"What? Why can't we stay up and play too?" Asim whined over the dinner table, poking at the meat with their fork.

The action made Xoris feel sick. All the same, he tried his best to push the feeling away, dipping his own plain heel of bread in honey before taking a bite. Despite having had several rolls already, he didn't feel much more full, but he decided to keep that to himself too. After all, he already owed them so much, and he didn't need to trouble them further just because he hadn't eaten much in the past tally.

"Because this is adult bonding time, meaning you need to be an adult," Merkos concluded, starting to clear away the dinner plates as he brought them over to the water basin.

"We're almost adults! One Wither isn't going to change that much," Ifeh argued, tossing a lock of black hair over her shoulder with a huff.

"Actually, the laws of the kingdom would beg to differ. If you're under nineteen, you cannot drink, nor can you be drafted. That's a good thing though," Xoris was quick to point out.

"And what if we want to drink?" Ifeh pressed, nudging Asim in the side as they nodded eagerly.

"Well..." Xoris trailed, looking around. "I can't recommend it really. It messes with your mind, and I've never seen anything good come out of it. But we're getting off topic. You were both asked to go to bed."

Ifeh shot him an annoyed look. "I can't believe you got to go on fights and adventures and you're still this boring."

"I guess he only changed on the outside." Asim chuckled, standing up to brush off their white skirt, the only thing they were wearing with the intense heat.

"Right? It's infuriating, but fine! We'll go to bed so the rest of you can have fun." Ifeh rolled her eyes, but, taking her sibling's hand, they at least listened as they headed up to their room.

A sigh escaped Xoris as he rested his head in hand. "I fear for when she turns nineteen."

"You're one to talk. You should have seen the trouble those two have gotten themselves into while you were away." The Warden laughed heartily as Merkos brought out the same game he had suggested earlier.

He glanced up at Xoris, now the only one with a plate as the Warden removed a deck of cards to shuffle. "You'd better not soil the cards," Merkos warned. "I can't exactly go out and purchase another copy if they get ruined."

"Oh! Don't worry, I won't," Xoris promised, wiping his hands on his tunic, blushing a bit as he made eye contact with Luina's disappointed face. The glare quickly faded though, becoming replaced almost with a look of concern.

"Dear Clesydra, you're certainly eating a lot more than usual. Did you finally break your horrible eating habits?" She tilted her head a bit as her husband handed her a stack of cards, dealing out the rest.

"...I don't know if I would say that." Xoris bit his lip. He didn't want to specify that he had constantly felt this empty ache ever since he'd been Stained. Besides, he was sure if he ate enough, the feeling would go away, however many rolls that took. It didn't matter, really. He accepted the final pile of six cards, taking a glance at them.

It wasn't a terrible hand per say, with a decent mix of soldiers and monsters allowing for offence and defence. At least for this game, he preferred to balance both equally anyway.

As he took another bite of the coarse bread, a bit annoyed that he couldn't tear through it easily with his teeth currently being so flat, he tried to scan the rest of the table. Alaina looked rather smug as she glanced at her hand, Luina seemed confused, while the Warden wasn't even looking at his cards, making him difficult to read. Xoris frowned for a moment. As always, Merkos was his competition. Knowing his common tactic of having every card memorised and measuring out the probability of who had what card, he was going to be difficult to play against.

Luina went first, placing a wall card turn, before drawing to replace what she had. Xoris watched as Merkos' eyes flicked to it, and then at his own hand, calculating once again. He could have grumbled in frustration as Merkos noted the other plays, Alaina attacking turn one, as she always did, and the Warden building up his army. As Merkos' turn came up, Xoris wasn't surprised to see him place down a spell card.

"Alaina, let me see your hand," he read off as he accepted her cards. He nodded as he flicked through them, stealing one and returning the rest. "I figured... All right, that's it for me. Xoris, it's your turn."

Xoris scratched at his teeth as he sorted through his hand, trying to ignore their constant itch. Really, he should play his soldiers since Alaina was almost guaranteed to attack him if he left himself open, and yet, Merkos blatant counting irked him to no end. He did have a Pruul card, enough to deal three damage with Merkos holding no army to stop him. But if I attack, he may have a mirror, and then I'd take my own damage, plus Alaina's next turn...

