Truth is a powerful thing, it influences everything, how people see us, how we see others, and what we do in the world. It just depends, whose truth are you telling, what truths you are hiding, and how you deal with the hidden truth when it comes out in the open.

Rene "Vol'esse" Lavin

Defiance: birth of the Renegades

Chapter 3

"Truth to dry tinder…"

"I wanna story Mr. Yuan."

Yuan stared at the girl, she'd meekly gone through the portal between world, had snuggled in his arms and then scrunched up her eyes while he'd flown them through the portal. Before that she had endured almost a d- err night of walking. She endured it all, never with a word of complaint, occasionally with am insightful question, and only once had she screamed when she saw a living tree about to attack them.

For a young child she seemed very self controlled, very… adult. He had begun to think of her like that when he didn't look at her but then now she had done a full turn on him and was asking for a story.

Just like any child should he supposed.

While he liked her control, her presence, and her curiosity, he had to admit the fact still remained…

He hated children. He could not tell stories, knew no games. Perhaps it was not children he hated per say but the fact that he did not comprehend them because he had never been allowed to be a child himself. He'd lived in the gutters; on the more vile sides of the village he had been born. At five he was no stranger to watching the pathetic sink to lower levels of pathos when they waged their little gang wars. At eight a man had his throat cut only a few feet from his sleeping place and he had watched, unable to turn away. Hardened, embittered, he was a cold distant child whose icy locks had suited the icy avenues his mind.

Who'd had known, who would have know that a girl a year older then himself skirting on the edges of his dark world would have roused the last remnants of his compassion. How when he'd shoved her away from the Hell of gross poverty she'd turn, take his hand, and bring him with her.

"We can't stay here, Mother and Father won't make it for another year like this, we're going to go somewhere else and I'm not leaving you here by yourself!"

"Martel." Yuan had smiled at his younger friend, his only friend. "I can't go with you. It's not like I'm family or nothing."

"You are coming; Papa said he'd hunt you down and tan your hide if you didn't."

"Phht, he'd never catch me!"

"I'll tell him all your hiding places." Martel had smirked and Yuan cursed himself for showing her all of them, he had trusted her and now she was double crossing him! This is why you never trusted girls!

Being only seven he snapped out the only word he could think of. "Tattle-teller!"

He looked down at the child who was snuggling in the soft blankets, getting ready for her story no doubt. Yuan had encouraged her to pick out for herself the blankets she needed as he could only tell by eye which ones might be comfortable. Eyes could be deceived and his sense of touch being almost dead it had just been wiser over all to order the girl to decide. She, now snug as she could get, was looking up at him with such hopeful green eyes.

Martel had looked at him like that.

With hope, happiness, joy, curiosity.

With life, there had been so little life in his world. Now look at him, protecting this little one by picking her up and running, knowing in his heart that if Mithos ever caught onto this little game it would be the end of them both.

"Mr. Angel, could you tell me a story now… pleeeease?"

Yuan frowned, not at the shrill "please" but at the reference of him being an angel.

"Well... what type of story would you like?" He hedged, wishing Kratos' ability for stories would come to him right then.

"Hmmm how about the story of the Angels and Goddess?"

"Now why would you want to know about that?" Yuan sat down on the sands, they were annoying, rough, but then you could describe the whole of Triet like that.

"Well it seems Chosen-ish you know?"

"Rene…" Yuan sighed, wondered why he was going to say this, and what it would cause to happen. "You don't have to be a Chosen anymore unless you really want to be."

"But if I don't then bad things will happen!"

"There was more then one Chosen child, a... friend of mine is escorting that child to each seal."

"Then I… don't?"

"No," Yuan smiled at the child, pleased she understood. "You don't."

She looked at him, tears gathered in her soft spring hued eyes. To his complete confusion she held onto him and cried and while he might have been an angel he was not a monster. He took the small girl in his arms while she let out her tears, gently stroking her hair as he had for Martel the few times she had cried.

"Rene..." He frowned, realizing he knew nothing of her but her name. If was truly one of those devout ones then he words might very well have broken every dream that she'd ever held. Mentally he cursed his own stupidity, if he actually thought things through instead of opening his mouth and "yapping" as Kratos -his brother Seraph- was all too fond of accusing him of doing.

Another realization came to him, he had no idea what to say, so he said nothing and just held her.

"I'm... su... sorry I didn't mean to cry... Chosen's aren't su... supposed to cry are they?" She sniffled and he had the image of her snatching the corner of his cloak to clean her nose. He mentally recoiled form that image and kept the shudder it inspired internal.

"You aren't a Chosen anymore Rene, so you don't need to act like one." Yuan managed, it seemed a horrible thing to say, after all it was all she knew how to be, and he had just taken that away from her...

