Every year, Illiam, Jiro, and Sevvie load up the car that can leave the universe and take a weekend trip to see Xander. They see him other times- in half-remembered visions, in nightmares that are slightly less horrific while they're going on, but in waking remind them that Xander is dead. He sits upon his dead god throne, with Father and Aaia and Zeark and Pallistar and Matena's daughter, the nightmare king, a rotting corpse. He spends his days lost in the waves of amnesia nonexistence brings, sometimes remembering he was once Xander, once a god.
But when the three arrive, Xander remembers, and he uses all his effort to appear alive again, be Xander again. And Illiam uses all his effort to leave his daemonic form and be in a mortal shape again. And they hug and kiss and reminisce and Xander gets to see his two children once more.
When Sevvie is a toddler, she asks her dad why her other dad had to move so far away, why he couldn't live with them anymore. Illiam tries to explain, but Sevvie just doesn't get it, why, why? Jiro gets it, kind of, because he never had a second living father. The days the children spend with Xander then are happy. He can give them piggyback rides, throughly spoil them with the gifts of the dead, hold them in his maggot-infested arms and tell them how much they mean to them. But every weekend ends, and that's all it's safe for the kids to be there, and so they have to return to reality.
The sixth time they come, someone is waiting there for them, a figure in a stylish suit and tie with a broken smile. "Grand poppop!" squeals Sevvie as she run into Alexil's arms. "Grand poppop, why are you crying? Don't cry!"
Jiro is not so fond of Alexil. From his "you gained /how much/ weight this year?" and "Jiro, you look more like a girl than some of the women I've known" and "Xander, I can see why Seva's your favorite" comments, Jiro comes to loathe the parts of the visit where he appears.
One year, after talking to her Aunty Sasu after a visit, Sevvie makes a declaration. "I no longer want to see my great-grandfather during visits. Aunt Sasudama has told me that he's a really horrible man and a rapist." Illiam is shocked. He thought that Sevvie knew about that already, had come to accept it because he's family. But the next time they go to visit, Alexil isn't there. It's a quiet, peaceful visit with only the parents and children there.
Xander Jr. is never taken on any of these trips. He is locked in his cell at home with food and water to last him the weekends and instructed to meditate. It is during one of those trips that Xander Jr breaks out of his cell, the palace, and Naven in general, leaving it behind, hopefully never to return.
Author's Note. Xander doesn't remember his time with his children when they're not there, and if he ever comes back to life, he won't remember it, either. It is only with great effort that Aaia remembers who she is/was and she does that with Father's help, and Father is content to have Xander as the silent Nightmare King on his dead god throne.
Word Count: 499 words.
Date: June 26th, 2015
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