Reunion

[Demeter]

Mirage blinked at her brother-in-law’s question and then peered around him to look into the arena. Kyros didn’t have much to do with the stables but he was very proud of them and wanted to know just who in the hell was riding Heaven’s Bane, Emerald Heart’s crown prince. Mirage squinted at the pair circling the arena. Once she recognized the rider, she smiled. “Aw, that’s just my nephew, Luca. He hired on as a groom last week while he sorts through some stuff.”

She could tell that the older man still wanted to know just why Luca was trotting Bane around the arena. “He’s actually doing me a big favor. Now that I’m banned from all riding,” she paused and patted her obviously pregnant belly, “because Odhran nearly passes out whenever he sees me on a horse. There’s no one to exercise Bane. The beast always manages to toss Odhran. You don’t need to worry about Luca on Bane. He’s been around the big boys all his life. His own mount, Shakhan’s Sunrise, is not only war trained but Bane’s nephew. He can handle the beast.”

Mirage smiled at Kyros until the man wandered away. Once his back was turned, Mirage turned troubled eyes towards the rider in the arena. She had no doubts that Luca could handle Bane but she wondered if they could handle him. Luca’s last episode, the one that had landed him here, had ended when his mother’s dragon had sat on him and resulted in his younger sisters being scared of him. Mirage knew in her heart that Luca wouldn’t hurt his family but what would happen if he was trapped in those awful memories.
She no longer had just herself to worry about, after all.
------

Luca concentrated on the animal beneath him. He was still getting to know Heaven’s Bane but he’d quickly learned to pay attention or the stallion would find some way to knock him from the saddle. He’d become friendly with the ground yesterday. He’d been dumped at least a dozen times yesterday.

The beating that Bane had delivered had exhausted him and he’d slept through the night. This morning, after caring for Sunrise, he’d headed straight for the stallion, intent on a second beating and exhaustion. The young horse, sensing Luca’s mood, choice that moment to act up.

After a round of swerves, hops and wild rearing, Bane kicked up his heels. During the first few bucks, Luca kicked his feet free of the stirrups and released the reins. And when Bane put real force behind his buck, Luca went flying over his heat. He landed hard on the ground, not even bothering at an attempt at rolling, and added to the bruises and aches. He grunted when one of Bane’s heavy hooves caught him on the thigh, leaving a dusty imprint on his jeans. He stayed on the ground for a moment before getting up and climbing back into the saddle.

It wasn’t until he was crawling on the ground, breathing deeply after catching a hoof to the gut, that he spotted the man. He knew him from the photos that his aunt had shown him. This man was Kyros, Uncle Odhran’s older brother and the family heir. He did not look happy at all.

[Maira]

Kyros believe Mirage that the young man was her nephew, even believed her that he knew how to handle himself on a horse of Bane's breed. What he didn't believe was that something fishy wasn't going on with the young man. Luca had a strange look in his eyes, almost like a feral animal waiting to attack or be attacked. Even though he wasn't as in tune with the big four-legged beasts as his brother, even Kyros could tell when a horse was anxious about the rider on his back and Bane had that look about him. Still, despite all of that, Kyros prowled out of the arena and headed to his brother's office in the barn. They needed to have a talk about Luca.

*****

Odhran watched as his brother paced along the long wall of his office in front of his desk. The look in Kyros's eyes was dark, haunted almost, and Odhran was worried. He'd never seen his brother look like that before and wasn't sure he wanted to know what was bothering the older man. Finally, Kyros stopped is pacing and demanded, "What do you know about Luca? He's riding Bane, who looks distraught at having the man on his back, and he looks dangerous himself. I don't care if he's family, if he's dangerous I don't want him here around the staff, horses, and most especially not around Bane. Our line depends on that horse too much for him to be damaged by some young wild man."

At his brother's sharp words, Odhran just blinked a few times before answering, "From what Mirage has told me, Luca has suffered a major loss recently. That probably explains the dangerous look to him. He's here because staying at home was too traumatic for him and he did snap and try and hurt somebody. That was stopped right quick, before he actually managed to hurt anybody, and he's been here since. The point is, Kyros, that he -is- family and he -needs- help. He's good with horses, wants the work, and needs love and support. Lucky for him I'm the one that makes the decisions for the farm instead of you, but we'll keep an eye on him and if he does do anything dangerous I'll let you talk to him and set him straight. How's that?"

Shocked out of his anger by his younger brother's unusually verbal exchange, Kyros nodded and answered, "Your farm, your rules brother," before turning and walking back out of Odhran's office."

Watching his brother's tense shoulders disappear out of his office door was like watching thundercloud drift away. There was a sense of relief for having survived the storm, but pitying whoever was going to get hit with it next.

*****

The short time that Kyros had been ranting to his brother was enough time for Mirage to leave the arena and when Kyros returned, he watched Luca and Bane from the shadows. The first time he saw Bane throw Luca, Kyros grinned smugly. Not even his expert rider brother could stay on Bane all the time. As time went on and Bane repeatedly threw Luca, Kyros started noticing little cues from rider to horse and those cues always resulted in the young man flying from into the air.

The emotions roiling through Kyros left him standing in shock the entire time he watched the spectacle in the arena. Only when Luca didn't get back up, did Kyros leave the shadows and move in closer to see what was going on. He'd seen Bane jump and prance after Luca had been dumped off and Kyros was worried maybe the beast had finally had enough and kicked Luca somewhere vital. As he peered over the arena's half wall, Kyros saw Luca crawling on the ground, a dusty hoofprint stamped onto the front of Luca's shirt. Glaring at the idiot, Kyros whistled for Bane who tossed his head twice before deciding to obey, and when the stallion trotted over to him Kyros gathered the reins, unlatched the gate, and took the sweaty horse out for a walk so that they could both cool down.

Only after Bane was cool, groomed, and fed did Kyros leave the barn and head up to the main house. Kyros didn't normally handle the horses himself but there were few of Odhran's staff that could actually handle Bane and, honestly, he didn't want to give Luca a chance to convince one of the staff to let him at the horse again. Before he got more than two steps into the house, Kyros could hear a young man's voice coming from the kitchen pleading, "I'm fine Aunt Mirage, really. Bane just decided we were done and let me know with a hoof to the gut."

When he entered the kitchen, the look Kyros saw Mirage directing at the young man was the only thing that kept him from telling her the rest of the story. Instead he cleared his throat and rescued Luca by saying, "Sorry I couldn't help you back to the house Luca, Bane was all fired up and it took a long time to get him to cool down." Seeing the wary look of gratitude in Luca's eyes, Kyros walked over and slipped an arm around the younger man's waist and suggested in no uncertain terms, "Lets get you upstairs and into the shower, the hot water will help with any stiffness you might have later." Not waiting for acceptance, Kyros bodily steered the younger man out of the kitchen and away from Mirage's proddings and questions that he was sure Luca didn't want to answer.

Only when they were upstairs and safely in the young man's ensuite bathroom did Kyros turn his own questioning glare on the younger man before demanding, "I'm not your aunt, I barely know you, what I want to know is why you were pissing off my brother's horse enough to make him throw you repeatedly."

[Demeter]

He'd only intended on getting something cold to drink before going back to the barn but Aunt Mirage was in the kitchen. She'd seen the print of Bane's hoof on his shirt. Before he'd noticed the concerned look on her face, she was asking if he was okay. The only was he'd gotten out of that interrogation was when that guy Kyros had swooped in and swept him away. 

And into an interrogation of his own. Kyros wanted to know just what he'd being doing with Bane. "Don't insult Bane's intelligence," he retorted. "I asked him to throw me. If he was pissed it was because he didn't want to throw me after doing so a dozen times yesterday."

On the last word, Luca whipped off his dusty shirt off and tossed it into a corner and started in on unbuckling his belt. Thanks to his training years, he was used to changing in front of people. It might have been because he was nonchalantly stripping in front of him but Luca had a feeling that Kyros quick intake of breath was because of the scars on his back. Extending from his shoulders to down below the waistband of his jeans, his back was a pitted, raised and twisted roadmap of torture. His thighs, left knee and abdomen were in a similar wrecked state. His grandmother Genesis would show up once a week to heal whatever damage he'd done to himself and to continue healing the leftovers from the older wounds. 

He caught Kyros eye in the mirror. He could see the question the older man wanted to asked. Over the past six months he'd heard the same questions again and again. Had he been mauled by a wild animal? In a horrible car accident? Burned alive? The answer of imprisonment and torture didn't made anyone less curious. He caught Kyros' gaze again. "I was held captive and tortured for three and a half days. I was sent here because I tried to kill my sisters. They were innocently giggling and practicing with their new swords in the courtyard. I couldn't tell them apart from the men who did this and attack. My mother's dragon tossed me to the ground seconds before I would have run my younger sister through. I terrify her now."

When Kyros stared at him, stunned, Luca went on. "The only thing that would make all of this better is death. My sister wouldn't have to run from me. Aunt Mirage wouldn't be worried for her unborn child. But since no one is going to allow that, they next best thing is having a horse toss me to the ground all damn day so that I'll be too damn tired, sore, and hurting to do more the relive the horror in my dreams. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have to exercise my own horse and he's all too willing to throw me until I break my neck. "

He used Kyros' silence to escape. He spun around and slipped past the man grabbing a shirt on the fly, Luca dressed on the run. By the time he was down the stairs and halfway to the kitchen, he could hear Kyros yelling for him to stop while pounding down the stairs. He blew through the kitchen, past his aunt and uncle and headed for the stable Sunrise was assigned to. 

Seeing that Kyros was still coming after him, Luca hurriedly bridled Sunrise. He didn't take the time to saddle the stallion. Instead he gathered reins and a fistful of mane before leaping up onto his back. He squeezed Sunrise into a gallop and charged out of the stable, past Kyros and out of the yard. 
****
Inside the house, Mirage watched, open mouthed, as first her nephew and then her brother-in-law left the farm at a dead gallop. What in the world had Kyros said to Luca to get that kind of reaction out of him? And what had Luca said to Kyros to have made the older Custos that angry? She'd seen the look at his face and hadn't said anything when he'd come barreling through the kitchen, yelling for Luca to get his ass back in the house. She looked over
Her shoulder at Odhran as he came up behind her and waved at the windows. "Any clue?" she asked. 

