“Well if it isn't the flower headed bitch. I thought I sprayed enough weed killer to take care of this nuisance.” Vezaias mused as he walked in looking very smug.

  “And yet here I am, and by your approval no less?” Lucius sneered at him. Remington was now beside Vezaias very protectively. Ephraim joined on the other side. He looked Lucius over who didn't pay him any attention.

  “My brother has a thing for weeds.” Vezaias said with a smug laugh.

  “I will get free from this and then I will kill you!” Lucius spat. Remington was very defensive beside Vezaias.

  “Chill Rem. Solaris is always ready for a meal.” Vezaias said mildly. Lux now joined the group.

  “What did I miss?” He asked, looking amused.

  “I knew it! I knew Remington was lying! I knew we could not trust this mental piece of shit! Ax and I saw right through your ridiculous act!” Lucius snapped as he struggled to lunge at them.

  “And yet you did absolutely nothing to stop it! How very convenient.” Vezaias looked amused.

  “Fight me fair and square! A real battle as opposed to hiding in the shadows like a true monster!” Lucius challenged.

  “Oh please, Vezaias would make a meal out of you instantly.” Lux boasted.

  “A fair fight! He wouldn’t win! He won't even answer! He is too threatened by me!” Lucius growled. He waited for a reply.

  “Now listen, I really don’t like you. You just get on my nerves and in my way, but really this is not about me vs. you, and who is stronger in a fair fight, which 'spoiler alert' is definitely me. This is about keeping my goals and priorities, and most especially my family safe, you just might not comprehend that because you failed at trying to do the same thing.” He paused watching Lucius look insulted and hurt for a moment then even angrier. “So unlike you, I will not put my family, and my goals at risk just to prove a point. I'd rather just keep you here, either you can cooperate and submit, or not. If you cooperate I will let you live. If you don’t, then I will kill you much the same as I did last time. So what do you say?” Vezaias asked, looking haughty.

  “You are just scared!” Lucius taunted.

  “I was more afraid of that fiery bastard than you, as he can fight both close and long range even without his talent. Plus he is very destructive with his ridiculous talent. You, on the other hand, are not so much of a threat without your speed.” Vezaias said arrogantly.

  “Don't you talk about Ax you pompous fuck! Beat me fair and square and I will retract!” Lucius snapped.

  “I'll consider it.” Vezaias smirked. “Um…….no.” He replied.

  “Then let me see Zexich!” Lucius demanded.

  “Let's go, we'll send him in.” Vezaias said. The group followed him out.

  “Zex, you're up. He's a bit touchy. Help him understand that there is no reversing what has happened.” Vezaias said mildly.

  “I will try. I cannot promise that he will listen to me.” Zexich said solemnly. They let him enter alone. He was very eager to see his flower child. He approached carefully but at a distance.

  “Zex!” Lucius was already close to tears.

  “My dear flower, it is so good to see you alive again.” Zexich said softly.

  “Please Zex….tell me it isn't true. Have I really lost us the war? The others, all gone, fallen to that imperious bastard!” Lucius choked out a sob.

  “I am afraid it is true my flower, but you are not to blame for this.” Zexich said reassuringly. “The authority has been forcefully changed, it's true. The others, gone, to feed the appetite of the demon. There is much I have learned. Questions that we had tried to investigate, that now have answers.” Zexich said solemnly.

  “Remington was lying! Lux was also!” Lucius interjected.

