It had been some time since this pitiful excuse for a pirate had allowed himself to be found by anyone, going so far as to avoid the very deities he'd known in another place. Now he found himself on the wrong side of a deadly fight. Crowds had run at the destructive power he'd displayed, though limited as they now were. Blood had already begun to cover his face, running down from his forehead and turning his vision crimson. Gashes riddled his body and would scar if not treated. The man could only think back and curse himself; cursed his power for its eternal slumber. The black metal of the rapier glistened, accented by a glittering crimson, as Kale raised it once more.The flash of steel streaked through the air towards Kale, but he narrowly avoided it. He glanced around with his one uncovered eye, the other was covered by his blood-soaked black hair. Of the eight that had attacked him, five lay motionlessly strewn about the area while the other three hadn't gotten off much easier. The young man glanced around him, breathing heavily and losing blood. He wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.

The black metal of the rapier glistened, accented by a glittering crimson, as Kale raised it once more. Two behind him, one in front. He lunged forward, trailing blood behind him. A flash of black metal crossed with a steel cutlass and the attacker grinned malevolently. The bloody man robbed the attacker of that smile as a burst of wind burst through the cutlass-wielding thug and opened him like a thousand blades. Two left.

The remaining thugs charged at him, but the pirate brought his hand up in time. The thugs' steel rang out as they struck a near-ethereal hexagon. The steel resonated, stinging the hands holding them before falling to the ground. With a leap, Kale took to the air as more near-ethereal plates materialized. The path brought him behind the thugs in an instant. Before the realization could dawn on them, the thugs had been run through by the black rapier. 

He stumbled back, falling upon the chaotic patterns left by the fight as his own blood began to mix its way into it. "After all this time," Kale said as he stared up at the darkening sky, "Is this where it finally ends?"

Icy blue eyes closed and a rueful smile crossed his face.

Her energies swirled throughout all of Canelux on a daily basis. They were always looking for people she knew and loved. It just so happened that one particular misfit had finally shown his face. He was fighting in the lawless streets of Vilpamolan. That wasn’t like him at all the great queen decided. She watched on as he decided it was his time to finally die. That smile and those blue eyes closing made her scoff.

Her energies swirled more but this time she melded through a building not far away. She looked up at the hazy skies and realized it was probably going to rain soon. Pity, she did love the sun more. Her body was dressed in long green silk in the fashion of a deep cut halter dress. Her red hair was iconic even more so as people in the crowd backed up.

“Kale Grenich!” She yelled at the top of her voice. “I am afraid that you have not met the end of your story. This is no end boy, this is the beginning.” She recalled that Kale couldn’t be healed with magic and so she was quick to shift her energies into that of a healing aura. Not caring if the people around her benefited from it. “Do not fight me on this.”

She pulled him up into her arms and it must have been odd to watch a full grown man be picked up by a woman like Angela. “Where have you been? You had me utterly worried you know.” Angela softly scolded him. She took him to a small clinic that she had in a temple for herself not far into Vilpamolan’s city.

She gracefully tossed Kale onto a bed and he landed on the bed as if nothing were there. Thankfully it was because of her magic. “Look what you did to yourself. You would think that you would be more careful.” She began to undress him probably despite all the pleas. “You’ll need to new clothes.” She covered his man bits up and sighed. “You are bleeding everywhere.” She pulled over a mortar and pestle and began to ground up medicine for the boy. “You know if you could just be healed with magic this wouldn’t hurt so much.” As if her medicine wasn’t good enough for this job, but it would have to be.

She took the bowl and mixed other things in it before she sat down and began to apply the thick salve. “Honestly, what were you thinking?”

The voice streaked through his ears like lightning from the sky above and his eyes abruptly opened wide for a moment. Kale closed his eyes again, sighing as though annoyed. "Go away, Sister," he said as he remained still, "Why can't you just leave me to die? What have I to live for beyond drinking my life away and the occasional fights for someone or other's honor?"

The bleeding man felt the divine energy surround him, working its way into his gashes and bruises. He could feel his body mending itself, though not through any direct magic; the energy was working to accelerate his own healing, something he'd never been capable even as a god. The magic stopped aiding his natural healing just after it was no longer lethal; the wounds were still deep and bleeding, but he wouldn't die. He opened his eyes again and growled as he sat upright, "You know, you can be a pain in the ass, Angela." She had picked him up and had already begun lecturing him before he'd even finished talking. Kale noticed the crowd all had looks of horror at the way he spoke to the goddess, let alone the goddess that had just saved his life.

