~March 28th x800~
A warm breeze kisses the waves of the ocean, carrying with it the scent of the sea as it travels through Barberry. The sun warms the beach sand, and most of the residents have gathered at the shore to soak it in. The fishermen haul in their first catch of the spring, and their nets overflow.
In the Nightshade Forest, baby birds chirp and beg their parents for food, and Evander paces outside Henry's shed. It's been a couple of days since Henry started working on Evander's gauntlets, and approximately twenty-four hours since he kicked Evander out of his workshop.
("I can't think with you breathing down my neck! If you want me to finish them, get out and stay out!")
Evander can admit he'd been hovering, but he can't help how jittery he's been. He hasn't gone so long without using his magic in years. He can feel the heat in the pit of his stomach, like magma just waiting to erupt, but with no way to escape. It's maddening.
He's tempted to risk Henry's wrath and burst into the workshop when a blackbird lands on his shoulder and preens his hair.
"Hey," Evander says, encouraging the bird to step up on his finger instead. "I know you. What are you doing so far from the mountain?"
The blackbird whistles, then hops on top of Evander's head. Evander tries to get it to leave him alone, but the bird pecks at his hands and refuses to go. He gives up and lets the blackbird make a nest of his hair. Instead, he bends down and peeks through the shed's keyhole, trying to spy on Henry.
Suddenly, the door slams open, knocking Evander over as the blackbird chirps and flies away. The older man gives him an unimpressed look even as he holds out Evander's gauntlets.
"Yes! Finally!" Evander scrambles up and tries to take them back, but Henry moves them out of reach.
"These things were a pain in the neck to fix. If you get so much as a scratch on them, I'm going to kick your ass. And if you want me to fix something else of yours, you are paying full price. Understand, Brat?"
"Yes! Perfectly! I will be extremely careful! Now, can I please have them back?"
Henry huffs but hands them over.
Evander sighs with relief and slides them back over his hands. Automatically, it's like a missing piece of him has been restored. He makes a fist and calls upon his magic, grinning at the way his hand catches fire. He lets out a laugh and runs through the woods.
"DON'T START SETTING RANDOM SHIT ON FIRE!" Henry yells after him, but whether Evander actually hears is anyone's guess. After a moment, Henry sighs and checks the time.
"Shit." He says. He's running late. "Rowan's gonna chew me a new one."
Evander jogs into town, feeling the most like himself he has in over a week. The blackbird flies after him, chirping in displeasure as it tries to land on Evander but can't get a proper grip. It only calms down when Evander stops and knocks on Calypso's door, allowing the bird to settle on his head once more.
Calypso has dark circles under her eyes, and she leans against the door as she opens it.
"Woah… What happened to you?" He asks.
"The Equinox took a lot out of me this year. What can I help you with?"
"Nothing! I just wanted to show you.. Ta-da!" Evander holds up his gauntlets and smiles. Calypso smiles back.
"Good. I'm glad Henry could fix them. Would you like to come in for a moment?" She lifts a brow at the bird on his head. "Your friend can join us."
"Sure." Evander steps in, frowning at the floor. "You got a new rug?"
"Yes. Just felt like the room needed a change."
"It's kind of ugly."
"And you're kind of rude. Here," she hands him a mug of tea as Evander plops down onto the sofa. The bird pecks him at the jostling.
"So... How did this come about?" Calypso points to the bird.
"Don't really know. It just decided I was a better place to live instead of a tree, I guess."
"I see." Calypso reaches out to touch the bird, but it hisses and pecks her hand.
"Hey! Don't be rude!" Evander scolds the bird, scooping it off his head. It puffs out its feathers and opens its beak at Calypso as if trying to bite her.
"Feisty for someone so fragile, aren't you?" Calypso rests her chin in her hand. For a second, her eyes seem to glaze over. "Bird bones are hollow. It's what allows them to fly. Does that mean they're easier to break?"
"Actually, bird bones are stronger and denser than mammals. And it's more accurate to say they have pneumatized bones." Calypso stares at him, and Evander shrugs. "What? I listen when Ria goes on her animal rants."
"I see. How is Victoria doing? She and Catrina returned from some jobs recently, didn't they?"
"Yeah." Evander pouts. His gauntlets smoke a bit.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me you're still fighting with Victoria."
