The gated village was nothing like she'd imagined, though she had neither description nor memory to go on' She pictured shacks, teepees, or perhaps log cabins" It seemed normal; well, aside from the obvious wear-and-tear of war. We're here" Time to start your new life, Martyr" I'll only come out when you need me from now on' You ready" "How c-c-could I ever b-be ready f-for this??" The girl asked, her finger preoccupied by the vice grip of the overgrown infant's fist as she slept in the car seat next to her. "I still c-c-can't wrap m-my head around the f-fact that he's g-g-gone" How am I s-supposed to j-j-just p-p-pick up and start a n-new life?" You have to"For her. Martyr's eyes drifted over to the little girl with softened eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "I know?"

The driver of the taxi snuck glances at the woman who sat alone in the backseat, talking to herself. Martyr didn't seem to notice or care how crazy she looked as the vehicle took a stationary position outside the gate. The immortal peered through the half-transparency of the window to the hooded woman waiting for her. A stranger she would know as her mother" Once again, those vibrant violets slid over to Max, a bitter smile claiming her features. "I'll n-never l-leave y-y-you, M-m-max" Y-you're g-g-going t-t-to g-g-grow up w-w-with m-me, and I'll p-p-protect y-you? I p-promise?" Soft tresses of mocha mane that lined those fragile features would move down to tickle the sleeping baby's nose as Martyr kissed her hot forehead with soft, copious lips. "I l-l-love y-y-you."

The car was roughly shoved into park, and the driver leaned over the seat to address Martyr. There was a smile there, perhaps one too fat and with teeth too rotted and crooked for it to be considered anything but uncomfortable, "We're here," he said with a grin. "I sure hope you brought a lot of money, doll face. You've worked up quite the fare." With greasy hair and oily skin, he continued to stare through the stammering fool and hold the bloated grin on his face. That was when the stranger known as her mother knocked on the window. Cranking his arm to pull the glass down, he severed the fragile barrier between the two.

"This should cover it," A wad of green was pressed from her own fist to his. "Thank you for taking the time to drive her out this far, and if someone finds her here" I'm holding you personally responsible. I never forget a face," Cerine said softly with an expression just as deadly as the writhing tongue that slithered in her cavity. "Have a nice day!" The older woman chimed, her face turning warm as ever as she wiggled her fingers.

The swollen grin of the motorist quickly washed away, he suddenly looked pale and useless. "Yes, Ma"am. Thank you, Ma"am." He was almost submissive in speech now as he waited for the seemingly insane woman to exit his vehicle. There was some pity for the girl's woe, for the sniffling he heard from the backseat, and the occasional glance in the rear-view mirror to see the liquid sorrow seeping from her eyes. Now he snuck glances as the young girl untangled the car seat from the seatbelt, fumbling with it in the same fashion that she hiccupped syllables from her tongue. "You have a nice day, miss" Hope it gets better for you?" Tune change" Let's just say her mother had a way with words"

Martyr nodded, and smiled in the best way to her current ability. "Y-you t-t-too?" The girl said, tucking in the blanket around the baby, who had been scrunching nose and face alike in annoyance to a disturbed slumber. As Martyr stepped from the car, she looked at the woman who was her mother, this Cerine, and offered another twitching, painful smile. "T-thank y-y-you f-f-for ag-greeing t-t-to h-help m-me and M-max?" The awkwardness of the entire situation settled in, and only amplified as Cerine reached for the handle of the car seat only to have it pulled back by the overprotective mother. "I'll p-p-pay y-y-you b-back s-s-someday, I p-promise?"

"Pay me back" Don't be foolish, Martyr" You're my daughter" I know you don't remember me, but you'll always be my daughter, just like Max will always be my grandchild?" The woman whispered softly. "There is no need to pay me back, I love you. I'm happy to have you here, though I wish it were through better circumstances?"

The hardened shell that Martyr had built around herself shattered, and Martyr crumbled with it. "Mom"!" It wasn't a heartfelt reunion, or a realization that the woman before her was in fact flesh and blood. No, in this case, Martyr was trying her best to say' Help me" Waterworks began once again as the girl buried her face into the nook of her mother's collarbone and neck, weeping violently. "I c-c-can't d-d-do t-this" H-he's g-gone, h-he's j-just g-g-gone!"

"I know, baby, I know?" A hand moving up to comb through the soft, clean mocha tresses carefully kept in Martyr's scalp. The woman let her weep, let her grieve, cry and get it all out for the moment. "Let's get this baby out of the cold, and get some food in you both??

