Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was almost frightening, that long walk home. Knowing, the whole way, that something...someone...was with me. The transaction went well, the stones have been settled into the hands of craftsmen...but what of this new stone? This Coral?

She is with me now, even as I write this. Hanging, weightless and abstract in my shadow. This bond will only deepen, and I can't help but wonder...

Will I ever get used to this feeling?

~Aki

Settled deep into her chair, covered in a thick brown blanket, Aki stared out at the sterling sea. The double arched windows were luminous, bright with false dawn, and the waves beyond the cliff were rolling and metallic. A glass of wine rested, forgotten, on the table next to her....beside a dog eared book on interpreting dreams.

It had been almost a week of nightmares. Something a little different, each night. Some of her, some of things she'd never glimpsed. The book hadn't helped. Murky shapes and slashes of light, soaked in never ending worry...they didn't have a chapter in that.

It was the worry that bothered her. Images she could handle, explain, ignore. But feelings...they couldn't be so easily shoved aside. If you felt fear, you were afraid, no matter how well you managed to hide it.

Opening her hand slowly, Aki glanced down into the shallow bowl of her curved fingers. Using the new technique they'd developed, she held a simple image in her head. How pretty her hand would look, with a stone in it just so...

Slowly, with that same playful and aloof aura, Coral settled into the air above her palm. She did look awfully nice here, even if the pose was temporary.

Always that worry. Aki frowned slightly, still staring at the stone. She knew the nightmares had something to do with her new bond, but could the answer actually be simpler than the book had led her to believe? Clearing her throat, tired from a sleepless night of staring at the waves, Aki spoke in gentle, genuine tones.

"If it's you that's so worried...you don't have to be. All you've seen, here the past few weeks? That's life. Around here, at least. We come, we go, we sit, we eat...here, town, down to the water's edge..." Aki trailed off, obviously thinking of all the activities she named. Finally, the wear elf smiled, and curled her fingers loosely around Coral as she leaned back.

"There's nothing much to it, and no reason to be afraid of change. Get settled, find a place you're comfortable, and let's get a good night's sleep."

As the sun emerged from the back of the Villa, spilling the first true golden rays upon the water, Coral surged. It was the only way Aki could think to describe it, and she laughed in startled reflex. The stone lifted, bright and vivacious, and broke through the gentle cage of her fingers.

Sun and lies and flesh and- Not so much words, but bright fleeting impressions, jolting through Coral one after another. No matter how the tide ebbed, it was always fated to return.

Aki flopped into her chair by the fire, silently thanking her oldest son for his unexpected labor in getting it started. Sliding off her shoes, she warmed her feet for a moment as she tried to relax...willing her stomach to unknot.

It was like this, every time she went out. It wasn't bad, per se...for anyone aside from her, at least. But the last thing Aki wanted was to be unceremoniously pulled toward total and utter strangers! Not only that, she wasn't sure what would happen if she ever gave in and got to close...what the hell was Coral's motivation?!

Lacing the fingers of one hand through her hair, tugging gently, Aki sighed. Reyna had warned her, sure. But nothing had prepared her for this. Pulling a little leatherbound book from the side pocket of the recliner, Aki clicked the pen into writing position and flipped to the next empty page.

This is getting a bit ridiculous.

In many ways, I simply wish Coral could speak. In lieu of words, she tugs me along in whatever direction she wishes to go...primarily in an emotional sense. I've seen that she needs for nothing, but she still wants for something...something I'm not sure I can humor her in.

She responds strongly to men, just as Nisha does to butterflies. Wanting to be closer, so close you can feel their breath upon your face, but too cautious to actually touch. Ugh. They're similar, the two of them...and once they're both walking and 'out on their own' they can indulge in their interests without troubling ME.

Or so I hope.

Regardless, Coral is certainly engaging. She has an almost possessive interest in most anything I interact with...which, now that I articulate it, has be a bit worried.

It's time for us to see Reyna. During my last visit, I met her assistant, Kova...but left a bit abruptly as Coral took interest in something aside from jewelry. I have questions to be answered, and orders to be placed....so I suppose I can't put it off forever.

Until then,
~Aki

Snapping the book shut, Aki leaned back with another sigh...and almost jumped out of her skin. Coral was there, hanging just above her head as though she'd been reading the entire passage. Aki narrowed her eyes, but didn't have much to say.

That was impossible, it was just her imagination. Wasn't it?

“…the Temple.” The ring still rested upon her palm, metals with names lost now to man twining in frozen elegance. Aki could see it reflected clearly in his eyes, a pale circle of light ringing both of his pupils.

“The Temple.” He repeated the words softly, and the reflection was lost. Dark eyes, and he pushed the ring slowly from her palm. It chimed once against the stone and rolled unevenly into the waters of the fountain. Down, and she followed, the shock of cold water screaming against her skin. Kedhe was there, above her…she could see his fine, expressionless face through the jagged surface. She struggled to scream-

-and woke up coughing, draped naked the wrong way across in the tub. Aki’s legs dangled over one side, her wet hair clinging to the opposite edge. One elbow hurt, and she had a splitting headache…every cough was a bit more uncomfortable than the last. It took her a moment to figure out what happened, fingers gently pushing at a tender spot on her forehead.

Reflections shimmered in her memory, first of unearthly girl with the dangerous blue eyes, and then of Kedhe, all in a flash. Squeezing her eyes shut, Aki poked at her forehead until his image left her. It had been years, why think of that now?

