Long ass chapter fr fr (4200 words) but we had a whole lotta ground to cover
So of course this means errors are probs present, just let me know if you find any otherwise I'll double back around to edit this monstrosity of a chapter in a few hours
Just gotta prep some stuff for a potluck bday shindig I got later today
Enjoy, lovelies!
xoxo

P.S. Playlist is updated with the song I think fits this chapter absolutely perfectly. It's from Heaven Official's Blessing donghua which iykyk. The song is also above, and I highly recommend a listen (I'm currently learning it on the piano and violin). The English title is: The City Is Full of Flowers

Caspian

"We'll be docking soon then, aye?"

The head of this raven turned as I looked past my grandfathers right shoulder to the man that approached us on the top deck. I recognized his voice immediately.

"Aye, of the sorts. We'll drop the anchor close to shore and row in. The wood I'm looking for is from a tree that grows further inland, but just in case this island we're in search of does indeed have settlers, I prefer we keep our distance between it and our ship. It sits far too close to Bristol Cove for my liking."

I watched as my father nodded. His face was young here, perhaps he was not much older than I, yet it was difficult to say with our immortality. My father had aged very gracefully.

The chantey continued throughout the main deck as I watched my family work. They were doing the tasks I'd now come to understand with being on Alistair's ship, making me wonder whether all that muscle memory had been lost to me from my bloodline.

My vision started to darkened again around me, forcing the vibrant light from the high risen sun to lose the clarity it brought, until I was left with nothing. Just darkness.

There was suddenly a jolt of pain that coursed through my head, forcing the body I knew still existed somewhere in that Kraken, to convulse a moment. I could have sworn I had heard the faint call of my name from a voice that sounded like Alistair's, but it was as if the eyes of this raven blinked close again, for when I opened them, it was now nighttime.

As opposed to the ship, I was now perched upon my grandfathers left shoulder as he and a few men rowed this smaller boat through the darkness quickly towards land. "Make haste." King Daedron ordered, each men climbing out from the boat and into the water. to drag the small vessel the rest of the way onto the sandy shore.

I noticed three men remained near my grandfather, however my father, the last man that came on this boat to this island, he separated himself slightly from the crew once on the shoreline.

"Keep to the perimeter, see if there has been other ports built along the west end." My grandfather ordered, to which my father gave him one firm nod. Only the moon provided light for us now, however the pale complexions of my family stood out against that sharp white light, granting me a better sight of them.

King Daedron had started his own quest up towards the thick forest, whilst my father continued further down the shore.

Before he could enter the forest however, I heard my grandfathers first words directly to me this night. "Follow him." He whispered.

And I felt these wings almost start to guide me, sending me out onto the shore before I drew higher into the sky. I circled my father far above him now, watching and following closely as he continued with his own task at hand.

From this aerial view, I could see more than my father could. I could see the shipwrecks he soon passed by, watching as he moved quickly. He would soon discover there were no ports on this side of the island's shoreline, that much I could see, but I did watch closely as he slowed a moment, crouching down to the sandy shore to examine something that was difficult to determine from this distance..

As he picked the material up a bit off the sand, it looked like some sort of sheer white scalely thing. His hand then dropped it suddenly after, as if the material was scorching to the touch.

I had been so consumed by getting a better visual on whatever that was, that I didn't see my father near the rocky edge of the west coast until I heard a clear audible gasp leave his lips, cutting through the quiet night. These black wings drew me further to him, looking past what was behind a large rock my father was examining, before I saw a pair of bare legs peeking from around it.

My final resting place was upon a large wooden beam of a shipwreck, and I watched as my father slowly bent down to pick up the body of a woman. Her modesty only covered from a sheer wet dress now stained in some blood as her body molded lifelessly into his arms. I noticed now that she was bleeding from a wound to the side of her head.

It was only when he began to walk back the way he came with this woman in his hand, did I finally realize who it was he was carrying in his arms. That distinct brow hair and soft features.

It was my mother.

My vision slowly began to fade again, however hard I now fought against it. I had wanted to stay here longer with my father and mother, to see what is was my father had done next...

But that was soon answered when I opened my eyes again.

This time, I was back on the ship of the Lockehearts. These thin feet were perched against the outer ledge of a small window, looking through to one of the cargo rooms as I stared past the reflection of this raven that was facing me from the glass of this window.

There was a woman resting on blankets sprawled out on the floorboards, her back now held upright by the wall behind it.

"Stay here," my father had whispered, kneeling down to wrap a second blanket around her shivering body. "I'll be back soon. I need to bring the boat back around to the shore for the rest of my men, then I will return to see to your injuries."

