[Metal Tsubasa]: 95.The Story of Toen Wraith.The War Has Begun

Toen sat quietly as he held his tiny son. The little monster was quite for the moment and now the mighty god was trying to keep it that way. For being so small, Marius made more noise than Toen knew his ears could handle. Constantly crying and fusing over something and every time, Toen would hand the little bugger over to his mother, grumbling, “You made it, you make it stop…”
Mika would just laugh at Toen as she would take the child. “You made him too,” she would reply, even so, she never complained.
Now however, Mika was fast asleep and Toen was left to deal with his own son. Even when he was screaming or crying, Toen would take that over the upcoming war any moment of any day.
When the war was brought up between Mika and Toen, so was Marius. The two of them were now parents and for Toen, the last thing that he wanted was to have to abandon his child like his parents had him.
“Sozosha has already said that there will be many casualties,” Toen would tell Mika while she held Marius. “You and Marius can’t be here… I wont let the two of you become a part of ‘many’.”
Nonetheless, Mika never took kindly to Toen’s idea of leaving her and Marius on Vorseth to await news of whether or not Toen had survived. The gentle faced goddess would set Marius down in his bed and then move over towards Toen, holding his face in her hands. “I won’t leave here without you Toen,” she would tell him firmly. “After everything that’s happened to us, I wont let this war take you away from me and Marius. Staying here on your own is suicide and I know you know that. I won’t leave you.”
That would be how those conversations would end whether either of them wanted it to or not. Toen would quietly sit back and Mika would take her son back in her arms and leave with him. Toen would continue to sit in silence for quite sometime, usually until someone else came and urged him to move elsewhere. He hated the idea of Mika staying and fighting. He could remember how his mother had stayed with his father, how she had died trying to protect her family. Toen could see Mika as he had seen his own mother. Seeing her crying for Marius to flee, putting their son in Toen’s past position. Alongside that came the thought of himself dying in front of Mika, and leaving her and Marius with that image as Toen had been left with it of his own parents. Mika was too much like Toen’s mother to him… and he was too much like his own father.
The god looked down at his tiny son as he squirmed about in his sleep. A fanged grin broke across Toen’s face just before he leaned over and kissed Marius’ forehead. “Mom’s going to take you far away from here,” he told his son quietly, and his smile quickly faded. He looked up from his son to look at his sleeping wife. “I can’t have you here… I wont be able to keep you safe.”
Toen’s eyes suddenly shifted upward, towards the door as he heard something move outside. The shadow god clutched his son to him tighter as he rose from the bed to go to the door. He kept the baby in his arm behind the door as he opened it. He was thankfully relived to see that it was Fairoh, just about to knock on the door.
“What are you doing here?” Toen questioned in a whisper, sighing in respite. “Mika and Marius are asleep.”
The desert god’s amber eyes looked slightly past Toen to the bed and then back to Toen. “Sozosha wants us at the Council Hall,” he said quietly. “She says it’s urgent.”
“It’s about the war isn’t it,” Toen replied and he motioned for Fairoh to follow him inside as he set the baby down in his crib.
Fairoh followed quietly behind, glancing at Mika as he passed the bed. “What else could it be? You know she wouldn’t get us up this late if it was anything else.”
Clearly Fairoh was right, but Toen wished there was an alternative. Getting them up in the middle of the night meant the war was close, possibly just about to happen and that meant that Toen would have to get Mika and Marius out of Heaven before it hit, and he knew full well that Mika wasn’t going to go without a fight.
After leaving Marius fast asleep in his crib and kissing Mika gently on the cheek, Toen and Fairoh left, closing the door quietly, so as not to wake anyone. It was a straight shot to the Council Hall from Toen’s quarters and the two gods ran the whole way, being that the rest of the Grand Council were already there. The two entered through the large, cherry oak doors and found themselves right in the middle of the Council members. They had all taken their seats, leaving the seats on either side of Sozosha empty for Fairoh and Toen.
“Have a seat boys,” Sozosha said as the door closed behind the two gods. “We have much to discuss before the suns rise.”
