The Last Silver

The communicator was dead.

Dinraal stared at it.

For several seconds, no one moved.

No one spoke.

The chamber beneath the world seemed to hold its breath with them.

Then Dinraal laughed.

It was not a happy sound.

It wasn't even really laughter.

It was the sound someone made when the truth had become too large to carry any other way.

Gilgamesh watched him carefully.

Isolde stood beside him.

Her hand was still in his.

Dinraal looked down at it.

Then back at the communicator.

"Of course."

Isolde frowned.

"Din—"

"Of course."

He pulled his hand gently free and began pacing.

Every step echoed across the ancient chamber.

"Of course there was more."

His voice grew louder.

"My father arranged his own death."

Another step.

"My mother carried me for two years because apparently being born normally was too simple."

Another.

"Eve hid my silver hair."

Another.

"The universe decided I needed a second person attached to my soul so I wouldn't eventually become some kind of cosmic disaster."

Isolde folded her arms.

Dinraal pointed toward her.

"And apparently you've been waiting for me since before I was born."

"I was three or four."

"You waited."

"I did."

Dinraal stopped pacing.

Then pointed at the communicator.

"And now—"

His voice cracked.

"—now I find out Aurelius called me his son."

Silence.

Gilgamesh looked toward the dead device.

"He did."

Dinraal turned toward him.

"Did you know?"

Gilgamesh said nothing.

Dinraal's eyes narrowed.

"Gilgamesh."

The ancient king sighed.

"Some of it."

Dinraal stared.

"How much is some?"

Gilgamesh looked genuinely uncomfortable.

Dinraal almost laughed again.

Almost.

"I am going to start hitting people."

"That would be difficult."

"I'm apparently terrifying now."

Gilgamesh considered this.

"You're still too young."

Isolde stepped between them.

"Both of you, stop."

Dinraal looked at her.

She pointed toward the communicator.

"You have the answer in front of you."

He followed her gaze.

The hologram was gone.

The communicator had gone dark again.

Dinraal swallowed.

"Do I?"

Isolde's expression softened.

"Ask him."

Dinraal looked away.

The words should have been simple.

Call Aurelius.

Ask him.

But nothing about Aurelius had ever been simple.

Aurelius had been the Chancellor.

The man who had stood at the center of Dinraal's childhood.

The man whose approval he had wanted.

The man he had hated.

The man he had believed murdered his father.

And now—

His father had trusted Aurelius with him.

Not with the Empire.

Not with an army.

With him.

Dinraal closed his eyes.

You take him.

Bahamut's voice returned from the memory.

I am asking you to keep him alive.

Dinraal's throat tightened.

Then another memory followed.

Aurelius's holographic face.

Older.

Tired.

Broken.

I gave you my name.

Dinraal opened his eyes.

"Caelum.."

Gilgamesh looked at him.

Dinraal turned.

The ancient king became still.

Isolde looked between them.

"Gilgamesh."

He sighed.

"You had a name before Aurelius."

Dinraal's heart began to pound.

"I know that."

"No."

Gilgamesh looked directly at him.

"I don't think you do."

The chamber became silent.

Far beneath them—

Something moved.

The ancient mother laughed softly.

DINRAAL.

The sound entered his bones.

Dinraal looked downward.

"What?"

The enormous presence beneath the world seemed amused.

ASK HIM WHAT BAHAMUT CALLED YOU.

Dinraal froze.

Gilgamesh closed his eyes.

"Oh."

Dinraal slowly turned toward him.

"Oh?"

Gilgamesh looked annoyed.

"I dislike that tone."

"What did she mean?"

The ancient king did not answer.

Dinraal took a step forward.

"Gilgamesh."

"Dinraal."

"What did my father call me?"

Gilgamesh stared at him.

Then his expression changed.

The humor disappeared.

The exhaustion remained.

"You were not supposed to remember."

Dinraal stopped.

The words struck harder than he expected.

"What?"

Gilgamesh looked toward the darkness.

"Not yet."

Dinraal felt the silver beneath his skin move.

"Stop saying that."

Gilgamesh turned back toward him.

"Dinraal—"

"No."

His voice echoed through the chamber.

"No more not yet."

Silver light appeared beneath his fingers.

"No more secrets."

The ancient chamber trembled.

Isolde stepped closer.

"Din."

Dinraal did not look at her.

"I spent my entire life being told pieces of the truth."

His voice shook.

"Just enough to keep me moving."

The silver spread across his hands.

"Everyone decided what I could handle."

Gilgamesh said quietly—

"Because you were a child."

Dinraal looked at him.

"I know."

The anger disappeared from his voice.

And somehow—

That was worse.

"I know."

His eyes filled.

"I know they were trying to protect me."

He looked toward the communicator.

"I know Bahamut was dying."

His voice broke slightly.

"I know Aurelius was trying to keep me alive."

He looked toward Isolde.

"I know Eve was trying to keep me from being consumed."

Then he looked down at his hands.

"But nobody asked me."

Silence.

Dinraal's fingers closed.

"Nobody asked me what I wanted to know."

The silver vanished.

The chamber stopped trembling.

Gilgamesh looked older than Dinraal had ever seen him.

For a moment—

He did not look like Gilgamesh.

The ancient king.

The hero.

The man who had lived through civilizations.

He looked like someone who had watched a child grow up surrounded by secrets.

And realized—

Too late—

That silence could wound just as deeply as a blade.

"I'm sorry."

Dinraal looked up.

Gilgamesh rarely apologized.

Perhaps that was why the words carried weight.

"I'm sorry," Gilgamesh repeated.

