Once upon a time, a prophecy was foretold that spoke of the coming of a child whose power could shape the very strands of reality. Because of this child's ability to pluck the interwoven strings of reality, legend commonly referred to this mage as the Spider. Those that waited and watched for this prophecy, guarding its words, gradually came together and came to be known as the Web.
As prophecies tend to do, the coming finally came, and the Web was overjoyed that their waiting had finally come. After this period of rejoicing, there came a short moment of confusion. Once the prophesized mage has come, what does one do with the one that can shape reality to her whim? Power corrupts, and the members of the Web, though devout to their honored one, were no more pure. The child was brought up to believe that such was her destiny, to erase the evils of the world and bring about a new order for the members of her cult, all in the name of "justice" and "good".
In learning how to control her destiny-given power, the child started with little changes to the world, making small objects appear and disappear, changing minor details. But small changes can have big effects. One such little change rippled down the web of reality, and so one day a minor landowner in a rural area of the world, one Zayr Enesse A'osut, awoke to find himself at half his normal age, the rest of the world proceeding as if this was normal.
Searching for an explanation, Zayr journeyed to a nearby town in search of "the scholar", a man of reputable knowledge. This man was Nikado, a teacher to the village's children with an enchanted book which held access to the world's knowledge. After hearing the man's plight, Nikado suggested seeking the help of a powerful mage, the descendant of Grand-Most Archmage of Cantercor.
While on the way to the city of Cantercor, the pair encountered a half-starved zombie and managed to subdue him without being eaten. This zombie was Tobias Daireth Halius, a young man, recently turned and still struggling with his new identity. Tagging along at the behest of Nikado, the trio made their way to the household of the Archmage's descendants. Before they could meet with said descendants, they happened upon Eris Themalassy, an angry young woman bent on removing the rather unusual curse the archmage's descendant had set upon her. After some cajoling from Nikado, she too reluctantly agreed to set aside her feud and help, to the displeasure of Zayr.
After hearing the story, the descendant agreed to lend the group the aid of his son, Pablo Zenzizenzizenzic. Pablo was a mathmatically-inclined teen who was caught between the more natural, creative forms magic generally took and his own analytical approach. After this was agreed upon, they spent the night at the Zenzizenzizenzic household only to have the night interrupted by Tobias's still-uncontrollable urges. The group beat a hasty retreat, a heated argument breaking out. It was then interrupted by the abrupt vanishing of the entire city of Cantercor. The Spider had taken a new target.
Still unaware of what was fully going on, the small band retreated to a nearby town, where they stayed for a short while to make money for travelling rations and supplies. This town, too, they eventually left after the appearance of a monster defying reality created havoc, a monster which Pablo was unable to counter despite the requests of the townsfolk. The Spider's ripples in the web of reality were starting to cascade out of control.
By chance, in reading his enchanted book and thanks to a little thought intereference from Eris, Nikado stumbled upon a reference to the Spider and her Web. This Web was not unknown to Tobias, who was turned into a zombie by a member of the Web. Tobias then volunteered to infiltrate the group and try to gather information on their objectives. Eris volunteered to help as well, making her way through the building in secret.
While there, Tobias ran into his former master, but was saved by Eris neatly decapitating the other zombie from afar. In doing this, however, she was revealed and captured by the Web's members, who instructed the Spider to make her vanish from reality. Tobias intervened, sacrificing his own hand to cast a rare bit of magic and provide them with an escape. Eris and Tobias, brought a little closer by their shared danger, made their way back to the group.
Pablo had knowledge of a spell that would be able to prevent their own realities from being altered for a short period of time. It involved the sacrifice of a virgin girl's hair, which Eris surprisingly acquiesed. By this time, the Web, concerned with the escape of Eris and Tobias from their premises, used the powers of the Spider to go into hiding. Pablo was able to unravel this spell after a series of long and complicated formulas, and the band of five made a second strike at the Web, aiming to stop the Spider's continued unraveling of reality.
Providing a distraction, Tobias and Eris caused a commotion among the members of the Web, while Zayr, Nikado and Pablo sought out the Spider. The head of the Web's organization was located by the trio, and Zayr swiftly brought an end to his life, but the Spider's powers had not ended, as was proven when Nikado was erased from existance a moment later. The Spider was still alive.
