The thoughts of his future and the shape it wanted to take brought him to a thought that he hadn't had in a long time and that thought brought him to Habari's borders. He couldn't remember the last time he had spoken to his mother. Any memories he had were vague and distant and it hadn't really occurred to him how much that bothered him until he began thinking about the children he desired to raise. It felt like there was a chance that he and Void could become fathers in the not so distant future so what had been a passing thought had become a matter of importance. He was trying to get all of the pieces in place before that happened and that included mending ties with the only grandparent he had to introduce his children to.

He settled on his haunches outside of the Habari borders, hesitating for a moment. The reasons and whys for their mother's distance wasn't fully clear to him and he began to wonder if him coming here was a mistake. He liked to think that if Deathbelle had wanted to be a continuing part of their lives she would have said so and he feared he was only walking into heartbreak. However, he wanted his mother to know the progression of her children and their families and the tragedies that had befallen them over the last few seasons and at least give her the option. Steeling himself, he lifted his head and called for her, waiting beyond the border for her to arrive.

Plague | Viridis | Procella

Any real thoughts of the future shook the once great Empress to her core and spiraled her deeper into the depression that held her. Even with the endless night around them Deathbelle felt like the color had drained out of her world. Like she really was a shell of something greater. Now she was just broken. She couldn’t dwell on the fact that her grandchildren were becoming yearlings and she couldn’t even name one of them. The fact that it had been more than a year since she had looked into any of her elder children’s eyes. She couldn’t dwell on how much she failed all of them, or she wouldn’t have come up to breathe again. So Deathbelle tried not to think of them and what kind of position she would be in if her life had taken a different path.

So those thoughts were far from her mind when Plague summoned her from Habari’s border. He was the first to initiate contact when she had been so certain none of them had any desire for her any longer. Mismatched ears fell to her skull and the once warrior hearted queen answered her son’s summons.

Plague, her sweet first born son, or used to be. She couldn’t claim she knew any of them any longer. Her ivory splattered form appeared through the bare thin dark branches of the nook before the Ashen Daimyo. ”Plague,” She greeted softly, holding back the tears that always threatened to spill over her cheeks. ”It’s so good to see you.”She sniffled as she lowered herself to her haunches before him, afraid to get to close for fear of him disappearing.

Plague shifted and fidgeted while he waited for his mother to appear until eventually the sound of paw steps moving toward him alerted him to her arrival and he lifted his emerald gaze to see her monochromatic form moving through the trees of the grove. The last time he had even gotten a glimpse of her was at Ashen's festival, but even then it had only been in passing. Had she been at his wedding to Void? He wasn't certain. His attention had been too wrapped up in his husband to look. Seeing her now, it made emotion twist in his stomach. He expected to feel some kind of resentment for her absence while he was trying and at times failing to figure out the path for his life, but he didn't. He only felt a sadness that it had taken him this long to try and reach out and a hope that they could find a way to mend things between them.

"Mom," he replied softly at her greeting, his pale ears flicking slightly at the shine of tears brimming in her amethyst eyes. The reason behind their distance from one another was a mystery, but in that moment he didn't really care to know. Even if she was trying to hold back her tears or hide them, it didn't matter. It still shattered his heart to see her like this and there was little to no hesitation as he moved toward her to comfort her. With a little bit of a frown on his lips he got up and moved to where she was sitting and settling directly in front of her, quietly wrapping his forelegs around her shoulders to pull her into an embrace.

Tears of his own pricked at his eyes as his cheek rested on the top of her head, squeezing her a little tighter as a feeling of guilt twisted in his stomach. "I'm sorry," he told her quietly, squeezing her a little tighter. "I should have come to see you sooner... I'm sorry it's been so long." He held her like that for a long moment before he eventually lifted his head to look down at her again, but he didn't fully release her just yet. He was usually a pretty good judge of other's emotions and reading their expressions and something told him that his mother needed this. "I don't know what got us to this point, but... If it's all the same with you... I'd love for it to be in the past. I miss you."

