Fic: Heart and Soul 7/10
Mar. 15th, 2008 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amediaTitle: Heart and Soul 7/10
Author: Amedia
Summary: An attack on Glitch draws Cain, Raw, and the members of the royal household into a mystery with magical overtones.
Rating: PG for implied violence and mild slash.
Warning: Slash. Cain/Glitch.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Imagiquest Entertainment. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Note: I need to give a shout-out to my very hard-working beta reader, who commented on three drafts with precision and insight.
Also posted here on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
glitch_wyatt and here on tin_and_straw.
Part One may be found here.
Part Two may be found here.
Part Three may be found here.
Part Four may be found here.
Part Five may be found here.
Part Six may be found here.
A few days later, Airofday was congratulating her soldiers curtly on their good work; every renegade was alive and none was seriously harmed. She walked up and down the line of prisoners, scowling. The Witch had chosen her longcoats from a remarkably homogeneous pool, favoring tall, stern-faced men with close-cropped hair. They all looked alike; they had even been drilled to move alike. She could not tell which were the two who had killed her. She was able to rule out their leader; the men who had killed her had been light-skinned. Beyond that, she just couldn't tell.
She cleared her throat, reminding herself to speak in a commanding manner. "We received intelligence that two of you were among the party that murdered the seeress Airofday. It is imperative that I learn the identity of these men." The prisoners were silent, and she silently cursed. She hadn't really expected them to turn themselves in, given that they would fear extra punishment, but she had hoped one of the others would volunteer the information. There would be no justice in killing the wrong men.
Perhaps there was another way. She cleared her throat again. "The seeress was an enemy of the current Queen," she began. "There will be a reward and possibly a commutation of punishment for whoever got rid of her."
They all stepped forward. She hadn't expected that, either. Airofday sighed, wondering what to do next.
As it turned out, the decision was suddenly irrelevant. The line of men facing her, and the soldiers guarding them, suddenly pointed up into the sky behind her. She turned and saw an iridescent greenish bubble descending toward the clearing where they all stood. Before she could move further, it enveloped her, as softly as a curtain of silk. She tried to struggle, but once she was inside, the transparent walls were impenetrable. She beat her fists against it a few times, futilely, then felt it lifting her into the air. Below her, she could see the others watching helplessly. One of her men lifted a rifle, but another pushed it down; she could see him shouting, but couldn't hear him. Soon they were out of sight, and she was being whisked away above the trees.
******
A small group was gathered in the garden near the spot where Cain had found Glitch. The Queen and Ahamo were seated in elegant chairs, while the Tutor was standing in the center, wearing his mantle of authority as gracefully as his long emerald robes. Azkadellia was standing behind her mother's chair, pale but determined. DG was moving around, unable to sit or stand still. Glitch, substantially recovered but still shaky, was sitting on a bench with Raw hovering beside him. Cain, invisible to the others, sat on Glitch's other side.
The Tutor was making subtle motions with his arms, guiding a tiny far-away bubble that seemed to grow larger as it drew closer. At last they could see a human figure within, half-hidden by the swirling green walls of the bubble, with outspread arms braced against the sides of the bubble.
Under the Tutor's expert guidance, the bubble finally landed on the grass in the center of the party, and its green walls faded away, leaving the occupant standing on the grass.
It looked like Cain, and it was dressed like Cain, and it even had a somewhat Cainlike attitude of aggression and defiance. But something about the stance was off; Cain didn't thrust a hip out like this person was doing. And Cain didn't toss his head as if to shake a long curtain of hair out of the way, either.
The Tutor bowed. "Welcome," he said courteously. "I wouldn't run," he added in the same pleasant tone, as the person wearing Cain's body looked around warily, sizing up the situation. "There's a solid perimeter of guards not far away."
"And you would be ... ?"
"I am the Tutor to the Royal Household. I'm afraid you have the advantage of me."
"I was once known as Airofday." Cain's voice took on a hint of an exotic accent.
Ahamo started. The Tutor merely nodded. "The gatherer of knowledge from the Realm of the Unwanted. You have appropriated something that belongs to a friend of ours, and we have brought you here to request its return."
"I'm not done with it," she said.
"Yes, you are," he said. "You can't imagine that we will let you return to what you were doing."
"But those men are still out there. The men who killed me."
"They're in custody," said the Queen, speaking for the first time. "They will be punished."
"But not by me!" cried Airofday. "I want to see them suffer for what they did."
"What does it matter who punishes them?" asked Ahamo gently. "What really matters is that they won't be able to hurt anyone else the way they hurt you."
She seemed to notice him for the first time. "Seeker!" she said, smiling. "You're in mighty high company."
"I guess you could say that I found Ahamo," he said, returning the smile.
Her eyes narrowed in calculation. It was an expression Ahamo had seen often when Airofday learned something new, though it looked strange on Cain's face. "You had us all fooled," she finally said.
"I take that as a very great compliment," said Ahamo.
She nodded. "But I'm still not giving up this body. Not without doing what I came to do."
"I can assist you in vacating the body," the Tutor continued. "If you don't return it soon, Wyatt Cain will die."
