Radiance Ch. 97

Chapter 97: Fixing a Broken Soul.

Just as Lia was about to pounce on the prone and rather nervous-looking Raymond there was an urgent banging at the door that made Lia snarl in frustration and irritation.

"What and who is it?" she demanded loudly.

"It's Abigail dearie and I'm really sorry to interrupt your private time with your man but I have something of an emergency on my hands that needs you both, may I come in?" the voice of the mother hen who ran the place came through the door.

Lia glanced at Raymond with a look of concern that barely masked her irritation, "One moment my male needs time to cover himself and what is his is for my eyes only so if you wish to keep them do not attempt to open the door," Lia said sternly.

"U-Understood dearie," Abigail stammered obviously surprised by Lia's aggressive command, she obviously wasn't used to dealing with Claws.

Raymond sighed and reapplied his clothing as quickly as he could, as nervous as he had been he had also been excited to be on the receiving end of Lia's attention because they were honest and pure, if he had to give Claws one thing it was that they never hid their intentions from you, you knew where you stood with them at all times.

"Alright you may enter now," Lia said opening the door lock and allowing the mother hen to step nervously into the room to face down the wrath of a denied Claw Raymond felt a tickle of guilt at it being happy that it was her on the end of the ire and not him.

"I'm so so sorry for the interruption dearies I know this was a special night for the pair of you but we have a very strange situation downstairs, one of the Featherguard has come looking for you specifically and she seems.......desperate, she burst in demanding to see the strangers from the ground, the ones here to make a peace treaty between us and the Brotherhood, she said it's of utmost importance that from speaks with you, a matter of life and death she said," Abigail explained.

Both Raymond and Lia looked at one another and a note of deep concern passed between the pair as Lia nodded her large horned head, "Passions can wait and grow this requires our attention now," she said and Raymond nodded.

"Go grab Zixxy my gut tells me we're going to need her help, I'll go meet this Featherguard," Raymond said and Lia nodded and vanished as Raymond turned to Abigail.

"Take me to her," he said and Abigail looked relieved as if he would refuse her request.

"Thank you, Raymond I knew you were a good soul so I did," she said and she quickly bustled off with him in hot pursuit.

As they reached the lobby of the inn Raymond spied a very nervous and kinda distraught looking female Valkyrie who to his eye kinda looked like an eagle with feathers as black as an oil slick with patches of red and white here and there along with a long luscious fan like tail what was tucked up against her back waiting for them.

"I'll leave ya in peace laddie take yer time," Abigail said before vanishing back to her room.

As soon as she spotted Raymond she ran to him her massive talons clattering on the wooden floor, "Are you the leader that the elders spoke of? Raymond?" she enquired quickly and with a desperate note in both her voice and her eyes.

"That's me and who might you be?" he asked.

"My name is Jewel I am one of the Featherguard, an officer and I need your help desperately, the elders tell me that you have humans in your group and that you know a lot about them correct?' she said quickly causing Raymond's eyebrows to raise and a hard note of caution to his heart.

"Yes, that's true why do you ask?' Raymond said before suddenly a little voice echoed into his mind.

"Because she has done something horrible and needs help to fix it, accept her request Raymond there is a soul in dire need of help we must go quickly I feel it!!" Zixxy said into his head.

"Because I need your help, I-I-I was granted a human servant from the Brotherhood a captured soldier taken the last time they assaulted our lands, he was spared a death sentence for what his people did on the condition that he serves me as my indentured attendant a-a-and I made a horrible mistake and now he's injured and I don't know what to do or how to fix it please help me!" Jewel cried grabbing Raymond's massive hand in both of hers as both Lia and Zixxy appeared on the stairs.

Lia snarled as soon as she saw Jewel gripping Ryamond's hand in desperation, Unhand my male at once!" she snapped and Jewel let go without a second of hesitation.

"M-M-My apologies I did not mean to touch what I was not invited to, b-b-but I am desperate, m-m-my servant needs help and I don't know where to turn, please I do not wish him to suffer for my mistakes, please help me," she said her voice sounding more and more desperate by the second.