I noticed now that there was a wrap around my mother's head. Her face was young. Beautiful. Beauty that rivaled my father's, even while half that face was covered in a bandage.

And perhaps that was what kept my claws firmly planted on this ledge as each day began to fade in and out. Night and day following in succession of each other, just moments apart, whilst time moved with unnatural speeds.

I watched as my father continued to visit my mother here, keeping her hidden away in this seemingly abandoned cargo hold. And I watched as my mother slowly began to regain strength with each day my family spent on the waters, nearing further and further from the place my father had found my mother. Those days had quickly stretched to a moon's time.

"Each day I spend on this ship, it further curses yours." She had whispered to my father one night in particular. The night he had brought her some tea to help with the restless nights brought on by stronger waves. "I can hear them. Their calls growing louder. They question where I've now found myself."

My father sat beside my mother on the floor. They remain side by side, yet I could see his hands twitching nervously in his lap. My mother had made my father an entirely different person when he was around her.

"You cannot return." He replied quietly. "You cannot survive inside that Cove."

My mother slowly nodded. "There is a price I could pay that would mend what's broken. That could merge these legs of mine permanently, turning me into that of them."

"Is that what you want?" My father asked, to which my mother shook her head. She then soon after rested that very head against my father's shoulder, turning his face the color of crimson. I could practically hear that heartbeat of his from here. "Then you will never have to return. I'll make sure of it."

I watched as this memory faded again, and I partially expected to awaken still on this ledge, watching as my mother and father fell deeper for each other. It was a love story I wished my family had spoken more of, and one I found beautiful to watch blossom.

That wasn't the case however.

After another painful jolt soared through my head, my vision regained itself on the top deck, over looking the last of the men to finish their rounds as night had since befallen them.

I was resting on my grandfathers left shoulder again, however the fair sound that slowly flooded my hearing, made this small raven's body tense completely.

Before I could even fully distinguish this ethereal sound I had heard only once before, and that was on the shores of Azul soon after Alistair had called upon those creatures, one simply word slipped past King Daedron's lips once his eyes snapped open.

"Shit."

He closed his eyes again, however this time his hands reached for the top deck's wooden rail. He hadn't spoken a word to me, which only further confirmed that these reactions now were as raw as this memory. I was experiencing things exactly as he had.

"One extra heartbeat." I heard him whisper before his feet turned him swiftly. My talons kept a firm grip on the thick material of his trench coat as he flew down the stairs of the top deck to the main floor.

Once I realized where my grandfather was moving with speed towards, I tried to uproot my feet from his shoulder. I tried to distract him from the discovery he was to make, but the hold my grandfather now had on my mind held me back. He didn't allow any interference with this memory.

The man hadn't bothered with the door to the cargo hold. He had turned its handle so hard he broke the lock completely before pushing that door open.

And once he caught sight of my father... his son, and the woman he held in his arms as they sat on the floor, my grandfather quickly closed the door behind him, using his body to keep the now broken thing shut.

"Caspilius Lockeheart, you rebellious fucking child."

My father had sprung to his feet immediately, to which my startled mother had joined closely behind. She had long been nursed back to full health by my father now, I took note of.

"Come hold this door." King Daedron ordered his son harshly, to which my father had no choice but to comply. He took the position my grandfather once stood in, his back against the wood, before allowing both my grandfather and myself to approach my mother.

This was my first time seeing her closely now. Those doe-like eyes of hers staring back at us. I felt the ache I knew would come once I looked into those eyes. I could feel her warmth, even now.

King Daedron shifted closer to her, before he did something wildly unexpected.

He began to sniff my mother.

I watched as she stood there unsure of what to do. Her eyes cast back and forth between my grandfather's and my father's in hopes one would explain.

"What are you?" King Daedron asked suddenly. It took my mother a strong moment to reply.

"I'm... well..." another pause was warranted before she continued. "I am that of a siren. But I am also that of a man." She whispered quietly.

I felt my heartbeat, rather the heartbeat of this raven, quicken at that revelation. She had been...

"I can see that..." my grandfather muttered more to himself as he continued his inspection of her. "I hear the call of your people. The sirens that call for you are of importance to your creatures hierarchy. Do you know the burden you bring just by being on this ship?"

"I-" my mother started. "My apologies, truly, this wasn't my intent-"

"If you are to blame anyone, blame I." My father cut in, finally pulling his father's face from my mother to him. I watched as my grandfather's gaze narrowed to his son.

"You have broken a plethora of rules set by this family. I assure you, blame has already been cast your way. No need to beg for it."

That caused my father to break the gaze held with his own... but he didn't forfeit his position just yet.

