Skylar and Serafina Reduex

[Psychofish]

Even this long in time, even this far separated- she was dead, and so was the man that simply floated at the touch, felt calm replace his tension. Skylar benefited some small bit from it, but even so he wondered- had it not been for the power bound up in this knowledge and memory, would he have rather been free of the trappings of the dead men? The rest he was learning to control. This one seemed bound to become some small part of him no matter how he tried to compartmentalize, order, control.

He would simply live with it. He'd made the choice. It was done.

Humanity.

He smiled bittersweetly, wondering how strongly that dead man might have disagreed with him on his next thought.

You might have chosen your candidate poorly.

Still... he cracked a bittersweet smile as she continued. He could hardly disagree with her points. And he could remember the long nights, the discussions. It lit up his mind, lightened his mood some. That was good. He didn't get much of the same with what was come- not that he had expected to. His brows narrowed- not so much as one might have expected, but even despite his upbringing there was some level of defensive instinct, and certainly some affection- enough that he did not like what he was hearing, even as he made himself take measure and weigh his disagreements and counterpoints by logic against hers. Handled like so, he found the scales tipping in a manner that did not much at all please him. Change was a part of nature- they followed rules, and everything was cyclical, but while the patterns remained, the contents shifted drastically from one turn to the next. The soul and the body, Avalon and Gaia, in many ways. It confirmed that his father, his mother, were not the corruption that was killing it- but they had given it a way in. Not that they should have expected to be given any credit for the ways in which they had also served as guardian to it, but that was the nature of it. The cycle.

They roles were done, and so it demanded they die.

It made his veins throb, feeling the anger he swallowed down, pride, shame, frustration- but it was true. No, the role had to end, change needed to be allowed to bring new growth from the old. Keeping that in mind, not thinking of death as a man- not even a man like his father- then... there could be a solution. Not one that would come easy, or win him many allies, but he could--

His eyes watched her hand move. He stared blankly a moment, something gnawing at the back of his mind, more and more violently, begging to be let out as purple eyes, much wider than they almost ever grew, turned up to hers.

Skylar- Skye- saw the small, white haired boy holding the small bow, peering through the brushes, turning a wide eyed look up toward him.

"Cae--"

He choked on it before he could finish the word, face contorting in pain, in rage, in vain attempts to smooth and compose itself again. His jaw worked at words, and very much unlike him, he heard his knuckle pop- only then realizing how tight his fists were clenched. Memory poured back in all at once.

Some details still lacked. But he remembered the conversation earlier well enough. He put together much of what he was missing.

Trembling faintly, he tried to put his various thoughts in order, determine priority, determine how to act next. He stared up at the wall, then back at her, and made one small, dry sound that could, perhaps, have been a single laugh to someone who didn't know him. No, not his parents for this. They were responsible for many things, but not this one. He looked at her with his vision blurred by the tears, face tight and controlled- but for a small tremble, and that his smile looked mostly like bared teeth. "How long-" he began, voice painfully dry tight, too much swallowed. Not smoothed out like he normally did. As he spoke again it almost turned into a snarl. Focused, and deadly.

"How long has this Merlin held the mantle?"  

[Tei Kae]

Time was not finite, not as the living saw it. No, the long dead, even those with a worldly attachment still needed strong landmarks, in this case emotions. It was why her child's birth and death lingered so clearly in her mind. But the hand at her waist curled tightly as she focused on the lives of her descendants and their shared memory at the request of her beloved's own lineage bearer.

While the girl had been unaware of her presence, she had always been there beside her, within her, gently guiding. But it was so hard to focus outside of those strong emotions that it took her several moments of silence before she looked into the eyes so much like her beloved. "He was new to the mantle when he sought to kill the girl when she was about to be born. Her mother wore the mantle of the Morrigan, she who was lost and betrayed. But her mother felt none of these. Her sorrow had been broken. He did not think she could do her duty and sought to kill her, knowing that the child of chaos would be born if it was not so."

She paused reflecting, wondering how much he knew and how much this test would allow her to say. "There are several mantles. That of the Horned One, the one who must die and change. Then there is the Mother, that of the nurturer, who must suffer and who wields pain to enact the change that must be, and that of Merlin, the guide to see when each are to be in power." She lifted her hand, running her fingers through the mass of tangled curls that floated around her head. "But also that of Nimue, she who is both death and new life. The cycle itself. Who has no care of her own but for the Zöe itself. Who can even contain the Merlin's mischief, when he's gone mad as he always will without the Nimue's blessing."

"It is not just your bloodline that is strong, but also mine." She gestured to the slumbering figure behind her with a gentle twist of her head, the curls cascading down her back. She wore neither armor nor dress, and seemed completely at ease, despite it, either knowing she was but a figment of a girl's mind or not caring. "Both of her parents are branded with the mark of Chaos, but one is also of your line and the other of Angelic Order. If she awakens, it will only be her ----" whatever words she would have said next never came out, only her mouth wrapping around unknown words that did not wish to be known. But she seemed unaware that she had not spoken the words.

" She will fight you if you tell her. She seems to think there is something wrong with having a destiny." She sighed and looked flatly at him once again. "Now that you have wasted a question on such a thing, you had best proceed cautiously."  

[Psychofish]

She took a long time to answer, it seemed to him. Far too long- his nerves were on fire, jaw tight, and he kept glancing back in the direction that the man had left. Past and present blurred- this place made it too easy to fall into what was already the most well connected of his past lives, of the memories coursing through him, the different minds and twists. And all this one saw was his son.

And then she spoke and he paused- the girl? It boggled him for a moment. Slowly Skylar pulled his mind together again, glancing around. The girl. Serafina... Veli. That was correct. He was out of place- out of time- and losing himself into it. He fought his way out of it, bit by bit reassembling the world, the facts, and trying to compose the proper meaning to her words amidst that and the emotional whiplash- helped none by ire at himself for falling into exactly the sort of game he knew Avalon, and the Faye, to play.