  “Not exactly. Remington never lied to us. His answers, as Sigil detected, were all truthful because he was never aware of Vezaias's plan. Vezaias left him out of the details purposely because he knew Remington would not be able to lie without us finding out. Lux really did show up unexpectedly, but was simply shuffled into the cards that Vezaias played without missing a single detail. His plan, as much as I hate to admit this, was completely genius. He secured Remington's life so we would not kill him, gave him just enough purpose that we would need to keep him alive and trust him, kept without contact from him knowing he would search for Vezaias, waiting just long enough to reunite with him. Lux died and was recreated and made to manifest a purposeful talent that Vezaias specifically needed him to have. The same with Ava, who now has a very specific talent. Together the four of them took out Skyler the day of theater. Then used Ava's new talent to fool us into believing that Skyler was alive, yet we got suspicious of the fake Skyler. Next they perfectly executed a plan, dividing you and Demetri, then coming here to take out Rocks, Sigil and lastly my dear Sunshine. Might I add that he did fight valiantly. He nearly killed Ava and Remington, but unfortunately Vezaias on his own now is much too powerful.” Zexich explained. “He did not kill me. He needed my help. I was not going to cooperate after watching him devour Sigil. However he let me in on an important detail. He has kept all of our members secured, and then he offered me Sigil in exchange for my cooperation, with the promise that he will return everyone else after his very specific goal is met. The goal we had long since been speculating has been revealed. He was not simply being the villain out of recklessness. Everything he did, everyone he killed was thoroughly planned out and with much consideration and great purpose.” Zexich paused for reaction.

  “What purpose might that be?” Lucius asked, looking overwhelmed.

  “He has fused with a flesh eating demon to survive. He has agreed to help this demon in his goal to help its kind escape the realm they are trapped in. The demon's name is Solaris.” Zexich said simply. Lucius cringed.

  “Flesh eating. I remember Vezaias's attack that killed me. He ate….” Lucius paused as he was even more overwhelmed. “……that means the others……..they were also…..” Lucius broke down into sobs now. Zexich approached and put his arms around Lucius and hugged him tightly as he cried.

  “As I've told Sigil, it is hard to accept. I know you have your pride, but if we ever want to see our friends again, we must cooperate, accept the new management, follow orders, or Solaris will consume you. He took down all of our powerful forces. We were out matched. He has since made good on his word to return Sigil and now you. He is also no longer aggressive to those who cooperate with him and help him achieve his goals. He has protected me, shown me some form of kindness. I beg you my flower, if you hold onto your pride he will kill you, please submit to him. Do not leave me, the loss was so great, I need you here more than you need your pride!” Zexich beseeched.

  “Sigil has fallen in line?” It was more of a confirmation.

  “He has. Though he has his own personal resentment, he is cooperating.” Zexich wiped Lucius's tears for him.

  “I am here because of Ava, but he has told me that he has blatantly lied to me about his feelings for me. Now he wants me here. I have always been honest with him, even when I wasn't ready for a new romance. How can I trust him?” Lucius cringed.

  “Ava is a very troubled individual. He displays the text book symptoms of psychopathy. I blame this upon his childhood. He has no remorse and he is very manipulative, he does not know how to love anyone and this alone is dangerous. But he felt something for you, which for a true psychopath is miraculous. It may be fleeting, it may not last, he may reject it, he does not know how to love his flower properly, or perhaps he will embrace it, and put forth the tremendous effort that is needed to learn how to empathize or truly love someone? I cannot say for sure. Vezaias had tried to control Ava's behavior and warn people of his mental situation, but Ava is very convincing and hides his callous nature very well. It is up to you if you want to involve yourself or not, but I would just warn you that he is not typical and loving him as well as being loved by him will not be easy.” Zexich explained solemnly. Lucius was quiet. There was a long moment before the door opened and Vezaias returned alone.

  “Is he ready to make his choice? I am getting impatient.” Vezaias said seriously.

  “I said all that I could with the most effort possible. If he does not submit it will be because he does not trust you or Ava.” Zexich said with respect.

  “Very good Zex, I appreciate your efforts. Leave us.” Vezaias said seriously, keeping focus on Lucius.

  “Very well. Remember what I said, my flower. Hopefully you will stay.” Zexich turned to leave through a portal.

  “What do you choose?” Vezaias asked.