Zayr and Pablo raced against time, letting Tobias and Eris selflessly draw the Spider's attention while they looked for her. And they did manage to locate her, a scared girl only a few years younger than Pablo himself. Feeling a strong sense of kinship with the other mage of destiny, Pablo stopped Zayr from striking her down. Unable to strike against the mage he now considered a friend, Zayr instructed the girl that her actions had been harming the world, not helping it. She slowly came to accept his words as true, and at his urging and against the requests of his friends, the Spider quietly undid all her work, making the entire time as if it had never happened.
However, not everything was completely the way it had been before. Even though it was on a loop of time that no longer existed, the five retained their memories of the events that had passed. Zayr, now restored to his proper age, repeated his journey, meeting again with the four friends he had made, and they once againmoved to dissolve the Web once and for all, and rescue the Spider from the aspirations of the Web.
This is not that story.
It wasn't so much something in the air, he decided. It was more like a prickling at the back of his neck, a hidden sense lurking in the back of his mind that something wasn't quite right. It was something he had sensed before, and after some long reflection, he had finally managed to place a name on it.
Zayr wiped at his brow, slowly sliding his sword back into its sheath. Somehow, he always seemed to think better during his practice, where all the other concerns of running the small homestead vanished for a brief moment. Zayr was not particularly tall or muscled, of an average size, but he carried himself with a maturity that seemed beyond his mere twenty-six years. Brushing his wild orangish locks out of icy green eyes, he left the practice area, seeking out the advice of his most trusted confidant.
He was not ever hard to find, Zayr noted to himself. One only had to listen for the noise of Leil, the landowner's five year old son, and his tutor was sure to be close by. Sure enough, the boy was currently perched on his teacher's back, tickling the protesting man into submission. "Oh, Papa," the boy greeted, hastily getting to his feet as he dusted himself off. "How are you?"
Zayr smiled slightly, and it seemed that was the most emotion his serious face tended to show. "Hello, Leil. I need to borrow your teacher for a moment. Can you stay with your mother for a bit?"
The boy nodded, scampering off as said teacher got to his feet, picking a piece of grass out of his dark hair. "Hi, Zayr," Nikado greeted the younger man informally. "Something on your mind?"
The man nodded seriously, one hand rubbing the hilt of his sword. "Do you think something has been... amiss, the past few days?" he asked, choosing his words with his usual careful pace.
The scholar tilted his head curiously. "Amiss? How so?"
Zayr gestured for Nikado to follow him inside, offering him a drink from inside the kitchen. The taller man sat down at the table, slumped comfortably in the chair as he watched Zayr with attentive eyes. "Nikado, do you think it is possible the author is doing a sequel?" Zayr asked at last, taking a seat at the table himself.
Nikado sat up at that, taking a sip from his own drink before he replied. "What makes you think that?"
"I don't have any evidence, if that's what you mean," Zayr replied calmly, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "It feels like the author is focusing on me again. Like it did when our story was being written. But I've not had any contact with the editor. I'm not sure what to make of it."
Nikado watched him seriously. "I see," he replied thoughtfully after taking a moment to digest his words. "Well, you were the main character. If the author is writing a sequel about you, it would make sense that you would be able to sense it whereas I could not."
"Do you think it could be a sequel?" Zayr questioned slowly. "Does your book contain anything about authors and editors?"
"Only the kind that write our books," Nikado replied with a shrug. "The author and editor are outside our realm. Sorry."
"Not your fault." Zayr stood, pacing around the room a bit. "Has Naimi arrived from Cantercor yet?"
Nikado shook his head. "No. I sent a letter to Pablo, but he never replied."
Zayr took another swallow of his drink, then dumped the rest outside. "Finish your drink, Nikado, then pack what you'll need for a trip."
"To Cantercor?" Nikado hazarded slowly, twirling his ponytail slowly between his fingers.
The younger man nodded. "I think we may need to take a little iniative. It seems something might be out of place with Naimi's visit."
Nikado frowned at that. "Because she's the Spider, do you think?"
"Perhaps. It could be she is simply delayed, but it is not that far a trip. That your letter was also not replied to is suspicious." Nikado gave Zayr a light salute as the landowner left the room.
