Aria of the Aeons: Part Three

     Part V: Revenant

“Get out of my mind,” Az said calmly, staring up at high, wispy, clouds. “You don’t belong there.”

     Why should I? The Drake’s confusion was evident, even without anything more than his voice to go by. You’re part of me.

     Az laughed harshly. “No, I’m not. And Val, ask about taking over next time, please?”

     We are one now. Why should I have?

     “Because...” Az tried to think of a way to explain it to them. It was almost more annoying that they just didn’t get it than that they were in his head to begin with. “Politeness, I guess. It’s normal to ask permission before doing stuff like that.”

     We’ve done it before. And you did not ask permission before regaining control.

     “I didn’t need to, since you offered.” Az sighed. Even here, there wasn’t enough wind. You’d think that the highest point on Faerieland would have plenty of wind, but no. It was still, warm – perfect autumn weather, and as annoying as Sloth’s current station. “I’ll give you control when it comes time to fight. Yeah, you’ve taken over before, but I didn’t know what it was then. Now, I do.”

     What’s the difference? It was definitely Drake talking this time, Az decided. Val knew better than that. The end result is the same, after all.

     “Get Val to explain,” he said wearily. “I’d like to sort through all the memories you guys gave me.”

     Must I?

     Az didn’t bother to reply.

     Val and Drake’s voices fell to an ignorable whisper, and Az tried to forget about them. It wasn’t as easy as he wished it would be, but it was possible. As he had told Drake, he was dealing with the memories they had given him. He was avoiding Val’s, though. His memories were filled with emotion, and not emotions he wanted to bear. Drake’s memories were easier. They were older, more faded, and didn’t make him feel like he was being sucked into them.

     Val’s, on the other hand, were so real he could forget where he was. Even just thinking of them brought them back full force. Az opened his eyes, shoving away the memories and focusing on the sky. Sitting up, he stared over Faerieland. Val had only ever been here once. Drake had never known of it. It was his place so much more than theirs. It was real.

     A dark spot caught his eye, and Az watched it approach. He knew what it was, of course. Invi, come to talk with him about Drake and Val. He wished the Eyrie had been the only one they’d gone for. But no, they also had to get him. The warrior who placed his faith first in technology and second in magic. But now he was being forced to talk to people who shouldn’t be alive, and that went against everything he wanted to believe.

     Invi landed in front of him, mane ruffled from the wind, and the ends of his blindfold snapping. “Who are you?” he asked softly, words almost being carried away by the wind.

     In any other situation, the words wouldn’t have made sense, but now, much to Az’s annoyance, they did. “Myself,” he said. “Who else would I be?”

     “Val, of course.” Invi smiled slightly. “Come, Azimuth, don’t you think it was a question that had to be asked?”

     “It did,” Az admitted, trying to ignore how odd the contraction sounded. “Why’d you come up here, anyway?”

     “To talk.” Invi shrugged. “Did you expect something else?”

     “Not really.” Az sighed, staring back up at the sky. It’s wide expanse was almost enough to make it almost possible to ignore the soft mutterings of Drake and Val’s conversation. Ignoring Invi, however, was out of the question. Az kept watching the Eyrie out of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to ask more questions. After all, if Keben had been here, he would’ve been asking questions until either his mouth fell off or Az’s head did.

     Eventually Invi spoke again, his voice still soft and almost blown away by the wind. “What is it like, for you?”

     “Depends.” Az shrugged, turning to face Invi. “Val’s nice. Drake doesn’t know anything.”

     Invi frowned slightly. “Two people?”

     “Yeah. Two of them.” Az made a face. “Believe me, they’d be bothering me right now if I hadn’t told Val to teach Drake basic courtesy.”

     “I never thought you would be one to do something like that.”

     Az stuck his tongue out. “Anything else?”

     “Yes. Come back down and act like yourself again. That’s Sayang’s request, by the way.”

     Grinning in spite of himself, Az rolled to the side, falling off the tower he’d been perched on. He didn’t open his wings right away, ignoring Val’s shouts that he was going to kill himself. Drake was just laughing his head off, as was Az. The fall was dizzying, and he could barely see enough to dodge away from the palace as it began filling more space. Opening his wings at the last moment, laughter turning into gasps of pain, Az shot back up into the sky, pausing at the top for a moment before falling back down again in a much more controlled dive.

     He landed, wings aching wonderfully, on the same balcony he’d left from. It wasn’t very far from Keben’s rooms, which was why he’d taken it to begin with. But now he hesitated, looking up at the sky and searching for Invi’s dark form. Against the clear blue sky, it wasn’t hard to see. The Eyrie was coming down at a much more reasonable rate. Az grinned, entered the palace, and retraced his steps to make his way back to Keben’s room. Even running, he’d kept pretty good track of where he was going.

     As he walked through the pastel hallways, various people called greetings to him. It was rather surprising. Not because they all knew him, but because there were so many of them. He hadn’t seen this many people when Keben had led them up, or when he had run out. But then, he hadn’t been himself the first time, and he hadn’t been paying any attention the second. Not to people, at least.

     When he came to an open door, Az smiled and entered.

