What was the last thing he could recall?

Drifting…drifting in… nothingness. Just drifting on in a sea of nothingness. He couldn't recall how long he was there, nor of the time he lost from the realm he had called home. Had it been days? Months? Years?He was rendered unable to move due to not only the separation from  the world, but from the darkness in his heart. The madness, the rage, all of it…it dispersed from his very core, ripping itself away from his body into a seemingly black cloud like entity and left him in this state. The man had felt cleaner than he had in years, centuries even. He couldn't even recall the last time where he had no malice in his heart or sinister intentions in his mind. What was left behind however was that of guilt and remorse. Of all the lives that had been taken by his hand, of all the victims who he had broken and all of the pain he had caused. Perhaps this was the fate that he deserved; if he had enough energy, then a chuckle would have slipped out.

Fate.

It was something that he had never believed in before now. Now that he was cleansed of the monster, only to be placed here. Perhaps for eternity. It was something akin to that of a dreamless sleep and there was no one there to help him, not that he deserved such a thing. Perhaps everyone would have been better off without his existence; his children were left behind in his pursue of power, but hopefully Angela was able to rescue them. His clan was nothing more than a shadow of its former self and without him, it would truly crumb into dust and be blown away by the wind. Unless the First was able to take back the reigns, not that he himself was concerned with it anymore. There was nothing to be concerned about as he drifted aimlessly without a single destination in sight. His crimson eyes were left barely opened, seeing nothing by a world of dim light. He had once been a glorious monster and now look how the mighty had fallen. All his achievements and goals no long mattered, they were no longer relevant. Ushering as much strength as he could, he opened his eyes slightly more; they themselves were as dull as this unworldly place and saw nothing all around. The toll of the separation was great, and he could barely utter a word, but with the last of his energy, he was able to let out a few words just as he slipped away into unconsciousness.

"I accept my fate."  

There were many people she loved who were still falling from the void. Angela would locate them and intercept them as they fell. It was the one who fathered her twins who caught her mind. She was fast to catch him as he fell like a star from the skies. It made her stomach twist to be up so high. A vine came up and caught her as she set her bare feet on the ground.

Looking towards the snow haired man she reached down and kissed his forehead. "Breath Nemesis. Breathe and live." She transferred them to her temple where she spent many hours putting her powers through him. He was so tired and she could sense it. "Melina?" The girl was very soft on the eyes and she was fragile looking. A smile came to Angela's face. "Would it be alright if I took your blood for this man?"

"Whatever it takes my lady that is the oath that I have taken." Melia got a glass and slit her arm. She winced but Angela was proud of her as she filled the glass. She healed herself and gave the glass to the goddess before laying down herself.

"Here you go." She lifted Nemesis's head up and put the glass to his lips. "Drink. I will explain everything to you." He hardly seemed like the same man. "The twins are resting."

Forever would be a long time to merely drift about, especially with a healing mind. As he slumbered, there was no peace or pleasurable thoughts to comfort him. It seemed just as voided as where he currently resided. All he could feel was the coldness that surrounded him and nothing more. Would he ever be greeted by the sun again? Or the moon? There was serious doubt about as he continued to drift lower and lower without any sort of acknowledgement towards it. His body continued to fall, descending faster and faster, heading towards gods knew where. Then his body halted for some reason. Perhaps he was finally in the afterlife, a place that he had a knack for avoiding for so very long. Perhaps now it was time to pay the piper.

Whatever was to happen to him, he would do nothing to fight against it; he had been fighting for too long past his time now. Then something was pressed onto his head and words sprung life from him, stirring his eyes open and letting out a coughing fit before glancing towards over towards someone very familiar to him. The very sound of the name made him cringe in Angela's arms as she carried him away from this dreadful place. He was grateful, but a part of him felt that she should have left him behind. Would they be returning to their realm? If so, then what would become of him? He no longer felt as though he could lead the clan and there was nothing else for him aside from their children.

