The Passing Of Time: Chapter 18...
Got to a point where I'm winging it with this story now and it's actually great fun! I've caught up with all my beta chapters so now I'll be releasing as I write instead of writing in advance :) When this one is finished I'll return to Aftermath and Stuck :)
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The room was dark when Eyren finally woke up. He wasn't in his bedroom and the space smelled clinical. He glanced around and hissed in pain as his head felt like it was trying to split apart. The sound made the person sat beside him wake up with a start.
"What is it?" Aster asked urgently, blinking sleep from tired eyes.
"Nothing," Eyren answered, screwing his face up against the pain. "I just feel like something is drilling into my brain."
"You scared the bejeezus out of us," Aster muttered, taking his hand. "Your parents went home with Eva to make sure she was comfortable. They'll be back soon."
"They what? She's been released already?" Eyren frowned. "How long was I out?"
"Three days." Holy crap. Even when he was shot he wasn't unconscious for that long.
"What happened?"
"You don't remember?"
"I remember that Sensitive knocking around in my head and then nothing much after that. Arval I think she said she was called."
"She mentioned her curiosity got the better of her," Aster replied. "Do you think maybe helping Eva and then Arval trying to poke about in your head was too much?"
"Just being in contact with Eva is too much. Arval sent my senses into complete meltdown." He sighed. "I'm gonna need some serious practice to get used to Eva's magic enough to learn from her."
"No way. We're not doing that." Aster shook his head, scowling. "We can find another way to help my kind. You're not risking another blackout like that ever again. Your ears were bleeding."
"I'm alright though."
"You can't even move your head without flinching," the Daevas answered doubtfully. "We've had to keep the lights out because even with your eyes closed your light sensitivity has been off the scale. Every time they were switched on you got a nose bleed."
"I'll be fine."
"Uh huh. I don't buy it." Aster reached out and touched Eyren's cheek gently. "Don't pretend you're all tough in front of me. You know it doesn't work."
"Sorry," Eyren answered. He couldn't even lift his head to look around properly without feeling like he was going to throw up. "Normally I'm indestructible. In the last few weeks I've been in the Infirmary twice."
"That's because you're a dumb son of a bitch. Stop putting yourself forward for dangerous things and you might magically find yourself not getting hurt."
"It's nice to know you missed me," Eyren grinned. Aster arched an eyebrow but the corners of his mouth quirked upwards in a faint smile.
"You're such a dork." He leaned forwards to kiss Eyren gently, careful not to hurt him. To their right, somebody coughed and Aster sat back immediately.
"I see you're doing better." Skulduggery's head tilted as he looked at his son. Aster was blushing furiously but Eyren just smiled tiredly at his father.
"Better is a strong word," he answered. "At this point I think 'awake' is probably the most positive description of how I'm feeling." He paused. "Can you stop glaring at Aster please?"
"How did you know I was glaring?"
"I can feel the hostility coming off you."
"Hmm. I'll work on it." He hesitated. "I'm just feeling exceptionally overprotective at the moment. My apologies, Yliaster."
"Don't worry about it," the Daevas mumbled. "I get it."
"It's nothing against you," Skulduggery continued. "I just worry about my boy."
"You're not the only one," Valkyrie said as she appeared at his side. "You scared us."
"So I've been told," Eyren answered, closing his eyes. The reduction in light even in the already dark room helped a little. "I'm in a lot of pain," he muttered.
"We're still unsure why," Valkyrie said, taking the free seat beside him. "Nye said there are no visible injuries. It couldn't find the source of the pain or even the bleeding."
"It's not a physical injury," Eyren answered with his eyes still closed. "It was that other Sensitive. While I was in contact with Eva, Arval poked my consciousness so hard it felt like somebody hit the inside of my skull with a hammer. There's nothing to heal because the injury is to my consciousness, it just manifests itself in the form of physical symptoms."
"If that's right you could have suffered permanent damage," Skulduggery answered, his voice tinged with concern.
"Nah, I think I'll be fine as long as I'm not put in that situation again. I just need time for now." He sighed. "I want to go home."
"Listen, if you can walk out of here then by all means," Valkyrie said. "I know for a fact you can barely even open your eyes so good luck getting out of bed."
"Fair point well made," he conceded. "Why is the dark still too bright?"
"I actually brought something that might help with that." Valkyrie crossed the space and settled something over Eyren's face. The metal of her gauntlet was cool against his skin as her fingertips brushed his cheekbone.
"Sunglasses? Really?" Eyren could hear the skepticism in his own voice.
"Yeah but they're not ordinary sunglasses. Ghastly tweaked them because we don't know how long the light is going to give you a headache. Try opening your eyes." He did as she asked and felt his eyebrows creep upwards when the pain didn't increase.
