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 Father

I was forcibly shaken from my reverie by a sudden sense of urgency and pain, as if someone was begging for help. I stood unsteadily and used the wall to guide me to the ladder down into the main area of the well, and then I climbed the ladder up out of it, wincing in pain at every step.

My staff was right where I left it, leaning against the edge of the well. I grabbed it and limped as quickly as I could towards the teleport room. As I guessed, an agonized cry emerged from it, and a bit of scuffle could be heard within its walls.

A member of the Woren clan bodily dragged a young man from the room. The boy had dark blue hair and black faerie wings. I puzzled over his appearance as I made my way towards them, and then recognition and surprise, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, lit my face. "Rei!"

The man grunted, and forced the struggling youth to his knees. "Nina! Hurry!" he shouted, still fighting to keep the boy restrained. Nina emerged seconds later, with several retainers.

At that moment, the boy broke free of Rei and ran. "Stop him!" I shouted. I didn’t know what was going on, but the way Rei was trying to restrain him, it was obvious the young man being free wasn’t a good thing.

Several of the village men came rushing out at the sound of my voice, and caught him. "No!" he shrieked, sobbing. "No!"

I looked back at Nina as Rei dashed to help them hold the boy. "I need an explanation, Nina," I rasped, my voice tired already from the shout to my own people to help.

Nina shook her head. "I-I don't know! He was fine this morning and by mid-afternoon he was burning up! We tried to break his fever ourselves, we really did- I- Please, help him!" She practically threw herself at my feet, sobbing.

My training as a healer kicked in at that display. "Get Valerie!" I barked. "And get him to the infirmary!"

"Easier said than done!" Rei grunted, twisting away from a wild punch.

"Knock him out if you have to," I responded coolly, tottering towards the infirmary tent.

I vaguely heard Nina protest, but I shrugged off her complaints. Valerie approached me silently. "Get restraints and a tranquilizer, nothing too strong," I cautioned her. "We just need to calm him down a little." She nodded and dashed off.

I watched indifferently as Rei and the villagers struggled to get the boy to the infirmary without hurting him or getting hurt. Nina joined the scuffle briefly, until Rei roared at her to get back. She sobbed and I beckoned her to come stand by me. "There's nothing you can do for him in his condition, my Queen," I said quietly.

She obeyed me grudgingly. I watched for a few more seconds, monitoring their progress to make sure no one was getting injured, and then looked back to her. "Who is he?"

"My son," she whispered. I nodded, ignoring the surprise that knotted in my stomach.

"His name?" I prompted.

"Garr."

Another emotion, this one nostalgia, popped up. I shoved it back down irritably, kept it from showing. "When did you notice the first odd behavior?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Around noon. He was really flushed and breathless- I figured her was just coming down with the flu. But he said that he saw something- I think he told Rei that he saw the healer pull raven's feathers out of his herb pouch."

"What was his temperature at last check?"

"One-hundred-six, I think."

I whistled and tugged her out of the way as they managed to get Garr into the tent. "And how long ago was this?"

"An hour," she responded.

I shook my head and entered the tent. "Restrain him!" I ordered. "Val, let me see the tranq- No, not this one, his fever's too high." I moved beside the bed as Rei and the others made sure the restraints were tight, and I touched his forehead lightly. "It's at least one-oh-eight," I said grimly. "We've got to get his temperature down, fast."

Valerie came up beside me again, and held out a vial. I squinted at its contents. "This'll do," I said, opening the top and pouring a bit into a handkerchief. I ran some water over the spot to dilute it, and then held it against Garr's nose and mouth.

He turned his head away forcefully. "Anna!" he screamed. Rei grabbed him and turned him back and held him until the chloroform had done its job, and he stopped struggling. I wiped the handkerchief over his sweat-coated face and motioned for my assistance to bring me water. "Who's Anna?" I asked.

"His girlfriend," Rei gasped, trying to catch his breath. Nina shot him a nasty look.

"She is not his girlfriend," she snapped.

"Maybe not in your little world, but in this dimension, the girl he most frequently swaps spit with is his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend or no," I interjected curtly, soaking another cloth in the cool water that was brought to me, "he's called out for her. I think it might do him a bit of good to have her near." I wrung out the cloth and folded it, and then laid it across his forehead and brushed back a stray lock of hair. "Is it possible for someone to go get her?" Rei sighed and nodded wearily, trudging out.

