#caty rambles

The figure put a hand up to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully. “I never knew that you used your own life to nourish my hatching.”

Lilia’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Your…? What are you talking about?”

“How dare those doddering old fools in the senate treat you that way,” the figure growled. “And Grandmother! How could she hide the truth from me all this time?!” The thunder and lightning around the figure intensified, and Lilia felt a piercing migraine stabbing his skull as the world around him shifted.

“It wasn’t her choice, Malleus! I asked her to!” Lilia shot back. “If you’d known the truth, you might’ve felt indebted to me—Ah!”

The migraine behind Lilia’s eyes increased in severity, and he clutched at his head with a wince. What was happening? What was this? The world shifted again, like a mirage in a desert. “Malleus…? But Malleus is an infant who can’t even take on a human form… Agh! My head…!”

The smile that the figure—Malleus?— wore was sickly sweet. “Don’t think about anything, Lilia. There’s no need for you to suffer any more pain. What manner of dream do you want? Perhaps one where Mother and Father are alive? Or one where you live quietly with your son?” he asked as he put his hands on his hips.

Lilia ground his teeth together so hard that it sent a wave of pain shooting through his jaw as the world continued to ripple around him. His son—? He didn’t have a son—did he? No, he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not with this much blood on his hands. “Urgh…Stop…I don’t…”

Silver? Was it Silver? Is that why he seemed so familiar? Is that why Lilia threw himself in front of the boy when they had been attacked, though he had never had a child in his life?

Malleus extended a blot covered hand out towards Lilia. “I shall grant any wish you ask of me. Here, Lilia. Take my hand.”

As Lilia tried to make sense of what was happening, a loud shout rang out, disrupting Malleus’ attempt to sway Lilia.

“FATHEEERRR!”

And with that, the shifting of the world stopped, and Lilia and Malleus were both greeted by the sight of a sweaty, panicked silver haired boy, and started in surprise. Lilia gripped his head as he was confronted by another sudden migraine. They were also greeted by the sight of a green haired boy wearing fae armor—Baur?

“The Dawn Knight? What are you doing here?! Rgh…No, you’re…”

Malleus tutted and shook his head. “Silver, Sebek. You again. You truly are poor sleepers. Still you resist?”

Silver shook his head, and clenched his fists, brows furrowed angrily. “We will never give up!” he exclaimed.

Sebek frowned as well, his expression just as hard. “Especially not now that we’ve learned the depths of Lilia’s feelings. You were born from the love of so many, my liege!” Sebek threw an arm out to his side. “It’s not right for you to become an enemy hated by all the world!”

“That’s why we’ll break this, whatever it takes,” Silver replied after Sebek. “Malleus…We’ll crush your blessing!”

“Blessing…?” Lilia murmured to himself, and was nearly brought to his knees by another wave of pain wracking his skull. It was as if someone was driving a chisel into his temple. “Ah…Aah!”

Images flashed through Lilia’s mind in rapid succession—Malleus reciting an incantation, and green flame spreading throughout the Diasomnia dorm, as Lilia started in panic.

After a moment, the general began to laugh. “Heh…Khee hee hee…Hahaha! Ahahahahaha!” He put his hands on his hips and smiled in approval at Silver. “Well spoken. That’s my boy.”

He felt a paternal rush of affection hit him like a wave. Of course Silver would say such a thing.

I’m so proud of you, Silver.

Silver started in surprise, eyes wide as he looked at Lilia. “Huh? Your boy? You mean…”

Lilia’s expression schooled itself into a more serious one, and he dropped his eyes to the ground. “My head’s finally clear. I remember everything now, Silver. Sebek.” With a smile, he looked over at Grim and the Ramshackle prefect. “And…Grim and the prefect.”

Sebek looked shocked, while Silver wore a soft and familiar smile.

“Lilia!”

“Father!”

Lilia smirked. “Sounds like I’ve been having one long nap. You’ve really done it this time, Malleus,” he tsked. It felt odd, to be back in his old armor and have long hair again, but he supposed that was just part of the dream. Malleus appeared to be as shocked as Sebek.