Airofday considered the Tutor's words. Finally, she shrugged. "Sorry," she said. "Not my problem."
Part Eight
Author: Amedia
Summary: An attack on Glitch draws Cain, Raw, and the members of the royal household into a mystery with magical overtones.
Rating: PG for implied violence and mild slash.
Warning: Slash. Cain/Glitch.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Imagiquest Entertainment. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Note: I need to give a shout-out to my very hard-working beta reader, who commented on three drafts with precision and insight.
Also posted here on
glitch_wyatt and here on tin_and_straw.Part One may be found here.
Part Two may be found here.
Part Three may be found here.
Part Four may be found here.
Part Five may be found here.
Part Six may be found here.
A few days later, Airofday was congratulating her soldiers curtly on their good work; every renegade was alive and none was seriously harmed. She walked up and down the line of prisoners, scowling. The Witch had chosen her longcoats from a remarkably homogeneous pool, favoring tall, stern-faced men with close-cropped hair. They all looked alike; they had even been drilled to move alike. She could not tell which were the two who had killed her. She was able to rule out their leader; the men who had killed her had been light-skinned. Beyond that, she just couldn't tell.
She cleared her throat, reminding herself to speak in a commanding manner. "We received intelligence that two of you were among the party that murdered the seeress Airofday. It is imperative that I learn the identity of these men." The prisoners were silent, and she silently cursed. She hadn't really expected them to turn themselves in, given that they would fear extra punishment, but she had hoped one of the others would volunteer the information. There would be no justice in killing the wrong men.
Perhaps there was another way. She cleared her throat again. "The seeress was an enemy of the current Queen," she began. "There will be a reward and possibly a commutation of punishment for whoever got rid of her."
They all stepped forward. She hadn't expected that, either. Airofday sighed, wondering what to do next.
As it turned out, the decision was suddenly irrelevant. The line of men facing her, and the soldiers guarding them, suddenly pointed up into the sky behind her. She turned and saw an iridescent greenish bubble descending toward the clearing where they all stood. Before she could move further, it enveloped her, as softly as a curtain of silk. She tried to struggle, but once she was inside, the transparent walls were impenetrable. She beat her fists against it a few times, futilely, then felt it lifting her into the air. Below her, she could see the others watching helplessly. One of her men lifted a rifle, but another pushed it down; she could see him shouting, but couldn't hear him. Soon they were out of sight, and she was being whisked away above the trees.
******
A small group was gathered in the garden near the spot where Cain had found Glitch. The Queen and Ahamo were seated in elegant chairs, while the Tutor was standing in the center, wearing his mantle of authority as gracefully as his long emerald robes. Azkadellia was standing behind her mother's chair, pale but determined. DG was moving around, unable to sit or stand still. Glitch, substantially recovered but still shaky, was sitting on a bench with Raw hovering beside him. Cain, invisible to the others, sat on Glitch's other side.
The Tutor was making subtle motions with his arms, guiding a tiny far-away bubble that seemed to grow larger as it drew closer. At last they could see a human figure within, half-hidden by the swirling green walls of the bubble, with outspread arms braced against the sides of the bubble.
Under the Tutor's expert guidance, the bubble finally landed on the grass in the center of the party, and its green walls faded away, leaving the occupant standing on the grass.
It looked like Cain, and it was dressed like Cain, and it even had a somewhat Cainlike attitude of aggression and defiance. But something about the stance was off; Cain didn't thrust a hip out like this person was doing. And Cain didn't toss his head as if to shake a long curtain of hair out of the way, either.
The Tutor bowed. "Welcome," he said courteously. "I wouldn't run," he added in the same pleasant tone, as the person wearing Cain's body looked around warily, sizing up the situation. "There's a solid perimeter of guards not far away."
"And you would be ... ?"
"I am the Tutor to the Royal Household. I'm afraid you have the advantage of me."
"I was once known as Airofday." Cain's voice took on a hint of an exotic accent.
Ahamo started. The Tutor merely nodded. "The gatherer of knowledge from the Realm of the Unwanted. You have appropriated something that belongs to a friend of ours, and we have brought you here to request its return."
"I'm not done with it," she said.
"Yes, you are," he said. "You can't imagine that we will let you return to what you were doing."
"But those men are still out there. The men who killed me."
"They're in custody," said the Queen, speaking for the first time. "They will be punished."
"But not by me!" cried Airofday. "I want to see them suffer for what they did."
"What does it matter who punishes them?" asked Ahamo gently. "What really matters is that they won't be able to hurt anyone else the way they hurt you."
She seemed to notice him for the first time. "Seeker!" she said, smiling. "You're in mighty high company."
"I guess you could say that I found Ahamo," he said, returning the smile.
Her eyes narrowed in calculation. It was an expression Ahamo had seen often when Airofday learned something new, though it looked strange on Cain's face. "You had us all fooled," she finally said.
"I take that as a very great compliment," said Ahamo.
She nodded. "But I'm still not giving up this body. Not without doing what I came to do."
"I can assist you in vacating the body," the Tutor continued. "If you don't return it soon, Wyatt Cain will die."
Airofday considered the Tutor's words. Finally, she shrugged. "Sorry," she said. "Not my problem."
