BOO! I'm home! 8D
This chapter is slightly shorter than most, but I'm dumping a lot on you just now. PJ has seen this coming for a while, and I'm still a little too thrilled about that.
Anyway, in case you were wondering what's going on in Rin, you'll find out shortly. We'll be there for a little minute. Is it weird that Star and Co. aren't even in the first chunk of this story? Oh well, it's not like they're doing anything interesting. All their parents, on the other hand… :P
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Chapter 2: The Plan
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As the voices of the faraway Titans went on exclaiming in joy and confusion over his sudden presence, Zizi felt strange new sensations filling him. His consciousness went on quaking in shock, but he felt strangely as though he had become a living flame. It burned without hurting, and the tiny spark he had become popped and flickered with every gasping breath he took. He couldn't believe that his mind had joined with those of the Titans. He had no idea how it had happened.
But it was exactly the kind of miracle he had wished for. And it came to him with astonishing clarity that one of them was the real life Rowan of Rin. The hero of recent legend. Star's own father. The feeling of fire that he was leapt with hope, and he found his voice.
"Help – please – you have to – you've got to help us!" he squeaked in his mind as loudly as he could. He could feel his firry presence flaring, tongues of flame spreading around him, desperate to be heard. "The rebellion is – and the city – the gray monsters – they're everywhere! They broke everything! They took them away! You have to – please! You have to help us!"
The three voices grew silent, listening to his frenzied pleas, and perhaps in surprise to hear their new companion stuttering so pathetically. Zizi had never felt quite so small, and he was terrified in that silence that the Titans found it all unworthy of being heard. He felt himself sobbing like the frightened child he was, the flames flaring in place of tears.
A sense of comfort and calm came over him, as though an arm had wrapped itself around his shoulder. Or perhaps a sun-warmed vine or tree branch. He couldn't explain why, but it felt like Earth and all it was. With a start, he realized that it was the presence of the Earth Titan.
Somehow, in this otherworldly place, Rowan of Rin was actually touching him. He wasn't there, and yet… He was there. As much as the Titans of Water and Air were beside him, as water lapping his feet and gentle wind on his face. They were with him, making real contact with him, and comforting him in his fear.
"I know your face," came the sound of rustling leaves, along with a voice. Rowan's voice, marveling, astonished.
"As do I," agreed a voice like crashing waves. The voice of the Keeper of the Crystal. "You are Zizi! You traveled with Iris of Fisk, some time ago! I would know those eyes anywhere."
"Ah, yes, I remember, too," agreed the voice of Mithren, whistling in his ear. "You certainly whipped the little minnow into shape, that night, and sent her off all the better. We were impressed, when we learned of it. But how in all the heavens have you come here?"
Zizi shook his head at how they knew him, and how they hadn't once answered his cries for help. The flames leapt again, this time with impatience.
"But – but you're not – you're not listening!" he nearly yelled at them. "We need – we need help! The city is – Habaharan is – its on fire! The people are – they're dying! We need – we need your help! You have to do something!"
"Yes, yes, we know," Mithren's voice whispered again. "We have felt it, all the way across the sea. The cosmos cries out with your people, for justice, and perhaps vengeance. We have sat awake this long night, trying to think of a way we can be of help to you. But the land, the sea, and now the Lord of Shadows, himself, stand in our way."
The Titans grew sorrowful at this. Zizi felt the change in their moods – the whispering wind fell silent, the tide seemed to withdraw, and the strength of the earth around his shoulders faded as though gripped by frost. They were all dismayed; but since Rowan, himself, was touching him, Zizi could feel his heartbreak as surely as he felt his own.
Then the feeling of Earth regained some of its strength, shook itself, and seemed to meld right into him. It felt practical and focused, as the Titan had often been in his tales when he faced problems.
"However you have come here, and whatever separates us, you are here now, Zizi of Habaharan. You have been sent to us more than we have been sent to you, I think. Please, tell us what has happened in your city. What have you seen? What have you heard? Anything you know could be of use to us now. We are listening."
Zizi hesitated. He hadn't left Bhlai House once since the disaster had struck, and felt that he hadn't seen anything of use at all. Also, he knew that this Titan was silently asking about his wife, daughter, and sister. Zizi had no good news to share with him. He knew that he could only answer him with the truth, and the truth was still too painful to speak out loud.
He wondered if he should mention Evan at all, and immediately decided against it.
He felt he had hesitated for too long, trying to pull himself together and choose the right words and remember what little he knew properly. He was wasting precious time, and making a fool of himself in front of the most powerful people on earth. He felt anxiety flare in his heart, as the three Titans waited patiently on him.
"I believe I can be of some use here," said the Keeper, after it seemed like an eternity had passed. Without warning, the sensation of a cold, tingling wave swept over Zizi. It was a soothing sensation; but at the same time, he could feel it probing his mind. Searching for his memories of the last few hours. When the wave washed away, he knew it had pulled that knowledge back with it, and had shared it at once with the others.
