The Maze of an Infant Mind

[saerwen]

Moss covered the forest floor. It was that time of year, when the cold had gone and the moist air from spring rains filled the forest, causing all manner of fuzzy plant life to start afresh. Jaedon had never been one to come out in the day time before she met Neron, but since then, the daytime had become a more approachable hour. As she strode through the forest even now, she marveled at the sunlight trying to fight its way into the wood, eeking through gaps in the foliage and little cracks in the thickly spread limbs. Dark wood was brightened slightly by these miniscule pockets of joy and brilliance.

The green leaves took on a golden and sometimes trasparent appearance due to the light glowing behind them, bouncing off of their leathery coverings and seeking somewhere else to go. Rain drops would have made this place look like a forest made of glass, but alas, no rain had fallen recently. Jaedon couldn't really complain about this, seeing as how when it rained, the children were either cooped up inside all day, or they came inside the house dragging mud all the way. Water was wonderfully beautiful but it was a darned mess when not handled properly, and children were the last creatures in the world to take such matters into consideration. Well, and child except for Byren. He was a bit more conscientious about keeping things orderly than most little boys his age. Actually, Byren was just strange, but that was nothing new to Jaedon's mind.

While the beauty of the wood was impressive, and it left its mark on her, she really wasn't able to pay her full attention to it. Her head had been pounding in her eardrums since about nine o'clock this morning when she finally dragged her hide out of the bed and went downstairs to make breakfast for the children. Miya had been talking non-stop and it was beginning to irk her mother's nerves something fierce. Jaedon's patience could only run so long and the time span was just about up. Normally she had Neron around and they could trade off with the children after one got fed up of hearing the chanter and clatter of toys and tongues. However, today was different. And Miya was even more excited because it was "a girl's day out." Jaedon could hardly believe she had given it such a name, but purely for bribery purposes, Jaedon had coined the phrase to pull Miya along into coming with her. She was going to find Aeryn Cel and get her child help.

Even then, she found herself shaking her head, asking herself how it had come to this? How had it come to the point where she could no longer aid her daughter, no longer curb her fears and answer her questions? It bruised Jaedon's pride worse than a punch to the face, and even worse it made her heart shatter to pieces as she asked herself over and over again if this was because of her parenting. Jaedon was always conscious of whether or not she was being a good parent, whether she was being too strict, or too rough. If it weren't for Neron, Jaedon would have had about eight mental breakdowns every day where she interrogated herself and tormented her own mind for imagined faults with her parenting. But Neron was there, and he was able to keep her steady, as always.

But right now, Jaedon could only envy Neron and feel slightly miffed. Jaedon had been charged with the task of bringing their daughter to Aeryn while he ferried Byren over to Cecily and Tarian. The promise had been that he would join Jaedon and Miya as soon as possible, but Jaedon felt somewhere in the back of her mind that meant he would show up at the very last for the final verdict and then hit the road again asap. Jaedon couldn't say that she really blamed him, after all, he and Aeryn didn't have the greatest of history, but it was just in Jaedon's nature to pout and she was currently pouting about having to go to the man who might possibly be the telepathic, devil incarnate by herself with a daughter who was absolutely clueless about anything around her save the squirrels and butterflies that appeared to be good playmates.

Just as Jaedon's ruminations came to the conclusion she had been abandoned to a fate worse than death, she heard a crash behind her. Even if she hadn't turned around she could have predicted where the sound came from. She looked at her daughter with sigh written on her face as one came out her mouth.

"You okay, squirt?" she asked, not in the least bit worried that her child was actually harmed. Miya was thankfully bullet proof for the most part, a gift from the gods sent to the girl to compensate for her incredible lack of grace.

From behind her, a deeper voice called to the little puff ball, "That was quite a fall, little one."

Jaedon sensed his before she turned to look at him. A telepath that strong couldn't go unnoticed by a fellow for very long. She turned slowly around to face Aeryn, whose blue eyes glowed with mirth and curiosity as they looked at the ball of fluff behind Jaedon. Jaedon had learned to be very guarded against that curiosity, but in this case, such wonder might serve her purposes well. Anyone that could be used would be, so long as they accomplished her goals. Jaedon's subconscious angel scolded her for such vicious and unkind thoughts but her devilish side quickly beat the angel over the head and firmly told it to shut up. After all, no one had to know that she was using them. It was all confidential. And what people don't know can't always hurt them.

[»Míríel«]

Miya had been prancing alongside her mother with a mouth babbling almost nonstop. It was her nature to let what she thought spill out of her mouth, and they were not deep thoughts. Usually she tried to pounce on Jaedon's feet as she walked, or dart from bush to bush making an awful racket. Miya liked to call this "stalking" or "stealth" but in reality she couldn't be farther from that word. No animals on the ground could be sensed for a good couple yards away, waiting for the little tyrant to leave their peaceful forest. Only birds occasionally flitted down to a branch and watched her in amusement, tweeting to one another in laughter.

