Elzri stared in mute shock at his sister standing in the doorway. She had changed, her face was thinner and her high cheekbones were more prominent. She looked like their mother.
This couldn’t be real, she couldn’t be real. But there she was, standing with a white cloak with the black fla sigil of House Noir.
“You’re alive,” he whispered in disbelief.
“I am,” Una said softly.
Elzri slowly walked towards her but stopped a few paces away, worried that if he touched her she might just disappear like a dream.
He swallowed hard, “I had my n scour the entire realm for you for years. After a while, I realized you didn’t want to be found, but I never gave up hope that you were out there sowhere. Where have you been?”
Una walked around the study room, glancing at the books on the shelves and the sparse decor hanging on the walls. “I’ve been to many places, none for very long. I traveled to different realms and saw things you wouldn’t believe.”
Elzri smiled wryly, “It’s already hard enough to believe you’ve been to another realm but I suppose it explains why my n never found you. Una… why did you never co back?”
She turned to him with the sa cold blue eyes of their mother. “Why did you kill Aiden and Esletha?”
Elzri grimaced. He had expected the question but it still felt like a dagger sinking into his chest. “I… When Aiden stepped into the arena after I defeated Esletha I thought he was there to simply put an end to our duel before things got too far.” Elzri sighed deeply, “That’s when Aiden told his plans. He had killed our father and was going to kill Elsetha and , before finding and murdering you. I was so angry… I lost control of my magic. I wanted to hurt Aiden, I wanted to kill him for what he had done but I never thought Esletha would… I understand if you hate .”
Una stared at him for a mont then resud perusing the bookshelf. “I don’t hate you. And I had pretty much figured out what happened that day in the arena. I just wanted to make sure.”
“You knew?” Elzri’s eyes widened.
“Aiden wasn’t himself at that point. He would never have killed our father if he had been. Unfortunately, Aiden was too desperate to beco the next family leader that he secretly made a deal with the Monster in the Dark.”
“Monster…? Like the ones in the stories our father told us?”
She nodded, “The Monster poisoned our brother’s mind and twisted his heart. Holo was worried the Monster had done the sa to you or would in the future. That’s why she helped escape the city, to protect .”
“You t Holo?” Elzri furrowed his brow.
The stories of the Monster he thought were plausible. His own granddaughter had encountered a dangerous creature that had claid to be one and the sa. But Holo was a mage from over 7 centuries ago.
“Are you sure it was Holo?” he asked.
Una showed him her open palm. A blue fla flickered to life and danced on her fingertips.
“The azure flas!? How!?” Elzri remarked in wonder.
She smiled light-heartedly, “These flas are a set of secret Orange spells passed on only through the leaders of House Noir. Luckily, I had its original creator teach instead.”
“If that’s true then you really did et Holo…” Elzri muttered.
He had so many questions. How was Holo still alive after seven hundred years? Even stranger was the fact that his sister was capable of producing the azure fla, which ant that she had achieved a level of magical skill that few Noir archmages had ever grasped.
“Why are you here?” Elzri asked suspiciously.
Surprise flickered across Una’s face, then she shook her head incredulously. “I can’t believe it. You think I’m here to kill you, don’t you? To challenge your place as lord of the House? After all these years?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“And yet I can see the mistrust in your eyes. You were never hard to read, not to .” Una scoffed, “Gods, you were always distrustful, weren’t you? That’s why you never told the truth about your magic. You pretended to be a subpar mage who barely graduated from the academy.” 𝘙ÃɴоΒƐṧ
“It wasn’t my plan. It was Father’s. He didn’t want others to know what I was capable of.”
“Including , huh? Bla Dad if you wish, but you’re the one who played everyone like a fool.”
“I’m sorry, is that what you want to hear?”
Una glared at him, “You know, I defended you when Holo accused you of being under the Monster’s control. You lied to , but I still believed in you anyway. Had you told the truth back then I would have been able to convince Holo too. I would never have had to leave. Instead, neither Holo nor I knew the real reason why you killed Aiden and Esletha, and I was forced to abandon my ho in case you tried to kill too.”
Elzri’s expression softened into one of remorse. “You could have just co to . We could have talked things out. Why didn’t you co and find ?”
Una smiled bitterly, “Why didn’t I co…? I ca back once, when Mom died.”
“What?”
“I ignored all my duties and responsibilities, I threw everything aside knowing the consequences, but I didn’t care, I ca here to be with you. I ca to support you because I knew you were in terrible pain. At least, I thought you were.”
