ORIGIN

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Cadenza had been flying overhead, observing Orion as they often did from above. The younger two of their children were not here at the moment, three cycles old, Cadenza trusted them to travel.

But they had caught sight of one of their older children, one who had not visited for several cycles now. Cadenza had feared for Alek, and their heart burst with delight as they landed near Alek, who seemed to have been on his way to the garden. "Sprig! Alek is here!" they proclaimed with bright delight that came from seeing one of their dear loved ones, their family.

Orange eyes blinked a little, intrigued by noticing that Alek was not alone. The aquatic dragon son of theirs had been easier to see from above, but Alek had two companions with them.

"And he brought friends!" they felt their heart full of joy. Alek had never been the most social, really, a playful child but one that tended to antagonize others with his pranks and other behaviors.

But, there was something different about Alek now that Cadenza could not quite name. Their head tilted minutely, confused by this observation of theirs.

@Alek

Alek, though overjoyed to see his family once again, felt sick to his stomach at how joyous his parent was to see him. Cadenza must have been worried, they thought. Of course his parent had been worried. And now he was about to ruin their joy.

"This is my parent, Cadenza," he introduced the antlered dragon to Erasmus and Onyx-Three, musical voice softer than usual but still resonating. It was clear from Cadenza's voice who he had inherited that trait from. "Sprig is my dad," he added.

"This is Erasmus and Onyx-Three," he introduced the two to Cadenza, before they asked, as they surely would. He did not truly know how to describe his relationship with either of them at this moment.

He knew Cadenza would welcome his companions if he told them nothing. And for a moment that thought tempted. But he remembered Onyx-Three calling him brave, and he looked at Cadenza, meeting their eyes.

"I have to tell you something. It is not good. You will think different of me, but I do not regret my choices," he told Cadenza.

@Erasmus

Alek spoke so calmly, but Erasmus was barely stopping themself from shivering and shaking. They wrapped their arms around themself, but they did not deserve to comfort themself, did they? But Alek would not like that thought of theirs, the vampire thought.

Usually, they would cling to Alek, but their guilt was overwhelming them. They glanced about, their heart in their throat, and they wanted to run instinctively. But they would not run. This was important, for Alek and for the Raspite-Dragon.

So they looked towards the other companion Alek had brought with him. And, ever so carefully, Erasmus reached out to grab Onyx-Three's hand, seeking comfort. Alek would want them to have comfort. And Onyx-Three was a friend, strong, and would not let Erasmus hurt him.

@V-Onyx-Three

Onyx-Three had been in a dizzying state of feeling in danger despite being in none at all. In other words, anxiousness, though he didn't know it. But they forced their feet forward, step by step, a measure of mental resilience rather than the physical endurance they knew they had. It felt strange to be meeting Alek's family. Like meeting a new part of someone you already knew, a part that you could not expect or prepare for. Just being in Orion made them feel startling out of place, exposed in a barren landscape. His eyes had already scanned the area for threats, finding the ruins in the distance to be somewhat of a concern should an enemy be hiding there. But he resisted the impulse to reach for his bow, knowing that such a gesture may not come off correctly.

And then they arrived. Too soon. He could feel the fur on his back begin to prickle. Cadenza was Alek's parent, but they were unfamiliar, and it was impossible to dissuade the danger he felt at meeting a being of such a large size. But his actions betrayed none of this nervousness. When he was introduced, he bowed, then straightened to look Cadenza in the eye. "Nice to meet you." And would not elaborate. This meeting, after all, was for Alek after all. It was about what had occurred, and he had merely come along to support. It was not his time to be scared. To be nervous. Nor should he be at all. Even if he was. Some part of him did care what Alek's parents thought of him, even if he didn't identify that as the source of his worries.

Then he felt something touching his hand, and looked to see Erasmus reaching to hold it. For a moment, he wondered if this was how the Sentinel felt looking down on him when he was younger, the contact of their hands, a way of receiving and giving help, a sign of safety, a way to say 'I am putting my trust you.' Onyx-Three awkwardly held Erasmus' hand, out of being completely unused to the gesture and quite unsure of how exactly to return it.

They said nothing past their greeting, but stayed on the ready to defend Alek should it be needed. It was his story to tell.

