The Midnight Star

by TheSilverHunt3r

The story of Aaravos. Morally Grey! Aaravos. Theories, oneshot, definitely an AU.

Summary: The story of Aaravos. Morally Grey! Aaravos. Theories, oneshot, definitely an AU.

The first thing you must know, is that I never lie. The words in this book are true, if a summary of what happened.

This story is mine, the tale of the great elven archmage Aaravos, my tale. Although I have much time to write this, as I do not see getting out of my prison any time soon, I will shorten it. To tell the full story in all it's length would take ages, far beyond a human lifespan. If I have more time after this-I suspect I will-I shall tell the full story. But for now, I will limit myself.

There were six types of magic in the world. The seventh came later, it is not important now. The six sources of magic were the moon, the sun, the sky, the stars, the earth, and the ocean. Each tribe of elves and each dragon Is connected to one of these types.

I was born as member of the startouch elves. But I was not spoiled. No, us elves throw their young into trials and training as is tradition. But there was even more attention on us, startouch elves were rare and had the greatest connection to the primal sources.

XXX

While on an expedition to a mountain peak for some herbs, I was accosted by a young dragon. Itwas the first one I had ever seen. I could not help myself from gawking for a few moments at the gangly, young dragon with sky blue scales and a curious Iook.

"I'll call you Blue," I decided on a whim. Not the most original, but accurate. I have never claimed to have the best naming sense among the elves.

Blue came closer. He cocked his head.On a hunch, I cautiously started to pet him. Blue leaned into it my hand. I found a spot behind his ears and he started crooning.

After a minute or two, I remembered the quest I was on. I waved goodbye to him and started up the mountain again.Blue followed me. I wasn't expecting that.He followed me up to the peak, he played by himself in the meadow while I gathered the plants.

At a certain point down the mountain, Blue stopped. He had a sad look in his eyes.

"Is this as far as you can go?" I guessed. "Well, then this is goodbye. But, I'll be back," I promised.

XXX

I passed my trials and started my training as a mage. I studied under another startouch elf mage. He was... strict.

I was almost constantly studying and listening to my teacher's lectures. Barely an hour would pass before he asked me to recite facts of our history, usually the great archmages born to the starlight elves.

("It is a known fact that startouch elves produce many archmages. Tell me about them," his teacher ordered.)

I did not enjoy the lectures nor the questions, they grew repetitive.

As it turned out, a surprise to few, I was a prodigy.

After only a year or so of studying, I surpassed my teacher. I could beat almost any starlight elf in a match. And since I could do that, it was undoubted that I could already beat mages from other tribes, even those far older then me.

At that time, I relied on Sky magic, mixed with some Moon and Sun runes. Most Star runes weren't useful in a fight.

XXX

Two Runaans ran towards me. Which one was real? Well, the first step was to ensure neither reached me. And by doing that, the answer would be apparent.

I quickly drew a rune in the air. "Asperos," I murmured and blew. A gust of wind hit my opponent and his illusion. No, neither were blown back? Both were illusions? That meant I didn't know where the real Runaan was. He must have cast a concealment rune while I was distracted. It made sense, he was a Moonshadow assassin, already one of the best too, a prodigy.

I started to listen to the sounds around me. I swept my eyes around the room. There. I quickly drew a rune. It was one of my own creation. "Fulgur," I declared and slammed my hand on the ground. Lightning viciously struck anything within ten feet of me.

Runaan cursed as he fell to the ground. The grip on his magic fell, revealing his prescence.

I quickly drew the glyph again, waiting for his response.

Runaan glared at me. "I yield," he reluctantly said.

I smirked in response. I gave a small bow to my fallen opponent.

The spectators clapped. Some exchanged money, having bet on the winner.

XXX

That young dragon I had encountered turned out to be the dragon prince.

Blue grew up, turning from about three feet tall to thirty meters high-and being a dragon, he was still not done growing. He used to be about eighty pounds, then he became several hundred. He still enjoyed racing and the spot behind his ears being scratched, but it was all done out of the sight of others.

Blue, now an adult, was also rather intelligent. He would listen to my stories and ideas. He communicated by drawing, a claw in the sand or a charcoal stick in his mouth worked well.

XXX

I was ambitious and started to learn magic from elves of different kinds. This was because I had a goal-master the use of all the primal sources.

XXX

"You want me to explain the Moonshadow arcana to you?" Runaan asked, a scowl on his face. He had always hated me. We may have grown up together, but that didn't mean we were friends.

"Yes," I replied.

Runaan groaned. "You're going to bother me until I tell you, right?"

I gave a close eyed smile.

XXX

Blue followed me on my shorter journeys across Xadia.

Most of the time, since we were on the move, figuring out what Blue wanted was almost a game. I would ask questions. And Blue would answer yes or no, by nodding or shaking his head.

