004: Pure Again Daylight- Chapter 2

[beautifultragedy]

Fandom: Breath of Fire
Story: Pure Again
Summary: Very Bad Things happen when rogue demigods try to reverse time.

From the Eyes of the Son

 I found myself somewhere utterly dark, but for the flecks of light all around us. One moment, I was lying on a bed in a city under construction, being treated by a Draconic doctor who I was pretty sure was my father; the next, I was here. Somehow, I knew what had happened.

 I was dead.

 I was with the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, although she was also the most intimidating. Taller than any woman I’d laid eyes on, she seemed to be wrapped in the darkness around us, and her dark eyes stared at me, hard, baffled and confused. “Well, this isn’t right,” she murmured, her voice low and musical.

 “Um… I’m sorry… what isn’t right?” I asked, frightened.

 “You’re not supposed to be here.”

 It was so simple a statement, that I felt foolish that I didn’t understand it. “Why? Where exactly is here?”

 “This is Infinity,” she answered immediately, “where the souls of deceased mortals come. And you, dear Dragon, were not supposed to die.”

 “How exactly do you know that?”

 “Because I am Death. I know who is supposed to come into this realm. You were not. Not now.”

 I eyed her, feeling nervous and upset. So I was dead, but according to this woman who claimed to be Death, I shouldn’t be dead. “Maybe you just… forgot?” I asked hesitantly. Under normal circumstances, talking with a Goddess- or one who claimed the title- would have me on my knees. This wasn’t a normal circumstance and I somehow knew that Death was too confused by the situation to care how respectful I was or was not.

 Death was amused by my assertion. “Of course I didn’t forget, Garr.”

 “You even know my name?” said I, startled.

 “Of course I know your name.”

 “You really like the phrase ‘of course’, don’t you?”

 “Of course,” she laughed, and then sobered immediately. “But enough talking about this. Garr, you should not be here. I have no idea how your body ceased to live. You must explain it to me, as well as you can.”

 I told her about feeling strangely the previous day, feverish and listless. That was the only detail I was sure of until I woke up in Dragnier, with Ryu standing over me and explaining the situation. Death listened intently, and when I was finished speaking shook her head. “This makes little sense,” she muttered.

 “Why doesn’t it make sense? I was pretty sick,” I said. As far as I knew, death was a natural consequence of severe illness.

 “What you died from, it seems, is Dragonplague,” said she, puzzled still. “First of all, Dragonplague was a disease created by an immobile Goddess; it should have no power while she’s not awake to control it. Second of all, as I said, you aren’t supposed to die now. I- ah!”

 I started as she cried out, a hand flying to her chest. “What? What’s wrong?” I cried, my fear of this situation bubbling to the surface.

 “You’re being resurrected!” Death gasped, eyes wide. I started to feel as though I was being pushed down, crushed under some intangible weight, as she added, “But who-?! None of the Gods are-“

 Her words were lost to a piercing ringing in my ears, like a wordless, inhuman screech. My hands went to my ears, trying to muffle the sound, but it came from within and my actions did nothing to relieve it. It grew in volume and pitch until I was in agony, and screamed, squeezing my eyes shut as what little light surrounded us began to add to the horrible pain in my head.

 Abruptly, the pain left me, as did the high tone, and I was left in silence and utter darkness. I opened my eyes and saw that Death was no longer there; instead, I was faced with myself. Or, rather, it was an entity that looked exactly like me; I was aware, somehow, that the being before me wasn’t actually myself, but someone else entirely.

 He extended his hands imploringly. “Help me.”

 I was flattered, honored, that this being was pleading for my help. I was the only one who could help him. Was he responsible for my situation? No. No, he wasn’t; this was a fluke. But he wanted to take advantage of it. I had to decide, in the next moment, if I would help him. If I did not, something terrible would happen. I could stop it, if only I took his hands.

 And I did.

 The other man smiled brilliant at me, simple happiness filling me at the sight. He squeezed my hands in gratitude and released me; he took a few steps back and burst into flames. I watched in fascination as he transformed into a fiery bird and dove downward. My gaze followed him, and I could see my body on the bed in the infirmary, hear the sounds of grief around me, and see that bird splash onto and engulf me.

 The flames around my body died after only a second, and I gasped as I was yanked back into my body and felt air flood my aching lungs. Those around me gasped as well as I opened my eyes and looked around, confused and shaken. Ryu pressed a hand to my forehead, and I felt the other being, now inside me, whisper help her as Ryu said out loud, “His fever is gone.”

