Chapter 17

By Erik Brown

It had been a week since that fateful day. The day that Sieve had daringly sent a small group of its own into the headquarters of Winter to finally stop their imperious reign over Marburg. And it had been six days since Sieve had itself been vanquished.

News had reached the Emperors ears of the faulty security of Winter, and he had gone about improving the going ons of Winter. Namely he had the previous council killed, and an entirely new group put in its place. The Emperor's son, Zaego, on the other hand, was allowed to keep his job. After all, he had staved off a direct assassination. So he claimed, though if everything he had said was taken seriously about that night, those darn pink elephants would have been locked up too.

The media had been all over the story, as they had been salivating and biting at the bit for some time to do a daring expose of Winter. Namely they wanted to point out its faults, and rake the muck, so to speak. And so it hadn't been long before even Servan had heard of the mishaps from that day. And she was just about the only one who was certain there was a yellow bird somewhere behind it.

Her hunch was accurate, as they usually were, and within a day of the incident (just a little time before Winter troops slaughtered the agents of Sieve), a wolf was found on her doorsteps, an unconscious bird on his back.

…

Lily sat on her doorstep, what could have passed for sadness in her eyes, was really just boredom. It had been over a week since her husband and Rei had left for Marburg, and after she'd done some cleaning and gardening, she had become bored out of her mind.

While boredom may have been in her eyes, a bubbling pang of rage was building inside of her. Anger that her husband would have the tenacity to keep her waiting, not that he may have been in danger. If Skabar happened to be in danger, well then, it could have only been his own dumb fault! So it had to be something else.

She went over in her mind what it could be. A new girl? No, he didn't have the balls to go behind her back. On the flip side he had too much faith, and he had never been shy in his love and respect in her. Then her mind went blank, there wasn't much else he might be doing. He wasn't the kind to goof off, he wasn't dead, and he wasn't doing anything behind her back. Maybe he had discovered alcohol, but it couldn't be as simple as that.

The hot anger dissipated, as she though briefly that he might be actively working to help Rei out. Could he have temporarily joined Sieve to lend a helping hand to Rei? Was it possible he was doing something right for a change?

"Hmm, no."

Then she heard singing, a mumbling chorus of victory, followed by a rambling bridge of happiness. It was no doubt Skabar, and if he was singing this loud, it was doubtless in her mind that something very good had happened to him. If that were true, it wasn't that it wasn't all well and good, it would be, but it meant that he had no doubt quite forgotten about Rei.

Skabar stood atop the saddle of a great and hairy dondis, as he waved a wine bottle about in the air. Piled on the dondis were several boxes, the contents being unknown to Lily. A twitch of excitement coursed through her body, but it quickly dissolved.

Skabar leapt off his mount, and quickly began to rummage through a box. In a few brief moments he had thrust into the arms of his wife a bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, and the wine bottle he had been waving about a moment before.

"All for you my lovely--", and that was all he got out before she spoke.

She spoke in such reserve, and cold tactful manner, that he would have been a fool to not listen. For he knew if he did that, the consequences would be severe. She summed up what was on her mind in two words, "How's Rei?"

What really surprised him was that she didn't ask about the week he was gone, or the gifts he brought. Or even the dondis or packages he had in tow. Skabar got a blank stare in his eyes, and began to shift his weight from one foot to another. His eyes looked here and there, as long as they didn't settle on the unrelenting glare of his wife. "He's… doing alright."

Tilting her head ever so slightly, her voice became steelier, and more threatening, "He's doing alright… where?"

"Uhm, he's…uh… someone told me he got to Sieve…"

"But you're not sure, are you? When you say 'alright', you really mean, 'I don't really know'. Don't you, husband of mine?"

"Oh…oh… crap."

Lily was a cool and reserved tower of rage, and that was when she was the worst. "Now, oh my darling husband, I want you to know exactly where Rei is. How might you be able to do that?"

