LAMENT

A Tether Story

By

Rory See
1.

There had never been any doubt in her mind. She had tried. She had tried her
damn fucking best to love him. To be what he needed. For almost a decade, nothing else
existed in her world but the thought of the two of them together. The US, as he’d called
their disastrous marriage. It wasn’t her fault. It couldn’t have been.
Free, the Grand High of the Muse Plane fought back tears as she clenched her
warm mug of tea. Today’s news reports did not make her feel any satisfaction about any
of the decisions of her life, and watching it only made her feel more like a selfish,
unworthy waste. But dammit she’d tried.
“Keep telling yourself that, Free,” the voice in her head did her no favors.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” And the news droned on.

“…this morning when A.N.T. forces stormed the gates of Los Almas. The
citizens were shocked to discover that the former heroes, the world renowned S.S.K. had
been accused of interspecies terrorism. A spokesman from the A.N.T. had this to say…”
The program cut to a young blonde soldier, gussied up for the press conference.
The man wore no expression as he droned through his clearly scripted message.
“Our sources have confirmed unconstitutional actions made or orchestrated by
S.S.K. Core members, Christian “Logos” Royson, Carson Sales, and David “Moses”
Gregor ranging from murder to acts of treason too numerous to mention here today. The
culprits, while powerful, are no match for our latest technological advances. We are in
the process of apprehending these men and bringing them in for questioning. It is only a
matter of time before the safety and security T-1 rests back in the capable hands of her
creators.”
Free tightened her robe as if to squeeze out more warmth from the luxury fabric.
It had been three years since their divorce and her ex-husband, Christian, had made every
effort to detach himself from her life. The strands of fate that connected them had been
strong. The two had been a Tethered Pair, bonded through adversity and years of
emotional connection. But when he had had enough of her distance and lack of
enthusiasm for their relationship he quite literally severed the ties that bonded their hearts
to one another. They were free to follow whatever paths they needed to.
Yet, if that was the case, then why exactly did she feel as though this turn of
events, in the life of a man she admitted to not ever really loving, burden her so?

“You know what your problem is, hon? You’re just too damn nice for your own
good.”
A 19-year-old Logos hovered above Free’s head as she attempted to study. The
young man did very little without her and it was obvious to anyone who’d ever met the
two of them that at least one of them was very much in love. He spun lazily in the air and
his cocoa colored hair wrapped loosely around his waist. He’d been growing his hair
since he was five years old, and it now fell gracefully to the top of his pelvis. He flew up
and around her head, swimming through the breeze in impossible motions. Free looked
up to see her betrothed gently kissing her on the nose as she shook herself from her
memories.
 “GOD DAMN IT! I have a life now. I don’t need him and he doesn’t need me
and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“That’s a nice rhyme, mom.”
Free nearly sprained a lung. A group of five beings had appeared in her living
room in the space it had taken her to remember the last time she’d been even remotely
happy with her ex-husband. Her two-year old twin daughters squirmed excitedly in her
oldest son’s arms. Kaye, her 11 year old super genius son set down two heavy duffels as
a multicolored dust retreated into the sleeves of his jacket. He pushed his glasses up and
smiled. Behind the children stood an impressive blonde woman seemingly cloaked in
shadow. The expression she wore doused Free’s self-loathing with a cold and ugly dread.
Em Deo, the soldier who’d taken it upon herself to care for Logos and his children
after their divorce, hated Free to the same degree that Free feared her. Free kept her eyes
on the tall woman as she knelt to pick up the bags the boys had set down. Em’s
rectangular glasses glinted eerily in her self-made shadow and it was clear that she
wanted nothing to do with the woman who’d nearly crippled one of her closest friends.
Em stared.
Free stared back.
Em squinted and as Free flinched ever so slightly, Em turned and smiled to
herself.
“Psstch. Bitch can’t even handle a simple stare-down. How the hell is she
supposed to run an entire Plane of Existence?!” She chuckled inwardly and hoisted all
three of the children’s bags and headed off to the back of the house without a word.
16-year-old Ricky gently pecked his mother on the cheek. Kaye gave her a tight
hug as though trying to merge his round face with her stomach. Her daughters tugged on
the strings of her robe ensuring themselves a spot for her attentions. A boulder would
have been lighter in her stomach.
She loved these parts of her genetics, but the affection they’d learned from their
father would be difficult to return. Logos had been so obvious about his love for them. It
frightened her. She started a hug but winced as Em cleared her throat in an obvious and
powerful display of intrusion. The twins grabbed each other’s hands and waddled toward
her. Em knelt gracefully and brushed Gina’s curly hair from her eyes. Nina, never to be
outdone, reached up to grab the hood of Em’s robe. They cooed and giggled a secret
language as they expressed unconditional love for their soldier-turned-nanny.
“Kaye, take your sisters and go unpack,” She said to the boy. “Wallace has the
rest of your stuff in the truck, Rick. Go get the keys now, because I KNOW that both of
you’ll forget. Then I’ll have to come all the way back here!” Kaye grabbed Nina’s hand
and led them off to the back rooms and Ricky nodded, as would a trained soldier. They
dispersed leaving Free alone with one of the few people in the worlds who could kill her.
Em’s face was cold as she spoke.
“You and I have some things to discuss.”
2.

