Author's notes: Yes, I am finally resuming. This is because Origins of Odin is complete and I can finally weave my magic with this fiction. This story and that one are tied together deeper than Origins is tied in with any other fiction. So, please read it before you get to deep into this one.
Firefly-Dreams: Despite the fact that you have gone missing, thanks for your reviews. They are always so sweet.
Chaos Greiver: Thanks for reading this fiction and putting it on your alert. That is as awesome as getting a review, really. Thanks.
Chapter 2: Exposition Ahoy! Part 2
Drew
There was silence at the dinner table while we waited for the Headmaster to show up. Reyn was fidgeting nervously in his seat, something I had rarely seen before, and Kalari was just glaring at her dinner plate. Everything was utter silence until boots could be heard on the hardwood floor of a nearby hall. Kalari had said that her father rarely remembered to come to meals on time, because he didn't eat meals much. I had seen the worry in Reyn's eyes. Both he and I had noticed that Corin had lost some serious weight over the years, more than one would expect. In fact, most of the old group had gained a bit of weight. Few kept up with their training at this point, all of us nearly 40 or more. What was the point? Yet he still had the figure of a fighter, minus a few pounds, and he still managed to seem so fragile.
Soon the male entered the room and bowed slightly at the waist, "Forgive me, I was… Distracted… I will try to be punctual next time."
"That is what you say every time," Reyn said, a stubble edge of anger lining his voice.
Corin let out a sigh and moved to the vacant seat, the one flanked by Kalari on one side and Reyn upon the other. I was across the table from him, and the seats on either side of me were empty.
"Tiamat came to me this afternoon," spoke my brother once more, "He said to ask you…"
The words were quickly cut off by a fiery glare from the Headmaster, "Could we please save this for after dinner? I am quite hungry, and the time it would take to explain even the very beginning of anything would take enough time for the food to grow cold."
The look in my brother's emerald eyes was one of shock; a look I imagine is mirrored in my eyes as well as Kalari's. If there is one thing we know about Corin, it is that he is a very calm person, and is very rarely snappy. Soon silence was once again the master of us all, as if Siren had appeared to weave her alluring song about us. Corin looked sorrowfully at his plate for a while, and then suddenly at his daughter. For a moment it almost seemed as if they were carrying on a conversation in the utter silence, but that was ridiculous. It wasn't as if they were telepathic… was it?
All of dinner passed in silence, total and complete. There wasn't an even word as we passed the peas around the table, or when utensils were placed upon the dishes in the end. Finally Corin stood, "Now, if you two gentlemen would join me in the library."
"Dad," Kalari spoke quickly, "Can I…"
"No hun. You know already. Could you handle the dishes and find the four for me?"
The young woman nodded and rose to collect the plates.
Obediently Reyn and I rose once Corin did, and we followed the resident Headmaster into the library. Reyn had told me earlier that he believed Corin owned books that weren't even found in his extensive library in the Presidential Palace of Esthar. I would not put it past the warrior to hold so many volumes of rarity and forgotten lore close to him. Over the years I have come to realize that I know little to nothing about the male, and I think I am afraid of finding out. Of course, no sooner have I thought this than he pauses in his walk to look deep into my eyes, something about this answering my question. I AM afraid of knowing about him, and maybe about myself as well.
"Please gentlemen, make yourselves at home," Corin says as we enter into the library. Reyn quickly moves to a worn leather couch. My brother had revealed that he had spent much time in this room since his arrival at the Garden. Soon I selected a seat farther from the open fire, and a bit more secluded.
Corin moves to the front of the room and throws a new chunk of wood upon the already warm fire. The thing is, I believe, more for looks and comfort than for actual heat, for the Garden's systems kept this room just as warm as any other room in the building. After a while of continued silence except for the gentle crackle of the wood and the hearty roar of the flames, I finally clear my throat. This seems to rouse Corin from his state of melancholy, and he turns to regard us both.
"I guess it is best if I try to answer a few questions before I explain everything," he said before taking up the seat nearest the fire.
"Yes, I expect that it would be a good starting point," I said, my voice icy as ever.
This earned me a minor glare from Reyn before he raised his own voice, "What was going on at dinner? It was almost as if you and Kalari were talking to each other."
"Ah, yes," Corin said, "I am sorry for that. We are just so used to it. It is rare when we are together before other and there is such silence."
"How were you speaking, hand-signals or something?" I asked, showing a bit more sarcasm than needed, "Twirling your fork means bed or something?"
"No, we were speaking telepathically," he said, sounding as if he knew we would laugh, but no amusement was in me or my brother.
"Are you serious Corin?"
"Why would I lie to you Reyn?"
"You are telepathic?" I asked.
"Yes, it is something that has developed in me since the Time Compression. And before you ask, no, it is not a symptom caused by the Compression," he said, cutting me and my question off before I could even open my mouth. "It is something I was born with, and did not realize. And since I had this ability, I passed it on to Kalari. She manifested this ability at a far younger age, almost as soon as she could talk actually. Our minds are connected."
"Can you speak like this over long distances?" Reyn questioned.
