Arlenia

There's no art of Arlenia Enyo.

Description

The days of living have long passed for this woman. She stands at an impressive 5'9" tall, with her long, dark hair pulled back into a braid that hangs to the middle of her back. Her eyes burn red with an all consuming hatred and rage. Upon her skeletal body hangs a long cape and studded armors that once covered a beautiful body, but hang useless from the bones and sinew that are animated by necromantic magicks alone. Far from mindless, this lich is fully aware of her pain, her existence, and seeks above all else retribution and revenge. She appears undeniably confident, her skeletal face forced into an eternal grin that competes with what little flesh is left on her face. A dark magic aura rolls from her, driving her beyond life, beyond death.

Roleplay Notes

November 2012

• A Bundle of Hope

October 2012

• Understanding

September 2012

• Birth
• Returning a Life
• Readying the Ritual
• Time

August 2012

• Parting of Ways
• The Deciding Line
• To Orn and Back Again (1-3)
• Deep Thoughts

May 2012

• Fed Up (1-2)
• Understanding
• Discussions
• Old Habits
• Long Lost Visitor
• Vanishing Gladiator
• Saving Guardian
• Waking Colin

April 2012

• Arrival of a Man
• Planning Ahead
• Gaining a Husband
• Vanishing Guardian
• Blushing Rose
• Like a Runaway Train
• Rolling Waves
• Trip
• Orn
• Stream

A Bundle of Hope

Colin felt like things were finally coming together. Times had been very difficult since Arlenia's... death. Just the thought of that incident brought pangs of dread and sorrow up in his chest. That single event not only showed Colin a part of just how much the black makou within him could take control, but it had also shattered his almost perfect life with one sweep of his blades. Colin deeply regretted his actions on that day, not because he felt Arlenia deserved better - after all, the woman had murdered one child of his and attempted to kill another, but rather because of just how far it had driven Sanria from him.

Over the past few months Colin had tried desperately to keep Sanria at least around him, even if she refused to be in a relationship with him. The occasional nights they had shared were much needed breaths of fresh air to keep him fron suffocating. Every time he thought of her going away he could feel himself losing control. He loved Sanria deeply, which made things painful enough, but this was something worse. He had a taste of it before when Sanria had gone off to the frozen north to die. In those few days she was gone it was all he could do to stay sane and he had held onto the then infant Orn like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood.

Finally, things were beginning to change. The visit from Maya the other day was almost more than he could have hoped for. While it truly pained him to see Sanria hurt by the news of Thasmudyan's continued relationship with, and impregnation of, the other woman, Colin couldn't help but feel relief at the revelation. Thasmudyan wasn't the right man for Sanria and maybe now she could finally see that. At least he wouldn't have to deal with him in the house anymore... when or if he ever showed back up.

And now, their daughter was born. He held the small bundle in his arms, cradling the tiny new life that was a part Sanria and a part him. He handed the child off and watched each of their other two children take their turns holding the baby. Finally the child made it back to Sanria and Colin stood there full of pride, love, and hope. Their whole family, together in one room, celebrating the addition of another.

Colin had never let go of hope. After all, he didn't even think he could if he wanted to maintain his sanity and control over his own actions. But now, finally, he felt that his hope wasn't just in desperation but that they could truly begin moving back toward happiness. Things were finally coming back together.

Understanding

Slowly, very slowly, the scream faded into silence. Then, Banion's lovely girl was sobbing dry tears onto the ground. "There, now, child," he crooned, and got to his hands and knees, lifting her skeletal face to look at him. She bore the necessary equipment for stealing the life force from anyone - a pair of curved fangs. "You will have your revenge and then your rest."

"Fire... I'm on f... fire..."

"A side affect that will soon diminish," Banion lied. The pain would be omnipresent, eternal, until he sent her back into oblivion.

"Make... it stop..." she chattered.

"Easy now," he said, running a hand over her head. "You were murdered, my dear girl."

"Yes..."

"I want you to have your revenge."

Banion smiled as Arlenia rose for the first time since her death. She stumbled at first, then stood and held her hands out, looking at the skeletal remains that glowed dully. "Why... why..."

Banion got up as well, putting a hand on Arlenia's arm. "Child, you have been gone from this mortal coil for nigh on a month. You are still just as beautiful as before. Even more beautiful, for now, you are my creation. My daughter."

The furnace-red eyes blazed in his direction and Banion gave a small, placating smile. Arlenia looked at him with her head tilted. "Creation?"

"Yes, child."

"No... I don't want this..."

"Ustulo in anima quod non obedit, Maldicam in corpus quod non secor," as he spoke the words, Arlenia let forth a scream of pain, "Pati in dolorem de tuus dominus, Donec vos discere in semitam."

"PLEASE!" Arlenia screamed out, driven to her knees.

