Sain sat in bed, staring blankly at the man in front of him as his emotions exploded in his mind. His parents had been Gardeners? He had a sister? The hero of the people had killed his mother? This Gardener in front of him had abandoned a small child to a fourteen year old girl? What is wrong with this world?
"I understand it is a lot to take in." Reazon said calmly, looking at the distraught young man still trying to process the information.
"No kidding." Sain said with a snort, shaking his head and trying to clear his confused state of mind. Gera looked at Sain with visible conflict in her gaze, wanting to rush over and comfort him but waiting warily on the Gardener to finish his conversation with the boy.
"I owed your father and mother a great deal, Sain." Reazon said with a soft sigh."They took me in when no one else would. Your father trained me and taught me how to control my gifts. They gave me a family when my own abandoned me as worthless. Despite all that, I was unable to protect them, or you, from harm. For that you have my deepest apology."
Rising from his stool, Reazon fell to his knees in a deep bow, and Gera looked like she might faint from shock.
"Master Reazon, there is no need for you to go so far as to bow to us!" Gera exclaimed while pleading Sain with her eyes for help in this situation. A small sense of warmth spread out from Sains heart at the sight of Gera panicking.
"I may know my story now, but nothing has really changed." Sain thought to himself as Gera continued to stare at him imploringly. "No matter what happened in the past, Gera is still Gera, and I am still myself. My priority should be here and now, as for the past... I should probably deal with that later when I don't have my guardian kneeling on the floor."
"Please Reazon, there is no need to go this far." Sain said, shaking his head with a sigh. "Gera is likely to pass out if an esteemed figure such as yourself keeps apologizing in this manner. These things -even if they are true- happened a long time ago. I will admit I'm pretty curious about my family, and would love to hear stories about them, but ultimately not much will change. I am still a colorless, Gera is still my mother. Despite my... frustrations of you giving a child to a young girl, I am glad you gave me to Gera. So please get up."
Reazon slowly got up from the floor as Rhyme shook his head at his master.
"You see! I told you the boy would forgive you if you just honestly apologized! Besides, the kid's life hasn't been too bad thus far, I mean he's got Gera and a very laid back, ignorant master watching over him so he has been spared most of the poor treatment the colorless get." Rhyme spoke up snarkily from Reazon's shoulder.
Gera moved to the bedside of Sain, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking at the serpent and man across from them.
"Master Reazon, I will not lie to you that raising Sain has been difficult over the years. I was just an inexperienced girl when you left him in my care, and I don't know if I raised him how you would want. What I do know is that he is a fine young man in spite of himself." Gera said while rustling his hair with a smile.
The warmth in Sain's chest continued to grow and a similar warmth began to be felt from the egg in his hands. The two feelings seemed to resonate with each other, drawing Sain's attention from the people around him to the egg. Seeing Sain take his gaze off of them and turn to the egg on his lap, Reazon deduced Sain was lost in thought. Clearing his throat to regain the young man's attention, Reazon continued with the main purpose of their meeting.
"Ahem... now that we have the story out of the way, we can discuss the main purpose of my coming here today. As you have noticed, Sain, the woodgrain ring your father left for you has some... interesting effects, the least of which has been in keeping you alive after your run in with the young adept."
Sain looked down at the front of his shirt, seeing the spiderweb of dark roots beneath his skin and then back at Reazon.
"Honestly I thought it was your doing, sir, to help me to heal" Sain replied, curious where this conversation was going.
"Well... technically it was. Shortly after I managed to get you away from the Tower Master, I found Jet's journal hidden in the house. It described a method of forging a ring that could suppress the negative effects of his bloodline, and mask their abilities for a time. Before turning you over to Gera I grafted such a ring for you, making your sister's at the same time. During your encounter with the adepts you experienced a rush of emotions that under normal circumstances would have awoken your unique... constitution. The ring is suppressing the effects of such for a time."
"My constitution?" Sain asked in bewilderment. "What do you mean my constitution? Are you saying I have some weird ability or power like the Gardeners do?"
