The Boy Who Lived [Fin - Farewell to Calia]

[The Jenn]

Parzifal was exhausted. He'd never been this tired in his life. Sleep had eluded him for a solid three days, almost four, and he looked about ready to fall over or start hallucinating or some other alarming act. But he couldn't. Not yet.

In his lap sat a squirming bundle of blanket, warmed by the enchantment on the fabric. He held it close, a featherless pink limb occasionally sticking out to poke him in the chest or wave in front of his beak, and he tucked them away almost as soon as they appeared. Fretting, exhausted, and more relieved than he'd ever felt in his life. He must have used up an entire lifetime's worth of worry in the past four months.

The egg had hatched. It was a two-day period of anxiety and quiet panic attacks for Parzi, as well as a rushed visit to a doctor he'd been in contact with for the last two months. Living in Corvistowne for the time being had serious benefits in that regard. For the first day, he'd just huddled around the vibrating, shaking, and very occasionally wobbling thing. Proof that it was alive. It still lived and was trying to hatch. For the second day, he'd been sitting next to an incubator as the doctor came in every hour or so to check on its progress. When the child had finally hatched enough to satisfy the Corvie, he'd yanked him out of the scattered remains of shell and goo to wipe him off and shove some food down his scrawny little gullet. Announced that the child seemed a healthy, if week, Five of Spades corvid.

An hour later, during the next feeding, he'd stared and double checked his notes because the child had suddenly become a Jack. All of a sudden. For no apparent reason.

Apparently the Queen's blessing had done quite a bit of good...?

Regardless, Parzi held a living, breathing infant in his arms and he was nearly to the Court of Diamonds, his third day of being awake consumed by a fitful carriage ride from the doctor's to the palace. Hopefully Calia would still be there. He wouldn't know where else to look for her. Maybe one of her children could tell him.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Everything in her room had been packed up and stacked neatly in the corner. Belongings that were hers, belongings that were Theo's... All of it. Sadie had been more than kind to offer a room for her to live in for the rest of her days, but this place... It just had too many memories, and after a few months of Theofilus-free Court-life, Calia had decided that she was done with this part of her life.

All she wanted to do was return to the apartment in the Capital that they had all shared, mourn the loss of lover and children, and live out the rest of her days in peace. She wanted to share in the birth and raising of her grandchildren since she'd already missed their birth and try to forget some of the sadness that had begun to cling rather tenaciously to her in the last few weeks. Solo and Mori were married. That - that had to count for something. The woman stared down at the last things to be packed away.

Eggshells, from the birth of her and Theo's children. There were only a few fragments left, but all of them were precious. It was... in some ways, it was all she had left. She set them gently into a box, wrapping them in scraps of silk and cotton to cushion them, then sat for a long moment.

She still hadn't managed to get ahold of Parzifal, to tell him what had happened to the eggs she'd laid and find out about his poor little thing. It almost seemed pointless. After all, that egg had been in terrible condition, and none of hers had made it. With nothing but bad news to share, she was hesitant to tell the young man anything, and equally afraid to get any more bad news. Slowly, the woman closed the lid of the box, then set it atop a stack of others that were very much like it.

Then a knock came at the door. A second later, flush with nerves and excitement, Calia emerged from her room, still in biped form, to greet Parzifal at the front of the Palace. And there, bundled up tightly in his arms, she saw...

Her heart skipped a beat, and the woman threw her arms around the Crow. "Oh, Parzifal, thank you, thank you...[/b]"

[The Jenn]

Parzifal stood awkwardly in the lobby of the palace, aware of a few curious glances from passerby as they went about their business. His rank certainly entitled him to be there, or at least gave him a reason of sorts, but his squirming and occasionally peeping bundle merited a second glance. He hugged the child to his feathery chest and waited for the attendant to return. Hopefully with Calia. The woman had said she was in, which was another weight off his mind. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to stay awake.

When she came out one hall entrance, looking excited and beautiful, he couldn't help but smile. He still looked a little like death warmed over, but he threw a wing around her and shifted his burden to give it a more protected grip with the second body pressing in on it. Of course she'd be careful.

"Calia, I'm so glad you're here." He enjoyed the contact for a moment and had to forcibly remind his head that he wasn't allowed to fall asleep leaning on her in the middle of the entryway to the palace. "I wouldn't have known where else to look. I had to find you. He hatched."

The bundle of featherless hatchling stuck a foot out of the blanket, pushing the awkward appendage into the fluff of Calia's chest and peeping through the muffling layers.

