Senri dispassionately watched the flames erupt around him with a feeling of a dream seen far too many times. The burning odor of char filled his lungs with every breath when his fingers involuntarily clenched around the hilt of the sword. He jumped sideways when the scorched earth under his boots lit up, and from the new position, he smirked humorlessly toward the fountain of fire that erupted in the spot he left. Half-melted armor clung to his sides when his black tail wrapped along his thigh – natural weakness gone in surrounding him inferno when he crouched and bared his teeth toward the Primal.
"That's the best you can do?" He sneered, and his muscles tensed when the overgrown and fiery lizard roared in outrage. Ifrit – the so-called Lord of Inferno – braced on his front paws, and Senri shifted his grip, setting the blade of the sword in his right arm to rest alongside his forearm. He tossed the scorched shield aside a while ago, now using the freedom of his left hand to mockingly wave 'come at me' toward the beast. "Some god you are, hm?"
The Primal roared again and rushed at him across the burning field. Senri grinned – if there was no humor in it – and, at the last moment, dropped to the ground on the roll, letting the Primal's momentum be his doom. Despite the glove between his skin and the hilt, he felt the burn of metal melting when the blade sank deeply into the beast's underbelly and bit back a hiss when the burning blood rained over him. Ifrit screeched as he hit the wall of flames, and his fiery insides spilled like lava, further charring the blackened ground.
Panting raggedly, Senri watched the Primal trash as his flames rose. Red sprinkles of fire aether brightened the smoke filling the air, drifting toward the exhausted Seeker when he forced himself to crouch. Not daring to let go of a half-melted sword, he warily watched the Primal dissolve. Half-consciously waiting for another part of the too-familiar dream, he gnashed his back teeth when the towering beast burst with its last roar, turning into a cloud of luminous aether.
Red sparks in a wave rushed toward him, but this time, they didn't stop at the shiny lines of mark appearing under his feat. He had less than a second for a stunned intake of burning breath before the choking torture of too-hot air rushed down his throat and turned his insides into an inferno. His senses exploded with a torrent of pain when his skin erupted in flames, melting the charred remains of his armor. He might have screamed louder than dying Primal when red – not yet his favorite color – filled his world.
It seemed to last an eternity full of fire before his ears filled with the cracking snap, and everything – including him – froze. A tall, willowy figure laughed, dancing through the blue spires of the frozen flames toward him before wrapping her long and icy-blue arms around him in an embrace of a long-missed friend.
His eyes filled with tears that burned like lava when chilly lips brushed his cheek.
"Look at you, my friend," she whispered, rubbing her frost-bound palm over his scorched cheek. "I can't take my eyes off you for a moment, hm?"
"Ysale," A gargled breath burst out of his burned throat when his iced hands drifted toward the blue shine covering her shoulders. The thunder roared somewhere above when his fingers met the cold surface, and an icy torrent rushed through his veins, dousing the flames. "I m-missed you."
"I'm here," she laughed brilliantly, setting her dainty hand over his heart. "Where I've always been, Sen. Where we all are," she said softly and smiled softly when he sobbed.
Where his tears landed sprung a fountain, and the scorched earth under him bloomed with luminous Elpis flowers. They swayed in a wave among the knee-deep pond that soon rose around his waist. The shimmering surface filled with sparks of lightning when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, and Senri turned his head to look in familiar blue eyes.
"Can you yet smile, Senri?" Heurchefant grinned, then inclined his head toward the flowers. "They tell me you're ready to heal. To remember. Are you?"
His throat closed, and he could only shake his head when the sky darkened and filled with vibrant shades of blue.
"Liarrr," purred his own voice, and when his gaze swiveled toward it, Esteem bared its fangs from the identical face to his own, different only for the dark abyss of its shadowy eyes. Matching the swirling shadows that circulated its shape when the beast wrapped its clawed hands around his cheeks. "Therrre is no morrre rrrunning frrrom me, Senrrri. We arrre one," the menacing grin split its face in half when the ends of its black hair dimmed to gray, then turned in the purest shade of white. Dark abyss where its eyes should be filled with blinding light and its veil of shadows brightened to swirls of bright light aether. "No morrre darrrkness to hide ourrr crrrimes. Embrrrace it, Senrrri," the chill of its touch burned with sparks when everything but its bright eyes dimmed.
