Between Times

 

Disclaimer: Legacy of Kain belongs to Edios and Crystal Dynamics not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create. Although I would like to own Vorador . . . then he’d be mine.

 

Warning: this fic contains YAOI HINTS (GuyXGuy); if this offends or upsets you do not read this, it that simple.

 

Rating: PG-13 sexual references

 

Pairing: Kain/Raziel

 

Setting: Post Soul Reaver Two, Pre defiance. While Raziel is captive in the underworld. 

 

Summery: Captive in the underworld Raziel contemplates the events leading to his destruction.

 

Authoress note: Please note that this is a STAND ALONE ficlet and is too connected to any other in any way.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

 

The elder god had much to say, he always had much to say and it was always the same things that he had to say. The meeting if you wished to call it that was cut short when Raziel simply walked away. The great creature made no real effort to stop him, it clearly knew his fear and knew he would not truly make a proper effort to escape. Walking slowly through the ass of caves and corridors Raziel had to wonder, did the creature really know him that well or was it just incredibly good at bluffing. He had long ago realized it had not made him as it claimed to have, but still it had spent much time with him and seemed almost as good at reading and predicting his reactions as Kain was.

 

The reaver spirit made a small sound and collapsed to the floor in a small cave in which he was sure he was alone. No souls wandered this way and thus no eaters of souls, he always choose caves like this, gaps in the rock which were completely empty for he knew how tempted he was every time one came close enough; so tempted to simply reach out and draw the life in. but if he became stronger he would be able to return and that creature may have been able to find a way to force him.

 

But still despite the need for solitude he hated it, he hated being alone. Alone and trapped in this cold barren place was much like the fate that awaited him in the material realm. The fate that Kain carried on his back. He still contemplated which was worse, which was more horrific, entrapment here, alone and cold or madness in the blade. But that damned sword never left Kain, Raziel could even swear that at times he had heard his father speaking to the blade as if expecting it to talk back; so at least he wouldn’t be alone, but would he be coherent enough to know he wasn’t alone.

 

How he wished he was back in his childhood, memories brought up from before his meeting with the elder god only moments ago were causing him to feel his loneliness afresh. He sighed to himself remembering how when Kain had first mentioned raising others he had panicked, how frightened he’d been, not of these fabled others but rather of the idea that his father no longer wanted him. That the lessons would stop, that the conversations would stop, that’s soft touches in dark rooms that made him think he was being reborn every time they happened would stop; the idea of it all terrified him and he did not want to lose it. He wanted it to be just he and his parent forever. Strange really how his wants had not changed much between now and then.

 

It had taken Kain a long time before he had decided to raise more fledglings. Raziel was a year and a half old by the time Kain had ventured back to raise Turel. Food was much more common now as the Serefan were well and truly wilting, growing weaker and dieing off. Kain had kept his own existence and that of his fledgling’s quiet and thus the rumor had started that Kain had perished with the Serefan lord and thus the age of the vampires had passed once and for all. As a result of this rumor gaining strength the serefan had disbanded and Kain had then judged it safe enough to raise more.

 

Raziel had not been pleased to hear this idea; in fact he’d been furious about it. He had sulked and spat and even wept once when Kain had confessed his intentions. He had feared that his father had lost interest in him. That he was no longer good enough to be the soul heir to his father’s legacy. That he was no longer good enough to hold his father’s attention alone, that his father had stopped caring for him and would leave him alone to face the cold. Kain when he had eventually figured this fact out had laughed and his amusement had wounded his fledgling. It had taken a moment or two for Kain to realize that this was not something his fledgling was staging this was a true worry on the younger vampires part and it had taken him nearly a weak to convince his child that his worries were unfounded.

 

It had been a pleasant week.

 

Kain had never really been one for emotional coddling but he had managed to reassure Raziel enough that the fledgling stopped his hysteria. However when he returned to the small and rather battered home in the slums with Turel in his arms Raziel’s calm had vanished and he had many times tried to sabotage his brother. ‘Accidentally’ kicking him from the large if rickety bed, pushing him to the side when ever possible fearful that he would steal his fathers affections away from him. Kain had watched this behavior with amusement at first, preening that his child would fight for his attention but then it had began to worry him when he saw the effect it was having on his second born and had been forced to put a stop to such behavior. It had wearied the elder vampire when he realized he had to watch Raziel like a hawk to make sure he did not injure his brother while at the same time try to teach Turel how to survive and bring the second born out of his shell which he had been placed in by his elder brother.

