Past

A little boy, no more than five screamed in terror for his mummy, struggling against his captors. "MUMMY! Don't leave Mummy! I'll be good! Mummy don't leave!" He struggled until he slipped out of his captor's arms and was able to run to his mummy, but how could she be his mummy anymore?

The little boy sat down next to the body of a plain but homely woman and cradled her head in his lap, he didn't see his father's knights slaughtered by the murderers of his mother as shock set in and he didn't know he was being lifted and taken away.

By the time he regained clarity he was bleeding badly from both physical and sexual abuse, his face so swollen he could barely breath, this was the face of Kaolin Nihon heir to the thrown of Lyra, this was the abused body of a mere child.

'You poor dear.' Whispered a voice like the ocean wind.

Kaolin could only make a small whimpering sound in reply, but his tiny body was glad when gentle arms encircled it and lifted it up with the care of a mother.

The voice stayed by the tiny broken body of the small child for months as the body took its time to recover and the mind tried to heal.

'You poor, poor child.' The voice would whispered next to the child Kaolin's ear, it would tell him stories of the far east and its journeys to the west and the country of X'all.

When Kaolin finally regained the ability to open his eyes without excruciating pain he looked upon what to him appeared to be one of the faeries his mother had talked of.

A beautiful woman with the palest of hair and flesh the colour of snow and the most terrific aquamarine eyes, she smiled at him gently and stroked his face with the same tenderness she had used when he was too wounded to move. 'My name is Air little one, I have been caring for you, do you feel better?'

"Where's mummy? Where's daddy?" Kaolin whimpered softly, he knew nought of what had happened, his mind having locked it away for all eternity.

'Mummy and daddy are gone dear Kaolin, but your aunt Fira will look after you, you will meet her when you are more able, now rest sweet child, rest and be well.' Air turned away from the child, tears in her eyes. 'I shall be back with something to eat in just a little while.'

Air walked to the kitchen of her small house, changing as she walked until she was no longer a she but a he.

'He will live?' Asked Fire from a chair at the table in the middle of the kitchen, he got up and wrapped his arms around Air. 'Do not fret we have done all we can,' he whispered, kissing Air's brow.

'I know.but they search for him.and the best we can do is hide him, we cannot even tell him of his parents.'

Present

Solstice giggled softly as Kaolin tried to dress it. "No dress, no dress!" Solstice chanted as it giggled slipping out of Kaolin's grasp to run and hide. "You find me!" it cried, running into Dien's room and hiding under the big plush bed.

There was something it had to do, it needed and wanted to do but it couldn't quite remember what that was, something of dire importance it knew.but what?

Oh yes, now it remembered, it needed to restore Kaolin to the throne, but would Kaolin be able to avenge the death of his parents when he couldn't even talk of them? Solstice had tried, only for Kaolin to get so enraged that he hit Solstice, Toben had than emerged and apologised profusely. Solstice had decided than and there that it much preferred Toben to Kaolin.

Toben didn't hurt it, and although he emerged just as the bad things always happened he always apologised after. Solstice knew that Kaolin loved it just as much as Toben did; it was just that Kaolin was a more sarcastic wounded character when compared to Toben.

"Solstice I don't have time for this!" Kaolin yelled, standing at the threshold between Dien's room and the bathing room.

"Yes do! All the time in world!" Solstice replied, and with a huff Kaolin shifted to Toben, who fell to his hands and knees and crawled over to Solstice.

Toben was more eager to love, Solstice decided, whereas Kaolin was so wounded by past events that the prospect of loving someone was foreign.

"Aah brat, what'll we do with you? Hmm?" Toben asked, pulling Solstice out from under the bed, Solstice just shrugged and grinned in a maniacal way, hugging Toben fiercely.

"No know! Love you Toben! Lots and lots and lots!" Solstice said happily, resting its face against Toben's chest.

Toben smiled softly and lifted Solstice's face upwards so he could look it in the eyes. "I love you too Solstice, lots and lots and lots," Toben whispered and gently pressed his lips against Solstice's own. It was short sweet kiss, broken when Solstice pulled away and blinked curiously at Toben.