Nina fidgeted slightly. "Uhm... He's sedated now- can you let him go?"

I glanced at her as I started pulling supplies off the shelf. "No."

"Why not?" she demanded indignantly.

"Because," I snapped, "he was delirious! What makes you think that he won't get violent again as soon as the tranquilizer wears off?" She just looked at her feet in response. "Thought so." I continued rummaging about the cabinets, muttering about the construction of the hospital going slower than molasses traveling uphill in January, and yet the Palace was almost done. "Who's his father?"

Nina inhaled sharply. "What do you mean?"

"'What do you mean,'" I muttered, shuffling through my cabinets. "What do you think I mean? Who else contributed to his existence?"

"Ryu!" Her face turned bright red. "I- I- That's none of your business!"

"It's none of my business?" I turned on her angrily. "Nina, Garr is my patient now, and it is my business! Certain races are sensitive to certain medications, and if I give Garr something that his father's race is sensitive to, I could kill him."

Nina pressed her lips together defiantly, her face still crimson. I sighed. “If you're going to be that unreasonable about it, I'll guess." Garr was obviously not Woren, so I assumed his father was human or fae. Although humans could not have blue hair, it wasn’t unheard of for Fae to. After all, Dragons and Fae had been intermarrying for centuries, possibly having common ancestors. There certainly hadn’t been any Dragons in Wyndia for over a decade.

I turned again to my cabinets, flipping though the tiny bottles of inoculations and fever reducers, finally coming across the one I wanted. I picked it up and tapped it slightly to unsettle it, then I attached it to a needle and wiped Garr's arm with an alcohol wipe, and set myself to inject him with the medication. I touched the needle to Garr's arm, and Nina moved suddenly. "Ryu, his father is a Dragon."

I jerked the needle away from his arm, carefully examining his skin to be sure I didn't break it. I heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that I did not. Dragons were inherently allergic to the medication I was about to give him. Two more realizations struck me; the first causing that knot of surprise to become one of consternation, the second causing that consternation to become near panic. I cursed in Draconic, moving as quickly as I could to the front of the tent. “Valerie!” I shouted as loud as my weak lungs would allow. “Someone, get her! Hurry!”

"What? What?!" Nina asked, suddenly hysterical.

I looked down at the stunned boy grimly, and then grabbed another sterile needle and a blood vial. "His symptoms thus far are extremely similar to Dragonplague."

"Dragonplague? Wha-"

"The disease that wiped out Caer Xhan and its provinces during the third Dragon war." I punctured Garr's skin with the needle, his only protest a low hissing sound. I waited until I had enough blood to run the tests I had to, then withdrew the needle and quickly bandaged the wound. "If he's got Dragonplague, it's a strain that's strong enough to attack non-Dragons as well."

I pulled the vial off the needle and dumped the needle in the container for contaminated sharp objects. Without Myria’s interference with technology, it was allowed to flourish and grow. It still wasn’t nearly to the level that it had been in the Techno Age, or so Momo told me, but after my accident, I’d pushed for medical technology to be investigated and advanced as we rebuilt Dragnier and Caer Xhan; the things we could do now were amazing, and Caer Xhan now often received patients from around the world.

I didn’t need Caer Xhan’s technology for what I needed to do now, though. This was simple enough. "This test is going to take a few hours. I'm going to start it, then come right back, okay?" Nina nodded and sank into a chair by Garr's bedside. I looked at her, the impact of what she had just told me and the implications it brought finally hit home. "Nina," I said softly. She looked up, eyes over bright. I looked down at Garr again, brushing a hand across his cheek. "Thank you for trusting me." And then I left the tent before she could answer.

I passed Valerie as I was heading to the building to start the blood test. "How is the boy?" she asked softly.

"I didn't even notice you leave," I mused, mostly to myself. "I think he's dying," I responded sullenly. "If he has what I think he has, there's nothing we can do for him. It also means we need to isolate him," I added quietly.

"Why?" Valerie asked, raising a brow. I handed her the vial of blood.

"I think it's Dragonplague. Here, take this over to the lab for me, huh?" I kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. "I'm going to wait at the teleporter to wait for Rei to come back." I heard a disturbance from the general direction device, and guessed that it had been activated. "Never mind, he's here. Go get that test run, love." She nodded and wandered off as Rei returned with a brown-haired girl about Garr's age and older man wearing priest's clothes.