"Take us to him at once and quickly," Raymond said and Jewel's eyes lit up and her head nodded.

"Follow me quickly!!" she exclaimed and rushed out of the door with the trio in hot pursuit.

She lead them through the city to a house that obviously belonged to her, as soon as the four burst in Zixxy rushed past them with a speed that no one knew she was even capable of dashing into what appeared to be the bedroom and instantly the sounds of someone being tackled and a struggle was heard.

Raymond and Lia dashed after her and instantly saw her wrestling with a white-skinned young-looking human male that was covered in a litany of marks and what looked like talon cuts to his chest, he was holding a rather sharp-looking knife and was apparently trying to stab himself with it until Zixxy had intervened.

"Stop it!! You can't take this from me too!! I won't live like this I won't!!" the man yelled.

Raymond dashed forwards and sized the man's wrist lifting his arm up and making the man's eyes go wide with fear as he truly saw who had hold of him, "A-A-A super mutant! Here!? Impossible!!" he exclaimed but Zixxy used his momentary distraction and darted out a little green hand to his face.

"Sleep now tormented one," she commanded and right on cue the man's eyes rolled up into his head and he went limp.

"Adam!!! What did you do to him!!?" Jewel shrieked and dashed to the side of the bed.

"He is not injured merely sleeping and he will remain that way until I say so, safer for everybody I think given his current state of mind, a state which is your fault I do believe would you care to explain to my dear friends here or do you wish me to tear the memories from your mind and show them myself, so what's it to be, honest words or forced memories?" Zixxy said in a surprisingly cold voice, Raymond had never seen the little alien so angry in his life.

Jewel stammered now her eyes darting between the three as if suddenly realising the combined strength of the three beings in her home, "I-I-I will tell you honestly," she said.

Zixxy nodded, "Good you will do this while I tend to his wounds and do yourself a favour do not embellish or misdirect I see every one of your memories like an open book, do not stray from them or I will know," she said coldly and quickly went to fetch both a bowl of hot water and towels as well as clean bandages to go with the stim pack she'd brought with her.

While she got to work Jewel turned to Lia and Raymond and began her tale of woe.

".........I-I-I raped him, I forced him to do these things against his will, I got so caught up in my role as his mistress that I just kept telling myself that it was fine, that he was fine, that it was his duty to serve me, but I never meant to hurt him or to treat him so vilely I swear it to you, I-I-I actually wanted to make it a joys experience for him, one that I hoped he would wish to repeat a great many times with me, but I was so lost in the fog of my own lust and so deluded by the rush of my own power over such a beautiful being that I drowned in my own selfishness, I never saw what it was doing to him both physically and mentally until it was too late, I hurt him in so many vile ways with my wants and he like the honourable man that he has never wavered from the oath he swore, he gave me everything I demanded of him and more while I didn't even see what it was doing to him inside, I'm a fucking monster," Jewel said breaking down in tears and sinking to her knees on the floor.

Lia looked like she was ready to explode next to him and Raymond placed a large hand on her chest causing her to look at him, "Words only violence has no place here," he said warningly and she blew out a long snort but nodded.

"If you were part of my pack you would have been executed for such a vile thing, to abuse one's partner or mate is the lowest form of abuse there is save for that of hatchlings, that male put his trust in the oath you swore to him that you would treat him well, with kindness, respect and grace, you gave him none of those things, you saw only what he could do for you and you took those wonderful gifts from him, those gifts that were supposed to go only to his beloved one, the one that had earned the right to them, the one who had hunted him honestly and without deception on equal footing, gift and rewards that were supposed to be EARNED and yet you stole them from him, every single one of them!!" Lia snarled with a voice that was colder than ice but hotter than fore all at once.

Jewel nodded as tears ran off her beak and she looked at the floor in front of her, "I know, please believe me when I say it was never ever my intention to harm him either physically or mentally and I truly never meant to go this far, to take him like that, b-b-but I lost myself, I got drunk on the power I held over him and it corrupted me, please help him, I deserve this pain but he does not, please help him," Jewel said sounding so lost and small that Raymond actually managed to reign in the surging anger burning his soul up from the inside.

