Warning: character death
A/N: Thanks to Anime Princess for helping me out when I got stuck. Lots of thanks for the ladies at Distant Lands for letting me play in their sandbox and all their encouragement.
The Void
Sinbad awoke when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Though it was dark he could clearly see a boy in his late teens stand over him, looking down on him.
Sinbad blinked and instead of a boy there was a hawk- Dermott- and then the boy again. The boy moved away, to the door of the cabin, glancing one last time over his shoulder before opening the door and leaving. Sinbad disentangled himself from his bedding and ran after the boy, his own footsteps sounding loud to his own ears after the complete silence with which the boy moved.
On deck Sinbad saw the boy again, though he kept flashing between boy and hawk. With the practised eye of an experienced captain his eye swept the deck and mast while keeping his main target in sight. He was disturbed to find that the deck was deserted. The full moon gave everything an ethereal glow that made the hair on Sinbad's arms stand on end.
The boy stepped over the railing onto the glass-smooth water. Sinbad cried out, noting once more that his sounds were the only sounds but the boy- no hawk now, took no notice. The water was dark and foreboding, not reflecting the moonlight at all, but it held the boy up.
Hesitantly Sinbad followed the boy over the railing; disturb to find the water held his weight as well.
The boy walked and flew in a straight line, no longer looking back to see if the captain was following.
The water beneath his feet was pitch-black; the sky above his head became a threatening slate-grey. The stars had gone; the moon looked sickly now that its shine had gone.
Ahead of them a black silhouette became visible against the grey sky. They were heading right for it. The silhouette was a rock, formed of cooled lava that cut at his hands and feet as they climbed it. But Sinbad didn't turn back.
At the top of the rock the boy finally turned to him with a pleading look before becoming a hawk once more and then disappearing completely.
Sinbad stood alone atop the sharp rocks, looking out over the glass sea and the slate sky.
In front of his eyes a shadow detached itself from the rock, unfolding until it was a person, slightly darker than the sky, slightly lighter than the sea. Around the shadow, ghosts danced, depicting shards of memories before disappearing again or forming themselves into other scenarios.
"This is the place where lost things go. Here we remain until all our energy is leeched out, back into the real world and we are but husks," the shadow said, coming closer and closer still until he could make out the features on her gaunt face.
"Maeve," he breathed, touching her cheek with his hand and immediately noticing her whole being lighten just a fraction.
"But before that, long before we are drained we lose what made us ourselves, we are driven insane in this loneliness, kept company only by fleeting memories," she continued, she looked at his shoulder, not making a true connection with him at all.
"How did you get here?" Sinbad asked, noting that the blood on his hands from where he'd cut them on the rock left no mark on her skin.
Instead of answering she closed her eyes and moved into the circle of his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. He put his arms around her, holding her close as he looked over her shoulder at the memory the ghosts were playing out:
"How do I help you master?" Maeve asked, looking hale and healthy, like she'd done when he'd known her.
"I need you to take my place before I lose my mind," Dim-Dim said honestly, the regret that he had to ask such a horrible thing of her evident on his face.
"I could help you break out of this prison, I could lend you my strength, I'll do anything you need of me just… please?" Maeve pleaded with her master.
"I will not be mad if you choose not to take my place child, you have sacrificed quite enough in your young life," Dim-Dim's ghostly form hugged Maeve's like a father would a child. Sinbad could see the tears in her eyes.
"There is no other way?" Maeve asked.
"I have found no other way, I will continue searching," Dim-Dim said. "It has to be a person like me, a white sorcerer to fool the spell into taking you instead of me, this I know. Caipra tried but she is my other half and so the spell would not accept her. You are my student, you've spent years emulating me…"
"I am your only hope," Maeve concluded.
"There is always hope," Dim-Dim said, because his heart was breaking for the girl who was going to give everything for him.
"Make sure Dermott's alright, he needs someone to talk to and Sinbad… well just… make sure he doesn't worry too much, lie to him if you have to," Maeve said, stepping out of her master's embrace and wiping at her tears.
