There was a slight whirlwind of magic in the main hall of the shrine when Drae suddenly appeared in a rush of wind on the hard floor. The breath was knocked from his lungs as he hit the floor hard. Teleportation was an exact science, and when one can't focus properly, things could go very wrong. Fortunately, he had managed to at least land where he meant to be, and for the moment he was pretty sure he had managed not to loose limbs. 

His mind was alight with pain. Icy hot, dull, but sharp. It was hard to classify exactly what the pain was, but it was making his head blurry. He inhaled sharply and blood flowed freely from his back onto the fine wooden floor. He panted and stared at the ceiling. 

"Angela…" he called hoarsely. "Angela… help…" he called again. 

Angela had been left in shock as she fell down to her knees. Her fingers fingered at the box. It was little and her eyes watered at the very thought of what was in there. That had been a good-bye from him. It was a just in case but it still shook her to her very core. She got up and pocketed the treasure he gave her as she walked through her halls. People were avoiding her just because of the look on her face. It was like someone had died.

She hid in the baby’s room for the longest time as she watched over Rohan. “Your dad is off doing something stupid.” Or maybe he was doing it to protect them. She was almost in tears as the time moved on. Soon there was crying for her and she snapped out of it. She ran out of Ro’s room as if her life depended on it. “Melina! Get my clinic ready. I need herbs now.” She was yelling at the priestess who panicked just as much as her goddess did.

She picked Drae up into her arms. “Filthy woman I’ll kill her myself.” She was cradling him as they got into her healing clinic. The sounds of the rainforest were all around them as they settled in. She laid Drae down on his stomach. “I’m sorry I have to have you this way.” She finished ripping his shirt off and began to pull out bits of magic from his wounds. “I’ll get you fixed up.” She was whimpering in between her tears as she wiped her eyes and began to grab her salves and potions. “What happened?”

To see the goddess carrying a full grown man like he was a mere infant must have been a sight to see, and if Drae hadn't been in a lot of pain and slipping in an out of consciousness he would have been a tiny bit indignant. 

He didn't complain much when she placed rather unceremoniously on a cot and began cutting away what was left of his torn and slashed vest and shirt. He almost mumbled at complaint at the loss of such fine garb but he hissed at the pulling of the magic remnants from his back. He was in and out mostly, but he could hear Angela asking him what happened.

"This is my fault…" he said softly. "Ten years… ten years she slept in my subconscious and I was never smart enough to ask who she was… ten years and it wasn't until after Sapphire was going through the family history with me that I realized who she was and what a pawn I could be to her when she woke up…" he explained. Took in deep calming breathes. 

"She stirred at that point, maybe it was something about finding out who she was that made her stir. That's what you sensed," he explained. "When I realized… I knew I couldn't be that pawn. I couldn't risk her harming your or the children through me… so left so that I could cut her off. To separate her from me, to break our bond. I didn't expect her to have magic enough to do this, but she is trapped where she is at…" he told Angela. 

"She… she told me what she had planned… she thought I was turning to her, so she spilled everything…" he said, though everything was growing foggy. A rush of emotion overcame him and his throat got tight, and he actually began crying. 

"Gods… Ang… I killed them… It was all my fault… I didn't know… I didn't think…" he sobbed softly before losing consciousness completely.

Angela moved her hands and massaged in the salve. Her eyes were sad as he spoke and she grumbled a bit as he wiggled about. She poked him to lay still in spots she knew would sting and then carefully caressed his face. “Don’t pull.” She was loading his skin with different type salves. The plants within them let out their aroma and finally she sat next to him. She stared into his eyes. “Demons are crafty Drae. That’s what they do. That alone isn’t your fault. Even if you had asked she wouldn’t have given up her true name.”

For the longest time she let Drae just sit there crying. His strength would be slow to return but she ensured him not passing out so they could talk. “First off, I would like you to know that’s not how they feel.” She choked on the information at first. She had kept something so intimate away from him. “Second, if Evangeline could have a moment to tell you to stop crying so we could talk to you. I’ve known for a while now. When you are sleeping soundly at night I can see into your soul. I knew when I felt desires not yours that someone else was there.”

She bobbed her head a bit as if thinking on it. “She’s been watching and your kid has been watching too. They don’t think it is your fault. I don’t think this is your fault. However, Cyprus told you something that I knew you would eventually find out. We were waiting for the right time, I let her choose when that time would be. This isn’t something I ever wanted to tell you… You are my fragile flower. Mortal.” She cradled his face gently in her palms. “I’ll make her pay Drae, I swear I will. I’ll put all of my energy into it when I can. For right now, you are my entire world and I need to make sure you live.”

There was a pause in her thought. “As I have told Evangeline, I can make your soul whole where death ate away. The baby and Evangeline fill that spot right now as a stitching so to speak. It is crude and easily undone.” She thought about it. “It would allow them to stay here or move on if they so wished.”

Drae inhaled deeply of the aromatic fumes that wafted up from the salves and poultices that she rubbed in his back. They seemed to revitalize him, but it made the emotions that for so long he had buried deep in his psyche break that he could not stop the sobbing. He gazed up at Angela, his eyes red and puffy both from crying and from the aroma of the herbs. He listened to her words, trying to grasp what she was telling him. He lifted a hand and held the one of hers that she had used to caress his cheek. 

"You… you can see them?" he asked shakily. He scoffed slightly. "Of course you can…" he answered himself softly. He looked up at her when she mentioned the name, a name he had not been able to utter for near a decade now. It was clear she knew what she was talking about. He took in a steadying breath. 

"Sh-she wants to talk to me?" he asked shakily. 

