To Be Wanted

Confrontations

      A week of silence passes, not a single movement on Altridem's part- that is until the day of the funeral in the wake of the Festival of Kings fire. Unfortunately, not everyone managed to escape in time and many families had lost loved ones.
      You could feel the sorrow in the air, the tears soaked the grass as each coffin was lowered into the ground. People are quite close in Iveska, so many of the families were friends and attended each of the funerals, hundreds of people gathered around each grave and hundreds of bouquets of flowers brought to the occasion.
      Jet and I were on our way there as well, we ourselves did not know any of the deceased, however, as it was kind of our fault, we decided it would be best to go and pay our respects, however, it appears someone beat us there.
      Standing against a tree, smiling at all the pain and suffering, was Altridem. He loved to watch the aftermath of the terror and disaster he had caused, how they stood together in remembrance. Altridem was a tortured soul himself, and it made him feel better knowing that others were tormented like him. He then noticed a little boy, sitting by himself, who looked a lot like himself.
      It began to remind him of the days he spent as a kid, sitting on his own whilst his brother would run around with all the other neighborhood kids, happily jumping around, playing soccer and tag while Altridem would watch and hope to one day join.
      However, he wasn't like the other kids, they knew it too, he heard the voices in his head, planted there by Hades. No-one else heard the voices, and Altridem had all but given up trying to convince them.
      Altridem struts on over to the boy, who he himself was sitting and watching one of his younger siblings playing with the other kids.
      None of them understood the concept of death, they didn't truly know just why they had to be sad, all they knew was that someone they know was gone and they ran around with the hope that one day they would return, they didn't know that they couldn't.
      He kneels in front of the boy, who had tears running down his face. He wasn't sure if the tears were from the funeral or from the loneliness, it didn't matter though, he was still planning to exploit it.
      "Hey there, buddy." He says, using his best comforting voice. "What's wrong?"
      "My little sister is gone. She was my best friend. Now all I have is my brother, and he never plays with me." He cries.
      "You know something? I have a brother. When I was your age, I was in the exact same position you are now. He would go off and play with the other kids, no-one paid any attention to me... until I gained power. Then, then they started to listen. I am the most powerful Veltsen in all of Iveska."
      "And you think I will be the same with Sevitans one day?" He seemed hopeful, however, Altridem had a devilish smile on his face.
      "Of course not. Soon, Iveska shall be under the control of the Veltsen. The Sevitan will become a distant memory, just like your sister because she isn't coming back."
      The boy began to cry even more, and the saddest thing was that not a single member of his family noticed, not that he was crying nor that a strange man was talking to him, not his parents nor his brother.
      The person who did notice, however, was the person least expected by Altridem to appear. His younger brother, the man who cut off his wings to defy him.
      He rushes over and pulls his brother away from the kid. He was absolutely furious, it was the first time that Altridem had ever stooped low enough as to torment a child.
      After all, you would think that after all that he went through himself that he would know better. It was the first time, in public at least, that he had worn a shirt that had no holes in them for wings. You could see the nubs that were once his wings pressing against his shirt. It made Altridem sick.
      "It's alright, son. He didn't mean it, he is just in a grumpy mood." He comforts. "Go on, ask your brother if you can play with him, family matters, don't let time waste away on your own. It will make all the difference one day."
      He nods and runs off to join the other kids, who happily invite him to join them. Pironem glares at his brother, who begins shaking his head in disappointment.
      Altridem was beginning to grow impatient with his brother and his tiresome antics. Pironem couldn't help but stare at his brother's wings, which he practically flaunted.
      As much as he desired to have his wings back, being able to soar through the air was amazing, it had been his favorite past time, however, he made a choice, a choice to remove his wings to make a point to his brother.
      "Loving the new look, brother. Tell me, how does it hold up to flying?" He taunts.
      "Why would you say something like that to a kid?" Pironem hisses.
      "I was just reminding him of where he stood. He will never be as important as I am, as important as you once were."
      Jet and I stroll up to them, fully ready to fight them off if we have to, or rather Jet will, I am not sure how much fighting I can do with my bandaged hand and all, however, I can say that it was the first time that I got to properly see Pironem, see him and his brother, how they interact.
      Perhaps it was not the best first impression, however, I suspect that, with a brother like Altridem, arguing might be as good as it gets between them. Jet was absolutely fuming, storming up to them with clenched fists and metaphorical steam coming out of his ears.
      I nervously follow behind him, Altridem pulling Jet into the argument as we approach. They were essentially spouting whatever they could possibly think of against one another, at least until Pironem falls silent.
      He was staring right at me and it got to be a little uncomfortable, I think even Jet and Pironem were a little confused by that as they soon fall silent as well and watch him and I.
      "Uh, lovebirds, if you could stop ogling each other for five minutes?!" Altridem exclaims. Thanks, Altridem. I was already super sheepish and uncomfortable until this point, thanks for bringing even more attention to it.
      "Leave the queen alone, Altridem." Jet glares, venom in his voice.
      "Who even invited you into this conversation?"
      "You did."
      "What do you even have against them?" Pironem adds, turning to them, finally speaking once more.
      "You are taking their side?! You are a Veltsen, you need to act like it!"
      "With a brother like you? Why do you think I cut off my wings?"
      "You know what?" Altridem holds up his hands. "I am going to leave you three to chat. Brother, you can come find me when you figure out where your priorities lie."
      Altridem flies off, leaving us in awkward silence. Jet could only stand there, glaring at Pironem, neither of the pair saying a word. I will say though, with Altridem gone, Pironem seemed visibly more relaxed, even if he were a little comfortable because of Jet, he was stiff as a board with his brother looming around, now he looks so casual like he feels like he is in fine company. Which, I mean we are but I don't know if he knows that.
