Author Note:
Back to back chapters! Whoot!

Strap in for the roller-coaster.

ElderGhoulette-- make sure you have tissues ready.

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Training?" Swiss spit out with a hint of venom to their shocked voice as he turned from where he stood next to Dew by the fire. "That's what you're going to tell everyone? That this was a training session gone bad? Need I remind you that all of us are injured in some way or another? That Annie is still unconscious in the next room from him choking her and overuse of her powers and Mysti is down in the infirmary right now damn near torn to shreds?! He should be sent to the pits for what he's done!"

"And send needless panic through the congregation by telling them otherwise?" Copia sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.  "Besides. You heard him as well as I. This is more than just him randomly attacking for no reason. I don't know about you, but I want answers."

Swiss' face contorted with rage. It was not often he felt such an intense emotion, certainly not towards Copia, and he was not handling it well. He opened his mouth to say something when a warm hand reached up to hold his, pulling his attention down to the gremlin who sat dangerously close to the fire.

"Sit down, Swiss," Dew says in a soft whisper, his warm brown eyes lifting to meet the standing ghouls. "I'm just as pissed but Copia is right. Panic would do no one any good and I want to know why he did this."

"But-" He's cut off by Dews eyes hardening into a sharp glare. Swiss sighs and looks from him to Copia and finally to the ghoul in question that's sitting on the love seat hunched over and slightly swaying with unfocused eyes with Aether standing behind him, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he glares at the back of his head with glowing eyes before he lowers himself to the floor next to Dew.

"Fine."

Thunder rumbles outside, low and long, and a pounding at the door almost went unheard. Rain, being the closest, stiffens for a moment before standing with a wince. A look at Copia, seeing him nod before turning to gaze into the fire, he walks over and cracks open the door.

"Rain! Oh, thank Lucifer!"

Rain stumbles back with a pained wince as the man from the hall launches himself at the ghoul, wrapping his arms tightly around his middle. He's taken aback a moment before he returns the embrace, holding the man tightly as he buries his face in his neck, breathing in his scent.

"What are you doing here, Seth?" He whispers.

"The siblings. Rumors are spreading like wildfire. They said there was an attack?" Seth pulls back and looks at Rain carefully, his eyes widening with worry seeing the bruising cuts, gashes, and swollen busted lip. "What happened?"

"I'm fine" Rain sighs, catching Seth's hand before he can lift it to his face. "Don't. Copia…"

"I don't care. I'm too worried about you to care if he knows. It's about time we told him anyway."

Rain regards the man, his brow furrowed lightly before he nods, standing aside to let Seth in. The man takes his hand, lacing their fingers as he pulls him to the large couch after closing the door and sits down, tugging the ghoul to sit next to him before turning to Copia. The tired cardinal gives them a knowing smile and a slight nod before returning his gaze to the fire, the bedroom door opening behind him.

“She’s awake, Copia,” Cumulus says with a sigh as she steps out of the room. “But she’s very fatigued. This fight did a number on her but thankfully no broken bones. Just some bruises and abrasions.”

Copia sighs in relief and runs his hand over his face again, his shoulders finally easing as he stands. “Graze, amore. Now perhaps we can get some answers.”

He walks past the ghoulette, his hand coming up to give her arm a squeeze before he enters the bedroom going right to the bedside where he sits next to Annie. She opens her eyes and gives him a tired smile, hand reaching out towards him.

“Hi,” she whispers as he takes her hand, his other resting on the bed behind her as he leans over her to press his lips to her forehead.

“How are you feeling, amore?”

“Like I got run over by a herd of elk. How’s everyone else?”

“They’ll be alright,” he smiles. “Ghouls are tough after all.”

“Is that… Was that really Kali?” She asks with a frown, sitting up and scooting back against the pillows, wincing as she moves.

“Eh… Si. That was Kali.”

“Why did he do this to me? To us?” Tears mist in her eyes, her heart falling. She didn't remember Kali from all those years ago, but based on her mothers journal, he was like a brother to her. Looked after her, played with her. They were inseparable. So why would he attack her after all these years?

“He…” Copia hesitates, taking a breath. “He thought you were your mother. According to him… She killed his father.”

Annies brows furrow as she watches his face, reading his eyes. That made even less sense. “But she loved Cyndir, that much was clear from the journal. She wouldn’t have killed him.”

“It is what he claims. He is in the next room. Aether has him tranced, subdued with his powers. We were waiting until you woke up to get answers from him.”

