24. Allies of Convenience
"This… is rather convenient," Fane heard Lorelai say as she looked around their current location. She was standing next to Fane, even though they had been on opposite sides of the ship during battle.
Then again, they were clearly no longer on the ship.
"Where…?" Fane breathed. He was vaguely aware that he was a skeleton again, his mask apparently ineffective in this place. "This is not of your primitive world…"
"The Hall of Echoes," Lorelai informed him. "See? I told you we would find a way to visit this place."
Fane spun in a daze and slowly approached one of the towering structures that lined the path of glowing stone they were on. He placed a skeletal hand against the stone and wished he could feel the true texture. Lorelai was blessedly silent as Fane continued to wander the place, expecting to wake up at any moment.
Fane suddenly remembered that Lorelai had said they were in the Hall of Echoes, Amadia's apparent home. She would have answers for him. Fane forcibly collected himself, cleared his mind, and turned his gaze to Lorelai. She was watching him without perceptible emotion, and Fane wondered what she thought of his infatuation.
"Bring me to Amadia," Fane ordered, adding a note of arrogance into his tone. "I have some questions."
"I as well," Lorelai reminded him.
Without further ado, she led the way down the path, Fane following slowly behind. Neither spoke even as a golden light ahead implied their destination, but both Fane and Lorelai simultaneously increased their pace until they were only a few paces in front of a glowing humanoid woman, one that looked just like the Amadia that Fane remembered.
"My child, welcome back," Amadia said warmly to Lorelai and without a glance to Fane. Lorelai visibly stiffened, perhaps angered, but Fane was too shocked to wonder why.
"Lady Amadia?" Fane inquired disbelievingly. "How…?"
"Ah, Fane," Amadia said with a large, savage grin. "It is good to see you again."
"Where are the Eternals?" Fane cried. "Where are our people? How did you become…" He gestured to Amadia, waving his hand up and down to indicate her glowing personage.
"The answers will come in time, Fane," Amadia said. "Now is not that time."
"What is it with you and withholding information?" Lorelai snapped, clear irritation in her voice. "Is there some divine law proclaiming that you all must speak in riddles and play games with us lesser beings?"
"I must agree with Lorelai," Fane chimed in with the same emotion.
"You have brought me Fane, just as I asked," Amadia told Lorelai as though neither Fane nor she had spoken. "In return, I shall tell you that the answers you seek are with an elven encampment on the Reaper's Coast. They know you and your family."
"You promised me answers!" Lorelai shouted furiously. "Now you send me on another little quest for your own entertainment? What do you—"
Amadia sighed, and a greenish-blue smoke enveloped Lorelai, instantly cutting her off. When the smoke dissipated, there was no one where Lorelai had been. Fane returned his attention to Amadia, who had a tiny smile on her face while she regarded the spot where Lorelai had disappeared.
After a few moments, Fane coughed to get Amadia's attention.
"The Seven are at war," Amadia said with clear satisfaction, still staring at the vacant stone. "Only one other has been focused enough to choose a Godwoken, and her champion is no match for mine."
"At… war? Why?" Fane echoed with alarm. "Where are the rest of the Eternals?"
Amadia focused on Fane, an indecipherable look in her eyes. "Our king already knew about the Veil, Fane," she told him gravely. "He was using it, leeching from it to bolster his own power."
"He… knew of it?" Fane breathed in disbelief. "But how…"
Amadia bowed her head mournfully. "The other Lords and I confronted him about this," she continued, "and he turned on us, tried to make us into mindless slaves bound to his every whim."
"I knew he was short-sighted, but I never thought he would go so far…" Fane murmured, trying to wrap his mind around this revelation. "What happened to the Veil? Did he destroy it?"
"No, not completely," Amadia replied, "but he did weaken it, causing cracks to form from which he could draw more power. The Lords worked together to banish him beyond the Veil, but the devastation he caused…" Amadia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "All of our people, Fane. Our entire race, destroyed by a single man's hunger for power."
Fane's entire body went cold, and he barely kept himself from falling to his knees. Logically, it made sense that his race was extinct, but to hear it firsthand was still a shock. Fane had still had hope that remnants of his world existed somewhere, but no longer.
"And now," Amadia continued, "the king has discovered a method of escape: the Void. The Veil is even more ancient than us, and it serves to hold the Void at bay. The king has allied with the Void, has allowed it to seep into this world for his revenge and, eventually, his escape."
"How… can we stop him?" Fane asked, his mind still reeling.
"The Lords were holding back the Void with our powers, but we have grown… divided."
"Why?" Fane demanded hotly, his confusion suddenly replaced by unfocused fury. "How can you be at war now?"
"I fear that the Void has corrupted them," Amadia sighed, "made them weak and petty. But you, Fane, you are the only Eternal not corrupted by the Void. I need you to guide my Godwoken."
