014: Pure Again Daylight, Chapter 11

[beautifultragedy]

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

From the Eyes of the Father

I knew Garr hated it when Dragons used the innate, magical empathy we had for each other on him, but he knew that I did it when he suddenly fell ill. It was the easiest and quickest way to figure out what was wrong, and he'd never once complained about it. I got the feeling that he would have this time, though, if he'd had the energy to. He resisted me for a few brief moments, even though I sensed he was completely drained as it was. My first thought was to wonder why the hell he was so upset, when I first touched his mind. I knew from the shock of relief that hit me that he'd been very apprehensive about my own condition, but there was also a dull presence of fear, completely unrelated to me. I could also feel the remnants of two other beings, one very, very young and the other mature. Aha, I thought, withdrawing from him. That's why he resisted me at first. He's done it two other times recently.

I gathered him up in my arms easily and grinned beside my worry, though, as Garr snuggled against my chest and sighed, sound asleep. It was amazing how much he'd changed since he was an infant- he was nearing adulthood, even- yet he hadn't changed at all.

I tucked him into his own bed, feeling quite nostalgic. Not for the first time, I wished I knew why Sara seemed to dislike me so. I'd tried using empathy with her, and I withdrew very quickly, as I was met with a very self-defensive feeling and Sara's screaming at the top of her lungs. But I had managed to get a few bits from her in the two seconds I'd connected with her. She loved me as a child does, a pure, innocent love, but she was frightened of me. It was overwhelming, and I didn't understand why. I reached out to her again without trying to connect, and tried to show her how much I loved her, and that I would never ever do anything to hurt her. She reached back, hesitantly, and very briefly, and stopped screaming. She even relaxed when I held her. But I could never get away from that horrible distrust, and it plagued me terribly. It hurt.

I wanted Garr to be a baby again. He didn't like empathy even as an infant, but he never fought me. He always opened right up whenever I tried to connect with him. I missed that.

Of course, Janus still connected with me readily, and I think I did it more often than he realized. That boy was fascinating. There was so much going on in that mind! Demeter often complained about being the only one to try to keep him from daydreaming, and she even accused me of encouraging it! Of course, I denied it at the time, but she had no idea how right she was. The stories Janus was cooking up in his daydreams were better than the ones Garr or I read to him when he wanted a bedtime story. He was a genius, that was for damn sure. I was so proud of him.

The story his teacher showed us before came to mind, and I felt ill; I didn’t have time to think about it longer, though. I heard yelling downstairs, and I figured I'd stared at Garr long enough. I dropped a kiss on his cheek and left the room, leaving the door open slightly. I didn't feel right shutting it all the way, for some reason. About halfway down the stairs, I stopped to survey the scene in the living room.

Valerie and Rzalyn were talking between themselves- they both looked dreadfully tired. Anna and Vanessa talked as well. Anna didn't look much better off than Val and Rzalyn, but Vanessa and Alex- who was currently pinning my younger son to the floor as the child struggled to free himself, laughing hysterically- looked to be wide awake and quite bright-eyed and chipper. I went down the rest of the stairs. "Garr didn't tell me all of Wyndia was in my living room," I said teasingly. Everyone looked up. Alex and Vanessa cheered; Janus finally broke free of Alex's hold, dashing up to me. "Daddy!" he shrieked, and I had to step back to keep from toppling when he slammed into me, wrapping his arms around my legs. "Didja have a good sleep?" he asked. "Didja have good dreams? Huh? I missed you!"

I lifted him up over my head, and then planted a big sloppy kiss on his forehead. "I missed you too, buddy!" I exclaimed. "Yes, I had a very good sleep!"

"Where's Mommy? Where's Garr?" He prompted.

"Mommy's still a little sleepy," I told him, "and Garr is, too."

"Will they get up soon?" Janus asked.

Alex cleared his throat. "Garr's asleep now too?"

I glanced at Alex, then back at my son, and bounced him in my arms. He shrieked with laughter and threw his arms around my neck, holding on tight. "Mommy might be getting up soon," I said in his ear, as his head was now resting on my shoulder, "but Garr was very, very tired. He hasn't been resting enough." I looked at Val and Rzalyn and gave them my best I want an explanation look.

"Hey, Janus!" Alex said suddenly, in a loud, obnoxious voice. "We're not done our wrestling match yet!"

Janus squirmed in my arms; I set him down on his feet. He ran back to Alex and tried to knock him over; Alex laughed. "Hey, let's go outside," he told him, giving me a purposeful look. "I think the grass might be softer than the floor, huh?"

"Whatever!" Janus replied cheerily. I nodded thanks to Alex as he took off after Janus, out the front door. I made a mental note to actually thank him. I didn't want Janus in the room when we discussed this. I didn't know what was going on, if he knew about it, if it would upset him- I wanted to keep him as far away from whatever it was as I could.

Vanessa started rambling the moment the door was shut. "Gods, Ryu, I'm so sorry. I had no idea; we're still trying to figure out what happened- it doesn't make any sense! I'm not going to be using any magic for a while, at least until we know that all this is done and over with for good. Hey, does your restraint make you as uncomfortable as it does me? I mean, it's so heavy-"

"Be prepared," Rzalyn cut her off. "In a few hours, you'll be like that, too," he said, grinning at my bewildered staring.

"I- what?" I asked, confused. "'Restraint?'" Vanessa raised her right hand and shook it; a metal band was around her wrist, one with various archaic characters etched into it. That's when I looked at my own wrist and noticed one on my arm, too. "What the hell?"

