The Fallacy of Prophecy
"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."
-William Shakespeare
"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way."
-Juan Ramón Jiménez
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A/N: This begins during Naryu's childhood, when she is the approximate Sylph equivalent of 13 or 14, her younger brothers ( Thor and Loki, as this is in the same Universe as The Remant Prince) being roughly Mordred's age in the episode "The Beginning of the End".This Naryu is THE EXACT SAME CHARACTERthat appears inThe Remnant Prince, and this story may or may not end up being an AU version of that universe. This is a tie-in regardless, most likely a series. Naryu Astelm is an OC of InTheAsylum's and Naryu Astelm Friggadottir is an AU/OOC version of that character, one I typically use. Since this begins in her childhood, it begins pre-The Remnant Prince and is more centered around her than around either of her adoptive brothers (though they will be involved, it is from her perspective) or any of the other characters. It is also heavily centered around Mordred (from his perspective), and the changes and events, among other things, that transpire due to the introduction of Naryu and anything or anyone associated with her, especially changing those connected to Albion. Morgana will also be heavily explored, and any others will be added or mentioned later. I acknowledge all necessary disclaimers.
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Part 1: Though the Soul May Set in Darkness, also named Sound and Fury
Ch.1: Druid and Sylph
"Always help someone. You might be the only one that does."
-Unknown
Naryu had glamored her eyes, of course; they appeared as the same soft brown without showing their natural rings. She wore a dress of rich blue, and atop it her silvery-gray cloak, with the hood drawn up. Her brothers were at home with her openly adoptive mother, Frigga, one of the two she had ever known, and their Dashta, having their lessons with Sif, Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral. She knew that afterwards they would all play together, unless Loki went off to find Hermione...Naryu rarely sought out Rosalie. Instead, she did what she used to do: wander. This new...place...was called Camelot, and it lay within Albion.
She moved through the market sedately, gazing around at the different stalls. A cart filled with hay drew by pulled by a tired mule. A few children played barefoot nearby, and an old man hobbled on a cane. A tall man cloaked in brown and a smaller figure cloaked in a light blue came out of an alley mouth, walking carefully, hands gripped tightly. The young duchess slowed, observing their nervous movements and cautious glances. The boy caught sight of her as they passed by, his countenance riddled with what Naryu knew as only one thing: fear. The three approached a stall, Naryu coming to stand at their side about a foot away in a partially concealed alcove. The vender, busy with another customer, glanced up once, eyed her, nodded at her in acknowledgment."Be with you in a short while, Lady."
Something in his tone, in the shift of his eyes and the way he licked his lips spasmodically sent up a warning signal. Naryu could smell his sweat, and something else, tinging the air. It made her glad that he could only see her, waiting as if alone.
The boy was staring at her again. His electric blue eyes were wide and curious, lingering on hers.
'I can see you,' a voice whispered. The youngling stiffened. 'I can see your eyes. What are you?'
She could feel her eyes widen in panic. She had raised a glamor against everything and everyone she could think of...she should have known different magical peoples could have a signature she would be unaware of, like an unknown scent trail.
'What are you?' She replied tersely, flinching at how harsh it might sound to him in his mind. The man seemed to be able to see past it as well. He smiled slightly, seemingly reassured. The boy looked quickly at him, and, seeing the smile, some of the fear withdrew, though not all.
"Good day to you, Lady," the man greeted. 'What a pity that such deception is necessary.' His eyes flicked over hers.
Naryu smiled wryly and shrugged. 'T'is nothing. I have been doing more long since I have been born.' Her eyes switched to the boy again. Aloud, she said, "I have brothers roughly of your state."
He couldn't have been more than eleven years old, more likely nine to ten.
"How old might you be?" The man asked, seemingly relieved to have a normal-seeming conversation. And having found someone like them, no doubt. Naryu wondered what they were about, and why they were so jittery. "I am a youngling of thirteen," she said softly.
"Have you a teacher?" The man inquired. "You look as if you would." To anyone else, it sounded like a normal enough question, a valid one, especially because of her clothes. Naryu smiled, gave him the slightest inclination of her head. "I have tutors, and our Dashta, and sometimes our mother teaches us things."
A touch of confusion crossed both of the new faces before her, probably due to her accent and the strange words littering her speech.
"From where do you hail?" He used the polite question to fish for understanding. Naryu flicked her hand as if at an irksome fly, and silence fell as if a wall had descended to separate them from the rest of the crowd. Both the man and the boy jumped, looking around wildly.
