Borrowed Time

[Enigmatic Immortal]

((Closed to Zerith))

“Run Azza, run!” Jensen hollered as he chased his daughter through the hallway of their home in Ixian Castle. With childish giggles his fast growing daughter moved nimbly before her father, they both laughing as they looked to see a wooden statue of a horse on wheels slowly roll after them. They ran right into the main foyer of the living quarters the Ambrose family shared with the Dracosius and Orlouge family where a flurry of activity was going on.

Zerith Dracosius, member of the prophesized Nine, and master of Sei’s armies, had a birthday that his wife Jasmine painstakingly made sure was kept a secret. This included several bribes to shut the immortal up, and having the man do needless errands to keep him occupied. A long eight foot folding table created by the woodsmiths was covered with all manners of assorted meats and cheeses, as well as a large punch bowl filled with punch.

Another table, the main family room table, was littered with prizes for the man of the day, including an obnoxiously large one from Jensen himself that was covered with a long note about how Stephanie and Azza had absolutely nothing to do with picking out what he quoted as the best present ever. Then, in childish scribbling, Jensen added that it was okay for Azza to take credit, but Stephanie still couldn’t. A bit of blood on the page probably told the story that Stephanie had punched him in the nose, and Jensen quickly changed it so the present was from the Ambrose family.

Though Jensen still made sure his name was larger than any other.

As a joke they had arranged for a toy horse to carry Tobias Greenleaf, elf of Alerar and master klepto, dressed in an Ixian Commander’s outfit to ride in on, squawking out stories of how amazing Zerith was in the hopes of good fun. This however went sour when as a joke Tobias slapped the horse claiming it a fine mare. This started the wheels, and, well, momentum handled the rest.

So now Jensen ran, Azza in front of him as they rushed towards the other hallway that led to Kyla’s room, wooden horse chasing after them as they laughed. Jasmine had lowered another plate of miniature sandwiches and Stephanie made sure there were plenty of napkins to eat from. The two women looked to see Jensen lift up Azza over his shoulder, the girl now in hysterics as she dropped her longsword and kicked her legs while screaming in joy as the horse trundled after them. Tobias poked her head out, called to one of the soldiers for help with figuring out how to fit the oversized on her head.

“Quite the scene,” Jasmine mused.

“My fiancé cannot live, breath, or pass gas without being the center of attention.”

“But it makes Zerith happy to have a friend. You know it’s been rough here for him, and I do thank you both for making our transition into the Ixian Knights a smooth one.” Stephanie placed her hand on the woman’s shoulder, patting it gently as she smiled.

“It’s always nice to make new friends!” She replied. They both looked to find Azza screaming in actual terror, her feet moving swiftly as she slid on the ground and grabbed her sword.

“COMING DADDY!” She bellowed as she ran back into the hall. Jasmine and Stephanie narrowed their eyes in confusion, both moving with hastened steps to find Jensen pinned against the wall where the horse had hit him. One of the wheels had broken off and Jensen’s body was frantically trying to hold the horse up to stop the wooden beast from toppling onto him and crushing him. Azza placed her weapon on the floor and kicked it so the hilt rested where the leg was broken, and Jensen sighed in relief letting the horse gently drop down.

“Well, that could have been worse,” Jensen said dryly. Then the horse fell and collapsed onto Jensen’s, crushing him at the waste as he fell awkwardly forwards. “Ow…ow….ow…OW!” Jensen began to holler as he beat the floor like he was submitting to some wrestling hold.

“You’re future is with this man,” Jasmine teased.

“Oh hush, I try not to think about it.” Azza on the other hand was a good little girl as she ran over to help her father. She tried to pull the horse up, but even for her impressive muscle it was a bit too heavy. Stephanie sighed moving over as she helped, and Jensen weakly crawled out and lifted himself up.

“I’m burning this thing, and that’s final!” Jensen declared as he grabbed Azza by the shoulders and hugged her tightly moving the trio down the hall. “When is birthday boy supposed to be here?”

“Soon,” Jasmine assured him. “He just needs to finish one last task, and I think he’ll be done. I had Ta’gaz set up another one of his crazy training sessions.” She winked to Stephanie and the two smiled.

“Which one?”