With a wave of his hand, Banion released the spell and knelt beside Arlenia. "Sweet child," he said. "Please, go find your revenge and don't make me have to do any more of that. I don't want your soul to suffer. Go find him. And bring his head back to me."

"My... revenge..."

"Vicariously through me, vicariously through you, child. It will be ours together."

Birth

It was a compulsion to breathe - it wasn't a choice, it was a command from the magic that flooded her bones, her fetid flesh, and ordered her to breathe. It wasn't into her lungs, the long decayed sacs, that the air was pulled into. It wasn't simply air that she pulled in - it was magic from the fabric of the weave itself. The command repeated again and again, cycling the weave, the magic, through her and the thunder of her soul thudded back into her bones, into her skull, and the pain - oh the aching pain like being split asunder, pulled apart - the pain of her past life rushed in to fill the void of her skull like the swirl of the tides. Memories were not held in a brain, memories were now in her bones, magic breath keeping them alive and burning burning burning like a fire pulsing. Every movement burned a memory, every breath burned a memory - brighter, brighter, brighter - until the brutality of her return to the living world forced Arlenia to scream. They were everywhere. The memories were everywhere.

Returning a Life

The hours had passed, the sun had finally relinquished its hold on the island, leaving it in the shadows cast by the dark ring of rocky mountains. With steps soft and silent, Banion passed through the quiet paths of the village, sticking to the shadows.

The sounds of goblins from the nearby tower carried on the wind, but it did not unnerve Banion in the least. He reached the graveyard and picked his way by the newly cresting moon's light to Arlenia's resting place. "Child, you will have your revenge. I can't live knowing you didn't. Then, you can rest."

It took a full two hours for Banion to move the earth over Arlenia's body. Sinking into the dark hole, he hoisted the decaying, skeletal remains over his shoulder, then onto the ground beside the grave. He hefted himself from the hole, sweat beading on his aging pate. He laid out the contents of his pack, and opened the tome. It had been many a long year since he had practiced his necromancy. He knew it would also be a risk, a ripple in the fabric of magic that would alert the dark wizards that he was, in fact, still alive. But Banion was driven, and by a calm madness, he started weaving his spell.

"By tenebris lux nocturna,
in utero mortis,
puero hoc tenebrarum nativitate,
eius obligaverit vita ad meam,
porta illam anima pennis doloris,
illi mentem profundissimum solitudo."

Banion cut deep into his forearm, spilling his blood onto Arlenia's putrid remains. He watched a red and sinister light form around her body and staggered back onto his rear as she took in a breath and screamed into the night a screech of abject terror that silenced even the goblin's usual raucous hoots. Banion breathed heavily, and slowly began to smile.

Readying the Ritual

Banion stared out of his small window, watching the children filled with dirt run about with wild and free abandon. He stared, his arms folded, as the parents spoke jovially with their fellow villagers. He felt the bile rise in his throat. He pulled the small flap down, sending the hut into darkness.

It had been... Banion didn't know how long it had been since the big gladiator had walked in with Arlenia's body in his arms, accompanied by the man in robes, her head resting on her stomach. He had nothing to say and there was nothing he could do but stare. What had occurred was only what Banion could consider an injustice in the worst degree. The big gladiator was a murderer, as was his friend. They had taken from the island a troubled woman, but an islander. And it burned a hole in Banion's heart.

Banion crossed to the table and lit a candle. He glanced about the hut, ensuring all windows were closed, his wood paneled door latched. He slowly moved the table out, its legs scraping on the floor with a hollow sound. Banion moved the candle down, his fingers caressing a long board, lifting it up. Beneath it lay a tome, wrapped in leather. With practiced ease, the man lifted the book and laid it with a thunk on the table. He tossed back the flaps of leather and laid bare the tome, "Raising the Dead and Ensuring Control."

Banion sighed as he hefted the book into his bag. He went to his small cabinet and pulled down various herbs, vials, as well as a few nefarious ingredients hidden away. He grabbed a ritual dagger from the rear of his cabinet and placed it all in his bag. He knew that Arlenia had been pained in life, he knew she would suffer even more in death - but he also knew once he placed the shambles of her spirit back into her carcass, she could go forth and gain her vindication. Then, if she chose, he could release her back into eternal slumber.

For now, he would have to wait. Banion blew out the candle, and in the dark of his hut, he whispered on a faint breath the spells that would bring Arlenia back into being. Tonight was the full moon. It would be done this evening, the right amount of time had passed, and Banion would be ready.

Time

Pride. It was the single word that kept coming back to Sanria, thudding through her mind in time with her beating heart. Her son, her boy, her Orn was becoming a man. Certainly, he still had missteps - his excitement bubbling over like a child, words hastily said without thought when he was nervous, but in the setting sun of the day, she had watched her little boy negotiate with an orc in a free, clear, unabashed way. He had negotiated with the skill of a man...