"They will not notice us so much now," Naryu explained. "They think us talking of planting season and that will be all they can hear. My home is on Asgard, but I come from Chadaemonah."
The man laughed nervously. "That is a handy trick to know indeed."
He sobered. "Magic is outlawed here. It is best that you return to one of those lands."
"Outlawed?" Naryu repeated faintly. "Is that what ails you?"
"The King held a great purge some years ago. He...he even killed children. Even the young are at peril. That is why I advise you to travel onward, homeward bound." The boy seemed to shrink in on himself.
Naryu began to speak, but instead shivered violently. A dull echo of sound sighed suddenly through her mind from long ago. "Bad Magic happens. Bad things happen."
"Can you trust him?" She blurted. The man tensed again, looking upward. The vender had almost finished with that customer; only a minute or so had passed. "Sometimes desperation will make people take risks they wouldn't normally take."
The customer walked away, and in the small interval that a large cartload of produce passed by, Naryu dismissed their privacy wards.
"I will accompany you."
"It is not necessary," the man replied softly. "We know not your name, nor do we have yours."
"I'm more concerned for your keeping your appointment," she responded silkily, the twist on words rather convenient for their circumstance. She approached the stall with him.
"Are you together?" She bald man behind the counter inquired.
"Separate parties. The Lady was kind enough to have words with us about the good season. Do you have my supplies ready? We must leave the city without delay."
"Everything you asked for; it's all here," the bald vender assured him brusquely. He took the money handed to him in exchange for a pouch that his fugitive magical customer immediately began checking as quickly as was possible, then said quite oddly, "I'm sorry."
He then glanced at Naryu. "I saw you just before these two appeared. You spake of more than crops I daresay."
Naryu's eyes narrowed, and she saw the cloaked man's head snap up, his gaze and that of the boy fixing onto the bald villager and turning. The man wouldn't meet Naryu's accusing stare as she felt their fear tremor through her, her sight whipping to focus on what had her two new companions worked up. Soldiers could he seen pushing their way through the crowd toward them from both directions. The man and boy ducked down. On an impulse, Naryu followed suit.
"SIEZE HIM!" Rang out, and the snitch turned his eyes away. "STOP THEM!"
Naryu knew she could help them escape. She wished she could stop to cloak them, get close enough to both of them to bundle them up into the air, make a portal, shift into a helpful animal, anything. Instead, she was forced to run. She would not risk her fighting with magic injuring innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time, especially with her emotions out of whack to fuel a devastating cursed fire or the like. No, she wouldn't risk mass death, destruction, and hysteria. But something in her firmly told her to help the man and boy, something fiercely protective and compassionate. The boy who could be her brother running through the streets. Anger boiled within her. Magic, outlawed? These innocents hunted like wild beasts? She decided that she would help any that crossed her path, wild chase through the city or no, and all else be damned. Her lessons could wait.
'I'll help you,' she told them resolutely. 'My name is Naryu.'
There was silence, then, an accepting reply, 'Cerdan,' the man sighed wearily. And a soft, hesitant, 'My name is Mordred' drifted faintly from the boy.
'Take him ahead,' Cerdan said. Mordred looked up at him, and then Naryu, nodding. He trusted her partially because Cerdan did. She took his smaller proffered hand within her own, leading the way away as Cerdan kept himself between Mordred, Naryu, and the guards. The three dodged people and wove around stalls, Cerdan upsetting a stand of tall baskets across the lane behind them to slow their pursuers.
No one hindered their progress. No one came to their aid, either.
'I apologize. I cannot fight them all without risking potent circumstance on those innocent who are nearby.'
'We would not wish it,' Cerdan replied, sounding grim and approving. He added, 'We are a peaceful people. We keep to ourselves.'
'And you must suffer the most.' Naryu hazarded. They came out into the open just then. She turned them toward a sprawling path that seemed safe until soldiers cluttered and clogged it, coming seemingly out of nowhere.
'He had long planned his betrayal,' Naryu hissed angrily.
'I am sure he is just as afraid as we are,' Cerdan replied. 'The punishment for concealment is almost just as grave, and had he properly served us, he could have been executed had the king discovered it.'
Naryu scoffed. They made an about face, pelting down another avenue and passing a father and daughter carrying a basket of food. Their progress was much the same as before, until the unthinkable happened and a soldier leapt from above brandishing his sword and striking downward. Naryu saw it coming but couldn't move in time, having been taken by surprise. She felt a sharp bite as it sliced at her and came down hard on the boy she had not gotten a chance to shield.
