The month after Azura's birth passed quickly. There had been celebration all around Gyges for several weeks. Now a sense of routine was returning to people's lives. The library traffic was beginning to steady after weeks of fluctuating up and down depending the fancy of people. One week there was a huge influx as people wanted to learn more about the history of Valla as they looked to the future with the birth of the new princess. Another week it could be dead silent since everyone wanted to be out gossiping. The only face that was noticeably absent from the library was Mikoto. She had taken over handling Arete's duties while the queen recovered. As such she lacked the time to come to the library to do research or check in with An on his findings which An really wished she would.
Over the past month An continued to read more and more. All the while more strange notes started to accumulate. While there were a handful of stories that An took notes exactly as the writing said, mostly from other countries or very local tales, he was continually running into stories where his notes barely matched what he read. It was all getting to be very confusing, making his headaches worse. However, the worst part was the nightmares.
When An fell asleep there were nightmarish visions waiting for him. One featured a raging forest fire burning everything around him to ash. He had to watch countless people die in front of him: some violently others just faded away. However the worst ones where he was left completely and utterly alone in a void as all of Valla faded away around him. And at the end of each of these dreams there was the same looming presence seemingly more awake with everyday. It was so frequent that An was almost afraid to sleep.
"You need to see someone." Elias stood in front of An as An caught himself almost nodding off.
"What do you mean?' An asked while taking a sip of tea that he had taken to drinking.
"Your nightmares." Elias said flatly, "I know you are having them, you look like you haven't slept in a week. It's enough to actually make me wonder if you were cursed by something."
"I can't think of a reason I would have been cursed." An shook his head.
Elias rolled his eyes and groaned, "I didn't say I knew what was going on, but you have to do something about this An. Not only is it not healthy, but it's starting to effect your work."
An chewed the inside of his lip. He had knocked things over and misshelved a lot recently. The problem was that with the celebrations there had been a rise in injuries that the infirmary had to take care of. Along with that some doctors seemed too interested in having him test memory treatments and he wasn't sure he was ready to risk the life he had built for recovering his old one.
Elias sighed as he noticed An withdrawing, "Wait one moment."
Elias walked over to his desk and took out a key from some pocket. He bent to a lower drawer and opened it, then pulled out a bottle. He walked back and placed in front of An.
"This is a sleep aid. It's a concoction that someone I know makes. It may not alleviate the nightmares perfectly, but it should at least make it easier to sleep. Don't use it more than twice a week."
An ran his eyes over the bottle before looking back to Elias, "Why-?"
"Don't ask." Elias cut him off with a wave of the hand and walked back to his desk ending the conversation.
An grabbed the bottle and placed it in his desk and turned back to his work, but not before casting a glance towards Elias, grateful Elias couldn't see his face.
An carefully gathered a stack of books to shelve as Elias left for lunch. Even if he wasn't feeling great it was still his job to put books away. He walked around the desk and headed for the back of the library near the history and myths. That morning he had brought back the pile that was starting to accumulate in his room and even if he wanted to show them to Mikoto, they needed to be moved to an out of the way area. As he reached the back area he placed the books on the table so that he could put them away. Then he looked at the table to notice that a book had been left open. Perhaps Mikoto had come in late at night? He walked around to look at the book and saw it open to a two page spread image of Anankos. The dragon sat perched above Gyges, his hands curled around the edges of the sitting, but it was not a malevolent picture. Instead the orb of eyes in his mouth shown with pleasant emotions as he watched Cadros being proclaimed King of Valla. An reached his hand up to his face as he began to feel tears running down his cheeks. Why was he crying? Suddenly everything was spinning and he crashed to the floor.
Before he could even process what was happening he found himself in a dream space once more. However from the onset he knew this was a dream and felt fully conscious. He hovered over the city in his dream as he watched the events unfold unable to act beyond moving to see different angels. That only made witnessing the sight in front of him so much worse.
Anankos looms over Gyges just like in the picture in the library, but instead of smiling over the city, he roars as he razes it to the ground. People surge out of the gates of the city screaming and clutching their children tightly. An can see one young man fall, but before anyone can help him to his feet people rush forward straight over him. The crowd pours out towards the country all heading towards a light in the distance. It's a swirling vortex beneath a cliff that people throw themselves into.
