The Unnamed Saga: The Four Thrones, Chapter Twelve: "Brothers"

Chapter Twelve: Brothers 

Open on Zelos and Zara in the collapsed cavern.  Zara is still crying while Zelos stands over her, staring down at her in stunned silence.

 

Zelos: “You…”

 

Zara: “I am sorry, Zelos.  I am so, so sorry.”

 

Zara curls up, hugging her knees, sobbing into her cloak with Zelos’ shadow cast over her.

Zelos kneels beside her, his hand alighting on her shoulder, near her neck.

Zelos shushes and hugs her.

Zelos: “It’s okay.  It’ll be okay.  I know you didn’t mean to do it.  I know you wouldn’t.”

Zelos sighs, tears rolling down his cheeks, while he sooths her.

Zelos: "Listen, Zara, we'll figure it out."

 

Zara hugs Zelos back, burying her face into his chest, his cloak falling over her.  She cries while he holds her.

Cut to black.

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

The sound of scrapping like stone on stone.

 

Mary: "Just a bit more..."

 

The screen goes white.

Fade into the image of the mountains with a forest in the fore.  There is a cavern mouth in the mountainside.

Show the mountainside hole, Mary crawling from it, Glenn just behind her.  The tunnel into the mountains is shadowed.

Mary dusts herself while Glenn shields his eyes.  Elsea leads Zelos and Zara from the tunnel.

Elsea checks Zara for injuries while the party adjusts to the twilight.

Elsea thumbs Zara’s tear-stained, dirty cheeks.

 

Elsea: "Princess, have you been crying?"

 

Zara: "It's fine. I'm fine."

 

Zelos approaches Mary and Glenn.

Zelos: "May I speak with you two privately?"

 

Glenn and Mary exchange glances.

 

Mary: "Why, of course, pumpkin.  Elsea, Zara, we will return shortly."

 

Elsea watches the three of them march off toward the forest together.

 

Elsea: "I wonder where they're off to."

 

Zara: "Elsea...I...I told him."

 

Elsea turns back to Zara.

 

Elsea: "Forgive me, princess, but what did you tell him?”

 

Zara wipes her nose.

Zara: "I...I told Zelos about his father and what I..."

 

Elsea wipes away a few stray tears.

Elsea: "M'lady, it wasn't you.  You were..."

 

Zara: "He hugged me."

 

Elsea: "Excuse me?”

 

Zara: "Before you found us I told him what I did, what had happened, and he was quiet for a moment.  Then, he just held me and cried with me."

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut to Zelos, Glenn, and Mary standing in a circle in the forest.  Beyond Zelos, in the background, Elsea continues to fuss over Zara.  Glenn stands with his arms crossed.  Mary can be shown from the back, eying her nails.

Show the party again from over Zelos’ shoulder.  Mary is seated on a log, legs crossed, frowning at her cuticles.  There is snow on the ground.  The sky is flat.

 

Glenn: "You wanted to talk?"

 

Zelos: "Zara, she..."

Zelos rubs his neck.  There are tears in his eyes.

Zelos: "Let me put it this way, someone has been causing a lot of trouble for me and the princess, and I want to know what you two know.

 

Mary and Glenn exchange glances.

Mary meets Zelos’ gaze, her hand still up, fingers spread as she surveyed her digits.

Mary: "Why, my prince, we know nothing more than you do at this point.  I do consider us quite as lost in the woods as you, and unfortunately I am distracted right now by a hangnail what was garnered during our daring escape from the collapsed tunnels from where you were only just recently plucked.  Mayhap we sleep on this and reconvene at a later date more conducive toward critical th…”

 

Zelos: "I'm not stupid, Mary, so don't treat me like I am."

 

Mary: "Why, I would never!  I am offended by the mere accusation of it."

 

Zelos stands with his hands on his hips and looks at Glenn, who meets his gaze steadily.  Mary is not shown.

Zelos: "Well?"

 

Glenn frowns.

Glenn: "You won’t like what we have to say.”

 

Zelos: "Try me."

 

Mary: "In all honesty, you won't care much for what we have to say on this subject, especially considering the mercurial state of your emotions at this very moment.  Why not allow it a night and return to the issue with a clear head in the morning."

