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Eles hadn't known precisely where they were going, but he wasn't paying much attention. either. Often he was lost in his thoughts or bestowing all of his attention on the boy whose hand he held, listening to his gossip or metered malevolence. Sometimes they shared small truths, but mostly they chatted at someone else's expense.

Eles was smiling, attention on his feet, as he passed beyond the threshold. Immediately he felt a marked difference upon his skin, as if July's heat all but evaporated. He looked up to see if perhaps they passed a fountain and he simply hadn't heard it, but he'd forgotten what he was looking for when his bright orange eyes found the curious stand and its curiouser occupant. Someone who hadn't worn all the hallmarks of being human, but could have been mistaken for a cosplayer.

And, to Eles's dismay, this dangerous-looking boy was gorgeous. A very different gorgeous from Hybris's gorgeous. but worth appreciating as judiciously as social mores permitted.

Eles, feeling suddenly self-conscious, signed to his midnight boy. Do you know him?

By the way he said welcome, Eles assumed that Hybris had … Shopped? Here before. And while it looked like this violet beauty sat at the head of a table full of random nonsense, notably lacking any price decals, Eles just assumed there was some magical nonsense afoot and the true story was likely beyond his imagination or understanding.

Almadel’s eyes lingered on the ever-moving hands of the two in front of him. He wore an amused, almost knowing smile as his gaze drifted back up to their faces.

“Well, if he maaaaay have a few interesting questions, I maaaaay have a few interesting answers. I can’t imagine you would bring me someone boring. If you promise a good time, I will promise the same.”

The young man with Hybris looked markedly less sure of himself, so Almadel took great effort to smile sweetly at him.

“I’ve got quite a bit of time this evening, you’ve had the fortune of catching me on a slow night. I’ve been rather lonely. Never mind that you’ve no need to thank me,” he waved his hand dismissively, but he was obviously playing coy. “Where would I be now if you hadn’t succeeded with your snake wrangling? Sitting alone in my museum, pining for all the good company I lost? No, thank you. How could I live with myself if you failed while there was still more I might have done? Things worked out very well for me, thanks to your efforts.”

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and smiled, leaning forward just a bit. “But if you don’t stop me, I might just talk forever. Go on, let me hear your questions.”

Hybris's smile dimpled up further for every teasing maaaay returned to him. But it was promising that there was no waiting line or anyone lingering on the periphery in a state of maybe, maybe not. He supposed it had to do with whatever magic enclosed this area. Almadel seemed to have a sort of magic that hinged upon what was needed and wanted. Extraneous people and efforts gently, invisibly filtered away.

Idly, he wondered how many of the snake-that-was-not-a-snake's scales were now pooling inside the merchant's treasury. There had to be a lot, a nice bonus on top of still having a world full of people and stories to visit. Not for the first time, he felt a certain kinship for Almadel, something that deepened the more Hybris learned about him.

He watched Eles take out the sketchbook with hooded, thoughtful eyes until he turned the page to reveal the Dark Star and once again, caught a glimpse of its glory. Its all-consuming, crushing magnificence. Hybris couldn't help but sigh at the sight and the memory it summoned, a bit of wistful longing.

"The Dark Star..."

At the question from the boy whose name he didn't know, Eles only shrugged. A discreet elbow to Hybris's side and he started signing again, hoping his boy would translate so he wouldn't have to write. I think the subjects outstrip my skill. It had been enough to get the point across, however.

And, he found, he was quite delighted to let this serpentine boy hold onto his sketchbook for a while longer. Particularly if the amount of time it spent in his possession meant more answers for them.

A quick look at Hybris, who seemed as enamored with that strange astronomical body as ever, and then he looked back at the stranger. I want to know what it is, what it does, and why it's the only thing I can remember. He said everyone who saw it had died. That he died when he saw it, that I must have died if I saw it. And you recognized it, clearly.

So did you die, too?

Almadel’s eyes remained fixed on Eles’ hands, on his face, and when Malory spoke he still managed to smile sweetly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, boys. I don’t want there to be a misunderstanding. I’m not saying I recognize anything. The Dark Star–when he handed me the picture, that’s what you called it, right?”

He stretched his arms out, putting a bit of distance between the picture and his face, and then bringing it back close as he returned to scrutiny.

