Introduction
In an ancient ruin in Clow, the feathers of one girl fly away, slipping through thousands of dimensions, unaffected by time or space. Some fall into the hands of evil; others accidentally manipulate the weak hearted into becoming evil themselves. Only one escapes this fate.
In an icy palace in Seresu, one king cries for the loss of his queen and unborn son, his advisors unable to comfort him. But when destiny steps in, it looks like all is not quite lost.A chance walk on a balcony will start a chain of events that no one had ever dreamed of…but when magic and mortality mix, can there ever be a happy ending?
For love of a feather, one man's heart will die…
Chapter Two; Realisations
Ashura's eyes flickered open, dark gaze taking in the familiar décor of his bedroom. Wrapping an arm round his midriff, he sat up with a small groan, wincing as his body protested at the slight movement.
"Ashura-ou! You're awake!" Blinking, Ashura turned his head towards the noise of the sudden sound. He hadn't noticed the young man sitting beside his bed…if memory served him right, he was one of the wizards that served under Mahouda, although Ashura couldn't remember ever speaking to him before.
"Yes…but I don't understand…what happened? The last thing I remember is being blown back by that wind…" He murmured. The wizard nodded seriously, his eyes serious as he explained everything to his king.
"The magic was too strong for the Hall to contain…it ended up crashing down around us. The roof caved in above you, and we were afraid that you had died…but Mahouda-sama still sensed your life force, so we dug down through the rubble. The gods were smiling on you, Ashura-ou…apart from a few minor injuries obtained before, you were unharmed by the roof collapse. The Hall's being rebuilt even as we speak – it may have only been four days, but it's nearly complete already!"
Ashura frowned, eyes searching the other man's face for any signs of falsehood. Finding none, he simply blinked quizzically at his companion in confusion.
"Four days? But you said I had only minor injuries…"
"Mahouda-sama thought it best that you were allowed time to rest and recuperate, so he cast a minor sleeping spell on you. Forgive him, Ashura-ou, he was merely worried about your health." The wizard pleaded.
Ashura smiled softly, tilting his head back to gaze at the crystalline designs etched into the ceiling.
"I suppose so…I can forgive him this once for such an action." He sighed.
"Forgive me? It is you who should be seeking forgiveness, my king, on bended knee! Do you have any idea how worried the castle's been about you?"
Both men looked up at the booming voice that had suddenly infiltrated the relative quiet of the king's chamber. Ashura smiled and shook his head as he recognised the well-built man striding through the door, golden staff, as ever, in hand.
"You forget your place, Mahouda. You may be the High Wizard, but you're still inferior to me." He sniped, although his lips twitched mischievously despite himself. Mahouda merely raised an eyebrow.
"I've been doing this job since before you were born! As the one who had to suffer through years of teaching you magic, I think I deserve a bit more respect, Ashura-sama."
Ashura, unable to form a response to that particular comment, bowed his head and shook it, helpless against his High Wizard's humour. It was true that Mahouda had taken over the position of High Wizard just before Ashura had been born, and as such had been the one to offer Ashura the most care and advice, watching over his next master. To this day, the two had a relationship that was more of a Father/Son type than King/Underling, although Mahouda would not call him anything less than 'Ashura-sama', despite the younger man's pleading. However, he had compromised by stopping calling him by the more formal title of 'Ashura-ou'.
"And that gives you the right to enchant your king into slumber? Shame on you, Mahouda." He sighed. Mahouda let out a huge guffaw of laughter, moving to Ashura's bedside to clap the king firmly on the back, ignoring the way Ashura's eyes bugged out comically at the impact.
"Of course! If you will go round casting foolhardy spells…" He began jovially, before trailing off as he saw the sudden stab of grief that entered Ashura's eyes. Ashura smiled softly, turning to face his advisor with a bitter face.
"I failed, didn't I?" He murmured softly. "I couldn't bring her back…"
Mahouda shook his head, placing a reassuring hand on Ashura's shoulder and squeezing slightly.
