Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 12:50:56 EST Subject: To list: Fluff: The Joshua Chronicles, part 7 Ahem. Yes, it's been a _long_ time since the last episode of this appeared--but since people who've read the engagement fluff are wondering who cosi and Oolong are, I thought I'd better post this so you know. *smile*. If anyone needs a recap, or previous episodes of this, (I DO have this fluff complete, wonder of wonders), just let me know. When last we left off, Joshua's friend Alex (Hart, not Goldanias) had been killed by an evil mage; and Gideon had arrived at the funeral to pass on a note to Josh to call his friend Cosima in Washington... (reminder, this all takes place in 1994, before Hallowe'en of _that_ year. Okay, _you_ try to get everyone to write their episodes faster than this, *I* certainly can't...) ****** Joshua re-read the note in his hand once he was in seclusion with the telephone. "'Call your friend Cosima in Washington, DC'," he said aloud, unconsciously imitating Gideon's upper-crust accent and slightly archaic speech pattern. "I wish I'd been in on that whole conversation." He chuckled slightly. Cosima--Josh didn't know her last name--was not precisely a friend, not in the sense that poor Alex had been. He had met her through the other branch of his career--the detection of forgeries and the authentication of antiques. She was something of an expert in that line, herself, and had helped him with the research for the two books he'd published on the subject. He knew very little about her personal life, other than that she was the daughter of a wealthy Italian family, and she knew little about his. They preferred it that way, keeping their relationship on a more or less professional footing. Josh suspected that Cosima knew he was gay, but not that he was living with a lover. He wished he knew precisely how she had handled speaking to Gideon--the ever-reticent--on the phone. He had to look up her number in his little address book, since they did not stay in regular touch. Usually they met if they happened to be in the same city, or called if one had found something the other thought they might be interested in.Joshua concluded, He dialled the number, listened to the ringing. Then Cosima's voice, a bit breathless. "Hello?" "Cosima, hi. It's Joshua." Cosima breathed a sigh of relief, "Joshua, I'm so glad you received my message. I was worried I wouldn't be able to reach you when your... friend mentioned you were away on business." Josh winced. Cosima could be very diplomatic sometimes. He wondered just how much she had guessed. He outlined his buying trip for her, mentioning his client and her unusual taste in antiques. He carefully avoided the subject of the mage. He didn't want to involve another friend in this mess, not if he could help it. "There's more, isn't there?" Cosima asked. "Yes," Josh said slowly, "but..." "You don't want to talk about it," Cosima finished. Josh said firmly, "No, I... can't afford to put you in danger." "I'm already in danger," Cosima said cryptically, "but perhaps I shouldn't explain this over the phone." She added. "It may have some bearing on your search." Josh checked his watch. "I can be on the next flight to Washington in a few hours." "I'll meet you at National then," Cosima said. Josh said goodbye to his friend and hung up the phone, puzzled over her guarded responses to his questions. Something was up. So what had she gotten herself into this time? She had said there might been a connection between her problem and his buying trip, so it must have something to do with antiques. Had she encountered the mage, too? He shivered at that thought. But there was no turning back. Time to face the music. He picked up the phone and dialled the airline to arrange for his trip to Washington. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late. He was lucky, and booked a connecting flight through to Washington. It would be a puddle-jumper, but Joshua was used to those. He returned to his room and packed, then sought out Morgan to say goodbye. There were more tears, from both of them, and promises to stay in touch. Josh braced himself for painful deja vu when he got off the plane at National, but Cosima was very different from Alex. Although she did look slightly rumpled, which was very unlike her... something was definitely wrong. As he took his place in the passenger seat of her car, she glanced at him. "Rough flight?" It wasn't hard to guess why she asked that, Joshua thought. The residue of grief, fear, lack of sleep and worry must be engraved on his face and in his red-rimmed eyes. "Not really. Rough trip, though. I've gotten into something much more dangerous than I expected it to be." "Me, too." "Cosi--what's this all about?" "I don't know how to explain." She drove in silence for awhile. Then, ever so casually, "Do you know anything about dragons?" "Dragons?" Joshua raised his eyebrows. "As in mythical beasts? Those kind of dragons?" "They're not so mythical," Cosima said slowly. "They're very real." She drove across the bridge towards her fashionable Georgetown townhouse. "You