"Are you sure about this, child?" Dim-Dim asked.
The ghosts faded away, the tale was told. Sinbad blinked and separated himself from Maeve just enough so he could look at her face.
"And who will take your place? When you can't take it anymore?" Sinbad asked.
"I think I will die here," Maeve said, still avoiding his gaze even as she held onto him.
"There has to be something I can do, why else bring me here?" Sinbad demanded, not able to accept defeat that easily.
"Dermott brought you here. He's been coming to me whenever he could find a way. He can't accept my death either," Maeve said.
Sinbad tilted her head up but still she would not look at him.
"Maeve," he said, the plea in his tone of voice.
"Please, I'm afraid I'll break," she admitted.
But he persisted and when her eyes finally met his he was taken aback by the depth of pain behind them.
"I'll find Dim-Dim, we'll figure out a way to get you home. Just don't… don't let go just yet, alright? You have to give me a little time," Sinbad pleaded with her, tears streaming down his face.
"Goodbye, Sinbad," Maeve said and pressed her lips against his before letting him go.
"Sinbad!"
The call was loud in the captain's ears, his eyes flew open, morning sunshine briefly blinded him before he could make out Doubar standing over him.
"Sheesh little brother, you slept like the dead! Come on, breakfast's up, captain or no, breakfast waits for no man," Doubar said already on his way out of the cabin.
On the other side of the room, in the corner Dermott sat perched on the back of a chair. He just looked at the captain and Sinbad wondered what the bird was trying to say.
Sinbad ran a quick hand through his hair and pulled on his trousers. "I don't know how you got here Dermott, but you inspired some really weird dreams," Sinbad said.
Dermott screeched at him, making Sinbad chuckle.
"No, I barely remember what they were about, something about a sea made out of glass… You were there, but you weren't very consistent," Sinbad said and pulled his shirt over his head. "It's breakfast time, are you coming?"
Reluctantly Dermott made use of the door Sinbad held open for him. How could he make the captain remember?
Sinbad followed Dermott out into the hallway and flashed back to the dream where he'd done exactly the same thing… Why had he done that?
"Hey Doubar," Sinbad said as he slowly chewed the water-soaked hard-tack.
"What?" Doubar asked, almost breaking his teeth on the still too-hard breakfast.
"Do you think Dim-Dim could be back and not sent us a message?" Sinbad asked, something in the back of his mind was niggling.
"We're not exactly easy to keep track of," Doubar shrugged. "Why?"
"I'm not sure, I just have a weird feeling. Let's go see Caipra in Basra, if anyone knows where Dim-Dim is, it must be her," Sinbad said.
"Sure," Doubar shrugged.
Though it was supposed to be 'just a weird feeling' Sinbad could not keep the urgency out of finding Dim-Dim out of his mind. So they sailed day and night, the captain only snatching a few hours of sleep when exhaustion threatened to get the better of him. If any of his crew asked what the hurry was about, the captain could not answer them: he did not fully know himself.
"I'm sorry Sinbad, we don't have any answers for you," Caipra said when they appeared on her doorstep.
"But do you know where Dim-Dim is?" Sinbad insisted.
Caipra hesitated, then opened her door further to let them in.
Sinbad happened upon Dim-Dim in the hallway: "Master!"
Dim-Dim looked confused for a moment, and then recognition dawned on his face. "Suhayl! How long has it been?"
"It's Sinbad, master," Sinbad said.
"Suhayl's our father," Doubar supplied.
Dermott screeched, unable to keep his disappointment at bay.
"Dim-Dim started his second childhood not long after he came back," Caipra explained. "I've continued his research, but I have not been successful."
"I don't understand," Sinbad said. "I don't know why I'm here, I just know I had to come. And now Dim-Dim, who I've spent two years looking for has been here the whole time?"
"Go through to the sitting room, I will explain everything," Caipra said, taking Dim-Dim by the arm and following the crew through her own house.
