by Emily Wilson
Aleon cackles at that and gets up to go after another piece of sweetbread. “How is it the biggest one in this house has sex with the smallest one in this house? And I'm including the teenager, he's about to pass by Azrian any second.”
“Simple,” Az mumbles, jerking his hand out and reaching into the pan to snatch the last piece of sweetbread, then spins to stay out of Teagon’s grasp and instantly climbs into Kato’s lap to hide from him. “But also none of anyone's business,” he says with a smug grin. He holds the sweetbread to Kato’s lips and nods encouragingly. “I had to fight for this. Enjoy it.”
“You did.” Kato takes a bite and it's even better than the first time he ever had it. Maybe it's the fact that he's hardly eaten anything in days, or maybe it's the fact that his boyfriend is the one that made it and is also feeding him in his lap... but he decides the reasoning doesn't matter. It's delicious, and he takes another giant bite before he's even done chewing the first and moans slightly at how amazing the flavor is on his tongue. He hears his brothers laugh, but he really doesn't care. He won't miss even a second of this moment with Az.
“Don't tell me he's getting a willie from food,” Teag says, making Kato laugh out loud.
Azrian rolls his eyes and slides off to gather the dishes. “Hardly,” he mutters, but stops dead in his tracks and blushes when he recognizes the innuendo — but the sound of laughter that follows is amazing. “You're all shadowheads.”
When Kato was in that cell, it was moments like this he missed most, but Ronan walks in the room and spots him before he can continue the joke. “Shadows! You’re home!” He rushes over for a hug, and it makes Kato feel even more complete than just a moment ago.
“I’ll always come home,” he reassures the young Videre.
It takes Aleon clearing his throat for Ronan to finally let go, but they struggle to find space for all of them in the small kitchen. Even still, it feels natural, like Teagon, Aleon and Ronan were always meant to be there. Azrian feeds Ronan quickly then ushers everyone to the living room — everyone except for Kato.
“Hey, hold on a sec, Jellycrai.”
He sits back down, reaching out to hold onto Azrian’s thighs when he meets his gaze. “Yeah?”
Az leans in and whispers, “I made you your own loaf of sweetbread. Don't tell Teag, but I put it in the cupboard before he woke up.”
“Thank you.” Kato kisses him before standing, putting his arms around him while they make their way to the living room with the others. “I didn’t really get to say much yesterday but, thank you... all of you. I don’t know what would have happened when Syph returned, but I don’t imagine it would have been good.”
Aleon stares at the floor. “Don't thank me. Thank Teagon,” he says quietly, regret evident on his face as he glances up. “I don't really deserve your thanks.”
“Shut it, Ale,” Teagon mutters. “You took us there and we brought him home, that's all that matters. Syphon can kiss my ass.”
Understanding what he meant, Kato just nods. He can’t blame Aleon for being wary; they had always said they’d never get involved and then Kato forced them to. “I just had to say thank you, and I’m sorry it was even necessary. I should have listened to every single one of you and I didn’t.”
“Shove it, Kato.” Teag shakes his head. “You don’t have to faeching apol—”
“Yes, I do,” Kato barks slightly more aggressively than he means to. “I do.”
Azrian places a soft hand on his arm and squeezes gently. “Okay. It's okay, we all forgive you for not listening. We get it, and you've been punished enough, I think. Right, guys?”
His brothers agree instantly, and Ronan looks concerned, but he's also unaware of what happened. Aleon rubs his jaw and sucks in an uneasy breath, then leans forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “So, what do we do now? As much as I would like to, I don't think we can ignore Syphon anymore. He's a murderer — again — and needs to answer for it.”
“Six is a murderer too, they all need to answer for it.” Kato hears the crack of a skull again and closes his eyes, shaking the sound away from his mind.
“Kato...? Are you okay?” Rone asks, stepping forward, but when their eyes lock, he stops and moves away instead. Kato knows he just saw the lack of gold staring back, but he’s thankful Ronan doesn’t push. He’s always been wise for his age. “I’m okay. Thanks, Rone.”