The Void surrounded them, with the shiny lines of crest below them. Lit up by the crystals set into circles forming the ward, he winced when Esteem forced him to look toward the one broken, dissolving under his confused stare.
The least of it remained; the brighter light up the others in a sparkling surge. Fire, ice, wind, water, earth, lightning, and light exploded into blinding pillars of colorful lights when the dark one's last shard crumbled into nothing.
"No morrre hiding," the Esteem purred, and its lights wrapped around him like snakes formed of the lights corresponding to the rising pillars. Then they dropped the surface of the crest and slithered toward the empty spot. They coiled into a pile of shimmering lights, then, with a last hiss, solidified into a new crystal. Bright for the shifting colors within, the final pillar rose to outmatch the others – and the ward under them exploded into a fountain of light. As it did, his senses dimmed, and then he collapsed on the surface and whined as the memories rushed in.
Yet, no pain followed. Bathed in shimmering colors tinting the frames of a forgotten chapter of his life, with a strange sort of detachment, Senri drank fully into Esteem. A taste of rage set over the back of his tongue, yet there was no icy darkness of his temper rushing through his veins. Like play on an extreme speed, he watched that monstrous creature tear countless faceless figures to shreds and felt nothing but rising calm.
"Not crimes," he chuckled to himself once it stopped, and he closed his eyes, turning to sprawl on his back on the ward, brightening to an empty void. "Justice," he breathed, and Esteem purred in agreement from all around him.
Then the void shook, and a new voice broke through.
"…enri...!" distorted noise made him frown, trying to place it among the swirling images filling the darkness under his eyelids. It repeated with a harder tremble running through his world, then grew louder and louder until it was a crescendo filling his head with music. "Senri!"
He opened his eyes and blinked with confusion toward the familiar face hovering over his own. The wrong set of eyes filled with relief when something warm touched his cheek.
"…aha?" he managed, and his throat protested with a spike of pain that helped to dissolve the fog that seemed to set over his head. He blinked again, trying to make some sense from what his eyes insisted on projecting when his hand shakily lifted to the face he was certain that he would never see again. "Raha?" the second time sounded more coherent when his vision grew blurry as his trembling fingers met the warmth of skin.
"There you are," the apparition breathed loudly, and that warmth against his cheek shifted to his neck when the redheaded male leaned in and placed his forehead against Senri's. He didn't dare blink, even when his whole body flinched when an unfamiliar voice filled his head out of nowhere.
What the…? He felt a push, then a strange sense of disembodiment when his senses were cut off from his limbs. "Something's wrong," his lips moved on their own. While he tried to understand it, the redhead lifted above him, blinking rapidly the pair of red eyes.
"Huh?" he was so close that Senri should feel his breath, but he felt neither that nor was he the one who groggily shifted his body and slowly rose to sit once the red-eyed ghost moved back to allow it. "What was that, Ares? Everyone's terrified out of their minds."
"I don't know," his voice answered when his hand moved on its own, and its fingers ran through his hair. Which he also didn't feel, and which set rising panic ever his mind. "Shit. Damon?"
The ruby eyes blinked, then changed, getting the strangely cold and calculating expression not fit for that face.
"What happened?" The soothing quality was gone, exchanged for a softer yet nearly scary lack of empathy, matching that unnerving gaze that ran over Senri's face when the redhead raised his hand toward it. The fingers brushed his cheek, yet he couldn't feel that either.
"He doesn't remember… anything," his body answered while Senri helplessly shifted in the void, trying to regain control of it. To feel that touch he spend years missing. Anger rose, and the abyss trembled. "Shit. Settle down, boy. Can't give you the control back in this shape, okay?" his arm moved on its own when his head turned, and his vision filled with something that looked like wooden walls. Some places were charred, and others shone with a layer of ice. Cracks shaped like lightning bolts ran over them, and his surroundings looked damp at the same time. "Your aether all over the place, Senri. You can't be trusted with the access to it right now."
