Song listened to: 'What I've Become' by Fireflight.
The War had left them all in various states of brokenness.
Fledglings no long ran around playing games in the garden, the laughter no longer danced through the trees with the breeze, the Garden was alone and empty without the brightness of the young souls there to light it.
Trust was broken.
The messengers looked at their Master, as though waiting for him to run on them again, to leave them suffer in his wake again, and turned to the Second for commands instead. The silence was numbing, for a creature that was as social as the Messenger was, he was shunned from their circles in the same fashion he had shunned them when he'd left.
In the Infirmary, those that remained, shied away from the Healer when he returned in silence. They went about their duty, tending to those that needed it, the grand hall packed from wall to wall with bodies, the count nearing the three digits now. Oren was the only one to greet him, from afar, with a silent nod of recognition.
The Powers had taken to him upon arrival, standing at attention at his entrance, but the weariness in their eyes shined brightly back at him. They were tired, hated by most of the host, and because they had merely been following his orders. He shook his head, saddened by the way their shoulders dropped, turning from him once more to return to their positions from before his arrival.
His Pantheon stood as a looming figure above his head, though the doors be opened now, it was different in so many ways. Their silence rang loudest in his ears, their looks struck him like blades, and the distrust was palpable in the air around him as they looked at him with such brokenness. They had suffered through much persecution because of his actions.
They stood behind Him as He gazed from the top of the Throne Room's stairs, watching as His children slowly revealed themselves from their hiding spots, as they slowly began to search their family out of the broken space.
"Father, how do we begin to rebuild when they won't allow us to?"
He hummed under His breath, "It is the price that you must pay for your actions." He turned to peer at them over His shoulder "Though I can mend the physical damage I cannot begin to touch the mental." He turned back to watch the others reunite with their loved ones and friends alike and smiled at their happiness with warmth. "But forgiveness can come from the unlikeliest of places."
His eyes caught onto the swiftly moving fledgling weaving through the crowds, smiling as He watched her jump from stone to stone, a breath of fresh air through the hottest of days. That fledgling was the best of them, moving so freely despite the horrors her eyes must have witnessed, skipping along to her own beat as she weaved in and out and between bodies.
"Hope can come from even the smallest of forms."
They stepped forward to join Him on the edge, their gaze following His, staring down at the fledgling playing and skipping her way down the path towards the Garden. The Healer squinted, as though trying to get a better glimpse of her, and his eyes widened in epiphany, "She made it."
"Resilience came live in even the youngest of us."
He looked from side to side, at His four sons in turn, and gestured with a nudge of his chin towards the fledgling that was soon disappearing in the Garden.
"It is not about what was lost, it is about what has been overcome, they will come to you in time."
He turned to make His way back to the Throne Room, calling over his shoulder "I would watch that one. She's going to be one to keep track of. Even the littlest of creatures can have the most powerful affect."