Sprig had been busy working in the garden as always. It wasn't the same as Eridanus, and wouldn't ever be, but the thought had gradually lessened in his mind over time. He had come to think of Orion as a true second home, especially because it was also where Pride lived. He occasionally glanced up at Cadenza who was flying overhead, in what was a rather comforting sight. So he knew they were close by. It wasn't that he felt in danger without the dragon, but pangs of worry always began to set in when they were out of view.

And then they called out to him. "Coming!" He ran over to meet the group. It had been so long since he had seen Alek, and he missed his son dearly. He missed all his children, really. And friends? Sprig was very curious to see who had been brought along. Would it be anyone he knew, or would it be strangers he would soon get to meet?

Sprig arrived, out of breath, just in time to catch the names of the two friends. "Hello there little ones." Even though they were not little. In fact, more than one of the group was a decent size bigger than he was. But Alek and any of Alek's friends would always be 'little ones' to him. "If you're hungry I have snacks, and I can also make fruit rolls if you'd like."

But past that, Sprig nodded at Alek's statement and curled up next to Cadenza, leaning against the dragon's body. He was sure nothing his son would say would ever dissuade his love for him. That's how love worked after all. All he wished for, really, was that his children would come back to visit more often.

@Cadenza

"Hello, Erasmus, Onyx-Three," Cadenza greeted warmly with their musical voice. They could see a tension in the air now, though, even before Alek spoke. It was in the way the other two acted, while Alek stood with steely resolve, as if it was difficult to be in their presence.

That hurt sign of fear, but they tried not to show it. Surely, Alek must know they would always love him. They were his parent. Had they failed somehow, and Alek doubted their love? They shared a concerned glance towards Sprig as he appeared, though their love shown through as well in their orange gaze.

So when Alek spoke up with the tone of one about to confess a horrible thing, Cadenza was not surprised. They were, however, worried. "We will love you no matter what, Alek. You know that, right?" their voice was gentle with their worries.

They hesitated for a moment, glancing towards Sprig for support. "You must know I am not perfectly good, by any means. Gaheris may have told you this, but when you and your clutchmates were young, your sibling was attacked by a greater gembound. I am a peaceful being, I never wish to fight. Yet I boiled him alive, that attacker, until his true death. And though I regret the excruciating pain he no doubt felt, I cannot regret that I protected Gaheris, ever," Cadenza stated, musical voice mournful.

"You are my family. I love you, Alek," Cadenza spoke it like a vow that they would never break. For them, it was.

@Alek

Erasmus's first impression was that Alek's family was as lovely as him, sharing in his kindness. It made that ache of guilt worse, and Erasmus's grip on Onyx-Three's hand tightened slightly. But they were careful not to accidentally scratch him with their sharp claws.

"...Can only consume blood," Erasmus forced out the words in response to Alek's dad's inquiry. Their own tension was high.

Their grip on Onyx-Three was as much a reassurance for themself as it was a tether to keep them from running away. Erasmus needed to stay grounded here, in this moment.

It was important. Erasmus was guilty, and they would face that.

Boiling alive sounded awful, but they would even fact that for their guilt.

@Alek

Alek did not know if they had heard this story from their parent before. It was clear that it had much grieved Cadenza to have killed, but at least Cadenza had killed in protection of family. Yet Alek had not killed, yet simultaneously had committed a crime that felt worse than Cadenza's.

Family meant everything to Cadenza, they knew, so they would not cease to love him, even though he had done this. And their dad, he would never stop loving Alek either. But Alek was not sure he deserved their love, and...

"I know you both will not cease to love me no matter what. But I fear you two will wish you could," Alek quietly spoke, but in the silence, the words resonated in his musical voice. That was why, in part, Alek had avoided this for so long. Because Alek did not his parents to be ashamed of the son they had raised, disappointed, even if they still loved him and always would.

He needed to tell them, though. This was important, this was about family.

"Five cycles ago... I found a dead dragon," he admitted. "And... I also found there the one that had killed him. I was enraged. I thought about revenge. But the killer, they were not even quite fully grown, and they were distressed. They had not meant to kill, did not know what their actions meant. They could barely even recall how to speak. So I did not take revenge," he spoke. If the story had ended there, he could have returned. But the story would never end there, because he could never have left.

"I spared them. But more than that, I comforted them. I stayed with them. I re-taught them speech, and all the while they carried the Raspite of the killed dragon close, because they could not separate themself from the death they had caused, even if it had been accidental. Their guilt consumed them," he paused. His crime was more than this, he knew.

