Chapter FORTY-ONE: Cold Truth-TALIA

...

Aydan anxiously arrived outside the Tear Shrine, drained and beaten from the calamities that occurred in Faiara. Though, with the power of his new orbed staff, all had been made a little easier. Nonetheless, he needed to return there again soon. However, Talia needed to help as Dreamer, and as soon as he could get to her, the more likely everything would return back to normal, he kept thinking.

"Talia! I have returned to you," he said upon entering the shrine. However, his priest ring began to glow brightly. He thought that the fairies were calling him again; but no, it was not them. His hand covered his mouth shut once he realized Talia was nowhere in sight, and nor was Dameon.

Before he knew what was coming, he was surrounded by a strong force of energy and pressure, unable to move.

...

"Aydan would never do that. I love him!" Talia repeated again. She smiled widely as she spoke.

"Dear, dear, I cannot get through to you, my child!" the Oracle exclaimed as she tracked the Sun Priest once more. She was sure now that he was hiding from facing what he had done.

"He would never do something like that! He wouldn't!"

"Are you certain of that?"

"Yes! Of course I am! He's the light of all my hopes; the reason I am happy; he is the keeper of my heart; my soul—"

"Priestess, I understand! Enough!" the old woman intercepted, deeply enraged. "I cannot get through you like this!"

Closing her eyes, the Oracle raised her hands and began a chant. A large bright radiance formed in front of them. She then pushed it in an outward motion slightly, making the room tremble as the light disappeared in a reverberating wavy mirage.

They stood there silent for a moment until the light returned in the exact spot it had developed. The Oracle put her hand on Talia to make her take a step back.

"What are you doing?" Talia said, startled, but before the Oracle could answer, the light fell to the floor and quickly spun into a cyclone of vapor and bursts. When it finished, the Sun Priest stood before the old woman panting softly and barely able to stand.

"Sun Priest! What is the meaning of your delay?! You dare run from what you have done, have you not?!" the Oracle yelled furiously.

"My love, you have returned to us!" Talia cried out happily, at the same time, ignoring the Oracle's challenging stance.

"Talia? You're okay, thank the heavens. Talia, my love…" Aydan gasped blandly. He attempted to get to her, but the Oracle approached him first.

"You, of all people should know what is right! I have never seen such treachery committed to any of my priestesses," the Oracle gritted firmly. By the look in his eyes, she could tell that he hardly knew her capable of.

Aydan lowered his head from shame. Part of him relieved that it was all being said now after so long. The other part frightened by the Oracle's harsh tone that contradicted the calm grandmotherly image he had formed of her.

Talia looked at him and tried to giggle as she spoke, "My love, she says that you have given me a love potion. That you have been keeping this from me. Hehe. You would never do something like that—She's become a nutter, if you ask me."

"Talia, please…" Aydan mumbled, defeated. "…I love you no matter what happens..."

"You would never give me potion. I knew it! —See Oracle, I told you!"

The Oracle looked intently at the Sun Priest ready to eradicate him herself. She took note of his state: his robes were completely battle worn; though, she did not care what he had been up to before coming in her presence. Suddenly, she spotted a bulge in his pocket and warped it to her own palm.

"Is this more love potion, young man?" the Oracle demanded testily as she held out a solid blue liquid in a narrow vial.

"No…Priestess Trinity took the last vial…That maybe…the antidote," he whispered the last, wishing it wouldn't all have to be revealed this way in front of the Oracle of all people.

"Dreamer," the Oracle commanded. "Take the antidote."

"But-but Aydan would never do that…I am perfectly fine, Oracle. Let us leave. I have been here too long arguing over this nonsense. This is just silly! It is crazy! — "

"Talia…Take it...It is time you knew…" Aydan said to encourage her. He wanted peace of mind for so long, and if their love could take this revelation, then it might even bring them closer.

"But Aydan, there is no point. I am fine. I believe you—I trust you!" Talia said frantically.

He attempted to smile, but instead he felt a tear forming. "Just take it, my love, take…We-we can leave soon after…This will all be over soon..."

Talia looked at him wearily as she held the blue colored anti-potion to her lips.

"This is just silly…But I will do it to please you, my sunny druid," she smiled, hoping that he would return one to her instead of the saddened frown that broke both their hearts.

