The bed was warm, so warm, he didn't want to get up yet even though his father was calling for them to. It was still mid-summer, but the temperatures were already dropping. Winter was going to come early that year it seemed. Another call from his father earned some stirring in his cennend that disrupted the fur blankets enough to let in some of the cool air. He whined softly, squeezing his eyes shut tighter -- maybe if he pretended to still be asleep they'd stop moving and not go to father... But, no luck. They were sitting up and slowly sliding him off of them in the process.
"It's time to wake up, Promme." They nudged him gently, voice low and warm and filled with sleepiness. Still not wanting to wake up, he whined and batted at their hand, then rolled over to attempt to re-bury himself in the blankets.
"Come on, he's waiting for us." They pushed the blankets down, fully exposing the two of them in the large family bed. Now there wasn't any delaying it- he'd have to get up. Groggily he pushed himself up to his hands and knees, and then blinked sleepy eyes as he looked around the room. Dad was out too, it seemed. So they were the last ones to wake up. He yawned and sat back on his legs, then rubbed at his eyes.
"You have quite the bird's nest." Cennend laughed as they reached over to pat his hair down. Once they were satisfied with taming the curly mess, they slid off of the bed and then set about picking out their clothing for the day.. Prometheus, of course, followed after.
"Are you going to take me hunting with you today? You promised." He pulled his shirt over his head, then quickly replaced it with a fresh one. Cennend seemed busy brushing their own curly hair, so he wasn't given an immediate answer... That was fine, he could wait. He switched his pajama pants for the warm, fur-lined outdoor ones of the day, and then turned back to his cennend. "Did you hear me?"
They blinked, as if being brought out of a trance and then slid their purple eyes his way before shaking their head. "No, dear. We have some other things to do today. Perhaps another time." They walked over to pat his head gently, and then headed out of the room to join his other two parents.
Frowning in mild disappointment, he followed after them. This had been the story the last few times he'd asked to be shown how - he just wanted to help, to be useful... He was already good at skinning, and he knew how to throw some knives and use arrows. Surely he wouldn't be a burden? Rather than immediately join his cennend in the kitchen for breakfast, he headed to the bathroom to freshen up a little.
When he finally did head down the hallway to the kitchen, he stopped in the doorway. All three of his parents were sitting at the table, discussing something, but had quieted down as soon as he entered the room. Finally, after a few moments of silence, cennend stood up and stiffly walked out of the room with a quiet "I have things I must take care of."
Blinking in confusion, he looked from the door back to the table where father and dad were still sitting.. In front of them were some papers with pictures he'd never seen before on them. "Prometheus, come sit please." Father motioned to the chair that was usually his. His tone was blank, Promme couldn't tell what was going on but clearly cennend was upset over something.
Obediently, he settled into the chair and stared expectantly at the two of them. "You know about what happened recently, with the guardians..." Father started, slowly, calculating his words. Promme always liked the way he spoke, he wanted to be just like that with his own words. He nodded, waiting for him to start up again. "With them gone, things aren't really safe here anymore..." He trailed off, golden eyes flicking to Dad who nodded.
"We've decided that for your safety, we're sending you to a school until things calm down here." Dad had a different style of speaking, clear, to the point, but not unkind. Prometheus also loved that-- but he didn't quite grasp what he'd just been told. His eyes flicked down to the papers -- the pictures were of a building - there were children out front of many different races, some even hybrids... Asphodel...
"But--" He started to object, but was met with a warning look from Dad.
"No, Prometheus. We know. This is for your own good. It isn't forever." He shook his head and reached across the table to pat one of Promme's shoulders. He couldn't really feel it, he was in too much shock to process much else.
"This will be good, you'll get more perspective. We've heard good things about Asphodel Gardens Academy, you will like it there, Prometheus." Father was speaking again, but the only thing that stood out in his sentence was the name. Why did it sound like that? It wasn't right - those words didn't belong in their language - he had to use the common tongue for it. He wasn't even that good at speaking in common.
"It's so far away..." He finally managed to get his voice to work as the reality sank in. He would be sent far to the south, in Demon territory, away from the snow and the mountains and the village he knew-- all because they had invaded.
-------------------------------------------------------
The dream ended abruptly, like it always did when he woke up with a sick ache in his heart and a cold pit in his stomach. He felt so betrayed, so cast aside... Cennend had left because they didn't agree with the solution father and dad had come up with - why didn't they listen to cennend?
He laid in place for a few moments until the restlessness got the better of him, at which point he finally sat up. The others in his room were still sleeping... what time was it? He glanced at the clock - far too early for him to be awake himself but he didn't care. He never could go back to sleep after that dream. He started out at the room, feeling more and more alienated by the second. They shared a room, just like at home... but they all slept in different beds - there was no need for closeness, no need for gathering for warmth. It felt wrong.
Frustrated, he slid out of bed and began to pace, running things over in his mind. He had wanted to return home for Solstice, desperately wanted it, but Father had written back saying that it still wasn't safe and he needed to stay at the school. At least he'd been able to spend it with his friends -- were they his friends? Really, truly his friends?
He couldn't really speak to them. Couldn't really tell them about what he was feeling or thinking - Perigor never knew what it was to have a family and Histeol was happily still living with his own, even if he was adopted. Parodia was someone he cared about but not someone he could confide in...
Ustule. He could speak to Ustule, she knew what it was like. What true winter felt like, what it meant to need a group of people to come together to be warm - what real words sounded like... But she'd suffered so much already and he couldn't really bear to tell her how he felt about his own family. At least his parents were still alive.
This place wasn't safe. He had "friends" but at the same time he was alone. Painfully alone. His pace sped with each layer of stress tightening around his chest, making it hard to breathe, his throat felt like it was closing in on itself with the effort not to cry. He couldn't cry. No. He refused - he hadn't cried once since he got here and he wasn't about to start now......
But he did. The blurriness of his vision soon overflowed, big, wet tears rolling down his cheeks. He scrubbed at his face, breathing in deeply, shakily, quietly. Especially quietly. No one could know about this.
It was clear by now that he wasn't going to be able to go home. It wasn't as temporary as they'd made it out to be. He was stuck here, for better or worse, and he'd just have to make the best of it. He'd grit his teeth and finish school, especially with the news from his Dad that he would be finished his education there. Cennend still hadn't written, which was a deep wound in his heart... He wanted to know why, but couldn't bring himself to ask directly.
But for now... finish school. That was the goal. And maybe see just how much he could trust his new friends... He couldn't do this alone anymore.