"Alex and Demeter are wearing them, as well," Val told me. "Vanessa cast a prayer-spell over you and Demeter, one intended to keep you two in a deep sleep until your bodies were fully rested. She felt that you were over-exhausted, and that it wasn't a healthy condition. As a high priestess, she felt it was her duty to try to remedy it," Val informed me, nodding to Vanessa, who smiled gratefully at her. Rzalyn simply grunted and muttered under his breath.

Val continued, "Something went wrong, though, and her spell started siphoning magic from Alex to fuel it. By the time anyone realized that something might be very wrong- Garr, at first, but Anna was the one who called Rzalyn- the spell was already out of anyone's control, and it had almost completely drained Alex's magic power and had started sucking his life, instead, to sustain itself. That's what Vanessa and Rzalyn found after spending a few hours trying to break the spell." Val shifted and yawned. "After that, they explained what was happening to Alex, Anna, and Garr, and then Alex called his complete lack of magic power to their attention, and he tried to cast Burn to test his hypothesis. Sorrow and I were called when he collapsed from it." She looked around. "Speaking of Sorrow, where'd she get off to?"

Vanessa was the quickest to speak. "Oh, she said she needed to think about some things. You know, she has such a crush on Garr! It's amazing, really. And you know, he absolutely crushed her last night- wasn't his fault, she told us, in fact he didn't say much of anything about it, but it was just his reaction to-"

"Shush!" Rzalyn snapped. "I seem to recall her telling us that in confidence!"

"No, she told us about the kiss in confidence!"

I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head to one side. "What?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Vanessa kicked her feet against the edge of the couch as she blushed. "Oops."

"'Oops' indeed," Rzalyn said in disgust, then he addressed myself and Val. "Can you two just forget she said any of that?"

Val and I looked at each other, bewildered. "Uhm..." Val said, unsure.

"Yeah. At the very least we won't bring it up, right?"

"I suppose... And make sure they're not together alone..."

"Absolutely," I agreed vehemently.

"Oh, for the love of Ladon, let them be!" Vanessa exclaimed. "They're teenagers; that's what teenagers do! Let them be. It was only one kiss, besides. You two are blowing it way out of proportion, you know. I mean, Rzalyn and Alex's parents don't have a problem with those two, right? And they practically make out right in front of you! I mean, sure, they're a bit older-"

"Vanessa, please!" Anna begged.

Vanessa pressed a hand to her mouth. "Sorry!" She muffled. "I'll shut up."

"Please tell me you don't mean I'm going to be like that," I said to Rzalyn, miserably.

"We're afraid so," Val said with a sigh. "It's a side effect of the spell being cut off so abruptly, after such a long duration. Demeter will probably be just as bad, too. Fortunately, Alex has been less chatty and more hyperactive. I don't think any of us could handle them both talking like that."

"Agreed," Rzalyn said.

"So, these restraints," I prompted, to get us back on track. I lifted my hand. "Why? And when can we take them off?"

"We'll take them off after you and Demeter have both been awake for five hours," Val told me. "This is to make sure the spell isn't still having an effect on you. After that, if any of you four starts to feel unnaturally drowsy, or if any of you is oversleeping considerably, I think we'd best put them back on. We did it to bind your magic power to you, so that the spell couldn't get power from anyone it was directly affecting- that we knew of, anyway. Vanessa's agreed to only use her magic in emergencies, until we figure out why Alex was affected. We needn't worry about Alex, as he's scared to death of sleep spells now- we were going to ask him not to cast that particular group. Now the only two are you and Demeter- and I can't ask you not to use sleep spells," she said softly. "It's part of our job. I do ask, though, that you monitor your magic very closely."

"I intend to," I said grimly. I didn't like this at all, although I was more worried about Alex than anything else. From the way they were talking, it seemed that they had no idea why this happened, and that was dangerous. Bad things happen when one's magic does something for no apparent reason.

~*~

I was still giddy. It was a day after I woke up, and I had yet to be able to control myself. I'd start talking and I wouldn't shut up. I found the most mundanely amusing things hysterically funny. I was giggling like I hadn’t since I was a child. I couldn't keep a straight face. I knew I was grinning like an idiot, but I honestly couldn't help it. I eventually gave up and asked Val to call me if I was needed, and then I went and hid in my office.

I was quite pleased to discover that my half-week of sleep didn't affect my ability to fall asleep at night- in fact, I went to bed earlier than I usually did, and got a full eight hours of sleep, and woke completely refreshed. I could learn to enjoy that. If only I could stop giggling!

I was also cautiously happy that it seemed that the magic restraints had done the trick, and the spell Vanessa had cast had died completely. None of us were feeling any ill affects anymore, although I'd heard about Alex and Vanessa's ordeal the night the restraints were put on us. Add one more thing to Ryu's Growing List of Things That Make No Sense.

Dear Ladon, my life was becoming so convoluted.

So I was sitting at my desk, hunched over a pencil I was flipping- I put the pencil on the desk, and then smacked the point. I did this over and over again. I was absolutely fascinated, and I had no idea why. So I was sitting at my desk, flipping a pencil, when Val came into my office. "You're needed!" she said cheerily. "Two patients were just brought in that none of my staff want to touch," she informed me, tossing two folders onto my desk. "There's their charts. A fight in school- scared the crap out of their teacher and classmates. Very lucky young men. The triage nurse said that if they'd continued for a minute more, they probably would have murdered each other." I frowned, picking up the folders and checking the names.

Byron Messina and Garr Bateson. I felt like my heart stopped.

