Where there's a Weewoo, there's a way Circulation: 188,131,369 Issue: 490 | 15th day of Eating, Y13
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Aria of the Aeons: Part Seven


by kittengriffin

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Arc II: Space and Spirits

Part XIII: Revision

Sayang stared at the ceiling of her room. Dawn was approaching. She should be up and waiting at the army’s gathering square, ready to explain to them what was going on, but she wanted to just stay where she was. Sleep was out of the question, of course, though she hadn’t gotten enough of it last night. None of them had. Even after Set had left, Coru and Proteus had questioned them about what they knew. At last, Keben had ordered them out of his room, saying that he, at least, wanted sleep. The rest of them had agreed and gone their separate ways.

     And then Sayang had gotten a couple hours of sleep before waking up and trying to process everything that had happened. That had been an hour or so ago. Sayang sighed and pushed herself upright. As she stood, she grabbed her coat and pulled it on. She left her room and started jogging down the halls and outside. The only other people up around dawn were other people in the army and some of Set’s planners. Sayang waved to both as she passed them, coat flapping with her speed.

     As she left the palace, her jog turned into a full-out run. Wind blew her hair back, and she laughed, letting the wind whip the sound away. She wove through the streets easily, barely paying attention to where she was going. Her body knew the path, and her mind was free to think about other things, though right now Sayang was simply watching the dawn come, giving the world a golden glow. The final few corners passed without any notice, and she stopped in the army’s square, not even breathing heavily.

     Leo waved. Sayang grinned and waved back. The green Pteri swooped down from his perch atop a nearby building, landing perfectly in front of her. “What’s the word?” he asked, bright gold eyes tracking her movement as she paced around the square.

     “Word is, we’re moving out.” Sayang laughed at Leo’s shock. “Keb dreamt that we should go, and go as soon as possible. Called us together at an unreasonably early hour to tell us this.”

     The Pteri nodded. “So Az is off on some crazy mission, I’m guessing?”

     Sayang shrugged. “Something like that. I’m not completely sure where he went.”

     “Probably avoiding the work of getting us all ready.” Leo grinned, spreading his wings and leaping into the air. “I’ll go rouse the army. There’ll be slackers otherwise.”

     “Send them to the docks,” Sayang called after the Pteri. “Set’s probably got people readying the transports already. I’ll redirect anyone who comes here.”

     Leo called back in acknowledgement, his wingbeats deepening as he sped back toward the palace. Sayang watched him go for a moment before returning to her pacing. Leo was right, annoyingly. Despite her insistence that the army come out at dawn, few people did so. She called them slackers. They usually ignored her. But they were all up within an hour, and she usually let that slide. Today, however, they needed all the time they could get. A predatory smile spread over her face. And that time would be spent traveling to the outskirts of Central.

     Central would see them coming, of course, but that was acceptable. They wouldn’t be able to stop them. Set knew perfectly well to stagger the transports so that the first ones were full of flyers, the second of those who could carry others in flight, and the last wave those who couldn’t fly and didn’t have friends to carry them. Even if they had enough resources to down the first transports, they wouldn’t be seriously impaired. Sayang made a face. She wasn’t the strategist; she didn’t need to care about all this.

     Instead, Sayang pulled out a dagger and began throwing it in the air, spinning it end over end before catching it by the hilt. Each time, she threw it higher, watching it revolve. It shone, light reflecting off of the steel. She caught it as it came down, throwing it again as she began to move.

     Running forward, she pulled out her other dagger. Catching the one she had been throwing, she dove to the ground, rolling. As she came out of the roll, she threw a dagger at one of the wooden targets set up around the square. Not bothering to watch it hit, she bounded to the side, zigzagging her way toward the target. She pulled the dagger out and whirled. A blade, shining like a piece of ice, came toward her face. Instinctively, she blocked it. A second later, she realized who wielded the blade.

     “Sidereus, right?” She stepped back, sheathing her daggers. “Why are you here?”

