To Be Wanted

Wandering Alone

      As Jet carries me back to Corrisea, I feel myself fading in and out of darkness and I can barely keep myself from passing out. While I remained conscious and could feel Jet's arms around me, my vision would blackout and restore itself every so often, giving me the illusion that the Urriempes around us were jumping around space as though by magic, however as Jet does not seem too concerned by the sight, I assume it is simply me hallucinating.
      I felt as though I were dozing off and waking back up, I even counted, managing to reach a thousand without ever stopping or having a sudden jump in numbers as if my brain cut out some of it.
      As we entered the kingdom, the townspeople begin to surround us, each looking rather concerned as they do. I vaguely remember a good number of them offering to help out any way that they could, however Caliama simply replies to them that she and her guards, alongside Jet, had it covered but that the offers were appreciated.
      She explains how there was nothing to fear, however, I could tell she herself was worried. We head into the castle and I am brought to Caliama's room as it was the most secure room in the kingdom, even over the throne room. Jet lies me down on the bed before he and Caliama rush over to a desk across the room from me.
      There were all kinds of jars and bottles on it, filled with blue and green and red colored liquids and even some sand-like textured contents, it almost seemed as though a witch brewed potions over there.
      They take two jars and one bottle filled with a bright red, almost fiery liquid and set them aside before gathering a mortar, pestle, and a mixing bowl.
      Caliama used her powers to push aside some of the water around their supplies to form a bubble of air so that whatever they create doesn't become affected by the water of the lake.
      They take what appeared to be strands of kelp and use the mortar to crush it into a leafy powder which they then pour into the mixing bowl. They then opened the second jar which contained an already finely ground gray powder which, seeing the look on Jet and Caliama's faces, seemed to be quite unpleasant to work with.
      They take two scoops of the powder and dump it into the bowl before using a pipette and dropping three drops of the red liquid into the mixture.
      As they stirred it all together with a rather large wooden spoon, the mixture began to form a thick green paste from the hydration of the kelp and the little bit of the strange glowing liquid.
      Once the paste was ready, Jet brought it over and, with the help of Caliama's air bubble, carefully applied the mixture onto my wings and along my collarbones as that was as close they could apply it to the burn area on my chest without things getting super awkward.
      He used as much as he could over the more badly damaged areas of my body before applying the rest of the paste on my gills so that it would be absorbed into my bloodstream through my breathing. He hoped that by doing this it would restore any damage elsewhere in my body and internally repair my heart.
      I then begin to feel tired, presumably from the paste, so Jet and Caliama leave the room and assign two guards to stand by the door whilst two more patrol the halls. Jet was sure I would be okay, even if he still remained unsure about what exactly was put into the mixture, however he was still worried.
      Altridem was not going to give up chasing after me, even though I was safe and under constant supervision, he still knew that somehow he was going to get to me again. The stress began to cause him to pace up and down the hall.
      "She will be fine, Jetimel." Caliama attempts to comfort the concerned god. "The medicine administered shall repair the damaged tissue from the electrocution, it also has properties of painkillers and sedative so that she may sleep through the accelerated rate of restoration in her tissue which, without it, would have caused her a great deal of pain.
      When she wakes up, she will be refreshed and all better. There is nothing to worry about."
      "What was that dust we put into the mixture anyway, it was unlabeled." Jet looks at her with a raised eyebrow. It seemed as though she were stifling back a laugh.
      "Crushed Marrow feathers. I suppose you figured that as their protectors, we were against harvesting shed feathers that drifted into our kingdom?"
      "What did you do to her?" He raises his voice slightly, seemed even more concerned.
      "Nothing Jetimel. You do remember that the feathers have healing properties, not only ones that the Veltsen spies used for color changing.
      When a spy was required to change their wing colors, they were required to pluck out their old feathers, a process which in itself would be painful, they then would have to rapidly grow new feathers in the color they required which also tended to be painful, which is where the healing properties came in handy."
      "So. the feathers are what is healing the damage he did to her?"
      "Correct. The kelp became a natural painkiller when crushed and the red stuff, which happened to be extract from Potella petals, was the sedative.
      We had to learn that lesson the hard way, a few of my subjects began to grow the plants as a new food source, however upon ingestion, they soon dozed off and awoke a few hours later. Our medics now prescribe said petals for those suffering from insomnia."
      "Everyone gets a good night's sleep, no wonder you are all so peaceful. So, the queen will be fine?"
      "Yes, Jetimel. Better than fine, I should hope. For now, we have another task at hand; figuring out what Altridem's next move is."
      Altridem's next move, something which not even Pironem could fathom. Not that he really cared, of course, more so he was fed up with his brother's crazy antics.
      He could not understand why Altridem had not simply come to him and told him about Hades, it broke his trust with him as Altridem couldn't trust his own bother with a serious part of his life, one that now threatened Pironem as well.
      Now, as a result of his secrecy, Hades now threatens them both. Whilst it was a nice thought that Altridem desired to protect his younger sibling, he was going about it entirely the wrong way.
      Pironem trudges into an abandoned weapons storage unit in the building. It, like many more scattered about Xieren tower, was built back when the Veltsen still used swords, however, now that they were now creating more advanced weapons and technology, they had no more use for the dusty, worn-out bits of rusted metal they once used.
      Dozens of shelves line the walls, each housing different types of swords, bayonets for rifles, broadswords, all the likes, and those were just the ones that he could name, not that gave any interest to their names, he was more concerned about how sharp they were.
