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'Sy
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Rhia's eyes open, and she looks down at Litheosil's prone form. Val and I jump as a loud CRACK echoes through the room. We glance at each other, then Rhia, who is now standing and shaking one hand in the air.
There's been one small change with my brother. He's now sporting a bright red handprint on one cheek.
She looks at us, still scowling and nursing her hand. "He won't snap out of it. We'll have to find someone to knock sense back into him for us."
"Do you have anyone in mind?" The words have barely cleared my tongue before Val is frowning at me. My stomach tightens.
"Tia," she snaps, and drags us after her before I can voice any protest. I concentrate on the oddity of referring to the Lady by her familiar name rather than the fear that is very nearly knocking my knees together as we appear in the Void, before a frightfully familiar golden throne. She is seated there, curled sideways with her legs draping over one arm. She looks up, her golden eyebrows arching as she tips her long pipe away from her lips.
"Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" She sounds gracefully amused, but thankfully not in the same way that she is all too often amused with me.
Rhia kneels, and Val and I follow suit. "Beg pardon, Lady," she says, her voice tight with tension, "but I feel we need your help."
"My help?" Tia twirls her pipe between her fingers, looking down at us in surprise. "Why not ask dear Theos? Surely things haven't yet reached a point where he won't help?" Rhia starts to answer, but quiets at a wave of Tia's hand. "No, no, I felt the Song's release even here." She suddenly vanishes, and I feel an elbow on my head.
I manage not to panic and hold my position.
She scratches my head like I'm a prized hound and leans against me, presumably facing Rhia. "How may I be of assistance, Advocate?"
Rhia is silent long enough that I risk moving my head to look at her. She's biting her lip, staring at a point past Tia's shoulder. "I'm not sure," she finally says. "I can make guesses as to how..."
"Tell me your guesses."
Rhia blinks. "If he is an avatar of sorts, like I am, there should be a way for him to gain control of himself. Section a part of himself away from that greater identity, or channel it somehow. Honestly, m'lady, I'm not sure how I manage it. If he doesn't..." She bites her lip again. "For some reason, if we're outside the Veil, we consume ourselves."
Tia pats my head. "The Veil acts as a barrier to keep you contained. In a fashion. Really, forces such as you aren't really meant to be given a form such as yours, but now that you have them, it's rather convenient, isn't it? You just have to squeeze down a bit. A sort of spirit corset, if you will. And now the Song doesn't have one, and he's a bit big for his britches! This one here has a new one now, don't you, Dai'sy?" I try not to whimper, and fail. At least I'm still awake. "Not a corset, of course. You don't need one, fine strapping boy that you are. Just a little counterbalance to keep you firmly grounded. After all, we'd miss you if you just dissolved. I helped fashion Diyn for him, just for that purpose."
She chuckles and leans in, whispering loudly in Rhia's ear. I try not to wince as I'm nearly forced sideways. "Dai'sy here probably could have managed without Diyn, but nobody wanted to take that chance." She straightens and pats my head. "Nothing personal, darling." She smiles down at me, bringing her pipe to her lips with a flourish. "Poor Luciprochoros needs a little something of his own now."
Luciprochoros? Ah. He would have a new name now, outside of Theos's Veil.
"Can you do the same for him?" Rhia sounds so hopeful. I want to say something to save him, to keep my brother from being pulled into the waking nightmare of owing Tia for anything, but Val looks sideways at me and shakes his head.
I stay quiet, but I worry for my brother.
"Of course," Tia says, then kneels beside me. Her hand slides from my hair down my back, and I find myself looking up at her. She smiles gently, her eyes absent of any mischief. "Don't worry, 'Sy. No harm will come to him, and I won't even ask anything of him in return if someone else pays his price."
"I'll pay it." I choke on my own words, trying to figure out what the fuck I've just done, and cursing myself for giving in to her so easily. She wasn't even subtle. Tia laughs, grabbing my hand and hauling to me feet with her as she stands. She grabs my hair and pulls me down, kissing my forehead, and then my chin.
"Darling 'Sy. I suppose you may stand in for him this one time."
I swallow and nod. Don't think about the cost. "How long will I be here?"
She looks at me in surprise, then laughs, her dark shoulders shaking. "Oh, you're not staying here again. That was different, Tesynnodai. You're confusing the price you paid with what you've paid for." She bops me on the nose with her pipe. "Not that I'm surprised. You're rather dense. No, I'll collect later. In the meantime, we have some structure to impose on our wayward Song, yes? Let's go choke some sense into him."
She disappears, as does Val. Rhia looks at me. "What did you pay, 'Sy?"
I frown, staring at the spot where Tia disappeared. "I don't remember."
Rhia takes my hand. "Whatever it is, I doubt it will come back to haunt you. She's..." She smiles and shrugs. "Well, she doesn't feel cruel."
"I hope you're right," I mutter as we vanish.
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Val
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She -- Tia, that is -- looks at me from across Luciprochoros's contorted body and smiles. It's hard to focus, this close to him. He's very loud, drowning out even the Lady Tia, who is normally very clear and loud in her own mind. She wants me to go in that loudness and find the parts that we knew as Litheosil so she can do... something.
It doesn't matter. She wants me to go in there, and my other two just arrived, so I'd best get started before they distract me further.
I take a deep breath, then plunge in. I'm not exactly sure where to begin looking for a Luciprochoros when it seems he's everywhere at once. There's more in here than should fit in one mind. It's very noisy, almost overwhemingly so. Not even the mass confusion when Arik spoke earlier compares -- even that was a mere whisper in this sea of roars.