He glanced over at Merkos, but his face was impossible to read. This is ridiculous! If only I could just see his hand.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he put down the bread. Faking a yawn, he put a hand over his mouth while he stretched his other arm high in Merkos' direction. It only took a moment to open up a single eye on the back of his hand and get the tilted angle he needed to glance at the maje's cards. Two monsters, an army, two spells, and a mirror. I knew it.

"Xoris!" Alaina's voice cut through the air, causing him to jolt. "Are you really cheating?"

Merkos turned to him, raising an eyebrow, and Xoris had no doubt that he would've been none the wiser if Alaina hadn't been paying attention.

"What?" Xoris retracted his arm quickly, forcing the eye shut. "I'm stretching."

"Don't start avoiding the subject!" She pointed a finger at him in accusation. "I saw that. You also had an eye on your hand and were trying to look at Merkos' cards."

"W-well, he's counting them! He's cheating too!" Xoris exclaimed, trying to force down the blush spreading across his cheeks.

"How is simply being smart cheating?" Merkos began, finally understanding the situation. "What, do you suppose that's how my exams went too? That I sat down in front of the High Court and they went, 'And for this test, we need you to not think and handicap yourself. You can't use your intelligence to your advantage.' No! It's just using my brain. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Well then I'm just using my body. Nothing wrong with that either then." Xoris shrugged, blinking at him.

"You saw my cards!"

"Have you considered not making them easy to see?"

"Fine then-" Alaina cut in. "If that's how we're going to play..."Her finger glowed a bright blue as she lay her cards down, tapping at each one. The light around them shivered, their presence slowly fading until it appeared as though they weren't there at all. "Go on and see that with all those eyes of yours. It's my majik, so it's also not cheating, I presume?"

Next to her, the Warden was rubbing his face. "Is this really how we're going to have to play games from now on? Forgive me, but I don't I'm going to be able to keep up anymore."

For a moment, they all looked at each other from around the table, before Alaina burst out laughing. Xoris was quick to follow, realising the absurdity of the situation.

Right, it doesn't matter whether I win or lose. Just being able to live here, and spend time like this again, that's what's important.

Even as the rounds continued and Xoris continued to take damage, his losses couldn't even put a slight damper on his mood. How he'd missed laughing and joking with the others. Sometimes, his eyes would catch the empty chair for a moment, and he'd be reminded of Luke, but along with the image of his face came his words. "What do you want to do?" Xoris felt as if he'd finally found the answer to it, and while he missed him, sitting here in this room, it didn't hurt as much as before.

Although he didn't choose to peek at anyone's cards after, as Alaina whittled down Merkos' health, Xoris managed to knock him out, the Warden then sending his army at her to bring down the last of her health. With Luina having been beaten turns ago, it was finally down to simply the Warden and himself. Huh, Xoris thought to himself. That's interesting.

Xoris casted a glance at the cards placed in front of the Warden, a large army of Beasts he had been steadily building up, ready to attack Xoris' own Human defence. Pushing three Vilve cards forward, and several smaller Stained to back them up, the Warden crossed his arms confidently. "I believe that's just the right amount of damage."

Xoris flicked his eyes down at his army, then at the cards marking his own health. He nodded before smiling lightly at the Warden. "I suppose you're right. You win this time." He scooped up the stacks in front of him, handing them to Merkos to be put away. "But don't expect to beat me after this."

"Oh? Xoris, making a challenge for once?" Merkos peeked his head over in curiosity. "With that sense of confidence I could have taken you for Luke for a moment."

"Oh, well..." Xoris rubbed at his finger, breaking eye contact. "Someone has to uphold tradition, I suppose."

"Could you pick a more useful tradition next time?" Alaina asked. "Like clearing your own dishes?" She pointed at the honey-soaked plate Xoris had been about to leave behind.

"Right! Sorry." He picked it up carefully, gingerly dropping into the filtered water. Alaina must have cleaned it recently, if the small burning sensation from the few drops on his wrist meant anything.

Then, with no other chores or tasks to busy himself with, he made his way around telling the others goodnight, and offering Luina a small hug before heading back upstairs.