     “Why not?” The Kougra grinned, sounding so like Az that Sayang wanted to hit him. His winged Kougra’s body, white hair, and blank eyes belied the idea that it was indeed Az, no matter how much she wished it was. He shrugged, sheathing his own blade. “It’s not like I need to do anything until Vo decides to come back. Fate’s minding his own business; I think he wants us to converge on our own. He doesn’t need to do as much that way.”

     “Why’re you talking to me about this?” Sayang turned away from the Halloween Kougra, beginning to pace around the edge of the courtyard. “It’s not like it changes anything.”

     “I am the embodiment of Balance, child.” Sidereus’s voice echoed, though Sayang suspected his words were for her ears alone. “But I am also the embodiment of life’s Change. Sollumin is Chaos. Vocivus is Order. Stability. And then there’s our father. Fate.”

     “Why tell me this?” Sayang spun, lashing out verbally. “I don’t care, blast it. All I know about you is that you were Az. Then you weren’t. Then you told us things that I can barely believe. But you were Az. You still are. I trust you because of that. But why are you telling me things that I could never have imagined two years ago?”

     “Because you and Keben will be leaders in the world to emerge after this.” Sidereus sighed, twisting a strand of silver hair in his fingers. “Sollumin’s having a similar conversation with Keben. Who is, I might add, taking this better than you are.”

     “Keben Dreamed. Do you understand what that means to us?” Sayang asked bitterly. “It means that he knew magic. You grew up with it. I don’t know what your merging thing is about, or what you merged with, but you were born with magic and you’ve known it all your life. I grew up in a world without magic, a world where technology ruled. Keben could touch what was left of magic. Keben could dream true. And now you’ve taken even that away.”

     “Sayang...”

     “Don’t act like you’re sympathetic. You’re not.”

     “You don’t know me, do you?” Warm hands grasped her shoulders, and she looked away. “Listen to me, Sayang. I am magic. I am wind and fire. You and Keben... Keben is tied to wind, to air. You are, as your parents said, born from fire. I am life and protection. Do you understand me, Sayang? I know you. Do you want magic to return to Neopia? If you do, you will do as we asked. We can bring it back, but we need your help. You need to retake Central, complete the cycle.”

     “And what’s that cycle?” Sayang crossed her arms and looked up to meet Sidereus’s haunting eyes. “You talked about it last night, too, but you didn’t explain why what we’re doing is going to help it.”

     “The cycle is complicated.” Sidereus smiled briefly. “In essence, there is a pattern that shall always repeat, a tipping of the scales between Order and Chaos. I doubt Fate himself knows what the pattern is, but it’s there. I can see it easily. Despite the fact that the scales are of Order and Chaos, my ages are the ones where empires prosper. That is what will come of your retaking Central. Oh, in time it will turn back to Chaos, but that won’t be something you need to worry about.” He leaned down, planting a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. “Believe me when I say that, Sayang.”

     Before she could say anything, the Kougra straightened, voice becoming brisk and businesslike. “Now, I believe your army all slept in, so Leo is rousing them and sending them on their way.” He stepped back, eyes turning toward the sky. “Sollumin has finished talking with Keben. He will meet you at the docks. Tell the army that Az is off scouting. They’ll believe that.” With that, Sidereus spread his wings, leaping into the sky. Silver light gathered around him, and he laughed, disappearing into the clouds.

     Sayang stared after him, wondering what he had become. After a moment, she pulled her mind out of its daze, beginning to run through the streets once more. Next time she saw Sidereus she wanted to make him explain how he managed to be so nice and so irritating all at once. But that was a thought for later. Right now, all that mattered was getting to the docks and telling the army what was going on. She laughed, joy suffusing her body. Tomorrow was going to be so much fun.