"What do you mean 'he doesn't remember'?" hand wrapped around his chin and turned his gaze back toward the narrowed red eyes. "He's awake, yes?"
"Yes, and about to freak out," his body answered again with a heavy exhale. "His mind is chaos, Damon. Like a kaleidoscope of messy lights, and reading it is… difficult right now. But he doesn't seem to remember me, you… or anything else. He recognized Raha, but his eyes – your eyes – look wrong for him… so he's stuck somewhere between meeting him and before the augmentation. Whatever was that surge, it was really bad this time."
"You don't say?" the redhead drawled wryly, frowning with consideration while his hand tightened around Senri's chin. "It looked like he was having a nightmare?"
"Perhaps, I don't know. His mind is a mess, like I said," that was followed by his hand wrapping around Raha's wrist. "No less than his aether."
The loud sound made his body and the redhead flinch, and then both turned to look at the figure illuminated by the shuddering lights outside the seeming room.
"What the fuck was tha…?" the female version of Alphinaud snarled and cut off, staring at them while another, taller figure appeared behind her back. Unfamiliar Huyr with silver hair and too bright eyes took stock of the interior, and a worried expression appeared on his young face when he nudged the girl aside.
"Are you okay?" he said softly, entering the small room. "What was that?"
"No idea," Raha sighed, smiling when the boy kneeled beside him. "Did it spill over the ship?"
"Pft, you can say so," the girl huffed, stopping behind the silver-haired teen and folding her arms over her chest. "More like over the whole Twelve-forsaken sea, Damon. We were lucky Themis was here to shield everyone; otherwise, we wouldn't be speaking right now. Alphinaud is trying to keep them all calm, but… What happened? Is Senri alright?"
Watching her frown with barely concealed worry in her blue eyes, he finally remembered who she was. Alisaie, Alphinaud's identical twin. But at the same time… she looked far older than he remembered from their few meetings. Honestly, so did Raha when his eyes by themselves moved toward the redhead's scowl.
And why is she using my given name? We barely know each other…
"Physically, he's fine… at least as long as Ares is in charge of their body," Raha answered slowly, rubbing his chin while the red eyes darted between the girl and him. "My guess? It looked like his aether went out of control, manifesting in elemental magic. Ares's – and mine – aether is… different, so I propose you stay in charge until we figure out what is causing those 'surges.' This ship might not last through another event like this…"
No! He roared in the abyss, and it shook while his body outside of it flinched and groaned.Let me out! A flicker of memory sparked, and his rage mounted when he recognized what had happened to him.Fucking Ascian. Get out of my body! A kaleidoscope of images of Lahabrea sneering from Thancred's face bloomed all around him, and Senri snarled with outrage. The darkness lit up with colorful lights that thickened into a cocoon around his consciousness, and he lashed out in relax, intent on expelling the intruder.
"Holy fu…" his body vibrated then split, and Senri had a second of awareness of his limbs before he sprang into action on instinct. Putting his all into it, he grabbed hold of Raha's arm and tugged the stunned Seeker against the wall, then planted himself between him and the new figure sprawling in the spot he left. The Ascian groaned, then rose to all fours and turned shocked bright blue eyes toward him. Senri bared his teeth and seamlessly summoned his sword, pointing its blade toward the offender. Somewhere along the way, both teenagers jumped back toward the door, gawking, but he ignored them when the Ascian chuckled humorlessly and sat back among the charred blankets. "I felt it this time. Neat trick, Senri. But how are you doing this?"
"Felt what?" the redhead behind him moved, and Senri growled in a warning, using his free hand to keep him against the wall. "Senri, it's okay, Ares's not going to hurt me."
"It's an Ascian," he hissed hoarsely, glaring when his seeming double – if more Huyr-like – grinned at him crookedly.