“Tch…So you’ve completely awoken, Lilia. But no matter. I’ll put you right back to sleep soon enough,” he muttered.

Lilia laughed. “Hah! You think you can put ME to sleep? You’ve grown into a cheeky little thing. Try me if you dare!” He turned to face the others beside him. “Everyone, follow my lead! RETREEEAT!”

And with that, he dashed off, as the prefect shouted after him, “Wait up!”

Malleus let out a low, rumbling laugh that sounded almost like thunder. “Heh heh heh…Playing tag now, are we? How many decades has it been since I’ve played such games with you? We have all the time in the world, so let’s enjoy this, Lilia. Heh heh heh…Ahahahahaha!”

Lilia stopped outside Castle Blackscale to catch his breath, as Silver and the others caught up to him. He turned to face Silver and Sebek. “I’ll distract Malleus,” he said. “Silver, you use your signature spell and get out of this dream while I keep him busy!”

Silver’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “What?! No way—I’m not leaving you here! We should go together!”

Lilia placed his hands on his son’s shoulders, which were tense with worry. As much as he hated to be separated from Silver so soon after he had finally come to his senses, this was what had to be done. For his son, and for Sebek, and for the prefect who Malleus loved, he would keep the overblotted prince’s attention on him. “Come, now. I’m an old hand at dealing with Malleus’ temper tantrums.” He laughed a little. “And in this dream, my magic isn’t running dry; quite the opposite. I’m in perfect shape to play with him here.”

“But sir…!” Sebek started to say.

Lilia grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. Malleus would never do any lasting damage to me. He takes after his father in that regard; he’s a kind soul incapable of cruelty.” His expression grew more serious as he said, “Silver, Sebek. Take care of the real world Malleus for me.”

“...Yes, sir!”

Right as the two said that, Malleus appeared in a burst of bright green flame. “There you are, Lilia. Whatever shall I do with you, hmm?” he asked, and then began to laugh.

Lilia sprung into action, summoning a deluge of flora magic, blasting Malleus with it. Silver reacted immediately and held up his magestone, sending out a torrent of red hot flame. 

Malleus and Lilia continued to clash after a good few minutes of Sebek and Silver assisting. Lilia glanced back at his son, Sebek, the prefect, and Grim. “Now! Get going, quick!”

Silver looked at Lilia with a conflicted expression. It was clear he wanted to say something more, but forced himself to just reply instead with, “...I swear I’ll wake you and everyone else from this slumber. I have so much to tell you!”

Lilia smiled softly at Silver. By the Seven, he was so proud of this boy. “I’ll hold you to that promise, Silver,” he said. “See you when I wake!”

He then paused for a moment. “Night’s blessings.”

Lilia could see tears welling up in Silver’s aurora colored eyes. “...Night’s blessings!” he replied. 

“Those I’ve met and will someday…” Silver began, closing his eyes to focus his magic.

As Silver was about to begin the incantation for his signature spell, Malleus tutted again. “Now, now, Silver, you don’t think I would let you get away that easily, did you? Why run away like a scared little boy in the rainy woods, when you could stay happily in a dream with your father forever?”

With a snap of Malleus’ fingers, a series of briar thorns began to wrap around Silver, first starting at his ankles and snaking their way up his body until his arms were pinned at his sides. Some of the thorns even began to crawl up towards his face, covering his mouth, preventing him from finishing his incantation. 

“I can’t have you waking everyone, you know,” Malleus said in a tone almost similar to a parent scolding a young child. It made Lilia’s stomach churn. “You don’t want Lilia to leave us, do you? In the dream, you can have whatever you want. Nothing needs to hurt.” He stepped forward towards Silver.

Everyone else was speechless, and it was then that Lilia realized the briars had wrapped their way around his ankles too, firmly rooting him in place. He struggled against the thorns, but they only dug into his skin further. He couldn’t let Malleus near his son, not when the crown prince was not in his right mind.