Sanria had finally taken him to the castle. Taken him to meet the Rilmani and any member of the clan that would meet with him. Her heart warmed at the awe on his face - at once so young and so grown. She had been alive for so many years, years beyond her natural time, but never felt so aged as when Orn, big and gangly, jogged to the edge of the floating island with the exuberance of a lab- orador puppy. "Mirin and Reggie should see this!" Her heart tightened. Al- ready the sphere of his life was moving away from her shadow, gaining a light of its own. Though Emalia and Tarran had grown up, this was the first time she got to see it without guilt, but bent with the weight of loss.

They had entered the castle and met with Jayden and Sanria felt sorrow flitter like a bird behind the cage of her bones. Orn seemed to absorb the tenderness Jayden showed like a sponge. A fatherliness that Colin had obliterated when he had killed Arlenia. Jayden had sensed the sorrow from both of them, and Sanria knew, deep down, she had to get Colin better. She had to try to help Orn look at his own father the way he had looked at Jayden.

Sanria had taken Orn to her office when the yell interrupted their discussion, "Who in there!!!!! Let Kronk in!!!!!!!" Then, leading her son, Sanria stepped out of the castle and face to face with a hulking orc. Fear ripped through her at the sight of the sword and the armor, and her son, her boy, her Orn had stepped in front of -her-. Somehow, time had passed. Her mind swung like a pendulum - boy, man, boy, man. Then she watched with awe as Orn laid down his staff and somehow befriended the orc named Kronk. He had negotiated with the skill of a man.

Parting of Ways

The light knocking on the door sent a shock through Sanria. It wasn't that she hadn't anticipated Colin returning, but that she knew what she was going to do once he had. She had stared at the book on the same page for the past hour, all while Colin and Thasmudyan transported Arlenia's body back to the Dark Continent. The image of Colin coated in the woman's blood was what she kept seeing in her mind, as well as the savage state her body had lain. "I was hoping we could talk," Colin began.

"About what, Colin? You killing a sick woman while Thasmudyan was there? You not listening to me at all? You not working to overcome this thing in you?" The emotions within her flooded forth with anger coming unexpectedly.

"Not working to overcome this? Wha... what do you mean?"

"For the love of the Gods, you've never bothered to work on that black makou in you. You've been avoiding anything that upsets you and when it does, you just let loose!"

"Sanria. I've been doing my best. I don't even know how I'm supposed to 'work' on it. Place my family in danger to see how I react? Sanria. She killed one child. She tried to kill Orn right there in front of us. If it weren't for Thasmudyan he would have died."

"Precisely why you shouldn't have killed her. You cut - off - her - head and ran her through!! What in the world is wrong with you?"

"I have something inside of me that shouldn't be there... you know exactly what's wrong with me," Colin stated quietly.

The argument continued, growing heated as Sanria grew more firm in her con- viction. Arlenia's headless body came to the fore again and again, Colin coated in her blood. And more than anything, the fact he could have chosen not to come. He could have chosen to stay home and let Sanria and Thasmud- yan save Orn. He could have chosen.

"I killed her," Colin began, "because she slit our son's throat right there in front of me and I couldn't hold it back any longer."

"I failed that woman because I couldn't stop you. She needed help. Not death."

"Failed her?" Colin asked. "What duty did you have to her? She had help Sanria. She had Banion. Despite that help she chose this."

"And you chose what you did. As I have to choose. I can't do this any more."

Sanria took off her wedding band and tossed it onto the bed beside Colin. She felt her soul crumbling inside. She and Colin had been so good togeth- er for the past couple of years. Here, again, she was ending yet another relationship - and this one in particular, yet again. "Sanria, what are you doing?"

"When you can't even listen to me... I can't prevent you from anything. And if I can't help you, all I can do is watch you destroy yourself and others when you get angry. I'm sorry... but consider us over, Colin."

"What...? Sanria. How can you say that?"

"You don't have to move out since the children are here, but you can't stay with me in this room anymore. You can stay in the guest rooms. I don't want... to see you..."

"So... what... you're choosing that madwoman over me?" Colin asked.

"No, Colin. I'm choosing life over death."

"You said yourself, she needed help. But, you're turning your back on me?"

"I tried. But this is a line... I can't cross with you. This is not okay. I'm sorry we've come to this, but it's the only thing I know to do now."

At the sound of the door closing, Sanria let the tears flow unbidden. She had become accustomed to soothing Colin when he was upset, and the look on his face was more than she could handle. Still, she stood up for what she believed. Part of her felt good for it. The other part felt as if the earth had come to life and swallowed her whole.