But the girl… Aki tried to push herself up and splashed back down, arms a bit weak. At least the water was still warm. The girl was near, lounging in the sink in a position that was almost a mockery of Aki’s situation. Instead of legs, however, a twining finned tail snaked over the porcelain edge. Her attention was focused on Aki’s small jewelry box, resting on the shelf below the large mirror.

Understandably put out, Aki squinted at the ruddy spirit, and shook her head. “Ouch.”

Your fault. She wasn’t sure if the girl had actually said it, but Aki got that impression clearly as the merkin lifted a particularly gaudy necklace out of the box, flicking her tail towards Aki with an unrepentant, sidelong glance. After all, it was Aki who’d lost her footing.

Aki knew that look. It was almost identical to the one Nisha usually offered. That was an impish, familiar look, and the pieces fell abruptly into place. “Coral! You!”

That got a reaction. The petite shadow jolted, staring at Aki for only a moment with wide, innocent blue eyes before vanishing. Aki winced as her jewelry box, and the costume necklace, clattered loudly into the sink.

“Wait…” Still achey and more than a bit confused, Aki glanced with some suspicion into the water beside her. Now suddenly seemed like an excellent time to get dry. After a few attempts, she hauled herself out of the tub…wrapping up in the sarong she’d tossed over the edge of the door.

As she toweled her hair, still squinting at the knot on her forehead, Aki spoke to what seemed to be herself. “Coral. That…” What could she say? It wasn’t okay? Coral wasn’t her child. She was a guest. A guest she didn’t fully understand, that much was clear. “That’s the last time that is going to happen. And, in exchange, you can keep that necklace you liked.”

She emerged slowly, pushing outward like a dream from the shadow of Aki’s own reflection in the mirror. Slanted blue eyes flickered from Aki’s face to the pile of gold and chain in the basin of the sink…coils sliding silently as her tail followed her from the mirror. With one dainty hand, she plucked the necklace from the sink and lifted it slowly, letting it catch the light of the sunset on its gaudy baubles. Apparently they had an accord, because Coral settled it proudly around her neck.

“There you go. Beautiful. Two presents so far, and your birthday has only begun.” Aki smiled and went back to toweling her hair, watching the child model the necklace in the mirror. It was nice to have a moment just to look, to watch the way her tail brushed through the porcelain instead of over it. The shadows of seafoam that gathered along her fins, and her swirling mane of curls, held carefully back by not one, but two of Aki’s hairsticks.

The necklace was large on such a small creature, and it slipped sideways to dip over one of Coral’s fine shoulders. She tugged it up, eyes narrowed, and it promptly slipped over the other side. After a few moments of wrestling, Coral and the necklace were as tangled as a kitten with string, and it was almost as though Aki could hear the frustration rolling off the spirit.

“Whoa there. You’re….here, let me-“ Towel over one shoulder, Aki pulled the clasp straight, letting out the kink. Coral put up both hands and darted back, as though warding Aki away, and the necklace slipped down to rest where thin hips met tail. Hands still up, Coral looked and Aki, and Aki looked at Coral. They both looked at the necklace, Aki winced at the inaudible volume of Coral’s glee.

The ecstatic spirit streaked forward, and Aki flinched and turned reflexively. As soon as she lost sight of Coral, the girl had vanished…but bottles erupted from the shelf as though a man had swept his arm across it. Aki ducked at the sound of breaking glass, and took a careful step backward as the room fell slowly silent.

If that was ‘happy’, she truly wanted to avoid ‘upset.’

Aki smiled, hair mussed and tangled, as she stretched. She hadn’t fully awoken, but the dream still lingered…something about a resort, warm sand and cool drinks. She tried to turn, tangling herself in the sheets, but gentle hands restrained her and the elf relaxed with a happy noise. In her half dream, a lovely young massuse guided her back to the table, settling her down gently.

Murring to herself, Aki stretched again, and again gentle little hands patted her back into place. It was less the touching, and more the odd smell, that finally lifted her from sleep. Opening one sleepy eye, then the other, Aki sniffed herself awake. “Wha-?”

Both of her feet were sticking out from the end of the sheet, and Aki realized slowly that the smell was nailpolish. All ten of her elven piggies were delicately painted, in a most recognizable color. “Coral.”

The fiend’s eyes crinkled with a smile. Coral was twined around one of the bed posts, tail elegantly curled about the carved wood. In her slender hands, she held one of Aki’s fans, and gently aired her guardian’s painted toes.

“Did you…give me a pedicure…while I was sleeping?” Aki was baffled, but at least it explained her dreams. Coral’s eyes widened, and she nodded, enthusiastic. Forgetting the fan for a moment, letting it fall upon the tangled covers, the fiend reached for Aki’s little hand mirror.

Aki accepted it reluctantly, and peeked at her own reflection as Coral motioned. Not just a pedicure, but a makeover as well, it seemed. “Oh, Coral…” Her eyes were almost hidden under the layer of blue eyeshadow the girl had smeared her with, and two huge blots of blush stood out of each pale cheek. “Um…thank you?” At least her toes looked professional, but…

“What’s the occasion?”

