Spreading The Misery|Sparstrike, Maelstrom

[Kender Bard]

Once in Sparkstrike, Thelon let go of Artica's hand and glanced around. "I should probably inform Shadow I'm here," he sighed and brushed his sign. ~Lord Shadow, just so you are aware, I am currently in Sparkstrike on personal business.~

[Northen Light36]

'Hmm? Oh. Very well.' Shadow's thought reply was both extremely distracted and extremely joyful. Thelon probably could have said he was in Sparkstrike to burn it to the ground and gotten the same reply.

Zap wasn't too hard to find in the village. A few of the older people remembered Artica and were happy to inform her of where to find Zap, though Artica looked a little uncomfortable when she heard that Zap had brought and moved their family's old farmhouse. Still, at least it was a place she remembered how to get to.

Zap was sitting on the front steps when Artica and Thelon arrived, but he wasn't alone. Gemma was sitting next to him, cheerfully chatting to Zap.

[Kender Bard]

Thelon was a little - but not a lot - surprised to see her. "Gemma!" he called out, more interested in greeting her for the moment.

[Northen Light36]

Both Zap and Gemma looked towards the gate and Gemma grinned happily. "Dad!" she called, getting to her feet and running to give him a hug. "I was going to come and visit you and mum in a few days. I've missed you." She takes a step back and looks carefully at her father, frowning slightly. "You look awful. Have you been working too hard?" Suddenly realising her mother isn't there, Gemma looks worried and adds, "Is Mum all right?"

[Kender Bard]

Thelon considered placating her with half-truths and lies by omission. But, she was an adult. He wouldn't do that. He'd just try to curb bluntness a bit. "Your mother is upset right now and so I thought I'd let her be by herself while I came to talk to Zap," he explained. "She hasn't been acting like herself lately and I was hoping he could enlighten me a little as to why."

[Northen Light36]

Gemma didn't look exactly satified with Thelon's explaination, but she let it go.

Zap, on the other hand, had an interresting reaction to Thelon's remark. For a moment he looked alarmed before forcing his expression into a more mildly surprised look. "Tres is having a bad day?" he asks casually. "What makes you think I'd know anything about it?"

Artica narrows her eyes and frowns at her brother. "Because you do, don't you?" she asks.

"If Tres is having a bad day, just leave her be," Zap replies. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." He stood up and headed into the house, slamming the door shut.

[Kender Bard]

Thelon growled at his reaction. "I do NOT have time to be putting up with this horseshit," he snarled, quietly. ~Zap! She is not 'having a bad day'. She fucking tried to take over all of Naurorod. Explain THAT.~

[Northen Light36]

Zap didn't answer for a long time and when he did it wasn't helpful, but did carry a note of worry and, oddly, guilt. 'Maybe she felt she could do a better job.'

Gemma frowned. Something was very wrong here and Zap knew something about it. "I can show you what it looks like inside if you need to go in, Dad," she offered.

[Kender Bard]

Thelon breathed out. "I'll leave forceful entry last on the list," he murmured. ~Zap, don't play games. If there is absolutely nothing wrong with Tres... then... I don't know what to do. Comfort her, perhaps, but there's not much more I CAN do. She's been stripped of her Eldership for her actions and she can get it reinstated but if this is who she is then I doubt that will happen. It will crush her. I'm good at fixing problems, I like to think, but mending broken hearts is not one of them I can do. But if there IS something unusual and you think you can help me, then help me.~

[Northen Light36]

There was a long pause before Zap replied. 'This wasn't meant to happen... All right Thelon, I'll talk to you... But not in front of Gemma and you have to promise to hear me out without getting angry... We were only trying to help...'

[Kender Bard]

~I can't promise I won't get angry~ Thelon warned. ~But I will hear you out and I will promise not to lash out at you. My first priority is helping Tres.~ He glanced at Gemma and sighed quietly. "I hate to do this but I'm going to have to ask to talk to him alone. Do you mind just keeping Artica company for now?" ~Open the door and I'll come in Zap.~

[Northen Light36]

"All right," Gemma agrees, then gives Artica a small smile. "Come on, you can show me where that duck pond you and mum theaten to throw uncle Zap into is."

"All right," Artica agrees reluctantly. "Come on, it's not far."

After the women leave, Zap reluctantly unlocks the front door and holds it open. "Come in," he mutters.

