T. A. Star
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44 - Crossroads
🕑 Added 2024-07-19 00:00:03 +0000 UTC
As Saiya slowly opened the door to Dazien’s room and peeked inside, she was further dismayed by the sight that matched the emotions she was sensing. Bliss had come to retrieve her from the party, claiming more cookies were needed before disappearing towards the kitchens while she had made her way upstairs to her awaiting companions.
Rayna oddly seemed excited while the rest were giving off waves of apprehension, fear, and hope. The fact that they were apparently awaiting her arrival did not bode well. She entered the room fully, closing the door behind her as she asked with drooping ears and tucked tails, “Is this an intervention?”
Phoenix laughed while the others looked more confused. The Wayfarer said, “No, but also slightly yes. Come over here and talk.”
Saiya made her way slowly to the only empty chair left, but instead of sitting, she turned to face Uriel and said, “I’m sorry for how I behaved yesterday. I let my own emotions get the better of me and pushed you beyond your level of comfort without even asking if that was something you wanted.”
The cinderen watched her in surprise before saying, “Thanks for apologizing. I probably could have handled that better myself, though. I got angry and yelled when I probably should have tried explaining myself better or left a bit sooner.”
“I’m still confused about why you actually confronted someone like that,” Rayna said, sitting on the edge of the large chair opposite the empty one, “You know how people usually react to that. Remember all the problems we ran into in Viimeinen?”
“I know,” Saiya whined, clutching her dress in her small-clawed hands, “But I read in one of my new books that confronting your feelings and admitting there’s a problem is one of the first steps to recovery, and I just thought… just a little… nudge might help Uriel open up a bit more…”
Dazien snorted a laugh, and the others turned to glare at him. He held up his hands defensively and quickly said, “Not laughing at her! Sorry, just picturing anyone trying to force Uriel into revealing his weaknesses struck me as funny. I’ve seen others try and it did not end well. That was also one of the first things Priest Jacob told me not to attempt.”
She frowned at that, thinking back to what the mind mender had told her before. Then she slowly admitted, “He did tell me to be patient…”
“For good reason,” the Defender continued, “I know you’re aware that Uriel was captured by bandits before getting sold off to a cult where his family was killed. Did he ever mention the first thing the cult did to him, though?”
Saiya finally took her seat as she shook her head in the negative.
“They found out all of his weaknesses,” the gemite explained, “Interrogated him for weeks about every little detail of his life while carving those runes into him. All without ever telling him why.”
The voxen looked over at her quietest friend with wide eyes. Then she said in confusion, “But… you told Phoenix to let Dazien ask… to show trust.”
Uriel nodded slowly, “Jacob helped me get over a lot, but I meant what I said. Once I realized I truly trusted Daze, I wanted to answer his questions. It’s a bit different when someone comes up to you and begins demanding information that you didn’t want to offer.”
The cinderen nodded towards her, “You were the one to say that boundaries were healthy and should be maintained. Why did you change your mind about that?”
She frowned again, wrapping her tails around her in a self-hug as she said, “I was reading about breaking through our limitations by pushing beyond our boundaries… It ties into how we cultivate our abilities too.”
Phoenix spoke up then, “That sounds right but I think that might be more for our personal journeys, right? You can’t cultivate my abilities for me.”
The smaller voxen gave a sigh, “Yes, I had just hoped to help, and it backfired worse than you drinking those evil recoil potions.”
“Hey, I lived!”
“Not the second time,” Rayna pointed out with a grin.
Saiya turned back to Uriel as she said sincerely, “I really am sorry for pushing like that. I won’t do it again. I’ll be patient instead of trying to drag all of you on my journey with me.”
“I think that’s not something we’re necessarily against joining you in, though,” said Dazien as he leaned forward from his place on the sofa to squeeze her furred hand, “Uriel finally pushed himself forward, and I think we’re all ready to journey together.”
“Are all these Traveler metaphors going to be a constant thing now whenever we talk with Sai?” Rayna asked with a huff causing the others to laugh.
“Probably,” Phoenix assured, “And I think it’s time to take another step forward.”
Saiya raised an eyebrow at that, slightly confused until Dazien got a bit more of a serious tone and the wave of apprehension returned, “We didn’t call you down just to force you and Uriel to reconcile. Uriel’s decided to put his faith in us, you included.”
“I’m offering to answer questions now,” the mage clarified, giving a sad smile, “But there are some things you should know before you start asking.”
She slowly nodded in understanding, glad to be trusted but confused by everyone’s nervousness, until Uriel pulled back a sleeve and showed her a mark of Favor that left her speechless. Uriel was a Chosen of the Destroyer, chosen to spread calamity, chaos, and death.
Her own emotions continued to rise as Dazien took over the discussion to help Uriel explain what had happened in his past. The terrible choices he had been forced to make. The rage and terror and despair that had been his constant companions. His behavior made more sense when she understood better that he was conditioned to destroy everything.
