Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ It's in the Family ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own any of the characters in SSO.

This is set after Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Revenge. This is based off the Anime only and the English ADV versions at that. Warning Spoilers!

Author's note: If you have not read my fanfiction titled It's in the Blood, go and read it first. I cannot stress this enough, I am picking up where that one left off and without any preamble or re-cap. Also, the language will get rough from time to time as our heroes' frustration level rises. And believe me, their frustration level will rise. Also, you will notice that the characters have changed and may be somewhat OOC. Please keep in mind the events that happened in It's in the Blood and remember that will have far reaching effects….. that said I am doing my best to keep them in character.

Chapter 1*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After his abrupt awakening, Orphen realized it was the middle of the night and the room was still full of family, his family. Hartia and Majic were in chairs near the bed, Tistiny was on a couch across the room, but, most importantly, Cleo was beside him. He lifted his head and gazed at her sleeping face. `She's still here. It was a dream, she didn't leave me.' He raised his head higher and peered over to check on Alik, too, who was on a cot beside their bed. `Garik will never touch these two again.' He thought, as he lowered his head and silently renewed his vow that he would never lose her.

Leki, who had been wrapped around Cleo's head, nearly invisible, covered by her hair, shifted his position at Orphen's movement. He placed his head on Orphen's and left the rest of his body unmoved and proceeded to go back to sleep. In spite of the dream, Orphen wasn't ready to get up, so he closed his eyes, savoring her presence and the rhythmic sounds of her breathing.

Orphen had nearly fallen back to sleep when Majic got up from his chair and walked around to Cleo's side of the bed. Orphen opened his eyes slightly, to observe what Majic was doing, but did not let on that he was awake. Majic kneeled next to the bed, carefully avoiding Alik, and gazed at Cleo. Majic's hand reached out shakily towards Cleo, almost touching her, but he stopped himself, as if afraid she'd vanish. He started crying soundlessly as he closed his outstretched hand and brought his fist to his mouth, to stifle the sobs threatening to break free. He then opened his hands and covered his face as, very faintly, Orphen heard Majic whisper, "How could I…." Quickly and quietly, Majic stood and ran out of the room through the open door.

The urge to follow Majic was intense, but Orphen was reluctant to leave Cleo. `She's in my arms and I'm still having difficulty accepting her return. I guess it's the same for him. I'd better talk to him.' He was about to get up to follow Majic when Leki licked Orphen's forehead, stood, and jumped off the bed to leave the room, following Majic. "Thanks, mutt." Orphen whispered as he laid his head back down, gently pulled Cleo closer, and tried to relax. Eventually, sleep overtook him again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next time Orphen woke up it was well into the day, and he was alone in the room with Alik and Cleo. As he cleared the sleep from his mind, he realized that the doctor had never come. That thought got him up and in search of the others.

He found Hartia, Majic, Mariabella, Licorice, and Tistiny at the dining table, just sitting down for lunch. He guessed it was later than he thought.

"Good morning, Sleepy-Head." Teased Hartia.

"Did the doctor ever come?"

"He arrived during the night, but when he realized the tired crowd that was in the room, he decided to come back after everyone, or most everyone, was awake. He did say not to expect Cleo and Alik to wake again for a couple of days."

"A couple of days?"

"Yes, he said sleep was best. I'll need to give them broth and water from time to time. He probably should be arriving any time now. He said he'd come back after lunch."

Almost as if on cue, the doctor knocked on the door to the Everlasting home. "So, let me check out my patients…."

Tistiny, followed by Orphen, escorted the doctor upstairs and let him into the room with Cleo and Alik. Everyone else remained downstairs to finish lunch and stay out of the Doctor's way. She closed the door behind her before Orphen could enter so he began pacing just outside the door. A while later, Tistiny stuck her head out of the room and asked, "Do you want to come in?"

He nodded.

She let him in and the doctor, Dr. Hale by name, was actually almost finished examining Cleo and Alik. "I've never seen her this sick."

Orphen shuffled his feet and muttered, "Not sick, hurt." Tistiny went to Orphen and put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "She's alive because of you, never forget that."

"I have a special diet I want them to follow once they wake, to help re-build their strength. I wouldn't expect them to wake for another day, probably two. They're both suffering from severe exhaustion. The boy is malnourished. I'd say it's been a couple of weeks since he's had a decent meal. She probably hasn't eaten much in at least 3 or 4 days either, and her system has been dangerously weakened.

Also, now that I'm more familiar with they way you sorcerers can heal people, I see signs that she's been cut and then healed…..repeatedly. That would explain why she's so anemic.

