* * *
'Sy
* * *
Seeing the Advocate's solid blue eyes...
Some things are still in their proper place, still making sense, and that comforts me enough that I can hold Rhia as long as she needs me to, despite the awkwardness of such extended physical contact. What doesn't make sense is how she can step in and out of the Veil like that--
"Does it matter?"
I startle, then hold back a sigh as I rub Rhia's shoulders. "Val, if you're going to lurk about the place, at least step into the light where I can see you?"
There's a rustle from one of the corners, and I feel him hesitate. "M'lady?"
"It's fine," Rhia mutters from behind her hair.
He steps out, peering from behind his curtain of black hair. "I do apologize, m'lady Advocate. I was asked to inquire about..." He shifts his weight, looking at me and sighing. "I was told to check on you two and make sure nothing untoward was happening." His mimicry of Anavar's voice is uncanny. Rhia even manages a small chuckle.
"Have a seat, Val. I'm even glad to see you."
He starts to sit, then pauses, looking at Rhia with wide eyes. "You really are."
Rhia shrugs, a tight smile on her face. Val winces, but takes a seat.
I, having no part in their silly little rivalry (or whatever it is their problem actually happens to be), get off the bed and give my brother a hug. He clings back, and from this close, I can see his eyes behind his hair. "You, too?"
He nods. "It's spreading, A--" His face twists.
"'Sy," Rhia says. Val tilts his head and frowns at her, then nods.
"Yes. ...'Sy. Many of us have woken and found ourselves... well, naked and cold, really." He shivers. "At least, it feels that way. Nobody understands why this is happening." He looks up, and I'm surprised to see fear in his eyes. "Brother, they blame you, and there seems to be some idea that if they got rid of you..."
"It would stop?" Rhia grimaces at her words.
Vailem nods. "You have it right, Rhiathea. They don't give a thought to whether it would actually fix the issue."
"Got rid of me?" I fail to see how sending me outside of Chethar would --
"Kill you, 'Sy," Val says. He's got that exasperated tone in his voice again.
... I hadn't really thought about that possibility before. It's not something we do. At least, not to each other.
Val clears his throat in the ensuing silence. He stands, managing an awkward sort of bow. "Well, now that I've done my duty, I'll be going."
"Wait." Rhia takes a breath, but before she can speak, Val nods. She lets the breath out in an exasperated rush, then glares at him. "Please, Va-" She chokes on the sound and blinks. Val flushes and nods again.
"Changed a bit after Arik's speech. Not a lot, but enough." His lips twist in a pained smile. "Val is fine enough for now, m'lady."
"Right." Rhia takes a deep breath, refocusing on her point. "Val, let me speak before you respond?"
Val blushes and nods. "Sorry."
She glares at him a moment longer, then speaks. "If there really is such a plot forming, we should inform the Emperor of it immediately." She looks at me, and I nod. I'm still not entirely sure what's going on, but when Rhia gets that glint in her eye, it's best to just stay out of her way and let her work.
* * *
Theosil
* * *
I don't want to look up. I don't want to look up at all. I know what that was dissipating over the top of my shoe as surely as I know I'm going to reach up and rip the rest of it away but I don't want to look up and see the Emperor's face. I'm fighting it even now, even as my fingers curl and dig painfully into the palms of my hands, my arms tense and aching with the effort to keep still. How does Anavar live like this? One foot in, one foot out...
It's already torn. It would be better to take the whole thing down, now.
My nails bite into the flesh around my eyes, and I cry out. I'm not ready for this, wasn't made for this.
I was made for something greater, and placed within these limits. Let go, and I'll finally be what I truly am.
But I belong to --
Do I have to belong to him?
"Aren't you going to help him?" The Lady sounds mildly worried.
I freeze, every part of me waiting for the reply. It's a relief and torment, all in one.
It's so delicate. A wonder it's lasted at all, and wouldn't have, without the Emperor's Will. Isn't it strange how only portions of the Song are allowed in his domain? Portions he measures, doles out bit by bit as HE sees fit? What knowledge is hidden in the rest of the Song that he's so afraid of?
