Sorcerer Hunters

"Starstone"

Chapter XVI

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Gateau shifted uncomfortably in his bedroll. The invisible necklace was so hot that it was raising red welts where it lay against his skin. He wondered if it was possible that Marron's enchantment on it had gone faulty, but dismissed the thought immediately. He knew there was no more capable mage in the world than his friend–He wasn't just a friend, he thought–had been. Still, it was annoying and becoming more painful than he was willing to put up with.

He pulled his shirt collar up under the necklace again, unwilling to remove Marron's token. It did not take long for the chain to heat up the fresh cloth, leaving him only a little better off than he had been before. He rolled out of his bedroll and walked quietly to the edge of the camp to relieve himself.

As he stepped back towards his bedroll, a musical sound caught his ear, as if someone in the temple were humming. He cocked his head, trying to hear it better.

"You heard it, too?" Carrot whispered. Gateau had not realized that his comrade was awake. He nodded. A few moments later, the humming continued. It was short and light, as if whoever was making the sound was remembering a tune.

Gateau heard the rustle of blankets. The Misu sisters were awake as well. A sudden ray of reddish-amber light hit his eye and he blinked. The sun was rising.

"I think we have our sorcerer," Chocolate murmured, pulling her garrot wire taught in her hands.

As one silent entity, the four sorcerer hunters moved inside the shrine. The humming that led them through the halls stopped and started at irregular intervals, and the rising sun's rays pushed through the shrine windows, reflecting off of coppery walls and bathing them all in an amber glow.

In the lead, Carrot stopped at an archway. He motioned for the others to come up behind him. Easing his way to the front, Gateau peered into a room that was lit entirely by the rising sun.

Runes and geometric designs decorated the walls and floor of the circular chamber. A black magefire burned in the center of the room. It did not appear to require wood to feed on, and no smoke came from it.

Gateau was slightly unnerved as the team padded silently into the chamber. Whatever this spell was, it was big. The chain around his neck burned and hissed. He grunted involuntarily in pain.

"Gateau," Tira hissed, barely even whispering. He had to face her to read her lips. "Your neck is smoking!"

The tall blond decided enough was enough. As much as he hated this mission and his vows and everything it all stood for, he could not let himself get distracted. He ripped the chain from around his neck, breaking the clasp. His hands blistered where they touched the metal.

The humming stopped.

"...What is that?" Carrot asked, pointing at the smoldering pendant. Gateau shook his head, pocketing it.

Thank you, came a voice from within the chamber. The four hunters jumped, startled.

"It's the sorcerer," Chocolate whispered. Aloud she called, "Come out, sorcerer! We are the sorcerer hunters, and it's time you paid the piper!"

I am sorry to have caused you this trouble. Gateau realized that voice was not actually a voice at all, but more like a feeling in his head. Whatever it was, it did seem like it was sorry. But I need you here. Strangely, Gateau felt as if he were needed.

"This is weird," Carrot said. His sword was drawn. "It's not, like... telepathy, is it?" He stood with his back to Gateau's, looking around for the source of the voice.

"What do you want with us?" Tira asked.

I need the starstone. You have it.

"What's he talking about?" Gateau asked. There only seemed to be one entrance, the arch through which they had come. There was no ceiling, and the sun was nearly over the wall.

Tira held her whip at the ready, her eyes darting back and forth. "You think we have your focus?"

Please forgive me, begged the feeling. I need it. I need it to make things right.

"You think you can make this right?" Gateau demanded of the disembodied feeling. "You are using forbidden magic, and I can't forgive that."

Not all of the uses for forbidden magics are evil.

"All the ones I've seen are," the tall blond retorted.

He suddenly felt amusement ripple through the air around him. Were they? Gateau was caught off-guard, and found himself considering the disembodied feeling's question. I need the starstone, the feeling repeated, filling Gateau with a sudden sense of sorrowful longing. Please, please give it to me.

Carrot and the Misu sisters watched and listened as Gateau spoke to the air around him. The feeling of a voice had left them, gone as quickly as it came.

"What are you going to do with it, huh?" asked the brawny blond. "There's no reason you could need that much magic. And why do you think I have your stupid starstone anyhow? I don't even know what it is!"

Not all of the uses for forbidden magics are evil. The thought pulsated through Gateau. Why was that so important? Please give me my starstone.

"Gateau," Tira yelled, trying to catch his attention, "What does he want?"

Gateau shrugged. "He–it–whatever... he thinks I have his focus."

"Do you?" Carrot asked.

Gateau blinked. "Uhm... I don't think so," he said after a moment's thought.

"Well... check your pockets," Carrot said, as Gateau was washed through with another feeling off loss.

"These runes are kind of funny, Chocolate," Tira said, examining them. "Don't they look familiar?"

"Kind of like Marron's spells," the elder Misu sister agreed.

"No..." whispered Gateau, his eyes widening as the sisters' comments dawned on him. His burning hand tightened around the forgotten pendant in his pocket.

Please give it to me, begged the feeling. Not all of the uses for forbidden magics are evil.

Gateau remembered that. He remember Big Momma's words, and when she had said them. His hand cracking in burning pain, he lifted up Marron's pendant for his team to see.

The black stone in the central link flamed as brightly as the magefire at the center of the chamber, resonating with it. In the center of the stone, the sapphire blue star shone brighter still, flashing as the hunters tried to look at it.

"Is that the starstone?" Tira asked, awed.

Chocolate stared at the flaming amulet. "Where did you get it, Gateau?"

