In the Closet

Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot.

Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while, but I swear I haven't given up. The next chapter is half done and I'm really enjoying writing it. I was going to incorporate it into this chapter, but I figured better to post what I have now and give you the rest as it comes.

Chapter 12: Dreamers

Kit glanced at Nita as they stood on the balcony, overlooking a throng of Wellakhit citizens. Nelaid and Miril stood in the middle, with Dari and Roshaun on one side, and himself and Nita on the other. Roshaun stood beside his father, and Kit was next to Lady Miril. It was amazing how, even if someone didn't look particularly like a person you knew, they could still remind you of them so strongly. Miril seemed so much like Nita's mom, her movements, her mannerisms. Nelaid was making a few opening comments, a very few. Neets had a somewhat blank expression on her face as though she was trying not to look too grim, and had to settle for not looking like too much of anything. He wanted nudge her in the stomach with his elbow, to make her laugh, crack a smile at least, but with all of those eyes on them…it seemed like a bad time. He settled for sending her a mental image of Peach sidling up Nelaid's arm to his shoulder, and biting Nelaid on the ear as she had so many times done to the two of them. Success! He saw her mouth twitch in the beginnings of a smile.

He shifted his attention to the front again. That was a heck of a lot of people. He wasn't anywhere near as sensitive at reading a crowd's emotions as Nita was, but even he could feel some hostility, and a lot of uncertainty. He leaned a casual hand against the stone railing of the balcony. You've stood here a long time…you've watched the people come and go…the faces disappear. What do you think?

The feeling they gave off was intense. The stones sizzled with the sound of a sun burning hotter than it ever should, scalding, scarring even them, burning so horribly bright, a grotesque distorted brightness not meant to be seen by anything living. It was all Kit could do not to reflexively shield his eyes. The rocks had been burned, had cracked, had been shaken. They remembered, and their memories were long. They knew it could happen again.

Roshaun was finishing his speech, a few words only really, to his people when Kit began paying attention again. "We will make things right, by the land I swear it. These wizards are friends of Wellakh, of the Wellakhit people, and of me. They have dedicated themselves to doing what is necessary to restoring Wellakh's temperament." Roshaun hissed to Kit and Nita out of the side of his mouth, ruining the perfect composure of his face for a split second. "Step forward and bow."

Feeling not quite as awkward as he would have thought, Kit stepped forward, holding Nita's hand, and bowed. All this bowing tonight, seemed like he was ready for a ball, oh wait, they just had one. Mission accomplished. He saw Dairine step forward as well, performing it with an air of authority or regality that he hadn't expected, even in her overconfident self. Nelaid, Miril, and Roshaun turned their backs to depart, the earthlings mimicking them shortly after. As they traversed the halls, Dairine remarked. "That could have gone worse."

"They're uncertain. Thus far they have seen you, Dhairine, depart with the Sun-Lord, bring news of his death, and bring him back to life. I'm still uncertain to whether or not that pleased or displeased them. I think they themselves are probably uncertain. Over the last months conditions here have been hard and worsening. Is it because the alien took him away? Is it because the alien brought him back?" He shook his head. "Time will tell. Yes, it could have gone worse. The three of you are clearly not Wellakhit, and they did not panic, fearing an alien invasion or that their Sun-Lord has turned them, as they might think." He let the tiredness creep into his voice. "If I have seemed unduly stringent in my emphasis on your making the right impression on the people here, it is because I know how much we all have to lose if things should fail, either on our own part or due to the Isolate's interference. The Aethyrs know that tempers here are not of the easiest to please, impress, or assuage. Will you still hold counsel tonight amongst yourselves?"

Surprising them all, Nita responded before Roshaun or Dairine could. "I have a hunch as to what the problem might be, and a number of questions to ask you, Sun-Lord-That-Was," Nita said carefully, using his proper title. "I just haven't figured out whether I ought to follow my hunch first or ask questions first. If I decide to try something first, will you be around later to talk?"

The Sun-King-That-Was inclined his head. "I can always be found."