The room was completely black with the sky closed, but as he adjusted the lock behind him, it quickly became easier to make out the details as he opened the other eyes. His bed sat, neatly made in the left corner, Luke's forever a scattered mess on the right, and in front of him, their shared shelves. He'd already spent a day here, but as he scanned it, basking in the strange sense of nostalgia, a piece of fabric caught his attention from the highest shelf. Walking over to it, he reached up to take hold of it, the familiar, soft touch brushing at his fingers.

It was his blanket, the same one he had been dropped off at the fort with all those Withers ago. Of course, he was much too large for it now, but even so he brought it over to the bed, staring at the yellow fabric. Reaching with his hand, he stroked at the raised green stitches embroidering his name at the corner. Though he had no way of knowing, he'd always liked to picture that he had a mother, and that she'd made it specifically for him out of love. A nagging thought in the back of his mind reminded him that if it were true, then she never would have given him away, but he ignored it.

Instead, he reclined back on the bed, holding it above him at arm's length. It was strange to think of his lineage now, and how he knew so much, and yet so little of it. Is that why I was left here? Did they simply not know how to raise me, like Luke's father? Were they... were they like me?

He stared at his name again, looking at how the winged, branching shape of the letter O held a single, stitched line in the middle. Luina had always claimed it was a stylistic choice whenever he'd asked why it had been shaped wrong, and yet... He frowned at it. It looks like an eye, like the winged shape of an eye with a slit pupil. Did they know? But no matter how hard he glared at it, the blanket was a blanket, and held no answers.

Letting out a small cry of frustration, he released his hold on it, letting it plop onto his face with its gentle, suffocating touch. Really, there was no reason in even wondering about it. He had given up looking for his parents ages ago. As far as he was concerned, this fort held his family, and even as his curiosity rose, he knew that even if he did find them, it would mean nothing. It wouldn't turn back time, it wouldn't change what he was, it wouldn't erase what he had done.

His stomach twisted a bit at the reminder. It was pointless. Besides, I'd have to leave the fort for that, and I promised I would stay. No more missions, no more being a hero... The girl came to mind again, slipping out of his hold as she became lost to the night, white hair swaying behind her.

"I'll be waiting."

His heart softened for a moment before hardening once again. No. He pushed the thought. No finding her either. This was where he lived now, most likely permanently, unless the war were to end tomorrow by some grand miracle.

He pulled the blanket off his face, turning onto his side. It only took a moment for the sheet to bunch up underneath him though, poking any eye it could find its way into, filling them with dust. Wincing, Xoris rolled onto his back, the water in the bed sloshing to adjust to his weight, but all that served to do was prod any features on that side.

An aggravated sigh escaped him. Was he finally past being so shrouded in utter exhaustion that he couldn't just sleep through the pain like any other night? But how am I supposed to avoid sleeping on them when it's my entire body? His own thoughts were like a shout, rattling around his head. What am I expected to do? Not touch anything? Just... His mouth pulled into a thin line as a thought crossed his mind.

It was surprisingly easy to coax the energy in him enough to offer that weightless feeling once again. He felt much more at ease this way, a few inches above the taunt, Welkskin mattress as his body relaxed. As his breath fell into a rhythmic flow in time with the steady hovering, something told him that this was correct. It felt so much more natural, and as sleep tugged at him, he wondered why he hadn't thought of ever doing it sooner. He had no reason to fear falling. He couldn't... Nothing could affect him like this.

𓂀

Xoris' eyes shot open as a flash of pain ran through him. He tumbled out of the air as his hold over gravity broke, landing on the bed with a thud and shaking the water trapped inside. Curling up into a ball, he clutched at his middle, consumed by the suffocating feeling of his stomach clenching and heaving. Heavy gasps for air tore out of him, his fingers clenched at the sheets in agony. It was like a gnawing hunger had seized him, eating away at him with one desire: to make it stop.

A daze settled in his mind for a moment. Why was he here, in a stone building and a tidy room? That was for Humans. Humans and stones, stones and Humans. Both didn't belong here.

His thoughts reached a higher, cooler place in his mind, no longer feeling like his own as his arms became increasingly numb. One managed to break past it though. Why do I feel like this? I already ate, so I shouldn't... be in pain. He reached a shaking hand up to his head, resting it for a moment.

The quiet peace only lasted a moment before images raced though his mind, quick and fleeting. It felt as though his insides were being trodden on by hundreds of small, skittering insects as he was forced to watch Humans mine for meat within the ground, Fae as they planted trees with roots reaching just as painfully deep, both races breaking down the land's natural majik and the water it held.

