Staring up at a blood-red sky, Blake felt the humid air sting his skin. His breaths came in short and raspy like there was no air. The ground was rough with black stone that formed into mountains, reaching for the blood-red sky like they were trying to pierce it.
Blake noticed that the stones were wet and he flinched when his skin touched the wetness, feeling the burning sensation on his skin. He rose hastily, rubbing his hands on his clothes to get rid of the burning wetness. His skin flamed red and he noticed that his shoes seemed to sizzle.
"What is this place?" Blake thought, noticing that nothing seemed alive in this horrid place filled with acid water. As the sky started to rumble, like it was warning him for the incoming rain, Blake hurriedly tried to reach for his powers. Trying to open a portal but... Nothing happens. He couldn't reach his source. This place was like a void, sucking away all magic.
The sky rumbled again, and Blake was now in full panic, trying to sense anything at all. A faint flicker of magic flowed into his mind. Like the flicker of a candle. Frowning, Blake focused on the source of the magic and felt it just a few steps away from him. His eyes turned toward a large stone and he walked carefully around it to see a dark fountain. It looked old and dark smoke was coming out of it. The magic coming out of it though was familiar. It was very similar to the hearth Ahriman had pulled out. It was almost identical though this one looked older, and scorched.
Feeling hope seep into his heart, Blake rushed over and leaned over the hearth, wondering how it worked. Much to his bemusement, the black smoke parted showing a reflection in the water. He saw Ahriman's reflection. He was looking away from him, talking to someone on the other side.
"Ahriman!" Blake shouted at the reflection, having a vague hope that he might hear him. The reflection didn't react at first, then Ahriman looked back at what Blake must assume was the hearth in the mortal realm. His eyes met Blake's and then his eyes went wide. Blake let out a sigh of relief. Ahriman could see him.
A flash crossed the sky, making Blake flinch. The rumbling of thunder had become louder and Blake could almost smell the incoming rain.
"Ahriman," Blake whimpered.
Like his voice reached him, Blake almost cried when the familiar arms reached around him and touched the fountain.
"Get closer to me," Ahriman's voice whispered and Blake trusted him without hesitation, pressing himself toward his chest. A small barrier pushed out of the fountain just in time to protect them from the rain.
The drops were green, sizzling and burning the ground as they touched it.
"What is that?" Blake whispered, still pressing himself close to Ahriman.
"The tears of Hel, the archon of death. It kills anything living touching it. Well, not an archon like me though. It just burns me, which is why my brother ensures that each day the rain falls for an hour, burning me," Ahriman said grimly, glancing up at the barrier. "It is strong once more. It kept flickering in the mortal realm..."
"So this is-"
"My prison."
"When I tried to escape, I tried to open a portal to where you were. How did I come to be here?" Blake asked.
"This is where my true self is bound. What you summons is only a reflection. A temporary refuge for me out of this place."
"Then how do we escape?"
Blake noticed that Ahriman didn't answer, looking up at a clenched jaw. "Ahriman?"
"There is no escape. Only my brother can come and go as he pleases. All other things are trapped in here."
"That can't be true!"
"It is but... All prisons have a lock that can be broken. That is the law of these kinds of prisons. When a certain requirement is fulfilled, the lock is opened and I go free," Ahriman explained looking down at Blake. "I bound my tongue to ensure that I never can fulfill those requirements no matter how much torture my brother puts me through."
"Why? Just give him what he wants," Blake muttered, but Ahriman suddenly hushed him. His body going tense. Blake was confused as Ahriman pushed him closer, hiding him behind his body.
Then a quiet sigh, filled the sky. A misty light, crossed it and for a second, Blake could have sworn he heard a whisper. "Brother."
The voice was dark, and calm. A gasp almost escaped Blake as he realizes that it was almost identical to Ahriman's but the voice did not come from him. It came from behind Ahriman.
Blake wanted to peer at the newcomer, but Ahriman just pushed him back into his embrace. Peering down, Blake notices a muddled reflection in the puddle after the rain. A white-haired man with black skin and white long clothes stood there, his face was hidden by the raindrops though.
"This is the first time I have seen you be able to use your hearth to anything other than spying on the boy," the voice said.
"I have many talents," Ahriman replied, his voice tense.
