What's Troubling Lheo
An inn in Isobar, early evening.
Fresh off their success in rescuing Benny from a group of erstwhile footpads with more greed than sense, our intrepid adventurers have secured tickets for an airship back to Alexandria that leaves tomorrow morning. This leaves them seeking a night's rest and relaxation in the town itself, and ale, wine, song, and laughter flow freely in the firelit common room downstairs.
Lheo has not taken part in the festivities, securing a room and going up there almost immediately on arrival. This is not unusual for him - he's not a party sort - but usually he'll at least have a plate of stew sent up. He didn't do that, this time, and the door to the inn room he'd paid for is closed.
The atypical part is perhaps that Zero seems less intent on revelry than normal. Oh certainly, he still flirts with the barmaids, the barkeep, the innkeeper, and everyone else as easily as he breathes, but he does it almost half-heartedly, not engaging with any particular person for longer than a thought before he asks his real business of them ('dear, can you fetch me another drink?' or 'Darling, can you provide me another pillow for my bed?'). His red-pink eyes seem to be lost at times in thought, sometimes peering at Theo, sometimes at not much in particular, white brows furrowing here in there with the touch of a mind at work.
And while it might be safe to assume what Zero's mind might be thinking about on most occasions... Perhaps it's a surprise when Zero approaches Theo, tapping him on the shoulder. "I'm worried about your brother, darling," he says gently, in the low tones that he doesn't ordinarily use. "Something's... Off. Do you want to go talk to him together?"
Theo, on the usual, would have participated in the after-mission social part of things, but he was worried about his brother in more than one way, so he found himself saying his good-nights a bit earlier than usual only for Zero to tap him on the shoulder and speak the very words that are on his own mind. This makes him frown, but he nods as well, turning toward the stairs, and eventually knocking on the door to the room his brother has rented for the evening.
"Come." Lheo's voice floats through the door, muffled but present and normal-sounding enough.
There's a little moment of pause before Zero goes to open the door. Mostly in the form of his eyes meeting Theo's, something unsaid passing through words only: a mutual concern, although Zero's is in the form of care for a friend and Theo's is in the form of love for a brother. Lheo... Sounds fine, at least, but that doesn't always mean things are fine.
So Zero opens the door, letting Theo through before the door closes behind them. He smiles. It's the same Zero-smile as always.
Except for the fact that there's that little twinge of worry in the corner of his mouth.
"Hello Lheo," Zero says. It's a ghost of a purr in his voice, something half-heartedly there. Unusual for the man in more ways than one. "We came to check on you. How are... Things going?" Like he hadn't been there in the melee and healed Lheo's wounds himself.
Theo comes in behind Zero, his eyes immediately searching out the sight of his brother in the room. Though he almost always seems self-assured, in this moment, in the privacy of their room with only Zero to know otherwise he seems far less so than he usually is. He starts to say something only to stop and then look at Zero, glad that the bard has words for this moment where he seems to find none.
The room is fairly dark, with only a single kelly-green mana light - Lheo's signature color - from the direction of the tiny desk in the room. Approaching the desk reveals a closed tome and a copper coin imbued with light, but the wizard himself is lying on top of the blankets on the bed, boots off but everything else still on. He seems, at least, to have cleaned everything up, although the gash in the chest of his robes where the knife went through them conspicuously remains.
He looks up when they enter, and sits up long enough to identify those entering, but when he positively identifies the pair, he goes back to lying down and covers his eyes with an arm. "Head's pounding," he answers. "Not as bad as it was."
Zero nods gently in the relative dark of the room. His red-pink eyes are well-accustomed to dark places, after all, although they linger for a long moment on that gash in the man's robes. The wound may heal, but the memory of it is a thing that the skin likes to hold onto, and the gash is a wound of its own on the clothes that tried to defend against it.
"I'm glad your head is doing better, even if it's not fully well yet," Zero responds to Lheo's words. The red-pink eyes flicker up to Lheo's hidden eyes. "You pulled out quite the impressive spell back there."
"An impressive set of spells." Theo corrected softly. He'd never seen such magical prowess from his brother before. "Invisibility and a fire spell?" He knew that his brother would become a more powerful wizard over time, but this seemed a distinct change considering the other changes that he'd noticed in his twin. "Lheo..." He didn't know what to say.
