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It was a rare occurrence that both Cerrit and Zerxus had the day off from work, but today their schedules had aligned, so they decided to take Maya and Elias to the Librarium Incantatum. Not that either child was really old enough to understand the grand old library or the scrolls of powerful magic it contained, but Patia argued that it was never too early to develop an appreciation for the Arcane, and had offered an age-appropriate tour for the two children, in order to ‘avoid their fathers indoctrinating them against wizardry,’ as she put it. This was mostly directed against Cerrit, obviously.
Maya, who had just turned four, was delighted by the tour. She had just begun to learn to read, and fancied herself a scholar. Watching her hang on Patia’s every word as she literally clung on the wizard’s hand was one of the cutest niece-auntie moments Cerrit had seen since Maya was a newly hatched chick. Elias was less intrigued than the older child, but he followed along mostly happily as long as they took a break to run around in the courtyard for awhile in the middle.
Patia had finished her tour and returned to her office to work, inviting Maya in particular to continue exploring more and giving the children and their dads the highest level of visitor passes to ensure no one bothered them. The Librarium Incantatum was usually reserved for wizards and scholars, which Cerrit and Zerxus certainly were not. Most of the scrolls and books were of no interest, but they found a sculpture hall that Maya seemed particularly intrigued by. She wandered around reading, or pretending to read and actually making up stories when she was too short to reach, the plaques that explained either the art or described which important figures in Avalir’s history were represented in the busts. Elias soon tired of following after her, and Zerxus was carrying him when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
“Cerrit, take him,” Zerxus snapped. That was all the warning the detective got before Elias was all but shoved into his arms, and even for someone of his dexterity, it was a scramble not to drop the kid. Zerxus would normally never, ever be that rough with his son, which was the first sign that something was wrong.
Glancing around for an attack with sharp eyes, Cerrit saw nothing. And if they had been under threat, shouldn't Zerxus have wanted to keep his son close to him anyway? The paladin was the best defender that Cerrit knew and had significantly more ways to protect the child than he did, including his shield, Auras of the Guardian and Protection, and the ability to cast Stoneskin. Not to mention healing and Revivify, should the worst happen. In Zerxus's arms was about the safest place one could be in a fight, so it made no sense for him to push Elias away to protect him.
Unless Zerxus was the thing he was protecting him against. Cerrit looked at the paladin just in time to catch his expression flicking from a split second of panicked to terrifyingly blank, and then his eyes rolled back even as he stood stock-still. Some kind of magical effect, that was obvious, but what? It occurred to him that they were in the Librarium Incantatum, where even the most powerful wizards of the city had to visit on occasion, and that some of them may be annoyed by two children running under foot. It would be a trivial matter for someone with more power than manners to take out their frustration on one of the kid's caregivers.
Patia, need help in the Statuary room, Cerrit said through their telepathic link. He shared what he was seeing with her so she would have their exact location and know that it was urgent, rather than that he was just asking for help because they had gotten lost. Not that he would get lost or ask for help if he did.
Nearly instantly, the wizard appeared next to them with the use of a Dimension Door. She immediately made a gesture that Cerrit recognized as the somatic component for the Detect Thoughts spell, and watched concern, but not outright fear, flicker across her face in a rare unguarded moment. He felt nothing move across his mind, so it must've been used on Zerxus. Based on her expression, something wasn’t right, but they probably weren't going to be attacked imminently.
“Uncle Cerrit, wha's going on?” Elias demanded as Cerrit shifted him into a more comfortable position braced against his hip. The human boy was a lot heavier than Maya, even though she was about six months older than him and taller as well.
“Elias, you remember how your daddy can see the future sometimes?” Patia explained. Oh. Zerxus was having a vision. That explained it. Gods, what spectacularly bad timing. “That's what's happening right now. It might be a little scary, but Uncle Cerrit and I are going to look after him.”
“Ada said- Ada said that only happens in dreams,” Elias said.
“Sort of. This is like a dream that's happening while he's awake.”
What's going on? Laerryn asked psychically. Cerrit realized that he had not called out to Patia directly but asked for help on their main telepathic channel, and everyone probably heard.
Zerxus, vision, Patia replied succinctly.
Shit. Bad one? Evandrin asked.
