No God of Mine

Disclaimer: Legacy of Kain belongs to Edios and Crystal dynamics, they are not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic; it is written purely because I have a burning need to create.

Rating: PG

Part: One of One

Set: Post BO2 Pre SR1.

Authoress Note: Raziel stops seeing Kain as his God.

No God of Mine

Kain had been many things in his life. He had been a boy, a man, and a vampire. He had been a son, youngest of three surviving boys, and ignored, mostly. He had been a father and had raised his brood poorly, but they had all survived this far.

For most of his life, others had disliked him. When he had been human, people had found him strange and cruel. He had been quiet unless otherwise roused, but once roused he was angry and aggressive. When he became a vampire, dislike had turned to fear as he had gained a substantial amount of power to back up his aggression. Other vampires had been afraid of him. Even Vorador had feared him, although the ancient beast would never admit it.

Overall, Kain considered that the world's dislike and fear of him was consistent until Raziel. As a fledgeling, Raziel had trusted him, admired him, and had been openly affectionate in his praise and actions. It was unsettling at first, but not unpleasant. Kain had quickly adapted to this new feedback and added admiration and affection to his list of how the world saw him.

He never thought he would add ridiculous to that list. Never had he been ridiculous. Never had anyone laughed at him, not even Raziel.

"It's not funny." Raziel did not stop laughing. "It is not funny."

"Forgive me, father." Raziel spoke, after taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. Kain glared at his eldest son hard for a moment before turning his attention once again to the ink bottle on his desk.

"You realise this is going to end badly?" Raziel still sounded far too amused in Kain's opinion.

"Go away." Kain concentrated on lifting the small bottle. It was difficult to judge how much pressure to use as he could no longer truly feel with his new 'fingers'.

Kain had evolved. This was not unusual. He had evolved before. But this time, he had woken with a rather dramatic change to his hands and feet. He had lost dexterous fingers and had received powerful, if slightly clumsy talons. The talons on his feet were easy enough to get used to. In fact, they were an improvement. Kain found that balancing was much easier now. The talons had improved his grip on the floor impressively. Also, he had discovered that the talons were stronger and sharper than the steel-capped boots he had previously favoured. His bedding was suffering at the moment, but like all things, once he adapted to them, everything would be fine.

The talons on his hands were proving to be more of a problem. He had discovered that the talons were much stronger and sharper than his previous claws and skin had been, but they were not as sensitive as his previous fingers, and he had lost a lot of his dexterity. He could no longer trust the strength of his grip and crushed everything he tried to pick up. He had already crushed cups, ripped clothing and put his hand through a wall. Twice.

It was not the first time he had not been instantly fantastic at a task, but it stung his pride to struggle with something so basic as lifting a goblet without spilling its contents all over himself. He had been practising with the new talons for the last few days, locked away in his rooms where none could witness his fumbling or his embarrassment. Until this morning, when Raziel had forced his way inside the sanctuary and sought him out, citing concern for his wellbeing as his reason.

"You're gripping it too hard again," Raziel said. "I can hear the crystal cracking."

The words broke Kain's concentration and the little ink bottle shattered. Kain sighed as Raziel began a new laughing fit. Kain threw the remains of the ink bottle at Raziel; it bounced off the fledgeling's head before shattering on the floor, which only made said fledgeling laugh harder. It wasn't funny; it was only a bottle. Admittedly, there was a large ink puddle now on the floor, next to three other almost identical ink puddles, but it was not as funny as Raziel was making it sound. With an air of defeat, Kain walked over to the other side of the room and sat down. Eventually, Raziel calmed down enough to walk over; Kain refused to look at him.

"Forgive me, father, but this makes me happier than almost anything else you have ever done or given me." Kain glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

"You've seen me break things before."

"True, but that was on purpose. This is the first time I had ever seen you struggle with anything." Raziel knelt before his father and lifted one of his new hands in his own. "You're normally so perfect, everything you do, you succeed at with ease. This…" He gestured at the ink puddles and broken bottles. "Proves that you aren't as infallible as you once seemed to be."

"You must be disappointed." Kain let his fledgeling finger his new hands.

"Are you joking?" Raziel smiled a comically lopsided smile. One Kain had seen him use when he was trying to cheer one of his brothers. "I love this. It makes you real."

"I did not realise my existence was in question." Kain pulled gently on his hand to retrieve it without shredding his fledgeling's fingers. Raziel sighed and shook his head, gripping his father's hand tighter.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. You're a God to this world, to all of us, and God's don't struggle with anything." Raziel leaned back, reaching behind him as he lifted one of the crystal goblets from the small collection Kain had been using to practice with and placed it in Kain's hand. He closed Kain's new talons over the crystal gently, pulling them looser when Kain tightened his grip too hard. "God's don't need help."

"I don't need help."

Raziel let go of his hands, and the crystal goblet shattered.

"Yes, you do." Raziel looked smug, for once not laughing at the shattered object. He lifted another goblet and placed it in his father's hands, but kept his own hands around the crystal, protecting it. Kain tightened his grip to what he felt was adequate and watched as Raziel's hands bled. "They're sharp," Raziel said. "And very strong." Kain lessened his grip, watching as Raziel's hands healed almost instantly from the damage. "You'll drop it if you're that gentle," Raziel smirked. Kain glared, tightening his grip a fraction. Raziel's hands did not bleed this time. They stayed like that for a moment before Raziel pulled his hands-free gently and Kain held the crystal goblet without dropping or shattering it. "Tada."

"Shut up. You're enjoying this far too much."

"And why shouldn't I?" Raziel watched as Kain turned the crystal over in his hands, getting a feel for the strength of his grip. "I've realised that my sire is a person, a man, not a God. Why shouldn't that please me?"

"You would rather serve a man than a God?" Kain snorted, remembering exactly what Raziel had been as a man and what Tomb he had found him in.

"I would rather serve you."

Kain stood up, concentrating for a moment on not gouging furrows in the stone floor with his feet. He lost his concentration on the crystal, and it shattered. He sighed loudly.

"Come, I'll help you practice. You can't hide in here forever. I'm sure you've got more crystal around here somewhere. Maybe a ceramic egg?" He reached out and took Kain's hand, pulling his father out of his rooms with him. Kain allowed himself to be pulled.

End

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