Arc II: Space and Spirits

Part XIV: Revisit

     Keben stood on top of the transport, eyes fixed on the horizon. His hands clutched the railing tightly, and his face was drawn. Beside him, Sayang was studying the ship they stood on. Keben barely glanced at her before returning his gaze to the horizon. The sun was low in the sky now, and the background thrum of the skyship’s engines quieter. In the distance, he could see Central’s towers, dark and light against the sky. Sayang moved next to him. “It looks so different now,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s more peaceful or what, but it’s different.”

     “We have a different view of it than we usually do.” Keben took Sayang’s hand without looking away from the horizon. “And we’re going to retake it tomorrow. That’ll shake things up.”

     “Come on, Keb,” Sayang said calmly. “We’re going down. Now. It’s not good for you to be up here all the time.”

     Keben closed his eyes, turning around. “Why d’you say that?”

     “Because I know what’s up with you and heights.” Sayang squeezed Keben’s hand. “So I don’t like you being up here alone, and I need to go back down and check in with the troops. It’ll do them good to see you, anyway.”

     “It’s not like I’m much use to you right now,” Keben muttered, but he allowed Sayang to lead him back to the ladder. Sayang lifted the hatch, glaring at him until Keben shook his head and began climbing down. Sayang followed him closely. When she shut the hatch and the roar of the wind disappeared, Keben blinked. He’d forgotten how quiet it was without the constant noise of wind. As he stepped onto the floor, Keben pulled his cloak off of the hook he’d set it on.

     Clasping the cloak around his neck once more, Keben followed Sayang into the depths of the skyship. As the red Kyrii exchanged words with everyone they passed, Keben withdrew further into himself. Sollumin had talked to him before they left. He’d said that Sidereus had talked to Sayang. Neither of them had mentioned it to the other. Keben wanted to. That was why he’d been up top. He just hadn’t been able to speak the words. Hadn’t been able to gather the courage to ask.

     As Sayang circled back to the room they’d been given for the duration of the journey, Keben sighed. “Sayang?”

     “Yeah?” She glanced back at him, opening the door.

     “Sollumin talked to me around dawn today,” Keben said, following Sayang inside. “And he said that Sidereus talked to you.”

     “Yeah.” Sayang sat on the bunk, absently twisting a strand of hair. “He did.”

     “Well, what’d he talk to you about?” Keben closed the door, not daring to look toward Sayang. “Sollumin talked to me about magic and how it worked, mostly.”

     “Sidereus...” The bunk creaked as Sayang shifted. “He told me that we’d be leaders in the world to emerge after this battle. He told me that we were tied to him. He told me that he is the embodiment of balance. He implied that after we retake Central, Neopia will enter a golden age. And—” she cut off abruptly.

     Keben turned to face her, face carefully blank. “And what?”

     “He reminded me of you,” Sayang said quietly, looking down at her now-clasped hands. “You if you were to be combined with Az. It was odd, to say the least.”

     Keben sat down beside Sayang. “Sollumin was Invi,” he said. “But too warlike to truly be the same person. He spoke of magic and of how the world had stagnated in the time Pariel-Sloth had ruled. He said that we would need to cleanse the world of technology.”

     “We don’t,” Sayang said fiercely. “Order and technology, right? That’d be Vocivus. Chaos and magic. Sollumin. It makes sense, right? You know what magic is better than I do, Keb, but doesn’t that seem right to you?”

     Slowly, Keben nodded. “So what we need is a balance.”

     “Yes.”

     “That’s going to be difficult.” Keben leaned back, looking at the ceiling as he thought. “For starters, there’ll be more magic in the world. I think there’re still some mages out there. We need to find them and gather them in one area so that we can collect their knowledge and be able to teach the new mages when they start popping up. That’ll be one of the more difficult things to do in preparation. We’ll also—”

     “Worry about that later, Keb.” Sayang stood, hands deep in the pockets of her coat. “We are going to go to the bridge. And we are going to stay there until we get a good idea of what Central looks like.”

     Keben laughed, standing and opening the door for her. “Why do you care so much, Sayang?”