Why must they do that? Why must it hurt so much? He clenched his fingers, dragging them over his left, Human eye, right above his birthmark. Why did it feel like it was on fire? Tears leaked out as he grabbed the sword at his bedside. He blinked once, and it looked clean. A second, and it was coated in blood as green as his cloak.

Just end them. It will stop. It needs to stop before it's too late.

Xoris perked up out of his state for just a moment. He had heard the strange, unmal-like voice before, empty of words but with more meaning than he could ever hope to understand. There was no time to process it though as his breath quickened, the thrill of a second intent running through his nerves. A smile pulled across his face, his neck, his arm. He didn't have to live like this. He didn't have to live in pain. In fact, he'd received very clear instructions of how to end it, and it was then that he became very aware that it wasn't hunger at all. It was bloodlust.

His steps made no sound as he exited the room, blade in hand. It was a natural thing, silently creeping towards Luina and the Warden's shared room with one set goal in mind. This was what he was meant to do. His fangs were there to tear flesh from bones, his eyes meant to make prey stay in one spot. Why had he busied himself with such useless tasks before? Society began to lose its sense in his blank mind. After all, what was the purpose of anything but the need for survival, and in order to survive, others had to die. That was what life meant, and he was alive. More alive than ever before.

His hand brushed against the tapestry over their door, saliva filling each mouth in the anticipation of what was to come. As sobs racked the walls from inside, he couldn't help his toothy grin from stretching further. This would be fun. This would make it stop.

"I don't like your energy."

What? A violet eye on the back of Xoris' neck flicked down to spot Naeh, her own yellow ones glowing as the wild majik in her chest reared up. Panic cut through the dullness, sharp and spiking as she reached up to snap her small fingers. No. He didn't want to deal with it again. He was done with the Fae.

As the snap rang out, it was as though the girl had reached over to flay him alive. With a thud his knees hit the floor. Her majik raced through his nerves, eating away at the heka they held like a child tearing the legs off an insect only to watch it die. Tears poured out from all sides as he curled up on the ground, clutching at his hair, tugging as if it would alleviate something. Any idea of another presence in his mind faded away as he could only focus on how he felt. It was a selfish thing– a Human thing– but he couldn't pay attention to anything other than Naeh's majik tearing him apart from the inside.

"Are you done being evil now?" She bent down, sitting next to him calmly as it all finally ceased, the only sound left being his heavy breathing and rapid heartbeat in sets of three.

Xoris rolled onto his back, chest rising and falling as he stared at the ceiling, then at his hands which only served to watch him back. Sweat dripped from his hair as cold as the shiver running down his spine. There was no denying what he had done. I... I would have killed them. My own family.

Was that what had happened every time his thoughts became fuzzy? If he had done something before, he had always seen it as an urge. Something he had control over, but this... The sobs inside the room reached his ears again, deep and heavy as the Warden cried behind closed doors.

"I just... wish I could have said goodbye. I'm trying to stay positive for Xoris' sake, but the fact that Luke is gone... Why couldn't we have known sooner? I could have done something!"

A shushing sound came, from what he could only assume was Luina. "With your leg, there's nothing you could have done. It's no one's fault that he died. We.. should have expected it with his line of work. I miss him too."

A choke rose up in Xoris' throat as he listened. Why had he, even for a moment, thought that things were fine? He had crushed them with his guilt, his consequences, then sought for their blood. Why? He looked back at Naeh. He wanted to hate her for causing him to go through that pain again, but if she hadn't... "Are you done being evil?" That's what something like that was considered, wasn't it?

"I... I don't know if I am. I really don't know." The words sounded weak, but he couldn't help it. Why couldn't he just have control? "I don't want to be though. I just want to live here with you all, and exist as I am. Why is that so hard?"

"Well, you can't have both." Naeh looked at him harshly. "You have to pick one, or the other. That's what Luina always says. Sometimes, she asks me what I want as a side for dinner, and I say lentils and bread, and she says 'no you have to pick'. It's very annoying." Her cheeks puffed up a bit in aggravation.

Right. Naeh was lucky if she was even six Withers, so why was he bothering to ask a child? He picked up his sword from the floor. He didn't deserve to have it, but he couldn't leave it there either.