I stared at Val and she grinned. "Yes, Meghan remembered the fit you threw last time Garr was brought in and no one told you. As I said, no one wants to touch them."

I stood, trying to shake myself out of Parent mode and into Doctor mode. "How badly are they hurt?" I asked as we left my office.

"Not nearly as badly as the medics initially thought. Bryon's level 2 and Garr is 3. Byron's injuries are more life-threatening than Garr's are, but Garr would be in considerably more pain than Byron is, if we could keep him conscious, I mean." I halted, looking at Val in horror. So much for Doctor mode.

Val returned my look curiously, and then she chuckled, understanding my consternation. "He's fainting from pain, not magic. Trust me. He'll be okay once he has some painkillers in his system."

I sighed, and we started walking again. I pressed a hand to my forehead. I was shaking. "Were the staff able to get an idea of what happened?" I asked.

Val shrugged. "Garr nearly killed himself on a failed spell, and Rzalyn benched him, so to speak- Byron decided to start antagonizing him, and Garr fired back. Byron took a bit of offense to Garr's response, and attacked him. Garr lost his temper." She grinned ruefully at me. "I'd bring up Garr's anger management- lack thereof- at his next therapy session. I don't ever want to be on the wrong side of that boy's temper," she breathed. "He put one of those rings of his in Byron's upper leg. To the bone. He beat the living daylights out of the poor kid."

I looked at her. "But Byron started the fight," I said, more of a question than a defense.

"Yes, well... Garr kept fighting after Byron'd stopped. In fact, according to their classmates and Rzalyn, Garr kept on after Byron went down." She shook her head. "He almost attacked Alex when Alex stopped him. He was struggling with him while Sorrow tried to cast Heal on him, too." She shook her head. "No offense, but something's wrong with that boy. I'm not saying that Byron's an angel- Gods, no- but there was no reason for Garr to fly off the handle like that. He freaked out, and none of them think he even realized how violent he got until the fight was done and Alex had subdued him. I’m worried, Ryu. Very. Something’s going on, and it’s got nothing to do with Thomas."

I didn't respond. I didn't know how to. I knew he was still irritable from the crisis earlier in the week, but that didn't sound like irritability from stress. I'd gone off like that too, before, but it was always only after incessant, non-stop abuse and stress, the kind that one can be permanently traumatized from. The events of the week couldn't have been that extreme, could they? She was right; there was something going on that I didn’t know about. I’d gotten complacent since Garr stopped acting out when he was thirteen.

We were nearing the emergency wing. "I'll see Byron first, then Garr," I told Val, handing her my son's medical file. "If he's unconscious, try to wake him, but don't use drugs to do it. Let him be if he passes out again before I get to him." I scribbled Demeter's work number on my pad and handed the paper to her. "Demi is Byron's guardian, for school purposes anyway, so she needs to be notified- there's her number." Val nodded and walked off, glancing at the chalkboard. I chuckled as I found my two patient's names. They'd put them in different halls, opposite ends. There were two security checkpoints between them. I shook my head and cursed as my chuckling turned to giggles. "Damnit!"

I started down the hallway Byron was in, fighting to gain composure. I was close enough to it when I got to his room, so I went right in. "Hello, Byron!" I said in a cheerful voice.

Byron groaned. "Why'd they have to send you?"

I looked at him in amusement as I tossed his chart onto the table and grabbed the clipboard that was there- the sheet that the triage nurse detailed his injuries on. I whistled. "Why not send me?"

"Because I got into a fight with your son," he replied weakly, closing his eyes tight and pressing the back of his hand to his forehead.

I chuckled. "Byron, I'm your doctor at the moment. I'll be Garr's father later, after we're sure you'll live."

"I almost wish I won't, now," he moaned in pain. "Ugh- that's the last time I assume I can win a fight based solely on age difference-"

"That's the last fight you should assume you can win, period," I chided gently, taking a fairly strong pain medication out of one of the cabinets. "Overconfidence is a good way to commit suicide. Never assume that you can win a fight." I measured out a low dose into a syringe, and then injected it into his shoulder. He hissed, but didn't protest. "That should help with the pain at least a little bit. It might also make you drowsy. If it does, try to sleep." I wiped his arm where I'd stuck the needle, then disposed of it and went about the task of appraising his wounds. "I hear you two really tore into each other," I said conversationally.

He winced as I touched a tender spot. "Yeah, well, I gave almost as good as I got."

I grinned. "At least you can admit that he won."

"He cheated," he replied flatly. "He used his rings."

I shook my head, my grin widening. "That's what people do when they get into fights. And no, it wasn't dishonorable," I said as he opened his mouth to protest. "You struck first, correct?"

"Yes," he snipped.

"Without warning?"

Byron nodded, scowling.

"Thought so." I scribbled a few sentences on the clipboard, and then put it back on the table. "How is the pain now?"

"It's there. It's tolerable now, though," he said sullenly.

"Good. It seems that the bleeding is pretty much under control, so I'm going to have one of the nurses come in and try to heal that leg wound enough so I can stitch it up- if they can't, you might need surgery," I said apologetically. "I'll have either them or another nurse work on that slash across your chest, too. I'm hoping that we'll get that cleaned up enough so it won't scar, but I can't give you any guarantees on that." I looked at the clipboard, scanning the list of names. "I think I'll send Meghan," I finally told him. "She's the head nurse, so if she can't do it, it's probably accurate to say no one will be able to. She'll also know if she needs another person or if she can handle it alone, so I'm turning you over to her- well, over to Val," I corrected, "but Meghan'll be the one working with you." Byron nodded, refusing to meet my eyes. I shook my head slightly, but knew it was useless to try to coddle his wounded pride. It might've been for the better if he was left to stew in his defeat for a while, anyway. Take the cocky bastard down a few pegs.

