“The pleasure is mine“, Doran replied, because he had truly been enjoying this meeting so far. He hadn’t known what to expect when he had started to look for Enri, but he appreciated the other man’s company, and he nodded when Enri said that Vega and her family sounded like good people. They really were. They had welcomed him, even though Vega had known what he had done – she had been the first person to tell him that Xiur had forgiven him, at the beginning of the Mummer’s Ball.
When Enri thanked him for sharing his story, the son of Ziell inclined his head slightly. For a moment, he was quiet. When his fellow Mortalborn wondered if they should though, he grinned, nodded and told him, “We definitely should. Personally, I don’t want to go yet. What about you? What else do you want?” he asked when the waiter came over to them.
No matter what Enri wanted, Doran asked for a glass of Low Hanging Zemoni, an excellent after-dinner drink.
“Indeed”, he agreed when Enri said that hope was a choice and nodded. “Sometimes, it’s easier to turn to cynicism, as you said, or fall into despair. Ultimately, there is no point in anything if there is no hope though. I don’t want to live that way, so I choose to live differently and look for that small ray of light in the darkness. I know that it’s not possible to fix every problem, but I’d rather try than simply give up”, he continued only in order to fall silent again as he wondered if he should ask Enri about all those times when he had struggled to be hopeful.
Ultimately, he chose not to though.
When Xiur appeared and grinned at them, Doran’s eyes widened for a moment before he smiled at him and moved a little to the side as well so that the Immortal would be able to sit comfortably. “It’s good to see you again”, he said. It really was. It had been a while since he had been able to talk to the man that he considered one of his patrons nowadays. “I invited your son. You are invited as well, of course”, he continued before he wanted to know, “How are you?” A moment later, when Xiur took a sip from Enri’s cup, he laughed. He hadn’t known that the Immortal was capable of such a mischievous gesture!
“I hope that I will continue to make you proud”, he said in the same earnest tone of voice as Xiur when the Immortal told him that he was proud of him and bowed his head. The feeling that came over him next, that wash of energy, was hard to describe. He didn’t think that he had ever felt anything quite like it before. When Xiur called him one of his Exalted, he was a little confused at first and wondered if he should correct him, but he felt in his heart and in his soul that it was true. “I thank you for this great honor, my lord”, he said and met his gaze. He was more grateful than he could express with mere words.
A moment later, when Enri remarked that his father always had to steal the show, he laughed, a genuine laughter. Upon noticing how interested Xiur was in the sweets in front of him, he told him, “Go ahead. As for how I am”, he continued. His tone of voice became a little more serious, but he spoke with a smile on his face. “I’m happy. I found a home. I’m surrounded by people that I like and that I can trust, and I’m doing what I love – practicing alchemy and researching – which brings me to something that I’ve been wondering about for a while now”, he admitted and got a desert of his own because the food that Whit had brought looked absolutely irresistible.
“I recently accompanied Faith and Padraig Augustin, and Varlum, on a trip behind one of the barriers that surround the place that we call home”, he said and paused slightly in order to give Enri and Xiur the opportunity to think about what he had said and ask questions if they wanted to – he wasn’t sure how much they knew about the barriers. “I learned a bit about the circumstances that might have caused the Originals, all of them with the exception of Delana, to shatter. A lot of what we are dealing with nowadays seems to be directly or indirectly related to the Shattering and the events that preceded it. In light of that, would you like me to continue researching, and if I could …”
“… if I could find a way to bring Fei back or at least talk to her, would you want me to do that? If you could talk to your mother one more time, which questions would you ask her?” he wanted to know.
An arc before, during the conflict with Slag’s Deep, he had started to wonder if bringing Fei back would solve at least some of the world’s problems; and besides that, he couldn’t help but wonder if whatever had caused the Originals to leave their home and come to Idalos was still a threat and if those events would eventually repeat themselves. He wasn’t sure if it was truly over yet.
He realized that it was better not to dig too deeply sometimes though. And besides that, he wanted to make sure that Xiur would be okay with him researching his mother and the others of her kind. It was a very personal topic. He didn’t wish to make his patron in any way uncomfortable, and neither did he wish to anger him or make him sad. He wanted to give him – and the entire world – a little hope. In his opinion, you needed to solve the mysteries of the past in order to understand the present and try to bring about a better future. Everything was connected in some way. The Forging was proof of that.