"I've been places," he said stubbornly, "Namely dodging the people that knew me and could interfere. Like meddling goddesses that won't let me die." they finally left the public as they entered the clinic, but not before his last comment offended one of the attendees and a few patients.

The goddess had begun to scold Kale, though at least this time he wasn't hanging upside down and wrapped up in living vines. "Being careful would have been counterproductive," he said quietly, turning his gaze away from Angela as she mentioned the blood, "That was the point." He was ashamed of it all, he knew how bad of a place he was in with the final loss of his sister. She had been everything to him. He was sure Angela already knew what foul winds had carried him so far of course, just like she always seemed to. "I was thinking that maybe this would be the one that brought me peace," he said even quieter now, closing his eyes to avoid even accidentally seeing the goddess' face. He knew three things were coming: A slap to the face; a lecture, possibly given through tears; and a typical Angela hug. As long as he didn't look at her, he thought he could handle all three.

“If I left you to die that would make me irresponsible. Die not on my time, please. I just happened to be in the area. If you could move your bleeding out to another city that would be great.” There was sarcasm coming from her lips. “I’m the goddess of Life dumbass, this is more Dalanesca.”

She tilted her head as he growled and sat up at her. “You are a bigger pain in my ass. If I had a coin for every time you gave me shitty teenage attitude I would be rich. Now knock off the dramatics Kale.”

For a moment her gaze was soft and she took a moment to breathe deep. “Do not kill him. Do not kill him. It is not your area to kill people. If you need to kill him ask Dalanesca to do it.” It was a breathing exercise that she said out loud. “You like the little bastard don’t do anything you might regret.” She wasn’t quiet about her breathing exercise as she moved above the room.

Now it was her turn to scold him. Her eyes went cold as he fed her all the pitiful bullshit he had in him. She took a deep breath and tilted her head. “Kale,” her face was twisted in a displeased mess. There was a slap coming but she was quick as she had him over her knee and her hand met his now bare backside as she spanked the ever loving shit out of him.

“You want to act like a child not getting his way then I’ll treat you like a child not getting his way!” She continued to do it until he got the point. She was stronger than he was now and no amount of phasing into the wind was going to save him from her fury. “You think I’m just going to watch as my friend dies? Do you want to punish everyone and everything that you have left? Do you know how that would have made me feel if I just let you die? It goes against every SINGLE vow I’ve ever taken as a doctor let alone as a Goddess of Life. So listen here YOU LITTLE SHIT, you are going to live while I am around.”

She threw him back on the bed right on his behind so he could feel the sting of the solid bed. “Do not throw your life away Kale. You still have people who need you. If you think I’m going to let someone I love just roll over and die in front of me, Kale. It’s selfish to request that of me. I’ve always thought of you as my son and I can’t bear to lose any more of my children. Please don’t make me go through that.” Her hand found his face and cupped it gently as she smiled.

“Live Kale.”

There were few things that surprised Kale about Angela, once Sister with a mother complex. While he'd braced for a slap to the face, a scolding, and the hurt look, he had not expected the goddess to behave as she did. Electric sparks lashed out at Angela, but he was thrown clear before they could arc across to reach her; it was an unconscious reaction to being struck and caught off guard. He growled, "Children don't oft have the life experiences that we have. I'm not your child, Sister, though I suppose it's easy to forget that in your old age. To you, almost everyone in this world could be your children."

He let out a sigh and said, "You know, you really are more of an older sister with a mother complex. I suppose I should thank you, though. I may not agree with it, but for your sake I won't willingly die." He paused for a moment, "But I won't fight tooth and nail, either if I feel it's my time. I have a strange feeling you won't let me make that decision for myself, though. You always did seem to have a weakness for me in one fashion or another."

It was around this time that he'd begun to take notice of just how quiet this clinic was for having so many people within. His icy blue eyes scanned slowly about the room and he frowned at what he saw. Every pair of eyes were set firmly upon Kale and the goddess. The exchange between the two must have seemed sacrilegious to all those onlookers, especially given the clinic's location. "It seems we have everyone's undivided attention, Sister," Kale said, intent on drawing even more focus from the observers with mouths agape. "Perhaps it's time I take my leave, Angela. I can't stop you from tagging along if you so desire. I have no power here, after all," he said, knowing full well the woman would follow for one reason or another.

With that, he picked himself up, pained though his movements were, and reached into the air beside him as his hand vanished. Materializing as if from the very air itself, Kale pulled his hand back grasping a fresh set of clothes. He tossed them onto the bed to try and begin getting changed, not caring that his wounds hadn't been properly bandaged. If he was quick enough, maybe Angela wouldn't notice either.