Something snapped in him, and he shouted, "I'm writing a book, we finally have some money, how's that?"

"That's wonderful, I hope you make enough to comfort the people that will never see Rei again. And I hope it keeps you warm on the floor. That's where you'll sleep, alone, for the rest of your life." So she turned her back on him, and started walking towards the house.

Skabar felt a million things at once. Most of it were varying senses of guilt. Well, he had to take responsibility for his actions! Who else would?

"Nogrias!"

Lily stopped and turned, "Yeah?"

"Chassy. He said his girl's name was Chassy, and she lives in Nogrias. After a week he should have gotten back to Nogrias, right? I can be there in a few hours!"

Lily smiled at him, reassuring him. "I love you."

…

Rei was not in Nogrias, and he longed to be with Chassy. At that moment, he was in a seeming Hell.

His eyes snapped open, and the pupils dilated to take in the intense light in the room. Though as he looked around, he saw it wasn't a room at all. Once more he was in the midway place. The point between wake and rest, the divide of the living and the beyond, and the connection between his own world and the North World.

Without another action, he bellowed at the top of his longs at the surroundings, "What does this all mean!"

He shook, weak from oversleep and lack of food. No answer came, so he demanded again, "What is the point of all of this? Why give me such great power! Why was I even sent away from my world?"

"Some things we do not see the truth of. Some day we will, and we will be better for waiting."

It was the voice of the Angel, or what might have been one. Rei felt furious, and was in a mood for answers, not riddles. "Give me a solid answer, something that I can focus on."

"Is that all you want? Are you not able to look below the surface of your present situation? Can you not see the intertwining threads that have caught you up?"

Rei said with a bitter voice, "More binding chains?"

"No one is free from fate, you cannot go against the destined ways."

"Why not?" That got the being, even if for a fleeting moment.

"Do you tell the tree to grow, to have its roots seek water, and its leaves seek sunlight? Do you tell the roving animals to not eat the seeds, lest they befoul what a great oak it might become? Can you tell the paths of the winds, and direct them to your own advantage?"

The Angel was obviously a good debater, and that rebuttal sent Rei for a loop. Rather than go on, he thought it best to be humble. Still a bit sour though, he said, "I see, but why is it not possible to make ones own fate?"

"Because you are a ship cast in the middle of an ocean. Tumultuous wave after wave shall strike at you, and your only guide will be the winds. You may be able to see your sails full, and billowing toward your destination, but your guide is unseen, and your destination may become obscured by an approaching wave."

He was a bit confused by the analogy, though he caught the gist of it, "So what do I do?"

"Trust that the wind will bring you to your destination, and that there are ones such as I who will make sure of it."

Then he awoke.

…

For a brief moment he believed himself to be at his own city. The light was too bright to make out more than a window and cracked walls, but it was the smell that had him fooled. The many faceted aroma of the city wafted into his nostrils; slight traces of ripe food were had, body odor that lasted into the night, and enough drifting cigarette smoke to cause cancer on the spot.

What was he to do if he was back on his own world? Go back to his job, open a new bank account, and get a new apartment? Go back to the monotonous routine, to be had day in and day out? No one to reach out and hold, and no one to love him. He groaned audibly, fearing for the worst.

A familiar voice vanquished his fears, "Oh you woke up." It was Aerot's voice, and as Rei's eyes adjusted he could see him standing at the window. He had turned to check if Rei was indeed awake, satisfied he turned back to the window, "Sorry if there's a draft. About this hour I realized that most people were indoors, and it's strangely pleasant to hear a general silence in a city."

He tried to reply, "It's the smell that you should apologize for," but it was hard to say.

"Hang on, I'll get you some water. Don't try to stress yourself, you've been out for a couple days, and I've had a hard time nourishing you."

Rei struggled to sit up, but to no avail. He just waited for Aerot to come back. He had been going in and out of consciousness for about a week now. Visions and reality had begun to merge together to create a unified nightmare. Sweat had soaked the bed he was laying on.

