The sun at dawn barely rose over the harbor of the Old Sharlayan, illuminating the massive statue of Thaliak beautifully when a delicate knock on the door of her bedroom woke up Alisaie. Considering she spent the good portion of the night chasing away the ridiculous thoughts of bright blue eyes and small, shy smiles, she blinked at them blearily and brushing back her long, white hair, sat up with a grimace.
"Who is it?" she called out when the knock repeated.
"Alisaie, are you quite awake?" she heard the muffled voice of her twin.
"Now I am," she muttered under her nose, rolling her eyes, then sighed and instead called back. "Yeah, I am. You can come in, Alphinaud."
The door opened only a sliver and her brother poked his head inside, raising his eyebrows slightly at her dishelved state but without much surprise – he knew she wasn't a morning person.
"Sorry, to wake you," he said with a hint of humor. "But apparently, you have a guest waiting for you in the lobby of the Annex."
"A guest?" he murmured with confusion, looking toward the timepiece at her bedside with a wide yawn. "At dawn? Seriously?" she deadpanned at her twin.
"Mhmm," Alphinaud nodded with his usual calm – and a surprising, slight smirk fluttered over his expression. "A very unusual, at that, I admit – as he has Y'shtola quite… fascinated, apparently."
"Huh?" she scowled, pushing back her covers and sitting at the edge of the bed.
"I stumbled upon them while heading to the main hall," her twin brother almost snickered – which in itself was surprising enough. "And your guest – a very young looking man with strangely familiar bright, blue eyes, I might add – seems was waiting patiently for you to wake up while Y'shtola stumbled upon him… and, well, you know her and her curiosity," he trailed off, frowning as she shot up from her bed with a gasp and rushed toward her clothes at the provided description. "You do know him, I take it?"
"I do," she snapped impatiently, then tossed him a glare. "Now get out, I have to dress."
"As you wish," he chuckled, then pulled back and closed the door, but not before adding innocently. "No need to hurry, though, we will keep him company while you change."
She downright growled under her nose in Senri's best fashion and set to wash and change at a rapid pace, almost on the run braiding her hair as she left her bedroom and headed down the corridor toward the lobby.
Pushing the door open, she fought to calm her heartbeat and take on a neutral expression… and yeah, her twin and Y'shtola had a somewhat dazed-looking Themis almost surrounded, chatting about something animatedly at him.
"Themis!" she said quickly, clapping to get their attention and almost snickered at the flash of relief in his bright eyes while Y'shtola downright tossed her a glare. "May I help you?"
"Ah, good morning, Alisaie," he said calmly, and with a slight, polite smile that sent her stupid heart aflutter. "I thought, we can continue where we left off yesterday…?"
"Pardon?" Alphinaud frowned, looking between them with barely veiled amusement.
"Your sister was graciously letting me help with looking into the rumors of the thief that stole… Warrior's daughter?" the young-looking immortal replied calmly before she could stop him and she almost cringed, seeing her twin narrow his eyes at her slightly. "Since Senri and his man last night headed to the past, I thought I'll wait and…"
"Senri did what?" Y'shtola snapped, looking at him with astonishment.
"Ah, sorry… you weren't aware…?" Themis frowned, then looked between them with some apprehension. "I know it was quite sudden, but I thought…"
"Wait, wait, wait," Alisaie said with a slight shake of her head, stopping right in front of him. "Backtrack, please… And we knew they were supposed to – but why last night, and not inform us?"
"As I said," he sighed. "It was quite sudden. Hythlodaeus woke us up a few hours… bells ago, saying that Hades felt a powerful push of dynamis against the barrier they created around the Source and they decided to speed up their plans…" he frowned, stopping and looking between them with surprise when seeing their confused stares. "Ah, did I say something wrong…?" he worried, looking toward her.
"Hade… I mean, Emet-Selch, created a barrier around the Source…?" she repeated slowly, bracing her hands on her hips and narrowing her blue eyes suspiciously at him. "To what end?"
He flinched slightly, then backed away and paled.
"Ah… you didn't know?" if she ever saw someone quite visibly 'cursing their big mouth' in thought, that's how Themis looked right now.
"No, apparently, Senri and Raha are back to keeping secrets," she drawled through her teeth, looking between her brother and friend with annoyance and seeing a similar expression in their eyes. Then she looked at Themis with a small, sly smile, and when he looked like he was about to bolt, grabbed his arm instantly and despite his slight resistance, grinned, pulling him toward the door leading to the main hall. "But since you seem so well informed of what they been up to… I'm sure you don't mind sharing the details, right, Themis?" she asked with a commanding tone and almost snorted a laugh when he downright wilted, but with resignation allowed himself to be pulled along. Y'shtola and Alphinaud followed, barely able to hide their smirks.
