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 Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:19 pm
Renovations on the gallery were completed two days ago. Soleiyu and Lucien had already come in to install their personal touches on–well, everything. They’d provided a detailed list of every project they were working on, from the security system to the thermostat. Only a select few people had been permitted on the premises recently so he wasn’t worried about anyone finding two cats using power tools or talking.
Claire had seen to the restoration and framing of all of Percy’s pieces, and though Devyn had given his fair share of input, it was an impossible task without her. She’d helped him select which works should be displayed, and it was thanks to her that this entire project had gotten as far as it had.
Peter was here today, and though Devyn had seen him at a few scattered events here and here, it had been a while since they’d talked. He was helping to make a detailed inventory for everything, and he was writing up descriptions for the displays. Devyn was grateful for that already, but they’d talked a bit on and off about Peter coming back to Alastor with him to see if there was anything he could do with Devyn’s artifact chamber.
It was a treasure trove of oddities, things he’d collected over the years–mostly things that were once too powerful to be in the hands of others, but over the years he was certain most of them had been rendered fairly useless.
He needed to sort and categorize things, and to see if there was anything that could be useful in the hoard. He had a small list of things he knew he wanted to find, and–it was a lengthy process. He’d considered how much time it would take him, and he didn’t know if or when he’d be able to devote his efforts to that when there always seemed to be something more pressing.
Devyn had been making his rounds; he’d dressed up, like always, but his hair was at least in a high ponytail today so he could work. Or maybe go for a run. He was feeling antsy.
He’d just finished speaking with the Mauvians and was on his way to Peter. He had a small bag with him, partly for explanation and partly because it didn’t seem right not to bring him something to express his gratitude.
He was lucky; when he found Peter, it didn’t seem as though he were in the middle of anything particularly pressing, so he spoke his name in greeting. Warmly, he added, “I’m glad you’re here. It’s good to see you, how are things going?”
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2023 7:27 pm
Peter had his laptop with him as he typed up the inventory of everything. He took Photographs, made notes, and worked on getting everything compiled. Not just for their own records, but to make sure they had insurance on these priceless pieces of art. He’d seen enough historical artifacts to know when something was incredibly old, but they’d been well preserved and the unique style made it difficult to tell just how old the paintings were.
“Things are going,” he said with relative upbeat nonchalance. He paused to offer Devyn a grin, and then nodded to the gallery around them. “Percy was pretty talented. I’m glad you’ll get to show off his work. What do you think he’d say about all this?” he prompted, knowing that Devyn liked talking about his long deceased spouse.
In a way, it was probably healthier. To be able to keep them alive in another way, even if they weren’t physically there. He was still working on his own acceptance of everything, but he was understanding why Michael shut himself away for so long. Peter just wished it hadn’t been death that made him understand his oldest brother more.
“What about you? How’s dad life treating you? Bet you never expected that when you showed up on Earth,” he teased, but he had nothing bad to say about his nephew. Atticus was a sweet boy and deserved to have a good family.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:36 am
“I didn’t!” Devyn admitted, but he seemed delighted nonetheless. “It’s strange, it feels like it was so long ago. I remember arriving here, but I hardly remember what was in my head at the time. I’ve had to do a lot of thinking since I first met you.”
Not all of it was good, but he’d needed it all the same. It had gotten him here, after all.
“I’ve been busy, though.” Unsurprisingly; he didn’t really seem to know how to take it easy. “I’m very lucky that Atticus is so indulging. Michael, too.”
His eyes were roaming the gallery, and even if things had yet to be properly installed, he was still visibly proud of it. “They’ve both been very supportive. You and your mother, too.” There were others, and he’d want to give them his gratitude and praise later, but Peter had mentioned Percy specifically so of course Devyn couldn’t help but take advantage of the opening. “It means a lot to me. More than I can say. Percy would think I was being too dramatic about it, I think, but I used to have some of these hanging in the lobby of my Hall back home, so I think it’s appropriate that they’ll be on display. They’re too beautiful to be kept hidden away. I think he’d be proud that so many people worked so hard for this. Sheepish, because he always was. I don’t know if he ever gave himself proper credit for how talented he was. I think he’d be glad that I found something productive to channel my energy into. I think he’d be glad that I had such good people taking care of me, now.”