Yes. Cerrit watched as Patia wrapped her arm carefully around Zerxus's unmoving one, taking a firm grasp of his elbow to help guide him safely to the floor should he fall, and noticed the tight clench of her jaw. She must've seen at least part of what he was seeing through her Detect Thoughts spell. But at least he’s just gone rigid this time, not fainted or seizing.
That might not mean much. It’s different every time, Evandrin warned. If it lasts more than five minutes, you need to call the Temple of Oracles. They can pull him out if he gets stuck. Gets stuck? Cerrit didn’t know what that meant, but sensed it was not critical information for him at that exact moment.
Patia, do you need help or can I take the kids out of the room? He asked instead. He had never been present for one of Zerxus's visions before, only their aftermath, so he didn't know exactly the progression of them. His eyes going white was scary enough, and Patia made it sound like it might get worse. Given that the visions and resulting migraines often left Zerxus in pain for days, and out of sorts for up to a week, perhaps that wasn't surprising. In the aftermath of them, the Agrupnins would often pick Elias up for daycare or babysitting and Cerrit would help cover Evandrin's work if he stayed home to care for his husband.
Take the kids, but don't go far.
He's going to need something to drink when he comes out of it, Evandrin said. And a notebook.
On it. Out loud, Cerrit said, “Elias, you and me and Maya are going to go get something for your dad,” he announced. The Librarium had a small coffee shop on the first level, though open drinks were strictly prohibited in many of the building’s rooms.
Normally, he would give the child a chance to agree or object before moving, as the parents of the Ring of Brass all believed in giving kids age-appropriate agency over their life. Now, though, he turned and started walking from the room even while he spoke, whistling quickly to Maya to grab her attention and call her to his side. She had been trying to read a sign on the wall nearby, but instantly abandoned it dart over and to grab his leg. Her very first flight feathers had just come in, and she flapped her wings to propel her forwards as much as she moved her feet.
“Hey, no wings inside,” Cerrit corrected. At least this room wasn't filled with scrolls that the wind could mess up. Maya immediately tucked her wings in against her back as she buried her face in the fabric of Cerrit’s pants around his knee. Her favorite way to be carried was to stand on one of his feet, her talons of each foot wrapped around two of his toes, and for him to have to heft her forwards with every step of that leg. She was still light enough, as Eisfuura had hollow bones and were lithely built, but in a couple of years the arrangement would probably have to be retired to just be for dances at weddings.
Cerrit closed the door to the room behind him when they exited. He wished he had brought an Arcane Lock spell stone with him, so that no one could walk in and disturb Zerxus and Patia. There had been no reason to think he would need it, however, and he had figured if the need for any spells had come up, he would be with one of his spellcaster friends. Hopefully no one would intrude with the door closed anyway. He wasn’t planning to be gone more than a few minutes. Just long enough to get Zerxus some water. And maybe something for the kids to keep them occupied.
Patia counted quietly under her breath as Cerrit took the kids out of the room. Presumably, he had summoned her as soon as Zerxus’s vision started, so it had been less than a minute so far. She kept her arm wrapped around and beneath Zerxus’s, and when he fell abruptly on the count of 137, she managed to pull him against her guide him down. His knees still cracked loudly on the floor, but she kept him from slumping all the way to the stone. She thought he was unconscious, until his hand raised to his head.
“Ow,” he whimpered in a voice smaller than she thought could come from someone his size. A fine beading of sweat had sprung up on his brow, his normally tan-brown skin gray, and his breathing heavy. Patia thought her shoulder was the only thing keeping him upright. His hand twitched where it rested in his lap, and she realized after a moment that he was making a writing gesture.
Not letting go of his arm, Patia quickly used Mage Hand to grab a pencil and sheet of paper from a nook in the wall. Some wizards were prone to sudden flashes of inspiration they needed to write down, and unfortunately also seemed to always be the ones who neglected to carry a notebook with them, so Patia had found that keeping writing materials handy throughout the Librarium was the best way to avoid people making notes in the margins of the scrolls themselves. Here in the Statuary, some also used it to take rubbings of the plaques. She had not been expecting to need the paper to write down prophetic visions.
