Rex [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczNWcHmBMxZtlludVfAB77NNnAeXWJI4cHlcoozF9nD1ECFpO933o6IkI7bWrQFJXVbBXB7yAPPlDAKSVsgHTb4kd-a_gyOxWBC5q17u3iMY_gXDhMdXU9bE_AqlQLQ0qZxNDh_sHaCcyfrZ4c5BOSkM=w613-h919-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Uriel felt lighter than he had in longer than he could remember. With yet another person sitting beside him to support the weight of his worries and fears, the reassurance that maybe he wasn’t completely irredeemable grew a bit stronger. Maybe it wasn’t just a fluke with Dazien or part of the job like with Jacob.
Despite Dazien obviously being angry and hurt by his actions, the man didn’t let go of his hand as they sat on the couch and listened to Phoenix reiterate what he had revealed. Just that simple contact was enough to let him know that his partner would forgive him… eventually.
Rex was now manifested, lounging in front of the fire with Tala perched atop his antlered lion head, and Bliss happily using him as a backrest while finishing off the last cookie. The golden wings of the Avatar of Sovereignty playfully brushed against Bliss’ black ones as Tala preened her silver-speckled wings atop her indulgent throne.
He knew Bliss wasn’t his Familiar –she was connected more to Chriss in that way and was a Caster in her own right– but she was part of his past and had shared a lot of his experiences. For the moment, he could pretend that the feathered trio reflected him and his friends sitting on the sofa.
Uriel watched Daze nod along with Phoenix’s account of events before finally saying, “Thank you, Phoenix.”
“For what?”
“Reacting far better than I did, for one. I know I have my own issues around trust but I’m glad you were able to put that aside to reassure him that he’s not the monster he continually claims to be,” the gemite stated with a pointed look towards him.
“And I still think you’re both biased on that account,” the mage grumbled but didn’t press further as he asked, “Did I miss answering any other questions?”
“Um,” Phoenix began but hesitated.
“I’ll tell you if it’s something that makes me uncomfortable,” he said, “That’s how I managed to get through this with Daze before.”
She nodded and traced one of the runes scared into the flesh of his arm, “Did these happen while you were captive?”
“Yes,” he said, “My body wasn’t ready to accept Aspects when I first arrived. For months they carved these into me over and over to try and get them to imprint upon my soul. I know you recognize some of them, if not all.”
She tilted her head again in confirmation as she traced one and said, “Fire,” then traced more as she identified them, “Ice, Storm, Potent, Blight, Vast, Destruction… Why did they do this? Just to be cruel?”
“That might have been part of it but the High Priest there told me it was in an effort to direct my powers once my body was ready for them,” he explained, “I honestly don’t know if it truly had any effect or not. Could just be a superstition but they seemed to believe it worked.”
“How could anyone even stomach doing something like that to another person?” the Wayfarer said in disgust.
He shared a look with Dazien who looked away slightly as they both recalled the Defender’s poor reaction to what they both knew he was about to say, “You eventually become numb to it. It’s hardest at first when they’re begging you to stop hurting them but you just keep telling yourself that not obeying would be worse.”
Phoenix stared at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw as she processed the fact that he had tortured people in turn. “They made you do that to others?” she tried clarifying.
“What would you have done?” Dazien asked her in his stead, “Your family being held as leverage, lacking any power to stop them from hurting your loved ones instead.”
She frowned and fell silent for a moment before admitting, “I don’t know. I don’t think I can know unless I was forced to actually make that choice. I guess whatever I thought was the lesser evil at the time.”
Uriel squeezed her hand, “For me, that was choosing to hurt my older friend instead of my little sister.”
“What happened to your sister? You told me about your parents, but you’ve never mentioned your sister to me.”
He glanced towards Bliss, whose ears drooped again in sorrow and guilt while a taloned hand brushed up against the ribbon she wore in her mane, and he tried to explain, “Bliss had become friends with her after my parents died and we were separated more from each other. When the Adventurers arrived and started killing a lot of people, she panicked and tried to get Eirlys and Faelyn to safety instead. I thought they had died, but they were re-captured by the cult in the process of fleeing the island we were on.”
“So they both stayed trapped with them?” she asked with a horrified look.
“For a few more years. I found out only about two years ago that Eirlys still died during that time. Faelyn survived, though. She and Bliss were rescued by Chriss’ party and brought back to Tulimeir. Chriss helped make sure Faelyn got adopted by a nice family.”
“Well, at least there was one happier ending,” Phoenix murmured.