She looked at him, green eyes marred with hints of red, her small face swollen from the storm of tears. He reached out and gently brushed away the tears with a finger, pulled the tangled threads of green from her emerald eyes. He looked down at her and a child version of Martel looked back...

Except it wasn't Martel.

The shape of her face is wrong, Martel had a heart shape face and this child is definitely oval... and this girl's eyes.. that is definitely a Mizuho slant to her eyes...

This wasn't Martel, he was risking his life, his eternal soul, for a child who faintly resembled Martel.

What am I doing?

He stroked her hair and she smiled up at him, then that smile faltered just a little as she looked into his eyes.

She can see my confusion, she can see into my mind and tell I don't know what I'm doing...

Yuan had made his decision, he could not let this child who so resembled Martel die, he could not give her to Mithos. But he didn't know what to do with her now. As Kratos would put it, he was playing the fools game. Putting a blindfold over his eyes and tossing the razor sharp dagger up and down reaching out and hoping that he grasped the hilt every time.

"When... when something bad happens and you're confused a friend of mine once said that it's best to think about something else and sleep on it. That the answer to the big problem would come after you went to bed, or at least would come easier."

Rene nodded, squirmed, and he let her go. She wiggled back under the mess of blankets and looked up at him expectantly.

"On... once upon a time, there were seven heros, and they uhh did things that heros should do I guess. They saved people and did nice things." Yuan grimaced, how did Kratos -using such juvenile words he might add!- pull this off? "There were four elves and a protozoan and three humans all traveling together and saving people and waking up the sleeping spirits while they tried to wake up a sleeping tree."

A very very gross over simplification of what they were doing but she wouldn't understand the full explanation, still he had to wince. Why was he telling this story? It wasn't a good one and it didn't end happy or anything like a child's story should.

"Do trees sleep?"

"Yes, this tree did anyways, and it was a very very sleepy tree."

He flogged his memory, tried to think of a story that occurred on their journey that would be suitable for Rene to hear.

X

"I swear to Origin if it doesn't wake up now I'll..."

"Do what, kick it? 'Tis a spirit Kratos-sama, not a person."

"Well!" Kratos snapped, looking very annoyed at the newest spirit they had supposedly "awakened" with their prayers. Gnome just hovered there and stared blankly into space... "For the love of Luna WAKE UP!"

"Kratos-chan is in a very nasty mood isn't he?" Sylune muttered to Martel.

"If he were a woman he'd have an excuse at least." Maverick growled.

"What did you just say!" Both woman turned on Maverick, eyes blazing.
"Uhhh... you know... Moon days and all that... Oh crap, life flashing before eyes..." Maverick fingered his mace and took a few steps back.

"Yuan, what are Martel and Sylune mad about?" Mithos asked, innocent eyes wide in confusion.

"Nothing!" Yuan snapped.

"Yo!" pulling a whistle out of somewhere, no one saw where, Gnome blew on it and everyone stared at him in shock. "What's with waking me? I was having this dream with this really cool girl..."

"Well it's up, happy now Kratos?" Maverick snapped, taking a few steps away from the women who were now holding their staves and approaching with bloody murder plans written on their faces.

"This... is Gnome..."

"Wow.. so you're Origin's Chosen, didn't realize he picked such a prude."

"WHAT!" Kratos' eyes flashed with rage.

"Opps was I not supposed to say that... oh bad little old me I guess."

"Yuan what are Kratos and Gnome talking about? I don't get it!"

Yuan put a hand over his face and from the corner of his eyes saw the green hawk doing the exact same thing with a wing.

"Yuaaan.." Mithos whined, showing the world that he was only twelve years old and as ignorant and innocent and pure as fresh fallen snow. "What's going on?"

"Just some ah.. a little inter party bickering." Yuan said, refusing to open his eyes.

"No offense but if this is a "little" fighting... don't wanna see it when you guys really go at each other." Gnome chuckled. "Are you the only sane one here or what?"

"It feels like it." Yuan confided to the spirit.

X

"Mr. Yuan, why did you stop your story, your heros got to the tunnels and found the alter, then what happened?"

"Ah, I believe it's time for someone to go to bed!" Yuan gulped Martel -if she ever did come back- would skin him alive for even telling a highly edited version of that seal to a mere baby.

"But I'm not-"

"Just.. go to bed alright... I'll tell you the rest later."

"Alright... good night Yuan."

"Sleep well Rene. Enjoy your slumber."

Have pleasant dreams for those of us who can not sleep...

Yuan sighed and turned to the night, and lost himself to thought for a time.

A/N: Anom. reviews (which I can no longer answer on the site) and other questions with spoilers will be addressed at my new site...

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