Lheo lets the arm drop, sighing. "I was glad those worked. I hadn't counted on the invisibility dropping when I dropped the other spell, though." A rueful add, accompanied by a smirk. "That was what I was trying to figure out the other day, brother, when you came in. I - got behind," he admits. "Those spells are of the second circle, something I'd been trying to master for a while."
He looks down at the gash in his clothes. "I'll mend that in the morning, I don't have the spells memorized just now. It's a shame, these were nice robes."
"They are nice robes," Zero says with a soft echo. It's the type of softness that is so very uncharacteristic for the loud and bombastic bard, the sort of soft and quiet that Lheo and Theo have only ever seen when Zero is in a tender moment. He looks uncertain for a moment.
And then finally he parts his lips to speak again. "Lheo--have you... told your brother?" The words themselves are open-ended. But the way they're said implies something much more focused. Something that points at specificity. An event. A thing. A person. Maybe all of them in one and more.
Theo looked between Lheo and Zero. Then back again. Unease was there again in his gut. He knew. Something was wrong. Something to do with his brother. Something had changed in the other man; his other half. Something that he couldn't easily define or pin down and it'd left him unsettled since his return from that training mission with the temple.
For Zero to know something about Lheo that he did not...
"It's..." There was suddenly so much distance between them. A gulf that had emerged and now he didn't know how to breach it. This had never happened before. Zero knew something about Lheo that he did not. He felt the chasm widen.
There are moments in life where you can feel a decision hang in the balance. Where you know that the next choice you make will alter you in ways that you can't begin to imagine then. Theo felt that moment. Knew he was about to make a choice that would forever change him - them. His hand was inexplicably on the doorhandle and he couldn't remember moving to put it there. "You don't have to tell me." The words didn't even sound like his. But he'd never had a secret from Lheo. Never once. "It's okay."
Lheo was a thousand miles away.
Stunned, Lheo sits up abruptly, staring after Theo, reaching automatically for his temple as his head objects strenuously to the maneuver. "Theo, what the fuck." The wizard doesn't swear all that often, but he can be vehement when he does. "Show me the man who's going to tell his brother who hasn't slept in two days that he lost control of a basic summoning spell and ended up with a demon in his face," he snarls, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
Zero might have something to say, but there's a noise that comes from the door. A knock.
"Ah--" Zero begins, but he goes over to the door and opens it. Just a tad. "Who is it?"
Zero's hand is almost batted away from the door as a sil-looking man pushes in the door a little more, poking his head through the crack. He offers Lheo a wide, wide smile as Zero, quite bewildered, steps aside. "Hello! I'd say I hope I'm not intruding, but I totally am, and I'm sorry for that." His gray eyes are filled with mirth, glowing so slightly.
And... He doesn't sound sorry at all.
The sil-looking man claps his hands together. "I came to check in on my dear Lheo, of course. Goodness me, you are insisting on this whole... dark room and green mana-lamp thing, aren't you? I mean, it's moody, don't get me wrong, but we have to do something. Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself! Good show back there, everyone! I was highly enjoying myself. Lheo finally gets a moment! Such power! I'm so happy!"
And then the man eyes Theo. "And you! A quick wedding! I didn't think you had it in you, tiger!" He winks in far too familiar of a fashion.
Theo is about to say something when the door is knocked upon, and like Zero whatever he was about to say is lost when Zero moves to open a door that Theo himself would not have opened. In fact with his hand on the handle it's a bit of a snafu. He lets himself be moved out of the way out of pure confusion as the other individual enters and... Whoever it is not only clearly knows Lheo and Zero, but him also? He's never seen this person in his life. Of that he is sure. Worse, the person seems to know everything about their adventure earlier.
In all truthfulness it's a little much for Theo.
Finally green eyes land on Lheo and Theo answers the question between them. "I thought you would tell me. But this latest mission... it was just... an excuse wasn't it? You never... you've never kept anything from me Lheo. Not until now." There's too many people in the room. He wants to be alone with his brother. Wants to understand. "You..." He looks at the new person and he just can't. He blinks away the hurt that echoes in his chest. He's so confused. He wants to be sure that Lheo is okay but... How can he say such things in front of this stranger?
Lheo simply stops. And stares at the newcomer. "You - were watching?" he gets out, very, very slowly, clearly more than a little overwhelmed himself. Slowly, oh so slowly, his head sinks into both his hands as the whole thing crumbles around him. All the plans, all the careful trying to keep this quiet - it just crumbles around him, and suddenly his head is pounding even worse.