No wonder he's making that face, back there on the bed. I think I'd be making the same expression if I had what felt to be every mouth in eternity yelling for my attention, too.
I'm certainly not going to get anywhere like this. Might as well try to impose some quiet on the place, or at least scream loud enough to attract someone's attention. I gather myself, taking the mental equivalent of a deep breath, and think QUIET! as forcefully as I can.
Surprised silence ripples outward from my place. I barely have enough time to congratulate myself before a vast pair of pale gold eyes turn from nowhere and look straight into me. Possibly through me.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE.
"I'm looking for... for Luciprochoros." I swallow. Those great eyes, the merest fleck larger than my entire self, narrow slightly. I'm almost afraid, but at the same time I feel so damn small before them that it's hard to work up the sheer gall to be afraid in front of this grand being.
HE IS HERE.
I see a winding twist of light appear in front of me, writhing and stretching like a pulled bit of yarn. I can see one end, but the other end -- and I can sense that there is another end -- stretches far beyond where I can see. It grows in places, shrinks in others, and glows with a soft gold warmth that immediately reminds me of Litheosil, but at the same time --
Oh, perfectly done, Valtoryeh. Thank you. Tia at least sounds pleased.
My job here is done, then. I've never been more happy to leave.
Upon opening my eyes, I see Rhia's strained, worried face. I can't feel her thoughts, though. The background noise is still too loud. 'Sy is standing next to her, a large weapon of some sort in his hands. The gold ribbon I saw is tangled up in the prongs of the trident, and I can see one end of it firmly grasped in Rhia's hands. I look down at Luciprochoros's body. He's still contorted and making that face. I'm not sure if he's changed position at all, or even noticed the gold thing coming out of him.
All the same, I get the unmistakable sense that the ribbon is trying to pull away from their grasp. That same sense tells me this would be very bad for Luciprochoros's continued life.
Rhia looks over at me. "Val?" she squeaks. "Help?"
I stare at her, wondering what she could possibly think I could do to help. There's no room left for me to try to get a handhold on the ribbon, and it's too darn loud in here to hear anyone think--
Ah, I could do the QUIET thing again. I gather my energy again, and focus on that word--
Don't.
I blink and look around. I don't recognize that voice, and I don't see anyone here that I don't already know. Where did it come from?
I look down at Luciprochoros, shaking in place on the bed. Some inner hunch prompts me to reach for him again, easing myself into that golden roar. It's less loud this time, as if I were adjusting somehow for the flow of music.
Over here.
I follow the voice through the noise. A figure slowly comes into view as I move closer, revealing itself to be a tall, crowned woman draped in heavy fabrics. Her long, dark hair shifts across her face -- oh, his face. Odd that a man would lack a beard. Perhaps he is young?
What trickery is this?
No trickery, Valtoryeh. He smiles, and despite the dark hair and strange beardlessness, something in those friendly eyes eases my mind. His in turn has no taint of guile or ill-will. In it, I find a curious echo of the roar around us, but it's settled somehow. The man's smile widens, dimples forming in his cheeks. That is exactly what I have come here to do in this man's mind.
"That would be nice," I say before I can halt my own tongue. I shrug and continue the thought. "It sure is loud in here, and I don't think he can manage much longer under all this."
The man looks around, his smile faltering. No, he can't. He looks down, then fishes around inside a layer of his robes, drawing out a blue thread. He offers it to me. Take this with you back to Tia. I'll need her to help me with this next part. He smiles again, and something inside me warms at the reappearance of that grin. You'll want to be safely out of this mind when she gets to work. He's like a book that's gotten all unsorted, and it wouldn't do to have you trapped in the pages once they're reordered.
I nod and reach to take the thread. As my fingertips brush his, I hesitate, looking up into his bright blue eyes. "Who are you? I can get the feel of you, but I don't know you."
For some unreadable reason, his eyes sadden, and though his smile remains in place, it's a dimmer version of itself. We'll meet again, Val. We'll have plenty of time to get to know ourselves.
His response doesn't make any sense to me, but I nod and close my fingers around the thread anyway. I leap out of Luciprochoros's mind, keeping a careful hold on that cool blue energy.
Whoever it is, he's not in the room with us. The blue thread leads back inside of Luciprochoros. I stare at it a moment, then shrug. No point in dwelling on mysteries that aren't mine to solve.
Tia is still standing at Luciprochoros's head, staring down at him. I clear my throat, and she looks up at me, then at the blue thread in my hand. I hold it out to her. "You need this."
"I do?" she says, reaching out and delicately plucking it from my palm. "Who...?" Her eyes lose focus, and then she smiles. "Well then." She looks down on Luciprochoros, standing silently for several long, howlingly noisy moments, then places her hands on either side of his head. Almost immediately, the noise dims considerably.
I don't know who you are, Blue Lord, I hear her say, but you're a little behind your time, are you not? I don't hear his reply, but she chuckles. I shall look forward to you existing, then. Now scram, child.
The Blue Lord's reply is lost behind Rhia thinking I can't hold him much longer as a deep voice says I cannot hold what I cannot Judge, Tesynnodai, and 'Sy is cursing and asking for another moment, surely Diyn can hold him for one more moment, there is always a reason--
"Let go, Dai'sy," Tia says, her voice gentle and quiet in the new silence. He looks up at her, then down at her hands. The trident Diyn vanishes, and Rhia untenses with a quiet What is that?
I follow their gazes to the crown resting on Luciprochoros's brow. Somehow, I'm not at all surprised to see that it is a reflection of the one on the Blue Lord's head.
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