As soon as the pencil was placed in his hand and the paper on a clipboard in his lap, Zerxus began writing. Patia glanced down to see what he wrote, but it was completely illegible. She briefly considered that perhaps it was simply in a different script, but as far as she knew Zerxus only spoke Common and Primordial, and this looked like neither. It perhaps wasn’t surprising that his writing was a mess, as when she looked he had only one eye cracked open a fraction, and even that amount of light clearly hurt, from the pinched expression he wore.
“Zerxus, I'm going to cast Detect Thoughts so I can see what you’re thinking about and help you remember, okay?” Hopefully that would take some of the pressure off him to try to write down what had happened in his vision. She had skimmed across his surface thoughts when she first arrived, to check that he wasn’t being dominated or controlled somehow, but had pulled back as soon as she realized he was having a vision, as she’d feared getting pulled into it herself if she delved deeper. Now, his surface thoughts were all of pain and brief glimpses of memory, and the frustration of trying to write it all down and knowing he was failing. He wasn’t even processing what she was saying. He barely registered that there was someone there with him saying something at all.
When she pushed deeper into his mind, any part of the vision she might have seen was instantly replaced by blinding pain, so sharp that Zerxus cried out and Patia instantly dropped the spell. Detect Thoughts was not supposed to cause psychic damage, but it seemed like the visions left Zerxus remarkably sensitive to anything that would affect his mind. Whenever he had visions, he would get forced out of the Ring of Brass’s telepathic bond, and now Patia understood why Laerryn would also leave him out of the next few castings of it.
“I’m so sorry, Zerxus,” she murmured softly after a minute, sensitive to the fact that noise might also hurt him. Her own ears seemed to ache from just the brief contact with his pain, and she was exceedingly gentle as she rubbed his back. Mentally, she said to Evandrin, He’s come out of the vision now, but he’s in a lot of pain and not really aware of what’s going on around him. Is there anything that helps him when he’s like this?
Evandrin’s response was distressed when it came back, like the feeling when Cerrit’s feathers were ruffled. Nothing we’ve found, unfortunately, he said. Mostly he just needs time. Are you sure you don’t need me there?
I’ve got him, Evandrin, I promise, Patia said. The half-elf had confessed to her before that it was hard for him to see Zerxus having his visions. Even though he wanted to be there for his husband when he was hurting, sometimes his presence seemed to make things worse, and sometimes it was just too much pain to witness. Patia hoped she could spare him the experience for awhile.
Thankfully, after a couple minutes, Zerxus seemed to grow more aware. He’d dropped the pencil, and made no move to pick it up as his eyes slowly blinked open.
“Patia? Why are you- you’re not dressed, you should be getting ready,” he murmured. His eyes barely seemed to focus as he glanced at her outfit, and his words were slightly slurred.
“Getting ready for what?”
He stared at her like she was the one not making any sense. “You know for what.”
“I do not know for what. You've just had a vision, Zerxus, and I don't think it's the time you think it is. And I'm perfectly well dressed.”
According to the Temple of Prophecy, divine premonition could be even more confusing when not moderated by a god, and Zerxus’s uncontrollable visions were a prime example of this. They could cause him to get lost in time, unable to remember when he was, with points in the future as likely to appear as those from the past.
“No, I mean… you look beautiful as always,” Zerxus said, as galant as ever, even in the midst of his confusion and probably a migraine. “But not for a brides…” he trailed off, and a worried tone crept into his voice when he continued. “A vision? No no no, I can't have a vision, I'll ruin their big day.”
“Zerxus-” Patia tried to cut him off before he got more worked up, squeezing his shoulder.
“Evandrin will have to officiate-” Zerxus rambled on. He thought they were supposed to be at a wedding? That explained why he thought she was under dressed, and why he was so upset. Whose wedding?
“Zerxus!” she snapped. He winced at the noise but at least he stopped talking for a moment and allowed her to get a word in edgewise. “There's no wedding.”
“What? No! They can't call it off. The press will kill them-” Oh, probably Laerryn and Loquatius’s wedding, then. Their long and indefinite engagement had been driving the tabloids, including some reporters at the Herald's Tome itself, mad. That also explained why Zerxus would be officiating; as Avalir’s paladin, his presence would have symbolic weight, along with being one of the couple’s closest friends. As First Knight, Evandrin was a reasonable backup officiant, but Patia knew Laerryn wanted to ask him to be Best Man instead.