probably think I'm crazy," she added when he sat in silence. "After some of things I've seen on this trip," Josh said, "I don't know what to think." He added. "But you're not crazy." "Grazie," Cosima said. She parked her car in the space outside her townhouse. He retrieved his bag from her car and they walked up the stairs. She turned to warn him, "But you may have second thoughts about my sanity after you've seen... him." She added. "Please let me do the talking. He can be very irritable." "As you wish, m'lady," Josh smiled weakly. It had been several years since Josh had last visited her Washington residence, but, nonetheless, he felt a twinge of nervous anticipation as she unlocked the front door. When they crossed the threshold, Josh felt an odd breeze, as if they had just walked into a different world. "Why do I have a feeling I'm not in Kansas anymore?" Josh thought. For her part, Cosima didn't appear to notice the change. Perhaps she was used to it by now. Or maybe she didn't want to talk about that aspect of this case. "So where is this person who I'm supposed to let you do the talking to?" Joshua looked around the living quarters of Cosima's place. "It's not a person." She sighed. "I told you dragons were real. I can vouch for this because I have one living with me." If she expected Joshua to laugh, or tell her she was insane, then she was disappointed. A man who lived with a vampire, a werewolf and an immortal of a strange race all under the same roof was not about to scoff at a dragon. "What kind of dragon?" Joshua asked instead. "Is it like the one St. George fought, or is it Oriental?" Cosima looked at him closely to see if he was making fun of her. he appeared completely sincere, and not as if he was humoring her or teasing. "It's Oriental," she replied. "I always thought they were benevolent, but that's before I met him." "Maybe you'd better tell me about it," Joshua said, sitting down at her kitchen table. "Let me make some tea first." She set about doing this, then joined Joshua at the table. "It started three months ago," Cosima began, "when I was scouting a large flea market in Chinatown. I had an Asian friend who wanted to find 'something old' for his bride-to-be. Something Chinese, if possible." "Sounds like a perfectly harmless request," Josh admitted. "Oh, it was," Cosima reassured him. "He wasn't looking for anything rare or bizarre. He just said something old." She sighed. "The flea market was the usual array of fakes and genuines mixed together. Even the less than respectable dealers knew me by reputation, even though I rarely frequented that particular market. Word gets around in our line of work, as you know." Josh nodded. He had had his share of problems from the rumor- mongers. Fortunately, this trip only had strange clients and blood mages, not angry competitors. "I found his present rather quickly in a tray of old unrestored jewelry. There was an old jade bead necklace that just needed restringing," she said, remembering the thrill of the discovery. "I had never heard of this dealer; he said he hadn't been in the country long. He was very helpful, even encouraged me to find something for myself. I think he was pleased by my choice of the necklace, because he said something about the lack of knowledgeable customers. He was such a nice old man I hated to disappoint him." Cosima poured herself another cup of tea. She was visibly shaking now, as if just the memory was enough to unnerve her. In between sips of her tea, Cosima picked up the thread of her story. "I don't know how I could have missed it the first time through, but when I was looking through some old vases he had on display, I found it, nestled in a corner where no one could see it." "What was it?" Josh asked. "A vase," Cosima replied, "about yea-high and extremely old. The paint was so faded I could barely make out the design, but I liked the swirling mass of color and patterns." She added. "There were some old faded Chinese characters painted in broad brushstrokes next to the design like an artist's signature. The dealer recognized the vase, though. He immediately started shaking his head, imploring me to make another selection. I could have any other vase I wanted." "So of course you decided you _had_ to have this one," Joshua nodded, well aware of the perverse urge of the collector. Someone begging him not to buy a piece would be sure to make him want to own it at any price. Well, perhaps not any more, he thought sadly, recalling the price he'd paid for a little incense burner... "Of course," Cosima's voice brought Josh back to the present. "The more he insisted he'd give me ten vases rather than let my buy this one, the more I wanted it. I thought he just wanted to jack the price up, but he seemed very earnest that there was something wrong with the vase." "You didn't ask for details?" "He wouldn't tell me. I finally bought it for an exorbitant price, and left with all sorts of warnings from the kindly old dealer. Don't try to decipher the characters, don't open the lid, don't let my children near the vase. He was a little shocked when I told him I didn't have