“I’m just stitching things together. You’re the ones giving me the pieces. Every rendition of the Dark Star is different. And because no one is stepping up as a verifiable source, it’s very hard to deduce what’s real and what’s fiction,” he explained. “Most people might argue that the Dark Star is conceptual. But,” he nodded to the sketchbook.

“Clearly you’ve seen something. And if the shoe fits,” he shrugged. “So let’s make sure I understand everything you’re telling me. You’ve seen this,” he nodded to the sketch, “And we’re calling it The Dark Star. You’ve both laid eyes on it, but only one of you remembers the circumstances. You died–I’m guessing you mean to say that this was while you were in combat with the Calamitous Hollow? I think it’s safe to say that if ever you were to encounter anything ‘Dark Star’ related, it would be because of a Herald.”

Almadel pressed his back against the chair and slouched a bit, sinking into the seat. His lips pressed together in analysis as his gaze traced each line on the page.

“I hope you don’t be disappointed when I report we do not share that death in common. Naturally, I’m a bit limited in what information I might regale you with. Although, I have seen a picture like this before, I think. Like this, because it’s really not like it at all. But the way you’ve drawn it evokes something in me. A very distant memory. What I wouldn’t give to find that book again. Ah,” he sighed, tilting his head to the side a bit. “But that was very long ago, and back then I didn’t know what I was looking for. I wasn’t always a merchant, you know. But I’ve always appreciated fine things.”

He didn’t want to hand the sketchbook back. He didn’t try to.

“May I take a picture of this?” he asked, and as he waited for permission he continued, “Much of what is known of the Heralds, and the Dark Star, is assigned through legend. There are no envoys to speak for it, only those left behind in the wake. If you have lost all of your memories but this one, I as well would speculate that you had a bad encounter with the Calamitous Hollow. I could not tell you why it’s all you can remember, only that I have heard it said that those who have seen the Dark Star are branded by it. But,” he shrugged, “Poets, of course. Embellishing everything. Especially trauma.”

Finally, Almadel was looking at them again, still waiting for permission to preserve Eles’ rendition of ‘The Dark Star’ for his own collection.

“You say you died on the battlefield? Tell me more about that. Tell me what you remember, before you saw this,” he nodded to the sketch, “And how you escaped it.”

Limited in information he could tell hem, but maybe not nearly so limited in the actual information he held. With a sigh in his heart, Hybris had to admire the tricksome nature of Almadel. Someone whose words and actions couldn't be taken for granted, or even measured for the comfort of predictability. He couldn't help but feel a distracting tug of interest at the mention of a life prior to becoming a merchant. The collector of space's fine things.

But it wasn't the time for that line of inquiry, was it? Not with Eles and the Dark Star on the table.

"He'd appreciate hearing or reading any such legends, regardless of veracity," Hybris translated before giving himself a few long moments of quiet consideration on his own experience. He'd only spoken about it once, and to once person. It had been such an intensely intimate moment, despite the massive grandeur of Dark Star itself.

"I was struck by strange lightning on the battlefield," he began. "There was a pain that stretched across my senses like a rubber band, going further and further until I simply snapped apart. It unmade me. The next thing I saw, without the eyes to behold it, was the Dark Star. And where the lightning had stretched my pain to breaking, the Dark Star just stretched me; my vision, my comprehension, and existence brought to the point where I realized there was no such limitation as too far. Not anymore. Just a vastness to reach for and an unending hunger to be consumed by."

Hybris sounded a lot like teen goth describing their first crush.

"It was so lovely. Shadowed and massive, cracked and veiled in violet streaks of power. A leviathan wreathed in bubbles of energy. A god haloed in crystal and searing purity."

A gusty sigh followed, "There was a bracelet, along with with the treats you gave us. I suppose that wasn't from you, then? Well, despite no longer having a body, I suppose the bracelet stayed with my soul. Slowly, and then very quickly, I felt my body begin to reform around it. Particle by particle, I was remade. It was less an escape, and more of a summons, really."

The lingering sense of regret, of a lack of completion, had at least dimmed significantly in the past month. The wistful, dreamy expression he had for describing the Dark Star turned toward the boy beside him and shifted to something more awake and vivid.

