Selene smiles as she steps off the aether ship and onto Shaanxi:3. Since mother Karen carried her as a new babe, she's treasured every moment spent with them. Along with their help dealing with her past memories.
However, there is at least one new species of mortal to see. She can't help bouncing on the balls of her feet as she stands by the ship's ramp.
"Hey sis, I see you're as impatient as ever."
Selene turns back to see her half-sister Lyasa walking out of the ship behind her, "It's so exciting, do you have any idea how long it's been since I saw any new species?"
Lyasa shakes her head in amusement, "Yeah, yeah, we still need to see the governor first."
Selene sticks her tongue out at Lyasa, "When did you become so serious, my apprentice?"
Lyasa puts a hand on her hip, "When you started behaving like a child again. Come on, you're millions of years old, linear time, can't you at least be a little serious for our meeting?"
Selene pouts as she spots the city on the horizon, "You know we don't count time spent in the sea. Anyway, there's the city."
Lyasa huffs as Selene steps through the intervening space, and steps after her, "What would mother Karen think of you?"
Selene sticks her tongue out again, as she casts her magic out in a nearly undetectable mist that easily covers the entire city, "That mother is far too serious for her own good. I've offered to clear the vows tying her to Earth so she can visit other planets, but has she accepted. On the bright side, there's some promising N8's that she thinks are ready for promotion. Maybe she'll let one of them take over her duties."
Lyasa pokes Selene on the nose, "You know exactly why she's staying on Earth, and it's not some duty thing. She still hasn't recovered from losing mother Petunia, or almost losing The Triplets."
Selene crosses her arms in a pout, "That's not fair. I'm going to see the governor now."
Lyasa sighs as Selene steps into the governor's office, even as she follows her.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
"What do you mean you don't know where she is? You were supposed to meet her at the ship as it arrived, and escort her here."
As Selene steps into the governor's office, she notices that he's on what seems to be a very important phone call. With a shrug, she silently conjures a comfortable chair and pulls out her current crafting project, a large lace tablecloth. With it levitating beside her she sits quietly as Lyasa steps in next to her and conjures her own chair.
"They disembarked a few minutes before you arrived?... Yes, yes, I trust the crew's memories, did they hear any cracks of apparition?... No, we didn't supply them with a portkey… Well, have you used any detection spells?..."
A slight movement in the corner of the governor's eye catches his attention. As he turns around he watches, mouth agape, as Lyasa plays two dozen games of cats cradle simultaneously. "…No, I'm still here… I think I've found them… Yes, they're sitting in my office doing handicrafts… Yes I'm sure it's them, we've all seen enough pictures of Selene and her apprentice."
Lyasa sighs, "When am I going to stop being just 'your apprentice'?"
Selene pats Lyasa's hand as the governor puts the phone down, "When humanity finally forgets the footage from the end of the sleeper wars. As for your actual apprenticeship, I've taught you everything I can that doesn't involve being able to travel the sea."
"I know, it's just. I wasn't even allowed to take oaths as an Elder of our clan."
Selene pats her hand again, "I know, I know, lets talk about it later. Right now, the governor is waiting on us."
When Lyasa turns back to the Governor, he sighs, "Your eminences, may I ask how long I was making a fool of myself?"
Selene waves the question off, "Don't worry about it. You sent out a call for emergency relief before shutting down the relay. What's the problem?"
The governor takes a folder full of parchment, and a clear crystal, out of a drawer and puts it on the desk, "It's all here, including a History. In short, the aliens on Shaanxi:2 landed a few days ago. We've since discovered that every single one of them has Prothean Syndrome. Diplomatically, we made matters far worse because we were in the middle of legimancy interrogation when it was discovered, so everyone in the building was emergency evacuated to Shaanxi:12, while the two magicals were immediately taken to sanctuary, and the senior magi started guiding them through the dream."
Selene looks at Lyasa to take the lead. So Lyasa sighs and asks, "What of the aliens in the building?"