[carcinoGeneticist]

There really was something to be said for a hug. It had been a while since the Sparrow had last received one - at least one like this, full and warm and feathery. It also wasn't from one of her children, and much as she loved them and the affection they showed her... It just wasn't the same.

Heat stung at the corners of the woman's eyes and she found her breath hitching in her throat when Parzifal spoke. It almost seemed too good to be true, but here the young man was, and in his arms he carried the glimmer of hope she'd never thought could come true. She made a soft noise, somewhere between chirp and gasp, as a blue-taloned foot emerged from the bundle. Unconsciously, she reached for that foot, holding it in her talons and gently pushing it back into the warmth of the blanket, chirping to herself.

If she had anything to say for it, this little baby would never feel cold again. There would only be warmth and love for him.

Blue eyes turned up to meet the deep red of Parzifal's, and the woman made another quiet chirp. "Please, come with me, we can talk in my room... Can I get you anything to eat? Drink? Do you need a place to stay for a few nights?" Her desire to mother and protect could be overwhelming at times, but it was easier for her to deal with it than it was with the fact that she was going to need to tell the man what had become of their other eggs. She turned to lead the way, her fluffy tail twitching behind her as she went.

Oh, this... she hadn't been expecting this. But that didn't mean she hadn't hoped for it.

[The Jenn]

Parzi really hadn't expected such an enthusiastic welcome. He'd hoped, certainly, and knew that the woman wouldn't be upset in the face of a successful hatching, but this was a breath of fresh air throughout an otherwise panicked few days. He kept an arm around her as he watched her tuck the little leg back into its protective cocoon.

So now he wasn't the only mother here. Heh. That was a warming thought. She would know a lot. After all, she'd raised at least one litter with the late Queen and was probably working on the other right now. She would certainly have advice, which he desperately needed. He could stand a little mothering right now, for him and his newborn. So tired...

"I'll follow wherever. Honestly, I'm dead on my feet. I haven't slept in days. I don't think I could stomach any food right now, but I need to make sure he's fed... and a place to fall over for a few hours would be very, very appreciated." He followed, glancing down at her tail and nearly tripping over a rug when it suddenly appeared underfoot before catching his balance and looking around sheepishly. At least he hadn't dropped the child. No. Thank you.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Now that the excitement was starting to wear off, Calia felt some of her exhaustion starting to show through. It was nothing like Parzifal's sleepless nights, but it was a lifetime of late nights, early mornings, and far too much misfortune in the last few months than she thought her heart could really handle. She just needed to get the man settled in and comfortable. Then they would talk. About Theofilus, about the eggs she'd lost, about... About the egg he'd saved.

Despite herself, that thought was enough to put a little skip in her step as she led him to her room. It was very different from the room he'd seen once before, but some furnishings were still in place. The woman lightly placed a hand on both of the Crow's shoulders, pushing him lightly towards the bed. She wanted him to sit and relax. Then maybe she could finally get a better look at her child. His child. Their child. The thought made something in her heart thrill.

Oh, Theo, if only you could be here now.

"Before... Before you get too comfortable, we need to talk.[/b]" The woman sat down on the bed beside him, feeling very exposed and very old rather suddenly. She raised her head to meet his eyes and then glanced down at her own legs. "My clutch... I lost them, Parzifal. I didn't... I didn't know how to contact you. I'm so, so sorry.[/b]"

[The Jenn]

It wasn't hard to direct the exhausted corvid towards a bed. In fact, his body seemed drawn to it as though magnetically attracted. The room looked different to his foggy brain, but he didn't register it as clearly as he might have. He was too busy concentrating on thoughts of a bed, sleep, baby, food, and the woman in front of him. Slowly, he collapsed onto the mattress, wincing as it sent his tail feathers off at odd angles. That was somewhat painful.

He shifted slowly and looked over at Calia, half-tempted to fall over backwards despite her quiet protest. Something about the way she said it, though, kept him upright.

...oh. He blinked, his eyes seeming to stay closed longer than the half-a-second they should have. That... that was unfortunate. A tragedy, even. And her such an experienced mother. Maybe they were having the same sorts of problems as his, but less dramatically? If he hadn't gotten this child help, he was positive he wouldn't have lived.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," he said quietly, reaching the hand not cradling the blanket towards her and resting it on one of her hers. He should be reacting more strongly to this, he knew he should. But being here, in her presence, and sitting down on a comfortable surface had started to make his exhausted mind go oddly foggy. There were actually shadows edging in his vision. He closed his eyes again in what was supposed to be a blink and opened them a few seconds later. "That's... a real shame. Maybe they had the same problem as this little one, just less... less obviously?"

