A wave of unpleasant memories that did not belong to him overwhelmed him all at once.
Memories of battles fought, loved ones lost, pains endured, he felt them all as if they were his own.
Mimereus had centuries to make peace with his lot, but Orian wasn't so lucky and the sheer weight of all his regrets crushed his spirit.
There were pleasant memories mixed in with the bad. The day he and Tanwen agreed to become mates, the day his firstborn hatched, when that same child grew up and started a family of his own.
But those pleasant memories were poisoned by one fact. They were all dead... Some, like his mate and son had died due to his mistakes...
Others died by his own hand, their souls permanently destroyed and even the peace of the afterlife had been denied to them.
He dropped to the ground and wept uncontrollably as the guilt and remorse overwhelmed him.
"Orian!!! What is wrong!!?" Asked Quill.
"I KILLED THEM!!! I KILLED THEM ALL!!" Yelled Orian.
"Orian you're not making any sense!?" Yelled Quicksilver.
"STOP!!!" Yelled an angry male voice.
Everyone looked up and saw Orian's father standing in the doorway.
He walked over to him and shielded his son with a large wing as Orian continued to weep.
"What have you done, spirit!?" Accused Storm.
"I did nothing, Storm. This was his own doing. "
She looked remorsefully at Orian.
"Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone!!? Why didn't you heed my warnings!!?" Asked Tanwen.
She turned towards the Grans.
"Please, Spirit Whisperers!! Let me go to him!! Let me aid him!!" Begged Tanwen.
The Grans looked to Storm for confirmation, who nodded his head after a moment's consideration.
After the Grans made the alterations that would allow Tanwen to step out of the Triangle, she stepped forward until she was standing in front of him. He continued to weep and couldn't even bare to look her in the face.
"Orian ! Listen to me! The memories you are seeing are not yours! The mistakes of your ancestor is not your own! Don't allow them to consume you!" Stated Tanwen.
Orian gave no reply as he continued to weep.
The specter reached out and placed a forelimb on Orian's head. It took all of Storm's self control not to react and slap her limb away from his son's head.
A spark flew from her limb and into Orian, a moment later, his face showed shock, then gratitude as he looked up at her.
"What did you do to me?" Asked Orian.
"Took away the guilt that is not yours to carry, Orian, son of Storm. " Explained Tanwen.
Orian had difficulty explaining exactly what she had done to him. He still had all of Mimereus's memories, but somehow she had distanced him from it.
Looking at the numerous experiences, it felt like he was looking at a story of a different individual, not himself.
And even though it was painful, and he felt a strong sense of pity for what his 'ancestor' had endured, it didn't feel so 'personal' anymore.
As Orian got to his feet and dried his eyes, Storm walked closer and placed a wing protectively around his son.
"I feel you owe all of us answers, Spirit!" Said Storm.
Tanwen looked up at Storm.
"I will do what I can."
She began her story by telling everyone how she had visited Mimereus on the eve before the ritual that transferred him into the egg that Orian eventually hatched from.
After his birth, she watched him from a distance at first to ensure that the transfer didn't have any unintended side effects.
After his first growth sprout and once he joined the Regimen, she saw how he struggled to fit in with the others, how lonely and isolated he was.
"I wanted to comfort him... but found that my ability to interact with the world... 'limited' ... and so I began searching through the world for a suitable vessel.
That's when I found little Lavender's body. She had been freshly killed along with her parents by a rampaging Chimera while out playing, her body still warm when I took control.
After killing her tormentor I traveled to Sanctuary and approached Orian, encouraging him to not give up and seek out other friends.
"... I wasn't planning to stay long... just help him through a difficult time before returning to where I belonged ...
But I admit... interacting with him again awakened old feelings and I kept delaying my departure just to spend more time with him.
I told myself that I was doing it for him... that I wanted to ensure nothing happened to him, but the truth was, I did it because I missed my mTe, Mimereus and wanted to search for any trace of him surviving in Orian.
By the time I realized my mistake, it was already too late and my departure would have hurt them too much." Explained Tanwen.
"When Orian told me about his visions, I realized that his memories were returning and that it wouldn't be pleasant for him.
So I locked away those memories along with those he had of me. But I had already touched the lives of too many people and so I needed to clean up after myself..."
"That's what your ritual was for?!" Asked Storm.
She nodded her head.
"I would have been nothing more than a faded memory in the lives of all who interacted with me. A blurry figure, long forgotten.
But I ran out of time and the spell failed to my regret. I knew it would only be a matter of time until someone uncovered my subterfuge." Stated Tanwen.
The Grans shook their heads.
"It was selfish if you to do this, spirit! You may have had noble intentions, but you took away the chance for Storm to aid and bond with his son through that difficult moment.
And you took away from Orian the chance to overcome this obstacle on his own and grow stronger for it.
The dead should never try and meddle in the lives of their family from beyond the grave. Instead they should trust in the rest of us to help them carry on." Stated the Grans.
"Let me make this right then."
She gestured to Quill and Quicksilver, who cautiously approached her.
"I'm sorry that I hurt you with my departure, and I wanted you to know that even though I approached you two in the beginning with the intention of using you to aid Orian.
I have since grown fond of you two and I wish you all the best. I hope you can forgive me?" Stated Tanwen.
They embraced her leg in response.
"Of course we forgive you!!" Stated Quicksilver and Quill.
"We'll miss you... Lavender. " stated Quill.
Tanwen gave no response, but reached out with a claw and tapped them on the forehead.
A small glowing glyph appeared on the tapped spot before disappearing.
They turned to leave without saying another word, more at peace than Orian had seen them before.
"...No... you won't... Quill..." Tanwen said sadly.
"What did you do to them?!" Asked Orian.
"Placed the same mark on them as I did with you . It won't effect them yet, but once they sleep it will erase their memory of me. By tomorrow morning they will be unable to recall my face at all." Explained Tanwen.
She gestured to Orian.
"Come!! I'll reapply the mark for you too!" Stated Tanwen.
"No!" Stated Orian flatly.
"Orian? Why would you want to hurt yourself like this?" Asked Tanwen.
"Because for good or ill, you helped me become the dragon I am today. I don't want to forget what you have done for me!" Stated Orian.
"The memory will hurt, Orian! Knowing we are apart from each other!" Warned Tanwen.
"I will endure it. When you removed it the first time, I felt hollow without you in my thoughts as a comfort. Accepting your passing was difficult for me, but I would do it all again. " Explained Orian.
Tanwen smiled.
"You know, while I was with you, I kept looking for any remnant of my mate in you. Even though there are many things you and he had in common. I can say that you've truly grown into your own unique individual.
And you will be better than either of us ever were.
Farewell, Orian, Son of Storm. Until we meet again on the other side. " stated Tanwen.
With that she slowly faded away and returned to the spirit realm