"They were evacuated too. Though one of them, Adrien I think his name is, passed through with sidhe Siúsan and made contact with the other aliens yesterday." He taps the crystal, "That's when we found out that a group of humans robbed their…" The man checks his notes, "Flight leader. They also gutted a science vessel that crash landed on the planet. I've checked our local systems, but we don't have any records of them."
Lyasa nods, "Probably a member of Humans First, or a splinter group then."
The governor nods, "Indeed, and they also have an intact drive core from the alien ship. Apparently it runs on eezo."
Selene nods, "Our own scientists did some experiments before the full scale of the Mars Incident became apparent. They were hopeful it could allow faster than light travel, but our stocks of eezo were eliminated by the solution to the Mars Incident."
The governor shakes his head, "That's all well and good, but it's a nightmare for my office, as if they can fit the drive to a ship, we won't have any way to detect them if they leave the system. On top of that, I need to set up detection protocols all over the bloody planet, all the way up to sanctuary."
Selene interrupts, "You don't need to worry about sanctuary. They'll be dead before they land if they try to go there. Once the landing sequence is triggered, all ship board isolation fields automatically equalise to the current realm. This function is hard wired into the ships computer. As there's no such thing as a non-magical from sanctuary out, the virus will kill them very quickly. If they somehow manage to leave the ship before they die, we'll just bring a fist sized chunk of magicite to the area, and it will destabilise the virus."
The governor slumps back in his chair in relief, "Will the same solution work elsewhere on the planet?"
Selene nods, "As long as it's a localised outbreak, yes. If you get an outbreak in one of the cities, it's unlikely we'll be able to contain it before it's spread out of control."
"I draw up an order to increase the farming of flobber worms then."
"While we're here, I'll also see about helping a few of the sidhe to progress a realm or two. Though, this time, we won't take any children to the sea. We learnt our lesson with this little tyke."
Lyasa shouts, "Oi!" and conjures a foam bat to hit Selene with.
Selene laughs, "Two words, Prince Harry."
Lyasa tries to hit Selene again, "That doesn't count, I was a child at the time."
Selene grabs the bat, "Exactly!" Looking back at the Governor she asks, "Is there anything else we need to know?"
The governor shakes his head slowly, "Not from me. Oh, one mo." He shuffles through his notes, "Ah, here we go. One of my analysists said that because of their culture, the Nuremburg Defence is actually valid for them as a people. The other interesting point is that their language doesn't have a word for overkill."
Selene nods thoughtfully, "So, bring out the big guns as soon as there's a problem, then go back to the negotiating table. Well, then, we're off to the sidhe clan." Grabbing her lace making, Selene looks at Lyasa, "Race you there!"
As Selene disappears, Lyasa cries out, "No fair!" just before she disappears herself.
As he puts the paperwork away, the governor shakes his head in mystification.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Adrien is kneeling next to Siúsan in the centre of the clan lands. His eyes are closed, and his mandibles and crest spread as far as they can to allow him to keep cool. The reason for needing to stay cool is the amount of effort that he's pouring into trying to spread his magic out into the air around him.
As he's making yet another attempt to push, a stone hits him between the eyes. Immediately, he leaps to his feet, his sword leaping to his hand as his crest closes down to protect his head.
In front of him is a young sidhe woman standing next to a human woman.
The sidhe woman is bouncing another stone in her hand as she says, "You're doing it wrong."
Adrien's mandibles click angrily as he says, "How would you know!"
The woman shrugs, "I can feel it, you're trying to push your magic out. You'll never be able to feel anything if you do that. You don't force your arm to pick up a stone, so why would your magic be any different. Just let it out to do what you want."
As he's about to give another angry retort, Siúsan gently grabs his hand and tugs it. As he glances back he notices that she's kneeling on one knee with her head bent, and she says, "Titania, Goddess, thank you for gracing us with your presence."
Belatedly, Adrien follows suit and drops to one knee. As he does, the human woman sighs, "Oh get up both of you. You know that there's no Titania's in Hela's domain. Why would you think that would change just because we're visiting."