He shrugged as he wrapped his arms around her belly. He gave a quick grin when his baby boy thumped his joined hands with a foot. The baby that Mirage carried had been conceived on the night she'd returned from leading the search for Luca and his trainees. She'd been horrified and had come home seeking comfort. She'd told him what they'd found and he hadn't been surprised to learn of Luca's unstable mental condition.

Whatever his brother had said upstairs to Luca, or
Visa-versa, had been the largest reaction he'd seen from the young man in the week he'd been here. He'd seen Luca getting tossed and the lack of reaction had disturbed him. Odhran watched as the two riders disappeared from view and then looked down at his wife. "You know, perhaps we should in invite Kyros to stay at the farm for a while. He could handle Luca for us if he gets out of control and he'd get to know Bane a little more."
****
Within minutes of leaving the yard, Luca heard another horse thundering up behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he stopped Kyros. The man was still chasing him, now mounted on one of his brother's faster horses. Sunrise was made for war so his bulk slowed him down but what he lacked in speed, he made up for with stamina, strength and downright viciousness.

No doubt Kyros' determination to catch him had something to do with Luca's desire to be dead or unique style of self harm. The man's faster horse caught up easily but every time Kyros reached for Sunrise's reins, Luca would pull the warhorse left, taking them out of Kyros's reach or he would drive the bigger horse into the faster one, making the pair focus on their own selves. Or he would just swat a Kyros's hand. More than once, he brought Sunrise to a sliding stop before wheeling him around to a different direction. 
Luca wasn't sure how long he'd let the chase go on but he eventually ran out of room to run. Kyros' horse surged in front and drove Sunrise away from a ravine. Unprepared for the shift in direction, Luca slid off his horse and dropped to the ground. As he stared up at a cloudy sky, first Sunrise's head appeared in his sight followed by Kyros' face. 

"Is there a reason you followed me?" He said and just stayed where he was on the ground. His wounded knee was throbbing and he was pretty sure that fall had seriously damaged something. And that was good. The pain would keep him in the present. 

[Maira]

From the things that Luca told him, Kyros's thoughts became a blur of rage and sympathy. He'd never thought he could feel both emotions at once, as well as something else he couldn't identify but that seemed like an old familiar feeling. When the younger man took his dazed mental state as a chance to escape out of the bedroom, it took Kyros a moment to shake of the stupor. Once he did, he bolted out of the room, down the stairs and then out the front door after him, shouting at him to come back immediately. Kyros barely had time to notice that his brother and sister-in-law were both in the kitchen watching him with bafflement before he was bolting across the yard to the barn.

Just before he reached the barn, Luca on his warhorse went charging out of it and away. Cursing, Kyros hurried into the barn himself and ran to the stall that he knew held Odhran's prized hunter. The horse was fast, agile, and had surprising stamina for a horse so fast. Odhran claimed it was the Arabian blood that gave the long legged beauty her stamina. Unable to ride completely unaided, as his brother could, Kyros had to take the time to at least put on the mare's bridle and he was muttering under his breath the entire time about losing precious moments and swearing he was going to have Odhran teach him better horsemanship if he survived this wild ride.

Once Nightmare, who was actually a dream to ride, was bridled Kyros lead her to the mounting block and slid onto her back. Again, precious moments wasted because his riding skills weren't up to par with his brother (or clearly Luca). Once seated comfortably on the big leggy mare's back, Kyros leaned forward over her neck and whispered to her, "Run, catch him!" and with gentle pressure from his legs Nightmare shot off after the warhorse and his rider.

Chasing the pair down was a challenge but Nightmare's speed and agility paid off in the end when she was able to cut off the bigger stallion and turn him so fast that Luca lost his seat and slid off and landed on the ground hard. Kyros pulled her to a halt and swung a leg over as he slid down. He would have run over to Luca but the younger man's stallion was standing near him and he wasn't sure how protective he would be of his fallen rider. So, slower than he liked, Kyros made his way over to Luca, who wasn't moving, and when the stallion didn't try to kill him he got close enough to peer down into his face.

Luca's demand to know why Kyros had followed him caused Kyros's hackles to raise, but he ignored them and answered honestly, "I don't know. From what you've told me you've been through hell and nobody deserves that." Then, with a sigh he added, "You were sent here to get better and I only made you feel worse. I'm really not a hard-ass, I just didn't know what was going on and my feelings of distrust and anger got the better of me when I saw what you were doing with Bane. You looked dangerous and Bane looked like he didn't want you riding him and more than anything I didn't want my brother getting hurt because his horse killed you and he had to put him down."

He wasn't sure he'd meant to confess all that, and was glad he managed not to mention the strangely familiar feelings of wanting to wrap the younger man up in his arms and kiss away his trauma. Kyros extended a hand toward Luca and watched the younger man's face carefully, hoping that he would accept help up.

[Demeter]

Luca accepted both Kyros' explanation and his help up. He stumbled a bit as he stood, his bad knee giving out a little as he put weight on it. He ended up bumping into Kyros and hanging onto him as he steadied himself. "Sorry," he muttered a little sheepishly, "must have landed on my bad knee. Can you help me to that rock over there?"

With Kyros' help, Luca lowered himself down to the rock. His body was being to relax as the adrenaline faded and his knee throbbed in time with his heartbeat. And just under the pain, his body tingled and burned at the points where Kyros had touched him. He choose to ignore the feeling for now. As he rolled up the leg of his pants, Luca told Kyros how his knee had been injured in the first place.

"I took a crossbow bolt to the knee. It pretty much destroyed my knee but the Alati healing kept tying to fix it. I couldn't remove the bolt with risking more damage as it was barbed on both ends. Once everyone had been rounded up, we were made to walk three miles to our prison. I still had the bolt in my knee, each step ruining whatever healing had gone on before that. When I could no longer walk, I was dragged behind my own horse. Once we were saved it took four healers, working at once to reconstruct my knee. They had to saw the bolt in half to remove it and let me tell you how much fun that part was. My fathers had to hold me down."

Luca stopped talking while he examined his knee. The only scars there were the entry and exit wounds of the bolt. The knee was swelling but he didn't believe it to broken. "Just gotta rest it a bit."

He glanced sidelong at Kyros. "You wouldn't have happened to have brought a phone along, would you? Maybe we can get a ride back."

When Kyros shook his head, Luca sighed and leaned back. "Nothing for it then. If you think you can lead Sunrise back while riding Nightmare, I'll fly along. But not just yet."
Luca sat on the rock, quietly watching as Kyros walked the horses. He had a flash then, one of those strange ones that slipped in and out of his nightmares. They'd done this before. Which was impossible because they'd only just met today but he had this feeling that they'd sat like this before. 

Luca closed his eyes and tilted his head back. He could see the scene so clearly in his mind. He sat on a rock, watch as Kyros led a young horse in a wide circle. They weren't in Ireland; he knew that much because the scenery wasn't green enough. They also wore different clothing and there was a woman with them, perched on a rock, sketching something. 

Luca watched the scene. He watched as the one that was him said something to the other man. The one that was Kyros handed the horse off to someone who led it away. Kyros crossed to the other two, speaking to the man. He held his breath, watching as the man who was Kyros leaned over, framed the other man's face with his hands before kissing him, with the woman watching with an indulgent smile on her face. 

Luca's eyes flew open. He stared across at Kyros before getting to his feet. "Ready then? Let's get going."
He shucked off his shirt, tossing it at Kyros. He concentrated for a moment before his wings appeared in a rush. He flew alongside Kyros as they returned to the farm. He didn't say much but he thought about their mirror images kissing. 

He couldn't help it. The image was burned into his brain.

[Maira]

The trip back to the house was quiet, Luca needed all his injured body's energy to focus on flying. The longer they took, the more obvious it became that Nightmare was favoring one of her legs. Kyros called a halt as much so Luca could take a rest as so he could take a look at Nightmare. It took all of a second of looking at her leg to know what was wrong, at some point in the chase the mare's right foreleg had gotten cut.

"Well," he said as he stood up and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, "Odhran's gonna have my hide for riding poor Nightmare so hard. I'm not sure how but she's cut and its going to need stitches." The sheepish look on Kyros's face would have been comical if it weren't for such a serious reason. Then, turning to look directly at Luca where he rested on a nearby stump, he added, "Looks like I'm walking."

*****

By the time they got back to the farm, Kyros sent Luca straight to the house and told him to have Odhran come down to the barn after calling the vet. When Odhran arrived looking both worried and curious, Kyros blurted out, "I don't think its serious, but Nightmare has a pretty deep cut near her tendon." The dark look that came into Odhran's eyes made Kyros flinch. "I take full responsibility for her care since it was me that got her injured," he told Odhran apologetically.

Odhran was not really mad at his older brother, just worried that it would affect Nightmare's upcoming events. "So why exactly -were- you chasing after poor Luca anyway? What did you say to him that made him bolt like that?"

Instead of answering Odhran, Kyros just told him, "I think I need to stay on for a while. Luca told me what he's been dealing with and why he's here and as much as I want to say I'm staying to look out for Mirage and that baby she's carrying, I mostly want to stay and help Luca." Before Odhran could ask the questions Kyros saw building, the older brother held up a hand saying, "Don't ask okay? I don't know whats going on. He just needs help and you're too much of a softy to give him the help he needs."

Odhran snickered slightly and then jumped when his phone buzzed, he pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was the vet calling. "We're not done, I'll be right back," he told Kyros as he walked out of the barn with his phone to his hear. He wasn't gone long and when he came back in, Kyros asked, "So, since I'm staying, would it be alright if I use your old cottage? I don't want to intrude on you newlyweds."

