Incandescence - 33. Wrap Up

Eon*

I didn’t know what day it was. How long had I been in bed? My hair was a mess and there was far more scruff on my chin than I normally allowed. The curtains were drawn, it was dark. I had no way to measure time and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. The clothes I was wearing smelled of smoke and burnt skin which was lovely. I’m sure laying in bed for days without bathing helped my situation.

I’d never felt like this. I’d seen plenty of deaths. I’d been responsible for many. My hands were stained with blood and gore as much as any other soldier’s. I’d done my duty for the better part of my life and I was battle-hardened. My strength-mental, physical-was something I’d never questioned. Yet here I was, laying prone in bed until I managed to fall asleep again. It was never for long. The moment my eyes closed, mirror images of my own framed in flame, filled with pain and hatred were all I saw. I hadn’t managed to stop screaming every time I was violently thrown from the dream.

The part of me that pushed me through every day for the last thirty some years was silent. I’d been searching for it ever since that day. I needed it. I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t force myself to function like I normally did. My eyes stung from holding back emotions I’d rather not address. My throat felt raw and the blankets and pillows under my skin felt harsh and were making my skin crawl. I needed to move. I was a general. I was supposed to be helping my country rise through the latest catastrophe.

Instead, it was like I was frozen in time. Soon, I’d probably start merging with the bed. I had given my end thought. I assumed it would be violent, in battle, sudden. This was nothing like that. It was like I was slowly shutting down. My body first while my mind scrambled itself trying to survive. How anti-climactic. How very disappointing. There wasn’t much I expected from my life, but I had vivid dreams of my death. This was not it.

“Eon? Please eat something.”

Why my sister thought I would do anything she asked was beyond me. Especially when the fusion with my bedding was going so well. I’d never slid into something so successfully before and the sister that I didn’t claim was no competition for that.

“Then, water at least.” She plead quietly. She pressed a cup to my lips and let out a hopeless noise when I let it drip from my them onto the rumpled sheets.

“This is getting ridiculous.” A voice snapped behind her, “Out of the way.”

Fingers gripped my jaw and another hand pried my lips open, “Have you heard of water boarding fire breath? This is going to quickly come to resemble that unless you decide to stop this fit.”

Water dumped into my mouth and I choked and coughed, gripping the wrist of the hand painfully gripping my face. The hand didn’t loosen and I blinked open my eyes as the fingers didn’t even budge. Wren was staring down his nose at me and he tilted the cup threateningly. I met his eyes defiantly and found myself sputtering again seconds later.

“I-is this really the right way to do this?” A soft voice asked from behind Wren.

“Do you have any other ideas bookworm? We tried to be gentle. He’s being ridiculous.”

“He’s grieving. He’s traumatized.”

The water pouring stopped and Wren whirled on the other man, “You don’t quit when it gets hard. You don’t lay down and die because hard choices had to be made and you were the only one strong enough to make them. This is not my Eon. My Eon is strong. He doesn’t break like this!”

“Everyone breaks sometimes. Everyone has limits. You yourself suffered without your more…monstrous inclinations. Let me. Anika, we’ve got it thank you.”

Fingers stroked my cheek gently and the cup pressed to my lips again, “You need to drink. You’ve grieved for the awful things you had to do, but now we need to push through.”

Wren’s claws on my jaw loosened a little and one traced my cheekbone gently, “You reek.”

Fingers slid through my hair and Wren let his hand drop as Lyme lifted my head and tipped the cup gently. My eyes met light brown ones with little flecks of white I’d never noticed before. I sipped the water and Lyme’s face broke into a triumphant smile. Wren made a noise and I felt the blankets yanked from my body. Then he was untying laces and Lyme stumbled back, covering his eyes as Wren yanked my pants down.

“Such an innocent baby.” Wren teased with a mean edge to his voice, “Come along giant. You need a shower even if I have to hold you up in there myself.” He hoisted me up and I grumbled as I straightened. Lyme refused to look but I saw the scarlet flush on his cheeks as Wren half-dragged me to the attached bathroom. Maybe I had been a little dense when I refused to believe the boy was attracted.