"Ryu," Rei said, "Meet Anna, and Rzalyn, her father."

I nodded and shook their hands, and Rzalyn bowed to me. "I never imagined I'd meet one of my lord Ladon's destined, and now I've met three. I'm honored, Prince Ryu," he said softly. I think I blushed a little.

Fortunately Anna cut in, saving me from fumbling with the response- there wasn't anything I could say that was the truth and non-offensive. I could have accepted that compliment graciously and felt like a pompous ass, or I could have told him I wasn't all that and offended him. "How's Garr?" Anna asked.

Rzalyn looked at her. "Anna!" he exclaimed in admonishing tone. "You're talking to royalty!"

I blinked. What did she say that was so disrespectful? But Anna didn't give me a chance to ask. "So? I talk to Garr like this all the time!" she sassed back. It looked like Rzalyn was about to yell, and I interceded.

"It's okay, really- I don't mind." I looked to Anna. "Do you want to see him?"

"Can I?"

"That's what I had Rei bring you for- but we need to set some ground rules, first. He's sedated, so don't expect anything too coherent. He's restrained, and he's going to stay that way. Do not release him even if he wakes up. And there is to be absolutely no kissing or other exchange of bodily fluids. Understood?"

"He's my boyfriend and I'm not even allowed to kiss him?" she responded incredulously.

"That's what I said."

"That's not fair!"

"Anna," Rzalyn said in a threatening tone.

Anna's shoulders slumped. "Fine."

I escorted the three of them back to the infirmary. Valerie had already returned, yawning. "I had the test started- I told the engineer to step on it," she told me.

I looked over at Nina, Rei, Rzalyn and Anna as they all seemed to surround Garr's bed. I heard him speaking very, very quietly, sounding extremely scared. "I think I'll leave you alone. If you need me, I'll be just outside," I told them, and I took Valerie's hand and exited the tent.

"How're you handling having her so close?" Valerie asked in a concerned tone as we sat on the bench on the side of the tent.

I chuckled sardonically, trying to decipher her tone. "Worried?"

"Not unless I have a reason to be."

I looked at her finally. "No, you don't." I sighed. "But she- I was asking her who Garr's father was, so I could be sure I didn't give him anything that could harm him because of his race." I paused, suddenly uneasy.

"And?" my wife prompted.

I hesitated for a moment. Surely, if I suspected Dragonplague, she had to know… "She said his father was a Dragon."

Valerie didn’t seem surprised by this, which quite surprised me. I was about to prompt her to speak- to say anything- when she did. “You’re the only male Dragon she’s had contact with,” she commented pointedly.

"I know."

"Ryu-"

"Don't," I cut in. "I know." I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair. "I know. And that's why I- I have to save him, Val. And I have to be part of his life, and that means being near Nina." I looked at her grimly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked. "For wanting to be a father to your son? That's no crime." She hugged me. "It doesn't change anything between us. It hasn't for the last fifteen years."

I jerked away from her, startled. "How did you know how old he is?"

Valerie’s expression changed to one of a cornered animal and she stammered for a second. "Ryu, it's been fifteen years since you two broke up!" she finally sputtered. "Why wouldn't he be fifteen?"

I laughed nervously, feeling foolish. I was reading far too deeply into things at the moment, it seemed. "I- you're right, that's silly of me to think-" I paused. "I just don't understand why Nina never told me-"

"I don't know," Val cut in. "Maybe she didn't want you to feel trapped by him."

"I don't know, either," I said softly. Then I sighed. "How long have you been awake?"

She froze, again getting that appearance of being cornered. "I'm fine."

I looked in her eyes. "No, you're not. You need sleep."

"Ryu-"

"Go wake Sorrow, and then get yourself to sleep."

"She's a growing girl, she needs her sleep-"

"She's our apprentice and she needs to learn the art of being on call all day and all night."

Valerie gave me her defiant, 'I'm not gonna' look, and I sighed. "I won't push her. I promise." She shook her head slightly. "I won't let you work on him," I finally said firmly.

She caved in. "Fine." She hugged me once again. "I love you, Ryu."