"I have given her my word of protection. She is under my care now."

King Daedron brought two fingers to the bridge of his nose, massaging the bone. "Have a son, they advised. He'll be nothing but a blessing, they insisted. Oh how you've proven to test those very words with every breath you take."

That made my father's face flush slightly in embarrassment.

"Please," I heard him say, pleading with his own father. "I will ask you for nothing more. Nothing else. Please just grant me this only thing."

That forced an eyebrow of my grandfathers to arch in slight surprise, studying his son, before turning to my mother. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he turned to face his only child once again.

"Aye." I heard him finally agree. "I will agree to this... but know, you are now in debt to me for the discourse you've now caused between the Lockehearts and the sirens. And there may come a day where I ask this very same request of you." My grandfather slowly approached my father, before signally for him to move from the door. "And I expect you to lay down like a dog and accept it. As I have this night."

Those were the last words spoken before my vision faded to that blackness again.

And of course, before it could return, I felt yet another jolt of pure pain enter my mind. This forced the body my grandfather was still mending, to jerk forward, but I felt my grandfather maintain a hold that kept me steady. I hadn't toppled to the ground just yet.

As I blinked, opening my eyes again, familiar shores soon flooded my vision.

The ports hadn't been built yet, but I watched as my family began to move wood and supplies to and from the ship, working to lay foundations down.

We were now on the island of Azultia. Before it became Azul.

I allowed these wings to carry me past the shore, inland, my gaze now mesmerized by the sheer beauty of this land and all it once was. The rich green grass stretching on and on, with no homes yet built to inhabit it. But I drew nearer to the one building that had since finished its construction. A building I knew all too well.

The palace.

My home.

It stood in its entirety now, completely finished. There was a man that drew my wings to him, a man I now recognized as my grandfather as he allowed me to perch myself against his shoulder, staring out at the massive structure as he sprinted up the marbled steps and through the palace's open doors.

"King Daedron!" A voice cheered out, yet I felt the impact of the small child running into my grandfather before I could see them.

I hadn't needed to see them, however. I had recognized the voice as my own. As a younger me, no older than possibly seven or so. My pale eyes had stared up into his. The color I now realized as I lived through this memory, that my grandfather possessed the ability to change.

His eyes were pale now, the color of the Lockehearts as he glanced down to me with a smile. Those arms of his were quick to scoop me up for a brief spin before he set my now giggling self back down.

"Your visits are few and far between." My father spoke suddenly. That drew both my grandfather's and my own attention up towards the man that was entering the front hall to the palace. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

My grandfather just offered his son a small smile, one that passed some level of communication over to my father before he gave his father a nod, and began to make his way down a corridor. He was guiding my grandfather and he towards one of his studies located in the east wing.

Both men made sure they had made it safely into the private room, with the door closed and locked behind them, before my grandfather felt free enough to speak his mind..

"This will be my last visit to your family." I heard him say. My father's eyes quickly grew wide at that.

"What do you mean?" He asked suddenly.

"Just what I've said." King Daedron replied. "I know every part of you will want to attest this, however you knew this day would come. You just chose to bury this inevitability deep down inside you, my son."

My father stumbled back a bit before he found something sturdy behind him, then he leant himself against his large desk. He allowed himself time to digest his father's words, something I realized was a quality my father had since learned through these years.

"The children-"

"Are beautiful," my grandfather interrupted, "you and Armoria have made two incredible children. Two strong sons..."

Those words alone made my father's eyes soften.

"And so, my work here with you has reached its magnificent end. You have succeeded in every possible way, every avenue I could've imagined, bringing more honor to the Lockehearts with this land you are creating for both yourself, your beautiful family, and these once lost citizens."

My father finally broke the gaze he held with my grandfather, choosing to turn his face away in hopes it wouldn't show the pride my grandfathers words had made him feel.

"And just as you have found this home for your children to grow. To prosper, to learn from... I must return to my own. The call to the sea is not something I can ignore any longer."

My father's gaze still remained on the shelves of books that lined this room, refusing to meet King Daedron's until these last few words slipped from his lips.

"I will ask nothing more of you. Nothing else. Please just grant me this one thing."

My father's eyes finally found his father's, the pain I saw behind them now cutting through me in ways I didn't expect. This goodbye had been far more gut wrenching than I could've possibly imagined as I watched my father slowly nod his head yes. There was no will to fight him behind those sorrowful eyes...

For he had made that wager all those years ago, and my grandfather had only come to collect on the debt.

I was fighting my vision now, willing to try and force myself to remain here. In this memory. I wanted for nothing more than to see my family together again. Even for just a moment.

