Immortality Part III - Good Men (PG-13)

Aethon sighed at his brother's lackluster response to the blood. Dipping his fingers into his own dish, he flicked it through the narrow opening. He stared at his fingertips a moment, then brought them to his mouth.

He immediately grimaced at the taste, and yet... "It could taste worse," Aethon mused aloud. The man repositioned himself so that he lay on his stomach, gazing through the slot. Part of him wanted to go in there and coax his brother to at least try the blood, but that would mean breaking the wards keeping him in the cell. And Aurmerle had eaten a lot more recently than he had.

So, Aethon went back to distractedly flicking the deer blood at his brother. He felt so... very... drained. Lethargic. And the more he smelled the unappetizing fluid beside him, the less unappetizing it began to smell. In fact, his eyes had grown dark - dark completely black, but getting there.

He refused to let himself drink, however. So long as Aurmerle went without, so would he. He had promised - I'll go through it with you...

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his brother. "I don't care how it tastes." He said his voice barely reaching more than a whisper. "Just leave me here to die whilst it's peaceful." He said closing his eyes again. He just wanted it to be over again. He wasn't going to drink that crap under false promises.

"I don't even... too far." He mumbled returning to his sleep. He was out like a light before he'd even managed to close his eyes.

Aethon's too-dark eyes gazed dully at his brother. "You're stubborn," he mumbled listlessly in accusation. Flicking the deer blood gradually became too much work, and finally, Aethon simply let his hand rest beside the dish.

Perhaps, Aurmerle was on to something. A nap might be -

Aurmerle opened his eyes and looked around. It was night, he knew that much for sure. For one thing the sudden warning of sunlight was missing and another, it was dark but he could still see. Slowly and unsteadily he pushed himself into a sitting position. It wouldn't hurt would it? To try a bit.

He leaned over to look and fell from lack of strength. He couldn't hold himself up any longer but at least now he was right next to the bowl. Slowly and steadily he moved so his face was over the bowl looking into the liquid below. It was did stink! But it was his only chance.

He took a deep breath and began to drink. Instantly his taste buds screamed at him to stop but the more he drank the strong her felt. He was beginning to feel more like himself again. Once the bowl was empty he threw it at the wall in frustration. He needed more, if he was going to be back to his normal self.

"Aethon?" He asked sitting back up against the wall holding his arm. His voice now sounding stronger. "You there brother?"

Aethon was drifting...

They were at the lake. Just the three of them; Aethon, Aurmerle, Osythe. The girl - sweet, innocent, and undamaged at fifteen - had kicked off her shoes, intent on wading in the water.

"You're going to scare the fish," Aethon told her, though, without any real protest. She shot him a cheeky grin, so much like their brother - in fact, the two younger children had always been the most alike; twins, in many ways, but for the fact they were two years apart.

Osythe tentatively stuck a toe in the water, giving a surprised little sound at its chill.

The happy image wavered.

Aethon hid a smirk as he watched Aurmerle slowly sneak up on their sister. They weren't really here to play, but he hadn't the heart to deny them their fun.

It wavered again, fading entirely. "Wait..." Aethon rasped. "Don't... g-go..."

He dragged his eyes open, to find he was face down on a hard, dusty floor. His throat was burning, his head throbbing, and he felt so weary that he wouldn't have been surprised it he'd become somehow melded to the floor. Why had he woken?

Noise. A voice.

"Aur...merle?" he murmured.

He turned to look at the wall as if he could see through it to his brother. "Still here brother." He said shifting slight so he could sit more comfortably. "Im locked in remember?" He said picking up a stone to throw up and down in his hand.

"Im going insane in here Aethon. I could have sworn i saw father in here last night." He said looking at the spot he'd seen him. Never again did he want to go through that again. "Aethon? Let me out please!" He begged turning so he was on his knees facing the door. "I'll do anything, i'll drink this... blood for the rest of my life if you let me out. I swear! Just don't leave me in here for much longer, its messing with my head." He said banging his fist against the door once hopelessly.

"In..?"

What? Locked in... Oh. He had locked Aurmerle in (In where?), hadn't he? But why? Something in the back of his mind tried to insist that there was a reason...

Father? No, no, no... Father would have been angry, and Aethon wouldn't have been there to take the blame. It was his duty as eldest, after all - to protect his siblings, even from their Father's anger.

He had started to drift off when there was banging against the door. Out. He needed to let Aurmerle out. Didn't he? Or wasn't there a reason he shouldn't..?