      He couldn't help but think back to when he and Altridem were only little kids, innocent and free, or rather at least Pironem was. They were the best of friends at a young age and now, thinking about it, it began to make sense why Altridem decided to lock himself in a room and talk aimlessly to himself.
      The reality was, even from a young age, Altridem actively spoke with Hades whom had been tirelessly to mold Altridem into a cold-blooded killer. Then, it clicked. Altridem had killed the sons of the previous Veltsen leader, following with the leader himself. Pironem could only assume it was on Hades command. Still, those poor boys.
      Nevertheless, it still did not change the fact that Altridem truly believes in this corrupted government, how could he not, Hades forced his image of the world on an impressionable young boy so it can come as no surprise for him to have grown up so warped.
      Pironem sighs, if the Veltsen ruling over Iveska was the future that had been decided for Iveska, than he desired to play no part in it. He grabs a sword from one of the shelves and tests how sharp it is by making a small cut on his finger, rather easily in fact. He decides that this sword would work just nicely for what he had in mind.
      No, despite what you might believe, he was not planning to kill his brother. Pironem could see his place in things quite clearly, he didn't belong with the Veltsen, and given his heritage, he would never be accepted into the Sevitan even if he did possess the ability to change his wing color.
      If he couldn't belong to one side and wanted nothing to do with the other, he made sure to remove himself from the equation so that he couldn't be used again. He places the blade of the sword behind his back and, one after the other, he cuts off his wings.
      He stiles back a pained scream, falling to his knees weakly. Sure, it was painful, however it was the price to pay to show to the world, not only his brother, that he would not stand by him and that not all of the Veltsen are the same.
      From the moment that his wings hit the ground, even with the intense pain and blood pouring down his back, he felt free, dizzy but free. He felt as though he were no longer tied to either side, I mean without his wings, you really could not tell which side he belonged to if not for his clothes, he felt like a kid again.
      It began to remind him of a man he knew when he and his brother were little. Pironem and Altridem were disowned by their parents when Pironem was still small after they learned what their eldest son had done, only disowning Pironem as well after he defended him, believing that his big brother would never hurt another being.
      The brothers were forced to live on the streets for a while, everyone knew what Altridem had done, each person they passed knew he had done, as a result, they stayed as far from the pair as they could manage.
      There was one man whom was not afraid of them, however. This man had no wings, he had removed them when he was a teen to be donated to his older sister who had lost her own to cancer. The man was honorable and took in the brothers, raising them as his own. Whilst he became quite fond of little Pironem, whom was a little ball of energy as a kid, it was not as easy to bond with Altridem.
      After being disowned, Altridem kept to himself throughout many of his childhood years and well into his teens, continuing to speak with Hades and plot in secret.
      Everyone believed that Altridem had gone crazy, a few times having been sent to a mental institution as it got so bad, likely encouraging further to team up with the lord of the underworld.
      The man who took them in began to reach his wit's end, eventually snapping at Altridem, asking why he couldn't be normal like his brother. It hurt them both to hear and one day, the man sort of... Disappeared.
      A few days later, his body turned up in a ditch, multiple stab wounds across his torso. When the funeral came around, only the man's sister and Pironem bothered to show up.
      None of his friends, nor his family and neither did Altridem. It occurred to Pironem only now, there in the storage room, that is must have been Altridem who killed him.
      It was around that same day that Altridem had become the new Veltsen leader. It killed Pironem to become a soldier for the Veltsen government, he knew what they stood for was wrong, however, he chose to stand by his brother who soon became quite the leader relatively fast.
      Since that day, Pironem had stuck by him, idly watching whilst his brother plots the future queen's demise. He shakes his head, no more, no more will he sit around whilst innocent people are hurt.
      He sneaks off into a hall, holding his sword up to a torch, attempting to get it as hot as possible before pressing it against the bleeding stubs that were once his wings, cauterizing them almost as painfully as they were removed.
      He then uses the sword to make a small tear in his shirt before ripping it apart, allowing the sword to clatter to the ground, and turning the fabric into a makeshift bandage which he wraps around his chest and back.
      When he soon begins to hear people approaching, Pironem takes off and heads down a secret passage tunnel which was a shortcut out of the governing sector for the Veltsen. Upon reaching the end, Pironem stands in the darkness, only the dim light of the three moons lighting his way, glowing down onto him from above.
      There was one place that was calling to him, his childhood home which has sat abandoned for years, gathering dust and cobwebs, collections of spiders and who knows what else.
      Luckily, even on foot, it was not long of a trek, mere minutes, and the path there brought back many memories for him. Playing in the front yard with Altridem, cooking with his mother, family game night, riding his trike alongside his brother.
      It all went away, it was all gone the instant that they disowned him and his brother. He steps up to the door and gently pushes on the rotted wood which had begun to be eaten away by termites and sat on rusty hinges.
      The walls inside which were once bright and colorful, full of life and cheer, now sit faded and gray with the years of collected dust. There were no more furniture, not even the kitchen help a single cabinet. It was all gone, everything that Pironem once cherished, all because Altridem gave in to Hades' temptations.
      Pironem then went to his old bedroom, the carpeting grew molded and the ceiling fan above now sat hanging by its wires. He sits down in the corner where his bed used to be, pulls his knees to his chest and rocks back and forth as the tears begin to fall down his face. He was alone.
      Always alone.