IV - Cavatina

No matter what business Archibald insisted the Knight Grand Master take care of or what crazy scheme Rusty had planned, no matter what ridiculous shenanigans the other members of the reinstated Regnant Knights managed to get themselves into, none of them dared to cause a ruckus in the castle library. Not with Regnant Elmar's study attached to it. And definitely not with his carefully chosen army of librarians ready to breathe fire at anyone whose voice crept even a hair above an acceptable murmur. So Alto slipped through the heavy double doors and breathed out a long sigh of relief as he eased them shut behind him.

Compared to the organized chaos of the rest of the palace, this place felt dead silent. Alto passed a few pockets of quiet conversation, but those only seemed to heighten the general air of soundless calm. Even his own footsteps had a muffled, deadened sound. He ran one hand along the shelves as he walked, not even entirely sure what he was searching for, simply losing himself in the dim haze that seemed to settle over the vast, sunlit space like a blanket.

"I see you've discovered the benefits of this place."

Alto very nearly jumped out of his own skin. He spun, one hand darting for his sword. Only a moment later he recognized the warm amusement in that voice, and it took an effort of will to force himself not to draw his blade any more than the quarter-inch he had already loosed it from its scabbard.

From his place in one of the low sofas, Xeno arched an eyebrow. He'd settled himself just beneath one of the tall windows that lit the library with golden afternoon sunlight. The table near his elbow was piled with books. He had one open in his lap, as though he had only just looked up from reading it. It had been a little more than two months since their return from the moon, and while Alto was glad to see him finally up and about instead of wasting away in an infirmary bed, he did sort of wish the encounter had come a bit more in his own favor.

"Apparently you're in need of those benefits today," Xeno said, eyeing Alto's sword hand. "A little stressed, I take it?"

"Uh...maybe." Alto smiled ruefully. He cracked his hand off the hilt of his sword and sighed, stretching his arms high above his head. "I think I'm starting to get why you only slept for ten minutes a day."

Xeno chuckled. "It must be hard on you. You always did enjoy sleeping in when you had better things to do."

"Hey!"'

A passing librarian shot Alto a withering look. He ducked his head and covered his mouth with one hand, and Xeno's smile quirked a little wider. Alto gave Xeno an equally sharp look, but that only seemed to amuse him more. He sighed finally and sat in the couch beside the one Xeno had tucked himself into. "Fine. Yeah. I'm a little tired and a little stressed, and I have no idea how you managed to do this job without falling on your face."

"Very carefully." Xeno laughed at the disgruntled expression on Alto's face. "Really, though. It helped to have a place to escape to when I needed to rest. As you may have noticed, it's a pretty effective strategy."

"Yeah," Alto said, "I kinda figured that out the first time Archibald got glared right out the door. I get the feeling he isn't a regular fixture here. And the librarians are all either too old or too strict for Rusty's taste, so he wouldn't have any reason to stick around, either."

"You really have been paying attention." Xeno's voice was warm. "Yes. I had this library built for that exact reason. It wasn't nearly as grand then, but it was a quiet place where we could escape from our responsibilities for a little while. I'm glad to see it's grown so much—there are more stories now than there were in our day. Or at least, more time to write them down."

Alto rested his chin in one hand. Xeno's eyes had gone dim. With the way the sun filtered in through the window above them, strange shadows fell across his face like ornately-wrought prison bars. He was still looking at Alto, but it was with a distant gaze, as though seeing through him into something else. Alto had seen this gaze before. Even while he was still pretending to be Klaus, Alto had seen that look, as though Xeno was peeling back layers of the present world in order to see something else entirely.

Xeno shook his head and the moment was gone. "Here," he said, running one finger down the stack. "Where is... Aha!" He pulled one book out, one with a dark red cover, and passed it to Alto. "You'll enjoy this one."

Alto flipped the book open to the title page and wrinkled his nose. "The Wheel of the Sun and Moon...Sakuya has this book. It's some kind of weird political drama set in ancient Amatsu, right? She says it's good, but it's not really my thing."

Xeno's brows knitted together. "I thought you enjoyed stories about court intrigue."

"Nah, not me." Alto set the book aside. "I prefer chivalric stories full of adventure and magic." He paused, then laughed. "Maybe that's why I was so ready to join the 9th. It was just like something out of one of the stories Lisette used to tell."

His eyes fell on Xeno again, and he paused. Xeno was still looking at him with deep confusion. And then there was a flicker of pain, a run of emotions so fast Alto couldn't keep up with them, and his expression locked itself down again into smooth calm. "Of course," he said, returning the book to the pile. "I shouldn't have assumed. My apologies."