An feels his stomach do flips and if he had a real physical presence he knows he would have lost his lunch. As he fights to control his shuddering he sees Anankos roar and dip his head down towards the palace of Gyges. A jolt rushes through An as the image of Mikoto, Lysander, and Arete comes to his head. He hurries towards the palace; even if it's just a dream he has to check on them. He's panting as fear clogs his throat as he comes into view of the palace. His eyes rapidly scan over the people pouring out of the gate searching for his friends. Then he spots Mikoto and Arete.
Both of them rush out holding a bundle of blankets on their shoulders: there was no sign of Lysander. Then the tops of the blankets fall away revealing two small heads of young children. Anankos eyes land on the women as they rushed to safety. He rises up preparing to crush them.
"No!" An screams and reaches out as if somehow he could save them.
At his cry the world shudders and breaks apart. Once again he's falling into blackness. This time, however, he's able to move and squirm as he falls. He hits the ground with a thud that knocks the wind out of him. As he lies there gasping he hears the same looming breath. This time, there's no snoring. Fighting all his screaming muscles An bolts up as he can hear movement in the darkness. He tips his head up his hood falling back as he comes face to face with three glowing red eyes. A low rumbling laugh fills the darkness.
"You're certain you're set." Mikoto asked her hand hovering by the door handle.
"Yes Mikoto I'm fine." Arete stood looking ready to shoo Mikoto out of her office, "It's been a month and I am ready to start work again. We don't have the luxury of long breaks. Azura is fine with her nursemaid."
"Alright." Mikoto opened the door, "If you need me I'll be in the library."
"I hope you find something helpful." Arete called as Mikoto exited the room.
She started down the hallways towards the library, pausing only to put her and Arete's lunch plates on a dolly headed to the kitchen. As she walked into the library she noticed quickly how quiet it was. Glancing at the desk she couldn't see either Elias or An, they were probably at lunch. She walked back to her desk of books.
As she rounded the corner she saw An collapsed on the floor by the desk with books littered around him. Immediately she rushed forward and to check to make sure he was still breathing. She flipped back his hood and was able to see his chest rise and fall though his face was grim and coated with sweat. Gently she brushed the hair off of his forehead and placed her hand on it. He was warm but it only seemed like a low grade fever.
"An" she shook his shoulder slightly.
An twisted and writhed on the ground, muttering to himself. His face contorted into expressions mixing fear and anger. His breathing was only getting faster.
"An" Mikoto called louder shaking him harder.
"He's awake!" An cried bolting up making Mikoto jump back. His eyes were wide and rapidly moving about the room. Everything about him screamed high alert, but there was something unfocused in the look in his eyes: almost like An wasn't himself. He looked more like a cornered animal.
Despite knowing it could back fire, Mikoto reached out an put her hands on his shoulders. An stiffened under her touch and felt ready to recoil.
Before he could do anything Mikoto leaned forward and soft spoke next to his head, "An it's just me. You're okay. You're safe in the library. It's just us, calm down."
Slowly An's breath steadied and his shoulders relaxed. Several moments passed as An recovered. All the while Mikoto kept talking to him and slowly rubbed her thumbs in soothing motions on his shoulders.
"Mikoto?" An eventually turned to look at her. He seemed very dazed but at least he called her name.
"Yes, it's me." Mikoto said taking her hands off his shoulders, "Are you feeling more like yourself?"
"What happened?" An put his hand to his head.
Mikoto furrowed her eyebrows, "I was hoping you would know. I walked in to find you on the floor then you started writhing around. After you sat up you just started panicking."
"Sorry" An shook his head, "I don't even know what just happened."
Mikoto carefully looked over his face noticing not only his pale face, but dark bags beneath his eyes, "Have you been having any difficulties lately? You don't look well."
An paused and looked to the side before finally sighing, "I haven't been sleeping much. I keep having these terrible nightmares."
Mikoto shifted so that she was directly in front of An facing him, "Can you tell me about it?"
An looked up to met her eyes, "There's not much to tell. I don't remember most of them. Frankly I don't remember any of this last one."