It didn't seem like they had returned to her home, no this place was vastly different from that. The realm felt different yet familiar to him and there was no reasonable idea in mind of it. At least he was able to see the light of day again, which nearly blinded him and although he was exposed to sun, it didn't burn him at all. The question of why it didn't last very long as he slipped into a slumber again. When he awoken, he could see Angela and another woman with her. His body felt more rejuvenated than it had, yet he was still exhausted. His eyes lazily moved over towards the unknown girl as she injured herself and he could smell the blood pouring from her. He gulped at the thought of drinking it, watching it be collected into a glass and handed to the deity. His head was risen and the blood met with his lips; they parted and allowed it to enter his mouth and down his throat. It tasted so delicious, akin to Angela's herself so he was sure that the girl was another one of those Rosenites. He didn't minded it however and drank it down to the last drop. A small cough left him after finishing it and those dull eyes lowered as he tried to gather his thoughts.

When the twins were mentioned, his sight latched onto her. "They are safe I presumed?" Despite being what he was not too long ago, he truly did love the children and would have gave his life for them. They were his flesh and blood, his legacy to be left in this world. But what was this world? "Where are we?", he managed to say as he tried to sit up. It was a struggle, but he eventually was successful. "We are no longer in our realm, are we?" Did they cross over? If so, then he could only assume that the evilness that had been inside him found its own way here. The question was now what was it up to?

Shaking the thought from his mind, he looked towards the woman that helped to heal him and sighed. "It probably would have been better to leave me there, Angela." His hands clutched at the sheets that were on him. "I am grateful, but I didn't deserve. Not after all the transgressions I had done to countless people throughout my time, and all the blood I have spilled while carrying my title of knight and king" A pained chuckle came out, "Knight…king. with one title, I have forsaken its true meaning and the other I merely lived in it in delusion." He removed the sheet and kicked his legs over to the floor below and stumbled a bit to stand up. "The children deserve someone better as a father." This was a side of him that had never been seen by her before; there was more of his humanity that had once been swallowed up by the wickedness of the beast. 

Angela nodded to him and she continued to help him about. For a moment she froze in place but she shook her head. "Where to begin." She thought about it for a moment. "DaeLuin is gone. The void creature whatever it did ripped through time and space at the same time that Timedeath happened here in Revaliir. Some of us had doppelgangers like me and we joined together. Where others fell from the skies. Not everyone has made it." She watched him with gentle eyes.

Angela followed his gaze and smiled. "The children wouldn't have forgiven me if I had lost you. Besides you've done nothing to me. Her name is Melina by the way. Her family has been in service to me since I've been a goddess here in Revaliir. For the better part of almost two centuries." Soon they moved on to a more depressing sight.

She now knew what she sensed. "You are different." She gave him a smile before helping him up. "You are a good father. You might have been a monster but a good father all the same. They still need you." She kissed his cheek. "We can go by their side. They haven't woken up yet. Fever has them right now." She went over to Melina and covered her up. "Sleep well child."

Next she took him with her arms and supported him. Helping him where he needed it. The room across from him was light up like the sky. It was another healing room. The twins were lying on a huge bed and were holding each other. "I often wonder if that is what twins look like in the womb. You can see for yourself they are fine. Fever is all they have and I won't let fever take my children. Our children."

She let him sit next to the children. "I need to attend to the other children but Melina will help you. She should be over in a moment after I give her a healing potion."

The goddess confirmed his worries, their home was gone forever. He had no idea of who else had survived and carried on here now. There was great doubt that he would see any of them again, which felt like both a blessing and a curse. The incidents between their home realm and that of this Revaliir seemed linked in some way, as well as these dopplegangers that co-existed. He fell silent for a bit before his eyes widened; if the monster had survived, then would it look for the one that mirrored him? He recovered from his bewildered look, knowing that should anything happen, and it involved that thing, then it would his fault as well. "I was consumed for as long as I've been alive now. What I have done is unspeakable and unforgivable, even if such things hadn't occurred in the realm or if they hadn't involved you or the twins."

