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 Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 8:33 am
They met at one of the city’s many parks. Yvoire picked the location and sent it to Reims in a note since Reims didn’t have his signet ring yet (which happened to be their reason for meeting in the first place). He sat and waited under a maple tree, knees drawn up to his chest, chin resting on top of them as he picked at the grass beneath him.
Yvoire knew he shouldn’t be nervous. They’d been working together with the others and got along fine. But this marked the first time they’d be spending an extended period of time together, alone, just the two of them.
They were Pages of Ganymede. On one hand, this fact brought Yvoire a bit of comfort; he knew there were others, but it was reassuring to see proof. On the other hand, Yvoire was afraid of being judged. Reims was… different. Not unkind, but not as reserved as Yvoire was, either. Yvoire had embarrassed himself in front of Reims enough as it was. He didn’t need to embarrass himself even more.
He tracked Reims’ approach with that sixth sense that let him feel auras. When Reims was within sight, Yvoire stood to his feet. He tried to smile, but it sat awkwardly on his face.
“Do you remember the pledge I told you?” Yvoire asked, holding out his hand.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 12:10 pm
He was surprised that Yvoire offered to help him, but Reims wasn’t going to turn down the invitation, even if he couldn’t exactly respond anyway. He certainly didn’t want to be known as the guy who stood up those waiting on him.
Yvoire was a Page of Ganymede, just like him. He knew Ganymede. He knew more about being a Page than Reims did, so of course he was going to accept whatever help he could get.
He offered the other teen a smile when he got close enough, and when it was offered he reached out his hand to Yvoire.
“Yeah, I do,” he nodded, then took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
“I pledge my life and loyalty to Ganymede, and to Reims. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine.”
The first thing he felt was the chill in the air. It wasn’t summer, wherever they were now. The second thing he felt, which nearly floored him, was the drain of energy.
“I’m fine,” he insisted as he stumbled from the sudden dizziness. There was nothing to grab onto, so he carefully lowered himself to the ground before he could embarrass himself by falling over.
Okay, and maybe lay down on the cold tile.
“That… that was fun,” he tried to joke as he caught his breath.
But maybe it was a good thing that he was now on his back, because he doubted he would have immediately thought to look up when everything was so new.
They must have arrived at the crossing of a huge church of some sort. Above them were intricate stone vaulting, which reflected the glow from the dozens of large stained glass windows.
Or at least what was left of them.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 12:41 pm
Yvoire would’ve gladly looked around as soon as they arrived, but his immediate concern was Reims’ collapse.
“You don’t look fine,” Yvoire said, crouching down beside him. Reims looked winded, like he’d just run a marathon that went beyond his limits. Considering he’d been fine just moments ago in the park, Yvoire assumed it had something to do with them being here.
“Was coming here too much? I don’t remember feeling tired when I came with Ganymede.”
Ganymede radiated power. Energy seemed to flow from her with minimal effort. Maybe it was different, traveling with her. Maybe something about her presence made the process easier. Yvoire hadn’t thought to ask. There hadn’t been a reason to, until now.
He waited while Reims laid there. Yvoire kept his hands on his knees as he continued to crouch. Eventually, he followed Reims’ gaze up to the ceiling, then looked from the ceiling to the windows, many of which were broken. Gently falling snow fluttered in through various breaches in the architecture, but the crispness of winter wasn’t enough to cover the scent of decay.
“It’s pretty,” Yvoire observed. “Ganymede wasn’t sure we’d have weather at our Wonders. She said there wasn't any weather anywhere when she first came here. Everything was just… dead.”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:26 pm
”Nah, I’m fine,” he insisted, still breathless. Reims would have liked to point out that clearly Yvorie was fine when he was there before because Ganymede had been with him, except he had no way of knowing if that was the case or if he was just pathetic.
He really didn’t want to be pathetic. But he wasn’t really making that good of an impression.
The light from outside (and the chill) seemed to make more sense when he caught sight of the snow. It was surprising to see it since it was so hot on Earth.
Then again, space was weird on its own. The Moon didn’t seem to have much weather that he could tell, but there was definitely snow here.
Eventually, Reims forced himself to take a few deep breaths and stood back to his feet. He held his hand out to help Yvoire up as well, if he wanted the assist.
“So this is Reims?” he asked in wonder as he looked around some more. It looked like some old cathedral. There were certainly enough stained glass windows to make it look like one.
He wasn’t too surprised. He’d been to three other Wonders already. Well, all three were on the Moon, so maybe he shouldn’t just assume they were all like that, but he seemed to be impressed by the white and dark stone, and glass in various shades of red.