Her frown deepens and she looks away, worrying at her lip before pulling the covers off her lower half. “Alright. Let’s get some answers then.”

Copia stands as she swings her legs off the side of the bed, hefting herself to her feet. She sways a moment, and once she steadies herself she takes a cautious step. Taking a breath she starts walking towards the door, only reaching the edge of the bed before she sways, her legs going weak. Copia’s arms are around her then, holding and supporting her and she relaxes in his embrace.

“Thanks. I’m more exhausted than I feel, I think.”

He hums and kisses the side of her head as he helps her walk into the next room. The ghouls all look up and stand when she enters, their faces worried but shining with relief. All except Aether who’s still focused on Kali.

“Darlin,” Dew sighs, walking over with a limp, one arm wrapped around himself to hold his side. “I’m so relieved you’re okay, that I was able to get there in time.”

Annie tears up, seeing the side of his face already set with a deep bruise. She reaches out, fingertips stopping inches from his face as she looks from him to Rain, seeing the deep swollen cut on his forehead and split lip, also sporting a couple bruises. Her eyes go to Swiss next, and while he’s better off than the other two he’s also got some swelling in his jaw and the beginnings of some bruising to the opposite temple.

“You guys…” She chokes up with a sob.

“We’re fine, sweetheart,” Swiss says softly with a wide relaxed smile. “We’re just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m not okay. Not with you all so hurt like this.” She lowers her head, covering her face with her hands as she starts to cry. The ghouls turn worried, giving each other a glance before circling around her and wrapping their arms around her.

“Annie,” Rain whispers, smoothing his hand carefully over her back. “Don’t cry. Please.”

“Yeah,” Swiss smiles, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “We’re okay, sweetheart. No need to cry.”

“Besides,” Dew laughs before groaning with a wince. “You’re not so pretty yourself right now Darlin.”

Annie scoffs and looks between her fingers at him before lowering her arms. Her own face had some various cuts and light bruises, but most of her bruising was on her arms and legs, a fading redness around her neck.

“Don’t worry, Dew. You’re still the prettiest of the two of us,” she teases. The gremlin flushes deeply and gapes his mouth, trying to think of a comeback as Swiss laughs loudly. She goes to throw her arms around him but stops herself before she does, pulling back with a nervous grimace. Instead she reaches her hand over to rest it on his unbruised cheek and places the softest kiss on the cheek that is bruised. His face and neck turn an even dark shade of red at the gentle affection.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue, Dew,” she whispers as she pulls back. She turns to Swiss next, and hugs him carefully before kissing his cheek in turn. Finally she turns to Rain and looks up into his stormy eyes. He smiles down at her before pulling her into a tight embrace, one arm around her waist the other holding her head to his shoulder as her arms wrap around him. She trembled lightly, her fingers bunching in his shirt as she sniffles again. While Mysti and Dew were the first two to reach her, Rain was the last she saw before she lost consciousness, and now like always his presence calmed her immensely, more so than the others who closed in around her again and held her tightly between them.

Copia stood back, watching them with his own misty eyes, feeling a lump grow in his throat as he looked at his wounded friends, so very grateful they, along with his love, were now safe. Cumulus stepped over to him and wrapped her arm behind his waist, resting her head against his shoulder before he lifted his arm to drape it over her shoulders, drawing her in closer.

“I’m glad they’re all okay, too,” she whispers in Italian. He nods and sighs, looking down at her.

“This could have ended so badly. I still don’t understand,” he responds in kind.

“Time to get some answers then, no?” The ghoulette looks up at him, her eyes soft yet tired.

“Yes. Best get it over with. I’ll need to decide what to do with him when this is all over. The last thing I want is to send him to the pits.”

“Wait for the answers, then make your decision. That’s all you can do.”

She goes to pull away from him but his arm tightens around her and he looks down at her, eyes trailing over her face before focusing on her eyes. “I want.. I need to talk to you at some point. Later.”

Her brows furrow slightly but she nods and finally pulls away when he slides his arm off her shoulders.

“Amore,” Copia says softly, stepping over towards the still huddled  group. The ghouls pull away and turn to him and Annie sniffles again, turning her head where it rested against Rain to look at him. “Time to get some answers.”

She nods and pulls away from Rain, pausing to lean up and kiss his cheek like she had the others before taking Copias hand and letting him lead her to the chair he had previously occupied. Once he was sure she was settled he turned to Aethere and took a deep breath.