Before she had taken one of her many tumbles she had been chasing the shadows on the ground made from the sun shining through the leaves. The shadows waved and moved as the wind brushed through the twisted limbs above. A little giggle passed her mouth. Suddenly she saw something black and puffy behind her. Twisting she tried to see it, but it seemed to vanish with just a teasing piece of darkness in the corner of her eye. In this circling motion as Miya tried to kill her tail her feet had gotten twisted and instead of catching her tail she managed to catch the ground, with her face.

"Yep!" She sprung back up to her feet as she called back to her mother. Her black fur was sticking out in all sorts of angles with dirt now coloring it brown due to her fall. A leaf or two stuck in her hair, though she was oblivious.

When she heard an unfamiliar voice she turned to its source with wide eyes. Before her stood a dark haired man with bright blue eyes. Miya let out a little gasp as she ran to her mother. "Momma! Momma! A stranger!" She bumped into her mothers feet being unable to stop fast enough. Sitting back for a moment slightly stunned she blinked for a moment before continuing. "Can I say hi? Can I?!" Without waiting for an answer she bounced back over to the stranger and paused before him. "Hi! I'm Miya! Who are you?" Without waiting for him to answer she continued. "Do you live here? If you do I like it. It is beautiful! That's my mom." She jerked her head in the direction of Jaedon." Isn't she pretty? Daddy says I look just like her." With that she fluffed all of her fur out. making her seem even rounder. Her topic switched to him commenting on her tumble."Don't worry about me I'm fine. Probably because I'm so round. " She sat up proudly at the thought of being chubby. "I was just practicing my stalking. Here I'll show you!" Bouncing up she pinned her wings to her side and lowered her front legs as she tried to move across the ground. The comical thing was that for some reason she thought that if her front was down, her rear had to be poking up into the ground with her tail sticking straight up like a flag. This resulted was ungraceful to say the least.

With a little giggle she bounced back up to Aeryn and looked up at hum with eyes bright with laughter. "Momma says that I am getting better! What do you think? I bet you wouldn't ever see me coming!" Baring her teeth and stretched her wings out and dug her claws in the dirt as her fur fluffed even more. It was in attempt to look scary. "I'll get me a mouse in no time!" Suddenly she changed moods and plopped down at his feet with a sigh as her hair fell back to a less fluffy state. Cocking her head up at him she looked up at him with big innocent green eyes. "So what is your name?"

[saerwen]

Jaedon let out a puff of air which blew a few strands of her loose hair out if her face as the ever excited Miya came bounding up, mouth rattling on and on. She would ask a question, and then, before the question could be answered, would go ahead and do exactly what she had asked about. Whether or not the girl realized it, she was more reckless than should even be allowed for a one her age. However, Jaedon found she didn't have the strength to correct her daughter at the moment.

She stood in silence as her child rambled on, knowing full well that interferance at the moment would be pointless and useless. She would have to wait until the girl sobered up before she could actually do anything. When that happened, Jaedon would be able to breathe and tell Aeryn what they came for.

Aeryn just stared in marvel at the little cub who now rested at his feet. To think that such a child came from the two darkest inhabitants of this place was unimaginable. What on earth had caused this little ball of pent up energy to turn out so? Aeryn knew that Neron and Jaedon had two children, and he wondered if this one had gotten all of the joy between the two and the other all the darkness or if their son was just as playful. It was true that Jaedon and Neron had changed quite a bit, but from the look on Jaedon's face, he could still see in her the reserved, thoughtful, and calculating woman that had thoroughly scolded him after he had messed around with Neron's mind. She must have a great trial in the child who was so wholly opposite her nature. But then again, she had also probably learned to become a little playful herself, through her child. What was there reason for coming now, he wondered.

As soon as her mood changed, Aeryn looked down at the little cub, a smile on his face, "My name is Aeryn Cel, and yes this is my home. I'm glad you like it."

Jaedon finally saw her chance and opened her mouth before her child could start another rampage, "It's been a while, Aeryn."

Aeryn looked at Jaedon, "Yes it has been. I'm afraid I never got to the chance to express my apologies for what happened."

Jaedon held up her hand, "No need. It's over and done. But I am hoping that you might be able to help me."

"Help you?" Aeryn sounded shocked. This visit was becoming less and less normal.

"Yes," Jaedon began, "I brought Miya to meet you today for a special purpose." She looked at the little cub before heaving a sigh. The conversation changed very suddenly, "Miya has been having problems, and for all that I can tell, she has completely blocked Neron and I out of her mind regarding these matters. No amount of coaxing or cradling has caused her to yield, and it seems that she has become scared of us."

"What kind of problems do you speak of?" Aeryn replied cautiously as he looked at the child.

"Nightmares. Terrible ones. But that isn't the only concerning part, she has begun to have them in the daytime as well. If this were any other person I am sure that I could have figured out what was wrong, but..." Jaedon paused for a moment as she pushed back a tear from her eyes. "But this one is a little too close to my heart for me to be able to think clearly. I need a fresh perspective. Neron and I don't know what else to do."

"I understand," Aeryn nodded as he continued to look at the little girl. To Miya, this must have seemed a little strange, unless Jaedon made a habit of using her telepathy with Neron to discuss things. Her mothers words had dropped off for quite some time, and she had been looking at Aeryn quite steadily the whole time.