He planted one hand on his hip and the other stayed put on the bag over his shoulder. He hummed, and sighed, and then smiled at Peter.
“I’ve brought you a gift. I know you like old things. It is also, perhaps, a bit of a bribe, though my intention is for you to have it regardless.”
When he moved again, it was to withdraw a stone tablet; it was smaller than a sheet of paper and an inch thick. Carved into the cream colored stone were what appeared to be two detailed maps; on one side, a detailed map of stars and a clearly marked constellation. In the center, one of the dots had been painted with a now faded red that had discolored the stone to a brownish color. On the other side, there was a similar staining. It kept the path well marked, and whoever had worked on them seemed to have been talented.
He presented the guide without telling Peter that the well hidden button on the side opened up to reveal two more pages; inside, someone had carved out an illustration depicting what seemed to be an ancient shrine, and there were a full page and a half of runes. Some of the paint had yet to fade here, but other parts were already stained or chipping.
“It’s not from Alastor, but it was entrusted to me by someone who needed it kept safe. I know very little of its origins, but I have kept it safe, for a great many years. I don’t know what it is, honestly. My curiosity demands answers but it’s a bit out of my realm. I thought you might be interested, too. And it would probably be in better hands with you than me, these days.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:43 pm
The time between Devyn arriving on Earth and now did feel like a long time. For many reasons.
But Peter wasn’t going to start being a killjoy about his own problems when Devyn was being so thoughtful. He nodded approvingly when Devyn shared what he thought Percy would think about everything, and then raised a curious eyebrow at the offered stone tablet.
He was already wearing gloves in case he needed to handle any of the artwork, so he didn’t feel like he was going to ruin the obviously old piece by touching it. He didn’t care if Devyn touched it -- it was a gift from him after all -- but he wanted to handle it with respect.
And he didn’t want to mess with it too much in front of Devyn in case he broke it!
“If by better hands you mean having gone to school to study artifacts?” Peter snorted quietly. His hands and arms had been scarred since before Devyn arrived on Earth, but he’d been spending some time in the sun, so it made the streaks of where raw energy bolted up along his skin more obvious. At least where it wasn’t hidden by his gloves.
“Thank you. Really. This is really neat. You’ll have to tell me all you know about it at some point. Or let me pick your brain for what you might remember. I’ll have to look up these stars…” he hummed, obviously very intrigued by the gift. Oh, but Devyn mentioned it being a bribe.
“So what are you bribing me for?” he asked, curious still.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:09 pm
The corner of Devyn’s lip twitched into a smile, maybe because he already felt like passing the object over to Peter was a good idea. It wasn’t just that he had gone to school to study artifacts, it was the way he seemed to hold it with reverence, or the way he’d already seemed like he was planning what to do with it.
“I’m trying to go through my treasury. It’s full of artifacts. I’ve got logs and records and pictures of some of them, but over the years I stopped keeping such thorough information. I’ve got a lot that are undocumented and unresearched, and I need some help sorting and categorizing them. Some of them–most of them–used to be powerful. I confiscated a lot of them to try and reduce threat of harm, but I don’t know if they needed special care to maintain them, of if magic just fades over time…I don’t know. I also don’t know if it’s worth trying to return them to their place of origin now that it seems like the threat has died down a bit or if it’s better to keep them safe with me. There’s a lot of cultural meaning to them, I think. I feel a bit bad keeping them hidden and locked up, but. I don’t know. I’m looking for some help trying to figure out what I have, what I can do with it, and where it should go. You were the first person I thought of, I know I can trust you and I know you’d treat them right, but.”
He shrugged, because he didn’t want this to feel like a serious conversation. He didn’t want Peter to feel pressured.
“If you have free time, and if you’d be interested, I wanted to invite you up to have a look. If you can’t make it, or if now just isn’t a good time, I understand.” There was no ulterior motive in what he asked; he cared a lot for his world and its well-being, and at one point in time his treasury had been full of very dangerous weapons.