XXX

After mastering all of the sources, I came up with the idea of primal stones. Clear stones that would contain a source used to enhance the magic of the holder.

I journeyed to the tallest mountains and sailed out into the ocean. I captured fierce storms, raging forest fires, and seemingly endless maelstroms...

I made two of each and gave them as a gift to the council. They were grateful for the gift and astounded at the idea they saw as genius.

XXX

A few decades later, the startouch elf councilor, Gisel, died. She was a wise elf, hundreds of years old.

I was nominated for the position. Very quickly, I gained my new position as head of the startouch elves. This was due to my high reputation and largely unequaled abilties in using magic. My journeys and feats had impressed everyone, the stories told so commonly among the elves that they even made their way down to the humans.

XXX

There were elves who perfomed inspiring magic. There were dragons who soared above us all, and protected Xadia. But there was another race in our land.

They were called humans. They had white, black, and brown skintones, no colors like blue or red as some elves did. Their ears were smaller and round. They had no horns and they had an additional, fifth finger.

But the biggest difference between humans and the other two races...was tragic. They did not have magic.

Humans worked the land and were servants to some households. In return, they were payed and often received help from the elves.

Regrettably, a certain group started to gain influence among the elves. They came with a radical idea that appealed to my kind's pride and sense of importance. Humans were lesser. Elves were inherently better. After all...we had magic, didn't we.

There were six councilors, leaders of their tribes. Skywings were sympathetic to humans, but they didn't want to cause friction. The sunfire elves were neutral. But Junai, their leader, was always bloodthirsty. The other three tribes were radicals, led by the Moonshadow elves. However, none of them wanted any humans in charge. Most elves did not want for humans to have equal say, or even equal rights.

After a few years, humans were looked down upon by most elves. The resentment and tension grew as elves started to turn away human requests for assistance. Humans started to band together and form solely human towns.

XXX

An encampments of elves had been approached by a representative of the nearby human town Elarion. The representative was turned away by everyone...except for one elf, me.

But I had seen myself helping a town in a vision, calling down a storm to end a drought. Which is why I was on the lookout for a human for several years. For I was to help a town of humans, and that was the best place to start. Why o was to help them...? Well, it did not matter, it was fate.

XXX

I spotted the figure walking through the forest at night. It was a human, I noted with pleasant surprise. He was walking away from the direction of my town, a dejected look on his face.

"Hello. Did your trip to town go well?" I asked, amicable. The hood of my cloak covered most of my face. With the dark night, the human could not tell if I was human or elf.

"Elarion is starving," the man quietly said. "And the elves refuse to help us." There was not anger in his tone, only a deep sorrow.

"Perhaps, I can help you," I offered with a slight smile. It seems I had found the people I was suppose to help.

XXX

Elarion was a small town. It was on a flat plain. Usually the region was green-full of vibrant life.

But, the representative's words were true. The town, in fact the whole area, was suffering from a drought. This drought was killing any of the plants the farmers tried to grow. This had caused a famine. The river, now more of a stream, was being fought over. Soon, it would lessen to a trickle.

I was all too aware of how our races views towards each other had changed. Which is why I kept my head covered as I walked through the dirt streets. I did not want to cause a disturbance.

I brought rain. Rain to solve their problems, to grow their crops.

I left, planning to leave without anyone the wiser.

Howver, the representative found me just outside the towen. He gripped me by the shoulders. "Thank you," he earnestly said. "Without you, we all would have died this year."

XXX

The excursion to Elarion made me curious. Why couldn't humans perform magic? I did not know. Actually, why could elves perform magic? I did not know that either. We were connected to an arcanum, but why? How?

Of course, even looking into such a topic might get a normal mage interrogated. The reason elves ruled over humans was because one had magic and one did not.

But perhaps someone should upset that balance.

Visions occasionally came to startouch elves. They sometimes were of lovers, family, friends...but the less pleasant ones were more common.

I saw black eyes. Humans who briefly had black sclera, chanting words of an incantation, casting spells. But that was impossible...for they could not do magic. Well, they couldn't do magic now.

These were two possibilities of what could be done to give humans magic. Search for the reason why humans can't and elves can not. Or, perhaps the easiest solution was the best. Take the magic from creatures who had it already. I kept the first one in mind as something to test at a later date. I leaked the second idea to that idea to that human representative of Elarion I had met before.

XXX

The moon was full. The night was clear.

A loud snap-a stick cracked underneath a foot.

The human started. He stood at the edge of a meadow, searching through the forest for the origin of the sound. He grasped his dagger tightly, staring down the cloaked figure. "Who are you?"

"My name does not matter," I casually brushed aside. "I am here to show you something."

The human frowned, lowering his dagger. The voice...that deep voice and dark blue cloak were familiar. "You're the one who helped our town, before, aren't you?"