"Wait, how do you mean?" Fane snapped. If Amadia changed topic now, he might never receive the answers he so desperately needed. "How did you even become divines?" he asked hastily, trying to get as many questions out as possible. "How did you banish the king? What exactly is beyond the Veil? Can the other Lords see reason?"
"Make certain my chosen Godwoken continues seeking me," Amadia said instead of acknowledging him. "If she ever decides that I am not worth the trouble, as they say, remind her of her motivations for returning to me. Every time my Godwoken comes to see me, you must go with her." She finally looked at Fane, then smiled. "Oh, and inform her that I have given her a new power: the ability to see spirits. It is permanent. If she casts Spirit Sight unto others, the effects will last for a fortnight."
Fane opened his mouth to demand a proper reply, but his vision blacked out before he could.
When he could see again, he was standing beside the skeletal form of Lorelai.
"If you do not mind my saying so," Lorelai spoke the moment he looked at her, "I do not much care for your Lady Amadia."
"I am beginning to feel likewise," Fane muttered before he could stop himself.
Fane was surprised by the admission, not even sure if it was true, but he certainly was not Amadia's greatest fan at the moment. He had thought he would get answers to all his questions, but he had instead been ordered to follow around this Godwoken of hers. Fane was not some errand boy.
"Are all your people so…" Lorelai trailed off and sighed.
"The Seven Lords—your gods—have always been remarkably condescending," Fane answered her unfinished question, "but the rest of my people were varied in personality, form, and belief. Do not generalize us." He added a warning note into his voice for the last sentence, and Lorelai nodded.
"How does it feel for Amadia to treat you the same as you treat us lesser races?" she stated dryly in response.
Fane was uncertain how to reply, and Lorelai chuckled.
"But enough of this," she said with her usual cheer. "We ought to find out why this ship is full of greenish people and apparently floating in the Hall of Echoes."
Fane finally registered the rest of the ship and realized that Lorelai was correct. They were standing on the top deck of the Lady Vengeance, surrounded, as she had said, by the sparkling mountains and deep blue air. There were no greenish people, however, and he suddenly remembered what Amadia had told him just before she sent him away.
"Spirits," Fane said. "Amadia said that she gave you Spirit Sight. I believe you are seeing the dead."
"…Ah," Lorelai murmured, sounding more thoughtful than despondent as Fane would have expected. "I suppose that explains the green and translucence," she stated after a cursory glance around.
"Amadia also mentioned that you can cast the spell on others. Its effects last two weeks. For you, however, this is permanent."
"Amadia certainly enjoys imposing unwanted power onto me," Lorelai growled in response. "How bloody kind of her." She sighed deeply. "As you are a scholar, I suppose you would like me to cast Spirit Sight upon you?" she inquired with a certain amount of defeat in her voice.
"Yes," Fane replied. He was curious, as anyone would be, to see echoes from the dead.
Lorelai hummed in response and flicked a hand. Fane saw a familiar blue smoke surround his body and, for a moment, he thought he was returning to Amadia. When it faded away, however, he was exactly where he had been but now surrounded by a scattering of spirits. He recognized a few as Seekers, but not many; Fane had barely paid attention to anyone during this miserable ship ride.
"This is not everyone," Lorelai noted after a moment. "Perhaps some others are still living." The desperate hope in her voice was unmistakable, and Fane supposed she was trying to convince herself that her two other companions were alive. Based on the number of spirits around him, Fane doubted it.
Nonetheless, he followed Lorelai down the decks. Every other deck was empty, even of spirits, except for the last one. Gathered together in the back of the ship was a small gaggle of people, all with dazed expressions on their faces. The living seemed to consist of a trio of children, a half dozen Seekers, and a scattering of other adults. The man on the bed, Divine Alexander, was gone.
"Ah, my friends!" Lorelai cried, instantly rushing forwards. She pushed through the others until she reached the bearded human and the scarred elf. She pulled them both into a tight hug that only the human returned. Lorelai next offered a red-scaled lizard a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I am glad to see you all alive."
"You too," the human said warmly. Lorelai gave him another hug, which made him laugh. "When I didn't see you down here, I thought the worst."
"Thank Lucian our Godwoken is still alive," the dark-skinned human—what was his name? Gerald? Herbert?—said with clear relief.
"Gareth,"—that was his name—"I am glad to see you as well," Lorelai replied likewise. "And you, Simone." Lorelai went around greeting every single person crowded there. She knew them all by name and was enthusiastic even towards those who eyed her with clear dislike.
Fane turned away, deciding to ask the dead some questions. They were likely more interesting than the living.
xXxXxXx
"So, you transported us through an alternate dimension, killing most of the ship's passengers, just to rid us of the enemies?" Lorelai said after Malady finished explaining their current state of affairs.