Zayr made his way through the house, again listening for the sound of Leil's voice. The boy was in his mother's room, watching her as she patched a pair of pants. "Trallia," he greeted softly.
She looked up at him, and smiled, though the gesture was more akin to that from an acquaintance than of a wife. "Hello, Zayr. How are you this morning?"
He leaned over, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I have to leave for a little while on a trip. Something's come up."
"I see," she replied, focusing back on her stitching. "How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know. Sorry, Leil," he told the young boy, putting a hand on his head. "I need to borrow your teacher for a little while."
"Awww," his son replied in a pouty tone. "But no one else tickles as good."
"As well," Zayr corrected automatically, ruffling his hair. "You be good, okay? I'll bring you back something from your uncle Pablo if you're a good boy."
"Okay!" he replied happily before staring at his mother's work again.
Zayr put a hand on Trallia's shoulder, giving her another kiss, this time on the forehead. "I'll try and be back soon."
"Have a safe trip," she replied formally.
It didn't take long to have a servant pack the pair some supplies and ready a pair of horses. "We should be able to make Cantercor by nightfall," Zayr said to Nikado as he mounted, waiting for the other man. "If we don't make any long stops."
The scholar made a face at that. "Ugh, my backside's gonna be killing me by the time we get there."
Zayr smiled in amusement at his friend. "If you would ride a bit more often, it would not be as unpleasant."
"Pass."
As predicted, Nikado's backside was indeed quite sore by the time they arrived in the center of the city onto the property owned by the Zenzizenzizenzic family. As usual, the entry gate to the manor was guarded by a pair of men who often comically referred to each other as 'The Anorexic/Bulemic Pyromaniac Natchmaking All-Knowing Lesbian Vampires of Doom.' "Greetings, Master A'osut," one greeted as they approached.
"And Master Nikado," the other continued seamlessly. "We haven't seen you for a while."
"What brings you here on this fine day?" the first concluded.
Before either could answer, a shout of "Nobody expects the boomerang!" came from behind the duo, and the one stumbled forward as a young woman leapt onto his back, not quite able to dodge in time. The girl turned brown eyes to the pair of men, and her expression lit up. "Pops! Zayr! What brings you here?"
Nikado got a pained look. "By god, woman, I'm not even in my thirties yet. What's with this 'pops' nonsense?" Pausing, he sniffed at the air. "What's that horrid smell?"
"Dead deer," Eris replied calmly from the guard's back.
Nikado gave her a look. "...what smells like dead deer?"
"Besides the dead deer? Me."
This got her a full stare. "...and why do you smell like dead deer?"
"I took a bath."
Now Nikado looked exasperated. "What does THAT have to do with anything?"
"There were dead deer in the bath," she replied, as if that explained everything.
"There was a dead deer in the bath?" the older man echoed.
"No. Plural."
"...in all of the baths?"
"Some under the sinks, too," she replied with a shrug.
Nikado looked to the two guards as if trying to gauge whether she was being serious. The one shrugged, while the other was desperately trying to get the smelly girl off his back. "Why didn't you wait for them to leave or something?"
She gave him a 'are you stupid?' look. "They're *dead*. They won't be going anywhere."
He flailed a bit in his confusion. "Why didn't you move them?"
"WHY do you think I smell like dead deer?" Now Eris sounded exasperated.
"...are they still there?" Nikado asked hesitantly.
"Have you ever tried to move a dead deer?"
Zayr tuned the pair out, turning back to the guard. "Is Master Pablo on the premises? I have need to consult with him."
"He is indeed," the guard replied, opening the gate for the pair. "Would you like us to take care of your steeds, Master Zayr?"
"Please."
"Pablo's upstairs with Tobias," Eris interrupted, finally abandoning her post from the other guard's back. "I'll show you."
Nikado waved a hand in front of his face. "Can we like stick you in a rainstorm or something first?"
"How is it that dead deer ended up in the baths?" Zayr asked her as she led the way inside the large house.
She shrugged. "The old fart screwed something up. AUGH." The last part came as a lighting bolt came from above, striking the girl, complete with a rain storm. From the upper balcony, the older Zenzizenzizenzic smirked slightly at the younger woman before exiting into a side room. "Damned old man."
