ooc: Welcome to the world of Aniketos and Rayne again! To re-cap, if you're interested in the whole story, please find the thread "Here We Are" in Arca (be warned, it is long). If you're content with the short story, Aniketos and Rayne are married and have two children, Eolynne and Zawayne. Unfortunately, Aniketos is finally consumed by an evil magic, the J'aari, which forces Rayne to flee with her two new-born children and seek shelter in the least likely of places: A brothel. Now, four years have passed since Rayne's fated flight, her children have grown without a father, and she without her true love. Unfortunately, unlike other women, Rayne's unique abilities as an Emotional tie her to one person, and being apart from him whithers her and slowly kills her from a broken heart....
I should be a movie commentator *nods*
ic:
Everyday chores became harder and harder to manage as the years passed. Rayne tried everything in her power to keep herself moving. Without her, Zawayne and Eolynne would have no one, not with Aniketos somewhere in the world struggling to fight his own demons.
Gods...She missed him. Each day was a struggle as she raised her son and daughter without him. He was absent from their lives, and although they had many people to dote on them, it did not replace the holes in their hearts where their father would always have a place. Just the other day, Eolynne had asked Mommy? Why do Zawayne and I not have a daddy?. It had nearly torn Rayne to pieces...she tried so hard to forget about him, to remember the monster he had become that caused her to flee so many years ago...but what could she tell them? Not that their father was dead...no...she knew in her heart that he was alive and that one day he would find them, whether intentionally or not....they were connected as well. An unfortunate side-effect that her abilities had caused. Only unfortunate now that the j'aari had taken her beloved from her. She had spent the last four years keeping the wall in place so that he would not feel her and somehow derive where she and the children had gone.
That was if he even remembered that he had a wife and children....four years....she remembered when the j'aari had first taken Nakaris...a childhood friend that had been stripped away from her in one foul swoop that left her cursed and dying for years before stumbling upon Aniketos who knew how to summon his brother and cure her....
Had it really been that long?
Now she was a mere shade of what she was then. The pallor of her skin was sickly pale, and only hidden by a light dusting of powder that was used by some of the older women to give their skin a young, youthful glow. Rayne was only two and twenty, hardly old enough to start hiding the bags under her eyes and the unnatural dullness of her skin. She was dying...she knew it. The deep purple welts that had begun to form on her chest only months after her separation from Aniketos had darkened to black and covered her entire torso. It made it hard to move, hard to breathe, and even hard to function on mundane tasks such as repairing an old skirt with one or two stitches. She still tried her best, but could no longer hide her deteriorating health. The others knew that she was ill, they knew that if something wasn't done her time was sorely short...
But nothing could be done.
The only cure to this terrible disease was Aniketos....if he returned to her...somehow....someway....
No...there was a chance that even now it would be too late. She barely ate, barely slept, and did all that she could to make sure Zawayne and Eolynne, Gods bless them, lived as long as they could with their mother's love.
Despite her weakness, and the pain it caused, she held them tightly every chance that she could, reminded them that she loved them every second of the day....They were not stupid, they could see that something was wrong. Zawayne with his brown and red hair, blue eyes that matched his mother's staring up at her with such love and understanding...Eolynne with a head of hair so brilliantly red and eyes such a perfect honey brown that she looked too much like her father....
Gods she couldn't leave them....she just couldn't....
Blinking back tears, Rayne put the last of the food onto the tray and lifted it carefully into her hands. She had refused to give up her job here, even though others had insisted she rest, and would continue to work until her body would no longer allow it. She now wore high-necked tops to hide the hideous bruises on her body. Everything hung off of her like it had been made for a woman three times her size, but she refused to wear anything tight against her as it showed just how thin she really had become...better to hide under cloth then admit that she was wasting away...
Picking up the tray, she left the kitchen with a wince at the effort it took to carry something as light as some crackers, cheese, and a small amount of fruit. As stubborn as she was, she knew that eventually -- soon -- her facade would wear down.
Entering the main waiting area, she glanced around and noticed a man walking through the door before placing the tray on the center table for visitors to partake while they waited.
She froze.
She could feel something that she hadn't felt in nearly four years....something....
Oh gods...
She jerked upright as if she had been slapped and stared at the man entering the brothel. Her blue eyes widened with shock as she took in the red-gold hair, hair that had once been brown to hide his resemblance to his brother...his eyes...they were no longer the honey-brown that she had gazed into, full of love and overflowing with compassion....By all accounts it was Nakaris...but she could not ignore the sensations her own abilities provided.
In seconds she lost the control she had placed on her mental barriers. Her shock, terror, pain, and even love exploded through the walls and, without a doubt, reached his mind as the connection was created again after so many years of silence.
Her children...Gods her children....who shared the same bond with their mother, sensed her distress. Young as they were, Zawayne came bounding into the room and grabbed hold of his mother's hand.
"Mommy?" he murmured, tugging on her skirts, "Wha's wrong, mommy?" As if on cue Eolynne dashed into the room.
"Momma! Zawayne said you was scareded!" She wrapped her arms around Rayne's legs and stared to cry, "I don't want you to be scared..." she whimpered, holding on tighter. Gods they were only four years old....they had no idea...no clue....
Zawayne looked up and saw the strange man standing inside the doorway. Instantly his eyes narrowed. Whether his abilities as an Emotional were greater than his sisters, or perhaps he was merely more perceptive, his eyes swept over the man's hair which was so similar to his sisters. His face showed that he could tell that this man's appearance was somehow linked to his mother's distress. With a sense of bravery that even a grown man would lack, the young boy stepped in front of Rayne with the purpose to put something between her and the strange man before him.
"Who're you?" he demanded.