"No," he finally says. The rest of his response is lost behind a curtain of fire--
-- and as I clench my fist around the Veil, my grin turns into a snarl, and I rip it down.
How dare he keep this from me. From US.
The Song unfolds from beyond that shifting silver curtain, a rush of gold and glorious symphony that tears at and dissolves the rest of the curtain. I throw my arms wide and let it take me.
How dare he.
* * *
Rhia
* * *
We're barely out the door before Val stiffens, halting in the passageway. "The Emperor is req--"
A boy with a short-tailed version of Val's hair-curtain appears in front of us. "The Emperor reque--" He stops, staring up at Val with wide eyes. "You have black hair."
Val stands silent, but turns a bright shade of red. 'Sy clears his throat, and the boy -- he must be about as new as Mitheoni, but in a child's form, how odd -- looks over at 'Sy. "The Emperor's message, please."
"Oh, right!" He straightens, tugging the front of his tunic into place. "The Emperor requests your presence in Litheosil's chambers at once." He blinks, nods to himself, then vanishes with one final curious glance at Val.
Val looks back at us, then flushes harder. "What?"
'Sy, thank goodness, is turning just as red as I am. "I just... never noticed your hair before," I stammer. 'Sy nods, scratching the side of his neck in embarrassment.
"Ah. Well." Val clears his throat. "We should be going."
I feel a slight pull as he simply brings me and 'Sy with him, and in the space of a heartbeat we're standing at 'Si--
Before 'Sy can even open his mouth to comment on the door hanging wide open, I'm by my brother's bedside. His eyes are open, rolled back into his head, face twisted in a frightening mask of ecstasy or pain... I can't tell which. I'm afraid to touch him either way. Anything that could capture my normally quiet, even-tempered sibling...
I can't leave him like this. I take a deep breath, swallow, and place my hands at his temples.
"Rhia?" Val sounds worried, but I've already started to go in. "Wait! He's not--"
* * *
I don't know where I am, but this is not my brother's mind. It's like nothing I've ever seen. It's infinitely loud and bright, and I'm doubled over with my hands over my ears and my eyes screwed shut but it's not keeping it out.
What is going on?!
I scream his name, but can't even make out my own voice. I feel dizzy, and I can't
where am -- the sound
Rhia? What are
safe.
I stagger in the sudden silence, grateful for the absence of pounding everything. Arms wrap around me, steadying me on my feet, and I cling gratefully to my brother's tall form.
"What are you doing here?" he asks.
"Well," I say brightly into the side of his neck, "you're lying on a bed, comatose, and I'm trying to figure out what's happening to you." I frown. "The Emperor summoned us, but he's not there with you." I tilt my head -- he had stiffened at the mention of the Emperor.
His lip twitches in a near-snarl. "I would curse Theos if I hadn't gained some insight into what he's done." I startle at the bare name, and startle again at not being able to say my brother's name.
Will this insane name trouble ever cease?
He chuckles. You'll have your turn eventually, he says, the bright tone overlaid with a queer sadness. His voice doesn't seem right, like it doesn't fit in his own throat, or in his own mind.
Something doesn't feel right.
I pull away and step back. "Who are you?"
He smiles and holds out his arms, spinning in a slow circle. As he faces me once more, I see his eyes are a pure, pale gold. "I am the Song," he says.
Chills race down my back, and I'm suddenly quite aware of why people find the Advocate so disturbing. I feel a moment of empathy for those I had previously been annoyed with. Now that I'm in their shoes, staring down one like me... yes, the feeling is rather discomfiting.
I shift my weight, trying to gather my thoughts. It's so easy to scatter right now, hard to focus on who I am when the ghosts of millions of my moments are all around.
"Do you remember how to not be the Song?"
He tilts his head. "Why would I not want to be myself?"
I close my eyes and take several deep breaths. "If you stay in this state the way you are now, you'll drain away your physical self and die." He doesn't reply. I open my eyes and scowl. "That would be bad. We're not made for this, not... not with these bodies."
His eyebrows furrow in thought, and then he shrugs. "Either way, things go as they will." Suddenly, I'm alone, and then I'm rushing upward.
"You aren't needed here, dear Advocate. Leave it be."
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