He glanced at Zixxy who was watching closely from her place on the bed next to the freshly cleaned and bandaged human male called Adam, she nodded, "She speaks the truth in every word, she was honest in both her intentions and her actions as well as their causes, she did not deviate as instructed her to, she bared her soul and her shame before you," she said.

Raymond sighed and nodded, "I find the very act f slavery vile, there a good number among my group who are former slaves that is they survived it and its vile ravages, no living being should be bound in chains ever, a prisoner I could have understood for what his people have done to yours, a prisoner of war is an understandable mercy but this, this is wrong, plus I will be honest I do not know how to begin to fix him or if such a thing is possible, his trauma his mental rather than true physical, wounds heal emotional and psychological trauma is far different the mind is a much harder thing to heal than the body," Raymond said.

"Please! You have to try! Please I'll do anything just bring him back!" Jewel said begging now on her hands and knees before them.

Zixxy suddenly jumped down off the bed and strode right up to her staring right into her eyes with those expressionless jet-black jewels of hers.

"You say you'll do anything?" she said and Jewel nodded.

"I swear it, this is my fault, I broke something beautiful and now I must mend it, please I'll do anything just to know how," she said and Zixxy glanced up at Raymond.

"With your permission," she said and he nodded.

"You're the expert when it comes to the mind Zix," he said and she nodded.

"Sit here and do not move," Zixxy said pointing to the bed next to Adam and Jewel nodded doing as she was told.

Zixxy climbed up onto the bed and took a few deep breaths as she centred herself, "Do not resist me, it will get......unpleasant for you if you do," she said and with that, she reached out and once again touched her head causing Jewel's eyes to close before she reached out and touched Adam's head as well connecting the three of them together.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Zixxy found herself in a dark void-like place filled with silence and blackness in every direction, "W-W-What is this place?" Jewel's frightened voice said from her left side somewhere.

"This is his mind more accurately it's the part of his mind his consciousness has retreated to since I sent it into his dreams to prevent him harming himself, it's a place of protection where he is hidden from the memories he does not wish to see," Zixxy said.

"I-I-It's so dark and empty," Jewel said and Zixxy nodded before remembering she couldn't see her.

"Yes that's the point, to let one memory in risks letting them all in it's a form of repression to protect his conscious mind from his subconscious, a barrier if you will but it is one that needs to come down, he needs to see that what happened was not only not his fault but that he was not wrong for allowing his honour to prevent him from saving himself, he needs to see and confront how he feels but he needs to see the truth of your feelings as well, he needs to see the truth raw and unfiltered so that he may be walked through it," Zixxy said.

"O-Ok I think I understand but how do we do that?' Jewel asked.

"I will handle that part what we need to do first is find him in here, this place plays by his rules and the mind is a powerful thing, we are intruders here and it will try to mislead and misdirect us but follow me and do not believe your eyes, they will lie," Zixxy said.

As they began to walk the first thing they encountered was an odd stone corridor full of doors that had all sorts of numbers on them, both Zixxy and Jewel wandered down the corridor which looked like it had dropped right out of an underground bunker by the abundance of grey concrete.

As they walked through the corridor Zixxy kept touching the doors and closing her eyes until she seemingly found the one she was looking one for and opened it, beyond it was what appeared to be a Brotherhood base and once they stepped through it the door closed and there stood an image of Adam training alongside his brothers and sisters.

"Adam!!" Jewel yelled in joy as she saw him but Zixxy held up a hand to stop her from rushing forwards to him and she looked down at the little alien woman.

"That's not him merely a memory of his, even though it would be from his point of view his mind is creating the environment that we now stand in, just watch," Zixxy said pointing.

"You think the elders are going to give the order to roll over those fucking feather brains?" one of the Brotherhood soldiers asked another.

"Hey, brother don't call them that, they can't help who they were born to same as you can't how would you feel if you were born as they were only to have someone like us persecuting them for it?" Adam said turning to look at his brother-in-arms.