Plague | Viridis | Procella

Deathbelle was sure that all of her children hated her, from Venom and Toxicity, to Siren and Chimera, but perhaps she’d been able to stay in Sorcerer and Voodoo’s good graces. Not that it felt like. The child she was closest to was Veigar, the poor orphan boy who lost both parents before he could remember. He had saved her life. Sirius could command her all he wanted to, but she wouldn’t have survived the winter if she hadn’t had that little boy to remember. His love was unconditional and it had been everything that she so desperately needed.

The once Empress knew not her own grandchildren, she didn’t feel welcome after Venom took the throne. Her incredible daughter, striking while the iron was hot and her mother was weak. Deathbelle’s biggest crime was not being strong enough for her brood, and allowing her selfish desires to cloud her judgement. For allowing Sirius to get too close too many times. That was a hard lesson that had truly been the catalyst of her downfall.

Plague was the forefront of her mind though, even if the haunts of her regrets skimmed her mind. He showed no hesitation as he greeted her, and swiftly brought her into an embrace. She whined softly at the sudden affection, surprised and overwhelmed as she wrapped her ivory arms around him and sobbed into his fur. He spoke quietly, unwilling to let her go as his head rested easily over hers. Of anyone, Plague reminded her the most of Archon, the feel of his arms around her, his deep voice, even his scent… Deathbelle tried not to cry more as Plague apologized.

”You’re too good, I don’t deserve you.” She told him as he pulled away slightly. ”I’m the one that’s sorry, I failed you…” He told her he wanted it all in the past, forgotten and forgiven. ”I’ve missed you too.”

Plague gently squeezed his mother in his embrace while she sobbed into his chest, his heart aching at the sight of her. The regret he felt for not reaching out to her sooner sat heavy on him while he held her and now all he wanted to do was make it right. Maybe there was some rift between her and Venom that kept her away, but whatever it was didn't matter to him now. Archon was a far flung, distant memory, Toxicity was gone, Calamity was gone, Pestilence was gone. It was just him and Venom left and with the family he was building for himself he was grasping at any shred of their family he had left, hoping to hold them together so his children could experience the close knit family they once had. He gave a little shake of his head as she apologized, saying she had failed him. "No, we all failed here... We were blinded and we all could have done better."

He pulled a small smile onto his lips as he looked down at her, keeping one foreleg around her shoulders while the other released her long enough for his paw to lift to her cheeks and brush away the tears there. "I came to bring you some news... Good and bad." He was never good at having attention on himself even though he was excited to tell her the developments in his life so he decided to get that out of the way first. "I don't know if you knew that I'm married... His name is Void," he told her, curiously watching her expression. He didn't know where she might stand on his choice to marry a man, but he kept going all the same. "We have a dear friend who agreed to be our surrogate and... well, she's expecting so... we're going to be a fathers." A proud grin pulled across his features at that, his tail wagging gently against the ground behind him. "I... um... I hope you'll want to be a part of their lives. I would love for them to grow up knowing you."

As excited as he was for his own children, he would be doing the rest of his family a disservice if he didn't at least let her know what else was going on with them. After she had a moment for his news to sink in he moved on, saying, "Chimera and Siren left Ashen fairly recently. Chimera founded a pack in Auster called Fenmyre. I haven't been down to visit yet, but I've heard that it's on an island in northern Auster." He didn't know if their mother would ever want to visit or perhaps distance herself from Habari, but he felt like it would be good information to have. Perhaps if she didn't feel comfortable living in Ashen again maybe she would be more at home in Fenmyre. He'd feel more welcome in visiting Fenmyre than Habari to see her at the very least.

"It does sound like Chimera has been having a hard time though..." he mused with a soft frown. "Apparently he's had quite a few children that were still born... I don't know all the details, just stuff I've overheard from information going back and forth between him and Venom, but... I feel awful for him all the same." Now that Rava was pregnant his own fears of how the pregnancy would go, if their children would all be born healthy, and having to learn how to be a father had all started to creep up on him and hearing about Chimera's misfortunes in that department didn't exactly ease his concerns. He was already a bit over protective of Rava as it was so he was doing his best to not be smothering of her while she carried their children. He was glad that he had her join Ashen when he did so at least they would have their best healers at the ready just in case.