The Deciding Line

Sanria arrived back in the cavern with Orn, still holding the boy tightly. She pulled back to look at him and smiled with her eyes full of tears. "I'm so happy you're safe."

"I'm sorry... for leaving..." Orn said, clutching her tightly. It made Sanria's heart ache seeing her son so deeply wounded. While Thasmudyan had healed his outward appearances, she could see that Orn was far from completely okay.

"Shh shh, it's okay. We're not mad at you."

"Why... why did she..."

"That lady was very sick, Orn. Sometimes people who aren't well inside their heads do mean and bad things."

"What... what about Papa. He... he..."

This stopped Sanria for a moment. Orn was full nearing thirteen in the physical terms, but when she looked at him, she still found herself star- ing into the eyes of her little boy. If she were to be fully honest she might well crush him, and so it was with a deep breath she gave a tiny smile, "Your papa saved you."

"Yeah... she won't... hurt anyone else now."

It was the way the boy stated it that tugged at Sanria. "Yes... but what your Papa did... he... we shouldn't kill people who are sick, Orn. Re- member that."

"She... she killed a baby Mama. She sent it, I remember it."

"That is why we have magic, to help those who are sick, Orn. Even when someone does something like that."

"Mama... is Papa sick?"

Sanria looked at Orn for a long moment, her lips quivering in their frozen smile. She couldn't help the tears that sprung to her eyes, nor the utter feeling of helplessness that washed over her as she nodded in the affirmative. "But you and Thasmudyan have magic," Orn said. "You can help him. I'll help too... if you show me how."

"Orn... what is wrong with your Papa... I can't fix. Thasmudyan can't either without really hurting your Papa and maybe killing him. Your Papa will have to figure out what he has to do."

"But Papa doesn't have magic. How is he supposed to fix it? We can help him. I can ask the trees."

Sanria gave a nod and swallowed back her thoughts. She desperately needed to hide the fact that she couldn't let go of what had happened. Colin had killed someone in a black makou fit - but more, he had decided to go along knowing it might happen. There was a part of her heart that had broken completely, but it was of no use. Orn watched her face. "What is it?" he asked.

"I don't think I can be your Papa's wife anymore. I'll still be your Mama-"

"Wh... what? Why?"

"I can't fix what is wrong with your Papa, Orn... and it hurts my heart very much."

"But we can help him," Orn said. "We can help him fix it, right? He scared me... but he's a good dad, isn't he?"

"He's a good Dad, Orn. And we'll help him... but I will just help him as a friend and as your Mom."

It surprised her how well Orn took the news, and she watched the boy run out to the stream beyond. She knew he would be safe - Arlenia was not a threat, yet that brought small comfort with the knowledge of how she was ended. Sanria climbed the stairs to her bedroom, her heart heavy, and stared at a book - waiting for an inevitable conversation. One where she steadied Colin for being without a wife.

To Orn and Back Again (1-3)

With the statement that Thasmudyan would do his best to ensure no one died, Sanria, Thasmudyan, and Colin entered into a moonwell and arrived at the village on the Dark Continent. Immediately, Sanria could see Colin going to the defensive. She could see it in his very posture. This time, how- ever, she stood back. This time she would not stop him. If she continued to prevent him from learning how to handle himself, he'd never learn. In a way, this was a good test, though it scared her... he... scared her.

When Banion, the village elder, came out to greet Colin, it was all Sanria could do not to intervene. Colin had his hands on the hilts of his swords, demanding to know where Arlenia had gone. Sanria watched the elder man, seeing the fear on his face, seeing Colin bear down on him, and her soul ached.

Sanria turned and headed up the mountain path, leaving Colin and Thasmud- yan behind. She arrived at the top of the mountain and stared out over the Sea of Swords. Again, she tried to reach Orn and found nothing. She had never felt so helpless. The deep seated demon of doubt clawed at her heart and dispair flowed into her mind. What if she couldn't reach Orn in time? What if Arlenia did kill him? What would she do?

The sound of footfalls reached her ears as Colin and Thasmudyan arrived. "Sanria... I'm sorry," Colin began. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should stay behind."

Frustration flooded Sanria. Colin had ignored her wishes to even come this far, bullied an old man, and now was ready to go back home. Logic should have spoken to her, but Sanria could see nothing but her anger. She fought the suggestion with silence.

"Perhaps I could try something," Thasmudyan said. "Do you have something of Orn's?"

Have something of Orn's. Sanria fought the irritation at the question and pulled from her pocket the boy's ear still wrapped in bloody gauze. She held it out to Thasmudyan. "Will this do?"

"He's farther north. A pretty good distance," Thasmudyan said.