"Love you too." I returned her embrace. "Go get Sorrow. Tell her to report right to the infirmary."

~*~

Hours later found me scanning the results of the test, grimacing. It was Dragonplague.

I glanced over at Anna, who was sleeping on the floor, head buried in one of her arms, the other arm entwined with Garr's. Nina dozed fitfully, and Rei paced. Rzalyn had gone to the temple to pray. "Sorrow, come here." She obeyed, and I handed her the file. "Tell me what's wrong with him."

She scanned it, flipping the pages until she came to what she wanted. "Dragonplague," she told me analytically, her voice flat to hide her concern.

"Good. What should we do?"

She handed me back the file. "Nothing. We can't save him." Her voice seemed a little dull, detached. Her gaze slid to the ill young man, an odd expression on her face that I’d never seen before. Oh boy… That can’t be good…

"That's not true," I admonished her lightly, ignoring her odd behavior. "When you're dealing with a supposedly terminal patient-" I glanced over at Rei as he suddenly stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes in our direction- "you never do just 'nothing.' We don't have the facilities to treat him here, no, but where's the closest location that can?"

She paused for a second, thinking. "Caer Xhan."

"Good!"

"Caer Xhan's five days away," Rei interjected. "Garr's fever is still rising. I don't think we have five days."

"We don't," I acknowledged.

"Then why the hell even bring it up?!"

"It's called teaching," I muttered, turning my attention back to Sorrow. "Now then, since we're in no condition to move Garr, I'm going to take a chance and use the teleporters. I want you to take a letter to Momo, come back with her and her assistants immediately, and I'm going to shut down the teleporters after that. Get ready to go." She nodded and left, looking oddly somber.

Rei sighed. "Doesn't this just beat all... Ryu, I'm sorry. I completely forgot about the teleporters."

"Understandable." I sat down and picked up a pen. "You're watching the boy you've spent the last fifteen years being a father to die. I-" I faltered, then started writing resolutely. "I'd be the same way."

Rei hesitated; I glanced over my shoulder at him. He shook his head. "So why do you need to shut down the teleporter?"

I re-read the note to Momo before I signed it. "Dragonplague, until now, has been confined to the Old World, because that's generally where the Dragons were." I folded the letter and sealed it, then turned to look at Rei. "I'm actually hoping to confine it in the Old World, but I doubt I'll succeed, since he contracted it in Wyndia. But I have to try."

Garr emitted a raspy moan that woke Nina and prompted Rei to retreat back to his bedside. I stood and limped over to his side as well. "How do you feel, little Prince?"

"Who're you?" he tried to say, but all that came out was a strangled, breathless sound.

I smiled slightly, trying to appear comforting. "My name is Ryu. I'm a healer, trying to help you." Garr strained against his bonds slightly, looking at me in an inquisitive fashion.

Rei answered his unspoken question before I could. "You were delirious, Garr. You probably could have taken out the Wyndian army in your condition. He had to restrain you so he could check you out."

Garr closed his eyes and swallowed. I fumbled with the sink and filled a glass with water, and held it to his lips. He drank eagerly, and when he had drained the glass, I moved the cloth from his forehead and gauged his temperature. "Fever's gone down, but only slightly." I shook my head grimly and looked at Rei. "You might want to consider going with Sorrow, just to emphasize how critical Garr's condition is-"

Garr rasped made an unhappy, pained noise. I looked at him and I caught my breath. His deep green eyes were glazed over with the heat of his fever, yet seemed to gaze right at me, into me, very, very clearly. "I’m scared," he mouthed, not able to find the breath to put sound to his words. He closed his eyes, wincing as his breath rattled in his chest. "So tired..." he sighed and his body relaxed.

Trembling, I pressed a hand against his neck. I sighed in relief when I felt his pulse there, weak, but there. "He sleeps." I looked up at Rei. "I think you'd better go with Sorrow. Garr knows he's dying, and he's given up."

Rei nodded wearily, and I handed the letter to him. "Go wait for Sorrow at the teleporter."

~*~

I... hated her, from the moment I saw her. It was an unnatural, unjustified hatred that I fought to swallow even as she spoke to me. Every inch of my soul screamed for me to banish her from my court, but I couldn't do it. It would be irresponsible and unfair.