They had seen what he had seen, through the tiny gap in his hiding place, as the gray monsters had raided Bhlai House, taken his family prisoner, and destroyed the house. They had heard everything those monsters had said to each other, never guessing for a second that someone of consequence had overheard them. Surely, those memories had explained it all better than Zizi ever could have on his own.
He decided at once that magic was the best thing in the world.
"This is substantially bad," Mithren commented needlessly. His voice was like a small whirlwind, threatening to build to a cyclone. He knew what had happened to his adopted sister, and where she had been taken, and he was outraged. What was more, he was afraid for her, and helpless to help her, as he often seemed to be in the tales. Zizi felt deeply for him. He sometimes felt the same about his own sister.
"There is something to be taken from this, though," came Rowan's voice, still focused and amazingly even. Zizi could feel the tendrils of vines creeping, growing deep, as he thought of it all and tried to form a plan. "We know where most of them are, now. They've been taken to the Central Dungeon. Zizi, you have been there before. You know where it is."
"….Yes…"
"Do you know of anybody who could breach the place? Your Crusaders did it once. Can it be done again?"
"Oh, no!" Zizi squeaked again. "It was – they all said it was impossible – impossible! They had to be very – they were sneaky. They had the squad to – to help them – they couldn't have – not alone. The squad is all – they're gone, too. And the people are all – hiding. Scared. The gray monsters are everywhere – watching. We can't… We can't…"
"I understand," Rowan agreed, though his regret was clear as those creeping tendrils ceased their creeping. "The danger is too great, now, and all the city's warriors have been captured. It would take a special band of people, indeed."
Hating to have disappointed him, Zizi felt a tongue of his own flame reach out and grab onto the vine, as if reaching for the Titan's hand. He hoped too late that he hadn't hurt him, but the heavy feeling around his arm didn't jerk away or cry out in pain. Zizi was glad of that. He liked to think that he had a good idea to share.
"I know some – some special people. Down in the – under the city, there's – I know pirates, and warriors, and some – some are just sneaky. But they're all – they're very nice. They would help."
"Can you get to them easily?" asked the Keeper. "They are all in the sewers, we know; but the pirate Keids and his men are beneath a different part of the city, far away from where you are now. Is it safe for you to travel so far just now?"
Zizi thought about it for a second, and then shook his head, his flame shrinking sadly. "No. The monsters are still – there's too many. That wasn't such a – that was dumb. I'm sorry."
"No, my young friend, it most certainly was not dumb," came Mithren's breezy voice. "It was a very good idea. Just because you can't reach all those brave, loud men and women right now doesn't mean you never will again. They can still help us."
"Perhaps, but how long will that take?" Rowan insisted, his impatience growing as quickly as angry, thorny weeds. "This is no longer just about the people we love – everyone in that city needs help right now. Our little brother needs our help. We must find a way to get there. Soon. I feel this in my heart, don't you?"
The other two hummed over this in their own ways. Zizi could almost see them in his mind, scratching their heads, rubbing their chins, stroking a wondrous crystal, as he had always supposed they might. What exactly were they thinking so hard about? What had Rowan meant about a little brother? Did they know of Evan, after all?
"I suppose I do feel it, after all," Mithren answered slowly. "This unyielding, urgent need to travel east, though there is plainly no way for us to do this. Rowan, you and I are landlocked, just now; it would take days for us to reach the coast."
"A week's time, to be more precise," the Keeper chimed in. "And after that, another few day's sailing, in a boat you cannot captain, if my people are willing to spare you a boat at all. You could try asking Perlain, once again; you could even ask Iris, if you really wanted to. Neither would be willing or able to help you this time, though."
Zizi gasped in alarm. "Not even Perlain? But he's so – he's so good!"
The Keeper laughed softly at this. "To be sure, he is. He is a man of many talents, and a good friend. He would lend his help gladly, if only it made any sense for him to do so. None of his skills will be of use on another journey to your city. He will be grieved, I think, when he learns of it."
"Iris would help us in a heartbeat without thinking twice," Mithren added, "but her boat was destroyed when she sailed for the city in the middle of a storm. It was a luxurious present from her parents, who have learned their lesson about spoiling their daughter. She won't have another boat to lend us any time soon. And it still doesn't solve the problem of sneakily getting a band of people to the city in less than a week."
The thorny weeds that Rowan had become seemed to grow spinier, all at once, as his frustration and fear grew and grew. "The only way to do that is to fly. A Traveler forerunner can make the journey in only a few hours' time, but that flight has to end at the coast."