I nodded slightly at the guess and stepped forward, allowing the moonlight to fall on my face. I had cast a glamour on myself, I did not look like an elf. My midnight skin was a pale white. My eyes were a muted gold, the black sclera a pure white.

The human blinked in confusion, then chalked up the difference to magic and moved on. "I am Russell." He paused, putting away his dagger. With a hint of hesitance, he asked again "What is your name?"

I tilted my head slightly."Aaravos," I drawled. I withdrew a small horn from my pouch and extended it to Russel. "I trust I can count on your discretion about my identity?"

Russell took the horn, a serious look on his face. "I owe you my life and the life of my people," he solemnly replied.

Other other words, that was a yes. I smirked. "I am going to tell you somethings. Because, I think, there's a way humans can do...magic."

Russel's face paled. "Magic?" He asked in a whisper. "You, you're not joking?"

I chuckled. "No, I am not. Which is why I want you to listen carefully."

XXX

I did more research on the idea, and observed the new human mages who secretly took up this pratice.

Dark magic required life essence to cast spells. It got this from parts of plants and animals. The full effects of it on the caster were unknown. But, the ability to cast magic, even if it was at the cost of a few animals, could level the playing field between them and us.

XXX

I wasn't predicting it to explode...quite like this. Not had I seen any visions about any event like this. A human mage had used dark magic to attack an elf town. Gisel, leader of the Moonshadow elves, had died.

Even more damning, the mage was from Elarion. There would be an investigation.

They didn't find anything to do with me. Or, if they had, they chose to wait.

I was outvoted. The humans were to be exiled and forced to move to the west. I watched the procession with a solemn look, swallowing my rage.

XXX

Only after the humans were gone was I questioned.

The council room was a round room. In it was a round table, and around that table sat the councilors.

They looked like predators. They had a wary gleam in their eye. They were tense, waiting and ready to strike.

I smirked. I was already prepared for several responses. It was possible I would have to make a run for it. But, they might surprise me yet.

"Did you teach the humans this atrocity? Did you cause the death of our kin?" Junai harshly questioned. The sunfire elf had her fists clenched and teeth bared in a menacing expression.

"I have not taught anyone for years," I replied calmly. That was true, I didn't teach Russel, only gave him the idea and a starting object.

Forod leaned forward slightly. He was the councilor for the Skywing elves. "What were you doing in Elarion?"

I cocked my head slightly. Ah, of course Farod would know of my going there, being the only other councilor who actually took note of the goings on of human towns and the requests for assistance. "Elarion? You mean that small human town? I went there because of a request a few months ago."

Farod followed it up with another. His brown eyes were suspicious, lips in a thin line. "What was it?"

"Their crops were dying. I made it rain," I innocently replied. My eyes were raised slightly, as if to question why I was being interrogated.

Farod furrowed his eyebrows. "Is that all?" He prompted. His wings shifted behind him, uneasily.

I hummed in thought. "Ahh," I said' as if suddenly remembering something. "I was inspired and later thought of a way humans could perform magic."

"And you told them?" Farod questioned in disbelief. "You are responsible for this idea?"

"You might have caused a full scale war by giving them this knowledge!" Junai indignantly growled. She stop up and pounded the table with her fist.

"Junai, please sit down," Runaan requested. He was the newly elected councilor of the Moonshadow elves.

The sunfire elf glared venomously at me as she sat. Her shoulders were tense, her face twisted into a scowl.

"My dear Junai, you think a problem with the humans was not eminent?" I mockingly replied. "You all have foolishly destroyed our relationship with them. First you looked down on them and refused to acknowledge their requests, even as they died from starvation. And now? You condemned and exiled them all for the sake of one human's actions." I met the glares directed at me with narrowed eyes.

Runaan narrowed his eyes. "What did you do this for?" He always suspected some ulterior motive when it came to me, not to say he wasn't usually right about that.

I smiled. It was the smile of a cat who had eaten the canary and knew full well what he had done. The smile of someone who had won, someone who and gotten what they wanted. "I gave them this knowledge so that they could survive."

The room fell into complete silence for a few seconds.

"You gave it to them as a deterrent against us," Runann whispered in realization. "A deterrent against a full scale war between the three races."

"A large part of the reason, yes," I admitted. I gave a close eyed smile. Honestly, I was feeling a bit amused now.

Junai slapped her hand against the table again. "Against your own kin! You are a traitor!"

"Am I a traitor if I wish for peace? Am I traitor to not want an entire race to be wiped from Xadia? Am I traitor for the wish that humans and elves could one day once again live in the peace you so foolishly destroyed? If so, then I will gladly label myself a traitor of the elves," I hissed in disdain and rage. "But know that above all else, what you have done today proves that you are traitors to Xadia. That this all started because of your pride." I glared at all do them, head high and eyes narrowed.

