At this realization, Iris froze, and looked at Angela. "You… you mean he wasn't repulsed for having to teach me that?" she asked incredulously. She sighed again, this time planting her forehead squarely on the table, and lifted and dropped her head with a thud, thud, thud, on the heavy wooden table, an action that was not typical of Drae or Angela at all. 

She looked up from where she had placed her head, her chin resting rather uncomfortably on the table as Angela decided to teach her with an object lesson. The mirror appeared in her hand, and Iris recognized it as something Angela treasure dearly. The next thing she knew, it was dashed to pieces upon the floor. She felt her heart lurch and a sharp cry of something near anguish escaped her lips as she stared at the shattered pieces of quick silver upon the stone ground. She looked at Angela astonished at what she had just done, but the Goddess did not seem phased, her words leaving a deep impression upon Iris's mind as the Mother waved her hand over the mirror and it reformed itself and floated back into her hand, completely unharmed. 
It was within her power to fix something perceived as impossible…

She felt a renewed sense of vigor at this revelation and she immediately perked up as Angela explained the metaphor, and the myriad of things she could do to find a way to make it up to Nathaniel. She might have to step outside her range of comfort (though she wasn't sure she HAD a range of comfort quite yet) in order to make him stay and listen, but it might be necessary to make things right. Iris nodded fiercely and stood up, looking much happier than she had when she had first come to sit down. 

"I think I know what to do now," she said. "Thank you, Lady Angela… having someone to talk to about everything made it a lot easier to comprehend," she said, going so far as to give the Goddess a hug (something Nathaniel had taught her was a way of showing thanks to those closest to you). She lightly tickled Poppy and Larkspur as she passed them before she summoned some milk flowers from the garden and gave them to the babies to suck on while Angela worked. 

Feeling a new sense of purpose, so to speak, Iris quickly finished putting away her books before she dashed off to her personal chamber and sat down at her work desk. Pushing all sorts of translation work and charts aside, she grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and a blotter before she snatched up a quill and scrawled across it in elegant hand.

Nathaniel

Night fall in the Occulus.
Please come. 

She folded the short letter and melted some wax before she sealed the note and gently blew on the seal to cool it. Once done, she turned to the small cat-sized wyvern that was perched on a nearby window sill and with a quick word of instruction sent the message on its way with the small creature. 

“Emotions are complicated and sometimes certain emotions appear to look one way when they really mean another. We call that miscommunication. You simply read the situation wrong something that everyone does once in a while Iris.” The Mother gave her a smile and watched as she dropped her head on the table. “You are going to rattle whatever is in your head and regret it…” She jested the poor girl and showed a smile to show she was joking.

The girl’s reaction to her shattering the mirror was expected. She was glad that Iris got the idea. “Nothing in this world is impossible to fix.” She smiled a bit. “There’s always a solution of some sort even if it seems hopeless. Sometimes it just takes time and a lot of people working together.”

Angela waved her hand a bit and she smirked. “Don’t worry about it. It’s what I’m here for after all. Council with a goddess is a not a normal thing but council with a mother is another thing. I am after all the other half of your creator Iris that means you have full rights to use me as someone to talk to whenever you need to.” She returned the girl’s hug and kissed her cheek. “Good luck Iris.”

Nathaniel was in his room at the temple when the Wyvern showed up. “I don’t want to know what you are bringing me.” He was utterly defeated as he laid face down on the bed. The Wyvern came over and bit him repeatedly until he took the letter. “Alright, alright Little One. What a ferocious bite you have.”

He rolled onto his back and looked at the letter. His heart skipped a beat and he pulled himself from the bed. “I suppose I should… bathe or something.” He had been so depressed lately he hadn’t been taking care of himself, so he moved to go do so.

Once he was properly dressed he waited for nightfall and made his way to the Occulus. “Iris?” He said wondering where she was. He knew her handwriting by now and even the paper had smelled like her. “I got your message… and you know a few dozen bite marks.” He rolled up his sleeve to show them and chuckled nervously. “You have my full undivided attention now.”

Iris was at the top of the spiral staircase that went around the inside of the Occulus and looked down as Nathaniel came up on the floating platform. He and Angela had their times when they seemed so alike, but this was certainly a huge difference. He was not afraid to be off the ground. She smiled down at him and lightly came down the crystaline steps to the main floor. 