 

Zelos: "We don't have time for that.  Someone is in my nation, attacking my name. What's worse, they made Zara..."

Zelos’ features darken as he scowls at the ground.  His hands tighten into fists.

Zelos: "I've never, in my entire life, done anything I didn't want to.  The very idea makes me sick, and someone did something to Zara and....And she is not a weapon!  So, please, tell me something, anything!"

 

Mary: "I really must insist that you..."

 

Glenn: "Metis."

 

Zelos: "What?"

 

Mary: "Yes, Sir Knight, I fear that bears repeating."

 

Glenn: "We think it was Metis."

 

Zelos: "You think my brother did it?  Killed my father?  Framed Zara?  Why?  How?  What proof do you have?"

 

Glenn: "None.”

 

Zelos: "Then how dare you make such accusations!"

 

Mary: "It bears remembering that we did warn you of potential displeasure with our theory."

 

Zelos: "Yeah, but you didn't even hint at how absurd it really was.  Metis is my brother!  He would never do something so...so...cruel!"

 

Mary: "Please, Zelos, offer us your ear at least long enough to hear us.  I understand how difficult it may be for you to even consider this, but you must clear your heart and..."

 

Zelos: "I don't need to do a thing!  First Zara is blamed and now my family?  How do I know you two aren't the ones who killed father, who framed me?"

 

Glenn punches Zelos hard enough to knock him to the ground.

Mary stands, runes gleaming, while Zelos spits blood out on the ground.  Glenn stands over Zelos with his arms crossed, face unmoving.

 

Mary: "Glenn!"

 

Glenn: "Done yet?”

 

Show Zelos on the ground, staring up at Glenn, blood oozing from his lips.  He looks defiant.  His features glow faintly from Mary’s residual magic.

Zelos stands, dusting himself.  Glenn stands still, arms crossed, regarding Zelos.  Mary is framed between them, the glow of her runes fading from her flesh.

 

Zelos: "Yeah. Sorry, I guess I got carried away."

 

Glenn: "Yes.  Sorry about your cheek.”

 

Zelos: "I kind of had it coming.  I still don't think Metis is involved, though."

 

Glenn: "I know.”

 

Zelos: "We'll figure it out together though, won't we?"

 

Glenn: "Of course."

 

Zelos: "We should probably head back."

 

Glenn and Zelos leave together.

Show Mary standing in stunned silence, jaw agape, left hand slightly lifted.

Mary sighs.

 

Mary: "Men!"

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut to Kratos walking the Emeraldine wastes.  He stands at the edge of the city, staring into the red horizon.  Barren streets stretch out before him, disappearing into nothing.  There are faint footprints left in the sand, the winds erasing them as they stir the sands beyond the buildings.

Kratos walks to the edge of the buildings, where the footprints disappear.

Kratos squints into the distance.

Show the bloody red sky, darkest at the center.  A small golden scar is cut across the sky.

Kratos enters the city.

Show Kratos walking the sands, his cloak whipped by the wind, his hood up, his beard dusty.

Show Kratos stop at the fountain, where he finds remains of a fire.

Kratos prods the burnt kindling with his boot.

Kratos: "Curious, why make camp here?"

Show Kratos walking the later streets, hood down, following footprints.

Kratos stops to stare into the tiered ruins of the city’s streets.

Show the blackened ruins where Mary had rampaged.

Kratos finds arrows wedged into the stonework nearby.

Kratos hops from the roadway, into the tiered wreckage.

Show Kratos trace his fingers along a soot-blackened stone wall.

Kratos: "Magic. This is recent, too."

Kratos finds broken arrows left in the streets and a bloody handprint against one wall.

Kratos: "Broken arrows? Signs of combat. There are bounty hunters.  And they lived to survive the battle.  That means I have to hurry.”

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut to party gathered around a campfire at night.  The fire is small.  Glenn and Elsea are sleeping soundly while Mary watches the camp, sewing thin pieces of fabric as they rest.  Zelos and Zara are missing.

Show Zelos at a short distance from the camp, his back lit by the fire behind him.  He is resting his arms on his knees while watching the sky.  There are footsteps behind him.

