Bryony smiled at him. “What did I tell you when I first met you. You are your own master. You decide your future.” But he had told her he had no control, well now he did and she loved it.

She didn’t mind his bodily change. It was him still and that was all she cared about. She wrapped herself around him and watched as his hands caressed her belly. She gave him a smile. “Hazel is a pretty name.”  She chuckled a bit. “You know I don’t think we’ve ever talked about your life in Canelux. This is a first and I’m glad to hear it.” She kissed his forehead. “Hazel is her name then.” Their child with the mercury eyes.

–

The months flew by and Bash and Bry had found their home to be the gardens. They didn’t want to travel far with their little one on the way. Her belly was getting quite large now and she would spend hours looking at herself in the mirror. “This is all too new to me.” She would say. Most of their time was spent reading or feeling Hazel move.

They looked forward to Angela telling them just how big Hazel was or how she was doing. She was quite the child. There were a few things that made Angela’s eyebrows go up. Like her parents, Hazel was proving to be odd at times. She was acrobatic and it always made Bryony laugh hard. 

Today they were laying in bed and Bryony was feeling her move. “Won’t be too long now Sebastian. Our little girl has been quite persistent on waiting to come.” She felt like she was going to pop any moment. Whenever her labor started it would stop and it would make her panic a bit. Angela would tell her the girl just wasn’t ready to come out. “She is stubborn like her father.” Playful ocean eyes looked over at Bash as she rubbed her belly and felt Hazel tumbling. “You can tell her to come out at any time now.”

Sebastian's life up until this point had been a constant procession of seasons; unending change, and perpetual death and rebirth. Bryony entering his life was the first taste of any real permanence he'd experienced. It frightened him at first. He was scared for the both of them, for even though he did not fully understand the sordid details of his existence, he had some idea of what all it entailed. He knew could not drag anyone else into that brand of misery.

Bryony…had been different.

The oracle did not request to be a part of his life, nor did he actively cling to her at first. They were hopelessly thrust together, bound by fate, or circumstance, or whatever world view's lenses one could look at it in. Their stories were intertwined.

Life changing was more than just Bryony's arrival, however. Sebastian had felt a departure, as well. The unseen entity that had always watched over him had well and truly gone. Its consciousness was elsewhere, perhaps focusing upon his unborn daughter. Perhaps it was dead. He had mixed feelings about it all, but for the most part, he felt as if a looming weight had been lifted. There were no deeds of past lives in his memories anymore. There was only now, and the years he had known in Revaliir.

Sebastian was there to wait on Bryony's every beck and call as her belly swelled. Even before then. He had never thought of himself as the nurturing sort before, but the miracle of new life could change that in anyone.
As he sat and caressed Bryony's belly, feeling Hazel kick and tumble, he reached out with his gifted mind as well as his heart, calming her. "Ssshhh, now," he coaxed. "You know we're all anxious to meet you…why not come on along now instead of beating up your poor mother's insides, aye?"

Bryony gave Sebastian a smile as she felt Hazel going nuts at his voice. “She loves you, Sebastian. I think she loves you more than she loves me.” She chuckled softly. She knew when Bash was talking to their daughter. The sheer joy that would spring out of nowhere. She could feel it. It was almost drowning her this time around.

She scooted over near Sebastian and put her head onto his shoulder. Her hands were on his as he rubbed her swollen and very sore belly. They laid like that for a few more hours until her water had broke. Angela was in their room quick as lightning after that. The birth of Hazel was sped up by the magic that seemed to be pulsating from her. 

That strong little being that they were so desperate to bring into the world had finally came. Bryony laid exhausted both physically and mentally, it had been like nothing she had felt before. Angela held onto Hazel for long moments afterward. It was the girl’s shadow. The way the eldritch beast could be seen. It was moving tiny tentacles about. There would be nothing that Angela could do about that.

“Don’t let that thing have her Angela,” Bryony breathed almost in a whisper as she laid there in pain. The being had done a lot of damage but Angela was slowly working on that as well. 