"What was that?" It asked softly, touching its lips as if they tingled.

"That was a kiss Solstice, and your first, I'm guessing," Toben explained. "People do it to prove love."

"Like this kissing thing, we do more?" Solstice asked innocently.

Toben laughed whole heartedly and ruffled Solstice's snowy white hair. "We can do lots more Solstice, lots and lots if you like it that much."

Solstice giggled softly and kissed Toben, inexpertly, it pulled back in fear when Toben began to shake violently. "To-To-Toben? Toben what wrong?" Solstice asked; struggling to hold up Toben's sudden weight, in the end even the frail weight of Toben proved to be too much for the ever smaller Solstice, who collapsed under the weight.

Past

"Auntie Fira.I bored.can't I go out and play with the peasants?" Kaolin asked.

Toben stood, unable to move in the middle of a small nursery, watching himself-no Kaolin- beg his aunt if he could go out and play with the other children. He tried to shake his head, tried to reach out to tell the child Kaolin not to go, but was unable to and was drawn out to the courtyard where a group of men with swords waited.

"KAOLIN NO!" Toben cried out as Kaolin was hit to the ground by one of the men. "KAOLIN! NO!" But it was to no use as Aunt Fira ran out and knelt down next to Kaolin. "AUNTIE FIRA! NO!" Toben's cries fell on deaf ears and his struggles were useless against whatever held him.

He watched helplessly as Auntie Fira was murdered and both he and Kaolin watched her body-Kaolin wasn't there anymore, it was him, being held and forced to watch. Toben swallowed harshly as he was forced to watch his dead aunt's body being defiled over and over again.

Present

Toben jerked awake, body quivering violently, something, someone was on him! He had to get away; he couldn't suffer that-that-that torture ever again!

His eyes widened and for a moment he slipped to Kaolin who slipped out before he could grasp at the reins of control to allow for Dien to slip in.

"Master?" Dien purred softly, arching under the weight above him. "What do you wish of me.master?"

Solstice opened its eyes sleepily and rose from the comfortable position of resting against Toben's chest. "Toben? You wake?" It asked softly blinking wide crystalline eyes at Dien curiously.

"No master.not Toben, not Kaolin.Dien.mast-.you're Solstice.Solstice." Dien whispered, tasting the name with relish. "You are my masster." Dien ran his hands through Solstice's white hair, relishing in the soft silken feel. "You are gorgeousss. abssolutely gorgeousss. let me.let me use you." Dien whispered, chuckling lightly at the confused expression Solstice wore. If Dien hadn't developed such iron self control-he'd learnt to control the constant want to please everyone sexually-he wouldn't have cared what expression Solstice wore.

Solstice blinked in confusion, Dien was new.who was Di-oh yeah! Dien was the personality that had emerged from so much sexual abuse.he constantly wanted to sexually gratify.

"Remember you.remember you I think.I think." Solstice looked at Dien hard, shrugged its shoulders innocently and lay its head back on To-no he was Dien-Dien's chest. "Rest, rest? You collapsed.I was scared."

"Oh.don't fret.I was alright." Dien whispered, enjoying the smooth texture of Solstice's naked flesh. From the memories Dien was able to dig out Solstice had been around for almost half a year, couldn't quite grasp speaking sentences and was a hermaphrodite.

"You were? You-I-you are?" Solstice asked, concern melting into relief. "Good! Good, good!"

Dien laughed softly, laying kisses on the crown of Solstice's head. "Very happy you're happy, Solstice; tell me, do you know what sex is?" This caused Solstice to look up at Dien in confusion.

"No.no know what sex.is." Solstice mumbled, flushing in embarrassment, it didn't know what anything was and sometimes it frustrated it, being unable to understand what particular things meant. Its eyes widened though when Dien arched his hips up just enough so that they made contact with Solstice's own.

Solstice blinked and stared at Dien in confusion, Dien just sighed, obviously this would take longer than he'd hoped it would. Admittedly Dien had hoped to jump right to the chase, but at the time Solstice had blinked at him, he'd remembered that Solstice had only just moved into the kissing stage with Toben.this was going to be a long and bumpy ride.