Demeter was already outside the room when I left. "How is he?" she asked.

"He'll live. He's going to be on crutches for a good while, and he might have a nasty scar across his chest." I kissed her on the lips quickly.

She kissed back, and then asked, "Who won?"

"Demi!" I snapped, surprised.

“What?”

"Garr did, I think," I sighed.

"Good. He needed to give my little brother a good thrashing for all the bullshit. I'm glad he finally did."

"Demeter!" I couldn't believe my ears.

"Well, it's true! He's such an asshole to him!" Demeter frowned. "I need to talk to you about Byron. I think it might be best if he left the house."

I raised a brow. "Well, he's hardly ever there anymore, ever since he got caught tampering with Garr's vitamins-“

"I mean permanently, Ryu." She sighed and looked at her feet. "I used to think Garr was the problem child, but it seems that Byron's got some kind of rivalry going on with him. It's tit-for-tat, and Garr's not even doing anything to him on purpose. But don't tell Byron that, oh no. He goes off on a tangent like Garr's some kind of hellspawn or something! His complaints have absolutely no merit," she told me. "Like this, for instance. Even though- yes, I heard how it started- Byron was the instigator, I can just about guarantee that Byron's going to do something to get back at him for this." She caught my eyes again, and said with great conviction, very honestly, "Watch him."

I grimaced. She rarely said so much at once; I knew it was the recovery from the sleep spell. "You're getting worked up, love," I said softly. "Don't protest. Remember what Val told us? I think we need to wait until we're in our right minds again before we do anything harsh. If you think that Byron's going to try to hurt Garr, and you'll stand by me in tossing him out, I'm all for it. I just want you to be sure you're not going to change your mind before it happens, or regret it and invite him back later." I kissed her again. "I need to go see Garr now. I needed to five minutes ago."

"I'm sorry," she said, backing off. "I thought you'd go to him first."

"Don't worry about it," I told her, and caught Val as she walked past. I gave her the instructions on what I wanted done for Byron, and then officially turned him over to her as a patient. I felt relieved as I walked quickly down the other hall to my son's room. Now I could concentrate on Garr.

He was senseless when I got there; I almost instantly regretted giving Val Byron instead of Garr. I should have known that I was too close to him to handle this, but I had no idea Garr was so badly hurt!

It was as I was told- Garr's injuries were much less threatening, but much, much more painful. His right arm and side were scorched, and it looked as though his wrist and fingers had been crushed. He screamed when I tested the hand for broken bones, gently. There were none, I found in relief. Garr opened his eyes slightly and looked at me, uncomprehending and unrecognizing. "Hello," I said softly, pushing his bangs out of his face.

"Who- what-" his attempts at a thought were cut off by another cry of pain; I winced. He was delirious. I went to the door and called out to one of the nurses. I couldn't handle this on my own. I explained what I needed: Water, a small wrist splint, cold packs for the worst burns, bandages, and a sedative- Garr wouldn't let me work on him if every move caused him such pain, and he wasn't in a clear state of mind like Byron had been. He repeated my list to me, and then ran off to get the items, and I went back to Garr.

I should probably call Nina, I reflected, but I didn't want to leave him. He passed out again. I frowned. There was something else wrong. Second and third degree burns across his shoulder and down his arm and side were probably extremely painful, and he was already mentally unstable when he was brought in- he still hadn't calmed down from the fight. But he was in agony. Those injuries shouldn't have caused that much pain. On a hunch, I turned down his blanket and checked his wings, reaching underneath his back gently. When I withdrew my hand, it was coated in red.

"Great Ladon!" I yelled and jumped up. "Get Val!" I screamed at the nearest nurse. "I'm upgrading him to level one, he needs to be in surgery, and he needs it half an hour ago!"

My urgent tone alarmed more people than I'd thought were around; Val and Demeter came running up within moments of me going back to Garr's bed and trying to wake him, to keep him awake. "What-" Val started.

"His wings are torn," I said frantically. "He's bleeding. Badly. How the hell did they miss this?!"

"I don't know!" Val replied, quite a bit calmer. She came over and pushed me away, one hand at this throat gauging his pulse, and the other hand slipping underneath his back to try to feel where the damage was worst. "We need to turn him over," she said finally. "I can't tell how badly they're torn. Meghan, help me," she said, calm but urgent. "Ryu, get out."

"What?!" I squeaked. "No! I'm-"

"You're his father," she cut me off quickly, "and you're panicking. Turn him over to me and get out." Another nurse, this one male, came in as well and went right to his side and brushed the two girls out of the way. He lifted Garr easily, and laid him back down on his stomach. Meghan moved the pillow out from under him so he couldn't suffocate on it. "Ryu, last time," she said coldly. "Leave."

"No!"

"I swear, I'll call a security guard- Demi, get him out of here! He can't work in that condition!"

Demi tugged on my arm. I yanked away from her. "Ladon damn you!" I snapped. "I know more about-"

"I don't give a damn!" Valerie screamed, finally losing her cool. "You're too frantic to work on him, and you're distracting ME! Get out!"

Two more sets of hands grabbed me from behind, and pulled me from the room as Demeter pushed. I whirled on them, ready to throw a temper tantrum, but I was shocked into silence. The other two were Nina and Byron, neither of whom should have been there. "How-"

"Rzalyn called me immediately after he called the medics," Nina told me.

