Chapter 140: Orion and His Family II

He rested his elbows on his knees. "And Daniel..." His mouth quirked, amusement breaking through grief. "He still drinks too much at every gathering. It’s like the man’s got a sixth sense for ale. But he’s loyal. He’s the kind who’d walk through hell if it meant protecting the pack. And he stood up as a father figure and a leader when you guys left. He cried most nights and he still cries every time this festival rolls around but he’s better. He’s laughing now and always arguing with Ronan talking about how Ronan wouldn’t settle down. If you guys were here you’d tell him to look in the mirror because he claims Ronan is worse than he was."

He glanced up at the graves. "And Ronan? Still the same pain in my neck. Always nagging about paperwork and responsibilities. You’d think being Beta gives him the right to act like my second conscience. But... he keeps me in line. Thats a secret I’m never going to admit to him so do me a favor okay?"

A breeze tugged at his hair, soft and cool. He took it as agreement.

"And Madam Tyler," he went on, rolling his eyes. "Still... well, Madam Tyler. The same sharp tongue, the same stubbornness. She’s still the same person, reverent and always alluding that everything that happened is due to the moon goddess.

A small laugh escaped him. "Any time there’s a meeting with the elders, she always argues with Caspian."

"And Caspian is still the same old trouble maker. He’s still alive too. That’s shocking isn’t it? He’s the oldest in the pack and still the same trouble some man."

He paused to take a breath, exhaling slowly as if to steady the wave of memories. "Zena’s gone. We saw her earlier this morning. She passed away quietly."

He bowed his head again, and for a few moments, the only sound was the faint sigh of the wind through the lanterns.

"Brynhild is captain of the guards now...I don’t know if I told you that."

He released a laugh. "God! I want to tell you guys everything but I can’t remember them all. I should have come earlier then maybe it wouldn’t be so rushed now and I wouldn’t be scrambling to remember things."

He drew his knees up, resting his chin on them for a moment. "We’ve made a life there. Hard, yes, but a life. People are laughing again. There’s hope. Maybe that’s all that matters."

He looked down at the smallest stone then brushed his hands over it.

"I like to think that’s what you wanted for us."

The silence stretched again. A single leaf fell from a branch overhead, spinning lazily before landing by the base of the gravestone. Orion brushed it aside gently.

He took one wineskin and uncorked it. "This is something we started brewing here in Nirvana. It’s like we are a totally different people. There’s new food we never even thought existed and this drink...its alcohol but I know how you both like drinking. It’s sweet and according to someone, it doesn’t matter if it’s alcohol...its sweet." He poured a little onto the ground before each marker. "For you," he murmured. "The old way."

The air smelled faintly of grapes and earth.

He leaned back on his hands, staring up at the faint shimmer of stars through the lantern glow. The next words came more slowly, hesitant, as if drawn from someplace deep. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"There’s something else," he said quietly. "Orion rather someone else. She’s the reason I’m even here after years. She’s the one who pushed me to come here and truthfully...I should have known from the moment she showed up that she would crash my life...in a good way."

"She’s annoying, beautiful, very annoying, a pain in my ass but she’s also... different," he admitted. "Not in the way everyone says. Not because she’s from somewhere else, or because she can read what others can’t or that she doesn’t remember her life before I found her. She’s different because..." He stopped, then shook his head, smiling faintly. "Because she makes people remember what it’s like to feel alive."

He turned the wineskin in his hand, watching the liquid swirl. "At first, I thought she was a problem. A burden, even. She asked too many questions, spoke without thinking, and managed to get under my skin every single time. Hence why I say she’s annoying" His voice softened. "But like I said, she’s also the reason I’m standing here right now."

He looked at his parents’ names again, eyes burning. "She’s the one who reminded me to visit you. I don’t think she even realizes what that means."

He rubbed at his chest, over his heart. "I didn’t want to admit it not to myself, not to anyone but I care about her. And I think...it’s more than I thought it would be. She’s waiting somewhere..."

Orion turned searching for Sophia but found her silhouette close to the gate lying on a bench as she slept soundly.

He chuckled lightly. "...she’s sleeping. We’ll do the introductions later. I hope you thank her because if not for her... I wouldn’t have come tonight. I wouldn’t have thought about what I’ve been avoiding all these years."

"And before I go..." He searched the ground for any life of stone and when he found one, he crouched down and first wrote on his father’s grave, drawing the words out softly as he wrote.

"...a strict father who loved bedtime stories from his wife, a good listener, a brave warrior, a man with a booming laugh that was borderline annoying...a father is also wanting to have if I get a second life..."

He bowed to it before moving to his mother’s.

"....a great cook, a healer who served bitter tonics, a mother who always listened to the stories of every child, a best friend, a mediator, a woman whose smile could melt away one’s worries, a mother is want to have again if I was given a second chance at life..."

He bowed then moved to last headstone.

A child who did not get to experience the world. But was still a huge part of his life. They had no name. They were still young when his mother had died so Orion thought to give her a name. It was simple but it signified something that every pack member had.

Hope.

When he was done, he bowed his head. Then stood up anybowed his head at all three headstones.

"I’ll make sure to come back every year." He told them.

He knelt then bowed his head three more times before he turned his back.

The graves here didn’t have bodies in them. Most had just something that signifies the person who died during the attack. Orion found every of his friend’s family, Ronan’s family, Brynhild’s and even Lysander’s along with Caspian, Eldric and the others and bowed at each one. When he got to the gate, he bowed deeply three more times by the time he was done, Sophia was awake, rubbing at her eyes.

He turned to her with a soft smile on his lips, "finally awake?" He asked her.

She pouted at him. "I didn’t sleep that long." She told him as she approached him. "Did you enjoy spending time with your family?"

He gave her a smile. "Yes, it’s time to go, I have something for you."