     Sayang shot up from her seat immediately, a look of surprise on her face. Keben, sitting behind her, simply smiled. “I thought you’d be back,” the Zafara said quietly, rising to join the red Kyrii. “Did Invidere find you?”

     Az nodded shortly. “What do you know about Val?”

     “Only what we told you already.” Keben shrugged, a slight smile still on his face. “You know more.”

     “Not about what you need.” Az ran fingers through his hair. “Look, I have two of the best military commanders of past ages sitting in my head. I—”

     “Two?” Sayang, not Keben, asked the question Az had been waiting for.

     “Yeah. Two. Val’s one. The other is a lot older.” Az shrugged slightly. “It doesn’t matter that much.”

     “Are you so sure of that?” Az stiffened for a moment at Invi’s voice behind him. It was as soft as ever, but now there was a deadly quality to it that Az couldn’t quite place. “You don’t know history, Azimuth. Who is the other?”

     “His name is Drake.” Az glanced back at Invi. The dark Eyrie was walking forward, the door closed behind him. “And he, like Cassie and me, is a Shadow Draik. I think he was the first, but I’m not too clear on that. His memories are all foggy.”

     “Drake.” Keben’s smile grew, white on whiter fur. “He’s a legend.”

     “Not one I’ve heard of.” Invi sat down next to Keben, the Zafara’s hand almost immediately on his shoulder.

     “Not like we got told many,” Az pointed out, sitting in one of the chairs scattered around the room. “Father was more interested in teaching us about magic and common sense, and the gypsies never really talked about history.”

     Keben shrugged. “It’s why first Cassiel, and then you, got titled the Drake. Cassiel and Val should know the story.”

     Sayang closed her eyes for a moment, then said, “For now, just tell me what we can do with the Drake-people. We’re going to need them when the battle begins.”

     “That’s not for another couple of months, right?” Keben said absently. “Can’t we speculate now?”

     “No,” Az said. “You can’t. Or at least, not with us.” He stood, glancing at Sayang. “We’re going to go train the army.” Without another word, he turned and walked out the door. He heard Sayang follow him, after a moment. As the door shut behind her, he could hear Keben and Invi begin to talk again. He sighed, glancing at Sayang. “Do they ever shut up?”

     “Occasionally.” She shrugged. “Usually because they’re sleeping.”

     “They’re dreamers,” Az pointed out dryly. “They’re probably talking even more then.”

Arc I: Sun and Stars

Part VI: Reverie

     Darkness that obscured sight was one thing. Darkness that obscured the heart and mind was a different beast entirely. And that, Invidere had decided, was what Azimuth had. A dark cloud that covered him and blocked his mind. Oh, it came and went, but that did nothing for the problem. The problem, of course, being the Drake and Val. Invidere thought aloud, as he paced across Keben’s room, occasionally stopping to check whether or not the Zafara was listening. Most of the time, he was.

     Right now, he wasn’t listening, and he wouldn’t explain why. There was not anyone else in the room. Invidere could tell that without even trying; it was part of the gift of his mage-sight. And Keben was awake, taking out the other primary reason why he would be distracted. It was quite frustrating. He suspected that sight, the true sight that most people had, would help. But no. All he had was the colors and the sensations of auras, and, though he knew almost everything about Keben’s, that didn’t help.

     He was almost ready to just go and find the garden when Keben finally spoke up, sounding quite distracted. “Invi, say that last bit again.”

     “Which bit?”

     “The one about magic and theories thereof.” Keben was excited, though his voice didn’t betray him.

     Invidere closed his eyes. Despite the fact that he couldn’t use them, it helped him concentrate. He began to talk, slowly at first, and then more swiftly. “Magic is a force tied to the Faeries. Without them, we cannot gain its power. Sloth’s invasion proved that quite clearly. In the world as it is supposed to be, there is balance, and magic is a free force that we are born with. Even when Sloth dominated and tried to destroy magic, it remained. You’re proof of that. Given a world where the Faeries and magic are trapped, the balance is disrupted and must be set to rights. But I thought you did that already,” he added, looking up at Keben.

     “A year doesn’t change things that much,” Keben said absently. “Go on.”

     Nodding slightly, Invidere did so, voice steady and even. “There are different kinds of magic, of course. Coruscatus has magic tied to earth and air, for instance: he can blend into the natural environments of earth, but invisibility is a power of air. If we’re tied to any true elements, the elements are light and air. Dreams aren’t really the province of any power, however, for they aren’t normal magic, which is tied to elements, with all that entails. Dreaming is different.”

     “Yes. What is different, exactly?” Keben leaned back in his chair, the soft squeak a counterpoint to his frustrated words. “There’s not that much about it that can be different, is there? As you said, magic is tied to Faeries, and Faeries are tied to the elements.”

     “Not all of them. The Battle Faerie and Space Faerie, for instance.” Invidere shrugged, eyes opening to the more colorful darkness of his mage-sight. “Not the traditional elements, are they?” He smiled slightly. “Azimuth is tied to the Battle Faerie, I believe. She probably fought Sloth and lost, by the way, since otherwise she would have helped you with your war and you didn’t say anything about her.”