"Oh don't tell me you're one of them fucking feather lovers?" the tall well built soldiers snorted.

"If he is then I am as well, we are meant to be an example to other to uphold Knight, bigotry and prejudice is not the principles on which this great Brotherhood was founded, the Great chain does not care who you are or what colour you are hell it doesn't even truly care what species you are, it only cares that you adhere to its tenants and respect your brothers and sisters, they did not choose to be born Brother same as we did not but here we all are, do not underestimate these people and yes they are people," a tall black woman with incredibly solid muscles said.

"Yes, Paladin understood," the agitator said hanging his head.

"So there are others within the Brotherhood who believe as he does, he was right," Jewel said and Zixxy nodded and then pointed at another door.

"Let's move on, there is more to see and understand," she said and the pair headed for the door moving through into another corridor much like the other one before it.

Once again Zixxy walked with her hand up touching the doors until she stopped before a large blue-coloured one, "This one," she said and she opened it before stepping through.

This time they found themselves in a place that looked like a boot camp with a much younger Adam training and looking a lot thinner and malnourished than he had in the last memory, it looked like he'd just been plucked off the streets of the wastes but there was still a lean hardness to him.

Adam turned to one of the other initiates next to him a white girl about the same age as him but by the look of her, she was much better off in her life by her hard muscles and better frame to her lean body.

"I can't believe the Brotherhood accepted my application, I'm so excited to be part of something like this, to actually be able to make a difference out there in the world for the good of all you know?" he said with an obviously excited note in his voice, despite the obvious ravages on his body his eyes were bright and sharp it was hard to even for Zixxy to not take an immediate liking to the surprisingly handsome human, she instantly saw what Jewel had seen in him.

Speaking of Jewel there was such a look of self-loathing on her face now as she looked at him now as she saw his excitement and enthusiasm despite his obviously hard life, Zixxy got the feeling that far up there in their gilded floating bird cage, the Valkyries had been lulled into thinking that most humans lived a life of luxury and free of real hardships.

"Yeah I know right? I was so stoked when I encountered that Paladin and she were impressed with my combat prowess and street knowledge that she hired me on as a guide, she took me down into this cave network where they were looking for some old power generator that the mining company used to use, well I knew the place like the back of my hand, every summer me and my pa used to go in there to clear out any feral Ghouls that had moved in, pa had this foolproof method, we would sneak up onto this old boom crane and sit in the basket, where he used to set off this siren with a flashing light sitting on top of it it would bring the Ghouls running and we'd just pick them off," the girl said with a grin.

"Smart, they picked me up because of my knowledge of local tech, I was a scav and scrap dealer, I'd sell whatever I could find out there but sometimes people would pay me to go out looking for specific things and I never once failed to get them what they needed," Adam said proudly.

"No wonder they picked you up what with their obsession with old tech," the girl said and Adam smiled and nodded.

"Yeah and I'm not gonna let them down, they've given me this chance and I'm gonna go out there and show the world that the Brotherhood is a force for good, I'll show the people of the wastes can rest easy knowing we got their backs," he said proudly.

As the memory began to fade Zixxy pointed to another door and Jewel followed along until they found themselves back in the corridor again and Zixxy began to feel her way along the doors until she found the right one and entered it.

This one showed Adam as a teenager, he looked so lost and alone, he was looking at the remains of a caravan that had been hit by Raiders, he was watching from a bush as they picked it clean, dragging two of the captured caravan guards away with them while all the rest of them traders included lay dead in the dirt along with their pack Brahmien.

When the raiders were gone he made his way over to two of the bodies a man and a woman who look remarkably similar to him in many ways and he collapsed onto his knees and began to sob uncontrollably as he clutched at their bullet-riddled lifeless bodies.

"His parents," Zixxy said and Jewel's hands came up to her beak in horror.

"N-No-one should ever see such a thing let alone a boy of his age," she gasped.

Yet another door materialized and they walked through it back into the corridor again, "Hmmm somehow this set feels closer to the surface, I think these are newer memories," Zixxy said as she walked along touching the doors until she found the one calling to her.