A shrill, high-pitched scream of pain rang out in Naryu's head, and she knew that anyone magical within "hearing" range that could communicate nonverbally had heard it as well; at the same time, Naryu hissed, a strangled audible cry garbled in her throat. Blood pounded in her ears as the scent of it gave the air a metallic tang. Cerdan pulled them away and out, shielding them as he swung them around in a different direction. He threw his hand out, flinging the soldier against the wall. His sword clattered to the ground and his helmet flew off. The other guards were closing in behind them. Cerdan began steering them towards the gates a few feet away, his grip tight on Naryu's shoulder. She felt him slip the pouch he had ordered into her pocket.
'Take him, please!' Cerdan begged Naryu, 'and if you get the chance, see what you can do about getting this to our people, once you are safe.' and at Mordred, 'Go with her. You like her? Go with her! She will protect you.'
His eyes implored Naryu. 'It is all I ask. Get you and my son to safety.'
'They'll kill you if you stay,' Naryu whispered, horrified.
'And they'll kill us all if you stay with me.'
As they debated over this, he had verbally cast a spell to close the barrier doors and the drawbridge. He knelt, hugged Mordred, and, to her own immense surprise, Naryu, before pushing them toward it.
"Go, you must escape, run, run!" She heard him yell. Her eyes met Mordred's, their hands finding each other, and they did as Cerdan wished. Naryu could feel their blood mingling, weeping from their wounds. As the doors closed behind them, Mordred pulled back on her, forcing her to halt lest she drag him, and they gazed back over at the other side. Guards surrounded Cerdan, who looked at each of them in turn. He bowed his head at Naryu respectfully, tears threatening, and whispered shakily, 'Thank you.'
The doors closed forlornly.
...xxx...
Naryu stared at the wood a moment before shaking herself and guiding Mordred away. She would have to find a place to heal them both...she gasped, sagging suddenly and straightening quickly. The boy eyed her with concern.
'Silver,' she explained faintly. 'It is the bane of any Sylph.'
The boys eyes widened, full of both worry and intrigue. 'Is that what you are...will you die?'
'Don't get your hopes up; you won't get rid of me that easily,' Naryu attempted to reassure him. The truth was that even a small amount could poison her blood if she wasn't careful. It was a good thing she had a few helpful things in her waist purse.
She eased them down by the side of the fountain once they managed to make it across the courtyard.
'I'm dizzy,' Mordred shuddered, leaning back against Naryu weakly, giving in and trusting her.
'As am I,' Naryu murmured. He tipped his head back against her chest, staring up at her. Her heart rate was beating erratically.
'You didn't leave me.'
'I wouldn't,' Naryu sighed, smoothing his bangs away from his face.
'We should move.'
Just as they stood, the gate doors opened, a palace guard emblem visible, though a long ways off, and she pulled him back down on the farthest side, drawing him closer to her chest with both arms wrapped around him protectively.
'Help,' she heard him send out. 'Help, you have to help us, please.' Naryu felt another presence listening, a strong one. She wondered who the child could be contacting. Her grip tightened and she woozily attempted to instill a shield that merely made them unnoticeable since movement from someone invisible was far more conspicuous. And, as weak as she was, it was easier to trick and compel them than use something stronger.
'Help us, please,' she sent out, hoping it might work. 'He's so young, younger than my brothers...'
She felt the person on the other end of their pleas draw closer. She didn't realize how much she had been slumping until she felt the rough edge of the fountain scrape against her back through her cloak.
'He's coming,' Mordred mumbled after a fashion.
'I know. I can feel him.' Naryu breathed.
Mordred raised his head to stare intently at the stairs a few yards away from them. A lanky black-haired young man of about eighteen or nineteen stood, turning every which way.
'This way,' Naryu instructed.
'Help,' Mordred whimpered. The man finally saw them, his blue eyes and countenance displaying his shock, and perhaps horror. His gaze met Naryu's, settling, startled, on Mordred.
'Please, you have to help us.' Mordred's voice gained a new, hopeful strength. The man, a red scarf tied around his neck, stared at them. A slight commotion drew Mordred's attention, and out of the corner of her eye, Naryu could see the stranger follow his line of sight as she had. The soldiers had reached the courtyard.
"Have you seen a boy around here? A girl?" She heard one interrogate someone.
'Please,' Mordred said, 'they're searching for us.'
'Why are they after you?' He-the man-inquired shrewdly, his face working as he thought.
Mordred ducked his head. 'They're going to kill me.'
'They'll have both of us speared on the ends of their weapons,' Naryu said heavily. 'At least take him. Hide him.'