Byron grinned weakly. "You had to have been deaf not to hear you yelling- I'm positive you probably alarmed even the people in the morgue-" then he gasped as his injured leg buckled, and he collapsed onto one knee.

I knelt quickly beside him, and cursed at him. He'd managed to tear the wound open again. I ordered two of the onlookers to help him back to his room as Sorrow and Alex finally arrived there. "Go with them," I told Sorrow, not stopping to think that she was technically still in school, not here. She didn't think of it either, and did her best to help the other two nurses get Byron back to where he belonged. "Someone's going to be out of a job for this," I muttered.

"Calm down," Demeter said softly. "You're not helping anyone if you're like this."

I cursed again. "Are Rzalyn and Anna here?"

"No," Alex told me. "Rzalyn had to go back to the Academy, and Anna was sick after Byron and Garr were taken out." His face colored and he grimaced. "Will he be okay?"

"I don't know," I told him softly. "I don't know how long his wings were bleeding, or how heavy it was. I didn't even bother to guess." I laughed bitterly. "Val's right. I got hysterical. I should know how much danger he's in."

"You can't be a doctor and a father at the same time," Nina said, humor touching her voice. It did a poor job of masking her fear. "I'd think you were heartless if you could." Demeter murmured her agreement.

We stood in awkward silence. Then Demeter offered to spring for a round of coffee. Alex accepted for all of us, and I glared at him. He smiled at me. "You're going to be awake all night anyway, now, Ryu."

~*~

Alex was right; I was awake most of the night. Vanessa bought Janus and Sara up to the hospital around dinnertime, at Janus's insistence. It was nearly 2 in the morning when Val finally tracked us down to consult us.

"He'll be okay," she said kindly. "He didn't lose as much blood as it appeared. The tear was actually very small, and it was bleeding slowly. That's why the triage nurse missed it. When he wakes up, he'll be quite pleased to know that Byron still lost the fight," she said wryly. "Let me show you something I found," she added, thumping a book down on the table we were sitting at. It was a text on Wyndian biology.

She opened the book and Nina and I scooted closer to her; our companions stayed where they were, content to listen, uninterested, or just asleep, in Janus's case. "Nina," Val said, "are your wings sensitive, too?"

She fluttered them. "Yes," she said. "During the Dragon War, I was very often nursing them, as they seemed to be a favorite spot for enemies to target."

"Well, look here," Val said, pointing at the book. "As you two probably know, the Wyndians used to have the ability to transform into birds, much like the Dragons can transform. However, they lost that ability sometime during the Third Dragon War, due to procreating outside of their race- almost always with Dragons or humans," she told us. "They-"

"Wait," I cut her off. "The Wyndians stopped marrying each other and started marrying Dragons.’Kay. So how come the Wyndians lost their abilities and the Dragons didn't?"

"I don't know," she snapped. "I only know what's in my books, and this book deals with Wyndian biology. Dragon biology's never interested me."

"You're a Dragon," Alex said pointedly.

"So? We never had wings. We're basically just magically-enhanced humans." I snorted at this, but Valerie ignored me. "Now then," she continued. "By the Sixth Dragon War, the appearance of wings on a Wyndian was pretty much limited to the high nobility and royalty. Now, it seems to happen completely at random. It's very unusual for two generations in a row to develop them. Anyway, there's a little background for you. Here's the medical stuff." She pointed at a diagram. "This is of the Wyndians as they used to be, with feathered wings. There's no explanation for the change of appearance of them," she said, indicating Nina and Garr's faery-like wings, "but the structure is more or less the same. See this group of muscle, right here? There's a small gap in the middle. That's the weakest point in the wing- Byron's Windcutter punched right through it, on the right side. Byron got lucky with that," she said humorously.

"How long will it take to heal?" Nina asked.

Val shrugged. "That wing will be sore for a very long time- he'll probably not be able to lay on his back or put pressure on it. But other than that, it's healed. We had no way to bandage or protect that wound," she explained. "We had to close it magically. That's why it took us so long to get back to you," she explained apologetically. "What between that and the burns and sprained wrist."

"So can we take him home?"

"Yep! Byron has to stay here, though. I want to watch him for at least another day, maybe more. He lost a lot of blood."

I sighed in relief. I didn't want those two anywhere near each other at the moment.

~*~

I was the only one to go up to the school the next day. Nina had insisted on taking Garr with her- she trusted Valerie's judgment and all, but not when it came to her son. She had to have Garr near her just to ease her own worries. Demeter was too disgusted to go, to represent Byron at the disciplinary hearing, so I got to act as guardian for both of them.

Rzalyn and I chatted a bit about what had happened. Sentiments were exactly the same all around, it seemed. Garr had acted way out of line, and he really needed to work on controlling his anger and not letting his anger control him. But, it was viscously delightful that Garr'd whipped him. Byron deserved it, and he deserved it twice as badly as Garr gave it.

Once Rzalyn had vented about the long list of wrongs Byron'd done to Garr, we finally got down to the business of what punishment each of them would suffer for their brawl. "Byron has two weeks suspension and another month of after-hours detention after that," Rzalyn said. "That puts him well after the school year for detentions. He'll have to do the rest in the summer if he wants to graduate from the academy."

I smirked. Byron would NOT be pleased. "And what of my son?" I prompted.

Rzalyn looked apprehensive. "I'm suspending Garr until further notice- at least six weeks, maybe more."

"What?" I asked, stunned at such a harsh punishment. "Why?"

"I really should have expelled him," he reminded me.

