untitled: Awaking to Silence

Meanwhile, as Death saw to Chaos' needs, Lazarus was trying to comfort his poor beloved Sahenna who had been rather neglected in the passed few hours. He was almost as distraught as Urius, his beloved father having betrayed him and his mentor - the man who had really been like a father to him - now in such a critical state...It was no wonder that Sahenna was distressed, pacing in their room because he knew not what else to do. When the attack hit, he hid here with Cadeyrn out of fear, holding their crying son to his chest and not understand what was going on. Perhaps it was for the best, for if Sahenna saw Urius like that he would have likely gone mad with sadness.

 

"Shhh love..." Lazarus whispered, sitting with Sahenna upon the bed, Cadeyrn cradled delicately in his lap. The baby was still fussing a little, his tiny hands balled into fists and wriggling about. The shadowshifter tenderly nuzzled the other, nibbling upon his jaw line with a tiny sigh. "Everything will be ok, I promise you..."

 

"My father is a monster....Urius is a monster too...How is everything going to be alright? My family is gone...my...my uncle was killed..." Sahenna says, tears in his eyes. He's been crying out of helplessness, unable to understand why this is happening. He's not one to sit and listen to Stannis explain things, rather thinking that his father has betrayed him and left him alone.

 

"Sahenna. Your family is right here." Lazarus replied softly, tipping the others chin, forcing him to look him in the eye. "Your father was not the monster, the thing living inside him was." He told him gently, eyes half closed and expression sorrowful. "Please... just calm down."

 

"How can I, Lazarus? ..Everything has gone to hell...I don't even know what to think anymore, who to trust," Sahenna says as he presses himself against Lazarus. Their adorable son wiggles in his mother's lap, staring up at them with his innocent dark eyes. Sahenna reaches out and caresses him, knowing the baby is the only thing that keeps him from falling to his knees, screaming for his sorrow. "...Why did this happen?"

 

"Because things like this happen all the time..." Lazarus replied softly, eyes softening as he peered down at the little baby they had made together. Such a gorgeous child.

 

"No, they don't....Your parents didn't turn into monsters, they were killed by them! For all I know, my father orchestrated that too....Everything...EVERYTHING has been a lie, Lazarus!!" Sahenna says as he continues to press his face into the other's neck, his tears still wet on his cheeks. "For all I know, I'm not Rowan's son...”

 

"Would it even matter?" Lazarus asked softly, "You were raised and loved - at least by Urius - and now you are here with me." The dark male caressed him gently, nuzzling his neck. "I know everything is frightening and confusing, that you are scared, but I will be here to care for you."

 

 "...Even Urius is a monster...." Sahenna says softly, but he clings to his beloved nonetheless. Lazarus really does help with the pain, but the Shadowshifter King can see that there are some fears he can't whisk away. For now, the three - Lazarus, Sahenna, and their adorable son - lay on the bed together to reflect on their powerful yet fragile bonds of family. "...Lazarus, I would die if I lost you."

 

"You won't lose me..." Lazarus replied whisper soft, kissing at Sahenna's lips delicately as his fingertips traced his chin. "I can't die, not with so much to lose..." He smiled gently, eyes sparkling. "We're working on setting this right. And if things do go right, we might even get the old Urius back."

 

"But...but I thought it was impossible..." Sahenna says softly, caressing their son between them. The little babe has fallen asleep in the comfortable sheets, his pudgy arms twitching now and then in his baby dreams. Perhaps he's dreaming about crawling around on his parents or even his first steps. Sahenna doesn't know, only smiling on him just the same with love and affection.

 

"Well... someone came today, a daughter of Fate. She has given Urius another chance." Lazarus replied softly, caressing the tiny pudgy body between them adoringly.

"He...has another chance? But......I thought he had ripped off his own hands, that...that he'd become Sorrow," Sahenna gasps in disbelief, hardly knowing or caring what a daughter of Fate is. All that matters to him is getting back the man he knew as his kind guardian, the person who truly raised him. Even now, he can remember nights when thunder frightened him. He'd have maids call for his father first, but the man was never there...so then he'd have a servant run to Urius' Manor and his guardian would come in the middle of the night to be with him through terrifying storms. Urius taught him fencing and politics, taught him how to ride a horse and how to hunt. He was there for Sahenna in his fears about marrying, as well as there to see him off to his new husband's home. Urius WAS his father, Rowan his father by name...He loved Urius more than he ever did Rowan, but that wasn't to say Rowan wouldn't be mourned over.

 

"Yes, but things have changed." Lazarus replied, still toying with the tiny fingers of his child, Cadeyrn's tiny snores calming. "There is a chance, but not a big one... all we can do is hope now."

