and when I breathed, my breath was lightning
[Vanquish is Krato’s father, and Kratos and Rhy are in love. Rhy has also met Vanquish during diplomatic visits to the Deserts. Used with permission from Amandalynn. Riagan and Rayelle are Rhy’s parents – they left Beqanna years ago with Rhy’s sister Kora. Kora returned to Beqanna, her parents did not. Riagan is played by me, and Rayelle is used with permission from Lydia.]
They crawl back through time. They had tumbled and raced through time to get to Gail. But getting back was not so simple. This time, they could see the world around them. They watched in reverse as the monsters spit the world back out, as the dead came back to life.
They travel together now. Neither Kratos nor Lagertha travel with them. She doesn’t know what’s become of her friend and her lover. Were they staring down the mouths of the langoliers? Or had Carnage sent them home through a different route?
Perhaps they couldn’t travel the same path with Gail, as the rest did. Perhaps their path was more direct. Perhaps they were already home and safe. Changed, as she was, but safe. She clings to this hope as they crawl through time.
Finally, they spill out onto the beach. Gail does not follow. An invisible wall blocks her path back to the land of living, though she was not dead. But perhaps the Fates had been ready to snip her thread.
Finally the wall shatters and she’s free. For a wondrous, brief moment Carnage and Gail entwine. Rhy watches, missing Kratos in that moment. She's ready to race back to the Jungle for Lagertha, to the Tundra for Kratos. She needed to know if they were okay, if they were alive.
What would she do if they were both gone?
But just as she thinks it’s time for her to go, the beach breaks, sweeping Gail and the six acolytes away. Were the Fates ready for them all, then? Had their time run out, lost to the end of the world and the sound of static that devoured everything?
Gail is apologizing, and Rhy registers the words somewhere in the back of her mind. She’s too busy staring at the ghosts as they come to listen though. The shades appear like the living, but with some key piece of them removed. Paper thin, like a strong breeze could spirit them away.
Gail is still talking, telling them to find someone they loved. Rhy already knows before Gail even tells them that their powers don’t work. She feels empty, drained. Not just because she’s aging rapidly, gold skin now flecked with gray, but because the electric in her veins is gone. She feels cold all over. The electric is so much a part of her that she doesn’t know who she is without it.
She starts to scan the sea of the dead, leaving the other acolytes behind. The world here is strange, not quite alive but not quite dead. It’s so much like Beqanna, but the sounds are distant and the colors muted. And she can feel herself fading with everything else.
Death has stared her in the face this entire quest, and she will meet it if she must. But she is not ready to die.
“Rhy.” The voice is a deep rumble. Not her father’s, but familiar nonetheless. Turning her head, she sees Vanquish lumbering toward her. He is as large as his son, perhaps larger. Her heart tugs at the sight of Kratos’s father, because she cannot tell him if his son is alive.
“Vanquish. I…” But she doesn’t even know where to begin, and she trails off for a moment as he comes to stop before her. She is nothing without the electric in her veins. Nothing but cold and tired and dying.
She doesn’t have to say anything though. His deep voice rings out, so clear in this half-life. “Carnage almost killed me too. A poisoned cut, in the Valley War. But I didn’t die, and right now, neither will you.” She doesn’t know how he knows this, that Carnage had sent them here. A guess, perhaps. It's a likely guess. But he continues, and she understands.
“I’ve been watching. My son, mostly, but through him you as well. Together, you could tear apart heaven and hell. Push him to be better, Rhy. Make him a King, because he should be. He has royalty in his blood. Make yourself a Queen.”
There are tears in her eyes now as he speaks of his son. Kratos. He didn’t make it through the wormhole. He was somewhere, sometime, some world. She had no idea. “He came with me,” she says. “But he didn’t come back. I don’t know where he is.” Her words are quiet and her head low. Time is slipping away from her.
But Vanquish doesn’t have time to answer because she sees them then. Her golden parents, splashed with white and black. They are together. They are smiling. Rhy’s heart soars at the sight of them after so many years lost. But then realization dawns on her, and the tears stream down her cheeks now. No. They couldn’t be dead. She wanted to see them again, in real life. She wanted them to come find her one day and see what she’d made of herself.
