Blaze stamped the sand as the gate was pulled up. It had been a long time since Blaze had been home and he missed home, Vincent specifically. Alison stroked his neck slowly and he just chuffed in response.
“We know boy. We miss him too. But we’re almost there,” she whispered. “And once we see him we’ll make sure to feed and groom you. Lots of juicy apples.” He eyed her as if to make sure she was serious about the offer and she nodded, “You’ve been great. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”
That calmed him enough that he lowered his head. She sighed and looked at her companions. Her brother tired and just as eager to be home as she and Blaze were. Ryza communicating with her rat, likely her way of coping. She had been fun to talk to despite her strangeness. Orion was alien and hard to read as always but then there was Ryze. He’d barely spoken on their way back, deep in his own mind. The failure in Noria had weighed on him hard she imagined.
She felt Penny in her mind and blinked quickly as the demon’s vision superimposed over her own. She saw the city and it was like it had lost its luster. She wasn’t sure if it were real or if she was really tired. “Something is wrong.” Penny said. “The city has suffered a wound. A grievous one.”
“What do you mean?” she asked but Penny was already shaking their head. “I guess we’ll figure it out once we’re inside.”
The gate finally lifted entirely and they made their way inside. Alistair slid off Eaergo’s back and was struck by the warmth of the city. Raising his hand to block out the light of the sun he rotated his shoulders. He barely made it a few steps forward when Benidict shouted, “Al!”
He turned around and watched Benidict come down from the parapet. He landed and rushed forward wrapping his arms around Alistair in a tight hug. Alistair almost stumbled backward but caught his footing. He hugged him back just as tightly taking in a deep breath. Just having his arms around him Alistair felt a tension leave him in a way that he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
Benidict pulled back, stroking his cheek slowly and then kissed him hard. Everything faded away except the kiss and when they both had to breathe, they just stared at each other. “Hey Ben.”
“Hey Al,” he hugged him again and sighed. “I missed you. Far more than I thought.”
“It was only a few days,” he replied.
“It felt longer.”
“Yes it did,” Alistair made a face. “And we weren’t successful. At least not as successful as we set out to be.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Benidict said. “I’m just glad to have you back in one piece. We had our own issues while you were gone.”
“Where’s Mori?” Alistair asked softly.
Benidict looked past him and then smiled, “Here she comes now.”
Both turned and watched as Morrigan walked toward them. The way she came toward them struck Alistair like a blow to the face. She always walked with a confidence that made people get out of her way. But there was something more this time. Like he suddenly had the urge to bow to her out of pure respect.
She finally approached the pair of them and the moment she was close enough she pulled him into a hug even tighter than Benidict’s had been and a kiss even more passionate. He was dazed when she finally let him go and he fell against Benidict’s chest. She cupped his face in her hands and smiled kissing him again.
“Welcome back Alistair,” she said softly.
“Thank you, Mori,” he replied. Tilting his head to the side slightly he frowned. “Something is different about you. You’re my Mori but different in the same way. I can’t place it.”
“Many things have transpired since you’ve been home,” Morrigan said softly. “Many things indeed.” She sighed and then looked over at the rest of their party. She scowled at Ryze when she looked at him who paid them no mind. She merely looked at Ryza and Orion but smiled at Alison.
Alison came forward and offered her a hug which Morrigan took. “Where’s Vince?” she asked eagerly looking over her shoulder quickly.
Morrigan winced at the mention of his name but motioned toward the path she took, “The proving grounds. Of any of us I say you should go see him. He’s had a hard time the past few days. He needs the two of you with him.”
Alison’s eyes widened slightly but she nodded, “Alistair. Take care of Blaze for me. Please.”
“I will,” Alistair said. “Go find Vince.”
She nodded and started running toward the proving grounds. As she ran, she felt that Penny was helping her along giving her steps a little bit extra reach with each step. What should have taken dozens of minutes only took a few. Sliding to a stop she continued forward slowly. She’d never come to the cemetery part of the proving grounds before and gave it the respect it deserved. Small mounds marked awaited, each decorated differently. Weapons, flowers, medals and more. Each one had its own personality to represent the person it belonged to.
As she walked through the cemetery she loosely heard the voices. Three young boys and the one she was looking for. Her heart fluttered for a moment at the sound of his voice and she started running toward it. She took one turn around a tent and she saw the four of them. A trio of boys that looked entirely identical though being a twin she knew how to spot the differences in them. Vincent was watching them, his arms folded and shouting encouragement while heckling.