 

"Will he wake up soon? Do you know?" Sahenna asks as he rests against the bed, seeming calmed by this news. Lazarus can't help but smile, glad to feel his lover’s anxiety slipping a little. His pale white hair spread over their purple pillows, red eyes watching their son doze happily.

 

"Don't know. Ceata is with him right now, so he'll warn us when he does." Lazarus mused softly, eyes taking in his mate and child happily.

 

"I hope so....and I hope he's back to himself when he awakens," Sahenna sighs, looking to Cadeyrn as his hands softly caress the baby's downy hair. The child squirms in his sleep and continues to snore, the picture of innocence. He's such a good baby...Hardly a handful like Doll and Faust were...

 

Perhaps it was the fact that he was a single baby and a hybrid that made him so quiet and sweet. Lazarus smiled slightly and tickled at the little tummy. "I do too..." Lazarus replied softly, dark hair half shielding his eyes. For the sake of everyone.

 

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, as Lazarus sat comforting his family, others seemed to be too busy to even think of sitting down. One such person was Varun, for he took it upon himself to help with all the wounded soldiers. Alpheus was a capable healer, having been called to help bind wounds and clean cuts. Varun, naturally, did not wish to be far from his beloved and had some healing talents of his own. Anyone and everyone were needed, for the wounded were many - the bell continuously tolling out the dead.

 

The task was messy. Varun was up to his elbows in blood, having to wash after each person he attended to. The sights had him sickened, though he hardened himself and tried not to think on it. Some of the dead were people he had known since he was tiny. Not even death angels had escaped from the devastation and the only comfort that came was the fact that they would be reborn again someday and had not simply disappeared forever.

 

The Angels were not so lucky, it seemed. Families mourned their loved ones who would likely never return to them during their lifetimes. Varun watched as, one after another, Demos, Angels, Dragons, Fae, and even Humans were placed under white sheets and moved to rooms for the dead. Those living received his care as best he could manage it until it seemed, at last, he could take a break. Another healer moved in to take up the job he was doing, letting him rest and get a meal.
Honestly, after seeing what he had seen, he really didn't feel like eating...there was something about having to cut off a man's arm that didn't settle his stomach. Instead, he went looking for his lover. He needed comfort and some place to rest until it was his turn to jump in again.

 

Varun ambled through the rows of beds, looking for Alpheus. The angel had been working diligently for a long while and Varun knew that he too needed to rest before he passed out from exhaustion. Varun smiled weakly. He loved how dedicated Alpheus could be, but sometimes it worried him.

 

Finally, he found him. He was still working as a young man sat there on his bench, covered in cuts from having been too close to one of the exploding windows. Alpheus patches him up well with his charms, then wrapping the wounds with gauze. The poor man thanks Alpheus weakly before being helped to a bed by a nurse. Alpheus is just about ready to accept another patient when his relief arrives. He happily trades places with the other Tenshihana healer, looking rather drained.

 

"Alpheus... lets go and sit a bit." Varun murmured against his ear, having come up behind him. He touches the other gently, smiling. Alpheus smells of salves and potions and bandages, but under it all there is his sweet scent tantalizing his lover.

 

Alpheus stiffens from the whisper, having been so caught off guard! Yet he realizes soon who it is, for that firm arm wraps around his waist and the touch of Varun's lips against his neck makes him sigh with pleasure. Alpheus smiles, turning in Varun's arms to kiss him. "I want to do more than sit...I need a bed. I'm so tired. Will you nap with me?" His gentle request is followed by a nudge of his nose against Varun's. He obviously wants to cuddle.

 

"Of course, love." Varun replied with a smile. He'd have gone looking for Echo as well, but his other mate was off in another realm. "It'll be lovely."

 

"Mmm...this way, then," Alpheus says, grasping the other's hand as they walk through the busy hallways and the congested corridors. They make it at last to the library, it relatively abandoned in this time of chaos, and plop themselves down at once upon a soft couch. Alpheus purrs, his arms around Varun's neck as he lets the other be his cushion. The warmth of his touch is wonderful, leaving Alpheus to believe that Varun is heaven in physical form. "Ahh....I'm so achy...and not in a good way..."

 

"Ahhh... yes, I know how you feel." Varun replied softly, caressing his mate's hair softly as the other leaned against him. He rocked him a little, a little bit of a crooning purr escaping his throat. "We've been working a long while."

 

"Are you alright? You seem really tense...I should give you a massage," Alpheus says softly, feeling how tight and painful Varun's shoulders seem. Then again, he had to deal with some of the worse cases of mutilation and burns he had ever seen. It was understandable that he would be mentally pained from all of it. Even so, the prospect of a massage was very nice. 

