Even the darkest night will end ,and the sun will rise
Dharti's Cave , Maver Island,Northern Ardeneon.
April 12
Dexter felt as if his whole world had come to a stop when he heard the voice, like everything was okay...it was just him and the owner of the voice left on earth and he was fine with that, he felt fine, safe, protected, it felt so familiar, so warm.
Gently, he lets go of Skai and slowly turns 180.
'Woah...' He couldn't even manage to bring the words out. Whatever it was, it was beautiful, its shadow could be mistaken as that of an average human or sprite, only much taller, taller than Dexter too, and that's a big deal given that Dexter is 6'5... but the thing is there was nothing average about this creature.
"Bardo" the voice pulls him closer; his friends were yelling for him to come back but he couldn't hear a thing. Their voices were drowned out by his sudden desire to know what the thing, what the creature was.
Its voice was squeaky yet masculine, the skin being some sort of translucent green barrier for the plethora of visible vinelike veins which made up the internal body. It had the brightest and most captivating green eyes Dexter had ever come across in his seventeen years of living. The creature was wearing nothing but a piece of cloth tied around its waist, anklets on one ankle and two bracelets on its left hand.
"Bardo" its voice trembles as it places its right palm on Dexter's cheek.
"Who are you?" he manages to choke out despite his intense fear filled awe, but it was barely a whisper.
He didn't know why he was drawn to the creature... He didn't know what force was pulling him, He didn't know why he felt safe when his friends were yelling at him to stay away.
"Dharti" A tear escaped its eye. "Your father"
"My what?" Dexter stumbles away from him, completely taken aback.
'Father' The words repeat in his head
"Bardo?" its eyes fill with pain as Dexter takes several steps back.
Feeling conflicted he holds back a cry for help, he wanted to be near it, but he couldn't bring himself to take any steps closer again, especially not after what it just told him.
A light smack lands on the back of Dexter's head. "Are you deaf?" River asks him and he tilts his head to face River still fazed.
"What were you saying to the chorling?" Elijah was the one to ask. Dexter couldn't grasp anything they were saying. Running his fingers through his hair, he looks back at it.
The chorling looked devastated.
"Your father." Dexter shakes the words off convincing himself that it isn't true, his father is human and in the army. He starts to wonder if the Bolveras have been right about it all? Telling himself repeatedly in his head that it isn't possible
Emily pulls Dexter out of the mental battle he was in with a tug on his shirt.
"You speak chorlish?" she asks.
"What are you guys talking about?" Dexter asks breathing out.
"I don't know guys the Chorling seems friendly" Skai shrugs.
"Everything isn't what it seems" River cautions her. "We should run."
"Bardo?" The chorling calls out to Dexter again "You don't believe me, do you?"
"You're not my father" Dexter spits out refusing to believe it not even realizing he was speaking chorlish again.
"When did you learn that?" Skai asks but it sounded distant to Dexter.
"Guys we should run" he tells them thoughtlessly.
"All for it" River inputs "But you have a lot to tell us."
"Do we just run or make our way out slowly?" Skai asks.
"It doesn't seem like it would hurt but you never know so I say we carefully leave" Emily answers.
Dexter's eyes meet the chorling one more time before he turns his back on it.
"Don't you have questions?" the chorling calls out to him "That's why you're here isn't it?"
"What is he saying?" Elijah asks Dexter and Dexter sucks in a deep breath.
"He said he's my father" he answers.
"In English" Elijah ushers.
"Oh" Dexter pauses still not realizing he was speaking chorlish "He said he's my father" he repeats
They all become dead silent.
"Your father is a chorling" Skai says out loud as if she was digesting it and Elijah nudges her.
"I don't know, I'm confused" he bites his lower lip, he couldn't think straight with the surfacing of this new information.
If it really was his father then he knew it could really help but Dexter didn't want to believe it...because that would mean he's a chorling, and he didn't want to be one he didn't even look like one.
He wanted answers, in fact he craved them but the little information that was just revealed to him is already so hard for him to digest, he didn't know if he could take any more.
Dexter stops in his steps taking deep breaths, before coming to a conclusion.