“You can help him walk a kinder path,” the gentle voice of the Traveler whispered within her, “He’s asking for your support to avoid the worst, not cause it.”
When silence fell, and Uriel refused to meet her eyes, she finally said, “Before I ask any questions, I want to say thank you for helping me understand things better. I can see why you got angry and why you were afraid before.”
The cinderen finally looked at her, searching for the rejection that his tremor of fear let her know was still there.
“I want to help you,” she reiterated, “I know you don’t want to hurt us. That you want to be a good person.”
He gave a small smile as he nodded, “Yeah, I do.”
“Then I guess the only question I really have is: how can I help?”
That simple phrase helped wash away the remaining fear and trepidation that had been present in her party members and it helped her breathe easier in relief. The tremor of happiness and excitement coming from the other side of the door prompted her to ask, “Actually, second question, were we expecting more company?”
She could feel Phoenix extend that four-layered aura before promptly hopping up from the sofa and saying, “Oh! Bliss is back with the cookies!”
“They’re not as good as Uriel’s Best Cookies,” Rayna complained, “But cookies are still cookies and great for secret-revealing parties.”
Bliss literally flew across the room when the door opened. The tiny winged kitten with the head-end of a snake for a tail landed on her lap before impossibly opening the snake end’s oddly bird-beaked mouth wide enough to pull out an even wider platter piled high with a variety of cookies.
“Is that sanitary?” the healer asked more out of curiosity than disgust. She had seen grosser things, and powers came in all manner of weirdness.
Phoenix grinned and snagged a few of the cookies, “Turns out Bliss’ stomach doubles as a dimensional storage space. I was so confused every time I saw her eating things that were definitely not food until she helped explain that one.”
“I swear she’s using it to get more treats out of me,” Uriel said with a chuckle.
“I need snacks for later, too!” the kitten replied with utmost seriousness before shifting again into her humanoid form.
Saiya felt the chimera snuggle up to her, then wrapped them both up in soft wings like a set of oversized down comforters. The cookie platter was handed off to sit in her lap as Bliss took four cookies off the plate with taloned hands, and the chimera gave one to Uriel and one to Dazien.
“One for treat-transporter King and one for treat-cooker Uriel means two for Bliss!” the shapeshifter declared, then bit into one of the cookies while the snake-headed tail moved to make sure Rayna also had one as Saiya lifted her own.
The others laughed as Dazien said, “I knew you only saw us as snack sources!”
“Well, you both spoil her,” Phoenix pointed out, “I see she also thinks you count as part of Uriel. I told her she could only have as many cookies as he ate.”
“We are different people!” the gemite said incredulously towards the chimera, “Why would you think we count as the same?!”
The child-like Sapphire Caster shrugged, readjusting the bow in her mane, and said, “Smells same. Especially after waking up.”
There was a beat of silence as they all processed that, and the two men flushed in embarrassment while the women howled with laughter.
Phoenix was feeling nervous but determined as her party made its way to Patricia’s new study at the World Tree. All of them had stayed up rather late into the night talking and asking questions. Feeling closer as a group of friends and companions while learning to trust and communicate better.
Bliss had left earlier when called back by Chriss and, eventually, the party ended up in Phoenix’s more adaptable nebula bed as they continued talking while wrapped in blankets and Saiya’s tranquil aura until it was morning.
They didn’t need to sleep every night, the Sapphires even less so than she and Uriel did. Their happiness of finally shedding secrets and the deluge of information they were sorting through had kept them all awake.
King’s Dream had all agreed on this next course of action: confronting Patricia about trying to control them.
Phoenix was grateful for Saiya’s presence as the healer was usually better about keeping a cool head, the recent experiment-turned-argument aside. She was most worried about Dazien, however.
The gemite had seemed ready to go to war with the politician the night before and she couldn’t even blame him for it. The idea that Pati had made Uriel believe that it would be right for him to abandon the group… to leave his partner and best friend –which was totally her now– was both unbelievable yet seemingly inevitable.
She knew her aunt was a shrewd politician and cared most about her family, House Wayland, but she hadn’t realized just how far the woman was willing to go to try and protect them from their own choices. It was like the craftier version of Paul ordering her not to fight before the Soul Reaper’s assault.
They all filed into the room Patricia was currently in, sorting through papers on a large desk and tapping at a glowing glass screen that looked like a futuristic computer tablet to the Wayfarer.
As the door slid shut automatically behind them –also more futuristic than Phoenix was used to seeing in this world– the runeforged gave them all one look before giving a heavy sigh, admitting to them, “I see I made a mistake.”