The Oracle watched Talia cautiously hold the potion. Her eyes filled with concern and remorse that this all was happening. She wondered since as Seer of all, why she did not discover more before. Though as always, destiny had its way of keeping secrets until the right moment, despite how unfair the penalty of not having the information to prevent this unthinkable wrong. This was the hardest part of being an oracle.

Now, both she and the Sun Priest watched as Talia quickly tipped the contents passively as though expecting to turn out just fine. Aydan saw the pleasant smile on her face dreary away as the potion took effect.

Talia's long red hair and bangs curtained over her face as she lowered her head from overwhelming dazedness. Her hands staggered, making the tip of her staff scuff the floor.

They waited. The Oracle kept silent and turned away from Aydan, heated. The silence was nearly deafening to listen to, making the tension grow steadily.

"Talia…"Aydan softly spoke. "Please…Say something."

He began to slowly pace towards her fearing that he had messed up the antidote and had done her harm again.

"Please…my love…" he stopped himself as he looked towards the ground where thick tears fell from under the drapes of red hair.

"Why-y?..." Talia uttered, without moving. She began to tremble violently.

Aydan looked down unsure of what to say, but quickly looked up as Talia raised her head. Her face had flushed a deep red nearly the color of her hair. Her smile had become an anguished expression of her fury and mistrust. He looked into her once cheerful green eyes and saw only intense rage and tremendous hurt, catching his rueful ones.

"How-how…long?" Talia gritted, slowly. "How long has this all…all been a lie?"

Without waiting for him to respond, she tactically raised her staff to his chest.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!" she shouted, her small frame began to shake even more.

"Talia…please…forgive me! I-I could not help it…I could not stop myself. I wanted to tell you!" Aydan said desperately. He was in shock, never seeing her like this, nor was he prepared for the overwhelming pain that was caused—that he had caused.

"You—You wretched coward! I could kill you for this! HOW COULD YOU?! " she bellowed through tear-dampened eyes. "Did I not mean more to you-u-u?! How…HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

The point of her staff dug deeper into his ribs as he tried to inch closer to her. "TELL ME!"

"It…It was long ago…Nearly four years ago…I came across the formula…I was trying to help you…Then I stopped…Everything was fine until I found a vial containing a powerful love potion…weeks ago…in mother's belongings," Aydan gasped shamefully. He knew he could have lied again; tell her that the potion was given to her just recently and not before, but she needed the truth, and the truth he would finally give her. He saw it in her eyes how much she wanted it.

The Oracle watched as the two bickered for several moments. The Sun Priest tried to hopelessly explain. The Dreamer denounced and rejected everything he tried to clear up. Though, upon deciphering what was being said, the Oracle could not help but noticed that it seemed more like a couple arguing, than a victim and assailant. The Oracle took it as a good sign that the Dreamer did not us any attack spells —as she very well could have destroyed the room with her magic—and only waved her staff menacingly at the druid.

There was sudden silence again.

Talia thought quickly through their past; the timing of it all greatly disturbed her. "That…that…is when grandmother died…You—you…gave me that potion to calm me!... THAT POTION! You lied to me then! You said it was to calm me!"

"No! I did not! NOT THEN!" Aydan said defensively, seeing that his past good deed was being masked with ill-assumptions.

"IT HAD TO BE! DO NOT DENY IT ANYMORE!" she growled hysterically from disgust. " I…I thought I had loved you by then…I thought I was too foolish to accept it! —WHY! —And…and… I kissed you…when you slept, after grandma-ma died…Or I had to kiss you…when you were putting me under a spell!" she hollered as she skimmed everything she had once thought had lead to them being happily together.

"No! It happened after that event!—And you...you kissed me?" Aydan asked bewildered, realizing the ironic truth that she had feelings for him a long while before he had ever given the love potion to her. "You…never mentioned it, Talia..."

"You—You have BEEN LYING TO ME THIS WHOLE TIME!—YOU HORRIBLE BASTARD!-LIAR!"

"Talia! Please! Don't you see?! The potion did nothing to you then! I have always wondered—but now—I never even gave you enough! Please, my love, have faith in what I am saying!"

"I…I CANNOT TRUST YOU ANYMORRREE! YOU…took advantage of my grandmother's death—My...my loneliness!"

"No! The potion came after…I should have told! I should not have succumbed to the potion! I wanted to tell you! I have told you recently! But you were enchanted again..."

