A Blackmoon Tale. In the city of Hal-Sharam, Ishmael had sponsored a group of children, called the Heralds, to facilitate the Matriarch selections. After several adventures, the Heralds, Elyria, Adyra, Yubel and Belthar, had found five Star Shards, crystals with immense power formed from the tears of gods, which could help power the Matriarch contestants' Gifts to the city. They gave two to Vishenya, one to Barley, one to Ishmael and one they kept themselves. They were later sent to find the little aasimar, Akshi, who had run away from the Church after her brother Daniir left for a mission. Eventually they found her and decided to take her to the Gift ceremony as Vaneira's Gift needed to draw upon Akshi's divine connection. However, before this happened, Akshi accidentally absorbed the Herald's Star Shard and caught the attention of the elven goddesses. From their jostle for power over her, Lolth emerged victorious. During Vaneira's presentation of her Gift to summon a solar, Akshi, under Lolth's influence, unleashed a tsunami that killed hundreds and caused mass destruction to the city. Through the combined efforts of the Heralds', Akshi and Thariel, the situation was mostly resolved. Daniir had recently returned, and was seriously injured in the ordeal.

Now for the aftermath.


Forgive and Forget (and Forgive Again)

Pain, that was the first thing Daniir registered. His entire body ached, but the pounding in his head won by a mile. But Daniir was not a paladin for nothing. He pushed through the pain as he struggled to remember… Akshi. His heart rate went from zero to panicked in less than a second.

He needed… to… protect her!

As he forced his eyes open, he became aware of a small presence curled up next to him and when he turned his head he caught sight of strands of blue. His sister. His panic subsided. She was safe. Safe. Only now did Daniir take note of his surroundings. He was lying on a hospital bed in a little room with a single window. Pale sunlight filtered through the panes. It seemed to be morning. Clean sheets covered his body, and Akshi had squeezed in next to him on top of them. She had wedged herself under his arm and was currently drawing patterns on his bed covers lightly with a finger. Daniir called to her. His voice was hoarse, but he managed to form the words.

"Kiki…"

His sister bolted upright at the sound and looked at him with wide eyes. Now that she was in his line of sight, Daniir checked her over. Her hair was even messier than usual. Her eyes were hazy, like she had just woken up, and her glow was not as bright as he recalled, but she otherwise seemed fine, just exhausted. Daniir was relieved. So long as she was okay, everything was fine… everything was fine…

"You liar! You big liar!" his sister cried as she slapped him with the sleeves of a robe still too big for her.

It didn't hurt, she only hit the sheets covering his body. Daniir could barely feel it, but her every blow struck his heart.

"Kiki… I…"

"You promised you'd never leave me! You promised! You promised…"

Tears started to fall from those lovely blue eyes. Seeing that felt like a twisting knife in Daniir's heart. He struggled to push himself up into sitting position. The pain was excruciating. He finally managed it, barely, and brought his arms around his sister, pulling her to him. Her blows turned into half-hearted attempts until they trailed off with Akshi sobbing into his chest, too tired to fight anymore.

"I was so scared. I healed you many many times but you wouldn't wake up. I thought you were never going to wake up again."

"Shh, I know. I'm sorry."

Daniir remembered another time he had held her like this. She was much younger then. It was after Daniir's first mission, just within the city. He left Akshi playing hide-and-seek with some other children. When he returned, she was nowhere to be found. He had never felt so terrified. He looked for her everywhere, asked everyone, but finally after seeing the other children's guilty faces, he managed to get the truth out of them. She had been hiding in one of the cleaning closets when they locked her inside, in the dark. When he found her, she had already been in there for three hours. She had been afraid of the dark ever since. She still didn't know she had been locked in on purpose, and Daniir didn't intend to change that. He wanted to protect her a little longer.

