It took Viren a few days to cut up a large portion of kelp, storing them in a bag he'd found during all his cleaning. He'd also found a large mortar and pestle and several jars, which he supposed were kept for the purpose he had in mind. He elected not to take them with him - since he didn't intend to spend three nights in open ocean by himself, he would just bring the grass and sand back to create the paste.
It took a little longer than half a day to find the caves when he was ready - though, if he were younger and in better health, it wouldn't have taken as long. He supposed the cecaelia had made a fair enough estimate, taking everything into consideration.
The seas floor seemed to slope upwards here, perhaps towards an island - Viren had heard of islands, but had never seen one himself. The mer considered swimming up - the surface seemed close - but disregarded it as too risky a prospect.
When all was ready - kelp retrieved, paste created, and both back in the Sanctum - Viren began his experiment.
To begin with, he spread the paste on only one hand, and wrapped it in kelp strips that miraculously seemed to retain their warmth. He left it one for the prescribed twenty minutes, and then waited.
When his hand suffered no ill effects - he understood how treatments worked well enough to have not anticipated positive results so soon - he deemed it safe enough to wrap the rest of his body.
It was… surprisingly pleasant. The warm kelp relaxed his muscles on their own, even if the paste did nothing. Or at least nothing noticeable. He continued the routine for a week, all the while fighting the urge to see the cecaelia.
He was not so pathetic that he could not keep his own word. Watching the faded memory crystals was purely to study the carnivore while not being observed himself, to see if there was a weakness he had missed.
Having his own memories, of course, returned some color to crystal's content. No more was Aaravos a silent sepia lecturer; the cecaelia stood out in full and rightful color, and his smooth, deep voice came in an unintelligible murmur. What struck Viren most was that the cecaelia never seemed to look at those who had recorded memories of him - he was always speaking to a room, never an individual.
The mer was so accustomed to those amber eyes boring into him, it was… odd to watch the carnivore without the intense gaze.
At the end of the week, however, Viren had to admit Aaravos had spoken true.
Changes were small - he felt less of an overall ache, and slept better. Any changes to his skin were too subtle to notice, but having grown used to the constant ache of his dark magic corruption over many years, even the smallest relief was obvious.
And so, with a few muttered curses, he returned to the mirror.
Aaravos wasn't on the other side when he first arrived. Viren waited several minutes, then made a few circuits around the room, cataloguing what it contained a bit more thoroughly. When the cecaelia still did not appear, the mer went and retrieved a memory crystal from his personal belongings to watch as he waited.
He used the small pit of sand in the room designed for making viewing more comfortable, closing his eyes and letting one of his own memories wash over him.
"Dad! Dad!" Claudia yelled excitedly, swimming ahead with her calico patterned black, gold, and purple scaled tail. They were closer to the surface, and light flashed off them as she darted about, "Dad. are we going where I think we're going?"
"That depends," Viren asked, voice uncharacteristically warm, "Where do you think we're going?"
"It's not somewhere scary, is it?" Soren - still so small, clinging onto one of his father's hands, asked. He'd taken more after their mother - blond hair and blue eyed. His tail was a mix of both of them, though - white and black banded, with patches of gold. Even though he was two years older than his sister, he was still timid and unsure.
Viren had given his son's hand a reassuring squeeze, "Of course not, Soren."
"It's the jellyfish fields, isn't it?" Claudia grinned back at them, "I'm right, right? Aren't I?"
"Perhaps," her father had smiled. She was right, his clever daughter - she loved the blooms of moon jellyfish. They hadn't visited one since Viren and their mother had parted, and Viren wanted to give his children some normalcy back.
"Don't jellyfish sting?" Soren asked, in mild panic, clinging to his father's arm more tightly.
"These aren't carnivore jellyfish," Claudia had teased, prying her brother's hands away and into her own, dragging him forward, "They're animal jellyfish! They're harmless!"
Viren felt warm as he watched them, and even chuckled when the blooms came into view and Claudia towed Soren towards one.
"I'm scared!" his son cried, gills flaring and thrashing, "Dad! Dad, help me!"
"It's fine, Soren!" Claudia pouted, letting go of his hands to dive through a patch of jellyfish herself, coming out unharmed.
But Soren had already swam back to Viren, crashing into his father's middle and holding on tightly.
"It's alright, Soren," Viren said, uncomfortably as he patted his son on the back, "You don't have to go in if you don't want to."
"But he's missing out on all the fun!" Claudia complied.
"Claudia," her father sighed.