"Oh, there is no doubt that you possess the innate talents of a Gardener," Reazon said, looking at Sain kindly while shaking his head, "but what I am referring to is the unique traits which only those of your bloodline posess. You see, each Gardener family has peculiar traits that provide an emphasis on their powers. For instance, my family excels at forming the Gardener ability known as "Harvest", whereby using our connection to the awen we create a void in front of our staff causing rippling blades that cut through most substances if enough energy is provided. Most Gardeners are capable of it, however for my family it is simply easier to do and requires less energy."
"So you're saying that my... parents... had some specific ability?" Sain said, looking at Reazon curiously."
"Indeed, and what a bloodline!" Rhyme said animatedly from Reazon's shoulder. "In fact, if you didn't have the drawback, it would be an absolute bloodline!"
"What drawbacks?" Gera asked with concern.
"Sain posses the bloodline of the autumn leaves." Reazon began " It is a bloodline that increases one's capacity for energy and allows superior control for the five main abilities of Gardeners. You circulate energy, heal, and cast faster than most Gardeners. Where others would have to spend years of practice controlling their energy, you would be able to grasp such a concept at a much faster pace. Your insights would be gained faster and growth would be nothing short of stunning. The drawbacks, as my reptilian friend here so aptly pointed out, are equal to the gains however."
"Those who possess this bloodline are known to suffer from... well, lets just call it a lack of emotion. Fear, anger, love, peace... any emotions at all really, tend to get... sapped away." Rhyme continued where Reazon left off.
Sain Immediately thought about the strange dream he had after losing consciousness. He had felt... empty.
"To go along with turning into a being that operates solely on logic, another downside to your situation is that due to the rapid growth you would experience, you would start glowing like a beacon to anyone who had trained in the Awen. They would find you in short order, discover your bloodline, and then either turn you into some sort of lab experiment or kill you for not being part of a registered family of Gardeners." Rhyme continued cheerfully, as if he hadn't a care in the world.
Gera looked at them palely, glancing between Reazon and Sain before asking, "But there must be something we can do about it sir?"
"Indeed," Reazon replied with a nod. "This is what I meant when I mentioned Sain would have to make a choice. Really there are only two viable options."
"You can either try and stick things out yourself, in which case my recommendation is to hide in the woods as far from civilization as you can, or we can try and illegally sneak you into the Garden tower as a student. You know, false identity, bastard son of a known disappointment, that kind of thing." Rhyme continued.
"On your own in the wild you would have to fend for yourself, but your concerns would mainly be about the beasts that inhabit them. As long as you stay as far as you can from the Gardeners, perhaps even heading to the deserts and the tribes that wander them, you may live freely for a time until you lose your emotions. If you came to the Gardener's tower, I could provide training for you and help you to conquer your bloodline instead of it conquering you. You wouldn't lose your emotions, and would be able to control your powers, but in exchange, you, Gera and anyone else involved would be subjecting themselves to danger and death if discovered." Reazon explained.
"These are the safest paths for you, child" Rhyme concluded as the pair of Gardener and serpent gazed at the youth on the bed.
"What do you think I should do, Gera?" Sain asked the woman who had raised him.
Gera looked incredibly conflicted. "It seems the safest method would be to have you leave and head for the desert, but I also don't want you to lose yourself, little one." Gera said using her pet name for Sain before turning her gaze to Reazon. "How likely would he be to be discovered if he went to your Tower?"
"Depending on his actions, if he tries to keep a low profile they should be next to nil." Reazon responded evenly.
Gera nodded then turned to the boy. " Then my advice is to go with Master Reazon to the Tower. You will have a chance to change your life there, little one, and then at least I will still be able to see you without worrying."
"So what will it be, Sain?" Reazon asked. "Will it be the path to be a Gardener or the path to be a fugitive?"
"Will Gera be taken care of if I stay?" Sain asked quietly.
"You have my word." Reazon replied seriously.
"What do you need me to do?"