The water was like her second home. It was sacred to both the Oracles and Arri. From the powerful spring beneath the castle to the lake water, it was their life source. Oracles were often reborn in the water, where the spirits mingled with their flesh and life force. It was also peaceful and ever changing, something that Bryony treasured always.

Ocean eyes stared at him as he spoke. Perhaps what Eldora had seen was the cause for everything. The moment the two had connected minds the fate string had been created. She took a heavy breath herself as she tried to decide what to do with the information. She had a chance at having a daughter and from the sounds of it Sebastian would not have left.

Her lips twitched a bit as she sought answers in his eyes without speaking words at first. It took her several minutes as she smoothed back her wet dark hair. “What will you do with that vision? Will you leave the fate string or will you stay?” That determined just what she would do. She suddenly wasn’t afraid much anymore. Eldora had seen something good, a new life. She still needed to smack the girl but in the end she knew what the younger oracle did was a good deed.

“Will you stay with me?”

"I believe that my mind was already made up before we parted on the balcony. Though, the part of me that masquerades as better judgement would have none of it. To this very moment, absolutely will not."
Sebastian reached out and touched Bryony's face, stroking her cheek, tracing her jaw. He shook his head.
"How am I to stay, I, a man whose life is like the changing of seasons to you? If the loss of one life can nearly destroy you, what will one more do?"

Sebastian's words denied her, but his actions did not. He would surprise her with a kiss, sudden, and burning intensely with an arduous passion and urgency, as though he had been stifled the desire over the course of years of knowing her. His arms circled about her waist pulling her body against his own, though he quickly pulled away.
"You say I am free from any web of fate, but who is to say I will not suffer in the same ways that I have so many times before? I've already suffered many of the same losses. I fear for dragging you down with me in the end. Not just you, but what could be."

He kissed her again. Then again. "What if I am to become a monster, like I have dreamt of on so many restless nights?"
Chuckling as his voice took a turn towards mania, he kissed along her collar, and over her heart.
"Would you fault me for considering that I have already chosen to become a monster by heeding the vision's call, rather than walk away, knowing you would have suffered far less in the end?"

His words made her frown. There was something telling her to hold her tongue but also at the same time her heart sunk. Though his words broke her hope it was renewed with the kiss. She coiled her arms about his shoulder. The passion raged and she offered him a smile. “Then I’ll save you just like you saved me.”

She kissed him slowly in response and put her forehead to his. “I’ll keep you grounded.” Her hands ran up and down his shoulders softly. She froze for a moment as he kissed her collarbone and over her heart. A smile crossed her lips. “You are no monster for seeking happiness Sebastion.” She pulled him up and caressed his face lightly. “I would fault you for walking away without trying after what you’ve seen.”

Her voice was quiet and soft as she leaned back in and kissed him. “I’m ready not to run away. As long as you stay I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe from those restless nights, from that future you so fear. That is my promise. As long as there is hope I will not falter.” 

Sebastian wasn't sure if body hands trembled from the chill of the water, from fear of the overwhelming emotion coursing through him, or from the intensity of the moment and the ones preceding it. It was likely all of the above. He could barely keep his touch steady as he explored Bryony tentatively. His hands wandered, memorizing her every curve, and her every scar. He did manage a single moment of sobriety in his love-tinged thoughts when he touched her thigh. They had both washed themselves of blood in the bay, and Bryony had been injured. He swam ashore with her enough so that they could lay on the fringe of the surf in the sand.

Speaking to her with only his lips, voice silent, he responded to what she had said by sheer volition, willing what he felt into his caress and his kiss. Another thought crossed his mind though, which caused him to pause and chuckle, pressing his forehead to hers. It became a full on hearty laugh as he pulled from their embrace to lie next to her, rolling away and splashing into the surf. "Eldora," he explained as he caught his breath a bit. "She'd had me even more worried about you. The look you had as you stormed off from the balcony didn't help. She did have her fun though, like you said. Pretended to be you. I thought you had gotten drunk and were coming onto me in the most unbecoming of ways."

His grin faded a bit, realizing that Bryony's wrath upon her young pupil would likely now be more severe. He quickly followed up before she began to fume. "She seemed to have more of an idea about us than you or I put together though. At least that we would admit at the time."
Sebastian cleared his throat, "'I've come to tell you that your flower has wilted and run away,'" he repeated dramatically, doing his best to imitate her strange voice through his own deep and accented vocals. "I didn't fall for the ruse, of course. Acting is not her strong suit, even with the aid of magic. You should have seen her face when I left though. The poor thing isn't used to physical contact. You should really give her a hug once in awhile."