Elzri’s expression darkened with sha. “Una…”
“Do you know what I found when I arrived at the funeral? Your grandchildren.” She laughed with tears in her eyes, “They were beautiful, you have no idea the regret I felt for not being there when they were born…” Una rubbed her eyes and tried her best to keep her voice from breaking. “Elohnoir and Aizel were still so small, they didn’t really understand why their great-grandmother was gone. All they knew was that they missed her terribly. They were in so much pain. Aizel held Elohnoir in his tiny arms as they both cried and cried, hoping that soone could tell them everything was going to be okay.”
Una looked at her brother sadly, “But their parents weren’t there, not really. Their father was too focused on consoling their mother, Dolores, your daughter. She had already lost her mother and losing her grandmother destroyed her. And you, you just stood there. You didn’t shed a tear. You didn’t console your daughter or grandchildren.”
“Una, I—”
She glared at him, “Our father would have never left his family to suffer like that, he taught us better than that! But you! What did you do!? You chastised your own daughter for mourning her grandmother! I saw the mont Dolores turned to you for comfort and the hope in her eyes die. There was no love in your eyes for your own child, nor for the woman who gave birth to you and raised you. At that mont I knew, I knew, my brother was gone. What was standing in front of was just a shell of a man.”
“And what about you, huh!?” Elzri snapped at her. “Where were you? Where were you when I needed you!? You thought I was strong enough to lead this family on my own but I wasn’t! Dad was dead! Mom hated until the day she died because she thought I had you killed! Isne left soon after you did because she thought I was a monster too! Everyone I cared about left ! I was alone! I needed you!”
Una frowned worriedly, “Elzri, I—”
“Stop.” His shoulders shook and his eyes burned with tears and anger, “After Dad died our enemies ca for us, they thought House Noir weakened, and they were right. I couldn’t keep our House alive on my own… so I changed, I beca the leader this family needed. I married a lady of House Glaz, a woman I didn’t love, to strengthen our standing. I eliminated the enemies that threatened our House. I did things Dad would never have approved of, but in the end I managed to protect our mother and the mothers of Esletha and Aiden, even if they all hated , because they were still part of this family. I saved House Noir from ruin, I saved what was left of this broken family, even if it ant giving up on my dreams.” He glared at her with a cold rage, “So don’t you dare walk into my ho to judge on the things I have done. I know what I have done. I am the one who stayed.”
“...I’m sorry I left you, Riri,” Una whispered, tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry you had to carry the burdens of this House alone. I’m sorry you lost yourself along the way. You’re right, I should have been there for you, and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
She slowly walked towards him and placed her hands gently on his heaving shoulders, “I understand you did what you had to do to survive but please look at the damage that’s been left behind in your wake. Dolores may be the child of a woman you never loved, but Dolores is still your daughter. Yet you made her believe she is worthless because she wasn’t born a talented mageborn like us. She drowns herself in drink trying to forget the pain of her lost son and her father who couldn’t be bothered. Your son-in-law may be an archmage but he cares nothing for this family; he spends his days hosting parties and carousing with other self-centered aristocrats. And Loh, poor Elohnoir has more problems than I reckon you or I realize. She is the culmination of your talents and your faults. She is your legacy, from its beauty to its broken pieces, and I think you know that.”
“Do not speak of things you don’t know,” he muttered. “You weren’t here.”
Una embraced him, “I’m here now and I won’t let you fight alone, not anymore.”
Elzri stiffened, then slowly relaxed and closed his eyes. “Why did you co back?” he whispered.
“Because we are running out of ti, brother. We must unite our family and this city if we are to save them.”
“What are you saying?”
“The Monster in the Dark is coming to Holo’s Shade. Caligo is coming.”
~~~
Loh walked through the courtyard gardens, glancing at the flowers without much thought. She wondered how Louise was doing.
Perhaps she would pick a flower and bring it to her. It had been close to two months since they had seen each other last, though it sohow felt much longer.
“Lady Noir,” a familiar voice called out.
Loh’s expression brightened as a centaur almost twice as large as the others trotted into the courtyard.
“Maximus!” Loh ran up to him and hugged him tight, though her arms didn’t quite manage to reach around his waist.
The centaur looked down at her with mild surprise, he hadn’t expected such a reaction. “My lady, are you alright?”
Loh stepped away and smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, it’s just, you have no idea how glad I am to see you. I could have really used your help these last few weeks.”
“Well, I’m glad Lily called here then.”
“Lily? My grandfather’s secretary?”
“She seed worried about you, said you might need so company after your trip.”
“What I really need is a good drink and a soft bed,” Loh sighed reminiscently.
“Shall we go then? Visit our usual taverns?”
“That sounds great but first I need to know,” Loh took a deep breath, “How is Louise?”
Maximus winced, “That’s um… a bit complicated.”
“What?”
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