Kalian*

Through everything, we were all changed again. It seemed like we would never stop changing. Maybe some of the ways we did were good, but I couldn’t help but notice how haunted my brother looked when the day wound down and he thought he was alone. Wyn was quieter than he had ever been. He didn’t question us nearly as much. He was still a headache some days, but he was far more withdrawn.

There were more streaks of white in my hair that I only noticed when Talon would curl them around his long fingers. He thought they were beautiful, but they only reminded me of how many times we’d been close to failure.

Talon was so different it hurt me to look at him sometimes. The only thing Lyme, Tyren, and I could think was that it might have to do with how many times I’d brought him back. Even when we’d healed him after Mallex’s assault, he was so close to death, I might’ve resurrected him then too. That’d make three times. More than anyone else. He joked about it. How he was a cat that death was catching up with, his nine lives ticking off one by one. It wasn’t funny. He didn’t use his Magik for “frivolous” things like he used to. No claws of Magik, no dramatic wings of shadow. Talon even avoided jumping.

He was tired all the time. Being active in politics wasn’t something he could push himself to tolerate anymore. Not even for me. So, he dove back into his alchemy and being a parent while I shifted more into the government. He was happier that way. He’d handed the Verseckt back over to Wren and he’d settled into a life that I never thought he’d want. He seemed…relieved.

Eira was attached to him as soon as she woke up and Wyn pretended to resent all the new time they spent together. The number of times I’d come home to Talon passed out, Eira and a book on his lap with Wyn tucked into his side was too many to count. The next day, of course, he’d feel like he’d broken his neck and spine in thirty places from sleeping sitting up. His pivot into this new life had bothered me at first. It was so far from the dangerous, mysterious assassin I’d fallen for. With time, I realized I’d never seen Talon so relaxed and genuinely happy. After violence being all he knew, he deserved peace.

I forced myself to get over the changes and the guilt surrounding me. The nasty voice in my head that insisted I had ruined Talon’s life, was finally silenced. Most of my self-doubt died after the issues with Serran and Illiath. If I was to help govern this country in a position of power, spiraling into self-loathing and insecurity would make me a liability.

When we’d set up The Counsel, we’d had such grand intentions. It’d blown up in our faces. Now Eon, Wren, Nyx, and I kept a tight grip on Dimian while Tyren and Hanja smoothed things out in Serran. While across the sea, Loren and Suman beat Illiath into line through force and a dash of madness. Their tactics could be horrifying but the violence only zigzagged through the ruling class. Loren’s siblings were gone. The murder princes were wed and ascended to become the most terrifying monarchs I could imagine. Which wasn’t entirely true. They’d actually done a lot to better things for their people. They just wanted everyone to think they were bloodthirsty monsters. Deterred less brave enemies.

Queen Lyrah was absolutely thriving in Dleth. She’d formed a new circle of people around her which were trustworthy and steadfast. The group included my mother and sister. I was glad they’d found their place and even happier their time in my life was heavily limited. The palace had been rebuilt and Rah was molding the country into a place filled with happiness and color. Through her, the country was being pulled from its long-term prison of grey and gloom. With the help of Magik users, the land was being converted into something more habitable for humans. The red dirt was utilized for foreign crops that the country’s xenophobia would’ve never allowed before.

The capital city wasn’t one giant ghost, with splashes of vibrant color every way you turned and smiles. People from Dimian were actually eager to try their luck in Dleth and likewise for the Dlethians. Their youngest generations were eager to learn about the world. And more hesitantly, their Magik. It was beautiful to see. Our school was getting interest from every country we were allied with. Students from across the sea and across borders made our school into a melting pot that we had hoped for but could never imagine.

Smiling softly to myself, a loud explosion shook the house. Hurrying from my office, I stumbled into the alchemy room, waving acrid smoke out of my face, “What happened?”

“I told you to go slow! Do you think you can just tamper with age old rules just because you were born with more power? You could’ve blown your nose off! Look how concerned your da is!” Talon scolded, wiping soot from his face as he motioned at me. Wyn was laying on the floor with his back against the wall. His soot covered face seemed frozen and his mouth was hanging open.