He slowly pulled himself out of it- the facade broken. The memories were still there- the emotions left imprints on his reactions, the tiniest motions of muscles in the face, the way his eyes moved- but now it was definitively a face like the one she'd known- not the near perfect mimicry it had so recently been. Purple eyes traced the form on the ground slowly, and softened slightly as she made it very clear the situation- more than likely the one speaking with him was that girl's actual body, as abducted to Avalon, but Miss Veli herself was one of the tests- the slumbering one. Skylar nodded slowly, and his eyes hardened again.

He was the reason she was here, involved in things she had no need to be.

The games did not help. He'd been brought up to play them, but they none the less galled him- it did not suit his demeanor, in this incarnation at least, to play around things, even if he understood life necessitated such more often than it would allow one to simply cut to the heart of the matter. He'd have to find a way to determine what she had been unable to say, and how precisely he could send the girl home again once he was able to resolve the ramifications of the power play between her and Merlin that had no doubt been a part of why she'd been taken her in the first place.

"You are correct," he said flatly, nodding again and considering. His muscles still felt tighter than they should have, and his thoughts were not as clear as he preferred, but shrugging off the mask of the past life and quickly cycling a few meditative 'mantras' through his mind had done a great deal to help.

What had her first answer been? Yes, humanity. It was where it began- no doubt it would be where it ended. He could use that. It was, after all, the root of both the corruption they faced, and the solution if it was to be tethered properly to Gaia again. And as he stood of both lands, it seemed to him there was no greater purpose for him than to tend the health of both worlds.

The connection between them would need to be maintained. However, beyond that...

"Once the corrupting influence is removed, how much of the ailment on the land has rooted deep enough to maintain it's grip?" Whatever connection he had with the land, if she was being presented as a face of Avalon itself, he could find no better place to determine exactly what kinds of measures he might need to take to cut the rot out so Avalon and Gaia could heal together again.

Even if it annoyed him somewhat that such archaic medical terms still proved better analogy than any more intricate modern procedure.  

[Tei Kae]

"It will depend on the precision of the knife you use." Her answer was simple and to the point, much like both women could be when they were so suited. "Enough will remain to tether Avalon to the world but it will be slow to rejoin, if ever as fully as it did once. In truth, a full healing would only be possible with a true heir to the mantle of the once and future king. Certain paths must be taken both before and by he who would be king. The stories have twisted their meaning and even on Avalon, it is difficult to tell which is true and which is wishful thinking. But it must start as ours did, deception which leads to love." her cheeks lit briefly in pleasant reminder. " The Illusion which becomes the reality, much like Avalon and the Zöe itself. It becomes real because the story is true."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked Skylar over critically. "You have told her the truth....but you have not told her your truth..." her gaze settling over the covered tattoo that etched into his very soul and not only his body. "She may not accept any truth you give her. She was raised in a world very different from you and I, despite the similarities. She believes she must forge her own way much like you do. But she will not accepting having any part of it handed to her as her birthright." She reached over, tugging on the braid sliding down his face affectionately. "You have a painful road ahead of you, Heir of my love, Child of Avalon. She will not....can not make it easy for you."

"It is possible that one or both of your life blood must be spilled to cleanse this corruption and that would kill you both. In a way that can not be borne anew." She took a step, placing herself at the line of her glyph, looked to him, and then smudged it with her foot. " She can and will renew this if you fail....and Avalon will be doomed to oblivion." And with those words, she collapsed to the ground, much as she had when she'd been shot with an arrow in front of him, only this time, she would not get back up.  

[Psychofish]

He nodded, slowly. That answer was good- it was not specific, by any stretch at all. But he didn't need exact numbers and figures from it- there were too many variables, too much going on, for him to have made proper use of them, had Avalon even ever been a place to entertain such uncompromising exactness. No, she was correct- it was about the story, the idea. Avalon was the 'magic', not in it's defining sense of arcane power and manipulations upon the world, but the ethereal idea of something flitting, transcendent, and indirectly or subtly powerful. It was the story. So, what she did answer was more than enough.

She told him that what he wanted was possible, should he be sufficiently clever and fortunate. It also told him which stories he would have to feed Avalon, ultimately, if he wished to unite the worlds, rather than sear them violently apart to end the pangs of their ailing connection.

And at the moment, he would. For all the world, it seemed the clearest sign the Zöe could have offered him. He'd always believed in purpose- for tools, for servants, for members of society, for himself- and in Zöe, to some extent, all things had purpose to the cycle.

The fact that he straddle the two worlds so painfully but could not bring himself to cast either aside finally seemed not a cruel joke, but the most natural thing in the world.

That sense of purpose didn't wane- but he shifted uncomfortably as she eyed his shoulder, right past the second flesh, and any illusion. He opened his mouth- more than once- and some part of him wanted to defend himself, or say something sarcastic and dry. But he was removed enough at the moment to see his own emotions, rather than be carried by them, even with her around. There was too much going on, too much at stake- he was placing himself as back from it as he could so as to observe, to take in all the connections that were, for the moment, in hopes of seeing the situation that was rather than the one that suited him. So instead he frowned, glanced at his shoulder, before back to her... to the woman on the ground... and nodded, very slowly.

It might have been a somberly uplifting tone, if she had stopped shy of that last note. One death that actually took. It really shouldn't have bothered him. In some ways, the idea of ending that particular cycle, or at the very least of violently differentiating himself from what came before, what might come after- appealed.

But he looked at the girl on the ground, and the thought bothered him. Enough to turn his face to hard lines of bitter anger with himself.