“Two,” Dazien said, squeezing his hand again, “Uriel made his way to me, which I considered a happy ending to that tragic tale.”
“Three!” chirped the muffled chimera who had lazily flopped face down over Rex’s back with her own massive wings fully stretched to either side, “Chriss caught a Bliss!”
Phoenix snorted a laugh and nodded in agreement with both points as she smiled at him, “Definitely a good turning point. Does that make King’s Dream the sequel?”
The two men laughed, and Uriel said, “After all we’ve been through? We’re definitely in some kind of anthology at this point. Too many crazy things have happened around us.”
Phoenix joined in their laughter, then noted, “I kinda wish Saiya and Rayna were here. They’re both part of this too… Would you– Do you think it would be okay to tell them? I think we can trust them with this, Uriel.”
“I’ve tried telling him that as well but he seems convinced Rayna will attack him and Saiya will try to somehow cleanse it,” Dazien said with a roll of his eyes.
“I don’t think the marks work like that,” she said in confusion.
“They don’t,” the gemite stated with a flat look towards the mage.
“I don’t think either of them will be thrilled,” Uriel grumbled.
“Are you kidding? I bet twenty Bits that Rayna says it’s awesome,” Phoenix replied with a laugh, “She’s a Shatter Bard. I’m half surprised she’s looking into Rebel’s clergy instead of Destroyer’s if that’s actually an option.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Please don’t give her any ideas,” Dazien bemoaned.
Uriel noted a taloned thumbs up in Bliss’ direction and contemplated the idea once more. This time forcing himself to consider the possibility of the best outcome and if that was something he wanted. Having more friends that he could rely on and not struggle with hiding his secrets would be nice and make life a bit easier… but it also could fracture his party irreparably. Plus, each new person who knew meant it became more likely that his secrets get slipped to someone else.
“I…” he paused as the pair turned to him, “I might be open to telling them, but Patricia wasn’t wrong about the risks if someone we can’t trust learns about my Soul Mark. Do you think they won’t tell someone by accident? What if Rayna says something to Mohala or Saiya asks another Priest for advice or something?”
“Hold up,” Dazien interjected, “What risks did Pati talk to you about? Last I spoke with her about you she told me that she knew of your titles but seemed resigned to managing any risks with you staying with me. I told her I wouldn’t join her house if it would be a problem.”
Uriel frowned, uncertain if he should reveal his experience but he knew that Daze was sharp and he didn’t want to lie to his partner. With a sigh, he said, “She asked me to leave. She said she wouldn’t force me to but if I truly cared for you both and your futures, then I should leave before I destroy it.”
Dazien’s face twisted in rage as he abruptly stood, “That manipulative spawn of a–”
“She’s not wrong, Daze,” he interjected.
“She was wrong to go behind my back and play to your fears!” the Defender shouted, starting to make his way toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Phoenix called after the gemite.
“To call her out and make her apologize and swear to never do that again or so help me I will do something she doesn’t want me to.”
Orebela was in the way of the door before any of them could finish blinking as she said in their minds, “Little King is angry and not thinking clearly. Wayland would be displeased by a rash attempt at chivalry.”
“She deceived me and almost convinced Uriel to run away from us! I will not let that slide!”
“I agree,” Phoenix spoke up, then added, “But maybe Bela’s right, and we shouldn’t just go scream at her right now. She’ll probably use the ‘I’m an adult and you’re emotional children’ card if we just yell at her…”
That seemed to make the Defender pause, running a hand through his hair in frustration as he began to calm down and admit, “You’re right. We need a more unified front. A plan of attack.”
“We’re not going to attack her, Daze,” Uriel argued, “She’s Emerald Caste, combatant or not, she could easily defeat us.”
“No, I meant a verbal attack. We need to show her that she cannot manipulate us like little children who are being taught how to play nicely. We’re not pawns for her to play with because she believes she knows what’s best.”
“I liked that ‘unified front’ idea,” Phoenix added with a grin, “I vote we convince Saiya and Rayna to help us too. You said you were open to telling them, Uriel. If we can show Pati that we’re not afraid of whatever people might say about us, then she has no reason to try to fight it. You said she was concerned about your connection with the Destroyer being used against us. We’ll show her that we’re not afraid of that.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed with that approach, but once again, he had found himself making many poor choices in that regard. Maybe it would be better if he relied on his friends to help decide who should know in this regard.
Uriel realized now that if he wanted to stay with them, he needed to trust them more instead of giving in to his fears.