There was something off in his voice. Something that hummed just faintly out of tune with the rest of his demeanor. Alto's eyes sharpened, but Xeno didn't look at him. Instead he kept his gaze fixed on the book he'd been reading. "Please don't look at me like that," he said after a moment—and there they were. Vines made of purple and black shadows that seemed to appear from nowhere, writhing in from the edges of Alto's vision to lace themselves around Xeno and dig their dark thorns into his skin.

"Why not?"

He could feel more than see Xeno beginning to curl away from him. "I'm asking you not to push me on this."

"Klaus," Alto said, more sternly, and Xeno winced.

"Just stop." Xeno covered his face with one hand. "Stop staring at me with those eyes. It was a simple mistake. There's nothing more to it than that."

Alto let out a long breath. "I can't," he said. Xeno looked up at him again in surprise, and then away very quickly, and the shadows around him pulsed just a little darker. "I can't just stop if you're going to be like this. So I'm going to need you to talk to Medea for me."

"Medea?" Xeno's face paled. "You can't mean—!"

"You can't keep secrets from me any more." Alto's voice was grim. "Something's bothering you enough to put chains around your heart. If you can't bring yourself to tell me what it is, then this is the way we have to do it."

Xeno stared down at his book for a long, silent moment. Then he rose to his feet with a stiff movement and dropped his book on the pile. "I'll ask the librarians to hold these for me. I get the feeling we'll be occupied for a while" He all but stalked away, taking his darkness with him, and Alto let out another sigh, rubbing at his eyes. So much for getting some rest today.

Alto stepped into the room Medea called the Garden with trepidation humming in every atom of his body. He'd given them roughly an hour to prepare—turning a new witch loose on Medea tended to require at least that much just to find appropriate clothing. And then he had stalled out along the walkway, watching various insects go about their work along the flowering path. But finally he made his way into the hall proper where Medea and Xeno were waiting for him.

A smile bloomed across Medea's face when Alto entered. "Alto! You really must talk Klaus into singing for you. He has quite a lovely voice."

Xeno's eyes narrowed just a little. He was seated on one of the low sofas with his legs crossed beneath him. He wore a vest with a low neck and no sleeves, coupled with long white trousers, and Alto had to force himself not to smile at how uncomfortable he looked with the entire situation.

"I think that can wait," he said. "Come on, Klaus. We have work to do."

Xeno said nothing as he stood. He brushed past Medea with a terse nod, and together they stepped through the second door and entered the Soul Prison. Xeno's steps slowed just a little as he looked around, the cool blue light washing his face even paler than before. But he kept moving until they both reached the center of the room, and then he turned to face Alto, his eyes unreadable.

"I really think you're overreacting," he said quietly. "I appreciate your concern, but I don't think all of this is necessary."

"It is, though." Alto's voice was just as low. "You're hiding something from me. I upset you somehow, didn't I?"

Xeno shook his head. "It's something I have to handle myself," he said. The chains came whipping in from the edges of Alto's vision once more as he folded his arms in close against his chest. "You're the last person I should be bothering with it."

Something sparked up white. Xeno blinked down at his own chest, his eyes wide as the light at his collarbone glowed brighter and brighter with each passing second. "What is—?"

"That's your qualia," Alto said. "It knows you aren't being true to your own heart. And I need to hear what it has to say."

Xeno's jaw locked. But he breathed out and closed his eyes, and the light overtook them both.

From where he stood, Alto could hear the sounds of fighting.

He took a moment to orient himself. There was the backdrop he remembered, sun and moon chasing each other across a backdrop of stars. The orange sunburst that was Xeno's qualia hung suspended overhead in the center of a grand mandala. And a few platforms away stood a group of shadowy figures, all in the motions of battle. Alto watched them flit back and forth for just a second, and then the one in the center lifted its glaive and carved through the rest, making them dissipate into shadow and mist.

The figure turned, spotted Alto, and froze. Even with the way it was overshadowed, Alto could see it had dark hair and eyes, and though it wore less armor than Klaus usually did, its clothing was more ornate, all reds and blacks and golds.

"Elcrest? Is it really you?"

Alto felt a tremor from deep within him. He took a few steps forward, right up to the edge of his own platform. "Klaus—"

"Why do you call me by that name?" His hand tightened around the haft of his glaive. "You know who I am! You remember me, don't you?! It's me! Xeno!"

Alto felt a chill run through him. Xeno's hands were locked so tight they shook, and even darkened by shadow, his eyes were like chips of stone. "You've been waiting for Elcrest this entire time," he said in a softer voice. "Haven't you?"

Xeno lifted his head. Anger lined his hardened face, and he turned away as more shadows began to ripple across the surface of his platform. "I don't know why you're acting this way," he said coldly. "If you just want to play tricks, then fine. I'll handle this myself." The shadows coalesced into dark angels, and with a fierce battle cry, Xeno charged towards them, his glaive held high.