Both Toen and Fairoh quickly took their seats in Sozosha’s long pause. She looked about the Council Hall, her painted red lips pressed tightly together. “The war will hit soon,” she finally said, and it caused the entire council to stir. “It could be in a matter of days… or even a matter of hours, but it is coming towards us quickly. I will need all of you here for the battle and I have even requested for Roeshea of Sol Haven to lend me a few of his angels.”
It was then that Toen noticed the few angels scattered about the Council Hall, all motionless as if they were statues. He didn’t know any angels, he hadn’t even seen any before now, which was possibly why he missed them to begin with, thinking they were merely statues or perhaps other council members. They were all dressed in different colors, greens, blues, whites, reds and blacks, possibly to coincide with their elements. But now he had gotten sidetracked and lost what Sozosha had been saying, he was only drawn back when Sozosha called him by name.
“Toen!” the goddess stated firmly, it was clear that this had been at least the second time she had called upon the shadow god.
Toen shook himself and looked back at Sozosha. “Yes my lady?” he questioned, his voice shaking from the start she had given him.
“Fairoh is going to send Rina and their daughter to earth,” Sozosha stated as she motioned a delicate hand towards the desert god. “You should do the same for Mika and Marius.”
I was planning on it, Toen thought giving a slight glare of annoyance in Sozosha’s direction, but merely nodded instead of speaking his mind.
“So I want everyone to be well prepared,” the goddess stated. “This will get ugly. We are fighting those that created the foundation of Heaven… and we cannot lose or all of Vorseth will be destroyed.”
There was more to the meeting, but Toen’s mind was in a fog. He only realized that it was over when Fairoh grabbed him firmly by the shoulder. The shadow god looked up lazily from his chair and saw that all the other council members had left, excluding Fairoh and Sozosha, even the angels had left.
“C’mon,” Fairoh said, his voice portraying the rush he was in, “let’s get the girls and get them out of here.”
Toen nodded and rose from his chair, but the thought of what Mika would say made him feel sick. She wouldn’t want to go, she would fight him, plead with him to let her stay and he would have to be cold and force her to go. She had to protect Marius and she couldn’t do that in the middle of a war. Fairoh had to drag his friend by the forearm back to his own quarters and then left him there saying, “I’ll come back this way with Rina and our girl to get you.”
So now, there he stood, right outside his door, knowing full well what awaited him just beyond it. Mika would cry, little Marius would cry as if to mimic his mother and Toen would force himself not to cry, he couldn’t, he had to be strong, he had to make her go, so she could be safe.
Slowly he opened the door and found everything just as he had left it before the meeting. Mika hadn’t moved and Marius hadn’t fused at all, but he would once Mika awoke. Gently Toen sat down next to Mika on the bed, dropping his face into his hands with a heavy, sorrowful sigh. “Why me?” he mumbled to himself. “Why am I cursed to destroy everything that I love?” But there was to be no answer to his question. Toen turned about and gently gripped Mika’s shoulder, pushing her gently. The goddess of silence’s eyes shifted sporadically at first and then she turned to look up at Toen. She rubbed her eyes indolently after being woken from her sleep.
“What is it Toen?” she questioned in her gentle, quiet voice. “Is the baby alright?”
There was silence before Toen could find his words. “Mika,” he said slowly, chocking on every word as it came up his throat, “the war, it’s coming, and soon. You and Marius have to get out of here. Fairoh’s gone to get Rina and their daughter and he’ll be coming back soon, so we have to get going now.”
Mika was no longer sleepy. She sat up abruptly, tears filling up her eyes. “Oh Toen!” she cried, throwing her arms about her husband. “No! No! I can’t leave you! I wont leave you!”
By now the baby had heard his mothers tears and he too began to cry, just as Toen knew he would. The little bugger was infatuated with Mika, Toen supposed it was that maternal need, of course Toen had never really learned how to be a father. Now the past mixed with the present and all he could envision was his mother sobbing, pleading for her only child, her little boy to run and save himself, he couldn’t let that happen, he would not let that happen. He clutched Mika tightly to him, pulling in any tears that tried to escape him. “You don’t have a choice,” he said sternly, his voice almost sounding like his own fathers. “Mika, you have to take care of Marius, and I can’t have either of you here while the fight’s going on. You and Rina can take care of the kids down on Vorseth.”
Mika grabbed tightly at Toen’s shirt. “No! Toen I don’t-!”