She wanted all those years that they never had together. She wanted so many things that they would never have now.
Her parents close the distance, wrapping themselves around their electric daughter without fear. Here, she cannot hurt them. They are cold, but so is she and she finds she doesn’t mind. She could stay here; she could die with them wrapped around her.
It’s as if they know her thoughts. They pull away, looking at her with love and determination. “Rhy,” her mother says, the sound of her voice like sunshine. Rhy had forgotten how she sounded. “We love you so much. And we're so sorry, for everything. But look at the mare you’ve become. Even without us. We are so proud.”
“Mom. Dad.” She chokes on the words though, and nothing more comes out. She wants to yell, kick and scream over how they left her all alone. At the same time, she wants them to know how much she loves them, how much she missed them. But she can’t say any of it, and in some way, she thinks they know anyway.
“You have to go, Rhy.” Her father says. His voice she remembers, deep and earthy and kind. It’s the voice that told her over and over just to breathe, that everything was going to be okay. She remembers his brown eyes, the way they glimmered with gold in the light. She remembers the burns he took from her, and notices they still dot his hide.
Vanquish has come up to her side, a black shadow that towers over them. But unlike everything else in this journey, he is not a monster. Not to her, at least. “Krato’s is alive, Rhy. In the Tundra. You’ll find Lagertha when you return home as well. Because you will get home.”
She looks at her parents as they stand together with nothing but love in their eyes. At Vanquish, fierce pride in his eyes. Not for her, but for his son, and in saving her she also knows he’s accepting her. Still, part of her isn’t ready to go. She’s only just gotten her parents back, and again, she’s losing them. Again, she’ll face the world alone.
But no, that’s not true anymore. She has Lagertha and Scorch and the rest of her Sisters. She has Kora now, finally, after so many years. She was ready to die for the love of her sister. She has Kratos. And perhaps she would never die for love of him, but she would fight for his love. She would fight her way home to him.
“We love you, Rhy. But don’t worry about us. We’re together, and happy. And we’ll be here when you return, when the time is right. Now it’s time for you to go home. You have a brother, as well. Leander. He looks like you. Find him for us, when you get back.” It’s her mother speaking; her mother who reaches out to give her a gentle touch of encouragement. After so many years of paying more attention to Kora, it’s her mother that gives her the strength to go.
Vanquish leans down and she understands without being asked. She clambers across his neck, wishing she could switch to a lion and perch on his back. But that’s not an option here. He heaves himself upright. She’s small enough compared to him and his strength that it’s not too difficult. Rhy’s directly in front of his wings, and she can feel the muscles and bones moving as he spreads them. A few powerful flaps and they are airborne.
Exhaustion washes over her. She feels this place closing in on her, and wonders how gray her golden coat has become. He keeps flying, up and up. “I’ve seen horses jump,” his says, his voice booming in the cloudless sky like thunder. “Some of them make it back. I’ll give you an extra push, but then you are on your own.” He says this without doubt though, like he’s certain she can get back.
Rhy isn’t so sure, but she’ll try. She has to try.
She’d forgotten, in the whirlwind of everything, why she’s even here. “Gail,” she says. “Can you send her too? If she’ll go?” Vanquish nods, and she trusts that he will try. Gail may not come. Gail may not be able come. She is the reason they are all here with the dead. Because she is long gone, because maybe she does not want to live. But still, Rhy came for Gail. She has to ask. She has to try.
He starts diving now, and she slips toward his head. He arches his head up, keeping her place until she sees something like a rip in the sky. Not quite natural, and she knows this must be the place. She has no idea where it will take her, and it sounds like he doesn’t either. It might take her home. It might send her back to the langoliers.
Vanquish comes to an abrupt halt, bucking his hind end up and ducking his head below her. And she’s gone, flying off his neck and through the air in a haphazard mess. And she laughs, the sound ringing out in the silent sky like electric. She is alive, and she laughs at the absurdity of this moment. She laughs because she cannot cry, not anymore. Not over all she has seen or the death of her parents. She doesn’t want to cry, either. She wants to live. She wants to tell this story.
