"In the fore-times, all there was, was light. Not earth nor sky, not sea nor creatures. From this light came our Lord, Mithrir, and his bride, the Goddess. With Him came the darkness and sky, and with Her came the earth and all the creatures that live upon it. This world saw the passing of the years, but together the Gods grew weary of the simplicity of the world. The Goddess turned to the creatures of the land, and saw how their homes were of the trees. So She took two trees, and from them fashioned the First-ones, one male, one female. They were commanded to go forth, and create the race of the Tree-folk.

"Over the passage of time, the Lord and Lady brought forth more descendants, in the form of the Lesser Gods… The Green Lady, Ossna the Hunter, Selk the Wise, and all their kin, but the Tree-folk turned from them all, and fashioned idols to false gods. Seven times the Goddess pleaded with the people She had created, and seven times they returned to Her, only to again forsake Her as times grew rough…

"Finally She had no choice, but to abandon them in their heathen ways, but as a reminder, She sculpted them, every man, woman and child, so that their ears would ever point to the heavens, so they might remember how they heard but did not listen to Her will…

"The second time She created a race to follow Her and Her kin, She did not look to the trees, which thought themselves Gods for the protection they lent to the creatures of the land, but to the earth itself, which was humble and strong. Out of the clay of the Earth, she formed the Second-folk, Humans. Following her will, they drove out the Tree-folk, who now called themselves Elves, in defiance of Her wishes, and harnessed the land, as they had been promised. The Gods continued to smile on them, as they offered praises and kept the rituals commanded to them. Now we have their favour, and they continue to smile on us as we keep the rituals…

*************

Jeb took a long draw of his pipe before continuing his tale. "That is why every harvest, a portion of what we take from the fields is given to the Goddess, for Her to share amongst her children, as we were told to do, and why the fields give us their bounty, as we ourselves came from the dust and earth ourselves." His hand moved to the token round his neck. "We know these truths as passed from Her."

Takuya freed his hand from Kouichi's, and touched his own token. "…Because we are Her people." He released his token and stretched out on the floor slowly. "I've heard the story of how we came to be several times, but never in those words."

Jeb shuffled in his seat, trying to restore his thoughts after the storytelling. "Its nice to have an appreciative audience." He nodded towards the twins. "They seem to listen, like they were told to do, but there's no understanding there. It's been a long time since I heard the Response."

Takuya grinned. "In my village, when all us kids listened to Old Man Arada, he'd clip us round the ears if we didn't say it."

"Heh." Jeb took another leisurely draw, before blowing a ring of smoke. "Sometimes a good clip round the ear works better than anything else"

Takuya nodded, and stretched again, enjoying the feeling of being clean. Tony had kept his word and showed him the drafty hut that served as sleeping quarters, giving him a bed near the two that the twins had dragged together to nest in. Takuya was relieved to find no hearth in the quarters, as he was still afraid that maybe it was something he had done in the tavern in West-bound that had started the fire. He was also relieved to find that one of the buildings served as a bath-house for the farmhands, and that they were expected to clean the dust from the fields off themselves before sitting for Last-meal, which would again be set out in the yard. He had finally found out that it was Middle-day, and that workers were not allowed to leave the farm except on Rest-day, when many of them went back to the village he had passed though, to visit the market and spend the meagre coppers they had earned. The entire farm was also expected to attend the Temple on Holy-day. Takuya winced as his movements brushed against his dirty clothes, and promised himself that the first thing he would buy was a new shirt. A clean shirt.

He looked up as Kouichi shuffled closer, pulling Kouji with him. A moment later, a group of workers came into the quarters, and their leader stopped and glared at Jeb and Takuya.

"Why do you bother with those idiots? They don't understand what you say to them, and they certainly don't understand your stories, old man."

"Maybe," replied Jeb, adjusting his pipe, "But I don't tell stories so they understand, I tell them because they must be told."