He smiled down at Miya before folding his legs under him and sitting down in front of her on the ground. He cocked his head to the side, "You look like the kind of girl who loves to play games. Would you like to play a game with me? I am sure that your mother wouldn't mind."

[»Míríel«]

Miya started Purring when Aeryn stated that he was glad she liked it. She listened to her Mother's conversation with her new friend Aeryn, but she soon found herself looking around, no longer paying attention. At the mention of her name she flicked her ear in her mothers direction. A special purpose? She furrowed her brow. "What purpose Momma? I thought this was girl night." Her ears folded back as there was no response and she got a strange feeling that they were communicating about her, or that something was going on where she was the subject. It seemed silly to think so, after all there weren't any words. She just shrugged and wrote it off to her mom talking to him through her mind.

A fluttering noise attracted Miya's gaze. There was a bird that landed on the ground nearby. Miya's eyes grew wide as she looked at it with a cocked head. Blinking she went into her signature crouch with a silly grin on her face. "Here birdy birdy." She whispered as she waddled over to the bird. She barely took a step before the bird turned it's feathered head and flew off at the sight of Miya. Although she was disappointed at the failure she was so memorized by the sudden movement of the bird, as the bird took flight with just a couple flaps of its wings. A single feather fell down in the bird's sudden departure and Miya reared up on her back paws, playfully batting at it.

When Aery looked down and lowered himself to her level Miya forgot about the feather completely. At the mention of playing a game Miya bounced up and down as a wide grin came to her face. "A game?!" Her fur fluffed in excitement. " What game??? What game? What game?"

[saerwen]

Aeryn chuckled at Miya's lack of attention. She seemed to let her brain fly around without care or concern. Yet another trait that set her apart from Jaedon, but part of Aeryn wondered if Jaedon and Miya really were so different. Perhaps Jaedon had similar tendencies, she just had too much pride to let it show.

His eyes narrowed slightly at the girl though as she excitedly jumped around and asked him about the game. He looked up at Jaedon and asked, "Does she have your skills?"

Jaedon shook her head negatively, "No, but she has been exposed to them on several occasions. She knows what it's like."

Aeryn nodded before redirecting his attention back to Miya, "We are going to play some mind games. Has your mother ever played games like that with you?" He paused for a moment before continuing, "You see, I am a telepath as well, just like your mother. And a lot of the time people don't like to play games with me because they don't know how. But I bet you are rather good at it." As he spoke, Aeryn carefully unpacked the little, initial barrier that was around her mind. No doubt Jaedon had been the source of such a barrier. After gently tearing it down, he found himself in a rather puzzling place. It was nothing like Cecily's mind by way of complexity, but it was very similar by way of randomness. Miya's attention jumped from one thing to the next. FIrst his words, then her mother, then the leaves, bugs crawling on the trees, dirt under her paws. The list went on and on. She was very aware of everything around her, but not all at once. It came and then it went.

He gathered himself and then began to speak again, "The game goes like this: I am going to try to get further and further into your mind, and your job is to try as hard as you possibly can to stop me. Throw anything at me that you can, and I will try to deflect it. If at any time you kick me out, you win. But, if I get all of the way through your mind, without being stopped, then you win. Sound good?"

[»Míríel«]

Miya frowned when she found out that they wouldn't be playing a game like tag. In all the times she had experienced mind reading, although it wasn't unpleasant, it wasn't nearly as fun as racing around. She didn't answer she just nodded. When he began complimenting her she smiled brightly up at him. "Not as good as my brother I don't have any powers in this area. But I'll try." She set her jaw and looked up at him with a stubborn look on her face.

It was true her mind was like a flurry of things. Even in her concentrated state she was thinking about things. Jumping from place to place without realizing it. When he tried to go deeper and started unpacking things in her mind he could tell that she was trying to push back but nothing was really happening. It would have been as weak as a human who had dabbled a bit in the mind protection realm.

It didn't even take long before she forgot that she was supposed to be keeping him from her mind. Little streams of thought floated by. Giggles of how strange he looked in her mind or how his presence felt in her mind, how it tickled, bounced around. She was trying to sit still but it was extremely hard. JAedon could probably tell by the way Miya's tail flicked back and forth and her ears swiveled from the slightest noise to the next in the forest. Trees, leaves, birds, squirrels, wind, even the sun caused a swarm of information to flow into her mind. It was a place of information overload.

A sharp crack split through the air and Miya turned as her voice cried out. "Daddy!!" When she mentioned his name her mind froze for a second then whirled quicker than before. Turning, forgetting that someone was in her mind completely, she bouced to her father crying out. "Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new friend I made! His name is Aeryn! We are playing Mind games!"

Neron had managed to step on a twig without noticing it. He had recently dropped off Byren and now with his mind so full of thoughts about his little girl he had lost his awareness with the world about him. Would everything be alright? Would she be Ok? Miya had bounced right into both Jaedon and his heart and touched them in a way they had never expected. When Miya smiled up at him and bounced to his feet Neron couldn't help but scoop the fluff into his strong arms. Although his black hair brushed into his eyes like the last time he had met Aeryn, there was something brighter in his eyes than before, especially when he looked down at his daughter. It seemed that his mind was at peace, or was beginning to be. He seemed like a much different person. Still even in this moment a shadow came to his eyes at the mention of mind games. "Oh?" He set his daughter down and looked moodily at Aeryn.