She flies through the tear in the sky. To somewhere. To home, she hopes. To Kora, to Lagertha, to the baby brother she doesn’t yet know. To Kratos.
They crawl back through time. They had tumbled and raced through time to get to Gail. But getting back was not so simple. This time, they could see the world around them. They watched in reverse as the monsters spit the world back out, as the dead came back to life.
They travel together now. Neither Kratos nor Lagertha travel with them. She doesn’t know what’s become of her friend and her lover. Were they staring down the mouths of the langoliers? Or had Carnage sent them home through a different route?
Perhaps they couldn’t travel the same path with Gail, as the rest did. Perhaps their path was more direct. Perhaps they were already home and safe. Changed, as she was, but safe. She clings to this hope as they crawl through time.
Finally, they spill out onto the beach. Gail does not follow. An invisible wall blocks her path back to the land of living, though she was not dead. But perhaps the Fates had been ready to snip her thread.
Finally the wall shatters and she’s free. For a wondrous, brief moment Carnage and Gail entwine. Rhy watches, missing Kratos in that moment. She's ready to race back to the Jungle for Lagertha, to the Tundra for Kratos. She needed to know if they were okay, if they were alive.
What would she do if they were both gone?
But just as she thinks it’s time for her to go, the beach breaks, sweeping Gail and the six acolytes away. Were the Fates ready for them all, then? Had their time run out, lost to the end of the world and the sound of static that devoured everything?
Gail is apologizing, and Rhy registers the words somewhere in the back of her mind. She’s too busy staring at the ghosts as they come to listen though. The shades appear like the living, but with some key piece of them removed. Paper thin, like a strong breeze could spirit them away.
Gail is still talking, telling them to find someone they loved. Rhy already knows before Gail even tells them that their powers don’t work. She feels empty, drained. Not just because she’s aging rapidly, gold skin now flecked with gray, but because the electric in her veins is gone. She feels cold all over. The electric is so much a part of her that she doesn’t know who she is without it.
She starts to scan the sea of the dead, leaving the other acolytes behind. The world here is strange, not quite alive but not quite dead. It’s so much like Beqanna, but the sounds are distant and the colors muted. And she can feel herself fading with everything else.
Death has stared her in the face this entire quest, and she will meet it if she must. But she is not ready to die.
“Rhy.” The voice is a deep rumble. Not her father’s, but familiar nonetheless. Turning her head, she sees Vanquish lumbering toward her. He is as large as his son, perhaps larger. Her heart tugs at the sight of Kratos’s father, because she cannot tell him if his son is alive.
“Vanquish. I…” But she doesn’t even know where to begin, and she trails off for a moment as he comes to stop before her. She is nothing without the electric in her veins. Nothing but cold and tired and dying.
She doesn’t have to say anything though. His deep voice rings out, so clear in this half-life. “Carnage almost killed me too. A poisoned cut, in the Valley War. But I didn’t die, and right now, neither will you.” She doesn’t know how he knows this, that Carnage had sent them here. A guess, perhaps. It's a likely guess. But he continues, and she understands.
“I’ve been watching. My son, mostly, but through him you as well. Together, you could tear apart heaven and hell. Push him to be better, Rhy. Make him a King, because he should be. He has royalty in his blood. Make yourself a Queen.”
There are tears in her eyes now as he speaks of his son. Kratos. He didn’t make it through the wormhole. He was somewhere, sometime, some world. She had no idea. “He came with me,” she says. “But he didn’t come back. I don’t know where he is.” Her words are quiet and her head low. Time is slipping away from her.
But Vanquish doesn’t have time to answer because she sees them then. Her golden parents, splashed with white and black. They are together. They are smiling. Rhy’s heart soars at the sight of them after so many years lost. But then realization dawns on her, and the tears stream down her cheeks now. No. They couldn’t be dead. She wanted to see them again, in real life. She wanted them to come find her one day and see what she’d made of herself.
She wanted all those years that they never had together. She wanted so many things that they would never have now.
Her parents close the distance, wrapping themselves around their electric daughter without fear. Here, she cannot hurt them. They are cold, but so is she and she finds she doesn’t mind. She could stay here; she could die with them wrapped around her.