"I didn't tell him to bite you!" she said as she came over and looked at his arm, a concerned expression on her face as she looked at the angry red needle marks from where her personal messenger had tried to get his attention. A pale warm glow enveloped her hand as she gently ran it down the back of his forearm and wrist, healing the aggravated bite marks that were full of the pseudo-wyvern's less than potent venom. Her touch was tender as she worked. 

"I'm sorry. I should have just come and invited you myself," she said apologetically as the magic in her hand faded and she released his arm. "Better?" she asked looking up at him, a small smile on her lips. It was nice to have him there in the same room talking to her, even though only a few words had been spoken. 

"I owe you an apology," she said quickly before anything else could be said. "I said something hurtful in the nursery, and I was completely unaware of your feelings. I didn't mean it they way it sounded… I thought YOU found it unpleasant. But I mistook your nervousness for displeasure. I am very sorry if I hurt you!"

His heart skipped miles when he saw her looking down at him. Their eyes met for the first time in days and he felt like he had lost the ability to breathe. He chuckled a bit at how upset she was and shook his head full of red hair. “No, it’s alright. I probably would have just ignored him if he hadn’t bit me.” He had been asking so down in the dumps until he read the letter and realized she wasn’t upset with him. “Very much so thank you, Iris.” He offered her a soft smile as he rolled his sleeve back down.

For a few moments, Nathaniel lost his smile as he began to think. “I should have asked before I did it but I think my mother’s blood got my best of me. Impulsiveness seems to run in the family. I should have taken your feelings into consideration before doing such a thing, Iris. That’s why I was so upset when you said that.” He offered her a smile. “I was much more worried that I had offended and hurt you than if you had hurt me.”

His mind was turning gears and he skipped a beat if only for a moment as he kept his distance for the time being. “I didn’t find it unpleasant. I’ve just never kissed anyone and absolutely meant it before. I suppose it was a rather large shock for myself to discover at the same time.” His voice was soft as he reached up and rubbed his neck, a very typical Angela move when embarrassed. “I am still sorry that I moved without first asking you. It is not a very gentleman thing to do at all. I suppose I was just excited and I hadn’t thought about if you possibly felt the same way or not.”

She noticed right off he was still keeping his distance from her and she didn't like it. She didn't want him to run away from her. She reached out and lightly grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.

"I have yet to learn what offends me," she told him truthfully. "Even if you had asked, I don't believe it would have changed the result," she said. "I… I don't know what my feelings are," she told him. "It makes me feel confused how I can feel so much in a moment. It hurts when I am confused, so when I am confused, I choose not to feel," she told him. "It makes things easier. But there are times when feeling is nice. I didn't dislike it, you didn't hurt me or offend me," she told him honestly. "I just didn't understand what it meant, and didn't understand your body language or mine."

She gently hugged his arm. "I do know that when you ran away, I didn't like it. I wanted you to talk to me, to be my friend and mentor like before. I didn't understand what had happened and I had thought I made you mad at me somehow," she said. "It was… lonely."

She let go of him and turned away and looked up and out at the night sky all around them. "Pick a constellation," she urged him, a bright smile on her face in the dim of the Occulus under the pale light of Canelux and Parvpora. "There is something I want to show you!"

His eyes softened as he grabbed her hand and he gave her a confident smile for the first time since that awkward kiss. “At least if I had known that then I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did. You might be able not to feel and you might be confused Iris but I’m not. I just sometimes forget that you are new to the world and everything in it including emotions. That means I have to teach you and be careful… It also means that I cannot get so easily upset if it appears like I offend you because often that is not the case if at all.”

He brought her closer to him when she hugged him. Offering a gentle smile he nodded. “It’s called getting overwhelmed Iris and it’s normal. It’s not that you are confused but rather overwhelmed because you don’t know what to think.” He pushed her hair back softly with her fingers. “That’s why I’m going to help you figure it out. When you feel like that don’t shut it off but tell me and we’ll talk through it instead. That way you can learn to understand what you are feeling or maybe get the answer you are looking for.”

He frowned for a moment and nodded. “It was lonely for me too… I have to admit I thought Mother was going to throw me in a bath if I didn’t come out of my sulk soon.” He made a jest at himself. “I hadn’t bathed since that happened and I admit that when I get depressed I do not handle it like my mother… but still, I should have realized that’s what happened and not just assumed like I did.”

Nathaniel let Iris go as soon as he pulled away and his green eyes looked up as soon as he prompted her. “Well… I don’t know much about constellations but how about we go with your favorite and then later you can teach me about them? How about that?” He gave her another smile as he tried to make her feel better about everything. “Then lead the way, Iris.”