  “Zex is correct, I find it very difficult to trust you or your brother. You both have caused me harm, lied to me, took my friend's lives, caused so much suffering. As much as it is tempting to stay just for Zex's sake, I still find it a difficult choice to justify. My instincts tell me to fight or flight. The situation tells me I am at your mercy. My heart tells me to give this a chance for Zex, and for your brother. Logic tells me you have already killed so many of my family members, how exactly can I expect that you will value my life at all? Perhaps it would be better to go out fighting again. So tell me how shall this situation be justified in favor of giving this a chance?” Lucius said seriously.

  “You are correct in not trusting either of us. So I sympathize with your struggle to choose life. You should not trust me because I, in fact, do not give a shit about you, or keeping you alive right now. I am only giving you a chance to be alive for my brother's sake. I care about him. I have always wanted better for him, normalcy, to help him heal from his trauma, to help him learn how to behave in a more typical fashion. However as I have warned many people, he is a total savage remorseless slut….” Lucius cringed at the harsh description. “….I have warned you personally that he didn't give a fuck about you. You didn't listen to me. I wasn't just trying to be an asshole, I was trying to prevent you from falling victim to his cruelty. I was looking out for you. I am sorry that I come off so brash myself, I suppose it runs in the family. My point is that you were warned. Now he wants you back. I've never seen him truly care about anyone. He only even mildly gives a shit about me. But if there is even a small glimmer of hope to develop the empathy that he so desperately needs, because he has somehow emotionally attached to you. I will do whatever I can to nurture that. I will set aside my distaste for you. I will cease and desist all hostility that I feel towards you. I would throw a veil of protection over you from the appetite I have for flesh. I would support him, and guide him towards learning how to develop emotional maturity, with you as the motivation for it. It is all that I've ever wanted for him.” Lucius was quiet.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “You should not trust me either. I am still angry at you. Perhaps if you keep me in this position, and continue not to care for my physical or emotional suffering, he will overcompensate. If I can successfully help him the way you desire, you will promise to me that you will keep your word to restore my friends, as well as guarantee a truce or even an alliance in the future, if we both are able to trust each other as these requirements are met.” Lucius explained.

  “I will tell him you are not hostile to a certain extent, but you will not cooperate and I do not trust to free you. I will not care about it. Just be warned not to trust everything he says immediately, and he now has the borrowed talent to know when you are lying, as well as see your past, if I allow him too. I normally do not keep his talent shut off as I will yours. It is the only help I can offer to you for now. I will now proceed to not give a shit. Hope you understand, I am an excellent actor.” Vezaias then turned and left without another word. Lucius tried to relax but he was restless and pinned in place making it difficult to let go of his tension. He fell right back to aggression when Ava returned. Lucius looked away purposely withholding eye contact or acknowledgement. Ava was quiet and emotional but approached with caution. A long tense moment passed as Ava hoped for attention but the need went completely unfulfilled.

  “Louie?” Ava spoke meekly. Lucius was quiet and cold to the request for attention. It was a long excruciating moment.

  “Is this what you had in mind when you wanted your toy back?” Lucius said sourly, looking angry. Ava looked ashamed and to the floor.

  “No Louie. This is not at all what I wanted to happen to you.” Ava said unhappily.

  “I thought you were different. I thought if I gave you a chance it would actually mean something, but you are just as callous as Ax was when I was with him.” Lucius said painfully. “I don't know how I ended up right back in the same unloved situation as before. Perhaps I do not deserve to be loved.” Lucius was silently crying. Ava felt his heart break. It was a life shattering feeling that he had never felt before.

  “You do deserve to be loved!” Ava insisted.

  “If by that you mean the type of love that you have to offer, the kind that is full of deceit, lies, manipulation, callousness and is completely counterfeit, then perhaps I do, but excuse the fuck out of me if I do not want your brand of love.” Lucius said sourly. “Please leave me alone, and convince your brother I will not cooperate so he can have his meal. For some reason he has chosen to let me live and I do not understand why.” Lucius said painfully.

  “Louie…..I uh……” Ava cringed. He could not come up with a reasonable argument. “I can change!” He huffed.

