It had been how many days since his return? Aelius wasn’t sure. He didn’t even know the day of the week or date. All he knew was his bedroom was becoming stifling. So much so that Aelius had taken to avoiding it when not resting. The forced movement of wandering the house did him good, even while his ribs continued healing. His wounds, as a whole, were healing. Some were leaving their mark upon his skin with the tell-tale pale pink of fresh scars. His wrists and ankles bore the worst of it. Days of being continuously bitten into by plastic ties and then cauterization was a dead promise he’d have reminders of his capture. But, it wasn’t those he focused so much on, but the wounds on his neck and face.
Aelius stared in the bathroom mirror, studying the cuts across his face and the nearly healed bite marks on his neck. One, more than the other bothered him, and while the bite marks were far from attractive, they likely wouldn’t be terribly noticeable. The wounds on his face though…
He prodded carefully at the healing cuts. They were healing well and cleanly. Of the four marks, 3 of them were well on their way with scabbing slowly peeling off. Aelius was very hopeful those would be fine. It was the still well scabbed, and healing line that ran from the top of his cheek bone diagonally towards his mouth that he worried the most over.
A lingering cough broke the fixation on his reflection. He used the break to return to getting dressed. His clothing was still not his own. Still pass-offs from Waru, but they did the job. The sweat pants, plain black tee and hoddie was enough to keep him covered and warm, if not looking a bit homeless for their over-sized nature.
Toweling his hair, he felt a nudge. A promise of what was to come, and the young man hurried to pull the wet locks into a low ponytail and slip on some socks before the pull of the summons happened.
He found himself in Faustite’s office once again facing a General-Sovereign who looked to be anything but happy about something. Perhaps overly stressed? Well, considering everything of late, Aelius wouldn’t have been surprised by that. It was just more work piled on top of typical work.
Considering his own mental state of late, Aelius hadn’t been in the best of places himself. Was he feeling sorry for himself? Yep, absolutely. When you’re exhausted, sick, healing, and dealing with the strain of getting over what he’d gone through, maybe it wasn’t surprising he was a bit more surly and whiny. Poor Waru had been dealing with Aelius being overly slingly, but the man did wondering for helping fend off the anxious and depressive thoughts.
Still, Aelius was determined to do his best to not take his sour mood out on others. He may not be always successful but, none of this was the teams fault. It certainly wasn’t Faustites or Waru’s either.
“You look like you could use a week of forgetting about work to catch up on some rest.” He remarked as he stepped closer to the desk and sat himself down in one of the free chairs across from his General. “Or at least some time to unwind and relax even if it’s only for a day.” He attempted to keep his voice light and good natured, but it sounded a bit flat to his own ears and he internally winced for it.
“So, why the summons? Did you find something out?”
—-----------------
Faustite
It wasn't that Faustite disagreed. As he looked upon Aelius, he thought that yes, he would much rather take a week off and forget about everything that had transpired. Why settle for a week, though? Why not two, or three, or four? Why not take off into the Rift for another jolly year spent stalking a youma that likely wanted nothing to do with him? It beat the hell out of what they had to do next.
Regrettably, Faustite shook his head. It's been long enough, he signed from where he sat at his desk. Pausing, he watched Aelius claim a seat for himself. We have to change your glamour. Get you started with a new identity.
The logistics of the latter is better left to our Infiltration branch. In a word, not him. But what we have to do is like retuning your starseed. Ensuring no one recognizes you as Aelius anymore.
It's what Axinite had to do for me, once.
Faustite's hands stilled. It had been years, now. Years and Eion still felt like a disguise rather than a legitimate means of defining himself. There was a chance Aelius would feel the same about his next identity — that he would learn from this foul circumstance and cease to invest so much into his civilian life. Or, perhaps, he would take it as an opportunity to erase any mistakes he made as Aelius. That he might tug on whatever connections the Negaverse would offer him was a heartening possibility. But Faustite doubted that enough transpired to show Aelius that he had more worth than he realized.
So it's up to you. Got the gist of it from Axinite, but I've not done it before. I could still do it for you, or I could take you to him.
—-----------------
Aelius
He wanted to take some of the burden from Faustite. The boy had been working so much and Aelius hadn't realized how much more work the General King was doing since his promotion. He felt like he'd just dumped even more work in the poor boys lap because of all of this. Worst of it all, he wasn't even sure if it was something that he could have avoided or was his own doing. Hence, all the extra work, cause Aelius was well aware that Faustite wasn't going to leave any stone unturned in the investigation.
He may have looked down during his meandering thoughts, but the mention of his glamour caused his shoulders to slump forward and face fall. “I had hoped it could wait a bit longer.” He confessed with a heavy heart. It was inevitable this would need to happen. He knew that, but he loathed it. He was, theoretically, erasing the life he had managed to create after losing his life as Rowan.
