Ianto was almost asleep, the sound of children in the background as the world turned and the warm sun on his face caressing him as he lay in the sun lounger by the back door. He knew Luc had settled in Jack's one a while ago, also enjoying peace and quiet. It had been a couple of weeks since the christening thing and they were still a little shell-shocked at the invasion as well as the sudden evacuation. Like a mass exodus. The King had simply clambered into the bus waved and took off. Within three hours the entire family had followed, some frantic to keep up.

Now.

Peace.

Luc shifted and Ianto felt something, turning to find Luc looking at him with undisguised interest "What?"

"Just … seeing me Da, all that … shit. Made me think of things I had not thought of in many years. My mother was so important to me, when she died my life went to hell for a while. I sort of ran away and became a bit of an animal." Luc closed his eyes and Ianto waited to see if there would be more, Luc seemed to need to vent.

After a while he said softly, "There was this woman. She found me … well I found her. I tried to steal her purse in the market and instead of potting me for it, she helped me. We … we were friends."

"How old were you?"

"Seven" Luc replied softly, "Seven years old, alone and hungry. She fed me, listened to me and then helped me regain myself. A good friend, a true warrior. She came from nowhere, helped me become who I needed to be, not who others wanted me to be. Then she left, slipped away when I found me feet."

"Sounds like a good friend." Ianto smiled as he closed his eyes as well.

"Funny thing is … she reminds me of you. Female you. But more so Rhiannon I think, even with our pale features, she had Rhiannon's fire. Her girth and majesty, filling a doorway with strength. I think that is what attracted me to her, she looked so much like Styx."

"Styx?"

"We had an agreement never to tell one another our real names. I called her Styx" Luc smiled.

"Why Styx?"

"When we met she held my wrist so I could not escape and removed her purse from my fingers, then she said 'You sure got big stones boy' before she laughed and let me go" Luc grinned. "Then the men who had been hunting me down for previous… mischief… found me still there with her and she immediately defended me. They called me names, cruel sneering taunts but she laughed and then to my absolute amazement she tanned their hides."

"Sounds like a good friend indeed" Ianto laughed along with him, "So. Styx?"

"Afterwards, as she and I ate a meal she told me never to listen to taunts like that. Weak people taunt and sneer, strong people simply act. Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me" Luc recited the old adage, "I remembered her saying I had stones so I asked if she had sticks. If we had sticks and stones their words would never hurt us and she laughed, slapping the table and agreeing that we were sticks and stones. Styx. Not until later I thought of the river Styx. You know, named after the Goddess who had magical powers and said to make people invulnerable. The river flowed into marshlands in Hades also called Styx where those of low morals were punished by sinking into the mire for all eternity. It suited her. She seemed a goddess to me, powerful, malevolent and her wrath was a thing of beauty. The ferryman took souls down the river Styx right? She was a watcher of the dead but never one herself."

"A binding oath" Ianto said the other connection to the name Styx, so connected as she was said to be the most loyal of the oceanid nymphs and her name given in a binding oath made by deities.

"Yeah. She told me she would never leave me, she would watch over me and one day she would give me the power I sought" Luc grinned, "Sort of made a pact."

"And what was that promise made on?" Ianto whispered with something shifting in his gut.

"The sacred blade of Berchta, the goddess that is said to be the keeper of the dead, also the goddess of life. Immortal." Luc said after he had considered, "It was a blade like a short sword or long blade. It was traditionally worn up a sleeve, running the length of the arm bone to both shield from attack like armour under the clothing and then once unsheathed to attack."

"Shield and sword" Ianto said softly, "Really?"

"Yeah. Had runes carved along the blade." Luc snorted and Ianto turned to look at him as Luc said "B for Berkano, Y for Algiz, R for Raidho and D for Dagaz. All these runes share one thing."

Ianto blinked as he knew damned well what they all shared but let Luc say it out loud "Rebirth or regeneration."

Ianto nodded and looked up at the clouds.

They also spelled out Byrd.

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Algiz: the shape of a Y with an extra arm up through the middle, more like a fork (Z or -R: Elk, protection.) Protection, a shield. The protective urge to shelter oneself or others. Defense, warding off of evil, shield, guardian. Connection with the gods, awakening, higher life. It can be used to channel energies appropriately. Follow your instincts. Keep hold of success or maintain a position won or earned. Algiz Reversed: or Merkstave: Hidden danger, consumption by divine forces, loss of divine link. Taboo, warning, turning away, that which repels.

Berkano: a B (B: Berchta, the birch-goddess.) Birth, general fertility, both mental and physical and personal growth, liberation. Regenerative power and light of spring, renewal, promise of new beginnings, new growth. Arousal of desire. A love affair or new birth. The prospering of an enterprise or venture. Berkano Reversed or Merkstave: Family problems and or domestic troubles. Anxiety about someone close to you. Carelessness, abandon, loss of control. Blurring of consciousness, deceit, sterility, stagnation.

Dagaz: shaped like a X with closed lines either side but also a Viking D (D: Day or dawn.) Breakthrough, awakening, awareness. Daylight clarity as opposed to nighttime uncertainty. A time to plan or embark upon an enterprise. The power of change directed by your own will, transformation. Hope/happiness, the ideal. Security and certainty. Growth and release. Balance point, the place where opposites meet. Dagaz Merkstave (Dagaz cannot be reversed, but may lie in opposition): A completion, ending, limit, coming full circle. Blindness, hopelessness.

Raidho: and R (R: Wagon or chariot.) Travel, both in physical terms and those of lifestyle direction. A journey, vacation, relocation, evolution, change of place or setting. Seeing a larger perspective. Seeing the right move for you to make and deciding upon it. Personal rhythm, world rhythm, dance of life. Raidho Reversed or Merkstave: Crisis, rigidity, stasis, injustice, irrationality. Disruption, dislocation, demotion, delusion, possibly a death.

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Alt Verse so these are not true Vikings, the Runes do not have to be taken literally and can be reversed and mixed.