Talon crouched in front of him as I magiked open the windows and tried to use a stiff piece of paper to get the smoke out. Talon took the protective glasses off Wyn’s face and I grew more worried at the shocked, wide-eyed look on his face, “Is he injured? Talon? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Just knocked the wind out of him.” Talon rolled his eyes as he yanked the boy to his feet. Once he was vertical, Wyn doubled over, letting out a horrible wheezing. The wheezing turned into laughter and I glared at my boy.

“I hardly think this is funny.” I scoffed, moving closer to check him over. He had a sizeable goose egg on the back of his head and he gently pushed my hands away when I began to fuss. Talon ruffled his hair and Wyn grinned at me.

“It’ll be perfect next time da.” His smile widened and I narrowed my eyes. Ignoring that I was no longer able to look down at my son. At fourteen, he was nearly the same height as me now.

“It better be or else I’m not going to have a lab left. Menace.” Talon sighed as he threw shards of glass into the sink. I waved my hand and light glinted off the pieces scattered around the room. He picked up a bowl and dutifully collected all the sharp bits before depositing that in the sink as well. I didn’t miss the fact that he didn’t resort to using his power and it made me frown.

“Oh fuck, dad you’re bleeding!” Wyn whined, his eyes wide as saucers as he grabbed Talon’s arm where his black tunic was slashed and a healthy sized piece was sticking out of his forearm.

”Language, Wyn.” I scolded.

“Shocking. You exploded a table full of glass. What did you expect?” Talon sighed and Wyn finally looked chastised.

“Go get something to clean all this up.” Talon said, waving the boy away.

Once Wyn was gone, I stepped around the table, wrapping my fingers gently around his wrist, “An entire table of glass. Shards embedded in the whole room and yet, our son just has a bump on his head from hitting the wall?”

Talon rolled his eyes and grit his teeth as I pulled the glass from his skin as gently as I could. He winced and I kissed him softly as my Magik knit his skin back together. Closer to him now, the fatigue was clear on his face. Slipping gently into his mind, I sifted through his memories and pressed my lips together in a thin line when I found the one I wanted.

They stood side by side at the table. Talon’s face was soft as he guided Wyn. He handed him a small vial of something purple and Wyn uncorked it fast. He moved to pour it into a beaker on the table when Talon’s eyes widened. The vial tipped quickly and Talon shouted something. The liquid in the beaker went dark instantly and Wyn seemed to realize his mistake. Black shot out, knocking Wyn backwards before it shielded him entirely from the blast. Talon was mostly blocked but I saw him wince as something his leg, then his shoulder, and finally the arm I’d fixed.

“You sweet idiot.”

Talon grumbled as I pushed at his tunic and he pulled it over his head. There were small trails of blood running down his chest and a decent slash over his right shoulder. Just above where the large chunk had been imbedded in his arm. I worked the smaller pieces out with my Magik, kissing the center of his chest gently as they healed. I rubbed at the blood trails with the bell sleeve of my tunic and turned my attention to the wound on his shoulder.

“Did it just hit you, or is it in your skin?”

“Just a scratch.”

“Of course.” I mumbled, setting to work. Kneeling, I slid my fingers up his calf to his thigh.

“Whoa baby, the boy’s going to be back soon. We shouldn’t traumatize him.” Talon smirked down at me, “Again.”

I rolled my eyes and ripped the bit I found out of his upper thigh. He hissed and gripped my hair. I shook my head and grinned as I fixed that spot too. I pushed his hand off as I stood and studied him, “One to ten, how much did that take out of you?”

“I’m fine.” He said, throwing his shirt back on.

“One to ten.”

“Three. I’m okay, my love.” Talon leaned down, kissing me gently.

A shriek from down the hallway and then a riot of strawberry blond curls catapulted at Talon, “Daddy, Wyn said you got hurt!”

Talon caught the five-year-old and shook his head, “Mini menace, I’ve told you, I’m going to live to one hundred! Dads don’t die! Duh!”

Eira giggled as he threw her in the air and I tried to ignore how hard my husband was breathing when he caught her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at me as she pressed her cheek to his. I ran fingers through her hair, trying to tame the mess of curls and her smile brightened. There was a loud “thunk” and we turned to see Wyn. He’d dropped a bucket of water and towels for cleaning on the work table.