It’s as if they know her thoughts. They pull away, looking at her with love and determination. “Rhy,” her mother says, the sound of her voice like sunshine. Rhy had forgotten how she sounded. “We love you so much. And we're so sorry, for everything. But look at the mare you’ve become. Even without us. We are so proud.”
“Mom. Dad.” She chokes on the words though, and nothing more comes out. She wants to yell, kick and scream over how they left her all alone. At the same time, she wants them to know how much she loves them, how much she missed them. But she can’t say any of it, and in some way, she thinks they know anyway.
“You have to go, Rhy.” Her father says. His voice she remembers, deep and earthy and kind. It’s the voice that told her over and over just to breathe, that everything was going to be okay. She remembers his brown eyes, the way they glimmered with gold in the light. She remembers the burns he took from her, and notices they still dot his hide.
Vanquish has come up to her side, a black shadow that towers over them. But unlike everything else in this journey, he is not a monster. Not to her, at least. “Krato’s is alive, Rhy. In the Tundra. You’ll find Lagertha when you return home as well. Because you will get home.”
She looks at her parents as they stand together with nothing but love in their eyes. At Vanquish, fierce pride in his eyes. Not for her, but for his son, and in saving her she also knows he’s accepting her. Still, part of her isn’t ready to go. She’s only just gotten her parents back, and again, she’s losing them. Again, she’ll face the world alone.
But no, that’s not true anymore. She has Lagertha and Scorch and the rest of her Sisters. She has Kora now, finally, after so many years. She was ready to die for the love of her sister. She has Kratos. And perhaps she would never die for love of him, but she would fight for his love. She would fight her way home to him.
“We love you, Rhy. But don’t worry about us. We’re together, and happy. And we’ll be here when you return, when the time is right. Now it’s time for you to go home. You have a brother, as well. Leander. He looks like you. Find him for us, when you get back.” It’s her mother speaking; her mother who reaches out to give her a gentle touch of encouragement. After so many years of paying more attention to Kora, it’s her mother that gives her the strength to go.
Vanquish leans down and she understands without being asked. She clambers across his neck, wishing she could switch to a lion and perch on his back. But that’s not an option here. He heaves himself upright. She’s small enough compared to him and his strength that it’s not too difficult. Rhy’s directly in front of his wings, and she can feel the muscles and bones moving as he spreads them. A few powerful flaps and they are airborne.
Exhaustion washes over her. She feels this place closing in on her, and wonders how gray her golden coat has become. He keeps flying, up and up. “I’ve seen horses jump,” his says, his voice booming in the cloudless sky like thunder. “Some of them make it back. I’ll give you an extra push, but then you are on your own.” He says this without doubt though, like he’s certain she can get back.
Rhy isn’t so sure, but she’ll try. She has to try.
She’d forgotten, in the whirlwind of everything, why she’s even here. “Gail,” she says. “Can you send her too? If she’ll go?” Vanquish nods, and she trusts that he will try. Gail may not come. Gail may not be able come. She is the reason they are all here with the dead. Because she is long gone, because maybe she does not want to live. But still, Rhy came for Gail. She has to ask. She has to try.
He starts diving now, and she slips toward his head. He arches his head up, keeping her place until she sees something like a rip in the sky. Not quite natural, and she knows this must be the place. She has no idea where it will take her, and it sounds like he doesn’t either. It might take her home. It might send her back to the langoliers.
Vanquish comes to an abrupt halt, bucking his hind end up and ducking his head below her. And she’s gone, flying off his neck and through the air in a haphazard mess. And she laughs, the sound ringing out in the silent sky like electric. She is alive, and she laughs at the absurdity of this moment. She laughs because she cannot cry, not anymore. Not over all she has seen or the death of her parents. She doesn’t want to cry, either. She wants to live. She wants to tell this story.
She flies through the tear in the sky. To somewhere. To home, she hopes. To Kora, to Lagertha, to the baby brother she doesn’t yet know. To Kratos.
rhy
the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle
(sorry, I'm dumb and posted as Kyra and not Rhy and it was bothering me...I had to fix it)