“I’m not going to die Mika!” the shadow go interrupted, knowing exactly what his wife was going to say. “But that’s only if you two are safe on Vorseth! Otherwise I’ll be too busy saving you to save myself! You have to go Mika, and that’s it.”
Little Marius was sobbing, flailing about in his crib as his parents clung to each other just beyond his reach. He grabbed at the air, hoping that someone would come to comfort him and it was only a little bit longer before Mika took her son up in her arms. Toen thought the boy would stop crying then, but the wailing only increased and it was starting to give the shadow god a headache. He winced at every sob, more so because he hated to see his loved ones cry, he never wanted them to cry. Nonetheless, he pulled Mika firmly up from the bed just as she sat down with Marius. “We have to go,” he said, his eyes fixed on the door. “Fairoh will be here any minute.”
He was right of course. Just then Fairoh knocked on the door, Toen moved Mika out the door quickly and found Rina holding her daughter in her arms. Toen looked from Rina to Fairoh and the desert god looked right back at him. Toen had never seen Fairoh look as he did then. He didn’t look like a predator anymore, but more like a cub, wanting simply to hold to anything that would hold him back. He look miserable and from the look he gave Toen, the shadow go figured he would look the same if he saw himself.
“Let’s get going,” said Fairoh as he too took hold of his wife.
By the time the group reached the gate the first sun had raised over the horizon. The children were crying, their mothers were crying, only Toen and Fairoh had kept themselves together enough not to cry. But now the war had hit, it hit just as they went through the gate, which would lead them to Vorseth. The first attack had jolted the gate and sent Fairoh and Rina one way and Toen and Mika another.
When they landed, Toen and Mika found themselves in a small, cliff side village. It was small, filled with tiny, possibly primitive huts, but the people looked happy to go about their business, clearly unaware of who stood just beyond them. Mika couldn’t fit in here, not with her pale skin and oddly colored eyes and hair, but still Toen urged her to stay.
“It’s for the best, love,” he told her, kissing her gently on the cheek. “Please Mika, I need you to stay here.”
But Mika shook her head with firm determination and gripped her husbands arm with her one free hand. “No!” she shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. “Toen no! I’m not going to stay here! Please! Let me leave Marius with one of the villagers, they’re clearly safe, and we can both go back to Heaven together.”
How he hated to see her cry. Those tears burned into his soul like his mother’s had so many long years before. He had to look away, biting his lip, which, with his fangs, caused it to bleed. He whipped his face before Mika could notice the blood and then turned back to her, quickly wiping away her tears so he wouldn’t have to look at them. “M-Mika it’s not-”
However, Mika interrupted this time. “I know it’s not safe in Heaven!” The tears Toen had wiped away were now reforming rapidly. “It’s not safe for anyone, including you, which is why I have to come back with you, to keep you safe!”
A long sigh came out from between Toen’s pale, and now bloodied, lips. He knew he couldn’t win, not against those tears. It was at times like this that Toen saw his mother in Mika, and he figured she knew how to use that to her advantage. He gripped Mika’s hand tightly and gave her another kiss on her cheek. There was nothing more he could say, but Mika had her answer. She kissed Toen back on his cheek and then rushed into the village. Toen wouldn’t follow, he didn’t like how any of this was going. Marius would stay here till the war was over and Mika would be with him in Heaven, fighting until the gods knew when, and nothing was going the way he wanted.
Mika found him right away, exactly who she wanted Marius to stay with. He was a younger looking man, clearly living on his own, but possibly not old enough. He walked with a slight limp, but he appeared to be happy to live as he was living. She pulled him quietly aside, told him her situation and everything was settled. Toen took Mika back with him, knowing he would have to explain why to Fairoh.
It hurt so much for both parents to go back home without their only child, they both felt so empty, but Mika continued to say that it was for the best, and Toen forced himself to believe it… though his heart certainly didn’t. Marius, perhaps the name was cursed. He had lost two of them now and he hoped he would see this Marius again, if only because he never could see the other again.
When they returned, Fairoh and Rina met them at the gate, having just come back as well. They had done the same with their daughter as Toen and Mika had with Marius. Toen and Fairoh looked to each other in utter defeat, knowing the other knew exactly what had happened; they knew each other well enough.