Momo had arrived, and taken over Garr's care when the traveler arrived. I had no doubts that Garr was in good hands, but I was anxious to get back to him. The girl before me paused her talking, looking at me expectantly. "I'm sorry," I said, trying to sound embarrassed. "I didn't catch that- I've got a lot on my mind. What did you say?"

She smiled a bit. "I was asking you if you had room here for another resident. I think I'd fit in pretty well, and I'm getting tired of wandering."

I chuckled. "You're in a town of Dragons, and you think you'd fit in? No offense-"

"None taken." She stood and held out a hand. I gasped slightly as she began glowing with a soft light and I stood abruptly as I felt the force of another Dragon transforming in my presence. Our minds melded for a brief second that left me breathless and dizzy, and I sank back in my throne as the girl reverted back into a human being.

She grinned at me like a mischievous child. "You never told me you were a Dragon!" I exclaimed in accusing surprise. How did I miss that she was a Dragon?

"I did, your Highness. You were preoccupied with whatever it is that's on your mind."

I blushed, genuinely embarrassed now. "I'm sorry. What is your name again?"

"Serra, m'Lord."

"Serra... Well, if you wish to establish residence here, you're welcome to, Dragon or not. Usually non-Dragons are leery of being so near us."

"I'm very familiar with this prejudice, m'Lord," Serra responded solemnly. I looked at her, still puzzled. This was the second Dragon I had met in as many days that I didn't know about, and neither did the King- my grandfather- and that was rather unusual. Dragons usually gave off a very strong aura.

I could understand why I couldn’t sense Garr. He was only half-dragon. But Serra seemed to be pure Dragon, and a powerful one at that. I was about to ask her if her parents had ever passed through Dragnier, when Sorrow burst into the throne room. "Ryu!" she shrieked. I stood abruptly as she tripped and dragged herself back to her feet. "Garr's having a seizure!"

I cursed rather strongly and limped towards the doors as quickly as I could. Rei met me just outside of the throne room. "Ryu!" His voice sounded strained, dripping with a kind of fear that I'd never seen him feel.

"How bad is he?" I gasped, letting Rei help me walk a little faster.

"H-his lips are blue and he's almost too hot to touch-"

"Dear Ladon," I whispered, praying with all my being. This was it for him, I thought. Garr was going to die.

I could hear his agonized screams as we approached, Rei practically carrying me. I didn't hear my own words as I barked out orders in automation. I only heard my heart beating way too fast and my own fear-laced prayers.

Garr strained against his bonds blindly, screaming words that had no form, as if he was trying to speak in Faeish, Draconic, and Common at the same time. His fingers stretched and hyper-extended, as if searching. I did the first thing that came to mind. I took that hand, and his fingers clamped down around mine like a vice. He stopped screaming and stared at the ceiling for several moments, before fixing his gaze on me. I saw that he couldn't breathe, but I couldn't connect the image to words to tell someone to get him a respirator. His feverish green eyes fixed on mine and we stared at each other for several long moments, his eyes lost their focus and his grip on my hand slackened. Every muscle in his body relaxed and his head lolled to one side, lifeless.

I shut out Nina and Anna's screaming cries, I shut out Sorrow's shaky questions and Rzalyn's prayers and Rei's soft sobbing. I reached over with a shaking hand and closed Garr's eyes. I fought back my own tears, but they wouldn't be defeated. "Damn it," I gasped, crying heavily. I just witnessed my son die. The child I didn't know existed until two days ago. The child that was kept a secret from me for fifteen years, and now he was gone. I was suddenly quite enraged with Nina and Rei, and my hands tightened into fists. "Damn it!"

I felt the brush of cloth beside me and I looked up. Serra stood there, gazing at Garr's body with a look of intense sorrow. She shed no tears- but I saw a pain in her reddish-blue eyes that surpassed mine, surpassed all in the room, as if she felt all of our despair at once. I instinctively stepped back as she touched his forehead. I knew I needed to tell her to back off, that his corpse carried Dragonplague and was contagious, but I couldn't find the words. I could just watch through tear-blurred vision as she raised her magical power again. And again, her mind melded with mine briefly. I felt as if I was being forced to raise my own power as well, and the entire room became deathly cold as she spoke in a tongue that I had never heard, one hand on Garr's forehead, the other on his chest. I gasped as a searing pain shot through my body; Serra cried out in agony. I was being drained of magic steadily and swiftly, pouring into her, and in turn, draining from Serra's hands into Garr's body.