Dinraal stared at him.

Gilgamesh continued.

"I thought there would be time."

A bitter smile appeared on Dinraal's face.

"Apparently that's a popular mistake."

Gilgamesh winced.

"Yes."

For several seconds—

No one spoke.

Then Isolde walked toward Dinraal.

She stopped directly in front of him.

"Look at me."

He did.

Her expression was serious.

Not frightened.

Not pitying him.

Just serious.

"You want the truth?"

Dinraal nodded.

"Then we get it."

She turned toward Gilgamesh.

"All of it."

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow.

"Is that an order?"

Isolde stared at him.

Gilgamesh sighed.

"Apparently."

Dinraal almost smiled.

Almost.

Then—

The communicator flickered.

Everyone froze.

Once.

Twice.

A hologram appeared.

But it wasn't Aurelius.

Dinraal's heart stopped.

The image was damaged.

Old.

A recording.

Static moved across the projection.

Then—

A younger Aurelius appeared.

Dinraal knew immediately that this was from the past.

Aurelius looked different.

His hair was darker.

His face less worn.

But his eyes—

Dinraal recognized those eyes.

Aurelius was standing in a small room.

Across from him—

Bahamut.

Alive.

Dinraal stopped breathing.

Isolde whispered—

"Oh."

The recording began.

Aurelius looked furious.

"No."

Bahamut smiled.

"You've become repetitive."

"I am not accepting this."

"You already accepted the difficult part."

"I agreed to protect him."

Aurelius pointed toward Bahamut.

"I did not agree to this."

Bahamut's expression softened.

"You will."

"No."

"You love children."

Aurelius stared at him.

"I have one child."

"So far."

Aurelius's expression changed.

For one brief moment—

His anger disappeared.

Bahamut nodded.

"Then you understand."

Aurelius looked away.

Dinraal could not move.

The recording continued.

Bahamut stepped closer.

"You will need to give him a name."

Dinraal's breath caught.

Aurelius frowned.

"He already has a name."

Bahamut looked at him.

"Does he?"

Aurelius went silent.

The younger Bahamut smiled faintly.

"For two years, Tiamat and I called him many things."

Dinraal's hands began shaking.

"Little terror."

Aurelius rolled his eyes.

Bahamut ignored him.

"Troublemaker."

"You were speaking to an unborn child."

"He kicked me."

"He was unborn."

"He knew what he was doing."

For the first time—

Dinraal heard something that made his chest hurt for an entirely different reason.

Isolde laughed.

Quietly.

A surprised sound.

Then Bahamut's expression changed.

He looked down.

"When Tiamat was asleep…"

His voice softened.

"Sometimes I spoke to him."

Dinraal became perfectly still.

Bahamut continued.

"I told him about the stars."

Aurelius said nothing.

"I told him about the Empire."

The recording flickered.

"I told him about his mother."

Dinraal's throat closed.

Bahamut looked toward the floor.

"And I gave him a name."

Aurelius looked at him.

"What name?"

Bahamut smiled.

But there was sadness in it.

"Dinraal."

The chamber disappeared.

Dinraal forgot how to breathe.

The recording continued.

Aurelius stared at Bahamut.

"That is his name."

"Yes."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

Bahamut looked directly at him.

"Because one day, that name will become dangerous."

Dinraal felt the words like ice.

Aurelius's face hardened.

"Then I will make certain no one says it."

Bahamut smiled.

"That isn't how names work."

"It is how threats work."

Bahamut laughed.

Aurelius looked offended.

Then—

Slowly—

He smiled.

The two men became silent.

Friends.

Allies.

Brothers in everything except blood.

Dinraal watched them.

And for the first time—

He understood something.

His father had trusted Aurelius.

Not reluctantly.

Not because there had been no one else.

Bahamut had chosen him.

Then Bahamut spoke again.

"When he is with you…"

Aurelius looked at him.

"What?"

"Don't call him Dinraal."

Dinraal froze.

Aurelius's expression darkened.

"What?"

Bahamut smiled faintly.

"Give him another name."

The hologram flickered.

Dinraal stepped closer.

The image distorted.

Aurelius stared at Bahamut.

"Why?"

Bahamut's answer came quietly.

"Because children should have something that belongs only to them."

Dinraal felt his heart crack.

Aurelius looked away.

"You are asking me to pretend he is mine."

Bahamut became serious.

"No."

Aurelius looked back.

Bahamut's eyes were tired.

Far too tired.

"I am asking you to love him without pretending he belongs to you."

Silence.

Then—

Aurelius whispered—

"I don't know if I can."

Bahamut smiled.

"Neither did I."

Dinraal stopped.

The recording went silent.

Aurelius looked at his old friend.

Then—

"What name?"

Bahamut smiled.

The image distorted.

Static filled the chamber.

Dinraal stepped forward.

"No."

The hologram flickered.

"Wait."

The recording skipped.

Aurelius's voice returned.

—but this time, he was speaking to someone else.

Someone Dinraal could not see.

The image was almost gone.

Aurelius looked downward.

At a child.

Dinraal knew.

He knew.

Aurelius's voice softened.

"Do you know what your father called you?"

Dinraal could not move.

The hologram trembled.

A small child's voice answered.

"No."

Dinraal felt his entire body go cold.

It was him.

Aurelius smiled.

Then reached downward.

His hand disappeared from the damaged recording.

Probably resting on Dinraal's head.

The younger Dinraal laughed.

A sound Dinraal did not remember.

Aurelius spoke.

"Then I'll tell you someday."

The recording vanished.

Then only Darkness.

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