It had come to this. His daughters condition had become so dire that they were trusting in someone who Neron still didn't trust. Their meeting had not been the best. Memoried came flooding back to his mind. The black dragon reigning at it's fullest. A taste of hatred seemed to fill him mouth as bitterness shadowed his heart. What was it so sweet, but so dark? How could anger be so alluring? All of the things he had done to Jaedon caused a sense of shame to fall on him. He had been out of control, unable to do as he wished, but at the same time he felt that if he had really wanted to he could have stopped it sooner. How had Jaedon come to love him.

His face which had grown stormy slowly cleared and he turned to JAedon and flashed her a small grin. Holding out his hand to Aeryn he frowned slightly. "Be careful."

[saerwen]

Aeryn almost laughed at Miya's mind. She was so scatterbrained, it was just too comical. However, her lack of attention span did make it very easy to look through her mind. He saw lots of different things, all of them very ordinary, but special to the girl in some way. Eventually, Aeryn passed the mindless madness around him and found a place that was a little bit quieter. He had been moving slowly because he didn't want to frighten her. Also, he needed to keep her somewhat interested so that she didn't end up getting hurt. If she were to shut off her mind to him, he would have to pry his way into her head, and that would cause her to have a rather splitting headache. He wanted to avoid such a thing if at all possible.

In this darker, not so muddled corner of her mind, Aeryn began to find pictures of people. Neron and Jaedon were at the forefront, and then a boy who looked to be about the same age as her. He was the spitting image of Neron, and Aeryn easily understood this to be her brother. Aeryn looked around at the pictures and flashes of memory that she had with her family, and was about to zero in on the memories of Jaedon and Neron, since Jaedon had sighted them as a possible source for her fright. However, he was interrupted when everything in Miya's little head went blank with the snap of a twig and one person came to her mind. Neron. What struck Aeryn right away was that she identified who it was before she saw him. While she might not have consciously realized it, her mind felt Neron's presence and easily recognized it, and now, her whole being was consumed with thoughts of her father. Aeryn had found his rabbit hole. When she came back to the game, he knew where to start unpacking.

Jaedon turned just as sharply as Miya had, and her calculating eyes focused on Neron before relaxing a little. However, she was still glaring at him as she raised her arms and crossed them over her chest, "Took you long enough, pretty boy. Did Cecily or Byren pitch a fit?" While Cecily might not have been the ideal babysitter in Jaedon's mind, she and Byren got along pretty well, and right now, Jaedon didn't really feel like carting her son all the way up the mountain to Miriel's house. It was sometimes a pain that they lived on completely different sides of the spectrum. One at the beach and one up in the snowy icecaps. Who would have ever thought they would live in such polar opposite places, but it seemed that their housing arrangements fit their husbands' elements tolerably well.

Aeryn rose from his position on the ground and shook Neron's hand. Where Jaedon had gotten over the whole mess rather quickly, Neron seemed to still hold a bit of a grudge. Aeryn wasn't the kind to do charity work, but he was definitely the kind to repay a debt owed, and he knew that he owed Neron and Jaedon quite a bit. Both had suffered because of his own curiosity, and while he couldn't say that he would curb his curiosity any more than he used to, he would definitely repay Jaedon and Neron for what it had cost them, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. "I will be," was all that he said in return. He was still inside Miya's mind, and the half of his brain that was still there sounded off an alarm bell. Something inside Miya's head had gotten darker, it was time to investigate what it was. In a mind so blindingly bright and innocent, any blemish was quickly noticed.

[»Míríel«]

As soon as Neron's mind had begun to shift to Darker thoughts there was a change in Miya. At first it was subtle. She wasn't so distracted, something slowed in her mind, the awareness of the other world began to drift. Slowly her eyes grew wide and distant as images unfamiliar to her mind began flickering through her head.

Something seemed to break within her mind, unleashing a darker presence, something that had everything terrible wrapped up into one being. At first everything seemed blurred, with little glimpses of broken walls, the feeling of pain, and a roar of triumph pulsing in her mind. Green eyes stared at her. They were a color that she usually associated with family, with happiness and growth but here they were cold and calculating. Anger flamed within them until you could feel yourself start to burn by just looking into them. A scaled head began to be seen as a toothy smirk twisted the mouth, giving a sinister expression.

Miya began to back up again, completely unaware of the world around her now. Her mother and father were nowhere to be found, the world she was in was no longer filled with trees and delightful creatures. It was cold, dark, and a monster lurked in the shadows. It was back She had seen this dragon before. Tears began to well in her eyes.

Neron looked down to see his daughter shirking away, stumbling backwards with eyes wide open in fear. She had run into the trunk of a tree and now cowered in it's shadow. "Mya?" He softly crooned as he took a step toward her. "Miya?" Bending down he reached towards her to stroke her, but the moment he touched her, her little paw slashed out, claws racking his hand. He retracted it quickly. No matter how many times those little needles pierced his skin he couldn't get over it. He felt cold.