"Vanya would not have wished for her life to be restored at the cost of your own, Ashura-sama. She would have wanted you to live on, and enjoy life in her memory." He said softly. Ashura remained silent.
"Please, Ashura-sama. Give up on these foolish dreams, and think of your kingdom, its people. Powerful as that feather may be, it will not serve your purpose."
Ashura's head lifted sharply at those words, his breath catching as he suddenly realised that his precious find must have been lost to the rubble of the fallen Ceremonial Hall.
"It's gone, isn't it? The feather's gone…"
"No, Ashura-sama. We found it lying on top of you under the rubble…we assumed that you had used magic to attach it to your person. I sealed it in a glass ornament for you."
Gesturing to his subordinate for him to bring the ornament over from the book shelf where it had previously been resting, Mahouda glared at his king, hand on hips.
"That feather is a very powerful meld of magics, Ashura-sama…anyone with less experience in the workings of magic would surely have died attempting to use it as you did. Where in Kami's name did you get it?"
Taking the ornament with trembling hands, Ashura shook his head slightly, gazing down at the precious artefact in wonder.
"It was caught in the décor on the palace balcony…I merely came upon it by accident." He replied, eyes still fixed on the sealed feather. Inside the hollow crystalline sphere, the feather danced softly in a non existent breeze, pulsing softly with a faded pink light now that it was in Ashura's hands.
"You were very lucky then, Ashura-sama. I trust that you are well enough for myself and my helper to leave you in peace now?" Mahouda questioned. Ashura nodded absently, carefully fingering the seals of confinement etched upon the feather's glass prison.
"Go, Mahouda. I have taken up enough of your time already."
"Thankyou, my king." Mahouda bowed, then turned and swept out of the door with his assistant, leaving the king alone in his bedroom with only the feather for company.
The days passed slowly for Ashura, confined as he was to his chambers. Despite the fact that there was nothing wrong with him, the doctor insisted that he stayed in his room and rest, even going so far as to cancel any appointments scheduled. Ashura knew the real reason behind it, although he gave no sign of knowing – his subjects were terrified of losing their king before an heir was found. They had already lost their queen and unborn prince…if Ashura was lost too, they would be alone with no one to guide them. And for an ordered world like Seresu, that was unthinkable.
Pacing his room restlessly, Ashura found his eyes drawn to the glass-bound feather that stood on his shelf, watching as it twirled gently in its prison, seeming almost alive as it continued its magical ballet. Sighing, Ashura sat down on the end of his bed, gazing at the mysterious object.
"I don't know why, but just watching you makes me feel better. You're like a tranquilliser for me, did you know that?" He murmured softly, smiling as the feather pulsed a pale pink colour at his words. Leaning forward to trail a finger over the sphere, Ashura chuckled bitterly.
"You know, we're a lot alike, you and I. We're both trapped inside wretched prisons, aren't we? Although I guess I could escape if I chose to use my status to override my doctors' orders. But you can't, can you? You're just stuck inside there, probably never to be free again." Ashura continued, watching as the feather stilled in its movements, its glow fading suddenly.
"I'm sorry that I found you and used you in such a manner. I'm the reason you're sealed, hmm? Although you wouldn't know the difference between confinement and freedom, would you? You're just a feather…not a living thing. I wonder what the bird you came from looked like. It must have been beautiful, to have such gorgeous feathers as you."
The feather's dance suddenly started up again, its light shining once more as Ashura mused beside it. Smiling gently, Ashura stood up again, stretching as he felt the muscles in his back protest at the sudden movement.
"Why, the way you move in that airless prison, and the way you glow…it's almost as if you understand me, you know?" He murmured fondly, only to still as the feather's light suddenly pulsed brighter, as if agreeing with him.
Dark eyes wide, he fumbled the shelf, gripping it for support as he stared at the feather in disbelief.