Bryony was lost in the moment as well but not enough to not notice his hands trembling. It tickled as he went down her body and she chuckled putting her forehead to his. He touched her thigh and she winced lightly, she knew that he didn’t mean to hurt her. She went ashore with him and laid down. She kept  her body with his as she kissed him back. Though not for long as he chuckled towards her. “She’s always been a terrible actress but the girl has her tricks.”

Pushing his hair with her fingertips she chuckled more. “Eldora.” She looked up at the sky for a moment. “Has not had a kind life. I don’t know if she can feel… It’s why she can’t act.” Her fingers twirled his hair and she frowned. “Poor girl never even had her mother’s love. Eldora is Angela’s niece to her late sister Cyprus. Cyprus was an evil bitch, we tore about every child we could get from her arms as soon as they were born. Short of Eldora, that is. Cyprus pushed that child out with the intention to stab the girl’s heart out. She was experimenting to wage war against Angela.”

Bryony hid her head in his neck for a moment. “I got there just as she was about to kill the child but lucky for us, Eldora was dead. Which meant one thing, she would be an oracle. I tried to raise her but Eldora had always heard the spirits telling her what type of mother she had. She’s never been able to form relationships or even know if anything was wrong with the way she was acting. All of Cyprus’s children were scarred by their mother.”

She took one of his hands and kissed it. “The shit I’ve seen over the years… I’ve raised many children but… never my own.” Bryony chuckled. “Is that weird?”

Easily influenced by things from moment to moment, Sebastian's heart felt for Eldora as Bryony filled him in on the details of her life. He knew what it was like to be born for a malign purpose you didn't fully understand, or that was not entirely tangible. At least he had loving parents in this life, for what little time he knew them. "Poor girl," Sebastian repeated with a frown. The curve of his lips did reverse some when Bryony kissed his hand though, and he was brought back into the moment.

"Not weird at all. Not even uncommon, really," he replied to her musings over her motherhood. "It never even crossed my mind that I would ever be a father…or even could be. To tell you the truth, for some reason, I was always under the impression that I might be sterile or something. You know, that I wasn't entirely normal. Not entirely a man, because of what I can see and do." His smiled broadened. "Adoption was never really something I considered either. I've been on the move all my life. I can't say I was ever given any sum of experiences to prepare me for being a father, but I'd like to think I would be good at it, given the chance."

Sebastian turned on his side in the sand to face Bryony, leaning over to plant a soft kisses along her shoulder, which traveled up her neck. His hand caressed feather-light down her belly, and he groped at her hip playfully as he gave her ear a nibble. "I don't think I'm too shabby at the bits preceding that title, either," he whispered to her suggestively.

Bryony chuckled at the man and nodded. “It’s crossed my mind as well. That I’m sterile I mean. Never did get pregnant or even have a miscarriage all these years of fucking and running.” She tilted her head and smiled at him. “Maybe there was a reason for that and the spirits were just waiting.” It was weird thinking about it and again she laughed. “Adoption never really was a choice it just happened. I felt obligated to take care of Kalyani and the rest were my responsibility as the lead oracle.”

She chuckled at his kissed and returned them to his neck. A giggle left her lips much like a younger version of herself would have. Her blue eyes watched him for a moment as she rolled onto him and kissed him hard. “I have an idea just for that cause.” She got up pulling him with her. “Trust me?” Of course he did. 

Kissing him gently she led him through the thick tropical forest. The steam of the hot springs rolled out and she smiled as they twirled about in a circle. “Surprise.” She pushed him into the pool before diving in with him. Coming up from the water she shook the droplets from her hair and pulled him closer. It didn’t take too long for him to prove if he definitely wasn’t shabby at the baby making part.

Afterward the two sank into a low spot of the hot springs and Bryony sat on his lap. She cuddled up to him and had her forehead against his neck.  “Not too shabby indeed.” She chuckled and turned his face to kiss hers. “I could live with this. What about you?”

Sebastian gasped against Bryony's lips and squirmed beneath her when she rolled on top of him, returning her kiss with equal intensity. His hands traveled down her back to give her round sand-covered arse a firm squeeze. When she moved off and he was suddenly pulled to his feet, he held up his index, gesturing to have a moment as she tugged on his arm to follow. There was probably a rather stupid grin plastered to his face, which stuck even after the dizzying rush of blood. He followed her through the forest, playfully grabbing at her as they went.