“There's no marriage happening today,” Patia clarified. “The Librarium Incantatum does not rent itself out as a wedding venue. You've just had a vision. Had. Past tense. It's not the day you think it is. It's okay. You're not messing anything up or ruining anything important. Unless you count taking the kids to the library as a big day.”
“Elias!” Zerxus said loudly as he presumably remembered that he'd been with his son. He started looking around frantically. In retrospect, Patia probably should have thought better of mentioning the kids. There was nothing that brought out stronger emotions in Zerxus than his child, and he was worked up enough already.
“It's okay, he's alright. Cerrit has him.”
“No, that's not possible, I sent him away.”
“Zerxus-”
“You're lying!” he all but shouted. Gods, Patia had never wished she had Calm Emotions more. He was loud when he was upset. She would have considered casting Silence if she didn’t need to talk to him and didn’t know that not being able to speak would certainly upset him more. Why wasn’t there a volume down spell, rather than just mute? She and Laerryn would have to work on that.
“I am not. Cast Zone of Truth if you don't believe me.” She felt as he did just that, surprised that he was actually able to cast in his current state. Immediately she elected to fail. He would feel that she had done so, and thus know she was not lying as she went on. “Cerrit is looking after your son. They're nearby.”
“He's not in Cathmoíra?”
“No.” Why would he be in Cathmoíra? Zerxus had said he sent the boy away, but why in Exandria would he do that? He obviously wanted him close. Maybe he just meant for the wedding? Loquatius and Laerryn had suggested having it during the Replenishment, but she hadn't thought they'd want a kids-free party. But it was possible, if they wanted to keep the children away from the press that was sure to be there.
“If he's here, let me see him,” Zerxus demanded.
“I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Why? You told me he was okay!”
“He is. You're not. You don't want to scare him, do you?”
“Why would I scare him?”
“Because you're shaking like a leaf, you're shouting, and you're badly upset and disoriented.”
“I'm not disor-” he started to say, but couldn't seem to form his mouth around the word. “I'm just- why would you say…” He trailed off, and Patia got the impression that he had finally processed her words and started to take stock of the state of himself. He blinked down at the paper in his lap, the scribbles across it, and his mouth moved like he was trying to remember what he had written or perhaps process how loudly he’d been speaking
“It’s okay, Zerxus,” Patia emphasized softly as she rubbed his back. “It’ll be alright. I’m sure your faculties will come back to you in a minute. How about, when you're oriented enough to tell me what day it is, you can see Elias. How does that sound?” That seemed as good a way as any to judge when he would actually find it grounding to see his son, rather than it causing further distress if the boy wasn't as he expected. For all Patia knew, Zerxus could be expecting Elias to be a baby rather than a three year old, or a full grown adult.
After a pause, Zerxus nodded. The motion seemed to hurt his head, as he broke off with a wince. Evandrin had said it just took time, so Patia sat with him quietly, rubbing his back whenever his breathing seemed to hitch either in pain or with emotion.
How is he? Cerrit asked telepathically a little while later. I’m at the café, and the kids are wanting hot chocolate, if you don’t need me back right away.
Get them some hot chocolate, Patia replied. He’s still pretty out of it; we could use awhile longer.
Understood. A minute later, Cerrit sent the group chat an image of Maya sticking her entire beak into an oversized mug to try to get the last bits of dairy-free hot chocolate at the bottom and coming back up with marshmallows stuck to her forehead. The adorable image seemed to reassure and cheer up some of the Ring of Brass, particularly Nydas and Evandrin, who practically radiated anxiety for Zerxus through the bond.
Are you sure he doesn’t need me? Evandrin asked again.
He's a little disoriented about when he is, but it's getting better, Patia promised him. I’m sure your presence later will be deeply appreciated to ground him, but there’s no need for you to rush here now. She didn't say it, but she thought that might actually upset Zerxus further. The fewer people he had to interact with at the moment, the better, in her estimation. Fewer chances for him to get confused about where they were in the timeline and less opportunities for him to tell someone something worrying about the future.
