Title: Torn Innocence
Genre: Final Fantasy XI
Disclaimer: I do not own the game, locations or races in this fic. I do however own some characters backgrounds and names and am operating with the permission of the owner of Cyrinus and his background. All other relatives in this fic do not represent characters in the game and any likeness to created characters is completely unintentional.
Author's Note: With some urging I have finally sat down to write our this fic. It's been in the planning stages for a while. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Dedication: For my husband. The creative genius who I would be lost without.
Dawn had come after a sleepless night. The sunlight danced across the carpeted floor and glittered on the brightly colored walls. It seemed an unwelcomed guest to the young boy who had thrown his heavy quilt over his head in protest of the new day. Daylight always came to early for Cyrinus. The six year old sat up in his large, elaborate bed and groaned. Even the thick curtains could not keep out the light.
Reluctantly Cyrinus stumbled out of bed and stretched. He could hear his mother preparing breakfast in the kitchen as she did every morning. Hi father's voice was muffled as it drifted through the door. Cyrinus could not prevent the smile that touched his lips. It was not often that his father was home at dawn. He shook his head, causing his unruly brown hair to fall against his ivory cheeks and yawned loudly. He truly hated mornings.
Once Cyrinus had dressed he ran to the kitchen. His deep blue eyes were wide as his gaze swept across the room until it stopped to focus on the tall dark haired man sitting at the table. He threw himself onto his father's lap and wrapped his arms around the older man's neck. It had been days since the last time he had seen his father. Many people had commented about Cyrinus' resemblance to his father. The young boy never paid much attention to them.
"Good morning." Ardain ruffled his son's hair and returned the embrace. Cyrinus giggled and slowly slid off his father's lap to take his own seat at the table. "Hungry?" Ardain questioned. "Your mother's made something that smells a little interesting." He whispered into the young boy's ear.
"Don't think I didn't hear that!" Katherine turned from the boiling pot and lightly tapped the back of Ardain's head with the spoon she had been using to stir their meal. She smiled warmly at her son. "Cyrinus loves my cooking." She stated. Cyrinus looked at his father and wrinkled his nose. He mostly only pretended to like her cooking to avoid her long lectures about 'nutrition' and 'growing boys needing certain foods'.
Katherine served her family before sitting down to eat. She brushed a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear with her hand. Cyrinus stared down at the bowl she had placed in front of him. He never was able to figure out what she threw together for breakfast every morning. It had a creamy texture, dull gray color and absolutely no flavor at all. Cyrinus forced down half of it as quickly as he could.
Katherine did not seem to notice that her husband had not eaten his meal when she took their dishes away. "Isn't there someplace you should be right now, Cyrinus?" The tone of her voice alerted Cyrinus to the fact that she was not in the mood to argue about his chores.
"Yes mum." Cyrinus left the table and headed towards the front door, dragging his feet the entire way. He would have preferred to stay and spend what little time he could with his father before another task took the man away. Cyrinus knew that it would be pointless to try to find a way around his daily cleaning duties. His mother would never allow it.
"After your done with your work we can go to the market and try to find you something you can start learning to fight with." Ardain called after his son. That seemed to lift the young boy's spirits. Cyrinus hurried out the door. There was not much he had to do and he knew it would only take him a few hours.
After Cyrinus' morning chores he and his father took their short trip to the market and purchased a simple brass rod. On the way back to their house Ardain watched his son walk a few feet ahead of him with his head held high. He was carelessly swinging his new weapon at any small creature that happened to cross their path. Ardain laughed a few times when a small and timid creature moved too slowly to avoid a slight tap on the head.
Katherine was waiting outside for her husband and son when they arrived. Ardain kissed her gently on the cheek before walking through the front door. "Are my things packed?" He asked as he dissapeared through the doorframe. Cyrinus froze and started to pout. He had not expected his father to be leaving again so soon.
"Yes dear." Katherine shouted through the door. She returned her attention to Cyrinus and smiled. "He won't be gone long this time." She promised. Cyrinus had heard that many times before. He could not help feeling dissapointed. Even after having spent some time with his father who seemed to be hardly ever there the past few years.
After having had a very quiet dinner Cyrinus was told to go to bed. His father would be leaving early in the morning while Cyrinus was still asleep. Thus preventing a proper goodbye. Cyrinus crawled into bed and closed his eyes. Sleep came quickly for once and he soon found himself lost in a wonderful dream.
The distant sounds of voices raised in anger woke Cyrinus and nearly caused him to fall out of his bed. Something was wrong. Fear motivated Cyrinus to find out what the source of this terrible disturbance was. He slowly approached his bedroom door. As his trembling hand reached for the doorknob a scream echoed through the house. It was his mother's. Cyrinus' thought his heart was going to burst from his chest because it was beating so fast.
Cyrinus' fiingertips had just made contact with the crystal knob when the door burst into flames. The sudden explosion sent Cyrinus flying back against his bed. His eyes stung and his throat burned from the hot, thick cloud of smoke that filled his room. It took him a few minutes before his eyesight returned. Standing was not an easy task and it took what little strength he had left. He hoped he would be able to find his parents with all the noxious vapors swirling around him from the flames that seemed to have disappeared.
Cyrinus stumbled through the darkness until he reached the front room. Most of the smoke had cleared and he noticed a large black shape in the center of the floor. He made his way over to the strange object and nudged it with his toe. He felt the heat radiating from whatever it was and knelt beside it. The smell was nearly unbearable. He could not exactly place what it was until he realised what he was looking at.
Tears poured down Cyrinus' ash covered cheeks as he scurried away from the charred remains of his mother. A flash of dark green at the door could only have meant that his father was chasing whoever had done this. Cyrinus hurried outside. Not far from the house he could see Ardain struggling with a slightly taller hooded figure. Cyrinus' legs refused to work as he watched the reflection of light from his father's spell shield during his attempts to block the different spells he was being hit with.
Ardian moved in close and managed to get in a few decent hits with his now broken weapon. His shield fell and rolled away. Cyrinus tried to move but his body still would not let him. He watched as his father's body went rigid and slumped against the stranger. Cyrinus cried out to his father. His legs were finally working again and he ran toward the fight.
Ardain's attacker stepped back and Cyrinus' father fell quickly to the ground. His unmoving body hinted that Cyrinus was too late. The stranger motioned towards Cyrinus. There was a bright flash of light, then nothing but darkness.
Cyrinus awoke in his house what he thought might have been only an hour or two later by the look of the sky oustide. His mother's body still lay in the center of the room. Cyrinus crawled slowly to the corner of the room. He pulled his knees against his chest and burried his face in his hands. He realized that there had not been a mere accident. Someone was arguing with his parents. They had woken him from a deep sleep and then, then that same person had murdered them.
Cyrinus' sorrow was only pushed aside by his rage. Someone had come into his home and taken away the only family he had. Someone had done this to them with magic and there was nothing he could have done to help them. Cyrinus forced himself to stand and wiped away his tears. He picked up his brass rod from it's spot beside the door and returned to his room to change into his travel clothes. There was only one place he could go to for help and it was a long way away. He remembered a close friend of his father lived in Windurst. That was where he would go. Perhaps she would continue his father's teachings and help him prepare to one day face the person who had brutally assasinated his parents.
Cyrinus burried his parents in his mother's garden. It had taken the night and half of the next day to complete his task. He said a prayer over their graves and slowly walked away from his house. He took one last look at the place where he had spent the first six years of his life and fought back the tears that tried to fall from his tired eyes. It was time for him to move on so he set off on his long trip to Windurst, hoping his father's old friend, Leanna, would recognize him.