Tear Tarnished Angel

Four

Nathanael

I was terrified of the sky. I had only ever seen it through windows and it seemed endless like a sea one could drown in. I would lay in the sun of the window but face away from the outside so I would not have to look up into the sky. Due to this I laid like a cat, stretched out on a green fainting couch in front of the largest window in the cabin, drowsy and comfortable. 

A day had passed since I learned that I was going to die. A day had passed since my father, grieved with my anger, chastised me. Anger was no emotion for a prince or a King to display, that was allowing the emotion to control you instead of you controlling it. I was not to show such feelings at my fate.

Today Drefan came home from a nearly yearlong trip north. I did not know why or how, but that he had gone north and came home. Why did he have to come back? It wasn’t that I disliked him, but the house was much more peaceful without him here. I could remember yelling and arguing at all hours of the night. I remembered Thom distraught one evening, coming to me, keeping me from going into the basement. I learned later from overhearing that Drefan had cut himself, deep this time, and had been bleeding in his room until his mother had bound the wounds. 

But I shouldn’t think bad things about Drefan. His family was that much happier when he was around, especially Thom. I just didn’t understand why Drefan did the things he did. Why did he cut himself? Wouldn’t that just hurt and nothing more? What did he see in pain? What did he want from it? 

I looked through the window at the Sovereign Guard who sat on the front porch steps. There were always at least two guards on duty at the cabin, but both of them stuck close to the front and back doors. Two from Royale, and two from Camar’a. The two from Camar’a were part of the Sovereign Guard, they protected the royal family and could be recognized by their uniforms. A gold, black, and aqua brocade coat over a gold and aqua vest beneath, layered over the aqua tights that slipped into black knee-high leather boots.

My eyes strayed to the kitchen which was the second door to my right. The kitchen knives were all held in a wooden holder. Standing, shaking, my blanket fell to my feet as I looked around our living room at the wooden furniture and coffee table. The walls were covered in small paintings of my ancestors. I walked into the kitchen, the un-shaded windows providing the only light. Taking a large knife from the holder, I curiously stared at it, and then my forearm. 

Laying it against the skin of my lower left arm I chewed on my lip letting it slice. All thought left my body; I gasped a whine also escaping my lips, finding at that moment that I drew pleasure from pain. I found out later that my eyes would be blood-red as they are every time I experience pain. I could see nothing but a haze of red, but I could hear.

A knock at the front door.

Fumbling, the kitchen knife slid through my blood-soaked fingers to clatter to the kitchen floor. Blood sprayed from the blade over the tile as my eyes came into focus, to stare at what I had done. Then in slow motion, my eyes moved from the blade to the bubbling red froth upon my arm. It began to flow thick like syrup, rolling off my pale flesh to drop to the floor below.

         Drip…Drip…Drip….

The headstone was simple, as the far more embellished one, fit for the King that Robert had been, was in the Royalian royal graveyard.

Thom held me in his arms, and I looked up at him, at his normally bright green eyes, now subdued. Even in his exhaustion and the pain of losing his father, Thom still tried to smile for me. Always. He was always strong for me.
“It will be alright Nate,” Thom whispered and it was not that he lied, for he believed what he said, but I could hear his sorrow. Thom had always been an optimist; he tried his hardest to always smile, so he could bring out the joy of others, too. My smiles are for you, Thom. It’s because of you that I smile still, years later. Even when I realize how alone I am now, your memories remain. You were always smiling, always tender, and you always called me that. Nate.

Thom pressed a kiss to my brow, looking back to the gravestone beneath the willow-tree. Prince Drefan turned away from both his family and my own, his hands clenched in fists by his sides. One of his arm’s swept out, summoning a portal of darkness right there, in front of my parents not caring about the consequences. He knew this was contested grounds, and that the Royalians were not to invoke the darkness in this meadow or take the chance of breaking the treaty between our two Empires. My father, King Peter made a move to angrily grab the Royalian Prince but missed. The sudden summoning of the Void startled the Camarian Queen, my mother, who stumbled back and away. In attempts to calm my father, my parent’s lover, Sir A’trious settled a hand on my father’s shoulder. But the venomous words were already out for all to hear, “Traitarous Warlock!” 