Divine magic was not one of Patia’s skills or interests, but as the keeper of arcane knowledge for Avalir, and Zerxus’s friend, she had made a point of learning the outlines of the abilities channelled by clerics and paladins. From her discussions with the leadership of the Temple of Prophecy, access to raw, uninterpreted prophecies was usually tightly controlled. No one wanted to needlessly cause panic by sharing a vision of the future that may or may not even come true. When possible, oracles were sequestered among only their colleagues when they reached out to channel much of the divine. As well as ensuring they were surrounded by others who knew how to look after them after difficult visions, this also removed some of the pressure to control their tongues so their words wouldn’t be misinterpreted. The unpredictability of Zerxus’s prophetic waking dreams, and his more unusual godless paladin abilities in general, threw quite a wrench in these careful plans.
“It's Yulisen,” Zerxus said softly, startling Patia. He hadn’t spoken in a few minutes, except the occasional whimper. “You said the library is always quiet on Yulisens, because half the wizards who want to use it are lazy and only really work for the first half of the week, but it's not Da’leysen yet when there might be field trips from the Sorcerer’s University.”
“That's right,” Patia confirmed. “Do you know the date?”
“The twelfth.”
“Of?”
“Mithusar. Please don't tell me I was badly off enough that you have to ask the year.”
“I would have, had you not just said that.” It was a good sign that he was gaining some self-awareness. It was a good sign that he was gaining any awareness. Patia had never directly witnessed one of his visions before, and now she could understand why it was so hard on Evandrin as well. It was disconcerting to see him to be so confused, and trying to put together what he was talking about in case it was important while also trying to calm him down was difficult.
Zerxus started to move, albeit slowly, and Patia squeezed his shoulder to try to stop him standing up. She relaxed when he realized he was just shifting around, however, moving from kneeling to sitting with his legs raised in front of him so he could lean on them. While still seeming a little unsteady, his movements very slow to accommodate their clumsiness, he at least seemed to be aware of where in space his body was.
“Do you want to see Elias now?” Patia asked.
“You don’t think I’ll scare him?"
“I think he was only ever going to be scared for you, not scared of you, and if you can reassure him you’re alright that will help a lot.” He still looked unsure. “Why don’t we have Cerrit bring some water for you, and the kids will come with him, and we make it so they can come over only if they want to?”
“Okay,” Zerxus agreed softly. Patia relayed the plan to Cerrit.
Soon there was a gentle knock of warning before Cerrit entered the room. The door was at Zerxus’s and Patia’s backs, and Patia looked over her shoulder to see the vestibule beyond it to see Maya and Elias settled on a bench with a big picture scroll over their laps. Cerrit must’ve bought it for them at the café, which doubled as a gift shop. It was a smart way to keep them occupied, especially as Maya loved scrolls and Elias looked up to her enough to sit adoringly at her side as she ‘read’ to him. With the door left open, Cerrit would be able to keep an eye on them, without rushing Zerxus to deal with two little kids before he was ready.
“Hey Zerxus,” Cerrit said, kneeling down on his other side from Patia. The paladin startled, apparently still too out of it to have processed the knock or approaching footsteps, and then groaned as the movement must’ve hurt. “Sorry.”
“S’okay,” Zerxus mumbled. He took the water bottle Cerrit pressed into his hands, though his hands shook and the Eisfuura had to take it back to open the cap for him. Only spilling a little water into his beard, he drank deeply, and some of the tense lines around his eyes seemed to relax a hair. “Where ‘re the kids?”
“Elias and Maya are just outside the door,” Cerrit reassured him.
“What about Kir?”
“Who's Kir?”
“Who's… he's your so-” Zerxus abruptly closed his mouth in the middle of the word, a horrified expression coming over his face. “Talon Two?” he asked hesitantly. Cerrit shrugged, and his lack of understanding clearly upset Zerxus more. “Oh gods.” The paladin put his head back down on his knees to hide his face. “Please forget I said anything.”
“I'm afraid forgetting things isn't my forte. Did you say son?”
“Oh!” Patia exclaimed. That was only the second definite thing she’d been able to figure out from what he’d said so far, and a good deal more surprising than Laerryn and Loquatius finally tying the knot.