I have to protect Silver. Save him. Keep Malleus from touching him—!

Malleus chuckled, and the sound was low and rumbling. “Well, well,” Malleus cooed, briefly caressing the prefect’s face with his blot-covered hand as he passed them at a leisurely pace. His green eyes, however, were slit-pupilled and laser focused on Silver. “What a glittering assemblage, Lilia.” He gestured at the others currently wrapped up in thorns and then himself. “Royalty, nobility, the gentry and… How quaint,” he said with another laugh. “Even the rabble.” He gestured at Grim, who looked ready to bite him.

Malleus’ eyes were filled with a twisted affection as he looked at the prefect. “And then my sweet rose.” He turned his attention back to Silver. “I must say, I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation to your family reunion with your son, Lilia.”

Fear filled Lilia. He knew Malleus wouldn’t do any lasting damage to him, but he wasn’t sure about Sebek or Silver. He might not attack them outright, but with the scale of his magic and the intensity of his emotions, there was no telling what might happen to Silver. “Leave Silver alone, Malleus,” Lilia begged, voice barely above a whisper.

Malleus turned towards Lilia, his expression one of mock sympathy. “Oh dear, what an awkward situation,” he said.

Sebek interjected, clearly wanting to direct Malleus’ attention towards someone other than Silver. Lilia cursed internally. Why were they not letting him keep Malleus’ focus on him? “My liege—!”

Malleus, however, paid no heed to Sebek, and continued to slink around Silver like a deadly panther, his tail dragging on the ground behind him as he walked. He brushed an inky finger over Silver’s cheek. Silver’s eyes darted from Lilia to Malleus, fear obvious in his gaze. “To show I bear no ill will for these transgressions, I shall bestow another gift onto our dear Silver.”

Lilia fought against his restraints. “No! Don’t give him any ‘gift!’” His eyes filled up with hot, stinging tears. 

Not him. Not my son. Please, Malleus. Don’t do something you’ll regret forever.

“Stay away from Silver, my liege!” Sebek begged, also fighting against his restraints. He looked conflicted, his loyalty to his future king and his best friend warring in his expression.

“Yeah, stay away!” Grim added, and the prefect shot him a look.

With one wave of his hand, Sebek, Grim, and the prefect were all silenced by a spell. “Hmm,” Malleus mused, and then stepped forward, back towards Silver.

Lilia reached a hand out towards his son, but it was promptly forced back down to his side by a thorny briar. “Tsk, tsk, Lilia. Let your dear boy receive his gift,” Malleus purred. “Listen well, all of you. Silver shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who meet him.”

“Don't do this, Malleus,” Lilia begged. “Do not do something you will regret.”

Malleus held up a finger to his lips, shushing everyone around him, before he conjured an image of his dorm leader staff, which held a resemblance to the spinning wheel that was often associated with the Thorn Fairy. His voice rose. “Before the sun sets on the day in which he awakens from the dreams I have blessed everyone with, he will prick his finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep like death! A sleep from which he will never awaken!”

The Ramshackle prefect somehow managed to work past Malleus’ silencing spell, or perhaps he had let his focus on the spell dwindle. “Malleus…Hornton…please don't do this, I'm begging you,” they said, fighting against the thorns keeping them in place. The briars dug into their skin, drawing blood against their wrists, ankles, and arms.

Malleus made his way over to them and tipped their chin up so they were looking him in the eye. He chuckled darkly. “I like you begging. Do it again.”

The prefect dropped down to one knee slowly to the degree that they were able to while restrained by briars, and then looked at the others. Sebek simply shook his head in shame. 

Lilia swallowed his pride and dropped to his knees, hands grasping at the dirt. This was the lowest he had bowed in a long while, especially to a Draconia, but this was for his son. And if that was what it took, he would eat the very dirt he was grasping at with his calloused, bloodstained hands.

“I beg you,” Lilia said, voice tinged with desperation. How had things gotten this bad?

