Isiah sighed and stretched his arms high. The warm summer sun beamed down upon him and the fields of green waved in the light breeze. Atop a nearby hill, the children whooped with joy, running about without a care in the world. Some sat on their own, lost in their own little worlds, but it was good to see some of them smiling again.
The class had just finished and he was giving the children a break before lunch was served. His grey robes fluttered in the wind and his long hair whipped at his face. He pushed it away with a sigh and turned down to the Sanctum. It was far nicer than all the Sanctum's he had seen before, mostly because he had built it himself with blueprints drawn by Emrick. All of it was new, styled after the homes in Ishmar, which sat on the horizon, less than a day's walk away.
Each of the homes were the same, two-storey buildings made of wood and stone with large glass windows and massive fireplaces to keep them warm in the winter. Not even his power could keep everyone warm at once. He made his home look like all the others in the new Sanctum, not needing much and not wanting to look like he valued himself higher. The only difference was the laboratory out the back, a telescope on top of it just like at Turian's laboratory.
In each home lived three children and one adult. There were only five buildings so far, but there were still people coming back from their pilgrimage, people who hadn't been there when Harudan had slaughtered the Sanctum of Ishin. One of whom was the girl who had been in Huton when he'd been captured, who had apologised profusely for her lack of judgement. Of course, it wasn't her fault.
All of them knew he was part of the Beast that was Promised. He couldn't exactly hide it, not when Ashera liked to scream it to the world. She lived with him and Emrick in the house at the end of the stone street, but was in Ishmar for a week to visit Nerin. Emrick wasn't with him either but was due to return within the next hour or so.
Things hadn't changed that much from when he'd been living at the old Sanctum of Ishin, life was peaceful for the first time in months, even though he constantly had to explain to newcomers what had happened. He had visited his old home once, to make a sign with the location of the new one. That hadn't been long after he'd returned from Ziya and taken back the children, but he didn't see the point in returning again. It would be left to be taken over by dust and weeds, a remnant of a false religion.
None of them prayed after Isiah told them the truth, even with Beast that was Promised right in front of them. He didn't pray either, if anything, he was starting to follow Emrick's way of life and looked to science to explain the answers of what the Old Gods had created. Praying to them did nothing. If he was going to do something, he had to do it himself, the same went for the rest of them.
Nerin, for the most part, was a good King, if Emrick was to be believed. He was working hard to make sure everyone was supported and they paid back Minisia exactly what was due. The border made it hard sometimes and some people were angry that there was a child on the throne, but they were dealing with it. Letters from Nerin and information from Emrick told him that Nerin had found a captain of his guard, but didn't want a general, which Isiah admired.
He sighed again, watching over the path that led from Ishmar to the new Sanctum. Very few times over the last few months, he'd seen people clad in grey robes wander down the path with confusion in their eyes. Explaining everything to them had been painful, but they had deserved to know. There were only four of them, barely enough to look after all the children, but they managed.
"Father!" one of the children called and he turned. He still wasn't used to the name, but he had been unable to stop them from calling him it. They called Emrick Father too, when he was there. And the one time Rina had visited, they had called her Mother.
"What is it?" he asked as two children ran towards them, one of them limping.
The limping one was crying. "I cut my knee," he said. He was only young, five or six, an orphan like all the rest of them.
Isiah picked him up and smiled at him. "We'll get something to fix that," he replied and walked down the hill towards his empty home. He had all sorts of medical supplies in there. While he may not be able to heal anyone like Rina, he could create things to help.
The purple sheen of the clouds to the east was a constant reminder of what the power of creation could do. He was still learning how to use it properly and hadn't found much of a reason to make changes to how the border worked, but when he eventually needed to, he would be able to do it with ease.
The little boy was quiet as Isiah placed him on the kitchen bench and dug around the cupboard for a bandage. "Thank you, Father," he whispered when Isiah placed it on his knee. Isiah kissed him on the forehead and pushed him towards the front door with orders to play again. The other adults were preparing lunch and would call them when it was ready.
"It always surprises me how good you are with the children," a familiar voice said from the doorway. Isiah whirled around the face Emrick and gasped at what he saw. "What? You don't like it?"
He shook his head as he moved closer. "It doesn't suit you," he said honestly, running a hand over his shaved hair. It felt strange under his fingers, prickly, but nice. "Sorry I wasn't there to greet you."
"Looks like you had a little emergency," Emrick replied, a smile on his pale face.
"Something like that," Isiah muttered, his eyes on Emrick's lips. With a roll of his eyes, the other man leaned forward and Isiah smiled into the kiss. It was the first time they had seen each other in more than a month and he was going to enjoy it for as long as possible. He held tight to Emrick's clothing and pushed closer, causing the other man to chuckle.
"Did you miss me?" he asked when he pulled away.
Isiah hummed and kissed his cheek. "Of course, I did," he answered and hugged him. "I should have been there for your ceremony. Rina's too. She did have hers, right?"
"She did. She's a Warrior too," he answered and pride swelled within him. He should have been there too, but the Sanctum had been his top priority when Emrick had finished his training. "And we both understood. This place is far more important than a ceremony. Besides, it was awkward and uncomfortable, you wouldn't have liked it."