After that night Aerot had carried Rei to Servan's place. For the last week Rei had had something of a fever, and hadn't had a chance to query either of his houseguests of how they knew each other, or anything else for that matter. Though, there was one point, a few days ago, that he had composed a letter to Chassy.

It had not been pleasant; it was not a kind letter. Rei had come out of delusion and fever that hour that he wrote that letter, and he pressed all his feeling and emotions into that black ink he wrote with. Heart blood dripped from the paper, and spilled out on the floor. His spirit had been dashed to pieces the moment he begin to pen the sad and somber thing. As the envelope was sealed, and he began to pass into dreams, he whispered to no one, "Let me die."

For the second time, his fever had lifted, and health seemed to be returning. Now he began compiling a list of things to think about, as he narrowly tip toed around the difficult questions of angels and dead kings. First he would thank Servan and Aerot for their xenia, and if they were quite all right with it, he'd press them for any answers they cared to give. Always they seemed to be discussing events, either they were just out of earshot, and slight whisperers were heard, or his paranoia rattled brain made everything spoke incoherent.

Aerot came back with a glass of water, as Rei sat up and took a drink. The cool water soothed his dry throat, as he felt it pour right down his esophagus. He sighed a sigh of relief, as if rain had kissed a dry plain.

"Well, I'd say you're getting better."

"I feel better."

Aerot looked around the room. There was definitely something on his mind, but Rei was the one in the mood for questioning. "I hope this doesn't wear my welcome, but I'm just a bit curious what's your connection with Servan."

"Oh, you know, acquaintances."

Rei felt a bit inclined to exercise his mind, so he began to toss out the facts. "Well, Servan was the one who tipped me off about Sieve in the first place, and since you’re a member and you know each other, I might wager that you're both agents."

"Nope, in fact you won't find any agents any more. The stunt we pulled drastically hurt Sieve in the end. As soon as the Emperor got word, and Zaego recovered from his hang over, Winter mobilized, and wiped every last Sieve agent off the map."

There goes Palcos and all the other nut jobs… well Palcos hadn't been that bad. So it was a bit sad that he was gone, but Rei pressed on. "But how can you not be an agent, you were there at Sieve weren't you?"

"Heh, yeah I was."

Rei was a bit miffed by this, but then again he had been able to get in and out of Sieve fairly painlessly. Actually as he remembered it, it had been rather difficult. "So, what's the deal?"

"Gold bird from a world away, how about we give you a history lesson?" Servan stood in the door to the kitchen, pot in one hand, and a bowl and spoon in the other. "History lesson over a bowl of soup?"

His stomach growled, "Sure, I'm up for that."

The couches and chairs had been moved from the floor so that Rei could sleep on the ground, now Aerot was moving them around. He moved a couch behind Rei, that way the bird could sit up easier, and he gathered up two chairs for him and Servan.

Servan served Rei some soup, and then she set the pot on the floor, and settled in the chair set up for her. "Well, I don't know about your world, but here we've gone through first the rigors of royalty from afar, then to domestic, civil wars, and finally the emperor."

Rei nodded, "Sounds familiar."

"Good. Now then, most of the landmass of the North World is in two large chunks. Two continents, this one being an Empire, the continent of the west to be specific."

"Science has dictated that life originated on the eastern continent, and thus about two thousand years ago colonists traveled from the east to the west, and started their own country. While the colonists wished to be free from a monarchy government, they unfortunately ended up forming one anyway. In fact the government was so faulty, that it divided itself into two, and everything was downhill from there. Civil war after civil war was fought. Two Kings fighting for power against each other."

Rei gulped down a chunk of vegetable in surprise. "They aren't…the dead kings, are they?"

Aerot nodded, "There aren't any other dead Kings that might want power again, in fact…" He motioned at Servan to continue.