Show the sky, clear and lit by stars.

Show Zelos from the front, Zara behind him, her cloak wrapped around her body.

 

Zara: "Can't sleep?"

 

Zelos: "Today has been rough. And I need some time to sort it out.  What about you?"

 

Zara: "I could say the same."

Zara: "Zelos, if it wouldn't bother you, I have a question.”

 

Zelos: "You stopping to ask if you may ask a question?  What's wrong with you?  You've never been so considerate before."

 

Zara: "I guess you're right.

 

Zelos: "Go ahead and ask."

 

Zara sighs and sits beside him.

Zara: "It's that—You forgave me for my hand in what happened."

 

Zelos: "Yes, and?”

 

Zara: "I don't know how to put this..."

 

Zelos: "Then just say it."

 

Zara: "Why?"

 

Zelos: "Because if you sit here all night starting and stopping we won't get very far, will we?"

 

Zara: "No, I mean, why did you..."

 

Zelos: "I know what you mean.  It's just..."

 

Zara: "Yes?"

 

Zelos: "Because—You're you.  You're Zara.  You complain.  You irritate me.  You don't kill.  Not of your own will.  That's how I see it, anyway."

 

Zara: "How do you know that, though?"

 

Zelos: "I..just do.  You wouldn't kill anyone, and you definitely wouldn't do anything that could bring trouble to your people.  For all your fussiness, you're very fond of your nation.  Killing father would be nothing but trouble for you."

Show Zelos staring out at the sky, his face lit from the stars above and his back lit by the fire behind him.  The night is quiet and safe.  Zara is watching him from the side.

Zelos: "Besides, you're so scrawny I doubt you could even lift the sword."

 

Zara punches Zelos’ arm while he smiles.

They sit together in silence.

Zara sniffles while wiping her eyes and Zelos hangs his head.

Zara: "You're so damn confusing at times."

 

Zelos: "I'm sorry?"

 

Zara: "Sometimes you can be so terse and thoughtless.  Always off, doing your own thing, never considering the ramifications of your actions.  Then you go and do something like this."

 

Zelos: "I didn't do anything."

 

Zara: "You've done a lot.  As they say, forgiveness is more difficult than vengeance."

 

Zelos stares absently at the moon.

Zelos: "Murdering you won't bring back father.  Nothing will.  Vengeance, to me, just leaves the world with a lot of dead bodies."

 

Zara: "Still, I don't see how you do it, how you can be so—believing."

 

Zelos: "And I don't see how anyone can be anything else.  It's the only natural way to handle this world."

 

Zara: "Hardly.  Look at the state of things, from your father to Emeraldine.  Forgiveness, mercy, all of that, they are rare traits these days."

 

Zelos: "But they shouldn't be.  People shouldn't hate so much.  Hurt, hate, these things are so heavy, and they keep you rooted in place, leave you paralyzed.  Maybe the world is tough—even I can see that—but to me that just means everyone should be a bit softer.  We should be able to trust each other, to celebrate each other, and have faith in each other.  That's how I feel, anyway."

 

Zara smiles Zelos, who is still eying the moon.  His left eye glows in the darkness, casting a yellow light.

Zara: "That actually sounds rather nice. Will you be coming back to camp soon?"

 

Zelos: "Later.  I have a bit more to think about."

 

Zara unhooks her cloak, which fans out around her body.

Zara drapes her cloak over the both of them while scooting in toward Zelos.  Zelos stares at her in shock.

 

Zelos: "Zara, what are you...?"

 

Zara: "You looked cold."

Zara leans into Zelos, who is now staring ahead in shock, cheeks flushed. 

 

Zelos: "I..."

 

Zara: "Please, can we stay like this just for a while, until you're ready to sleep?"

 

Beat.

 

Zelos: "Yeah."

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut to Baby Zelos at rest in his crib, a human shadow cast over him.

Show the Black Castle in the morning, the hallways lit.  Mary is in the hall, walking, a smile on her face, when she hears a cry.

Show the baby’s room, the door now ajar, Mary entering in a rush, her dress trailing after her.

Show Child Eros standing over the crib, his arms inside of the crib, Baby Zelos crying.