He brought a bottle up to his lips and tried to drink more but it was empty. Tossing it away onto the ground he shouted again toward the wrestling triplets. But he looked past them and his arms dropped. He stared at Alison as she approached them and it was like his face froze a little.
“You running a daycare now Vince?” she asked and spread her arms. “We know that we’re popular with the kids but we didn’t think you paid that much attention.”
Vincent walked toward her slowly and she thought he was going to hug her. But instead, just as he got close enough he sank down to his knees. Gasping she wrapped her arms around his head and stopped him from falling further. She looked down at him raising his face up slowly and the laughter, the joking, all of it faded away. It crumpled into pain so raw that she flinched seeing it.
Vincent didn’t know why he’d fought the wave of emotions as long as he did. Or why he fought them for as long as he did but as he looked at her the floodgates had broken and he cried. One shaky hand wrapped around her waist, digging into the fabric of her shirt and the other against her leg holding her as if she’d disappear.
Alison stared at him not understanding where his pain was coming from but she held him nonetheless. She smoothed her fingers through his hair and bent over kissing his head. She didn’t know what happened but she felt his pain like it were her own. She stood with him like this for as long as he needed, her hands a constant motion against his head and neck.
Ryza watched them from a long distance and made a face. She didn’t know what his pain was but she felt it on the air. She’d done it herself many years ago and looked away. She knew the feeling of loss. That kind of sadness was private. So instead she looked at her companion. Shriek stared up at her, his nose twitching and she smiled.
Raising her hands Shriek came closer and rubbed his nose against her cheek reaching his tiny hands out to her. “We’re back little one. Not quite at home but close enough for those such as us. Except Orion. I don’t think they’ve ever known a home that wasn’t like a clocktower or something else guady.”
“I’m right here,” Orion said staring at her. “And I have known actual homes.”
“Really? Color me impressed then,” she called walking over to the construct.
Their eye adjusted and they glance back and forth slowly, “Where the hell is that damn jester?”
“No idea. I was wondering that myself,” she folded her arms and Shriek ran up her shoulder quickly. “He would have greeted us by now.”
“Maybe he’s with the other Cersians. He was excited about reuniting with them”
“Indeed.” She held her chin lightly.
“If you wish to find Gest then follow me,” They both looked toward the Troupe Master with his sneering mask. He bowed his head and motioned with a sweep of his hand. They exchanged glances confused but nodded all the same.
The troupe master led them to the rows of headstones and then moved past those mounds to a pit in the ground. The edges of it were the color of the ground but the lower parts with blackened to a deep char. They couldn’t easily see the bottom but it was clear that this was used for funeral pyres.
“Why are we here?” Orion asked.
“Gest is dead isn’t he?” Ryza asked staring into the darkness of the hole.
The Troupe Master nodded slowly motioning toward the pit in the ground. “He died protecting one of those children. They’re called the Zodiac I think. Above all else though he protected Her Majesty. Whatever thoughts I may have had for him, he died as any true member of the Cerisian court would have. And as our custom we burn our dead. But I feel this is something he would have wanted you to have.”
The Troupe Master reached into his cloak and produced a mask. The pristine white mask that many a rhyming word was spoken through. Orion took the mask staring at it and not knowing what they were feeling. Ryze stared at it and traced her fingers across one of the eyes. In its own way it still felt like Gest, like he was in it.
Closing her eyes for a moment she looked at the Troupe Master, “How did he die? What happened to this city?”
“One of the Ouroboros came. They impersonated the bandit Vincent and stole the soul of the Free Lady. We fought him and tried to prevent that but we weren’t able to. Gest and two others of my cast were killed.” He said this matter of fact. No emotion, just delivering a report.
Ryza stared at the Troupe Master as if to get some other insight from the Harlequin but his eyes were black and his mask didn’t change.
“What was the Ouroboros’s name?”
“Envy.”
“Thank you for giving us this. And thank you for giving him the burial he probably would have wanted.”
Nodding the Troupe Master turned and walked back toward the city. It left the pair of them to stare at the mask. All that was left of their third party member. Orion made a noise like a whirring sound, their frustration finally boiling over, “What the hell happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” Ryza said softly.
“Can’t you, I don’t know. Bring him back?”
“Yes and no,” Ryza turned his mask over in her hands. “I can bring back his spirit but he wouldn’t have a body. It’s gone. We could commune with him perhaps. But I would rather let him rest. Gest lost his entire people and family. If there’s a real afterlife, I want him to enjoy it with his people.”