“Oh, one I think Zerith will do well with,” Jasmine erupted into a fit of laughter. “He just has to go all over Ixian Castle finding one particular stone Ta’Gaz hid. I figured it would hold him down for a few hours. Considering the thing will be in Ta’gaz’s hand the entire time.”

“HA!” Jensen spat out as he looked to the cheese and lifted his hand. A defiant kick knocked it away as Stephanie gave him a warning glance.

“Not until he gets here.”

“But Stephanie,” Jensen whined. “Jazz already said it’s going to take forever! And I’m hungry!” Stephanie shook her head. “But Azza is gonna starve!” Jensen said grabbing his daughter and pushing her towards the table. “Look! All skin and bone!” He said grabbing her flesh and pulling it taught causing the girl to giggle again. “Come on! Let’s dig in!” Stephanie stood before Jensen and the food.

“She can starve, and you can wait,” Stephanie said plainly.

“Whoa, talk about total bitch!” Jensen said to Azza with a smirk. Azza, who had grown accustomed to the ebb and flow of her father and mother’s estranged love, ducked quickly with a fighter’s grace as her mother’s fist hit Jensen in the nose. He tumbled forwards, laughing as he grabbed Stephanie and held her in his arms, kissing her over and over as he whispered in her ear. Stephanie giggled with him, until she held Jensen and kissed him tightly.

“You’re still going to have to wait,” She whispered touching his nose.

“Fucking hell!” Jensen spat pushing her away in a teasing fashion.

[Zerith]

“This has to be the worst birthday ever,” Zerith muttered to himself as he limped through Ixian Castle. His body ached terribly and his muscles protested every second he kept heading towards his living quarters. The hallways were mostly empty, with the only people that the halberdier came across being soldiers on guard duty. Naturally, the soldiers that the prince saw merely saluted the general and didn’t say a word, though some did look puzzled as the halberdier groaned and limped passed them. Either way, it was the fact that they said nothing that made Zerith even angrier.

Did every seriously forget that turned twenty-five today?

The only person who bothered to wish him a happy birthday was his wife, Jasmine. Except it sounded more like quick mumble accompanied by a quick kiss on the cheek just before the warder climbed out of bed to begin his morning routine of getting Siela ready for the day. The young family spent the beginning of the morning together by sharing a quick breakfast before Zerith would start his day. He even saw Jensen and Stephanie briefly as they were doing something similar. However not even his new immortal friend offered his best wishes to the noble, even though Zerith was sure he had mentioned that he would be hitting this particular milestone not too long ago.

Yeah, so much for thinking his friends would remember.

Maybe he was just being unrealistic by thinking that this one day would be different than all the others simply because it was his birthday. It wasn’t like it was some major holiday afterall, or even some important event that everyone had marked on their calendars. It was just that Zerith was getting tired and maybe even a little depressed. His transition into the Ixian Knights had been painfully rough on him with the kidnapping of Siela and Jasmine, the beginning of with the Mystic War and his brutal training with Ta’gaz. Now it seemed that the only thing Zerith enjoyed was when he could retreat to the safety of his bed, a quiet place of sanctuary where he could just forget about everything that was going on and dream about the things his missed. He missed being in Moriah and with his family.

But most of all, he missed Zevernus.

His old best friend always remembered Zerith’s birthday, even though there were times he had gotten the two in some sort of trouble on the special day. One year the young swordsman had insisted on taking Zerith out to drink that night, and quickly got drunk in the process. Of course things only got more complicated when he tried to hit on one young woman at the pub who just happened to come with her boyfriend at the time. Even as Zerith looked back to that night as he winced and took another step he found that he didn’t regret a single moment back then. Not even when the two of them were arrested after the barfight that the two had been in. Zevernus was only involved because the boyfriend threw the first punch, whereas Zerith only stepped in to try and keep his friend out of too much trouble. But now Zevernus was dead and gone, and Zerith still hadn’t recovered from his loss.

He just didn’t have time to deal with his own issues anymore as he was always busy with his duties as a husband, father and one of the Nine. Even his own birthday was dictated by his work immediately after he finished his breakfast. The newest polearm unit had to be assessed, and then he needed to inspect the delivery of horses that had just arrived for the cavalry division. Once those jobs were done he had an appointment with Aislinn to hear about the progress some of the injured soldiers were making with their recovery followed by a meeting with Adolf to ensure that the Chaplains were probably doing their job of strengthening the overall morale of the army. Managing the army was a job that Zerith did proudly, and once he finished the tasks he planned for the day he went straight to work under a more important role. Not a single soul seemed to celebrate the change in their General’s age.