For a moment, he wished more than anything that she would believe him, but that was not to happen.

"Trusting you…Trusting you was-was the best thing that had ever happened to me…" Talia managed to say through the feeling of crushing revulsion in her heart.

Aydan looked away towards the Oracle. She knew him his whole life, yet she didn't say anything to vouch for his true character. Instead, she pursed her thin lips all while saying nothing.

"Talia…please…We need to get over this…We need to go on."

"Go on?! GO ON?! I WAS FORCED TO BETRAY MYSELF...YOU…You betrayed me Aydan!"

"Please…Talia! If not for us then…then for our son—for Dameon!" Aydan spluttered, soon realizing that he shouldn't have involved their son into this so quickly.

"Dameon..." Talia whimpered as though not having heard the name for so long. "Dameon?! My son! I…I feel like I haven't seen him for weeks! Where is her?! I MUST GO TO HIM!"

"Dreamer, your lad is fine. He is with the Star Priestess," the Oracle said carefully to not alarm Talia anymore than she already was.

"Trinity?..." Talia said baffled.

"I will go to him right now!" Aydan said at once, not wanting his son being watch over by that priestess.

"You will do no such thing—" the Oracle half-ordered, before being intercepted by Talia.

"…Our son?..." she said mystified, realizing what this all meant for Dameon. What all his father actions had made him. "Do you not realize what you have done to our son? Do…do you not realize he is a product of your disgrace..."

"Do not say that…Do not say that…" Aydan repeated as tears he had held back for so long, streamed wildly. "After today, after now, the truth…The truth clears any doubt."

Talia looked at him and then to the Oracle, suddenly self-conscious and uncomfortably embarrassed. "Hmph! Fine then, there is nothing to say—But...Why? How could you lie to me a thousand times all these years?! I trusted you from the very beginning and you could not trust me in return?!...You lied to me, Aydan…I do not think I can forgive you…I do not think I can ever believe you again!" Talia said firmly, feeling more pained than ever. She shuddered at the idea, but even more, she wanted him away from her.

"Please...please, do not say that, my Beloved," he begged, feeling as though this was the worst reality coming true. "No! I need you…Our son needs us both…I am sorry!"

"He is not your son anymore! You have done enough to him—to us," she retorted coldly.

"Sun Priest!" the Oracle began, boldly, after hearing enough. "After listening to this unforgivable, inexcusable, and foul injustice you have done to a Daughter of Light, the Dreamer, the Druid of Dreams, and the Guardian of Dreams, you young man, have committed treachery and a multitude of shameless acts. It is simply outrageous and barbaric that a Druid—Druid of the Light—of all people would do such a detrimental act upon one of my Priestesses...To use a cheap magic trick on a priestess as though she were mortal girl," she stopped briefly to think of a punishment.

She looked at Talia and knew what she would do next.

Talia wrapped her arms tightly, felling the world she once knew slipping away from her once again. But this time all trust had been broken through his lies; a horrible sensation that disturbed her more than any of his actions, came over her. He had not loved or respected her enough to tell her what he had done using magic; he had not trusted that things would grow between them without manipulation and force; he had deceived her and his deception completely shook her. Did she ever really love him? Talia speculated, too confused to know, knowing it was all his fault. —His fault!—Now she would never know. No, there was no proof that she ever did; only lies and deception remained.

"Please, Talia, forgive me," he pleaded after the Oracle's condemning words, but she braced herself even tighter and looked away still trembling.

"You have a nerve, Sun Priest…Under these appalling circumstances I should banish you immediately from this realm and terminate you from your position. In all my centuries as Oracle, this is absolute madness and selfishness on your part."

"Please...have mercy, Oracle…My son…my son!" Aydan pleaded, knowing that he would never see the boy again.

"No—My son!" Talia burst, wheezing, tormented. "He doesn't need you ruining our lives…He doesn't need to know this happened…That you did this to me."

"Talia! What are you saying?"

"Dameon does not have to know you…You and your horrendous warlock ways...Your endless lies…"

He immediately grasped what she was saying and an unbelievable surge of resent melted away any remorse. "NO! HE IS MY SON! HE IS MINE! YOU DO NOT HAVE COMPLETE SAY IN THIS! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD EVEN CONSIDER THIS, PRIESTESS!"

