Chapter Text
It was a strange thing. To know, to have absolute proof that time had passed, that major events in the world had happened, that you had died, only to appear once more, as if unfrozen from Oronyx’s hold as if nothing had happened. While it had been simple to dismiss before, knowledge that something major, world-shaking had happened, but no knowledge as to what, for a few weeks after coming back. It was easier to wonder a bit but continue on with their simple life out here in Aedes Elysiae. Things were much more difficult to dismiss when Cyrene, looking far older and more mature, but still undeniably her, showed up with a smile and a letter clutched in her hands. The now young woman had thankfully filled them, and the small village in, with news from the outside world.
All Audata could remember was sitting there in shock, the fragile parchment of the letter still unopened in her hands. The story coming from the once young girl who used to swing on the swing Hieronymus had strung up for them was frankly… unbelievable. Her Phainon had? No… no it was simply too much. Cyrene had always loved stories; surely some of it was embellished. When the tale had ended, Auduta had sat numb in her chair, her mind blank as she tried to understand just what had been told, just what her little boy had gone through. She did not remember Hieronymus helping her get up, nor the quiet words of thanks whispered to Cyrene before they made their way home. She barely remembered the two of them silently going to bed, as if they were puppets on strings.
It was not until the next day, waking up to discover the letter, still in her hands, slightly crushed from her grip. Taking a deep breath, her hands shaking a bit she cracked open the wax seal on the letter and unfolded it. There she saw the messy, familiar, yet oh so unfamiliar, scrawl of her son's handwriting.
Dear Mother and Father.
I hope that this letter finds you well. Cyrene mentioned something about delivering it to you. The Trailblazer and Cyrene both mentioned that Aedes Elysiae was brought back. Though it has been so long that it is hard to believe such a miracle has happened. Still, I have seen more miraculous things come true through their hands. it has been so long since I have seen you and Father, let alone the village itself. I know that you, father, and the entire village will be busy with the harvest in the Month of Reaping. I figured that it would be a better time to come visit during the Month of Weaving, when you might have a moment, but the weather would still be nice.
There is so much that I would like to catch up with all of you on. I hope this is not sprung on you too soon. I wanted to give you all some time to catch up on things while also getting settled on my end here in Okhema. You can always send a message back via Cyrene or Tribios if They are around. They mentioned wanting to see Aedes Elysiae from all the stories that I told Them. If you are ok with it I will arrange a stop on the way over to Castrum Kremnos before the Month of Strife. It is ok, either way, I know you all must have a lot to catch up on.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Phainon
PS. Cyrene said I should mention that I will be bringing a guest.
Below the letter in far neater handwriting than her son's was another note.
PPS. This is Cyrene. Since Phainon is quite silly, I should mention that his guest will be his new husband. I thought you would like to know just who you would be welcoming into your home.
The letter was oddly formal, like there was a distance there, as if writing to someone you knew but hadn’t seen in ages. The words themselves hadn’t quite sank in yet, only the tone. She had seen her son weeks ago, the same day her memories started once more in fact. This was… this letter was strange. It was her son, but not, not the same one she had fed breakfast to before going off to work in the fields for what had apparently been the last day of her life.
She knew what Cyrene had said was correct, that it had been years, that Phainon was not her little boy anymore. That he was a grown man who had dreams, and if Cyrene’s words held true, had done so, so much for the world, for everyone. He was a grown man who had a husband now and-
Wait…
Her mind seemed to halt at that thought, eyes leaping towards Cyrene’s postscript on the letter she reread it once more, then again, just to be sure. The words were still there. Her son had gotten married to a man she did not know. He and his husband were going to visit because there was no way that Audata would ever deny her son a visit home, even if she could not remember him ever leaving in the first place. Getting up, Audata went over and grabbed her husband's hand, ignoring his surpris,e and dragged him out of the house in search of Cyrene.
She pulled Hieronymus past Galba’s home, yanking his arm as they walked past the temple of Oronyx. “Audata, where are we going?” She ignored his question still as she spotted a familiar head of pink hair sitting on that swing overlooking the pond.
Finally, stopping in front of the girl, no woman, a physical reminder of the time passed that she had missed. Audata felt out of breath, probably looking like a frazzled mess with her hair sticking up in all directions, yet she couldn’t bring herself to care all that much as Cyrene looked up at them with a bright, yet oh so mischievous, smile on her face. “Good morning Audata, Hieronymus, how are you doing today? Did you sleep well?”
“Good morning, yes, as best as could be expected.” Audata found herself replying, manners kicking in automatically before she could even think to express her reason for being there. Once it finally kicked in, she held out Phainon's letter like a weapon. “Is it true, did our son get married?” In her hand she could feel her husband grow still at that, her words sinking in amidst his protests.
Cyrene’s bright eyes glanced over at the letter before smiling widely and bringing her hands together. “Oh! Yes he did! It was a beautiful little ceremony!”
That almost struck her as hard as the news, silence filling the little clearing, even the seals in the pond, which in the back of Audata’s mind, she found she could not remember ever being there before, were silent, bright eyes staring at the confrontation.
“Wait… What? Phainon got married?” Hieronymus gasped, finally seemingly caught up in his wife's frantic need to understand. “Our Phainon? He was just… He was thirteen when he left…” Oh, so it seems like he had not quite grappled with all that time having passed. At least Audata felt less alone in that. It was one thing to know, it was another to know that years had passed them by unknowingly.
It was almost a great affront that Cyrene did not seem disturbed at all. She only smiled happily up at them. “It was a wonderful ceremony. Those two struggled to keep it rather small though. Mydeimos had to compromise and allow his people to celebrate their union during the Month of Strife at the Kremnos Festival.” She tilted her head a little as she thought about that before smiling again. “It should be fun, you two should see if you can come, I am sure Mydeimos can get you a place to stay anywhere in town if you do not want to stay in the palace.”
“Oh we will be going.” Audata found herself saying, as if it was even a question. She had missed the wedding itself; there was no way that they would be missing the reception.
Thankfully, Hieronymus was able to pick up on the other part of what Cyrene had said while Audata was too busy agreeing to go to Castrum Kremnos without a second thought. “What do you mean by palace?”
It was then that Cyrene decided to drop a second wave of the Dark Tide upon them. “Oh, right. You wouldn’t know here I guess. Phainon got married to the Crown Prince of Castrum Kremnos, Mydeimos.” The way she stated that was as if she was explaining the obvious, that it should go unsaid who Phainon would be getting married to. It was then that Audata felt her knee’s give out on her. Her son was married to the Prince of Castrum Kremnos? She had still not gotten over the fact that her little boy had gotten himself married in the first place.
She could hear murmurs around her, her husband and Cyrene’s surprise and concern. All she could think about though was the thought of her son, the young boy she had been prepared to say goodbye to but hadn’t quite yet was gone. Replaced with a young man she had yet to meet, who had gone and gotten himself married to a crown prince. There were other things Cyrene had mentioned, something along the lines of the Titans, a sort of barrier, and their little world being opened up, and her son having something to do with all of that. She knew that, sort of, it was just… hard to grasp. She was just a wheat farmer in a little forgotten corner of the world; none of those kinds of things were stuff she had to worry about. Maybe she did, she probably did, it was just… it was easier, but still oh so hard, to grasp onto the fact that her son was an adult now, a hero apparently, who had gotten himself married to a man she had never met.
She had thought that she had taught Phainon better manners than that. Oh, she had so much she had to help prepare for, that and the scolding and hug of a lifetime for her son. He should know better than to get married without even introducing his partner to them. There was little over a month left before her son would be here and there was so, so much to do.