Folding his arms to his chest, he looked over again at Melina. "I will thank her later on, once she feels better, I suppose." He did owe her a great deal for her sacrifice. "I don't know what I am anymore, to be perfectly honest. The wickedness in my fled and doing gods know what. It was that that made Nemesis, and I am no longer that. And I had ruined the honor of my birth name, so I should not be called that either. Call me….Raeguel." The name did seem to roll off the tongue nicely and help him to separate from his former life. "You seem vastly different as well."

Angela was still convinced that they needed him in their lives, and yet he still wasn't sure. They were growing up fast the last he saw either one of them, yet he took her words to heart and left with her to go see them. Once they reach their room, his eyes looked onto both Lucian and Nerezza, taken in by the fever. But besides that, they seemed fine enough. Using her assist, he settled onto the bed to look at their son and daughter. More and more the young man was starting to look like his father and he could only pray that he wouldn't adopt the evil into his heart like he had done. Nerezza was growing into a beautiful woman in her own right and for a moment he wondered if she knew that he was there. He reached over and cradled her face and then her brother's before looking down. "My children…I pray that you never get lost in the madness, never. I wouldn't wish that on any one, especially you both. " Raeguel looked to Angela and nodded as she left him alone with the two.

She had been watching the white haired man since Angela brought him in. Her honey eyes were always drifting to his face.  He was handsome and lady Angela had told her a great many stories about the unconscious man. He sounded frightening but in all her years of living in the temple she had seen no other man like him. 

Once he had woken up she got the blood for him and fell asleep. It did not take long for her lady to come and give her a potion. It tasted sweet just like all of the goddess' concoctions. Before long she was up and moving. Melina had long brown hair pinned up with opal pins. They shined bright in the light of the temple. She wore something much like that of a dancer.

Her skin was soft and pale from much of her time being spent inside. She was a slender woman but not very tall. Getting a couple blankets she came into the room looking over at this man. "Lady Angela told me to bring these for you all." Her voice was much softer than Angela's was. Coming over she set the blankets down before covering the twins up with an extra blanket.

"She said your name is Raeguel but it use to be different." She took the second extra blanket and brought it over to him covering up his shoulders. "She said you are a vampire. We had lots of time to talk about you and the twins before you woke up." She gave him a smile. "Do you want some tea?" She roamed over to the near by dressed and soaked some clothes for the twins.

Moving her honey eyes over to him she sighed. "My family has been in service to Lady Angela for two centuries now. When I turned twelve my parents allowed me to start practicing my healing on real patients. When I turned sixteen I was allowed to enter her faith as a full on clergy member." She brought the cloths back other and put them on the twins' foreheads. "And now like my parents before me at eighteen I wait to be wed and have children of my own for the faith." She chuckled. "Silly isn't it?"

For what seemed like ages he sat with his children, comforting them as best he could. They were the remnants of the humanity he had once thought to have lost. Even for all his savagery, he had not once dared to lay a hand on either of them. It was not from a fear of consequences, but rather them being a part of himself. He was sure that he would never have children before he and their mother had met. They were innocent, untouched by the impurity that had held onto his very soul. Even Nerezza couldn’t be blamed for whatever crimes could be pinned onto her; she had been so young and influenced by him during those dark times and wanted to be like him. The same could have been said for Lucian as well, although Raeguel was sure that he was further from that blurry line than his sister. Regardless, he had loved them both and still did.

Crimson orbs met at the door once Melina came to the door with several blankets in hand. He silently nodded over towards her before turning back to the twins as they were covered up. From her scent, he had made the mistake of thinking that she was of Angela’s kin; instead he could smell the familiar scent of human on her. He remained quiet as she mentioned his name, wishing to stay as far from the moniker that he carried for too long now. That name was heavily associated with the terrible deeds he had once done. “The name I was born with is stained now, and the second one belonged to a vicious, uncontrollable monster that wanted power above everything else. I do not deserve the former and I can no longer claim the latter. It was time to start anew, that is if I am suppose to carry on…” If fate was to take him at that moment, there would not be a fight put up against it. So many people suffered beneath his boot and he wasn’t sure if he could even make amends for all of it. It wasn’t fair that many of them were dead and yet he was still among the living. “I do not know what you too have talked about. She may have painted a pretty portrait of me, but I’m far more uglier than what her words for me might have been”, he replied before addressing the offer of tea. “No, I am fine for now, thank you.” Reaching over to his daughter’s hand, he caressed it gently. ”Nezzie…Lucian, I should have been there more for you both”, he said quietly. He had seen them on several occasions, but it felt as though he had missed watched them grow up. It seemed like the other day that they were sweet little babes in his arms and now they were young adults.