“So um… before I forget,” he said after a moment once he’d managed to get his breath back some more, glancing awkwardly at Yvoire for a moment before looking away again at the ruins around them. “Thanks for coming with me. I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s not as daunting with someone else here.”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:31 pm
A faint pink flush spread over Yvoire’s cheeks.
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, voice a little low, a little shy. He held Reims’ hand only long enough to make sure they were both steady on their feet before letting go. The last thing he wanted was to seem clingy and incapable.
“I wouldn’t want to come alone either,” Yvoire continued. “I wouldn’t’ve known what to look for, or what to expect, if Ganymede hadn’t told me. I was lucky she was around when I awakened.”
He cleared his throat nervously, taking a few steps toward one of the broken windows. Yvoire couldn’t help but be self-conscious. He wondered if it was annoying, mentioning Ganymede so much. Reims hadn’t seemed terribly impressed by any of the authority figures they’d met so far. Yvoire got the feeling Reims might be the obstinate type when it came to adults trying to take a guiding role with him. If there was a reason for it, Yvoire didn’t know it. It probably wasn’t his place to pry.
“Tell me if you see anything,” Yvoire said. “Like, memories of the past. I don’t know how they happen. I haven’t seen any at Yvoire yet. This place is so big…” Slowly, Yvoire spun around, taking in the sheer size of the place. “We might be looking for your ring for a while.”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:32 pm
If Reims noticed the flush on Yvoire’s face, he didn’t mention it. Yvoire seemed to be shy about things, so Reims didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. Especially since he could feel his own ears burning a little when he realized that he’d actually held Yvoire’s hand for a little. Even though it was just to help him up.
“Memories, huh?” Reims pressed his lips together thoughtfully as he looked around. “One would be useful right now, if we’re ever going to find that ring. Do you think it’ll work like how we got here? You know, closing my eyes and thinking really hard about it?” he suggested and offered Yvoire another small smile.
“Hopefully it won’t knock me out,” he laughed and carefully stepped over some of the rubble, although he still tripped a little while distracted by watching the way Yvoire spun around.
Reims coughed awkwardly and pushed the large piece of stone out of the way with his foot, as though doing so would keep him or anyone else from tripping over it again.
“You don’t think it would be in the obvious place, do you? There’s usually relics under the altar, isn’t there?” he shrugged. He wasn’t very religious, but there was a lesson in an art class he took about cathedrals and it seemed neat.
Just in case, he started walking towards the end of the building, still looking around at everything as he did so.
“There’s not going to be, like… wild animals, do you think?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:33 pm
“There’re birds,” Yvoire said, peering out the nearest broken window to search for any that might be taking flight, but all he saw were gray clouds and more snow. The clouds themselves were so thick they completely obstructed the sight of Jupiter. “I saw one before, but it was far away. Ganymede doesn’t think life’ll return to our Wonders until we’ve spent some time fixing them, so we’re probably safe from any animals for now.”
How they were supposed to fix things was a matter Yvoire still hadn’t sorted out yet. Reims was in no better shape than Yvoire. Their Wonders needed more than a good cleaning; they needed extensive repairs. How were they supposed to fix broken walls and shattered windows, not to mention lights and water? Yvoire was a dancer, not a carpenter or a repairman.
He followed Reims, unwilling to lose track of one another in an unfamiliar place.
“My ring was in Ellis’ bedroom. The Yvoire before me,” he clarified. “If we knew who the last Reims was, we might be able to narrow it down to areas that were important to them, but we don’t even know if your starseed was reborn or if you’re descended from them.”
Yvoire wasn’t entirely certain how it all worked. He knew what he’d heard from Ganymede, but even Ganymede didn’t have all the answers, and she’d been doing this for over a decade. Maybe he should’ve asked her if she knew Reims. Would she have told him? She seemed intent on letting him discover most of the past on his own.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:34 pm
Reims stopped suddenly and turned to grimace at what Yvoire said about knowing who the last Reims was.
“You don’t think he would have been, like… a priest, do you?”
He shivered. He didn’t know what kind of crazy religious stuff Ganymede had, but he didn’t really know if he liked the idea of having been a priest.
Maybe he shouldn’t check the altar.
But he needed to find that ring. Ugh!
Birds would be nice, though. Maybe once it got warmer again. The snow was nice too, though. Although neither he nor Yvoire were wearing very winter appropriate clothes.
“Maybe he was a janitor,” Reims decided. “Or the crypt keeper. Oh, do you think there’s a crypt here? There’s usually one in places like this, isn’t there?” Was he being a little too enthusiastic about this? Probably.
He made sure Yvoire wasn’t too far behind him as he jogged over to the altar. He reached out and felt around the surface, then ducked down to look underneath. Nothing really stood out. It seemed like a solid surface above and below.