 

Raziel had eventually learned to accept his brother and even feel some sort of affection towards him after a time, it had taken a great deal of time and an even greater deal of effort from his father. Raziel smirked to himself now slightly surprised that Kain had gone to such lengths to convince him that he was still wanted. He shivered a little remembering that time quiet clearly and feeling rather frustrated at his lack of ability to do anything about the effect such memories were having. But it wasn’t just his father’s efforts as pleasant as they were that had convinced him the Turel was not out to sabotage him, he truly accepted his brother when he found himself and Turel sharing the same situation, both were terrified of each other. Turel was well and truly terrified of him! Once this fear had been established and the peaking order thus illustrated Turel learnt his place and Raziel claimed his. Turel had nothing to fear from his brother as long as that order remained intact and Raziel no longer felt threatened by Turel. The atmosphere in the small home had calmed almost instantly and Kain had thought it tie enough to raise another.

 

After Turel came Dumah whom Raziel found quiet dull, but Turel seemed fond of him, now at long last he had a companion who would not hiss and spit at him every time he entered a room. Kain now was becoming stronger rapidly with the freedom to hunt and returned a few nights after Dumah’s birth with both Rahab and Zephon. The two had been inseparable for a long time after there birth but as they grew, they grew apart, their personalities being to different for them to remain as close as they once had been.

 

Then last of all there was Melchiah. Kain had taken Raziel with him to raise Melchiah thinking it wise that at least one of his children learn how to raise others. Raziel smirked as they left the now cramped house sneering at his siblings that he had been chosen to go and not them. Turel who now had become quiet strong both physically and willfully now that he was no longer being trodden on by his older brother, had been left in charge. He had taken a shine to responsibility, often aiding his father in minding Dumah, Rahab and Zephon. Raziel had often wondered to himself why Kain had not favored Turel over him, Turel was after all quieter, easier to mind and had been an invaluable asset in many things while all he ever seemed to do was get in the way and throw tantrums. Although whenever he had done the latter Kain had always been incredibly amused and had taken much pleasure in calming him down.

 

Kain had lead Raziel past the pillars to the tomb of the Serefan, the martyrs who had made possible the capture and continued ownership of Janos Audron’s heart, now termed the heart of darkness. Raziel had not understood that this was once who he had been and now sitting in the spectral realm he was kicking himself. Kain had made no secret out of his birth but Raziel had been unable to read the names over the sarcophagi, even if he had been able to he doubted that then he would have cared or even understood.

 

However once they had reach the tomb Kain realized his mistake and stopped dead in his path as they entered the clearing in which the tomb was housed only to find a great many Serefan. So certain had he been in the rumor of his death that it had never occurred to him that the Serefan would catch on to what he was doing. But today was the day of remembrance and many Serefan came here to pay homage to these martyrs, which meant that many serefan were now present in a tomb that had quiet clearly been ransacked, many of their precious martyrs missing in action. It did not take long for them to reach a conclusion.

 

Kain had shoved Raziel back, and the fledgling not understanding the danger had fought against his father, claiming wildly he did not want to hide. His cries drew the attention of the serefan who up until now had been loudly debating how to handle this clearly vampiric crime and the mortal warriors had descended. Kain had clipped his fledgling over the head harshly, hard enough to make the younger black out. Raziel sighed now remembering that fight, well obviously he couldn’t really remember it but what he could remember made him weary. Those were the days his father had gone to great even ridiculous lengths to protect him from harm. He had woken a while later in a small gap in the cliffs; crawling out had been difficult as the space he was wedged into was very small. But other than cramp he was unharmed and he crawled out onto a sea of death. Bodies littered the ground, great greenish pools held the remains of over thirty corpses. It seemed that his father had sent out a pestilence spell while the serefan were still close together and thus had managed to destroy a great deal of them very quickly.

 

But clearly not all of them had been killed in the initial attack. Kain sat his back against some kind of stone alter, he was badly hurt, bleeding freely from a few deep wounds on his sides and back. Raziel had panicked then and not knowing what else to do he had fed his father.

 

Kain had risen sorely after with his eldest’s help and had ambled into the tomb with a timid fledgling following. It was then that he had raised Melchiah. In his moment of extreme weakness he had given life to his final child, his youngest. Only strong enough to hold onto consciousness for a few moments before fainting dead away. Kain had murmured something about it being unlikely Melchiah would survive before lifting the youngest out of the tomb which housed him and placing him on the ground leaving Raziel to watch him. Kain had been gone a long time and the sell of burning filled the tomb slowly. Raziel had no way of being certain but he had always assumed Kain had burnt the corpses outside but never had there been scorch marks.