Once they seemed to settle in more, he stood up with the blanket she placed onto him still and moved away from the bed as she attended to them. “It merely depends, I suppose. Is that what you wish for, Melina? If so, then it's not all that silly. It’s more realistic than anything. A silly thing is to wish to gain power beyond all others. To want to have the world burn before you and to hold it in your grasp.” The thoughts of once wanting to have such power made him shake his head in disdain. He was a fool from the moment he decided to venture into that belief. Bridges were burned down, his greed and lust controlled him and in the end, he had nothing to show for it. It wasn’t worth losing his families over, time and time again. “Believe me young lady, I have heard of far worse things than wanting to start a family.” Moving over to a window, he stared out for a long time before he turned his head slightly. “Thank you…you didn’t need to give me your blood, but I do appreciate it.”

For a moment she looked sad but soon Melina gave him a very heart felt smile. "If it means anything at all." She reached her hand over and touched his. "There is always time to make things right. My mother use to say that a lot. Even for people who did horrible things. Lady Angela and the twins love you very much and I believe that if they love you then you have been doing something right."

The truth was that she had seen the ugly side of humanity and mortals walk into the temple on more then one occasion. They often accused the goddess of being unfair but the truth was Angela gave them all the tools they needed to make their lives better they just weren't going to work on it. She watched him with Nezzie and smiled. "You are a very gentle father. Much like my own before he died."

She was a little hesitant to answer. "I do but on one side this is all I've ever known as well. I am happy here but yet I yearn for more. I am free to go whenever I want but I feel a strong sense of duty here." She moved over to him to give him more comfort. That is what she felt he needed the most. She was hesitant at first as she hugged him. 

"You need to stop being so harsh on yourself. Find a way to make up for it even if it takes a long time. If it makes you happy and fulfills you then do it." She reached over and took his hand in hers. It was cold but she gave him a smile. "I gave it to you because you were someone in need and that is a cleric's job. Despite what you have done that is what I needed to do. I would do it again knowing what I do now. Just to encourage you to keep trying to redeem yourself. You aren't that person anymore. I can see that and so can Lady Angela. I think she has always seen the good in you even when you couldn't. She is odd like that."

While he knew that she meant well, Melina was far younger and had little idea who she was speaking to. There had been so much damaged caused by his hand over years and years beyond her time. Even if the crimes had been done in another realm, he was haunted by them still. Raeguel felt her hand onto his but did nothing to move it away, it lingered in its spot as she continued. “If things can be made right, then certainly” he whispered to her. “After everything I’ve done, perhaps I am far from ever making things right and true. Angela herself is an enigma to me and the twins love me because I am their father. The only thing I have done right was to not burn as many bridges as I had thought.” It was the only thing that made sense in his head; up until now he had been incapable of doing good deeds aside from protecting his own blood. A part of him wanted to believe Melina, but the facts were stacked heavily against it in his thoughts. Still, it would have been wrong for him to not accept some of the things she was saying. Looking back to the twins, he absentmindedly gripped her hand softly. “They are one of the things that I do not regard having a hand in.”

Not once had he raised his voice to either of them directly or even his hand. He wasn’t like his father had been towards him during his youth. The mere thought of raising them as he had been made him mentally shudder. It was a little while before he noticed his hand against hers and quickly released his grip.

“You should do whatever you wish to do. Tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us, and though the unknown can be frightening, it’s better to see what lays on the other side than to not and worry about it later. At least, that’s what I have found to be the case from experience.” Raeguel didn’t blame her for being torn between duty and independence; it hadn’t been too long ago that he was placed in a similar situation. His eyes watched her curiously as she closed in the space between them and felt himself tense up a little as she embraced him. He couldn’t help but to be perplexed by the sudden action. Was it merely that Melina was sympathetic? It was quite odd of her going through great lengths to comfort a stranger like him. Raeguel remained facing the window as she took hold of his hands again, his eyes shifted towards the view outside and considered her encourage a bit more.