"She did something stupid on her mission again. She actually brought home an Ivory Serpent!"
"Oh my," says Calypso. "Did she say why?"
"It doesn't matter why she thought it was a good idea! She's a reckless idiot."
"Yes." Calypso sips her tea. "It seems to run in your family."
Evander pouts some more and chugs down his tea. The blackbird hops to his shoulder and cuddles against his cheek. He lifts a hand and pets it absentmindedly.
"Stubbornness also runs in your family, if I recall." Calypso sighs and takes Evander's empty cup. "You should at least try to make up with her, and sooner rather than later. I'm sure your fighting is stressing out poor Catrina. And Lina would certainly not want you two fighting."
'Be nice to your sister, Evander,' echoes through his head, and he winces a little.
"I'll admit I haven't been the most… generous with her lately."
"I can imagine so, with the pressure your family is facing." Calypso rests a hand on Evander's knee. "It's nearly over, though. Just a few more months."
"I wish it was done with, already. I hate feeling this way."
He leans his head back against the sofa and closes his eyes. His gauntlet's spark and smoke, and his entire body tenses as he works to keep his fire contained. The blackbird chips softly into his ear. Calypso moves to sit beside him. She strokes his hair and hums until Evander relaxes and his gauntlets stop smoking.
"How's your mystery girl?" She asks, purposely changing the subject.
Evander sighs, but opens his eyes.
"Still sound asleep. Apolla said she should wake up any day now, though. "
"Have you found any clue who she might be?"
"No. There aren't any nearby reports of any missing persons matching her description. We just have to wait until she wakes." Evander sits up. "I should probably check on her now, actually."
"Very well." Calypso finishes her tea. "Why don't you bring Catrina and Victoria after dinner tonight? I could use some help with the weeding, and I'd like to hear about their missions."
"Yeah. Alright." Evander stands and dusts his pants. "I'll be back."
Slowly, he makes his way back through town, lost in thought. He thinks of Ria, of the fight they had before she left and feels guilty he has thought little about it in the days since. He thinks how his first interaction with her wasn't an apology and his first thought wasn't to worry about her. Instead, all the anger he'd felt came flooding back, and he snapped.
"Damn," he says out loud, right outside Mrs. Moto's Bakery, while Mrs. Moto sweeps the front.
The little old lady glares at him, and he tries a smile as an apology. She shakes her head and tosses him a biscuit.
"You Phoenix Children never look fed enough." She says.
"I think you just like feeding us."
Mrs. Moto scoffs and goes back into her shop. Evander bites into the roll. It's fluffy and flakes perfectly in his mouth. He breaks off a piece and offers it to the bird on his shoulder. It whistles excitedly. Ria would scold him for giving it bread, but the bird seems happy.
He should find Ria and apologize, though, before he checks on the girl.
Evander walks with no proper goal in mind, keeping an eye out for Ria. Despite his intentions, though, he still ends back up at the infirmary. He supposes he could talk to Apolla and see if she knows where Ria might be, if his sister isn't already there and failing to flirt with the healer.
He steps inside, but the lights are off. He frowns, flicking the switch on and off. The lights refuse to come on. He shrugs. It's not an odd occurrence, though normally it happens in the main hall. Henry will probably be called to fix them later. In the meantime, Evander grins. He uses his gauntlets to cast a small flame.
There's a moment, an instant where Evander feels a shift in the air, as if something in the universe has changed. There's a tug in his chest he doesn't understand and the fire inside him sparks to life in a way it hasn't since he was eleven years old and fleeing down the beach. He thinks of his mother. The urge to run fills him now.
But the feeling leaves him just as suddenly as it came, as the girl in the bed jolts up and screams.
Far from Fiore, the angry ocean threatens to swallow an island so small, it doesn't have a name as a hurricane hovers over the sea. Lightning flashes, illuminating a ship with black sails, traveling in the storm's eye. Bandy sits on the bow of the Siren's Song, her feet swinging over the edge. She rips of the petals of white lillies, watching them sink into the sea.
"Aren't they running late?" She asks. "Maybe they couldn't get it."
"Patience, Bandy." Viper places his hands on her shoulders. He could easily push her overboard. "They will be here. Have faith in Master's plan."