"Huh. I think they work." He still couldn't move his head without feeling sick but the pounding lessened as the faint light in the room was filtered through the magic lenses. "Somebody light a flame." Skulduggery snapped his fingers and the room was illuminated with a soft, flickering orange. "Weird," Eyren murmured. Instead of everything appearing dark to him, it changed colours. He was seeing the world in a series of muted greys and blues. Whatever Ghastly had done to the glasses was working. "Try turning on the lights." Valkyrie wandered over to the light switch as Skulduggery extinguished the flame dancing around his fingers. This time when the bulb sparked to life there was a brief stab of pain that was quickly quelled by the glasses.
"How's that?" Valkyrie asked. Eyren swivelled his head slowly towards her, careful not to move too much. He grinned when he saw her.
"This is trippy. Your skin is grey but your hair looks blue to me. The glasses are stopping the light hurting me more but they totally change the colours of everything." He turned to Aster and was surprised to see that his silvery hair had changed to an odd shade of deep purple. His eyes, on the other hand, were dazzling blue. "I don't understand how colours work in these things." He turned again, still moving slowly, and found Skulduggery's skull was grey instead of white.
"At least we don't have to sit in the dark anymore," Aster said. Eyren was about to reply when the Grand Mage walked in with Nye beside him.
"I see you're finally awake," Erskine grinned. "Nice glasses."
"Ghastly made them so I don't have to deal with a nosebleed every time the lights come on."
"Stylish and functional," Erskine nodded.
"Idiot," Skulduggery muttered. Beside him Valkyrie snorted in amusement. "What brings you to the Infirmary?" The Grand Mage hesitated.
"I have good news and bad news. Can we talk outside?" Skulduggery nodded and he and Valkyrie followed Ravel into the corridor. He turned on his heel when they were away from the doors. "The good news is that Remulus Cray has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder of Sanctuary officials across the world. He's on his way to the Gaol as we speak." His brow furrowed. "The bad news is that we can't find Myre or any of the enslaved Daevas. We don't think Cray was working alone. When she's ready we'd like to speak with Evadne directly to find out if she knows anything more that might help us."
"I'm sure she'll be happy to help," Valkyrie answered.
"Excellent. Skulduggery, Valkyrie, we're counting on you to track down Myre and his group. The Daevas with him are in danger and he poses a great risk to the rest of their kind and indeed to us as well."
"We'll do what we can," Skulduggery said. Erskine hesitated, clearly harbouring more bad news. The skeleton cocked his head. "What now?"
"I'm not quite sure how to explain it," Ravel answered. "Since publicly recognising Eyren's identity and the unique nature of his abilities we've had several requests from councils around the world to meet him." The Detectives tensed. "That isn't the most shocking of revelations though, we expected it to happen. We...well, we've had a request from someone with a strange story that also wants to meet him."
"Who is it?" Skulduggery asked.
"...Nefarian Serpine." The skeleton's head jerked back in surprise.
"Serpine is dead, Ravel. We turned him to ash." Skulduggery's words were edged with steel.
"Only in this dimension. One of our Shunters discovered an alternate reality running alongside ours. In this universe Mevolent won the war and Serpine is one of the Generals in a force called The Resistance." Ravel's frown deepened. "He came here with Eachan Meritorious."
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"I think if anything else insane happens today I'm going to explode," Valkyrie muttered. "I mean an alternate dimension? Really? Isn't Grimm enough? Now we have a second Mevolent to worry about."
"There's always been the possibility of an alternate dimension," Skulduggery answered. "We knew that thanks to the Faceless Ones. There are countless other dimensions."
"I know but why did there have to be one where Serpine is the good guy?" she muttered, sulking. They were in the corridor outside the Infirmary while Eyren slept.
"I'm curious to find out how they know about Eyren," Skulduggery replied, pulling his hat lower over his eye sockets. "In their world Grimm isn't even a threat if their biggest problem is still Mevolent. They probably don't even have an alternate version of our son because his situation is so unique."
"I want to know more about their dimension but I don't want them to meet him. Who knows what they want him for?"
"Probably to help them take down Mevolent." Valkyrie frowned. "Think about it. If Mevolent is still in power then it stands to reason that his Generals are also still in power."
"So Baron Vengeous exists over there?"
"Potentially." Skulduggery nodded, his head tilting. "It's also possible that Vile never disappeared."
"Great, that's all we need."
"Without speaking to them we can't know anything beyond guessing." He sighed. "We can't ignore the fact that there's a reason they came here. To risk shunting across dimensions is a big thing."
"You think we should let them meet him?"
"I do," the skeleton nodded. Valkyrie passed a hand over her eyes.
"Why can't people just leave him in peace?" she murmured sadly.
"Because he isn't meant for a peaceful life any more than we were. We'll be right there with him." For a moment it looked like Valkyrie might cry, but then she squared her shoulders and raised her chin and that spark of defiance he loved so much returned to her eyes.