For the next few moments an ominous hum filled Free’s sizable kitchen as the
two immensely powerful women squared off. Their natural genetic distance along with
the discomfort of all of their experience with each other caked the room in a dubious
mood.
Em walked through the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets for an empty
glass.
“C-can I get you anything--?” Free started. Her hands shook as she tried to
accommodate the woman who was so bent on unnerving her. Em ignored her as she
strode to the sink to pour herself a glass of water. She closed her eyes and gulped for a
moment before speaking again.
“That sure is something. One thing can be said about you Muses. Y’all do some
amazing things with water.” She set the glass in the sink and sat at Free’s neatly dressed
table. “UnFORtunately, you never share anything. So it is what it is.”
Knowing to choose her words with exceeding great care, Free breathed deeply
before speaking.
“I need to know why you’re here, Em.”
“I take it you haven’t been watching much of the news lately. And one report on
one day of the year doesn’t count. The S.S.K. is in some major trouble. It’s nothing we
can’t handle, and you don’t need to know the details. But suffice it to say that the
children are in danger.”
“Is someone after them? Is there something I can do?”
“You mean apart from taking some responsibility for your offspring? No. We’ll
manage. Thanks.” Em didn’t wait for the sting of her words to pass before continuing.
“I have no intention of being here all day, Free. But you need to know something before
I go. Kaye changes diapers and Ricky cooks, so as far as the children’s day-to-day is
concerned, all you need to do is make sure they’re alive every night and every morning.
“The only reason that I brought them all this way is because this is the absolute
last place anyone would expect Logos to leave his children. Ricky and Kaye can fight.
They’re good enough to have made the S.S.K. Secondary Squads and they adore the girls
so there’s not really much you need to do but keep them from coming back to T-1 until
Logos or I come to get them. School doesn’t begin for another two months but the boys
are already enrolled. There’s an Interplane friendly childcare center a few miles up for
the girls and no one knows exactly whose kids they are. Ricky will drive everyone to and
from school and do nightly patrols. Kaye will take care of home security. You can
continue to live your life in the box called Free.” Em stared out the window as her
fiancé, Wallace Allen, laughed with Ricky beside the boy’s pickup. Free’s brow
furrowed as she fought to control her words.
“Now look! Everything I do in my life is my business. I won’t have you or
Logos trying to manipulate me into--“ She paused as Em stood and marched towards
her. Their noses were all but touching as Em glowered.
“You need only understand one thing,” Em hissed. “Nobody wants this less than
Logos does. And I can think of a hundred people, who would be honored to love and
care for these children, off the top of my fucking head. But this is what we have to deal
with right now. Our families are in DANGER! I can’t imagine how a person with so
much power and influence can exist in this world without touching it. Without
embracing the relationships that enable us to exist. I don’t give a good God damn what
you do with your precious life, but if I ever hear of you mistreating these children
because you just can’t be bothered to deal, or because of who their father is…” Em
paused. Silent as they both thought of the potentially monstrous outcomes possible for a
New Caido Soldier. Em slammed the glass into the sink and strode to the back rooms,
leaving Free alone with her daymares.
The robes given to Reaper soldiers are a physical extension of their soul. Em, as a
New Caido Elite Soldier, had a much more adaptive soul than most. But her greatest
challenge in life, both as a warrior and a person, was controlling the impulses driven by
emotion. Her robe became jagged and solidified at points along her neck and back
creating a small row of deadly spikes. She clenched her pale fists and gritted her teeth as
she struggled to regain control. Nothing good would come of the children seeing their
mother and their “Auntie Em” in emotion driven combat. And as Logos had said (before
she berated him for being a pansy), “It’s hard to truly hug someone when your fists are
clenched.” She looked into the room that Kaye had chosen for the girls and smiled. Very
few things surprised her. Yet as Em stared the latest creation of the blossoming young
inventor she couldn’t help but grin.
The girls had been given granola bars to nibble and Nina handed hers to Em with
unveiled enthusiasm. The slobbery treat was dripping crumbs everywhere as Em rubbed
her tummy. Loving these children was effortless for anyone who spent more than a
moment in their presence. From Ricky, who wanted nothing more out of life than to
protect his world as his father did, to Kaye whose mental aptitude went far beyond the
level of the typical child genius. The twins could force affection from a stone. Nina’s
short bob cut and Gina’s puffy curls made it more than possible to tell them apart, but
they were so different that one only needed to watch them for a moment. She scooped up
the twins and ran towards the bespectacled preteen.
“EM, NO! I’M NOT FINI--“ Kaye started as she tackled him in a cuddly dog
pile.
She kissed them all dozens of times and paused to look them each in the eyes.
Logos had made a point to tell them that he loved them in a way that would cement it into
all that they were. No exertion was necessary for her to love them as though they were
her own flesh and blood. She looked them into their beautiful eyes and spoke slowly and
purposefully.
“I love you, Kaye. I love you, Nina. I love you, Gina. If you ever need me at
any time day or night, I will be here before you hang up the call.”
“Yeah,” Kaye scoffed. “Unless you’re…oh I don’t know. Sleeping or
something?” He laughed softly as he poked fun at Em’s absurd slumberous depth. She
made a face at him and the girls squealed blissfully.
3.