Wyn scowled at his sister, lip curled in a very familiar snarl, “You’re such a kiss ass!”

“Language!” Eira and I snapped at the same time. Talon tried to hide his snicker in Eira’s hair.

Tyren*

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Things to sign, research that needed to be done, and an endless number of things that would need to be filed neatly. I grinned as I shifted things around on the desk before lowering myself to sit. The organization in Serran was remarkable, but things could always be improved. I was still a little surprised that Lyme hadn’t come with us. He was always hungry for knowledge. Nowadays, though, everyone knew the boy was reluctant to leave Eon for any long measure of time. He sent letters and his work was perfect as always, but there was a small bit of…distraction that I easily picked up on.

Instead, Hanja and Phelti had made the journey with me. My former assistant had never felt at home in Syrin and I suspected a change such as this might be perfect for the young woman. Hanja came simply because I asked. Well, that and I had told him quite succinctly that I was to go either way. My love for him was never-ending but as was my love for knowledge. There was so much to learn in this country we’d had limited to no access to for centuries.

Once we’d arrived, he’d quickly discovered that their medicine and knowledge of the body filled in many gaps that our own possessed. Now, I wasn’t sure I could drag him away if I wanted to. Phelti spent her time flitting between the two of us and even Nyx planned to visit. It made sense as we now sat in the country that’s poison prowess had almost been our undoing. They were impressive and anyone with an academic mind would be foolish to turn down an opportunity to study.

Or, that is what we kept telling everyone. The initiative to join Dimian and Serran relied heavily on how eager the two cultures were to learn about each other and merge. We weren’t in this to establish a new government; we were here to absorb them into ours. Dimian and Serran were to be one. I was confident it was possible with the right people working together. Kalian’s band of misfits were those people and I was downright giddy to see where we would take this and how successful we’d be. There were some that were brave enough to come and go between the countries, but we wanted the flow to be even in both directions and constant.

Arms wrapped around my waist and I felt a forehead press against the back of my neck, “You realize, treasure, that you’ve been at this thirteen hours.”

“Mm, I did not realize, darling.” Hanja pulled me back into his chest and I let out a sigh as I noticed how tired I was. It hit me like I’d run into a wall. My poor eyes were dry and eager to close and I struggled to remember if I’d eaten today. Or yesterday for that matter…

“What day is it?” I asked as lips trailed over my neck.

”Wednesday.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I started this Sunday, yes?”

“Correct.” Hanja huffed against my neck. I winced as his hands glowed faintly and slid over my body, “You’re near starving and dehydrated.”

“Whoops.” I said quietly, lifting my shoulders in a shrug. Hanja’s hands dropped and he gripped my hips as he forced me to face him, He lifted me onto the table and I hooked my leg over his hip, “Mm, hello there.”

Hanja pushed me back gently, “You will stay. Right here. Understood?”

Red eyes rimmed with blue locked on me until I nodded. He walked off and left me to consider how long it’d been since my partner and I had been intimate. His hair had been loose, swaying behind his back in a gorgeous ebony curtain that offset his pale skin. He’d been in loose, black sleeping clothes and a pang of guilt slammed through my chest. When had I last laid down with him to sleep next to each other? Normally, I dragged myself to bed well after the sun had risen and I’d left for work before he returned to our quarters. He wouldn’t bring it up. Hanja wasn’t afraid to complain about most things, but he avoided making me feel guilty as often as he could. We were both busy, but that was no excuse. The more I thought about it, the more I missed him. Which meant that he missed me desperately by this point. To the outside world, Hanja was aloof and uncaring, but it was a front. He cared more about everything than people could even imagine.

He interrupted my self-inflicted guilt trip with a plate of food, an empty cup, and a carafe of something. He cleared a corner of my desk and set the food down, followed by silverware and the cup. He lifted the carafe and I moved to stand, “Wine?”

His eyes snapped to me and he glared until I sat back where he’d put me. Hanja shook his head and poured water into the cup. I pouted dramatically as he shoved a chair up to the little dining space he’d made. My chest felt warm and fuzzy as he motioned at me, “Sit. Eat. Then you need to sleep.”