Odhran shook his head, "No, I don't think so. Your room in the house has only been getting used for storage and honestly if Luca is as dangerous as both you and Mirage say he is then I want you in the house where you can keep Mirage and the baby safe if something happens. I could handle him if need be, but I'd be hard pressed and if Mirage were in danger I'm not sure my emotions wouldn't get the better of me and make me do something stupid. We'll get our stuff out of your room tomorrow and I fully expect you to make yourself at home."

Kyros nodded his understanding and was going to say something else but just then the vet walked in and demanded to see his favorite patient. Kyros, taking the vet's appearance as a chance to escape, told Odhran, "Whatever the bill is, I'll cover it. Right now I need to go check on Luca." Then he practically scampered out of the barn and back up to the house.

Odhran watched his brother leave and shook his head in confusion. Kyros was acting really strange.

*****

He knocked gently on Luca's door and then waited to see if the younger man would answer. It took so long that Kyros was almost sure Luca had gone to bed, but just as he was turning to walk away, the door opened.

[Demeter]

He'd just gotten out of the shower when the knocking on his door started he hurriedly wrapped a towel around his waist and limped as fast as he could to the door. He really needed to get that knee up and iced as soon as possible. When he opened the door, he saw Kyros half turned away. "Oh, hi. I was kinda hoping it was Mirage with an ice pack and dinner but your not too much of a disappointment. How is Nightmare? Did one of the grooms get Sunrise settled?"

He stepped back and let Kyros into the bedroom. He shut the door after the man and dropped his towel. "'Xcuse me for a minute," he said while sitting on the bed and getting dressed in the clothing he'd laid out before his shower. He'd just settled on the couch that had been stuffed into the room to accommodate his hurts when a second knock issued. 

It was Mirage with his dinner and ice pack. After she'd dumped the pack on his knee and settled a tray over his legs, she left to get a second serving for Kyros. On e that was served she looked over the two men and scowled at them. "Behave. No more high speed chases," she said before leaving the room. Luca looked over at Kyros. "So, friends I guess?"

It wasn't long after he'd eaten that Luca drifted off. The days events had quickly caught up to him. It was 't until the house was quiet that the nightmares started. At first he just twitched in his sleep. Before long, he started mumbling words. "No. Please, no, don't do that. I'll do anything you want just please leave them alone. They are just boys." And then it was whimpering, nonsensical pleadings. And that's when the screaming started. The animal like screams of pain. 

Tonight he remembered the flogging he'd be subjected to with a cat o nine tails. 

[Maira]

To say he was shocked to see Luca in a towel would have been accurate. To say he wasn't attracted by it would have been a lie. The younger man's body, despite the scars, was sight to behold and Kyros had to remind his body that the younger man likely didn't want anything to do with him in that manner. When he was invited in after Luca asked after the horses, Kyros answered him, "I left Nightmare with the vet and my brother. I looked at it closer once we got home and I think she'll be fine but she's going to be a bit gimpy until the stitches come out. Sunset got a nice dinner and was being loved on by one of the stable-girls when I left the barn."

Once inside the room, and with the door shut behind him, Kyros was looking around for a place to sit when Luca dropped his towel to get dressed. It took all of Kyros's will not to stare at the younger man. Luca was injured, both physically and emotionally, the last thing he needed was to be oggled by some guy he'd known less than a day.

Just as Luca finished dressing, another knock came on the door and Kyros hurried to open it figuring it'd be Mirage with Luca's ice and dinner. He was right, and he hurried to step out of her way so she could come in and help Luca. Once she was gone, off to get him a plate as well apparently, he settled on the edge of Luca's bed and watched him tuck into his dinner. Mirage let herself back in with his dinner and then scowled at both me, instructing them to behave. Kyros smirked at her, then thanked her for the dinner as she left the two of them alone.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Luca asked if they could be friends, and Kyros smiled before answering with a soft laugh, "I think that'd be a good idea or we're both gonna wind up getting hurt fighting and chasing each other."

They had talked a little bit while they ate, but not long after he was finished Luca drifted off. Kyros moved the tray that was across Luca's lap and then gently lifted the younger man off the couch and settled him in the bed. Luca didn't even stir. After pulling the blankets up around Luca's shoulders, Kyros gently laid a hand on the younger man's cheek for a moment before brushing a few hairs off of his face. There was something so familiar about that simple act, but Kyros couldn't pin it down. He just had a feeling that he'd done it before. With those thoughts, Kyros gathered up their dishes and the melted ice pack and took them down to the kitchen.

*****

He wasn't sure what he'd been dreaming about, if anything, but he was yanked from them by the blood curdling screams coming from the room next to his. Odhran and Mirage may have been using his room for storage but it still had a bed in it and he'd decided to sleep in there even with their boxes of stuff. In a rush, Kyros practically tumbled out of bed and he bolted for Luca's room. Running into his brother in the hall, Kyros told him, "Let me," then he slipped into Luca's room and locked the door behind him. If Luca were in a delirious rage, at least the locked door might slow him down if he decided to go after Odhran or Mirage.

It only took a moment for his eyes to find Luca, still in his bed tangled in the last few coverings that hadn't been kicked off. He ran to the side of the bed and saw that Luca's eyes were closed and he realized that the screaming was from a nightmare. Knowing that if he tried to shake the man awake that he'd likely get decked, Kyros did the only thing he could think of and crawled on the bed with him and wrapped his arms around him tightly to confine Luca's arms. The screams increased for only a moment and then Luca's eyes flared open. Hoping to curb the panic, Kyros quickly soothed, "Luca, its just me Kyros. I'm only holding you so I don't get punched. If you're able to calm down I'll let you go."

[Demeter]

His arms ached and his left pant leg was soaked with blood. His shirt had been cut off after they'd strung him up. He was strung up with chains suspended from the ceiling of the abandoned house's entryway like some macabre chandelier. From there he could see all the comings and goings. Four men had just dumped Jake and Billy in a corner. They were naked, bleeding and sobbing for their mothers. 

Andy and John had just been dragged off to an upstairs room. The place was full of screams but no one would come looking yet. His body jerked as the chain suspending him in the air was lowered. The apparent leader stepped into the room, carrying a coiled whip. This man had made him into a toy. He grinned at Luca, using the butt of the whip to raise his chin. "Such a shame about that knee. Makes you unusable for other activities. Its the only thing keeping you from bleeding out," he said while motioning to his other men. None to gently they stripped Luca of his remaining clothing. The leader grinned at Luca. "Such a lovely sight but I think we can make that better," and be put out the cigar he carried on the bare skin of Luca's hip. Luca didn't scream but he clenched his jaw together and tried to breath through the pain. 
"Still won't scream, huh? It's early yet," the man said, stepping back and behind Luca. He unfurled his whip and cracked the cat o' nine over Luca's buttocks. 

Outside of the dream world, Luca fought as he had in that house. His body jerked and flailed. And he'd screamed just like he'd finally done in that house of horrors. His sheets became the chains that had once confined him. He couldn't get away from the man with the whip. 

And then something nee happened. Not only was he suddenly warm but he couldn't move. He woke with a start at the new sensations and struggled against whatever held him. When Kyros' voice filtered broke through the panic, Luca shuddered. He didn't say anything, he just wiggled until he was facing Kyros. "Don't let go. Please, just don't let go," he murmured. It took a while but he was eventually lulled back to sleep by the steady beat of Kyros' heart. This time, wrapped in the scent and strong arms of the other man, his sleep was blessedly dreamless. 
**********
Luca accepted the bop on the head from his grandmother with good grace. He had the good sense to duck his head while she clucked over his knee. When she saw all of the bruises from being tossed by horses, she delivered another bop. "Luca! You've completely undone all our work. What on earth were you thinking?"

"Um, I was thinking that if I beat myself up enough, i would be too tired to dream? Proved that theory wrong last night."

Genesis sat on the edge of the couch and looked at the young man. "I'm not surprised that you have bad dreams. Why didn't you tells us that they were that bad? I could have given you something."

Luca shrugged and turned away. "Didn't want to bother you. Didn't want to have to drug myself to get some rest."

"Oh, and this is better?" she asked and prodded a particularly bad looking bruise. He smirked when he yelped. "I'll get to that one in a moment. For now, let's focus on that knee. Now, you know the drill. Relax, Luca, and let me in."

Luca did relax as his grandmother worked her healing magic on him. Internally, she soothed the angry tendons and muscles, reduced the swelling and mended the crack she'd found in the bone. When she was finished, Genesis looked up to see that he'd fallen asleep. These healing sessions took so much out of him, she thought while touching a finger to his forehead. She'd send him goos dreams while she worked on mending the scarred tissue of his thighs. She'd leave all but the worse bruises, to remind him that getting thrown on purpose was not an acceptable form of therapy. 
*******
Downstairs, while Genesis was mending Luca, Mirage was holding an impromptu meeting with Kyros and Odhran. By now, they'd both heard bits and pieces of Luca's trauma. She'd decided to tell them what she knew and why she'd invited him to Emerald heart. 

She told them how Luca had been promoted to trainer within the Junior Guard and that he'd been selected to lead a survival trip for the first year boys. He'd done everything right from scouting out the location to making sure that everyone was properly prepared before leading the thirty boys and four other trainers into the forest. From the survivors accounts, everything had gone just fine that first night but around noon the next day, a pack of lordless, godless Alati outlaws had attacked, rounded everyone up and marched them to an abandoned manor house. 
Back at the guard base, no one thought it strange that they didn't return on schedule. They assumed that the group had been delayed but when there was no sight of the group by the end of the fourth day, they started to worry. She was called in to help lead the search. 

By late afternoon the next day, they'd found the manor house. Since there had been signs it was recently occupied, the searchers had approached cautiously, slipping in through the back. They entered the kitchen first and found 13 bodies stacked like firewood against a wall. 10 of the boys and 3 of the trainers and all of them showed signs of extensive torture. Part of the group went back out to search for the people who'd done this while the others went through the house. They found the rest of their missing people scattered in the house. Some had been tied up and others were locked in rusty dog cages. All had been tortured. The healers had to call in every available healer associated with the Delorme clan. 

