The sound running steps down the corridor told him that he would soon have company. Sitting on the boy's bed, ZenTar waited.
The footsteps ran straight to ZaiWin's bedroom, next door. Finding it obviously empty, they turned back and, as expected, it didn't take long until a heaving MenTar stumbled through the doorway.
"I … looked ... everywhere," he immediately declared, bending forward, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
ZenTar silently took in his sweaty appearance, his dark hair glued to his forehead and neck.
"I can't find him!"
He did look honestly distressed, ZenTar considered, which more or less helped him rein in the anger simmering inside him.
Raising his head, MenTar looked around and frowned, all urgency suddenly gone from face, replaced by a suspicious scowl.
"Where's the Calzai?"
"Where do you think?" ZenTar replied dryly and MenTar's gaze finally focused on him.
"Did he find him? Is Snow all right? Where are they"
"Cut the crap!" His sudden outburst successfully interrupted the torrent of questions falling off his brother's mouth, and MenTar looked genuinely confused.
"What happened?" he still asked, sounding much more cautious now, and ZenTar simply tossed what he had been holding in his hand at him. He used so much strength that MenTar barely had time to catch it, before it hit him straight in the head, and so it was with a surprised expression that he lowered his gaze to see exactly what he was holding.
"That's you're doing, right?"
The crystal he held felt extremely cold to the touch, almost as if it were a piece of ice, and inside it danced silver slivers of light.
"I …" he hesitated. He was still in shock.
Had Snow been able to charge it in one single night? That was impossible! He had obviously never done anything like that before! Even experienced people, who charged crystals for a living, took at least three days to completely charge a crystal that size.
"Don't fuck with me, MenTar! That is your doing, isn't it?" ZenTar insisted, the anger finally seeping into his voice, and MenTar swallowed dry.
"I … just wanted to help him …"
"And I told you to cut the crap!" ZenTar immediately interrupted him. "Didn't I warn you to stop it with your fucking games? Was this father's idea?"
MenTar looked up at him with a stunned expression on his face.
"What?"
"What?! Are we playing dumb now? I know you've been keeping him up-to-date about what's going on. Isn't that the only reason why you joined us in the first place? How stupid do you think I am?"
MenTar frowned and finally straightened his back, squeezing the silver crystal in his hand.
"It's true that I have been keeping father informed," he openly admitted. "This is hardly an ordinary situation. It could very well put us all in danger."
"Put the Zai Clan in danger, you mean!" ZenTar corrected dryly and MenTar pursed his lips, clearly trying to stop himself from saying what was really going through his head.
"Anyway! Father has nothing to do with this!" he simply ended up declaring and ZenTar rose to his feet, facing him threateningly.
"So this was all your doing!"
"Like I said! I just wanted to help him!" he insisted and ZenTar's scowl only deepened.
"Help him what? Escape from us? Get away from Nox? And then what? And go where?" he demanded angrily and MenTar opened his mouth to answer, but shut it again. "Ah! You were supposed to go with him!" That had hardly been a question, and MenTar couldn't stop his cheeks from burning.
"So what?" he replied angrily. "You both clearly wanted him out of your sights! And Snow told me that he had found a way to break the bond! Isn't that what you all want? Why should he have to stay here, putting up with your cruelty, when there was another way? Yeah! I helped him escape! He is better off out there! As far away from you all as possible!" MenTar spewed in one breath and it was all ZenTar could do not to punch him in the face and send him reeling.
"I don't know if you're an idiot! Or if you want me to believe that you are one! He is a fucking Tien'Elhar!" ZenTar declared, furiously pointing the door behind him. "Do you honestly think that he will be able to just escape and live a normal life?! Even if the bond can be broken! Do you honestly think that he can just disappear like any other person? Have you forgotten where we found him? How we found him? Or did you think that you could escape with him and become his protector? And what? Were you going to take him to Zai? Or were you going to abandon the Clan to be with him?"
"So what if I abandoned the Clan? Isn't that what you did?!"
MenTar spat back and ZenTar clenched his fists, trying very hard to keep his fury under control.
"That's right! That's what I did! But who are you trying to fool? Me or yourself? There is no way you would be able to turn your back on father and simply walk away! You fucking send him a report of every single step you take! You were never thinking about leaving the Clan! It never even crossed your mind!" ZenTar accused him, despise feeling his voice. "You just thought that father would allow you to keep him, right? As if he were some kind of exotic pet!"