     “Explain.” One word, spoken quietly, and filled with such intensity that it said wonders. Keben didn’t want to show it, but he was interested and frustrated that he didn’t know this already.

     Invidere smiled. “It’s simple. The elements of magic all blend together, with the more common elements showing up more often. But then you get Drakes and Dreamers, for instance, tied to the elements that don’t get bound as easily as the Faeries did. Take Azimuth and the Drake. Cassiel and Drake had similar powers. Why does Azimuth have them as well? I do not know, but he is bound to the Battle Faerie. So perhaps we need to find her to understand what this is all about.” He paused. “Of course, this might be how he’s supposed to be.”

     “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” There was an amused tone to Keben’s voice that Invidere couldn’t quite place, even with the colors to help. “How do you suggest we go about finding this Faerie?”

     “You don’t need to.”

     “How in all the worlds did you get in here?” Invidere asked, turning to face Azimuth’s chaotic aura. The taste of metal in his mouth was almost overpowering, and the electric power that seemed to radiate from the Draik itched.

     “I walked.” A slight rustle and change in the aura, probably a shrug. “How else?”

     “I think he was asking how you entered without him hearing you.” Keben was amused. Of course he was, Invidere thought ruefully. He probably hadn’t been startled nearly as badly.

     “Actually,” Invidere said, with as much dignity as he could manage, “I was more wondering how I didn’t sense you.”

     “Ask Val,” Azimuth said. “Or Drake. I’m not sure which of them brought me here.”

     “Why are you here, then?”

     Keben’s question cut right to the heart of the matter. There was no reason for Azimuth to be here, and yet he was. The answer was on Invidere’s tongue even as Azimuth replied. “Magic, I guess.”

     “Not exactly,” Invidere said. “Though that’s close enough.” Preempting Keben’s request, Invidere held up a hand. “Give me a second to figure it out a bit more, then I’ll explain.”

     Azimuth spoke anyway, of course. “What is there other than magic?”

     “Auras, for one thing,” Keben said, heading off Invidere’s reply. “If they were tied exclusively to magic, then they would look the same to everyone.”

     “How do you know they don’t?”

     “Invidere showed me, once.” Keben shrugged uncomfortably, the movement of cloth and aura enough to make it obvious even to Invidere.

     “Okay.” Invidere cut Keben off without bothering to ask. It didn’t matter. “Magic is usually elemental energy, right? Then there are things like how twins know where each other are – no interrupting, Azimuth – and like auras, as Keben said. Some part of you heard our conversation. Maybe some part of Val or Drake, actually. They don’t have a body they’re paying attention to.” Invidere shrugged. “It’s not magic. Not exactly, anyway.”

     “Okay, okay, enough with weird explanations. Any ideas about the Battle Faerie?”

     “Sure.” Invidere grinned. “Find her swords.”

     “And how exactly would I do that?”

     “Using Drake, obviously.” Keben, at least, had caught on. “He’s got a tie to her.”

     “I’m not a Dreamer. Are you forgetting that?”

     “Nope,” Invidere said cheerfully. “Just hoping that you would.”

     “Why?” In the one word, there was quite a bit of anger and frustration, Invidere noted. The steps closer and the hands on his shoulders helped with that impression, of course. “Why would you want me to forget that?”

     “Because if you forget, then you could Dream.” Invidere paused. “Or you could ask whoever it was that said ‘You don’t need to.’ They seemed to have an idea of what to do.”

     The Draik’s grip on Invidere’s shoulders loosened, going from bruising to merely tight. “You are insane.”

     “Why?”

     “Because you say I can Dream. I can’t. Don’t assume things like that.”

     “Ask Sayang about it, Az.” Keben’s soft voice calmed Azimuth’s prickling aura, and Invidere’s breathing calmed. “She knows just as well as we do. Or Set, if you want an extreme example.”

     “I will.”

     And without another word, Azimuth left. Watching him fade into the distance, aura still seething, Invidere couldn’t help but wonder where he was going to go. Probably back to where he had been before coming up here, which meant probably at the training grounds. Or Sayang. Of course, those probably amounted to the same thing, at this point.

     “Any more theories on life, the universe, and everything?”

     Invidere glared at Keben. “Not funny.”

     “Funny. Because that’s what they are.”

     “They are not.”

     “Fine, fine. What element – or non-element – are Dreamers tied to, anyway?”

     Invidere hesitated. “The Space Faerie’s, I think. Or air. It’s not exact, you realize.”

     “I know.” Keben sighed. “But it helps a little to know what we’re tied to. What is the Space Faerie, anyway?”

     “Supposedly, she’s Sloth’s nemesis. No idea what happened to her between my time and yours, however. Sloth probably figured out some way to neutralize her, though I can’t imagine what.”

     “Does it matter?”

     “No, probably not.”

     “Then stop thinking about it.”

     Laughing, Invidere stepped over to Keben. “What should I think about, then?” he asked.

     Keben’s hand dropped onto his shoulder and rested there, a solid warmth. “How we’re going to get Az to win this war for us.”

To be continued...