Orion paused and didn’t say anything else. Folding their arms slowly they looked at the ground and kicked sand into the pit. “He was a fool. A rhyming musical fool who wasn’t right in the head. But even then, I didn’t wish for him to be killed. I enjoyed his company.”
Ryza stood in silence and shut her eyes. For a moment she felt like she heard on the wind the sound of music. A harmonica on the wind, a string instrument in the breeze.
“I’ll miss his music,” she said softly. “He was gifted in that regard. And I don’t think I’ll ever find something quite like his talent again.” Her fingers looped through the eyes of the mask and she sniffled, rubbing her eyes and then shook her head. “Do you want his mask Orion? Might be good to hide your visage.”
“I’m fine thanks.”
“Right then. I’ll hold onto it then,” she moved and fingered her way through the fabric of her pants until she found a proper strand. She slid it through the eyehole of the mask and wrapped it around twice before trying it tight. She affixed it to her hip and then passed her over it. A faint glow accompanied the strand of string.
“I think I’m going to go find my tent and lay down,” she said finally. “It’s been a very long day Orion.”
“Right,” Orion turned around and then glanced at her. “Get some rest.”
“I’d say you do the same but I don’t know if you really can,” she said teasingly and then began to walk back to her tent, her hand absently brushing against the mask.
After getting turned around for the third time though she scowled and raised her hand to the sky. Conjuring her preferred familiar, a bat, she felt the small animal move around and settle with its small hands gripping her fingers. “To the sky little one and be my eyes.”
Tossing her hand up the bat took off fluttering above them. She watched it float away and her grey eye flared to life. No more stumbling around she walked with confidence avoiding people and dead ends like she had lived there her entire life. But what really caught her eye was her brother.
She could see him sitting outside some shop on a bench, a skewer in hand, biting off hunks of vegetable and meat together. She decided to change her course of action and made her way toward him. Part of the way there he finished eating and looked up to the sky, staring right at the bat.
He scowled first at it and then at her when she finally made her presence known. She waved and he moved over on the bench to give her space. She sat down and turned to face him, “Hello brother.”
He let out a breath that was some measure of exhausted, “What do you want Ryza?”
“I can’t check on my big brother when he’s been looking down?”
“I’m not down.”
“I beg to differ,” she pat his head and he swatted it away. “I may not know you that well Ryze but I know that look.”
“How so?” he asked.
“Father used to look like that way. When something was plaguing his mind. Especially when we were forced to move. As a child I didn’t know what it meant but reflecting back on it now, I know it was because of mother and the Ouroboros.”
“I don’t know how I feel with you comparing me to the father who abandoned me.”
“I mean it as a simple observation.”
He made a noise, “I guess.”
“Good. We’ll call this progress,” she chuckled. “Maybe one day soon you’ll be on track to be a well functioning member of society.”
“Is there a point to this visit Ryza?”
“You’re a more talented mage brother. I’m sure you’ve felt what’s happened here.”
“You sell yourself short sister,” he said first but nodded. “But yes. This place has been harmed. Lost something integral to it.”
She nodded turning to Gest’s mask at her hip, “Apparently the Ouroboros paid the city a visit while we were gone.”
That got his attention and he turned to face her eyes widening slightly, “Why? Why would they come here? Unless.”
“Something we missed.”
“Something I missed,” Ryze corrected and stood up slowly. “There was a fourth God and I miscalculated. We can only hope that the Sanctum managed to protect themselves and not get eradicated or we’re all going to be doomed.”
Ryza squeezed his shoulder and he flinched at first but calmed down realizing how he sounded, “If the Sanctum had fallen I believe that our mother would be more aggressive with her plans. I don’t remember our mother well but from what I do remember, we would not be having this conversation if she’d taken the Father.”
“Our mother is a shrewd woman. She only acts when she’s sure of an outcome.” He took a very slow breath and nodded. “There’s likely still hope but I’m not used to leaning on hope.”
“We have allies brother. We’ve lost some friends,” she glanced down for a second. “But we’ve gained more. We’re not out of this race.”
He turned to face her and finally sighed. “Didn’t expect you to come console me. Especially after losing a friend.” When she raised her eyebrow he smiled and raised his hand. His own bat appeared on his finger. “You’re not the only one with familiars sister.”
“We’re necromancers Ryze. Death’s apart of our lives.”
“Living is the hard part.” He finished and caught her eye. “I still remember father to a small degree.”
“Good. Now feed me brother. I’m starving and since you decided to eat without me, I deem it only fair.”
“Fine little sister. This time.”
The Harlequin Library 