Teagon sucks his teeth and bounces his leg. “So what do we do? Go back and kick his ass? Try the Rostian Praefectus? Tell the Regnum?”
“The Regnum would be the best bet,” Aleon says. “The Praefectus and the praelex won't really do much against someone like Syphon. Even if they wanted to, he's too powerful now. We’re gonna have to hope the Reg not only want to help but have the stones to do it.”
“They will.” Azrian’s voice is firm despite its low volume, and his jaw is set. “They hated the Venandi, and what is Syphon if not part of the Venandi?”
“He’s worse than Melior, they have to see the threat. I know we can convince them, and because we saved a lot of their families, they will hear us out.” Having a goal in mind already has Kato feeling stronger and more focused. “Riley is there as well; she’s been working with them a lot.”
That seems to get Aleon’s attention and he sits up straighter. “You think she’s there? She travels a lot?”
“Well, she complained that she’d be staying put for a while there when she was here. You know she loves to keep moving.”
“Yeah.” Aleon squirms a little as Teagon fights a laugh — but that's a battle he loses quickly.
“Gods, Ale. Just marry the girl already, you're making me nauseous again,” he jokes. “If I have to watch you pine all over her again, I'll lock you in the Tizor Mountains, I swear it.”
Kato tilts his head in confusion, looking between his brothers. “You want to marry Riley?”
Ronan seems to have caught on much faster than Kato has, because he’s doubling over with laughter. “Good luck. She wouldn’t give me the time of day.”
“Aren’t you like thirteen?” Teagon asks. “And you had the guts to try?”
“Fourteen,” he counters, but instantly stops finding the situation quite so humorous. “And no, I... didn't really have the guts. Almost, though. I almost tried.”
Azrian grins and reaches over to ruffle his hair, but addresses Aleon. “I like Riley a lot, even though for a while, I thought she was going to go after Kato. She helped save me when I was stuck in the Ruins, so at least you've got a bonding point.”
“She just wanted to do sex with me, she didn’t actually want to be with me,” Kato retorts, not realizing how that didn’t help the situation at all, but when he sees Aleon actually look taken aback, he tries to save it. “She wants to do sex with you too, Aleon. I heard her think it when we spoke about you and she punched my arm when I asked her about it.”
He gets to see his brother blush for the first time, and Ale plays off the hopeful look as best he can. “Can you just stop saying ‘do sex’ now? Shadows, Azrian. Does he talk like that in bed?”
Ronan groans and covers his ears. “Please don’t answer that, Az.”
“Not anymore,” Az admits. “He's actually...” He stops, blushing and coughing quietly. “Definitely not anymore.”
Kato laughs lightly because he knows he said it wrong. He pulls Az in to whisper into his ear, knowing it will just make Azrian blush more — but he’s glad no one else hears. It’s just for them.
“Okay, new subject, because I’ve heard things through these walls I’d like to keep pretending I didn’t,” Ronan interrupts as Nut waddles his way between Kato’s legs. It hits him how badly he missed the chubby raccanis and he scoops him up to kiss his head. “Hey, buddy.” When Nut doesn’t respond, it hits Kato all over again that he’s lost his powers. “Shadows... I can’t hear him anymore.”
Nut chitters quietly and gets comfortable next to him as Az watches. “I'm sorry, Kato. I know how much you enjoyed that part of being
a Cogitare.”
“It was the best part. I already miss his voice. I bet he’d be telling me how stupid I am.” Kato pets him softly and stares into his beady little eyes. He knows Nut would tell him he’s stupid at some point, but right now, he gets the vibe Nut just wants to comfort him. He notices Nut’s been cradling his paw and finally feels like he can help, so he lets those healing powers run through his fingertips and focuses on the raccanis, smiling when Nut nuzzles him as a thank you. “So... when should we go?”
“Probably soon,” Aleon says. “I can't imagine Syphon will be very happy when he figures out he doesn't have any prisoners now and he’s back to square one. Did he tell you what he even wanted?”