"SILENCE!" the Oracle's tired voice rang, but she suddenly needed this to stop. "This is not an easy matter! The use of magic, be it for good or bad purposes, is never an easy subject... However, I will side with the Dreamer's wishes."

"NO! You cannot do this! He is my son!"

"LET ME FINISH! —The other druids partially know what has happened!"the Oracle revealed to them both.

"—You…You have told others?" Talia mumbled, now sulking over embarrassment. "This was not their affair…Dameon—"

"Priestess, I had no choice since the Sun Priest took his time to show his presence when I summoned him," the old woman added, feeling responsible for the intrusion. "Even so, there would need to be some consensus for punishment and…replacement from the others."

"-Talia you cannot let this happen!"

"UH-UM, as I was trying to say, this is impossible at the moment. Ahriman and his forces are gaining ground rapidly and I have just been summoned again, so I must leave very soon. However, we can afford to have one druid down for now, but what we cannot afford is for the Dreamer to be disturbed," she said, glaring at Aydan spitefully. "For now then, I am sending you to the castle dungeons…This matter will be handled later on."

"TALIA! PLEASE! MY SON!" Aydan yelled uncontrollably, his hand suddenly began to burn and he was forced to drop his staff. He got closer to her, but fell to the ground. He had never hated anyone so much as he hated the Oracle now for separating his family.

Talia stood still, holding back from crying anymore.

All of a sudden, two large winged guardians appeared. Both armored guardians treaded forward to receive orders. They seemed to be human, however, it was apparent that they weren't since they hovered off the ground; if anything, they looked angelic in appearance.

"Take the druid to the dungeons," the Oracle ordered. But before they turned to get him, she raised her hands, making a silver bracelet cusp Aydan's wrist snugly. "You cannot use any magic with that on."

"Talia! Please!" Aydan panted trying to overpower the guards. "I love you! Do not let this happen!"

Before he could say more, he and one of the guardians disappeared like phantoms.

Talia stared blankly into space.

The Oracle then looked at the remaining guardian as she conjured a pink vial into her hands. "Take this! Dispose of it! Sell it on the black market! Anything! Just get it out of this realm!"

The guardian looked at her, taking it, and apparated as well. The Oracle then diverted her attention back to Talia, uncertain of how to help her.

"…They have been here all along, my guardians, my dear. They simply remain invisible most of the time and…"

Talia suddenly began to cry out loud. She fell to her knees.

"My…My son…I want to see him."

The frail Oracle immediately went to help her up. "Deary, there, there…He is outside my quarters this very moment with the Star Priestess sleeping."

Talia gazed at her, knowing that she must have sensed them somehow, but questions then flooded her mind. "How…how did you not do something sooner?" she asked next, still wanting answers for all that had happened the last few years.

The Oracle remorsefully looked away, unable to explain.

Flabbergasted, tears poured even more from Talia's reddened face. "Did you know?! Why did you not do something?"

"My dear child, I cannot say how sad I am after all of this. Unfortunately, I cannot always control destiny and only go by instinct when the time is right. I only did as I felt I should do: only time will tell us more."

"Was I...Was I even happy?" Talia asked wanting the true answer.

"You were very happy, dear. Very."

Without further words, the Oracle left in a haze of lights, no longer able to delay her summoning requests.

..

Talia raced to open the door a moment later. Sitting on the sidewall, Trin had Dameon sleeping on her lap.

"My son!" she wept as she picked him up. He woke up instantly, but fell asleep, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you for watching him…It won't happen again."

"Well, I am very busy, but I did not mind…It wouldn't be the first time..." Trin revealed.

"You mean, you've watched him before?" Talia asked, surprised that Trin would have tolerated her son.

"Yes, precious Leana is not always the one to watch him."

"But...I thought you hated me…"

"Don't fool yourself. Now, I have things to do…" Trin finished as she got up to leave.

"Thank you again, Trinity," Talia said as she too turned to leave.

"...Wait, sister," Trin suddenly turned to speak again. "I am sorry about before…That Sun Priest had some nerve. Please, let me know if you need anything."

Talia nodded, not able to smile after everything, even at Trin's kind gesture.

"I think I just need to be alone right now..." Talia then left quickly to refrain from crying.

At last minute, Trinity hesitated and then followed them.