She'd been the one to find Luca. She'd been going through the house, looking for the remaining members of the group. Most had been on the main level but she was intent on looking through the upper levels. They still hadn't found Luca. When she'd stepped into the entryway, she'd noticed the pool of drying blood. As she'd looked at, a drop of blood dripped down and splatted into the thick liquid. She'd looked up to see her nephew suspended from the ceiling. She'd screamed then, bringing the others running. They'd gotten the young man dow. But his wounds were extensive.

When they'd finally caught the men who'd done this, they'd asked them why. There'd been no real reason. None of those men had a grudge agains those boys or their families. They'd simply done it because they could. Darius had ordered the men put to death and destroyed their souls but that wasn't enough to heal those boys and Luca.

Genesis, having over heard the last of the conversation, finished it off. "Broken bones, skin peeled off, whippings, beatings, rapes, burns, and other means of torture. None of them will reveal all that was done to them. We only know what happened from the physical evidence. None of them will ever be the same. 

"When Luca started showing signs of PTSD, I advised him that he should go somewhere quiet. When he did 't listen and attacked his younger sisters, he didn't have a choice. So longer as he, a berserker warrior like his father, couldn't control his actions, he was a danger. It was a calculated risk, sending him here but there are less things that could trigger an episode and more horses, which seem to calm him, with less warriors around. "

Genesis sat at the table. "I'm done for the day. He'll sleep soundly till morning but someone should put him in his bed. And don't let him ride a horse for several weeks. I don't want to have to keep fixing that knee."
****
Luca was bored out of his mind. He'd been banned from riding until further notice. It had been three weeks since his first meeting with Kyros. He'd gotten to know the man. In fact, they spent almost every waking moment together. Even in sleep, they barely parted. Some might have viewed it as strange that two men who did not have an intimate relationship shared a bed almost every night but whenever that happened, Luca slept better.

They'd start out on separate sides of the bed and if he had a nightmare, Kyros would simply turn onto his side and haul him close. Luca didn't have the balls to tell the man that not all of his dreams were of the nightmare sort.
Not to mention that he was so confused. He had the starting of feelings for Kyros but his dreams, the pleasant ones, showed him a woman. Kyros wasn't featured in them. 

But enough about dreams, today he'd been given the assignment of taking Nightmare out on a lead so the mare could get some exercise and fresh air. The mare was grazing and he was watching as Odhran gave his big brother a riding lesson. On Bane. 

The stallion seemed to adore Kyros. He didn't get tossed quite as much. As Luca was leaning against the fence, he heard a car pull up. The stable did get visitors so he turned, hand raised to shield his eyes from the sun as someone stepped out of a car. 

[Maira]

Kyros had been horrified to hear the details of just what had happened to Luca and his trainees. Finding out just what the younger man's nightmares were about gave him numerous reasons to take Luca's request to "not let go", from the night before, all that more seriously. He barely new Luca, but he now felt even more inclined to help him than before. Because of this, Kyros had offered completely platonically, to share Luca's bed. The younger man had been sleeping better since they started, and being together throughout the day seemed to help too. Kyros had no idea why his presence helped the younger man so immensely, but he was happy to be able to give him some relief from his past trauma.

Today he wasn't in the immediate vicinity of Luca, the younger man was giving Nightmare some gentle excersize, and Kyros was up on the back of the beast getting some advanced riding lessons from his brother. Bane, for some odd reason, really seemed to like Kyros and in all truth it made Kyros nervous as hell. Bane only liked one person, that Kyros knew of, and that wasn't even his brother, it was Odhran's wife Mirage. But judging by the glare Odhran was shooting him whenever Bane happily complied with a command from the older brother, Odhran hadn't missed the fact that his horse liked his brother better. Although, knowing Bane, Kyros had a feeling that he could just be acting this way to make Odhran jealous.

After completing one particularly demanding command, Bane decided he was finished with the lesson and sent Kyros flying one last time before running to the other end of the outdoor arena. As Kyros was hauling himself up off the ground, he heard the sounds of a car pulling into the drive and he looked in the direction of the sound. He didn't recognize the car so he asked his brother, "You expecting anybody today?" Odhran answered with a frown and a shake of his head then slipped through the fence rails and went to greet the newcomers.

*****
She was the guardian of Excalibur. When the sword disappeared from the known world, so did she, and so did the Isle of Avalon. She slept on Avalon for over five centuries until a humming in her blood finally caused her to awaken with a gasp. The sword’s new bearer had finally come to light and it would be her job to bring them together.

Aria’s first task was to retrieve the sword from where she had hidden it after the death of King Arthur. Luckily the safeguards she had placed before succumbing to her slumber hadn’t been disturbed and she knew the sword was still safely stowed. If anything had tried to get to the sword her magic would have woken her sooner, alerting her to the intrusion.

She had slept in a hidden room of the castle on Avalon, and hidden in that room was the entrance to the labyrinthine cave system where she had placed Excalibur, deep below the castle. Nobody knew Excalibur’s exact location except Aria, her goddess Eriu and her mother the Lady of the Lake.

As soon as she had retrieved the sword, Aria made her way up to the castle proper. She was shocked to find how old the place seemed and she couldn’t help but wonder just how long she and the sword had been hidden away and sleeping. She was also baffled by the lack of people making their way through the halls. She wasn’t sure hwo long it took her to find somebody, but once she did it was just a young human boy running errands. When she stopped him, he ogled her in confusion and blurted out, “Who’re you?”

She blinked in surprise and answered gruffly, “I am the Lady of this castle welp. Who is in charge at this time?”

“Lady Guinevere?!” the boy squeaked before bowing and stuttering out, “S-sir Gawain i-is currently holding c-court, but soon it will be Sir Galahad’s turn in the cycle.”

Aria tried not to cringe at the use of her given name and didn’t bother correcting the boy. Instead she just directed him to take her to Gawain. Their trek through the halls was longer than she expected until she realized that she was being taken to the royal library rather than the throne room. She couldn’t help a knowing smile from creeping onto her lips, Gawain had always had a fondness for reading and it wasn’t surprising to find that even during his Regency he turned to scholarly pursuits.

When they finally reached the library, Aria shooed the boy away to return to his duties and then she let herself in quietly. The library had always felt old to Aria, even when it was newly built (she suspected it had something to do with the gathered knowledge from all the years past) and when she entered it felt exactly the same as she remembered. She took her time browsing before making her way to Gawain. She noticed that there seemed to be some fairly recent additions to the shelves and she wondered at who had created them. She had just come around the end of one shelf when a tall Alati man bumped into her causing her to gas in surprise and drop Excalibur. The sword clattered as it hit the floor and Aria felt its disgruntlement before she even crouched to pick it up. As soon as her fingers grasped the hilt she heard a familiar voice scolding her. In response Aria muttered under her breath, “Its not my fault your sheath disintegrated over the years.”

“My Lady?” a familiar male voice asked from above her. Aria looked up and then took the hand that was offering to help her up.

“It’s good to see you Gawain,” Aria answered as she rose with the Regent’s help. Then, embracing him fondly, she asked, “Just how long have been sleeping?”

Poor Gawain. Aria had never been prone to fainting but when he told her just how long she and the sword had been hidden away from the world, her heart had paused for just a moment, long enough for him to flinch at her nearly hysterical laugh, and then she’d collapsed. When she had finally come to, Aria was propped up in a chair and Gawain had been hovering over her, probably worried that he had killed his queen.

*****

As she dozed on the train, the memories of those first few days awake kept floating to the front of her mind. After the discovering of her extended absence, Aria had also learned that Avalon had become isolated from the rest of the world when she and Excalibur went to sleep. The island’s population had been trapped on Avalon with no contact with the outside world for over 500 years. The guilt Aria felt over trapping her people for centuries on end with no release in sight weighed heavy on her heart. The guilt, plus the blowing of the train’s whistle as it pulled into a station finally jolted Aria from her memory-dreams.

Looking out the window, Aria decided that she liked the look of this town. It still wasn’t anything like what she was used to, none of the world was anymore, but it was much less intimidating than big cities like Dublin had been.

“You ready?” a gentle male voice asked her and Aria turned to look at her old friend.

“Merlin, how on earth could I possibly be ready for this? Arthur and Lancelot only died, for me, a short while ago. I have not finished grieving for either of them. No matter what the bossy sword seems to think, this isn’t going to be an easy transition.”

The older man watched her, smirked almost imperceptibly at the flare of regal indignation in the straightening of her spine and the flaring of her nostrils. “Aria, my darling, calm yourself,” he soothed. “Whoever Excalibur has sensed as its bearer will have much to adjust to as well and likely won’t even realize who you are until you tell them.”

Aria sighed and glared at the older Alati/magic user hybrid before gathering up what few things she had with her on the train. Then the two exited their compartment and departed the train. As soon as they had retrieved their luggage and stowed it in their rental car they began to drive. Well, Merlin, who had been off-island when Avalon disappeared, drove since he was much more familiar with the skill than Aria who still much preferred travelling by horse.

As Merlin drove, Aria got distracted by the views of the countryside. “It’s so green here…” she commented absently, to which Merlin just grunted in agreement.

Excalibur, tucked between Aria’s thigh and the car door, was practically humming in anticipation which was annoying Aria to no end. Through their oddly strong connection, she muttered, **Traitor, this may be Arthur’s soul, but it isn’t him.** The sword ignored her name-calling and answered her, **Its both of their souls, we will be complete.** Aria snorted and went back to gazing out the window.

Their drive did not last very long before both Merlin and Excalibur informed her that they had reached the end of their journey. Aria looked at her friend and asked, “How did you know?” Merlin just smiled and turned the car onto the narrow lane next to the sign reading Emerald Heart Farm. In truth, Merlin had picked every destination in their search based on Aria’s reactions. Even though she didn’t know the new people holding Arthur and Lancelot’s souls, her own soul did and they apparently still called to each other.