It mattered little though, Drefan was already gone and the darkness was collapsing in on itself and dispersing. My eyes darted upward to my beloved and all I saw was hurt. Why did Drefan act this way?? Robert’s royal concubine and Drefan’s mother-Aidna wrapped her arms around us both as Thom was wracked with sobs. Do you not realize what you’re doing by pushing him away Drefan? By making Thom forget, he doesn’t understand what is going on any better than I do! You are going to be all alone…

~~~
“Tell Thom what your Father has been doing, now; show him the scars as proof. He will understand better, and then he won’t judge you Drefan!”

“If I did that he would change, Thom’s dislike of me would turn into hate for our father. I do not want him to have to remember what that son-of-a-bitch has been doing to us, do you not understand that?! He should not have to endure the nightmares I do-of the things that bastard has put us through! I’d rather Thom come to hate me if it leaves his ignorance intact. Regardless of what it costs me, he’s worth it. I promised him.”
~~~

I know that means I’m not allowed to tell him either…
But what else can I do?

I’m nine.
I’m sorry Drefan. I’m sorry Thom.
I wish I was older.

I wish I could understand.
I wish… I wish I could do more than this. 
But I don’t know-how.

-

Wasting away, that was the hardest part of it, watching him die. I had thought the knowledge that his death was on my hands would hound me far worse then this, the physical representation of it all. But no, the wheezing breaths, the shut, dull eyes were much, much worse. 

The grey pallor that would give way to blue, the poor circulation that Thom already had only making the transformation from living to dead that much quicker. Nathanael is whispering to him, clutching his hand, making promises, as if the future matters at all. 

My grief has never been easy, it has always transformed itself into something more, the bitterness twisting it into rage. Always I would attempt to shift the blame, to put that hate on someone else, anyone else but me. If the grief turned to rage, and rage into hatred, I could push away all of these actualities.

Thom was going to die today, and I could blame everyone under the sun, but that wasn’t going to change the fact that this was going to destroy me.

I’ve never been a happy person, my people call me their ‘Bitter Prince’ for a number of reasons, and it was in his smile that the rays of hope shone. But there would be no hope, no dreams, not after this. I was the last one of us, father - deceased, mother - deceased, and now Thom who die as well. 

Where did that leave our people? 
Where did that leave me?

I feel it before I see it, as my eyes are starring at the infirmary wall, and I force myself to look down as Nathanael begins to cry, head buried in my brother’s chest. 

It’s done. 
It’s over, and I’m alone.

My head snaps up, as agony wracks through my mind, and that voice, that comfort I have depended upon for these last three years is panicking. The breaths that come are faltering, stuttering as I feel myself rise from Thom’s bedside. The darkness envelops me once again, and I allow myself to snap free from the tethers of this reality. 

It looms below us, the Abyss, and this time I do not feel it as my body rears up from the bedside, back hitting the wall as shudders wrack every one of my limbs. Digits have dug into pockets, and the black diamond nearly spills from my fingertips as it is loosened from the material coverings. 

Held up now, I can see the black diamond sitting upon my open palm over my brother’s body and my lips open. Yes, the words are my own, and yet they are not only mine, two voices leak free, and they overlay the words that we need to say.

“I won’t be left behind. I won’t be made to be alone. These are not my sins, I will not be damned! Purple skies…and broken glass…”

Endless seas and memories of the past,
Purple skies and broken glass,
Shattered minds, where there is no rest,
Hatred and grief, that breaks the best of us.

Thom’s soul rose from the body on that bed, a ball of glowing white light. It would be captured then, filling the black diamond. Never be alone…

In a moment of control, and with such reverence and tenderness, contrary to the way my body seemed to quiver and jerk, would I slip that diamond away into my pocket. Safe. 

With that act complete we surged forward, around the bed, and our darkness did not only crawl its way up our limbs, no, now it wrapped around us in flames. Black leaking purple, climbing and falling as the infirmary melted away into the castle’s main hall. 

They would scream, and they would beg and plead, they would know what it meant to lose my brother, my mother, and the people I had only ever wanted to defend! 

All there was now, was that hypnotic fire, rising into the night that had eclipsed this noontime sunlight, taking with it all that stood in our way, all that brought us to this day. 

Enraged yells, and so many screams.

Laughter fills the air, a maniacal sound, the laughter of the deranged, and it’s owner… its progenitor is me.