"If it is my father like it claims, then there's a possibility it could help" he says his words almost getting stuck in his throat. He felt as if his whole world had been turned upside down, at this point he knew he really should have expected anything and he was but hearing he has a blood father shakes things up, not only does he have a blood father but it's an odd creature, an odd creature that the people of the world they are in fought against.
"Do you want to go back to it?" Emily asks and Dexter nods hesitantly.
"We're right behind you" Elijah pats his back, and Dexter turns around to see Dharti floating on his back in the river.
"Dharti" he calls out, approaching it upon remembering its name, it calmly swims to side of the river Dexter was standing by and Dexter sits on the ground
"I would really appreciate you and your friends not calling me 'it'" he scratches his neck and blood flows to Dexter's face not realizing he could hear them.
"S-sorry" he stutters before asking "Who's my mom?"
"Adira Jadic" Dharti smiles fondly, still Dexter couldn't understand it, but he felt like he was home with Dharti there.
"Where is she?" Dexter throws another question at him, and his smile slowly fades away.
"She's in Shivan, your mom is the third daughter and last child of King Verimus and Queen Odeliah" his eyes fall to the grass. Just when Dexter thought his life couldn't get any crazier, he finds out his mom is a princess.
"Why did you guys abandon me?" he asks.
"We didn't abandon you Bardo" Dharti grabs his hands and Dexter pulls away.
"Yes, you did!" Dexter yells at him, letting out all the pain and resentment he's held in his heart for the past decade, hot tears running down his face "I had no home to call my own for the first six years of my life, the kids at school bullied me, the only woman who I could call mother is dying, and you, you and whoever my biological mother is left me there, why did you leave me?!"
Pain glimmers in both their eyes and Dharti tries to explain. "Bardo, we didn't have a choice-"
Dexter scoffs cutting him off "But you did, Dharti, there's always a choice, do you know how hard it is harnessing new information about my life by the day?" he pauses "Do you know how painful it is knowing your whole life is a lie?"
"It was either that or you die" Dharti breathes out as if he was pleading with his son. "It was either that or they killed you off, your mother and I, we were not allowed to see, can you imagine how worse it was when she was due for a baby?" he looks his son in the eye "For two years I had to hide you Bardo, I took care of you, my own people banished me"
"What?" Dexter whispers out his voice barely audible.
"We tried to hide it from your mother's family but when you were two years of age they found out" he gently takes his son's hands in his own. "You're more powerful than you know Bardo, they knew that. Chorlings and sprites don't mate for a reason, they say it'd be gruesome and catastrophic"
"But you my child, you are far from that" Dharti smiles sadly rubbing circles in Dexter's palm with his thumb
"What happened when they found out?" Dexter asks.
"They tried to kill you... but I stopped them. Your mother and I figured to save you the best thing to do would be to put you on earth till you came of age. We did our best to keep your name the same, so it would be easier when we reunited, she visits me every two nights and we mostly talk about you, would we go through all of that if we had a choice?"
Ignoring his question Dexter throws another "So, you were the one that named me?" He asks remembering how his mom told him she never changed his full name from the orphanage document because she wanted it to be his decision when he turned 18 even if he told her repeatedly that he wanted to be a Matthews like the rest of the family.
"Your mother" he smiles "Bardo, it means son of earth, the other name you have was chosen at random when she dropped you off on earth."
"She could have stayed" Dexter frowns at him.
"It would have been easier for them to find you if she did" he explains, and Dexter realizes he wasn't asking a lot of useful questions but at the moment he didn't care he just wanted some sort of closure.
"Oh, I can't stay here anyways" he tells Dharti.
"Hmm, how did you get here?" Dharti asks.
"It's a long story, but my friends and I are trying to get back to earth" he frowns at his son's response.
"If you go back there, your life will be filled with nothing but pain" Dharti tells him and Dexter shrugs in response "It's not like it's any better here. I have people that love me on earth, I have a life, a schedule"
"Bardo, I love you, and I didn't send you to earth to live there" Dharti lets go of Dexter's hands climbing out of the water "I've been waiting for the right time to bring you back".
He is sitting beside Dexter now as they both stare at the river, Dexter's eyes move over to his friends, they were sitting in a square making conversation.
Over by the tree River is looking down at Skai who is lying on his legs.
"This is why your hair gets messy, you can't sit upright" he shakes his head at her.