Plague | Viridis | Procella

Plague held her tightly, allowing her emotions to run over. Though her regrets about her children were not the only thing that spilled over. All of her regrets, all of the paths that she should have chosen, and she was right here right now. Ostracized from most of her offspring, alone after being given a tiny taste of her heart’s deepest desire, and guilty for everything she could have done better. Her son tried to tell her differently, that everyone shared the blame and the mistakes. She shook her head but didn’t argue as he pulled back slightly so he could help dry her tears.

He was a man now, in his prime, everything she hoped that he would become. He had much to tell her as well, and Deathbelle easily made herself comfortable in his embrace as he spoke about what was happening in their family that she had been blind to. She had heard that Ashen celebrated a wedding, but she hadn’t heard Plague chose a man to share his life with. Deathbelle was the last wolf to judge anyone on their choice of partner, so she grinned in echo of his own happiness because that was what truly mattered to her. His happiness, and if he found that in Void she would support that decision to the very end.

”Congratulations,” the once empress offered softly. ”On both fronts!” She gasped quietly, surprised he would follow up his choice in partner with the fact they were expecting. His own joy was obvious in the way he grinned as he told her, and Deathbelle couldn’t have thought of much better news than this. Somehow he did as he asked her to be a part of their lives. Deathbelle cried again, but as Plague spoke to her she could feel him returning her sense of self. She had been empty and devoid of hope for so long… The warmth of it as Plague offered nearly burned her.

”I’d be honored…” She offered breathlessly but they had much more to discuss than his personal life. He went on to mention his brother. Chimera and Siren felt even further removed than Plague and Venom. She didn’t deserve to even know how they were with how she treated them. Another dark cloud over her past and regret that continued to haunt her. Chimera too. He suffered loss as he brought children into the world.

Mismatched ears fell to Deathbelle’s skull at the news, she felt her heart clench like it hadn’t in a long time. Her emotions swung like a pendulum back and first in the span of minutes. ”Chimera… I... Losing a child…” She choked up, remembering exactly how she felt when she thought Fortune dead. What could she do for Chimera though? The broken woman who couldn’t even call herself his mother anymore? Belle shook her head and lowered it in a moment of silence as her mind reeled.

Even though he had been with Void for quite some time now and he was plenty secure in their relationship there was still something that relived him about his mother's congratulation on their marriage and the pups they were expecting. He and Deathbelle hadn't spoken in so long and it had been an incredibly long time since she had been a part of his lift, but somehow that didn't stop him from appreciating his mother's validation and approval he felt from her in that moment. The time and distance didn't seem to matter to him as much as he thought it would. She was still his mother and he was still her son and that created a permanent soft spot for her in his heart as it did with most of his family. Some of his family had lost that privilege like Toxicity, but in his eyes his mother hadn't done anything nearly that terrible so he was more than willing to forgive and forget. He was grateful that she wanted to be a part of her grandchildren's lives and now he just couldn't wait to bring them to meet her or have her visit them once they were old enough.

He saw how much hearing the news about Chimera and his loss hurt her and a small part of him regretted telling her just for the fact that he didn't want to cause her any more distress, but it was better that she knew all the same. He gently rubbed her back as her head lowered and he started thinking more about his half-brother and how bad he felt for Chimera to go from the high of creating his own pack to the massive low of losing children all in such a short time span. He wished there was something he could do for him, but he didn't know what Chimera would need or want in this situation. But he also wouldn't know until he asked...

A thought crossed his mind and he looked down at Deathbelle again. "I can't go right away because I don't want to leave the mother of my children alone for a length of time, but after my children are born... Come to Fenmyre with me? I want to go check on Chimera, but I'd rather not go alone. Venom is too busy with the pack and our other siblings have left so it's just me and her now." He waited hopefully for her answer, half because he wanted an excuse to spend more time with her, but also because he hoped this could help mend the bridge between her and Chimera as well so hopefully she could make a new home in Fenmyre where she wouldn't feel so closed off to him.

Plague | Viridis | Procella