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Zenleigha's Dreams of the First Age

Dreams of the First Age: Part One

    *cue dream wibble*

You stand on a tall dune, looking out of miles upon miles of barren waste. The heat of the southern deserts is scorching, even though the sun is setting, but you barely feel it. There is no moon rising--it is Calibration, and by all rights you should be at Meru feasting with the other Twilights, but you no longer care for such ridiculous customs. You know that most of the other Twilights follow your examples. There will be only a handful feasting tonight. Fools.

As soon as the last light of the sun dips below the horizon, you pull the ritual dagger, carved from the thigh-bone of a Fair Folk noble, out of its Moonsilver and Orichalcum case and begin tracing the lines of the circle in the air and upon the sand. A chill wind picks up, and you pull a veil in front of your face with your free hand, slowly mumbling the words of power beneath your breath. A bright golden light begins to emanate from your body as your anima flares to light, driven by the huge quantities of Essence needed to bridge the gap between Creation and Malfeas.

The hours pass slowly. The circle begins to glow first red, then bursts into lambent green flame as a shape begins to take form within its center. Within minutes, a ball of green fire hovers in the air before you, testing the confines of the circle.

"Ligier," you shout. "Serve me and live. Resist, and you shall suffer greatly."

"Who dares to command me?" Ligier says. The voice of the demon is like acid slowly sizzling on a bed of lava. A normal mortal would break and run at the sound, but you have seen--and done--worse.

"You know who I am," you reply. "The Demons in Malfeas tremble at my name. Bow before me, Ligier, for I am Shining Star!"

The green flare flares outward, but you have prepared for this and you dodge aside, faster than an arrow's flight. with a moment's chanting, you extend a hand and a brilliant eagle made of flames launches itself out at Ligier. There is a terrific explosion as it hits...

..and then you wake up.

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age: Part Two

    *cue dream wibble*

"...thank you. Now, if I may ask Shining Star to speak on the recent breakthrough in transport technology?"

You stand in the Hall of the Deliberative, the center of Meru, and so the center of the world. Every Solar who can be is here tonight--you can see Seventh Son and Ruby looking at you from their respective seats, and you know that Ashraielle is out there in the crowd, somewhere. Maenin is, of course, standing behind the podium in the front, the golden torc of rulership about his neck.

You walk up to the golden platform, illuminated by the light from a thousand windows, and speak. "Assembled Chosen of the Sun, greetings. As you know, over the past several years I have been working on the problems inherent in the Houses of Doors. The tremendous Essence needed to power them, as well as the limitations of only being able to open the pathway to another Door, have always limited their use to the large cities, keeping most mortals out of the transportation loop."

Several of the non-Eclipse Solars were beginning to look bored, but all of the Eclipse Caste Solars were listening intently. Any transportation revolution would prove to have great benefit once they got their hands on it.

"What I have discovered in my research, however, is that an individual Door that has been used enough becomes attuned to the network. It is possible to move those doors elsewhere and still be able to return to their individual Houses. As you may imagine, powering a single Door is much less complex than powering an entire House, and making the extra Doors necessary to build a truly widespread network will keep us Twilights busy." Mostly polite laughter followed, though some of the Dawn Caste seemed highly amused. "The keyed Doors cannot have their destinations changed without reattunement, but their Essence requirements are low enough that they can simple draw upon ambient Essence to power themselves.

"With a little work, we can have most of the unconnected large cities linked to the network within the next two decades."

Then the applause began.

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age, Part Three

    *cue dream wibble*

The man sits naked on the table, his skin slightly goose bumped with the cool air of the chamber. The stone walls are bare, though scorch marks marr them in many places--the legacy of past experiments. But this is not business...it is pleasure.

You place the crystal rose on one side of him, leaving room to place the newt in the crystal cage on the other side. After placing both objects, you pause, staring down at his body. He is extremely handsome, for a mortal, and skilled lover to hear the talk in the town surrounding your stronghold. When he heard of the gifts that you could grant him, he eagerly accepted your offer.