"Does he still have that curse on you?" Nikado asked in concern as Eris wrung her shirt out in disgust.
"No. That was just spite."
"At least you seem to be getting along marginally better," Zayr observed dryly. "Do you come to visit Pablo and Tobias often?"
She shrugged. "A lot, yeah. Hope he doesn't mind me dripping on the floors."
Nikado reached out and rubbed at her head. "Good to see you're doing well. Ooh, you're all fuzzy."
She let out a sound of exasperation and swatted his arm away. "Geez, EVERYBODY does that every time I let it grow out a little. Stop that." Pausing by a door, she knocked. "Pablo! Is it safe to come in or is something going to 'splode again?"
"It's safe," came the younger man's voice. "Come on in, Eris."
She opened the door swiftly, gesturing for the two adults to follow. "I brought you a present, Pablo."
The teen was laying on his stomach on the floor, papers filled with nearly incomprehensible formulas and calculations scattered around him. Tobias was sitting in front of him, watching as Pablo tapped a page with a pencil. In the year since their short journey had ended, the zombie still appeared exactly as he had, black hair complimenting his dark chocolate skin and offsetting his unusual red eyes. "Nikado! Zayr!" he greeted enthusiastically, expression lighting up. "What brings you by?"
In contrast, the seventeen year old mage was tanned, but not dark like Tobias, nor having Nikado's olive tones. He brushed a thin lock of brown hair out of lightly tan eyes as he looked up at them. "Hi, you two. It's been a while, what's the occasion?"
"What are you working on?" Nikado asked in turn, feeling a little dizzy from just looking at the formulas.
"Just trying to quantify a zombie," Pablo replied factually with a wave at the papers. "If I ever find one of the originals, I swear I'm going to kill them. This spell makes very little sense."
"They're people that willingly went to brain-eating. Of course it doesn't make sense."
Pablo snorted at that before his eye fell on the wet Eris. "Oh, you're going to drip on my notes," he sighed, picking up his book and pencil and walking over to her. "Did you annoy my father again?"
"He started it," the girl replied sulkily as Pablo put a hand on her sleeve to see how wet she was. Making a few observations, he wrote something in his notebook, and then with a sudden flash of heat Eris was dry, and devoid of deceased and decaying deer distillation.
The alliterative narration was not lost on Zayr, who once again had the feeling that something was being written about him. "Pablo, is Naimi around?"
The mage frowned at that as he began to tuck away his papers full of notes. "She was supposed to be visiting you. Isn't she with you?"
"She never arrived," Nikado told him seriously. "Did you not get my letter?"
"No." Pablo looked worried. "If she's not with you, then where is she?"
"We don't know," Zayr replied seriously. "That is why we came here."
Pablo frowned again, then began furiously writing in his notebook. A moment later, five chairs plopped into the room, centered around a table which featured a quaint tea set ready for pouring. "Let's discuss this over something to drink."
Nikado raised his eyebrows. "Wow, Pablo. You just keep getting better at that. I take it your practice has been going well, then?" He peered over the mage's shoulder, trying to get a look at his numerical spell.
"Aye," Pablo replied as he took a seat, and there was a note of happiness in his usually cool voice. "I think it's been working out very well. After all, everything has a logical rhythm and can be quantified if you know how. It's really very simple, just a matter of writing up some basic equations and defining a bunch of variables. For example, one variable is the material of the wood, another is the pattern of the carvings, and another is the color of the paint...."
"They get the idea, Pablo," Eris interrupted with a roll of her eyes. "You have no idea how often he goes on like this," she added to the two older men."
Pablo rolled his own eyes in reply. "At any rate, it allows for a very customizable system. The disadvantage is that they get very long, so I've been working on some shortcut systems. Have some tea, it's a southern blend."
"Thank you, Pablo," Zayr replied politely, taking a seat and sipping at the tea. "It has quite a lovely flavor."
Tobias also sat down, resting his elbows on the table, chin in hands, as he watched the group. "Any ideas where she might have gone?"
"She could have been kidnapped," Nikado theorized, "although I don't think the Web is behind it. They're too fractured right now and I doubt they'll be on their feet any time soon. So it could be a random mugging. Or it might be someone else interested in her powers." He shrugged. "I'm not sure anyone could get a handle on her without her being able to defend herself, though. So it could be that she wandered off on her own. Again, though, the question would be why."