As the car made its way toward the distant house and barns, a small herd of horses ran next to them in their pasture. They were tossing their heads and kicking up their back hooves as they ran, clearly enjoying greeting the new arrivals to their home. Aria couldn’t help but smile at the sight and the realization that something of her husband and lover must have survived their reincarnation if they were living on a horse farm.

She was still watching the horses as they tore off into the pasture when the car rolled to a gentle stop and Merlin asked, “Shall we?” Turning her gaze from the horses to her travelling companion she nodded, a nervous tightening around her eyes. With that Aria turned from Merlin, grasped the sword, and opened the car door to climb out. Once she was standing she slid Excalibur into a new sheath and fished out the drawing of the man that Excalibur had shown her.

A tall leggy Irishman loped over to meet them from an outdoor arena and Aria watched him curiously. He seemed to have similar characteristics to the man in her drawing, but she knew it wasn't him. He greeted them warmly then asked if they were lost, or what their reasons were for coming to the farm today. Merlin cleared his throat, but Aria beat him to it and answered as she shoved the drawing into the man's hands, "We're looking for this man. He isn't in any trouble, he's just to inherit something and I need to give it to him."

Odhran eyed the woman and the older looking gentleman. They were not human, and he was pretty sure the man was at least part Alati. The woman baffled him by seeming both familiar and completely foreign to him. He mentally shook off the conflicting feelings and then turned his gaze to the paper she had shoved in his hands. The face staring back up at him belonged to his brother and Odhran asked curiously, "My brother? You're looking for Kyros?"

Merlin clapped once with pleasure and Aria answered, "Yes, we're looking for Kyros. Can I talk to him please?"

Odhran turned and shouted over his shoulder, "Kyros, leave Bane alone and get over here wouldja?

From his place in the outdoor arena, Kyros gave up his attempts to try and snag Bane's reigns and he too slipped through the rails to go meet the visitors. He couldn't imagine what anybody would be doing looking here for him. As he went, he turned and looked at Luca, who was watching curiously, and beckoned for the man to come with. When Luca gently tugged on Nightmare's lead and started toward him, Kyros waited and then they walked over together.

When they reached the visitors, Kyros asked his brother, "What do you need?" As Odhran quickly explained the situation, Kyros turned and looked at the woman and the man. The older man didn't seem at all threatening, and it was the woman who was staring so intently at him so he asked her, "You're here to see me?"

Aria was doing everything in her power not to hyperventilate at the sight of the man from the vision the sword had given her. It truly was him, and she could feel that is was also Arthur even if he had no idea. What surprised her even more was that the man who was practically hovering at Kyros's side held the soul of Lancelot. Her husband and lover were both standing before her, seemingly connected to each other once more, and they had no idea who she was. Unable to formulate any comprehensive words, Aria just unbelted the sword from around her waist and held it out to Kyros.

A bit confused, Kyros looked at Luca questioningly hoping for some indication of what he should do. Why was this strange woman handing him a sword. Only, looking at Luca was no help at all because the younger man was staring at the woman in much the same fashion she was staring at them. What the hell was going on here? If only to stop this eerie staring contest, Kyros grabbed the offered sword. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the sheath an almost electric shock surged through his body and a voice shouted into his head, **I've found you once more and your Triad is already complete! What a glorious day for Avalon!**

When the shock had hit him, Kyros had unknowingly grabbed hold of Luca's hand, making all the connection the sword needed to make the younger man privvy to its thoughts as well.

[Demeter]

When Kyros had beckoned him over, Luca went over to him. With Nightmare walking easily at his side, he approached the newcomers. He had this feeling that something big was about to happen. It wasn't the same dread he'd felt right before the attack. This was excitement. Finally, something was going to happen and he wouldn't be bored anymore!

As they drew closer to Odhran and their visitors, he could start to make out their features. He dismissed the male at first - he was old, at least half-alati but none of that was important right now. The woman seemed to be the center of everyone's focus. The closer he got,the more familiar she was to him. The shape of her face, the slant of her eyes and even the color of her hair were sending lightning bolts through him. Somehow, he knew her. 

Was she the mother of one of his trainees who'd come looking for restitution? A sister, mate or daughter of one of his fellow trainers? He'd heard Odhran call out but he'd been examining Nightmare's leg to verify that she'd taken no stress during her exercise and hadn't heard the words. As they walked, he worried and his hands unconsciously tightened on the mare's lead. She picked up on his emotions and started to prance. He blinked in surprise when Kyros plucked the lead away and handed it to his brother. 

When it became obvious that Kyros was the center of attention, Luca's curiosity perked up. What had the older man done that would warrant people searching him out? All the dirt he'd dug up on Kyros Lovasz seemed to indicate that for a Custos Alati, the man was a saint. Luca looked the woman up and down, stopping to linger on the sword. Had he, previous to his vacation on the farm, knocked the woman up and now she and her father were here to demand something of Kyros? Luca shook his head slightly - he'd been spending too much recovery time around Grandpa and was starting to channel his smut books. 

Luca returned his attention to what was going in, watching as the woman held out the sword to Kyros. Now his curiosity was really humming. People just didn't give swords like that away. His mind instantly jumped to a Monty Python movie and lines about watery tarts giving away swords. Grandpa Darius loved that movie, cracked up every time.

And what was he doing, thinking about movies when Something was happening. Kyros, his left hand reaching for the sword, had his hand in a death grip. Rather squirm free in front of visitors, Luca dealt with it.

And then it felt like a thousand pins were poking him at once. The moment Kyros had taken hold of the sword, an electrical shock had jumped from the blade, to the one who wielded it and from him to Luca. When he heard the voice of the blade, Luca's eyes widened. He knew what a sword with its own conscious meant. "Oh high, holy hell," he said. 

****
Darius came to Ireland to look in on his daughter, check on the boy (he never knew what he should call Luca. Was he a nephew or a grandson?) and to look through the books Luca had borrowed from the library. He had a feeling that the boy had made off with some of his romances when no one was looking. He met with Mirage and had lunch with her before setting off to find Luca. Genesis had told him that the boy was getting himself thrown in order to get some sleep. Well, hell, if the boy wanted to be exhausted, Darius would run him through some non-combat drills. 

He walked with Mirage, talking to her about how Luca was doing. It seemed that the boy had found some sort of piece with Kyros and had that had finally given him a chance at healing. He walked at her pace; the baby having slowed his energetic daughter down. As they neared front paddocks and the open arena, Mirage slowed and frowned at the gathering of people. Did those people want to buy Odhran's hunter?

Darius, squinting against the sun had other thoughts in his head. He knew those people. It had been centuries but he knew them! He bounded forward, grinning like a child at the sight of people from his youth. "Lady Gwen! Lord Merlin!" he called out. 

[Maira]

Aria had also heard what Excalibur said to Kyros and she flinched at the look of confusion on his face, then the other man spoke and she flinched even more. It seemed the other man was familiar with god swords and what they meant for the people involved. She really hadn't wanted to explain everything so soon but it seemed Excalibur had other plans. She was just about to say something to the two men when she heard an all too familiar voice calling out to her and Merlin, using her given name and their titles. Turning, Aria saw just who she expected to see running toward her with a huge smile on his face and in shock she waved numbly and mumbled, "Bricius?" before fainting for the second time in her life, and also the second time in less than a month.

*****

Kyros was not prepared for the woman, who was still holding the sword, to suddenly let go and fall to the ground. Dropping the sword and Luca's hand, he quickly stepped forward and caught her, gently easing her to the ground. Then, turning in the direction she'd been looking Kyros saw Darius looking rather sheepish and he asked the older Custos, "What did you do to her?"

*****

Merlin, being less involved in the whole situation at hand than Aria, barely batted an eye when she fainted in response to Bricius calling out to them. After all, young Kyros had caught her and she was in capable hands. He left the younger folk to sort things out and he walked toward Bricius and held out his hand in greeting, "Its good to see you again Bricius, how are you?"

*****

Odhran had been watching the whole scene unfold before him like some play. He didn't know what to think of everything but after the lady fainted and the older man left to go talk to Darius, who both he and the lady had called Bricius for some reason, Odhran finally saw his wife and he slipped away from Kyros, Luca, and the slowly recovering woman. He sidled up to Mirage, wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned in to whisper at her, "Do you know what's going on?" He was thoroughly confused and he hoped his wife could shed some light on things.

*****

After only a moment, Aria was awake and staring up into the faces of two very confused and very concerned men. Wishing she could just run away and hide in embarassment, she slipped one hand up over her eyes and apologized, "I'm sorry for this, fainting really isn't normal for me."

Kyros, who's lap her head was resting on, gently moved her hand from her face and he answered her, "I'm just glad you're alright, though I'll admit I'm curious what caused you to pass out like that."

When her hand was removed from her face, Aria opened her eyes and looked at the men again before pushing herself to a sitting position and answering, "Its been a very confusing three weeks for me and I think seeing Bricius again after finding you two was just too much for my heart to handle. He was like an uncle to me a long time ago, and you two... Well that's more complicated and I really think it would be better discussed when I'm not covered in dust from fainting."

Kyros looked to Luca to see what the other man's thoughts might be and then he stood up, offered the woman a hand to help her up, and introduced himself, "I'm Kyros Lovasz, this is my family's horse farm Emerald Heart." Then, with a warm smile for her he asked, "And you are?"

Grateful for the help up, Aria took Kyros's offered hand and nodded in response to his introduction. When he asked after her name, Aria tensed and answered, "The name I go by now is Aria Danann, though at one time I went by Lady Gwen, or Queen Guinevere Pendragon." She knew that the answer would likely raise some questions and the confused looks both men were giving her just confirmed that for her.

[Demeter]

Darius grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "It's actually Darius now, Lord Merlin and Lady Gwen. Lord Darius Delorme. I was rechristened by Hades after taking hold of ShatterSoul," he decided to keep his other titles quiet for now. Darius glanced around at the scene, stopping at the sight of Excalibur in the grass. He looked between Aria, Luca and Kyros. "Ah," he said in simple understanding, "so Avalon will eventually return. That is good."