"Surely there was to be something. You cried 'He's awake' when you woke up this time." Mikoto tucked her knees up to her chest to listen.
"Just a looming sense of dread." An shook his head, "I have no idea why I said that."
Mikoto sighed, another mystery that needed to be solved. More questions and still no answers.
"Then the only thing I can say is make sure you get yourself checked out. It wouldn't do for you to end up back in the infirmary."
"Elias said the same thing this morning."
"Then you had better do it!" Mikoto laughed, "It would be a shame to lose my research partner."
"Speaking of which I had a lot to talk with you about." An quickly began digging through his pockets producing a collection of notes, "I've been doing a lot of reading. Though I was getting some odd results."
Mikoto held out her hand in front of An, "Just relax. We have plenty of time to talk, but right now you should probably take it easy."
An chuckled as he placed some of the notes back in his pockets, "All right. I'll start by going over the ones I didn't have issues with. That way at least you aren't reading more books than necessary."
Mikoto stood up and held her hands out for An to grab, "That sounds like a good plan."
Time passed quickly as they worked. After Elias had returned An had been given begrudging permission to continue to work with Mikoto. Soon enough the sun was starting to set.
"Looks like it's time for dinner." An stood and stretched.
"Already?" Mikoto glanced to the window.
"The kitchen only serves dinner for one hour for the staff so I have to make sure I'm on time." An said, "I'm already running a bit behind. So I should hurry."
"If you don't think you can get there on time you can join us for dinner." Mikoto offered before realizing what she said.
An quickly shook his head, "That doesn't seem at all proper."
"That is true." Mikoto hummed, "But at the same time it does offer us more time to catch up on research. At least long enough to finish the stories you read and didn't have any questions about. Surely if it's for working reasons that makes it better."
"Maybe." An chewed his lip as he played with the edge of his hood that was still settled on his shoulders.
"Please? I'd like to at least finish looking over the stories. Then we can meet up again tomorrow to go over the ones you had questions about."
An sighed, "Alright. I suppose it might be nice to finish the work. I'll go let Elias know we'll be here a bit later."
For the two bookworms, just working a little bit more turned into looking up more and more information in a variety of books they had been working with. Before they even knew what happened they had been working well past sunset. It wasn't until they noticed they were getting ready to light candles they realized just how late it was.
"We entirely missed dinner." An put his hand to his face.
"Even Arete and Lysander must have gone by now." Mikoto closed the book she had open.
"So where do we get dinner?" An rubbed the back of his neck as his stomach growled. "It doesn't seem wise to skip meals."
"We can still eat in the family dining room." Mikoto answered, "The kitchen staff are used to me eating far later than normal."
"Now that really doesn't seem proper."
"Yes but I think it's better to seem improper than to go without eating. Come on." Mikoto stood up and grabbed An's hand gently pulling him towards the door.
At first An resisted, but when Mikoto turned and smiled at him; he just turned up his hood and followed after her. As he followed her through the palace he said a quiet thanks that the hallways were somehow empty. Even if they were friends and he was helping her with her research, he didn't want to risk starting any rumors. Soon enough they reached the dining room. Mikoto left An at the table as she went to go get a couple plates of food from the kitchen. An fidgeted in his seat as he looked around the room reserved for the royal family. It felt odd to be so easily invited to an area that he was certainly not supposed to be.
It was a lovely room. The rug beneath the table was soft and soft under his feet. The furniture has both solid and lovely. There was even a little bassinet for Azura in the corner. The walls were finely decorated with painting of Valla landscapes and past rulers. He found his eyes lingering a tad longer on the portrait of Cadros and Anankos above Valla. There was something he was supposed to know about that scene, but his head is fogged.
"I got a couple plates. They're not too warm, but at least it's food." Mikoto stepped back into the dining hall.
"Thank you." An snapped back to attention.
Mikoto smiled as she handed him a plate and surprisingly An found himself wanting to lower his hood. Then Mikoto took a seat next to An with her own food. The two ate and chatted pleasantly.
AN: The editing is probably a bit rough this time. Didn't get a chance to work on it was much as I wanted. Also thanks to all reviewers: it really means a lot.
