Rebirth
Chapter 17:
Avalon was growing used to the constant feeling of weakness. Even as his eyes scrunched at the rising sun, he had no true energy to actually get out of bed. Not that he was extremely comfortable—the bed was actually a size too small for him and there was hardly any cushion—he had no motivation.
Slowly, however, he lifted himself up to sitting position. The comforter slid off easily to the plain bed. Everything was so quiet. It was as if no one was around. He watched the sun rise higher and higher until finally his blank thoughts were interrupted by an almost impatient voice.
"Is this how you usually spend your time in the morning?"
Avalon's head turned to the new voice, "Ah, Kazan, I was only trying to figure out why in the world I should even try to get up this morning, but I couldn't find a suitable answer."
"I have one," Kazan said presently. From behind his back; he took out the dreaded sword from yesterday.
Avalon looked at it pensively, "You're wasting your time, you know."
"Yes, so I've heard, but it's important that you learn to defend yourself."
"Yes, so I've heard as well."
Kazan pondered whether he should toss the sword at him, but he thought better of it when he rightly deduced that Avalon's reaction time would be pitiful.
"I'll be waiting for you. As soon as you're ready we'll get started."
Avalon assumed a rather grim expression, but nodded to him silently. It was enough for Kazan who soon exited the room. Getting out of bed, however, was easier said than done. An entire thirty minutes passed before he stepped out into the main room where the fire usually crackled.
Kazan noted the layers of clothing he had on and shook his head with amusement.
"So, I take it you haven't seen too much of the cold weather before."
"I purposely try to avoid it," Avalon said back.
Anyone could have guessed that Avalon spent his days in a sunny climate. His skin was almost as golden as his eyes, akin to the shade of honey.
Glittery eyes looked at Kazan expectantly, waiting for him to begin their little "training". A little put off still from Avalon's presence being so nearby, Kazan took a moment to begin. When he did, Avalon found that it was simply a repeat of the last lesson. This time, however, Avalon didn't find it to be nearly as frustrating.
Little by little his body was growing used to the feel of a sword in its hands. Avalon didn't look half as awkward as he did before, but his movements still were akin to a bumbling ten year old. Kazan was only glad that Avalon was putting honest effort into it.
What surprised Kazan the most was Avalon's attitude. When put into his shoes, Kazan was sure he would have been acting far differently especially if there was someone else telling him what to do. Avalon wasn't so much as embarrassed or sour about anything. In fact, he seemed above such emotions as if nothing could ever upset him anymore. Kazan wouldn't go as far as to say that he was perfect, but he was rather calm and quite open to him.
After a while—2 hours to be exact—Avalon was far too tired out to do much else at least according to Avalon. Kazan could never tell when he was exhausted—he never sweats—but Avalon was more than willing to let him know. In his awkward, almost comical way, he would sheath his blade and Kazan would know immediately to back off. When Kazan inquired what else he would be doing that day, he received a shrug. In reality, what exactly would Avalon be doing? If he wasn't trying to demolish the world as they knew it or training, what could he instead be doing in his free time? Kazan felt inclined to fill that void of inactivity, but Avalon quickly declared that he didn't want to be dragged along on some "silly routine expedition". Without further discussion, Kazan left Avalon to his own devices.
For a while, Avalon simply sat down near the established fireplace that was now little more than blackened earth. Until then, Avalon hadn't known it was possible to go an entire half hour without even a sliver of a thought. He sat so still and motionless that he almost mistook it as actually sleeping yet his eyes were open. Eventually, when he discerned that he had enough energy, he climbed to his feet and exited through the back door.
It was as if the memories of Igohl were all his mind could muster up the energy to think of. On days like these when there was absolutely nothing to do, Igohl would insist on training. Not in the physical aspect, but mentally. Igohl could be quite irritating if he put his mind to it and the entire time he would be testing. For how long could he sustain a passive mood? For how long could he stop himself from reacting negatively? Little did Igohl know that it wasn't even a question for Avalon. He had a rather uncanny habit of disregarding anything that was too ridiculous or wasn't worth his time.
Now Avalon was greeted with nothing more than silence. There was nothing to fill the void that he felt so heavily. Being utterly alone was a new sensation. Igohl, since the day he was born had always been with him whether subconsciously or consciously. The silence seemed threatening, not welcoming as it used to be. In fact, it was a bit apprehensive.