It was Mirage who stepped forward. "I don't know what is going on but I suggest we take this gathering in doors. It's starting to rain."

With Mirage and Odhran taking care of Bane and Nightmare, the others retreated into the house. Darius walked ahead with Merlin, the two discussing things that went unheard by the other three. Luca walked in an uncomfortable silence with Kyros and Aria. At least, it was uncomfortable for him. Under Darius' assessing gaze, he'd picked that sword up and blushed when the blade had welcomed him. He knew what that meant...that he could hold it along with Kyros and Aria. They were a bloody Triad. 

And now that he'd held the sword, an uncomfortable waterfall of visions and emotions were coming to him. The man from before, the one with Kyros' face, embracing him as a lover, the three of them in a sweaty tangle of bare limbs and twisted bedding, the feeling of desperation as warriors separated him from Kyros. 

Once they reached the house, Luca excused himself up the stairs. Behind him, he could hear Darius explaining that he, Luca, had recently gone through some troubling times and volunteering to explain God Swords to Kyros.

He stayed in his room until late at night. He'd been trying to make a timeline of what he'd seen. Trying to make sense of the images that had offered him a retreat when he'd been captive but he just couldn't. It was as if there was a block that kept him from seeing it all. 

He'd heard Mirage assigning rooms so when the house was quiet, he crept to the door that hid Aria from the house and knocked. Once she let him in, Luca looked at her. She was the woman from his dreams. "Tell me, what are we to each other? Why am I seeing you in my dreams?"

[Maira]

Once Aria was up off the ground and had told them her names, current and past, Kyros couldn't help but wonder if he was understanding her correctly and was able to guess just what part of history and mythology it was that she hailed from. He'd always enjoyed the King Arthur legends and to have Lady Guinevere standing in front of him just made him a little giddy.

When Mirage suggested they all head indoors due to the impending rain, he looked up at the sky surprised to see the rain clouds really had rolled in while he'd been distracted. Only, what was falling from the sky seemed too cold to be just rain. Aria too looked up at the sky before closing her eyes for a few moments and then she turned to Kyros and Luca and asked, "Shall we?" The tension in her voice threw Kyros off a bit and he tried not to look at her curiously.

Aria knew that her emotions had a tendency to affect the weather, especially if there was already moisture in the air, so when Mirage mentioned that it was raining she had to make a conscious effort to still the tumult inside of her and clamp down on her Ice. The last thing they needed was snow in summer.

Merlin noticed the change in temperature and had been watching Aria closely, but when she took a moment to calm herself he went back to his conversation with Darius.

*****

While Darius explained god swords to Kyros and Odhran, Aria spent time browsing the book-lined wall of the study. Eventually she settled into a big comfortable chair with one of the books and before long she was sound asleep. As time passed and Aria slept, dinner came and went. Only when people started turning in for the night, Mirage assigning rooms, did anybody come rouse Aria. It was Kyros that gently shook her awake and held a hand down to help her out of the chair. Only when she was alert enough to realize who it was and what was going on did she notice that somebody had at some point covered her with a blanket. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop that surprise on you and then fall asleep," she apologized once she was upright.

Kyros just smiled at her and answered, "Merlin filled me in on what's been happening with you for the past three weeks, I would have been surprised if you didn't need a bit of extra downtime." Aria smiled warmly at him for his understanding and smiled even bigger when he told her there was a plate of dinner saved for her and that he could show her to her bedroom.

She hadn't been settled in her bedroom for very long, had only just managed to finish her dinner, when there was a knock at her door. Curious, Aria got up to see who it was that would be visiting her so late. Thanks to her rest earlier she was surprisingly alert but she was hadn't expected anybody else in the house to be that way. When she opened the door and saw Luca, she gave him a small nervous smile and asked him in. Once he was inside he didn't waste any time and asked her right away the hard questions she had been hoping to avoid for a while. Kyros had shown no apparent awareness of a past incarnation and she was relieved, unfortunately it seemed that something in Luca was alerting him to his past life with her.

She walked away, seating herself on the window seat and pulling her knees up under her chin. It was a child-like habit that her tutors and nurses had always tried to break her of but had never succeeded. When Luca didn't follow her, and just continued to stand by the door she told him, "Sitting might be best." She waited and only when he took a seat at the other end of the window seat did Aria clear her throat and tell him, "If you're seeing me with long hair, and possibly with another man, you are seeing forgotten memories from another time. Since you are the grandson of Bricius, I mean Darius, and he is a bearer of a god sword you must know what they are and how they bind people. A long time ago, like I told you earlier, I was known as Lady Guinevere and you were Sir Lancelot. The legends seem to have gotten our story wrong, but trying to explain the idea of a god-sword to mortals is nigh on impossible. In truth, I was promised to Arthur purely because I was the guardian of Excalibur. I am not the bearer, Arthur is, I just make sure that both the sword and the man are kept safe so that they may keep Avalon safe. I failed. Arthur and I were married when I came of age, you became one of his knights shortly after and in a sparring match you bested Arthur once, knocking Excalibur from his grasp. When you bent to pick it up to give it back to him and you didn't get knocked flat we knew you were our third. The nature of the swords are to bind the three together and only rarely do the relationships not wind up as anything more than friendship. We weren't one of those rarities. Arthur may have been my husband but you were lover to both of us, not just me as the stories lead people to believe." With a small smirk, she added, "It was actually Arthur who first loved you and took you to bed. I only joined later."

At this point, Aria ran out of words and waited to see if Luca would say anything or just run from the room. She knew it had to be a hard truth to learn, but she hoped that with him already seeing her in his dreams that he would be more willing to accept what she said as truth.

[Demeter]

Luca didn't know what Aria expected his reaction to be but he would bet his horse that she didn't expect him to exhale loudly, hang his head between his knees and say "oh thank the Gods, I'm not going insane on top of everything else." Once he got his composure back under control, he gave Aria the bare bones of what had happened to awaken Lancelot's memories. He told her that he'd been held captive, gravely wounded to the point of death and that he was actually still going through healing sessions for his wounds. 

Now that he knew what that his waking dreams were actually memories from a past life, Luca suspected that that which was once Lancelot had been awoken to give him a mental break from his torment, since he could not physically free himself. Of course, not all the freed memories were happy. He'd seem the death if Arthur. As he'd been hidden away all afternoon, Luca hadn't known what had gone on and he asked Aria for her story. 

When she told him that she'd fallen into a sleep after Lancelot and Arthur's deaths and had only woken a few weeks ago, Luca mentioned that he'd only met Kyros a few weeks ago. He'd come to this farm to facilitate his mental healing as well as his physical progress. Before he took his leave, Luca reached out and covered Aria's hands with his. "For what it matters, I'm sorry that Lancelot was unable to save Arthur. I've watched it and felt the desperation and anguish he felt during that last battle when he couldn't reach Arthur in time. And the rage. And then his own death. He never wanted to leave you alone."

When he left Aria, Luca didn't return to his own room but went to Kyros. He found the man sitting on the edge of his bed, sword across his lap. He tapped the blade. "Well, this answers some questions. Mixed in with the memories of That Time are the memories of Lancelot. Its all true. Aria told me what we were all to each other."

Somethings made so much sense now, like his attraction to Kyros but he didn't want to be with someone just because a past life and a sword told him to. He looked at Kyros. "So what do we do now?"

[Maira]

After she told Luca just what they, and Kyros, were to each other, she listened as young man blurted out how relieved he was not to be going insane. She must have given him a confused look because after that it was his turn to explain. She listened intently, her blood running cold at the thought of anybody being treated in such a manner. When Luca was done speaking he asked Aria about her own story since the death of Arthur and Lancelot. It took her a moment to calm her emotions enough to recount it for him but then she told him everything. When she mentioned that she'd only woken a few weeks prior, Luca interjected that he had met Kyros at about the same time. Hearing that, she knew precisely why it was she had finally woken. The sword, or maybe the gods themselves, had let her sleep away her pain until her loves were reunited so she wouldn't have to wait for the Triad to be complete again.

Luca took his leave then, laying his hands on hers before going, and told her something that broke her heart anew. He told her that Lancelot had watched as Arthur had died, he told her about the pain and rage he'd felt at seeing his lover cut down before him. And then he told her of the sadness that Lancelot had felt at his own death and that he'd never wanted to leave her alone. Somehow, by some miracle, Aria managed to keep her composure until Luca left her room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Aria crumpled into a broken heap against the window, the tears flowing freely as her body was wracked with sobs.

Aria too had been fighting at the battle, had seen her husband fall. She had just reached him to recover Excalibur in hopes of getting it to Lancelot, and when she turned to find her lover she saw the killing blow being delivered. She had wanted to run to him and bring him to Arthur so they could lay together at their last, but she and the sword had been whisked from the battle field and away to Avalon for safe-keeping. She'd never gotten to properly say goodbye. Hearing Luca's words about Lancelot's last memories brought forth her own pain from that time and eventually she cried herself out and slipped into sleep, propped up against the window.

*****

Merlin, on a the lower floor, could feel that Aria was upset. He'd been attuned to her for long enough that any great shift in her emotions was easily noted by the wizard. When he was awakened by the change in air pressure and temperature he nearly went to her room to check on her to make sure she wouldn't make it start snowing inside the house but then the atmosphere shifted back to normal and he figured she must've fallen asleep. Confident that he would wake before any true weather disasters from her, Merlin rolled over and returned to his dreams of days past.

*****

After seeing Aria to her room with her dinner, Kyros had gone back to his own. As he entered and closed the door behind him he just stared at the sword where it was propped against the wall next to his bed. He didn't go pick it up immediately, he just stared. Finally after a few minutes he crossed the room to get a better look at the sword and when he grasped it to turn it around for a fuller inspection, the sword spoke to him again and he very nearly dropped the thing. Having an inanimate object speak into his mind was more than a little unnerving but instead of tucking it back against the wall, Kyros sat on his bed with it in his lap and just listened and watched as the sword showed him the history of its previous bearer.