Coral straightened, uncurling from the bed post, and pointed towards Aki’s bedroom door. Beyond the door, Aki could tell. Coral was pointing out of the Villa. All manner of absurd suggestions flowed through their bond…dining and dancing, shopping, more dancing, love? Aki mentally cut it off there. She knew what came next, according to Coral, at least. “So, you want to go out.”

Coral’s bright blue eyes became large, filled with hope and longing. In a flash, she sank into Aki’s shadow…re-emerging on the other side of the bed, nearest the closet. Dresses started flying instantly, tossed back over the fiend’s shoulder to pile on the bed.

“Coral, stop! Please! Oh, you’re making a mess. Look, I’m not really in the mood to go out! I wanted to stay home and-“

One last dress settled to the covers, and Coral drifted out of the closet. Her lovely, almost featureless face was stoic, chin lowered to give Aki a flat, dangerous look. Aki swallowed. In all her time with the fiend, she’d never been given such a look, and frankly, the elf didn’t appreciate it.

“Sorry.” Shaking her head, Aki flopped back into bed. “Not today.” She didn’t like disappointing the fiend, but parents weren’t supposed to respond to attitude. Nisha had taught her that. Pulling the sheets up a bit, Aki rolled over on her side.

For a few moments, she was able to ignore Coral’s smoldering anger. As the silence stretched, Aki started to fidget…perhaps feeling burning blue eyes burrowing into the back of her skull. Even that, she could endure, but the quiet chime of glass caught her off guard.

One ear twitched below the sheets. The sound was growing…it sounded like someone tapping the side of a glass, in preparation of a toast. Actually, it sounded more like the way glasses rattled against each other when a drawer of the dishwasher shifted….and it was only growing louder. Finally, getting a bit cross, Aki pushed herself up on one elbow and shot the fiend a look. “Coral, what are you-“

Instantly, Aki lost her voice. The fiend was almost rigid with rage, tiny fists clasped stiff armed at her sides. Coral’s hair had come undone, and streamed around her face as though the fiend was submerged in a fickle currant. Her pupils had contracted almost entirely, leaving her narrowed eyes almost solid, blank blue. For a moment, Aki felt dizzy…she couldn’t quite take her eyes from Coral’s intense gaze. It felt like falling, like the fiend was suddenly the utter point of vortex, and the room spiraled in, choking, around them. The feeling lasted for one horrifying moment before something exploded nearby.

Aki shrieked, covering her head as she was suddenly released from Coral’s intensity. Water and glass rained down upon them, slapping against the walls, and filling the bed with wet shards. Slowly, Aki looked up…absolutely in shock at the scene before her. The vase, that was what had been chiming…and now, it was destroyed, leaving sodden roses strewn across the bedroom. Though she dreaded meeting the fiends eyes again, Aki looked slowly to Coral, mouth still open in shock.

Coral, however, wasn’t looking at her. The fiend was still furious, fists clenched, and Aki suddenly realized she could hear the sound of stressed glass once again. Instead of chiming, it sounded like Ice cracking…and she followed Coral’s gaze to the fishtank. In it, the fish darted in panicked frenzy, barely visible through the network of cracks that spread up along the side of the tank. The water sloshed rhythmically, pulling impossibly towards Coral as she refocused her anger.

“Stop! S-stop!” Aki held her hands in front of her face, preemptively. Several points upon her back stung from the shards of the vase…she truly did not wish to see how much damage Coral could inflict with an entire tank of water. “We’ll go out! We’ll go! I didn’t know…it meant so much to you!”

As suddenly as it started, the noise ceased, and the fish calmed swiftly as the water stilled. Coral blinked, hands relaxing, and turned to peer at Aki with curious hope. Promise? The urging came strongly across the bond, in clear questioning.

“I promise.” Aki spoke quickly, words tumbling over each other. Either way, the tank wasn’t going to hold much longer…she had to find the fishnet and get the poor pets out before the side gave way. “Where ever you want. Whatever you want to do.”

A high keen of happiness made Aki wince, and Coral darted back to the closet. When she poked back out, the fiend was holding what she’d been looking for…a bright teal dress that clashed horribly with Aki’s new coral colored toenails. The elf didn’t argue it, however. She simply nodded and tried to edge out of bed without getting sliced.

“Fine. That one. Now give me a while to clean this up, or…” She trailed off, and glanced to Coral, who was in good spirits once again. Perhaps now wasn’t the time for ultimatums. “…or I’ll be late.”

That was good enough for the fiend. In a blink, she vanished, and the dress settled down to cross Aki’s shadow. She lifted it up gingerly, shaking a few drops of water from it, and sighed.

They needed to have a serious talk. But first, it seemed….there would be dancing.

“Coral, quit pouting! He’s a great guy.” Aki was still laughing as she twisted the key in the lock, shouldering open the door to the Villa. Coral refused to look at her, skinny arms crossed as she sulked. She didn’t want a great guy…she wanted Aki to have a great date!!

“It WILL BE a great date! He said a week, and that’s today!” Aki responded to Coral’s vague objections, despite the fact that the shadow hadn’t bothered forming them into actual words. Impressions of disappointment and irritation drifted across their bond, settling in the back of Aki’s mind like tiny, pissed off mosquitoes as Coral drifted inside. “Just because it won’t involve sex doesn’t me-“

Aki’s voice trailed off as her eyes settled on the little end table, midway through the hall. Something shiny, something gold rested upon the surface, and Aki’s brows knit with concern. It wasn’t the object that concerned her, though. It was the fact that none of her sharp eyed children had snagged it yet. “That’s…odd.”