"Where are you going?" the girl asked as he began to retreat down the hall wordlessly.

"I don't know. To my room, I suppose." Where else would I go?

"You can't live here. Beasts are supposed to live outside. The fort is to keep people safe."

A shudder hit his chest like a rock, shaking his very core at her words. His teeth scraped together as he muttered, "But... I don't want to leave. I grew up here. It's... It was my home." Hot wet lines trickled down his face, becoming more potent and rapid with each passing drip.

"But you want to hurt people. You can't have both, not unless you know how to stop." Naeh yawned, taking a few steps past him. "I don't want to majik you all the time. I want to sleep."

Then she headed to her own room, leaving Xoris alone in an empty hallway.

Another choke wracked at him as he considered what she had said. She was right, it wasn't a child's job to keep him in check. If she hadn't woken up... I'd have... He didn't know. Stabbed them? Petrified them? Eaten them, like Rajul? How would he live with himself after that? How would he live with himself now? If it had been anyone in the fort, he never would be able to forgive himself.

His eyes widened, finally taking in the full scene around him. "She's right," he breathed out, almost wordlessly. "I can't stay." At least, not until he had an answer on how to control himself. He glanced out the arched window to his left, into a black sky just beginning to split open to release the blue behind it. It was enough to see without any extra help, and he closed every other eye as he walked back to his room.

The meringue-yellow tunic was peeled off and put back in the closet. Luina had made it specifically for him, but it didn't fit anymore. The armour felt comforting as he slid it back over his body, giving him a sense of determination and duty with the weight it bore on his shoulders.

"Come and find me when you're ready, Thing of Eyes and Teeth."

"Fine!" This time he let the images of the Vampire come, filling his mind with a sense of purpose. "You want to tell me this 'privileged information' so badly, then I will."

No one else had any answers for him anymore, not even himself. Kraim and Ilysi were after him, and even in hiding, he was a danger to his family. Either she told him what was going on and he actually gained control, or he left forever. Either way, The Thing of Eyes and Teeth would be kept far away from the ones he cared about.

As he took hold of his sword once more, the last of his things, he took a step to the window when he remembered something.

Right. The artefakt.

Kraim had given Merkos a deadline to finish it for one purpose: to eliminate the Stain. But Xoris couldn't have that. Not before he'd gotten to talk to her. He doubted he'd find her within the space of a tally, and on top of that...

What if that... drive is the only thing forcing the Stained to be evil? I don't want her to die. Not if she knows how to stop this.

Creeping through the halls once more, he stopped in front of Merko's room. The man was snoring, completely face down on his bed asleep.

Regret filled Xoris' chest, filling him with a quiet sense of solemnity, but he continued to enter the room until he was facing the spindly, white stone legs of the artefakt. He stared up at it, imagining that staircase in his mind once again. It looked different this time though, a mountain instead of stairs, each climbing step towards his heka leading him closer and closer to an open sky until the solid feeling overtook him entirely, taking the vision away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

A soft, emerald glow filled the air around him as he opened each eye, focusing on the artefakt. The heka reared up, a patch of grey stone starting to crawl across it, fusing each joint, each carved piece of metal and crystal together until it was nothing more than a statue. Heaviness filled his chest. He didn't want to do this, not after Merkos had worked so hard on it, not when it was the only thing keeping his siblings employed, but he couldn't have it getting in his way.

Instead, he lifted his feet from the floor, silently hovering over to Merkos' beside. "I know it's not the best replacement but... here." He unhooked his Aevida from his belt, plucking almost all of the chips from it to place next to him, leaving only a spare few. "I hope it's enough."

Then he made his way over to the window, staring out into the light. A gust of wind rustled through his short, brown hair as he peeked his head out, staring down at the ground so far below.

Luke had fallen from this height once when he was nine, trying to fly in his wing's absence using majik alone. Xoris had informed him of how bad of a decision hopping off the ledge was, but that had been a long time ago. Things are different now, and if I fell... 

Wouldn't the world be safer off without him? He either made the journey to the Stained, or he didn't, and in the end, did it really matter either way?

As a dull sense of apathy ran through him, a slow breath expanding his lungs, he opened his eyes once again, the weightlessness of his energy taking hold of him, and with that, he jumped.