As Mankind is bound to Time,
The Ellaern are bound to Fate.
So the descendants of the Two,
Will be fettered to them both.
~ The Vita.S (Book of Sacred Life)
 

Each individual Ellearn has a unique and in-commensurable Destiny that determines their proper course in life. Having a Destiny meant that the Ellearn were bound to Fate, which decided one’s allotted years, and the extent of one’s life span. As with Destiny complete, the Ellearn begins to shimmer and finally, peacefully, passes on.

"Live following your Destiny, that essential nature deep within that is the will of Fate and your endpoint. Once yours or others decrees have been finished, rejoice as the life journey comes to a close."

To understand and act upon one’s Fate is the ultimate goal of an Ellearn’s life. Fate directs the individual towards Destiny and Ellearn philosophy fills them with the joy of accomplishing what they were meant to accomplish. Each individual Destiny cherished and cultivated as to conform to the decree of one’s personal Destiny preserves each person’s authentic singularity (and individuality.) “For nothing is as good as bringing about what has been decreed by the Divine, for what Fate has decreed is called nature and nothing is as good as realizing one’s Destiny and seeing it through.”

To love one’s Fate is to accept it and relish in it, yet this outlook should not be mistaken for fatalism. To the Ellearn it is very important to reject fatalism. There should be a joyous acceptance of the singular Fate that makes each Ellearn a unique individual. This joy is born from the fact that there is wiggle room within the bounds of Fate, as Fate is open to the full scope of people’s strategy and ingenuity in maneuvering through ones Fated span.

There should be no resignation in the heart of an Ellearn, only a sense of welcomed certainly for what is to come. One should actively engage in the future, not just resign your-self to what is to come. The possibility of knowing Fate meant that one should bring it to fruition through active participation and effort, cultivating ones Fated span.

The goal of such a view was to force the Ellearn to focus on the important things they could control such as cultivating their own and their families destinies whilst avoiding, thinking upon those things they could not control. These uncontrollable things would be wealth, life-span and societal position (class) as these are dictated by others so they should not be concerned with. This philosophy was a wish to change the Ellearn people’s views of what is and is not important, and to redirect people’s energy and efforts from those external concerns to the important internal concerns (family and the self.)

Those who resent their Fate cannot change it, they will simply not learn from their experiences, and will only have a hardening heart. "To attempt to destroy the natural outcome of one or another’s fate will end in disastrous results, and those who do not follow their destinies distort their heart and ruin many lives."

Fate is duty; it is purpose and inevitability of the change in the Universe. "We may regard the present state of the Universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future." All Destinies are linked through patterns in the stars, and tied then to astrology. Fate is seen as a decree by the Gods, giving oneself an opportunity to tie themselves through their Destiny to the Destiny of the world itself.

Fate from the view point of those it affects is either normative or destructive, and one works as best as they can within its bounds to correct it, but must ultimately understand that Fate is more powerful than we and as pieces upon the Divine board we simply play our parts.

-

I prayed for forgiveness.
I prayed for strength.
And I wished, and I prayed, and I hoped..
I could learn not be a monster anymore…
- A Child’s Prayer
 

Nathanael has a background of the acceptance of fate as the Ellearn all have destinies. In this way, he is no more special than the rest of his ancestors and for this reason, the idea of accepting his own demise is normalcy. Drefan, who was his biggest influence as a child, is human and comes from a background that says, 'Fuck Fate' (though this would change in Drefan's later life,) and this duality leaves Nath pretty confused. Nathanael clings to his own fatalistic and self hating tendencies in his resignation of what is to come. 'I deserve this. I'm just a monster; perhaps through this fate I will be redeemed.'

However, this outlook is actually incorrect even to the Ellearn, this fate bound species do not believe in simply laying back and allowing fate to do what it will. Ellearn philosophy states that you work with fate, that you strive to fulfill your destiny, but in a manner that is correct to yourself. This allows fulfillment of not only the Gods plans but your own within that fated framework.


Death through Martyrdom would be Absolution for his Sins - An Adolescent’s Hopes.

This comes to be understood by Nathanael, at last, toward the end of his fifteenth year. The Prince begins to understand that yes, there is give and take within his fate. He must defeat Drefan, yes, that is his destiny, but Reinn wants him to kill Drefan. Yet, the destiny only says 'Defeat' so Nathanael can choose to save Drefan instead. His acceptance of his fate morphs in and of itself alongside his own character growth. He evolves from a child who resigns himself to terrible comings because he believes he has no right to stop what is coming; to a young person who says, 'I will play your game, but I will play it by my rules and even if you win, I will have no regrets that I pushed, and I strived and I did everything in my power to make this fate right.'