"No. It is a limited range for us, only a few hundred yards, and usually it helps to be in line of sight. And yes, I can see into the minds of others Reyn, except for those that already, unknowingly or otherwise, erect strong mental barriers, people like Drew for instance, or Squall. While I can occasionally see what they think, it is hard, and requires quite a bit of power. They are even guarded in their sleep. Others, like you Reyn, wear their hearts and minds upon their sleeves. With you I could probably even converse mentally, seeing as you too have heightened mental prowess, as Drew does."
There was silence for a while, a silence during which Reyn and I digested this information.
"No, I do not have skills with telekinesis, Reyn. Kalari can move things with her mind on rare occasions when the mental commands are accompanied by a large burst of a powerful emotion. She is trying to train this skill. My real specialty is actually with pryokinesis, the ability to set fire to things with my mind."
"I cannot believe that!" I growled.
"Really?" Corin asked. "You two have trained yourselves to cast Scan without junctioning, correct?" When neither Reyn nor I responded he continued. "I thought as much. You can both see with it that I do not have any junction, and no fire magic." With this he picked up one of the logs by his fireplace and held it before him. Before long the tip of it set fire, something that should be impossible.
"How…" Reyn started.
"That will be easier to explain later. First, there is something more important that I must tell you," Corin spoke. After a while he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You both know that one of the signs of an active sorceress or sorcerer is the eyes of gold. They are the trademark. And you both know that Kalari bears such eyes. In years the gold will fade into a more neutral red, but only because she will be able to mask her powers until the proper day."
"So, Kalari is a sorceress? I believe this means we should get some Odine Jewelry for her," I spoke.
"No," Corin hissed. "She is not what you think. There is a difference in the mages with power over the elements alone, and in the mages descended from 'Almighty Hyne'."
"Sorceresses are Sorceresses, there is no difference," I said with annoyance.
"No wonder Laguna does not speak with you," Corin shot back.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Drew, please," Reyn spoke, "Relax. He does not mean to be offensive. He merely suggests that he knows something that we do not yet."
"Then enlighten us genius!" Drew growled.
There was a lot of silence once more, until Corin finally stood and moved to one book covered wall. His eyes skimmed over the titles on many of the volumes for a while before he pulled upon the edge of a single one. This caused the shelf to turn slide to the right slightly, and reveal a safe. The man then opened the safe and pulled out an ancient looking book. When the safe was closed and shelf returned to its place, he moved to regard us both.
"This, my friends is called the Puug uj dra Mayc. The original version was written in a language called Kiynteyhc, the language of the Guardians. It speaks of the very first sorceress war, and the battle done between the Lady Crysil Mercale and Sorceress Xera…"
Reyn cut him off before I could, "Mercale as in the curse?"
"Yes, Lady Crysil Mercale the Smith, Princess of Esthar. It is for her that the curse is named. I believe you should have been briefed upon this information Mister President. The only other known copy of this book is in the possession of an Esthar based Guardian Force research group. You are technically the one that they report to."
"The reports claim that the book was a fake," he said in defense.
"Far from it," Corin laughed. "I assume they don't believe what it says about the Guardians once being humans. Your parents are proof enough of that are they not?"
Reyn and I grew silent once more. Dear Hyne, was there nothing but silence left?
"You want to know why they do not believe the book?" Corin asked. "Because of this passage…" The male opened the book to a marked page and began to read. His voice became so haunting and strong that even I shivered. "And they told to her that they would sleep, and be reborn through the years as simple humans. Sometimes they would remember who they were, and spread their power for the good of others. Other times they would remember nothing at all, and experience the lives of humans. And yet a time would come, when all four Angels of Hyne would be reborn, and this time would prove to be a time of fear and destruction in the world. Only one would be born with knowledge of what and who they are, and would be herald for the coming of the other three. The second would come to know himself through a time of great danger. The last two would only know when they were told, and then the truth of Hyne would be known unto them and to no others in the world…"
"And, who pray tell are these four?" I demanded, believing this as a joke, "And what is the truth of Hyne?"
"I am one of the four," he spoke softly, "The second mentioned. You two are the two which are told…"
"Bullshit," I growled, but Reyn closed his eyes to absorb the information.
"I am one of the reborn Angels of Hyne. I am both descended of the line of Mercale the Smith, and of the pure line of Feniux, the Angel Guardian of Fire that you know better as Phoenix."
"You mean…" Reyn began, "That you are some all powerful fire spirit born in human form?"
"Do not deny that I changed with Time Compression. It caused my knowledge to surface."
"That is why you changed…"
"Yes. And it is my job to tell you two as the time comes. You two are also of the reborn angels."
"B-S," I repeated, "What, you going to tell me that I am Griever or something?"
"Well, yes actually," he chuckled. "Don't tell me you didn't realize something was up when you two met Griever and Tiamat in Time Compression… At this point though your powers are still dormant, so the terms Lion Cub and Dragon Pup suit you well. Drew, you are Lion of the Earth, the Angel Greiven. Reyn, you are the Angel Rein'ly, the Dragon of the Air."
"And what is this supposed 'Truth of Hyne' that you are supposed to reveal?" I asked sarcastically.
"Hyne is not the creator that he'd want you to believe. He is the destroyer of all, the keeper of death. And the seal that the Four Angels placed upon him centuries ago is decaying swiftly…"