“Well, there’s no bloodstains at least. You know. In case this was used for sacrifice. I’m joking,” he quickly added, not wanting to seem too weird. Ah, he probably seemed weird anyway.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:36 pm
Yvoire’s mouth twitched into a closed-lipped smile. A soft laugh escaped him — so quiet it might have gone unnoticed if not for the hush that seemed to cover the Wonder. Only their footsteps and the sound of their own voices broke the silence.
“Maybe they did their sacrifices somewhere else,” he joked. “I don’t really know how important religion was to the people here. It must have been at some point, to have big churches like this.”
Yvoire turned on the spot again, gazing around, searching for any clues about what this place might have meant once. There had to be some importance to all the Wonders on Ganymede, didn’t there? Otherwise, why would they be considered sacred? Yvoire once housed the royal family. It was its own kingdom at one point. A church this big had to be just as significant at some moment in Ganymede’s history.
Only it wasn’t any old church, was it? Something this size, this grand... It was like Notre Dame.
Drifting toward another one of the broken windows, Yvoire tried to suppress his excitement. He looked out onto the dilapidated city, to a stretch of water, and a series of broken stone arches that once made a bridge to the island in the middle of the river.
“It’s Yvoire,” he said, still quiet, uncertain how to feel. Excited, perhaps, that their Wonders were so close? Afraid, maybe, that it might mean something about fate? “Do you see the castle over there? The bridge would’ve taken you straight to it.”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:37 pm
Even though Reims hid it from Yvoire, he still smiled to himself. Yvoire had a cute laugh, but he seemed to be keeping to himself about a lot of things. Reims didn’t want to call attention to it and make him feel uncomfortable.
Okay, maybe he made it a little more obvious than he’d intended that he heard him laugh, because he was still smiling a little when he straightened back up.
Yvoire had a point, of course. There had to be something special about this place for it to be made a Wonder. He hoped it didn’t have to do with sacrifices, but he knew so little about Ganymede.
He hoped one day he would learn more about his Wonder. He would have to come back and clean up all the glass. He could probably salvage the larger pieces.
His thoughts were broken when Yvoire called over from the window, and Reims hopped down the steps that led up to the altar so he could join him by the broken window to peer out. Although with how the glass was broken, he had to squeeze in close beside Yvoire, and for a moment had to brush his hand against Yvoire’s back so he didn’t knock him over, or fall himself.
“Oh, that’s cool,” he said in surprise and wonder. There was excitement in his voice, despite being not that eloquent in his enthusiasm. “We could be working on cleaning up our Wonders and wave to each other,” he teased and-- oh he was still touching his back.
Reims lowered his hand and took a step away to give him space, trying to ignore the way his ears felt overheated.
“Um… I think I saw some doors leading to the back. Offices. Or whatever they are. Over there,” he gestured. “I don’t know. I have a strange feeling that we should check there. Oh, but I also feel like we should check the tower,” he added, peering up at the seemingly impossible height. The slight twitch of his lips probably gave away that he was joking. “But… we should check the ground floor first. So was Yvoire, like… a castle?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:39 pm
Yvoire didn’t mind the casual touch. His parents had never deprived him of hugs or other such physical affection, but he didn’t get it a lot from his peers. He didn’t have many close friends, and didn’t always enjoy his personal space being invaded by strangers. But Reims wasn’t a stranger, was he? They might not know each other well, but… they’d worked together before, and they served the same world, and their Wonders were so close...
Something about being here with Reims put Yvoire at ease. He felt shy, but not nervous — a little self-conscious, but not scared. It felt natural for them to be here together, like they were exactly where they should be.
Yvoire gazed out the window for a little longer, staring at his own Wonder, before turning to follow Reims. He wouldn’t mention the touch in case Reims would be embarrassed by it, but Yvoire stuck close enough to him that he hoped Reims would understand he didn’t mind the proximity.
“Ganymede said Yvoire’s where the royal family use to live,” he explained. “It was one of multiple kingdoms, and then as the kingdom’s merged, the town and the castle took the name Yvoire, and the castle became a Wonder. Ganymede didn’t tell me much more than that. She said it’s better if we learn these things ourselves.”
They had to step over debris on their way to the offices. Some of the pieces were quite large and required a bit more effort to scale or skirt around. Yvoire touched Reim’s arm as they made their way over a particularly troublesome piece, in case Reims needed help keeping steady. He may have recovered a bit after their arrival, but he still looked tired.
“She’d probably say you should trust the feelings you have,” Yvoire said. “So… where are they directing you now?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:39 pm
“Thanks,” Reims let out a breath of gratitude when Yvoire touched his arm as he tried to maintain his balance. And then when it was Yvoire’s turn to climb over, Reims reached out to take hold of his hand and, well, what if he didn’t let go?