"You should have expelled Byron, too, but you didn't- so why is Garr being treated so much more harshly-"

Rzalyn put his pen down and sighed. "Several reasons, Ryu. For one, I expect no less from Byron. I hold Garr to a much higher standard than him. I know, that's not fair. But the simple fact is that Garr knew better." He paused as I made a sound of protest, and then said quickly, "I'm not done yet. Also, Garr's competition is in less than a month," he said grimly. "His injured wing could throw off his balance considerably, and on top of that he has the burns and a practically useless hand. He can't practice in his condition, and he'll probably lose a good two weeks on that downtime. That leaves him only one week to prepare, and he'll have to practically learn his whole routine over. And he'll still not be in good or even decent shape to perform. He's going to be pushing himself to his limits in that week. He doesn't know how to judge exactly how much his body can tolerate, and we both know that. That means if he over-extends himself, he'll most likely end up injuring himself sometime during practice, not saying anything, and aggravating it during the competition. That'll land him another week and a half of recovering afterwards." He looked directly at me, finally. "At least if he's on suspension while all this is going on, he's excused from attendance, he can get the work brought to him at home, and he can do it on his own pace, and his teachers must accept it. This is for his benefit. If I do it any other way, he could end up failing the year and having to repeat it."

I sighed. "You're right about that last week of practice, probably," I conceded. "It's probably better for him to be suspended during this, you're right."

"Thought you'd see it my way." He leaned back in his chair, relaxing. "Now then, my dear collegue- something's been distracting you horribly this whole meeting."

I blinked at him. "Uh? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Something's on your mind, Ryu. You're up to no good. Spill it."

I grinned sheepishly. "Something is on my mind, friend, but I think it's for the good instead of no good."

"Well? Don't leave me in suspense here!"

I chuckled. "I'm thinking of making Valerie the head doctor at the hospital," I told him. "She's been shouldering most of the work for a while now, and it seems that either I'm ill and incapable of performing my duties, or one of my children is, and I'm still incapable of performing my duties. It's not fair to her. She's much more capable than I am."

Rzalyn picked up a pen and chewed on it. "Serra'll not hear of it, you know," he said. "She'll probably speech you about trust and honor and such things that have nothing to do with the issue, and then refuse to let you step down." He paused. "You are Val's better, Ryu," he said. "And Val herself would be the first person to point it out."

I scoffed. "Maybe sometimes," I agreed so that we wouldn't get off-topic. I wasn't better at our job than Val was. We were equals, at the very least, if Val DIDN'T have superior skill. "But I'm still freaking out at every turn, over little things. I'm getting over-upset when I should be trying to diagnose a problem, or fix it, and-"

"You're having problems at home," Rzalyn interrupted wearily, "and we all know it and allow you room for error for it. We wouldn't be picking up your slack if we didn't realize this. And no, none of us mind."

"I'm not having problems at home," I muttered.

Rzalyn laughed incredulously. "Ryu, your brother-in-law and son tried to kill each other yesterday, your wife is considering throwing her brother out, your sister-in-law is causing problems with her good-intentioned meddling, Janus is doing poorly in school, there's something wrong between Demeter and Garr- do I need to keep going?"

"No, you don't," I snapped. I was pissed at him, but I didn't know how to respond. If I wanted to reiterate that there were no problems, I should have refuted him. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Everything he said was true.

Rzalyn's face flushed. "I'm sorry for that," he offered. "I had no right."

"S'okay." I grinned at him. "Your meddling is good-intentioned."

He smirked at me. "Don't be pert. Have you heard back from Circe yet?" he asked, changing the subject.

I shook my head no. "I'm starting to get worried."

"Circe's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"Yes, but not against a city of angry Dragons. They still have a declaration of war against us."

"She went as your friend, not as an ambassador, Ryu," he reassured me. "They won't harm her."

"I hope you're right," I mused. "If they do, I'll have to rescind my dissent of our own declaration. Serra'll have no issues with attacking then."

Rzalyn regarded me grimly. "Even without having any official titles anymore, you're still a powerful man. You're the only thing standing between us and all-out war, Your Highness."

"Please, don't," I whispered, pained.

"I won't mention it again- for a while at least," Rzalyn said. "But you need to be reminded of who you are occasionally. You seem to forget it every once in a while." He yawned and stretched lazily. "Hey, I think I'm up for lunch. How 'bout you?"

~*~

The weeks passed; Garr and Byron healed, avoiding each other when they could, and being surprisingly civil- friendly, even- when they couldn't.

Rzalyn's summation of the last week before the competition was dead on. Garr had a noticeable limp after the second day of practice, and he winced every time he took a step. But he didn’t complain once and refused any assistance.

His fitting for the outfit he'd wear for his performance was quite amusing. The seamstress insisted on a white outfit, while Garr wanted black. But his skates were white! But he looked crappy in white! He looked good in black!

I suggested gray. They both looked at me like I had three heads, and then went back to their argument. Oh well...

They finally agreed on a design for the uniform (which Garr refused to let any of us but the seamstress see), and then they started measuring him. He yelped several times and once I heard him snap, "You get that measuring tape away from there!"

Demeter and I exchanged looks. "Should one of us-" she started.

"Stand still, boy! How'm I supposed to measure your leg if you're squirming?"

"You're gettin' a little too close there, lady! You don't need-"

"I thought you wanted a snug fit!"

"Yes, but not that snug!”

I chuckled. "Nah. He's fine."

He didn't like the experience at all, as was evidenced by the deep blush he bore when the seamstress finally gave up on trying to get him to cooperate and chose to just estimate based on the numbers she could get. "It's not going to be exactly what you want," she clucked at him, then shooed us out so she could start.