Standing as fluidly as I could manage, I stepped close to him, chest to chest. He spun me around and I let out a little squeak as my ass hit the chair and hands rested on my shoulders, “I was clear. Was I not? Eat and sleep. Drink some water.”

My plate was filled with a warm slice of bread and a salad with nearly every topping I could think of. Even a small bowl of soup was smashed in with it all. There were moments like this in our long relationship, where I was reminded how much I was loved and how much I loved him. He was grumpy and bossy, but before Hanja, I had never been loved like this. In many eyes, I was little more than trash. Hanja had never seen me that way and I was overjoyed that I’d found this person in the endless sea of cruelty that had surrounded us most of our lives.

I ate quietly as Hanja organized my papers and got everything settled for the night. I smiled softly as I pushed my cleared plate away, licking my spoon clean. A single eyebrow raised and he looked meaningfully at the cup of water. Chuckling, I downed it as fast as I could. I sighed when he reached over and filled the cup again. I drank that as well. This continued until the carafe was empty and my stomach felt rather sloshy.

Only then was I allowed to stand. We walked to our quarters together and he graciously helped me undress. He wrapped around me and I let my eyes fall closed. I had lessons to learn. We were far too old to push ourselves the way we did as kids. Even if we could, Hanja made me want to slow down. We were good at what we did. The countries would merge and we would taste success. However, it wouldn’t happen if we worked ourselves to death.

Loren*

Sunlight streamed in through the window and I curled my arms under the pillows, wincing when my knuckle smacked into something hard. Pulling out the foreign object, I chuckled at the small dagger. At least it was in its sheath this time. Gods knew I had scars on my knuckles from when they weren’t. Pushing myself up onto my elbows, I blinked blearily as I looked across the bed using the light struggling through the thick curtains. A shape was huddled nearby, blanket pulled over its head and turned away from me. I stretched and shivered at the cool ocean breeze. Glancing down at myself, I realized that the lump across the bed had stolen every single blanket and I was left with only sleep pants to keep me from the chill.

“Thief.” I mumbled as I snuggled up next to the mass of blankets, draping my arm over it. There was a soft sigh and the sound of lips smacking. Then, very slowly, my precious little maniac began to emerge from his warm cocoon. The blankets parted and the sunlight hit hair like strands of diamonds, pale skin, and sleepy grey eyes.

“Morning my lunatic butterfly.”

“What are you talking about old man?” Suman grumbled, kicking his way out of his blankets.

“Oh, how gracious my king. You have deigned to provide me a sliver of warmth.”

He snorted inelegantly and climbed on top of me, hands between our chests as he laid his cheek on my shoulder. I covered us both before dropping my hands to his backside, “How did you sleep? Warm, I trust.”

“Am I going to hear about this the rest of the day?” Suman said as he lifted his head.

I grinned, “You could make it up to me. I may let you off if you do.”

He slid down and his legs squirmed between mine before he spread them. He sat back, fingers running up my spread thighs. Suman still looked like he wasn’t entirely awake as he leaned forward to kiss me. It was slow and sweet. He gripped my hips and rolled his against mine almost lazily.

“I’ll do anything you want if I don’t have to hear your stupid whining all day.” He sat up and smirked down at me, hands gripping my waistband, “I’mma fuck your voice hoarse. That’s the only way I can be sure, you understand.”

“Oh well of course. Can’t take any chances.”

*Four Years Later*

Wyn*

Glancing around the halls, I nodded to another student who passed me. I was late. Terribly so. It wasn’t my fault that I’d been trusted to wake myself up. Scratching the back of my head, I pushed my messy hair away from my face. It hadn’t been brushed. It was probably flat on one side from my pillow, the waves doing their best to communicate just how unprepared I was. I pushed open the door and kept my eyes down as I scurried to my seat in the back.

It was quiet for a few seconds. Then I heard slow, deliberate steps coming my way from the front of the room. I winced as the voice that frequented several of my nightmares got closer, “Islwyn. You are 31 minutes late. I was concerned. I thought, perhaps, you’d gotten yourself in a life-or-death situation again.”

“No, master Hanja. I just overslept.” I mumbled as I glanced to the side and saw his plain black boots next to my desk.