The dragon had come closer, he was right before her, looming over her like a mountain. Miya let out a whimper. It backed off a bit after she slashed at it. All of these memories that were now flooding her mind were happening rapidly. She had found herself in Neron's mind, and stood in his darkest memories without realizing it. Someone that was very familiar could be sensed in Neron's mind as his memories flashed back to what had released the black dragon.Her mind searched diligiantly for the source of the familair person without her even trying. It was someone she knew. Who?

What she was experiencing was in the center or a guarded mind, the world around her was in sudden chaos. There was a hurricane in her mind as it searched for something, anything to draw her attention away from what she was seeing. Her mind had to draw her away, what she was seeing was something no one should see. It started to work and her whimpers quietened, especially now that Neron had stepped back.

Neron turned to Aeryn and drew closer. His voice was cold as ice. "What have you done?" His voice raised as his fists closed. "What are you doing in there?! Can't you see she is in pain? What have you done!" Anger swelled within him. He had known this was a bad idea. A cat-like scream rang out behind him and he turned.

Miya was huddled against the tree the anger that Neron brought to life took her even deeper in his mind. His thoughts and memories were stronger than ever, and she felt herself slipping towards them without being able to get out. There she lay against the tree, eyes wide, breath short and shallow, claws unsheathed, and teeth bared.

Neron turned to Jaedon with a desperate look. What could they do?

[saerwen]

Jaedon was reading the signs carefully as everything unfolded. Before she knew it, her dear little girl was in a rage of fear again, and there was nothing to stop it this time. What was she seeing, why did she attack Neron? What had made her afraid. She had seen the look of terror clamp around her child's face and darken her eyes. Miya looked like a wild animal trapped with nowhere to go. For a mother, her first instinct was to rush in grab her child in her arms and steal her away from all of her worries, but there was no way to do that. Miya's mind was always in shambles by the time Jaedon got in and she was never able to re-summon Miya's terrifying memories. Jaedon however, could tell that Aeryn had never left Miya's mind because at that moment, he was no longer conscious of the waking world, and his eyes were glowing an eerie, ghost-like blue. As Neron shouted at the man Jaedon leaped forward, grabbing his arm.

"Neron, don't, it's no use. He can't hear you anyway. He's doing what I couldn't," she spoke calmly, but it was obvious her heart was breaking. Why couldn't she have stayed so focused? Why couldn't she have helped her child? Wasn't it enough that she possessed the same powers as this man? Why did he have to be her second-hand man to help her child. She simply stood there and watched as Miya shuddered again and again, clinging to the tree for dear life, unable to do anything else.

Aeryn was no longer conscious of anything moving around him. The moment that things had started to churn in the little girl's head, he had pulled back from reality and the waking world so that he could deal with what lay before him. It was quite shocking, the change in her mind. Miya had now built a completely fortified wall against his every attempt, and Aeryn found himself puzzled by the ability she displayed now as to what he had seen only a few moments ago. Where had this strength come from. He looked around, feeling the rush of her thoughts and her panic pushing and swaying him back and forth like a leaf inside the gusts of a tornado. It was hard to focus with this much going on now, he could hardly imagine that Miya was focused.

Aeryn finally decided to plunge into the darkness, and he tore through Miya's defenses ruthlessly and quickly, no longer playing games with the girl. The moment he broke through, he was indeed swept up into a vortex of thought and memory. He had felt something similar to this before. In fact, he felt a presence that was a familiar one. It was a mind that he had touched once. In shock, Aeryn looked up and saw at the top of the tornado, in the very center was the image of a dragon, a great black dragon with the most evil intending features he had ever seen. Recognition instantly overcame him. It was Neron. He watched as the dragon stared the little cub down, threatening her at every turn and glance. No wonder she was so scared.

But how did she get into his head? Aeryn asked himself. I can understand very well that he is reminiscing on the last time that we met and I let his inner beast out, but why is she seeing that, she wasn't even born yet! Aeryn continued to watch and puzzle over this matter, and as his thoughts ran along he realized something else that didn't fit, What is the deal with this storm as well. If it really were just fear, then she would be cowering in the blackest, farthest parts of her mind in an attempt to escape, but instead, her mind is like a giant, overgrown twister. Why is she doing this? An idea hit him. Let's try an experiment...

Through some effort, he was able to split his attention from Miya's mind and come back to the waking world. WIthout hesitation he looked at Neron and Jaedon and ordered, "Jaedon, Neron, I want you both to think of the absolute wost thing you have ever done. Picture it very well in your minds and don't stop until I say otherwise." That was it, he was gone again. the strain of dividing his attention was too much now. He would just have to trust the parents to do as they were told.