Nita nodded. She might as well follow her hunch first, see where it led. The four young wizards broke off from Nelaid and Miril to conference quietly in Roshaun's room for a short time. Dairine gave Kit a rundown of what he needed to do for Nita while she was kernel hunting. In the meantime, Roshaun was trying to highlight the most important parts of Wellakh's history and relate the geography to Nita as she made notes in her manual. Roshaun and Dairine had some ideas of their own to check out—Roshaun still wasn't convinced about the problem being in Wellakh's kernel.

Nita went into her pup tent and put on her pajamas—she had no intention of wearing the nightdress that had been laid out on the bed. She couldn't believe the ribbons it was laced with, not to mention the matching bonnet that accompanied it. It rather reminded her of the one she'd seen Roshaun have on in the living room from time to time. Nita emerged from her tent wearing her favorite pair of sweatpants and a dark t-shirt. Kit had also changed in his tent and was wearing lounging clothes as well—a t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms.

"Did Dairine fill you in on all the details?" she asked, picking up her manual and beginning to rifle through it.

Kit nodded, sitting casually in the chair by the bed. "I'm supposed to pull you back if there's trouble here or if I think you're in trouble there, feed you power as needed. Keep an eye on your vitals."

Nita was checking the charms on her charm bracelet. They all seemed to be in working order. She looked over at him. "How long do you think you can stay up?"

"It's still early yet, I've got plenty of energy, but I'd say let's give this two hours. I'll bring you back after two hours. If you want to go back in, we can sleep for a few hours and go back."

She nodded, flipping through her notes from Roshaun one more time, trying to figure out where she ought to start. If someone was interfering with it, it had to be on the live side. If it was some sort of problem with itself…her bets were the burned side. "Fair enough." When she looked up, she saw that he had pulled down the blankets for her. She climbed into bed and he pulled the blankets back over her, tucking her in. She gave him a wry smile. "It's our first Friday night together as a couple, and we're trying to save the world. Why aren't we doing something new? Aren't we supposed to go on a date or something?"

Kit considered, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Well, we did go for dinner and dancing. And we're trying to save a different world this time. And if I were really lame, I could point out that I've got you in bed now." He shot her a cheesy grin.

"I'm so glad you're not that lame," she snickered.

He leaned forward to kiss her for a few seconds, breaking off the kiss long before she would have liked. He saw the disappointment on her face before she could hide it and laughed. "That's all for now. More after you've done some kernel hunting."

"Slave-driver."

With only a few more preparations on both their parts, they were ready, and Nita closed her eyes.

Roshaun and Dairine had transported themselves to a rather impressive lake on the live-side. The lake filled the crater they were on the edge of and ran down one side, forming a river that was one of the supporting water sources on the live-side of the planet. The lake was fed by an underground spring somewhere near the middle of the crater. The river didn't flow nearly as strongly now as it used to. Roshaun had thought perhaps there was an obstruction causing it to flow at a less than usual pace. There was no obstruction at the river's mouth, though they still needed to check the spring itself. "I'm surprised you didn't swear by Thalis. In your speech I mean."

"Thalis is unstable; we never swear by her. The land is far more reliable, or, rather, has been until lately."

Dairine was looking into the sky, gazing at unfamiliar constellations. "It is a strange world that doesn't have a moon."

Roshaun chuckled softly. "Dhairine, at what point did you ever think either I, or my planet, was merely normal?"

Dairine shook her head, laughing silently. He had a point. She stood on the edge of the crater as they tried to determine how to best examine the root of the spring in the starlight.

Nita found herself standing in Manhattan again. It'd be nice if her mind sent her elsewhere for once while kernel hunting. The beach. The moon. She shut her eyes trying to shift it. She wanted Wellakh. She opened her eyes and frowned. It still looked vaguely like Manhattan, but it was a reddish brown Manhattan made of a sort of dirt and sand in a lot of places. The last time a kernel hunt had been in some version of Manhattan had been when they were operating on her mother. She didn't need this right now. Unfortunately, Manhattan refused to give way to anything else and she was forced to hunt through this version of Wellakh. They'd definitely be doing a second run tonight.

She was in Time Square, which she took to mean probably one of the larger cities on the live-side of the planet. It felt so odd to be in Time Square and have it look and feel so empty. She sat down, trying to feel for it in a direction, any direction. The world felt lonely, devoid of anyone else in it. She knew that couldn't be the case. She was here. Wherever Life was, the Lone Power was sure to be lurking close by. The Lone Power was bound into all facets of creation. Despite whatever wizards or the Powers did, everything died eventually. It was an integral part of Life's finiteness.