“I hadn’t planned on it,” the goddess spoke as she brought out a tiny squid toy. She breathed a breath of hot air on it and runic symbols started to blaze up on the tips of the squid. For a moment the room drew dark with the creature’s energy but then it was just like it had been before. Hazel’s lungs filled the air as if something had been taken from her, though not completely as it turned out. She handed Hazel to her father and stared down at the squid. “It won’t last forever but it should last long enough for you to figure it out.” Angela placed the squid down in the crib near the foot of their bed. “It should stay with her… Wherever she goes until the day you purge it.” The toy was now moving like a baby on its own. It wasn’t a lot of movement but it was enough.

Working on Bryony took some time but Angela healed her up and before long the oracle was propped up and watching Sebastian with Hazel. “Can I see her?” She was excited as she patted the spot next to her on the bed. She wanted to see the little girl that they had tried so desperately to have.

Sebastian smiled, but he could not help but wonder at the implications behind Hazel's preference for him. Was it her, or was it the eldritch thing that shared his lover's womb? In truth, the entity very well shouldn't have a preference for either one of them. It would either care for both of them for letting it live a little longer, or it would cast them both off, as they had already fulfilled their purpose. Being what it was, Sebastian could never be entirely certain of its nature, even when it was attached to him. At times, it seemed to genuinely care for his well-being…at others, it seemed clear it was only using him to its own ends.

Eyes filled with fear, wonder, and hope, Sebastian stayed by Bryony's side all the while she went through Hazel's birth. With the entity having left his own side, and taking with it the memories of lives he had spent steeped in violence and glory in other realms of existence, he found himself quite fearful of it. Without it always being there, whispering, silently soothing him, he saw it for the terror that it truly was. He gripped Bryony's hand tightly as she struggled through the birth, and ran his fingers through her hair.

Kissing Bryony's forehead as he dabbed away the sweat at her brow, Sebastian then breathed a sigh of relief when the birth was over. He was still very concerned for both of their well-beings, but Angela saw to them both better than he ever could have. Sebastian glanced at the toy that was crafted to hold the entity, but he was more focused on Hazel as she was handed to him. "You're finally here," he half-whispered, voice choking up some. "I didn't think I'd ever see you at all, but here you are, pretty as the Gardens perceived you to be."

Sebastian nodded at Bryony, his eyes welling with tears of sentiment. "Of course, love," he said, tenderly handing Hazel over to her.

He looked at them both together for a while, but as moments passed, his mind drifted back to the issue that was lain in the cradle with a similar care; though, it was the sort of care akin to handling a hot coal with a pair of tongs. Never looking away from the toy, he spoke to Angela.
"I never knew how much power it lent me until it was gone," he mused. "At one time, I thought I could purge it. There was a time I thought I could do anything. I realize now that I never had any actual control. I am not sure now if I am capable, but….I don't want Hazel to suffer."

Angela's focus was completely on Bryony after the baby had been safely put into her father's arms. The oracle while old and hardened to the ways of life was completely new to the concept of childbirth and all of the not so pleasant pains that came with them. "Luckily for the two of you, I am an expert healer even without my deity powers. Couple it with them and Bryony should be up and doing stuff within a few hours. Not one can heal someone faster than  I can. It helps that Bryony is older and her body is hardened so it is also helping the process, however, childbirth is new to a three-thousand-year-old body… It hasn't exactly received it very well." Angela's green eyes went between Sebastian and Hazel before she looked back at Bryony who was panting on the bed in heavy heaves of pain. Her green colored magic filled the room with a pleasant light as she worked. There were hints of yellow as she went, her connection to life, after all, was strongest here in the gardens.

"How bad is the damage?" There was even more heavy panting between the words that Bryony spoke to her. Angela didn't look up as she continued to work. "Angela you know that I don't like it when you are silent." Angela reached up and flicked the oracle's forehead hard. If she wasn't in enough pain Angela sure knew how to stick it to her. The oracle reeled her head back and felt the odd presence of someone tinkering with her insides. It was an odd sensation, to say the least.

