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He stared at the array of food; the rice, BBQ beef, vegetables, and portioned avocado pieces looked appealing and made me hungry. He stared at it for a moment and reached out to take it from my hands, whispering a quiet thank you as he picked up his fork and started to eat.
I smiled and crossed my legs, opening my lunch box, and took my fork out to eat my portion. We ate in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I didn't want to pester Orion for information as to why he had broken down.My curiosity could wait until he was ready.
We finished our meals, and I slipped my hand into Orion's as I rested my head on his right shoulder. He squeezed my hand tightly and closed his eyes, making me wonder if he was going to sleep or not.
Seeing as we had a few more hours until the group dinner, I wasn't worried, hoping a nap would help him deal with what he'd read.
After about an hour of being lost in my own thoughts, Orion spoke.
"Aside from seeing Odion before my entry in Aslan, I hadn't seen him in years. I knew we met once more before my parents had died, but I barely remember it. I think I was in trouble though, or about to be attacked by something. For a second, he was right there, and I guess whatever wanted to hurt me disappeared." He lifted my hand that was in his to stare at it.
"I saw him for a few seconds before I blacked out, and when I did wake up, I was at home in bed with a fever. I told my parents I saw Odion, but they just assumed it was the fever doing its work at playing tricks on me." He sighed and turned his head to look at me.
"Odion and I were pretty much inseparable. We shared a bed, we liked the same things, we did bath time together, and we wouldn't dare train without the other. It was like that until we were six."
"What happened when you turned six?" I asked.
"Odion is a Dark Rider which meant he had a strong personality compared to me who was shy. Not to say that Odion isn't as shy as me, but if he saw something wrong or hated a certain person, he was verbal about it. To me, it was just saying what bothered him. To others, they assumed he'd turn into an evil shifter and cause chaos. Or even worse, become a Forsaken."
"That's so judgemental. You guys were only six," I countered.
Orion nodded. "Exactly, but the pressure from the town we were staying in was enough for my father to decide to separate us. He knew how to train an alicorn, but he'd never trained a Dark Rider. So, he hired someone to train Odion, and the plan was for him to return a few years later once he could control his dark element."
Orion used his free hand to run through his hair, and he tilted his head back to rest against the shelf, taking a deep breath before he gulped.
"The file...was hard to read because I found out that's not what happened."
"He wasn't taken to the trainer?" I asked.
"No, he was. The problem was the trainer himself. He didn't train, Odion. He abused him."
"Abused...as in...physical? Like, beat him?" I asked to clarify. The words were hard to say for me, especially after seeing the kind side of Odion a few weeks ago.
"Both."
"Both?" I repeated, unsure what he meant by it.I'd never been beaten or abused by Magnor, only by the bullies and people who ignored the torture.
"A few years later, the Trainer was arrested for physical and sexual assault of unicorn shifters. He was sentenced to death and the shifters that were still in his care, were sent to better homes, but the damage was done. Odion wasn't a part of that group that obtained freedom."
I was rendered speechless, the multitude of words sinking in as I imagined little Odion from the picture with his bright lilac eyes. "Where...where did Odion go?"
"He... from the records of what the Trainer said during the investigation, Odion couldn't take the abuse anymore, and after trashing a good portion of the barn he was chained to, he ran away. However, the Trainer found him, and instead of killing him, he thought it would be more fun to throw him into a forest filled with Darkness."
"What?! Wait, why weren't you guys informed about this? How is this in a file instead of you and your family being informed about everything and sending a search party for him?!" I snapped, my voice laced with anger.
Orion lowered his head to look at me and gave me a sympathetic smile. "Because Odion was thrown into a forest of Darkness, they assumed the worst and thought he died. There's a letter in there from the High Council that stated they didn't see the benefit of informing us of Odion's passing, so encouraged everyone to play a part in the lie. My parents thought my brother was fine and the Council assured them he was excelling."
Orion's lip trembled as he continued.
"I didn't know...I had no fucking idea. Even when we met that one time before Aslan, he didn't tell me. Maybe he wanted to but cared more about seeing me off as I headed to Aslan. I hated that he'd never once called. Never once sent a letter or at least told me he was okay. We used to be able to talk to each other telepathically, but because of the long distance, it felt impossible even to say anything and hope it got through to him. I'd pent up all this anger for him, wishing he'd been there to help me protect our parents and sister. Here I find out years later that my poor twin brother was assaulted, chained to a barn, and when he could barely move from starvation, thrown into the dark forest to die where all the contained Forsaken linger."
He lifted his free arm to wipe his tears and swallowed. "It makes sense now. He's not a part of the Darkness because he wants to be or it's in his nature. He was thrown onto a desolate land that may have saved him from death. All this time I was angry at him for leaving me, yet he lived such a lonely life, knowing his family was elsewhere. Even after I informed him of our parents’ and sister's death, I could still see the loneliness in his eyes and felt that he wished to be there. A person who went from a happy family to a world that treated him so poorly and still mistook him as a bad person. Now I don't know what to do. What do I even say to him? Sorry you were physically and sexually abused, and we did nothing about it? Our dearest...apologies for being ignorant about your training and not going to check on you ourselves and listening to a group of old assholes who thought we were better off not knowing? How...can I...face him again?" Orion whispered the last sentence, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and let him cry into my chest, my own tears spilling over.
"When Odion finds out...he'll forgive you, Orion. He's the only family you have left and can feel you, just like you feel him. He'll understand the regret you have, and maybe he realized you didn't know? What if his actions were a desperate cry for attention?" I suggested.
"What if he watched from afar, and realized if he got a hold of me it meant he'd get your attention and you’d find out what happened to him? If it weren’t for his actions, we would have never found Alpha Pure or this new information. What if him acting like the 'bad guy' was the only way for him to be the good guy by helping us?" I finished.
Orion lifted his head to look into my eyes. "You think that's what it is?" he asked.
