Another chapter for you all! Many thanks as always to my loyal Patrons!

Neolithic Knuckledraggers: Acrimonius, Here_I_Am!, Maziel Montero, and Tempist
Bronze Barbarian: Luke Baccus
Iron Intellectuals: CyberCrisis, Dragon Guy, MouthyStorm, Razor McCutchn, Wandering Daemon
Machine Menace: Amanda Ellis

Remember, there is a TV Tropes for this story, so please consider updating it!

############################################################

Dawn Is Just A Heartbeat Away (Hope Is Just A Sunrise Away)

Chapter Three

#############################################################

A pleasant, deeply satisfying soreness and the warmth of two slender forms pressed against her sides welcomed Aeliana as she slowly returned to the land of the living, with the slow, comfortable laziness of a morning that didn't start with a rather large and brassy musical score. Not that she had ever regretted joining the legions, of course, but waking up of one's own volition and getting out of bed when one wished it was a delightful change of pace. The fact that she had convinced the twins to come to her room, rather than go to their own, was the crème atop the pastry.

Speaking of them, waking up between a pair of twins, she mused with a lazy smile of satisfaction, was a wonderful change of pace. She knew, just as they had said the night before, that this had been a one-time thing, and despite how enjoyable it had been, she couldn't bring herself to regret it much. The Soranus girls were obviously desperately in love with Varis, and while she found them beautiful and engaging…she certainly couldn't see herself forming a meaningful romance with them. Not least of which because events such as this were the only times they would ever be able to see one another, given their respective ranks and postings. That was no way to live.

Still, perhaps a little morning fun was to be called for, and she followed the thought by letting wicked fingers wander down taught skin to sharply pinch shapely bottoms, garnering twin yips of discontent from her no-longer-sleeping bedmates as they instinctively scooted away from the surprising, if brief, pain, their own hands swatting at the cause.

Unfortunately for all three of them, this was when Fate decided to intervene, in the form of a sharp rapping upon the door, made with what was clearly a gauntleted fist. Scowling in irritation at having her plans cut short before they could even begin, she slipped from the bed and padded over to the door. Opening it a crack, she stuck her head around the portal's edge and instantly froze.

"Good morning, Aeliana. I do hope I haven't disrupted your morning in any way?" Gaius van Baelsar asked blandly, raising one onyx eyebrow as he folded his hands behind his back, the many decorations and accolades he had earned over his long career decorating his dress uniform.

"Of course not, My Lord. I was simply, ah, having a bit of a lie-in after last night's festivities." She responded calmly, flashing what she hoped was a winning smile in his direction, but his only response was to raise the second eyebrow to join the first.

"Good. Then I trust the daughters Soranus will be shortly departing, so that you can prepare yourself? You and I have been summoned to the Imperial Wing. Evidently, His Imperial Majesty wishes to have a conversation with us, presumably in regards to the events of last night. We're expected to present ourselves in his personal wing within the hour." He informed her, tone even more bland than it had been previously, and Aeliana's smile took on a rather fixed nature as barely disguised panic glimmered in her eyes. Nodding to her, he took a polite step back and she withdrew, closing the door and leaning against it for a long moment, forehead pressed against lacquered wood as she tamped down on her fear and uncertainty.

"Unfortunately, ladies, it seems that our morning has been cut drastically short." She said finally, turning around to face her guests, feeling terribly awkward as she stared straight at the wall about two feet above the top of the headboard. "I have been summoned by the Emperor Himself, doubtlessly to chastise me for my actions towards His cousin last night, so I am very much afraid that I will have to ask you to prepare yourselves and depart. I greatly enjoyed our time together last night, and I sincerely wish you good fortune in winning the attentions of the man you love."

The pair stared at her for a long, incredulous moment, before there was a flurry of movement as all three scrambled to make themselves presentable. Aeliana was gratified and appreciative when the pair spent the barest amount of time on themselves, doing little more than throwing their rumpled dresses on, before helping her. Makeup and hair, her uniform with all its ribbons and decorations, were handled with speedy precision, and though she would hardly look her best, she looked a damn sight better than she ever could have in so short a time without their assistance.