It wasn't the first time she had cried, nor the first time she had gotten hurt, but it was the first time someone had hurt her. It didn't matter that the perpetrators were only stupid children who didn't know any better. He had sworn then, never again. He would never forgive anyone who was the reason for his sister's tears. But this time, he was the one who made her cry. And… he couldn't protect her from this. Akshi had quietened down a little now and was trying to bury her tear-stained face in his shirt.

"I killed people, DanDan," she whispered.

"I almost killed Eli and Adi and Red BelBel and Other BelBel too. I almost killed DanDan."

"No, Akshi, it was not your fault."

It was mine.

He had been furious when they conveniently "forgot" to tell him about his sister's disappearance. It… was a regular occurrence, but still, it was always him who found her and brought her back. But the drow man, Ishmael, had assured him that she was safe. She was growing up now and needed some space to think things through on her own. She would come back. Daniir didn't like it, but he couldn't argue with anything Ishmael said. Besides, he still had his duties to take care of. Lord Roth needed to be watched. He didn't trust that man.

Ishmael had been right about one thing though, Akshi did come back. She had arrived at the Gift ceremony with new friends, the… Heralds apparently. She was glowing brighter than usual. And she seemed happy. He knew she was nervous when she came onto the stage, but the moment she saw him, she froze. The way she had looked at him… he could never forget. He had never seen so many complex feelings cross her face. When she gave no response to his words, he thought she was just sulking again. When she started to cry, he tried to hug her, thinking it was just like any other time. He couldn't have been more stupid.

Warning bells went off in his head when she pushed him away. She had never done that before. He asked her what was wrong, but she didn't answer. He was at a loss. He didn't know what to do. He knew something was very, very wrong, but they were in public, and one of Akshi's new friends had persuaded him to wait till after the ceremony. Vaneira needed to use her for her gift. And Vaneira… well… he wanted her to succeed. She was strong, and beautiful, and Daniir believed she should be their Matriarch. She deserved it. But… she wasn't the girl who loved him more than anything in the world. He shouldn't have listened to any of them. Akshi was his sister. He knew her better than anyone.

He failed to be there when she needed him. She had been hurt, and he didn't even know, too blinded by his devotion to the church, to Vaneira. He had promised her, yet, he had left her anyway.

It's not your fault Akshi. I failed you. I failed to protect you. Everything that happened… I'm the one to blame.

Her voice interrupted his thoughts.

"DanDan… it hurts. Why does it hurt so much? If it's not my fault, why does it hurt so much?"

Daniir had no answer for her. It hurt him seeing her in pain. He stroked her back soothingly. He felt the light tickle of feathers on the back of his hand. She had little wings now too, another thing he had missed while away. He still wasn't quite sure how that had happened… but that wasn't important right now.

"DanDan?"

"Yes, Akshi?"

"Do you hate me? Will they all hate me now?"

Daniir's heart broke.

"No, don't ever think that, Akshi."

No one, after meeting you, could ever hate you. It wasn't your fault. It was never your fault.

This wasn't what he wanted for Akshi. She had so much light in her. She would bring so much joy into this world. But now with the memory of this tragedy weighing on her, her light flickered like a candle in the wind, vulnerable to the barest breeze. He wanted to protect that light. He had sworn to protect that light. How could he make this right again?

Then Daniir thought of something. Or rather, someone. Thariel. He had never been close to her, but he knew she was efficient. And she was certainly far more knowledgeable in the arcane arts. She might be able to do something for Akshi.

"Akshi, do you trust DanDan?"

She nodded her head without hesitation, and Daniir only felt worse.


"Thariel. I know you are busy b-"

"So don't bother me. Leave. I have work to do."

"I know you don't know me well, but this is for my sister. I have a favour to ask of you."

Thariel paused in her work and looked over at the paladin who had blindly followed that idiot Vaneira, and his little sister who had caused all this trouble in the first place. She sighed.

"Well, considering I couldn't have made the Mage Eye work without her, I suppose that is a favour to be repaid."

She turned to him and crossed her arms.