By the time Themis hesitantly finished the explanation of Damon's and Ares's plan to safeguard the Source against the despair incarnate while their hosts visited the past – and met up with them – Alisaie's mind was spinning with more questions than answers, really.
"Is there… any way we can help him?" asked Alphinaud softly, his face – so similar to hers – a neutral mask. "Emet-Selch, I mean," he added at the young-looking immortal's surprised look.
"I do not believe so…?" Themis hummed with consideration, then sighed softly. "Since this force… the dynamis is so much weaker than aether… Damon believed that their son's barrier should be enough – since, yes, Hades was always the most powerful of us… but in any case, Hythlodaeus is there to support him with his aether and in case it was not enough, I as well, hope to be of use to them."
"And the Reflections?" asked Y'shtola quietly, narrowing her eyes as she tightened her arms over her breasts. Standing in the middle of the massive room around their immortal 'guest' and basically interrogating him, Alisaie did feel back about putting him in that situation… if apparently, the very fate of their star didn't seem to hang upon a plan that was kept from them.
"Ref… ah, they believed that Meteion wouldn't bother with attacking them," Themis replied with a slight, reassuring smile. "I just came back from the First and over there, everything seemed to be in order. Since destroying the Source would pull along all of them in one swoop, Damon theorized that she'll focus all her effort on that – and that's why he had Hades and Hythlodaeus strengthen and keep track of the aether currents around the star while you were busy in Garlemald, I believe. Once he… brought me back, they told me that Hades as well used the massive amount of aether released upon Zodiark's demise for that – which, honestly, I do appreciate, since it was our people' will… to safeguard the star against this very thing. So, we are hoping that we can manage to keep her back until Damon and Ares are back… and we can figure out how to actually set against her and eliminate the threat once and for all."
"Hoping…?" Alisaie sighed, folding her arms over her chest and tilting her head slightly. "But you aren't sure, I take it?"
"It is… unprecedented situation," he admitted with a slight shrug. "And they didn't know what occurred in the previous timeline after the Warrior they met – who started all of this – went back. Damon believed that it… couldn't be good, considering the circumstances, but they had been 'scheming' and planning for this even before our world was broken… Actually…" he frowned suddenly, looking between them with a new interest in his bright eyes. "…if you still would wish to do something, I believe they said something of Senri and Raha needing to convince the… Forum, was it?... to induce them into their deal with Venat – and if possible, find out how are they communicating with her."
"Venat… Hydealyn, you mean…?" replied Y'shtola with consideration. "Can't they… I don't know, just find and have a chat with her themselves?"
"As far as we know, she resides inside the aetherial sea," the immortal frowned, with an absent look staring toward the massive map hanging on the back wall of the room. "And none of us is able to head there… without paying the price, I would guess, that would be higher than Damon and Ares would considering allowing us… Perhaps they could – assuming that their hosts' souls would keep them from slipping away and drowning in it – which would be most likely what would wait for any of us, Unsundered."
"I imagine, that's why she is there," Alphinaud said carefully, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Since, you know, yours have been working against her all this time…"
At that, Themis grew pale and dropped his gaze to the floor between them, clearing his throat slightly.
"I would assume so, yes," he admitted quietly, without looking up and with something like a… shame in his expression that instantly had her baffled. "I… I mean they, had no idea… Didn't know of any of this, and why Venat truly sundered and imprisoned Zodiark. He was to be our star's savior," he whispered somewhat ruefully. "The will of it made manifest, to protect the life we saw crumbling around us… The magic of our people going out of control and taking nightmarish shapes to destroy their creators… The bloody sky raining fire and death upon us… I thought… I believed when Lahabrea told me we can save them," he said numbly as if lost in the memory and none of them dared to move or say anything, even as she felt a bile rising in her throat at the sight of the expression in his eyes… so unbearably dimmed by the nightmare he seemed caught in. "Even when Ares protested and left the Convocation when they raised the idea of sacrificing half of our population to bring him forth… I stayed, hoping to find a compromise, as was my calling… To protect him and our… family… When Mitron begged Gaia not to become its heart, swearing his love to her… I took her place because I believed it was something Ares would do… protect love as it was so rare… and after… I thought… thought I can find a way to make them, our people, reconcile…"
She bit back as gasp as understanding dawned… and saw the same expression on Y'shtola's face when the Seeker's aether-clouded eyes hardened in a glare.