"IN HERE!" A guard directed the others. Naryu watched the man that might help them as his eyes followed the guards she could not see. He glanced around, and then turned to them, nodding. He would help them, then. He darted into a side passage, watching until the coast was clear. Then he nodded his head once more, earnest and urgent.
'This way-Run, run!'
Naryu forced herself to stand, heaving Mordred up with her, and holding each other up, his opposite hand clutching his wound, they made their way, running as best they could. Cries rang out and they ran faster, darting underneath the arch. Naryu staggered but pushed onward, following their guide up a staircase inside and dashing off in one direction. He stopped them, directed them down a different corridor. Their trail wove a twisting and turning path until they burst into a room suddenly, the laughter inside dying followed by a reproachful but fond "Merlin, don't you know how to knock?"
Merlin had closed the door, Naryu leaning heavily against him on unsteady legs with Mordred clutched tightly to her. The two women in the room caught sight of them as Merlin explained. "The guards are after them. I didn't know what to do."
Mordred stared unabashedly at them. Naryu bit her lip, eyes darting between them, the door, Merlin, and Mordred. The one looked at them-she and the boy-oddly.
"Milady!" Frenzied pounding accompanied the shout, which repeated itself. The two women continued to stare at and be stared at by the three people by the door. More pounding. "Milady!"
Just then, Mordred nearly swooned, and Naryu, though clearly weak herself, pulled him flat against her, taking all of his weight.
"In there," the Lady directed them, jerking her head, and Merlin pulled Naryu and Mordred towards the back of her chamber where curtains hung for changing, of which she had indicated, leading them behind them and drawing them. Mordred looked to Merlin, whose eyes were on Naryu at that moment.
"Thank you," she rasped, swallowing. "I am in no state to get us away properly, and I wished to do no one harm."
Voices carried over as the door opened. "We're sorry to disturb you, milady Morgana. We're searching for a young Druid boy and a questionable girl. We believe they came this way."
Mordred went very limp suddenly, and Naryu cradled him against her. Merlin's arms came up around her as she herself swayed.
"I haven't seen them. It's just me and my maid," Morgana replied dismissively, the voice belonging to the one that had chided Merlin.
"Best stay inside until we find them."
"Yes, of course."
The door closed. Footsteps. A fair hand drew the curtain back sharply just before Naryu lost her remaining strength, her legs buckling. Merlin caught her and eased her downward. She blinked blearily at them, still conscious. Morgana and the other woman knelt down with him. Merlin held his hand up, blood glistening on it, and he exchanged a glance with his companions.
"Tend to the boy first," Naryu rasped. She fumbled with the clasp of the purse, shaking hands withdrawing the contents she needed.
"Crush that and shred this," she instructed, pushing two herbs toward them as she uncapped her nectar and took a measured swig that she swished around before swallowing. Merlin had laid aside the herb to be crushed and ran out, returning soon after with a mortar and pestle in which he promptly began crushing it. Meanwhile, she had fixed her eyes on the other woman, who had shredded the second herb in Merlin's absence.
"Your name?"
"Gwen," she replied.
"Gwen, thank you."
She motioned for Merlin to come closer, taking the mortar from his hands into her own. She almost dropped it because of their shaking. He helped her hold it as she added the shredded remnants to what had been crushed, cracking a Redrum over it with her teeth and allowing the juice inside to dribble into it. She murmured a few healing enchantments aloud before throwing in a cap-full of the murmur milk. A few more expert twists and graceful workings of her wrist to grind and mix it all and she had a basic yet modified combination Sylph-Asgardian medicine.
"What will that do?" Gwen asked.
"Keep him strong and keep him from dying until I am in a better state," Naryu replied. "I know not what the nectar or ambrosia would do to him. It can kill those too weak for it."
Her hand went limp on the mortar, and Merlin took it.
"Is this edible?" He asked.
"Yes," Naryu said tiredly. "I've naught for the wound itself. 'Tis the best I have." She gave a wheezing cough, reaching for Mordred and using her body as a half-prop half-pillow.
"How can he take it now?" Morgana asked.
"He cannot," Naryu nearly snapped in frazzled irritation, "But when he wakes, he must have it, as soon as he wakes. Boil the amaranth in my pouch and then mash it into a paste. That will begin healing our slashes. We can only hope infection isn't already setting in."
She groaned, her heart still jackhammering, listening to their voices swirl in conversation, thinking perhaps that they addressed her as her ears rang, and then she, too, lost consciousness and saw no more.