Now, he couldn't quite guarantee what they did, and it needed to be investigated and cataloged if possible, or at least sorted and organized. There were plenty of understandable reasons for Peter to not want to be involved ,and Devyn would have supported any choice he made.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:24 pm
Peter snorted in amusement. He understood Devyn’s desire to give him a chance to gracefully decline the request, but if Devyn knew him at all, he’d know he couldn’t refuse a good treasure hoard. Organizing basements of museums on Earth didn’t seem like it was quite the same as a treasury of (once) magical artifacts.
“Even if I didn’t have free time, I’d want to take a look. If you’re offering,” he hummed, still carefully holding the relic he’d been gifted. “Think we could convince a cat or two to come with? In case anything magical needs dispelling. Not sure if they’d actually be able to help, but I figured if anyone could protect against accidental magical discharge, it would be them.”
He didn’t know what to expect. If Devyn said they might have once had magical properties but he’d taken them because they could have caused harm…? Well, a few protections in place would be nice, even if they were just placebos.
“Just let me know when you’re planning a visit. I can see about staying for a few days if you’re okay with that. If you’ve really got a lot to go through. I doubt I’ll be able to go through everything in that time, but we can at least start getting things sorted.
As for whether or not to return them…
“Artifacts with a lot of cultural importance should have a caretaker. Once you find those caretakers you could consider returning the items, but placing them back where they once were would do those items, and the culture, a disservice. In my opinion, anyway.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 8:00 pm
Devyn considered this explanation but nodded after a moment. “You’re right. Although, finding caretakers is becoming a bit difficult. For now, I suppose they’re safest with me at the Hall. I’ve been going up every week or so, I can absolutely take you up. I’ll make sure you’ve got enough supplies, I’ll give you a tour of the place if you like. I trust you.”
His schedule was flexible, they could work out a time that best benefitted Peter–especially if he was willing to stay for a few days.
“Between Soleiyu and Lucien, I’m certain one of them would be interested in going up.” If not both of them. “They seem like they get along pretty well.”
He knew Lucien was possessive of Alastor–not that Devyn blamed him–and Soleiyu was nosy, but he’d been helping for so long that Devyn knew he was invested in its well-being, too.
“I’ve dug around a bit and not had any bad reactions, but I would want you to be safe, and I’d want to know you had someone looking out for you if you were going to be there without me, so that sounds good to me. I appreciate it. My hope is to find something that might still be useful here on Earth, but I’m not so optimistic given the state of what I’ve found so far.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 8:35 pm
“Maybe you could teach people,” he shrugged, although he supposed that sounded a bit ridiculous. “I’ll be finished with my masters program in the Spring. And I’ve got another internship lined up, but… did you know I wanted to be an astronaut once?”
That sounded just as ridiculous. He even laughed about it.
“Yeah, before getting involved in the whole… magical business. I wanted nothing more than to go to the moon. Let’s just say I had to figure out what else I wanted to do with my life after getting there and checking that off my list.”
He paused and offered Devyn a sheepish grin. “Us Earth folk aren’t that technologically advanced when it comes to space travel. Only a handful of people have walked on the moon, and that is without knowing what was really there. But yeah. If you’ve got anything that will be useful, we’ll uncover it,” he nodded, figuring it was best to let a potential conversation about his hopes and dreams die like they had.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 8:43 pm
Devyn hadn’t thought the idea of being an astronaut was silly at all, and the corner of his lip twitched into a smile when Peter first said it. He could understand that wanderlust, the desire to travel to distant lands and explore new worlds. Even now he still felt that call. He just had a lot to do on Alastor, and on Earth, so his attention was focused there.
Still, he’d had quite the opportunity to visit other worlds.
There was something almost sad in Peter’s words, even if he was quick to change the subject. It was subtle, and Devyn couldn’t quite put his finger on why it made his heart ache a bit for Peter. He rubbed his chest absentmindedly and wondered if maybe there was just a storm on the horizon.
He might not have known the particulars of being an astronaut outside of the basic definition. “I appreciate that, Peter. Thank you. What was it that made you want to be an astronaut? If you don’t mind me asking.”