"That does seem to be the two most logical options," Pablo agreed. "What do you think, Zayr?"
"I smell a plot device," he replied flatly, setting down the teacup.
Eris regarded him oddly. "Plot device? You mean like our story plot devices? 'Suddenly, cabbages! Thousands of them!' comes to mind."
"Something like that, possibly," Zayr replied seriously. "I think the author may be doing a sequel."
That got the attention of the three younger members of the group. "Another story?" Tobias echoed slowly. "But we haven't heard from the author or the editor."
"Neither have I," Zayr sighed reluctantly. "At this point, it's only a gut feeling I have. Just a sense that we may be watched again. Watch what you say, someone might be writing it down."
Pablo sat back, folding his arms in thought. "Let's try and retrace her steps between here and your homestead, Zayr. Perhaps we can find something on the way over. We can set out in the morning when it's nice and early."
"That sounds like a good idea," Zayr agreed before looking around the table. "What do all of you think?"
"Sounds like a plan," Nikado agreed. "I don't want to go anywhere else tonight, anyway. My rear is killing me."
Eris choked on her drink. "Thanks for sharing, pops."
"Oh, you inform me that you smell like deer corpse, but I'M giving too much information?"
"Hey! You asked that!"
Zayr smiled slightly, putting down his cup. "Thank you for your hospitality, Pablo."
He grinned in response. "Hey, what're friends for? Besides, I want to see Naimi safe just like everyone else. If the author's trying to spur us on a new adventure, so be it."
Night fell with a sudden crash, as if the sun had decided to say 'screw the world' and go hide for a while. Silence reigned over the Zenzizenzizenzic household like a cruel, terrible mistress who spikes peasants for fun, and then the narration ran out of bad similes to use.
Tobias was not there. The place he was standing in was a tall building, archways and sculpture far over his head. Rows of benches were lined along opposite walls, forming a hallway in the center of the rectangular room. The dark-skinned man slowly walked down the central aisle, wondering where he was.
A figure was at the front of the room, kneeling by a statue that towered halfway up the wall, stained glass windows depicting people in some sort of scene on either side. Dim moonlight from outside game through the windows, giving the figure an eerie, patchily colored light. "Hello?" Tobias called hesitantly.
The figure stood, approaching Tobias. Most of his features were covered by the robes he wore, coupled with a hood that obscured his face. "Yes, my child? What is it?"
Tobias started at the voice that seemed familiar, but the tone was all wrong. "Who...who are you?" he asked quietly, reaching to move the stranger's hood.
A callused yet feminine hand slapped his away as another familiar voice spoke behind him. "You shouldn't be so familiar with Father Nicholas, brother."
"Brother?" he echoed in confusion, turning to face the other person, a young woman also in robes. "...Eris?"
"It's Sister Elizabeth," she corrected as the man pulled back his hood, revealing Nikado's face. "Why must you be so informal?"
He took a step back, looking from one to the other. "I-- Where is this? What's going on?"
"Oh, my son," Nikado said with a little chuckle. "How like you, to not remember the hallowed place of God. But do not worry, my child. This is a holy sanctuary. Here, you are safe, and you may seek forgiveness for your sins."
"Sanctuary? I don't understand," Tobias protested, backing away from Nikado. "Why are you and Eris acting so strange? Is this some sort of crossover?"
"A 'cross-over'? My child, your mind is wearied, weighted by the heaviness of your sins," Nikado told him gently, "and thus your mind has begun to fantasize things which do not exist."
Tobias looked at him, a cold knot growing in his stomach. "Nikado, what's wrong with you? Have you forgotten we're characters?"
Nikado reached out, cupping Tobias's hand in his chin. "I have forgotten nothing, my dear child," and now there was an unusually hard and sinister edge in his voice. "I am not the one who has forgotten anything. It is you who has strayed off the path of righteousness, who has burdened and steeped himself with sin."
"I've done nothing wrong," Tobias protested. "Nikado, you're frightening me. Please stop. Aren't we friends?"
The hand tightened on his chin. "Of course, my child. But the fact remains that you have desecrated the bodies of the dead. An abomination such as yourself should have never been created. God will grant you rest, my child."