It was all Sanria needed. Through her rage, she tried to cast a moonwell, but couldn't manage to make it happen. Tears broke from her eyes as she encanted again and again. Colin laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, and just as easily, Sanria shrugged it off. Finally, the spell took hold. The trio landed in Waterdeep, and before Thasmudyan had gotten completely out of the well, Sanria turned toward him. "Here? Is he here?"

"North."

Again, Sanria cast her spell, landing the group in Port Llast. Desperation that she had successfully fought now threatened to send her into a frenzy. "He's in that direction, toward the inn," Thasmudyan said.

Sanria led the way, bursting into the inn. "Excuse me, have you seen a boy, he's about yay big..." Sanria held her hand up to her chest. The innkeep, a spindly old man, stared at her for a long moment. "He's my son," Sanria continued. "He's lost."

"I think you're looking for the police," the man quipped.

"No," Sanria said, her ire rising. "We believe he is here. ORN!"

"M'am, I'll have to get the authorities -"

"ORN!"

Sanria heard nothing as she raced up the stairs, her heart pounding. Only two rooms, only two choices. She went to the first and found the door unlocked. With Thasmudyan and Colin behind her, she opened it and froze in place. Arlenia sat on the bed, Orn's head in her lap, gently stroking his hair with one hand while the other held a dagger to his throat.

"I knew you'd come," Arlenia said, and the voice sent chills through Sanria's body. Orn lay there, his head bandaged as well as his hand. Arlenia pointed toward the table. "I was just about to send his finger, then I heard this one shouting."

Sanria looked at Arlenia in disbelief. She took a step forward, and the gladiatrix tensed immediately. "Not another step or I'll kill him right now."

Sanria obediantly stopped, looking on helplessly. "Arlenia," Colin said in a near growl, "You give me my son."

"He should have been ours. Yours and mine. Ah well, too bad."

"You did this to yourself. You didn't wait for me," Colin said.

"You aren't a good liar. Had you said that to me long ago, I might have believed you. Now?"

"You should have waited for me."

"I don't believe you."

At Colin's advance, Arlenia pressed the knife enough to bring blood from Orn's neck. Sanria felt herself swoon. "Not another step."

"You're going to pay for this," Colin threatened.

"When I knew that you weren't coming back to me, I killed your child. When you still didn't come, I knew you would if I took this one. If I can't have you as anything else, I'll have you as my killer."

With swiftness, Arlenia plunged the dagger into Orn's neck. Sanria's world went dark. When she awoke, Orn was huddled by Thasmudyan, staring up at his father in fear before running to her. She looked over and saw Arlenia's head on the ground and Colin's swords in the woman's chest.

Sanria rose, holding Orn close as the boy sobbed, all his emotions finally released. She looked at Colin, then to the body, and back again. Blood covered the gladiator, and Sanria knew then she could never look on Colin the same way again. "I'll be home soon," he said. Sanria barely nodded as she vanished with Orn.

Deep Thoughts

Sanria sat on the balcony outside her bedroom. Her thoughts drifted over the last months of her life, and the past couple of days. Things with Colin had been great - Orn was growing quickly, Leandra was also, and she was even pregnant for a third time (to at least have one child that grew at a normal rate). She and Colin had talked more than ever, they had become friends in a way they never had before. Velentham had vanished and not returned... everything was good... except for Arlenia.

The girl had been pregnant with Colin's child, and when she found out Colin wasn't coming back to her, Arlenia had killed it. The boxes Sanria got in the post were from her - intended for Colin. Pieces of the baby. Sanria had been discrete, burying the child piece by piece in the garden. All had gone well until Orn opened one of the boxes. She had to sit Colin down and break the news to him, a man who revered life, that his child had been snuffed out and dismembered.

Sanria had watched Colin struggle with the darkness inside of himself. He was ready to go right then to do Gods knew what to Arlenia, but Sanria had succeeded in keeping him together. She knew then that Colin would have to learn to control the black makou that rode on his temper whenever he was threatened. Arlenia was sick and in his own way, so was Colin.

Life continued on much as it had before, until Orn went missing.

Fed Up (1-2)

Arlenia stared out over the sea, her eyes twin pits of despair. She picked up a rock and hefted it over the edge with a growl, then clutched her stomach. To do such a thing hurt. It sucked.

She sulked back down the mountain, her stomach preceding her. She hated that she was saddled with this child. She hated it. She loathed the father. She had to do something, and the idea struck her as she came down the path.

Arlenia went to Banion's hut. "Banion, do you have something to stop bleeding?"

"Are you bleeding child?" he asked with concern.

"No but, I'm concerned."

"Well there's no need to be concerned if nothing is wrong." "Please?"

Banion sighed and walked over to his cupboard. He pulled out a vial and handed it to her. "If you are bleeding or anyone else is bleeding, this will heal anything."

"And do you have anything for pain?"

"Arlenia..."

"Please, Banion."

