Yes, I am in fact still alive... sorry for the wait. Enjoy ^^
Chapter XXXVIII
„The Difference is Power"
The only thing I was able to do was stare in terror. It just... couldn't be true...
Kaan didn't say a word, it seemed he was holding his breath. We just heard one short, shaky inhale, after which a long silence fell upon the room, his green eyes staring at the floor. After what seemed like a full minute, he lifted his head a little and glanced at Eugeo, but he only shook his head.
"I guess further fabricating makes no sense..." Kaan finally said, sadness evident in his voice. "I didn't expect something so trivial to give me away..." he took a deep breath. "Yes, it's true... my family name is Caydranth..."
My legs almost gave up on me. I heard Armailith's loud growl from outside, almost making the glass in the windows vibrate. I dared a look at Eugeo.
He was sitting with his head down, his slender fingers clenching the navy-blue fabric of his bed sheets... The realization made an ice-cold chill creep up in my chest. This just couldn't be happening for real...
"You knew about this..." I started quietly, fearing that any louder sound could irreversibly seal this cruel truth. "You knew from the very beginning..."
"I did..." he whispered.
"So that's why... that's why Sharish always knew where we were and what we were doing..."
"No, it's not like..."
"That's why you didn't want to reveal the answer to that riddle even though you knew far too well where the Sanctuary is hidden! And that's why you insisted so much on not destroying the shard of the Sunrise! You wanted him to have his fun with it!" I shot an accusing glance towards Kaan.
"Yes, but..." Eugeo trailed off when I hung my head, breathing heavily, trying not to completely lose control over myself. Kaan still didn't seem to dare to say anything, even Asuna was strangely silent...
I lifted my head again after a long moment, failing to fight away the tears that were insisting to see the outside world. "I trusted you..." I said, my voice even more bitter than I intended. "I trusted you this whole time, I thought we can rely on you, and you... you simply betrayed us..."
"No, Kirito that's not true..."
"Kirito, this really isn't the way you think..." Kaan finally found his voice.
"How is it then?! Am I supposed to believe that all of this is just a harmless coincidence?! That I should give another chance to someone who gave us away?!"
What happened after those words left my lips, happened in a few short seconds.
Eugeo stood up abruptly, and before I was able to really register it, he was standing right in front of me. All I could do was blink when his hand suddenly flashed before my chest, ripping my sirath from my neck. I took a shocked step back, Armailith's warning growl coming from outside.
But then Eugeo grabbed my wrist, placed the crystal in my palm and clenched my fingers around it with his own. I tried to wrench myself free from his surprisingly strong grip, but he grabbed my shoulder with his other hand and shook me once, but firm. "Come to your senses, Kirito!" I almost hunched from his shout. "Did one stupid secret make you hate me so much that you ignore even what your sirath is telling you?!"
For a moment, there was dead silence in the room. Ronye suddenly cowered behind Asuna.
"You know me well enough to know that I wouldn't do something like this without a reason..." Eugeo continued, his voice a little calmer. "I didn't keep silent to spite you, or to harm you. It's not as easy as you think... Why won't you let us explain...? Kaan is not against us, he's trying to help us to the best of his ability. He's Sharish's brother, so what? You shouldn't judge people by who their family is... No matter if it's your greatest foe's family, or the royal lineage..." Now Eugeo's voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "Why do you treat me like I'm your enemy...? Did I lie when I said that I want to stay by your side...? Did I lie when I said that I want to protect you and see the end of this fight with you...?"
I felt something break inside my chest... Eugeo's grip on my shoulder was painful, but there was something that hurt much worse... the ice-cold of the sirath in my hand and the despair in my friend's voice, which almost pierced through to the very bottom of my mind...
How could I have been so blind...?
I closed my eyes, feeling a single, lonely tear trace a cold line down my cheek. "No..." I said, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. "You didn't..."
Eugeo let go of me, the sirath falling to the floor with a quiet, crystalline clink. A second after, I felt Eugeo's arms around me, gently pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry..." I stammered out. "I'm sorry, I... have no idea what's gotten into me..."
"It's okay..." the relief in Eugeo's voice was almost palpable. "You were in so much stress lately... the most important thing is that you came to your senses..."
I wiped my eyes chaotically and looked him in the eyes. The guilty look on my face must have been enough for him, because he just shook his head, telling me there is no need for further apologies. "But..." I said instead, "if Kaan is just helping us... couldn't you just have told us?"
Eugeo picked up my sirath and sat down on the bed again, gesturing me to do the same. When I joined him, he placed the crystal in my palm once more and took a few moments to gather his thoughts.
"There were a few reasons for the silence," he started. "First of all, Kaan just didn't want to reveal this unpleasant fact. Me neither, to be honest... We were aware that you wouldn't be able to fully trust him if you knew who he is. That's why he wanted to gain your trust first, and then reveal the truth. We didn't think Ertralia could just expose us like that..." Eugeo made a short pause, as if wondering how to continue. He glanced at me. "Do you remember our first meeting, when I told you that one day I will introduce you to the person who told me that I'm a Disciple and gave me our siraths?"
"Of course."
"Well, I already did that," Eugeo pointed to Kaan, who managed a sheepish smile.
"How come?" Asuna found her voice again. "Why were they in your possession?"
"Irony of fate..." Kaan's voice still sounded a little unsure. "It all started when I was still living with my brother, in the keep that you unintentionally razed to the ground..." When Asuna rose her eyebrows, clearly surprised, he continued: "Yes, unfortunately, I was there... I knew what Sharish did to you..." Kaan bowed before her, regret and bitterness staining his usually cheerful face, as if everything we saw until now was just a façade to hide all the pain these circumstances were causing him. "Please forgive me that I couldn't help you..."