"King Nacon of the West had a Silver Sword emblazoned upon it was an Eclipse, and King Beuter of the East had a Silver Orb emblazoned upon it was an Eclipse symbol as well." This also alerted Rei, as he had once held the same Orb, and seen the same Sword.

"Besides each other, there was also the indigenous life on the Western continent, namely the Dragons. Great battles were fought, escalated by the demons, Angels, and the Eclipse Weapons being used as instruments amongst the mortals. There was one final battle, and some say that the hand of God stretched out and was done with it all. Gisa the Queen of Dragons, Nacon, and the armies of East and West were destroyed that fateful day. Beuter survived, somehow."

"Beuter had only his natural strength and leadership to restructure his land, but it was to no avail, without his Eclipse Stone he could not do it. And it was at that time that the Emperor is first written about. He unified the Western continent, and has been in control of it ever since. Can you imagine?"

Rei thought these things over a bit, "So, who are you?" Servan sat grim faced, while Aerot began to laugh. Rei scowled at Aerot, "What?"

Between laughs Aerot mustered it to say, "If you'd paid attention, and all that is in history is true, the same Emperor that created the Empire has been ruling it since it's inception. In other words, this continent has had the same Emperor for nearly fifteen hundred years!"

Rei choked down another chunk of vegetable, "Oh. Oh my."

Servan jerked her thumb at Aerot, "I and Aerot here are spies commissioned by the east to discover the Emperor's secrets. His long life, his reason for an absolute embargo on the east, and some prophecies that have been proving themselves right."

"Prophecies?"

"Yea, namely about you."

Rei had remembered a while ago being told by the Mayor of Nogrias that there were ancient writing of him, but that information had seemed rather dubious. It still felt a bit off, him in prophecies, but the way Servan spoke, it felt right.

Aerot spoke, "The display of spirits I witnessed at Winter, and the Eclipse Stone itself, proves that there are big things going down."

Servan followed, "The only puzzle piece missing is the elusive Eclipse sword, though I've a feeling that I know where it can be found."

Setting his empty bowl to the side, Rei looked curiously up at the spies, "And where might it be?"

"To the east lies amongst a sea of sand, the spot where Beuter was killed. There lies a vast ruin, where we believe is the epicenter of the events to come. There we will find the answers. That is, there are questions on your mind, isn't there?"

He thought about it, there were little questions tugging at his mind, but the biggest pulls were from doubts. On the other hand, as there always were in these cases, he had nowhere else to go. Not sure what was going on, he had accurately written in his letter to Chassy, "I don't know where I’m going, but I'm in over my head," and it couldn't ring more true than now.

"Yes, there are somethings I'd like answered. The best place to go, is right to the source, right?"

Servan showed a bit of happiness, "Exactly! While you've been sleeping we've been preparing to leave. In fact, if all went right, Palcos should have the Eclipse Stone in his possession."

If Rei had had any more soup to do so, he would have choked on it, "Palcos? But Sieve--?"

The wolf nodded, "Yes I said they were all hunted down, but Palcos had actually had his membership absolved. He also knew about Servan and so he went to her looking for a job after the whole shebang, and he got one."

"I sent him to retrieve the Eclipse Stone before it could be delivered to the Emperor, I’m not sure if he's succeeded or not, but he'll meet us outside of a little town outside Marburg." Servan seemed quite pleased with herself, almost a bit too sure of herself.

Rei also began to brood about the Eclipse Stone, he didn't really care to see it ever again. A bit of worry also crept in, as he feared for all those who knew him, and feared he might become exceptionally dangerous if he was in control of that Stone again.

"Well, we leave in two days, so get a bit more rest, okay?" Aerot smiled at Rei.

Servan looked at Rei, "Yes, you're going to be rather busy, pretty soon. So get lots of rest." The way she looked at Rei, he knew she was only using him. And he was pretty sure, that to her, everything and everybody, were merely tools to be used by Servan, the puppet master of the world.