"Technically only, and I know you can't remember it right now, but we were over that, boy. I mean you – and especially Raha – no harm. So lower your weapon and calm down, okay?"
"Like that's going to happen," he sneered and flinched when his insides clenched spasmodically. Senri let out a shaky breath that appeared as a mist when the blade of his sword was covered in ice that spilled from his hand.
"Uh oh," the only girl in the room gasped when the other teen pulled her behind him. A tall, willowy figure appeared beside Senri and hugged his side in a chilling embrace. Snowflakes appeared out of nowhere and swirled furiously in the interior of the room when the woman smiled serenely.
"Diamond Dust," she purred, sending a kiss toward the Ascian and everything froze, covered in a thick layer of ice.
"Huh?" Senri breathed in a chilled air, turning his stunned gaze toward her laughing ice-blue eyes. "…Ysale?"
"Shiva. Embrace us," she said, then turned her head to place a frozen kiss on his cheek. "We will protect you, Senri. You and all you hold dear. Encrusted in eternal ice, you'll never know loss again."
"No," he shook his head and closed his eyes. "It's another dream. No," he breathed, and his surroundings warmed. Warmer and warmer until flames burst over his skin.
"The loss is part of life," a rougher voice than his own growled, and his eyes opened only to meet the burning inferno of Ifrit's eyes. Red shards of aether rained over the ice, melting it rapidly while the much smaller and snake-like version of Lord of Inferno grinned his toothy muzzle filled with fire toward his stunned gaze. "So let it burn until naught remains… and be reborn," it burst into a ball of flames that turned into a bird of fiery feathers. Warm light bathed the present, returning life to their figures when the ice melted into a pond under his bare feet. Water gathered, then formed into another snake that slither over him to soon wrap itself around his shoulders. Forked tongue tasted the air before the triangular head of the translucent creature met his gaze with amused, reptile eyes. "Embrace the change. Flow, freeze and thaw, and prosper. As there's no longer the darkness to bind us."
"It's a dream," he protested weakly, then flinched when the snake laughed softly and motioned toward the new translucent figure as it took the shape of shimmering light, spreading its wings wide past the walls of a small room with a roar. Blinding light filled his vision before it all disappeared, and he fell to his knees with a groan, barely hearing the clatter of the weapon over his thundering heartbeat. He braced heavily on all fours, trying to catch his breath, when something warm wrapped itself over his back.
"I'm here," a soft voice – with a familiar soothing effect – filled his head and heart, helping his heartbeat find a correct rhythm. "I'm here, Snark. You're safe, my beast. I'm here," it muttered over and over until he calmed down. His vision swayed, and he closed his eyes against nausea, but the mess in his head gradually settled, starting to make sense.
He didn't know how long it lasted, but once he stopped shaking all over and managed to raise his head, he took stock of his surroundings with a confused frown. The first thing that caught his gaze was something unexpected.
Something that shouldn't be there.
"Ares?" he muttered hoarsely, scowling toward the apparition while he heavily sat back, smiling involuntarily at how his lover's body wrapped around his back shifted with him. Purring in a quiet reassurance, Raha wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, leaning his chin on Senri's shoulder. "What the…? How are you… out?"
The Ancient's bright eyes shone with a mix of relief and amusement when Ares granted him a crooked grin and shrugged.
"You kicked me out… so to speak, boy," he replied, and Senri scowled, then turned his confused eyes toward Themis and Alisaie, watching him warily from the position beside the open door of the cabin.
The cabin that looked like a storm rolled through it at some point. The longer he looked around, the more confused he grew,
"What's going on?" He finally asked, helplessly looking toward his always much smarter husband. Who sighed, then brushed his lips against his cheek.
"I don't know, Senri, but we will figure it out, okay? Just… don't scare me like that again," Raha grumbled, then moved away just enough to move around him. He muttered something under his breath, and thick, black material materialized in his hands.
"O-Okay?" Senri breathed meekly, watching his lover when Raha set to wrap the familiar blanket around his shoulders. Only through that, realizing he was naked, he flushed and pulled the material right around himself, tossing an apologetic look toward his best friend. Alisaie smiled in return shakily, but her eyes were bright with relief when she huffed loudly, then stalked across the small room to poke her finger against Ares's shoulder.