     “I can’t stay still much longer without going crazy.” Sayang slipped out the door, heading straight toward the bridge. “It’s bad enough that we’re in a ship at all, but being stuck in a tiny room is torture.”

     “Oh, and being able to see all the sky below us isn’t?”

     Sayang shot a withering glance at him.

     “Come on, Sayang. You said you knew why I went up there.” Keben grabbed her shoulder, stopping her in the middle of a corridor. “Tell me that reason. Say it, and tell me that being in the bridge isn’t torture for me.”

     Sayang stared at him, her dark eyes wide. Silence surrounded them for the count of three heartbeats. “You want to fall.”

     Keben released her, turning away.

     “You want to feel the air rush by you,” Sayang continued, voice soft and deadly. “You want to feel that joy fill you, to know ecstasy the way only those gifted with wings can. You want to, but you know you shouldn’t. And so you find high places and hold on for dear life, because, despite how much you want to fall, you’re afraid.”

     “Stop!” Keben whirled, hand stopping just short of hitting Sayang. “Enough, Sayang. Those first words were enough. You didn’t—”

     “Didn’t I?” Smiling, the Kyrii stepped up to Keben, whispering in his ear. “You still don’t understand yourself, Keben. You don’t know why the wind calls.”

     “I don’t need to.”

     “Really?” Sayang shook her head, placing a hand on his chest, right over his heart. “Or are you just trying to avoid your fear?”

     Keben stared over her head, trying to calm himself down. “Dreaming,” he said quietly. “Before I started dreaming true, I would almost always dream of flight. I still do. Of riding the wind, being able to soar in the clouds. Sometimes I can almost feel those wings on my back. And then I want to spread those wings, to jump off a cliff and let myself soar. That’s why, Sayang. I don’t need to know why the wind calls; it’s so much a part of me that I can never forget.”

     “Then you’re just going to live with it. The bridge is enclosed, anyway.” Sayang turned, grabbing Keben’s wrist, and pulled him along behind her.

     She wasn’t going to give up on this, Keben knew. She was just going to drag him along until he stopped being called by the wind. He smiled bitterly. It wouldn’t happen, of course, but they may as well dream. Besides, dreaming might actually do something useful. If Sollumin and Sidereus were as powerful as they seemed, it shouldn’t be that hard. Assuming they wanted to, which he suspected they wouldn’t. Healing him and taking away his ability to dream was one thing. Getting rid of one of the few things he feared was another.

     Sayang stopped at the bridge. Keben sighed, leaning against the wall. Even he had to admit that the view was impressive. In front of them, the other skyships flew in formation. But beyond those...

     Central’s skyscrapers yearned to touch the sky. Each of them was a blade of defiance thrust to the sky, ready to guard Central against all invaders. Faint lights dotted the spires, white-gold against the silver-black. They were beautiful. They marked the place where he had grown up, a place that said it was free of oppression and fear. It wasn’t, of course. It was impossible for there to be a place free of those. But Keben could easily remember the looks of hopelessness he’d seen in the streets.

     That was what Pariel-Sloth had brought. He may have given freedom, but if the cost was hope, the cost wasn’t worth it. He may have brought justice, but at the price of prejudice. He had brought technology, but destroyed magic. “What price survival?” Keben whispered, looking at the towers, so black against the pure blue sky. The price Pariel-Sloth had demanded was too much. And now they would finally be able to right his wrongs and create the society he had wanted to forge in the first place.

     The skyships began to descend, turning toward the plains that surrounded Central. Keben kept his eyes on the skyscrapers. If they had been seen, nobody was doing a thing about them. He smiled. This was insane. But then, many of the best ideas were called insane until they worked. And this one, he had been promised, would. So he smiled, and watched the skyscrapers draw ever closer.

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» Aria of the Aeons: Part One
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Two
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Three
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Four
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Five
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Six
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Eight
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Nine
» Aria of the Aeons: Part Ten



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