You begin to chant, Essence flowing through you. You focus your will and release it on the man, the rose, and the newt. For a moment, it seems as though time freezes. The three things on the table flow into each other, almost faster than the eye can see, and then the spell is over. The man is still on the table, and still recognizable, but his handsomeness has been transformed into a dazzling beauty the likes of which even the Fair Folk usually do not possess. You know that his other...talents will have been enhanced as well by the effects of the spell.

You open the clasp of your robe and let it fall to the floor as the Amalgam reaches up and pulls you down on top of him...

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age: Part Four

    *cue dream wibble*

The man before you is the strangest man you've ever seen, and even in your short time as an Exalt you have seen some very strange things. He has no color at all--his skin is almost pure white, so that the veins stand out starkly against it. His hair is likewise white, and his irises are a silver so pale that they nearly blend in with the surrounding eye. his robes are the soft color of newly fallen snow, trimmed with bands of silver. The most obviously strange thing about him is the aura of power that surrounds him. The air nearly crackles--you can feel a little of the sensation you get in an uncapped Demesne.

That is no surprise. This man is the most powerful sorcerer in Creation.

"Now, Shining-chan," says the Dagda Mór, "I know that you have come here because you want to learn sorcery, to manipulate Essence as Brighid first did long ago. You wish me to teach you. I will tell you, however, that I am an old man. In a few decades--a century at most--neither sorcery nor the Exaltation will be able to sustain me any longer, and my Essence will pass on to another worthy candidate. If I take you as a pupil, you will be the last one I teach. So tell me--why do you wish to learn?"

You open your mouth immediately, but he raises a hand. "Think carefully before you speak, Shining-chan. Do not say that you wish it because you are a Twilight. There are many Twilights who have neither the need nor the desire to learn sorcery, and many of the other castes who have both. Your Essence makes it easier for you, but it does not mandate your course of action." He steeples his fingers and places his chin on his thumbs. After a moment, you realize that he is not going to say anything further. You take a deep breath.

"Sensei, I want to learn because it's the best way to help my people. Crops are hard to grow in the South, and with sorcery, I could help provide a bountiful harvest. I could make the rains come and go as I wished. I could drive away the predatory animals and bind demons to watch over my people as they sleep. I could raise cities out of the sand so that my people would no longer have to wander and cower in fear of the wind storms.

"All this I could do already, but how many generations would pass before it was accomplished? With Brighid's power at my fingertips, the children of my people would grow up in a world far different than the one that I have to give them. Sensei, I do not do this for myself--I do it for them."

The Dagda Mór smiles. "That is an acceptable answer, Shining-chan. We have done much to rebuild the world from the devastation of the Primordial War, but as you have noticed, there is still much work to be done." He stands. "Gladly will I take you as a student."

You bow. "Thank you, sensei," you say.

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age: Part Five

    *cue dream wibble*

"That's the last of the rods, my lady," says the Dragon Blooded officer, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "I've told the workers to start filling in the holes."

"Good," you say. "Inform Aria-chan that we're done on this corner and that she can feel free to activate the matrices."

He nods. "At once, my lady." He turned to the east, gazing out towards the Blessed Isle that lay thousands of miles beyond the great ocean. A light breeze picked up as he channeled Essence, whispering under his breath. After a few moments, he cocked his head, listening to the wind.

"She's testing them now, my lady," he said.

You idly nod, looking out over the small island. The endless sea has been pushed back, year after year, but it's hard to maintain the islands out here. Most of them are sparsely populated and easy prey for the Fair Folk. With another focus here, the Defense Grid will be able to extend out over the whole of the island chains. It took some time away from your other projects, but it's important enough that you were willing to get it done. At least Nine Lives came with you, though he's currently off fishing on the other side of the island.

A glow springs up from the pits, catching the workers by surprise. There are no shouts of panic, though, and no interruption of work. They know that this is perfectly safe. As the glow spreads, you activate your All-Encompasing Sorcerer's Sight.

In a flash, the true nature of the landscape is revealed to you. You can see the gods of the island, fat and happy on the sacrifices that you made when you landed. You can see the ambient Essence of the demesne being channeled into the rods. But, brightest of all, you can see the vast streams of Essence from the east, connecting the rods and these islands into the web that unites Creation to defend it from the Fair Folk.

