* * *
'Sy
* * *
I can't find Elete. Something's nagging me in the back of my mind about that - probably Diyn trying to get a smart word in or two. I won't let him ruffle me this time. I'm so close.
Close to what?
Ah, it's Katherine. I shake my head. Of course she's following me - I asked her to, didn't I? Yes, with... who?
Where am I?
Something's bothering me about this - I know on some level that something is wrong, and I shouldn't have appeared here. But I ignore that, just like sometimes I ignore Diyn's voice.
Where are you? Katherine is an even more persistent nag when she wants to be, though.
I give her a sense of my whereabouts, and then she appears beside me. Then I continue to look for Elete, but still something seems wrong.
"...'Sy, we're in the Void."
Ah. That would be it.
* * *
Katherine
* * *
The thing about 'Sy is that if he's caught off-guard in the Void, it can easily confuse him. That's one of Tia's favorite tactics for playing with him, and she never seems to tire of those games. Not that I blame her - 'Sy is fun to rile up. But she takes her advantages mercilessly, and watching him try to catch up is... an exercise in pity, sometimes.
Thankfully he's recovering very quickly now that he understands what's been going on. "Strange. I meant to go to the Place of Regeneration. She must have directed me here instead..." He looks at me with a touch of alarm. "Where's Gerald?"
I panic for a moment myself, because I came in here carrying Gerald's body and I don't remembering it disappearing. I can feel him, though-- "He's where we both meant to go. He'll be fine until we get back. 'Sy... were you looking for something here?"
He frowns in that way that's so much of a pout, and doesn't answer for the longest time. He's trying to figure out how best to answer me. "I... was. But I don't understand why, now." He stops meeting my eyes. "I was looking for Elete."
I sigh. "Well, he would be in the Void." I consider my partner for a moment, looking at him and how he stands. He's tense, but he's also bewildered. As he rightfully should be. "'Sy, are you trying to bring him back?"
He shakes his head. "I... just started looking for him. I don't know why. Do you know why Luciprochoros summoned us here in the first place? It couldn't have been for Gerald... he wouldn't have known yet."
I shake my head. "No, I just realized that's not even what we should be asking."
He raises an eyebrow at me, waiting.
"Why are we in the Void looking for someone at all? Should Lady Tia just give back the ones that we bring to her, and then they revive? Isn't that how it works?"
Not always, young one.
'Sy stiffens as the voice glides through our minds. It's unmistakably Tia... hence his reaction.
Sometimes, it's not so simple as that.
"Well then, what's making it so complex?"
'Sy frowns. "There's a price that hasn't been paid."
It would be paid for Gerald. But Lu-i-si'vrahn can't pay the price for the one he brought in before the both of you entered. Therefore, you must both find a way for it to be done.
"Who did he bring in?"
Silence is the answer given to me.
* * *
Ebrelle
* * *
I awake to the smell of spice and ink heavily overlaid with teas of all kinds. It eases my mind like a calm wave of deep blue, a reminder that everything will be alright. Thus relaxed, I let myself ease into awareness without questioning just why I have managed to awaken so quickly. By the time I'm alert enough to realize just what the scent is, I'm too awake to be truly shocked by the revelation.
It's my brother. He smells like that. The tea notes evolved over time, growing deeper and more potent with age. Contemplating the span of time that brings to mind gives me a bitter sting, but I welcome it in a way. I miss my brother. I miss any sense of him I can recove--
No, he's... near. Is it his body? Is that what I sense? I shake my head. That can't be true. He wouldn't have left a body behind, if Nul...
...It's dark in here.
I can't quite measure the panic I feel in the next moment, and I don't know how much time passes during it - if time even does pass. It's all blank. I just know when it ends - my daughter's hands go to my cheeks, cool and comforting.
There's no way she could possibly be in Nul, and that's what convinces me that I'm not in it again. I almost fade back into sleep, but there's that memory of my brother's scent again. No, no that's him. "Why is it so dark here?"
"How is he even awake?" My mind crackles from the amount of fear I feel in response to that voice. I want to hide from the Judge. His weapon has already flayed every strong bit of my wits off of the remaining parts of my coherent mind. I just want to curl in a ball and pretend I never woke up. In fact, I think I do, for a moment. But I can hear Elete.
Somewhere far off, I can hear him. And with my brother somewhere far ahead of me and the Judge to my back, I do the only thing that seems natural. I run.
The voice behind me is faint, and I ignore it this one time. "Father! Stop!"
* * *
'Sy
* * *
I stare bewildered at Ebrelle's retreating form. I'm not sure what to do. For one thing, I'm not sure why he's running. We've been through this already, right? Didn't Diyn already Judge him? I wasn't there when it happened, though. I decide to ask Diyn about it.
What happened? Did you miss something?
The snarl I receive in reply is edged in frost that chills me even further, and I'm already inside the Void. Fine, Diyn did our job with Ebrelle.
Well, then why is he running?
Diyn isn't sure, either, but is as hesitant as I am to give chase. He shares my confusion regarding Ebrelle. Does the man think he could have done something wrong enough to warrant our attention in the short time since he was Judged? I mean, surely he's capable of such a feat if anyone is, but he's been unconscious! During most of the time that passed, I was holding him!
"'Sy... are we gonna follow him?" Katherine's voice nudges my thoughts out of the way. She sounds like she's strung with tension. Well, we are in the Void.
I shrug. "What's the point? He's as innocent as he'll ever be."