It was there, sitting on the bed with the sword in his lap, that Luca found him a while later and he was surprised out of his silent communication with the sword by the sound of his bedroom door opening. When Luca approached, then proceeded to tap the sword, Kyros looked up at him curiously. Now that the sword had told him just who he was, and who Aria and Luca both were, he couldn't help but look at the younger man a little differently. He nodded understanding to Luca's words about Aria explaining who they all were and he commented, "The sword told me."

When Luca asked what they should do now, Kyros eyed him for a moment then stared at the sword. He'd been wondering the same thing and he really didn't have a solid answer for the other man. "I know what we were, how we're all connected, but I still think we need to get to know each other better. Its only been a couple weeks since we met and we've not even known Aria a full day. Whatever this is going to turn out to be, we would do best not to take our time."

[Demeter]

Luca agreed that whatever the reason behind the swords awakening, it would need be sorted out and soon. However, they couldn't do anything without sleep. Luca looked at the sword, the bed, the boxes pushed into the corners of the room. He looked at everything but Kyros. "Um, I would understand if you didn't want to, you know, given what we now know, thanks to that blade..." Luca let his thoughts trail off. 

It was Kyros who rolled his eyes, told the younger man to stop being an idiot and to get into the bed. Since he was already wearing the pants and old t-shirt he normally wore, Luca crawled into Kyros' bed, scooted himself to the left and settled in to try and get some sleep. 

He did sleep peacefully for a while but the stresses of the day eventually caught up with him. This time, it was the memories not only a barbed whip across the softer skin of his belly, but the stirred up memories of his past life invaded his dreams. The phantom pain of the whip and a killing blow of a sword to the gut haunted him in his dreams and caused him to cry out and thrash in his sleep. This time, unlike the past three weeks, Kyros was unable to calm him by holding him and as the older man struggled the wake him, Luca's cries grew louder till they were screams that woke the whole house. 

In the master bedroom, Mirage sat on the side of the bed. Ohdran sat next to her, arm around her middle. Each time her nephew screamed, she squeezed her eyes shut and relived the moment she'd looked up to see him dangling from the ceiling of the abandoned manor house. Wasn't there any way they could help him besides just being there?

On the lower floor of the house, Darius slammed a fist into the mattress of his guest bed. He hadn't yet fallen asleep; he'd been up, texting Genesis about the days events when the screaming startled him. It angered him that there was nothing he could do to help Luca and the others in the wake of what had been done to them. He'd destroyed those who'd tortured his men but their deaths could not reverse what happened. Nothing could

He sent a text to Genesis, explaining that the Boy was having what sounded like a violent nightmare and he had to go just in case things got out of hand. While he was tugging his shirt back on, she replied that he should let her know if she needed to come over and patch anyone up. After agreeing to that, Darius hurried up to the upper floor and tracked the screams to Kyros' room. Deciding to wait things out, since the Boy was in another man's room and he really didn't want to interrupt anything, Darius leaned against the wall opposite to the door. While waiting, and thumping a fist against the wall whenever Luca cried out, Darius recalled that Mirage had told him that Kyros could calm the nightmares Luca suffered. The question was could Kyros, even with a blade such as Excalibur, handle a berserker warrior who'd lost control of his mind? 

Merlin was jolted awake by the screaming. Blinking, he tried to figure out what was making that noise. Through process of elimination, he could only figure out that a living person was making that noise. He hurried out of bed and dressed. Whoever that was, it sounded as if they were being tormented. After dressing, he hurried to the second floor, where the screams were coming from, and found the man now named Darius stand guard across from Kyros' room. Was the man who'd once been Arthur making those sounds? 

He may not have said anything but Darius clearly knew the question. "Luca, the one who has Lancelot's soul, suffers from nightmares. What was done to him would have been considered inhumane even in the dark ages. From what my daughter tells me, Kyros is able to help with the nightmares but there's no telling what could happen if the nightmare becomes a waking nightmare. Luca is the same as his father; a berserker warrior. When he gets in that state, he's fighting locomotive that won't stop until he's dead or unconscious. Last time, his mother's dragon sat on him."

Both men jumped when Aria slammed out of her room, stormed down the hall and slammed into Kyros' room. Darius blinked when she slammed the door shut. He turned to Merlin. "Luca needs more then just physical healing or he'll be no use to either of them. I know the only to get out of Avalon is Aria but can she take others back in with her?"

Luca was trapped in with the pain. He cycled through the memories of that whip ripping into his belly to the pain of watching his beloved fall to the sensation of a sword running him through. His screas grew louder as he fought against the arms that held him. He just wanted to go back to the time when there was no pain, no fear and no knowledge of all that he'd once had and lost.

He unconciously struggled against Kyros' hold on him, remembering only chains and not recognizing the strong arms that held him or the warm voice that said his name.

He justed wanted to be free of the pain.

[Maira]

Where she had fallen asleep against the window, Aria whimpered and twitched with her own nightmares. Her magic induced sleep had been mostly dreamless and in turn lacked nightmares as well. Now that she was once again moving among mortals her dreams and nightmares had both returned. Tonight's nightmares were likely prompted by the talk she'd had with Luca earlier and the images flashing through her mind were terrifying. They were a combination of the killing blow to Lancelot and what could only have been her brain's interpretation of the torture that Luca himself went through not that long ago.

When the perspective switched from that of her being an observer to her being "in" Lancelot/Luca, Aria screamed once, thrashed about in her sleep and fell off the window seat into a heap on the floor. The landing on the floor jolted her awake and when the screaming from her dreams continued in the waking world she panicked. She cowered on the floor in a ball until she was able to think through the screaming and she realized what must have been happening. The sword, in its way, was trying to get her to help poor Luca so it had shown her his current nightmares. As soon as she realized what was going on Aria bolted from her room, past the men in the hall, and into Kyros's bedroom slamming the door behind her.

When his door flew open and then slammed shut, Kyros glared at the intruder over his shoulder. When he saw it was Aria, he begged her with his eyes and his words, "I can't soothe him this time, I don't know what's wrong, can you help him?"

Aria nodded that she could and then went around to the other side of the bed where she slipped in next to Luca. Lancelot had been a berserker, he'd had night terrors like this, and even though she wasn't intimate with Luca like she had been Lancelot, she knew what would calm him. She pried Kyros's arms loose long enough to join Luca in the other man's embrace and then she pushed his arms tight around her so that he was holding them together. Once her body was pressed firmly up against Luca's she placed her hands so that one was on his heart and another was on his forehead. As she released her power into him she whispered repeatedly, "Love surrounds you, Strength protects you, Order soothes you." After about the fourth repetition the screams quieted, by the sixth the thrashing stopped, and before she had a chance to utter the tenth repetition Luca was once again sleeping peacefully.

The magic was draining and when Luca drifted off to sleep, Aria did too. Kyros, worried and terrified to leave Luca in case the nightmares returned, just stared at the two sleeping soundly in his arms. He knew, technically, that Triads were stronger together than apart but he hadn't expected to have it proved to him so soon after having his dumped on his doorstep. It looked like things with Aria were going to get complicated rather quickly if she was going to have to join them in bed to keep Luca calm.

[Demeter]

He was warm. In fact, he was too warm and sweaty to stay asleep. Luca opened one eye and when he couldn't make out his surroundings, Luca opened the other. He was in Kyros' room, Luca realized, and in the man's bed as well. He glanced around and noticed that Aria was tangled in the sheets with them. They were piled together like a bunch of puppies. Which would explain why he was too warm. 

Luca tried to wiggle out of the pile but it seemed like he was stuck. The other two were still sleeping soundly. Well, that was fine for them...they weren't in the muddle if the pile. Luca wiggled some more and managed to dislodge Kyros. Mumbling in his sleep, the older man rolled away. Luca took his chance and crawled over him to make his escape. 

He went to his own room to shower and dress for the day. On his way out of the house, he grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of water. He stopped short when he saw his grandfather standing on the porch, grinning at him. "What do you want, Old Man," Luca asked, using his father's favored endearment for Darius. 

Darius sipped coffee. "Heard you thought getting thrown from horses was good exercises. Might wear you out but its a dumb way to work. Odhran mentioned on how he was planning to completely strip down the foaling shed and clean in," Darius said and grinned at Luca. 

Luca groaned. "And you volunteered me, didn't you?" He groaned again when Darius nodded before thumping down the stairs and going to the shed where the pitchforks and wheelbarrows were kept. 

Stripping down the foaling barn was hard work, Luca thought as he rolled wheelbarrows full of old straw. It was hard work but it had to be done. One set if mares and their foals had just been moved out to pasture while there were still more waiting to foal. The work may have been hard but it was mindless and that allowed Luca to think. 

He thought about the recent events. Excalibur. Aria. Lancelot. Arthur. Kyros. Luca. He knew all about god swords and their triads. He'd grown up around three god swords, one complete triad and two partial ones. He knew that his mother and his other father would go anywhere and do anything for Carma, the holder of Talos and his natural father. He knew that one person was the comforter and one the challenger. 

Luca got the feeling that Aria wouldn't like the title of her role anymore then she liked the name Gwen. And then left the role of challenger to him. What sort of challenger could he be if he broke out in a cold sweat every time he just looked at a sword?

He could just see the headlines now: Challenger in Excalibur Triad freaks out and attacks the holder of Excalibur! World is doomed! 

Luca, leaning on his pitchfork snorted. As a challenger, he was pretty useless. And what about the more personal part of a Triad? He knew that previously they'd all been together. But he wasn't Lancelot even if they shared the same soul and yet he could remember how it felt to be with Kyros and Aria. He couldn't imagine how hard this was on Aria. 

He was still leaning on the pitchfork, contemplating Triad unions, when Mirage, followed by a group of stable staff, wandered into the barn. "All right, Luca, you are free to go. The staff will finish up," she said. 