“Aether. It’s time.”

Aether eased his gaze, his shoulders relaxing as his eyes dimmed and the ghoul on the couch in front of him stopped his slight swaying, his eyes blinking as they came into focus. He groaned and reached up to rub at his head, his limbs trembling from latent exhaustion from the fight.

“W..wha..?”

“Kaliko.” Copia’s voice was stern, a tone that even made his own ghouls flinch slightly.

The ghoul squeezed his eyes tightly shut before opening them slowly, turning his head to look towards the voice. His gaze landed on Annie first, who sat rigidly, hands trembling as they rested folded on her lap.

“You-” he started to growl, sitting up quickly only to hiss in pain and screw his eyes shut as claws dug into his shoulder and forced him back against the couch. He blinked them open and took another look at the woman before confusion crossed his face. “You’re not Morrgan.”

“Morrgan was my mother,” Annie whispers taking in the ghoul. He had red-brown hair that hung in tight waves that barely brushed the tops of his shoulders. His eyes were wide, a golden hazel color and his skin was a light tan. His lips, where she noticed he had a scar running through his lower lip to his chin, turned down in a frown.

“Mother..? You… you look just like her. Then that means… Annie?” He asks in a breathy whisper. “You can’t be little Annie.”

“Not so little anymore, Kako,” she gives a small smile, using the nickname she remembered from the journal. He moves again and again Aether flexes his fingers and pulls him back against the couch.

“Kaliko,” Copia gets the ghouls attention again. “You attacked her earlier, because you thought she was her mother, yes? Why?”

Kali’s eyes darken and his face relaxed to one of silent rage. “Because Morrgan killed my father.”

Annie shakes her head, her fists clenching. “I don’t believe that for a second. She wouldn’t have hurt him, hurt anyone.”

“I saw it,” Kali seethes, turning to her. “I was there when it happened. And you’re just as much to blame even if you weren’t the one holding the knife.”

Annie shakes her head, turning away from him. “I can’t believe you. I knew my mother, it’s just not possible.”

“So bring her here and ask her yourself. Make her confess to the crime she tried to bury all those years ago.”

“I can’t.” Her voice is a whisper. Kali scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“Why not? Too afraid I’m right and she’s not who you thought she was?”

“I can’t,” she says again, turning to meet his eyes with her own hurt glare. “Because she’s dead.”

The ghouls face falls as he stares at her. He blinks, brows furrowing, eyes drifting away before he forces them back to her. “What do you mean?”

“She died. In October of 2001. I was eleven.”

“That…is unfortunate.”

A silence falls over the room then, Annie looking away with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. Kali relaxes into the couch, mulling over the new information. The ghouls and Seth sit or stand on edge and Copia’s hand rests on Annie’s shoulder.

“Believe me, or don’t. I was there, I know what I saw. And without her to verify or deny…there is no proof aside from this.”

Kali reaches into his shirt, pulling out a sealed pendant attached to a chain that was slung around his neck with gray powder in it. “This is all that is left of my father, just these ashes.”

“Makes sense,” Dew mutters. “Fire ghouls turn to ash when they die. He was a fire ghoul, right?”

“Yes,” Annie answers for Kali. “And his mother was multi. She died in childbirth.”

“How do you know that?”

“My mothers….” Her eyes widen suddenly and she looks to the table next to Seth where the journal sits, forgotten. “Seth. Toss me that journal.”

The man blinks, confused before turning to the table and holding up the book. “This?”

Annie nods and he carefully tosses it to her. She catches it and starts leafing through it, eyes quickly scanning the passages within. When she reaches the last page she freezes and inhales a shaky gasp.

Written with a shaky hand there were a series of symbols marred with dried splotches of water. Copia looked over her shoulder, but he couldn't make sense of it.

ᚹᚻᚫᛏ᛫ᚻᚫᚢᛖ᛫ᛁ᛫ᛞᚩᚾᛖ᛫᛫

ᛁ᛫ᚳᛁᛚᛚᛖᛞ᛫ᚻᛁᛗ᛫

ᛗᛉ᛫ᚳᛉᚾᛞᛁᚱ᛫ᛁᛋ᛫ᛞᛖᚫᛞ᛫

“Amore? Can you read that?”

She nods slowly, taking a deep trembling breath, her hands shaking. “It’s Futhroc. Ma taught me how to read and write it.”

He leans down to get a closer look, but it makes no sense to him. “Well, what does it say?”