"That is exactly what happened," Malady replied shortly. "Are you satisfied?"
Only a few minutes after reuniting with Ifan and Sebille, the blue void they could see through the windows was replaced by sunlight filtering through a deep ocean. Lorelai and the others had instantly ascended to the top deck, relieved to be back on the sea, to find an exhausted Malady bracing herself against the ship's wheel.
After coughing up a pool of Source infusion, Malady had deigned to answer Lorelai's many questions about what had happened and why everyone was dead.
Lorelai was not satisfied.
"You killed the people on this ship just to rid us of the enemies?" Lorelai repeated.
"Yes," Malady retorted after rolling her eyes. "We would not have won that fight. I used a nearly fatal amount of energy to transport as many of you as I could, but I could not save everyone. You are welcome for saving you."
"…Thank you for saving those you could," Lorelai mumbled, most of her anger dissipating when Malady coughed again, weariness clear in her face.
"Mm, yes," Malady said. "Now, leave me be. Talking to you all is as exhausting as casting that spell was."
Lorelai hesitated for only a moment before she dipped her head and returned to her companions. Most of the spirits had disappeared, thankfully, but the few that remained refused to hold a coherent conversation with Lorelai. Lorelai did not want this power. She did not want to see the dead, the spirits who could not move on, and she internally cursed Amadia for the umpteenth time.
"Everything good?" Ifan asked her when she joined them.
Lorelai drew herself out of her morose thoughts and nodded once. "How long until we reach the Reaper's Coast?" she asked instead of revealing how she really felt.
"Couple weeks," Ifan replied.
"And what are the chances that we remain afloat until then?" Lorelai grumbled.
"With our luck?" Sebille said. "Slim to none."
"Also with our luck, though," Ifan added, "we'll manage to survive by the skin of our teeth."
"Since I have neither skin nor survival," Lorelai said with a laugh, "then I must rely on my teeth and the luck Sebille gave me."
"It is always a pleasure to be at your service, darling," Sebille drawled in response.
"And it is likewise to be at yours," Lorelai replied. She gave Ifan a hesitant nod. "You as well," she said softly.
"Er…" Ifan smiled back with clear uncertainty. "Yes," he said gruffly. "You too. Uh, thanks. Right."
"Are we still friends?" she asked him, hoping he had not been ignoring her because he was angry.
"Of course!" Ifan cried, clearly shocked. "Why would you not think that?"
"Ah, that is good to hear," Lorelai said happily. She began ushering the frightened children towards her, ignoring the complaints of a Seeker nearby. "I am certain I can rustle up some fruit juice," Lorelai comforted them, eliciting a smile or two.
"Can you drink juice?" Han, the bravest of the children, asked as Lorelai corralled them towards the larder.
"Oh, somewhat," Lorelai replied warmly. "I can put it in my mouth, but I cannot taste it."
"But where's it go?" a young girl, Trice, piped up.
"I have no idea," Lorelai informed her. "It simply disappears."
"But how's that possible?"
"I am afraid I cannot give you a satisfactory answer to that either," Lorelai said, "and I try not to ponder it. I have heard that an Undead will break apart if one contemplates the nature of one's existence."
"That'd be sad," the third child said. "I don't want you to fall apart."
"Why, thank you!" Lorelai cried as she ruffled his hair.
By the time they reached the larder, the children were much more cheerful. It took mere seconds for Lorelai to find a crate of apple juice and dried cranberries, and the children swarmed to the sweets without hesitation. Lorelai watched them as they chattered excitedly with one another. Children were resilient creatures; they could recover from this far more quickly than most adults, but Lorelai knew they would carry the horrors from the past month with them their entire lives.
A woman peeked into the larder, the same Seeker who had been glaring at Lorelai earlier. "What are you doing?" the Seeker growled suspiciously, so Lorelai stood.
"Do not eat all of those at once," she instructed the children sternly, and all glanced up at her with juice-stained mouths and guilty faces. "I do not wish for you to grow sick." Lorelai patted Han on the head, and he gave her a gap-toothed grin. "I shall leave you in the capable hands of this Seeker," Lorelai told the children, "but know that I am always available if you have need of me."
"Wait!" Trice shouted. She waved a mug of juice at Lorelai. "Before you go, I wanna see the juice disappear!"
Lorelai chuckled and obligingly took the juice from Trice. She made a grand show of pouring the liquid into her skull, and the awed gasps of the children made her grin internally. She handed the cup back with an ostentatious bow.
"Cool!" Trice cried.
"Do it again!" Han said.
"I shall later, dear ones," Lorelai promised. She dipped her head cordially to the glowering Seeker and slipped out of the room.