Tobias jerked away, and turned to leave, only to have Eris grab him from behind, pinning his arms behind his back. "Eris, Nikado, stop it. This isn't funny. Have you lost your minds?"
"Stop struggling, and accept God's mercy," the girl instructed him simply.
Nikado approached, almost gently wrapping his hands around the younger man's throat. "Repent of your sins, my child! Repent, and find peace!"
Panic rose in his throat as he struggled for breath, Nikado shaking him with force. "Repent! Repent!"
"Tobias! Tobias!"
With another scream, Tobias jerked awake, smacking his head against something in the dark. "Ow, ow, fuck it," Eris cursed as she rubbed at her head. "Why's your head gotta be so goddamned hard?"
The zombie's eyes were large and frightened as he unconsciously moved away from here. "Wha-- Where-- Is it really you?" he asked cautiously, hand moving to his throat.
"No, there's some other bald chick that goes invading the rooms of screaming zombies in the middle of the night," she snorted. "Of course it's me, you freak."
"Eris...." Everything overwhelmed him all at once, and he grabbed the girl in a tight hug, shaking. "I had a nightmare," he managed simply.
"Well, I guessed that," she replied, squirming uncomfortably. "You know, what with the screaming and all. I think everyone's still asleep, though. What the hell were you dreaming?"
"I... I'm not sure if I want to talk about it." He rested his head on her shoulder, taking in her warmth against his cool skin for a long moment. "Can I... just stay, for a moment, like this?"
"You've already stayed for a moment," she grumbled, but made no move to get up. "Tobias, are you okay?"
"I think so," he replied slowly after considering the question. "It was just a dream, after all." He took adeep breath, and then let out in a rush, "You and Nikado were there, and you were both trying to kill me. Because I was a zombie."
"Say what?" Eris looked like she didn't know how to respond to that. Falling back on her general reaction of violence, she gave him a thwap upside the head. "Idiot. Like we'd ever do that."
"I know," he replied seriously. "That's what made it so frightening."
Her expression softened a bit. That was what made him so endearing, that he seemed so fragile. "Idiot," she reiterated, toying with a lock of his thick black hair. "Letting a stupid unreal dream get you so worked up."
"I know."
Eris gave him a pat before extracting herself. "Um...do you want me to stay here for a bit?" she offered hesitantly.
He gave her a soft smile with a hint of relief in it. "Maybe just until I fall asleep?"
"Okay, but you'd better fall asleep quickly," she warned, though there was a bit of a teasing note in her tone. "You interrupted my sleep, and now I want it back."
"All right."
The next morning would find that Eris hadn't returned to her room, although she had indeed gone back to sleep, now curled up around the sleeping zombie. For Tobias, the rest of the night was peacefully dreamless.
In order to better trace Naimi's steps between Cantercor and the A'osut homestead, Pablo had decided it was better to go on foot and take their time going between the two. Supplies had been packed, and the group set out early at a casual pace, crossing through the countryside on their way to the Vision Forest. Nikado quickly engaged Tobias in conversation, catching up on what had happened since his last visit to Cantercor, leaving Pablo and Zayr to discuss Naimi's disappearance. Eris darted ahead frequently, scouting around for anything suspicious.
They made the forest itself by late afternoon, taking the main trail through the forest, and their progress slowed down considerably as they searched the area carefully. Zayr was considering calling for a stop for the day when Eris came back from a reconnissance trip, saying there was something ahead that they should see.
"It" was a line of white, that almost seemed to be a tear in space, glowing with enough light to brighten the immediate area as if the sun was not setting. "What do you think it is?" Eris asked at last, moving to poke the tear with a stick. Tobias pulled her back.
"A plot device?" Pablo hazarded slowly, crouching down by the tear and examining it before he turned to look at Zayr.
"I don't think I've ever seen one quite so obvious," Zayr said slowly.
"A raw plot device, then? Plot hole?"
"I don't think it's anything of our world," Nikado said slowly, looking at the group over the glasses he wore when reading his book. "I can't find anything."
"I agree," Zayr said after a long moment. "That sense of being watched, I think it's stronger here."
"Something to do with the author, then, maybe?" Nikado asked with a frown.
Zayr shook his head. "I really have no idea. It's all gut feeling and guesses for me. Pablo?"