“Perhaps, but guilt such as mine doesn’t die very easily. When I was the monster, it was easily to put it aside because all I cared about was power and control. I didn’t care whose life I destroyed, who I killed, none of that. I have killed indiscriminately and without mercy, none were safe around me. His teeth started to grind softly, “I have so much blood on my hands, Melina. I do not know why you are encouraging me as you are now. I mean no disrespect towards you, but I find out odd that you are going through such lengths to do so.” Turning his glance back to her, he watched her for a little while before turning back to the window. “I suppose. I never could understand what goes through her head at times, but her ability to have put up with me for so long speaks of her resilience.” In truth, Angela was likely the closest thing he actually had to a friend. One that he was at odds with a lot in the past, but the twins were probably the things that at least keep them at least being mutual towards one another. And he did owed her for helping him to cross over to here.

Melina gave him a smile as he squeezed her hand. She made not a move to take it away from him. "I know that I trust Lady Angela and that she is more then capable of knowing where a good heart lurks in the darkness. She always knew you were like this and knew that you were a good companion to keep as well. I am glad that all of you are safe." Her voice was soft as she tried to keep him from being depressed about the situation.

The girl was sad when his hand left and shook her head. "My family owes a lot to Lady Angela. I do not wish to end that here. See we were once necromancers.. Killing or thieving from the crypts. Bringing people back to life and using them to do evil things." She moved over to the wash bowl and got another cloth for the twins. "We came to worship the Lady Angela who was the goddess of Decay and Death." She wrung the cloth out and stopped for a moment. "When she changed.. something changed in my family as well. I think she is a very good woman and if she came deal with my family and she maybe saw the good in us that she could see the good in you as well."

She laid the cloth on Lucian's forehead. After making her way back to Raeguel she got close and embraced him. "We pay for the sins our family committed for centuries. We just aren't one person. Even I know their pain." She lifted her arm out to a black mark. "I've tried to get rid of it but each person in my family is born with this damn thing. A mark of the older gods. It's a silly thing but it still bothers me."

She gave him a smile when he looked back at her. "Don't worry about it too much. We just have to take it one day at a time. You have your sins and I have mine. If you wish I can show you the rest of the realm. From what Lady Angela was telling me this place is nothing like her shrine in that place called DaeLuin. It's probably twenty times as large.. or more. I haven't ever seen it but I can show you everything. Even you need to get your mind off things."

Melina peeked her head around and seen a little red head in the door. She let go of Raeguel. "Meme has a boyfriend." Grabbing a blanket off a chair Melina threw it at the taunting child who easily evaded. The child ran up to the bed and looked at the twins. "Are they my siblings too? They look so weird."

"It's because you've never seen them. Iva, introduce yourself." Motioning to Raeguel.

"I don't have to introduce myself to your boyfriend." Iva came around with her hands on her hips. There was a lot of Angela's attitude shining through those brown eyes. Melina looked at her back and put her hands on her hips.

"Want me to tell Lady Angela about the other day when you had half the temple covered in mud?"

Iva put her hands put to her lips in shock. "You promised you wouldn't tell. She is going to whoop my ass."

"Language!" Melina scolded and covered her eyes for a moment. "Lady Angela is going to kill me. Just introduce yourself please.." The please was drawn out as Iva looked Raeguel over.

"I think he is worthy of my sophisticated presence."

"Do you even know what that means?"

"No.." Iva stuck her tongue out. "My name is Iva! I am the youngest of the Rose children. I got to go.. I am evading lessons." Just as she said that her teacher came in and Iva dove under his legs and ran out the door.

Melina rolled her eyes. "That one is a trouble maker. If I knew she was suppose to be in the library I would have paddled her myself. We go through this every day with her until Lady Angela finds out what she's going. Then she normally ends up tied to a chair and has to have extra study time. I think it's done for attention since Lady Angela is busy a lot."