Banion turned around and again fished through the cupboard. He produced another vial and handed it to her. "Anything else?"

"No, this will do. Thank you. I feel so much better already."

"Alright."

Arlenia walked slowly back up the mountain, hiking until she caught a stitch in her side and had to rest. She went deeper into the wooded area where she would not be seen. She pulled out a blade and looked down to her stomach. "I'll send you to your father. Piece by piece."

Arlenia took a stick and put it in her mouth. Biting down, she slid the blade into her stomach and immediately she started to sweat. She growled as the blade slid deeper. Stars began to fill her vision, but she forced herself to remain conscious. She cut enough of herself open to reach her hand into her own uterus. She felt the fetus within and pulled it out.

At the sudden rush of blood and amniotic fluid Arlenia nearly passed out. She laid the infant on the ground and downed the vial for pain. At last, she gained some focus. The infant squirmed, its airways uncleared, it's death immanent.

Arlenia severed the afterbirth from within herself and pulled it out. With the infant and the placenta laying on the ground, she quaffed the healing potion and watched the gaping wound at her side heal.

For a moment, she felt sorry for what she had done. Seeing the infant, no longer than 6 inches, open and close its mouth until it finally stopped... but then the madness that had come onto her rose again - and Arlenia set to work. She would send one piece for every month she was pregnant. Five in all.

The work was gruesome, but even the hot blood on her skin and the smell of iron didn't make her stop. Colin would have his child.

Understanding

"You... still feel that strongly?" Sanria asked, and for a moment, she gave over to a tinge of regret. Colin's fears rang in her mind...

"I'll explain. It's the sort of thing that, since it's shared between two people... whether you feel anything depends a lot on how you go about it. Maybe this other woman who kidnapped Colin was being selfish, and just focused on herself. But if she focused on him, and really loved him.. it'd be harder for him to feel nothing, if that makes sense. As for me, well... I'm just that sort of person who doesn't do things half-assed. If we were to do ...that... I'd want to be sure you enjoyed it."

The implication of the message was not grasped by Sanria. Had she listened, she might have heard the underlying message beneath. Thasmudyan was not Arlenia. But her own nerves rattling kept her from catching what might have slowed her decision.

"I suppose I will just have to accept what he says..."

"It's up to you."

"Well... I came to you with my thoughts and my offer. But if it's asking too much... I understand."

"No... you don't ask too much."

Sanria could feel the desire riding on the connection they still shared from their previous healing encounter. It was hard not to absorb it and mix it with her own. "I don't want to pressure you into anything," Thasmudyan said, as though sensing her mind.

"I didn't want to do the same to you."

"I think you'll find that won't be a problem."

Sanria looked at Thasmudyan, her heart racing. She did not know this man, she did not remember their past together. Had she remembered, she might have avoided being healed. Had she remembered, she might have known what seemed to inevitably follow such times. But - she didn't remember, and that night she found herself with a stranger that her mind didn't know - but her body certainly did.

Discussions

The observatory was where she found Thasmudyan, staring out over the lands from the large windows. "I... it didn't work," she began.

"How do you know?"

"A woman knows her own body," Sanria said with a chuckle. "Thank you for trying."

"Of course.. you're always welcome."

She studied him for a long moment and could tell that something wasn't right. "I've been.. feeling weaker," he finally told her, and the proposition that Sanria had come to offer suddenly seemed unfair.

"Weaker... from healing me?" she asked.

"Not from you.. just... in general." Thasmudyan shook his head as he looked out the window. "Might be something to do with how long I was in the Lifestream. But, I was fine for a while.. this only started recently."

"Do you think you need to go back?"

"...Maybe."

"I'm not sure where it is, but maybe Colin can help take you back?"

"I know the way. Perhaps I will go another day. For now, though... I am fine, really."

There was no way Sanria could ask him knowing he was weakened. She turned to go and he reached out, setting the butterflies in her stomach loose, "You don't need to go."

"I came up here to talk to you about certain things but you said you hadn't been feeling yourself. I think perhaps it's fate telling me that those things are best left unspoken."

"Don't mistake me. I'm still myself.. just concerned a bit, that's all. You're still welcome to talk about, well, whatever it was you wanted to talk about."

"It was about, well... you said that we'd made pregnancies go faster before by... you know..."

She knew immediately that he had not anticipated what she came to say. "I did... and likely they would..." Thasmudyan recovered.

"I just... I talked to Colin about it and though he doesn't agree... He thinks it might be very unfair to you. And that if my body remembered him... mine might remember you as well." Sanria let out a breathless chuckle. "He's very jealous."

"...I was thinking it'd be unfair to him. He's your husband, after all."

"Right. Unfair... to him," Sanria said, her mind on Arlenia.

"Well, why would he think it's unfair to me?"