"Agreed," Mithren answered right away. "I remember. I can summon the winds of the plains with ease, but even slightly off the coast is beyond my reach. And the winds are too wild, even for a strong forerunner to make the whole journey across the sea. I've only tried it once, brothers, in a similar moment of need. I can tell you now, it will do us no good today."
There was a long, heavy pause. Even Zizi knew what they were all thinking. He could feel the same thought pulsing temptingly between them, almost solid and strong enough to touch. He wished he had the nerve to say it; but to do so seemed callous, hurtful, and unnecessary.
It was the Keeper who ended that silence, by finally commenting in an odd tone, "Unos can do it…"
"Well, Unos is not here," Rowan snapped back. "I've thought of it a thousand times! She is gone, as surely as my family is gone, and there is nothing to be done about it! What do you want me to say, Doss? What do you want me to say?"
Zizi shrank away in fright, back to the tiny, flickering candle flame he had been before. He had always feared and hated to see Star when she lost her temper; now he could see where she had gotten it from in the first place, and he didn't like it. It was terrible to see someone he knew as a courageous, magical hero so bitter and angry. Someone he had waited such a long time to meet, and should have been able to count on, only find that he was just as helpless and afraid as anyone else.
He dared to look up from his own fear, and found that the other two Titans had shrunk away from their brother, as well. There was deathly silence between them. No stirring of wind. No rippling waves. No rustle of leaves. The feeble crackling of Zizi's flame seemed obnoxious and out of place in that silence, but he found that he couldn't make himself any smaller or quieter. It was awkward, but also strangely comforting to not be the only one frightened by the Earth Titan's darkening mood. It seemed that his whole presence had become a tick patch of thistles and briars.
It was an awful lot of thorns. Perhaps one thorn for every day that had passed since his life had changed so badly. Zizi didn't blame the other Titans for wanting to get as far away from their brother as they could. At the same time, his own small heart hurt for the Titan who had lost so much, and now so much more.
Slowly, cautiously, the presence of the Keeper reached toward his angry brother like a cool, gentle stream. Those thorns remained firmly in place, defensive and unwilling to look right at him. They couldn't stop him from speaking, however.
"Forgive me, Rowan. I had feared you might say such things, but you did not hear me properly. I said, Unos can do it. I believe I have a solution for you."
The thorns began to recede as suddenly as they had shot forth. Something shifted quietly, as a seed sprouting in the earth – a thrill of desperate hope, in a heart that was terrified to trust it.
"… I'm listening."
"Something has been stirring just beyond my sight for some time," the Keeper explained, still wary of the thorns, but growing excited. "I thought before that it was simply the evil filling the land beyond the sea; but it has drawn nearer and nearer, all through the night. Only just now has it come close enough to see clearly, and it is the answer to all our prayers."
There was an unmistakable grin in the Keeper's voice as he said, "Rowan… It is Unos. She is coming back! Only an hour or two from now, she will land in your village! And there is a purpose about her – I can feel it. She is coming to collect you, to take you exactly where you mean to go, as soon as possible."
The Earth Titan was stunned. The others could feel it, as they cried out with joy in his silence. Zizi was relieved, too. He had wondered in the night what had become of the grach his family oved so much; he had wondered if they were okay, and if he would ever see them again. Unos, at least, had escaped; and she seemed to have a plan, or an idea for a plan in her animal mind. Perhaps she was just fleeing the chaos of the city and running for her life to the only other safe place she knew; but the Keeper seemed to think that she was running not for shelter, but for help.
Finally, Rowan found his voice again, speaking quickly and frankly.
"I have to go. I have to gather the others and make them ready for an adventure. Doss, Mithren, stay with our new little brother and explain things to him; I would stay and help, but we haven't much time. Help him think of the rest of our plan. Use all your brilliant heads. I'll be back shortly."
As his presence began to fade away from them, it turned to the Keeper and spoke to him directly.
"Please, forgive me. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
The Keeper shrugged, like a wave on the shore. "I knew that you would, but it was a risk I was willing to take. The news was good in the end, was it not? There is nothing to forgive, my old friend. Now go – go!"
The Earth Titan didn't really need to be told. He vanished at once, off to do his own part in all this mess. Zizi was left wondering between the Titans of Water and Air. Wondering at all that had just happened, and at if it was right for him to still be in this sacred place, and how he was to leave it.
"I need to – I should go," he said as politely as he could. "My big sis will be – she'll be worried sick if I'm not – I've been gone a long time."
"You've barely been here for ten minutes," Mithren insisted, a breeze wrapping around the boy where the Earth Titan's presence had been before. It seemed that his flickering flame was being drawn deeper into the shimmering void, walking beside them. "You only just arrived, and we still have much to discuss. So much… Now that practical Rowan is gone, I will say it again – how can this be? How has this boy come here, when there is already a Fire Titan? It makes no sense!"