He didn't know. It was hard knowing anything just then. He glanced down at the blanket and then gingerly shifted it into his hands so that he could pass it into hers. "I should have left you a contact. I'm sorry I didn't. And I'm sorry again, but this time, I just can't focus on anything. Right now, it's like you're underwater. Or I am. I'm not sure. Would you... mind my sleeping here?"

The hatchling stuck an ugly, awkward, featherless head out of the blanket and opened a brilliant beak directly in Calia's face, little blue tongue wiggling at her in a mindless entreaty for food.

[carcinoGeneticist]

There was a moment of tense fear that gripped the woman, and she raised a hand to cover her beak partly, the feathers of her wing flaring in a subconscious show of nerves. The guilt that she felt over the loss of the eggs had been overshadowed for a period, first with Theofilus's death, then with Mori's marriage, and finally with the loss of Asha... But now it had its chance to flare up again, and it made something in the woman twist unpleasantly. She felt shamed, somehow, at the fact that the eggs had perished while under her care but also the fact that she'd taken so long to tell their other parent.

Who, if truth be told, seemed far too exhausted to really be taking any sort of news at the current moment. Calia chirped softly as Parzifal spoke, slowly forcing herself to relax. The poor dear, he'd told her before that he was utterly run-down and she'd tried to talk to him about such a serious matter anyway... "It's... entirely possible, yes.[/b]" She managed to respond with a little sigh.

Then she smiled at him, turning her hand to hold his own and squeezing it lightly, her touch reassuring. "Don't trouble yourself with thoughts like those, dear. It's all in the past, and now... Now we have something new to look forward to.[/b]" New life. Perhaps it would breathe new energy into her own old bones? There was a hopeful thought. When she glanced down at the bundle and was met with the perfect image of baby bird, she actually laughed softly. "And of course you can rest here. I'll take this little one and get him something to eat, then, and you rest as long as you need.[/b]" She raised her eyes to look at the corvid, her expression soft.

[The Jenn]

Parzifal wished that he could handle her grief, or begin to acknowledge his own at the unexpected loss, but... his mind simply wouldn't let him. The emotions weren't coming. Not yet, before a long period of sleep. He'd still barely acknowledged that he was a parent now, to a chick instead of an egg! A very different sort of parenting.

He relaxed into this bed that was meant for feathers and something in his muscles seemed to slump. It would have been comical if he wasn't so tired. "Alright. Thank you. I fed him... a few hours ago. It's been a while. Didn't have much on the road, I'm afraid. Oh, and his name is Teo. I wanted to... thank him..." And that was about all that his body would give him. He trailed off at the end of the statement into a light doze that would quickly become true sleep.

The ugly little hatchling continued to gape his beak at her hopefully, head wobbling on his scrawny neck like someone with a neurological disorder.

[carcinoGeneticist]

It was hard to decide if she wanted more to watch Parzifal as he slipped into sleep or the adorable little hatchling that was clearly rather desperate for its other parent's attention. Despite herself, despite her grief, there was nothing the woman could do but beam at the adorably awkward little thing, that vividly colored beak open widely and hopefully.

Distracted as she was, Parzifal's words did not go unnoticed, and her attention was drawn away from the infant with a start. She felt her throat get tight at the words, a strange heat in her eyes. Teo... To thank him... Oh, Suits above, she couldn't even begin to imagine the joy Theofilus would have felt at the news. Blinking rapidly to keep her tears from actively falling, Calia smiled at the man and then back at the babe. Did Parzifal know what had happened to the Queen...? "He would have been honored,[/b]" she whispered, gathering up the hopeful little baby with one hand and wiping her eyes with the other. "Thank you.[/b]"

He wouldn't hear her, of course. He was out completely, in a sleep that she would be perfectly content to let him enjoy for as long as he needed. She'd use the time to bond with Teo, sweet little creature that he was. But first, she needed to get him something to eat.

---

When Parzifal finally awoke again, Calia would be sitting in a rocking chair, infant cradled in her arms. She was singing softly, words in a language not often heard spoken in this court - Kahmden. Her voice was soft with disuse, but she'd found it came back to her easily enough, singing and rocking and soothing the boy to sleep.