The mage considered the crack of light for a moment, then reached into one pocket, pulling out a bracelet woven of hair. Eris looked up. "Oh, I was wondering what you did with the last cut I had."
He smiled slightly. "My father's a bit better at this spell than me. Just in case, you know?" He slipped it on his wrist.
"Just in case of what?" Zayr asked warily. "What are you planning to do?"
Pablo didn't answer, instead reaching toward the crack of light. "Pablo, don't do that," Nikado warned with a tone of alarm, moving to grab the mage, but he had already put the braceleted hand on the crack.
The bracelet shredded almost instantly, Pablo's breath leaving him in a gasp as his eyes rolled upwards. Nikado grabbed for his shoulder, and it felt like some invisible force had struck a blow to his chest, leaving him panting for breath as he forcefully yanked Pablo away from the crack of light. Nikado stumbled backwards, sitting down heavily as Pablo crumpled to the ground.
"Damn it!" Zayr pulled Pablo away from the crack, Tobias checking the mage for vital signs. "Nikado, are you all right?"
Still gasping for breath, Nikado managed a shake of his head. "Ow... damn."
"What the hell just happened?" Eris asked, voice a bit shaky as she put a hand on Nikado's shoulder. "Take it easy, pops."
Zayr shook his head, looking at Tobias. The zombie's attention was entirely on Pablo, frowning at his slow, faint breathing and fluttering pulse. "Some kind of shock to his system. Nikado?"
"I'm okay, I think," he mumbled with a cough. "Ow. I think I know what it's like to be struck by lightning."
"Okay, so we know now not to touch the pretty light," Eris observed unhelpfully. "Now what?"
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Zayr asked of Tobias.
The zombie put one hand on top of the other, a slight golden glow darting across Pablo's still form. "There's no physical damage," he said, removing both hands, one joint of his pinkie finger missing from a hand. "It seems to be some kind of shock to his system. I'm guessing something like a mental shock. I can't be sure. Psionics aren't my area."
"What should we do?" Zayr asked practically.
Tobias shrugged. "Keep him comfortable and warm. There's not really anything we can do til he wakes up. He'll be able to better tell us what happened."
"Should we take him back to Cantercor?" Nikado asked slowly.
"If he hasn't woken up by morning, probably," Tobias said after some thought. "His father might know better how to handle this. Although I honestly don't like the idea of leaving this thing out here alone for someone else to stumble across."
"Good point," Zayr agreed, "but if he hasn't awakened by morning, there won't be much we can do about it. Let's go ahead and set up camp here for the night."
Tobias stayed close to Pablo, keeping an eye on him as Zayr prepared a fire, Nikado and Eris pulling out supplies for dinner. The young mage was pale and sweaty, skin flushed and unusually hot to Tobias's touch. "It's kind of creepy," Eris commented, eyeing the crack of light still partially visible through the trees. "That it could do that to Pablo of all people even with the protection spell. Do you think it messed with his reality?"
"It's definitely some kind of flaw in reality," Nikado replied seriously, turning to look at it as well as he handed Zayr some bread. "Nothing normal, that's for sure."
"It's probably a good thing Pablo handled it instead of one of us," Zayr replied seriously, absently munching on the bread. "He has the greatest chance of surviving something like that, I think, what with his powers."
"You think it's magical in nature?" Tobias questioned, rubbing at the joint where the missing finger bone had been attached.
Zayr shrugged. "I really don't know, Tobias. Although if this is another of the author's tricks, the editor's going to get an earful. I thought we broke the author's bad habits in the last story."
"Authors are crazy, unmotivated sorts," Nikado commented with a shrug. "It's hard to say."
The rest of dinner passed quietly. By the time cleanup was done and blankets were laid out, the sun had long set, although it wasn't easy to tell thanks to the crack of light shining through the trees. Tobias eventually fell asleep next to his charge, and Nikado and Eris drifted off as well, but Zayr found himself unable to sleep. Finally getting up, he moved for his bag, pulling out some paper and a pencil. Carrying his supplies over to the crack of light, he sat down and began writing, using the crack's luminosity to write by.
"Can't sleep?" Zayr jumped at the voice, reaching for his sword before remembering belatedly that it was back with his other things.
