Another Goodbye

Despite his newfound freedom due to Ezra's intervention, Voriel was quiet, content to just watch the group as the decided to rest from the plunder through the temple.  

Rahsaan held the angel's sword in his grasp, his pose no longer unwieldly, and he made a few practice slices through the air gracfully. The way the young man moved, it wasn't just a blade; it was an extention of himself. Which, Voriel knew, it was- the sword housed a part of his essence. And with his newfound- and long overdue- profession to Ezra, Voriel's spirit, body, and weapon were united in a common purpose.
He almost felt sorry for anyone who happened to be on the recieving end of the sword. Almost.  

His attention turned to the wizard, and then immediately to the genie she was speaking to. He could tell despite her official tone and overly-long termination of contract explanation, she was sad to see her companion go, who has aided her- all of them, really- through the twisted land of Barovia.

"If you have something to say, just say it!" Rahsaan said in his mind. Voriel realized his gaze lingered on Malajai after he and the wizard had made their accord.

"I took control for the entire temple and then some. It's your turn." Voriel replied. In his mind's eye, he saw Rahsaan give a disbelieving smirk. Voriel sighed, "You are right. If I don't say it now, I may not get another chance. Ignoring Uriel wasn't my only mistake . . ."

Rahsaan rebound the sword amongst his things before Voriel took the lead, walking over to Mahlajai. His posture was unmistakable uneasy as he ran a hand through his hair and said, "I understand this may be the last time I get to speak with you. Our talk before we arrived was tinged with doom and worry but now that we've made it to the center in one piece, there was something I should have said, lest I have to wait another millennia."

He took a deep breath, gave a glance toward the direction of Ezra, and then faced Mahlajai again, "So, did you know that Ezra was here and was the river if magic, or were you just as surprised as we were?"

Mahlajai looked to the angel and said, “I knew it may have been a possibility. When the last knight attempted to reach this point he described the magic river and spoke of having doubt about not being able to go through with the plan to plunge his sword. I did not know the knight personally very well but in general the knights of Argynvost were not known for their hesitation to do the right thing. But I never actually saw her because I didn’t go with the knight. His unwillingness to attempt to stab whatever was in here was something I suspected was likely because of something he saw. ”

The djinn looked back to Ezra then to Voriel, “But that was what you wanted to ask?”

With one final mental nudge from Rahsaan, the angel's words streamed like a flood from a burst dam. "Alerion and I didn't just serve together. I had special feelings for him. It isn't the same as mortals falling for one another, not exactly . . ."  He seemed to search for the right word before he continued, "I wanted him as my Kindred Spirit, you know someone I could share thoughts, feelings, emotions, essenses with." He didn't explain further, as if that explantion was enough.

"But I never asked him, or told him my feelings. I couldn't work up the courage. Even when Alerion cursed Uriel's name and fled from his presense, that still didn't change how I felt. I regretted never telling him. When I heard in Ara's cry for help, that Alerion was in the depths of Hell I deluded myself to believe that he was captured previously, and that I could save everyone- dismissing the possibility he played a part setting the trap for Uriel's choir in the first place."

He stopped for a second, "To be concise, when I finally found him I learned he did not return my feelings. instead he- very literally- stabbed me in the heart. All this to say is, I have those same feelings for you, Malajai, ever since our first encounter with those hags. What I put off asking is if you felt the same way about me at all."

Mahlajai furrowed his brow as Voriel voiced his thoughts.
“Voriel-I consider you a friend. The closest I have ever been to another in terms of a bond, would be with Eylylyn and I’m not sure even that close relationship is on par with the type of bond you had with Alerion.”

The blue skinned man looked into Voriel’s face. “I don’t think I ever could have a bond like yours but it sure seems like a good one.”

Mahlajai looks over to Ezra as he says to Voriel, “...besides, I’d hate to try beating the competition.”

Voriel sighed, "I didn't have that bond with Alerion. It was my desire but it was nothing more than a dream. History just seems to be repeating itself."

When Malajai brought up Ezra, the angel seemed to have a blast of realization. "That . . . that's why Rahsaan wanted me to tell you. Harboring my feelings instead of talking them out, that was who I was. That was the last tether to my old fallen self, and it's broken . . ."

He looked and his hands, clenching and unclenching them and then turned back to Mahajai, "I know it may not seem like it, but I feel better now than when I was in my supposed prime. Probably the same you felt when you burst free of that puppet."

He let out another sigh, this one contented, "Though who knows. I never thought I would see you again after the battle of Pesh. If Ezra and the winds allow, than we shall meet again."

Voriel withdrew, leaving Rahsaan staring at the djinni. He blinked to collect his thoughts and said, "Oh, hi . . . you know, it seems strange, but I feel I do not know you as well as I think I should have. Voriel usually just asked what I wanted to as an excuse to speak with you. But because he did not . . . what exactly was your bond with Eylylyn? Was it like Voriel's and mine?"

Mahlajai watched as Rahsaan returned to the forefront and he replied to the question, “Eylylyn might have a different take on it, but in many ways a familiar and mage relationship is the closest any two beings can possibly have. The two share a mental link at all times, there are no secrets. But more than that, a familiar and their liege experience and share every emotion and experience. When Lyn overcame the seal she had on her memory- every thought, pain, sorrow, cut, injury, or damage she had ever felt, I felt instantly. But it was a two way street-she felt everything I’d ever been through as well.”

Mal shook his head as he says, “The bond is nearly unbreakable and no two familiar liege bonds are identical but all are close. I expect that when the moose mage familiar the kraken-died, the mage grieved for weeks. It would be like part of your body being torn off if either dies. It is not a fun ordeal.”

He looked to Rahsaan, “I am not certain how precisely close you and Voriel are, so I don’t know if that’s a good comparison.”

Rahsaan nodded along as the djinni spoke, though the spirit could get the sense that the young man was only half-listening, his eyes seemingly taking in just how . . . battle ready Mahlajai currently appeared. As his explanation ended he said, "I would say Voriel and I are very close. Now, anyway. Our venture together through this land has answered many questions that I did not truly believe his answers about. Like the gods being dead, evil creatures are always beyond redemption and must be destroyed, and green mossy bread is inedible."

Thinking of something else to ask he said, "But with how Voriel and you talked, you both seemed to know each other from a long time ago. Is there a place outside Barovia, Nova Vaasa, Darkon, Borca . . . all of this? Are there are lands outside the mist?"
Before getting a reply he asked excitedly, 'What was it like? Was it was bright as Voriel tells me it was? And evil beings like Strahd held no power?"