Malleus smirked, and held out his arms in a display of power, green flames radiating around his form. It reminded Lilia so much of Maleanor in that moment. “All right. Silver can be woken from his death sleep, but only by...true love's kiss. This curse will last till the end of time! No power on Earth can change it!”

With that, the flames increased in their intensity before subsiding, and the thorns retreated. Malleus extended a hand towards Lilia. “Now, come, and show me what you’re made of, Lilia.”

Lilia ran to Silver and embraced his son, holding him tightly. Those same tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes again. “Go, now. Find others. Leave this dream. I will find you when this is all over, and I promise, I will free you from Malleus’ curse.”

Silver held onto Lilia just as tight, and Lilia felt the top of his head dampen—Silver was also crying. “Father, I—”

“Go, Silver, now,” Lilia ordered, and took Silver’s face in his hands. “We still have much to talk about. I need you to take care of yourself. I will free you from this curse like I said, but for the sake of my own sanity, I need you to take the others and go. This is the only way we can save Malleus from himself.”

Silver looked like he wanted to say something else, but Lilia held up a finger to Silver’s lips. “Shh. Go.” He stood on his tiptoes—when had Silver gotten so tall?—and pressed a kiss to his son’s forehead. “I love you, my boy. Go.”

Silver looked like he wanted to say more, but simply gave a teary nod, before gathering Grim, Sebek, and the prefect to himself. “Those I’ve met and will someday…Meet In a Dream!”

With that, the four vanished, and Lilia was left facing Malleus alone.

“Now, Malleus, where were we?”

Lilia’s eyes shot open and he lurched upright, though he was stopped by pain rippling through his body. He was looking in the direction of the Diasomnia gathering space ceiling. “Where—?”

He forced himself into a sitting position. Grim and the prefect were also sitting upright, and were leaning over Silver. Sebek had two fingers pressed against Silver’s pulse point. “Master Lilia—Idia has arranged for Silver and I to stop Malleus, but Silver won’t wake up!”

From elsewhere in the room, Idia Shroud sat up, holding his head. Ortho helped him stand, a hand against his brother’s shoulder. “STYX has armor for the two of them, and a sword for him made from your old weapon…But he…”

“Malleus Draconia has trapped us inside the dorm with thorns and is currently in the form of a dragon,” Ortho relayed. “Others are out there trying to fight him, but…Only Silver and Sebek will be able to defeat him.”

Lilia noticed tears pouring down Sebek’s cheeks as he shook Silver. “How are we supposed to stop my liege without Silver’s help? I can’t do this alone!”

My son. My darling boy. No.

Lilia immediately forced himself into an upright position and ran over to Silver, practically tripping over his own feet in the process. He pulled Silver to him. Silver’s head rested against his shoulder, just like it had done so many years ago when he was a baby, and Lilia had rocked him to sleep, swaddling him to ease his fussing.

“Silver—Silver!” he cried. He pressed a hand to Silver’s chest, trying to funnel some kind of healing magic into his son, but every time he attempted, it fizzled out.

Silver. Wake up. Wake up. Do not leave me like this.

“Master Lilia, if you keep trying to awaken him with magic, you will overblot!” Sebek shouted.

Lilia ignored Sebek, and held Silver close to him, his body glowing feebly with magic as he desperately tried to heal his son. “Revoke the curse,” he begged, though he knew his magic was no match for Malleus’, especially not now. “Let it be known. I revoke the curse. Let it be known.” Tears were rolling down Lilia’s cheeks now, his body wracked with sobs.

“I revoke the curse!” he screamed. “Let it be no more!” Lilia begged. To what power he was begging now, he had no idea. He just needed to see Silver’s eyes open again, to hear him say “Father” again, to tell him what he meant to him. There was so much they still had to address. He had made a promise to Silver to free him from this. “I revoke the curse, let it be no more!”

By now, his hands were holding onto his son like a vise, as his feeble magic fizzled out. Silver did not stir.