"Yes, it does, and you know it," said the Keeper. "In fact, it makes good and perfect sense, though it is truly awful. Rowan has suspected it for a long time; he had no time to speak of it now because this boy has shown him the truth. He could not be here, otherwise."
Zizi flickered between them, not understanding what they were babbling about, and increasingly uncomfortable. "What truth? What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, fearing that he would not like the answer.
The two Titans seemed to peer at each other nervously, each daring the other to answer the boy, because neither really knew how to. It was the Keeper who finally answered him, slowly and carefully choosing his words.
"Zizi, you do not know this, but something truly remarkable has just happened because of you. You see… There has not been a Fire Titan in a very, very long time. We have been deceived, all these long years."
Zizi blinked at him, shocked and confused. "But the queen is – she's the – "
"The Dragon Lord, and queen of the Zebak, yes. She has a great many other titles, as well; but when she calls herself a Titan, she is lying in the worst way. A true Titan serves the deep magic of this world, and the Dragons from which it comes. Zadina, and all those before her, have only ever served the shadow which broods in the south. Their master has let them borrow his own dark power, to use in place of the light. Blinded by greed, they chose to serve him, rather than their Hallowed Father. They cast off the deep magic, set it aside."
"It was a dirty trick," added Mithren. "The terrors they have worked for their master are beyond count. We can see that, now. Even the talisman of their people is sealed away in metal and stone, forced into a deep slumber, and fading away with disuse. And now, by some trick of destiny… You have come to have it. After all this time… Do you understand what we are trying to say to you?"
Zizi shook his head, his flame crackling with fear. He thought he knew what they were saying. In his heart, he knew it already. But he didn't like it, and the idea filled him with dread.
"I – I – I don't want to be a Titan," he found himself crying out. "I'm just – I'm just little, and – and I don't – I still stutter when I – all the time! I'm not big, or – or strong, or smart, or – or anything! I'm not a Titan, I'm just… Me."
The Titans drew closer to him, as if holding his hand and hugging him, comforting him. The Keeper was speaking again, kindly and with great remembrance.
"Do you suppose I was so impressive, when this destiny found me?" he asked. "You know my story, Zizi, I know that you do. I was not chosen for my own strength or wisdom, or anything else. No Titan ever is. We are chosen for what is in our hearts. A true Titan longs for the light – for peace, and truth, and justice and joy for all people. We are willing to fight for it, no matter the cost. Whenever we are needed, the deep magic of our world knows where to find us. And of all the folk in your lands, it found what it needed in you."
"That is an exciting thought," said Mithren. "Comforting, too, I think. Children have a wonderful sort of wisdom, and a way of knowing exactly what should be done. This particular child has a love for all his people, too – big and small, rich and poor, slave and free. And he is far more stubborn than he likes to think. He says he is so small, and yet here he remains, making himself heard, already quite at home, it seems. You are already a fine Titan of Fire, Zizi, and you are far from alone. We are your brothers, now, and we will help you in any way we can."
He was still trembling and unsure how all this had happened, but Zizi decided that he could trust in that. It was strange how suddenly everything had changed. It was just as strange that he was somehow content with it. Apparently, he was a Titan, now. If that was what it took to save his city and his people, then it was worth it.
Which, he realized, was exactly what the Keeper had been talking about. Maybe he could be a good Titan, after all.
"…Okay," he said as firmly as he could. "What do I have to do?"
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Rowan was running, for what felt like his life. He couldn't remember how many times he had run like this in his life; he just knew that he had done it often, as a boy. There had been little need for it in a long time. Today, he was sure he had never had a more important reason to run, to hurry, to be ready as fast as humanly possible.
After all this time, he was finally allowed to plan a rescue mission. He had always been good at those. It was something he could do quickly and easily, with few resources. It was also something he had learned the hard way, he could not hope to do alone. And so, as he ran toward the orchard, he was already deciding who he would ask to join him on one last adventure.
His mind was made up by the time he dashed through the trees, hollering for his step-father. His list of companions was short, and very nearly set in stone. He couldn't imagine why any one of them would turn him down. He had travelled with each of them before, in some way or another. They made an excellent team, in his mind. A wide variety of talents and skills and ideas, so much more powerful when put together.
He didn't have to search for long. Strong John appeared from the rows of his trees, looking surprised and a little amused to see the younger man so frantic. He even smiled a bit, though a grief he had grown used to was still heavy in his face.
"Well, what's all this?" he teased. "It's a bit early to be in such a rush, don't you think?"
Rowan didn't have time for John's teasing on a normal day. He rolled his eyes and, panting from the run, grabbed the man by the wrist and began pulling him toward the dirt road that led into the village.
"You have to come with me," he said simply. "You have to come with me right now, and ask no questions."
"Come with you, where?" John demanded anyway, glancing back at the work he was being hauled away from.
"To the bakery, for now. I've a lot to say to a lot of people, and I only plan to say it once."