"Even if that were true! He would be much happier there!"
"You're such a fucking idiot! Father would never! Never! Allow that! He would kill him the moment you stepped into the Main House with him!"
"He wouldn't!"
"He would!" ZenTar insisted and MenTar frowned angrily.
"I would never …"
"What? Allow that to happen?" he interrupted and MenTar pursed his lips again. "Not only you would allow it, you wouldn't even dare utter a single word against it! You would just cower in a corner like some scared, little child! How can you possibly think that father would protect him?!" ZenTar went on. "A Tien'Elhar with silver hair and silver eyes! A freaking male! Worst of all! A Tien'Elhar you would have stolen from his Chosen One!" MenTar immediately shoot his head up, opening his mouth to contest. "What? Did I just say something wrong?" ZenTar quickly interrupted him. "You do know what's the penalty for that, right? For taking a Tien'Elhar away from their Chosen One without their Chosen One's consent! Even if that kid were to try and defend you, saying some crap like this was all his idea, you still would be found guilty! Or did you expect to be able to keep this entire thing quiet? Expect that Nox would simply allow you to take him away, just like that?"
"He never wanted him to begin with!"
"You!! All that talk about wanting to help him and wanting what's best for him, and you keep treating him as if he's no more than a thing!" ZenTar angrily pointed out. "Snow in not an object that you can simply take away under the excuse that someone else doesn't want him anymore! Didn't you hear what I've just said? He is a fucking Tien'Elhar! He is Nox's Tien'Elhar! Whether he is aware of it or not, Snow himself chose this path! He wasn't forced or coerced into any of this! You say that this is hardly an ordinary situation, that it could very well put us all in danger, and then you go and try to kidnap a fucking Tien'Elhar? And you still think father would just allow you to keep him? You would be lucky if he didn't kill you as well!"
For once MenTar actually looked as if he didn't know what to say.
"And now look at where we stand! Your beloved Snow is somewhere out there! And you're here! Staring at me like a dumb idiot! Where are you now, if he gets himself in trouble? A way to break this damn bond?! Not even VinWei was able to find an answer to that! Who do you think told him about that?"
"I … don't know …"
"That's right! You don't fucking know shit! Not who spoke to him! Not how it is done! Not where he went! With who? For how long? What if he dies, then what?" MenTar's eyes widened in horror at that. "What? You think it will be something simple like taking a bitter medicine? We're talking about a link that connects two life forces, to the point that if one dies the other will die as well! You really believe that breaking it will be that easy?"
"That's why I was supposed to go with him."
"Eh! Then be sure to thank him for not getting you involved in this mess any further than this! That is, if you ever get the chance to thank him," ZenTar added, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Aren't you happy? Don't you feel proud? Being protected by that kid, when it's you who should have protected him. He really must have liked you quite a bit."
"This is not how things were supposed to happen! He should have waited for me! He should have …" MenTar's urgent voice broke and ZenTar crossed his arms.
"What? Trusted you?" he completed, an ironic smile stretching his lips. "Even after all the time you spent with him. Did you even bother to take a real good look at him? That kid will never trust you! Or me! Or VinWei! Or anyone who feels the need to kneel at his feet for what his is! Me, with my constant suspicion that he might just snap and use that array again. VinWei, with her open adoration for everything Tien'Elhar. Or you, with your ridiculous pity, feeling sorry for him because his Chosen One doesn't want him. We can only see him as Tien'Elhar. And there's no way he will ever trust people like that!"
"That's not true! That's not how I see him at all!"
"Of course it is! All you see is the poor boy who was kept prisoner for his miraculous blood. Who unwillingly killed all those men when he lost control of his own daitai. Who fell on his knees before a cold, inflexible man, and bound himself to him without even understanding what any of that meant. You feel sorry for him because although he always tries his best, practicing to control his daitai on a daily basis, no one ever recognizes his efforts. And you admire his persistence and self-sacrifice, when he uses those golden arrays until he's completely exhausted, just so he can heal the people around him, like he did to heal you. That is all you see. And that's exactly the kind of Tien'Elhar that he is."