Making her way over to the door and opening it, Aeliana gallantly bowed her two partners from the room with heart-felt gratitude for their assistance and their company, ignoring the knowing and affectionately exasperated look in her Lord's eyes, even as he impassively inclined his head at the instinctive salutes the twins gave him as they beat a hasty, mostly-dignified retreat down the hall.

"It is still remarkable to me just how libidinous you are, Aeliana, and how devilish your luck seems to be. The fact that you would end up in bed with Varis' personal guards, a pair of twins who have never been anything but dedicated soldiers, is one thing, but the fact that your dalliances and romances never seem to result in conflict…" He shook his head in disbelief as they turned a distant corner. "Had I not seen it happen, time and again, I shouldn't believe it possible."

Turning the opposite direction, he started to head deeper into the palace, towards the wings that few were ever permitted to see unless they were amongst the highest ranking and most trusted individuals in the Empire.

"I don't know about that, my Lord, there was plenty of conflict last night. Is that not why we are meeting with His Radiance today?" Aeliana pointed out, falling into step beside him quickly, the heels of their boots rapping sharply on the marble floor of the hallway.

"That had little to do with you as an individual and everything to do with Marius and his fiancé. It could have happened to any of the other young officers or nobility that were present. Young Aeneas was clearly looking to have someone's attention for a few hours to soothe the ache of his rakish behavior, and it just so happened that it was you. It was not your choices and decisions that caused the conflict, but his for being so blatantly unfaithful and hers for involving a third party rather than confronting him." He waved her point aside, dismissing it's relevance even as he explained his opinion on the situation, before glancing over at her and continuing with a more censorious tone. "That being said, I would have a care with whom you flatter and flirt in the future, lest it happen again. Perhaps ensure that your target of interest is, in fact, unattached? At the very least?"

"If you insist, my Lord." Aeliana conceded a bit impishly, before sobering and continuing in an uncharacteristically tentative tone. "Do you…that is, will you be required to forsake me, my Lord? Not that you shouldn't, if I have earned the Emperor's ire to such a degree, but do you think…?"

"I do not believe it will prove necessary. You might well be chastised, but I highly doubt it will be anything more than a slap on the wrist, if that. Had the Emperor truly taken offense to your behavior last night, he would not have permitted Varis to praise you openly nor take his own cousin to task so publicly." He assured her firmly, and though she exhaled in relief, a tension she hadn't even realized was there flowing out of her body, he continued. "That being said, I certainly will be taking you to task. We have already discussed your reckless flirtations, but do not think that the argument itself will escape discussion."

"My Lord, I tried to deescalate!" she protested, not disagreeing that she had made a mistake but wanting to make the record quite clear. "The moment I discovered Aeneas was his fiancé, I tried to return her companionship to him and withdraw!"

"You did, yes. However, you allowed yourself to be embroiled in an argument all the same. When he struck the young lady, you should have taken her in hand and led her to her chaperone before withdrawing. Instead, you allowed yourself to become invested with meeting him insult-for-insult." He took on the same tone he had always taken, with her and with the Cania Lupi, whenever he was teaching them something important. She opened her mouth to voice another protest, only to shut it again at a sharp gesture from her mentor. "I can see the thought in your eyes, that you were defending your own honor and were incensed by his treatment of his fiancé. This is admirable enough, but there are times when admirable or praiseworthy actions must take second-rank to discretion."

He had a point, she admitted begrudgingly to herself, dipping her head in slight bow of acknowledgement. Even if the situations were not quite the same, she had seen plenty of young bucks with more pride than sense and a desire to prove something get themselves killed too damn quickly because they decried common sense and caution as cowardice.

The rest of the walk, though it was but a handful of minutes, was done in silence. Almost immediately upon their arrival, a servant showed them to a small sitting room before informing her Lord that he was required elsewhere for the time being. There was little detail provided, and neither soldier could deny the impression that they were being deliberately separated. Still, obedience was the only thing they could do, and the young Reaper found herself standing alone and waiting.

After a good fifteen minutes of standing at something very like attention, staring at the door in trepidation, Aeliana's stoicism began to fall apart. She looked around the room with an awkwardness that she never would have displayed in front of others, feeling off-balance and adrift. Being summoned by the Emperor himself wasn't something she had ever imagined would happen. Though His Radiance had (through Varis) expressed support for her defense of the young lady Aeneas, she had still caused no small amount of conflict and disruption of his ball.