After a while, Angela finally looked up, "Not overly bad. If you were in the hands of a mortal doctor or cleric you would be far worse. Most women who go through births this late in life have a lot of complications. For you, you probably would have had an even harder time conceiving if Sebastian and yourself wanted another child. It would appear the being collapsed some of your womb. It would have led to severe trauma that made itself known and soon after you would have seized up and you would have died." If anything the goddess wasn't known for being less straightforward than she was being at this moment. The color of Bryony's face drained a bit and Angela's green eyes met her worried blues. "Don't worry about that. I've nipped it before it could start. This does mean if you two wish to have a second child that I will have to oversee the whole thing. From start to finish like I have Hazel. While you don't have destructive little being in you," Angela motioned a hand with a small needle like thing covered in Bryony's blood over at the toy in the cradle, "…You are old Bryony. This is dangerous. Though I am sure you already knew that. Your body has been through a lot of trauma in your life and it shows. It's not just your age that is putting you at risk but also the fact you don't take care of yourself like you should… You should probably start doing that. Being an idiot will only help you get so far in your life." The words stung the oracle but she knew that Angela had meant well with her words.

The goddess moved to wash her hands in a washbowl not far. She put the needle down after she got rid of the blood from every inch of it. A flame appeared on the tip of her finger and she began to run it through several times before placing it on a clean cloth. She used another cloth nearby to dry her hands. Her eyes caught enough to see Sebastian sharing Hazel with the new mother. She was happy to see them so overjoyed but she understood Sebastian's worry. Her eyes drifted to the toy in the cradle and she took a heavy sigh. It would be a long time before they could rest easy about this particular child. "Yes, well to be honest, that doesn't shock me one bit," Angela began to muse towards the new father as she turned and leaned against the dresser taking the full weight of her body off her feet. She rested her hands on either side of her as she clenched the dresser. "Rosenites have this practice of take their queens and implanting them with this shard called Himiria. It was a star that fell and the many kingdoms of ancient Revaliir fought over. The star was divided but all things come home. Arri is in possession of all the shards now and for good reason. Each queen is implanted with it… Much like your being it grants more power. I would dare say I don't know how much of my power is divided between deity, shard, and my own." She pushed herself off after she finished musing and came over to Sebastian. Her hands went to his shoulders and she massaged them in a comforting way.

"We will find a way to sever the two of them. Until then we just have to be patient and I know that is a lot to ask of yourself and Bryony. You two will worry the most about Hazel. However, here in the Gardens, she will be safe. She isn't much younger than Rohan and they can play together. I doubt the children who will grow up around them will be allowed near Hazel. We knew that going into this that there was a chance that people could see her as a monster. Take her outside of here but just be careful doing it. You both will need to be strong for her until she is old enough to take care of herself. The shadow of hers is a dead give away for what lingers. You remember Adeluna, do you not Sebastian? You remember that man coming for you? They will come for Hazel as well to end their suffering. You must be ready for that. You and Bryony are both intelligent enough to have a plan about it. She can't stay locked up in the Gardens forever… That's no way for a child to live." Angela pressed a motherly kiss to Sebastian's forehead before she paused.

There was a weight in the world shifting and her smile twisted a bit. "The new gods of Revaliir just rose…" She didn't move from her spot but she didn't have to. 

Bryony looked up from Hazel. "Ang, I'm so sorry…" It was clear that Bryony had seen through Angela's actions what had happened in that tiny moment. Her blue eyes drifted over to Sebastian and suddenly she was thankful that she didn't have to worry about that.

Angela fiddled with the edging of her dress before she turned to them. "The Voice has chosen Drae to become a god… His temple is in Parvpora." Her voice was distressed just a bit. She didn't want to be that far away from him. She chewed on her lip a bit more and looked over at Sebastian. "He has risen as God of Arcane and Knowledge… If anyone is able to help you now… I would say you are friends with all the right people."

Bryony frowned just a bit. "I don't envy you having to be that far from your husband Angela. Nor him from your children…" Angela was eerily silent as she continued to fiddle with her dress.

"The Voice takes who it wants… I sadly have no control over it. We'll manage like we always have… It will just be a bit trickier now I'm sure." Angela offered the best smile she could as she looked back down to Hazel. "Drae will be a good friend for you all to have. He might be able to help you find a way now that I might have missed. My powers are in that of alchemical components, plants, and life… Beings like our friend would completely be in his territory now."