A Ghost of a Chance

[Vahene]

OOC: This is a continuation from "Bound" - which can be found here. Bound is recommended reading, otherwise you'll probably be lost. There's a list of posts at the bottom of that thread that will catch you up to Edana's "warlord" saga. I would post a longer post if I could figure out why my computer seems to seize up and type slowly when I try to post something on these boards.

- - -

The Inn was in the middle of nowhere. Halfway between Dasar and Daris. It was destroyed on the outside, but a tiny trapdoor led to a solace few knew about. Brion Genvaldi knew about it because it was one of his hideouts. Edana Genvaldi knew about it because it had been her home for most of the last year. It was nothing fancy. Dirty walls, root covered floorboards. Broken, stinking casks of some type of brew that smelled shockingly like vinegar made the place almost unbearable. But the place was home.

Brion had been concentrating on healing his sister. She was strong enough to swing a sword, to wear armor, but make conscious decisions? She defaulted to others for that. Something (or someone) was going to have to kick her in the seat of her pants to get her to make a choice about something.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. When his eyes adjusted to the light again, Brion froze.

"Marduk's knees! Where did she go?" he yelped.

He scampered up a ladder, and went through a trapdoor. He carefully looked outside. His sister was standing in the rain, talking to someone he couldn't see. She had finally lost her mind, he decided. He moved to go get her. But then the air seemed to shift. A ghostly Claw Warlord stood in front of her. Brion was confused. Then the Warlord removed his helmet.

Edana seemed to freeze.

Then Brion heard the one word he never thought he would hear her say again in his lifetime:

Father.

[Vahene]

Edana didn't know what to do. The thoughts were rushing through her head so quickly, she almost couldn't keep up with them.

On several occasions, a Claw Warlord had appeared to her - both in physical and ghostly form. The same Warlord. He always wore his helmet. Until now. And now she knew why. Standing in front of her was not just any Claw. It was Kinn Genvaldi, her and Brion's father. The warrior who had once been a Redboot. Who had turned against Dasaria for Varania 50 years ago. Who had betrayed Marduk, and began worshipping Anshar. Who had tried to kill her when she was 5. That Kinn Genvaldi.

It was a chapter of her life she thought she had closed. So many times his ghost had haunted her - she never imagined it was actually him.

"You said you were Nanna-Sin," she accused him.

"I lied."

The admission angered her. All this time had she been imagining talking with her goddess?

"No," he said, to her surprise. "The question is written on your face, 'Dana. You are a lot like me. Your emotions betray you."

"I'm nothing like you," she hissed.

"You're exactly like me, daughter. I only wish you could see it. To answer your question, no. It isn't all in your head. You have a strong connection to your goddess. She speaks to you in her realm. But in the living world, I'm afraid that was me."

"Why?"

"Because I was selfish. Because I wanted to see you."

"I thought Nergal--"

"You of all people should know not to believe everything you are told in a dream," her father chastised, quietly.

Edana's cheeks turned pink.

"There's nothing I can say or do that will make up for what I tried to do, Edana. But I wanted a chance to say I'm sorry. Peralia has given me this final opportunity. Or maybe it was Anu, or Marduk. I can't say. Who knows what is in the mind of the gods?"

She closed her eyes. She heard him make a breath, like a sigh.

"I deserve eternal torment for what I have done in my life, Edana. I betrayed and killed hundreds, thousands. I am happy that you and Brion both walked the road of hardship, rather than the road of promised riches like I did. Anshar thoroughly seduced me. In death that became considerably more apparent than it was in life. I am proud you and your brother avoided my fate. I am proud of the people you've become. I needed you to know that."

Edana couldn't help the tears running down her face. As he spoke, his form became lighter. Harder to see. He breathed a final phrase of love, and then faded completely.

She turned, and fell into her younger brother's arms, finally crying. Finally healing.

[Vahene]

Six months.

It had been six long and lonely months since the ghost of her father spoke to her. Six months of meditation and practice in complete solitude. Brion had gone back to Cear once, and not liking what he found, had apparently returned. He had been moody for a time, and she concluded it must've had something to do with the girl he used to hang around with; he'd refused to talk about it, though, and she hadn't pushed. She knew better than anyone what it was like to have to work through your feelings about something (or someone).

She was going through something similar with her patron.

She still served Nanna-sin, but she had spent quite a few weeks now in one of Marduk's temples.

She wanted to know better the god her father followed.

The priests had been good about respecting her privacy. None of them had asked about her cloak - which bore Argentum's colors, or about the nightmares that plagued her each night, which were growing in intensity as her faithful prayers to Nanna-sin were beginning to slowly dwindle.

Edana snorted.

"Child?" one of the priests gently asked, from nearby.

"Sorry, Father. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"What bothers you, child?"

"When did I begin thinking of Marduk as Marduk? Nanna-sin as Nanna-sin? The Varanian names have not fallen from my lips in many months now. I don't believe I even remember what the Varanians call Marduk anymore."

"Perhaps our Lord's presence is beginning to warm you," another of the priests teased.

"The Varanians call him Tharon," the first priest said, quietly. "It is not a sin to call him by another name. He knows where your heart holds him."

"But do I know where my heart holds him?" she wondered, more to herself than to them.

That was the question she needed to answer. And until she did, she would not return to Cear or to Argentum.

They would have to do without her. They had done so, so far - and they would continue to do so. Besides, she thought bitterly. Even as much as she missed her brothers and sisters in arms, she had a lot more soul searching to do.

". . . I am happy that you . . . walked the road of hardship, rather than the road of promised riches like I did . . . I am proud you . . . avoided my fate . . ."

Her father's words rang in her head, as did his final whisper to her.

"Go with Marduk's grace, my daughter, and be strong. Be the servant of the Arch-Warrior I could not be. As long as you hold your sword true and honorably, he will watch over you and love you as I have and do."

- - -

OOC: Er, hi? So I thought I would pop in and update Edana and Brion's status. I'm not sure if/when I will make it back, but I do miss everyone. Getting in game would involve reinstalling the game. I got a shiny new Alienware for Christmas, and it doesn't have NWN2 on it yet. I haven't found the time to reinstall. Know that I'm thinking of everyone though, and that I miss everyone lots!

-Vahene