Leave a light on

His hesitance earned him some reassurance that they would return to their children, but coming back wasn't the problem in Saracyn's mind. It was leaving them in the first place. He was not so grief-stricken that he had deluded himself into mistaking his children weren't dead. He knew that their pups were dead and gone, but he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay there with them until he froze and left this brutal world behind. He wanted the Ancients to take back this accursed soul they had plagued him with, to rip it from his body and leave him lifeless, the way he should have been since the day he was born. He was a mistake, a pestilence upon his poor sweet sister's life, an embarrassment to his family, the unneeded extra Mendacium that had done nothing but cock up everything for everyone else. Saracyn just wanted to die.

Still, he followed her all the way back to their den. The warmth inside felt unwelcome to him. He didn't deserve any comforts or respite. At her guiding, Sara followed his twin into her workshop, only half paying attention to what was going on while he went through the motions. It was only once she brought him to a stop in front of the gray stone memorial did some sort of recognition flicker in his dim eyes. The monument was both simple yet majestic, the plain surfaces of the Alias stone etched with ribbons of white marble and gilded gold cutting through it. It took Saracyn a moment to realize the veins formed shapes—their shapes. His and Ava's markings adorned the marker. Saracyn's heart wrenched within his chest as he gazed upon the memorial, unresponsive to his mate's words. He silently lifted a giant paw, resting it against the cold smooth stone as sharp claws began to trace those veins of gold and marble. It was beautiful. It was exactly what their children deserved.

His white-tipped toes coming to rest on the bare surface between their markings, Sara clicked his claws against the empty space of stone. "We need to name them..." he said after a while, his voice rough and husky with disuse. He had spoken so little since the incident. "It's what they deserve..." Regardless of what happened, they were still Mendaciums and still their offspring. They deserved to be remembered.

"Avacyn & Saracyn"