She settled her husband in the plush pillows and instructed Doubar to help the old man drink his tea while she served the rest of them. When they were all seated and supplied with tea she started the tale:
"As you know Turok magicked my husband away, he sent him to another realm. This was not a realm Dim-Dim could survive for any length of time but he felt confident that he would be able to break out in time. But he couldn't. This realm was not meant for humans, it feeds on them: their memories, their minds, and their very essence. He found you there Bryn and he managed to break the spell that tethered you there and send you back but it cost you your memories. He noticed that the realm was starting to consume his mind and knew that it was imperative that he leave that place while he could still function. He found a way: he needed to be replaced by someone like him. I tried, but the spell wouldn't accept me. It did accept Maeve. She agreed to it, but now she's been in there for a year herself and we need to get her out before she is consumed. I just have no idea how. I am so sorry Sinbad," Caipra's eyes filled with tears, Dim-Dim saw how upset she was and patted her hand, though he had no idea what was going on.
"I could take her place," Bryn said suddenly. "I'm the most like her of all of us right?"
The crew gaped at the sorceress, her willingness to sacrifice herself that way for a person she'd never met was… Incredible, and brave and foolish.
"No," Sinbad said harshly. "If anyone's taking her place it should be me. We'll need you both at your best to try and break this spell."
Dermott screeched once more, flying through the seated circle. "He wants to do it," Bryn translated.
"Children, settle down. None of you fit the mould," Caipra said, her shoulders slumped.
"But there has to be something we can do! We can't just let her rot there!" Sinbad said, very upset. Dermott perched by Sinbad, trying to signal he agreed.
"I'm open to suggestions," Caipra said.
"Look, why don't you and Bryn put your heads together, you know, two heads are better than one?" Firouz suggested, not a little frustrated that he could not lend his impressive intellect to this particular problem.
Caipra sighed, not looking particularly hopeful but nodded. "Take care of my husband. If you'll join me in the study, Bryn?"
Bryn nodded, suddenly a lot more apprehensive then she was when she offered to sacrifice herself. It was easy to think of the right thing when all you had to do was sacrifice yourself; it was a lot harder when you were expected to come up with answers in a field you were far from comfortable in.
Sinbad and Dermott went outside, they felt too confined within the house, like there was no air to breath in there.
"I keep remembering more and more about that dream," Sinbad confided in the bird. "She said goodbye."
Dermott flew at a tree as fast as he could, grabbing a branch at the last moment, shaking it violently.
"There has to be something we can do!" Sinbad said, because he hated problems you couldn't solve by smiling at it charmingly or swinging your sword at.
Dermott obviously shared his frustration but had even less avenues of expressing it which had to double the frustration.
"Unless… But no, we can't…" Sinbad said.
"How about a dummy? We make a straw-man of sorts and magically give it all the characteristics it needs to fool the spell," Bryn suggested after she'd leafed through some of Caipra's work.
Caipra shook her head. "It is a good idea child, it was one of the first ones we tried. An inanimate object didn't work, so we used a pig, tying the spells to its life-force like it would in a real sorcerer but that didn't work so we tried to put me in and it didn't work and we tried to alter my appearance and it didn't work. Nothing has worked!"
Bryn felt overwhelmed at the force of Caipra's grief and feelings of guilt. It was her instinct to comfort the old woman but there was no time for feelings, they needed clear heads.
"Alright, so we can't put another replacement in. What about the spell itself? Dim-Dim found a way to get me out, there must be some way to get Maeve too," Bryn suggested.
Caipra shook her head. "The spell that tied you to the Void was different. Dim-Dim thought you might have been sent there accidentally, that someone was trying to save you from something worse. My husband was sent there by a master sorcerer with ill-intent. Even Turok's death did nothing to weaken the spell. I have attacked it from all sides, I've used blunt force, I've tried to unravel it, I've tried to counter it…"
"But if you could replace Dim-Dim with Maeve there had to be some kind of hole in the spell," Bryn argued.
Caipra nodded, she looked tired and without hope. "I've looked at this problem for years now child. I have tried everything, my husband has tried everything. There is nothing I want more than to save that precious girl whose bravery meant my husband could live. But there is just no way."