"I see…" she drawled, dropping her arms to her sides, when Themis looked up, blinking rapidly as if suddenly woken up. "I did think that your aether looks somewhat familiar… Elidibus."
He paled impossibly, backing away from them and dropping his gaze but not denying it… and Alisaie's throat tightened painfully.
"What is this…?" Y'shtola hissed, narrowing her eyes into slits. "Why make yourself look like this…?"
"I…" he hesitated, then sighed softly and smoothed his expression into an emotionless mask, looking above their heads with an empty gaze. "My apologies, Scions. I did not mean to fool you – but followed my peers' instructions. Considering our history while I was… broken, Damon believed it was the best course of action. I will not take any more of your time…" he bowed slightly and before she could think, her hand shoot out and her fingers wrapped around his wrist before he could warp away, as he apparently planned. He froze at that but didn't look toward her and his expression didn't even twitch.
"Wait… Themis," she said with power, tossing a warning glare at the Seeker when she opened her mouth to protest. "You said… there might be a way for us to help… what did you mean?" she asked, raising her eyebrows pointedly when he blinked and turned his bright eyes to hers, then to her hand, still wrapped around his wrist.
"I…" he cleared his throat, looking away, but didn't pull his hand free – and she didn't let go, despite her twin's narrowed look. "…it just occurred to me, that if while they are gone… if you could convince the Forum to procure their way to speak with Hydealyn, it could be… useful, that's all. Ares mentioned – knowing her as he did back in the day – that this whole… escape plan she build with the help of her servants seemed to him… too out of character. And if possible – when they're back – he wanted to have a word with this version of her…."
"I see," Alphinaud said slowly, then sighed. "Well, considering how much more cooperative they were – not to mention our father's apparent guilt over disowning us before, we could try to negotiate with the Forum through him… if it's really something that would be helpful."
"I believe so, yes," Themis said quietly, then looked at her hand meaningfully. "Now, if you please…?"
"I don't think so," she snapped back, then ignoring her friends' frowns, pulled him toward the exit of the room, earning his surprised gasp. "We're going to look for the thief, remember?" she added smoothly, then unceremoniously shoved the door behind them close, but not before sending her twin a warning glare.
"I… I didn't think you would… ah, still wish to remain in my company," the young-looking immortal wouldn't look toward her now, staring above her shoulder when she stopped and turned toward him.
"Nonsense," she waved her hand nonchalantly after finally releasing his arm, then rested her hands on her hips, bouncing on her heels slightly. "After all you said yesterday… Well, I did promise we will check more tips, right? So you can start to repay Damon and Ares, yes?" she raised her eyebrows pointedly.
"Ah, yes… but…" he almost flustered, staring at her as if he was completely at loss – which almost made her smirk, but with an effort, she keep on a carefully innocent expression.
"No buts," she said, raising her hand to point her finger at him with what she hoped was a confident grin. Then she hesitated, and exhaled slowly, dropping her hand and resting it on her hip again. "Just tell me, Themis, are they going to be safe…? Senri and Raha, I mean?"
"I…" he blinked rapidly, then relaxed visibly and frowned, before looking up toward the ceiling of the lobby with a slight – perhaps a little amused – smirk. "I do believe so, honestly. Before, when they talked about it, they seemed quite worried about how it'll go… meeting Damon's and Ares's past selves," he added quickly when she hummed with confusion. "But despite being quite… ah, too uncertain to question their ideas, I thought… Well, I still do think that they kept forgetting about something, but since, well, Damon restored my mind, I keep… sorting out throughout my memories and didn't think it my place to question them…" he sighed, then chuckled sheepishly when she didn't flinch, but only raised her eyebrows expectantly, tilting her head curiously. "They were worried about how that Damon is going to react to them, I mean," he explained, then his expression lit up with a downright blinding grin – sending her heart to pound furiously. "But I think, well… Damon I remember is going to take one look and… well, they are in for quite a shock, is all I think."
Damon quite resented being stared at – especially in his husband's company.
Literally, millennia after they blew their peers' minds by insisting on Bonding their souls – and together rising Hades to be a man whom many looked up to in awe for his talent and sensibilities – he found the notion of their people's tendency to downright gawk when seeing them together beyond insulting. And what brought his temper to the point of boil were especially the suspicious looks their peers didn't spare his husband – as if whenever seeing them side by side, they expected their insane ideas of Ares's compulsion over him to 'break' and solidify their notions of his character.
And there was no surer way to taste the bite of his temper than to question his lover's morals and ideals around Damon. Despite not quite sharing them – he admired Ares's soul in its staggering beauty and in opposition to their people – with all of his famed intelligence – he could see how his husband tended to touch upon the existence, even without realizing and simply… make it better.