Jaedon stared blankly at Aeryn first before she came back to her senses. "Why would that help anything?" she muttered under her breath. But even the suggestion of the idea made her mind wander. What was the worst thing that she had ever done? She had killed hundreds of people, but what was the defined worst? It was obvious to her now. Killing her mother. That had been the worst thing she had ever done. Jaedon couldn't help but recall the sound of the blade piercing flesh, blood spattering on the wall and her face, the sword being pulled out of the flesh as bone scraped against metal, and the look of utter surprise and pain in her mother's lifeless eyes. However, as soon as the images had come, they left. Jaedon didn't like to dwell on such things. She looked back to Aeryn to see that he was no longer coherent, so she could not ask her question. Oh well, maybe what she had just done had helped a bit.

[»Míríel«]

Neron let Jaedon take him by the arm and he felt himself calm a bit, though he could still feel rage lurking within him. There was only one thing that he rested in, in this moment. If Aeryn had done anything to harm Miya, Jaedon would have already struck him down. She would not be restraining Neron as she was now. Her voice was cold, regretful. It chilled his heart. Aeryn is doing what Jaedon couldn't? He shrugged off her grip, letting her know that he was in control at the present moment. All he could do was watch, he never felt so helpless in his life.

When Aeryn asked for the worst thing they did Neron didn't have to think or even have the chance to refuse before the memory flew before his eyes. It had been after his best friend had been killed. Neron had gone on a rampage, it was his goal to kill every living being in that village. Faces flashed before him without number, but it focused on one. It was a child, around Miya's age. She had even had the same curls, and chubby face, though her eyes had been brown not green. She had looked up at him, so at peace for the chaos that surrounded the village, her brown eyes steady and kind. It was almost like she was forgiving him for what he had done and what he was about to do. It only took one bite and she was gone. Neron had only feasted on those that killed his friend, everyone else he left broken, charred beyond recognition, with the village in flames. It had been easy to identify the murders, they reeked of his friends blood.

He turned his head aside as an overwhelming grief overcame him. That child, Miya could be that child. At the time he had thought nothing of it, though that child's face stood out to him more than others. Now that he had a child of his own he felt the pain all more keenly. What had he done? He was a monster, a pure monster. He had bathed in the innocent's blood and thirsted for more. His scales shouldn't be black, they should be red, filled with the blood of those he killed.

When these memories were called to their parent's memories the change was immediate in Miya. Her eyes squeezed shut as her paws grew damp with sweat, her ears flattened against her head and her body quivered in fear. Her mind was in turmoil.

Everything her paren'ts felt she felt as clear as if she had been the one to experience the feeling. A sword plunging into a body of family member, the weight of the blade, the motion of the stab, the piercing thrust, she could feel herself giving the blow. Crushing bones in her teeth, the taste of revenge on her tongue and the sweetness of victim's blood in her mouth chilled her. It was wrong, it was all wrong. Why was she doing this? Why was she killing and hurting people? She let out another scream with each stab, and bite the memory recalled.

"No! NOO! I won't! I won't!" She cried outloud. "Byren!!"

Inside her mind her mind picked up speed, seeming to grow in power with the turmoil that was happening in her mind. Only Byren had been able to give her peace before. Where was her brother? Where was he? Suddenly she became aware of another presence in her mind. Al the tearing he had done to get in the place he was had gone unnoticed due to her being so wrapped up in the memories, and inexperience. The presence was familiar. Why?

Her mind paused for a split second before churning he other way, her mind was searching. It didn't take long to find. Because she was still in her parent's minds she received access to Neron's memories and matched the sense of the presence with what had released the black beast. He was here.There was a trespasser. Miya suddenly went still, though she gripped the ground with her paws and her teeth were bared, hiss sounding, back arched, and eyes closed. A part of her brain that had never been allowed to work, being suppressed at all times by the whirring mind, suddenly used up all the stored energy in one mighty shove away from the center, away back where it had come. If Aeryn was caught off guard he would find himself out of her mind, though as he left he could see the hurricane within drawing closer to the center, jumping on the darkness within. The storm was collapsing on itself as the controller was no longer in control. Miya had passed out.

=

[saerwen]

Aeryn felt the surge of power in Miya's mind as she watched her parent's memories come crashing down on her and felt the weight that they carried because of their actions. It was a heavy weight indeed, and now, little Miya, who probably had no idea about her parent's wicked pasts was being forced to look at it all and feel it as they felt it every day. Even as Aeryn watched, he felt a shudder run down his back. He had known Neron and Jaedon didn't have spotless lives, but he knew more about Neron then Jaedon. To see such a horrifying picture come before his mind, and unlike Miya, he could identify the the person Jaedon killed had been her own mother. He had not known. If he had, he would have taken both Jaedon and Neron much more seriously than he had in the past.

As the images continued to crowd out Miya's thoughts, she became more and more terrified. Her mind began to thrash and look for an escape. Eventually, through a series of untellable turns, she focused herself on him. Her mind saw him as an intruder and was determined to push him out and away as soon as could be. Aeryn understood, and was actually willing to be push away. It meant that he had a safe trip out as she fell into unconsciousness. But Miya's defense spared no expense or pain as gave him the boot, and Aeryn flashed back to reality with searing headache splitting his mind into shreds.