Adrien grimaces as the human, no goddess, looks his way, "Oh, and Lyasa's right. You need to be stalking prey, not driving it. Sidhe magic is all about it being part of you, and you part of your magic. You can't force it to work anymore than you can force a punch or force your limbs to move."
Adrien's crest rises in challenge before he remembers Siúsan's lessons, and that a Titania is the sidhe equivalent of a primarch, and a god is above that. Swallowing his angry words, he instead forces himself to say, "Thank you for your wisdom."
Lyasa smirks at him, "Well, I've heard much more subtle fuck you's before. But I think that's the first time I've heard one from someone who's actually trying to be respectful." She taps her chin thoughtfully, "Tell you what, Selene, you talk to Siúsan and I'll take big strong and grumpy here out hunting for a week."
Adrien opens his mouth to protest, but suddenly he's elsewhere.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
As Adrien finds himself on the edge of a forest, he crouches down and looks around for any familiar landmarks. As he spots Lyasa, he draws his sword, even knowing that there's nothing he could possibly do to her, "Where are we?"
Lyasa looks around airily, "Oh, about two months travel from the clan lands. Well past their hunting boarders anyway. Good luck hunting, I'll be around to make sure you don't die, but that's all. You won't see me anyway."
Adrien takes a step forward to protest, and Lyasa just fades from sight completely. In frustration he shouts, "You're insane, I'm not ready for this."
As he spins around looking for some sign she's there, all of his clothes vanish, leaving only his sword belt and a loin cloth. Throwing his hands in the air, Adrien stalks into the forest so that he at least has some cover.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Siúsan stares at the space that Adrien was just standing in. Then she spins around trying to feel him. He's still on the planet, she can feel that, but where? Something must be blocking him.
A gentle hand lands on her shoulder, "He'll be ok, my sister is very good at teaching stubborn people. I taught her myself."
Siúsan looks lost, "But why?"
"Because people like your bonded, they don't know how to let go. Petunia was exactly the same way with Sidhe magic. It took something like 20 great cycles for her to learn how to use it in a kata. In the end, she only learnt it because someone pushed her so far that she couldn't think about it anymore, and just do it. Lyasa was almost the same, but she had her sidhe upbringing to fall back on." Selene starts to head towards the village, "Now, my sister thinks this will take around a week, so is there anything you want to talk about while I'm making an expanded cabinet?"
Siúsan stumbles, then hurries to catch up, "An expanded cabinet?"
Selene shrugs, "Well, we're going to be negotiating for peace. So, if you want peace, then you also need trade. Otherwise you just have a ceasefire that will end the moment one side thinks the other has resource they can just take. Granted, it might come to that anyway. But it's harder to justify just taking them if you already have a trading relationship."
Siúsan frowns, "What if they don't go for it?"
Selene shakes her head sadly, "I don't really want to go to war against another race. Mainly because it wouldn't even be a challenge for us. We could just launch a lure at their populated planets, then the sleepers will take care of the problems. Of course, their descendants will hate us for thousands of years, as will many of our own people. But it solves the problem at hand. Long term, it's much easier to trade with them and make friends. Besides, expanded cabinets were the first magical product to gain mainstream attention after the sleeper wars."
Selene snorts with amusement, "After all, everyone wants more space. Of course at that time wizards used trunks rather than full sized cabinets. Now, are you ready to make your request?"
Siúsan swallows nervously, "I see… Um, well, I… I would like to join the Dark Walkers."
Selene stops and looks at Siúsan seriously, "That's not actually what you want though, is it."
Siúsan looks down at the floor like an adolescent that has been caught doing something they know to be wrong. "I… No, your right. I want to be able to travel through the mass relays safely."
Selene allows her more playful expression to slide, and looks at Siúsan as a goddess looking at a supplicant. "Would you be willing to take my mark. To be my eyes, ears, and hands in the galaxy? In return I will teach you the skills of a Dark Walker."
Siúsan looks up at Selene's face with a hopeful expression, "Thank you goddess, I will gladly take your mark."
