Child of the Brave
4. Mother and Son's Venue

Aster ran, quickly and lightly across the forest floor, dodging enormous trees and leaping over wild roots.

"Aster!" Alma's cry broke in the cutting wind.

Aster did not stop. He turned his head one way and out of the corner of his vision he caught her silhouette close behind him. How did they move so quickly? He was younger and the fastest sprinter at home and here he was almost being caught by his small mother in a dress even unfit for jogging.

"Aster, wait!" She panted.

Alma's feet caught in something and she screamed, falling to the floor.

Aster turned around and saw her sprawled on the floor. He ran back to her, genuinely worried. "Are you alright?" He bent down to help her up. He looked at her face and found her dark eyes glittering in the night. One hand gripped the arm he used to help her up. He lifted her up and onto her feet.

"Oh, Aster, oh Aster!" She burst into a round of new tears. "I've missed you so much!" She wailed, clutching onto his arm.

Hesitantly, Aster placed an arm around her shoulders. "There, there," he tried to sooth. He started taking her back to camp. She hid her face in her hands as she wept. Aster was worried that she had truly hurt herself because she staggered about, needing his support the entire way.

Tensberger rushed out to them when he watched them emerge from the thick trees. "That was quick. What convinced you to come back?" Tensberger was leaning forward, hands on his hips as he phrased the question for Aster and Alma.

"I wasn't convinced. I was afraid when Alma fell," Aster answered.

Alma's hand gripped Aster's elbow in a vise grip. Her other hand pulled him by the shirt. Aster was so surprised at the woman. He never imagined she could be as strong and forceful as she was calm and gentle. She pulled him into a tent and Tensberger followed them in the dark. He was still unaccustomed to walking and seeing in the dark as all human beings were. He wondered if Alma and Tensberger saw what he saw; nothing.

"I am your mother. You will listen to me, understand?"

"That's going to work—Alma, he doesn't even know you. We've been gone for sixteen years!" Tensberger exclaimed.

"I don't care. My son will listen to me as long as I have him here--" Alma's voice broke at the end of the sentence "--Then, he can do whatever he so pleases, runaway even.

But you must hear me out or I shall never rest in peace." Alma turned to Aster, making contact with his hand.

Aster felt her tugging him to a corner of the tent. She pushed him onto the floor, expecting him to protest or something. His hands remained in hers and she did not loosen the grip.

"Leave us, Tensberger… Please…"

There was the noise as the flap of the tent went up and came back down.

Immediately, when Aster noticed that not even a speck of light came through the opening he asked, "Why must we sit in the dark? Why is it that Ramza situated all of you in an area where not even a streak of moonlight may surface through the trees? Why?"

"We must remain in hiding. It's the only way we can surprise our enemy? You're used to it. Ramza says you like to be in the dark sometime. You can still see a little."

"I feel uncomfortable talking about Ramza," Aster sniffed, "I don't like people sneaking around, spying on me."

"He watched over you because he cared. He wanted to make sure nothing happened to you. It was a way to keep you safe."

"Why does he have to poke around in the dark? Why do all of you have to poke around in the dark?" Aster asked, angrily.

"What would happen to us if the King caught us?" Alma countered, staring at the floor. "Would we ever be able to reunite with you?"

Aster let out a heavy sigh, feeling defeated. "It's not fair that I had to grow up without a mother or a father, while everyone else had there's."

Her hand touched his face. "I know. When your grandfather died I felt the same way. Yet, after his death I was able to pick up the pieces of my life and move on. You know, Aster, we were always worried about you."

"I know."

"There were spies in your hometown and they probably informed the king of Father Samuel's doings or worse…"

Aster blinked at her in surprise. "What's worse?"

"They might have found out about you! Don't you see? This was why Ramza was so overprotective of you!"

"So the King didn't burn the church because of Father Samuel's writings that could have damaged the King's reputation, but because he found out I was a son of a Beoulve?"

"We don't know that, yet. Maybe Mustadio has more information around that, but… Even I don't know much about that. When Ramza comes back, he will tell you more. I only want to tell you when we came to be again."

"You are being," Aster said very slowly.

Alma shook her head. "You talk about fairness, Aster. Let me speak first."

Aster made a noise, but Alma blatantly ignored him by charging on. "When I left you with Father Samuel, Ajora was already inside me. It would have been dangerous if you stayed with me, so I had to bring you to the haven of Father Samuel's. I knew he was a benevolent man and one of the last men in Ivalice I could trust, so I placed upon him my precious burden that was you. After I left you with him, I felt everyday was like a dream to me. I only had bits and pieces of my memories with each passing day to carry on with. I came to the conclusion that the evil Ajora was growing inside me and taking over. Then, I remembered nothing more.

When next I woke, I was on an airship helping my brother fight the Bloody Angel, Altima. We defeated her with a sacrifice. Murond Death City was the burial grounds of St. Ajora and we joined him there."

Aster shook his head like a child unable to accept anything his mother was feeding him. He felt sick to his stomach and if anyone could see him in the dark, his skin paled to a light green around the cheeks. His hands grew sweaty and he felt his lips trembling as words escaped them. "You are flesh. I can feel you. You are not…"

Alma rose to her feet and pulled Aster up with her. "There was another reason why we couldn't be with you all these years. Come with me, Aster, and I'll show you."

Gloomily they trudged deeper into the dark forest until they reached a clearing where the tops of the trees did not completely hide the moon. Moonlight shimmered to the floor in beams of different lengths and widths. Alma told Aster to wait at the edge of the clearing as she walked through the light. Her image glimmered as the lights passed around her when Aster watched, fear clinging to him like a second skin. She finally stopped in the middle of the largest shaft of moonlight that was like a spiritual column that reached the sky. She stood there and did not move as the light touched every inch of her body.

"Now come, Aster." Her voice carried in the chilly breeze that brushed passed Aster. He was afraid and found himself shaking his head disbelievingly.

"Aster, please come and try to hold your mother." Her shaky voice drew him to her. He never knew why he did it. It might have been an enchantment or the sound of her voice that transpired anguish and worry. However, he never figured out the reason why he moved toward the woman he reproached just moments ago.

With every step he took toward her a thought came to mind. This was why Ramza came sundown ten years ago. This was why Ramza couldn't help him in the fire. This was why they crept in the dark. This was why they hid from the King all this time.

A hand reached out slowly to touch Alma's face. This was why Alma sat with me in the dark and held me. This was why they were so much quicker than me. This was why they could never live with me. This was why they hid from me all these years.

His hand passed her ear and the flying hair. He felt only the cold air that was his mother as hot tears coursed his face.

She was a ghost and so were the rest. She was an apparition that could not live in the light and only could hover forever in the dark. Have you ever seen the dead? They are so very different.