"And what?! You're going to tell him that that brat sees him differently?" MenTar demanded angrily and ZenTar couldn't help feeling surprised for a brief moment, since he couldn't remember the last time he had heard MenTar call ZaiWin anything else but Calzai.
"That's right. Nox is the complete opposite of all of us. All he sees is a kid who has had a tough life, but, at the same time, a life that isn't all that different from the lives of many other kids currently living in Nox. He empathizes with his suffering, but he's not willing to cuddle him for that. Because he knows that doing so will hardly help him become a strong and independent man. Instead of feeling like he has to protect him, Nox rather wants him to learn how to protect himself. The way he sees it, the fact that Snow's a Tien'Elhar is more than secondary, it is unimportant. And he tends to forget about that small but extremely important detail more times than often. Reason why he was the mess he was just moments ago,"
ZenTar sighed.
"The fact that Snow is a Tien'Elhar is nothing but a burden to him. But not because of what the royals may think when they learn of this, or because Snow isn't what the world expects a Tien'Elhar to be. It's a burden because it forces him to constantly keep in mind that he can't behave with him the same way he behaves with everyone else. That he can't simply be himself, say what he's thinking, act according to his feelings. He knows that Tien'Elhar are supposed to be Holy, Sacred Beings, and that according to that assumption he should maintain a certain distance from him, treat him with a certain deference. And yet, seeing Snow as such, is just not in his nature. And so he is constantly conflicted, constantly trying to find a balance that can never exist. Because what he believes to be a flaw in his way of dealing with Snow, is exactly what that kid needs. Someone able and brave enough to simply forget that he's supposed to be someone special, and simply see him as just another person."
MenTar scowled, clenching his fists.
"Ah! Of course your little protégé had to be special! Had to be different from everyone else!" he spat and ZenTar frowned at his tone of accusation. "After all, he's the only one you truly care for! He's even a Chosen One now!"
"MenTar …"
"What? Don't like hearing the truth?" MenTar quickly cut him off. "You stand there, pretending that you're worried about Snow! That you're worried about me! That you're worried about our Clan! What a load of crap! All you worry about is your precious Nox! What? Were you really that afraid that I might actually be able to succeed and steal his Tien'Elhar?"
"Now you're just being ridiculous!" ZenTar declared.
"Am I? All you do, all you say, every breath you take! It's all for his sake! He is, after all, the product of all your hard work! The result of all the time you spent, trying to put together a broken child that should just have died!"
"MenTar!!" ZenTar growled threateningly and MenTar raised his head, facing him defiantly.
"Did I just say something wrong?! Because of him you left your home! You left your family! You lost your titles and your dignity! You are scorned and mocked by everyone! And now you stand there! Accusing me and threatening me! All because of him!"
"Because you were an idiot!" ZenTar angrily corrected him. "An idiot who didn't think things through! An idiot who almost risked his own life for something he can never have!"
"Ah! Saying that as if you give a fuck about my life!"
"Of course I do! You are my brother!"
"Brother!" MenTar spat the word with such despise that ZenTar couldn't help stare at him in disbelief. "Do you even know the meaning of that word?"
A blast of cold, numbing wind washed over ZenTar, immediately putting out the burning anger that had fueled him so far.
"I do. Whether you believe it or not," he declared, his voice suddenly eerily flat, sounding even lower after all the shouting that had filled the room up till now. "I am your brother, and I will always be. And it's exactly because I'm your brother that I'm sending you home."
MenTar's green eyes widened in anger and disbelief.
"You're sending me home?! And since when do hold the authority to do that? You're nothing but a servant! Have you forgotten?" he angrily spat back but ZenTar simply stared back at him, completely unfazed by his harsh words.
"Fine. Stay here, if that's what you want," he simply replied and made his way to the door.
"Wait!" MenTar grabbed his arm, forcing him to a halt. "Where are you going?"
"That is none of your business."
"And you're going to just leave me here?"
ZenTar faced his younger brother's green gaze and sighed.
"Go home, MenTar. In the next days to come that will be the only safe place for you. And be sure to destroy that," he added, glancing down at MenTar's clenched hand, from where a weak, silver glow softly escaped between his fingers. "You know what they'll do to you if they find you with it."
Easily shaking his arm free, ZenTar simply walked out the door.
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All kneel before the great ZenTar 🙇♀️🙇 You're so cool! 😍 The people loves you, ZenTar-chan! 😍