She sighed, standing. She was either too far away, or it was too weak, or something was interfering with her or it. She began walking, dusting the sand off her sweatpants as she went. She tried for Central Park next, willing herself to be there, knowing that in this half-dream state, she might actually get there. She certainly arrived faster than she should have merely by walking. She found herself crossing a burnt wasteland. She could feel it only faintly, no matter how far she walked, or in what direction. Direction didn't even seem to matter. It never seemed to get nearer or farther away. She gave a frustrated growl, wrapping her arms against herself. Despite all the sand as if it were a beach, she felt cold. Well, she did know there were cold desserts… She had to think like Wellakh. Or like a Wellakhit. Where would Wellakh's heart be? It seemed they'd have to kernel hunt in the flesh.

When Nita came back to herself, she didn't answer Kit's question right away. She sat up, flipped open her manual, and began to record. "I don't seem to be on the right plane. I can sense it—barely—but can't reach it. Am I going about this the wrong way? Do I need both feet firmly on Wellakh to find it? It never got any closer or farther away. When I went into Darryl's consciousness I saw the world according to Darryl. What I saw tonight wasn't Roshaun's Wellakh, or Nelaid's Wellakh, or even the way Wellakh sees itself. It was a butchered version of geography I'm already at ease with and nothing like the land I'm looking for." She paused, looking up at Kit finally, shutting her manual. He was watching her as though checking her vitals, making sure she hadn't suffered any damage on her trip.

"I guess it's time to go kernel hunting," he said mildly.

"Has it only been two hours?"

"An hour and thirty-five minutes. You were shivering and looked really pissed off, so I brought you back early. Are you alright?"

She looked at him, smiling a little bitterly. "I'm alright. Shivering and pissed off probably covers it. I didn't find anything helpful, but I barely scratched the surface. Let's sleep a few hours and try again."

He settled backwards into the chair, watching as she set the alarm on her watch. "You sure you can handle twice in one night?"

She chuckled. "I'm up for it if you are." She noticed him settling in the chair to sleep. "Are you going to stay there?"

"By the time I find my way back to my room, it'll be halfway to the time when your alarm is supposed to go off."

She sat up, throwing one of her pillows at him. "I'm setting it for four hours. That's a full REM cycle. The bed is plenty big. You can stay here if you don't hog the blankets."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Positive." She started to worry then, wondering if she was a snorer. Or if he was. Maybe she should have thought about this more carefully.

He got up, planting a kiss on her mouth while his feet were still on the ground. When they broke the kiss, he walked around the bed to the far side and climbed in. He couldn't help making a wisecrack. It was just too good to pass up. "I can't believe you're sleeping with me on the first date…"

She elbowed him in the ribs. "I hope that bruises and I hope I do hog the covers in my sleep, El Nino." She gave the blankets a tug just for good measure and rolled over, facing away from him.

Roshaun and Dairine were both wearing wizardries that protected them minimally from the temperature, and entirely from the wet. A glowing light Roshaun had summoned led their way down to wear the spring bubbled out. The water bubbled continuously, and enough that they couldn't see it clearly. Roshaun made a displeased face.

What? Dairine asked, exasperated.

Roshaun was annoyed, though his face did everything it could not to show it. I don't know what the spring usually looks like so I can't tell if this is its usual flow or not. From the amount of water making it into the river, I would say not, but this is the first time I've investigated this myself, so I have no way of knowing if this is or is not normal.

Dairine was not above making an aggravated face at him. Then we need to find the wizard who is, in the morning. C'mon. Let's go back for now.

Nita groaned as her watch alarm went off, her fingers groping for the button, muttering at it. She opened her eyes and was mildly surprised to find herself facing a still sleeping Kit. She leaned back into the blankets and pillows, managing to turn the alarm off. She studied Kit's face a minute—it wasn't a bad sight to wake up to. It was rather a good one. He cracked one eye open and caught her watching him.

"Glad to see you managed to get that alarm off. It was driving me crazy."

She glared at him. "Why are you so much more awake than I am?"