Asuna approached him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault... But if you lived there on a daily basis, then Sharish surely took all pains to make sure you're on his side. How did you manage to escape this madness? And through what miracle did you survive what I did...? I didn't see any survivors among the ruins other that Sharish..."
"At that time, I was already away from there, fortunately. I left the castle just a few hours prior."
"You escaped?"
"Not quite. You know... I never supported what my brother was doing. It's just that he wasn't aware of it, and I wasn't very eager to make it clear to him. When Chrysheight returned to the stronghold with the news on Kirito's escape from the royal castle, Sharish decided to take care of the last of the Disciples for a change, so someone from the Nitrael lineage..."
"Of course, I heard that conversation..." Asuna was genuinely confused. "It's unbelievable that I didn't recognize your voice later..."
Kaan managed a small smile. "I guess the thick walls might have distorted it a little."
"Probably..."
"Sharish even went as far as sending some assassins to help me, should I fail to convince the Disciple of Ralethiel. If he didn't agree to cooperate, they were supposed to... let's say... eliminate the threat through slitting his throat..."
Eugeo's eyebrows rose higher than mine. "I didn't know that," he said, clearly surprised.
"I didn't want to cause you stress," Kaan laughed nervously.
"But what happened to them, since none actually reached me?"
"I'm not responsible for what happened to them next, but if it comes to handing them over to Chrysheight, then I confess my guilt."
Eugeo just smiled, shaking his head and letting Kaan continue.
"My brother gave me Eugeo's sirath, so I could give it to him should he agree to join us, but shortly before departing I sneaked into his chamber and stole a second one - Kirito's. Please don't ask me how they ended up in his possession, because I honestly don't know... I set out on my mission, from which I never returned. Once I reached Hreshia, I quickly found Eugeo, but instead of pulling him to 'our' side, I told him the whole truth. We quickly found common ground. Eugeo set out on a search for you two, and I hid here, in the place I've built in secret, surrounding it with spells so that Sharish would not be able to find it as long as possible. I managed to achieve this thanks to a shard of the Sunrise, one of two that were in mine and my brother's possession. I had to part with it rather quickly though...
Chrysheight paid me a visit shortly before Sharish found this place. He warned me that my brother is looking for me, and will probably succeed soon, guided by the magic of my shard. It also turned out that I was the reason why those two went on their separate ways, because Sharish didn't want to believe that his own brother stole the sirath and he stubbornly accused Chrysheight," Kaan smiled a little. "Chrysheight is a curious mage, with death in place of his shadow... but for some reason very veracious. Which is why I entrusted my shard to him, so he could wander around Earlindon with it, confusing Sharish in the process. I had to force him to promise me something though. If Sharish were to find this place, he was to return here and pass the shard on to you, along with an explanation... Unfortunately this vicinity must have caught my brother's attention beforehand, if he arrived shortly after that... Luckily though, the shard wasn't in my possession anymore at that time, so Sharish didn't sense it and apparently didn't suspect that the residence he decided to invade concealed his trembling at that moment relative... I told Eugeo about the secret of the Sunrise a day after the shard found its way to your hands. I didn't want you to accidentally send it to the Sanctuary... I really wanted to help, but without even one shard of the Sunrise, my magic is like kid's play compared to Sharish's... all I could do was make Eugeo and Chrysheight lead you down this path that would hopefully lead to me standing at your side one day, able to defeat my brother with his own weapon..." Kaan sighed and bowed deeply, with repentance. "I'm sorry... please forgive me for misleading you and that Eugeo had to lie on my behalf... I'm really, really sorry..."
I tightened my grip on my sirath. It stayed cold during the whole explanation, but it wasn't this icy, painful cold from before. This chill was mysteriously pleasant, calming... I glanced at Asuna, meeting her questioning look. I smiled and nodded without hesitation, dispelling the last remnants of doubt.
Upon seeing that, Ronye, who was still hiding behind Asuna, let go of her tunic, ran up to Kaan and swung her frail arms around his waist, hugging her head to his chest. Utter bewilderment bloomed on the face of the Caydranth lineage's young successor.
"I'm sorry..." Ronye lifted her head and looked at him, her sapphire eyes pleading and full of regret. "I'm sorry I ran away..."
The usual, bright smile finally returned to Kaan's features. "You have nothing to apologize for," he reassured her warmly, giving her head a few careful pats. Somehow he managed to perfectly mix cheerfulness with a silent apology towards us all in his voice. He was the type of person one couldn't be mad at for long anyway...
"Then what was all that arguing for?" we heard Armailith's voice from outside.
"You said yourself that we like to complicate things," I shot back.
"You should have learned by now that sometimes even if there are hundreds of facts, there is only one truth."
"Yeah, and it seems like knowing half of it is far more dangerous than knowing the whole truth..."
"Well then," Kaan lifted his head again. It was nice to see a genuine smile return to his face, though something in his expression has changed, like a dark secret that he long struggled to conceal, but now didn't feel the need to anymore, had no fear of wearing it in the open in front of the people he trusted. "I suggest we celebrate this somehow. I will make sure the cook doesn't burn the roast due to the shock, and you three..." he threw each of us an amused look, "could set yourselves in order in the meantime. You look like something the cat brought in."
I glanced at Eugeo, catching his stare and we laughed, Asuna soon joining us. We weren't bothered by it for the last few days, and we didn't plan to mind now.
„Nothing in Life is to be feared
It is only to be understood..."
Took me long enough for being so short... I just have more and more new projects popping up ^^ I'll make this short because I need sleep...
Thank you for the review sweetheart, I hope I can keep you excited like that 3
And thanks to everyone who read, revieved and favourited. Favorable winds to you all!