 Across from me, a girl I’d never seen before in my life smiled, chillingly warm. I knew her; she was close to me, and she was the one that being wanted me to help. So why was I suddenly so terrified of her?

 ~*~

 The next day, Ryu spirited himself away. It was at a point that no one was paying any particular attention to him except me, and I think he thought that he’d gone unseen. But he didn’t; I saw him leave. Half concerned and half curious, I had followed him, evading the watchful eyes of my mother and Ryu’s wife and assistant healer.

 As we talked, up on that bluff, I felt there was something else I needed to do. My mother was getting mighty closer to that girl already, and I really thought Serra was manipulating her somehow. That feeling didn’t come from me; she was doing nothing I would have interpreted as anything but extending her friendship. As such, I wrote the feeling off to paranoia and the shock of having literally died. Serra warned me that I might not feel myself for quite some time, and the sensation that we were all in desperate danger was fading. Besides, I had my own worries to concern myself with. Mom was a grown woman; she could pick her friends without her teenage son butting in.

 The man and I chatted lightly as we made our way back down the cliffside, through the series of caverns that lead up to the bluff overlooking Dragnier city; it was absolutely breathtaking from there. No wonder that was his solace.

 I worried for a while that he'd be upset that I'd followed him, that my presence there violated something sacred to him, but I relaxed as we went along. At first, using the word "Dad" at all was strange to me. I'd never called anyone that, not even Rei. He insisted that he wasn’t my father and therefore he didn’t deserve the title. I liked having someone to use the title with. And I could tell that Ryu liked it, too.

 I looked like him; I suppose that's why I'd drawn the conclusion that he was my father as soon as I saw him and was coherent enough to take in my surroundings. I was, of course, younger than he was, and quite a bit stronger than he was- a fact that surprised the hell out of me, considering the adventures Rei and Mom told me about. What could one expect after a broken neck, but still. I never expected him to be so weak. Even so, his presence still awed me. Whether it was because of whom he was to me or who he was, period, I didn't know.

 His demeanor also surprised me, even more so than his poor physique. I was expecting loud arrogance, or perhaps judgmental abusiveness, and it had taken every bit of courage I had to approach him as I had. I feared him, that he'd reject me. But the man I was expecting wasn't anything like the man he was. He was very quiet, with a low, musical voice that I sometimes had to strain to hear, and very gentle. He seemed passive and shy, and I could sense something near fear from him- he was afraid of my judgment of him! I supposed it was a new and rather intimidating experience for both of us.

 As the days went on we got used to each other, rather quickly. I discovered that I could make him laugh really easily, and he had some of the best dirty jokes I'd ever heard- the Prince of Dragnier, telling dirty jokes! Who would think? And who knew? Maybe I could start to love him as my father, instead of just an older friend, which seemed to be the role he wanted right now. The way he pushed me away whenever I tried to get closer to him hurt me. Until I discovered why, one day, when a thought suddenly passed my mind: did I have any brothers or sisters? He hadn't said anything, and I hadn't seen any other family on his side, but who knew, maybe they were studying abroad or something. "Dad?" I prompted. He was writing in his journal; I liked to watch him write. He looked so intense, and sometimes he'd giggle at what he'd written and read it to me, or let me read it. His handwriting was perfect, too.

 "Yes?" he responded, without looking up.

 "Do you have any kids?"

 "Well, that's a silly question," he answered, grinning at me over his shoulder.

 I threw a pillow at him gently; he chuckled and deflected it with an upraised arm. "I meant besides me," I said.

 Dad put down his pen and turned to face me. "Well, Valerie and I adopted Sorrow, if that counts."

 I thought for a moment, and then decided that it did, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. It would be nice to go back to Wyndia and tell my friends I’d gotten a father and older sister out of that horrible illness, but I wanted to know if I had biological siblings, too. "Does she not want any kids of her own or something?" I asked.

 "No, she wants children, very much."

 I couldn't read his face, so I asked, "Why don't you have kids, then?"

 Pain flickered in his eyes briefly and I kicked myself for hurting him. He looked away. "She can't," he responded simply.

 I figured that would be the end of it, and I vowed to never bring it up again, loathing myself for hurting him, even inadvertently. But after a moment, he spoke again: "Shortly after we were married, we were told that she was barren. The arrogant, all-knowing idiot I was, I told her that I didn't believe him- he was the head healer at the time- and we tried anyway, and she became pregnant." He took a deep breath. "Two months later she miscarried, and the healer informed us that if she got pregnant again, not only would it completely destroy her womb, it might also kill her."

 "I... I'm sorry," I said weakly.

