Author: While I've had a lot of trouble writing this lately, I thought you all might appreciate more being added - seeing as it is a new year and all.
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At last!
Hilde pulled herself over the edge of the cliff, thereby ending almost a day's worth of work. Too tired to stand, she crawled forward on hands and knees for a short distance before raising her head to look around. She was not prepared for the intricately designed structure that met her gaze.
If the sight of the cliff itself had awed her, the temple atop the prominence took her breath away. All the scrapes, bruises and tired muscles ceased to weigh upon her mind as she simply stared. Even Duo's arrival behind her did nothing to break the wonder of the moment. Only when a hand intruded in her vision did she finally break out of her awe and turn to look at the owner. Duo stood there, a grin on his face.
Hilde took the offered hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She started to speak, and then stopped as words failed her. "It's..."
"Uh-huh. Yep. All that and more." Duo's grin was tired, but still present. He turned his attention towards the temple. "Feel like moving into the shade?"
Hilde nodded, but hesitated as Duo started forward. "Do you think that they will mind?"
The shadow elf turned at her with a degree of confusion. "Who?"
"The gods."
Violet eyes sparkled and he looked like he wanted to laugh, but his voice was gentle enough when he spoke. "Hilde, the gods rarely use their temples for anything other than convenient places to gather their worshipers. Buildings are for the mortal races, those who reside upon this world. I'm certain that they won't mind us taking a rest under their roof. Besides, this is one place that has an open invitation for whoever wishes to come. You only need the will to make the journey; at least, that's what I was told."
"If you're sure about it, then I guess it should be okay." Hilde noted absently that Duo was still holding onto her hand. She gave a tired smile and leaned against him. "Help me walk over there?"
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The sun was beginning to break over the horizon again as Rastis trotted out of the hut. The wolf shook himself vigorously in the fresh morning air before loping off to make his circuit of the sanctuary. Miduniel's horse eyed him nervously, but Rastis ignored it as he passed beyond the cleared area and into the forest beyond. Today marked the last in the ritual of succession; if anyone wanted to stop them, there would be some last attempt before they entered the ruins.
Trowa appeared in the doorway of the hut, buckets in each hand. Silently he walked over and prodded Trevor awake with his toe, and together the two went off to procure the day's supply of water. Midii stirred after they left, as the sunlight awakened her with its touch. She blinked into the glare before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Steel Boy stood nearby, his nose buried in the plentiful grass that grew in the clearing.
The young woman watched her horse eat for a while, the stillness of the morning air bringing to her a sense of peace. All too soon she heard the sound of footsteps in the grass and reality returned. She stood up slowly, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders as she turned towards the water bearers. Trowa ignored her as he walked by and entered the dwelling. Trevor set his buckets down inside before returning to stand beside her.
"He is trying to come to terms with everything. It is difficult for him to realize that everything was not as simple as it first appeared. I had hoped that he would have been able to settle it before the trial, but…"
Midii shrugged. Whether he forgave her, or forever held on to his hatred didn't matter right now. She had her orders and would follow them, despite any hostility. The half-elf beside her sighed heavily. "…Forgive me, it would seem that those words are not needed right now. Would you perhaps desire to accompany us to the ruins?"
"Does he know that you are asking me this? After all, I could easily follow and betray your confidence at my pleasure." Midii grimaced and turned away from the hut. Her moment of happiness in the morning was fading fast, and the recent reopening of past bitterness threatened to overwhelm her again. A hand lightly touched her shoulder.
"Peace, Miduniel. He knows, but Quatre said that you were to be invited, and he did not raise any objections to your coming along. He is trying, and even if he still does not quite trust you, I know that you will not bring us harm." A shadow passed over the sun for a moment, darkening the clearing. "We all have to be present for the last portion of the ritual and it might be some time before we are able to return to this place. I do not know how long it will take us once we enter the ruins, but I do know that the wait here would be far lonelier than if you accompany us."
"I would not see you lonely, if you desired to be otherwise, Miduniel." The last portion was whispered, as if the speaker feared her reaction.
Midii stood quietly until the sun returned to the world. Slowly she turned and looked cautiously at the young man beside her. "I think if given a choice, that I would rather come with you. My mission is to find the Master of Light, and perhaps in time bring him to meet with my master. That would be best served if I stay close at hand."
A warm smile passed over Trevor's features. "Very well. I will inform the others of your decision."
Midii sighed and walked over to her horse. "Well Steel Boy, it looks like we'll be taking another journey." She absently tangled her fingers in the horse's mane while the animal proceeded on with his breakfast. When Steel Boy suddenly shied away, she stumbled and had to fight to regain her balance. Turning around to see what had startled her horse, she found the wolf walking through the clearing. It ignored Steel Boy as it trotted towards the hut, but stopped when it reached the door to stare back over its shoulder at Midii. When the creature showed no signs of moving inside Midii finally sighed and started towards the hut as well. "All right, all right! I'm coming."
Rastis let out a low growl and trotted inside. 'Pups.'
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They met in the clearing after breakfast with all their provisions. Midii stood off to the side, unsure of her place as the other three moved about the clearing. For a time Quatre stood speaking in low tones to his brothers while they marked out places around a circle. Afterwards, Trevor carried their belongings to the center of the circle, while Trowa finished marking out the six places equidistant around the circle.
"We're ready now, Miduniel." Quatre took his place at the head of the circle that was to form. Trowa took his place to Quatre's left, while Rastis lay down between them. Both the man and the wolf faced the center of the circle. Quatre pointed to the place opposite his own. "Can you lead your friend there?"