“Patia, please, make him forget I said that,” Zerxus groaned.
“I don't think the oracles would be happy with us changing the memory of a prophecy.”
“It's not a prophecy, it's just a name. It won't hurt to erase just a name.” He sounded mortified. Patia found it almost funny, although half of the feeling may have just been the relief of seeing Zerxus experience an emotion that wasn’t just pain, confusion, or fear. Embarrassment, though not pleasant for someone as proud as all of them were, was much more benign.
“Cerrit?” Patia queried, looking towards the Sightwarden and gesturing at her ear. She had a feeling she could guess his response, and was quickly proved correct.
“No, no messing about in my head,” he replied with a firm finger point. His expression was stern, but it softened as he turned towards Zerxus.
“It’s okay, Zerx. You didn’t spoil much,” he said gently. “Wrayne and I were already planning to have another chick in a few years, and Kir was one of the names we had thought about for Maya if she’d been a boy. You didn’t reveal anything more than that we’re having a son, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He seemed to have guessed the reason for Zerxus’s distress accurately, as the tense line of the paladin’s shoulders relaxed slightly with his words.
“You promise you’re not just saying that?”
“Promise.” Cerrit held up his hand. “See? My ring isn't glowing.” Patia almost pointed out that Zerxus had also cast Zone of Truth earlier, but then realized that it had been more than ten minutes and the spell had elapsed. It had probably been about twenty minutes since Zerxus had had his vision. Did they need to worry about him writing it down soon, before he forgot? She couldn’t bring herself to pressure him to do so.
“I’m sorry,” Zerxus still apologized. His voice was hoarse. Patia knew there was probably nothing she or Cerrit could say to make him realize it really was okay, that they didn’t blame him for his visions or the things he accidentally revealed in their aftermath.
“It’s alright. You up to seeing the kids? Maya and Elias, I mean.”
“Yeah.”
Cerrit called out to the two children. Normally Patia would tell him to keep his voice down, but she'd already made sure they were the only people in this section of the library anyway. “Could you come over here please?”
“We're reading!” Maya objected stubbornly.
“You can bring the scroll.”
Zerxus started to try to turn and look when he heard their little footsteps, but broke off with a wince as the pain in his head or neck must've spiked at the movement. But he still opened his arms wide as Elias approached and pulled the child into a tight hug. Maya, of course, wanted to join in, and Cerrit had to step in to both take the scroll so it wasn’t smushed between them and to stop her touching Zerxus's hair. She has a fascination with the stuff, unable to conceptualize it as similar to but different than feathers, and Zerxus and Nydas were of particular interest due to their beards. Normally they tolerated it graciously, but Patia imagined that Zerxus probably didn't want his hair accidentally pulled right now.
“Daddy, I wan’ go home,” Elias said after a few seconds.
“Well that's good, darling, because I do too,” Zerxus replied.
Thinking quickly, Patia said to Cerrit and Evandrin in the telepathic bond, I’m thinking that a porter is probably the easiest way to get back to the Tower, rather than flying.
Definitely, Evandrin agreed. I will meet you at home. If I can trouble you with it, though, it might be better to split up, though, so Cerrit could take Maya home first, and then bring Elias here. That would give me time to get Zerxus settled first.
That works for me, as long as Zerxus is steady enough, Cerrit pointed out. Otherwise he might need more than Patia to get him home. Patia wondered if she could borrow Zerxus’s Belt of Storm Giant Strength. It would certainly help with her ability to haul him around.
“Zerx, Elias, Maya, let’s stand up, hm?” Patia suggested, helping the children to their feet first. Cerrit hovered close by as she stood and helped Zerxus up from his knees next, ready to help steady him should he falter. Despite the way he clutched Patia’s arm and winced as he moved, once he was standing he seemed stable enough. “There you go, good job,” she reassured.
“Elias, how would you feel about flying home with uncle Cerrit?” Patia knew that Maya’s first fight feathers had grown in and she was old enough to fly by herself for short stretches when closely supervised. Cerrit had still always brought the pack that could carry her, though, and Elias would fit in it, or they could take Tempus, who was waiting outside in the courtyard.