"He's right, my dear." A deep voice speaks from behind them. "What meaning does your life hold without faith?"
"Welcome back, Master." Viper falls to one knee and bows his head. Bandy slides from the ship bow, and kneels on the deck beside him.
"You may rise," the man says. Viper and Bandy stand, gazes averted.
"Forgive me, Master." Bandy says. "I did not doubt you. I doubted whether Python and King could carry out your orders."
"They would not have been sent if I did not know they could, Bandy." He looks up at the sky. "Here they are now."
In a shimmer of sparkling light, a thin young man with brown eyes appears, floating just above the ship. He descends slowly until both his feet rest on the ship deck. Tucked under one arm is the body of a badly injured crow.
"Welcome back, King."
"Master! Python is hurt!"
"I can see that." The man holds out his hands. "Give her here."
King gently lays the crow between the man's hands. A soft, black light envelopes her, healing her injuries. The man sets the crow on the deck as her body grows and forms a young woman with brown eyes and shoulder length black hair.
"Thank you, Master. I was so tired of being a crow." The young woman says, shedding her feathers.
"Were you able to retrieve it?" Viper asks King.
King digs into his pocket and pulls out a golden bracelet. Inscribed on the inside is the name Moros Titanes.
"Wonderful." The man takes the bracelet, smiling as it begins to glow. "You did well locating this, Python. Lisbeth did everything in her power to hide it. Did she suspect you at all?"
"No. She thought I was just another young woman to add to her collection. Tricking her was easy." Python stretches her arms above her head. "It was hard to get the Phoenix Refuge mages to follow me, though."
"That might have been my fault," King says. "I told them she turned you into a swan, not a crow. I thought a swan was more sympathetic."
"King, what have I told you about improvising? What would you have done if your foolishness spoiled my plan?" Their master places a firm hand on King's shoulder. The young man winces as a bolt of pain shoots down his spine. "Fortunately for you, my contact was able to lead the girl to the bracelet."
"I'm sorry Master." King bows his head. "It won't happen again."
"I know it won't." The man kisses his temple, then releases him. "Krait! Bring me the snake! Adder! The rose!"
"Yes, Master!" The two quickly rush below deck. Krait returns with an immobilized chandelier snake, while Adder carries a preserved red rose in cupped palms. They kneel before the man, hands outstretched.
The man carresses the snake, plucking the scales that shimmer the brightest. Once he is satisfied, he tosses the snake into the sea. He carefully lifts the rose, blowing gently until the rose shrinks to the size of a grape. He breaks the bracelet in half, tucking one piece into his shirt, while rubbing the snake scales over the other. He chants quietly in a language lost to time. Black smoke flows from his mouth and his eyes, snakind down to engulf everything in his hands.
When the smoke fades, a golden necklace is all that remains. A pendant of a crystalized black flower encircled by a snake dangles from the chain.
He walks to the side of the boat and tosses the necklace into the sea. Using his magic, he guides in gently to the bottom.
"What do you think, Krait?" He asks.
Krait tilts his head. "The call is strong. She'll feel it as soon as she enters these waters."
"Excellent."
"Can't we plant it closer?" Bandy whines.
"If it were anywhere near Barberry, Nyx would sense it immediately, and vanish it. And Erebus would take it for his own plans. It must be out of their reach."
"But what if she doesn't come?"
"Don't doubt my plans, Bandy." The man snaps, and Bandy falls to her knees. She whimpers. "I will get her here. I already set the foundation. Adder, set a course for Fiore!" the man calls.
"Yes, Master!" Adder hurries to the helm of the ship. As they sail further into the storm, Viper steps closer to his master.
"You cared for Lisbeth, did you not Master?"
"I would not have made the bracelet if I didn't." The man rests his hand on Viper's head. "Don't attempt to be clever with your words. Speak your mind honestly."
"Why did you abandon her? Why not end the contract sooner?"
"Unfortunately, my care for her clouded my judgement; I did not notice she became a liability instead of an asset until my life was far too entwined with her own. Even then, I still cared for her, and it was out of mercy that I kept our contract. I believed I could leave her be while I furthered my goals, but she failed to meet my expectations. It was time to end it properly." The man sighs. "It was also quite taxing to create the Chain Bracelet to begin with. Why bother doing so again when I had a perfectly functioning one going to waste in the dirt? It proved far more beneficial to wait until I found a use for it."