"Theo. Just - shut up and listen a minute, all right. Everybody just shut up. No, I didn't want to tell you. I figured you'd lose your shit." His voice sounds strained. Worried. Weary. How in all nineteen Iron Hells did he think he was going to keep something like this from Theo? He should have known better. "This is Lhamneris, and -" He stops, as if flailing for words and can't find any.
"Finally, he just sighs, head still buried in hands and eyes notably shielded from light. "Leave the lights, Lhamneris. They make my head hurt worse." The words come out sharply. "Here's the story. I went outside the walls to practice conjuring small animals. It's useful to do in a fight, they'll help. But - I messed it up. I still don't know what I did. Everything seemed right - and the next thing I knew I had some kind of a demon in my face. No protections, no wards. Nothing. I don't even know how to do those yet. I swear that's not what I wanted or intended."
For once in Zero's life, the bard obeys the instruction to be quiet, to shut up. He looks deeply uneasy with the tension in the room, within Lheo, and within Theo. There's so much at play here.
A moment later, he reaches out and gently touches Theo's arm. A comforting gesture.
The newly-introduced Lhamneris, meanwhile, looks absolutely enthralled. Like he's in the front-row seat of a Theatre District play and is seeing all of the little details on the costumes up close, the facial expressions of the actors as they work their art. It's a bizarre thing.
But he, too, is content to leave the scene in silence--or so one might think, before he says softly in benevolent tones, looking down at his nicely-filed nails, "Nobody despair; this is a moment for growth. For freedom."
His gray eyes fix onto Lheo. A little expression on his face encouraging him to speak. Speak freely, speak truly.
What can Theo do but be silent in the wake of his brother's demand? He says nothing. Doesn't move, just... waits. Yet that feeling doesn't change in him. Not the one that says there's something between them that wasn't there before. Not the one that says that there's a defining moment. It lingers and stretches out uncomfortably.
"I - I didn't know what to do. It had me dead to rights. I couldn't even see or feel Tarna. Not until Lhamneris showed up. He - helped me take it out." Lheo still hasn't moved, the details of the tableau lost to him as his face stays buried in his hands. "We won't talk about what probably would have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did. I - didn't know you were still around, Lhamneris."
That realization brings a moment of silence. "I guess - I'm kind of under his protection. That demon was after me, Theo. It wanted me to make a deal. I think it wanted to use me to get to you. It said it had been watching me for a while. That's why I busted my arse to master the second circle. I can't stand against something like that. I spent two days in bed from sheer overload to take that thing out."
There's a silent prayer in the words, in the rush in which they come out.
Zero frowns so deeply. He'd known, of course, of this. Lheo had sworn him to not tell Theo. That was a word he kept iron-clad. It's why he'd not spilled a single word.
He looks at Theo and says, "Your brother--wanted to protect you. Because he loves you. I'm sorry I didn't say a thing, but if you'd asked me to do the same--I would have. I never meant to be a wedge between the two of you. I care... far too deeply for you to ever want that."
There's something sensitive in Zero's eyes as he quietly, gently, softly admits the last to Theo.
Lhamneris can take a cue. Where the talk in the room has suddenly become so gentle and quiet, he follows suit, but he still speaks in an animated manner. "Of course I'm around, Lheo," he says. "But perhaps I ought to explain my part? Before the possibility that I am accused of all manner of bedevilment myself?"
He looks at Theo. "I mean you nor your brother any harm. My name is Lhamneris. I serve the Light--I would show you my proper form, but this inn room is a tad bit too... small." A sly little smile there plays out across the sil-like features. "I've been watching your brother for some time--and you by association. Given my nature, I've always been a fan of those who aren't so... How do we put it..."
Lhamneris clicks his tongue a few times. "Well, your brother? You know how he dwells in the dark and likes his little mana-lamps, grim thin beanpole of a man that he is? I adore people like him. So easily forgotten, so looked over. You, and all of the Coming Dawn's children, and all of the Shining Knight's children, and on and on and..."