Because what came next was worse, he knew. He did not look at Erasmus, who only knew part of this. "They wanted to die, a death for a death. I convinced them to live, a life for a life. They gave life to the Raspite when old enough. I knew it might not hatch, and I had told them of my siblings, and so they knew how important siblings were. So I gave two pieces of my stone to them, and one to another. The two chrysalises from them and I hatched on time, but the other two have not yet," he admitted.

"They were full of grief, but they were strong for the sake of the two children that did hatch. We raised the children and loved them. They are in the caves, now, old enough to be on their own. Independent," he spoke of his children with love.

"I now love the one who killed that dragon, likely kin of ours. I cannot cease to," Alek stated his crime fully at last. He turned his head towards Erasmus. "Erasmus is the one I speak of. Onyx-Three is a friend, here to keep me brave enough to speak," his tone is worried as he confesses the identity of the killer, and deliberately wry as he speaks of Onyx-Three.

@V-Onyx-Three

"No thank you." he responded to Sprig, who he noted did not look like Alek at all. This was a strange family indeed. Back in the Forge, everyone shared quite a lot of similar features, even those who were not closely related. For example, many eyes.

There was that word again. Love. It was offered so freely, spoken as if it were something that could be offered wholeheartedly yet carried the weight of so much more than anything else. He wished that one day he could speak it too. But he would not, not until he understood it better. They listened to Cadenza's story, and was rather surprised that it seemed Alek's family was as prone to murder as his was, though in a different sense. They fought for family, while he and the Forge fought against Order and for Chaos. Chaos was not quite the same thing as family, such as the Forge was family but also not quite family.

So they all fought. But they fought for different things. But if his motivations were different, would he ever gain the approval of Alek's parents if he had to kill one day? Would they tell him they loved him and understood? But he was thinking too far. This was Alek's family after all, and not his. In fact, there was no telling if he would even meet them again after all. He cared only for Alek, and then it was by extension that he cared for these other gembounds, until he may grow close enough to eventually care for them directly as well.

They were broken out of their thoughts by Erasmus squeezing their hand. For a moment, they wondered if they were the ones keeping Erasmus tethered to the moment or if it were the other way around.

This was his second time listening to Alek's tale, an echo of the meeting where he had first met Erasmus. Except this time, his own name had been added to the end of the explanation, which spoken in Alek's tongue, felt warm. "Alek is brave. Even without me." He decides to add, eyes focusing on Cadenza, then Sprig. "He is brave to help Erasmus. Brave to speak to you both."

He had settled in quite nicely next to Cadenza so he was almost relieved he didn't have to get up and go get food for the guests. Plus, he could tell the conversation was going to be rather serious and he didn't want the tension to build any longer. "Yes, we love you Alek. We always will, even when you're far away or close by, we love you all the same." Sprig did not enjoy listening to the story of how Cadenza had once killed a gembound, mostly out of concern for how hard it was for them to recount it. He bumped his head against the dragon as they spoke. Cadenza was so strong to be able to repeat this story, he thought. That was something he admired about his partner. They were not afraid to speak even when it was hard to do so.

And now came Alek's story, which he listened to intently. It was of a similar loss, yet not quite the same. And then spoke Onyx-Three, who offered few words. He was a pacifist at heart. It was not in him to understand the impulse that may have resulted in a murder without reason, though he wondered if it had been in self-defense, if Erasmus had been the one being attacked by the dragon. But the fact that they had revived the stone was an echo of how life could be born from death. He himself was born from the death of his father, who he never got to meet. It was in this way that the revived stones would carry on the life they had once been part of. "Yes, to die is not a solution to causing another's death. You are, Erasmus, very resilient. To give life is to give them another chance to experience what past lives could not." He paused here, thinking for a moment, then continued, "Alek, you have learned much in the time that has passed. To selflessly give so much of yourself to care for another is something I am very proud of. I hope you are proud of yourself as well. All of you are welcome here, and the children as well."

Sprig couldn't believe that he was a grandfather already. How old he felt! Yet so young at the same time. Even if murder was not something that sat right with him, he had changed much. Ah, when he was young he had trouble in even hunting, for fear of hurting lessers. But it was over time that he realized things were not so simple. That he had to hunt if he wanted to live, just as sometimes you must kill to defend another, to defend yourself.

@Cadenza