Before he could get much more out, the twins were off the couch, hugging him. "I'm so glad," came Asim's voice as they looked up at him, dark eyes shining tearfully as they buried their face into his stomach. "I miss Luke, but I missed you too. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Stunned, Xoris reached down to stroke the teen's black, glossy hair. "I missed you too. All of you. I'm glad I got to see you again." His words were quiet, thoughtful as he stood there. Maybe I really can just stay here, and put everything behind me.

"Well, you know what this calls for?" Merkos prompted, glancing around. He pushed himself off the couch, walking over to a cabinet before rummaging inside. "I think what we all need is some quality time together. We haven't even seen each other in so many Withers."

He removed a polished grey box from the shelf that Xoris recognized immediately, sliding it on the table in front of them. "So, let's play a few games after dinner, and the younger ones are put to bed, just like we used to. In the meantime, I can show Xoris more of everything he missed. We're not the only ones who need to be caught up on things after all."

"That sounds like a great plan. There's still a few turns until then, but I'll keep it in mind," the Warden reassured him before casting a weary glance at the box. "I just wish you'd pick a different game for once."

Next to him, Alaina nodded, also not looking thrilled at Merkos' choice.

"Oh come off it! You're all simply jealous of my natural talent. Come on Xoris!" Merkos was back to leading him upstairs. "I want to show you more of my project."

Nodding in response, Xoris let himself be tugged upstairs, a grin bright enough to match Merkos. It was almost surreal, how quickly he'd come to accept the news and his pushing for them all to get along, and yet... Anxiety crept through him, trying to sour his mood.

"M-merkos?" he began as the maje opened the door to his room. "How are you dealing with all of this so well? You... know what I did, and yet you're still trying to spend time with me, helping me, and keeping a smile on your face, despite it all. Why?"

As happy as he was to be home, even Xoris felt guilty whenever a positive emotion flickered through him. Did he deserve to feel happy when he'd lost Luke once again by his own hands? Did he deserve to be loved and comforted, and even if he did, why was Merkos able to be so giving, so quickly?

The joy faded off his fair features at the question, and Xoris' nerves spiked as his expression changed to be something more serious. "Are you asking this because you're worried about how I look at you, your actions, or Luke's death?"

"All of the above, I suppose. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone had reacted like Naeh. At least it's... logical," Xoris replied with a shrug.

In response, Merkos flopped down on a chair, tilting it back as he rocked it with his feet. "Ever since you came back, I've been thinking. Especially last night. It's... a lot to take in, and— I'm scared, and curious, and Pakhiv! There's so many questions I want to ask and things I want to see. For instance, you have all these mouths! Can you eat with them; talk with them? Can you see everything at the same time? What is that like, and how does it work? It's interesting, and skin-crawling, and... a lot of other things." He took a deep breath as his joking nature deflated.

"But... I already lost a sibling. I don't want to push away another, and I don't want you to have to hide yourself or expose yourself anymore than you're comfortable. Whether that's in information, memories, or looks, I want you to express yourself however you feel fit."

He glanced away, fiddling with the bulky sleeves of his robes before he turned his attention back to Xoris. "I think that's an important thing to offer to anyone, no matter who, or what they are."

Xoris blinked at him, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"It's nothing." Merkos nodded to him. "That being said, I would really, really, like to know if you can talk with the other mouths. And the eyes... gods, how many of them do you even have?" His fingers drummed on his lap as he examined Xoris, despite the fact that he had his energy settled enough to not have any features displayed for Merkos to see.

Xoris snorted, the action crinkling his nose a bit. They were both twenty-three Withers old, and yet it seemed like Merkos was still the same curious, disastrous child he'd known his whole life. "I have eighty-six eyes and six mouths, counting the usual, of course."

He'd never seen someone look so shocked as Merkos blinked. "That... that was rhetorical. You counted? Why? And why so many?"

"Well, I'd had five more but..." His gut writhed as he remembered the sharp agony of using a dagger against himself. "They were grey, and could bring back the dead. I couldn't keep them." His heart began to speed up as more images came to mind. He raced to change the subject. "As for the mouths, I can only open them out of scar tissue, so that's why there's a couple, like on my arm, neck, and hand. And yes, I can talk out of them, to answer your question."

He beamed at Merkos, trying not to laugh as he watched the maje sit there, own mouth agape as he tried to put it all together. When had he stopped being so bothered by it? How long had it been since he'd nearly shaken out of his skin at the sight of any Stained feature? Now it was just a part of him, something he'd counted to pass the time during his travels. So long as he wasn't about to be prosecuted for it, he supposed it wasn't all that uncomfortable of a subject, especially since Merkos was respectful enough.

"Scars? Then... does that mean you have one on the back of your head from when you fell out of the tree?"

Xoris nodded.

"Have you ever eaten your hair on accident?"

Xoris nodded again, blushing a bit.

Merkos rocked his chair back one last time before easing himself out of it, looking at the giant white structure in front of him again. "Huh. So, does this mean you have majik now, or heka, I should say?"

"I believe it's heka," Xoris agreed. It certainly wasn't majik. "To me, it's simply an ability. It's like breathing, or walking. Certain parts of the body have certain functions, and the things I can do are just the purpose of whatever eye it is." Xoris shrugged, taking a seat on his bed. "The closest I can get to majik itself is... an awareness, I suppose? Everything feels more alive now, and things I could never feel before, like energy and the type of majik in people, or objects, I can sense it now."