Child Eros looks back over his shoulder at Mary, a mixed look of fright and guilt on his face.

 

Mary: “Eros!  And just what in the heavens are you doing here, boy?”

 

Child Eros: “I was just looking, I promise.”

 

Mary: “From the ruckus I’d say you’re doing much more than that.”

Mary crosses the room to the crib.

Mary scoops up Baby Zelos while Child Eros steps away.

Mary cradles Baby Zelos, soothing him while he cries.  Child Eros watches with a sulk.

Mary: “Now then, save yourself the lecture and just tell the truth.”

 

Child Eros: “I was poking at him.”

 

Mary: “What possessed you to harass your very own brother in such a barbaric manner?”

 

Child Eros: “I don’t know.  Because I could.  Because he’s not my brother.”

 

Mary casts a withering gaze at Child Eros while holding Baby Zelos to her shoulder.  Baby Zelos quiets.  Child Eros hangs his head.

Mary: “He very much is.”

 

Child Eros: “Nuh-uh.  Metis said he wasn’t.  He said he’s something called a ‘bastard,’ and he said that means we don’t have to be nice or nothing.”

 

Mary: “Did he now?  Is there anything else that the brilliant Metis has told you recently?”

 

Child Eros: “He said that you’re stupid, and that I don’t have to do what you say.”

 

Mary: “And do you believe him.

 

Child Eros looks briefly defiant while Mary stares him down, swaying with Baby Zelos in her arms.

Child Eros looks fixedly at the floor.

Child Eros: “No.”

 

Mary: “A mark of good judgment, that.  A damn sight better than your brother has.”

Mary pulls a blanket from the crib while Child Eros watches.

Mary swaddles Baby Zelos while cradling him with one hand.

Mary puts Baby Zelos at rest in the crib.

Mary: “Listen, Eros, and listen well, because this advice may prove vital someday.  Your brother, Metis, wise as he could be, says a great many things.  Much of it is nonsense.  Much of it will forever remain nonsense.  You must heed his advice with great…discretion.”

 

Child Eros: “What’s that mean?”

 

Mary: “It means that sometimes Metis is wrong.  An example: Your parents have adopted Zelos.  He is your brother, and that means you very well should be nice to him.”

 

Show Child Eros’ face scrunch up at he contemplates this.

Child Eros smiles.

Child Eros: “Okay!”

 

Mary: “Good.  Now, make nice.  We wouldn’t want bad blood between you, would we?”

 

Child Eros shakes his head.

Child Eros leans over the crib and looks down at baby Zelos.

Child Eros: “Sorry I was poking at you.”

 

Show Baby Zelos, swaddled, smiling up at the screen.

Show Child Eros smiling with Mary watching, smiling over his shoulder.

 

Mary: “There, now doesn’t that feel better.”

 

Child Eros turns to smile at her. 

Child Eros: “Yeah.”

 

Mary: “Good, now come over here, if you would.”

 

Child Eros approaches Mary, who kneels down to speak with him.

 

Mary: “Listen, Eros, and listen well.  If there is but one thing you remember about me, I want you to remember these words: Someday one of you will be king of this great and powerful nation.  When that day comes, I hope you have the both the clarity of mind and resolve of heart to care for one another.  Because, regardless of what circumstances you live in or what stories Fate has writ for this house, there is one fact that will forever be true both in your blood and your history: you will always be brothers.  Will you remember that for me?”

 

Child Eros: “I’ll try.”

 

Mary messes Child Eros’ hair while he giggles.

Mary: “However Metis has turned out, you may yet be a good one, Eros.”

 

Show Child Eros smiling.

Transition to Eros standing alone at the window in his room.  It is early morning, and it is snowing outside.  The sky is dark and heavy with clouds.  Eros holds a drink in one hand and wears a robe with a blanket wrapped about him.  Behind him, a woman can be sleeping in his bed.

Eros: “Brothers? Huh.”

Eros finishes his drink with a grimace.

Show the glass upside down on the desk while Eros’ approaches the bed, stripping the blanket and robe, revealing his naked back underneath.

Show the window, the snow gliding down to the docks.  Off screen, a woman’s moan can be heard.

Chapter End.