When Enri thanked him for sharing his story, the son of Ziell inclined his head slightly. For a moment, he was quiet. When his fellow Mortalborn wondered if they should though, he grinned, nodded and told him, “We definitely should. Personally, I don’t want to go yet. What about you? What else do you want?” he asked when the waiter came over to them.
No matter what Enri wanted, Doran asked for a glass of Low Hanging Zemoni, an excellent after-dinner drink.
“Indeed”, he agreed when Enri said that hope was a choice and nodded. “Sometimes, it’s easier to turn to cynicism, as you said, or fall into despair. Ultimately, there is no point in anything if there is no hope though. I don’t want to live that way, so I choose to live differently and look for that small ray of light in the darkness. I know that it’s not possible to fix every problem, but I’d rather try than simply give up”, he continued only in order to fall silent again as he wondered if he should ask Enri about all those times when he had struggled to be hopeful.
Ultimately, he chose not to though.
When Xiur appeared and grinned at them, Doran’s eyes widened for a moment before he smiled at him and moved a little to the side as well so that the Immortal would be able to sit comfortably. “It’s good to see you again”, he said. It really was. It had been a while since he had been able to talk to the man that he considered one of his patrons nowadays. “I invited your son. You are invited as well, of course”, he continued before he wanted to know, “How are you?” A moment later, when Xiur took a sip from Enri’s cup, he laughed. He hadn’t known that the Immortal was capable of such a mischievous gesture!
“I hope that I will continue to make you proud”, he said in the same earnest tone of voice as Xiur when the Immortal told him that he was proud of him and bowed his head. The feeling that came over him next, that wash of energy, was hard to describe. He didn’t think that he had ever felt anything quite like it before. When Xiur called him one of his Exalted, he was a little confused at first and wondered if he should correct him, but he felt in his heart and in his soul that it was true. “I thank you for this great honor, my lord”, he said and met his gaze. He was more grateful than he could express with mere words.
A moment later, when Enri remarked that his father always had to steal the show, he laughed, a genuine laughter. Upon noticing how interested Xiur was in the sweets in front of him, he told him, “Go ahead. As for how I am”, he continued. His tone of voice became a little more serious, but he spoke with a smile on his face. “I’m happy. I found a home. I’m surrounded by people that I like and that I can trust, and I’m doing what I love – practicing alchemy and researching – which brings me to something that I’ve been wondering about for a while now”, he admitted and got a desert of his own because the food that Whit had brought looked absolutely irresistible.
“I recently accompanied Faith and Padraig Augustin, and Varlum, on a trip behind one of the barriers that surround the place that we call home”, he said and paused slightly in order to give Enri and Xiur the opportunity to think about what he had said and ask questions if they wanted to – he wasn’t sure how much they knew about the barriers. “I learned a bit about the circumstances that might have caused the Originals, all of them with the exception of Delana, to shatter. A lot of what we are dealing with nowadays seems to be directly or indirectly related to the Shattering and the events that preceded it. In light of that, would you like me to continue researching, and if I could …”
“… if I could find a way to bring Fei back or at least talk to her, would you want me to do that? If you could talk to your mother one more time, which questions would you ask her?” he wanted to know.
An arc before, during the conflict with Slag’s Deep, he had started to wonder if bringing Fei back would solve at least some of the world’s problems; and besides that, he couldn’t help but wonder if whatever had caused the Originals to leave their home and come to Idalos was still a threat and if those events would eventually repeat themselves. He wasn’t sure if it was truly over yet.
He realized that it was better not to dig too deeply sometimes though. And besides that, he wanted to make sure that Xiur would be okay with him researching his mother and the others of her kind. It was a very personal topic. He didn’t wish to make his patron in any way uncomfortable, and neither did he wish to anger him or make him sad. He wanted to give him – and the entire world – a little hope. In his opinion, you needed to solve the mysteries of the past in order to understand the present and try to bring about a better future. Everything was connected in some way. The Forging was proof of that.