"That I would not be able to be with you. To be together that way might raise your expectations."

"Perhaps so. I don't ...expect anything, though."

It suddenly came tumbling from Sanria's mouth - unbidden. The pain and hurt riding side by side with the realization of what she was asking, "He was kidnapped not long before you showed up. To get away from her, he slept with her. I heard them together... I have to know... I have to know if you can do something like that and not love who you do that with. I don't know you... and..." Sanria lowered her head. "I don't understand how you can do something like that and feel nothing, like he says. So I want you to help me understand. Only if you... want to. This is incredibly selfish of me to ask. I just..."

"I don't think it's selfish so much as you simply want to understand."

"Then... what do you think?"

"I think that the problem is that I might want to try and make you feel something."

Old Habits

Sanria chatted with Colin about the healing, noting immediately the drawn look on Colin's face. She knew he didn't like the idea of Thasmudyan touching her in that way, moreso because of the threat to the peace in the cavern. She knew he was afraid of losing her again, but Sanria knew there just wasn't a way it could happen. She wouldn't leave Colin for a man she didn't know.

They chatted then about Colin's jealousies and it brought up her own. How could he be jealous of her? What had she done compared to the night she spent in the hut - listening to him with Arlenia? Still, he could not make her understand just how someone could do that with another person and claim they felt nothing. Even to free themselves. How was it possible?

The idea surrounded the bug that Thasmudyan had inadvertently planted in her mind. She could feel that nothing in her body had changed, even after the healing. She looked at Colin and proposed an idea that even she couldn't believe... she would speed up the pregnancy and be granted the ability to understand. She would sleep with Thasmudyan.

Colin seemed absolutely incredulous and against the idea, no matter how much Sanria positioned the point that she just couldn't understand. She couldn't. She had tried but the night listening to Arlenia and Colin just wouldn't leave. If she didn't gain understanding, she wouldn't be able to keep going. If she couldn't believe Colin, what kind of marriage did they have?

Perhaps understanding would at least buy her time. It would stop the creeping shadow of the wall from overtaking her new life. It would be one less thing eating at her soul, gnawing on her mind. Though Colin refused, he left the choice with her. Though Sanria thought she might not take it, the next day she found herself standing in a room with Thasmudyan, unable to hide her nerves from him.

Long Lost Visitor

Sanria had managed to get Colin to let her go outside on her own. After his kidnapping, he followed her everywhere, reluctant to let her out of his sight. Convinced that to do so was only to let Arlenia come in and take *her* away instead - to kill her to get her out of the way. Sanria had a hard time believing it at all. It only took her asking Colin if it were possible that her dissatisfaction with him before her memory loss might have been due to his overbearing nature for him to relent. And such is the way she found herself outside, picking herbs, with the sound of soft footfalls assaulted her ears.

The man was dressed in brown robes with a long staff and looked utterly lost - but he knew her name. In an effort to calm her, Sanria also learned the stranger's name, Thasmudyan. She sent Orn inside as she spoke to Thasmudyan. She told him about her husband being kidnapped. She told him about Throm dying, which seemed to perplex the man - if her Throm was here, then how was he dead. The question hung in the air, as Sanria tilted her head in confusion. Colin had always said things between them had never worked out. How could this man think that Throm was her husband?

Before anything further could be said, a very frazzled Colin rushed from the cavern. "Thasmudyan? Well, hi there."

"Hello, Colin. Good to see you're doing well."

"Y-yes, you as well. You have been away for a while."

Sanria could hear the tension in Colin's voice. Something here wasn't right. Colin held a certain something... fear. "Were you a friend of Throm's?" she asked the stranger.

"We... were all friends," Colin interjected. "I'm sorry Thasmudyan, you'll have to excuse Sanria. You see, her memory..."

"I'm just sorry I broke the news like that. I wasn't sure if you were good friends or..."

Sanria could say nothing as the men spoke about the length of time Thasmudyan had been away. She could remember nothing of which they spoke, and whenever she did attempt to speak, Colin spoke for her. Only when they explained how long it had been in terms of her pregnancy, how Orn had been given the ability to grow quickly because of him - did Sanria suddenly understand who this man was. She had just come face to face with her ex-husband. And Colin knew it.

Vanishing Gladiator

Arlenia's eyes were red, swollen, puffy, and full of tears that marched a never-ending parade down her face. Things were perfect the night before. They made love so loudly that Sanria had to have heard it. Colin even agreed that what they did would drive away his ex wife. Then she woke up to find his side of the bed empty. No one had seen him leave, which drove Arlenia into such a frenzy that even Brant and Hector avoided her.

The knock at the door brought her momentarily from her sobbing. Banion smiled gently and put his hands on her shoulders. He brought her into a hug and patted her back. "There, there."

"Banion, he - he..."