"Indeed," Viper says, staring into the dark clouds of the storm. "I do find myself wondering what Lisbeth thought when you ended her contract after so many years."
"I can only imagine she was grateful I had acknowledged her once more."
The ship fully emerges in the hurricane's chaos, and all of its passengers fall silent in the wake of the roaring waves.
Several years ago, when Evander was just thirteen, he wandered alone in the woods. It was near the end of autumn. Most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, and the Nightshade Forest was a stranger to him. Evander doesn't remember why he was there so late at night; he was feverish, though, and half delirious. He heard a scream in the woods and ran towards it as fast as he could until he came upon a fox with its foot caught in a bear trap. It had nearly gnawed all the way through it's leg in a bid to free itself. Blood stained its coat and dripped onto the ground. When it made eye contact with Evander, it screamed even louder, and the shrill sound haunted him for years.
The girl's scream sounds exactly the same.
He doesn't know what to do. Caught. Watching her suffer again and again. His gauntlets smoke, and the fire in his hand grows. For a sick instant, the flames fill him with the desire to set the entire room on fire.
Did I incinerate the fox all those years ago?
He honestly can't remember.
Someone enters the room behind him.
It's the new guy. The one with the armor. Evander doesn't remember his name. Crunch? Crash?
No. Craish.
Craish makes a step in the girl's direction, and Evander grabs his arm, realizing a second to late that his gauntlets are still aflame. If Craish hadn't been wearing his suit, Evander would've burned him. The horror at the thought is like dunking his head in a vat of ice water. The fire in his chest subsides. He swallows and shakes his head to clear it.
"Don't." Evander says, surprised to hear his voice sound so wrecked. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was the one screaming his lungs out. "Go… Go get my Dad. Or Apolla. Please."
Craish looks back at the girl, obviously loath to leave a person in distress, but nods and rushes out.
The girl is still screaming.
Evander steps towards her, watching in awe as her skin transforms and hardens; First smooth as pearl, next shiny as diamond, then black obsidian. Only her face remains unchanged, frozen in a state of fear. She grabs onto her own hair and yanks. Her hardened hands leave scratches on her cheeks. At the sight of the blood, Evander snatches her wrists. The girl doesn't even seem to register he's there, still just screaming, desperately thrashing her hands, and fighting against Evander's grip as her body keeps switching from rock to mineral to gem, none of which Evander can recognize.
"Hey!" He shouts, but she doesn't hear, still trying to hurt herself.
Evander sits fully on the bed, and pulls her into his arms. He locks her in against his chest. She nearly headbutts him, but he just holds her tighter, wincing as she struggles against him, the sharp edges of her skin digging into his. His mind whirls, thinking about what he can do to help her. A memory surfaces of his mother holding Ria against her, crooning. He barely remembers the words and melody. He's not even sure the girl will hear him, or that it will do any good. Despite all this, he rests his chin on the girl's head, opens his mouth, and sings.
"Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
cielito lindo, los corazones."
He rocks her gently back and forth, and the girl slowly stops screaming. When he can't remember the words for the verses, Evander switches to humming. The girl collapses against him like a rag doll, heaving sobs and trembling, her skin returning to normal. She grips onto his forearms like a lifeline, and Evander's heart aches so much. He holds the girl closer and closer to try to soothe it. His hands tangle in her hair as she weeps against him.
This is how Apolla and Ajax find them, entwined like vines. Evander glares, eyes flashing red as he tries to impossibly tighten his grip. The girl gazes at Ajax with teary, black eyes. He feels an awful sense of foreboding.
Three years ago, I bought a nerite snail to help control the algae in my fish tank. Recently I learned the life expectancy for a nerite snail is one to two years, so I've been checking on them daily. They seem to be doing fine, but I also don't know how snails act when they're old. Their name is Snailington and they are doing me a concern.
Anyway, this chapter was actually much longer, but this felt like a more appropriate place to stop. The next few chapters are probably going to be around this length.
Sorry I haven't responded to PMs or reviews. I have been very busy and distracted with work. I'll try to get to them within the week. Not today, because I'm so exhausted my eyes hurt. I will promptly be going to sleep.
Thank you so much for reading! Till next time!