She hit the ground, and he only blinked in confusion. For too long a moment, he waited for her to move. Waited. Hoped. He slowly tried to tear his mind apart- to further separate one life from another. The part of him that was still living in the past- that wanted to scream and fall to the ground beside her. Shake her awake, throw his power into reviving her. But... the body was unharmed. Life simply moved where it needed to be in Avalon. He would have to sort through each, and this was yet another message- another meaning. He'd have to discern, somehow, why this one collapsed, while one turned to ash, and yet another danced on. He hadn't realized he'd dropped to a knee beside her until he felt his fist clenching around dirt. He held the soil softly, cradling it in a palm, and looked down at it almost pensively. She'd crossed the line- it seemed maybe a small cheat, the one final one she was permitted. Something that could be redone- but confirmed that whichever glyph she'd just deactivated, it would keep Avalon and Gaia from being burned apart if it was to be undone.

He simply could not afford to lose.

A fine concept, if only he'd known who his opponent was. Or, perhaps fairer to say, if it had not been likely near enough everyone. Whatever he was being tested for, no Faye would accept him for a role until he proved himself to them or one they accepted as their better in whatever craft or fashion it was the test took. And his father... he'd been brought up to survive, and to succeed. It was not a kindly upbringing. He had no illusions.

He looked at the sleeping girl, and considered if he should ask who she was. But then... even if he had not known, in the strictest fashion her answer, he doubted she yet knew enough to give him the revealing identity of a clearly crafted tale and motivation as the others had. Instead... perhaps more appropriate...

"...what do you dream of?"

Odd. His voice sounded painfully hoarse.  

[Tei Kae]

Blood, death, anger, fear, regret, joy,sadness....

...her birth had been filled with all of the emotions that made up the chaos of life. Of that, there could be no doubt. But looking upon the slumbering nubile young body, all that remained, stripped down to its core, was her purity and strength. Determination, despite her soft life. Even in sleep, her brows furrowed fighting darker thoughts, a fight of light and darkness playing out over her skin in the eternal dance for control.

Her dark red curls embraced her flesh, longer than just the week before, the merge of memory and history tamped upon her body in ways difficult to explain and yet so evident for those familiar. At Skylar's words, her lips pursed in her sleep as if she disagreed with someone but was attempting to restrain herself. Restrain....

Not a word one would ordinarily associate with this woman child. Especially, in a state that would prohibit such normal restrictions. But she had proven she was far from ordinary, even in this life. But she knew she would only speak truth when she woke, and that truth, none would find pleasant, and so she wished only to slumber onward, but even that would not remain, because she also recognized the cowardice of that thought, her lashes fluttered over a still un-scarred face, eyes downward even as her limbs moved, pushing her upwards slowly to a sitting position, and then rising again, her tense muscles attesting to the unpleasantness of the task before her.

Finally standing, her eyes raised, looking at Skylar almost defiantly, the blood red flecks flashing in her strangely still soft teal blue eyes, even as the water hovered at the edge. There was no shedding of tears, but the battle she fought was clear to be seen. She was at war with herself as much as the world. Knowing both what should be done, what would be done, and what the price would be...

"The end, the beginning, and our part in both...", her voice pained and as hoarse as his, but lacking the regret that would normally follow with. She could have given him details. The dragon's gaping mouth, her father's loss, her mother's hope, his father's pride, his mother's despair. If he looked deeply enough, he would see all of them, in her eyes, although he would not know their source. She knew all of their crimes, and yet, she faulted none of them. The past, the present, the future. It was an endless cycle.

"Jarelle..." the name was strange upon her lips, but as a child of Avalon, Skylar would know the name. The Dragon Goddess of Creation. The One who Slumbered. The one whose mate had killed the Morgaine. Or so the story went.  

[Psychofish]

He watched her rise, quirking an eyebrow. She seemed to leave behind her mien of a moment ago much more quickly than the others, out of character of whatever her theme was- but then, it would have been hard for her to play her role barely awake, he supposed. She also quite looked her age at the moment- perhaps it was partially in his mood, or the sense of vulnerability about her at the moment.

In regards to her words...

That only made sense. Whatever this one represented, such would be the sort of thing that Avalon would be providing her for the test- and no doubt the whole of the Isle would behave in many ways much like his pendant to her. It was alive- and it was near enough composed of memory and purpose mixed with that life. Certainly, the memory would be strong- of Jarelle, and of Adamus, whom now were held by two very different manners of slumber. That would be... a powerful force on Avalon. He nodded slowly. He should have thought to look into that before, as soon as this had been mentioned. Whatever else was going on, this was coming to a head in his current life time, with the corruption. And, even if time passed differently between the two, the fates of the dragons and his father's ascension to the throne in Avalon were not separated by a great deal. It should have been forgone conclusion, then, that if the corruption was becoming severe now that these three things were all related.

One had to wonder what else it was showing the girl who'd been running from ghosts and dreams.

"It had not been my intention to see you entangled in my personal matters. When able, I shall see to it you are provided means of return to Gaia," he quirked a very thin, small little bitter smile. "Though I suppose you have been given your visit to Avalon."  

[Tei Kae]

The words tripped out of Skylar's mouth, but she was silent, her eyebrows arching higher and higher with each stupid word out of his idiot mouth. Continuing onward, she wondered if someone who was normally so social able could possibly be this dense, but she let him finish, the only sign of her agitation was the faintest twitch of her lip as it lifted and then slid downward.

One thing Serafina didn't do was telegraph her moves, and this moment was no different. One second, she was standing there, clad in only his t shirt; had that been there a moment ago, who knew, and the next her tightly wound fist was connecting with his lower jaw in a manner quite solid and reminiscent of a quite physical human and not the gentle reminder of a memory at all.

"Espèce d'idiot!", she'd finally speak, following through her punch with insults at his intelligence, because damned if he wasn't acting like someone without wits even as she reached to keep him from falling completely on his a**. She knew enough about the Fair Folk to know he'd not live that down, "Mon Dieu!" French really was such a better language to cuss in as most people didn't know what you were saying so you could say it and they'd never know. But she knew Skylar would somehow.