The first time he saw it himself was when he was preparing for his run in the competition. I worried a bit; what if the outfit was too big or too small? What if he didn't like it? I stood next to Rzalyn, on the edge of the practice rink, and bounced my concerns off him. Rzalyn scoffed. "He'll be fine," he assured me. "That woman is the best in Wyndia. Even if it isn't what he wanted or expected, I'm sure he'll still love it. He'll look fantastic in it, no matter if he doesn't. She's the best."

Sorrow skated up to us as we started discussing other things- The Queen's health, where Circe could be, the possibility of a peace fire, and that nothing would make me happier than to be able to go to Dragnier and see my grandfather again; but home was Wyndia now. Sorrow just listened; she liked hearing about political issues, occasionally giggling at our smart remarks of nodding in silent agreement at a statement. Both of us looked at her when we heard her gasp sharply. "Oh my Gods..."

She stared out onto the ice, eyes wide and quite breathless. Rzalyn and I both looked, and Rzalyn straightened and whistled lowly even as I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Garr skated towards us from the locker room; he raised a hand and waved as he approached. "He is quite a looker," Rzalyn observed. Sorrow nodded in stunned agreement.

The seamstress and Garr seemed to have agreed on a chaotic combination of both black and white for the uniform. His slacks, which were a close but comfortable fit, were mostly black, with streaks of white in random places, and at random length. His shirt, made of white silk, had a black gossamer veil draped and pinned over his shoulders, cutting off in a jagged edge halfway down his chest. The buttons on his shirt, his belt, and the end of the veil were all silver. He wore a black leather collar, studded in silver as well, and the gold earrings he usually wore were replaced with onyx studs. Ivory bracelets with onyx bands circling them encased each of his wrists, and black leather gloves graced his hands, with the fingers of the gloves cut off at the first knuckle so he had more freedom of movement with them.

"Well?" He asked nervously.

"Garr Bateson, you are the most beautiful creature to ever walk this earth," Sorrow said reverently. My son blushed lightly and smiled at her.

"Very nice," Rzalyn agreed. I simply grinned at him and hoped, for the other competitors' sake, that none of the judges were female.

"Are you nervous?" I asked, quite nervous myself.

Garr gave me a cocky smirk. "Absolutely not. I know I'm going to win." The smirk faded a bit, and he rubbed his right hand absently, closing his fingers into a fist and then relaxing them. His hand pained him, I could tell; I reached over to him and put my own hand over his wrist, whispering the easiest and quickest Heal spell. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the spell circled him, and he nodded to me once I broke it. "Thanks," he said sincerely.

"You're up in two minutes," Rzalyn warned him quietly. Garr threw his arms around me and hugged me, then kissed Sorrow on the cheek and gripped Rzalyn's hand, and then skated off in the direction of the main rink. He was the last skater- the practice ice was empty but for us.

"C'mon," Rzalyn said. "We're going to miss his start if we don't get to our box."

The three of us skated to a different area, where we had a clear view of the ice. Nina, Demeter, Valerie, Vanessa, Alex, and Anna were all already there- we had the biggest party of all the competitors, and it was a little crowded, but no one complained. Sorrow removed her skates when we got off the ice and sat next to Anna. Rzalyn and I kept our own skates on. We would until Garr's routine was over and he was off the ice.

I heard our Queen's voice over the speakers as she announced the final skater, Garr Bateson. Garr skated swiftly out to the center of the arena, waving. Serra wished him luck from her own place above the crowd; Garr turned and bowed to her deeply, and then the lights dimmed. Garr knelt on the ice, his head down; then as the music started, he spun into a stand, and thus his performance began.

I watched, mesmerized. He'd tried to explain the different jumps and terms, what the difference was between them, and so forth... The only concept I'd understood was how many turns a person did in the air during a jump, that was the rotation. He did a few of the simpler jumps effortlessly; he always did his practices at a much slower pace than the music set for him. The tempo and rhythm of the song changed between the stanzas of singing, and with each change he made a smooth transition into a different style of skating, from twirling and spinning to pure fancy footwork.

I held my breath as the song neared the first crescendo, one of the two places where Garr might attempt his own jump. Yesterday, during a coach-to-athlete talk, Rzalyn had cautioned him not to attempt that jump unless he was positive he could land it. If he fell, he could really hurt himself. Garr prepared to jump, and it looked as though he was going to try the complicated one; but at the last moment, he changed his footing to do a double rotation only- something I believe he called an axial jump. I caught a glimpse of his face as he landed that jump and the crowd cheered; he slowed and looked at his skates, holding his left foot above the ice longer than was necessary. Something was wrong.

He continued the routine; however, his skating was tighter, less confident, and more careful. I glanced at Rzalyn; he wore a grim expression, clearly apprehensive about something. I spoke his name questioningly. "There's something wrong with the blade of his left skate," he said shortly, not taking his eyes off the figure dancing on the ice. I turned my attention back to the performance, my chest tight with fear.

Moments later, the music was reaching the second peak, and Garr began preparing himself for the jump, a stubbornly determined look on his face. Rzalyn stood slowly even as I leaned forward; we'd both seen his left ankle lock slightly. "Don't do it," Rzalyn whispered.

Garr jumped.

I knew something was wrong from the moment his skates left the ice. Time seemed to slow down; Garr seemed to have everything under control, and for a moment I thought- hoped- the painful dread that rose in me was unfounded. Turn, cartwheel, back flip... last jump...