“No. If someone is going to do this, I'd rather it be you. If someone is going to be messing with my starseed I'd rather it someone I trust. First time or not.”
Rubbing at his face he huffed softly. “So…when Aixinite did it for you, what was it like?”
—-----------------
Faustite
You've been stuck in that house for ages now. Unable to go anywhere. Unable to do anything. You can't even go shopping for clothes that fit you with your current identity looming over you. We've already been to your apartment, rescued what we could. We ran out of reasons to wait.
He expected pushback. Expected to hear that Faustite wasn't taking his feelings into account, or that he missed something that Aelius needed his identity for, or that in following any sort of protocol, Faustite failed to check with Aelius first to learn what he wanted. He was used to the thousand-and-one reasons that the boy so easily pulled from the moment that Faustite made a misstep. Lately, it just felt like penance. But sometimes, the way he'd been simply going along with everything felt like its own form of punishment.
That punishment marched on, of course, and Faustite had to be the one to wipe the slate clean again. He sighed through his nose as he debated with himself whether he truly understood what to do. Then he asked himself if he knew about any pressing matters that he could use to suddenly interrupt this meeting.
It doesn't hurt, he signed at first. It's like being outside in a thunderstorm. Feel pressure on the air. Almost a hum on the skin. Then no one looks at you the same way. No one who remained unaware of what happened, at least.
But if you think we missed something that you need to stay Aelius for, we should wait.
—-----------------
Aelius
“It’s less about convenience and just…” A pause as he tried to gather his thoughts about it all before sighing. “I am probably going to explain this wrong. But, it’s more I’ll never really ever be ready to have it taken from me. Inconvenience or not. Aelius is me now. I’ve been through so much to build this life from nothing. I am attached to what I’ve managed to create and to know I’ll be nobody again. Starting all over from ground zero.” If he could visibly wilt anymore he did before Faustite.
“I have to stop being so attached. I am not good to you or the team stuck in the house.” The depression of the situation still sat heavy in his soul though and the melancholy showed in saddened golden eyes as he focused on the General Sovereign.
Clasping his hands, he rubbed them together to try and psych himself up for what was to come. “No. There’s really nothing else to do at this point. I am just being silly. This persona isn’t going to do me any good anymore. Aelius was pretty much dead the moment my identity was compromised.” A hesitant, sad smile. “At least it won’t hurt.” At least not physically. Knowing people he’d created relationships with over the year would only see him as a stranger while he was privy to all of the memories he’d cultivated was going to be a completely different kind of pain. Then again, it would probably be best if he didn’t interact with anyone who knew Aelius if he could avoid it. Less likely to cause any problems that way.
“You probably think I am being ridiculous being so attached to well…me?”
A deep breath. Eyes closed. A moment passed. Two. Until he finally opened them and nodded as he steeled himself. “But yea. Yea, let’s get it done. It’s not doing anyone any good except to soothe my anxiety of beginning new.”
—-----------------
Faustite
I know. Had it done to me. Never gets easy, but you'll get used to it.
Their circumstances weren't comparable, he knew. Heliodor would have to try at this new life in a way that Faustite could abandon. And he did abandon the idea of making Eion into anything more than a shadow on the wall, some fleeting experience that never weighed too heavily on a person's mind. But whoever Heliodor was to be next? He had to be someone.
Faustite stood while Aelius went on, trying to convince himself that he needed to close this chapter of his life for the betterment of the team. Faustite's gaze fixated on him, then on the piece of crystal hung about his neck.
The team can help fast track you. Build your identity. Find you a job. Get you a place to live that has you near people again. Surely more than a few of those items would be discussed between the brothers. And if he could be claimed as some distant cousin to Trey? Then perhaps all the better. That would, at least, feel like some small part of a wrong righted from the years ago that they first met each other. But you're right. You'll lose those relationships outside of the team. There was nothing for it.
Faustite rounded the grandiose glass table, pausing and hitching up atop a corner once he was on the same side of it as Aelius. He folded one knee over the other out of habit. Don't think you're being ridiculous. I was attached to Elex. Hard to reinvent yourself on someone else's whim.
In that respect, neither of them got to choose.
With a sigh, he reached for the arm of Aelius's chair and pulled it closer to where he sat. Leaning on it, he reached with his free hand for Aelius's starseed, where his grasp slipped easily past skin and flesh and bone. Strange to think that there should have been a hole from which it shone out at him. Invariably, his fingers brushed around the gem and clasped it just lightly enough to make contact with it. The next piece demanded concentration.
Applying chaotic energy just so demanded a finesse that Faustite could scarcely believe he had. It wasn't the same amplitude as corruption, or even energy draining, but something so small and subtle that it was as if he tried for a resonance with Aelius's starseed. A resonance that Aelius could feel humming about him, like electricity on the air, and that would change his face to the rest of the world.
—-----------------
Aelius
None of this was easy. Aelius felt like he was saying goodbye to himself. Like he was ending it all.