"I heard, child. So our plan did not work as it should. Perhaps it was not meant to be."

"But, he's the father of my child, Banion. What can I do?"

"Nothing - let him be."

"No... no..."

Arlenia pulled away from Banion, wiping furiously at her eyes. She turned them on him, her teeth bared, her eyes looking wild. "I know. I'll kill her."

Banion stepped into the hut, gripping Arlenia by the shoulders, giving her a light shake. "No, child. There will be none of that."

Arlenia looked up, her features smoothing. "Of course not. Of course."

"Good. You will heal, and you'll raise a perfect child." She smiled as Banion left and then sunk down into the chair, staring at the fire. She would have her child, she would deliver it to Colin, and she would dispose of Sanria in a way Colin wouldn't suspect. She patted her stomach and whispered into the fire, "four more months to go."

Saving Guardian

The door to the hut opened and Colin's massive frame momentarily blocked the light. "Colin!"

"Shhhh," he hushed her as the door closed behind him and no sooner than they were left in the darkness than Colin closed Sanria in a massive hug. "They've kidnapped me, they took me and have been drugging me."

"You didn't leave on your own accord?" Sanria asked, careful not to wake Orn or speak too loudly.

"Of course not. Why would I?"

"The note..."

"What note? I didn't write a note." Colin shook his head. "We have to leave here. If I have to take them all out to clear the way I will."

"No, there must be another way."

There was another way. Colin would go back to Arlenia. Convince her of his love, and return by night to collect Sanria and Orn. Sanria would then cast another moonwell and they'd escape back to their home. It was a perfect plan - Sanria just didn't count on the convincing being what it was - as loud as it was... Colin being with Arlenia, right beside her. Sanria felt a sickness in her stomach, a knotting, and knowing she had time, she let tears flow from her eyes.

From the time of the final peal of pleasure until Colin arrived in the hut, Sanria doubted Colin's story. How could he truly want to leave and be able to do that? She felt like a pregnant cow - one of many - one in a herd. She kept her thoughts shoved deep down as Colin returned.

They left without arousing any sort of suspicion. Orn's limbs swung limp in his father's arms, the child in a deep sleep. Sanria cast the moonwell and watched Colin step through before following. That night, with Orn back in his own bed, Sanria listened to Colin telling her everything that had happened. His kidnapping, his drugging, his three-week absence. She thought of the days she had spent with the note in her hand - feeling lost and alone - night spent dreaming of another man while Colin spent those same night in another woman's bed. She felt sick.

Though Colin had explained, cajoled, and helped her to understand why he did what he did - deep in Sanria's mind, a damage had been done. The love she felt before Colin left had been tried, it had been isolated, and most recently, it had been insulted. She wouldn't let him know it. She'd try not to let him see it. But Sanria loved with conditions. Sanria waited for the next shoe to fall.

Waking Colin

Arlenia had tried and tried to wake Colin up, all while attempting to get him to stay. The closer the big man came to consciousness, the more he would look at her with clear and utter contempt and revulsion. Each time, Arlenia would knock him back out until he was content, but would keep calling her Sanria. It wasn't working.

Still, Arlenia had to keep trying. She would keep him in the hut for as long as it took for him to know her as his wife. If that meant he had to stay under sedative for the birth of their child and beyond, so be it. Eventually, he would see the light and they could be a family. Eventually.

For now, Arlenia sat on the edge of the bed, watching the rise and fall of Colin's steady breathing, her heart heavy and her mind cursing the moment Sanria ever came back to life.

Arrival of a Man

Hector stood up as the last of Colin's limp form rolled off his back. "You didn't say he was this big." Arlenia didn't even hear the man say anything. She was already at Colin's side, brushing his curls away from his face. At last, she stood up with a bright smile.

"I thank you so much, both of you."

Brant rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Cake. This was super simple."

"Well I'm glad. I'll give you what money I can when I can. For now, just know I appreciate it."

"Well," said Hector, "I'm just happy to make a family whole again."

To that, Brant again rolled his eyes and snickered. "Man, shut up." The two men laughed heartily and left.

Arlenia walked over to the table which now contained two vials. One would allow her to wake Colin up a bit, the other, knock him out. She dipped a fine needle into the first and gently jabbed the big man in the arm. "Wh... where..."

"Shhh," Arlenia said with a smile. "Everything is alright."

"Where's... Sanria..."

The name made Arlenia scowl. Always Sanria. Always. "You left her."

"N... No..."

"Yes. You're with me now, Arlenia. Tomorrow we'll be getting married. Our family will finally be together."

"Already... married..."

"No. It's til death do you part... and she died. It's you and me now. You and me and our little one who has yet to be born."

"It... is?"

"It is. I love you, Colin."

"I... love you... too... Sanria."