Jaedon let out a gasp when Miya fell to the ground, completely out. She had been plenty worried already due to Miya's screams and cries, but this was too much. She ran over to Miya and picked her up from the ground, cradling her child in her arms. Jaedon didn't know how much more of this she could stand. She gently caressed Miya's black fur, brushing out some of the dirt off of her body as she went.

When Aeryn finally came to, he saw Jaedon bent over Miya's little body, holding her tightly. He could only imagine what the child had done on the outside after seeing what had been on the inside. He stayed quiet for a moment and waited. Jaedon then looked over at him with dark eyes, "I hope you found an answer for us." Aeryn inhaled sharply. After seeing Jaedon's actions, he couldn't dismiss that dark voice or look so casually any more. She was a killer, and it looked like she could still be quite capable of that if she were provoked enough.

"Yes, I have," Aeryn answered as he whipped his hair out of his face with a flick of his head. He slowly stood up, "And in some senses, it is quite worrisome. In others, it is a relief, no doubt, for you." He looked specifically at Jaedon when he said that last part. He leaned against the tree that Miya had previously been cowering near, "You'll be happy to know that your daughter, with proper training, has the potential to become one of the best telepaths I've ever met." He looked at the little girl's body before commenting darkly, "She's not as defenseless as she seems."

[»Míríel«]

Neron's heart dropped as Miya fell to the ground, but he didn't move. Jaedon had the child in her arms now and was caressing her gently. Neron knew that if he moved from the spot he would go straight for Aeryn, and until the man had been able to speak, Neron would not react. If however it was realized that Aeryn did something to harm Miya, the results would be all to predictable. Death. It was strange how parenthood cultured such a strong emotion for anything that had to do with their children. If one was threatened a protectiveness he had never felt before would rise up in his chest and give him more power than anger ever could.

The news of Miya becoming a telepath was something that Neron never would have expected. So she had a power, something that she had hidden for years. How could she do such a thing? "She's a telepath." Neron had a bit of disbelief in his voice. Although it didn't seem like the right time, Neron realized that he was the only one not able to read minds in his family. He sighed. "What od you mean it is a relief for Jaedon but more importantly does this mean Miya won't have any more nightmares?"

Miya, though unconscious, had put her mind to work. All the movements were slow and laborious as she began sorting through her memories. Those that were her own we filed away for the moment, while those she had seen, the nightmares she experienced were locked away in the back of her mind. Those were to be stored and forgotten. Her mind was recalibrating and putting up it's whirring protection once more to keep her from pulling out those nightmares and pondering on them. Although Miya's mind was slowly awakening it was obvious that all her power had been spent and all the movements were slow and weary. If anyone wanted to enter her mind and ravage it, she would have no defense at the moment.

Her mother's caresses soothed Miya, encouraging her to keep fighting and to come back to consciousness. The caressing was alluring to Miya and she felt herself wanting to awaken, but she couldn't at the moment. It was impossible to function, her body had to restart. Even if she did awake, she wouldn't be herself completely for another couple days.

[saerwen]

Jaedon turned quickly on Aeryn when he spoke of Miya having telepathy, "That's not possible. I have checked over and over again for such a power and not found anything. And how could she have been hiding it all this time?"

Aeryn sighed and bowed his head. This was going to be interesting to explain. Jaedon would follow well, no doubt, but Neron might be a little slow. He was just going to have to do his best.

He looked at Neron and shook his head, "No, this doesn't mean that she will stop having nightmares, but it does mean that you will be able to deal with them better and help her to learn how to deal with them herself." He pushed away from the tree and stood up straight to face Neron, "In short, Miya's nightmares are the outflow of her telepathic power. Thus far, her own mind has been guarding her against the frights that a telepath of her strength usually endures. I am sure that your wife," he pointed to Jaedon, "can attest to the fact that when telepaths are young, they can't control their power and so they easily see the thoughts and memories of other people." Jaedon stayed quiet and only nodded to confirm his words. "Miya, however, manufactured a way to protect her own mind when she was little so that she didn't have to experience such things."

He paused for a moment and Jaedon took the opportunity to speak, "Then how do you explain this?" she jerked her head towards Miya's crumpled form.

"Miya is unskilled. Her protective habits have kept her safe thus far, but her telepathy is overpowering her now. If she continues to hold her power in, the nightmares will only get worse, and eventually, she will be driven insane. I have seen this in other children like Miya. Her nightmares have been directly fed by your own memories up to this point, and that, as I have seen, is terrifying enough to scar any child for life, but if this continues, the nightmares won't stop there. She will start seeing thoughts from people she has never met and then, in a frantic jostle to pick up her shattered mind, Miya's mind will eat itself away from the inside out." He took a deep breath before looking Jaedon straight on, "You have no choice but to break down her protective barriers and start training her to use her skill. Only then will the nightmares go away and her mind recover from its already pressing habits."

Jaedon looked startled, "Wait, you said that she has been feeding off of our memories, as in, mine and Neron's?" He nodded. Jaedon's eyes widened, "Oh my..." she didn't finish her statement.

Aeryn rolled his eyes, "Forgive me for my frankness, but it is quite obvious to me you have kept everything a secret from your children up to this point. While it isn't necessary, I would highly recommend you sharing with your children your past actions. If they had known such things in this kind of instance, Miya or even your son might have realized what was happening."