Aethon didn't move the first time his brain instructed his body to do so. In fact, it may have taken several attempts. Finally, his arm moved forward, brushing against the bowl of congealing blood. (Was there a reason that shouldn't be there, anymore?) Laying his fingers against the cool metal of the door, he thought for a long moment. He didn't know where he'd put his wand, but he should need it. He just needed the word.

Word... What was the word? It... It was...

"Terminus," Aethon whispered, his consciousness fleeing before the wards had finished resolving.

He was free! That was the first thought that crossed his mind when dived to his feet and opened the door. "Aethon, somethings in the way of the door." He moaned pushing on it. After a splits second of waiting he forced the door open with his added strength.

As soon as he was out he'd ran. Straight through the trees before Aethon had a chance to change his mind and lock him back up. But he didn't follow. "Aethon?" He asked looking back the way he'd come. Was it Aethon in the way of the door? Was that why he hadn't moved whatever it was? Slowly and cautiously he headed back, his body angled ready to run away from his prison.

Once he was close enough he spotted his brother on the floor. He'd obviously been starving himself as well. "Come on Aethon drink!" He shouted lightly smacking his brother on the face to wake him. "Aethon? Wake up!"

Aethon slowly opened his eyes, revealing them to be dull black orbs in a too-pale face. He had never looked so pale, despite the fact that he'd had very little exposure to sunlight over the past five years.

What was..? Why had he? Drink...

He inhaled through his nose. "You'd think," he rasped, "we would... smell different. The... wolves smell different..."

Aethon breathed in, once more, gaze sluggishly moving to the bowl a few inches from his face. It took a moment to get his arm to move, pulling the dish closer. He lifted his head from the floor, tilting the bowl to his lips. His nose wrinkled faintly at the initial taste, but he kept drinking, not bothering to stop and breathe. The bowl, deep as it was, could only hold so much and was soon empty.

Pushing the bowl away, Aethon shoved up with one arm, flopping over onto his back. Truthfully, he already felt a lot better, almost himself, despite the lingering weariness. Perhaps it is merely the result of having passed out on the floor, he thought wryly.

"I've have things that tasted worse," Aethon repeated his sentiment from a few days before. "Brother... I don't think human blood agrees with you."

"Really? I hadn't notice." He lied, many times he'd though about going after the wolves and tearing them to shreds. Still he waited for his brothers brothers reactions once he'd drunken something.If he so much as mentioned him going back in that hell hole, he was going to be out of there like a shot.

Once his brother began to move he couldn't help but take a step back. He knew inside his brother wasn't going to lock him up again, not if he did as he was told but he still couldn't trust him.

"Your cooking is much worse." He joked leaning up against the nearest tree. "I know i don't need a reminder of how weak i am." He said moving to the opposite side of the tree with his arms crossed.

Aethon sighed. "You're not weak. I wouldn't even bother if I thought you were.

"I... I think it's some sort of reaction. Almost like an allergy, or perhaps an addictive substance. It messes with your mind, Aurmerle. I regret that it took me a while to work that out," Aethon attempted to explain. "It doesn't seem to affect me the same way - or perhaps, just as strongly. I'm not certain. I just know that right now is the first time I feel that I've looked upon my brother in some time."

"Ha addictive you can say that again. I can't get enough." He said his eyes turning black as the veins around his eyes tightened beneath his skin at the mere thought of drinking his life force.

He frowned and pulled the piece out of his pocket. "Well i don't feel like him. Not anymore." He said flipping the flint over and over in his hand. He didn't know why but it seemed to calm him for some reason.

Aethon watched his brother contemplatively, blue-grey eyes taking in the younger man's movements. "Maybe not," he said. He pushed himself up wearily, stepping away from the building. "But I can see him, nonetheless." Clapping a hand on Aurmerle's shoulder, he gave it a light squeeze, then moved away, farther into the words and away from civilization.

"We've both been changed, Aurmerle," Aethon remarked, pausing to sniff, catching the trail of a creature that had passed by not long ago. The thought wasn't overtly palatable, but they needed to... feed, and the blood of humans were out of the question. Aurmerle couldn't control himself, and Aethon was certain that at the moment, at least, neither could he.

"It's about managing our condition, now. We..." he turned to gaze back at his brother, "we were once good men. I'm not ready to let some devil steal that from us." Continuing onward, Aethon left it up to Aurmerle whether he would follow.

Aurmerle couldn't help but flinch at the contact. He wasn't afraid of his brother, far from it. He liked to think if it came to a fight he could hold his own. He was just afraid of being locked up again. It would take a while to trust his brother fully again. Hell it would take a whilst to trust himself again.

"I know we were." He sighed and after a few minutes of thinking he followed in his brothers footsteps.