Soren sniffled, and looked up at him, "Will you… will you go with me? Maybe I can…"
Viren sighed again, but nodded, shifting Soren so that the boy was tucked against his side. Slowly, he swam into the nearest bloom, and Soren tensed.
But the look of wonder on his son's face when they were in the middle of all the softly glowing jellyfish was worth any mild irritation.
"What are you watching?"
Viren came back to himself with a start, clutching the crystal closer to his chest in surprise as he looked over at the mirror.
Aaravos didn't seem to have his usual smirk - the cecaelia's face was carefully neutral as he looked out from the mirror.
"It's no business of yours," the mer snapped, letting the crystal sink to the sand. He could put it away later.
"You were smiling," Aaravos said, smug smile returning, "I was beginning to think you did not know how."
Damned carnivore, Viren thought, approaching the mirror anyways, "Perhaps it is the company."
The cecaelia chuckled, "Then perhaps I was wrong, and you are a masochist after all."
The mer sighed, and considered leaving.
Aaravos tilted his head during the pause, and said, "You look well."
"I do not," Viren huffed, never having an illusion that his true appearance was anything but disturbing, "But, since you are seeking, yes, I tried the treatment you suggested."
"And?" the cecaelia asked.
"And it is too soon to see if it is anything more than a twisted joke," the mer snorted.
Aaravos smiled in a way that suggested he knew Viren wasn't being entirely honest.
"Are you alone in your grotto?" Viren asked, wondering if the carnivore was as bereft of other company as he was.
"I am, and have been for some time," the cecaelia answered, and seemed to consider that, "It has been… hm, I do not recall how long since I spoke to another. Well, another that was not an angry dragon."
"There are other kinds?" the mer asked, arching a brow.
Aaravos smirked, "Not for you or I, certainly."
Viren… considered what to say next. The carnivore hadn't prompted him for any information in return for answering the mer's questions, but they were simple enough questions that it could be dismissed. Giving Viren the treatment freely might have just been a ploy to get him to lower his guard, to trust the crafty cecaelia.
"Are there many other cecaelia?" the mer decided on, not wanting to speak of magic when he could not use it.
"And I thought you did not wish to know me," Aaravos chuckled, then shifted before answering, "No - my kind have always been few. We do not band together, or raise our young. I grew up mainly on my own, traveling across the united Xadia, learning all that I could from any who would teach me."
"And to which Primal Source do cecaelia belong?" Viren asked, not bothering to argue that asking about the carnivore's kind was not the same as asking about the man himself.
"The Stars," the cecaelia answered, shifting back and holding out all four arms to display his sparkling skin.
"Hm," the mer said, feigning disinterest. He'd never gone close to the surface, none the less breached it. So while he understood the existence of all things above - how the Moon affected the tides, how the Sun provided light, that there existed a Sky - he hadn't seen them himself, "And what kind of magic can a Star being perform?"
Aaravos shifted back closer to the mirror, "Divination, among other kinds of Sight. Though this Startouched being has connected to all six Primal Sources, and thus can perform whatever magic he wishes."
Viren failed to hide his surprise, "All of them?"
"Why do you think the dragons did not simply kill me?" the cecaelia asked, "It is not something they could accomplish without great loss on their part, and so they saw fit to banish me - so long as I behave."
"And you do?" the mer asked, arching a brow.
Aaravos pursed his lips a moment, then replied, "For the most part."
"Why?" Viren asked. If he had the kind of power the cecaelia had… he couldn't even imagine what he'd do with it, it seemed so impossible.
"I have nothing to gain from a war with dragonkind - and all of Xadia would rally behind them," the carnivore shrugged, "Even one such as I hesitates to face such a formidable opponent. So, until there is something I wish, I keep my peace."
"... were you actually banished?" the mer asked.
"That is what they tell me," Aaravos smiled.
Viren huffed, crossing his arms, "How quaint."
"Are you jealous?" the cecaelia asked, resting his cheek against one hand.
"Of you? Hardly," the mer replied, lying.
"I only seem capable of making you angry, little fish," Aaravos said.
"You say that as if it were not your intent," Viren scoffed.
"It is not," the cecaelia said, eyes sparkling with mischief, "Though your belief that it is does not appear to stop you from coming to speak with me."
The mer huffed, looking away, "And who else would I speak to?"
"So you are lonely, then," Aaravos said, "I am more than happy to alleviate your boredom, little fish - considering your presence does the same for mine."
Viren made a noise of disgust and retrieved the memory crystal from earlier, "I am not some toy for your entertainment."
"Of course not," the cecaelia said, face mock sincere - before sliding back into his usual smirk, "Though you are entertaining."
The mer shook his head, leaving the room - though they both knew he would be back.