Annie traced her fingers over the symbols, a tear sliding from her cheek to land on the page and a thrum of energy filled the area. The book begins to vibrate, the symbols glowing and rising off the page to swirl in the air in front of her. All eyes are locked onto the scene, frozen as the energy intensifies with the brightening glow, a wind whipping up so strong it forces them to close their eyes, those with long hair wincing as it’s whipped around their faces in the gale. Suddenly the symbols erupt into a haze that covers the room in a fog, everything fading away, swirling like ink in water. In the empty space they see shapes begin to take form, hear muffled words….

~~~><~~~><~~~><~~~><~~~><

They hear a sound to their left and they turn, seeing a little two year old mini version of Annie floating a few feet off the ground, hair wild and eyes glowing a piercing white, arms outstretched as the child spoke in tongues, in the language Copia remembered from the lake. It seemed the girl was in the middle of a circle, candles around the perimeter.

A flash of muted silver and their eyes turn towards it, seeing a tall masked ghoul they didn’t recognize rush into the room, pausing to take in the scene before him. It only took a moment before he was moving, arm reaching out to the child, his eyes wide with concern and fear.

A scream from behind, they turn quickly to see a woman who could almost be Annie’s twin throwing herself between the child and the ghoul. There was another brief flash of silver as a dagger, one they hadn't noticed her mother already holding, caught the light and Annie bit back a scream, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth as they watched the ghoul abruptly stop after crashing into her, his arms wrapping around her and giving a strangled cough.

He stumbled back from her after a moment, blinking eyes never leaving hers as his trembling hand came up to hold around where the handle of the blade now protruded from the center of his chest.

"M-Morr-gan..?"

The ghoul fell to his knees with a pained cough and the sound seemed to pull her mother out of her daze. She lunged to his side, catching his head as he fell over, his breath coming in short sharp gasps.

"No," the word spewed like a chant out of her lips as she cradled his head on her lap, one hand rested on his around the blade, the other coming up to gently remove his mask revealing tan skin and reddish-brown hair like Kali’s. Tears streamed from her eyes, landing on his paleing face as she choked back sobs. "No, Cyndir... I didn't...Goddess please!"

Her palm that rests on his around the dagger starts to glow as she chants in an ancient tongue but nothing happened. His shaking hand slowly raised to cup her cheek and he gave a weak laugh, a soft smile on his face. "S-still....s-so beau-tif-ul."

"Oh, shut up you stupid ghoul! I need to fix this! I didn't... Not like this..!"

His breath was becoming raspier, harder to draw in. His skin was so pale, starting to flake and crumble as he stared up at her with a loving smile on his face, looking at her as though he was trying to commit her to memory once more.

"Cyndir.." Morrigan was sobbing harshly now, reaching up to clutch at his hand on her face as tears streamed freely from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, don't leave me!"

"I... I f-forgive y-y-you. I... I... l-lo" Another pained cough rocks his body, specks of blood landing on her tear stained cheeks. "I... l-love...you."

They watch as the last flickering light leaves his eyes and he goes lax with one final exhale, his body crumbling into white ash slipping through her mothers arms as the dagger clatters to the ground. It is silent for a moment before her  mother throws her head back, a heart wrenching pain filled wail of the deepest anguish rings out to fill the air….

~~~><~~~><~~~><~~~><~~~><

The vision before them fades and swirls, withdrawing back into the journal on Annie’s lap. They all stare wide eyed at the once more empty and clear space between them. Kali, Annie, Cumulus, and Seth, who had turned into Rain and was crying against his chest, all have tears streaming freely over their cheeks while the other’s eyes glisten with unshed tears. Even Dew is pale with hot tears threatening to fall. It is silent, no one daring to speak as they process what they just witnessed.

"It…It was an accident," Kali's soft voice finally broke the silence. "Why do I remember it so differently?"

Annie turned to him, wiping away the tears on her face as she sniffled. "You were a child, Kako. The world always looks different through the eyes of a child."

"All this time…all this rage…" He looks up at her then, a fresh wave of tears cresting over his pale cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Annie. More sorry than I can ever be. Not just to you."

He turns his gaze, looking at each ghoul in turn, regret growing and chilling his heart as he looks at them and the wounds he caused. He felt his heart break all over when he finally landed on Rain.

"I'm so sorry. For everything."