"Your intentions can go suck a nanny goat c**k, Sky. I am entangled because of who I am. Someone has a serious boner for this predestination merde and we both have manipulative family members with ties to this damned place. I can get back to Gaia any time I damned well please. So do not go acting the ******** hero. It doesn't suit you. I'm here because I want to be and not just because of the fun of a trip. Your...mother I'm presuming..." thumbing her opposable digit up towards the ramparts of the castle. It was the first time she was swearing rapidly and without pause or thought to the ludicrousness of her curses.

"She gets one freebie because she's helluva pregnant. Your dad is a bit more sane, but they both have been around for way longer than they should have been to be fully sane. My dad killed Adamus because he thought that he'd eaten my mother while pregnant with me. Avalon and the world in general likes their cycles and s**t. You should know this by now. Hell, I'm 16 going on 17 and I know it, just by existing on Gaia and actually participating in the world." her voice softened, reflecting on her own words, words that were truth, even if she would realize she had no choice in the matter.

"That might very well be your problem. You don't participate. You observe. You don't get messy. You think there's always a choice. You deny that very messy part of you and in turn it controls you when you least want it to." She thumbed back at herself. "The whole reason any part of us is human is because we're a bit mess of sloppy merde." She smiled, making sure her hand still gripped his, not releasing him as he stood before her, she the undressed and vulnerable one, and yet the one completely controlling the situation. Her foot grazed along the glyph lines as if toying with it.

And then her foot stomped down and a bright flash of light ignited.

 

[Psychofish]

For just a fraction of a second, his entire vision turned white.

Skylar also distinctly heard his teeth hitting each other hard, and tasted just a hint of blood. If his world hadn't been spinning, and he'd had any reason to expect this ridiculous kind of response, he might have been ready- and at least he knew how to take a fall and come back to his feet. Only he wheeled off balance as he tried to do so, only to adjust to finding himself being hauled back up instead.

He grabbed her shirt by the collar, nails digging in and swallowed blood, head spinning as she began railing on him and prattling, without even giving him a pause to recover from the blow.

"Ta Gueule-!" He shot in the middle of it, wincing as he focused past his head, now spinning more than one way, and only getting worse as she spouted information and pure, unapologetic indigence each in turn, rapid fire. But of course, she didn't stop. No, she kept going.

Cycle? Family? SIXTEEN?

His face curled into a snarl, leaning into her as he tried to figure out exactly what to say- she might have had a point, but he wasn't going to even come to that conclusion until she stopped hitting him or getting into his face long enough for him to compose a thought all the way through. No, for the moment, he needed her to shut up, or he was going to have to kiss her just so as not to kill her, the insufferable girl!

He wasn't going to get that chance.

Her leg moved, and he felt power swell. "The devil a-"

Skylar's vision turned white again.

teikae

And then her foot stomped down and a bright flash of light ignited.

 

[Tei Kae]

In the split second before his world ignited, life would indeed flash before him, but it was not his life, but that of so many others. The red line zipped along the glyph; the ignition lit as the castle was consumed, the trees burning embers as the darkness swelled enveloping everything, the taste of ash in the air and his mouth as everything he'd ever known was subsumed in an instant.

The grip on his arm released suddenly as the world came spinning back into focus and the not so pale girl with the dark flash of red hair collapsed into his grip. Her flesh charred and blackened like a side of meat over a fire let to go too high and too hot. The zips of red lines fed back into her, her face screwed up in pain and silent screams; the facial expressions cracking the crispy not only roasted but incinerated mess that was now her flesh, the muscles inside cooked as the energy kept coming.

But as he would look around, the scene he'd seen before was gone, replaced by abject horror as everyone looked at the two of them, confused and excited ...and actually concerned. They had ...for that split second....seen what it would be like if Avalon had been consumed by the corruption. They had felt the power she had put out....and the power that she was now withdrawing into her body, greedy little hands refusing to let any of it out, her hands clutched into a pulling motion as she continued to gather it up.

Finally, it was gone...subsumed into the girl that he grasped so tightly, even the shirt burned off in the flash of energy and pain that had her stiff as a corpse body falling to the ground with a thud, crackles of dead and burnt flesh peeling off her skin at the force. Teal blue eyes with that sparkle of blood red staring back up at him lifelessly.  

[Psychofish]

It was the blessing of of half his heritage- it was the curse of his mother's blood. A small piece of the world's soul. He didn't simply see all of Avalon turn to ash around him, far a the eye could see, light and life alike snuffed out, everything subsumed in an instant into the kind of rot and decay that ushered no new life, only rapid annihilation, and a slow, creeping oblivion to follow as what remained sank into nothing. The hot air burnt against his face, the steam and ash struck his nose, the confusion and emptiness of the world being simply gone. No, he felt it- maybe most of them faintly, only the slightest blip for the entire forest, the army of lives, that flickered in indecision as that echo of the End lie over them for a moment. Not simply the rotting or death that was natural, but a hint of that corruption and destruction taken far beyond the extreme, beyond natural until it eclipsed even itself and its own purpose. He felt the world cry out, and deep, dull pain ache through every inch of him as he gritted his teeth and clasped his hand onto her- the only physical object still in his grasp, his world, that he could use for an anchor, all he could manage- as it already lay against her. He tried to school his mind- to think and seek meaning and reality beyond what he experienced- but the shock numbed function and he never escaped that first thought to look beyond, not in the short moment of horror before it collapsed into itself again and he gasped- as if coming up for air and being struck all at once.

The life of all of Avalon flooded back to his senses, recoiled and stabilized itself again, leaving him dizzy.