“Why are we even bothering to acknowledge that he’s late? Everyone knows him going to classes is just for show. No way grades are going to keep him from leaving the school.”

Both Hanja and I turned toward the voice. Pares was playing with a singed point of his hair. I rolled my eyes as his orange ones flicked over me and then to Hanja judgementally. He rolled them very deliberately and sunk lower in his chair. His leg was thrown over his desk. The toe of his heeled boots pointed down then up as he suddenly found it very interesting. Bright yellow laces started at his heel and crisscrossed all the way up to his knee.

“Pares. Bold words for the boy who didn’t show up with his homework and nearly blew my desk out of existence.” Hanja sighed as he trudged back up to the front of the room. Where his deck was charred with the back panel almost entirely gone. He rested his hands on the desk, glaring from one of us to the other, “Are you both quite done now?”

“I have my homework. I just wanna put that out there.” I announced. I could almost hear Pares’ stupid eyes rolling in his pale ass head.

“How hard is it to show up for classes that are at the same time every day?” I flinched as I walked in the front door and my dad’s voice called to me from his alchemy room. I dropped my bag and turned to walk down the hall, “Is that where your bag goes child?”

I rolled my eyes and picked it back up, dragging my feet as I made my way to him. I leaned against the door frame and watched him grinding up something. He dropped a few drops of something in it and I tilted my head, “What are you working on?”

He continued working, “The cure for adolescent tardiness. I trust Hanja will appreciate my efforts.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes again and stepped closer, “Hm, poison? Are you going to kill me? Can’t be late if I’m dead?”

He set his things down and looked at me finally, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me over the black rim of his glasses, “Has it crossed my mind before? Maybe.”

He ran fingers over the grey pieces by his temples and yawned as I scoffed, “You’d be lost without me. I’m your favorite.”

“Simply because you don’t electrocute me on a daily basis.” He sighed and pushed his short bangs out of his face. His hair, if it was still long like it used to be, would be as much of a mess as mine was.

“Did you sleep?”

“No.”

“Ohh, da’s going to be mad.” I sang and he glared at me.

“Isn’t your uncle waiting for you?” He said.

I pouted, “Why do I have to go to more classes after I just finished with classes?”

“Get going. Grab your sister too.”

“Nooo.” I whined but it was no use. He’d pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and was focused entirely on whatever he was working on.

Making my way down the halls, I let out a breath when I finally found the bane of my existence. Eira was flitting around her bedroom, making the various orbs Fallon and Uncle Tyren had made light up with zaps of Magik, “It’s time for class.”

She hopped off her bed and landed on the ground, her wild hair bouncing around her head, “Yay! Uncle Lyme’s been away too long!”

“You’re far too excited about this.” I groused as we left the house and started to walk.

“You’re just no fun because you’re old now.” She whined, shoving at me.

“It’s called maturity.” I said as we turned a corner.

“It’s called maturity,” She mocked, sticking her tongue out, “You’re boring Wynnie.”

“And you’re a brat.” I shrugged.

She shoved me and ran ahead. I blew out a frustrated breath and blinked when she shoved past a moving shadow, “Meryck.”

The man blinked, his unusual eyes surprised before he nodded and gave a tiny bow. Frowning, I signed quickly.

Don’t bow. That’s weird.

It is only right.

He nodded again and stepped around me. I frowned as I watched him go. Not for the first time, I wondered what he looked like under the veil across his face. All I could see were gold eyes. They weren’t like Uncle Tyren’s so I had nothing to compare them to. Not that I’d been close enough to see what the accents were. Tyren’s were different metallics. I turned to get his attention to sign but frowned when I saw he’d disappeared.

Shrugging, I continued into the villa. Lyme was already braiding Eira’s hair into two neat plaits and Eon stood waiting for me, his arms crossed, “You’re late.”

“Don’t you dare scold my heart.” Uncle Wren dropped from the second-floor railing and strode over to me. He poked my stomach hard and I leaned over. He gave me a sharp grin and kissed my forehead, “Are you ready my boy?”

“Always. Let’s get this started.” I said, straightening and mirroring his grin, “I’ve been practicing.”