      "Why do you and your brother not get along? I thought family stuck together?" I question innocently.
      "I don't agree with the fact he wants to just kill someone innocent so that he can rule Iveska. I don't agree with him wanting to rule Iveska either. He just... He talks to someone, I think it's Ha-"
      "Hades. Yeah, it is the only thing that makes sense. Hades created the Veltsen, so of course, he would speak to the one who is currently at the top of the government food chain, to guide him in a way."
      "No, this has been going on since he was a kid, maybe even since the minute he was born. Like, I think Hades has had this planned for a while now, whether Altridem fails or succeeds, he knows, he has since the beginning. Either way, I can't stand by him."
      People were now starting to leave the funerals, which meant that they were bound to begin noticing a group of random strangers whom they do not recognize just standing around at a funeral, which they are not even properly dressed for. Jet takes a breath and turns to me.
      "My queen, might I speak to you in private for a moment?"
      I apologetically wave my hand at Pironem before scrambling off with Jet. He looked both worried and perhaps a tad defensive. I don't think he fully trusted Pironem despite all he has done to prove that he is not loyal to his brother, however, he still is a Veltsen and Jet does not have too good of a history with the Veltsen.
      It felt threatening to him, he was meant to protect me and keeping Pironem around would be a danger to that, yet somehow, I feel like I can trust him.
      "He cannot stay with us, your majesty." Jet declares.
      "And why not? Because of his brother? Because of his blood? He cut off his own wings, he can never fly again, all because he wanted to prove he didn't agree." I say. "He has given up everything, including his ties to the Veltsen, all because he doesn't want to help his brother."
      "But how do we know that we can trust him?"
      "If we couldn't, we would be dead a thousand times over by now. I mean, he is standing right there."
      Jet looks over, glaring at the ex-villain once more. He couldn't just let go of his distrust of him, he wasn't planning to, in fact, he was likely going to keep a strong eye on him as long as he is around his queen.
      In the end, though, he gave in. Hanging his head in defeat, he stops over to the patient Veltsen, who sits uncomfortably by the tree, arms behind his back, pacing around.
      He seemed almost lost in thought, feeling the wind breezing past, his feet in the wet grass, it almost seemed as though he were reminiscing about the time when he was a kid. He seemed so peaceful.
      "Alright. You can stick around, but if you make even a single move to hurt the queen then your wings won't be the only things that will have been cut off." Jet explains with a blank, unamused face.
      "Got it." Pironem gulps before nodding.
      "And, until I know we can fully trust you, you are not going anywhere near our main camp, just in case you try and steal anything."
      He nods once more, I think that not only was he afraid of his brother but Jet as well, after all, he did look like he would not take any antics from the poor Veltsen and would likely snap the man in two if he had to. Jet waves for us to follow him before running and jumping off.
      I grab Pironem's hand as tight as I can before flying after him. I kept on repeating in my head to not drop him, I legitimately had the life of another being in my hands at this moment.
      Jet takes up somewhere which I had not seen before, it seemed to be a more proper campsite, campfire, stumps for seats, even some angled leaf roofs to keep us dry. It was actually kind of nice, the whole thing provided a little more shelter than what I had gotten used to.
      Neither of the boys had spoken a word since we got there, at least not until Pironem decided to show off his skills a little. He found a long, thin rock and placed it over the flames atop a couple of other smaller rocks, he then proceeded to climb a tree.
      I hear the vague shuffling as he roams around in the branches with a bunch of annoyed birds flying off due to the disturbance. I hear him give a loud laugh before he carefully comes climbing back down.
      In his hands and pockets were five large bird eggs, not quite as large as the Marrow egg but still about as big as his hands. He then roams around and, after very careful inspection, picks a patch of mushrooms growing at the root of the tree.
      He uses the edge of one of the rocks and cracks open a couple of the eggs, pulling them open over the heated rock to make some nice sunny side up eggs. Luckily, there were no baby birdies in the eggs or I think that I would have vomited. He pulls apart the mushrooms and tosses it in the mix before using another rock, which he cleans on his shirt, to stir up the eggs and mushrooms into a nice scramble.
      "Should I be concerned about the toxicity of that?" I ask uncomfortably. "I mean, you climbed up a tree, grabbed some random eggs and wild mushrooms, undoubtedly one of those things would have to be bad for us?"
      "From the day I cut off my wings, I have been living out in the woods, but before I went, I grabbed a book on wildlife, vegetation, and fungus as I would need some sort of food out there.
      I studied that book for days, learning what kind of plants were edible, which weren't, how to tell, and what types of bird eggs were edible. Now, I know how to make some mean scrambled eggs." He grins. He then saw the look on Jet's face and gulps again. "If you don't trust me, I can make food for everyone and eat mine while yours is cooking. That way, any dangerous toxins will have already started to affect me by the time your food gets to you."
      Jet sighs, shaking his head and waving him off to continue cooking. It was really nice to have someone actually be able to cook some real food, Jet never does since he doesn't really need to eat, being a god and all, so it really is just something that happens every so often for him if he feels like it, I myself do not know how to cook wild food.
      The only time I really eat anymore is when Jet and I go exploring and we pass by some of the shops in town. Since I grew up in a foster home, many of the small businesses and restaurants nearby my school have gotten to know me well and will give me something to eat if I pass by at any point.
      We sit in silence once more as we eat, Jet and Pironem refusing to look at each other. It was definitely going to be a while before Jet and Pironem were to warm up to each other, especially Jet.
      He ate pretty quickly before going off to sulk around, he didn't even try and drag me along, it actually was scaring me a little, for something to bother him so badly that he doesn't even bother to try and keep me within eyesight with someone he doesn't trust... It has to be bad. And I need to find out why.