 

"Yes... please do." Varun smiled and nodded slightly, settled close to his angel mate. The male's dark eyes peered over the beauty of his angel, glad to have him as his own.

 

"Alright, turn your back to me..." Alpheus ordered, moving to undo the other's outer coat before he rolled up his sleeves and massaged the other's tense muscles. Varun gave a groan of pleasure, feeling those long fingers working his body without fail. It certainly made his mind stop thinking about the horrible events.......and Adonis. In his pocket sat the thing which Rowan had given him - the abyssian. The little box had been at Varun's side ever since Rowan had lost himself...He did not know if Adonis would be wanting the item back or if he even knew that Varun had it.

 

Varun moaned and sighed happily, leaning into the hands steadily working at his muscles. He relaxed slightly, eyes closed and body giving minute shudders. He had not put that thing away since then. It stayed with him at all times and he kept his eye on it like a hawk. There was a reason he had it and he was sure it was to protect it.

 

Rowan would have wanted that...Just thinking of Rowan made Varun's heart ache. He couldn't help but miss those kind spring-green eyes that he alone got to see. Somehow, he knew why Urius had so stubbornly defended Rowan's kindness even to the bitter end. He KNEW that man...that man called Rowan was not a monster. He was as good and kind a person as Varun had ever met, showing him things he had never known. It was too cruel to see the memory of that kindness ruined, if only because of an evil he could not control.

 

It was a saddening end to a once kind, pleasing man. Now though, they had the bitterness of the loss of that man to a monster. Varun rolled his head back, sighing softly. "I wonder how many mind healers we'll need after this?" He murmured softly.

 

"I can't imagine...With all that's going on, I'd gladly enjoy having my memory erased," Alpheus sighs, getting a bit of a look from Varun over his shoulder. He smiles. "Except for the parts about us, of course..." Alpheus leans in and kisses Varun's neck, enjoying the little bite marks he's given him in return for the deep mating mark in his shoulder. The two have yet to marry, but Alpheus doesn't seem to put as much weight to such ceremonies anymore. He's quite content with rabid monkey sex. 

 

The other laughed leaned over to nibble upon the other gingerly in turn. He cocked his head to peer back at the other, smiling.
"Yes, it'd be nice not to have to remember these things."

 

"I wonder how Urius will be when he wakes up....will he remember the monster he was?" Alpheus sighs, looking to Varun sadly. The other turns in Alpheus' arms, pulling his lover down against him for a gentle kiss. This makes the worries go away, as well as any other aches and pains the young priest might be feeling. Alpheus accepts the kiss lovingly, having come so far from the growling, snarling youth he was when Varun first met him. 

 

It's still a startling change to Varun, but one that he welcomes fully. The shadowshifter smiled against the others lips, caressing his hair as they sat together. "We'll just have to wait and see."

 

"Will you read from our book again, Varun?" Alpheus asks after a time, gently nuzzling his lover as they sit and feel comforted by the presence of the one they love. Varun can't help but smile, knowing that Alpheus adores his wedding present. He can't seem to get enough of Varun's sweet voice reading aloud from it...

 

"If you wish." Varun replied softly, voice husky and thoughtful. Dark eyes peered down upon the other thoughtfully and he leaned down for another soft kiss. "I love reading to you."

 

"And I love the sound of your voice...it's so soothing, Varun," Alpheus sighs as he rests back against his lover and enjoys the soft kisses he gets. Varun smiles, his smile trying to reach his eyes. Ah, but he can't seem to manage it...Not now, not in these circumstances. Instead, he opts to go and grab their book, sitting down to read while the afternoon quickly turns to evening...

~ ~ ~

Exhaustion sets in. In the later hours of the evening, Ceata can no longer keep his eyes open and has finally fallen into a deep sleep against his lover. The dark shadows run over the walls until it is a dim twilight, Ceata snoring away from having stayed up all night and almost for a second night. The wind from the broken window brushes against them, stirring the curtains. All is silent...all is still...
In other rooms, Death sleeps with his multitude of lovers to comfort him, needing that comfort desperately. In rooms further on, Kite sleeps on one side and Stannis on the other, the both of them still fighting even though Stannis is willing to admit to Kite he was wrong. Beyond them is Chaos with Gai in her bed - not surprising, considering the young Death Angel was terrified after her experience with Sorrow. Then there are the lovers Rughal and Rowen, Lazarus and Sahenna, Rei and his two twins....The whole castle seems to have gone silent, though servants still scurry. The panic has ebbed slightly, though guards still stand at alert despite not having slept for a full night. 

 

It is all so quiet...

....and in this quiet, Urius wakes.