Obviously he would if Yvoire pulled his hand away, but it was a good idea to make sure they didn’t trip and hurt themselves!
“I feel…” he paused to think about Yvoire’s question. He closed his eyes because apparently that made things easier to think and focus on the past. “I feel like we’re close to something important. But I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
He opened his eyes and glanced down at Yvoire with a little shrug, and then tugged his hand to keep them moving. He led the way to the office off to the side of the altar. Except it looked pretty boring and bland. There was a desk, but opening the dusty drawers and looking under it and all around didn’t reveal anything. The bookshelves were about the same. There was a whole wall of books, but flipping through pages only revealed a language he didn’t know.
“There’s something here…” he frowned as he placed the book back one handed, because he’d refused to let go of Yvoire’s hand unless he wanted it to be released. He closed his eyes again and reached out as if trying to decide what book might be useful. He touched one, and then the spine of another, and then his hand fell on one unassuming black bound book. When he opened his eyes, he almost pulled his hand away, but instead convinced himself to pick the book up.
Apparently it was the right book to pick up, because something clicked and the bookcase shifted and slid back and to the side to reveal a second, hidden office.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:41 pm
Yvoire let Reims hold his hand, accepting the assistance and offering some in turn when they concluded their search of the bland office at the bookcase. The language in one of the books he picked up matched what he could remember of the writing he’d seen in Ellis’ room, so he assumed it was the ancient language of Ganymede. Yvoire wondered if there was a way to learn it, if Ganymede knew how to read it, or if the knowledge had been lost despite her memories of the past.
He trusted that Reims knew what he was talking about. There had to be something here. Even if they had no proof, even if it was only a feeling, Yvoire chose to believe it. Magic existed and they could travel far into space with little more than an oath; operating on faith and instinct didn’t seem so ridiculous in the face of that.
When the bookcase shifted out of place with a low groan and a shower of dust, Yvoire offered another close-lipped smile.
“I wonder what they needed a secret room for,” he said, giving in to that sense of adventure that urged him onward. Still holding Reims’ hand, Yvoire tugged him through the newly opened doorway.
“Maybe they were hiding stuff,” he mused. Until they found anything to indicate otherwise, wild guesses were half the fun of exploring. “Like artifacts or secret documents. Or they could’ve been running a bunch of mysterious experiments. Maybe they had a spy network and this is where they met to exchange information.”
That was common with churches, wasn’t it? To promote a grand, wholesome image and then engage in shady stuff behind the scenes?
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:44 pm
The room was dark except for the light that came in from the doorway they’d crossed through. There was another set of bookcases, also filled, and a second desk that seemed to be covered in more valuable objects. Paintings were on the walls, and everything was covered in a layer of dust.
“Oh, they were definitely hiding stuff if they had a secret room. Although maybe it was like a panic room, you know? Something that people can hide things in, or themselves, if something happens. There’s probably, like, a secret exit too somewhere and ********>!” he yelped in surprise. He’d been so enthusiastically chatting, that it wasn’t until he turned around to look back out of the secret doorway did he notice the skeleton in the corner of the room.
“Oh my god, my heart,” he gasped. He was clutching at his chest with his free hand, but lifted Yvoire’s hand to press over his heart so he could feel that he wasn’t lying. <********>, that scared me. Wow, that sucks,” he grimaced at the skeleton, and then glanced around to make sure there wasn’t anything else in the room with them. “Are you okay?” he asked, because if that scared him, he wouldn’t judge Yvorie for being startled too. Especially since he jumped.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:46 pm
Yvoire jumped, too, and crashed into Reims. He resisted the instinct to scurry away or find somewhere to hide, but remained close even when they’d both recovered enough that they weren’t at risk of falling over in a tangle of limbs. Reims’ heart was racing. Yvoire’s was no different; he almost felt sick from it, but swallowed and forced himself to breathe.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the skeleton. Maybe they should’ve expected that they might find the remains of people. Yvoire didn’t like to think of things like that. Everything else about the moon of Ganymede was wondrous, but the thought of so much death left him aching in a way he didn’t want to explain to anyone.
Yvoire swallowed again. He was glad for the lack of light; Reims might not see the tears that built in his eyes.
With no way of knowing who the skeleton belonged to or what happened to them that led them to die here, Yvoire could only think of Daddy alone on a path through the forest, killed for his starseed, his body left to rot beneath the falling leaves.
Yvoire blinked rapidly. He swallowed a third time, then a fourth, tugging his hand out of Reims’ grasp and putting a little distance between them before Reims could notice him shaking.
“It’s wearing a ring,” he said quietly, voice tremulous and strained.
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