any children." She almost smiled, then recalled the situation. "So I got my vase." "And you opened it." "No," Cosima said, surprising him, "I didn't." "You *didn't*?" Cosima said, "Well, even I was a little suspicious after what happened. Especially after my Chinese friend saw the vase and nearly flipped *his* lid. So I was careful. I tried cleaning it up, thinking there might be some clues under all the years of dirt and paint." She continued, pouring more tea and adding several spoonfuls of sugar. Joshua raised his eyebrows. Cosima usually drank her tea blacker than black. She added. "Besides, the lid was shut tighter than an airtight room at the Archives." "Did you test it?" Josh asked. "What do you think I am, Joshua, an amateur?" Cosima snapped. "Of course, I tested the vase. Nothing obviously wrong, other than its advanced age." "How old?" "Oh, about 5000 years, plus or minus a few millennia." Joshua gulped. Cosima smiled, "I was just as surprised as you were. I had thought the vase was old, not ancient." "The older it is, the better to have," Josh quipped her often- remarked motto. Cosima glared at him, "This isn't funny, Josh." She continued her story. "The dirt and old paint came off fairly easily. That should have tipped me off from the start. When something has been around that long, without proper care, it's usually next to impossible to restore." She added softly. "It was almost as if it was waiting for me." The air in the townhouse suddenly felt very cold. Josh nervously wondered if "he" was listening to this entire conversation. "Cleaning it up must have activated the old magic," Cosima continued. "The vase started to shake and rattle, as if something was stirring inside. Remember that lid that wouldn't budge?" Joshua nodded. "When the worst of the fireworks was over, it flew off, almost like a champagne cork going off." Cosima shivered at the memory. "And then he appeared." "The dragon?" Cosima nodded. " The dragon rose out of the vase, his coloring matching the design on the outside. He was larger than the pictures I remember seeing." "You said most Oriental dragons were supposed to be benevolent?" "They are," Cosima said. "And perhaps, he was once, before his capture." "How did he get into the vase?" "I'll have to let him tell his own story," Cosima said. She glanced at the time. "He should be awake by now... if you still want to meet him after everything else I've told you." Joshua said, "I think this will be a very interesting meeting." Cosima led Josh into her studio. This was where she worked her particular brand of magic: restoring and authenticating antiques for wealthy clients and prestigious dealers. The last time Josh had visited Cosi in Washington, she had been restoring a faded Pre- Raphaelite painting found in a small New York auction house. The painting had seen better days, with its cracked paint and faded colors. Nowhere was present the allure and romance that period was famous for invoking. When Cosima had finished her restoration work, the portrait of Cassandra, the doomed prophetess from the Trojan War, overlooking the Dardenelles, shone like a polished jewel from her long golden blonde curls to her white priestess' robe. Last he heard, the painting had been auctioned off at Sothebys for a considerably larger amount than if it had been sold in its unrestored state. The studio had been a fairly small room, with a pair of windows overlooking Washington's dark streets. Now he felt like he was in a cathedral; the ceiling stretched for miles. "Interesting redecorating job," Josh commented dryly. Cosima said, "That was his doing. After 5000 years being kept captive in a Chinese vase, he wanted some extra space." "But the house hasn't changed on the outside," Josh said. "How can you fit all this in one tiny townhouse?" "Magic," Cosima said simply. "He must be incredibly powerful," Joshua whistled. Cosima nodded. "I think you'd better meet him." She called somewhat nervously. " Oolong, come and be introduced." "Oolong?" Joshua raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you ever read _Tea With the Black Dragon_?" As Joshua shook his head, reality shimmered. The air seemed to coalesce into sparkling nodes of light that danced with several dimensions before settling down to become scales on a sinuous form. There was a faint, tantalizing scent of magic that crackled in the stillness. And then there was the dragon. It looked exactly like every other Oriental dragon Joshua had seen portrayed on pottery or screens or fans, or carved in wood or jade. But those representations did not do this creature justice. It was incredibly beautiful, and infinitely dangerous. He sat down, hard, on the nearest surface that would take his weight. "Wow," he said softly. "Oh, wow." The dragon turned its head towards Joshua, its long whiskers brushing the human lightly. He was drawn by the great golden whirling eyes that regarded him solemnly. "You admire me?" Oolong asked. Its voice was the slither of a scaled belly across a smooth surface, the steam of jasmine tea escaping from a pot, the breath of ancient mornings. It did not speak so