Coral rolled her eyes, still giving Aki the cold shoulder. The heavy door of the Villa clicked shut behind them, unnoticed. Aki stepped out of her shoes and made her way down the hall…still peering curiously at the new addition to her decor.

“Is that….Nisha’s?” This time, genuine concern settled into Aki’s voice. Upon the end table, a heavy gold pocketwatch rested…chain trailing over the edge. “I’ve never seen her take it off! Ever!”

Coral drifted closer, her curiosity warring with her irritation. It was awfully pretty, but something about it made her nervous. What was it?

“No, not Nisha’s.” Hanging her purse on the nearby coat rack, Aki peered at the timepiece from the corner of her eye. “It isn’t cracked.” Leaning forward for closer inspection, Aki shook her head. Obviously, no one was home, or it would have vanished already. It was beautiful! Slender black hands aligned almost perfectly upward, aiming towards a tiny diamond set at the very top of the watch face. The fact that it wasn’t Nisha’s settled her somewhat, but Aki was still curious. “I wonder if it works!”

She’d no sooner reached when Coral darted forward, materializing long enough to clamp one slender hand firmly on Aki’s wrist. No!

Aki jumped, fingers barely brushing the surface of the glass face as Coral yanked her hand back. As though on cue, the minute hand shivered and clicked…all hands pointing straight up to high noon. “Coral! Don’t be selfish! You know I’d give it to you if you wa-…”

Coral wasn’t listening. Blue eyes wide, the fiend let go of Aki’s wrist slowly, and looked around. Something wasn’t right. When she met Aki’s eyes again, fear was written plainly across the fiend’s face. Aki blanched to see it. “What…what’s wrong? Coral?”

The points of Coral’s tapered ears dipped, just as Aki’s did when she was worried. Gone. All gone.

“What’s gone?” In truth, Aki was more startled at Coral’s communication than at her actions. Being grabby was normal, but the fiend rarely communicated with anything more than bursts of desire, anger, or amusement. “The kids? Yeah, that’s why it’s so quiet. They’re-“

Coral shook her head slowly, tail coiling and knotting like a Chinese dragon. Puzzled, Aki tried to understand, still staring at the fiend. It was awfully quiet, actually…even the constant drip of the kitchen sink seemed to be silent!

Aki smiled, and shook her head. Levi fixing the sink would be even more unbelievable than Nisha leaving her watch. As soon as she remembered the watch, Aki glanced back down at it. Coral didn’t try to stop her as she reached for it again…Coral seemed rather preoccupied, matter of fact, with her head still tilted ot one side. Aki brushed her fingers over the smooth glass face, and cupped the palm of her hand gently against it to slide it off the table.

Only, the watch wouldn’t budge.

“What is this? Aah, a joke. When we were young, we used to glue coins to the cobblestones, just to watch people try to pick them up.” Smiling weakly at the memory, Aki gave the frozen watch another push with her finger before giving up. It was really stuck to the table. “If he actually glued it to this table, though, goodness help him.” Aki ran her hand under the table, feeling for magnets, as she talked.

She didn’t find magnets, but her fingers did brush over something strange. It felt like threads, pulled absolutely taut…almost like a network of fine metal wires connecting the underside of the table to the central leg. Curious, Aki ducked down to one knee, craning her head almost upside down to look.

Just a spiderweb. Aki frowned. She knew they were strong, but this was ridiculous. “Is this another joke?”

Coral’s bright blue eyes peeked under the edge of the table as well, as the fiend turned herself upside down to look. It certainly seemed like a spiderweb, but it refused to budge as Aki gave it a poke. In fact, nothing Aki did seemed to make the slightest difference to its perfect pattern, and Aki blanched suddenly. Even steel would have bent, or shivered when she flicked it. This was unreal.

This was magic.

“Coral, something’s wrong. Check and make sure Nisha isn’t here, will you?”

The shadow nodded, and drifted towards the wall as Aki pushed back to her feet. No more than a moment later, Coral hit the wall with a flat smack, and reeled backwards into Aki’s arms.

“Through it, not into it! What’s with you?!” Despite her harsh words, Aki rubbed at the knot on Coral’s forehead gently, feeling bad for the girl’s injury. Coral struggled in her arms, flopping like an eel until she was free. As soon as she righted herself, Coral tried again…smacking one hand into the wall, and mentally wailing when it refused to let her pass.

The keening of panic from Coral was almost too much for Aki to bear. Now SHE was getting nervous. “Coral! Just keep hidden until I figure things out, okay? Something’s wrong.”

Coral was eager to oblige. Floating a bit unevenly, Coral ‘limped’ around behind Aki, searching for her shadow and sweet relief. She circled Aki at least three times, like a dog ready for a nap, before she realized that there was no shadow to be found.

Aki reeled from the mental blast of panic, hands shaking as she tried to gather Coral against her for comfort. “Calm down! Calm down! Come on, we’ll leave! Well figure this out!” Struggling to hold the girl against her, trying to ignore the sharp lines of pain Coral’s raking fingers left, Aki stumbled for the door. This was no joke…something very dire was going on, and Aki’s sense of humor had run out. Tricks were one thing, but scaring Coral this badly? Who would do such a thing?