The electricity didn’t bother her one bit and she let him have his little moment. “It’s hard for me to remember how old I am when I have a husband younger than you are at my beck and call. He makes me feel young.” She winked at him. “I can go into detail how he does but I think it would make you go red in the face.” She tickled his chin softly.

There was a soft smile on her face as she nodded. “I am the embodiment of motherhood here Kale. Being motherly is kind of my thing just like being a pain in the ass is your thing.” She bent down and kissed his forehead before hugging him lightly. “You do well to remember that. I do have a weakness for you, I see my son in you a lot. Especially with some of the decisions you make. You remind me of him.”

Angela took a deep sigh as she looked around. “Get back to work everyone. He’s alright.” She patted Kale’s head and smiled at him. “Don’t you dare move from this spot,” the words left as he got up. She pulled him back over and sat him down on the bed.

“Lady Angela! We have an emergency in the side room.” A cleric came over to get her and Angela sighed softly.

“God damn it. Fern!” Angela yelled and a small blonde woman came over and looked at him with a blush since he had been trying to get undressed. “Kale, this is my daughter Fern. She’ll be bandaging you.”

“But Mother… I don’t… He’s not…” She was blushing and held a finger up to her lips as she tried to think of the words. Her blue and silver eyes were staring at him. “I can try… I’m not a good cleric like Belle is.” There was a thick blush on her as she came over to Kale.

Angela got some bandage and started to show Fern how to do it. “So you got to do it tight like this…” She did it too tight and smacked it. “Smack it so they make sure it is tight! Sometimes they need salt in the wound too.”

Fern blushed brighter. “Mother, I don’t think this is how this works at all..” She got the bandages after her mother left and took Kale’s arm in her hands. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to hurt you…”

"Damn it," Kale grumbled harshly as Angela forced him to sit back upon the bed, "Angela, I refuse to be treated as a-." They were interrupted by a cleric; apparently there was some emergency in another room that demanded the goddess' attention. For one very brief moment, a wicked grin flashed upon Kale's face, though it vanished just as fast as it had appeared.

He hadn't fully dressed, he'd only just begun really, by the time Angela called for someone named Fern. Kale sighed, "Surely this isn't necessary, Sister. In all the years you've known me, how many times have you ever known me to sit quietly and wait for wounds to mend?" His eyes darted to the source of the new voice; apparently this blond-headed woman was not only Fern, but also one of Angela's many daughters. The woman's stammering made Kale stare at Angela briefly. One of Angela's children was shy? It was as rare as tripping over a never-before-seen relic on a city street.

Bandages suddenly tightened on the wounds, drawing a profane string of words that would make most sailors blush and caused the clerics and patients nearby to turn their heads in horror. A fierce rage stormed behind his icy blue eyes, a snarling grimace on his face to match. his reactions, while possibly extreme, would certainly have served to drive Fern's point home.

"Dammit, Angela," Kale said again with a surly snarl, the words slurring in a less refined manner. Angela, he was sure, would have certainly picked up on this; she'd heard similar speech each time he was angry and his facade shatter. Kale eyed the goddess once more before taking a deep breath to recollect himself. "Sister dear, wasn't there some urgent business you had to attend to? Somewhere in a room that wasn't this one?"

Angela finally left, leaving Fern holding Kale's arm with bandages. His eyes were locked on Angela, ensuring she'd left the room and could no longer keep an eye on him. This was his chance.

"I appreciate that," Kale said warmly, "Can you pass me those rags?" He pointed to the bloodied tatters that were once clothes, waiting for his chance. The moment Fern lost focus, Kale grabbed his shirt, the only clothing he had yet to put on, and slipped into a breeze and raced out the door. In his current state, he could only remain that way for a brief period and he'd reappeared just outside the door, holding his hand to his wound. He looked back through the door, seeing Fern, and vanished again, heading through the streets and alleys.

He would only get a few dozen feet before his form coalesced once again, leaving him still holding his side and breathing a bit heavier than normal. He was sure there was no way even Angela could have tracked him down and decided to take the chance to rest. He slid to the cobblestone walkway, his back sliding against the stone building, and closed his eyes. He started laughing, uncharacteristically (as of late) amused. He realized Angela had done him yet another kindness. Saving his life today had created a chain of events that lit a spark within him. Though weak, it was the start of a desire to rebuild what had been taken. It was a desire to set himself free once more.


"Dammit, Angela," he said with a chuckle.