That flusters her, for some reason. After a few failed attempts to formulate a reply, she manages to string one together. "'Sy, we need to keep him from getting lost in the Void."
"...Oh." I still don't move. "Are you sure? Maybe he'll like it here."
She glares at me as if I've actually done something wrong.
I wave her off. "Fine, fine." I make chase, keeping close pace with Katherine. I'm afraid to lose her in here. Not necessarily because she would be lost, mind you. I... I just easily lose my own way in here, a trait which Tia does not mind at all. I suppress a shudder at the thought of it. She's kept me in this place for years before... and on the outside, not an hour passes.
"You'll be fine," Katherine whispers. "Let's find Daddy. Then we'll try to sort this all out."
* * *
Ebrelle
* * *
I don't know why fear spreads so easily through my mind right now, why it can take over me so completely. I've always known myself to be in control of my emotions - this emotion is in complete control of me. I have to escape the Judge, have to escape his Trident. Every wit in me is certain of that.
I keep running. I can't say why I head towards Elete even when I'm so sure that what's chasing me is dangerous. Some part of me is sure that Elete will protect me. He survived the Judge for so long, didn't he? He survived living near all those Armed. He'll know a way to keep me safe. Besides... I want to see him so badly. I don't know where I am - contemplating it drives all of my rationality out of my head, even. But I have to find Elete. There's nothing more important than that.
Elete isn't far away at all. I can sense that. I can sense him like I used to when we were children, and there were no walls between us. There were no walls between me and the rest of the world, either. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so much nostalgia now. Or is it something about Elete?
I finally catch sight of him again, and then of course I collapse once more. I should have known better than to run like that. Now I'll just be chased down and carved into again--
A pair of arms wrap around me in an attempt to pull me up to sit. "E... Ebrelle?" The voice is very halting, but I recognize it as Elete's. Don't I? I manage to pull my head up and good look at him.
My eyes widen. "...Alestere? But... I killed you." The breath catches in my throat. Am I facing down my crimes, now? My Trial must not be over yet. Maybe this is how I die. And yet... I'm still glad to see him once more.
"...Ebrelle." That is Elete, his voice light and shaky. I look over to my younger brother, past the man that he used to be... or is that even right? Elete is next to us, half-sunken in this strange sea that Alestere and I are sitting on as if it were solid. The ripples are so calm that I thought it was all a smooth floor before. My brother is paler than he ever was before, and he's still somewhat afraid of me. "How did you end up here?"
I'd answer, but I'm still trying to understand why there are two of him. He changed so much after I stabbed him that I understand there being two separate natures to him... but different people entirely? Am I just seeing double? I'm panicking again, aren't I? This is probably just a dream.
Alestere strokes my hair. "Calm down... brother." He seems to mull the last word over as he says it. "You'll be okay. I don't hold anything against you for what happened. I lived my life and... then some."
I look over to Elete. He meets my gaze after a few moments. He doesn't say anything.
"I'm sorry. I tried to protect you up until the very end. I didn't mean to--"
He shakes his head. "You didn't kill me, Ebrelle. I just..." He looks away again. "I don't understand you, even now, but you are my brother and I know you love me. I love you too." He sighs, the sound incredibly weary. "I'm just... so tired. I'd like to leave you in peace. Is that why I'm still here? Did I have to forgive you first? I think I forgave you long ago... the grudge I held was mostly to hold you close in a way that I felt safe with."
I bite my lip. I don't want Elete to die.
But everything must eventually pass on, Ebrelle. You of all people understand the order of life, you man of science and nature.
I blink. Who is that woman? I feel as if I should recognize her voice. It brings to mind golden sparks and rains of butterflies...
Alestere's hands tense. I look up - his face is drawn back in a wince. "Something's happening."
Elete looks concerned, but not pained.
"I feel like I'm splitting apart, this..." he looks over at Elete. "This doesn't make any sense, you know. We're the same person. We already split apart once long ago. Why am I doing so again?"
Elete can't find an answer in him before they both vanish in a flash of light that leaves me blind for a few moments. By the time my vision clears, my daughter's at my side again and the Judge has found me.
Have you all solved the puzzle, then? That warm golden voice again, full of hidden tricks and unknown treasures. Or do I have to show you again? I think Ebrelle saw it, didn't you?
I blink. "Were we looking for something?"
The Judge looks profoundly annoyed, while Katherine's face is a study in concern.
"Were we looking for my brother?"
Ah, you're catching on fastest. Who do you think you were looking for then, Ebrelle?
I blink. I'm right? But it's been so long since he... "My brother Alestere. But that..." I bite my lip, thinking it over. "Neither Elete nor the one who looked so much like Alestere were actually Alestere. They were... pieces of him. I split him apart when I meant to... to send him away from the dangers in our family."
Then how do you suppose we solve this, dear Ebrelle? The familiarity in the woman's voice is unsettling, but I ignore it for the sake of finding the answer.
"The solution would be to restore my brother to what he should be, but I can't imagine how we would possibly go about that."
Well, you're in luck. You don't have to. There's a clap, and then a change of scenery so abrupt that the dizziness floods back in between my ears. We're in some sort of chamber with an altar in it and ornate walls, a soft light emanating from far above the oculus in the ceiling. A woman stands before the altar, resplendent in a fine gown, her hair long and blonde, her eyes gold, and her skin the color of the Void itself. "This happens to be my specialty."
* * *