Aki grabbed the knob, and twisted violently. “Damn it! Ouch!” The metal was absolutely immobile, the antique lock on the knob grating cruelly against Aki’s palm. “It won’t open!”

Coral was beyond comfort. She buried her head in the crook of Aki’s neck, little body shuddering with tears and terror. Smoothing one hand down the shadow’s back, Aki desperately tried to get her thoughts in order. The window! She lunged down the hall, and moved to rip the curtains aside. Her nails skidded along the texture of the fabric without moving it a hair, as though the curtains had been starched into stone. The window was the same, frozen solid…it didn’t even echo as Aki pounded one fist against it.

Now Aki was crying as well, still pounding the side of her fist against the glass. It took her several minutes to focus past her tear filled world and actually look outside, beyond the glass.

The trees leaned slightly into a wind that no longer blew. Not a leaf rustled. In the distance, over the garden, a flock of song birds hung in frozen wing under the bright afternoon sun.

Aki stared at the birds, hand sliding weakly down the window. They didn’t fall. They didn’t flap. Everything seemed to be holding its breath, frozen in a single moment.

Slowly, Aki turned, still cradling Coral against her, to stare at the watch.

“You knew. You tried to stop me.”

Coral had quieted a bit, her mental keening softening into a muffled wail that filled the space of their bond. All too clearly, Aki could recall Coral’s hand clamped on her wrist, pulling back as Aki reached forward. “You tried to stop me, and I did it anyway. Coral, I….I’m so sorry.”

The apology did little good for either of them. Slowly, Aki slid down the wall until she was seated…fiend curled in her lap, with her arms still around Aki’s neck. Still stroking the girl’s back, trembling with shock and sick worry, Aki closed her eyes to think.
She knew, already, that they were in serious trouble indeed.

Part 3

The Villa was a distant blur, resting unchanged on the distant cliffs. Like Orpheus, Aki had pushed onward, refusing to look back until they very last second. Now that they’d almost reached their goal, the old lighthouse, she couldn’t bear the wait any longer.

Nothing. No clouds moved. No waves tumbled. No birds sang. They were miles from the house that had almost become their prison, and none the better for it. She didn’t remember her knees giving out, but Aki slumped against the rough outer wall of the lighthouse and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
After what could have been minutes or hours, Coral’s cool hand patted Aki’s cheek gently. It was still wet with sticky blood, from her scrape through the vent, but the edges seemed to be healing. The fiend tilted her chin upwards, encouraging her eyes to open.

No door.

Aki sent a quizzical pulse through her weariness, communicating with fewer words than Coral herself. To illustrate, Coral twisted Aki’s head a bit roughly towards the lighthouse entry. No door.

For what it was worth, it was true. The old wooden door had rotted away long ago, leaving rust chewed hinges hanging from their moorings in the stone. Inside the false darkness of the bottom story, the first few steps of the winding spiral staircase could be seen, measuring up into the tower. Aki nodded, shrugged, and did not otherwise move.

Languor was one thing, apathy quite another. Aki felt the first stirrings of anger from Coral, but ignored it easily. Just as they’d learned to communicate more effectively, they’d learned to tune each other out. It took a sharp and sudden pinch from the fiend to stir Aki from her defeat.

“Ow! Damn it! Coral, I can still feel!” Aki swung wide, but Coral had already darted back into the lighthouse, retreating like a cat into the empty shadows. Aki managed to hit the stone of the building, instead, and skinned her knuckles upon the rock. “Blood and ashes, Coral. Just give me a moment.” Despair was sharper with pain, and both were wavering on the verge of excess. Aki took a breath, then another, before rising.

“Distance…didn’t help. I’m sorry.” She followed Coral into the lighthouse on tender feet, walking gingerly out of habit. Strips of her dress made for poor shoeing, but Aki’d tried it anyway. Coral didn’t respond…instead, she drifted backwards again, up the coiling staircase. Aki balked. “I’d rather not. I’m tired, Coral. There’s no point-“

Look wide. With that thought, the Fiend was gone…venturing bravely upstairs on her own. The ghost of their bond still held them both tightly, though, and Aki followed, slowly, as Coral knew she would.

***

Motionless ocean and unwavering sun painted the panorama before them. It had been a good thought, but in the end, useless. Aki pressed both hands against the thick old glass window, staring out with fading hope. She left a tiny smudge of blood, shaped like a rough comma, upon the glass where the side of her hand touched it.

They’d already been to the water’s edge. It felt exactly how it looked, smooth as glass in some places, and wickedly edged like worked obsidian in others. Boat. Coral’s observations were quiet, idle. She pressed her face against the glass, willing herself to phase through it, but nothing seemed to change her disturbingly solid state. Aki reached over to rest one hand on Coral’s curls until the girl pulled free.

The windows on the other side did not look out over the ocean. Instead, they faced the forest…small houses, billowing statuesque chimney smoke, and the far distant sprawl of town. People.

That took Aki a moment to process. “People?” Coral sent an affirmative, still gazing out at town. Aki joined her at the far windows, and squinted into the distance. Sure enough, tiny specks of people, frozen in time as they picnicked, or shopped, or hailed little tiny taxis. Aki was struck with a sudden longing that her kind rarely felt. Truth be told, she missed people.

Coral was gazing up at her, sidelong. Visit.

Aki shook her head, matted blond curls swinging. “No point, Coral. There’s no point to any of it.”