Yaaaaaawn. The man stretches out his limbs and fans his mouth. "You're nice, but goodness. Not much excitement going on. Or so I thought until I watched you and your little bard asking about getting a quickie-wedding. That was gold." A brilliant flash of teeth. "I want to protect your brother. I want to elevate him to his fullest potential. I want to make him a shining star. And I will claw him away from every sordid little demon that might want him in the process, because they know it, too." Lhamneris's words are acidic at the end. He certainly hates demons.
Theo doesn't know what to say. He can imagine that what his brother must have been thinking in those moments of his botched spell. Facing a demon that was too powerful to be dealt with. Being rescued by this strange being. This... Lhamneris. Theo looks at the person, unable to determine anything about them aside from the fact that they clearly aren't human. Then his green eyes trail back to his brother.
"It wasn't your place to tell me Zero." Theo says gently, at last to the bard, but his eyes are on the man whom he'd known his whole life. Somehow, what Lhamneris says hurts. Hurts him in a way that he never expected to be hurt. He looks at Lheo and feels not for the first time this day... lost. "Is... Is that how you feel Lheo? Like you're... in the dark? Forgotten? Overlooked?" He flushes slightly at the memory of what had happened earlier, but shakes it off because the answer to this question is important. Vital even. He has to know.
There are times when silence speaks like thunder. This is one of those times. Lheo simply remains where he is, head buried in his hands. Only the quip about the grim thin beanpole brings a huff of momentary laughter that fades as quickly as it came. He doesn't move for the space of several breaths.
"You're the glib one of us, brother. You always have been. But that's not why. I just want to make sure it doesn't find you. I didn't kill it. I know damn well I didn't. The most I can do is kick it back to its home plane, and I can't really even do that without help." A shudder ripples down his spine, from neck to tailbone, at the memory of its profane touch.
Zero looks thoughtful for a moment. "There is more than one bardic tale of brothers being torn apart--by a demon who sought to pit them against each other, to work off of each others' insecurities," he says. "Theo--you care so deeply for your brother. You want to protect him. Lheo--it's clear you want knowledge, you want the power that comes with that knowledge. Because you want to be able to back up your brother. You both love each other to do that for each other."
He can't help but shiver, too. "If Lhamneris didn't intervene--it could have preyed on that bond you have. I think the only reason it chose Lheo is because Theo has a goddess he's sworn to. It saw Theo as a harder sell."
"You will be able to do so in due time," Lhamneris says confidently to Lheo, clapping his hands together again in good cheer. "Lheo, look at what you've been able to do in such a short span of time since I last spoke to you. Your brother's impressed!" He doesn't even acknowledge Zero's presence or how he felt about Lheo's spellwork. "If you apply yourself, with my help--you'll be able to do so very much."
His gray eyes are warm and affectionate. "It's only been a few days and yet I am so very proud of you," he says, before looking between the two brothers. And then more reluctantly on his first two words: "The bard is right. I hate tragedies. I want to see the two of you be stronger together. I just want my beanpole boy to have a little light of his own too, mm?"
Lheo is right, but then... Lheo has always been right. Silence speaks as loudly as any word. His brother... How could the gulf become this wide without him noticing? "You... You have always been my light Lheo." The words are soft. "When we were boys... It was me that was afraid of the dark, and you who lit it."
He'd always been there to protect his younger brother, but he'd always been... "You were the smart one. The one that told me what to do when I didn't know. You've always been in my eyes brother." Maybe it was his fault for not saying it sooner. For not thinking it needed saying. He always was the one talking, because he knew Lheo was so uncomfortable with other people, but when his brother spoke he always listened.
Maybe Zero was right. Maybe the the demon would have pitted them against one another, used their bond to make them into tools to use against one another. He should be grateful then to Lhamneris. In so many ways he should be grateful. "I didn't know you were in the dark Lheo." His shoulders sag and he shakes his head. "I'm sorry."
What can he even say to that? Lheo's left with no words, the revelations washing over him. The knowledge that this time, he couldn't light the darkness for his brother. He wasn't enough. Yes, he'd achieved some, but it was nowhere near enough, and he knew it. The light of his own tale - but a tale without his brother just didn't seem worth the telling. Worse, it was obvious that he'd upset his brother more by not telling than by telling.
He can't win.
There is no sound, no response from the edge of the bed. Just one very, very lost and struggling man with his face buried in too-thin hands.
Lhamneris purses his lips together for a moment. He walks closer to Lheo and gently, gently, places his hand on Lheo's arm. Because the hands are too-occupied with hiding his face.