"Alright. We'll do this together."
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"I never thought I'd need help walking anywhere without actually being injured," Eyren muttered begrudgingly as Nye watched him move and scribbled on a clipboard. He had an arm looped around Aster's shoulders to support his weight.
"That's what happens when you let people poke around in your head." The Crenga scratched the scab where its nose was supposed to be. "How do you feel?"
"Like I'm gonna puke." A day had passed since Eyren's awakening and he still couldn't function without the sunglasses. Moving wasn't quite as vomit-inducing but he still couldn't get far without feeling like a small ship in a big storm.
"Do you feel more or less like you might puke than yesterday?"
"Less." Nye scribbled something else and motioned for Aster to help him back to the hospital bed.
"When you can walk unaided you can return home on bed rest. You must not Teleport or use any magic if you can help it and you especially must not come into contact with Evadne Sun or another Sensitive until the dizziness has completely faded. Doing so may cause you permanent damage."
"What do I do until I can walk?" Nye pulled a face that reminded him of a mother being harassed by a two year old.
"You stay in bed." It turned and left without excusing itself, sauntering away on it's skinny legs.
"I really hate that thing," Eyren muttered as Aster helped him settle back against the pillows. "The sooner I'm out of here, the better."
"At the rate you're going you'll be back here in a week anyway," Aster teased, but there was a tightness in his eyes.
"What's up?"
"Why does anything need to be up?"
"You know something."
"No I don't."
"So we're keeping secrets now? Is that what we're doing?" Eyren raised an eyebrow, his eyes on Aster's strange blue hues through the glasses. The Daevas frowned as he sat in the plastic chair by the bedside.
"I'm not keeping secrets."
"So what aren't you telling me?"
"It's not up to me to tell you," he answered. "Your parents are going to explain everything once you're feeling better."
"Or you could tell me now and I can act surprised when my parents give me more bad news later."
"I'm already on thin ice with Skulduggery for dating you. Disclosing Sanctuary business without his permission will get me shot," the Daevas scowled.
"My dad won't shoot you. I promise I'll act surprised."
"No, Eyren."
"You're no fun."
"Oh really? Alright then, I guess you won't mind if I leave."
"Of course I mind. It's mind-numbingly boring here. You're my only source of conversation other than Nye." He wrinkled his nose. "I'd rather talk to a sentient turd than carry a conversation with that freak show, it keeps talking about how nice it'd be to crack open my sternum and gets its hands on my internal organs."
"Yeah Skulduggery mentioned something about his love of dissecting people."
"Creepy," Eyren muttered.
"Your father is a walking skeleton."
"But Nye is a psychopath."
"So's Skulduggery."
"Yeah but at least he's funny. Nye doesn't understand humour." Eyren shifted to make himself more comfortable and sighed. "Please tell me what you're hiding."
"He's not hiding anything," Skulduggery said as he strode into the room. His suit was deep grey with a delicate pinstripe, hat perched on his skull at a jaunty angle as always. "He's following my instructions."
"But your instructions are to not tell me something," Eyren answered. "Not telling me something, by definition, is the same as hiding something."
"We were planning on talking to you when you were allowed to go home," Valkyrie added, closing the door behind her as she entered the Infirmary. "But circumstances change and now we have to tell you what's going on."
"Right now?"
"Right now," she nodded. "There are people who want to meet you."
"I know that. Cray made sure I was known to the other Sanctuaries when my identity became public knowledge. We can't expect people not to want to meet with me." Eyren cocked his head to the side. "Why is that a revelation?"
"These people aren't from the Sanctuaries," Skulduggery replied. "In fact they aren't even from this world."
"Aliens?" Eyren blinked in confusion behind his glasses.
"No. They're from another dimension." He looked between his parents to see if they were joking. They weren't.
"I knew alternate dimensions were real but I didn't know people could travel between them."
"It's a rare talent these days," the skeleton explained. "The people that can are called Shunters. They can flit between dimensions and bring both people and objects back and forth at will."
"So these people coming to see me, are they Shunters?"
"No. They were brought over by a Shunter specifically to see you." Valkyrie's brow furrowed as she spoke.
"How do people in another dimension know about me?"
"That's what we'd like to find out," she said. "And it seems like we're going to find out earlier than planned because they're coming this way right now." Eyren felt his eyebrows rise up towards his hairline, and then the Infirmary door swung open and two people entered. One was tall and commanding with long white hair tied back in a ponytail and a magnificent beard. The other had piercing eyes and a glove covering his right hand. Both of them looked exhausted.
"Eyren, this is Eachan Meritorious," Valkyrie said, gesturing to the man with the ponytail. He nodded respectfully. She turned her eyes begrudgingly on the other newcomer. "And this is Nefarian Serpine." The smile that spread across his face reminded Eyren of a snake waiting to attack.
"Pleased to meet you, Eyren."
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