"Huh." The man shot a disgusted look at the twins. "Simpletons like them should've been drowned at birth, otherwise they're a burden to all."

Kouichi looked down and Kouji drew closer to him, glaring at the man.

Takuya clenched his fists. "That's not fair. They aren't simple, and they certainly have feelings just like you do."

The man shook his head. "They don't understand what I'm saying, and they don't appreciate you looking after them, and they don't understand you sticking up for them."

"They do! They're smarter than you think!" said Takuya.

The man rolled his eyes. "Sure." He walked into the workers quarters.

Jeb sighed. "That Mathew always causes trouble, but never enough to get kicked out."

"That's not fair."

Jeb shrugged. "That's life, boy. Just make sure that the twins don't get into trouble, or Mathew'll use his influence to get them kicked out."

*************************

The farmyard was just as he remembered it being before the accident. Apart from the splash of new whitewash here and there, it was the same as old. Takuya moved forwards slowly, scared that the scene might shatter.

"Takuya?"

Takuya turned, to see his mother standing on the porch of the farmhouse.

"Is that you Takuya?"

He felt something inside himself give way, and he started to run. "Mama!"

She pulled him into her arms and hugged him. "Oh my sweet boy… we thought you'd gone forever."

"But… But the fire…"

His mother let him go slightly and looked at him. "Shinya told us that he was lying when he said you did it… that he'd knocked a lamp by accident, and blamed it on you…"

"Takuya!" bellowed a voice, followed swiftly by a bear hug.

"Papa!" Takuya smiled and hugged him close. "It wasn't me, I swear it wasn't…"

"Its okay, Takuya. We know you're not anything other than our son."

Takuya smiled happily, a warm feeling spreading from inside as his family welcomed him back.

Then the feeling began to burn.

Takuya looked down at his hands, to find them surrounded in flames, tickling him lightly.

His mother smiled. "Well I'm just glad you're back, and safe." She moved to hug him again.

Takuya threw his arms up in front of him, flames flickering gently. "No! Stay back!"

She was still smiling as she touched him and turned to ash.

"Mama!" cried Takuya, looking at the ash slowly blowing away in the wind.

His father growled. "Creature! Demon! She was your mother!" He lunged to hold Takuya fast from fleeing, and Takuya watched helpless as the flames from his hands moved up his arms to burn over his father. Slowly the flames changed shape and grew till a fiery pillar loomed over him, then it started to die, revealing a tall man, with eyes and hair as black as night, clad in a robe of starlight.

"Mithrir…" breathed Takuya, then fell to his knees. "Please, My Lord… I don't want this… tell me I'm human… tell me I won't kill everything that I love…"

Mithrir laid a hand on Takuya's head gently. "My poor child. You don't belong here with the humans. You are one of my children, who dwell in the land of the dead."

"No," begged Takuya. "I'm one of the Earth-folk, one of the Goddess's people. I've no power, no mystical ability."

Mithrir shook his head sadly. "You feel it in you, the fires of hell, you call them forth. You are one of my children, lost on this cold, lonely plane. Just accept what you are."

"No, no, no, no NO!"

"Let the flames consume you."

"NO!"

*******************

Takuya bolted upright. "NO!"

Two sets of blue eyes glinted in the darkness nearby, and Takuya became aware of three arms around him, and another tangled in his hair, which started to move, slowly stroking his hair.

One of the workers muttered in his sleep, then turned to face away from where Takuya sat on his bed, shaking.

One of the twins started to hum quietly, a stately, winding melody, them both holding him close as he first shivered, then broke down, and cried quietly, his body racked with sobs. One of the arms holding him moved to run in soothing circles on his back and the other twin started to hum, his melody winding around that of his brother's.

"I'm human…" sobbed Takuya. "It was just a dream. I'm not a demon…"

The humming stopped. "Not demon," breathed Kouichi by his ear. "Human and nice and kind."

Takuya nodded, but the nods repeated until he started to sob again.

The twins held him until he cried himself to sleep.