"Lheo," he says softly. "The darkness is trying to get in without you realizing. You're hurt--that thump on the head was painful, and that knife-wound's still stinging, isn't it. That's how it likes to creep in. It goes in when you're low. You are hurting, and your brother--he hurts too because he didn't realize you were hurting. You realize there's a way to fix this, yes?"
Those gray eyes, warm and gentle, look up at Theo. "Come here, Theo. Embrace your brother. I want the two of you to tell each other that you love each other. That this will be a thing you learn from and move on from. That you will be stronger together. That you will stand in the Light and be defiant against the Dark. That you will always care so deeply for each other. That you will be each other's lights when there is nothing else. I can tell that's what the both of you need right now."
He says softly, "The mortal instinct--is to push away, to hide away, to be alone. We need each other in this world, my friends. No man is an island. No brother is an only child."
This is it then. The defining moment. Theo felt it coming for so long and now it was here. It wasn't his hand on the door. It wasn't his brother telling him about a demon that was hunting them. It was this. He could feel what Lhamneris was talking about. The 'mortal instinct'. To stand alone. To stand here. He couldn't move. It was like being mired in quicksand. He didn't know how to bridge the gulf.
Theo knew then, that he could walk away. That he could leave and it would be an end. An end to their closeness. An end to the way they'd been all their lives.
"Lheo." He said his brother's name, reaching out with his left hand toward the man who'd always been there to reach back. It wasn't the embrace that the stranger wanted, but it was what they'd always done. Ever since they'd learned that there were monsters under the bed.
He knew what it would mean if Lheo didn't take it.
Whatever response Theo was expecting, it's probably not the one he actually gets. Lheo looks up when his name is called, the hands finally dropping to his lap. He knows as clearly as Theo does what it meant if he didn't take it.
The good news is that the idea of not taking it never crosses the wizard's mind.
He's never had a strong grip. That's always been Theo's province. But he takes it, standing up now in a burst of movement to fairly fling himself at his brother, freehand looking to pull him into a tight embrace.
Lhamneris pulls away, letting the brothers have their moment. The sil face is wide to see Lheo and Theo going to embrace.
"Never let the bastards bring you down," he says gently. "Neither of you." And he reaches up and gently wipes the beginning of a tear away, smiling. It's a powerful thing to move someone, something, like him to tears.
He looks at Zero, who has been looking uncertain, and makes a motion for the man to move in. Not to join the embrace, but not to make himself a distant stranger. He is not a brother to Lheo or Theo--but Lhamneris knows what the brothers mean to him, in some capacity.
Zero nods gently and moves closer to the two brothers, looking hesitant to join them, but he stands almost at ready in case they decide to share the moment with them. It's not quite so much an awkward moment as much as it is like a musician waiting for their turn for in the improvised song--either to come back in with the rest of the band or to feature on his own.
This, however, is worth waiting for. Zero can't help but smile too.
Theo is there. Right there to catch Lheo. He closes his eyes and embraces Lheo like both their lives depend on it. "I'm right here. I'm always right here." He is, he will be. "I see you Lheo." Even if the whole world forgot them, he'd never. "It's you and me... And apparently Zero."
He huffs an amused noise and opens his eyes to give the other man a grateful look. For being there. For being patient.
Relief floods Lheo, a relief he hadn't expected. Theo knew - and he wasn't angry. He wasn't going to paladin-smite his brother for messing up. He wasn't going to run away, either. Tears come, something else that is unusual for both of them. They're short-lived, at least, a release of pent-up tension. At length, though, he pulls back, and smirks at his brother. "You get a fortnight of boredom and I attract demons. Think about that the next time you volunteer for a training exercise."
You, me, and apparently Zero. Zero can't help but laugh at the words. "I will be more than happy to serve as an awkward third wagon wheel whenever the two of you deem my company to be so suitable," he says gently. "They do say three's a crowd, but... Ah, I've always thought three was a perfectly good number, if you ask me."
He moves in to join the two brothers.
Lhamneris stares at Zero. "By Coyote's laugh, bard," he says. "Someone please bend him over and take him for a good time so he'll stop."
But he can't help but smile, too. After all, it's a tale of two brothers, one that will not be a tragedy like other tales before them. Two brothers who find each other in the light.
And apparently a bard. And an azata.
They never said it had to be a straightforward tale.