One of the staff members snatched the pitchfork from him, causing him to stumble. He blinked in shock as the girl, a diminutive Irish Rose, glared at him and clutched the pitchfork rather possessively. Apparently he was trodding on her sacred ground of the foaling barn. Surrendering both pitchfork and muck filled wheelbarrow to the Irish Rose, he followed Aunt Mirage out out of the barn. "So, how'd you spring me from that. I was doing that on Grandpa's orders."

It always took Mirage a minute to equate "Grandpa" with her dad, despite the fact she'd be making him a grandpa fir the umpteenth time in a few months. "Oh, all of the people not used to farm hours are finally awake. A summit meeting about Excalibur has been called."

"I'm not used to farm hours yet I'm awake."

Mirage looked over her shoulder at him. "Maybe not but you, Oh first born so of Uncle Carma, are used to soldiering hours. Those are worse."

Luca grinned. Only a few years older then him, Aunt Mirage was cool to hang out with. The baby had only slowed her down a little and he had no doubt that she'd strap her mini-Odhran to her back and carry on as soon as she possibly could. He wondered how Odhran wasn't bald yet with all the hair-pulling stress she caused him. Genesis said they'd named her Mirage because she'd played hide and seek with the ultrasound. Even to this day, she'd be gone if you were distracted for two seconds. Aunt Mirage was a whirlwind. At the moment, she was a waddling whirlwind and she'd kill him if she knew he'd thought that. 
Once they reached the house, Luca took note of the assembled players. It wasn't just him and the other two that would be changed by this. Kyros' parents and his baby sister were gathered in the kitchen. The sister did not look happy. Aria, Merlin, and Kyros were already gathered around the dining table while Luca's own parents were talking with Darius and Grandma Genesis. So many people who in one way or another would be changed by this. 

Luca greeted his parents then went over to stand by Kyros. Unlike Atlantis, Avalon hadn't been destroyed; it had simply been cut off from the world, with people still living on the island. People who didn't really know what was going on in the outside world. 

The end result of the day long meeting was that Aria would return to Avalon, bringing Luca and Kyros with her. Kyros' sister would be named the unofficial heir to her father, even though she was far from thrilled with that idea. The only hang up was Luca's need for a skilled healer.
In addition to his need for mental healing, his body was still very scarred up and while there were healers on Avalon, none would know the techniques that had been used or would be familiar with Luca's situation and could inadvertently push him to far. And Darius was not about to agree to Genesis going off to a disconnected island for who knew how long. In the end, it would be Belladonna, another healer and aunt, who would join them. They just had to wait for her to arrive.

That night, after they all went their separate ways for a few hours, Luca found Aria in the family room, plopped on the couch and hugging a pillow while she watched a movie. He sat down next to her and as he did so, Luca remembered the night before. He knew he'd had another nightmare last night. Beneath the heat and the sweat of their piled together bodies, there'd been the familiar ache of his muscles. But there'd also been something else...a familiar voice soothing him. Logic dictated that it had to be Aria. She hadn't been there when he'd fallen asleep and there when he'd woken. Kyros' usual method of rousing him from a nightmare was to wake him and he did not recall waking to pile up with the other two. He half turned on the couch so that he was facing Aria. "Were you the one to stop the nightmare last night? What did you do?"

[Maira]

From Aria's perspective, the meeting went rather well. It was determined that she would be returning to Avalon with with Kyros and Luca. She wasn't sure how things would go for them as a Triad once they got there, but she was sure that being on the Island would aid in Luca's emotional and physical healing. She was also fairly certain that returning her King, would also return Avalon to the mortal realm instead of the misty one it had been existing in since she and Excalibur had fallen asleep.

As soon as she could, Aria wandered off in search of some solitude. The past 24 hours had been emotionally exhausting, and she really just wanted some time to herself to try and get her feelings about everything in order. She found a quiet corner of the house with a comfortable couch and a television and set herself up with a movie like Merlin had shown her. The movie was more of an excuse for anybody walking by as for why she was sitting alone, she really wasn't concentrating on it at all as her mind was just too busy going over the events of the past day (and night).

Her biggest worry was how to act around Luca and Kyros. Her eye could see they weren't Arthur and Lancelot, her brain knew that while the men shared the souls with them that they weren't Arthur and Lancelot, but last night with Luca's nightmare Aria had felt it down to her soul that they were indeed Arthur and Lancelot. Even with Luca's words about Lancelot's feelings at his own and Arthur's deaths Aria was not able to deny that her spirit had connected with both of them last night as she lay wrapped in Kyros's embrace and pouring her magic into Luca. Why couldn't this be simpler? Why couldn't the sword have picked people she hadn't already loved, and lost?

At some point she'd grabbed one of the couch cushions and was hugging it to her body for comfort, for lack of either her husband or her lover to cling to when matters of the heart overwhelmed her. It was shortly after that when the couch moved. With a quick glance, Aria determined that Luca had found her and with his presence her heart rate increased. Whether it was anger from her solitude being interrupted, or anxiety about how to even act around him, Aria wasn't sure but she did her best to calm it.

It wasn't long after he sat down that Luca turned to her and asked if she was the one to stop his nightmare, and what she did to stop it. Aria's eyes closed tightly, her heart racing again, as she tried to scramble to figure out how to explain things to him so that he wouldn't freak out. Finally, giving up, she opened her eyes and turned to him with the pillow still in her lap, an unconscious barrier between them. Clearing her throat she told him, "I am one of the Sidhe, a magic elemental. All elementals have special magic that affects one or more of the seven elements." At his confused blink, Aria nodded understanding and explained further, "Mortals and other non-elementals only know of the four elements that are easily felt with their hands, the other three are more ethereal and are harder to understand. The three elements that you probably don't know of are Light, Life, and Magic. Each type of elemental has a strong connection with only one element and the Sidhe are connected with Magic. The element of Magic is what gives witches and sorcerors, necromancers and healers their abilities. Sure, each of those may have stronger connections to the other elements, but without Magic they would be nothing."

She realized she was being rather long-winded about the whole thing but Luca was finally looking a little less confused so Aria moved along, getting to the specifics about her and what she'd done to him the night before. "When an individual elemental has strong magic in one element type, this is labelled their Calling. My Calling is that of Order. This means I'm great at crowd control. If there is an upset baby I can tickle it with my magic and it will be cooing in short order, if there is an angry mob I can wade into the middle of it and pump out my magic full bore and more often that not they will at least calm enough to listen to reason and disperse. The most use I've gotten of my magic though is with bersekers."

Here she paused to take a sip of the water she'd brought with her, and to gauge how Luca was taking the news so far. When she decided he wasn't going to bolt, she set her water down and added, "Like you, Lancelot was a berseker and more than once I had to calm him so he wouldn't harm anybody. He also had nightmares like you, he told me his terrors were about the people he'd killed when he was young before he knew what he was. His heart was tender, and if you ask me, not truly suited to bear the burdens of a berserker because he just cared too much. I think the situation was rather similar then to what it is now, actually. Arthur was summoned to Lancelot's quarters one night because he was in a rage, but he was asleep and nobody could wake him. Arthur walked in, wrapped Lancelot in his arms to keep him from lopping off his head with his sword, and in that moment Lancelot came to. After that, Arthur was summoned to Lancelot's quarters pretty often until finally one night he just stayed. He asked me first if I would be bothered if he tried sharing a bed with him, I was uncertain at first because I barely knew him, but I agreed if it would help the poor knight."

Luca was getting what Merlin called the deer-in-the-headlights look, and Aria asked him, "Do you want to hear the rest?" At his nod, she continued, "Arthur and Lancelot quickly realized that there was something between them, something more than just a king and his knight, and during a sparring match between them Lancelot actually knocked Excalibur from Arthur's hands and then picked it up and returned it to him. I had been watching them spar and when I saw that I knew just who Lance was supposed to be to us. After that it was many weeks of Lance and Arthur getting to know each other more intimately and at one point the silly knight asked me for permission to bed my husband. What he didn't know was that Arthur had already asked me the same thing. I wasn't blind, I could see where things were going and instead of being jealous and bitter about having to share my Arthur, I gave them my blessing. Its what Arthur needed and clearly what Lancelot needed too. I don't remember how long it was after they started bedding each other, but at some point Lancelot was taken by a nightmare he couldn't wake from even with Arthur's help. With Arthur already trying to help him, to no avail, he sent for me in hopes that my magic would calm him. I tried my normal approach of just letting my magic flow out of me but it didn't do a thing. I tried touching him and releasing it, but again nothing. Finally, at a loss of what else to do, I crawled in bed with them like I did with you two and, wrapped in Arthur's arms so that my whole body could make contact with all of Lancelot's, I tried again. That sort of worked. As war raged around Avalon and Britain, Lance's nightmares got worse and more frequent and eventually I worked out a spell that was able to quiet him. Its the one I used on you last night."

And now Luca was clearly starting to freak out. The mention of magic was weird, but like with most people, the mention of spells being used on him was just too much to process without a little bit of panic. Cringing at his reaction, Aria finished, "The spell is simple and does nothing but give my calming powers more strength and focus. I can't control you with them, I can't make you sleep, I can't do anything but soothe your ravaged mind. Once the nightmares no longer have power over you then your body takes over and you fall asleep again. All I do is repeat, 'Love surrounds you, Strength protects you, Order soothes you,' until you are free from the nightmares and sleeping calmly."

At her explanation, Luca seemed to relax a little bit and that gave her the confidence to tell him just what the words of the spell meant. "When it was me, Arthur, and Lancelot the words had very strong meaning which is why they helped focus my magic so well. 'Love surrounds you,' was because Arthur and I were literally on either side of him. 'Strength protects you,' was for Arthur's strong arms and will. He would have done anything in his power to protect Lancelot. 'Order soothes you,' was obviously for my magic and what it was supposed to be doing. The repetitions gave the words and power time to sink in and actually calm him."

Her long-winded tale finally finished, Aria drank more deeply of her water as her mouth and throat were both very dry. As she took a few more drinks, she watched Luca. Waiting for him to say or do something.