The Quiet Ever After

A Lawn of Leaves and Grass - 3

If someone told Axel he would once again confront Malian of Anation in the mountains once all of the fighting with Titania's forces was over, he'd have thought it was for some sort of battle conclusive struggle between the two. Perhaps Malian restitched remnants of the Faerie army that marched alongside Queen Titania or he was a lone avenger who'd completely given in to the darkness that revived him. It was she, after all, who bestowed Ryan with new life as Malian after his death a year or so prior. But at the time of his death, he'd served different masters, the demons Faustus and Jericho, Titania had hardly been a blip on anyone's radar of concern.

Instead, the two former warriors stood across from one another in the streets of a quaint suburban neighborhood, dressed from head-to-toe like your average guy. They stood off about halfway between both houses. Ryan folded his arms while Axel kept his loose at his side.

Ryan's human traits had come back strong after he held a more Fae-like appearance during the fighting. His eyes betrayed a bit of that but no human would notice. He still bore some of the markings—mere tattoos to regular observation—that signified his high rank in Titania's army. Third-in-command. Her male heir. He'd bear that weight for all time, even as she was kept in the farthest reaches of Hell.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," Axel said at last.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan shot back before Axel could finish his sentence.

His voice. It slammed Axel firmly back into the past, though not the one where they were enemies.

For so long, his memory of the man was of Malian—those mannerisms, that voice.

What came then was Ryan's voice. The one their shared youth. Axel was flung back to the days of stuffy hallways, lockers slamming, and people chatting. Of an overwhelming sense of responsibility and confusion. To blood and tears as he screamed to the heavens for help in understanding his powers, ones Ryan promised to get an understanding of to help Axel out.

To days when he still had his brother, Kyle, to help make sense of the world.

"Did you follow me?" Ryan asked. His entire body was tense as a boulder, but he was clearly ready to move; Axel just couldn't tell if it was to pounce or run away. Their last encounter, after all, hadn't ended well for Ryan—at the time, Malian. Maybe still Malian.

"I live here," Axel said, a bit unsure if he was meant to be revealing that information just in case Ryan was still serving some sort of army belonging to Titania.

Ryan set his jaw. "Is Ariel with you? Or, no, wait...it'd be Nina, right?"

"She's here. We're married now."

He shifted. Axel knew well enough that coming back from the dead messed with one's head pretty well—he and Nina had been graciously helped by their friends in that regard. Ryan had been dead for over a year, and even then, came back as something a bit different. It was only through severe impassioned talks and a lot of literal fighting that they were able to pry Ryan's soul out of Malian.

"Oh," Ryan said. "Well. Wh—what are you..."

"What are you doing here?" Axel asked. He became wary of a neighbor coming up the hill. It was Brittany, doing a little stroll while she talked on the phone. He let a bit of energy flow into his hand only through his body, in case he needed to make a quick attack on Ryan.

No. Stop it. Axel pulled it back, ashamed of his instinct.

"I also live here," Ryan said, slowly. "I—I moved here to get away from...uh..."

"From all the noise, all of the confusion of where you used to live."

Ryan's eyes widened. Axel nodded to him, considering a soft grin to try to reassure the man.