The best medicine we can offer them right now is rest and sleep. While they sleep, I want you to force them to drink fluids, water and broth….preferably broth. Once they are awake, they will be tired and weak. They aren't to be confined to bed. I want them moving around some, just be careful they don't over do it. They need to stick to the diet to the letter, at least for a couple of weeks. This will be especially important for re-introducing solids back into their systems." He rattled off a list of instructions and meal plans. Fortunately, Tistiny was ready with pencil and paper to take down detailed notes.

Once finished, he looked intently at Orphen. "Your turn."

"What? I'm fine."

Tistiny added, "I asked him to check on you, too. You didn't eat or sleep much for the last several days, either. So, no buts."

Orphen sighed, "Yes, ma'am."

She smiled and reminded him, "I told you to call me Tistiny." She stepped out to leave Orphen in the hands of the doctor.

Doctor Hale poked and prodded Orphen and pronounced him healthy enough. "I'd like you to follow their diet for a few days. You apparently ate more than they did, but not by much, I suspect. Do you have any questions?"

"How is she, really?"

"As I said before, my examination was very thorough. She'll be fine after food and rest. She's been badly cut and bruised and will need time to recover her physical strength, but that's it. Mentally, I don't know." He said with a shrug.

"And Alik?"

"He's in pretty much the same condition. I expect them to fully recover, but they've both been through a lot. It will take time.

Also, since I have you alone, Cleo's body does not need any additional strain for at least three months. Abstention would be best."

"What?"

"Okay…I guess I'm going to have to spell it out. For at least the next couple of weeks, no sex and after that, take precautions against pregnancy for three months. A pregnancy during that time would be dangerous. I would recommend abstaining as the best method."

Orphen blushed so red, his headband wasn't readily visible. "Who the hell do you think I am?! We're not married! I haven't touched her, and I'm not going to."

"Not yet, but I've seen such events happen before, usually with disastrous results, with other men who've nearly lost their wives or loved ones. I have other patients to attend. Have a good day." With that, the doctor departed.

Orphen wanted to go downstairs, but he really didn't want to leave them. He'd about decided to go down, when Hartia opened the door for Mariabella, who was carrying a tray of food and broth. She set the tray on the table. "Since you probably won't want to leave, Mother instructed me to make sure you ate. She's already talked to the doctor, so don't complain about it."

"I'll make sure he finishes." Hartia said.

"Good, because I'm supposed to," she grinned slightly, "water the sleepers." She picked up one of the bowls of broth and went over to Alik. She started spooning the broth in his mouth, a little at a time. Orphen saw what she was doing and started to take the other bowl to Cleo. Hartia stopped him.

"Not this time. Eat." Hartia pointed at the plate in front of him. "Besides, I wanted to ask you about last night. What happened that started the boy screaming? In fact, who is he?"

Between bites, Orphen explained. "His name is Alik Enduring. It's really their story and I honestly don't know much, but last night, Alik and Cleo sensed that Garik was angry because of the sabotage Cleo inflicted on him before she escaped."

Orphen reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Damn it, we need information. I need to check some of the books at Rox Row's or even the Tower. I wish Childman were older. I think we're going to need his advice, and soon."

"He's working on that." Came Azalie's voice from the door.

"Huh?" Hartia and Orphen chorused as Azalie and Majic entered. "Azalie, what are you doing here?"

Ignoring their questions, Azalie continued with the purpose of her errand. "I brought some things for Cleo when she wakes." She deposited several books on the table. Orphen could see from the bindings that they were instructional texts on sorcerous runes.

"Runes? Why?" Orphen asked.

"She will be convalescing for some time, right? This will give her something constructive to concentrate on. And you something to do, Teacher. I will expect progress reports."

"I don't know about progress reports but it will possibly keep her out of trouble while we're traveling to Alenhatan and the Tower since the strain of a long distance teleport would be too much for their systems for a while. Now what did you mean about Childman?"

"I really don't want to explain that right now, but I will assure you that by the time you can travel to the Tower, he will be better able to help with any questions you may have. In the meantime, while she sleeps, you have lesson plans to work on."

As she exited, she grinned when she heard Orphen's groan and Hartia's snickers.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*

Early the next day, Tistiny shooed Orphen out of the room. "Go get your apprentice and take a walk. So you can be productive, there's a list in the kitchen of things we need from town."

"But…." Orphen started.

"No buts…. You're needed elsewhere, too, you know."

Orphen grabbed Majic and they both walked to town. Orphen realized Majic was being very quiet and that he looked really tired. He remembered Majic hadn't slept much the first night, in spite of everyone being reunited. `I wonder if that's what Tistiny meant?'