Slowly, intriguing images began to unfold in Aki’s mind. People’s faces, the suggestion of store fronts, books and bottles and mirrors and jewels….

“Shop? You want…” Confused as she was, the thought was alluring. Aki was so deep in thought trying to decode Coral’s wishes that she never noticed the fiend’s eyes narrowing as she willed a sweet soundless melody. “You want…to look for help!”

As soon as Aki embraced the idea as her own, Coral’s efforts stopped. She might not have access to her water magic, but her persuasion was entirely her own. With one last look to the lighthouse, and its blood smeared pane, Coral led Aki again down the winding stairs.

The town was a distant sight, and a distant memory. Despair had threatened every time they walked by the old book store, and no amount of knocking or searching or waiting had helped. It was just too painful to dwell on, their missed opportunity....so Aki and Coral returned to their silent Villa on the cliffs.

The way back in would be just as difficult as the way out had been, so Aki and Coral stayed outside...wandering the gardens, or simply resting with their backs against the stone. She'd tried every prayer, every technique they'd taught her at the temple, but for the first time in over 500 years, Aki was truly alone.

Her hand settled on Coral's head at the thought. Not truly alone. The fiend pressed against her at the contact, seeking comfort and attention. Each other was all they had, and they'd grown close in the time that passed. Their empathy had become an almost effortless thing, instead of the clumsy exchange of words and feelings they used to shove upon each other.

Aki's hand slid down into Coral's tangle of curls as the shadow tilted her head, staring up at her guardian with wide, and still shockingly blue eyes. Her guardian's sadness was her own, and Coral reached up to pat Aki's face with her tiny, cool hand.

It would be so nice to feel the touch of the wind, the actual kiss of the sun or the cool of shadow. Aki let her eyes closed as her mind wandered, delicate memories rising and falling like waves. The urge to lose herself in them was so great, so relax and sink and never open her eyes again....

But Aki did just that. Forcing her eyes open, fighting the lulling comfort, she stared down at Coral in shock. The fiend was curled like a cat in her lap, both hands settled on Aki's cheeks as she continued to gaze up at her guardian. Though Coral had mortal voice, Aki realized distantly that the girl was singing...and even as the thought occurred to her, the gentle and haunting tune pulled the thought away, urging her eyes to close....

"No!" The word startled them both so much, they both jumped, even though it was Aki that spoke it. It had been a long time since she'd bothered to speak. The feeling ended abruptly, and the mesmerizing tune shattered as Coral snapped off her lap. "No, I mean...wait!"

The fiend stared at her reproachfully, floating a few feet away. She'd only been trying to help! She'd only- "I know, Coral. And it worked! For a while, I was comfortable! For a while, I forgot about everything! But..."

But? Coral didn't see a but. All she saw was an ungrateful guardian and a spoiled song. Folding her skinny arms, she leveled her glare at Aki, tail coiling below her.

"Coral, don't be angry." Aki opened her arms, and waited. Slowly, Coral relaxed, and closed the distance between them. They'd learned to forgive each other sooner rather than later. As soon as she had the girl in her arms, Aki smoothed her curls with a motherly hand, holding her close as she leaned down to whisper in Coral's wild hair. "What I meant was that it worked. You have power here, Coral!"

When they locked gazes again, they simply stared, thinking about what it could mean. "I cannot reach Elunae, but my contract ended months ago, anyway! Even if I had picked a new patron..." Her eyes lifted momentarily to the sun, blazing cool and useless overhead. They didn't even have so much as a tan! "...I don't think they'd be able to hear me, now. And the water is frozen, we've already seen this...so the only thing we have is your voice! Your song!"

As soon as Aki fell silent, they both began to think, wheels turning as they stared at one another. Aki was a sight, in her tattered dancing dress....though her scratches had healed, her hair was as wild as Coral's, and smudges of dried blood decorated her liberally. Though they were silent, they thought along the same lines...both eventually reaching the same conclusion.

What good was a song if only Aki could hear?

The disappointment was palpable. Aki struggled, eyes squeezed shut, desperate for any idea. Giving up would be so easy....Coral could lull her to sleep, and once she was gone, the fiend would fade soon after....

"Stop it. Don't think like that, Coral. We've put tears, sweat, and blood into figur-"

It hit her so suddenly that Aki gasped. Coral writhed, pulling out of Aki's arms again at the sudden douse of shock and hope that flooded between them. Pawing at Aki's face with her little hands, Coral begged for the answer she knew her guardian held. Tell! Share! OUT!

"Blood." Aki said the word simply, and gaped. A part of her soared, and a tiny part of her curled up in horror. She explained it slowly, holding Coral's tiny wrists and pulling her hands away from her face.

"Our strength, our magic...it doesn't work here because we're dependent on elements we don't have. Shadows, or water, or the moon..." Aki cast her eyes heavenward again absently as she spoke, then glanced out toward town. "But we know this isn't a powerless place! The traveler, what magics did he use!?"

Coral strained, desperate for the answer.

Aki gave it to her. "His own. Something he already knew, or, or...one of those things, he carried with him! Your song still works, Coral! I could feel...I could feel...." That crushing comfort, like being dragged downward into a nostalgic embrace...