"What do you want?"

Daniir took a deep breath.

"What happened with the… Vaneira's gift and the solar… it's hurting her. Can you… take it away?"

Thariel rolled her eyes. "I'm not a therapist. What do you want me to do? Give her a candy and sing her to sleep? Be more specific."

"Your magic. Can it… alter memories of events?"

"You mean you want me to erase her memories?"

"…Yes."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure that is what you want?"

Daniir closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he answered firmly. "I want what is best for her."

She studied him a few moments longer. Finally, she spoke, "Alright. Come here, child."

Akshi looked between the matriarch contestant and her brother, eyes uncertain and confused. At Daniir's nod of encouragement, she let go of her brother's hand and walked over to Thariel.

"Sit down."

Akshi paused for a moment, but then sat down on chair, fidgeting nervously in place.

"I'll forget what happened?"

"Yes."

"Will I forget what happened to DanDan too? I don't want to be angry at DanDan anymore."

Thariel sighed. "You will forget ever being involved with Vaneira's machine. You will only remember being brought to the Mage Tower and everything that happened after that. Understood, child?"

The little aasimar turned to look at her brother once more. Then, she answered, "Okay."

Thariel nodded. "Now, this might feel strange, but do not resist, do you understand?"

Daniir watched as Thariel muttered a few incantations and touched two fingers to Akshi's forehead. She immediately fell unconscious, but Thariel's somatic gestures continued a few moments more, weaving magic and memories through the air. As soon as her spell seemed complete, Daniir rushed to his sister's side and checked her over.

"Will she be alright?"

"She'll wake up in a bit. Now take her away. I have work to do."

Daniir carefully picked Akshi up in his arms and took her outside the Mage Tower. The Church had been severely damaged, there was no way she could rest there, so Daniir took her back to the room he had been in in the hospital and laid her on the bed. Then he pulled up a chair next to the bed and waited.

During that time, one of his comrades knocked on the door and told him if he was well enough to move then he should take up some shifts repairing the Church. He offhandedly agreed he would do that tomorrow and left it at that.

A few hours later, Akshi began to stir. Daniir watched as those lovely eyes, now perfectly clear, open and focus on him. A huge smile broke out on her face.

"DanDan!"

She jumped out of bed and flung her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Daniir barely managed to stop himself from being knocked over from the sheer force of her enthusiasm. He hugged her back and tried to smile for her, but still he felt guilty. He hadn't earned her forgiveness, only taken away his failings from her memory. He… was a terrible big brother.

Akshi pulled back from the hug to look at him, and seemingly sensing something was not right, tilted her head in worry.

"What's wrong, DanDan?"

He never could hide anything from her. She always saw right through him. He had to confess. Even if she didn't remember, he had to tell her the truth. He motioned for her to sit down on the bed and she did, looking at him with those eyes. Those bright, innocent eyes he couldn't meet with his own. He looked away.

"Akshi… I'm sorry. I failed you. I… I wasn't here when you needed me. I never should have left you alone. I made you a promise and I broke it. I'm… so sorry."

I'm sorry. There is nothing else I can say.

"It's okay."

He turned to her in shock. She only smiled back at him, without a trace of blame in her eyes.

"You came back. DanDan's here with me now, just like you promised."

Daniir… didn't know how to feel. He didn't deserve her forgiveness, yet she had forgiven him anyway. He knew, that didn't make any of it right, she didn't remember everything… but… What she had given him so freely, it was worth the world to him. He wanted to hold onto that.

So he surrendered himself to an afternoon of Akshi time, settled down as comfortably as he could in his chair and listened to his little sister tell him all about the adventures she'd been having.

"…and I made lots of new friends too! I wouldn't have met them if I didn't run away. So now I have Adi and Eli and Red BelBel and Other BelBel, and DanDan too. That's five people who love me now!"

For the first time since he woke up, Daniir smiled.

No one could help but fall in love with you, Akshi.