 

Kain had returned after a time with several corpses that had been reduced to skeletons by the flay spell and started lifting them into the coffins. Raziel had been curious as to why his father was now lifting the skeletal remains of some of the Serefan and dropping them in the graves. Kain had explained in short sharp words that he was attempting to make the tomb whole again, to make it appear like a simple grave robbing, a crime that was not limited to vampires. When more serefan returned they would find bodies that appeared roughly at the right level of decay and thus would assume those who had brought them here mad or attribute the ranting to some kind of spiritual misreading. The whole fiasco had been one of fear and pain and injury but out of that misadventure had come Melchiah.

 

Melchiah had always been a favorite; Raziel wanted to smile at the memory of his youngest brother. He was the youngest and thus the weakest in body and power but, in Raziel’s opinion, the strongest of them all. For it was Melchiah who suffered the most hardship and problems and still he came out of all of these a true son of Kain. He was ridiculed by some of the older brothers, those who had just been handed their power and thus had done nothing to fight for it; Melchiah though had earned his power in Raziel’s eyes and -the eldest son liked to think- in Kain’s as well.

 

Kain had always despised weakness and thus the likes of Dumah and Zephon could never understand why he had seemed to have a soft spot for his youngest son. Raziel liked to fancy it was because Kain understood that Melchiah while being physically weak was in no way the weakest of his brood. Melchiah had had to fight for everything he had, nothing was ever easy for him and Raziel thought that perhaps Kain had seen a reflection of himself in his youngest son.

 

Raziel had spent much time with Melchiah, for Melchiah was always open for company, he saw no shame in asking for aid or council from his eldest brother, and that was one of the reasons he was so much stronger than the others. The others who were brittle and stiff, unable to bend they were destined to snap in the wind like dry twigs but not Melchiah, Melchiah was able to bend, able to change his mind; he was not stubborn and always welcomed Raziel’s advice. Raziel in turn had always listened to Melchiah.

 

Kain had once said that Melchiah kept him balanced, Raziel had not understood then what the elder had meant but he liked to think that now he understood even if it was just a little. For he found Melchiah had the same effect on him, Raziel was loud and brash, like his father he nearly always ran into a problem head on with very little thought, simply trusting his own strength to get him through; Melchiah had always counseled patience, wait, take a step back from the problem try and see the entire picture before you rush in, at least then you can be prepared for the possible outcome and can adjust yourself accordingly.

 

Kain’s actions as of late reminded Raziel of Melchiah, Kain had never been completely stupid despite what he told his eldest son about his years as a fledgling when he was according to him very foolish and had suffered greatly as a result. But even so his actions now were so well thought out, for every single breath he took he seemed to have thought out every available consequence. He seemed so sure of himself now, so unlike before, when he had six fledgling vampires under his wing. Never in front of the group did he show his own fear at the prospect of failure but Raziel was good at reading his father. Long into the day he would speak of Vorador, Raziel had met the emerald skinned ancient creature now and was starting to understand the way Kain spoke of him.

 

Vorador was very powerful, very strong but he was incredibly frustrating. He no longer had any faith in his own kind, he had accepted destruction and made those fighting it feel worthless and pathetic; this at least was something Raziel could agree with his father about, as that was how he had been made to feel in his encounter with the emerald skinned ancient. But Kain did not dwell on that in his tails of Vorador, instead he spoke of Vorador the father of vampires, how he had always known exactly what to do for each individual fledgling that came in his direction. Every single fledgling Vorador raised was raised well, none suffered neglect under him. Raziel had nodded and listened to each of these stories but he had been seeing something else, he had seen through Kain’s tales of Vorador’s ability to see the fact that Kain did not think he would be as competent as the elder.

 

Kain claimed not to care but Raziel had always smiled when he said this, because every time he did his grip on his fledgling would tighten.

 

It was very strange now to think of Kain then not knowing what he was doing but clearly hoping he was right. When now Kain seemed so sure of everything he did, so positive that everything was going to go the way he had planned. He was incredibly confusing, for how someone so pessimistic and fatalistic could gamble so much on something so small in chance was almost ridiculous.

 

How could he have been so sure that he would be able to save him from the sword? Why had he bothered? All Kain seemed to care about was saving Nosgoth, a task Raziel was surprised to find was his by birthright, Kain had never really seemed overly interested in saving anything before, excluding his children of course. Kain had only ever protected them, never possessions or land or anything. True he wanted to rule the land but once he was in charge with none to threaten him he seemed to lose interest in all but his eldest. This fact raised all sorts of questions in Raziel but the clearest on being; was Kain really trying to heal the land?

 

Or was he just trying to save him.

 

End Chapter

 

Authoress Note: Random, I know but random is as random does I say. Lol.

 

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