  “Just leave me alone Ava.” Lucius pressed angrily. Ava was nearly in a panic now.

  “I need you to love me!” Ava shouted.

  “So you can reinforce your sense of self worth?!” Lucius snapped. “At the expense of my feelings?! Get the fuck out of here!” Lucius yelled back angrily.

  “Louie, please don't turn me away! I brought you here! You're alive again because I really do love you!” Ava pleaded him.

  “You don't give a shit about me Ava! Do you know how I can tell?! Most of my friends are dead! Your fucking brother killed them! Sure Zex is alive and Sigil has returned! But there were others, and I am destroyed over it! Have you even considered how much pain this caused me?! No! All you give a shit about right now is getting me to love you again!” Lucius yelled. Ava was struck. Lucius was right, this had never even crossed his mind.

  “You're right. I didn't. I don't know how you feel, or how to care about that. I'm sorry.” Ava admitted.

  “I lost the people I care about. It hurts! Weren't you hurt while I was gone?!” Lucius snapped.

  “I was.” Ava said meekly. He was fidgety and uncomfortable with this conversation. All he wanted to do was escape from it.

  “Now imagine that feeling times ten! It is fucking crushing me!” Lucius yelled. Ava flinched.

  “Okay. It hurts you a lot, but what am I supposed to do about it?! I cannot fix it for you!” Ava yelled back while streaming with tears.

  “I know that Ava! I'm not asking you to fix it! I am telling you so you can figure out how to be fucking empathetic! Try to understand how I feel for a fucking moment instead of only caring about your fucking self!” Lucius yelled then he began to sob. Ava stood there blankly racking his brain trying to figure out how to do that very thing. He had always pretended to console people before, but not because he actually cared about their problems. He could do that, pretend, the words and actions would be easy. 'Oh you poor thing!’ hugs, kisses, cuddles. But did he actually feel anything? No. He didn't give a fuck about those people. So what if those people were dead? Most of them were annoying anyway. So why did it matter?

  “I want to be honest with you. So all I can say at this moment is that I don't understand. I don't know how to sympathize with you. I can fake it, but that would be deceitful, and I don't think that's what you want me to do either.” Ava said with as much honesty as possible. Lucius took a deep breath.

  “Well that's a start I suppose. Thank you for being honest at this moment instead of trying to fool me. It won't work anymore. I am not angry at you for not understanding. I want to see you again, but for right now can you please just give me some time alone?” Lucius asked as calmly as possible. Ava paused to consider this.

  “Okay Louie.” Ava said softly as he brushed away some tears then turned to leave. He walked out finding the hallway empty. He immediately went to the infirmary. He sat on the medical bed and waited. Zexich was probably hard at work on the portal so his arrival might be delayed. Ava hugged himself and rocked back and forth as he suppressed his tears. A long moment later Zexich arrived and approached carefully.

  “Hello Ava, you seem to be very distressed. How can I help you?” Zexich asked.

  “I need medicine.” Ava said firmly. He was still crying silently and rocking back and forth.

  “That is a very general request. I must know what ails you first before I can figure out what sort of…”

  “I need drugs, you stupid doctor! I am in pain! I need relief!” Ava shouted angrily.

  “Once again I cannot just ‘give you drugs'. This is an addict's behavior I am observing from you right now. Your brother has made it quite clear that I am not to indulge these sorts of requests, and he ordered me not to give you any medication at all until I've cleared it with him first, nor would I believe it would be in your best interest to just ‘give you drugs'.” Zexich explained. Ava began to sob and put his face into his hands.

  “I am in pain!” Ava repeated. “It's the only fucking thing that helps!”

  “I find that 'it's the only way you have learned to cope with emotional pain' to be more accurate. There are other better or rather healthier ways to cope with how you feel right now, beyond self medicating in order to escape this pain. Perhaps you would like to learn how?” Zexich said sympathetically.

  “I will do anything, just make it stop hurting!!!” Ava yelled and continued to sob. There was a mild vibration with Ava as it's source.