Their little – chosen – family was more than proof of that, in his eyes.
And after a nearly full week spent mostly in their bed and upon the day of their anniversary – millennia since the day he caved in and finally submitted his heart to his lover's unyielding grip – to feel that, being watched, had his temper instantly spiked. Especially today, this year, when his husband yet again blew his mind utterly, stating he planned to resign his seat in the Convocation, naming one of their boys – Hythlodaeus – his successor and spending the rest of eternity at his, Damon's side.
And as the mere idea of once again having all of his beloved's time and attention for himself – like before his Ares agreed to take the Traveler's seat when Venat stepped down – made his heart simply sing with elation, somehow to feel someone staring at him seemed even more offensive than it normally did.
Especially when he was still busy trying to come up with a gift to match his lover's – and this time all of his intellect weren't helping him any!
So, while his Ares was busy charming the attendant at the entrance to Elpis – the place's rule requiring them to discard their masks quite amused Damon at first with the woman's apparent shock and awe at his husband's beauty – he entertained himself with the musing of anything that could bring his man as much pleasure as his idea brought him – and as he kept coming back empty and his irritation with that grew, the sudden feeling had him almost automatically turn his eyes toward its source… and he stared.
At first not quite understanding what he was seeing, he narrowed his bright, cyan eyes into slits – wondering if it was some kind of a joke… or something. There were two… things low on the ground, tiny and somewhat… translucent – and at closer inspection… his jaw dropped and a loud, embarrassing gush tore from his mouth involuntarily at sheer cuteness, startling his husband something fierce.
"Damon…?" bright, sky-blue eyes shot wide open, then followed his gaze and frowned with confusion. "What in the…? What is that? You made it?" his husband muttered under his nose, narrowing his eyes at the strange, cat-like… tiny versions of them, that seemed to gawk back at them, adorably holding their hands.
But what caught Damon's attention…
"Gods, who care…?" he gushed, then carefully neared the… things and fell to one knee, his enamored gaze stuck at the utterly, unbearably cute likeness of his beloved husband with cat-like ears and longish, fluffy tail – and dressed in an absolutely fantastic outfit, that he knew if their society allowed such blatant displays of individuality, would fit no less perfect for his lover's beauty. Only the eyes of the creature seemed wrong, feline and too pale… but he guessed if someone was going to make some sort of… feline familiars to their likeness – no idea why would someone…? But gods, that thing – staring up at him with very wide eyes and adorably waving its tail… looking sooo much like his Ares…
He was instantly, painfully smitten!
Completely ignoring the version of himself – though, why would someone make its eyes red…? – he cooed at the tiny Ares-look-a-like, wondering if the distinctive translucence meant that it wasn't corporeal – and it'll burst at the touch. He didn't dare, thinking it too adorable to destroy by accident, but of course, his wild husband did even think of that, downright falling to his knees next to him with a gasp and carefully poking his finger at the tiny version of his, Damon's, likeness – and snorting a laugh when it jumped back with apparent fright, its mouth moving… but it seemed too intangible to form words. Tossing it a quick once over – and deciding it less interesting than Ares's likeness – he turned his gaze back toward it and involuntarily gushed again when it seemed to fume at his husband now, protectively pulling the other small creature behind himself. Though as mute, the way it glared daggers at Ares and its mouth seemed to spew invectives – he heard his lover's amused chuckle at the display.
As flawed as the creations seemed – with its barely there aether and as if ready to burst at any moment – Damon wasn't above admitting that it was absolutely adorable, and whoever came up with that – even if meant as some sort of convoluted insult – deserved a reward for the creativity!
"Do you think it's Hades's?" Ares's question broke him out of admiring the details of the creature that caught his attention the most.
"Don't be ridiculous," he replied hauntingly, pursing his lips at his lover's silly idea. "With his command of the creation magic? He surely would make it more… there," he frowned, looking toward the creatures again. "Those look like they have barely any aether to go on… I do not know who or why… but, oh, isn't it just adorable?"
"More than a bit off, though," his husband hummed with amusement, but when he stretched out his hand toward it again, Damon caught his wrists and sent him a warning glare. "What…?"
"You're clearly distressing it, love," he rolled his eyes, then somewhat involuntarily sent the tiny Ares-look-a-like reassuring smile. "Don't worry, little one, he won't hurt your friend," and gasped slightly when it seemed to instantly settle down, then looked toward him and its tail funnily went wild again. "Gods… seems they can understand us. Can we keep it?" he turned his gaze at his husband, missing how the creatures startled at that.