Above everything else, Zerith strived to be a good husband a father. So he dropped everything else when he needed to do something for his family. Lately it involved running errands for his pregnant wife, though some cases it was a mere trip to Radasanth in order to satisfy some strange hunger craving of Jasmine’s. Today was no different, though the princess did add more work by asking that the halberdier also pick up some clean sheets for Siela’s crib along with the clean diapers that had just been washed. Either way, Zerith performed the thankless job dutifully before giving his wife a hug and another quick kiss on the cheek before running off to do his last task of the day. He didn’t even linger to see if she would say happy birthday a second time as he was afraid he would only be disappointed at this point.

The last stop of the night was the dojo of the brutal trainer, Ta’gaz. While the legendary fighter was quickly becoming known for his harsh methods, Zerith was quickly discovering that some of his lessons were odd, and the tasks he made his students perform also held some deeper meaning. So when the master went into great detail of what a particular stone looked like and asked one his student to find it, Zerith couldn’t help but let out a loud groan of frustration. Apparently even Ta’gaz didn’t even know it was his birthday, or he just didn’t care if it was. Either way Zerith dragged his feet behind him across the dirty floor as he headed back out of the dojo, knowing this lesson was probably going to waste the entirety of his evening.

Zerith searched the outskirts of the Castle for three hours, crawling on hands and knees as he carefully examined every rock he came across. It was already getting cold as the sun was setting, its light ingiting the sky in a bright, fiery orange. The blades of grass brushed against his palms as he crawled, and the irritating feeling of dirt underneath his fingernails didn’t make the lesson the least bit enjoyable. It didn’t take long until he lost his focus, when he couldn’t see the differences that made each rock unique. His patience only lasted another fifteen minutes or so before it finally broke with him throwing the rock he currently held onto at the ground and kicking the Castle wall in frustration. So with his head held low and his eyes fixed on the ground, Zerith reluctantly returned to Ta’gaz to apologize for his failure, taking every spare minute he could in prolonging the inevitable beating he would get from his mentor.

Of course the good news what that Ta’gaz had expected Zerith to come back empty handed, due to the simple fact he had been only onto the stone he wanted the prince to find the entire time. However the bad news was that when the warder asked how he was supposed to get the stone, Ta’gaz merely pointed to the small circle he had drawn with chalk that the two could barely stand in at the same time and explained that if he Zerith wanted the stone, all he had to do was prove he could hold his ground just as a mountain is immovable and push his teacher out of the shared space.

The fight with Ta’gaz lasted another hour or so, but after several tries the warder’s blocking, misdirection and counters eventually proved why he could stand his ground in the circle and knock Ta’gaz out of it. It was no surprise that the teacher was pleased with the halberdier, as with a slight smile Ta’gaz tossed the stone to the warder and released him to go to his family and friends. At first Zerith was overjoyed and sprinted out of the dojo, but then he quickly realized just how badly beaten he had been in the process as his body ached with each step his took.

So with the long day behind him, the fact that his birthday had gone unrecognized for the majority of it was disappointing. Part of him was hoping that there was a small get together between his family, Jensen, Stephanie and Azza waiting for him when he got him. Yet the more realistic side of him knew that he would most likely just be setting himself up for disappointment. “Who needs attention on their birthday anyways?” he rationalized as he rubbed the bruise he received on his forehead and stopped infront of the doors to his living quarters. “I’m probably just not important enough for people to remember.”

With a deep breath, Zerith prepared his best fake smile and opened the door...

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZERITH!” The room cheered as one as soon as the door opened. Jensen was the first to blow a toy whistle, before dropping it and narrowing his eyes. “Holy shit dude you look like you crapped your pants and can’t hide it!” The immortal commented on his friend’s demeanor. He moved forwards, as did Jasmine and Stephanie, all three welcoming him home. Several members of the Ixian Knight’s had shown up for his party, all congratulating him with the old jokes about living another year and what not. Jensen patted his friend on the back, watching the warmth of a real smile crack through as the two chuckled seeing Tobias ride forward on the somewhat repaired wooden horse.