“No—no—Silver—!”

I haven’t told you what you mean to me.

Lilia buried his face in Silver’s hair, which still somehow smelled of the woods and their old home, even after so many years. He rocked Silver in his arms, letting out a pained wail. “Please…whoever is listening…let my son live. Maleanor, Raverne…Hell, even the Dawn Knight…return my boy to me.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips to Silver’s forehead, just as he had done when Silver was still a baby. “I will not ask forgiveness for my past actions as General of the Right because what I have done is unforgivable. I was so lost in hatred and revenge.” Lilia’s shoulder’s shuddered as he wept. “Sweet Silver, you stole what was left of my heart when you came into my life. I was always wrapped around your finger. And now I have lost you forever.” He pushed some of Silver’s hair out of his face, willing him to open those auroral eyes. “I swear, if you wake up, no harm will come to you as long as I live. And not a day shall pass that I don't miss your smile.”

Lilia pressed one more kiss to Silver’s forehead, letting his lips linger. How had it come to this, that Malleus would cast such a curse on Silver?

“Silver, I want you to know that I will always love you. You’ve made your dad so proud,” Lilia whispered, his grip on Silver tightening once again.

Almost instinctively, as he rocked the limp body of his son, he began singing a song he had not sung to the boy in a long while as he brushed Silver’s hair away from his forehead.

Maleanor’s lullaby.

He had not sung it to Silver since he was a baby.

“A warm cradle,

Starlight and joy.

My eyes are watching over you still, let's be together

With no fear, even if we wake from this dream.

Sleep, sleep, my beloved child,

In dreams, I pray you would be guided to walk toward the light.”

The last of his magic fizzled out. There was nothing else he could do.

He let out a long, pained wail, and gently let go of Silver after pressing one last kiss to his forehead. Sebek let out a pained sigh, looking on with an expression of grief.

As Lilia turned to leave, Silver’s eyes fluttered open, and he reached out, braceleting his hand around his father’s wrist. “Hello, Father.”

Lilia turned immediately, tears slipping down his cheeks. He smiled through his tears. “Hello, my boy.”

Silver smiled gently in response and forced himself into a sitting position. Lilia’s arms were immediately around him then, and he began to weep into his son’s shoulder. Silver patted his father on the head, before leaning his head against Lilia’s.

Sebek hastily wiped tears away from his eyes before looking at Grim and the prefect. “He’s okay!”

The prefect looked on the father and son embracing each other through teary hellos and smiled softly. “No truer love,” they murmured. “No truer love than that of a father for his son.”

“Father…?” Silver murmured.

“Give yourself a moment, Silver,” Lilia said tearfully. “You’re in no condition to go fight Malleus immediately.”

Nonetheless, Silver wrapped his arms around his father’s neck, and buried his face in his shoulder. “Thank you for bringing me back, Father. I knew I could trust you. Now I have to help take down Malleus—”

Lilia held onto Silver a little tighter. “Please be careful, son.” After a long moment of holding onto his son, punctuated by a loud roar from Malleus’ dragon form outside of the Diasomnia dorm, he released him. He did, still, however, catch Silver’s face in his hands. “How did you grow up so fast? Yesterday you were still my little baby..."

Silver’s cheeks flushed. “Father…I’ll always be your son. I need to go help bring Malleus back to his senses, though.”

“I want you to know that I'll always be here for you. no matter what,” Lilia said. “Now go, and save Malleus from himself.” He pressed one more kiss to Silver’s forehead, as Idia brought over a set of armor that resembled that of the Dawn Knight. A sense of pride filled Lilia, along with a bittersweet realization that while he thought of Silver as his own son, he still had his own biological parents that just might be looking down on him in this moment as well. Hopefully Silver’s choice to break the bonds of hatred between fae and humans would be well received posthumously by the Dawn Knight.

“Thank you, Father,” Silver replied, and took the offered sword from Idia that had been crafted from Lilia’s own blade. “I won’t let you down. We still have much to discuss.”