"Ugh," the stern ancient sighed, stuck somewhere between an an eon of forest and a road he'd spent a long time following. His clothes were dirty, mucked and stained in twig and brush, along with a long face—-the stressed bloke had actually grown out a little facial hair. It was a problem he confronted the first time he'd taken Martyr's blood"the hair just sprouted up day-after-day"and since he'd been on the woman's trail since the night spent dangling from a wall, the shaded jawline was becoming more and more defined with black hairs. Val rummages through his pockets, pulling out the tattered clues left for him at the house"an uneasy feeling of cowardice tumbles in his chest, remembering how scared he was, scared that Neth would be there waiting.

But that time was passed. He grunts, finding a nearby tree to rest his bones. From the coat pocket came a crisp photo of his Martyr"he smiles, devouring her every contour of the picture he'd spent the last week feasting over.

"Almost, my love" even if I'm in the god-for-fck"n-saken forest for fifty damn years; I'm going to find you. I swear it."

He's not thinking it at the time, but he'd saved little portions of the vial for when he felt to be drawing closer.

Why' So he'd keep their mental connection fresh, hopefully it would come in handy, and he'd hear her lovely thoughts through the bush.

Or maybe she'd hear his?

Eyes light the secluded horizon, pushing past the crowd of flora and paired fauna. Quickly he's on his feet, running a slick hand over his scalp, hoping to hone-in to the tiny shriek he'd heard" not to mention the slightest bit of mental static. He calms himself with a sigh, and tests a step towards what feels like true north, but in all honesty, what the hell did he know" Rustling is heard, but this had to be the home to thousands of species—-so long as an elf didn't pop up, he'd be fine.

Don't ask.

Val bounds head-long into a sprint, most-likely making an awful ruckus"which, for the most part, was the plan. From his hands comes the final morsels of Martyr, spared for this moment, he drinks it down.

"Hello," he shouts, stopping for a moment to squint through the brush.

Hello!" Can you hear me!" Please" Hello!"

He continues, though slowly, hand padding his brow, forming a plain, shielding rays of sun as they topple through the canopy. Val halts, hearing distant rustling and young, chirpy voices. He didn't know what to expect'didn't know what sorts of people inhabit Martyr's village. He approaches slowly, keeping low, palms flattening against every trunk he passes, hoping to assess the situation before running-in like a crazy person.

"M-" Martyr?"

The jostling of branch and the exchange of words were prominent in his ears, now wholly convinced that he wasn't alone in these woods. With the blood fresh below his flesh, Val was powerless to whatever it was"but he felt no fear. Martyr held a powerful trait in her veins, a trait he now temporarily held, but should trouble brew, he'd be powerless to defend himself

Yet"he's unafraid. A thin calm urges his senses; a smile had even slipped above the chin, his steps carrying him closer and closer to the disturbance in the bush. Ducking below an arm held above to sway away a branch, Val emerges from the rough to stand before a figure.

A tiny thing...a toddler, only a couple years old it seems. Large eyes peer up at him, his own thinning to get a better look, suddenly struck bashful as he awkwardly stands before her.

"Oh, uhm' hi, honey. I hope I didn't scare you," he smiles to the little girl, making sure not to startle her by keeping still. There's something so warm and familiar about her—-he melts all at once.

"You're a pretty little thing" you remind me of my daughter—-what?s your name?? He crouches, still keeping his distance.

"Oh! I'm so—-"uhh.." Val's arm had been left out-stretched as he watched the little thing go—-although his face is thin with inquiry; "did I just see?" Her eyes are what?s questioned. He takes an offering step forward, cringing a bit as he watched the little thing tumble into a pair of legs. Val's awful red eyes crawl up the lovely, fleshy pedestals.

His jaw unhinges, his eyes jump ship. His limbs go limp, his knees rattle at the bit. His shoulders droop at either broad side, his fingers hang.

And his lips fumble with scraping teeth, for the front two were embattled with tongue, relearning a language he'd known for centuries. But what can a word do now" What could properly relay the crushing salvo of emotions fired from the dirty sector of his belly; that shoddy region that houses the man's soul.

"Martyr" oh my God. I" I?" His eyes leave, the knuckles of realization throttling his squishy door of perception—-yeah, she called her mommy like a hundred times. As it comes home, Val crumples to a knee, ashamed eyes falling between the leaves at his feet, dazed and limply secure pupils sloshing around the interior eye, unable to find any certain thing to calm his shivering soul.