Merkos hummed to himself, registering the information. "That's a small shame. I thought after imy Azjuri ran his inspection... maybe you'd be able to get this to work, given that it was built with a lot of Stained materials." He inspected one of the spindly legs before sighing. "I have until the end of the tally to finish it too, and I can only ask Alaina for so much help."

Xoris got off the bed, getting a better look at what Merkos had built. The silvery-grey of the several metal legs supported a rounded body, with a hefty white crystal at the head of it all. It was an impressive tool, built and crafted from Human ingenuity alone. He knew he should be proud of Merkos, of the fact that he worked as a maje for the very people who distributed all resources for the kingdom, but he couldn't bring himself to do much more than continue to stare.

"You said this artefakt is to be a replacement for soldiers, right? Is that what you mainly do now? Build weapons from majik, I mean." Xoris knew he'd received a letter from Merkos shortly after he'd left on how he and Alaina had passed their entrance exams, and that she'd gone into resources while he'd taken the advancement route, but what those specifically meant, he still wasn't entirely familiar with.

"Well, yes and no. I mostly build tools as needed. For instance, I'm quite proud of the last artefakt I made. It's a box-like thing, but it searches its surroundings for heka and snaps its connection to the land. After the High Court approved it, I was able to send it out to Eux to help with purifying meat for consumption after they mine it. But, this time, they asked me to create a weapon in the space of a Crack that would be able to be mounted by a soldier, and act as both armour, and a weapon against the Beasts. And... I can't say it hasn't been giving me a bit of trouble, especially the timeframe."

He sighed before tilting his head, giving Xoris a concerned look. "Is this offensive to you? The more I think about it, our jobs are very... targeted."

Xoris thought on it. He couldn't say that standing so close to something that represented how much those in power wanted his kind dead was comforting, but he understood why it was necessary. "No, it makes sense. The others are violent, and slaughter countless people. They need to be stopped, so as long as you aren't going to use it against me, it's fine." He laughed at the end of it, because it was a joke. That was all it was: a funny concept of something would never happen. He was sure of it.

Merkos laughed back. "I make no promises. I don't need to be turned to stone." The smile faded his face though as he turned back. "Can I... ask you something?"

Xoris nodded once again. What would it be this time? Could he drink and breathe at the same time, or another ridiculous inquiry? He felt a small smile brush through his lips as he prepped for the maje's question.

"Are you able to talk to other Stained, or do you at least know why they're attacking us? At least when I was building this, I could just assume they were mindless things that only sought to kill, but now that you're here..." He paused for a moment, running a hand over the construct. "Are there more like you? Like people?"

Xoris frowned. 'Like people' was a good term for it: close, but not the same. Twice, he had dealt with other Stained: The Vilve, and the Vampire Girl. Neither one had given him much of an answer for their actions, and at the time, he'd needed to look at the situation as a simple right or wrong. But... after everything that had happened at the castle, Humans didn't like the clear choice anymore.

All the same, no direction was better than a false one, in his mind. "No, I don't know why they're attacking. I did meet one Vampire who didn't want to fight me, and she said something of a Higher Beast. She... told me to find her when I was ready, and she seemed like she had a reason, but whatever it was, she didn't tell me. I don't know. Kraim wanted me to kill her, but I never got to look for her again before I was chased out of Korim."

Which, now that he thought back on it, was a relief in a way. Even now, Kraim's voice echoed in his head. "Kill 'her'." But he didn't want to, even now. The very idea hurt, not because he cared for the Stained. They were enemies, after all, but he was done with all that. Now he lived here, in the fort with his family. Nothing else mattered.

Then Merkos nodded solemnly. "So they might have a ruler, and people out there like you." He ran his hands through his black hair frantically, focusing on the ceiling, his notes, anything but Xoris. "Ugh... I've never wanted to switch careers so much before. At least Alaina just has to make sure the troops have plenty of filtered supplies to eat and drink. That's simple enough. This is complicated. I just want to do the right thing, if that makes sense." He finally looked at Xoris, a pitying look in his eyes.

"... Me too." Xoris wished he had a better answer, for everything for that matter. It bothered him incessantly, how the Stained could cause so much bloodshed. It's not that hard to push away dark thoughts, so why can't they? He had done that this morning just fine, so what reasoning did they have? It was like they couldn't consider simply not killing Humans, simply not losing themselves. He breathed out a short sigh in frustration. Well, whatever their reason is, it doesn't matter anyway. He wasn't going to fight for either side. He was staying at the fort, and wouldn't ever need to know. This was his home now, just like before.

He went to stand, putting a hand on the artefakt to steady himself. Xoris was about to open his mouth to speak again, when a shock ran through him. It wasn't painful at first, but his mind instantly felt open at the contact, thrown up that mental staircase once again as violet and emerald eyes widened all over his body. It was strange, the perfect balance of a snapping jolt and unwavering solidity. Of rejection and acceptance.

Merkos' mouth fell open as he glanced over at Xoris, but he had no answer for him as the jumbled pieces creaked and groaned, a sound like tormented pain of a false life. Xoris stared at it, eyes wide in horror.

"Alaina! Alaina, come quick!" Merkos was calling behind him as it took a lurching first step. "Xoris did something to the artefakt!"