ZaiWin told them about how he had "jumped" from place to place, following Snow's energetic footprint, which Snow felt a bit embarrassing to hear. He told them about how he had found him in that huge cavern, high in the mountains, where Snow now knew was the Province of Pon. He also told them about the old man that had been the sole keeper of that place, and how he had found Snow almost completely encased in ice, which Snow didn't recall at all.
"That old man had given him something to drink. Whatever it was, it was slowly corrupting his daitai," he declared and both VinWei and ZenTar looked alarmed at the sound of that.
"What do you mean, corrupting?" ZenTar asked and ZaiWin sighed.
"Exactly that. I have no other way to put it. The same exact thing that happens to those who stay inside a death zone for too long, or who fight directly against the feimao. His daitai were all darkened, and there was that awful stench."
VinWei immediately stretched a hand over the table and held Snow's hand, as if that could keep him safe.
"Do you know what he gave you to drink?" she asked, clearly trying to mask the urgency and fear in her voice underneath a layer of forced gentleness, and Snow shook his head.
"It smelled bad … and it tasted bad …" he thought it best to answer in words, and ZenTar frowned angrily at him.
"And why in the world would you even consider drinking something like that?!"
Snow lowered his gaze and pursed his lips shut.
"Apparently someone went around, telling him that thousands of people would die unless our bond was broken," ZaiWin answered, his voice suddenly as cold and cutting as a blade. "That reminds me," he went on, turning to look at ZenTar. "MenTar didn't come with you?"
ZenTar averted his gaze and went a shade paler.
"I thought it was time for him to return home."
"Really? A very wise decision …" ZaiWin agreed, his tone of voice sending shivers down Snow's back, making him search for some way to somehow relieve MenTar from the blame ZaiWin was clearly placing on him.
"You said it yourself! That you wanted to get rid of me!" he declared, facing those cold-blue eyes as firmly as he was able to, and ZaiWin frowned, looking angry at the reminder.
"You did what?!" VinWei immediately demanded in outrage and ZenTar sighed. An eternal and devoted defender and lover of all things Tien'Elhar, it was not in her nature to allow such a despicable act to go unchecked.
"Things were different back then," ZaiWin simply replied and she frowned angrily.
"And I told you that I understood! And that I would do everything in my power to help you! Did you really have to go and say such an awful to the poor child?"
Well, he had told him that since the moment he had laid eyes on him, ZaiWin thought with a sigh. Way before he had even met with her. But once VinWei became passionate about something it was no use trying to argue one's case, or trying to explain things differently. The best strategy to deal with her was to humbly recognize one's mistake, even if there had never been a mistake to begin with, which presently was hardly the case.
"I know. I'm sorry," he obediently declared, making her huff angrily, but successfully putting an end to any further scolding.
Snow looked at him, at that uncaring expression. He wasn't sorry at all! That selfish man!
"But how would corrupting his daitai release him from your bund?" ZenTar asked, trying to direct everyone's attentions to more important matters. "Wouldn't that simply … kill him?"
"The bastard staying in that cavern did say that it might kill him, but that there was a chance he might survive. And he said it as if he had seen it happen before."
"Impossible!" VinWei immediately declared. "There is no way they could lay their hands on a Tien'Elhar that easily! They are all heavily guarded and protected!"
"The ones we know of, that is," ZaiWin quickly offered and Snow's heart jumped a beat.
He didn't know why, but he hadn't told him that the people he had met in Woodbridge were actually Tien'Elhar like him. He couldn't help feel as if, even though he had decided to return to ZaiWin's side, it was hardly his place to tell him that there were others who actually managed to live unbound and free, the way he had always wanted to live. Besides, even though ZaiWin now seemed to tolerate his presence a little bit better, Snow doubted he had gotten over his general hatred for all Tien'Elhar, and he didn't want to place the others in danger, should they ever cross paths again in the future. That ZaiWin had guessed that there might be others like him, others who didn't conform with what the Temple had decreed about what a Tien'Elhar should be, made him really nervous. He just couldn't tell if he felt nervous because he might find out about the others, or if he felt nervous at the thought that ZaiWin might discover that he had been deliberately hiding something this important from him.
"You mean there might be others like Snow?" ZenTar asked, following his line of thought, and ZaiWin shrugged.
"Why not? We have to admit that it's almost impossible that Snow is the first one to be born different. You even said it yourself, Zen. That it was a miracle they hadn't killed him at birth, leading one to assume that, naturally, that's what happens every time a Celestial that doesn't conform with the norm is born."
"I … didn't mean it like that," ZenTar tried to correct and ZaiWin nodded.
"I know you didn't. But isn't this the most logical line of thought? And if we assume that, from time to time, a different Celestial is born, it isn't hard to believe that not all of them are successfully killed at birth. Like what happened with Snow. Which would justify the existence of a group of people dedicated to freeing them and keeping them safe, like the people Snow met in Woodbridge."
"That is all very hypothetically," VinWei argued.