Wanting no more of it, he went forth to the only other person he felt like dealing with—Mrs. Henry. He trudged out into the cold, relentless snow and took maybe 15 minutes traveling to her home. She was quite welcoming, almost overjoyed at seeing him as she answered his knocking on the door. Soon Avalon found himself sitting down on her freshly cleaned furniture in the living room near the calmly crackling fire. On the table next to him sat her famous hot chocolate.
The atmosphere was perfect. Avalon couldn't think of a better place to be. The hot liquid was soothing to him and the amount of sugar content not at all surprising or overwhelming. Once again, he found himself speaking freely. It became harder and harder to maintain his usual guarded self. Mrs. Henry smiled at him and his mood seemed to lighten to a degree he wasn't used to.
"How are you feeling now? I know you've had a trying last week."
"Better than expected, I suppose. The fact that I'm alive is good enough for me."
"I wish there was something more I could have done…"
"No, you've done quite enough. If I'm not mistaken, it was your voice I kept hearing every day."
"You remember?"
"It was like a dream. I couldn't think of where I heard that voice until now. What were you saying…?" Avalon pondered aloud.
"I was only reading poetry." Mrs. Henry put her mug down, "I was scared, you know. Everyday things got worse…and I began to think of my husband. I didn't want it to happen again, but at the same time, I couldn't help at all so I just read you poems. Maybe if you heard my voice, maybe you'd have something living to hold onto…maybe you'd…"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. And you helped me a lot. On my own, I never hope that something good is going to happen—I don't deserve such things. But when there's someone else, I don't want to let them down. When I heard that voice, it made me want to live."
Tears were beginning to brim from Mrs. Henry's eyes. Avalon looked over at her with concern.
"Is there something wrong?" Avalon started.
"No, no, I'm fine. Sometimes emotions take control of me. It's just, no one's ever said such a thing to me."
"It seems my words are having the opposite effect on you."
"What do you mean?"
"I wanted you to smile again and here you are crying. I've never been good at such things as encouragement."
Mrs. Henry smiled at this, "No, you're doing fine. Not to worry. These are happy tears."
"Happy tears?"
"Haven't you ever heard of crying for joy?"
"What a paradox. Tears can be considered happy."
"Sometimes you can become so happy that your eyes start to water up. Maybe it'll happen to you one day."
"Perhaps. Things that I never thought could happen tend to do just that these days. Even now, sitting here talking to you isn't something I imagined myself doing."
"Do you regret it?"
"Not at all," Avalon said with a grin, "It is a nice change of pace."
"Well, you know, I thought I was going to live out the rest of my days on my own with the occasional visit of Maya and I was perfectly fine with that, but when you showed up, I began to rethink things."
"In what way?"
"That maybe I was meant to do one last thing with my life." Mrs. Henry looked at him steadily. "It brings me great joy that I can be of service to you. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't care."
"Well, if it is so that I bring meaning to your life, I am glad to be of service. I've spent the majority of my life only bring harm to others—someone like that wouldn't be capable of genuinely helping another."
"That's not true at all. You're doing a great job of it now. The kids around here adore you and word has traveled fast about your healing powers that rivals even Maya herself. You are well loved around here. Dare I say…this could be your home."
"A home," Avalon repeated almost to himself, "Do you really think so?"
"Anything is possible," she said reassuringly.
Avalon sat back into the sofa and took another swig of the hot liquid. "Tell me, Mrs. Henry, tell me about yourself and I'll tell you about me."
"Alright," Mrs. Henry said liking his train of thought, "But where to start? What do you want to hear about?"
"Well…" Avalon began pensively, "Things that you wouldn't openly tell someone else. Things you haven't talked about in a long time."
"Well, I don't usually talk about my childhood—people usually don't care to listen. It's rather uneventful…"
"That's fine with me. Normalcy isn't such a bad thing."
"Alright, well, when I was born here, there were maybe two other families that lived here. My parents told me that the rest of the world was involved with some great calamity and we were the few who sought only peace. My parents and other families had run through the Forest Maze for two days lost and hungry until they broke free of the forest. Somehow they persisted and by the time I was born, they had finally settled down. We were hidden from the world, oblivious to their plight. We developed our own rules and norms and we get along just fine. Me and two other boys were the first born of the new generation that would populate our small town.
"Those were the days. We were young with no cares in the world and we invented games all on our own."
"Those two boys. What were their names?" Avalon asked.