"True," the word came out like a sigh, and something hit the barrier. Ahriman forced Blake under the fountain and shielded him with his body as rain pierced the flickering barrier. Blake forced a hand over his mouth muffling the scream wanting to escape him when the rain scorched Ahriman who grimaced. His head bent, looking down at Blake.
"It's okay, little one," Ahriman whispered, trying to give him a smile. "Just be quiet."
"Your tricks mean nothing to me though," the voice said, seemingly not noticing Ahriman's strange posture as he shielded Blake from view. "Tell me where he is."
"Where is who?" Ahriman said, his eyes glowing as he held Blake's gaze.
"Are you acting the fool? Where is your son? Tell me and your prison will be broken."
Blake felt his heart stop beating and his breath caught in his throat.
He comes every day and asks the location of my treasure. Every day I refuse him and have to stay one more day in that hellish place.
Ahriman smiled down at Blake who stared back at him. Thoughts and memories keep flashing into his mind like the unrelenting stream of a river.
"Not really, but my brother's mission to destroy me was never realized. Well, until recently when he found out my greatest weakness."
"Oh?"
"Something very important. That defined who I am. What I am. He threatens it so I conceded."
"Was it that important?" Blake asked.
"It became the very reason that I existed."
"Where is the boy?" the voice repeated, but Ahriman didn't reply. He just continued to stare at Blake. Blake stared back into a face he always found slightly similar to his own.
"All of them are useful with the right circumstance," Ahriman shrugged.
"You say so but I wonder how these are of any use. This one seems to be straight from Greek mythology. Turning into a person's husband or wife. Most likely to sleep with them. What is it doing in this grimoire?"
"For fun. I used it plenty of times for amusement. Nothing is more fun than to create chaos by having the wife mistakenly sleep with another man."
Remembering his and Ahriman's threads of fates being connected, Blake wanted to cry. How can he not have noticed?
My guess is Ahriman wanted you protected until he could form a contract with you.
It was right in front of him this entire time.
"There is no name for you, Blake. At least not in the way shifters and witches exist. All you have is some simple words that describe you. Words that define who and what you are. I won't tell you. Not because I don't want to, because I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I bound the words to never be uttered by me. I did it to protect you."
People kept saying it. Why didn't he listen?
"Are you lost, little one. Where is your parent?"
"So pure, when were you born? From who?"
"I was born 17 years ago in Kingsland. My parents are Jacob Oakley and Mary Oakley!"
"Humans? No, that's-"
Blake felt tears fall from his eyes as he watched the man shielding him from the burning rain, refusing to let him go with his eyes.
"It is okay. I can wait. Time is nothing to an archon, I have waited for so long to hear you say it and I can wait a bit more."
"Father?" Blake whispered, feeling his voice hitch at the sound of a word that seemed so true. A word filled with longing, like he had waited to say it for an eternity.
Ahriman just smiled, his eyes so gentle despite the agony currently burning his skin.
"Where is the boy, Ahriman?" asked the voice. "Answer or I will leave you here once more."
Blake took a deep breath, grabbing onto his father's clothes, not fearing if he would be burned. Grabbing hold of his courage before it fled, he forced his voice steady. "I'm here!"
All hell broke loose as the rain stopped, and the sky seemed to crack. A storm ripped through the space, almost making Blake fly off the stony ground, but Ahriman grabbed hold of him, jumping into the air.
Blake looked down, staring into the face that had tried so hard to find him. It was identical to Ahriman's, only the color scheme was reversed. Instead of two irises filled with flames, stood a man who seemed to have the shifting of the sky fill his eyes. Clouds moved across the blue background, making them strange but everlasting.
His uncle just stood there, the face unchanged from before, watching them as Ahriman pulled him out of the broken prison and into a black void that was the space between realms.
"Where are we going?" asked Blake, finally looking back at Ahriman when his uncle's shape was gone.
"Home," Ahriman said. "I fear Elyon will follow us, but there isn't much we can do now that he knows your face."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Ahriman sighed, giving Blake a smile. "I protected you for as long as I could but I did so many mistakes and you suffered so much that I couldn't leave you alone. I had to go to you and I knew that if I did, it would only be a matter of time before my brother would find you."
"Mistakes?"
"So many, I will need to tell you about them but first, let's clean up whatever mess Nemain has left us."