"Is that or believing that Snow is a unique occurrence in the entire world. You tell me. Which one sounds more plausible?" ZaiWin asked and VinWei sighed.
"I guess you're probably right … It's just that … the thought of people murdering Tien'Elhar at birth …" she shivered in horror and ZaiWin smiled coldly.
"Isn't that your sacred Temple's fault? The name Tien'Elhar alone leads people to believe that Celestials are all supposed to be girls. If a Varsen foresees the birth of a Celestial and it's later discovered that the child is a boy, what do you think they'll do? The Temple would probably have the entire Clan murdered just to bury the truth. So it's much easier to just kill a newborn child and pretend that nothing happened, that the child never even existed."
VinWei squeezed her hands together, clearly wishing she could deny ZaiWin's cold and harsh words, but remained silent.
"Did the man tell you that the thing you drank would break the bond?" ZenTar wanted to confirm and Snow nodded.
"He said … that the only way the bond could be broken was if my … daitai … became different," he whispered, trying to recall the old man's explanation. "He said that if they became different then I wouldn't be the same person … It would be as if the person that had been bound was gone. And that if I lived I would be free."
"That's beyond outrageous! It's a heresy and a blasphemy!" VinWei spat angrily. "All daitai are blessings granted to us by the Heavens! That someone might even consider changing their nature! Meddling with what is clearly a divine gift! It's unthinkable! Even more so to attempt to do such a horrible thing to a sacred being like a Tien'Elhar!"
"It may be unthinkable but people still do it, don't they? And it is perfectly allowed and even sanctioned by the Empire!" ZaiWin declared in a harsh, dark voice, that left Snow, sitting right next to him, completely petrified. Even wearing his bracelet he could see the darkness starting to leak out of him in eerie black waves. If that went on he��d soon be unable to see him again, Snow thought, instinctively reaching out to him, clenching the soft fabric of his pants so that he would always be able to tell exactly where he was.
ZaiWin's eyes turned to him, filled with dark hatred and rage, making his heart jump and instinctively clench his pants even harder. But then he looked away, and somehow the darkness coming from him slowly dissipated again.
"You're talking about that barbaric ritual, right?" VinWei went on, unable to notice the quick exchange between the two of them. Clearly also unable to notice or feel how dangerous that subject was. "You know they only do that in extreme, dangerous cases! And even then! I am still against it! People are not supposed to meddle with what was granted to us by the Heavens!" she vehemently reaffirmed and ZenTar lowered his gaze, a bitter expression on his face. Contrary to VinWei, he didn't need to look at ZaiWin's face to know what he had been feeling when he'd said those words.
"You understand, Snow?" she turned to him, her intensity startling him. "You must never, never attempt anything like that ever again!"
Snow nodded. Taking into the intense way she was staring intently at him, he had no other choice but to agree.
"How in the world did you manage to save him?" she asked, this time looking at ZaiWin and he sighed.
"I have my ways …"
"You have your ways?! As far as I know, it's pretty much impossible to completely cleanse one's daitai once they become tainted!" She frowned. "Even with the help of several, fully charged crystals! I've never seen it done!"
Snow looked up at ZaiWin. So what he had done, all that … absorbing that horrible darkness and somehow cleansing it, wasn't something other people could normally do?
"There is a lot you've never seen," ZaiWin simply replied, obviously avoiding getting into further detail. "Anyway, we spent three whole days hiding inside an icy hole, before we could finally move again," he went on, talking to ZenTar, clearly ignoring her silent demand for a more detailed explanation.
"And then you decided to come here," ZenTar guessed and ZaiWin nodded.
"I knew I wouldn't be well received. But at least Snow would be safe here. They don't know the first thing about Celestials and they don't really care about such things. Any other place we would have had to remain hidden. And I knew you would have no problems finding me here."
ZenTar nodded in agreement.
"What? You're just going to accept everything else just like that?" VinWei demanded, suddenly angry at ZenTar for being clearly willing to simply acknowledge that half-arsed story, and ZaiWin sighed.
"It is what happened."
"The heck it is! What about the fact that this idiot wrote to me in a panic, saying that somehow your bond had been broken? And now you're both apparently fine again! How do you explain that?" VinWei demanded and ZaiWin took a deep breath.
"I was wrong about that," he openly declared and Snow quickly shut his mouth before he could gape at him in disbelief. "It just felt like that. Probably because it got too weak. But, as you can see, nothing has changed. We're still happily linked together," he added, his voice dripping sarcasm, and Snow lowered his gaze, afraid he'd be unable to confirm his lie.
VinWei released a deep breath.
"You two! You're a pair of complete idiots!" she declared but then smiled, looking genuinely relieved. "But I'm really glad that you're both all right. And I do have some important information to share you as well," she added, her purplish eyes coming alight.
"Later," ZenTar simply declared and, in that next moment, the blanket hanging in front of the entranceway opened to one side, allowing the golden light of the day to pour into the small cave.
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Ah, ZaiWin is keeping secrets! ZaiWin is keeping secrets! 😝