After they'd collected everything on Tistiny's list and made arrangements for everything to be delivered to the house, Majic asked if they could drop by the tavern, so he could talk to his father. Although, Orphen wanted to get back to the house, he recognized that Majic probably needed to talk to his father. When they arrived at the tavern, Majic flagged his father down and asked to talk to him in private.

Orphen was at first content to stay downstairs in the main room, while Majic and his father went upstairs to talk, but Nerilissa came in to tend bar. He really didn't want to be anywhere near her, partly because he felt he should apologize to her for his actions, but mostly because he couldn't believe she'd actually been so cold when Majic, Hartia, and he were so obviously still in shock. He stood up from the table he'd been at and followed Majic upstairs and stopped just outside the door, reluctant to interrupt. He ended up overhearing Majic's conversation with his father.

"So you made a mistake, she's back. It's better than continuing to grieve."

"But, Father, you don't understand. I gave up on her. She was going through God knows what kind of hell, and I gave her up for dead. How could I do that to her? How can she ever forgive me for that betrayal?"

"Just accept her return and be grateful you have more time. Dwelling on what might have been is a waste of your time."

Orphen thought to himself, `Damn it, old man, don't you know your son anymore? He doesn't need that. Oh, he'll get to it eventually, but right now he needs to know it's ….oh…hell, I guess I'd better talk to him.'

"Okay, Father." Majic said with a sigh, "He will want to get back quickly, although I think Mrs. Everlasting sent us on this errand just to get us out of the house for a while."

"That sounds like her. Always practical. Although, she wasn't always that way."

As Orphen heard Majic finish his conversation, he quickly moved away from the door and to the top of the stairs. He watched Majic closely as he left his room and got a good look at how worn Majic's face had gotten in such a few days. There were even signs he'd been crying. Majic was paying so little attention to everything around him, that he was startled when Orphen reached out and ruffled his hair. He turned to see his Master, who first became his friend, but was now becoming more like a brother, gazing at him with a very uncharacteristic expression on his face. Something Majic thought could be worry.

"Come on, let's get back." With that, Orphen turned and walked down the stairs.

Majic had to hurry to keep up with Orphen, but as soon as they'd left town and were on the relatively quiet path going towards Cleo's house, Orphen slowed down and finally stopped. Majic watched him intently and realized he was trying to find the words to say something.

"Is something wrong, Master?"

"I was going to ask you that, Majic."

"I-I'm better now."

"Really?"

Majic thought about that and knew the answer was no, but he figured Orphen had enough to worry about as it was. He didn't want to add to it, so he simply nodded.

"Right!" Orphen snorted in disbelief, "You're …well… family, and if you're worried or hurting, do you really you think I'm going to let you be? Although," He said with a smirk, "I could just wait till she wakes up and sic her on you." He pointed in the direction of the house. "Now, what's wrong?"

"I-I gave up on her. I just accepted her death and was moving on. How could I do that to her?"

"How could you not? For all intents and purposes, she was d-dead. We saw..saw her killed right in front of us. You're not the one who did it, so why are you blaming yourself?"

"But I moved on. I let her go. I should have had faith."

"Listen to me, you didn't do anything to her. You did what she would have wanted all of us to do. You did what I …. Well… what I … couldn't. We all got a second chance, which almost never happens, and I'm not screwing it up and neither are you. This has taught me that I can't loose either one of you. We're a family. Actually, we've been a family for a long time. I just wouldn't acknowledge it. That means we watch out for one another."

Majic was surprised by his master's admission, but he realized that he'd done the same thing. He saw the three of them as a family, not just friends. Well, four, if you counted Leki. Deep down, he knew Orphen was right, he shouldn't feel guilty but it was hard to let go especially with her still so sick back at the house. That fact and the remembered nightmares he had while they thought she was dead, seemed eerily like the very cave situation she'd been saved from. He decided he couldn't dwell on it, or he would ruin the second chance he had been given with…. with his sister-by-choice.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, "We'll see if you still feel that way when you have to start teaching her runes."

Orphen groaned at the thought of that chore, "Oh…So, thanks for volunteering to help."

"Wait, Mistress Azalie assigned that to you." Majic whimpered.

"And you're my apprentice, so you have to help."

"Oh, no, Master. Mistress Azalie specifically told me I could not aid you with this chore." Majic thought, `Especially after I begged her to let me off.'

"Was that before or after you pleaded with her?" Orphen teased with a grin.

"Don't we need to get back to the house now?" With the first smile Orphen had seen on Majic's face in days, he started trotting towards the safety of the house.

"Majic, get back here! You are going to help me with this task, no matter what she said." Orphen yelled as he chased after Majic with a grin of relief. Things were returning to normal.