Warmth spread through Iris as Nathaniel brushed her hair behind her ear. It was a light and feathery touch, but she loved the gentle sensation. "I'm going to hold you to that," she said. "I don't like trying to figure it all out on my own," she insisted. "I'll do my best to explain from now on. I don't ever want you to feel that depressed on my account again."

The Keeper's Avatar smiled and looked toward the sky again. She pointed out a collection of stars. "That's the Wolf's Head," she said pointing. As she did so, the Occulus seemed to zoom in on the sector of the sky where the Wolf's Head filled up the sky. 

"The Wolf always chases Parvpora. Long ago it is said that the two were lovers. Now his eternal cry calls out to her as he tries to catch up to her in the night," she said. "And three… two… one…" 

As Iris finished her countdown, the long bright tail of a meteor streaked past the Wolf's Head, closely followed by another, and then another, and soon the entire sky was alive with streaks of light. 

"The Himiria Meteor Shower," she said. "It comes around every year about this time," she said as she settled down onto the floor of the Occulus to watch, large cushions appearing to provide them with some comfort. 

Nathaniel gave her a smile and chuckled. “As long as you don’t clam up anymore or try not to just because you are confused we should we alright. That’s the most confusing part for me I will admit.” He continued to brush her face with his fingers until they looked at the sky.

He watched with amazement as the stars started to shoot off in the sky and soon found himself being the only person standing. He sat down by her on the pillows and watched with interest as she talked about it. “Same stone that is in Mother and my aunts huh?”

Tilting his head he looked over at her. “Did you know in the old world… My grandfather wasn’t a good man like he was here. He tortured my mother and skinned her lover. My mother was twisted a bit… here she is warm and kind… There isn’t that malice that she had if someone took things too far. Not the same kind of darkness she had.” His voice was soft as he recounted the memories.

“I remember helping my mother build an extra room onto our cabin out in the woods. See Ma was a healer in the city but we lived in the forest a long ways from it. She could protect us better there. Aary and I have such a big age gap because my father had already died once protecting us when we lived in the city. So it amazes me to see all the changes, especially in Ma. They are good changes but I can still remember everything else about the other world.”

He closed his eyes after a few moments. “Things are so light hearted here… So much family. So much love. It wasn’t like that before. I’m sure the others are adjusting too because it really isn’t like how it was. Not when you really got to the underbelly of the beast. The twins Lucian and Nerezza were probably too young to know that side of her or if they did they were able to forgive it once they got here. It’s just odd remembering it.”

"The same one. It's theorized that the Himiria Star that fell to earth here was once part of this meteor shower and got knocked out of it's path. It crashed down in Arri and became a symbol of power for the Rosenites in ancient times," Iris said. "Same as in the Rose women… same stone that was gifted to Master Drae and now orbits around this Occulus," she said indicating to the Himiria Ring that rotated around the outside of the massive crystal dome. 

She looked at Nathaniel and shook her head. "No, I did not know that. I understand that there was a dark time in Angela's history, and that things became conflicted and difficult for many people when the Time Death opened the void rifts all across Revaliir, but this wasn't something I was ever told," she said softly. She listened to him silently as he recounted the memories he had of the old world. He like many others had a counterpart in that world, as Angela and it seemed all her bloodline had. She wondered if the other world Nathaniel was anything like this Nathaniel. 

"It must be strange… having been exposed to two different lives that were so different and yet the same," she said. "Memories conflict, and it is hard to keep straight events that took place in each world. At least I would assume…" she said looking up at the stars that streaked past them. The mention of family got her thinking and she sighed. 

"Nathaniel… are we siblings?" she asked. 

He turned his head and looked at Iris. “Truth be told I don’t think even Drae knows about that. The darkness that my mother was. I don’t think she would talk about it lightly or if ever. Her secrets are tightly shut and who knows if someone would be able to get her to talk about it.”

For a few moments, he paused and thought about it. “I’m not like my mother in that sense. I had no doppelganger here Iris. I was dead, I had a sword shoved through my heart.” He wasn’t upset about it but he could understand what she was saying. “Draconis don’t die easily and most of the time we’re re birthed sorta. So in a lot of ways Iris I'm like you. I don't know the first clue about Revaliir and I'm learning as you are."

Her question threw him off and he took a deep sigh. “Yes and no. I’m not from the Angela of this world but you are also only her child by breath. It’s a complicated answer. I’m not even really related to the siblings here but we are by the soul of my mother I suppose. Why do you ask?”