Even with her Lord's reassurances, the haunting possibility that he had summoned her mentor and herself in order to chastise her for those same events hung over her like a bleak fog, and she tried to convince herself otherwise. Surely the Emperor wouldn't bother doing so personally, rather than sending a seneschal or having her Legatus do it for him? The Emperor was surely too old, too regal, to waste his time yelling at a mere Tribunus Militum, surely?

Huffing to herself, resisting the urge to summon her voidsent's Avatar for company, her eyes swept the room again, looking for anything with which she could occupy herself. It was a very solemn looking place, even amongst the reserved lavishness of the Imperial Palace, and it was no library, but perhaps there was some small, frivolous tome she could inspect to take her mind off of the waiting…

She paused as her eyes fell on an enormous painting of the highest quality, higher than anything she had ever seen, even her in the palace. There were three people in it, each wearing long, flowing black robes, each with a beautiful half-mask hanging by its straps around their necks, each smiling at the painter to varying degrees.

The figure on the left is one she recognized well, for though his attire was different (alongside a few other things, though what those other things were, she wasn't sure. It was instinctual, not factual), it was clearly the figure of a much, much younger Solus zos Galvus. Young enough that this painting must have been made back when the Empire was still a Republic, perhaps back before he even became a Legatus.

The one on the right was a stranger to her, though he was handsome enough, with long silver-white hair despite his obvious youth and bright eyes that were filled with laughter. Indeed, it was his smile that was the broadest of the trio's, just as the Emperor's was the smallest, with a hint of wicked devilry dancing across the whole of his expression.

It was the third and most central individual that caught her eye most, however, for it was that of a woman. A beautiful woman, with hair the color of spun copper and eyes of a sharp, crystalline amethyst that somehow, paradoxically, seemed as warm and gentle as they did stern and unyielding. Aeliana couldn't help but draw closer, expression one approaching wonder as her mind almost absently began to fill with questions. Who was this woman, one that would take the centermost, prominent placement in a painting hung within the Emperor's own palace?

Something else caught her eye beneath the painting as she grew closer, and she focused on the mantlepiece beneath the portrait.

It looked almost…shrine-like, if she was going to be honest. Like the images of Doman ancestor shrines that she had seen on occasion. There were a handful of artifacts carefully arranged there: a ring, a pair of earrings, the hilt of a shattered dagger, a necklace. All meticulously laid out, without a speck of dust to be found, around a small, gold-gilded and engraved shadowbox. A shadowbox that contained what looked to be a single, cohesive piece of fire opal or sunstone, one that had obviously been carved with care. The symbol on it's face drew her closer, a large dot with a perfect circle (itself having two smaller dots upon it) around it. It looked, to her eyes, very much like the illustrations that her teachers had once displayed to indicate how the world and its moons orbited around the sun and one another.

There was something about that crystal, something about the symbol it bore, that taunted her memory. Like a dream, or a dream of a dream. So faint, so formless, that she couldn't even remember how or why she might recognize it. Still, whatever the cause, whatever the story behind this strange, ephemeral familiarity was, it existed, and it was magnetic. It was calling to her, and by unbidden instinct she started to hum a song near and dear to her heart. A lullaby, written back in the days of The Encroachments and the resulting exile of her people to the frozen wastelands of Garlemald. A gentle hymn of mothers to comfort their children in the cold of the night, to remind them that dawn and warmth would always return. A song her own mother had sung to her as a child, the song that had sustained her when he…

She shook her head, banishing those thoughts and memories back into the mental abyss they deserved to languish in, and refocused on the crystal. She was almost startled to see that the tips of her fingers were brushing against the clear glass that protected it, and she was very startled when an aged voice spoke from behind her.

"Ah, I see that you have found my little mantle of memories." It said, and she jumped before spinning around to find an amused-looking Emperor of Garlemald watching her from the far side of the room.

########################################################

Hades couldn't help but feel his lips quirk slightly in amusement at the startled, deer-in-the-searchlight expression that stole over the young woman's face when she saw him, and he could practically see the thought of 'how did I miss him coming into the room?!' washing over her mind. Doubtlessly followed by a less-than-flattering and incredulous wonderment that 'there is now way someone as old as him is that quiet' or something of the sort.