"One was Tommy and the other Clay. They were both rather adventurous and I was always the one trying to keep up with them. Soon, other children were born and they—me included—looked up to Tommy and Clay. They were brave, strong, and quite charming and they could have anything they want. It wasn't until they were seventeen when they talked of leaving the town. They included me in their plans because of my age and out of habit since we always did things together.
"I was horrified. The thought of leaving scared me to death and I told them this. I told them that I didn't want to go and that they should stay too. Everyone looked up to them and we were just a fledgling town with little society to speak of. This town couldn't afford their absence. They ignored me and told me that leaving was something that had been on their minds for years. They told me to stay since I was so concerned about the town."
Mrs. Henry looked over at Avalon who appeared to be dozing off.
"Why did you stop?" Avalon asked startling the other. His glittering eyes opened to her again.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were asleep."
"Was I? I guess I am used to hearing your voice in that way."
"The couch is all yours if you feel the need to lie down."
Avalon nodded to her, "Please continue."
"Alright. Well I stayed and they left. Tommy never made it back and Clay later became Maya's father after he survived his adventures. If he hadn't met Nazak or Kazan in Tanza, Clay may not have survived. Kazan was a strange one. Much like you, he was a complete enigma when he first began to live here. Everyone seemed a bit apprehensive of him. We just knew innately that there was something different about him and many people kept their distance."
"Fear of the unknown," Avalon said momentarily.
"Exactly. Clay trusted him and he made sure to let everyone know that Kazan was perfectly alright. Only time allowed us to accept him—not to mention that he was quite cheerful and sociable. People soon warmed up to him. Clay married the most beautiful woman in town—no, it was not me—and together they had a beautiful baby girl. It was as if their lives were blessed.
"Most people would say that between Clay and Tommy, Clay was the most handsome, but also the most strange. You see, he had the ability to heal people, but had for years kept it a secret. It wasn't until our town got hit with a plague epidemic that his abilities finally came to light. He could no longer keep it a secret. I mean, how could he? Our small town could have been wiped out easily had it not been for him. People were so desperate then that they would have accepted anything as long as they could be cured. Mind you, this was when Maya was still a baby. Clay went around to everyone's home—and it was maybe 7 homes—and he cured everyone. Then it became commonplace. Everyone knew him to be a healer and he was well respected."
Mrs. Henry looked again at Avalon who seemed to be fast asleep. She grinned at this. It was enough really that he was there with her.
"I bet Maya's having a fit right now. When she came over this morning, she told me you were resting and wouldn't be able to visit," Mrs. Henry said to herself.
"Now, how does that fit in with the story?" came the slightly slurred voice of Avalon.
Mrs. Henry was again surprised, "You're awake? Sorry, I was just thinking aloud."
"I suppose Maya is getting worried by now. I don't want to impose on you."
"No, you're not imposing. In fact, I wouldn't mind it at all if you stayed the night."
"Truly?"
"Like I said, the couch is all yours."
Mrs. Henry was delighted that he was actually contemplating it.
"Well, firstly, I want to hear the end of your story. Although, I wish you would speak more of yourself."
"Myself? Well, I just wasn't doing much of anything besides babysitting. I'm good with children. So many parents dropped their kids off with me."
"They must've been attracted to your personality."
"I suppose so. Everybody knew the inside of my house," Mrs. Henry said looking away as her eyes became misty with nostalgia. "All that changed when I met my husband Henry. He seemed to know me without me even having to say anything. We just connected. Everyone knew Henry; he was a bit of a hotshot and he managed to piss off almost everyone he met besides me that is. Conversation came easy and we would speak of everything. He liked to play flutes even though no one knew how to actually play it. It was a makeshift one he would always blow out of and he'd make so much racket, but I didn't mind. We got married after a year of dating—a norm in our society—and we had two kids: Kate and Patrick. They were so beautiful."
Mrs. Henry was on a roll when it came to her children. She could go on for days about them. An hour passed before she noticed that her only audience was already stretched out on the couch sound asleep. She wondered if it was for real this time.
"Avalon?" Mrs. Henry said cautiously, "You asleep?"
This time, there was no response just the sound of slow, deep breathing.
"Well, I guess I did get a little carried away. I never got to hear about you."
Mrs. Henry walked over to him and sat on the edge of the couch.
"Truth is, I always wonder if my life is fulfilled, if maybe I've missed something. I know it's silly. I'm too old for such thoughts."
"No it's not."
Mrs. Henry looked down at him slightly astonished at his utterance, "What, are you a light sleeper?"