much as it exhaled. "You may touch me." Joshua gulped and reached out hesitantly, stroking the offered sinuous neck of the dragon. He was astounded at the soft, liquid texture under his hands, not at all leathery or armoured. "Wow," he said again. "Oolong, this is my friend Joshua," Cosi said. "Friend Joshua." The dragon nodded its head. "How... how could anything this magnificent be trapped in a vase?" Joshua murmured. The dragon reared up, its head brushing Cosi's renovated ceiling. Joshua began to understand why the dragon had redecorated. "How came I there?" it repeated with a shake of its tail that dislodged some of Cosima's supplies. Over Cosima's gasp, Oolong said, "I was tricked!" "Tricked?" "By a mage. I was a free dragon, like the others, revelling in the winds and the rains. But I enjoyed watching the humans, and sometimes helping them, as was the perogative of my kind. The mage fascinated me. He could turn the waves into birds, the rain into flowers; and I wished to learn. He offered to teach me his magics. I who have more magic than any human could hold was lured by a petty magician's poor illusions. I could not make the rain turn into flowers. He told me that he could teach me this, if I could make myself small enough to pass unnoticed amongst his fellow wizards. I consented, and he made that vase to carry me to my lessons. It is a prison where, once confined, I was impelled to do the bidding of the mage. Whoever owned the vase afterwards owned me. Until Friend Cosima here set me free." "But how...?" "I don't know," Cosi sighed, "and neither does Oolong. Something I did broke the mage's spell, but we don't know what. I'm sure I didn't do anything previous owners didn't try." "Guess you're not really a handsome prince ensorcelled, hm?" Joshua asked Oolong, a bit shakily. "I am a dragon," stated Oolong, his voice shaking the studio and making Cosima wince again. "What more need I be?" "Nothing more, I guess," said Joshua lamely. "For pity's sake, don't try to play matchmaker," Cosi hissed at him. "Oolong and I are not a compatible couple." "I am not ungrateful for my release," said the dragon with great dignity. "And I have conferred a gift upon you." The dragon studied Joshua. "A gift that perhaps you also need, Friend Joshua." At this announcement, Cosima turned away, eyes far away from this studio. What had the dragon said? A gift? "What gift?" Josh asked his friend. Briefly she turned back, shrugging. "Unless it's renovating my studio, I don't know." "Friend Joshua," Oolong said. "Mortal, your song draws near a discord. Let it not have such a sad note. Music should be eternal. I would make yours linger, for it is pleasing." "Uh, what's he talking about?" Josh sotto-voiced to Cosima. Another head shake. "I have no idea." But something in her body language suggested otherwise. What was she hiding? "I don't understand, Oolong," Joshua said boldly. "Can you explain what you mean?" "I would give you the gift of immortal life." Joshua gulped, blinking and swallowing this newest piece of information. Cosima twisted her ring in a nervous gesture, but said nothing. "I don't deserve such a gift," he objected. "You are worthy," the dragon grumbled. "Friend of my liberator, do you wish this gift or no?" "I can't just say 'yes' or 'no', Oolong. I'd need time..." "Time is a coin you have little of to spend, mortal. Soon and sooner, you will have to make a choice that seems no choice. One or two, hard or harder. There is a third. Speak the name Friend Cosima bestowed upon me, and my gift is yours." With this, Oolong bowed his head and vanished. Only the scent of jasmine remained. "He made you immortal?" Joshua asked Cosi gently. "I don't want to talk about it," she said to her ring. "But, yes, I suspect that he has." "That's quite a gift." "At least he asked you. He didn't ask me if I wanted it." "Cosima... listen, if you do feel the need to talk about it..." "What?" She asked, facing him. ""Are you going to tell me you know about an immortals' support group?" He could see that she wouldn't believe him. "No, I was just going to tell you to call me anytime." "Thank you, Joshua, I do appreciate that." Cosi sagged suddenly. "I guess I'm stuck with Oolong, until he decides to move out. I do appreciate your coming, but I think maybe I need to be alone to think this over. You look beat--why don't you spend the night in my spare room, and I'll get you back on your buying trip in the morning?" "If you're sure it's no bother..." "No, the bed's all made up. Here, I'll show you where everything is, and then I think I'm going to bed myself..." Joshua, although he was very tired and worn out by his grief, lay awake for a long time, pondering Oolong's words. What had the dragon meant by that cryptic reference to his song coming to a discord? "Let not the music end on such a sad note..." As he finally drifted off to sleep, Joshua hoped that Cosima was going to be okay with her newfound gift. Sooner or later, he'd have to tell her about the CotN. Sooner or later, she'd be ready to listen, _______________ Josh: fraser@library.utoronto.ca Cosi: janette@access.digex.net