Fane was Lorelai's next stop, and she had a hunch of where she would find him. Sure enough, he was on the top deck trying to ask spirits about their state of existence. The spirits paid him no attention as they repeated motions or words. The other people on the top deck were staring at him strangely.
"You remember that only you and I can see spirits at the moment," Lorelai said when she was behind him. Fane jumped with a quick gasp and looked at her. "I believe the rest of our shipmates have deemed you insane."
"Should that matter to me?" Fane asked crossly without looking at her. "I could not care less about their opinions."
Lorelai took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "After Lady Amadia sent me from the Hall of Echoes, you remained there for some time. Did you learn anything about your people?"
Fane froze with the stillness only an Undead could replicate. He turned his head and blinked at Lorelai, the brown eyes of his mask distracted and scattered. "Yes," he said.
"Care to divulge?"
"Eradicated," was the soft reply. "Extinct."
Lorelai could not say she was surprised by this revelation, as Fane had mentioned it as a possibility many times, but it still pierced her to see Fane's distress. "How did this come to pass?" she inquired.
Fane sighed and gently closed his notebook. He looked around as though to make sure no one else was in earshot, then folded his arms across his chest. "Back when I had real flesh," he said, "I was a scholar with close ties to the ruling family. I discovered a… Veil of pure Source separating our world from another. It could have held the secrets of the universe: the origins of existence, of our ancestors, of any creatures living in a different plane invisible or parallel to ours." Fane stared at Lorelai with a desperate supplication in his eyes. "Can you comprehend the implications of this?" he asked.
"It would finally be something impactful enough to garner my attention," Lorelai murmured almost to herself.
"…Explain," Fane said. Lorelai was surprised by the intensity in his tone and expression.
Lorelai chose her words carefully but honestly, hoping she would not unintentionally offend Fane. "This war, the death of Lucian the Divine, the fear of Source… none of it garnered my attention," she admitted. "I know that it will pass in a few years or decades—a century or two at most. The last historical event that I found important was the reign of Braccus Rex, and that mostly because of the influx of rediscovered technology, new methods of utilizing Source, and the sharp increase in necromancers. The Undead flourished, to be quite honest." Lorelai folded her arms and heaved a heavy sigh. "Otherwise, I have noticed that very few events last long enough for me to notice. The universe, however, has lasted long enough to interest me thousands of times over. Learning of it would be fascinating at the very least."
Fane smiled just slightly and nodded. "I thought you might understand," he murmured. "Unfortunately," he said in a brisker tone, "my king did not agree. I had thought he would have been as eager as I was to research it, but he forbade me from continuing."
"Why?" Lorelai inquired gently when Fane's expression began growing agitated.
"He said it was potentially dangerous," Fane snapped. "I foolishly disobeyed him and brought my findings to the Seven. They were intrigued, but I was detained by the king and sealed into a tomb to rot until I died. I got out just months ago, and here I am."
"And your people…?"
"Ah, yes," Fane said, taken aback as though he had forgotten the original topic of conversation. "Lady Amadia informed me that, after I was sealed away, she and the other Lords confronted the king and learned that he already knew about the Veil, that he was using it to bolster his own power, and the king attempted to control their minds with his Source. The ensuing war wiped out my people, but the Seven managed to lock the king in the Void beyond the Veil. The Voidwoken and corruption of Source are a result of the king trying to escape."
"Oh," Lorelai said, trying to wrap her mind around that deluge of information. "Gracious, perhaps current events are, in fact, important for millennia to come."
"Something still seems strange, however," Fane continued. "Lady Amadia was—is—hiding something, but I do not know what."
"You do not trust her at her word?" Lorelai asked carefully, and Fane responded with a sardonic chuckle.
"Of course not," he said dryly. "Lady Amadia told you and me what she wanted us to know, and nothing more. It would be unwise to believe we truly know anything at all."
Lorelai sighed heavily and gazed up at the bright sun. "I despise these mind games," she murmured.
"Hopefully, I will learn more from the Blackpits," Fane said, "and you from the elven tribe."
"I… I do not wish to be Godwoken," Lorelai murmured without moving her gaze from the sky.
"Perhaps you could use the power to unlock the secrets of the universe," Fane offered. "That would be a subject worth pursuing, would it not?"
Lorelai would have smiled if her bones allowed such a thing. "That could be worthwhile," she acknowledged.
"Since Lady Amadia is quite insistent on your ascension to Divine," he said, "you may wish to start thinking of how you would use the power, whether you want it or not."
"I shall consider it," Lorelai replied thoughtfully. She dipped her head to Fane. "Thank you for your suggestion and for telling me of your history," she said humbly. "I am deeply sorry for the loss of your people, and I hope I can be of any help in your quest for absolute truth."
"…Thank you," Fane said, "and you are welcome." He nodded briskly before he stepped away, leaving Lorelai with much to ponder.