"Guys you realize that Dexter's real dad being a chorling means that he's actually from this world, that we're all from this world" Emily announces.
"Way to state the obvious" River tells her in a 'duh' tone.
"I thought we came to that realization when we started getting our skills?" Skai asks.
"Yeah, but now... this makes it feel more real" she sighs.
"What if we were all sent to earth for crazy reasons" Elijah speaks but it's more like he was talking to himself "I mean Dexter's father is a chorling, that doesn't just happen"
Back by the Vani river Dexter's eyes move away from his friends to Dharti when he hears Dharti muttering a familiar name under his breath "That Kaito guy could've told us."
"Kaito Ladiston?" Dexter asks confused. "You know Mr. Ladiston?"
"Oh, you heard that" he laughs softly. "Adira met him on earth, he did us a favor, she said he dedicated his time to finding Ardeneon younglins on earth, he made sure every one of them got a family, and he also claims he tried to keep them close." He pauses briefly "The rules of this world are insanely strict, you can just imagine how many children had to die because of it, only those with resources had the privilege to take their children to the other world, to escape it."
"So, there may be more like us on earth?" Dexter asks him.
"Yes, but probably not a lot, the natural portal leads to only one location on earth" he answers. "Of course you can always open others, but it's risky"
'So...It's not their fault, it's the great council.' Dexter thinks even more confused than he was before, the questions swarming his brain 'where do I belong?' 'Where should I go?' 'Do I want to stay here with my newly found dad and possibly meet my mom? Or do I want to go back to earth and pretend this was all a dream?'
"So Kaito is the one that opened the portal?" Dexter asks him
"When did you get here?" Dharti asks his son.
"About a month or so ago I guess" he shrugs in response not sure.
"I don't know, the season of life must have been then, so it's possible Kaito wasn't the one that opened it, but the portal is in the lake of life from what I know, where it is on earth would also have to be in a body of water. It's not anywhere you could see or could easily draw you in, so maybe he moved it, although that's highly unlikely, Kaito is powerful but he isn't that powerful, but then again I wouldn't know, it's your mother that knows these things" Dharti shrugs "Kaito visits this world occasionally, whenever he comes, he takes a trip round Ardeneon and tells the parents about their younglins, he's a great guy" he smiles in reminiscence.
"Why did he leave?" Dexter asks.
"I wouldn't know, your mother Adira might, but no one really talks about their business like that, and I don't expect Kaito to be a loudmouth, your best bet at finding out would be your mother but she won't be here till tomorrow by midnight." He informs Dexter "Do you intend to leave?" Dharti asks pain evident in his eyes.
Dexter doesn't answer him, and he sighs
"If Kaito moved the portal to where it got you kids, then you're not meant to leave." Dharti's fingers comb through Dexter's hair.
"Well, I'd have to ask Kaito that myself" he shrugs his father's hand off.
"Are you courting her?" Dharti asks nodding his head over to the four sitting in the distance.
"Who?" Dexter asks confused.
"The girl with the dark hair" he specifies "you give her the look your mom gave me"
"It's not like that" Dexter denies "we're good friends"
"If you say so" Dexter could tell Dharti saw through him, but it didn't matter to him. Dexter looks over at Skai again knowing he was slowly losing every last bit of self-control, trying to remind himself that she's his friend and he couldn't afford to think that way. He stands up having exhausted all his questions.
"Wait, Bardo!" Dharti calls out before he can turn. Dharti jumps from his spot on the floor landing in front of Dexter gently, Dexter looks at him taken aback and Dharti looks down at him, easily towering over Dexter's 6'5 frame with 3 inches.
"Can I get a hug?" the chorling pleads.
"uh" Dexter hesitates "s-sure"
He doesn't waste time and engulfs his son quickly in a bear hug, he holds on tight tears beginning to fall from his eyes.
'Is he crying?' Dexter thinks hearing him sniffing while wrapping his hands around him, patting his back.
Back by the tree, River's eyes move to Dexter and his supposed dad, catching them sharing a hug. He smiles warmly at that.
"There's only one way to find out" Skai lifts herself off of her brother referring to the conversation they were having about their parents possibly being different from what they expected. "We find them"
"What about the clues?" Emily asks, "Do we just stop following them?"