He breaks down then, lowering his face to his hands as he curls in on himself, his body shaking with his harsh sobs. Annie’s heart breaks watching him and after another moment she can’t take it. Tucking the journal between her thigh and the arm of the chair she eases herself to her feet, swaying a moment before walking over to him with unsteady steps. The ghouls watch her, eyes widening with worry. Aether tries to reach out to stop her but a glare from her has him pulling his arm back with nervous eyes. He takes a step back and Annie sits on the couch next to Kali, wrapping her arm around his back. He stiffens and the other ghouls all lean forward, ready to act if needed.

“Kali,” Annie says softly, rubbing her hand along his arm. He sniffles and turns his head to look at her from the corner of his eye. “This has been a weight on you for many, many years. I hope this was able to give you closure and that you can finally start to heal. You don’t have to go through this alone. You’ll never be alone again.”

“Don’t,” he sighs, closing his eyes again. “Don’t try to comfort me. I fucked up. I attacked you. I attacked the guys. I really hurt that ghoulette. I deserve to be sent to the pits for all I’ve done. I was shown leniency the last time I raged. I don’t deserve it now, so don’t comfort me when I’ve accepted my fate.”

“I won’t allow it.”

“You don’t have a choice, Solros. It’s not up to you.”

“I won’t allow it,” Annie growls, holding him tighter. “I’ve got my brother back, and he’s not going anywhere.”

Behind her Copia lets out a heavy sigh, scratching above his eyebrow as he looks away. Kali glances over at him, brows furrowed before turning to face Annie.

“Even after all this time, after what I did, you’d still think of me like that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Our parents are gone, but we’ll always have each other. I can forgive you for your mistakes. Can you forgive yourself?”

“I…. I can try.”

Copia pushes off of where he leans against the now vacant chair and looks at the two, catching Annie’s eye. He knew he couldn’t deny her, even though it was very true that Kali should be sent to the pits for his actions. Since that was no longer an option, he turned to Seth.

“Seth. Work your magic and fix the rumors among the siblings. What happened was a training drill gone wrong. There was no attack and everything is fine. Aether, go to the infirmary and talk with the staff there. They weren’t well informed to begin with so it should be no trouble to convince them. Cumulus, relay everything to Mountain and the girls.

“As for you three.” He turns to the three ghouls who are watching him closely. “I understand how you may feel. But I ask that you move past this event. That we all do. Tomorrow is a new day, a new beginning.”

“If not for him,” Annie pipes up, turning to them as well. “Then for me. Please.”

The three look at her and relax after a moment. Rain nods and Swiss shrugs. Dew huffs and grumbles, wincing with a hiss when Swiss elbows him.

“Yeah,” the gremlin sighs. “For you, Darlin. But I’ll be watching you, Kali. Closely.”

“Noted.”

Seth gives Rain’s hand a squeeze before rising to his feet. “I’ll go get to work on those rumors. If you need me, I’ve got my phone.”

He walks to the door and goes to step out, pausing only when Annie calls to him.

“Can you get a message to Sage, text him or however you do it, and have him bring me some fresh yarrow, aloe and comfrey from the garden?”

“Sure. See you around, guys.”

With a lingering look at Rain he steps out and closes the door behind him. He’s halfway down the hall when he hears the door open and hurried footsteps coming after him.

“Seth, un momento!”

He flinches slightly, turning to face Copia with a nervous smile. “Yeah?”

Copia pulls him into a tight hug once he reaches him, holding him close. It takes a moment before he hesitantly returns the unusual embrace.

“I’ve known for a while,” Copia whispers in his ear, holding him tighter. “I’m happy for you. For you both, and you have my blessing,”

Seth relaxes in the embrace, hands fisting in his shirt as he lets out a soft sigh. “That means the world to me. We were so scared you wouldn’t approve. Thank you.”

“Ragazzo sciocco. Why would I not approve? Everyone deserves happiness, no?” Copia pulls back with a warm smile, reaching over to pat Seth’s cheek. “We can talk later if you’d like. For now, please. Get those rumors under control.”

“This’ll be fun! You can count on me, pops!”

Copia laughs softly and gives his cheek another pat before walking back to his rooms. He had faith that Seth could change the rumors and calm the masses, but worry still nagged at him. So much was happening so fast, unexplained things popping up left and right. One mystery solved at the cost of more appearing. With everything being so hectic, he didn’t know how he had time to breathe.

‘Things will get better. I have to believe they must,’ he thinks to himself as he steps through the door, his eyes going to Annie who still sits with Kali, the two talking with smiles on their faces. ‘So why does it feel like something is wrong?’