Siúsan's eyes cross as Selene lifts a single finger and pokes her in the centre of her forehead. A moment later, Siúsan collapses in tears at the feeling of being touched by something so much greater than herself.
Selene kneels down next to Siúsan, and draws her into a hug, "It's ok, I'm here, and I always will be now. No matter how great that felt, it's something that you, yourself could attain. Though, maybe you should aim a little lower to start with, maybe become a Titania instead of reaching for godhood." Selene shrugs, "Though, I suppose The Triplets did it accidentally, so it's not like it's impossible. It's also easier when you have a bond to follow."
Siúsan wipes her eyes, "Thank you for your kind words. And thank you for giving me a goal to work towards."
Selene quickly reviews what she just said, and then sighs, "Oh well. The first thing you need to do is start meditating." She raises a finger in the air, "Not, I hasten to add, the way that you're used to. Instead, you need focus inward, as you're looking for your own magic and your inner world. You can't do this if you're concentrating on your body or senses."
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Several days later, Adrien lets out a low breath and forces himself to calm down. Almost since the piquat left him here his magic has been a constant companion for him. And, despite that, he's almost been killed by the wildlife more than once.
He breathes out again, since when is it fair that predators and prey can teleport anyway.
He breathes out one more to calm himself down, and his magic rolls our with his breath, blanketing the area around him. As he registers this new sense, he tenses up and the sensation disappears.
Despite his desire to chitter in frustration, Adrien instead clenches his fist silently. A lesson he learnt during the first days here. Here, there's no flock and no flight to come to his aid or provide a different view. Here the subtle noises his crest and mandibles make, make him a target rather than communicate to his wing mates.
Forcing himself to relax once more, he lets out a few more breaths, and concentrates on the sounds around him. At least the forest is no longer spooking him with its nonsensical echoes. As he does his magic rolls out once more, and he struggles not to tense and try to control it.
A faint rustle in the underbrush sends his crest rippling to try and locate the sound, and he tenses up instinctively. That new feeling vanishing just as quickly.
This time he forces himself to concentrate on his senses, on his surrounding, on where the noise is coming from. Not on what he's doing. Breathing out slowly, he lowers himself closer to the ground as his body is forced to relax. A second breath, and his magic blankets the area as his crest flickers to catch even the slightest hint of an echo.
A third breath and he can feel the trees around him. Not clearly, not yet, but better than before.
He hears another rustle, and his head snaps to face it, his crest rippling as it processes the echoes. Slowly he creeps forward, no longer looking at his surroundings as he just knows where to place his talons and feet. Somewhere in the back of his brain he's aware of the fact he's now holding his sword.
Suddenly, just like the way it happened during the kata, everything makes sense and it's like he's regained his species' sense of space, but better.
For a brief moment, he's reminded of playing prey and flight with his nest siblings. Where one child tries to hide, while the others work together to find them.
Blinking his eyes, he banishes the thought and slowly stalks forward focusing on his goal rather than what he's doing. As he puts one foot in front of the other, his movements smooth out and the sound of his passage almost disappears completely.
Spying an animal grazing on some vegetation growing by a tree causes Adrien's heart to speed up at the anticipation of a meal. This breaks his moment, and he steps on a branch.
As the snap echoes around the forest, the animal looks up and then bolts away from Adrien. Adrien lets out a single curse before he runs after it.
As he leaps over a fallen tree that it skirted around, his magic blankets the area and he knows exactly when it jumps and he tracks its teleportation. As it appears, Adrien does something and he appears facing its flank. As he brings his sword up in an arc, a spark of light flying from the tip and hitting the animal in the flank in mid stride.
As the creature stumbles, Adrien rushes forward and stabs his sword through its throat. Fortunately, the blow is fatal, and the animal only manages to stagger another two steps before it collapses to the forest floor.
Once he's sure it's dead, he staggers over and collapses beside the beast. With his sword, he hacks off one of the haunches and tears into it without any care for decorum.