Nathanael would go on to play to his own strengths, unwilling to give up his own scruples to fulfill destiny. He knows destiny must be completed, so he says, 'Even if I go about this a bit unorthodox, fate will be fulfilled.' So the adolescent takes oaths of Non-violence and Peace so he does not ever harm anyone himself. Alongside this, he takes a vow of Poverty so that his Guardians on the road back to the throne will not have to protect him as these oaths give him divine protection.

As a Death Dweller, he comes to accept his death not only fatalistically, but as an abstract concept (becoming the avatar of the God of Death.) This is done through the fact that Nathanael is more than willing to allow himself to die, yet will fight the God of Death to hell and back for the lives of his Guardians who are his friends. For this stubborn and determined strength the God of Death gives Nathanael 9 lives, and with each death Nath accepts his impending death with less resignation.

Though in further character growth, time passes and after the Prince regains the throne and becomes a parent of three children, Nathanael becomes angry at the thought of his final death as he now is leaving his babies with no mother. Oh Nath gets very angry at his fate at last in the few months before his foretold death at the end of the series, not for his own sake, no, but for his children and his kingdom that is still in ruins and needs a King.

Coming around full circle, Nathanael has accepted his destiny, he won’t fight his fate, yet that anger remains. As the eighteen year old lies dying, he realizes that he is allowed, after all those years of adherence to a script that would end with his death, to think that, 'You know what? I didn't actually deserve any of this.'

(Nathanael has been ill sense he was a toddler and has been coped up in a cabin far away from people to keep him safe and as healthy as they can. He learned he would die of the illness at age 9 without any previous understanding of death; no outside contact, no pets, they were vegetarian. His parents, both young and from traumatic backgrounds themselves teach their child that anger is a sin when Nathanael shows anger, bitterness, frustration and resentment at the thought of him, ''Going on the long sleep alone", dying.)

--

Children who have not learned that anger, conflict and love can exist simultaneously and that conflict can be resolved will become adults that hold their emotional selves hostage in intimate relationships.  The child needs to be able to express their emotions and develop the ‘I am’ without repression or intensive internal controls.

A child needs to be taught anger is normal but helped in finding healthy expressions of it.  A child if not taught this will repress their angry feelings in order to survive. They will learn that feelings are more powerful than life and can injure those around them, learning that emotional expression is dangerous.

Told, “Anger leads to hate, hate to violence and violence leads to death,” the child would never wish to feel angry again. Afraid that his anger could become hate which would lead to violence and that someone he cared about would die.

Angry about something, a child is punished for it and that anger is said to be a bad emotion. Even though they are angry again later they repress it for a sense of family security and in feeling helpless in resolving the emotions, they hurt themselves, the bad one. This action results from the fear that his anger would be the cause of him dying. The cause of him going to the ‘long sleep’ sooner and bringing sorrow to his family.  (This also gives fear of punishment and abandonment.)

This resulted in anxiety that cannot be relieved as by repressing the emotions no solution to the situation can be found. As displacing that anger onto himself only brings more anxiety of the response of the parents and coming punishment of that action.  This anxiety could very well turn into panic.

These panic attacks are believed to be impending death, looming nearer with the increased heart rate, shortness of breath and increased pulse. Disorientation and his being light headed only adds to this feeling and the fear of having a panic attack may very well bring on the next one.

Repression sets up inner contradictions that are bound to continually threaten everyday life. Repressing a good deal of aggression and hostility may at the same time assume a compliant and passive attitude toward others, which in turn increases the likelihood that he will be exploited by other people. Repression also increases the individual’s feeling of helplessness in that it involves curtailing his own autonomy, an inner retrenchment and shelving of his own power.

- Bits and Pieces taken from, Children of Trauma (Jane Middleston Moz)

Book one

Nilec, Nathanael’s sister is told of her destiny by her Goddess, Wan’an’iena, Goddess of Fate and Time. Nilec does not fight this because of a past where she had nothing except her Goddess by her side. She knows she will have to manipulate a man into loving her, marrying her and together they will take a country through her visions and strategy. This will aid her brother Nathanael when he is taking back the throne through the army they will be able to give him to take back the capitol city. Nilec knows she will break this man, James, and she does not wish to do so but knows that Elves were not given the gift of free will like man. She will do as her destiny foretells.