Angela’s face was sad as she nodded to him. He had already answered her by the time her lips began to part. She chuckled a bit and nodded. “You have always caught on fast to my powers. Though to be honest it is only recently that I’ve been able to hear them. I haven’t been use to my powers until now my dear.” She patted the head of her beloved as he held her hand.

Taking a deep breath she reached into Drae’s body as if he wasn’t there at all. “It might hurt for a moment but I’ll keep you stable.” She gave a smile as she pulled the soul out of him. The woman was as strong and silent as always. She looked so plain, Angela shamelessly thought. She was jealous that much was sure but she sucked it up and smiled. “You can speak to him now.”

Evangeline nodded and formed words for the first time in a decade. It was distorted at first. “Hello, Adraejen.” It was the first thing she got out as she stared at how broken her lover was now. “That is not a good look on you.” Perhaps it was from talking with Angela so much now that she was so verbal with him. “It’s like Angela said… You shouldn’t think it was your fault. I’m glad it made you live. You are a wonderful father. I’ve seen you with Rohan and I am jealous… but… I am glad. Angela knew that it was the demon who did this and we were discussing how to fix it without you finding out.”

“Process is messy and not at all safe without the consent of the person who it is on,” Angela added in as  Evangeline stared at Drae. “I didn’t want to do it without your permission but Evangeline has her own ideas for what to do. Stubborn woman.” It made Evangeline laugh.

“You need to be strong Adraejen. You have so many people you need to be strong for.”

Drae grunted at the brief moment of pain as Angela reached into him and detached Evangeline's soul from his.

"Eva…" Drae said softly, his eyes full of wonder as the woman he had once given his heart to. She was still as lovely as he remembered, though compared to Angela was might have appeared plain. He couldn't help a smile at her as she told him this look didn't suit him.
"You always knew…" he chuckled slightly. "Gods, Eva… I… I never thought for a second…" he felt the guilt well up in him, but her words that it wasn't in fact his fault.

"You have been with me all along…" he said softly. "You saw what I became after I lost you… I could not be more ashamed of that," he said softly. But he couldn't help but give a small smile when she praised him for being a good father. 

"I do wish I could have been a father to our child… Eva…" he said softly. He looked at Angela as she explained that she could sever their connection, and make his soul whole again. 

"I just… I want you to be at peace…" he said softly. "You have my permission… I just want you to be at peace," he said honestly.

If it was something that Angela was ashamed of herself, it was that she was jealous watching them both. He was so in love with her still and Angela couldn’t blame him. If it was Wyatt and her, it would be the same way. Crossing her arms, Angela watched the scene after this. It was the beautiful connection that Drae and Eva had.

Eva gave a laugh and shook her head. “Adraejen, you’ve been fine. You had all the time in the world to heal. It’s not about what you’ve done, it’s about what you have become. You are a wonderful man and even though you might have been annoyed with Angela at first, which she knows, by the way, she loves and cares about you. It helped you heal.” Angela made a teasing face at Adraejen. 

She smiled more at her old lover and chuckled a bit. “I know you would have. I never had any doubts. The excitement and how scared you were when it came to Rohan… It made me smile a lot. I’m not suffering nor is our baby. We are happy. We are happy you are alright.”

On Drae’s command, Angela got up and reached back up into him before giving the small bundle to Eva. “First, you know from my dealing with souls that while the baby has a soul it is incomplete due to the stage at which it died.” She rubbed the back of her head. “It knows basic emotions but we do know you make your baby very happy Drae.” She wasn’t even sure on the sex but Eva gave her a smile.

“She is a good woman Adraejen. She could have made us go away so she didn’t have to see this. She could have done a lot of things but she didn’t. She actually petitioned for this meeting at some point. I didn’t want this, I just wanted you to be happy and not ashamed.” Looking to Angela, Eva nodded at her and Angela gave a smile. 

“Your souls will be returned to the soul stream. It’s a life cycle that floats invisible between the realms of gods and man.” The goddess paused and hesitated when she looked at Drae. She waved her hand and the souls glowed with a brightness that could blind for a short time. They disappeared like fireflies. Angela fell back into her chair and looked at Drae. “Did you really think I was whiny?” It came with a laugh. 

"I'm grateful she did," Drae smiled. "Maybe… just maybe we will meet again someday…" he said softly with a gentle smile at Eva. He shielded his eyes for a brief second before Angela whisked their spirits back into the spirit stream, perhaps to be reincarnated. He felt as though a great weight was lifted, and he felt a sigh of relief. He looked at Angela as she flopped back into the chair and she asked if he had thought she was whiny. 

"Well… maybe only a little," Drae chuckled as he reached out and took Angela's hand in his as he propped himself up on his elbow. 
"But not enough to drive me away," he promised. He squeezed her hand. "I know that had to have been hard on you, my love," he said softly. "But… thank you for doing that for me, and for them," he said. He gave her a smile. 

"Do you still have that box?" he asked her as he slowly sat up. 

Angela did a mock pout face at him as they spoke. The time that they had met had been rather difficult for her. It was filled with trials and many, many unanswered questions. Taking her time to give him her best smile she brought the box out from her pocket and slipped it into his free hand.

“Don’t ever make me think my psychotic sister is going to kill you again. Not peeking in the box is a terrible game that I rather suck at.” She leaned in and kissed him. “You need to learn to ask for help. You are rather terrible at that like I am. Though I don’t know what good I would have been to you. I do have a slight temper when it comes to my sister.”

Slight? She only sent her sister to the valley of brimstone and made her become a demon in the hopes that she could rip her heart out again. Slight was hardly the word for what she had done. She gave him a sheepish smile at that thought and pondered on the box. She wasn’t stupid but at the same time, she for once in her life wanted to be shocked by the outcome of the situation. “So… what is in the box?”