I fell to my knees as every ounce of magic I had left me, and I gasped for breath on the floor, a hand pressed to my chest as if it would alleviate the tightness there. Serra slumped, and the magic flow halted. Rzalyn uttered a horrified oath in Faeish and I looked up. My blood ran cold.

Garr returned my gaze, although he was not as grim- more massively confused- and his breath came normally, healthy. I fought to my feet and staggered over to Garr again, pressing one of my ice-cold hands against his forehead. "His fever's gone," I whispered, looking at Serra with wide eyes. Her warm smile chilled me to my very core.

~*~

I knew I should have been grateful to Serra. She gave me a chance to be a father, one more shot. One that Nina and Rei couldn't thwart; I felt so cheated by them. However, I hadn't asked why they hadn't told me I had a son and I didn't have any intention on doing so, either. The only thing that would accomplish would be to drive the chasm between the three of us wider.

I saw to it that my guests were properly fed, and I headed out alone. To the south of the city was a system of caves and tunnels that we hadn't explored in our younger days, but I did so on my own after my accident. It was my only means of solitude in those months afterwards of constant watching and attendance. My grandfather would have thrown a fit and a half if he had caught me out there alone then, but now I was given free reign of my own person.

I went there when I didn't want to meditate, but rather clear my mind and just think. The tunnels lead up the mountain to a beautiful green cliff, the only real green in the region, as far as I knew. I idly thought on how beautiful the sunset was on that particular night as I sat down on a boulder, holding on to my stick. I looked at the stick in the dwindling light of the sun, thinking that I really should get a new one soon. I'd start getting splinters otherwise.

I narrowed my eyes before my mind could trail on to the next string of mundane thoughts and raised a shield around me. I felt the presence of another; I had been followed. I opened my mouth to demand an identity from my shadow, but they identified themselves without prompting. “Ryu, it's me, Garr." He took a few steps, out of the shadows of the cavern. "Mind if I sit up here with you?"

I thought for a moment as to what his intention could be. "Sure. It's okay," I said after that moment, fairly certain there was no ill will. He took a seat next to my rock and gazed out over the landscape.

"It's so beautiful from up here," he mused. I murmured my agreement.

We watched to sun set fully and Garr stood. "It's kind of chilly up here," he said in a conversational voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He had something to say, I could tell. And I could wait him out until he said it.

He looked around and rubbed his arms, shivering slightly. "Ryu?"

"Yes?" I answered calmly.

"What happened between you and Mom?"

I stiffened slightly. Okay, maybe I didn't want to hear what he had to say... "I'm sure your mother and Rei have told you about it already," I responded quietly.

"They have. But I want to hear it from you."

"Garr-"

"I want to hear it from you," he repeated stubbornly. "You're my father."

I swallowed hard, unable to argue against that. "Are you sure?" He nodded in the darkness and sat at my feet. I sighed heavily and began. "Your mother and I were betrothed to be married a long time ago. A few years before you were born, even. I-" I took a breath, looking for the right words. "I got impatient, waiting for her to agree to a marriage. We had a rather large argument over it, and I just left and went back to Dragnier, pretty hurt. A civil war broke out a week later, and I had to go to the border towns to fight. I couldn't get back to Wyndia for six months. When I did get back, your mother and Rei had a... relationship." I sighed. "I jumped to conclusions and I-" I paused; Garr cocked his head to one side expectantly. "There was an accident; I fell from a balcony quite high up.” I looked at Garr and hesitated before speaking again. "I was taken back to Dragnier and I told them that I-"

"Stop." Garr reached up and took my hand and squeezed it. "That's all I need to know." I looked at him, confused and mildly stunned. The moon illuminated his face just enough for me to see him smile. "I think Mom might be getting worried about me," he said quietly. "I think we better be getting back to Dragnier, huh, Dad?"

I felt like I was going to cry and I returned his squeeze. "Sure," I whispered, trying desperately to control myself. I stood and we walked back to Dragnier together in silence.

~*~

I kept the teleporters off. First, we weren't done with our investigation on the cause of Garr's case of Dragonplague. Second, I was still getting used to being a father. There was no way in hell I was letting Nina take Garr back to Wyndia yet.