Just as he's about to take a second bite, a person appears behind him. Without even thinking, he smoothly pirouettes to his feet, his sword pointing at the threat. As soon as he recognises that it's a sidhe, he relaxes.
Lyasa smiles at Adrien, "See, I told you that you couldn't force it. Think fast, where's Siúsan?"
Adrien doesn't even think as he rips another chunk of meat off the leg, he just raises his sword and points towards her. As he's chewing, the leg drops from his suddenly nerveless fingers and his head turns to look down the length of the sword, "But how? I know she's there…"
Lyasa walks over to him, and places a hand on his shoulder, "You already have the answer, but it's something you'll need to work through yourself. Are you ready to go back now?" Adrien nods, "And do you want to take your kill to share with your partner?"
Adrien answers emphatically, "Yes, I do…" then he sounds sort of lost, "But I'm betrothed."
Lyasa waves her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about that. It may seem like a long time now, but it will only be for 100 years tops. Siúsan will be around for at least another 70-80,000 years. Maybe longer if you both head towards the sea together."
Adrien goes to object, but Lyasa raises a hand, "When it comes down to it, in linear time, I'm already nearing 300,000 years old. Selene is close to a million years old if you're polite and ignore the time she's spent in the sea of magic. Several million if you don't."
Adrien gapes at Lyasa and she shakes her head, "We don't tend to talk about it around mortals because, to borrow a 20th century term, their brains tend to blue screen, just like yours is doing right now. God damn it. Ok, let's just get you home."
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
After several days of meditation, Siúsan was starting to become frustrated at her lack of progress. Meditation is something her people know well, as you simply exist as part of the world. But that's not working.
When she last asked Selene, she was told to picture a flower, flame, or something while she was looking for her magic. But even doing that, she made absolutely no progress on finding her magic.
Opening her eyes in frustration, she looks around the sanctuary, and the laid out circle ready for their heart room. Standing, accusingly to one side, is the completed cabinet.
Shutting her eyes again, she once more tries to see inside to her magic while she just exists in the world.
A few moments later, the touch of a talon on her cheek brings her out of her meditation. Standing in front of her, with blood all over his mouth, is Adrien. At his feet is some sort of slaugh beast.
"Are you ok?"
Siúsan sags, "Yes, no, I don't know. I feel like an adolescent struggling through their first kata. The goddess has consented to teach me, and that starts with finding my magic a different way to the sidhe way."
Adrien huffs in understanding, "I was having the opposite problem, I kept trying to find it, but I needed to accept that it was already there. As I've been struggling to get my magic outside, maybe you need to be pulling your magic inside. You know, like you did when we reported to my flight leader."
Siúsan looks at him thoughtfully, "I haven't, I'll try it later. Thank you."
Impulsively, she grabs his hand and pulls herself up to place a kiss on his lip plates. Once she leans back, she giggles at his nonplussed expression.
To cover his confusion, Adrien points at his kill, "Er, would you like some cooked whatever this is?"
Siúsan carefully pronounces the word, "Ceirw. It basically means prey slaugh."
Adrien's brow plates lower slightly, "And a slaugh is the result of the dark?"
Siúsan nods, "Yes. Every triple dark, well, there's only one moon here so I suppose it would be double dark. During the darkness, there's so much change and growth that they look different each time. I think the humans on earth used to give them names, but they change too fast for us to even consider it. Let's head to the surface, and you can let me know once it's cooked.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
While Adrien is preparing his kill for cooking, Siúsan sits down nearby.
As she pulls her magic in, she starts to feel uncomfortable due to not being able to know what's around her. While she's trying to meditate, her eyes keep popping open to ensure that she's safe.
Eventually, she turns to face Adrien. Knowing that he's nearby allows her to get a couple of snatches of meditation. As she finds that quiet place where she just is, she immediately notices that it's different in some way.
It feels like it's only seconds later when Adrien touches her cheek, and her eyes flick open in surprise. Immediately, the smell of cooked ceirw fills her nose and she smiles up at him.