“You think?” Dazien snarled, and Saiya put a hand on his arm. He relaxed slightly, taking a deep breath he didn’t need, before saying in a much more controlled voice, “I believe we’ve come to a crossroads, Ambassador Wayland. See, I was under the impression that you accepted Uriel as my partner despite being Chosen by the Destroyer…”
Patricia’s gaze swept over them, calculating and observant, as the Defender continued, “I’m sure you can understand my confusion and anger at learning you went behind my back and tried convincing my partner to leave me and my party for the sake of House Wayland’s reputation.”
“If you all know Uriel is a follower of the Destroyer, a god that is represented in the Voidsworn Syndicate, then you also know that I am right and justified in my actions to distance our family from him,” the runeforged tried to explain.
“I do not follow that evil god,” Uriel corrected, and Phoenix was proud that he had managed to speak in his own defense, “Like Phoenix doesn’t follow any of the deities that chose her. I made no vow. Destroyer doesn’t whisper to me.”
“It seems like you didn’t trust your brother as much as you told me you did,” Dazien added coldly, then said with complete certainty, “Uriel will not bring shame upon House Wayland.”
Patricia sighed again, this time leaning back in her chair, “His actions won’t matter in this regard. People don’t care about reasons or nuance. They’ll see the Heir of House Wayland is besotted with a Chosen of the Destroyer and make assumptions.”
“Hey, I am not besotted,” Phoenix protested. She had no idea why Pati would think that she felt like that towards her best friend… Sure, she had fallen asleep on him once or twice, but that was because he was warm!
The runeforged rolled her eyes, “Not you. You’re the Regent at the moment, remember? That makes Dazien –your brother– the newest Heir to you.”
“Oh,” she said, scrunching her nose, “Have I mentioned how much I hate politics before?”
“Does noble hierarchy count as politics?” Rayna asked curiously, “I thought that was more about inheritance, really.”
Dazien held out an arm to interrupt their tangent as he said to his new aunt, “This is the crossroads we find ourselves at, Ambassador Wayland. I don’t care what false assumptions people make about me or my party. I can’t.”
The gemite then held up a long lock of his hair as he said, “I learned long ago that people will always make assumptions. Many will concoct a version of reality that fits their own worldview and biases no matter what evidence is given to the contrary. That doesn’t mean I need to bow to those false beliefs.”
He released his hair and took another step forward, “If you can’t trust that our actions will be enough to protect our family, then we will leave.”
The party leader glanced back toward her and Phoenix stepped forward to stand beside him as she told Patricia firmly, “We all agreed on this. I’m grateful to Paul and will always consider him family, but our party stays together. Neither Dazien nor I need to be Waylands to achieve our goals. We wanted to be Waylands because of Paul, so you can either accept all of us, or we’ll get out of your way.”
The room fell silent as the Ambassador seemed to contemplate them. Eventually, Patricia stood and gave a respectful bow to all of them as she said, “I apologize for misleading you. That was a mistake I will avoid in the future.”
Then the runeforged walked around the desk to approach and took one of Dazien’s hands and one of Phoenix’s as she said sincerely, “You were right that I care first about my family. If you’re both this determined, then I’ll do my best to support you.”
Her aunt then moved past them to face Uriel as she said, “It seems I made the same mistake of assumption in regards to you. I–”
The runeforged paused in an odd show of hesitation before saying, “I don’t take back what I said about being afraid. I still am. You’re all young and reckless… you may come to regret this choice… but it was wrong of me to manipulate that choice the way I did. I should have had a conversation with all of you. Sometimes, I forget what it was like to be your age, which is why Padma and I still argue from time to time.”
“Do you still want that conversation?” Uriel asked in response.
Patricia looked up at him in surprise, “I thought you’d prefer to tell me off again.”
“I never wanted to come between my friends and their dreams,” he clarified, “I was going to leave, but they convinced me that wasn’t what they wanted.”
“And what is it that you want, Chosen of Destroyer?” the priestess asked, and Phoenix moved to Uriel’s side.
“Don’t call him that. You don’t call me the Chosen One just because I’m marked too.”
A warm hand on her shoulder helped calm her as Uriel said, “It’s okay, Princess. I’ve been called much worse than that.” Then the cinderen faced Patricia once again as he said, “I just want to stay by their sides. I… I don’t want to be alone again.”
Patricia gave them a soft smile, “I think I can accept that.”
Then the Ambassador abruptly turned to sit back at her desk as she added, “Now,” Uriel’s hand flinched from her shoulder at the word, and Phoenix turned to look at him curiously as Patricia continued without noticing, “Why don’t we have that conversation then; about how we can all make sure you can stay without inviting the Delegation of Radiance to attempt to assassinate all of us, yes?”
“Actually, I think Dazien wanted to talk to all of us about certain phrases that hurt,” Phoenix said carefully, then took Uriel’s hand in hers as she added, “I don’t like accidentally making you remember pieces from your nightmares.”
Uriel gave her a tired yet grateful smile, “Thanks, Phoenix.”