Of course, he had been in the room the entire time, he had simply woven a veil of aether over and around his physical and metaphysical presences. Gaius and the girl might both think she had been brought here for a stern lecture and ever-so-subtle warnings about picking fights above her social strata, but nothing that had happened the night before between Aeliana and Marius was of real interest to him, at least not in the way anyone might possibly imagine. Indeed, the only thing of relevance from the whole month, as far as he was concerned, was the discovery of a rejoined (even if only in part) Amaurotine. So, he had set today's events in motion, carefully placing the painting and the handful of artifacts he still held from those ancient days around the illicit Constellation Stone he had forged behind the backs of the rest of the Convocation. A trap, for want of a better word, for Aeliana. A snare to draw on her unsundered memories, the shadow of her true self.

He had watched as she had been drawn like a moth to the flame, first to the mantle and then to the Stone. Drawn with an interest that had, it was immediately apparent, far more than the idle interest of a bored and nervous young woman looking to keep herself busy while awaiting an important meeting. He had not dared to hope it was anything more meaningful until she began to hum that song. That blessed song, one that his dear friend had once composed and sung in Etheriys to comfort the children she met and helped in her travels, which he had without hesitation or shame co-opted to be a source of comfort for the children of Garlemald.

Fear not this night

You will not go astray

Though shadows falls

Still the stars find their way.

He shook his head slightly, banishing the faint, beautiful, painful voice to the depths of his mind once more as he gave the girl who must be Azem's reincarnation here upon The Source a warm, genuine smile, aged skin creasing and wrinkles growing more pronounced, and he was sure his eyes were twinkling in a grandfatherly fashion. She had resonated with the Stone, resonated with it in a way no one else ever had or even could, and the part of him that wasn't working overtime to contain his delight, his joy, was mulling over the circumstances with bemused confusion.

That his dearest friend, the champion of all that was good and just and heroic in creation, had been reborn as not just a member of a nation of ruthless conquerors who had little regard for the people they conquered, but became a member of the elite military force whose very core was formed by the idea of making soul-pacts with demons for power, power they then often used to assassinate and slaughter in the preparation for invasions. It seemed absurd, unthinkable. A cosmic joke of epic proportions.

He paused and thought about it for a moment.

On the other hand, depending on how one decided to look at the situation, she had been reborn as one of the champions of a people that had been victimized, hunted, persecuted, and driven out of their homelands for centuries. Returned as a member of a militant sect that embodied the virtues of self-sacrifice for the sake of one's people. Once again, a hero to the downtrodden. That would certainly be more appropriate for her nature. Perhaps that was the reason she had been reborn when and where she had.

Or perhaps he was simply justifying things to himself in an effort to assuage that conscience that he had never quite been able to dispose of.

Whatever the case, it begged to question: how would he proceed now? It went without saying that neither Elidibus nor Lahabrea would be particularly pleased to know that he had crafted a Stone for Azem's Seat, nor would they think fondly of their old comrade for her perceived betrayal of Amaurot during the Final Days. He resisted the urge to scoff and snarl with the ease of long practice. The rest of the Convocation had never understood Azem or her predecessor, never understood why they couldn't tolerate (never mind assist) with the sacrifices the Convocation had led their people in making.

So, if he could not, yet, inform his Unsundered and Restored compatriots that Azem lived once again, what could he do with the knowledge he now possessed? Making sure she didn't suffer any unfortunate side-effects, whether physical or to her career, was a guarantee. He would not tolerate the petty politics of a shadowy wretch like Marius wir Augustus laying low, or even harassing, so much as a fraction of Azem's soul, never mind nearly half of it. He was loathe to simply sit on the knowledge, to do nothing with it, not now that he had finally found her, but neither could he reveal the truth to her without the support of his fellow Unsundered. It would do nothing more than get her killed, and though she would likely die during one of the Rejoinings, perhaps several of them depending on how often she resurfaced from the Lifestream, he did not wish to be directly responsible for her death.

So, perhaps a partial truth, a hint of who she had been, was the proper course.

It would be…nice, to reminisce about his old friend with her new incarnation. It would be nice to be able to speak positively about her for once, something he hadn't been able to do much of for millennia.

##################################################