Skylar was gripping her tight, but his fingers burnt- pressed in too far- and the scent of smoked flesh didn't leave him. His body felt numb, unable to move as he watched her smolder and start to burn, falling into him as he tried to spur life back to himself, muscles responding in stiff protest and shock- the world's life he felt, but dimly something very different cut into him. The phantom agony surged through his nerves, echoing it to them as he grasped the girl, falling to a knee as he held her and watched skin turn, and felt the life drain out of her- the body be overwhelmed and violently broken down. She died- violently, rapidly, as he realized that she'd brought forth a violent surge of the corruption and contained it all once more, carried it in. And fool that he was, he'd let himself be connected to her nearly as much as Avalon by this point- and the connection, if less powerful and enormous in nature, was much more direct, particularly so close. Pain seared his mind and body alike-

And then were gone.

Yet the pain wasn't gone- simply relocated, much more immaterial, now a weight hanging over him, except for the knot in his chest. He sat for a moment. It didn't make sense. This was the logical conclusion but it... didn't make sense. He grasped at the hints, the words, the motions said before, playing in his mind in a blurry, half-meaningless stream. No. She'd come here and interfered, to his world and made herself a part of it by force. She'd interfered- assaulted and insulted him in front of it all. She'd set things in motion, changed too much- she- she- nevermind that she'd been nearly only trouble so far, she was necessary now, he was sure. He couldn't let her go. His teeth ground together, and his voice- raw and aching, throat barely working to put out the faint, quiet sounds, never seemed so alien.

"No. No, you cannot-" he hissed violently, rearing up and spun one rapid glance around himself before digging his fingers into the earth, drawing them forth covered in wet soil. "-dare. This- I will not allow it, you impertinent-!"

He'd never felt quit so overwhelmingly furious.

Skylar's right hand was covered in soil to the knuckle, and he brought it to his face- not-quite-human canine's seizing the flesh at and just below the bend of his wrist, gripping flesh and tearing, drawing blood quickly- it flowed and he reversed his hand, the first drop hitting the earth and the rest flowing quickly down his palm and across his fingers alike, though not so fast he would be concerned of bleeding himself out. His nostril's flared and he worked quickly- motions sharp, precise, breathing erratic and irritatingly unable to see clearly for more than a moment at a time as he formed symbols on her forehead, across her lips, her breast- sigils formed of earth and blood mixed. They were crude, but that was their strength and beauty- he was doing something coporeal, real, and mixing magic as old as the land itself with his own of more modern bent, likewise digging his toes into the ground as he finished the marks necessary down her body, focusing in his mind on connections- power to come from himself, from the blood but also from the soul as he'd tap into the land and let it move through him, self and the marks alike acting simply to direct and form the energy he'd manage to draw from the land- fortunate this was not only Avalon, but a place of power, that he'd be able to siphon so much off without ritual, so quickly, simply by the force of his will and the overwhelming turmoil of his emotion. He directed and shaped, attempting to compartmentalize and balance in measure- but details, he grasped, balance and measure were beyond his capacity at the moment.

Power flooded in, more than he could hold without release within a moment as he focused on the mechanical repairs the body should need, the elements at play, the power of earth- and that now he could use that bond all her agony had siphoned through, if he could imagine the cut chord clearly enough, it was one more way to siphon the life back in.

All three portions- the use of that bond, the primal infusion from the elements, and the medical reconstruction of her organs were all going to require one final input.

He cupped the fingers of his left hand to a point, placed it against her navel, and with an effort and touch of magic, sank the hand through muscle and into her chest cavity- sinking in. There he'd have a much better sense of her status and ability to work precisely, and blood both his own and hers, surging with extreme emotion, to empower everything the more. Earth from the soil, spirit from the connection, blood for water, and air- he laid his right palm gently over her mouth and nose, breathing and hoping that he could make do for air. The fire?

That he was taking from her, natural alignment and charred state alike.

Power flowed from him into her, wracking his mind and overwhelming his body, forming to the will he provided, recognizing the old calls and elements, the story- and lending yet more. The fire he drew from her blood, harder and harder as he went, to lend the one final element to the 'rebirth', though medically she was not gone too long to resuscitate safely, only too damaged for it, making the phrase distasteful. But it was one more story, another call for Avalon to recognize. The firebrand, the burning phoenix, lay charred and dead in an ashen field, about to be reborn as the flames began to grow from the puncture into her stomach and wrap her, licking him as well.

Even if he insulated himself with magic, as best he could spare focus, which was quite little, that was enough- Skylar finally managed to scream as he worked, panting and focusing as the repairs took place, urging heart and diaphram to work gently by hand as he fixed them, then other parts, slowly extracting his hand until he was healing the wound he'd made as well.  

[Tei Kae]

Around and above them, the entire crowd of Fae, touched ones and blessed Children of Zoe that had gathered collectively gasped as their world collapsed around them; there would be no small number of deaths from those who had lost their own touch with Avalon and the purity of essence that was representative and they would not be able to come about.

Gone, lost to the abyss as if a rapture so often preached of had indeed come, but not for the reasons the new world often claimed. Their touch so tenuous upon the purest of Gaia, the moment that connection was gone, they too were lost to the world of Avalon, never to return from the Mists of Chaos that both protected and hid the Isle of Apples from the world.

But Serafina was oblivious to all of it; she saw only the destruction she had wrought as Bubbles keened his displeasure and pain in her mind, searing it deeply into her mind, pushing away all worldly thoughts as she focused on the moment in time that she'd brought forward and had thrust upon them; Skylar was not wrong in thinking that she'd forced her way into his world by force. Sullis might have kidnapped her, but it wasn't in her nature to not help where she knew she could, especially not if it involved one of 'her' people, as her father often teased her.

Am I brave enough?

She could tolerate many things, senseless violent, idiocy, but if you became 'hers', she would go out of her way to protect you, even at the risk of herself. she had a more than healthy ego with two doting parents who were actual heroes in her world and who truly believed she could do anything; although most of the time, they did ask her to refrain unless she truly believed in the cause until she was older; so of course that extended to others. If she could do anything, that meant she could save everyone that was 'hers'. It was a convoluted logic that her mother had disputed many times; but never succeeded in dissuading her.

Am I strong enough?