Hybris described and Eles watched him. Initially, he did so to take in the nonverbal embellishments that Hybris so enjoyed adding to his stories. His boy quite loved central roles, and he had two, here, between translation and the lone intellect that more completely understood what happened with the Dark Star. Eles enjoyed the boy's passion for it, always — Hybris was demonstrably intuitive about picking up a role.

But here, now? Eles's watchfulness went beyond simple enjoyment just as Hybris's retelling went beyond awe and treaded expertly near obsession. Then came another layer of splendor for Eles to savor when his boy wove in metatext, too, as he sounded quite devoured by the Dark Star already. Eles's grasp on the boy's hand tightened. Pressing shoulder to shoulder, he felt that heaved sigh secondarily. His poor boy, such a lovestruck thing for an entity that cared nothing for his existence. Perhaps that was why Malory took so fondly to the Aphelion.

With his own dreamy sigh, he supposed that one day, he would have to devour Malory, too.

At the sound of treats, Eles felt like he missed out on something rather fun, like a picnic. And what was a fight to the death with a massive world-eating snake but a picnic with enough blood and gore to feed the grass? Such a terrible shame that he either wasn't around for it or had forgotten the preface to the Dark Star.

When his boy returned from the land of memory, Eles smiled at him. Signed a simple Hello, Boy.

He nodded in agreement with Almadel's compliment. Shifting his attention over to the horned boy, Eles supposed he raised an excellent point. Eles wouldn't be able to use the word specifically without finger spelling it, but sign language allowed for gestures that invoked the spirit of that word and others like it. He was curious to see if Hybris would explain something like this or resort to a few white lies for added fun.

Of course, it was curious to hear that Almadel knew other languages, too; Eles hadn't considered it before, but there must have been other places in the universe for someone like Almadel to exist. It led Eles to wonder — Do you still remember your native language? Or speak it? He'd never seen someone like Almadel before; there had to be others, but how commonly did they encounter each other?

What he shared about the Dark Star's stories was likewise a curiosity. Of all the tales, the Dark Star was always a finality. A period at the end of a sentence, be it for things older than stars or for people like himself — his last self — and Hybris. He wondered, distantly, if the Dark Star's stain on them meant it might spontaneously stretch them apart from the inside and birth itself into their world, fit to consume all, having been carried so faithfully in a memory. And if that were so, then Eles wanted to make plenty of new memories with Malory before that came to pass.

How does anybody reach out to you? He asked. Signal flare? Morse code? Wishing upon a star?

Almadel laughed boldly. “Oh, you two are charming. What a set you are. How dangerous!” The smile on his face reached his eyes easily, and there was a sparkle there that rivaled the stars above them.

“I remember many tongues,” he assured, but there was something smug, almost devious, in his words. He didn’t dismiss the topic, but simply moved in. “And so you know, I’m not only around during the summer. But my schedule is a bit unpredictable, I’m afraid. Summer, I can guarantee. Anything else,” he shrugged, “Well, we see where the universe takes me. I pop in occasionally. Don’t blame me for not making a show of it, sometimes I’m just here for snacks. If I’m in the area and have a free spot in my schedule, I’ll let you know. Usually I have business cards on me. You’ll have to forgive me for being without them,” he sighed–dramatic, and yet oddly sincere. He propped his elbow on the table and pressed his cheek into it, humming morosely. “Things have just been so chaotic.”

He didn’t need to explain, he just gestured vaguely up at the sky.

“I need to get back on track. I’ll bring extra cards next time, hm? To make it up to you. Oh, but here. Let me find you something nice. A parting gift, something to remember me by. Something you can share.”

He hummed, dipping below the table to dig around his hidden boxes.

When Almadel’s head popped up above the table again, he was still smiling–and holding a gunmetal gray hand mirror, polished to perfection but sporting an artistic patina. The mirror’s frame looked suspiciously similar in shape to Hybris’ brooch, and there was something keenly familiar about it. When Almadel held the mirror up, he caught Hybris’ reflection in it first, and then Eles’.

“Pretty, no? Trade with me,” he decided. “I’ve decided I want that picture of yours. The original, not just the picture I took. Maybe I’ll make a book of my own, about the Dark Star, and all its little monsters. I’d give you proper credit, of course. But, something pretty for me to look at. Something pretty for you to look like.”

Almadel paused, a deliberate stillness, and then smiled again.

“I mean, at.”