“No, he didn’t say much at all after he stole my power. I talked to Slait about it, though. He said Syph was obsessed with Videre and tortured him for information about them. How many were at Deadrun, where are they now. Questions like that. I don’t know why he didn’t come back after the attack, but I imagine he and Tripp have another hideout somewhere. Who knows if he’s captured Videre yet.” It’s a struggle to keep his tone even, but Kato’s proud of himself for maintaining it.
Teagon scoffs. “If I know Syph, he's got a place to crash in every territory. I wouldn't be surprised if he went to one of those, but I figured he'd have come back to take it out on you when he couldn't get to Az and Ronan like he wanted. Little shit doesn't like not getting what he wants.”
The reminder that he came after his family has Kato’s fists clenching. “And now it’s our job to ensure that little shit never gets what he wants. Whatever it takes... he has to pay.” He isn’t willing to lose another person close to him, especially the ones in this room, and this is the only way to stop him.
“I’m coming, right?” Ronan asks, his eyes darting between the two father figures that took him in.
Az nods, though his brows are pinched together and he looks more uncomfortable than Kato’s seen him in a while. “Yeah, Rone. You're coming with us. Told you already, I'm not leaving you here by yourself. We won't be leaving you by yourself until this has been dealt with, so I hope you're good with that. We can't keep you safe if we’re clear across Athoze.”
“How long will we be gone? Will we have to notify my teachers?”
Kato wishes none of this would interfere with his schooling and realizes that if he had listened to Az, it wouldn’t have. “I’m sorry, Rone. We have no idea how long, but I promise once we’re home, you won’t miss any more school.”
“He’ll be okay even if he does,” Az comments. “I dropped out when I was his age to work, and I did alright. Sometimes I think it's a waste of time anyway.”
Both of Kato’s brothers look like they have questions, but neither say anything about what Azrian just divulged. “So, we’re leaving then?” Aleon asks.
Kato has no argument to that. He never went to school unless his classes with Melior counted, and those were one on one. He couldn’t have his precious Cogitare being influenced by the other children. “Yeah, best to go soon. As much as I don’t want to leave here, we need this done. Will Roe stay at Rhix’s house to be safe? We should update them first.”
Ronan stands up and walks to his room but pauses before entering. “I should probably pack a bag, right?”
A hush falls over the room as they take in the task ahead of them, and it's Teagon that regains his composure the quickest. “Well, little buddy... unless you wanna wear the same underpants for a week, you might wanna bring some spares with you.”
10 The Mountain
It takes Aleon three trips to get everyone to the base of the Tizor Mountains. The trip makes Azrian dizzy to the point where he's happy he’d been in the first group; it had given him ample time to readjust to his surroundings. The nausea from such a long, single jump doesn't fade as quickly though, so he doesn't trust himself to speak as the others begin to discuss their entry plan.
Eventually, silence falls and every single one of his companions are stood staring at him — but he can't for the life of him figure out why. “That sounds great,” he says in a light tone.
“Getting crushed by an avalanche sounds great?” Teagon asks, his face lit up with amusement. “Didn't know you felt like that, Az. Should we be worried about you?”
Blushing deeply, Az tries again: “Oh, that sounds terrible,” he corrects in a forced monotone. “Better?”
“We weren't actually talking about avalanches,” Aleon confesses as he shoves his brother. “We’re waiting to see what you think about just flat out knocking on the door.”
Azrian stares at the mountainside for a long moment. Try as he might, he can't see a doorway. “What door?”
“We haven’t found it yet, but seeing as this is their actual home, I think it’s polite to knock. Last time we were greeted outside but that was the courthouse.”
Kato rubs Azrian’s back and looks worried for him. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He doesn't want to appear weak when everyone else seems fine, and he's not really sure why this particular jump bothered him more than any of the others. “Okay, so how do we find a door in the side of a mountain?”
Nut skitters up Kato’s pant leg and nearly pulls them down when they hear a grating sound somewhere in the distance, but Axis stays calm. Taking note from him, Azrian doesn't comment and simply walks forward until he's running his hand over the rough rock.
