Varian
Three days after our successful attempt to contact my son, we sat in our positions, ready to try again. This time, however, we were both practically vibrating with excitement. This time, we'd not only make contact, but we might even be able to speak with the people on the other side of the mirror.
We'd been forced to wait an extra day to make another attempt. It turned out Vala pressing on until she passed out was a very bad idea, since it took longer for her to recover enough to continue. I made note to shut things down before she lost consciousness this time, regardless of the progress we made.
Once we were settled, it only took a few moments to make the connection. As the image in the mirror changed from my own reflection, I saw the young woman I'd seen the first time around. She wasn't looking in the mirror, but I could tell she was holding it. I wanted to wave my arms in the air to get her attention, but I knew it wouldn't really matter. I'd need to wait until she looked into the mirror.
After only a few moments, which felt like hours, she looked into the mirror. I could tell she was startled, but instead of putting down the mirror, like she had the first time, she handed it off to someone. I had to smile when the reflection changed to that of Jaina Proudmoore. The woman looked concerned as she waved a hand across the mirror. After another set of very tense minutes, I could hear sound coming from the mirror.
"Did it work?" I heard the familiar voice of my son.
"It worked!" I heard Vala say excitedly from my side, though she didn't move or even open her eyes. If anything, she seemed to be concentrating even harder.
"It appears so." Jaina said, passing the mirror. Anduin's face soon appeared. I'd never been so happy to see a reflection in a mirror in my entire life.
"Father?" Anduin asked, looking and sounding hopeful.
"Yes, Son. It's me. Can you hear me?"
Anduin nodded and smiled, but I could tell the smile was guarded. He still wasn't totally convinced it was really me.
"How can I know for sure it's you? This could be a trick. Fel magic of some type." He replied.
I nodded, pleased my son was being skeptical. I hadn't raised him to believe in blind faith. I'd prepared for this moment for the last three days, going through all of the personal knowledge my son and I shared, which only we'd know about. I hated to admit it, but several of those private moments weren't exactly positive. I'd decided to share one of the more uncomfortable moments, hoping the nature of the memory might help him believe I was who I said I was. An imposter would go for something more happy.
"Before you left with Prophet Velen to study on the Exodar, you and I had an argument. I had been drinking and you ended up leaving that argument with a damaged arm. I apologized for hurting you when you returned to Stormwind and you forgave me, even though it was unintentional, but I told you I'd never forgive myself. We were in my office during this conversation. My office, which doubled as my drawing room. I had an unfinished scene from the courtyard garden on my drawing table at the time."
Anduin paused, speechless. I could see him breathing rapidly.
"Is it him?" Jaina asked, though I couldn't see her and her question was only just barely a whisper.
Anduin nodded. "It is. We were alone during that argument and during the apology. I also remember the drawing. I stared at it while Father spoke. It was only half finished."
I sighed internally. He believed me. Thank the Light he believed me.
The mirror was passed back to Jaina, her eyes still concerned, but also mixed with happiness and determination. It was a look she'd had in her eyes many times in the past.
"Where are you, Varian?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. Some type of demon dimension, as far as we can tell."
"We?" Jaina asked.
I nodded. "I'm stranded here with a young mage. It's not like I'd be able to do this scrying mirror magic on my own."
"Can I talk with the mage?"
I shook my head, taking a quick look at Vala. She was focusing too hard on her task of keeping the connection active to hear Jaina's request. I was afraid disturbing her might break the connection all together. I wasn't ready to break it yet.
"She's a bit busy keeping this connection open. I'll try to answer your questions for her the best I can without interrupting her."
Jaina nodded. "Has she tried to open a portal on your end?"
"Many times. As I said, she's young. She was only an apprentice when she was sent here. Either she's too weak to open a portal or something about this dimension is preventing it. We managed to scavenge a mirror off of a poor soul not lucky enough to survive his teleportation here. The mirrors you and Anduin once used to communicate were brought up in conversation and she had the idea to try to connect to one of them. We tried to connect with your mirror first, not realizing right away that Anduin's mirror was more likely to be in a place where we'd be noticed."
"Where is your mirror?" Anduin asked from the side.
"Packed away. Since we're living in the same city now and we talk on a regular basis face to face, I don't feel the need to keep it out."
I heard Vala groan softly beside me. "I think making a true link with the mirror is taking more power. I'm fading fast. You might want to hurry."
Jaina must have heard Vala, since I could see her focusing, her eyes closing. After a moment, she opened her eyes.
"I can feel the connection. I don't understand why it's taking so much power to maintain. A traditional scrying mirror conversation should be effortless."
"Time is different here. Is it possible that it could be making the connection more difficult?" I asked. This idea was something else Vala and I had tossed around as a possible concern when the prospect of actual communication became a reality.
"Different how?" Jaina asked.
"A couple of hours here is almost a day on your end."
Jaina's eyes widened.
"How long have you been there?" Anduin asked, turning the mirror in Jaina's hand so it was facing him.
"Two months. Probably closer to three, but it's hard to keep track. Time of day isn't exactly obvious around here."
Anduin's mouth fell open. "It's been almost a year and a half since you died."
"I knew it was going to be something like that. We were able to figure out the time lag shortly after I got here. Vala remembers your grandfather as king and me as just a child. I'll explain later."
Anduin nodded, then allowed Jaina to pull the mirror back to her.
"The power needed to allow us to actually talk in real time must be much greater than simply allowing an image to pass smoothly without the time lag."
"Normally, we can make an attempt to use the mirror every other day. If Vala passes out from exhaustion, we have to wait three days. I'm going to stop her before she gets to that point, so we don't have much time."
I watched as Jaina passed the mirror back to Anduin. "Hold onto the mirror while I try to figure out where they are."
"I never thought I'd see you again. So many people witnessed your death, I was certain you were truly gone." Anduin said sadly, though he was giving me a small smile.
"Trust me, for a time, I was certain I was dead, also. I probably would have been killed shortly after being sent to this cursed land, if it hadn't been for Vala. She saved my life."
Vala groaned again, this time having to catch herself from falling forward.
I sighed. "Damn. We're out of time on this end. We'll contact you in two to three days. Probably a couple of weeks for you."
"We'll be waiting, Father. I promise. We'll figure out a way to get you home."
With a final smile, I set down the mirror and once again motioned for Vala to stop the connection. She didn't fight me, collapsing once the bond was broken. Fortunately, she wasn't out cold, like last time.
"You still with me, Vala?" I asked.
"Mostly." She replied, breathing heavily and fighting to stay upright. I helped her to move, so she was seated up against a wall. "I held the connection as long as I could. It was just so much harder to maintain once we established the audio connection."
I smiled at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did exceptionally well. Thanks to you, my son and friend know I'm alive and they won't rest until they find a way to get us home. Just rest. I'll bring you a drink."
Vala smiled weakly at me, then leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
As I got her some water, I couldn't help but smile. Anduin knew I was alive and we were one step closer to getting home.
To Be Continued...