Nodding, Midii gathered up Steel Boy's reins and led the animal to the place indicated. Speaking softly in the horse's ear, she let the reins fall and stepped back. The animal stood stock still in place, and Trowa reached over and placed his left hand on its neck. "He will be fine."
It was the most words that he had spoken to her since the evening of her arrival, and she nodded. His piercing gaze held hers, and in it she saw something uncertain. Quatre's voice broke through the fog that seemed to have settled over her mind as he gently directed the last of the participants to take their places. Trevor guided Midii to the place beside Quatre, and then took his own post between her and Steel Boy. Quatre looked around the circle slowly before nodding once. "It begins."
The glade around them fell silent at the words, and out of the silence began a song. The voice that gave rise to the music was pure and strong, and Midii found her eyes drawn to the head of the circle. Quatre was singing, alone and yet the sound was beautiful. For long moments the sound haunted the clearing and then a subtle noise and another voice joined in. Trowa was singing.
It surprised her, the sound of his voice. A rich tenor, rising with words that she did not understand, he wove a harmony all his own. Beside him, Steel Boy snorted and Rastis made rumbling noises deep in his chest.
Quatre kept singing.
A light baritone joined into the song, and suddenly Midii found herself hearing a sound that compelled her to open her own lips. Her own soprano joined the music, though she still could not understand the words. The music flowed upwards as the circle completed itself. A brilliant glow lit up the clearing, and when it vanished, silence fell again.
In the silence a cicada sang from the trees beyond the clearing, a lonely song for the now empty land.
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Hilde awoke suddenly with a feeling of loss. It took her a few moments of blinking and looking around to remember where she was. The temple surrounded her, but she couldn't detect anyone else. "Duo?"
He didn't answer immediately, but her ears picked up the light whisper of his footsteps hurrying in her direction. "Hey Hilde, you feel up to leaving now?"
The subdued tone of his voice drew her curiosity and she tilted her head to one side as she looked up at the shade. He almost sounded tired. "Duo, what's wrong?"
"Not a thing." He smiled
"Are you sure?" Hilde narrowed her eyes as she took his hand to pull herself up. "You don't exactly sound like everything is all right."
"Well, I am tired. I had to expend quite a bit of power to pierce the illusion that covers the temple. But it wasn't like I had any trouble with it. I mean, c'mon! This is me that we're talking about." He grinned and winked, then winced at her glare. "…I guess I better show you what I'm talking about."
Duo turned and pointed towards the middle of the temple. Hilde's gaze followed in the direction that he indicated, and she allowed herself to gasp in surprise. A dais rose now in the center of the place, upon which a pedestal stood. The pedestal itself was empty.
"One of the legends told of a sword that lay in the one place that the gods held as sacred even to themselves. Until recently, it lay here upon the pedestal. At least, until a man drew it forth and gave his oath of justice to the heavens." Duo paused, lost in some memory or other. Shaking his head, he looked back at his companion. "While its disappearance bothers me, it could mean that when I do find the sword, I won't have to try to find the right person to wield it."
"I suppose that could be true." Hilde admitted. Suddenly her eyes narrowed. "Wait. How do you know that a man removed it? If you knew that, why did we come here?"
Duo blinked rapidly. A slow smile drew over his face and he waggled his fingers and muttered an incantation. The air in front of Hilde shimmered and drew together into the form of a man standing before the pedestal. His hands gripped the sword and he seemed to be speaking to something that could not be seen. The image faded as he drew forth the sword and turned to face her.
"That would be how I know that a man took the sword. A spell of seeing. Of course, the only thing that I can really tell from the impressions that I'm calling back is that he is a warrior. He already had a sword, yet he came to this place to find something that should have been impossible to see. Supposing that, he might also be a worker of magic, or a god-blessed - provided that they even exist in this day and age." Violet eyes narrowed as Duo frowned at his train of thought. "If there are god-blessed running amok, it might almost be as bad as the gods themselves returning to the land."
He turned his gaze back to Hilde, and his smile returned. "Eh, not that we can do anything about that right now anyway. My next priority is to get down off of this mountain before we have to camp out here."
"You game?"
When Hilde nodded, he led her over to the edge of the cliff. Once there, he took a moment to touch the rock face with his fingertips, murmuring to himself as he did so. He was shaking his head as stood back up, but still grinned as he swept Hilde back up into his arms. "Ready?"
She nodded. Duo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You might want to hang on tight."
And then he stepped over the edge.
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AN: One might wonder why I've returned to Duo/Hilde, and Quatre's company. This is for one simple reason: timing. There are many things in motion, and several will happen in the same moment. So, that's why I had to return here - to place all parties in their proper perspective. I hope that you all find this to do some justice to the tale, even if it isn't the Banquet quite yet. That part is indeed coming, it just needed a slight interlude for others to catch up.
Glossary:
Vampyre: Forsaken avatars of a dead god. They were former humans who sacrificed their soulsto a dark god in times long past in return for immortality and magic. This god led a war against the Shadow Elves because they refused to worship him as their patron deity. Vampyres were eventually sealed away, the god was killed, and they faded away into a myth.
Shade: (Shadow Elf) Common term used to refer to the Shadow Elves. With the disappearance of their cities, very few of this elusive race can be found in the world. They are commonly used as bedtime tales, as creatures of shadow with flaming eyes that haunt the hours of darkness. (Affinity: Earth, Fire, Shadow)