Who was also naked but seemingly wholly unbothered by it, wiggling his eyebrows playfully toward her scowl.
"So, is that like a thing now?" Alisaie asked, poking his shoulder again as her questioning gaze focused on Raha. "Senri can now, like… expel him? How does that even work? He feels pretty damn real," she grumbled and snorted when Themis moved in and pointedly pulled her back.
"It felt like creation magic," Ares chimed in, then frowned. "But… aberrant version of it. I can still feel him, but…" he shrugged again, clearly at a loss of words.
"But you're very obviously separate," Raha said, but the change of his tone easily betrayed the shift. Senri only looked between them when Damon set his hand on top of his head.
"Tethered, though," Ares replied, motioning his hand between himself and Senri. "I can see it when I focus. The previous time, it lasted a few bells, but now that… bond looks more he was angry when he shoved me out?" He guessed, rubbing his chin with consideration.
"Perhaps," Damon sighed, then smiled toward Senri despite the cold calculation filling his red irises. "This attack looked like something I found in vast stores of Raha's knowledge, though. His studies of the Allagan Empire, to be precise."
"Which is?" Alisaie asked, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Summoning?" Themis spoke up, earning her confused stare. He didn't seem to notice it, young face scrunched in focus as if he was trying to remember something. "I didn't look right… though? Not to mention that it's a forgotten art. Last summoners died out alongside the Empire."
"Summ…?" he muttered, trying to remember why it sounded so familiar.
"He found a soulstone years ago," Ares said and shrugged when others looked at him. "But you know how he is about magic. Never used it," he grinned toward him teasingly when Senri snorted, shifting under the blanket uncomfortably.
He had his reasons to despise magic. Childish ones, yeah… but still reasons. Frankly, he sucked at it, so he hated it with passion. Casters, too, for their superiority in something that always gave him a massive headache at best. Magic required patience and learning, which were never his strong suit. And it was slow, making casters easy targets to take out first on the battlefield.
"I see," Damon commented, tapping his hand over his head until Senri looked at him again. The immortal in his lover's skin smirked suspiciously toward his frown. "That doesn't change the fact that it could prime his aether to use it, no? Especially when something disturbed its flow."
"Disturbed?" he repeated, and his frown deepened. "I dreamed of… crystals. Like when I first became the Warrior, I mean. Ward in the void with the elemental crystals set in it… but one dissolved. And others rushed in its place…" he trailed off, watching Damon's fiery eyes narrow at him intently.
"Which crystal dissolved?" he asked.
"The… dark one," he answered hesitantly, then looked toward Ares. "That ward… I always thought it was Hyd… Venat's Blessing. But it's Traveler's Ward, isn't it?"
"Which you carry two of," the Ancient replied wryly and exchanged suspicious looks with his husband. "We know that each Reflection corresponds with elements that once – whole – formed Eitherys and the creation magic. Like First and light, and Thirteen… and darkness."
"Which is no more," Damon hummed, then sighed and shook his head. "Others rejoined the Source, granting it their aligned elements, but I destroyed the Thirteen. Assuming that it took two years for the darkness that was filling the Rift to phase through, it's logical to think that that process might just conclude. But with no more darkness seeping through…" he trailed off and scowled. "The other elements might spike to cover the created by its Warrior's by the ward primed to the flow of elements…" his eyes snapped toward the young couple. "Alisaie, call Y'shtola and ask how O'rahm is faring? His alignment is the strongest toward the darkness," he explained when the girl flinched. She then nodded and stepped out of the room, reaching toward her ear.
Damon nodded to himself, then kneeled beside Senri and wrapped his hands delicately around his face.
"Senri, if that conclusion is correct, you might have to rethink your… aversion to magic. That's likely what is causing those Surges, too. Other than a few small spells I've ever seen you use, it's simply not enough to release years of built-up aether, do you understand? You either embrace it, or you'll become a danger to your surroundings, to Raha, am I clear?"