“No,” the child said instantly. But Patia had grown familiar with the ways of little kids since becoming an honorary aunt to these two, and she knew sometimes their immediate response was more instinctual than logical.
“Okay. You flew here with your dad on Tempus. Did you not like flying?”
“I like flying,” Elias said. “An’ I love Temp.”
“Okay, then. If you like flying on Tempus, flying with uncle Cerrit would be a lot like that,” she said. “Why is it that you don’t want to fly?”
Elias shrugged, and Patia realized that was probably far too open a question for a three year old. Her own childhood was so long ago that she would have had almost no memories of it even if they hadn’t been erased, but she could imagine that being little and still in the process of learning words would make it difficult and frustrating to conceptualize complicated concepts and verbalize a response.
“Is it that you don’t want to leave your dad?” she asked after thinking for a moment about what reasons Elias could have for not wanting to fly home with Cerrit. Elias nodded, grabbing at Zerxus’s leg. Zerxus leaned down just slightly to rest his hand on his son’s head, even though the bending seemed uncomfortable. Patia made sure she didn’t loosen her grip on his arm. “Okay. I understand that. But Zerxus needs a little help himself right now, and a little bit of quiet without little ones around.” She hoped that didn’t sound too insulting to the children or make it sound like Zerxus didn’t want to be with his son. “His head really hurts and he can’t fly home with you and Tempus. If you go home with Cerrit, you can see him again later.”
“We don’t have to fly home,” Cerrit offered. “We could take a carrowhulk. I’ve heard you like those.”
“He does like them,” Zerxus murmured. “How does that sound, buddy? Wanna take a carrowhulk with Maya and Uncle Cerrit?”
“...okay,” Elias mumbled. Patia marveled at what seemed like the dad’s magic touch. She hoped it would last and Cerrit wouldn’t be left with a crying child who changed his mind as soon as they parted. He was a dad too, though, and she was confident he could figure it out even so.
“Okay then, kiddos, let’s head out,” Cerrit said. Patia stood still with Zerxus as Cerrit corralled Maya and Elias away out of the room. Only once they were away did she cast Dimension Door to bring them to the nearest porter’s circle outside the Librarium. Zerxus leaned heavier against her shoulder as they landed, and wobbled as he walked with her to the porter. Patia quickly paid the porter to take them to Cloudstone, and cast Modify Memory on zem afterwards to make zem think ze had just been transporting some regular day-drinking wizards stumbling home after a party, not the Second Knight of Avalir barely standing upright and clinging to the Keeper of Scrolls. It wouldn’t do for the press to get ahold of a witness to this scene, for either of their reputations.
Patia was a lot more slight than Zerxus, but was able to provide some support by lacing her hand in his and twisting their forearms around one another, so she was supporting him at the elbow with much of her strength. As in all things, she knew she was able to make it look elegant as they walked from the porter’s circle to the Tower of the First Knight.
In this way Patia delivered Zerxus home. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far. Zerxus’s pained murmurs were becoming less coherent again as time went on, and he was growing more unsteady, to the point where Patia struggled to keep him upright when he wavered. When they reached the Tower of the First Knight, she used Mage Hand to knock on the door from the bottom of the steps rather than trying to get Zerxus up them herself. Evandrin quickly hurried out to meet them, taking his husband’s other arm to steady him.
“I’ve got you, my love,” Evandrin murmured softly. Zerxus stared at him like he’d just seen a ghost, stumbling on the stairs as he didn’t look at them going up. With support on either side, however, Evandrin and Patia got him quickly inside. Evandrin glanced at the couch, then shook his head. “Let’s take you straight upstairs, darling. I’ve got your journal up there, and the hot pads, and you’ll be able to see Tempus and Elias from bed when they return.”
Oh. Do you have Tempus? Patia asked Cerrit through the mental bond as she realized she’d forgotten about the griffon. Normally she was very good at things like making sure everyone was accounted for in plans. She guessed she’d been more thrown off than she thought by Zerxus’s revelation of Cerrit having a son in the future, and by trying to look after the two children that already did exist.
Cerrit sent back an image of Tempus following along after their slow and plodding carrowhulk. The children were seated in the very back row, turned around to kneel in their seats and look over the back of the bus at the griffon. Patia knew Tempus was very independent, and his telepathic bond with Zerxus meant he could usually be called home easily, but with that link likely knocked out by the vision, it was good to know the griffon was being looked after.