"For all we know Li-" River cuts himself off quickly "Emily" He corrects himself from using their old nickname for her before continuing quickly, "for all we know, these clues might just be leading us to a dead end"
"You have a point" Elijah sighs "Skai's right, this is all just a hunch" he stares at the words on the paper. "It literally says 'count it destructive, 'tis not what it seems, I do not come in peace"
"Yeah, we're definitely being played with" Skai pulls at River's fingers "I do not want to chase something that literally says it doesn't come in peace, that's how horror movies start!"
"But then again, if we decide to look for our parents" Emily pauses looking down "If we find them, will we still want to go home?" her eyes glasses over the river in the distance "If they tell us the reasons, if they offer us a way out of here, would we still go?" she asks.
They all remain silent, knowing there's no real answer to that, knowing their whole life has been a lie.
Dexter is soon sat by Skai, and Dharti dives into the river, 'does he live there?' River thinks, he knew chorlings live in water, but he also knew they had a cove, which he knew for a fact wasn't in the Vani river.
"Guys there's a lot you're gonna wanna know" Dexter says.
"Before that" Skai interrupts him "You speak chorlish?" she lifts a brow at him
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"I think she means you speak chorlish" Emily answers like it was the most obvious thing on earth.
Dexter looks dumbfounded at them "I speak what?" he asks but the question comes out more like he was directing that question to himself, he seemed to be having yet another existential crisis.
"Bro you've been talking to the chorling dad in his language all this time" River tells him
"You didn't know?" Elijah asks after seeing Dexters complete confusion.
Dexter doesn't respond he just groans putting his face in his hands.
Skai moves towards him placing an arm over him in comfort, he looks up and then at her with a small smile.
River watches the two skeptical wondering why Dexter was giving his sister 'the smile'
"Must be a chorling thing" Emily mutters but Dexter ignores her changing the subject "Kaito might be the one that opened or moved the portal" he tells them.
"My dad?" Skai asks.
"What?" River's eyebrows furrow in confusion, making zero sense out of what Dexter said.
Dexter shrugs, "Why?" River asks.
"I don't know, Dharti said the only person who could have an idea is Adira, my mother, but she won't be here till tomorrow midnight and it isn't guaranteed that she'll know" he sighs.
"Is that all?" Elijah asks.
"Uh" Dexter trails off in thought "There are probably other kids like us on earth, Kaito dedicates his time to finding them and reporting their welfare and whereabouts to their families" he pauses "I guess he just managed to keep us close"
"Us being friends was planned." River whispers to himself, everything about that statement feeling so wrong.
"So, to get back to earth we need to find Kaito?" Emily asks
"Pretty much" Dexter says.
"And the only way to find Kaito is through Adira?" River asks.
"From what Dharti said, yes" he responds. "But it isn't guaranteed
"This is crazy" Skai falls to the ground on her back "Even for me."
Dexter tells them all about his conversation with Dharti, and after that they came to the decision that they would be waiting for Adira. It was worth a shot but the only problem is that they'd have to sleep in the woods.
"We should probably be practicing" Emily suggests, turning away from Skai who she was just conversing with.
"How would we possibly do that, we know nothing" River says looking up from the map that he and Elijah were memorizing—in case they lost it or anything.
"You doubt yourself too much" Skai laughs softly.
"Yeah, and if Emily burns this island down?" He lifts a brow at her. "What then?"
"Good thing we have you" Dexter adds without looking up from the ground still picking at the grass then proceeding to grow a tulip out of it. "Last I checked your hydrokinesis isn't for fancy"
Skai was right, River did doubt himself, he was so scared that he wouldn't be able to control it that he didn't even want to bother trying.
But since everyone else agreed he did too and they practiced their skills for the rest of the night, till Dharti came and offered for them to rest in his cave.
He could actually speak English; he told them that he learnt it over the course of the time he spent with Adira.
When the day started, they practiced some more and with each passing moment they got better and better despite having little to no knowledge about what they were doing.
Dharti told them stories of his life as well, he talked about how he met Adira, how he loved how wild and carefree she was, he talked about his banishment too, the things he did for love River couldn't understand. While the others were shook in awe, River was shook in confusion.
He couldn't help but think 'Do people actually go to such heights just for love?'