Coral disturbed her from her memories with a burst of fury. Get to the point! It was the first time Coral had used one of Aki's expressions, and it did the job, snapping Aki back to her explanation. Shaking her head clear, Aki released Coral and pushed to her feet...no longer feeling the sharp jabs and points under her calloused soles. Her excitement had faded, replaced by a calm sadness, but as Aki edged her way along the wall of the Villa, she gave voice to her tumbling thoughts.

"We have no shadow, and we have no moon." She repeated, walking carefully along the stone path to avoid the needling grass. "But we have ourselves." Aki knelt near the stone vent, sunk into the Villa wall. It was here that she'd struggled out from, and she touched two fingers to the sticky blood that still rested on the stone. Even though her scrape had healed, the blood hadn't dried. Time and evaporation had no power over it.

"But the blood....still has power."

"We need to get back inside." Aki felt ill. "I have an idea."

***

She had been right. Going in was just as hard as getting out. Her hips hadn't changed, no wider, no narrower...so Aki scraped the same way she had going the opposite way. In through the vent, around the boiler, through the walls and the immovable maze of webs....

They stood in the hallway again for the first time in what was surely weeks, tired and tangled and bloodied. This time, Aki didn't bind her scrapes. Instead, she dabbled her fingers against the raw flesh at her hip, and stared at her fingers, sticky with bright blood.

"There are different kinds of magic, Coral. In the Temple, we regarded our service to the gods....holy magic...as the highest. It is given as a gift, in exchange for your love and service." She stared down at the golden stopwatch as she spoke, and wiped her fingers on the little end table. Two streaks of blood, from her first two fingers, marred the polished surface. "There is another type of magic, the type that the magus learn to wield, in their academies. Arcane magics, pulling from relics, and spell books, and other sources of stored power."

Aki looked down at her hand, watching the blood seep into the lines and whirls of her fingertips. "The third kind of magic...is not taught by my people. It is forbidden." Aki dropped her hand back to the scrape on her hip, rewetting her fingers. "Blood magic. You don't usually use your own blood."

She could remember the stories, of the gore strewn altars...of maidens bled dry in circles, and forces hungry for more. She'd seen lesser blood magic, the magic of midwives and country witches, a simple and crude art...but that was not what Aki spoke of now.

What she spoke of now was a one way tale.

Making a fist slowly, Aki smeared her palm and sighed. "I could never...go back. No new contract, no new patron. No temple. No..." She stopped before she said his name, but Coral knew what she meant. They were both silent for a long moment, staring down at the hateful watch.

"If I find whoever did this..." Her fist relaxed slowly, palm red and streaked. "They will pay me back. Every drop."

***

Aki worked the post of her earring against her flesh, encouraging another tiny wound. A growing spiral of pinpoint punctures spanned out from her hip...growing upwards along her waist, and down in curls over her thigh. As soon as she broke the skin, she caught the drop of blood on the tip of her gold earring, and lifted it slowly to the table.

A delicate circle of spidery crimson lines surrounded the watch, blood drawn lines carefully laid by an instrument of gold. As she worked, Aki spoke, trying to distract herself from the pain. It wasn't just the pain of the post, making a new pinprick...it was the pain of what she was leaving behind.

"This won't be enough." She'd already warned Coral, but the girl nodded. "Remember when I used to water the garden? You can turn it to mist, and cover a lot of plants gently, or turn it to stream, and focus all the water at the roots. Blood magic is the same way. It enhances or disperses, but it's going to have something to work with." She worked another tiny rune into the circle, her earring scratching against the polished end table gently.

"It can also pull or push. Like tug of war." Apparently the example wasn't much help, Coral squished up one eye in confusion. Aki tried to focus, but the hallway seemed to be tilting and listing like a ship at sea. "You can...put energy into something, or pull it out of something. Strong, or...weak..."

She tried to keep explaining, but her words were slurring a bit. The constant pain, the endless weariness...and Aki suspected distantly that the blood she lost wasn't being replaced. She'd had no food, no water. The trap had left them trapped, whole and complete, the way they were. What damage they did to themselves wasn't adjusted for.

"So this...is a push. A stream. All focus, right there. Do you...?" Coral was already nodding, before Aki had finished. She could not sing the watch to sleep, but it was only the lack of their element that kept them powerless. Aki had found a new element, but Coral....

Aki tried to keep standing, hands curled around the edges of the end table. It stood immobile as it always had (not always, not always) without rocking or creaking under Aki's weight. Coral began gently, brushing Aki's eyes closed with one hand as that distant, haunting song swelled between them.

This was a different song. It seemed Coral could push and pull as well. This was not a song of attraction, not the song that pulled sailors willingly from their ships and into her cold arms. This was a song of loss, of despair, a beautiful and terrible song that sent one spiraling into the crushing deep. Aki remembered this feeling. It was like falling in love.

It hurt.

She could still remember the day. She'd been sitting at the edge of the fountain, waiting for him. The ring...he'd offered it, but she'd already chosen the temple. Chosen Elunae. There was no having both...the goddess demanded purity, and purity Aki had given her, for five hundred long years....

Aki wept, shoulders shaking. Coral watched, still singing sadly.

Now, there was nothing. No Temple. No Elunae. No....no ring. He was gone. Even if he wasn't, there was no going back. Blood magic was ancient, impure, an offense. She could almost imagine his face, how different it would look now, with time and age and disdain....

The song ended softly, with a single note of longing. Aki opened her eyes to Coral's soft touch on her cheek. "Did...it...work?"