Kit shrugged, unable to keep from grinning in the face of her glare. He rolled over once fully so that he was right next to her (not an easy task with a heavy layer of blankets on him). He tried to look innocent. "Can I kiss you good morning or do you already have morning breath?"

She rolled over away from him. "The sun isn't even up yet."

He sat up in bed and asked, "Do you want to do a second run tonight, or do you want to sleep?"

She groaned, sitting up too. "I want to sleep. We need to do a second run."

"Are you sure you're up to it? I don't want you going into this half dead and having something go wrong."

She shook her head. "These are kind of somewhere between practice runs and lucid dreaming. I can do another one. It's just…I went into this one thinking I was going to be looking at Wellakh and with all this geography crammed in my skull and I get there and it's Manhattan again. I don't know Wellakh well enough to know which places are supposed to correlate to whatever force made Wellakh look like that in my head."

Kit let out an irritated breath and Nita looked at him in surprise. "It was so much easier to get places with Ponch. If he was here I could just go with you and at least be there to bounce ideas off of. I should have learned to do things both ways…"

Nita watched the emotions flicker through his face—he was annoyed that he felt like he couldn't help, sad because he missed Ponch, angry at himself for talking about Ponch like he was a tool instead of his constant companion. "Different strengths, Kit. It's why we work so well together. Nobody can do everything, but…between the two of us, we mostly got it covered." She squeezed his hand.

He looked at her appreciatively and leaned back against the headboard. "What did you want to see Nelaid about?"

She rolled onto her side, burying herself deeper down in the blankets. "I want to know more about Wellakh's kernel. It doesn't seem like anybody is keeping track of it. Earth's planetary can't be away for more than a while. Roshaun didn't seem to know what I was talking about when I suggested something might be wrong with Wellakh's kernel. I mean, wizardry doesn't play by the same rules here—he doesn't have a Tom or Carl as his advisor. Just his dad." She blew out an annoyed breath of air between her lips. "Either they're hiding something or they don't know something that they really ought to know by now."

"How do you want to approach it?"

She sat up on her elbows. "That's just it. I don't know."

"Well, the words always come out of your mouth in the end, never fear about th—" He cut off as she punched his arm; unfortunately it threw off her own balance (trying to punch someone in the arm when you yourself are resting on your elbows isn't exactly the smartest move) and she landed back on the mattress with a bit of a thump. He snickered at her.

"You are no help at all, you know that?"

He just looked at her innocently.

"My point was that somebody must have done something to that kernel at some point. I want to know how long it's been missing—if it's missing and not just hidden somewhere. Planets can do all sorts of strange things without their kernel there to hold everything in place." She sighed again. "They can be over-written as easily as—"

"—as easily as your favorite pen edited The Book of Night With Moon after it was swallowed by a white hole." He smiled at her and this time it was his turn to squeeze her hand. "If somebody had it, and knew how to use it, I feel like they would have done something by now."

"Unless there were other things they were waiting for, and they were making small changes, biding their time…"

He nodded. "The monarchy has been in a bad way for a while. Maybe cause a drought, incite an uprising…take power quietly."

"Or not so quietly. If a wizard is causing the drought, he may be able to use the kernel to stop it without ever saying he started it. He presents himself to the people as the new Guarantor, the new savior of Wellakh." She groaned, rolling over and burying her face in the pillow. If someone was interfering, there was a good chance the Lone Power had a foothold. Exploiting someone's greed for power, or even a well intention desire to free the planet from an outdated and overly powerful monarchy and to a new type of government, and turning it into chaos would be exactly the sort of thing the Lone Power would want. Starsnuffer. He was patient. His plans for this planet had been ruined at least once before by wizards—and now the Lone One had personal reasons to wipe Wellakh off the map after everything that went on when Roshaun came to Earth, and when they went to fight the Pullulus…oh Powers. "I guess we need to go have a talk with Nelaid."

Kit took her wrist and looked at her watch. "You really want to get him up at this hour? I'm sure we could, but it might not be the most useful time to talk to him…then again, he'd be off his guard right now. We might get some more honest answers out of him now if he is playing games."

She shook her head. "It's a thought, but I think we're better off sleeping on it and making a game plan for tomorrow." She slumped back down into the mattress, already letting sleep wash over her again.