 He shook his head. "Don't be. It was ten years ago, and... you deserve to know why I'm so scared right now." He looked up at me, and I could see the conflict in him. "I loved that child with all my heart and he died. You- Garr, I watched you-“ He struggled with his words, frustrated that he couldn’t seem to articulate what he wanted to. Finally, he said, “I'm afraid if I love you, I'll lose you too."

 I wondered how he knew I felt a little put off by his somewhat ambivalent attitude towards me. But why was I put out by it? I'll lose you... But we'd just found each other! And then I realized that now that I knew him, I was clinging desperately to him, and that despite being afraid that he'd reject me, it was too late. I stood, immediately, and closed the distance between us, hugging him fiercely. "I love you, Dad," I whispered.

 He didn't move. Just when I was about to pull away, disappointed despite the fact that I hadn't expected anything, his arms wrapped around me and pulled me against him tighter. I knew right then, his silence gave him away. There was no if about how he felt. He didn't need to say it.

 ~*~

 Anna kept her distance for the first few days after my illness. At first it bothered me; I’d nearly died, I told her, and near-death experiences could really make a man realize what was important to him. “You did die,” she retorted, seriously, trying to keep me grounded in reality. I shivered when she said it; the more time passed, the less I wanted to acknowledge that. It seemed such a long time ago already. “And I know you want to get to know His Majesty. You’ve every right to. I’d really rather you focused on that, than on me. I know you’ll be there.”

 So that’s what I did. However, Anna made it clear to me when she was done giving me time to get to know my father. She wasn’t unkind about it, she simply joined me in the morning at breakfast and didn’t budge from my side unless one of us had to use the bathroom and, if we were left unsupervised, I believed that she wouldn’t have even left me alone then.

 Serra seemed intensely annoyed by this. She wanted me alone with her something fierce and it made me- and Anna- very uncomfortable. I knew Anna’s discomfort was jealousy-based; she told me that, in so many words, and she also said she knew that it was paranoia, and asked me to just find out what Serra wanted.

 I actually didn’t want to do that. Logically, it seemed ridiculous but I was afraid of her. She’d done nothing to really deserve that fear. Except show up out of nowhere and bring me back to life, of course. That was plenty of frightening, considering that resurrection from death was supposedly impossible. And then there was what Death- or the hallucination of Death, I still couldn’t decide if that had really happened or not- telling me that I shouldn’t have died and implying that only Gods could resurrect people. Wasn’t it funny that Serra, who seemed to be able to do that anyway, showed up just in time to save my life?

 But what it came down to, ultimately, is that she had saved my life. I owed her that much and at the very least, the courtesy to find out what she wanted so desperately to speak with me about. So I took Anna’s advice, and when she came into the sitting room where Anna and I, Mom, Rzalyn and Rei, and Ryu were all relaxing, I approached her. “Hey,” I said quietly. “I’ve noticed you seem to want to talk to me. What’s up?”

 “Can we go speak in private, Prince Garr?” she asked me in a formal tone, as her smile broadened slightly.

 “Come, over here,” I said, motioning to one of the private side rooms. She followed me obediently and I yielded to her as we got to the room. Serra bowed slightly before passing me, seating herself on the plush bench against the wall.

 The room wasn’t very big, roughly the size of a generous walk-in closet. In fact, its size quite reminded me of my own, at home. As much as I wanted to stay here, and continue to get to know my father, I was starting to feel a little homesick. This just added to that; it was best to get this taken care of as quickly as possible, so I didn’t leave the little room in an off mood. “What can I do for you, my lady?”

 Serra giggled at me. “So respectful, Prince. I’m not a lady, I’m just a wanderer.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I call all women ‘lady’ and all men ‘sir’ unless I’ve given a reason not to.”

 “I see. As for what you can do for me, I’m merely curious about how you’re getting along here, and with your father.”

 “Well, that’s a personal question.”

 “Is it really?”

 Her tone was innocent and I had no trouble believing that she really didn’t see how that question was so personal. There was no harm in answering her, so I shrugged. “Fine. It’s not Wyndia, and Ryu’s not Rei.”

 “Oh… having some trouble assimilating?”

 I frowned at her. “I didn’t realize I was expected to ‘assimilate’,” I told her. “I don’t really think Ryu thinks that, either. I think he just wants me to get used to this place. He wants me to come back and start training as the Prince of Dragnier.”

 “Why?”

 I began to wonder if all these questions were really as innocent as I thought. “Well, why not?” I prompted in response. “He doesn’t have a child of his own, except Sorrow. I’m not sure about succession laws here, so there’s a chance she might not be able to take the throne.”