And Skylar was hers, even if she'd never admit it; He'd been hers since that first arguement over her grades. Even earlier than she'd been born if she was honest and would listen to her past self. She never doubted herself; once again thanks to those doting parents; and perhaps it was selfish, but she needed to show him the way forward, through his own past; to his true self and what he was capable of; limitations be damned.

To follow the desire
That burns from within
To push away my fear
To stand where I'm afraid
I am through with this
'Cause I am more than this
I promise to myself
Alone and no one else
My flame is rising higher

The foot stepped upon the ash and consumed the world as she grasped upon his arm, her eyes burning red as they connected with his violently violent ones, no longer soft as the pain registered with his brain in a clinical one. It wasn't going to be enough, she would need to go further, to push him into his own messy emotions. She couldn't let him be the Han Solo to her princess Leia; he wouldn't survive it and he had to, she refused to not make that happen.

The desire
That burns from within
To push away my fear
To stand where I'm afraid
I am through with this
'Cause I am more than this
I promise to myself
Alone and no one else
My flame is rising higher

And in that instant, his world was gone, everything he'd known, everything he'd loved, leaving only her behind, his sole connection to everything, to nothing, to life, to death, hopes, dreams, to possibility. To everything he'd never taken for himself and through which he denied everyone else....and it still wasn't enough. Her eyes welled with tears in that moment as she pulled her hands into his flesh as the energy of that moment ripped backwards, gone as a moment of deja vu and trembling with the repercussions.

Sullis, the tiny queen of all she surveyed could only watch in horror as the girl encompassed all of her fears and hopes into a being that could only break her most cherished offspring's heart and then watched her do just that the next moment. Perhaps Andell was wrong...no, he was never wrong. But she couldn't see how this would...

...and the next thing she knew, she was on her knees clutching her engorged womb as she bled out, her own violet eyes blind as she clutched around her in helpless terror. "Your Majesty!" several courtiers called out almost simultaneously, their eyes red from the lost of the Avalon and all that was stood to be lost. Many rushed to her side, lifting her and removing her from the danger as best they were able, calling for the court midwives.

I've been sacrificed
My hearts been cauterized
Hanging on to hope
Shackled by the ghost
Of what I once believed
That I could never be
What's right in front of me?

On the field, Serafina collapsed into Skylar's arms, her charred flesh still clasped to him before breaking away, the black choking smoke now coming from her own body that crackled and fumed as it cooked her alive, her mouth open in a wordless scream. Her eyes wide as she stared back at Skylar and Avalon's sky and remembered a past too distant to call her own, sharing with him in that intimate moment.

A Memory

"My child, although I birthed your physical being, the Goddess has lent you her life. Even now, all of my arts could not have saved you without the goddess' touch. Your father, for all his alchemy could not save you. You have shared the breathe of the earth herself, The depths of her body has sheltered you, the flames of her touch have brought you back to life, and her tears have quenched your thirst until you could be brought again to the surface." The face staring at her was much like her own mother's and yet different, more ageless and far more gentle but the eyes were the same, loving, kind and in their own way ferocious. Strange golden, fiery locks fell around the woman's face encompassing her view until small blackened hands moved into her field of vision and batted at the hair to push it away.

She realized then her body was wracked in unfathomable pain, that her hands were even farther damaged than she remembered her own father's being and she was even smaller than she remembered and the woman was tiny, and yet cradled her in her arms. "You have a destiny, my heart. One greater even than Kapila. This life or another, you will meet your dragon and conquer him and the world will tremble before you. The Goddess has created the Dragon, has created the world, but you, you must tame him. The Firebird and the Dragon are not opposites, they balance each other but they are complements." She knew so much, this woman who looked and felt like her mother, and yet she knew so little. How could she know. Had she looked upon the face of the Goddess and known her daughter's failure?"

Another face came into her vision then, a face more gristled than her own father's and yet as familiar. "Come now, girl. If you are going to led my armies, you must arise from your bed." His voice choked with emotion, but encouraging her own contrary nature. He had told her that she couldn't even go into battle with him until she could ride his war horse without being thrown.

"But I did it, Father. I rode him." she heard herself say, a strange child like voice she couldn't recall, her focus on what she had done, what she could do; not on what she'd failed to stop; even then at her young age, her sense of responsibility was strong, she had failed. She would try again, and she would fail, but it would not stop her from trying.

Tears fell freely down the man's face. He had never been one to deny his emotions, and this moment was no exception. "You did, and the Goddess saved you when the wolf could not. And you saved us all. " His hand wrapped around hers loosely as to not cause her pain when it was obvious he wanted nothing more dearly in the world than to encompass her and keep her safe. It pained her even so, that light touch, but she said nothing. She had fought her own demons, at a younger age than even him and she had won.

"It is ready when you are, Young Firebrand..."another familiar voice, gentle and yet male made its way to her ears and she turned, the pain excruciating as bits of her flesh crackled and fell from her flesh, but it was there, a helmet to match her father's own, a slit in the top for her hair to go through, proudly proclaiming her lineage, the feathers detailing each barb engraved in the metal that they'd pulled from her burning flesh as they had pulled her from the earth's flesh. "You must survive or you would destroy us all. You are too strong for that."

"He lives!" another distant and familiar voice called, the roar of the crowds beyond echoing within the chamber. "The Prince lives. The Firebrand lives!" None beyond the family knew her true gender, because it did not matter until they came of age. All were Princes. But now, the Heir Prince had been reborn. None would deny that destiny now.

But all she could see was the scorched earth surrounding her, the fumes of what was, what is, and what would be. The endless cycle, the enormity of it all and the seemingly cruelty of it all. Her rage knew no bounds as she screamed her frustrations. What did it matter. Her father was wrong. She had failed. She had saved this world, and doomed another, because it was not yet time.