“Close, but not quite there,” a familiar voice says. It seems to be traveling through the mountain’s surface, but as Az leans forward to listen closer, the voice laughs — this time coming from behind him. He whirls around and comes face to face with Hanigen. “We saw you coming, of course.”
Kato greets them with Nut on his shoulders but the raccanis is wary of newcomers, especially now. “He’s a little shy.”
“I know what he needs.” Hanigen reaches into his pocket and pulls out some sort of wafer, then holds it to Nut’s mouth. “I had a feeling I'd need to butter him up.”
Nut snatches it with his little paws and takes a bite after a quick sniff, then chitters his approval before he focuses all his attention on the snack. Kato pets him fondly and then introduces the rest of their group.
Axis dips his snout to him, and to everyone’s surprise, Hanigen walks over and presses their foreheads together and whispers something in a foreign language under his breath. Out of everything spoken, only one word can be picked up by the crew: Cettia. When he’s finished, he returns his attention to Az. “Your powers are harder to control this time, aren’t they, Azrian?”
A little startled, Azrian nods as Kato’s expression goes from concerned to curious. “Yes, they have been. They're also stronger, but... I assumed that's why I was having trouble with them.” Kato grips his hand, and although he doesn’t have telepathy powers to tell Azrian they will talk about this later, he knows they will.
Hanigen jerks his head toward the seemingly solid rock with a pearly white grin. “Would you all like to come in? Neginah’s in a meeting, but we were expecting you.”
“Of course you were,” Az mumbles, but the others all instantly agree and start following him. Az stays put and tugs Kato’s hand when he tries to follow. “What in the shadows was that about?”
“I don’t know.” Kato looks at the group and then back at Azrian. “Why didn’t you tell me you were struggling?”
“It's not that simple. I'm not... struggling, not really. And the day Syphon came, everything happened so fast. But since then... I don't know. They seem... off. I don't know how to explain it. I thought maybe it was just because I spent so long without them that I'd forgotten how to use them.”
The explanation seems to ease Kato enough that he doesn’t argue. “I get it. You’ve got this, okay? Just remember to breathe and focus on your mission.”
Truthfully, Azrian’s tired of missions — but there's one at hand he can't ignore. “Let’s go before we get locked out of the mountain. I'll ask Hanigen later on if he wants to elaborate on any of that or if he just e
njoys being cryptic and weird.”
They hurry to catch up and barely make it in time to step through the doorway with them, and when they do, Azrian’s breath catches in his throat. Despite the cold rock surrounding them on all sides, the place is... bright. Torches every few feet on the walls, lamps filled with silver Videre light scattered throughout, and an orange glow coming from deep in the mountain.
The Videre light makes Az wonder if they have them working here like at Deadrun, but the welcoming interior reminds him that the Regnum aren’t the Venandi. They may have worked with them in the past, but most were forced, so he decides to reserve judgement.
“It’s warm in here,” Kato whispers, gripping Azrian’s hand to stay close.
He mumbles an agreement but most of his attention is on the walls and the faces carved into them. Old, young, all shapes and sizes — with eyes that seem to pop out and glow. Without thinking about it, he steps toward one that looks suspiciously like the twins.
When he gets close, he can see the smooth edges of the gems placed where the eyes should be. Neginah approaches and reaches up to touch the stony face, a smile gracing her own. “Aterite,” she says quietly. “The darkest gem in all of Athoze. Fitting, isn't it? But somehow I don't think their beauty quite matches her true eyes.”
“Who is she?”
“Our grandmother. I suppose enrollment in the Regnum skipped a generation, but... she’s why we were called here—”
“And why we answered that call,” Hanigen finishes in a soft tone. “These are the Regnum that came before. One day, when Neginah is gone from this world, her face will be there, too.”
“Will Riley be up there too?” Aleon asks quickly, blushing when everyone turns to look at him.
The twins share a knowing grin and Neginah shrugs one shoulder. “It is possible. But she is not the Regnum’s Cogitare at this time.”
“Is she here?” Azrian asks since he knows that Aleon wants to, but won't. His crush on her is one of the purest things he's seen in quite some time, and if he can help out a little... he will.