Coral nodded. If the fiend could have cried, she would have...but instead she held what few of Aki's tears she could on her fingertips, where they shone clear and bright. Aki wavered, still gripping the end table, and nodded.

It was time to let go.

Gently, Coral lowered her fingertips to the watch face. It was superbly crafted, but far from watertight. The tears rested for a moment in the rim, where glass met gold, before leaking inward to the watch face. As they pooled at the highest point, surface tension keeping them around the tiny diamond set at noon, Aki nodded again.

"Just a tiny one, Coral. It's all we have. I'll push, I'll help you focus. Down, tiny, small."

Aki was tired, more than tired, but resting would not help. She would not awake refreshed, she'd lost too much already. Instead, she focused...watching Coral bring her hands slowly together over the watch.

If Aki could have seen, she would have seen the gathered tears surge and swell...like tiny waves around a diamond island. It was not her place to watch, though. As soon as Coral started, Aki activated the circle...jabbing at her thumb cruelly with the post, and pressing it to the lines she'd drawn.

The response was immediate. The circle pulled from her (altars and white maidens and husks and) hungrily, as though every rune was a tangle of veins, waiting to flesh and fill. The circle swelled, vibrant and ruddy, as Coral did the only thing she could do.

Coral opened a pinhead portal, based on the sweet salt of tears, for a single moment.

It opened.

It shut.

The tiny diamond was gone.

Aki wavered, and Coral lifted her hands. A crack ran across the watch face, and the diamond socket was empty. The portal was gone, and the circle dried...cracked blood dusting across the surface of the end table. Slowly, the hands trembled, and clicked.

12:01.

Aki's weight unbalanced the little table, and it tipped, bringing them both crashing to the floor. In that moment, Coral vanished...gone deeply into the sweet singing relief of Aki's shadow.

She didn't try to rise. Aki laid right where she was, staining the carpet with a spiral of spreading dots, and watched the curtains billow as her eyes slowly closed. Outside, the flock of sparrows banked suddenly, wheeling away into the garden...


***

"Aki?"

She started violently, yanking away from the sound. It wasn't Coral's voice! Where was Coral? Who was-...

"O....Orion?"

His face loomed into her vision, blue eyes narrowed with concern. Strong hands settled her back into the bed, smoothing her hair from her brow. "I'm glad you're awake. Aki, who did this to you!?"

His voice was deep and comforting. Aki leaned back, with no strength to struggle. It had to be a dream.

No dream. Awake.

She didn't need to look around for Coral. She could feel the fiend nestled safely nearby, languishing in the shadows like a cat in a sunbeam. Slowly, the memories returned, fighting their way out from the fog of the first true sleep she'd had in...months?

"I...did this. It's a long story. Orion, I'm...sorry I wasn't there. It-"

He shushed her again, one large hand on the side of her face. Orion wiped his thumb gently under her eye in a comforting gesture, shaking his head in confusion. "What? You were there, Aki! I was on time, right when I said I'd pick you up! No one answered when I knocked, so I let myself in. You were on the floor. It looked...like there had been a struggle. And your hip..."

Aki moved his hand gently, and lifted the covers. Her hip was bandaged neatly, a large square of gauze taped down on all sides. Letting the covers fall, Aki looked up into his face, as though the answers were there, waiting to be discovered.

"You've been out for hours. I'm glad you finally woke up."

"Hours?" Aki's voice broke, and she swallowed. Her throat was dry. "That's all it's been?"

Orion nodded, and reached to the side. "I was supposed to pick you up at noon, remember? It's only...what...3pm now? Aki, what happened?" Orion offered her a coffee mug, gently steaming. Aki accepted it gingerly, and took a tiny sip. Chicken broth.

"I...don't..." Over the back of the chair at her vanity was her dress...the dress she was going to go dancing in with Orion that very evening. It was tattered and stained, ripped and punctured and proof that none of it had been a dream. Lifting one hand to her head, Aki felt her hair. The wild tangles and dreads were gone. "You did this?"

He nodded sadly. "I hope I didn't overstep, but I couldn't leave you lying there." He pulled the covers up a bit and sat gently on the edge of Aki's bed..staring down at her with grave blue eyes. "You know, there's time for the story later. Why don't you drink that and get some rest. I'll clean up in the hall-"

"DON'T." Aki grabbed his wrist suddenly, and the chicken broth sloshed. "Don't touch the watch. I-"

"This watch?" Orion picked the pocketwatch up gingery by its chain, from where it was resting on her nightstand. Aki stared at it, eyes wide and trembling, until Orion lowered it slowly. "I'm sorry, it must have broken when the table was knocked over."

"That's...okay." She watched him set it back down, and started at it in disbelief. They'd done it. They'd truly found a way out.

In the back of her mind, Coral mumbled something, but it sounded like purring to Aki. She took the hint and put her own head back as well, resting on the pillows. "Sorry. I'm just...a little..."

"Don't worry about it." Leaning forward, Orion kissed Aki's forehead gently. She realized they both smelled like soap, and smiled.

"You even gave me a bath. Orion, I swear, if you weren't-"

He put a finger to his own lips and smiled. "No time for regrets. Besides, I hear that a lot." Giving her an arch look, Orion set the mug of broth on the end table, and got to his feet. "Sleep, darling." His smile was warm and comforting and Aki was already half way there.

"I'll be here when you wake."

FIN!