"If…if you can really understand what I'm saying…then shine your light three times." He said weakly, watching for any sign that the feather had understood. There was nothing, and for a moment Ashura was sure he'd been mistaken, but then the feather suddenly pulsed with a brighter light three times before fading back into its usual glow.
Letting out a startled gasp, Ashura stumbled back, hand over mouth in shock. The feather had actually responded. Sure, not immediately, but it had eventually, and that was all that mattered. Trembling, he placed his hands on the glass and closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down and delve into the whirling mists of magic held within the delicate form of the feather.
He cried out as his mind felt itself being buffeted wildly about by the powerful magics dancing around him, but forced his will on, searching down through the tumultuous power until he reached the centre. There, he found a dim sense of consciousness, and he reeled back into the real world and his body, shaking with the enormity of what he had seen.
He had never, ever encountered anything with that much power in his life. Just being surrounded by the ancient magic had threatened his very life, the force of it almost enough to tug his soul away from his body forever and lose himself in the feather's magic until all sense of self was lost.
And what he had found at the centre…Ashura marvelled as he thought about it. The feather was aware…not developed enough to be able to understand everything in the world around it, or respond quickly, but aware enough to get a general idea of things, to be able to react to certain things. Even if its consciousness was nowhere near as developed as a human's or an animal's, it was still sentient. And that was more than enough to make Ashura feel horribly guilty for its imprisonment.
Staring at the twirling feather before him, another thought suddenly hit the young king, and he crouched down until he was eye level with the pink mystery, eyes wide with wonder.
"You saved me back then, didn't you?" He breathed. "Back in the Ceremonial Hall…it wasn't a coincidence that they found me virtually uninjured with you on top of me…you saved me."
A stab of regret throbbed in his chest, and he sighed in shame.
"And in thanks we sealed you and your power away. I'm sorry." He apologised, smiling when the feather glowed in response. "You know, you kept me sane these last few days. I've been so lonely without Vanya…I can't say that I have any true friends in this palace…just loving subjects and helpers. Only Mahouda comes close, and he's so busy that he's almost never here…"
Staring at the feather then, an idea came to Ashura. An idea that seemed impossible at best, but nagged at him until he finally acknowledged that it could be done.
This beautiful, mysterious feather…this sentient mix of magics…surely it could be shaped into an actual person? Someone to be his friend and companion in the palace, to keep himself from dying inside. And he was sure that the feather would be better off then too, with a body to move around in and an actual mind for it to learn with and help it develop.
Ashura wondered what it would look like in human guise. Although he could shape the feather into the correct form, it would be beyond his power to actually determine what it looked like or how becoming it was. That would be left to the life force inside the feather, and how it appeared once inside a human body. But thinking about the delicate patterns and the frail form of the feather, somehow Ashura knew it would be beautiful.
Carefully picking up the glass sphere and cradling it in his arms, Ashura willed his magical staff and the necessary books to follow him, gliding after him as he silently made his way from his chambers down, not to the Ceremonial Hall this time, but to the Hall of Memories.
It felt somehow fitting that his companion's place of creation was also the place where his beloved wife's ashes had so recently been released.
Author's Note
I would just like to say one thing...I absolutely hate writing Ashura! I can't wait until I can build my fic up around his interactions with Fai, because personally I find writing Ashura as someone kind much harder than any other angsty character...I'm so used to him being portrayed as evil!
But anyway...he's coming! Our favourite mage is coming! Read and review if you want to see what happens next, please!
hentai-monkey - Thank you so much for that lovely review! It made my day! And the cookies and mountain dew were delicious (wink). You got the red string reference? Good for you! And thanks for that pimping offer! (...dear god, I never thought I'd say those words...)
anon-anon - I'll update regularly, I promise! Or at least, I'll try to...I haven't got a very good track record when it comes to things like that.
Yurikitsune - What a great review! Thanks for your comments! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Noi - Wow...you seemed very enthusiastic there! Thanks for the review!
tidus2529 - Thanks! Hope this was soon enough for you!
Ueste - Thanks for all your lovely comments! I'm so happy that you like it!