"You must be punished for this," Junai quietly said.

I laughed. It was an chilling sound, like that of a spoon clinking against glass and the cold light of the stars on a clear night. "You can not kill me. But you can try to lock me away," I suggested. "But know this, I will come back, I will escape whatever jail you place me in," I promised with an icy smile.

I was powerful, but fighting all the other councilors and several dozen guards-all highly experienced fighters and mages-was a bit much. Especially when they had already prepared for fighting me; For instance, Farod did not usually bring his short sword to meetings. If I wanted to run and had prepared for it, I could have. But, I didn't, and so I could not even if I wanted to at this point.

But that didn't matter. I had already seen it. I had seen myself free. I had already seen that I would escape, I just needed to figure out how. And it didn't matter how long it would take, I was a startouch elf, we are known to live for thousands of years, even longer then any other elf tribe.

So I let them cage me. I put my hands in front of me, chuckling at their shocked looks. I smiled predatorily as a guard wrapped magic suppressing ribbons around my wrists.

XXX

My punishment was to be trapped in...a somewhere that was nowhere. It was more easily described as a pocket. A pocket dimension, in somewhere.

The shackles around my wrists were nonexistent, but I was chained to stay in one place nonetheless. I was doomed to pace my small cage as a lion does when hungry, for centuries.

When I escape...I will find a way to return to a harmony between all three races, no matter what I have to do to achieve it.

I do not know of a way out of my jail now. But...I will think of something.

XXX

My thoughts always turned to what was going on the world.

I made several theories.

Elves are fond of punishing perpetrators and their relatives for crimes. It was possible my tribe stood with me...and then fell. It is possible they were hunted and hide themselves in the quiet places of Xadia.

Or, perhaps they bowed their heads to other tribes in order to save themselves. The tribe might have lost their council seat because of me and now have no say. Or perhaps even the other tribes were not foolish enough to try taking away the voice of the startouch elves, as they would rebel with spiteful hearts. We are known for being the most free willed...

Humans were split off from the elves and dragons for the first time in history. I don't know whether they are doing well...or slowly starving to death. But with the introduction of dark magic to the humans, I am hopeful about their future.

XXX

I have found a way to view the outside through the mirror.

Apparently, Blue had managed to get a hold of the mirror connected to mine. His gaze was not full of rage or betrayal, but sorrow. Now a full adult, Blue knew how to speak verbally. He told me what had happened to my kin and the humans after my capture.

He looked at me with understanding but said he wished I hadn't done it. Ihandled the brief lecture with a stony face. I nodded slightly, to show I had heard and understood what he was saying. Wemoved on to a different topic. There was more then enough time in our lives to discuss the disagreement later...or, if we wished, not at all.

It was comforting to see my friend, to hear another voice. He soon introduced me to his mate, the Dragon Queen. It meant sadly, that the old Dragon King had passed. I was happy for my friend, and the children he would likely raise In a few decades.

But...despite the brief happiness and relief at seeing other sentient creatures, all the sight really did was remind me of my longing to leave this place.

I did not wish to be stuck here, viewing a small oval of the outside world. I wished to be free, I wished to feel the grass on my feet and wind on my face. I wished to smell the salty ocean breeze, or even the sulphur of a volcano. I wished to taste the fruit that grew in Xadia, the poor copies I had here were mostly flavorless. Iwished to see lightning storms and dark caves and the stars...Oh, how I wished to see the stars on a clear night again.

I increased my research, thankful for the many grimoires in the library here.

XXX

I used the small pond in the garden to scry. Scrying was star magic, allowing the user to see other places through a reflective surface-usually water or glass. The more skilled mages could add other runes to the spell, allowing themselves to hear or talk to the people in that place. Since some could sense being scryed, I always included a moon concealment rune.

My magic was restricted in this place, but I had figured out several ways to circumvent that.

Most of my days were spent viewing the outside world through water and researching for my escape.

I learned of the current world as an observer who's prescence is secret. I peeked into the war rooms of humans and elves. I saw bloody battles and hardwon wars. I was privy to the secrets whispered in the dark corners of every court. I bore witness to the lives and deaths of many, writing down the important events for later reference.

XXX

I have a feeling I'm being watched, a feeling I haven't had for a few years. I will check the mirror in a few moments.

I was correct.It was a human. A curious human, a mage of dark magic. This...will be fun.

I think...he will be my way out. I will play along with his plans, and put some of mine into action.

Someday soon...I will be free.

A/N

Fulgur-lightning

This story is like 99% theory off 1% fact. But hey, it is fun to theorize about Aaravos's backstory and how dark magic really came about.

The introduction of Aaravos has fully brought me into the theorist section of the tdp fandom. He's a cool character with a lot of mystery around him.

-Silver