 Serra eyed me doubtfully. “Do you think he really just wants you around because you’re his best chance at a blood heir?”

 “What? No! Of course not! That’s only part of it! I’m fifteen years old- that’s a long time for a Fae, even if it’s not for a Dragon. I don’t know what happened that made Mother keep me from Ryu, but she did and now we have to make up for that lost time.”

 Serra smiled. “I guess Her Majesty wouldn’t have made that decision lightly.”

 I shook my head. “No, she didn’t,” I said in agreement. “I know what happened, but none of it points at a motive. But if she wanted me to know she would have explained herself long ago. All I can do now is try to make up for lost time.”

 “I see. Even though you don’t know, would you also agree that she had a very good reason? Like that something had gone wrong?”

 “Well… yes. Of course.”

 “Don’t you wish that had never happened?”

 I frowned. “Since I have no idea what it is, that’s a little difficult to answer, my Lady.”

 “Oh, yes, of course. I just wondered,” said she, “if you didn’t wish for it to be undone. So you could be with your father right from the start. Maybe, perhaps,” Serra added, her eyes glittering in excited hope, “he’d never have fallen, if they could go back and do it again.”

 This was getting irritating and it was taking more and more of my self-control to not show it. “Perhaps,” I conceded, “but it’s done. They can’t go back and do it again. Ryu and I spent fifteen years apart, and his fall shattered his body before I was born. We can do nothing about that now.”

 “Can’t we?” Serra asked.

 I faltered a moment. No, she couldn’t be serious, could she…? “If you’re implying you believe we can go back, I suggest you make that opinion plain, Lady,” I said flatly.

 Serra shrugged, averting her eyes demurely. I got the nasty feeling that this gesture, usually a show of respect, was mocking. “You were dead as a doornail, Prince Garr,” she said in response. “I was able to undo that, now wasn’t I?”

 I shuddered at the reminder of my death, aggravated for the reminder, but she had a point. “Okay, you can raise the dead,” I conceded. “That’s a pretty far cry from being able to reverse time.”

 “Why do you say that?”

 What that really meant was crystal clear: You don’t have a damn clue what you’re talking about. I didn’t know where it came from, but just as I knew she had been mocking me when she looked away, I knew that this sentiment was one of amusement. That had been happening a lot, ever since I got to Dragnier. I just kind of… knew. I wondered idly if that’s what Mom meant when she told me that Dragons were somewhat empathic to each other, as I replied, “I am a single person. You’re talking about time, something that affects everyone that exists.”

 “So I am. And I am telling you that I can undo it,” she said bluntly. “Prince Garr… You have a right to know your family. No matter what Her Majesty’s reasons, if I might be so bold, she was wrong. And I happen to know that your mother still loves him, very much, she told me. I can tell your father still loves her, as well.”

 “He’s married.”

 “That’s pretty irrelevant.”

 “How so?”

 She sighed, ignoring my point. “The point, Prince, is that you’re the one the most dramatically impacted by this,” Serra said. “If you want me to see if I can change what happened back then, so you can have your father, I can do that. I don’t know if I will succeed but I would like to try, if that is what you want.”

 And there it was, blunt and out in the open. This girl was no goddess; I knew as much by Death’s half-statement.

 But I really did want to know what my life would have been like if my father never left. He had his reasons, my mother had hers, and I knew my mother’s reasons rested in what she felt was best for me.

 But Ryu didn’t even know I existed, to have a chance to make a decision. So Mom made her decision unilaterally, when there should have been two people involved, and there wasn’t. The result was that I didn’t get to have a father for fifteen years of my life. That stung bitterly, now that I actually thought about it.

 And now Serra was saying that now, it was my choice. I got to decide what I wanted, and I wanted my father. With a deep breath, I said, “Alright. If you think you can, then do it.”

 The girl smiled broadly. “As you wish, your Highness. May we meet again, with things as they should be!”

 No!

 I heard the cry, agonized and terrified, immediately before a strange, horrible and terrified sensation washed over me. “What are you doing?” I gasped, grasping my chest.

 “I’m reversing time, as you asked me to.”

 “Something’s wrong!”

 “No, Prince Garr, everything’s fine. I have everything under-“

 The next instant, I was standing next to her, in utter and absolute darkness, except for the pinpoints of light of the stars around us. I recognized this place, after a moment. “We’re dead,” I murmured.

 Serra shook her head. “No. No, we’re not. I don’t know what went wrong but we’re not-“

 “But this is where I woke up when I died,” I cut her off testily, almost angrily. I trusted her, and she killed us!