  “Alright. First you will have to dig a little deeper than 'I'm hurting'. What are you feeling?” Zexich said.

  “That's not going to fucking help me! That will make it worse!” Ava snapped angrily. The room suddenly vibrated harshly.

  “Avoidance will not make it better. Avoidance only buries the problem deeper, but it will still be there hurting you deep inside. Now, if you dissect the emotions you are feeling and discover where they originate from and why you are feeling that way then you can learn how to meet your emotional needs. You can validate yourself, and cycle your emotions in a healthier way. So what exactly are you feeling?” Zexich explained. Ava looked struck for a moment.

  “Pain, it's fucking pain. I don't know!” Ava replied.

  “Pain. Yes, but what hurts and why?” Zexich replied.

  “My chest, my mind, I cannot breathe. I feel like I'm dying!” Ava cringed.

  “Okay that sounds like a panic attack. Now you must realize that this feeling that you are having cannot actually kill you. You are not having a life threatening medical emergency even though it feels that way. Now realize that then answer this question; What has hurt you?” Zexich talked to him in a soothing voice.

  “Louie. Louie hurt me.” Ava said, holding his chest now.

  “What did Lucius do that hurt you? Did he physically hurt you?” Zexich asked. It was obvious that he didn't, but Zexich needed Ava to acknowledge this was all emotional.

  “No! He rejected me. That really hurt!” Ava replied.

  “Why? Do you need Lucius to survive? Will losing his presents literally kill you?” Zexich asked.

  “No but…..if he doesn't love me…..if he doesn't want me……that means that I am worthless.” Ava began to sob.

  “I want you to realize that you do not need another person to love you in order to have value. Do you understand this?” Zexich explained. Ava only shook his head.

  “….If he throws me away like garbage, doesn't that make me worthless?” Ava questioned through his sobs.

  “It does not. A human life all on its own is priceless. It is worth more than a thousand other human lives even if each of those lives are also priceless. That is the concept of pricelessness.” Zexich explained. Ava looked puzzled by this. It didn't make sense at all. “Now, let's talk hypothetically for a moment. Let's just indulge that idea that without Lu, you still have value, so if he leaves you what other reason could there be for you to feel so hurt?” Zexich asked. Ava looked even more confused.

  “I don't know!” He said frantically.

  “You want him around for what other reason?” Ava thought very hard to pinpoint another reason.

  “Because he protects me. When he is near me I know that I'm safe.” Ava said finally.

  “So when he's gone you don't feel safe.” Zexich. highlighted.

  “Sure, yes, I never feel safe.” Ava said softly. He was finished crying.

  “But if you think logically, you are safe. You are not in any real danger right now, but even if you acknowledge this logic you still feel scared as if you are in danger. Correct?” Zexich said.

  “Yeah.” Ava said.

  “So I want you to remind yourself that even though it hurts, that you still have worth, and you are safe, and it is okay to feel hurt over this. Can you take a few minutes to do that?” Zexich suggested. Ava was quiet. It was a long moment of internal battling then eventually Ava twisted to lay back on the bed and hug a pillow. He was quiet and wiping tears away but he was calm.

  “Has your anger over the situation subsided?” Zexich asked mildly. Ava nodded in affirmation. “And your fear?” Ava nodded again. “Now what do you feel?” Zexich asked.

  “Sad.” Ava said softly.

  “Very good Ava. You are making progress. You are sad. Being rejected hurts. But all emotions have purpose. And all emotions will run their course if you let them, and then be replaced by other emotions, no matter how painful they can be, they will not last forever. This sadness you feel, it too will pass. For now you must sit with the feeling, acknowledge that it hurts you, then let go of it.” Zexich said soothingly. Ava nodded. “It may help to seek out someone you believe will understand how you feel or at the very least care about how you feel. Tell them how you feel but do not expect anything more than acknowledgement. Alright?” Zexich suggested. Ava nodded then got up from the bed and left through a portal.