“Okay,” he said quietly, and both of them stared at him in surprise, “But I want you to help me tell them. I, um, I kinda snapped at Saiya yesterday when she pressed me about this… I don’t think she’ll want to see me again so soon after the way I treated her.”
Dazien’s expression softened as the Defender reassured him, “Don’t worry. We’ll be right beside you and I can do the talking if you’d prefer.”
“I think we both prefer that,” Phoenix said with a laugh.
----------------------------------------
“Well, that explains all the brooding. But honestly, how badass is that?” Rayna said, and Phoenix grinned at the bard.
She turned to Uriel and said smugly, “You owe me twenty Bits.”
They had decided to utilize Bliss’ mental connection with Chriss and have the noblewoman convince Rayna to join them in Daze’s room, hoping to take what they considered to be the easier one to convince first. Potentially a more strategic move to bolster their numbers before trying to mend the rift between the Mage and Healer.
Rayna currently sat in a chair, munching a cookie the chimera had secreted away, as Uriel showed his Soul Mark while Dazien explained more eloquently than either of them felt they could.
Phoenix felt pleased that she had accurately predicted the bard’s response. Knowing that –much like with her own secrets– the pugilist would be excited about the potential challenges rather than afraid of them.
“So why only tell me?” the voxen asked curiously, “Saiya’s great at keeping secrets, too, you know. We haven’t told anyone about Phoenix’s quest or Talent.”
“Apparently, she and Uriel got into an argument yesterday, and we didn’t want that to negatively affect your own reaction,” Dazien explained.
“That explains why she’s been all mopey today. What exactly did you two argue about?”
Uriel got an annoyed expression on his face as he said, “It was stupid. She was trying to make me feel better, and I snapped at her. Told her to quit reading my emotions like she could actually help it. She made me realize how selfish I’m being by not leaving and making you all deal with my baggage.”
To their surprise, Rayna asked, “Wait, she told you she was reading your emotions? And told you to leave too?”
“She kept saying I was lying. Told me she could sense my guilt and fear, which she wasn’t wrong, but getting it thrown in my face like that just– I got angry.”
“That doesn’t sound like her at all,” Phoenix said with concern, “Either you were really worrying her more than normal, or something else was going on. She’s never pushed me like that before, and she had plenty of reasons to.”
Dazien frowned as well and suggested, “Why don’t we ask Chriss to send her down and ask then?”
Hesitantly, Uriel agreed and added, “She wasn’t necessarily wrong, though. It is selfish–”
“Stop that,” Phoenix scolded, taking the cinderen’s hand again and finding comfort in his familiar warmth, “Don’t make me sic Priest Jacob on you about how ‘taking care of our needs isn’t selfish.’ He’s been cramming that one down my throat recently yet somehow making me feel grateful about it. It’s so confusing with him sometimes how he can make me feel both happy and sad at the same time.”
Dazien chuckled, “He’s pretty good at his job, and both of you should listen to him more. I’m fairly certain I have him to thank for Uriel eventually gaining the courage to confess his feelings for me.”
“Wait, Uriel was the one to confess first?” Rayna asked incredulously, “This Uriel? The one who hides his feelings from everyone?”
The Defender gave a teasing smirk, “I guess I’m just that incredible.”
“He kept trying to call me his brother,” Uriel interjected with a roll of his eyes, “It made me feel like I was lying to him by not admitting that I’d rather be his lover than his brother. I thought it might make him leave me, but that might have been easier to live with at the time than feeling like our entire relationship was built around a lie of omission.”
“So, how exactly did you confess?” Phoenix asked curiously, “Are love letters a thing in this world? I saw that often enough in some anime. Seemed like a nice and convenient way to not go through the awkwardness of telling them to their face and getting rejected.”
The Wayfarer raised a brow as both men seemed to get tense and flush in embarrassment while not meeting her gaze, “What? Did I say something weird?”
“No,” Dazien replied hesitantly, “It’s just… it was a bit more… well, intimate than an innocent letter.”
Rayna gave a little squeal, “Ooh, sounds spicy. Did he finally just have enough and ravage the King?”
Dazien raised a brow at her, “Are you seriously trying to ‘picture all that muscle’ again?”
“Oh, ew, no. Why you gotta go ruin my little romance setting like that?”
“Ask awkward questions, get awkward answers,” the Defender replied, then gave his familiar smirk, “Why don’t we get Saiya to join us now so she can hopefully reign in your self-destructive curiosity.”