 Before I could say more, though Serra put a hand on her hip and glared at me. “I know that,” she snipped. “You’re not dead this time. My spell backfired and took us here for some reason. We have to find my Grandmother and ask her what went wrong and how to undo it.”

 “Your grandmother?”

 “Death.” She said it in a ‘no duh’ tone, raising an eyebrow at me, and I knew she thought I should have known that.

 I looked around us. “Don’t suppose you could just send me back,” I said sullenly. “I don’t particularly want to be here.”

 “Neither do I, actually,” Serra replied in a flat tone. “And I don’t want to see Grandmother. But with you here…” she sighed. “If nothing else, I need to figure out how to send you back. Which I don’t know. So we better get a move on. She’ll eventually sense us. We’ve just got to keep moving.” With that, she started walking, and, with nothing else I could conceivably do, I followed.

 We walked together for quite some time; I quickly lost all sense of where we were or how much time had elapsed. I got the sense, more than once, that we were being watched.

Serra felt it as well; the second time I turned about to look, she scowled. “It’s not just you,” she informed me. “Someone’s there.”

"Are we in danger?” I asked, wide-eyed.

 “I don’t think so,” she replied, agitated. “You are-“

 “Well hullo there!” a voice boomed from out in the darkness.

 I startled and looked around, searching for this newcomer. He seemed to materialize in front of us; lilac hair cascaded down his back, and red eyes glared at us through narrowed lids. “I’m glad to see that you’re both well and safe,” he said, his voice low and hostile.

 “This wasn’t the being following us,” Serra informed me blankly.

 The man before us didn’t seem very interested in me at the moment. “No, I haven’t been following you,” he said, “although it’s good to know that you are being followed. You’re not even whom I’m looking for, but I’ve been searching for a while now, and you two need to be found as well.”

 Serra was on edge, which had me nervous; this man hadn’t made any hostile movements, but he was as agitated as my companion was. “And why would you be looking for anyone, Teepo?” she demanded hotly, moving to stand in front of me protectively.

 An expression of condescending patience came over the stranger’s features. “Because,” he said, using sarcastic dulcet tones, “the universe is in a state of emergency and the Prince there should not exist. We need to go back to the others and figure out what the hell’s happened.”

 “How funny, we have the same goal,” Serra said, smiling tightly. “But as far as I can tell, we don’t need to be found, so thanks but no thanks. You can go away now.”

 “I beg to differ, daughter dearest, if you two didn’t need to be found, you’d be at the palace by now.”

 “Wait, he’s your father?” I interrupted, peering at him more carefully. Now that the connection was made, I could see it, clearly. Her eyes were blue, rather than wine red, and her hair was more blond than anything, but it had a certain sheen to it that made it look like a much lighter shade of purple than Teepo’s. And I could definitely see him in her face.

 Serra snarled, “No, he is not.”

 She said it as if that suggestion was the gravest, most horrifying insult she’d ever had to endure, and the cynical mask Teepo wore cracked just for a moment, pain flashing in his eyes. “Our relation is irrelevant,” he said flatly. “What is relevant is the fact that you two are needed elsewhere. And being as you can’t seem to find it yourselves, I’m going to take you.”

 “No, you’re not.” Serra threw off a shield of magic, abruptly; it was formless, spelless, and it took both Teepo and I by surprise.

 Teepo fell back, but did not retreat. As he watched Serra warily, considering what to do next, I exclaimed, “Hey, why did you attack him?”

 “You don’t want to go with him,” Serra said.

 “But he didn’t try to hurt us,” I retorted, “and he seems to know what’s going on and what he’s doing!”

 Before Serra could respond, Teepo said quickly, “Yes, Garr, I know what I’m doing, although I have very little idea of what’s going on. We need to seek out the rest of the gods to parse that part of it, and you’ve been wandering about for quite some time. You’re not going to get to where you need to be anytime soon without-“

 “And he would most certainly not take us there!” Serra interrupted him viciously.

 “Serra, you have no idea where you’re even supposed to go!” Teepo shouted back.

 I’d had more than enough of this. “Stop it!” I hollered over both of them. Much to my surprised, Serra dropped her guard in shock and Teepo straightened, looking at me inquisitively. “Where are we supposed to go?” I asked him, oddly calm, given the circumstances.

 He was relieved that I was willing to listen to him. “To the palace. It’s where the gods converge to talk when there’s a problem.”

 “Can you take us there?”

 “In an instant.”

 I nodded firmly. “Please, then, do so.” 

.