A figure knelt by him, and the younger man relaxed as he realized it was Nikado. "I apologize, did I wake you?"
Nikado shook his head. "No, I'm having a little trouble sleeping. Still a little sore from our glowy friend here." He peered over at the paper. "Writing a letter home?"
Zayr nodded, although he made no effort to continue writing. "To Trallia, yes."
Nikado took a seat by the other man, resting an arm on his knee. "By god, man, we've only been gone two days," he laughed softly. "I think they can survive without you."
The other shrugged, the eerie white light reflected in his icy green eyes. "All the same, it gives me some sense of comfort to write this."
Nikado tilted his head. "You know, I don't mean to pry...."
"But you will anyway," Zayr replied coolly, returning to his letter.
Nikado laughed. "That bother you?"
"No more than usual. What is it you wish to be overly nosy about?"
"Why Zayr, your words wound me," he giggled before turning serious. "I know I wasn't around when you first met her, but I can't help but think that your relationship with Trallia is a little... odd."
Zayr blinked, giving the scholar a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"
Nikado made a vague gesture. "Just that... okay, don't take offense, but it sort of seems insincere. I don't think she loves you, Zayr."
The other continued to regard Nikado oddly. "Is that a requirement?"
Nikado stumbled for words, flailing a bit. "Well, yes, er... I mean, why would you get married otherwise?"
Zayr shook his head, not sure what Nikado was getting at. "Because I need a heir to take my land after I die. Why else?"
The expression in Nikado's eyes was sad, abruptly. "But you don't love her?"
The younger man stiffened indignantly. "Of course I care for her."
Nikado reached out, taking Zayr's chin in his hands, locking his dark blue eyes on Zayr's light green. "You didn't say you loved her."
"Nikado?" Zayr questioned slowly, the paper sliding out of his lap. "What are you getting a--"
The other man leaned in, pressing his lips lightly but firmly against Zayr's. For a moment, the landowner was too surprised to do anything but take in the sudden sensation, then he managed to jerk away, eyes wide. "Nikado, what are you doing?" he asked, feeling his cheeks burn as his breath came short.
The scholar put a hand on the other's shoulder, pushing him back gently onto the ground. His expression was a mixture of many different things: desire, sympathy, anger, and sorrow. "Zayr," he asked softly, tone husky, "have you not ever wanted to fall in love?"
"I don't know what you mean." His heart was pounding in his chest hard enough that it felt like it was trying to escape, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, silently cursing the heat in his cheeks.
Nikado leaned in again, brushing his lips lightly against the other man's, breath hot against Zayr's cheek. A hand slid down Zayr's torso, fingers brushing against his skin just above the waist as they began to venture lower. "No, stop...."
"Do you want me to stop?" Nikado whispered in the other's ear, other hand brushing against Zayr's cheek, the contact sending chills down the landowner's spine. "What are you afraid of?"
"I don't know," Zayr admitted honestly, trying to contain the irrational feeling of being trapped. "We can't do this."
"Why is that?"
Zayr shut his eyes again, trying to ignore the scent of the other man that suddenly seemed so strong and overwhelming. "Nikado, I have a family."
"Can I not be your family too, Zayr?" Nikado asked in a tone even softer than before, as if the words were no more than the falling of leaves.
"You are," the other replied, the last coming out in a moan as Nikado's warm fingers brushed against his skin cooled by the night breeze. "But not in that way. Nikado, we can't. We just can't, okay?"
The scholar didn't reply to that, instead kissing Zayr with more force, his tongue gently pushing the other's lips apart, teasing the other with the touch inside their mouths. From that alone, the sensation sent a tingling down his entire body, a feeling that Zayr somehow felt he should be able to name, but couldn't.
"Zayr, you do not realize how empty you are," Nikado's voice said harshly in his ear. "You are so busy always doing what is expected of you, that you are incapable of ever doing what you *want* to do. Do you even know how to have your own dreams and desires, Zayr Enesse A'osut? Answer me this. Before you met the rest of us, had you ever truly smiled?"
And then he let Zayr go, standing up. Zayr sat up, watching as the scholar turned without looking at him, silently making his way through the trees back to their campsite. Zayr cursed silently to himself, wondering what that was about and why his heart wouldn't stop thumping.