Nathanael heir to the Camar’ian throne finds out he is going to die at age 9 of chronic illness. He has been married to the prince of the southern country, Thom sense birth for peace. Camar’a and Royale have been at war for nearly two millenia because of ideological and religious hatred. The Northern country of Camar’a following the God of Light Reinn Anon, and the southern country following the God of Darkness Nanqa.

Prince Drefan, Thom’s older brother acted as diplomat to the north and arranged the marriage so his war weary country could have peace. Elaina, Nathanel’s mother is both King and Queen as her husband is overwhelmed and mentally weak, Peter being a pawn to the nobles. Elaina and Peter have Nathanael grow up in a cabin far from the court so he will be able to have a childhood as they did not because of the courts.

Thom and Drefan are more parents to Nathanel then his actual parents, even so he still wishes for their warmth and approval. The boy finds out he does not just enjoy but craves pain, a mental disease that he cannot escape. Thom is concerned but supportive, Drefan shows Nathanael his own scars.

Drefan at the beginning of the book is being cared for by his brother Thom and friend Lawrence at the end of a six week recovery from nearly 9 months of doing opium. His body is dying as well from the damage done to his lungs and liver among other things. Drefan becomes a lich to keep himself ‘alive’, giving up his soul in exchange for immortality as members of his bloodline have done in the past. He also hopes this will give him the power to overpower and finally kill his father Robert who has been abusing Thom, his mother Elizabeth and he. Thom does not remember this abuse though as Drefan cleans his memories wishing to preserve his brothers kind nature and not have Thom turn as bitter as he.

In a dream/vision of a theater, Thom, Robert and Elizabeth are dead, being puppet-ed upon the stage. Nathan goes up the winding iron staircase to find the puppet master. Drefan is watching as well from down the iron walkway, his expression stoney in his shock and revulsion at what they are seeing.

The one puppeting is a form that shifts like liquid from Drefan, to Robert, to Nathanael, to shadowy figures that neither can completely make out except one. But Drefan knows this one, his own God, Nanqa, and he keeps this information to himself. Nathan still yells at Drefan that he doesn’t want to be monster, they still argue, Drefan still angrily insists that no one wants to be a monster and Nathan falls as the railing breaks.

Nathan wakes up from this dream and Nilec tells Nathanael of his destiny. That he will lose everything and everyone and must have the strength to take back the throne and have a child before his death at 18. Nathanael who only knows conditional love from his parents and knows of his father’s shame in him because of his craving of pain believes himself a monster too, he will not fight a painful destiny that he at 9 years old believes he deserves.

Drefan after the vision now knows that this will be the future and tries to change it. Giving him another reason to kill Robert besides his vengeance, he believes if he kills his father perhaps his family will be safe not only from all these years of abuse but from a terrible future. However his anger and hatred still lead him down the same path and even with good intentions Drefan still is the reason that his father Robert, Mother Elizabeth and brother Thom all die. Everything he did was with good intentions, wishing to save his mother and brother, giving his country peace, but in the end these good intentions paved the road to hell. It is his fault his entire family dies, that his country is taken by Camar’a, and that destiny still prevails.

Coming to realize that he is the cause for everything, that he really is a monster, a monster worse even then his father over the dying body of his brother transforms him. That he in doing everything to escape destiny, only helped it to prevail is the catalyst that sends him hurtling into the abyss, shattering his mind. He has nothing left to lose after the betrayal of his love Riq’ua, who refused to believe that he was being abused and the pushing away his only friend for Lawrence’s safety. 

Nanqa, God of Darkness who was inside Drefan’s mind to attempt to help him through all of his struggles is caught within a mortal mind. Nanqa knows he has failed his bloodline, for Drefan is a scion of his line and within a mortal mind Nanqa shatters from guilt and rage. The diety then becomes consumed by Drefan’s hatred and wish for vengeance, and does not only kill Nathanael’s family and the court of Camar’a but goes on a warpath.

Nathanael lost his own family that day as well but, The God of Light, Reinn Anon, who Nathanael is the scion of tells him he must kill the last remaining person Nathan has, as Nathanael does not know if Nilec lives. Nathanael must save his world by killing the last person he loves in the world.

Broken and shattered Drefan not only destroys the country that made his own suffer, genocides the people most beloved by the other Gods because his people were hated but goes on to try to kill All life. Everything would suffer. Everything would Die.

Drefan becomes the enemy.

Nathanael has to stop him.