Last but not least

Edmund listens silently as Harper updates him. Regardless of his assurances, an apology spills from the Ancient's lips, "I'm sorry." He opens his mouth to try to explain himself but the question about Jude gives him a pause. "I have. We spoke and I brought him home with me.  I missed him." It has been so easy to slip back into the role of a loving brother. Jude easily pulls the softest parts of the Ancient to the forefront. On some level, it's reassuring to know that his transformation hadn't burned those parts away. Taking a steadying breath, Edmund tells Harper as much as he's willing. "I felt that I had to leave. Needed to. With everything that had happened, I had been so useless. Every precaution that we took as a region, as a family. It was barely enough." The Ancient's tail lashes slightly as he recalls the War, "I needed to become stronger so that I can help. I went and became an Ancient to do so." Reborn in the fire, stone, and blood of Dygra. Edmund had found the power he sought, without regret. But the blood now on his hands would be kept close to his chest. He didn't want to know how his family would react to the full truth. Would it shatter them alongside with their view of him? Shaking his head, Edmund pulls Harper in for another hug, "I'm home now. I just have to do ne last thing first." With a few more reassurances and easy questions, Edmund went to go join Jude's nap. Little did he know, this brief calm would be the last for months to come. -{FIN} Edmund Reborn In Fire