And, though he didn’t ask it, he wondered what made him change his mind.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 9:16 pm
Peter laughed, although there wasn’t really anything funny about Devyn’s question. But then he shrugged and shook his head. “I was a kid. Kids dream of big things like going to the moon. But. Been there, done that. Figured there’s plenty of stuff to learn about that already exists.”
He held up the stone tablet he’d been given, still handling it gently. “Like this. Being in space could be cool and all, but there’s a lot more that I could be doing that’s more useful. Especially since anything the scientists would discover are just… magical illusions.”
After all… he and other Senshi and Knights and magical people and their trusted family and friends knew there was more to space than what they’d learned about it. What point was there trying to continue studying something that was fake?
“Besides, setting up things to share like this,” Peter said as he gestured to Percy’s artwork. “It’s more satisfying than a selfish, childish desire.” He tried not sounding bitter about it, but apparently it took him a long time to get over his heart being shattered about various things.
“Let me know when you’re heading up and I’ll make sure I start packing,” he grinned, because he was genuinely excited about studying new artifacts. He would just have to make sure Haven would be okay with it, too. Not that he needed her permission, but he didn’t want to just leave her on her own after she’d let him crash at her place for so long.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 9:39 pm
Devyn nodded and considered this for a moment. “I’ll double check my schedule and get back to you soon. But…”
Peter was right in some regards; what he was doing was practically useful. Researching, digging up old mysteries, finding answers…
There was just something about the way he spoke that made Devyn pause.
“It’s okay to be selfish sometimes. You should still do things that you enjoy. I mean, of course, I’m immensely grateful for all of your help, but not everything you do has to be for some greater purpose. You could just do it because you enjoy it. And going into space, that sounds like a good dream to have. You know, for all my life, I had this dream to go up to an island in the sky. It floats around Alastor. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find any information on it. So far as I know, no one had ever been there before. When Michael and I went up a while back, things just sort of fell into place. Lucien had been working on a way up and left behind just enough that we were able to fix things up and travel there.”
He kept the story short, only because now wasn’t the time to go into details.
“Even though it was just a childish dream of mine, I found Lucien up there. And there are–you should come with me, actually. You might find it interesting. There are murals up there, statues. Artwork. Things in a language I don’t recognize. But the point is, I spent all those years dreaming about it. And it was selfish, because I was curious. But I think a lot of good came out of me getting up there.”
Lucien was here, after all. “And I’ve got more mysteries to solve. After I get a few more things finished on Alastor, I intend to spend a bit of time up there. But the point is, I think that if you get a chance, you should hold onto that dream. There may be things in space waiting for you to find them. And I don’t know the specifics of astronaut-ery, but I know there are two very clever Mauvians in the next room who would love nothing more than to show off how clever and helpful they are. If it’s a dream that still lives in your heart, I hope you’ll pursue it. And if there’s anything I can do to make that happen, or anything else for you, I hope you’ll ask. I owe you more than I can say.”
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 5:32 pm
Peter appreciated the thought, at least. The permission for him to be selfish. He didn’t say it, because he knew Devyn was new to Earth and there were a lot of things that were still not very easy to explain, but Peter knew that the effort he would put into becoming an astronaut would be wasted because he could just… go to the Moon. Besides, the politics around space and exploration had shifted since he’d been a kid.
“Don’t worry. I’m plenty selfish,” he said with a grin, even though he didn’t specify. His hands tingled as though a reminder of what he helped do. For a short while, he was worried that he would have been the only one trying to get Caedus’s starseed back. There were others who joined in, in the spur of the moment it seemed, and he was grateful that with their help they were able to get Caedus’s starseed back.
And yet…
Somehow he doubted they really understood what they were doing when they did. They were protecting a single life, and in turn potentially causing genocide -- or at the very least helping to allow a world to die, which would in turn displace so many.
But he stood by his decision. It wasn’t their choice to end Caedus’s life.
“I’ll let you know, but don’t worry about owing me. I’m happy to help my brother-in-law,” he winked. “Besides. I’m definitely capable of taking a bribe,” he grinned brighter and gestured to the artifact.
Sometimes things just didn’t work out, and he’d come to terms with that. For the most part. Enough that he moved on to different things in his life, at least. And maybe learning about everything on Alastor would rekindle some of his wanderlust.
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