unalla glanced between Stryg and Holo, “So you and my grandmother…?”
“She is my sister, or so I am told.”
Holo grinned, “Believe it or not, you and your uncle Stryg are more alike than you think.”
“Don’t call him that,” Unalla frowned.
Holo walked over and held her hands. “Sweetheart, I’m only telling you all of this because I trust you’re strong enough to handle it. Show me I wasn’t wrong.”
“...Okay.” Unalla nodded hesitantly and sat back down.
Holo looked around the group, “Why don’t we take a break for dinner, hm?”
~~~
Stryg leaned over the balcony, watching the sunset over the horizon. The breeze wisped past his hair and pointed ears. It carried the taste of ash. He wondered how many houses had burned down in the siege.
A knock on the wall behind caught his attention. He didn’t bother to turn around, her familiar footsteps had given her away.
“Can we talk?” asked Loh.
“Mm,” he grunted softly.
Loh walked over and rested her elbows on the balcony, a few inches beside him. She glanced at him, looked away, glanced again, and finally settled her gaze over the city. “You didn’t eat much at dinner.”
“I didn’t have much of an appetite.”
“That’s a first,” she laughed weakly.
“...Yeah, it’s becoming more common I suppose.” He wondered if it was just his appetite or if titans simply ate less. Did gods even need to eat? He didn’t know.
“I’m sorry… for everything,” Loh whispered.
Stryg sighed. “I know.”
“I know I can never make up for what I did to you, but—”
Stryg held up his hand. “Can we just… stay here like this? Just for a little while?”
Loh nodded and smiled hesitantly.
The city sprawled over the horizon, the now-pale walls of the city lined the horizon. What once was a symbol of fear and power had become a symbol of their defeat. And yet as the sun’s rays leaked through the magestone, Stryg couldn’t help but think it was beautiful.
“I’m happy for you,” Loh broke the silence. “You and Tauri I mean.”
“Really? I thought you’d be angry.”
“What gave you that idea?”
“You’d always get pissed whenever you caught me staring at Tauri’s ass.”
“Okay, maybe I’m a little angry,” she chuckled, then exhaled softly. “There is so little happiness in this world. We need to hold onto what little we have.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“When I saw the way Tauri looked at you back there… it was the same way she used to look at my brother. She loves you, Stryg, even if she’ll never say it.” Loh closed her eyes and let the breeze sweep over her. “...I already got in the way of her happiness once, I’m not going to do it again.”
“Loh, I—” Stryg frowned and leaned over the balcony. “Is that…?” He narrowed his eyes.
Gale was marching over to the manor. A cloaked figure by her side, though the long silver hair trailing behind her gave her away.