"Y-Yes," he hung his head and swallowed thickly. "I would never hurt him, Damon."
"Not intentionally," the immortal pronounced mercilessly, and Senri flinched, closing his eyes. "For what I could see, those summons you call involuntarily care naught for those around you, my boy. They're manifestations of elements and your memories. So you must learn to control it, especially if the darkness is well and truly gone. By comparison, other elements are by nature volatile, and if you let them, they'll consume everything and everyone around you, looking for an outlet. And I know you, Senri. The last thing you want is to accidentally harm your friends, right?"
"R-Right," he exhaled deeply and opened his eyes, meeting Damon's calculating gaze. "So… how do I do that? Control it, I mean?"
"Lucky for you, we have at hand a real expert in everything Allagan," the immortal smirked, then let go of his face and turned, looking toward his husband.
"I'll get Hades," Themis chimed in and disappeared in a could of purple aether before Damon could even open his mouth.
"I do love my boys," Damon chuckled, then turned back toward Senri and tapped his finger against his lip when the former Warrior grimaced. "Don't pout. My son will have you managing those unruly beasts in a heartbeat, Senri."
"He's going to make it hell," he complained, and Damon grinned.
"Probably, but that will make the lesson that much more potent, no?"
"Damon?" Alisaie returned to the room with a deep frown on her face. The immortal's expression fell when he turned toward her and raised his eyebrows in silent question. "You were right. Y'shtola needs you. They're in Old Sharlayan, and it's…" she paused, looked at Senri, and winced, looking away. "…bad."
"Bad, how?" he asked when Damon sighed and stood up. He made to follow but was stopped by his husband immortal's stern gaze.
"You wait here for Themis and Hades, boy," Damon ordered, then hesitated and frowned, looking at his husband. "That tether… Earlier, you could move about the ship. Would it let you travel?"
"One way to find out," Ares sighed and stood up, simultaneously creating for himself an attire reminiscent of many outfits created by Damon for Senri. Upright, he seemed taller than him. Perhaps even taller than Hades, who normally towered over Senri. "Let's see…" he muttered, then disappeared in an identical way to Themis… to reappear a second later, soaked and sputtering water. "No. Not as far as we're from Old Sharlayan," he groaned, pushing dark and completely wet hair back from his face. "I was pulled short somewhere in the middle of the ocean."
"And had a bath, I see," Damon snickered at his husband's expanse, then shook his head when Ares sent him a glare. "Fine, I'll take care of O'rahm," he muttered reluctantly, sighed, and waved his fingers toward Senri before warping away.
"Hope they'll be okay," Senri sighed morosely, pulling the black blanket tighter around himself. He looked around after their baggage, and grimaced, seeing most of the bags stacked by the wall looked scorched. "Fuck."
"Couldn't put it better myself," Ares agreed, shaking his head and spraying the droplets of salty water.
Damon understood Alisaie's remark as soon as he landed by the Aetheryte in Old Sharlayan and looked up at the turbulent clouds overhead. Yet, the darkness ruling in the unnaturally silent and still city felt wholly far from anything that could be natural for this fragmented world.
What is this? Raha asked warily from the back of their shared head, and Damon grimaced, stalking through the thick air toward the path leading to Baldesion Annex. The pressure of power made it feel like he was moving underwater and distinctively poured from that building.
"It's an element you wouldn't be familiar with, Raha," he answered, grimacing again at the charged taste of the air. "Mostly because it's not natural. I mean, even back in our time it wasn't natural, boy, and you won't find a Reflection corresponding with it. It's something Erebus invented himself and what was promptly deemed too dangerous and shoved in Pandemonium. Like many of my designs," he stated hauntingly, scoffing at the reminder. "I still believe that Hepaistos was simply petty toward anything he would be hard-pressed to create."
But WHAT is it? The boy insisted, and Damon sighed, pushing open the door of the building.
"Abyss," he answered, and he let the doors slam shut behind him, breaking the oppressive silence ruling over the city.