[Kender Bard]

Thelon stepped inside quickly before Zap could change his mind. He was too tense to sit so he just leaned against the wall nearby and studied Zap, waiting patiently for the man to start talking on his own. He found Zap's behavior about the whole thing a great deal stranger than he'd anticipated. He knows something, Thelon thought in silent agreement with Artica.

[Northen Light36]

Zap sat on one of the kitchen chairs, staring out the window in silence for a long moment. Then he sighed and spoke up. "It's a long story, Thelon... But I'll try and explain..." Zap looked down at his hands, tightening them into fists then relaxing them again, over and over. "When we were kids, Tres and I were considered trouble makers. No surprise there, we were both hot tempered and quick to turn a fight from words to fists. But Tres got the worse reputation. There were no fires here apart from her when we were kids, and while she managed to learn some basics of control... Well, you know as well as I do what works for one element won't work perfectly for another..."

Zap chuckled weakly, staring out the window. "When Tres got angry enough, things went up in smoke. Which resulted in her being labelled as dangerous or uncontrollable, depending on whether people believed her fires were deliberate or not. It didn't matter to us, we had each other to play with and later, we had Tavia as well, so what did we care if people didn't want us, or rather Tres, in the village or playing with their kids."

Zap closes his eyes, tightening his hands into fists again. "Then our parents got sick. We tried to help them, the town healer tried, but... there was nothing anyone could do. We just watched as our parents wasted away. And then we were on our own. Oh, people were willing to take Tavia and Artica in. Some were even willing to take me in as well. But no one was willing to take Tres and we sure as hell weren't going to abandon her."

Zap sighed. "We were only thirteen, Thelon. Artica fround work washing dishes and sweeping the floors at the local inn, I did chores on the farms... But for Tres it was the usual story. No one wanted her, no one hired her. We were struggling. Tavia was growing like a weed and seemed to need new things every week. Artica and I just couldn't earn enough between us to support the family." Zap shook his head. "Tres couldn't stand being a burden on us and left. The next I heard, she'd found Fira... But from her letters, it was the same story. She was an outsider. She couldn't do anything right. She was unhappy and lonely."

"I was ready to storm into the desert and drag her back home when the tone of her letters changed. Tres had befriended Damien and Kara, she was finally starting to fit in Fira and her life seemed to be getting better." Zap sighes. "The letters came less and less as Tres got more and more involved in the clan. I checked up on her once, but she was happy, so I left her alone. And as much as I wanted to hate Damien for stealing my sister away, he made her happier then I could."

"Everything was fine after that... Until Tres found out Damien was sick. She came to me, Thelon, just about sick with grief. She'd lost one of her best friends to the war and now history was repeating and she was going to watch her other best friend waste away like our parents." Zap gave Thelon a sad smile. "I love my sisters, Thelon. Tres most of all. I couldn't just watch her suffer like that. I contacted Tavin. He is an empath after all, I thought he might be able to help. After some pressure from both Tres and I, he agreed to... put some sort of mental dampener on her emotions for awhile..." Zap grimaced. "It wasn't meant to last so long, just give Tres time to accept what was happening without so much emotional strain, but Tavin checked on Tres after Damien died and... something had gone wrong. Instead of fading away, the block had been strengthened by Tres' own desire not to feel it. He said it was like how people can block out a trumatic memory or something. Anyway, Tavin was worried that he'd hurt Tres if he tried to force it down and he wanted to tell you what we'd done but..."

Zap looked away from Thelon. "I convinced him to let me be the one to tell you. He had no reason to believe I wouldn't keep my word and Aideen wasn't particularily well at the time so he had other things on my mind... Maybe it was the wrong thing to do, but Tres seemed fine so why put her through that pain again? I lied to Tavin, told him it had been sorted a little bit later and said nothing. I was only trying to protect Tres, Thelon..."

[Kender Bard]

Thelon glared at Zap and said nothing for a long time after he had finished talking. He just glared. Internally, he raged. Oh how he would have loved to strike Zap down. He had several guesses as to what Tres might be going through, why she was acting the way she was, but actually tampering with her mind? That hadn't been one of them.

I should have considered it, he berated himself angrilly. She is not acting too different from when Lya was after Locke had tampered with her mind in almost the exact same fashion. Why didn't I see it? Why didn't I suspect it? He grit his teeth until his jaw hurt and he waited until he no longer wanted to rake through Zap's mind in fury.

He turned and headed outside without a word to Zap. ~Artica, we need to get back to Naurorod~ he informed her, looking around for where she was at. ~I'll explain when we get there but I need to get a hold of Tres and talk to her now.~