He lends a hard look to his daughter. "I'm' an idiot," he breathes, answering his daughters question, irises climbing to Martyr. "That's who I am, Max. I'm The Idiot."

His shock is apparent"but just, same as her words. Same as the misnomer lent' Val felt like an apparition' so far off, she was not. Pleas are written against his lips as they part and flail for words the way flounder do when tossed onto the dock. He has apologies, he has explaination"but when deep down your own explanations aren't worth the hot air their inflated with, what makes you think the people you've hurt most actually care"

Slowly, Val leaves his fallen stance, rising to his somewhat-imposing height. The man's fingers knit together at the waist as he thins his eyes and nods.

"Yes. It's true. My plan was to' rid of her any way possible. I knew it would either fail, or that I would go along with her. Turns out' I was wrong. Martyr, I"!" He leans into a step and extends an arm out to plead his case. It's not long, however, before he retracts and is found sweeping the leaves with sorrowful eyes. "I know 'sorry' isn't worth anything" I know telling you I did it for you and Max is" heh, stupid. Retarded, even. I don't know what to say to you two' I don't deserve it. I don't. But I came a long way, lost everything, threw my life in the city away just to come here. And by God, Martyr" if I have to spend every day for the rest of my awful life outside your door, curled up like a bum until you forgive me" I'll do it. I love you. Max" baby, I love you so much too' I can't believe?" His word are choked, eyes glistening as tears stand at the gates. Val clears his throat and sends his gaze into the woods to hide his shimmering eyes. "You're so big" so beautiful." Martyr's superb amethysts are admired in curt crimson spinners.

"Just like Mommy."

Val offers nods along each of her points, his expression growing direr as each line held more validity. Eyes cross with Max as she hobbles off into a nearby patch—-the man has no chance containing his smile. That, of course, before the flagrant heartbreak. Remorseful eyes plea with Martyr; "I know my choices have been awful" but I've lost things I'll never get back. I didn't hear her first word, or see her first step. I can't afford to lose anymore, Martyr" please forgive me." The pent-up tears don't yet break. The proud man's face raises, hoping the unseen will gift him a word or feeling to help him get through.

All this before a tiny voice at his feet blows the dam on his conservative emotion.

"Mommy' likes flowers, huh?" Val kneels, his voice is composed, but those eyes run like rivers, leaking into his broad smile as he kneels to accept Max's offer. His eyes move like hers, the pace not so dissimilar. "Oh....why thank you, Max. I'm going to give this to Mommy right now." Each blink shutters-out more fluid as he takes a somber step forward and offers the flower.

"Here you are, Mommy. This is from Max?"

Val is empty. He can't blame her for any hatred she was to hold against him until the end of time, but at the moment it can't help to calm his frustration and anger. The man draws an arm across his face, relieving the skin of tears. Afterward, in one swift, almost funny motion, Val plops right on his back side, legs crossed together, that traditional Indian Style sit. The man's arms cross as he simply sits upon the filthy forest floor.

"I" can't leave. I'll sit out here forever until you take me back. Because I'm in love with you so deeply that I'll eat bugs and birds for years if I have to."

He tries-on a funny face for Max, teetering his head from side to side before folding his hand in a cute little wave. "Because Daddy loves you Max. Daddy loves you and Mommy more than a thing in the world. Believe me...?

Val hops from his strange, seated position, and instead of grabbing the cute things hands, takes her completely in his arms before letting her sit on his shoulders; her stubby little legs over each broad side as she sits upon his neck. He looks up through his rough black threads that were quickly growing out of hand.

"I'm ready! What do you like to eat, baby?"

The man's cheeks are fat and content as he takes a step forward, both hands carefully holding the little things feet in place as he joins Martyr on their way back to her village.

"Thank you? thank you, Martyr. I don't deserve this" don't deserve either of you. But I'll make it up, somehow?"

Val's eyes rise to the forest?s canopy, keeping wary of anything that could brush, scrape or poke the little angel slung over his shoulders. "Don't worry, Mommy," Val teased, flinging up a cheesy grin to Max as they continued. "We'll be careful, won't we baby?" The lanky hellion can't take his eyes from his little girl. Moments like these" they're so scarce, so precious that they can rewrite strict portions of a person's very soul, could rattle one's very foundation.

His smile had never been so bright.

As they continue, Val leans a quirked brow in Martyr's direction. "Cookie??