Nina and Serra seemed to be developing a rather close relationship as the days went by. I wasn't comfortable with their friendship one bit, and I wished Serra would let certain issues alone, like my growing relationship with Garr. She, very often, pointed out that Rei could rough house with him and wouldn't I like it if I could too? I always said yes, but I wasn't going to try to replace Rei in his life. But Serra always implied that she could make it so I could play with him like a normal father, and I was getting kind of tempted- all we could do was sit and talk. What fun was that? He was a teenager, and on top of having a sudden longing to be able to be active again, I also had the notion that Nina would let me train him if I was able to.

I was busy journaling one day, with Garr and Anna talking quietly across the room from me, and Nina, Rzalyn and Rei having another discussion not far from me. I was included in this conversation, if I wanted to be, but at the moment, I had little interest in it. Perhaps if I finished the entry and could figure out the topic enough to feel comfortable enough to jump in, I would.

Serra came into the room, seeming quite frustrated with something. Nina glanced up at her, smiled and waved. The motion was an invitation for the girl to join them, but Serra simply smiled and waved back, half-hearted. Something was on the girl’s mind; she glanced at Garr and Anna and sighed heavily.

Garr, in response, gave Anna a light kiss on the cheek and approached Serra. I stopped journaling; something was off. Garr had never approached Serra yet, and I got the feeling he didn’t trust her. I didn’t either; I knew the power she’d used on Garr. I didn’t know it full-forced, but I did know it first-hand. It was exactly the same spell as the one I used to drag someone back from the brink of death. However, I couldn’t use it to give life to the dead again. No mortal could. Only the Gods could, and as far as I knew, it had been ages since any of them did so. So how could she? It was impossible that I had misjudged the situation, and Garr hadn’t yet died when she cast that spell. He was most assuredly dead.

My son knew the same; he’d told me that he’d spoken with the Goddess of death incarnate in the moments between the end of his life and Serra’s resurrection. Either Death, or a hallucination; I was inclined to believe it was truly the Goddess. I’d heard stranger things. Although he’d not told me, I suspected that the knowledge that Serra brought him back to life was the reason he held back from her. It scared him just as much as it did me.

But on the same token, she had given me back the son I had just met. That was something I couldn’t turn from, and so, Serra stayed there, while Garr and I tried to sort out our distrust.

When he was close enough to Serra to speak quietly, he asked her, “Hey. I’ve noticed you seem to want to talk to me. What’s up?”

“Can we go speak in private, Prince Garr?” she asked, in the utmost respect.

It set me on edge when Garr nodded. “Come, over here,” he said, and guided her to one of the side rooms the sitting room sported, intended for exactly the purpose of providing privacy if one desired it. I resisted the urge to follow and eavesdrop. He’d survived fifteen years without my meddling; he could survive a five-minute conversation with an enigma of a woman.

They were in that room for quite some time; longer than five minutes, it seemed. Anna was starting to appear very worried, very suspicious. Putting myself in her shoes, I understood her concern; Serra was not only a wild factor, she was also quite pretty. He genuinely didn’t strike me as the type to be unfaithful to a girl he loved- and he was absolutely transparent when it came to Anna, so I had no doubt that he loved her- but if Anna believed him to be, well… she knew him better than I.

Between Anna’s clear concern, and my own misgivings about Serra, I found it was time to interrupt that conversation. A pang of hesitation hit me; considering that he was still on a first-name basis with me, despite using a paternal title earlier in this trip, I wondered if I should ask Nina or Rei to do this. Did I really have the authority to do this? And yet, if I didn’t start to exercise some parental authority, none of the three of them would ever regard me as having that authority. They were certainly in no hurry to turn that power over to me.

Moving was slow, as always, as I had to lean heavily on my stick; my legs hurt terribly, for some reason. Such days weren’t unusual, but it was very unusual when the pain spiked as it had when I first stood. One step, two steps, and three when I realized that this wasn’t right. Something was very wrong; I had to bite back a gasp of pain as it shot up my body in a way that the aching had never done before.

The last thing I thought was that I wasn’t the only one feeling this, as Nina cried out suddenly, and then Anna and Rzalyn, and then I heard nothing. The pain was gone, as quickly as it came on.

Unfortunately, I mused in consternation as I turned this way and that, so was everything else.