Em walked back to the front end of the house as Ricky was coming back in
jingling his keys absentmindedly. She pulled him into a tight hug. He lifted her off the
ground and spun around twice before settling down. He rested his head on her shoulder
and Em whispered the same message that she’d given the younger Royson children. He
released the hug and marched out to the car passing Free as she rubbed an imaginary stain
on the countertop. The two locked eyes knowingly. Ricky, completely in the dark
exclaimed,
“Isn’t she just great, mom?! She’s the best!” He beamed.
Free stammered and Em strode out of the house.
Em’s chest sank and her stomach pretzeled itself. She fought back tears as
Wallace dumped out his pipe and gestured to the air. A massive upright bass guitar spun
into existence and he deftly plucked a few chords. Em looked at her fiance, aching for
him to just hold her for a moment. The driveway began to glow where the two stood and
Wallace enveloped her. She put a fist on his chest as the familiar warmth of teleportation
assisted Wallace in comforting her. Em’s sobs were drowned by the bass’ deep tones and
the ground trembled as air rushed in to fill the space where two living beings once stood.
Instants later the two materialized outside their home on the dark streets of New Caido.
Wallace tightened his hold as her resolve dissipated.
It was more than sadness, more even than sobbing. Em wept at the thought of
leaving those amazing children in the care of someone whose modus operandi involved
gleaning as much adoration she could from a person and completely abandoning them.
She mourned the loss of everything that Logos had hoped to gain with the inception of
the S.S.K. as a legal channel for people dedicated to changing the world. She grieved the
uncertainty of the future and lamented more than anything the inevitable growing
distance between her and the people she had come to love.
And still Wallace held her.
He wiped her eyes and she sneezed on his arm. He made a face and she laughed.
He kissed her cheek with no regret as he slyly wiped her mucous onto the back of her
robe. She laughed and punched him square in the chest as she stood and walked into
their home.
“Jeez!” Wallace rubbed his chest in mock pain.
4.

As the couple entered their living room they were greeted by a small tan dog.
Car, Logos spry mutt, licked Em’s robe as she walked around to the couch. Wallace
knelt to tousle the dog’s fur and flipped him over a few times before walking back to the
kitchen. Em sighed. The most wanted man in the worlds was sitting on her couch with
his head in his hands.
Logos looked up as Wallace muttered a greeting before heading to the kitchen.
His hair draped evenly over his shoulders and he tossed it behind him. His expression
shifted from pensive to welcoming. Car’s claws clicked distinctly across the kitchen
floor as he followed behind Wallace. Em stood for a moment, trying to make sense of
Logos’ sudden change in demeanor.
Logos and Em had known each other since childhood. Their friendship and
companionship often gave onlookers the wrong impression of the pair. She knew him.
She understood this man in every way a person could be known. His hopes and fears and
flaws and strengths were no mystery to her, and as she stretched out on her carpeted floor
to look up at him, she caught the tiniest glimpses of furrowed brow.
“Did everything go ok?” Logos stretched out on the couch as he inquired about
his children. “Did Kaye remember everything we packed?