Gateau's haunted eyes turned to the magefire dancing in the center of the chamber. Sunshine poured down on them from the rising sun, but the magefire burned brighter. It pulsated with the starstone that burned in his hand.

I need you here. Please give me the starstone.

Gateau's eyes watered. "Why would you do this?"

Please. Pain and loss consumed him. I need it to make things right.

With a roar, Gateau flung the pendant into the magefire. A wave like a sonic shock billowed through the chamber. As the runes on the walls burst into flame, the black magefire began to scream.

Nearly blinded by the light, the sorcerer hunters forced themselves to watch. The magefire grew as it screamed louder with the voice of the feeling that had spoken to them.

A human form took shape in the flames. An unfamiliar face appeared on it, howling in pain.

"What's going on?" Chocolate yelled above the screaming. Cyclonic winds whipped through the chamber, coming from the growing bloom of black flames. "What did you do?"

Where the howling face was, a second face and body appeared, horrifying the sorcerer hunters with its familiarity as it screamed in the magefire.

"Brother!" Carrot roared, jumping forward. Gateau barely caught him before he jumped into the flames. "That's my brother!"

Marron's face and body writhed within the confines of the magefire, as if battling the other howling face and body for the space. Where the two bodies overlapped, the starstone pendant spun, bouncing back and forth as the two bodies competed for control.

"That's Marron!" Tira yelled, "But who's the other guy?"

"It's Tenrin-Ou Yakushia," Chocolate realized, eyes wide. She called out to the others above the noise. "It's Tenrin-Ou Yakushia! The other man is Tenrin-Ou Yakushia!"

"The god inside Marron?" Carrot stopped struggling, and Gateau let him go. "What the hell is going on here!"

I need you here, the voice cried in Gateau's head weakly.

"He needs us," Gateau yelled. He jumped forward and grabbed Marron's hand. The wavering arm only seemed half-real in his grip. "He said he needs us here!"

Carrot immediately grabbed Marron's other hand, trying to pull him out of the magefire. "Come on, brother," he cried "I don't have a clue what's going on, but I'm not letting you go up in smoke!" He pulled harder on the arm he held, forcing the body with Marron's screaming face to lean out of the black flames.

Marron's hand seemed to solidify in Gateau's grasp. "Come on," he beckoned to the Misu sisters. "Help us!" They leaped forward, wrapping their arms around the body's torso and pulling. They were rewarded with a choking screech from Tenrin-Ou Yakushia as Marron's legs began to pull free from the magefire.

"Come on, little bro," Carrot urged, letting Tira take Marron's arm while he grabbed one of his legs. "Just don't fall apart on me."

"We need you," Tira insisted as Marron's screams petered off, leaving him clenching his teeth in pain and breathing hard. Tenrin-Ou Yakushia's howls grew louder with every inch of skin they pulled free.

Gateau pulled on Marron's other leg, feeling it come loose from the black flames. "You'd better come through on this," he whispered. "I need you." He tugged.

The four sorcerer hunters flew backwards as the body finally came free of the magefire and the screaming and whipping winds came to a halt. Gateau caught the familiar body in his arms, cradling it close. There was silence.

Gateau's hands shook as he looked at the naked body breathing laboriously in his arms. The beautiful, familiar face leaning on his arm was streaked with sweat, the lines of pain already fading from pale, supple skin. For a brief moment, the eyes opened, revealing tired amber irises. Then they fluttered shut, and his breathing slowed.

Gateau tightened his grip around Marron's body. "H-he's asleep," he choked out.

"He's... alive," Chocolate exclaimed. Her face was filled with thrilled surprise. Tira clapped her hands excitedly and joined her sister, yelling, "He's alive!"

He is, came a voice from around them, and Gateau, Carrot, and the Misu sisters turned to where a ball of magefire still burned in the air. The proto-body of Tenrin-Ou Yakushia was gone, now, his howling face now only an indistinct image formed by the black flames.

I give you back your brother, your friend, your lover, the god said. He has released my immortal soul, and I have gifted to him as much as I can–a mortal body.

"Aren't you part of his soul, though?" Tira asked, peering at the god's visage.

Tenrin-Ou Yakushia laughed. His soul is his own. I cannot rejoin him. The body I gave him was not born of the gods. It is too weak to contain the soul of a god.

"Then, any of us could live without our gods in us?" Chocolate wondered.

Would you truly wish that?

"I might," Gateau rumbled.

You might ask yourself again, advised the god. You might be surprised how you answer.

"What about who he is?" Tira cried. "Is he still Marron? Big Momma said that memories die with the flesh!"

Perhaps you should ask him.

The god's voice was lightly amused, as if he had just given the team of hunters the answer they most wished to hear. Tira clasped her hands together, tears welling up in her eyes.

The flaming runes on the shrine walls blackened and turned to ash, which fell from the walls and left them clear. The god-face of black magefire began to shrink.

He needed you, he needs you, he loves you, your brother, your friend, your lover, the god's voice continued, even as his apparation disappeared in a void. You need him, you want him, you love him. Take care, my brother and sisters.

Silence descended on them. Then, out of nowhere, the starstone pendant appeared and dropped, clattering on the chamber floor.

Awestruck, surprised, afraid and thrilled, Gateau's eyes began to water as he looked down on the young body he held. Chocolate and Tira were already sobbing loudly with happiness, their arms around Carrot, who seemed undecided between crying and laughing. After a moment, the elder Glaice brother gave in and did both.

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