Evening found the crew, Caipra and Dim-Dim around the dinner-table. Bryn had already informed them that they had not been successful so the atmosphere was glum to say the least.
When all had their fill of dinner- though none had much of an appetite- Sinbad cleared his throat.
"There is one option we haven't discussed yet," he said.
"There is?" Bryn perked up.
Sinbad saw Firouz bend a little deeper over his plate, obviously having thought of this himself and not eager to be part of this discussion.
Doubar and Rongar carefully schooled their features, they noticed the grim look on Sinbad's face and knew that whatever he was going to say was not going to be pleasant.
"We can put Dim-Dim back in," Sinbad said, unable to meet Caipra's eyes.
"No," Caipra said with fire in her eyes. "He is an old man, he's helpless! Would you really doom him to spend his last days in a place like that? He was your teacher! He looked upon you boys like sons! I can't believe you could even consider such a thing."
"It's not something I take any pleasure in Caipra. I don't want to do this to him! I don't want to do it to Maeve either but his mind is already gone and hers isn't," Sinbad said, barely able to hold back the tears.
"Maeve knew what she was getting into, she knew the risks. Dim-Dim, the way he is now, he can't give his consent, he won't know what's happening to him, he'll just know he's been abandoned!" Caipra argued.
"But if he was cognizant, you know he would have given his consent! He would never ask of another what he would not be willing to do himself and he asked Maeve when he needed her," Sinbad said, feeling like he was pleading a case even though the last thing he wanted to do was sacrifice his old teacher.
"I don't want Maeve to have to go through what she is going through right now, I've spent the better part of a year doing everything I can to get her out but even Turok's death hasn't helped! I can't do anything for her and that breaks my heart, but I can protect my husband now that he is at his most vulnerable. Don't ask me to send him back, Sinbad…" Caipra said.
Dim-Dim sat at the table with them, getting upset with all the commotion going on around him, his head swivelled to look at Caipra on the one and Sinbad on the other side. He slammed his hand down on the table.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" He raged, shoving his chair back. Then he angrily stomped off.
This was behaviour none of them had ever seen in the old master and it quieted them right down.
"I'll just go check on him," Caipra said, trying to calm herself down.
"Caipra, you know I love him," Sinbad said, unable to bear the thought that she condemned him for taking the opposite view to hers.
She patted him on the shoulder as she went past. "I know my boy, I know."
Sinbad buried his face in his hands, he felt disgusting.
Sinbad lay awake that night staring at the ceiling. There had to be another way. It couldn't end like this. Maybe if Dermott could take him to her again, if they could just talk. If she could just forgive him for not saving her, but that was a selfish thought and he felt horrible for thinking it. But he kept on coming back to it.
Tired of going in circles he left his cabin and went in search of Dermott. The bird had to have some kind of answers, right?
"This isn't a good time, he's very upset," Bryn said, when he knocked on her door.
"Well who isn't. I just need to talk to him, alright? Can you translate?" Sinbad asked, a little more gruff than he meant to.
Bryn sighed but nodded, letting him into her room.
"Is there any way to tell how she's doing right now?" Sinbad asked the hawk.
"He can't find a way to her right now, that's why he's so upset," Bryn supplied. "But he's only found a way to contact her about once every two months or so, so it's not a sign of anything."
"When I saw her she looked pretty bad, how fast has she been deteriorating?" Sinbad asked, biting back his outrage on being kept in the dark about her true whereabouts for so long.
"She was fine for the first couple of months, lonely but unhurt, Caipra kept in touch with her to keep the worst of the loneliness at bay. The deterioration started slow but went faster and faster in time until there was barely any colour or light in her left. That's when you saw her. He's very worried that it's already too late," Bryn translated.
"But there has to be a way to know for sure. I can't send Dim-Dim in there if I don't even know what we'll be getting back in his place," Sinbad said, too wrapped up in his own feelings to note how cruel his choice of words sounded.