Majic stopped and turned to call back over his shoulder, "I would never dream of imposing on your time ALONE with Cleo, Master."

Also stopping, Orphen called back, "What are you talking about?"

"Who me? I'm not saying anything. It's your dirty mind."

"Like I'm going to believe that? That's it. You have too much free time on your hands. That, or you're spending too much time with Hartia. I'll fix that! Now what did you mean?"

"What free time with the copy of the ruin tracings to be made? Well…actually, I might get more free time, since you'll be spending more time with Cleo. Especially after what we saw yesterday! BYE!" With a mischievous grin, Majic took off at a sprint.

"WE? Who's we? Get back here. What did you see? And who all was there? You'd better answer me!" Laughing, he sped up to capture his escaping apprentice.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Late the following day, Orphen was getting very impatient for Cleo to wake up. When he wasn't feeding her and Alik broth, he was pacing around the room. Tistiny came in during the afternoon and sat down with some needlework. She had to admit to herself she was just as antsy waiting for additional movement from the sleepers but she also thought her presence calmed the young man some.

"Mrs. …err….Tistiny, before we left for Alenhatan you'd said something about parallels between Cleo and her father. What did you mean?"

"You and Cleo haven't had much time to talk."

"I….we did say something important once we were safe." He reached up and scratched the back of his head a gesture Tistiny was learning indicated when he was feeling nervous, worried or insecure.

"Glad to hear it. I was wanting let you know a little about Cleo's father. He was an adventurer, always taking risks, always acting then thinking. He had an extremely difficult time expressing himself when it came to his deeper feelings and was also extremely loyal and determined when someone had earned his trust. Once earned, he would never completely stop trusting someone. He thrived on conflict, both real and play. He always had a tendency to champion seemingly lost causes, but his sense of justice was usually right on. He was a superior swordsman, even though he could barely swing one through most of his teenage years. He was the world's worst cook, even when I helped him follow the recipe exactly, it would turn out foul tasting. Does any of that sound familiar?"

Orphen does jaw drop. `That was Cleo, exactly.' Orphen nodded.

She smirked at him. "When you're interested, there are lots of family stories that you might be interested in hearing. Of course, that would have to be when she's not in earshot, she got in to quite a lot of mischief. Mariabella too, if you'll believe that."

"Mariabella? You're right, I don't."

"Mariabella was just ….well… more surreptitious about it than Cleo. If you haven't noticed, subtly isn't Cleo's strong point.

"That's an understatement."

"She's just like her father in that respect, too."

They lapsed into silence again for a few moments until Cleo moved restlessly in her sleep. She rolled over and her hand fell palm up on her pillow. Orphen narrowed his eyes because he thought he saw something different about her hand.

Tistiny noticed the change in his gaze. She followed it and realized he was examining her hand. She answered the question, which appeared to be formulating in his mind. "Yes, she has scars on her hands…back, too."

"What the hell? Why didn't I…?"

"She was so dirty when she came in they would have been easy to miss. The scars were what Dr. Hale was referring to when he said he'd seen signs she'd been cut and healed repeatedly." She was unable to keep the tears from forming in her eyes when she thought about what her child must have gone through and what the child next to her had too. "Alik has a few, too, but not as many." She added as Orphen quickly crossed to Cleo and picked up her hand to examine it.

He traced the scars, the anger building in him again at what that monster done to her…no, them. Tistiny had just added that Alik had some, too. He cast the healing spell on her hand and although, she appeared to relax and fall into a still deeper sleep, the scars did not fade as he expected. He cast the healing spell on her other hand with the same result.

Tistiny as she watched him spoke up, "When they wake, they will need to talk and someone will need to listen. Not immediately, but eventually and we can't push them."

Orphen nodded and looked up at Tistiny, silently asking permission, as he uncovered Cleo, preparing to lift her pajama top to look at her back. Tistiny came over and shooed him away as she moved Cleo into a seated position, pulled her shirt off and rolled her onto her stomach. When she looked up she saw that Orphen had his back turned as he protected Cleo's unconscious modesty. She grinned slightly as she thought about what a good man he was and how happy he would make Cleo when they both accepted their relationship. Of course, she also knew they still had a lot to resolve, besides the obvious danger they were all in.

She stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Before you look, I'm going to tell you, you will not like what you see. Will you want some time alone?"

He turned back and could already see the faint lines on Cleo's back. Tistiny saw the pain rising in his eyes as he nodded. She walked to the door as he sat down on the bed next to Cleo. She heard him cast the healing spell as she reached the door and heard a choked sob as she exited, giving him privacy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*< /div>