Alto sprinted for one of the orange-and-black platforms. There were angels where he was headed, as well, and he found himself cursing under his breath as he charged through them. He needed to reach Xeno. The man fought like a demon, but for every shadow angel he slew, another appeared in its place, and eventually his strength would run out. The pressure in Alto's stomach made him break into a run, made him growl as the second moving platform took what felt like forever, and then he was charging in, his blade felling angels left and right as he fought his way towards Xeno's shadow.

The pressure rose from his stomach into his chest. Alto felt a tang in the back of his throat like metal and starlight. He closed his eyes for just a moment, then opened them again, and the cry that left his throat wasn't his own. He unleashed one long, arcing sweep of his blade that finished off three angels at once, and then only the two of them were left, gasping for breath.

Xeno turned on him, lifting his glaive again. "What are you still doing here?! Get out of the way, or I'll—"

"Xeno," Elcrest said. "That's enough."

Xeno went very still. His eyes grew wide, and he stepped forward, the point of his glaive lowering so far that it very nearly scraped the floor. "It is you," he said. "I knew it was you!"

Elcrest shook his head very slowly. Xeno paused mid-step, confusion falling over his eyes. "It isn't me," Elcrest said. "Not really. Not any more."

"What... What do you mean?" The corners of Xeno's eyes went taut with pain. "You're right here! I knew you wouldn't abandon me, and here you are, just like I knew you'd be!"

"I'm not," Elcrest said, and the stern snap of his voice made Xeno wince. "I never came back for you, Xeno. I wasn't strong enough. I died, and because of that, you had to suffer for a thousand years. I'm not the one you should be waiting for any more."

Xeno faltered. "But..."

Elcrest reached up and put both hands on Xeno's shoulders. "Listen to me," he said. "I gave Alto my power because he had the strength to do what I could not. I am still here, in a way, but not the way you want me to be. My time is done. Do you understand?"

A soft, wordless sound worked its way out of Xeno's throat. He collapsed to his knees, and Elcrest knelt down with him, hands still on his shoulders. "What am I supposed to do?" Xeno's voice was thick with grief. "You were the last thing I had. You were the only thing I could believe in. Even when everything else was darkness, I knew at least I'd be able to see you again, even if it was just for you to kill me and end it all. If you're gone, what do I have left?"

"You have a future," Elcrest said, pressing his forehead against Xeno's. "You have an entire world free from the pain we both suffered. You have people who once thought of you as their friend, and may again if you persevere. And you have a Conductor who fought monsters, the moon, and even me for the chance to save your life. You have so much, Xeno. Don't squander it all on the past."

Xeno shuddered. He lowered his head, but when he spoke again, his voice was a little more steady. "I'll try," he said. "I'm sorry, Elcrest. For everything."

"Goodbye, Xeno," Elcrest said gently, and the world went white around them.

Xeno lifted one hand to his face and almost stumbled. Alto reached out to steady him, and they both stood still for a moment while Xeno caught his balance. There was an odd rasp to each breath he drew, a rattle somewhere deep in his chest, and Alto said nothing until he had it back under control.

"Are you alright, Klaus?" he finally said.

Slowly, Xeno lowered his hand away from his face. "Elcrest was the one who loved to read political dramas." His voice was remarkably even compared to the way he had been shaking just a few moments ago. "They were his favorite kind of story. I keep forgetting he's..." He fell silent, the muscles in his throat working. "You're not the same person. I knew that from the first moment you laid eyes on me and had no idea who I was. And it wasn't as hard at the beginning. But now you have his eyes, and sometimes you sound just like him, and I know this shouldn't be so hard for me. Hilda certainly didn't have this much trouble."

"Hilda knew what had happened to Elcrest," Alto said. "She knew what to expect, and she and I have had time to talk about it. You only knew what Eve let you remember."

"Still." Xeno pulled his weight away from Alto and steadied himself. "This...has caused you too much trouble already. And you're right. I do need to work on putting the past behind me."

"Not alone," Alto said. Xeno blinked at him, and he shook his head. "This isn't something you have to work on just by yourself. Talk to Hilda about it. Talk to me about it. I know you cared about Elcrest, and I know it's going to be hard to accept that he's gone, but that doesn't mean you have to be alone."

Xeno said nothing for a long time. Then a very slow smile worked its way across his face. "Alright," he said. "The next time I find myself troubled, I'll remember to come directly to my superior with my concerns, Grand Master Alto."

Alto felt his cheeks go hot. "Don't start that," he groaned. "You were the superior officer not that long ago."

"Exactly," Xeno said with relish. "Now I get to relax a little and see how you handle it. You have an interesting methodology so far."

"I said cut it out!"

"Is that an order, Commander?"

"Ugh."

As a thank you to all of you who have read thus far and also because I felt like it, I decided to throw together a sprite edit of Xeno in his tuning outfit. You can find it at the tinyurl mmeey6w . Thank you for your support!