Jaedon suddenly perked up, "Byren... he knew about this, didn't he?" Aeryn couldn't answer that question. He would have had to speak to the boy to know if that were true.

[»Míríel«]

Neron was speechless. Although he didn't understand what it would be like to have a mind collapse on itself to to the overflow of others minds, he did know how it feels to have one declare civil war on itself. That was unpleasant enough, he couldn't imagine having others troubles to worry about as well as his own. "Is that why she was always distracted or is that completely unrelated?"

Neron had to reflect on what Aeryn was saying before it struck him completely. Miya had suffered because of him. He raised his hand to his face as grief settled over him. Yet another victim, this time he couldn't even protect his family from himself. He had caused pain, pain that could have eventually created the death of his daughter. Turning away from the pair he faced the trees, trying to collect himself. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried he was still a monster, he still carried the brands of his past. The beast still lived within. Sometimes it seemed that peace would only reign when he breathed his last. Until that point he was and always would be a monster.

Neron ran his fingers through his hair before turning back to them. His face was solemn and all rage that had previously been directed toward Aeryn dissolved. Letting out a hollow laugh her joked, "I guess we can explain to her about my "tattoo's" now." Then looking at Aeryn he continued. "Tell me will she ever smile again and return to her usual bright self, or was that just a defense to battle against all the pain and sorrow she saw?" Neron didn't know if these were difficult questions, he just felt like he needed to know the answer. He wanted to know if he had ruined his girl's life.

Miya heard her brothers name. Something within her signaled her to awake. Green slitted eyes were opened as she looked around her in a daze. Her body felt so heavy, of so heavy. She had known she was chubby, but now she felt like she was made of stone. Nothing looked familiar due to everything being blurred. She could smell her mother, father and friend, were nearby. "Byren?" Her voice sounded hoarse and quiet. "Byren?" Where was her brother, her comforter?

[saerwen]

Aeryn knew this was a lot to take in for both parents, but more so for Neron. Jaedon understood the feelings behind Miya's actions, but Neron had a little less understanding. The worry within Neron's heart would take a little more coaxing to quiet. While Jaedon understood what this meant for their daughter, and understood that over time, it could be fixed, Neron didn't know what the effects of such a thing were. Aeryn would have to give him extra reassurance. However, for all that Neron might not have understood about telepathy and its horrid nuances, he had made one exceptional connection.

"Yes, actually, the distracted nature is a by-product of this problem. Her protection was actually in the form of this rather flighty thought process. You must understand that if your daughter were to focus on any one thing for an extended period of time, she could very quickly take hold of it. Her power is of so great a magnitude, she might even be capable of mind control, although for all purposes of the word, that is a lost art. She was aware of this and so her protection had to shield her from that side of her power as well, which would have shown itself right away in her daily life. So instead of allowing her ability to focus shine through, it completely shut that side of her down and turned her into the rather flighty cub you know and love."

Jaedon smiled wanly as she made her own joke, "It all makes sense now. I knew she couldn't have become so different from our darker nature through normal means." Jaedon continued to run her long fingers through Miya's fur. While their daughter's exuberance had been a little trying for both Neron and Jaedon at first, and even still sometimes, they had always loved her bright and cheery nature. Jaedon knew that once Miya was trained and had perfected her skill, part of this silliness would vanish from Miya's character, but she also knew that on the whole of it, Miya would still be the same person, so long as she dealt with the training in a good way.

Jaedon smirked at Neron's comment and nodded her head, "You get to explain your fake ones, and I get to explain my real ones."

Both Aeryn and Jaedon frowned at Neron's question, but it was Aeryn who answered first, and completely dead serious, "No amount of hidden power could change your daughter's innermost being. She will always be the girl you have known, Neron."

"Once she begins to use her power, she might start changing and maturing a little faster, like Byren did, but she won't ever stop being the Miya we love. Telepathy does darken your personality, no matter who you are, but that is only because it is a heavy weight to bare. But I am confidant that Miya, so long as she responds well, and doesn't break down during her teens, will always be a strangely happy and loud girl in the midst of a very dark and somber family." Jaedon smiled at the last part, hoping that she would encourage Neron a little bit. "She's still your little girl."

As Miya began to stir, Jaedon's head instantly shot down. She brushed some of the overly fluffed and messy fur from her child's emerald eyes and listened as she called for her brother. Jaedon was tempted to be angry with Byren because something within her said that Byren had known all along that this was going on, but had said nothing. She wouldn't get angry until she had found the truth, but she certainly wouldn't let it go without a darn good explanation, and she was sure Neron would be thinking along the same lines.

"Byren isn't here, Miya. He's with Cecily, remember?" Jaedon spoke softly. Anyone who had known her before she had changed aside from Damion and Miriel would have thought it was impossible for her to speak so lovingly and tenderly. Even as Aeryn watched the mother and daughter, he marveled at how people could change. There had been a time in his life when he thought that a total character change was impossible, but now, he had living proof before his eyes. In fact, Neron and Jaedon both were living proof of that fact.