That wasn’t the case though and Faustite was there to remind him that, unlike last time, he had a strong support system now. There were others to lean on. The biggest difference between now and then were going to be the ties and relationships that he was still going to be a part of. He wasn’t getting thrown into a void to figure it all out for himself.Oh, he damn well knew this wasn’t going to be easy. No matter who was there to help hold him up as he found his footing, the work was going to be mentally exhausting. The mental part of it was what he worried about too, because if there was one thing Aelius lacked was confidence in himself yet. He worried at his own capabilities and letting others down.
But, what else was there? To stay caged up in the house unable to do anything unless powered up? That wasn’t going to do anyone any good and was worse than not changing his life up.
It was…heartening though to hear that Faustite at least didn’t find his anxieties and melancholy of this as silly. That little bit of reinforcement that is was ok to be upset helped in some odd, but comforting way.
“Thank you.” A small smile as he dipped his head and eyes to the ground for a moment. Taking a breath he looked back up. He was ready.
Faustite perched himself and drew Aelius to him in a way that would have had the boy's heart skipping in excitement any other day. Instead, it picked up pace for his nerves as he anticipated what was to come next. Having someone touch your starseed, even someone you put complete faith in, was to place an incredible amount of trust on someone. Still, he watched as those inky fingers moved forward and into his chest before closing his eyes against the visual. He knew what it looked like. Had done it to countless amounts of people. He had no interest in seeing it done to himself.
The sensation of it was very similar to how Faustite explained it. A pressure that wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable settled over him. His skin tingled at the small rush of power used as the glamour that was Aelius was changed and tweaked into that of someone completely new and unknown to the world. There was no pain, as promised. Just an understanding that something was different. It didn’t feel any different but the knowledge of knowing what was happening made Aelius feel as if a new shroud was thrown over top of it.
He didn’t speak or move until Faustite was finished, but he did open golden eyes to stare into the bright red of his General-King as the other worked. It wasn’t until fingers and hand were pulled away from the space that housed his very soul did Aelius break the eye contact that acted as his grounding to look a down at himself. Unsurprisingly, there was no difference for him to see.
—-----------------
Faustite
Faustite thought he pulled it off the way he was instructed. As he removed his hand from Aelius's chest, he paused long enough to scrutinize the boy. Aelius didn't look any different to him, which left Faustite narrowing his brows and blinking. Then he looked all about the room, as if his eyes needed a palette reset between Aelius and NoName, then looked once more at the boy before him.
Still looked like Aelius. But Aelius looked like Rowan, too, so maybe he couldn't pick out a difference?
I think I did that right, Faustite signed haltingly. He hadn't thought that far ahead about it; he supposed the real test would be when he brought Albite over, or called in the team to begin dissecting how Aelius's identity was discovered in the first place. If he looked like a stranger to much of them, then Faustite could feel assured that he managed to reset Aelius's glamour correctly. In the interim, he had to sit with the unnerving possibility that Aelius still looked exactly like Aelius.
Which was dangerous, but only if he left Negaspace. And that, he supposed, wasn't going to happen until the cats could deliver on repairing his pen. However long it took those mangy, greedy little ******** to manage that.
Should probably test it out, to be sure. Could take you back to the house and invite Waru back home, play you up as a new boy that I just met? If he buys it, we know it worked.
He paused, then added, Wouldn't exactly be lying.
—-----------------
Aelius
He watched as Faustite scrutinized his work with a curious look. He wondered briefly, if Faustite could see a change himself, but that thought was quickly put to bed as those delicate brows narrowed, he turned away, and looked back.
“Well, you were right. It certainly didn’t hurt.” So that was a good sign. “And I am still human, so there’s that.” He teased knowing all too well that things like youmafication was a real possibility when dealing with starseeds. He shifted in the seat, looking up at the boy who still remained perched on the edge of the desk like some dainty bird. A phoenix, have you. For what else could burn with such intensity and passion?
“Hmmm…I don’t know if he’d be happy or upset that I am not actually a new boy.” He sighed, leaning back into his chair as a heaviness settled over him. He was no longer Aelius. That person was, swiftly, going to be a dead person to him. Someone forgotten to time and the war that continued to rage in Destiny City. How many more times could he do this? Start over? Rebuild his life? Survive? It was a sobering thought that it could very much happen again if he wasn’t careful. Hell, he thought he had been careful, but here they were.
Tilting his head, hair slipping over his shoulder, as he watched Faustite. “Thanks. For this. Taking care of me. Everything.” A small smile crept across his face. “As shitty as it is, I really appreciate you sticking through it with me.”
“I suppose we should test out your handy work.” A need to move. Aelius moved his chair back from the warm proximity of Faustite so he could stand without risking knocking the boy from his spot on the desk. “Might as well find some fun in this.” An agreement to playing with their dear boy, Albite.
Strickenized