"…keep it?" Ares blinked at him owlishly, then snorted a laugh, flicking him on the nose. "Damon, you just said, they look about to burst… Perhaps it's a timed creation or something…? I wouldn't get too attached, that's all," he shrugged sheepishly at his glare.
He hummed with consideration, turning his eyes to the things and rubbing his chin… and, no, nit pouting… but he could see his husband's point – not to mention he had no idea who would create something like that?
"Did you tell anyone about or visit?" he finally asked his lover.
"Only Venat," Ares shrugged, then gasped and looked a bit more carefully toward the creatures. "Wait… this one, that looks like me… it's so strangely weak, but there seems to be… What in the…?" he trailed off, leaning in harder and downright glaring at the thing.
"What..?" he hummed, staring at him with confusion.
"I swear… if I didn't think it's quite not possible, I could swear it carries my Ward…? And Venat's, too... Not to mention, despite their looks, they each seem to have two souls… and each perfectly matching the colors of ours," Ares sounded utterly confused when he turned his bright, sky-blue eyes to him. And knowing his ability to see souls, Damon turned toward the creatures with a new interest, quite fascinated by the mystery of it instantly.
"Two souls…?" he hummed under his nose, narrowing his eyes at the strange creations. "It's rare to make a construct with even one… but two? To what end? And is it what makes it so… intangible?" he leaned in, bracing his hand next to the tiny 'Ares' and looked it over even more carefully, not the first time wishing he shared his husband's talent as his mind raced for possible explanations. Small as it was, it looked harmless, but was it some sort of a… His eyes widened impossibly when the creature's eyes shifted to look exactly like Ares's and it rested its tiny fists on its hips, looking up at him with a too-familiar, crooked grin, its tail going even wilder.
"Hey, love," it stated – audibly – and when he blinked slowly with astonishment, its grin widened impossibly. "Gods… almost forgot the beauty of your eyes, Damon."
"What in the…?" Ares by his side muttered with obvious amusement and confusion, then using his surprise, used his free hand to poke at the thing carefully. "Hey, little one, watch it. This one is taken," he snarked, then chuckled when it sent him an amused grin.
"No offense," it replied with that grin, then turned its eyes to him. "Would you spare some aether, beautiful, to make us a tad… less tiny? As amusing as it is… it's quite uncomfortable."
Damon blinked again, collected his jaw, and snorted a laugh involuntarily, then grinned at the tiny version of his husband – a display of typical for him humor just too much to resist.
"Oh?" he hummed, raising his eyebrows slightly and letting his real, devious smirk slip. "And for such… what kind of a reward can I expect, little Ares?"
"A story," it replied with that too-typical, crooked grin while in Ares's best fashion wiggling its eyebrows playfully. "And one that, I swear, will blow your mind."
That did sound… interesting!
"Close your eyes, little one," he warned with a smirk, putting his fingers into a snap. "Or it might be a tad unpleasant…" he added, standing up and backing away while sending his lover a meaningful look. Ares complied without a word, backing away as well, and when the tiny creatures closed their eyes, he snapped his fingers, smirking as instantly they became tangible and proper size. Still quite a bit smaller than them, but they no longer look like someone's idea of a toy.
"Much better, thank you," the Ares-look-a-like chuckled, pawing and looking over his cat-like form, before looking toward his redheaded companion. "You okay, Raha?"
"Y-yeah, " it stammered, somewhat nervously looking toward him. It did look very much like him – if its hair was much shorter and those eyes… Though, he did like its outfit, as seemingly completely individual as its companion's. Its features were a tad less delicate than his and with some sort of… marks around the base of his nose – that the other shared – and around his throat, it looked quite amusing – especially when it took a deep breath and moved from behind his partner, pressed its hand against his chest and bowed to him, making Damon blink with surprise. "Thank you… and it is nice… to meet you in the flesh."
"Excuse me?" he frowned, exchanged looks with his husband then folded his arms over his chest and cleared his throat, then looked at the Ares-look-a-like while raising his eyebrows expectantly. "Well…? I believe I'm owed a story…?"
"And you shall have it," it assured with that trademark, crooked grin that had his lover chuckle and wrap his arm around his shoulders, looking at his 'imitation' with a matching grin. "Only, perhaps, somewhere more private…?" it added sheepishly, making a wide gesture with its arm toward their still-present peers, who looked at them with too-obviously shocked expressions. Damon frowned, then looked at his husband with an expectant stare – knowing that Ares was in this facility quite a few times before and knew it better.
"Think I know just a place," his lover winked, then them motioning for their 'cat-like' counterparts to follow, pulled him toward the door leading out of the entrance lobby.