Even if it was just a memory of the past.

However my mind spared no expense, not even the expense of my own, when it sent me the final memory.

This one hadn't placed me in the body of a raven this time, no.

As my eyes blinked open, adjusting to the corridor I now stood in, the first thing I felt was burning. It was the burning of my eyes and lungs from the thick smoke that overtook all fresh air.

The thick clouds of it had almost masked the entirety of this place, yet I knew I was still in the palace. My burning eyes glanced down suddenly to the once blue robe that was since soaked in blood, yet my body didn't move to the will of my own now.

It moved to the will of this memory. My memory.

And this was the memory that was once lost to me. I glanced back to the chambers of my father and mother. The entire room now engulfed in flames, however the heaping pile of dead Holy Men scattered right inside had told me all I needed to know.

I had killed every man that advanced this chamber once I  had awoken this power. Once I had called upon it, and accepted its wager. These changed eyes were what were now helping me see past the thick smoke.

My feet carried me forward regardless of how terribly I wanted to go back into that room. To try and recover the body my mother for a proper burial. Instead I was sprinting down this corridor now with the sound of my name being called from somewhere behind me.

It was Lemont's voice, however I had chosen to ignore his call this night. I was seemingly too focused on one thing, one thing I could now still hear the heartbeat of if I listened closely enough.

And that was my father.

As this long corridor soon stretched open to a conjunction of hallways positioned in the center of the palace, I saw what it was I had heard. My father and three guards had continued to fight, my father wielding daggers of his own, however there was no chain connecting them. And the blades in my own hands could never rival the size of his.

He had cut down the Holy Men who advanced him with such ease, that all my memory could recall as I watched him fight so ferociously, was training he and I had done together.

That alone was what called for the daggers I held tightly in my bloody hands, to drop themselves to the ground. And that sound however had stopped my father from his engaged combat immediately. It was his guards who had then cut down the remaining men, as I watched his body still, before turning to me.

When my father's eyes found mine, his slowly widened. He was covered in blood, yet I knew the sight of everything being crimson red, from the roots of my once white hair to the steel toes of my blood coated boots, had broken something inside him.

"Caspian!" I heard Lemont call out again as he soon joined me in the conjunction. You could barely see the floor from how many Holy Men were now slaughtered on it. My father and his men had held the line, and held it well.

"Lemont," my father spoke, forcing his eyes past me to the man behind me. "Hodrus?"

"With Dreska," Lemont reported immediately. "I believe they've made it out."

My father nodded, but his attention slowly went towards one of the hallways. We could hear more Holy Men quickly approaching.

"Armoria?" He asked, turning to Lemont again. I looked back behind me just in time to see Lemont slowly shake his head no.

"Understood," my father whispered, forcing my gaze towards him again, though that voice of his...

It felt like it echoed against these very palace walls.

"I need you to get Caspian out of here now."

Lemont reached forward for my arm, which I was going to shake away, still willing to fight, but I noticed now that I couldn't move any bit of me. Something had... happened. My father had down something to all my mobility.

I could only watch as he slid his blood drenched daggers back into their holdings at his side, before he slowly dropped his large stature down to a knee. My eyebrows only creased in confusion for we could all still hear more guards approaching.

"And of the library? Were you-"

"It's safe." My father replied to my advisor's words. He had placed one hand on his knee to help lower himself, yet I watched as his right hand placed itself palm down onto the bloody floors themselves. "It's near her home."

"Understood." Lemont nodded, his other hand had grabbed for my other arm, but he hadn't pulled me back just yet. Instead, it felt like he was waiting for something. The steps of The Holy Men were swiftly drawing nearer, therefore I couldn't understand what we were waiting for... until my father spoke again.

"One day you may understand dear Caspian. Caspilius Lockeheart The Second. And perhaps then, you will accept this apology of mine."

I watched as my father's eyes slowly closed a moment, yet when he opened them again, they now burned a pure blue. A color I had never seen my father's eyes take on before.

"For in order to keep you safe, I must erase this place. What I will leave in its wake will devastate you, for this was your home after all. A place of security your mother and I simply wished to give you... you'll soon understand that the love your mother and I have for you and your brother stretches far past these walls. Far past this very land itself. And I believe in you two. Your ability to find it."

My father raised his left hand now, the one resting on his knee, and when he flicked two fingers in my direction, I felt myself falling back suddenly.

He had released his hold on my limbs, and yet that power I had called upon was quickly leaving me too. The last thing I could remember before my body stumbled back against Lemont, falling a state of unconsciousness... were three words he whispered deep into every crevice of this palace. Every stone that made it whole.

"I release you."

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