Her rage sustained her, her sense of injustice fueled her, the pain punishment for her own failure; something to work through, to use it to become better, stronger. Her eyes focused, seeing something beyond that long gone past, matching the darkening fathomless eyes that stared at her, dared her to live, challenged her; the flames poured from her wounds, wrapping and surrounding them both as the scream erupted with the expulsion of energy, her body jackknifing in half before collapsing. The Zöe mixed and mingled with the flames, the tendrils mixing blue and red, burning hotter and brighter.

I don't believe I'll fall from grace
Won't let the past decide my fate
Leave forgiveness in my wake
Take the love that I've embraced

I promise to myself, me and no one else
I am more than this
I am the fire

Laughter bubbled upwards, the melodious sounds at odds with the endless flickers and licks of flames that enveloped both the Dragon's Scion and the charred body he clung to. The black cremated flesh fell from her body, leaving raw, vulnerable flesh, her hair short and stubbly but growing quickly to a short but passable length as the laughter continued, her body gasping for air as she lifted herself only to collapse again, arms spread, the laughter echoing triumphantly.

I am the fire
I am burning brighter
Roaring like a storm
And I am the one I've been waited for
Screaming like a siren
Alive and burning brighter
I am the fire
I am the fire
I am the fire
I am the fire
I am the fire

She was wrong, she had nothing to prove. She had everything to prove. HE had everything to prove. To everyone and to no one. They had only to reach for it. One hand lifted, and the flames fell away as she looked up at him, meeting his gaze as he looked her over, her laughter echoing downwards to small intimate chuckles. "You can never lose me. Don't you know that by now..." her head falling to the side, falling into a deep restful and healing sleep.

A hand fell to Skylar's shoulder, the appendage belonging to some nameless Child of Zöe...no to James. His cousin. "Come, cousin. She will survive. The Lady promises us that." Like Serafina, his voice was trained to be melodious, but it was easy to hear the emotion in his voice as well. He lifted Serafina's body, easily, like that of a child, looking at her before nodding to a figure at Skylar's other side. Yvaine. "Help him. He will have need of you." They had come to Avalon not for this fight of the Merlin, but to send her Father to his rest, and yet, they had their own part in this to play as well. That much was easy to see. The rivers of Avalon flowed freely at his touch, washing over the girl's tender flesh, loosening the grit of the earth from crevices where it was no longer needed. "I will keep her safe. This I swear to you. Even the Dark Dragon himself will not harm her." His voice calm and soothing as he silently directed Yvaine to assist in Skylar's own healing and directly him to his private quarters to recuperate.  

[Psychofish]

He saw the vision as it filtered through her from the past, amidst the storm of energy drawing her back from the brink, returning the capacity to support life to her body before the soul had loosed its tethers. This time not his, nor a shared one- something all hers. Yet again, they echoed the past, repeating the start of the cycle slightly differently each time. There were parts of the cycle that were important- cycle itself was life, was the blood of Zoe- but it had a purpose as well. He tried to put it together, to figure out what it told him, what was meant to be repeated, what it was to accomplish- to figure out what of the cycle was to be maintained, and which parts must be broken to bring that end.

But his mind seemed to have capacity for little more than to record the event and grasp after the fact that it must have had such a purpose.

Until at once he was out from the flame, from the flood of energy and knelt panting over her. His ears rung, and it took him a moment to be sure he was really hearing laughter. Oh, but it just made too much sense- he didn't manage any words, nothing but panting, but glared at her as though he might have hoped the look could manage to kill her all over again. "Fool... girl..." he rasped, resisting the urge to simply drop her head and storm away- aided in such by the fact that he was not entirely certain he could walk unaided at the moment.

His head turned slowly at the hand on his shoulder, alarmed at the fact that someone had come behind him and caught him unawares- nevermind that he had every reason to not be able to notice such at the moment- and raised a hand toward where his knife was, relaxing it again after staring at James for a moment. Slowly nodding, the prince let him take the girl. He reached an arm out clumsily and Yvain guided it across her shoulders, hands on him, slowly helping him to his feet, where he struggled to get a sense of balance and convince the muscles in his legs to loose and begin responding.

"Please do," raw as it was at the moment, there was gratitude in his voice enough to perhaps mark it as a 'thank you' besides all the irritation still there, and now pure exhaustion as well. He had about a dozen caustic comments to shoot after her form, but instead simply glowered for a moment, and then made a sound of frustration, before allowing Yvain to walk him away.

He had no idea how far they walked- it felt like a great distance, seeming to stretch on forever until she sat him down. The world spun, and he fought the urge to collapse backward when he realized he was sitting upon his bed. He lifted his eyes, looking around the room as if making sure it was real and familiar, dully back to her as she carefully laid ointment over the wound on his wrist- he'd entirely forgotten it- and wrapped his hand, blinking as he attempted to work the hand after.

She looked lost in thought, emotion. Her face was serene- and she moved with gentle grace, bringing him water to sip and aiding him, but he knew her well enough to see it now, when he took his eyes from everything else long enough to look. She was troubled. Worried for him?

When finally she'd taken care of the rest and paused, unsure of what else to do but lie him down, which he seemed to be resisting, he caught her hands. "Yvain." Yes, it was in her eyes, thick emotion, and he made another sound of frustration. "Save your concern. I will be well." As gently as his throat allowed. Still, something in the way she looked at him. The concern didn't go away. Frustration, then anger bubbled up in his throat, and suddenly, unsure how, he found himself in tears again- face buried into her breast, feeling her hand smoothing his hair. He wasn't sure why it was, but everything bubbled its way up and out for some time, until he started to regain his composure, sitting back. The frustration, and energy keeping him upright seemed to be gone- but in some ways, he felt better. Ready to fall asleep, rather than collapsing or grasping after his health or life. She had nowhere near his ability to move energy, beyond water- but she must have done well enough, or else he'd taken from her without realizing. He nodded his thanks, removing his arms from her, weak grip sliding down her hands, and looked up again-

Skylar stared for a moment at the silver and turquoise around her neck and then closed his eyes, nodding once, removing his hands and straightening his back.