As Azza finished bringing it out, breathing heavy and wiping her brow, she released the reigns and headed for the juice, causing the horse’s broken wheel to snap and dump Tobias off the animal with a cry of shock. The room all laughed as did Jensen, who laughed the loudest, but Tobias easily regained herself and stood, regaling the epic tale of Zerith the Bold. Stephanie brought the man of the hour some food which he greedily accepted, eating the small sandwich in nearly one bite. Jasmine gave him a disapproving look, but a mischievous smile as they all talked merrily about the going on events of the Ixian Castle.

For what it was, the party was painfully short, as Sei’s legion had several places it always needed to be. The castle itself was still undergoing changes to fortify itself, and that meant man hours were at an all time high. As the people slowly filtered out Zerith’s mood started to drift back into a melancholy funk, his good cheer fading fast as he shook the hands of those who left. When the last man had left the party, Tobias removed the hat and sighed, her shoulder’s resting on Jensen as she held him around the neck, her face dropping next to his. Jasmine brought a small cake slice and sat on the couch next to her lover, while Stephanie gripped Azza tightly in her arms, all smiling to the halberdier.

“I…This…” Zerith said, before he laughed rubbing the back of his head. “Thank you. This meant a lot to me.” Everyone nodded to him, but it was Jensen who took the floor.

“It’s no big deal pal, but time to open the presents! Come on, this is from Tobias. Which means it’s probably from somebody else and she snatched it!”

“Probably,” The elf mumbled. Zerith took the small package and opened it, seeing a small leather bound book about the tails of the Demon Wars and mighty heroes. He leafed through the pages, smiling as he gently put it down, thanking the green haired klepto. He leaned forwards, grabbing a small brown bag with a ribbon and opened it, pulling out sweets from Underwood’s premier candy store. He looked right at Azza, and tossed her one with a grateful smile, popping one in his mouth.

“This one is from all of us,” Jensen said, as if he had rehearsed it, pushing the large present forwards.

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask…what the hell is this monstrosity?” Jensen answered him with a smart ass grin.

“A bust of your face. I figured it’d be a good place to keep your wigs, since nobody can have hair so- OUCH!” Stephanie pinched him from afar as Zerith undid the wrapping, before he gave a double take and removed the wrapping quicker. When he was done he found an armor stand meant for holding pauldrons, and two pauldrons upon it. They shined with a deep silver color, polished to a mirror sheen, and he lifted one up, feeling the lightweight.

“This is…it’s like it isn’t there, but the work is exceptional!” He played with it in his hands, turning it over and over in his hands. “What on earth is this material?”

“Refined titanium, folded upon itself seventeen times,” Stephanie said gently. “Those belonged to the previous Avatar of War, Razgriez.”

“He was a great guy, Z, you’d have loved him! He makes Ta’gaz and Adolph look like green rookies on the battlefield. Used two pistols and had a wit sharper than the tip of your halberd!” Jensen said excitedly.

“Was, so I take it…” Zerith said solemnly. Jensen nodded with a bit more serious look.

“Yeah, he was killed doing what he loved best. Fighting. I’m not lying when I say it’d have been an honor to fight by his side one more time. But hey, Steph and I dug those out of the holds since they are all abandoned now, what with the End Bringer’s prophecy coming true, and I thought to myself that, well shit…um…”

“Just say it, Jensen,” Stephanie teased. Jensen grew red in the face, before nodding more sincerely.

“Fighting with you…that’s the real honor I have now. For as long as I can Zerith, I want to fight by your side. Cause it’s funny as hell to watch you screech like a little bitch.” The room laughed as Zerith looked to them again. “They should fit just right, and they got a unique enchantment…” He patted the other one with pride. “When you wear both pauldrons, the armor you wear actually weighs like leather. You could be in full plate, and move with the speed of a ranger or light swordsman!”

“We hope you like it,” Stephanie said softly. Azza nodded, her maroon eyes looking at her own reflection in them.

“Yeah, that way you won’t be able to blame your armor when you eventually kick the bucket,” Jensen said with sass, causing a new round of chuckles. However as they all talked merrily, Jensen had noticed the demeanor in Zerith shifted again, his short joy at the present gone again. It seemed the halberdier had a lot on his mind, and the constant look to his wife and the clock on the wall gave the immortal a good idea of what he may have been thinking.