He raised an eyebrow at him. "You're just saying that to make me feel better," he said, laughing when Emrick wrapped his arms around his waist.
"No, it's the truth. They weren't exactly happy to be welcoming a halfling into their ranks, Beast or not," he said and sighed. It must have been bad if he sounded that upset. The ceremony was supposed to be a happy affair, but from the look in Emrick's eyes, it wasn't.
He kissed his jaw. "I'm sorry," he mumbled and hugged him tighter. "How long until you go back to Ishmar?"
"Two weeks. Means I get to spend some time with you and my lab," he said with a chuckle. It felt so good to see him, but two weeks wasn't enough. He couldn't blame Emrick though, he had a job to do in Ishmar as Nerin advisor. It was part of the reason they had built so close to the capital city, so that it wasn't much of an issue to travel between places.
He hummed again and leaned his head against Emrick's shoulder. "You don't get to spend much time here," he said.
"That's why we're looking into getting a second advisor for Nerin so that I can concentrate on other things. I was thinking that I would take a background role as a royal scientist or something once Nerin gets himself sorted, continue on with Turian's work. What do you think?" he asked, pulling away to smile hopefully at him.
If he could spend more time in the place he had helped build, it would be good for everyone there. He could have more help looking after the twenty-odd children that ran around outside and spend more time with Emrick. It was what he had wanted when they started building, to be happy with someone for the first time in his life.
"Whatever makes you happy," he said and kissed him again.
When he finally pulled away from him, he caught sight of the bag sitting in the hall. He grabbed them and took them upstairs to the room they barely shared. But if Emrick did take a more background role at the palace, then they could share it more often. The thought of it brought a smile to his face.
Emrick stood in the kitchen when he came back down, staring out the window. "How are the children?" he asked.
"As well as can be, considering," he answered. Finding them all had been hard. Most had been in the palace, working as servants, but some had been stuck in the orphanages. He'd taken them all back and taken them out of Ishmar to an empty field Nerin had allowed them to build on. Since then, things had been good, for the most part. "How was Rina?"
"She's doing well, from what I could see. Of course, she's happy about being a Warrior, but she's actually taken on a budgeting role for King Ouron," he explained.
"To stop him from spending so much?"
Emrick nodded. "Exactly. I think what I told her months ago actually got through to her," he said, moving away from the window to hug him again. "She'll be a good Queen when she eventually gets the throne. Hopefully, her father will listen to her."
Rina would make a fantastic Queen, a better one than she expected. Isiah knew everything about her, about Emrick too, and he could see how committed she was to her country and her people. She wouldn't let them fall and she would never let tensions with Brenmar rise again, especially not with Nerin on the throne.
Sometimes, it was strange to know so much about two people and to know that those same two people knew just as much about him. When they joined together as the Beast during the rebuild efforts, he'd seen so much about them. All of Emrick and Rina's memories were his, he'd seen everything they'd done and somehow, it only brought them closer. No more secrets and no awkward discussions. They just accepted it for what it was.
Nothing changed when he looked at Emrick. He cared so much for the man and nothing could change that, not even all the things he had seen. Not all of it was good, but it didn't matter much to him. As far as he knew, Emrick didn't mind either, not that Isiah had many bad things to hide.
A voice called from one of the other buildings. Lunch was ready and the children cheered happily, running down from the hills. "We had better go, I'm hungry," Isiah said and stretched again. "I'm glad Rina's doing alright. I want to visit her when I have the chance."
"Next time I have to go, I'll take you with me," Emrick promised.
He smiled as they left the house, a few of the children catching sight of them and yelling greetings at them. "Gods, it's strange to be called Father," Isiah muttered with a shake of his head. He would probably never get used to it.
"If you think that's strange, you should hear what they call this place at the Sanctum of Askarune," Emrick said as they walked hand in hand down the cobbled path. "I went to visit them while we were there to make sure the bridge was working properly. It is, by the way."
The other adults, who he had dubbed monks when they arrived, greeted Emrick and Isiah with low bows when they walked around the back of one of the few houses. A large table had been set up in the back garden for all of them and Isiah stopped and watched as the children helped each other set up the table.
"What do they call us?" he asked.
"The Sanctum of the Beast."
He froze, a smile on his face as the children waved at him. It worked for them. They saw him as their God, all three of them. And even though not all of them were there all the time, it was still their new home. The war was done, everything was over and he could be happy with Emrick and the other followers of the Old Gods. Nerin was King of Brenmar, while Rina was well on her way to being the Queen she wanted to be.
For the first time since he had left the Sanctum of Ishin, he could relax and be happy, hopefully for the rest of his life. He leaned against Emrick's side. "I like that. The Sanctum of the Beast."
THE END
A.N: So, that's done!
It feels really weird that this is the end, but it was such a fun journey. Thank you guys so much for reading and coming along with these characters.
There are plenty of extras on patreon for $1 a month, including an evil Isiah/Beast Harudan AU. Epilogues for each of the characters are coming soon too.
If you can't afford patreon and still want to read more of my stuff, I have some older works on here and a new story, Boughs Of Eucalyptus, that you can check out.