"Thank you. I will be safe here, I simply need rest." He opened a drawer by the bed, awkwardly remembering to use his left hand, and held out a pendant with a simple stone on the end- not a gem, but simply a carefully shaped and well polished rock. "You are dismissed. Present this to James. It should be kept near the girl until I am able to speak with him further." When she hesitated to take it from him, he nodded, and placed it atop the bed. She gave him a grateful look, still all too clearly concerned, and he looked away, keeping his eyes hard, as she lifted it from the bed and searched him for a long moment. He kept the face up until she nodded again, struggling for words, before simply pressing his hair back once more, leaving a quick kiss atop his forehead, and left to deliver it.

Skylar sat for a long moment, letting things churn, and then finally laid down across the bed. He fell asleep before he even realized he was fading.  

[Yvain DeAvel]

Yvain wasn't in a mood to hurry- there was a great deal on her mind now, from what they had seen so shortly after their arrival into Avalon, to Skylar's emotional outburst and state... and the health of... Sullis. Not her Lady any longer. It was mostly nervousness, and a need of purpose that found her moving briskly through the halls, barefooted. She had never really needed shoes in Avalon, she was used to going barefoot around the shores and natural places well enough, and without the modern litter and debris to risk cutting herself on unexpectedly the stone and wood in the castle was nothing. At least it was a great deal easier than going on her knees, and she appreciated both the speed and silence, clacking of shoes removed, for the moment as she passed by groups caught in furious bouts of whispering, or a lone figure or two standing over a collapsed form.

Some were in shock or showing illness of stemming from no physical ailment or malady since the outburst. Most whom had been physically effected, however, had simply collapsed, life abandoning the body in a flash and refusing to be coaxed back. Most of those were Sons and Daughters- some of the Faye had been struck hard as well, but as many of them seemed to simply vanish, body and all, as to pass.

She was simply glad that it had seemed to put violence out of mind for the moment, rather than give rise to a bout of it.

Perhaps because everyone knew where it had come from and what it was in this instance, some of the younger half-blooded and human apprentices aside, perhaps. Granted, they also knew whom had drawn this display forth. The girl might find a sudden collection of eager allies among those whom understood she had simply forced them to face the strongest possibility of the current course of actions she'd had no part of. Others, whom didn't care, or whom had too much emotion or too little mind to make that seperation, might be seeking her blood. What few stares found their way to Yvain as she moved from one room to another were enough to keep her back rigid beyond any needs of posture, making it hard to maintain an even, calm breathing until she made it back to the room.

She didn't want to linger and risk any more, or try and discern which stares had meant what.

She unlocked the door and slipped within quickly, quietly locking it behind her and letting out a long, shaking breath to regain her focus. She closed her eyes and made herself mentally list again each of the ongoing commands she had been acting under, Skylar's requests and James' orders alike, letting those take her away from the rest. She wiped her feet clean on the mat and then gathered up her skirts, tying them about her waist in the best semblance of modesty that still allowed her to sink to her hands and knees and proceed to James in the private quarters without risk of harming the fabrics.

She came to James straight away, trying not to glance more than briefly in concern at Serafina. Yvain would have been sorely tempted to have remained on her feet around that girl had she been conscious, both because of how personally James seemed to relate to her, and thus uncertainty as to what front he'd want to display to her, but also because just the thought of how she might react made her not embarrassed, but angry. With the girl out, she was spared that conflict and simply came as she could to James, taking the proper position kneeling on the floor, trying to judge him at a quick glance for his state.

Half of his blood might have been very removed from what had happened here today, but the other half was very strongly amongst the Sons and Daughters. If she had felt that outburst physically, and noticed the fearful silence of the water spirits about them since, he had almost certainly been at least as much effected.

"...physically, he will be well, master, but I do not believe he'll wake before next morning at least." What he'd done must have taxed him well more than just exhaustion, but Skylar was quite healthy, and more than a little practiced at handling such strains and recovering, if never to such an extent. Perhaps he would simply need rest and nourishment, though she doubted he'd allow himself to be kept abed until he was fully recovered.

"Otherwise, I cannot say, but that it hasn't stopped him trying to maneuver." That was his training and personality though- vigilance and preparation, and his personal loathing for wasted time. She smoothed concern from her voice as best she could to report properly- "Skylar asked this be brought to you. He said it should be kept near her, until he can speak with you." She lifted the pendant and presented it to him with some slight concern, not entirely certain what it's function was, except that it seemed more null than charged, magically.

It didn't do much to one to hold it, or to be near it- though he'd find working magic on it nearly impossible, and notice that strangely the air, the spirits, the things that were around if you looked hard on Gaia but were everywhere on Avalon- they seemed to thin and move away. It was a simple stone, black, shaved into a rounded shape, even but not spherical, or even typical of a jewel. The jet stone sparkled- or rather, there were just hints of something silvery and shining in the tiniest of streaks or speckles, all encased under just the thinnest layer of lacquer. Unworked iron ore, unrefined, cold, but not extracted or unprotected by the earth and stone that it had been borne from. Thicker inside the piece than on its shell, no doubt, and all of it sheltered by the clear layer atop it- except the metal piece holding the stone, which sunk within it. While the stone was barely worked at all, that metal piece was very carefully shaped, evidently forming circuitry of a very purposeful spell, or flow of magic. It would be all but impossible to cast magic on the stone- but it wouldn't render the caster or their area magicless. Magics of the Faye sort however, the spirits of Avalon, ghosts... those sort of things would be subtly compelled to stay away from it, and weaker nearer it, the circuitry directing their magic into the null point of the iron at the stone's center.

Not anything that was quite enough to draw rage from the Faye or make a warrior proofed against them... but it might have done well as a temporary security if one was expecting possible hexing, magical assassination attempts, or if a girl sensitive to the memories and ghosts of a world needed piece from a place normally violently teeming with them.