"Well, I couldn't possibly let you continue on your ramblings without saying something."
"Oh, sorry, am I disturbing you."
"No, not really. Continue if you want."
"But I want to hear about you."
"Tomorrow. Later."
"What?"
"I'm really too tired to go into much details about myself. Your life sounds peaceful and you seemed to have persevered through every challenge life threw at you. You wonder if you've missed something and I believe you haven't."
"That's always nice to hear from another person."
"Indeed."
Avalon was already dozing off again and Mrs. Henry decided that he probably needed all the rest he could get. Maya sounded extremely worried about Avalon's health and how he had yet to reach 100% since the day she found him wounded. When Mrs. Henry looked at him, however, he didn't seem nearly as weak as Maya implied.
"Well, I'll let you sleep."
As she stood up, there were two sudden knocks on the door. Instinctively, she began towards the door, but she felt herself being stopped by a strong hand. At that moment, their hands clasped. A shiver ran down her spine. It was the first physical contact she had had with him.
"Don't you think it's rather late for someone to be knocking on your door?" came Avalon in a stern voice.
Mrs. Henry's head turned to Avalon and found that he was surprisingly alert. His eyes seemed to have a light of their own.
"It could be a child who got lost in the dark."
"No, it isn't."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Stay here. I'll answer it," Avalon said as he stood up. He walked forth a few paces before he thought better of his last statement. "It's…not safe. It would be in your best interest if you allowed me to answer it."
Avalon sounded quite serious and Mrs. Henry knew it would be quite foolish not to take his offer. "You may."
Mrs. Henry watched as Avalon made his way to the door and opened it cautiously. He only pulled the door back just enough so he could peer through, but Mrs. Henry couldn't tell who was there. Avalon spoke in low tones to the stranger and Mrs. Henry became quite concerned.
Suddenly his eyes were on her and he put a finger against his mouth gesturing her to remain quiet. Mrs. Henry was mystified. All at once, Avalon stepped outside and shut the door behind him.
"Avalon," Mrs. Henry whispered frantically.
Despite herself, she crept to the door to listen, but all she could hear outside was the howling night wind.
"Avalon," she whispered a little louder.
She stood at the door for a good five minutes with stilled breath until the door opened. She moved aside to let him through and he closed the door promptly behind him.
"It's fine. Everything is fine now," he said, but his voice sounded haunted.
"Avalon, what happened?"
"Nothing…of concern, I mean."
His back was to her so he couldn't see his expression.
"Just tell me."
Mrs. Henry followed him to the couch where he sat down. His eyes were closed in deep thought.
"I'm not sure. I was asked something. I didn't like their offer and I refused."
"What was the question?"
"It's not important," Avalon said steadily, "When I refused, I was given some bad news—that time was not on my side, that in a matter of 2 weeks if something isn't done, my body would no longer be my own and I would become a slave for all eternity."
Mrs. Henry blinked twice at this, "Why, that doesn't make much sense at all."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Henry, that I have to leave you so much in the dark. I wish I could tell you more, but it is better this way. You've lived a peaceful life and I think it should remain so."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'd understand if you'd explain."
"I'm too tired," he said heavily, "I enjoy your company and I respect you, but…"
"Yes, I know. How old did you say you were again?"
"The truth is, I don't really know myself."
A look of surprise crossed Avalon's face when he felt Mrs. Henry's hand on his forehead.
"You're running a fever," then she pulled her hand back, "I guess it is like Maya says. You really shouldn't be exerting yourself at all."
"You're beginning to sound like her. Was it wrong of me to come visit?"
"It's too late for all that, don't you think? Just get some rest and feel better tomorrow."
"Mrs. Henry, I may have to leave sooner than I thought. I'm not overly concerned of my health, but there's something I must do immediately perhaps even tomorrow."
"I care about your health—
"I know. I appreciate your concern, but it can't be helped."
"Is there any way that I can help?" Mrs. Henry asked at last.
"No, I think you've already done enough. In any case, it is getting rather late," he said with a yawn that could no longer be held back.
"It is," Mrs. Henry said walking over to the candles to blow them out. Get some rest."
It was pitch black as Mrs. Henry traversed to her room. She didn't go inside, however. She waited to hear Avalon's movements. Her ears were even more alert than usual and it was a good thing for Avalon made little noise as he made himself comfortable on the couch. When she heard the normal breathing patterns of someone asleep, she finally entered her room. As long as Avalon was at rest, she could do the same.