"There is no way to know, but Dermott wants her back no matter what," Bryn said.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Morning brought no new perspective but the crew started the trek back up to Caipra's house on weary feet. They didn't know if they'd be all that welcome there, but it felt like the place they had to be.
They heard a noise like a thunderclap when they neared the house and broke into a run, almost bashing down the door in their haste to get in and see what was going on.
They found Caipra in the study, pointing an accusing finger at Sinbad. "This was your doing!"
"What?" Sinbad asked, confused only to be knocked on the back of head by Dermott's wing in the bird's hurry to get into the room. The unexpected blow knocked him onto his knees. He put a hand out to steady himself and when he looked up he finally saw what Caipra was talking about.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," he said, because his brain was too tongue-tied so his mouth took over without any input from him.
Maeve had caught Dermott before the bird could hit the ground after the collision and now put him safely back on his claws. A sob escaped her throat as she fell onto her knees and threw her arms around Sinbad.
"It was awful! I thought I was going to die there but then Dim-Dim…" she hiccoughed, the emotion washing over her making her unable to finish her sentence.
"Dim-Dim had a lucid spell this morning. He went back to that horrible place," Caipra cried. Doubar pulled the crying old woman into his arms and patted her back.
As the two sorceresses cried and the two brothers did their best to comfort them the rest of the crew, minus Dermott filed out to give them some privacy.
After the first shock of conflicting emotions passed Maeve disentangled herself from Sinbad, and they awkwardly helped each other to their feet.
Then Maeve turned to Caipra and took Doubar's place by putting her arms around the old woman.
"He shouldn't have done it…" Caipra cried softly.
"He shouldn't have," Maeve agreed.
"But he did and part of me is glad he did," Caipra could barely force the words past her mouth but she wanted the young woman who her husband had just given his life for to know that it was grief she was feeling right now, not resentment towards her.
"He was the best man I ever knew," Maeve said.
At Maeve's used of the past tense Caipra burst into tears once more.
About an hour later Doubar and Bryn took Caipra to bed and stayed by her bedside while Maeve, Sinbad and Dermott sought out the relative comfort of the sitting room.
"Did I do the right thing?" Maeve asked.
"By taking his place or by allowing him to go back?" Sinbad asked, shoving a pastry into her hands because she looked painfully thin after her ordeal.
Maeve shrugged, turning the pastry in her hands. "I don't know, either, both?"
"Don't play with your food," Sinbad said curtly. "And you did what you had to do. Just next time… talk to me about it first please?"
Maeve groaned, "next time?"
"You're right, you are never to do something so… so… THAT, you are never to do THAT again, ever, that's an order," Sinbad said.
"I don't think my year in solitary has made me particularly prone to following orders," Maeve said, but she was eating the pastry, so that was something.
"Well that is something we can work on the coming year. Just don't scare me like that again, alright? No order, I'm just asking you friend to friend here," Sinbad said.
Having been deprived of almost all human contact for a year Maeve couldn't help but pull him into another hug. "Next scary thing we'll do together."
Dermott squawked, annoyed at being forgotten.
"All of us, together," Maeve amended.
The day of Dim-Dim's memorial service was an appropriately cold and rainy one. Dignitaries from far and wide attended the service and hundreds of people came to pay their last respects.
Maeve held onto Sinbad's hand tightly, the crowd looking scary to her after the previous year's experiences. Only when she got up to speak about her mentor did she let it go. Sinbad spoke right after her, a funny and heartfelt speech about the enormous heart of the old weirdo.
Caipra held up admirably during the service and the obligatory condolences but when it was all said and done she told them that she wanted to be alone and that the crew should set sail.
So they did. Still in their best clothes they readied the Nomad and carefully navigated her out of the busy harbour.
Though grieving for his lost master, it still lightened Sinbad's heart considerably to see Maeve at her old perch at the railing with Dermott next to her. She looked different, hell he looked different and he couldn't even being to imagine what it must be like to go through what she had gone through, but he had faith that they'd be alright in the end. And that was all he could hope for.