Evandrin and Patia reached the bottom of the first flight of stairs, Zerxus panting for breath where he was draped between them. He had his eyes squeezed shut and Patia suspected that the exertion of walking was making his head hurt worse. Glancing at the spiral staircase, she realized it was absolutely not wide enough for three people to move up side by side, and getting up to the top of the tower would likely pain Zerxus even if he could manage it.
“I’ll Dimension Door up with him,” she said. It would be her third casting of the spell today, using up all her ability to efficiently cast spells at that level, but she didn’t mind if it spared her friend some pain and difficulty.
You can only take one person with you with that, right? Evandrin clarified, and she confirmed. Okay. I’ll meet you up there. He let go of Zerxus, and Patia immediately cast the spell to bring herself and the paladin leaning on her shoulder up to his bedroom at the top of the tower. They stumbled to the bed, which Zerxus immediately collapsed onto. He was shaking, and Patia moved to find a blanket he wasn’t already sitting on top of and trapping under him. As soon as she moved out of his sight, he cried out wordlessly. Before she could return, there was a pounding of footsteps as Evandrin ran up the stairs.
“I’m here, I’m here, don’t be scared,” he soothed immediately as he rushed into the room. The First Knight fell to his knees in front of the bed and took Zerxus’s face in his hands. There were tears on the paladin’s cheeks, Patia saw, and he still appeared dazed, a thousand-yard stare in his amber eyes. He looked just as lost as he had when he first woke, to the point where Patia worried that he had had another vision and they had missed it. “Do you know me?” Evandrin asked.
“Evandrin,” Zerxus gasped out. His gaze suddenly focused on his husband, so close his eyes were nearly crossed. “Of course, how could I ever not know you?”
“You had a vision, my love. Sometimes you get lost,” Evandrin reminded him gently. He pressed a kiss to his husband’s forehead. To Patia, he mentally asked, Has he been like this the whole time?
No. He was at first, and the pain seemed bad, but he was oriented for awhile.
As if he wanted to belie that fact, Zerxus suddenly turned to her and asked, “Patia? Where am…”
“You’re at home now, Zerxus,” she reassured him, squeezing his shoulder. It was a relief to be able to do so; the man instantly calmed slightly, and she imagined that would not have happened if she’d had to inform him he was still at the Librarium Incantatum.
“We’re upstairs, my love,” Evandrin added. “Would you like to lay down, and maybe write down some of what you saw in your journal before you rest?”
Zerxus nodded, though it seemed to hurt him. Patia wondered if he was always this bad at remembering not to move his head when affected by a migraine, or if he only kept forgetting out of confusion.
I’m going to go, unless you need anything else from me, Patia said in the mental group chat with Evandrin and Cerrit, as Evandrin guided Zerxus gently to lay down and tucked the blankets up around him.
We should be alright for now, Evandrin answered. He kept carefully in Zerxus’s range of vision as he pulled a thick journal out of the bedside table and placed it in bed beside his husband. I’m going to let him try to sleep it off, and hopefully he’ll be more oriented again by the time Elias and Cerrit arrive.
After I drop Maya off at home, I told Elias that he and I and Tempus are going to fly the rest of the way, Cerrit said. We should be there in about forty minutes. Unless you want us to keep him for the night. It’d be no trouble.
Zerxus was rather distressed earlier when he didn’t know where Elias was, Patia informed. Not that she thought Cerrit’s suggestion was a bad one, but she just wanted to make sure Evandrin had all the information to decide what would be best for his family.
Perhaps it’d be best to have him home, then. If you wanted to keep him for a few hours, though, Cerrit, and maybe make sure he gets something to eat, that’d be appreciated.
Of course. Let me know when to bring him over.
I will. Thank you both for all the help.
Of course, Patia said. She knew she spoke for both herself and Cerrit when she added, Obviously we wish all this wasn’t necessary, but I’m glad we were there to help. As expected, Cerrit seconded the message. Patia gave Evandrin and Zerxus a soft smile before she turned to go, seeing herself out of the Tower of the First Knight which had become the family’s home.