The sound of metal twisting and snapping grated in my ears when Garr landed. He fell to the ice with a cry. I saw him put his hands out desperately to stop his spin, but he had been going too fast when he jumped, and could not stop even when he'd fallen, and he was too close to the edge of the arena. His body slammed into one of the glass sidings, head first; glass cracked. A streak of red scorched the ice from where he'd initially fallen to where the side had stopped his inertia. Garr lay there, unmoving.

Rzalyn and I were on the ice before the music screeched to a halt.

He was unconscious, probably from his head striking the glass; his ankle was twisted in an impossible and unnatural angle, and I nearly vomited when I knelt to find where the blood on the ice had come from.

His ankle was broken. It was compounded. The bone had been forced out of place with such force that it had pierced his skin from the inside, and I could see the break- the actual bone- clearly, without moving either him or his clothing.

Something glittered on the ice half a dozen feet away, and I stared at it even as Sorrow, Val, and Vanessa skated out to us quickly. I looked down at his ankle again, my eyes widening in horror. The glittering thing on the ice was the skate's blade, and the point where it had broken off from the skate wasn't jagged. It was smooth, the severance clean.

I didn't know how or when it was done. The blade had been cut.

~*~

Garr had a major concussion, and his ability to walk correctly on that foot was thrown to question. He would certainly never skate again.

My wife was in a blood-red rage. For the first time in our ten years together, I think I feared her. She ranted and screamed as I cleared sharp and blunt objects alike from the living room. "Ryu! Go get that bastard brother of mine!" she shrieked.

"Just wait!" I snapped back. "Calm down! I'm not getting anyone until I know you're not going to kill someone!"

"I'd like to! Oh gods help him, I swear-"

"How are you so positive Byron's responsible?" I asked fiercely. I had to admit, I was in my own cold rage, but one of us had to be reasonable. Byron was the first suspect that came to my mind- but I needed to know what could make Demeter so sure that she, who I'd never seen very angry, would be ready to commit murder. And I didn't doubt for an instant that it was an exaggeration.

She laughed, sounding insane. "I know he is," she hissed. "Who got Garr the skates, hmm? Why was he so eager to see him wear them before the competition? Where was he this afternoon when this happened?"

I swallowed hard. I was having a hard time controlling my emotions- thank the Gods Rzalyn had agreed to take Janus and Sara for the time being.

"Sister," I heard Vanessa say softly. "Ryu is correct. You must calm yourself. If- if," she repeated, seeing Demeter open her mouth to protest, "Byron is responsible, you must be able to convince others that he is. You won't do that if you appear to be a raving lunatic, like you do now. Hush," she said softly, seeing Demeter's face flush. "Deep breaths. We're just as angry as you, Demi. But we will accomplish nothing if we exhaust ourselves on that anger before we've even confronted Byron."

Demeter looked as if she was going to yell again, but instead she closed her eyes and did as Vanessa said- deep breaths. "Alright," she rasped in a shaky voice. "Alright. I'm fine. I'll be fine."

Fifteen minutes later, Byron walked in the door, whistling a happy tune. "Heya!" he greeted. "How'd Garr do at the competition?"

Demeter walked up to him and slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

"Demeter!" I protested weakly, having neither the strength nor motivation to stop her.

"You know how he did, Byron!" Demeter hissed. "You know, don't you!?"

Byron held a hand to his stinging cheek. "Wha- what the hell are you talking about?"

Vanessa cleared her throat from the recliner she sat on. "Garr was hurt very badly," she said in the same even, controlled voice she'd used to calm my wife, "because his left skate broke. He may never be able to walk properly again." Her eyes flashed, and for the first time I could see the anger she claimed she felt. "Do you know why the skate broke, Byron?" She paused to see if he would answer her clearly rhetorical question. He did not. "Someone cut it, Byron. Someone cut through it just enough so that it would snap off if enough pressure was put on it. There are several things that could have done such a thing: a sharp enough dagger, for example, or something as mundane as a nail file." Her voice, soft and poisonous, cut the air. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone who keeps a nail file, do you, Byron?"

He glared at her, his own expression dark. "No."

"What about your own?" I prompted. So they weren't just going on a hunch as I was. They were making a logical connection.

Byron gasped in anger and horror. "I don't know!" he snapped. "What, do you think I had something to do with this? I've been out fishing by Maekyss Gorge all day!"

"What about before that, Byron?" Demeter asked viscously. "How about when you first bought the skates?"

"I had nothing to do with it!"

"Oh, you did not!" Demeter screamed at him. "You arrogant, sadistic little bastard! I should-" In blind fury, she struck him again. I restrained her gently, imposing myself between her and him, for as much her protection more than his.

"I think you need to leave, Byron," I said quietly. "I'm sorry it has to be this way."

Byron gaped at me. Then he turned his gaze to Vanessa, imploring.

"I agree, brother," she said. "If you truly are innocent, it would be in your best interest if you left the household. This way, no further... misunderstandings... will occur."

I could feel the fury radiating from him as he glowered from Vanessa, to me, to Demeter. "You," he said in a ragged voice, "have gone out of your mind." And with that, he whirled on his heel and fled.

We stayed like that, the three of us; Demeter and I standing in front of the now open door, Vanessa sitting in the recliner with her own cold fury. We just watched where Byron had been standing for several minutes, in silence.

I finally moved to shut the door. "I want to be the only one home when he comes to get his stuff," I said hesitantly. "I've made arrangements for you both at the nearest inn."

We looked at each other, tense. Then, suddenly, Demeter started to cry.