Holding his breath in time before he hit the water, Sebastian let himself just float after being pushed in, giving Bryony another kiss as she dove in after. He surfaced with her, and immediately took to her with a maddening hunger. Pinning her to the side of the springs, his fingers laced through her raven hair as they kissed, then pulled. Lips and teeth pressed to the soft flesh of her throat as he reached down, wrapping her legs about him. This set the pace for a wildly passionate first tryst between them, which left them both panting for breath in each other's arms, silently enjoying the afterglow of it all for several long moments.

Twirling Bryony's hair around his finger thoughtfully, he considered her question. "I could more than live with this," he answered. "Only…I'm sure traveling will be a lot harder now. It will be for me, at least."
Kissing her again, he got up, changing positions with her - only, he set her up on the edge out of the water, with her feet dangling in. Rising up out of the water enough to reach her neck, his kisses descended her body, attentively, wantonly, but also much more patiently than before. "Time apart can be good though," he mused, his kisses teasingly lingering along her stomach, and across the tops of her thighs. "It will make us appreciate the time we have together that much more…"

He grew quiet then, sinking down into the water more, ever so slightly. Busying himself with pleasing her, he was not able to speak for a good, long while.

Bryony's body was languid after his attentions, but he was far from through with her. Sebastian pulled her back into the water, back onto his lap in the position they were before. He enjoyed just touching and being for a time, hands still lazily exploring as he pulled her close. He bit his lip, frowning slightly at a passing thought. He took her hand in his and squeezed it.
"I think the only real concerns I have is what will happen when and if you are with child? Afterwards too…growing up. It's certain they will inherit some unnatural parts of both of us. I just worry because of…well, you've seen it, in your visions. The place I'm often drug off to…where I went when I was slipping away. No child should ever have to battle with monsters like that."

Feeling at peace with him she laughed. “I’m glad.” After he said that traveling would be a lot harder for just him she chuckled. “You aren’t the only one. Maybe we can travel together on occasion.” He set her on the edge of the springs and she gently kicked her feet. The now cool air felt good against her back. She stretched a bit and chuckled. “Indeed.. Distance makes the heart grow fonder or so Angela says.”



He set to making her pleasured and she enjoyed it greatly. 

She squealed as he pulled her back into the water. She wrapped her one arm around him gently. There was silence for moments before he laid out his real concerns. She gripped his hand slightly before thinking on it. “We do have Angela if we need to have powers restricted or voices blocked out. I would never let any child of ours be hurt.” A deep breath left her mouth. “If something ever happened to us, I’m sure Kalyani would raise our babies. Or even Angela. I know that’s not your concern.”

She leaned her head into him and smiled. “We have to just take what life gives us, one step at a time. If they have trouble we will help them. This is a new time line for both of us. We will fight everything that gets in our way.” She tried to reassure him and smiled a bit chuckling. “I wish I could see what Eldora showed you. I want to see our baby too.” She kissed his forehead.


“I’m afraid most of my time will be spent in Sularia… If you wish to come some time and spend time eating grapes from my fingers and drinking wine like a god, I could do that for you.”

Sebastian's eyes followed his hands as they traveled up Bryony's body. His touch was as attentive as it had been previously, but his autumn gaze seemed distant, looking past the succulent flesh before him upon his lap. It was not a vision his mind's eye chased, for unlike his lover, those only visited him in dreams. There were things intangible that his mind still grasped at, that his heart was begging him not to pursue. So many questions…there were always so many questions. The words escaped him, so they remained unspoken. He would simply do his best to remain immersed in the moment.

"Yes, Eldora…" he pondered aloud, his expression unreadable. "Between the two of you, has there ever been strings of fate that you have not been able to see? You said my destiny is a clouded one. That I could make choices. I…"
Her shifting atop him made his voice catch in his throat a bit. His cheeks flushed when her lips touched his forehead, and his previous resolve not to dwell in the present was broken. His hips shifted beneath hers as his entire body squirmed, and he returned her kiss, but to her neck. Then several more across the tops of her breasts.

"She's gorgeous. She really is," he commented, his touch becoming far less passive as it found its way down her back. "If the trials at the temple allowed for it, we might be able to see her again, somewhat grown. Like I said before though, she's a quiet thing. I used to be as well, believe it or not."

He hoped with every fiber of his being that the wonderful visions would truly come to pass. He had many hopes. That they had not rushed into things, that what they sought to build was not built entirely upon a foundation of hope. Most of all, he did not want to end up breaking Bryony even more than she already had been. The weight of so much now rode with him…
He was glad to bear it all. The constant nagging fear would just be difficult to be fully rid of.

Sebastian's eyes searched Bryony's, expression still somewhat unreadable for a brief moment, before he offered her a smile, and kissed her.