You smile to yourself. The work here is almost done. You leave tomorrow at dawn.

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age: Part Six

    *cue dream wibble*

Essence flows around you like currents in a river. With the power of the All-Encompasing Sorcerer's Sight, you can see every eddy and flow in the Essence as the manse pours its power into the forming of a new hearthstone. If the calculations you've done are correct, this should produce an entirely new kind of hearthstone. The years necessary to restructure the manse to accommodate the flows of energy that you are looking for will have been worth it if your experiment comes to fruition.

Unfortuately, you won't have anyone to tell about it if it does. Many of the others are at Meru for the New Year. You shake your head slightly as you continue to observe the Essence flows, making minute adjustments where they are necessary. Leave it to the Zeniths--it is their job to be the priests. The other castes are just superfluous at the ceremony, and are probably even detrimental. Time spent performing that function is time taken away from the reason they were exalted. Unfortunately, most of the Chosen of the Sun have become degenerate or weak in these days.

You, however, still remember the reason you were Exalted--to seek knowledge. You have never forgotten it. You were naive once, when you were young, but that naivete has faded with time--as it should. Knowledge needs no excuse. The advance of knowledge for its own sake is a commendable goal, and that is why you are here and no singing with the others. The Unconquered Sun exalted you to seek knowledge, and that is what you will do.

The noise of the door closing behind you starts you out of your thoughts. You are just beginning to turn to see who it is when your mind screams at you to watch out.

You throw yourself backward to avoid whatever your Essence warned you about, but there is no place to run. A storm of blazing light explodes outward from the door, deeply scoring the walls, ceiling, and floor and tearing a dozen shallow cuts--and a couple deep ones--on your body. As the storm fades, you rise to your feet and see Seventh Son, his blazing anima filling the room with soft reds and purples, staring back at you.

Rage fills you at his betrayal. He had always been one of the Solars who had kept his purpose in mind, and now he was coming here to kill you. You scream at him, barely conscious of the words, as you begin to chant and draw on the energy to form a spell. If you could, you would use the Rune that sears the soul, but you used that up long ago, and it can only be used once. Fortunately, the other spells you know are not so restrictive.

Through the cloud of Essence, you see Seventh Son reach down to his belt and pull out his signature chakrams, holding them a moment before letting them fly towards you. Like the motes before, they multiple in the air, filling the entire room with a storm of steel. The protections you have activated are useless against such an attack. There is nowhere to dodge, and you cannot stop for fear of losing control of the spell. Unfortunately, the impact of the chakrams and the pain they bring decides that for you.

The Essence from the spell blasts outwards in a soundless explosion, sending Seventh Son flying and knocking you off your feet as well. The air crackles briefly with untapped Essence before it finds the nearest place to ground itself--in your body. Searing pain washes through you as the Essence blasts its way through your limbs, burning your skin and flesh and bones. Your legs can no longer support you, and you drop to the ground.

Through the haze of pain, you can see Seventh Son--bleeding from a cut on the head, but still mostly unharmed--approach you. You try to speak, but all you can get out is a rasping, "Why..."

He stares down at you, making no attempt to help you or ease your pain. "I did what must be done. The Children of the Sun have grown corrupt, and you not least among them. We all know of your 'experiments,' and your consorting with demons. The service of demons is one thing, but deals with them? Conversations? Friendships? It borders on treason."

How dare he! He understands nothing of the sacrifices you've had to make, all for the sake of increasing the knowledge base of the First Age. Why, without the knowledge you had gained from dealing with demons, the Houses of Doors, the Locust Towers, the Glowing Firefly Tracks...none of that would have been possible! "I did...what was...necessary..."

He shakes his head sadly. "As did I. I can only hope you find peace in death."

The edges of your vision are filled with red now. You know that you don't have much more time--you focus all of your concentration on tripping the triggers you have laid out for just such an occasion as this. As the pain eases and your breathing slows to a stop, your last thought is that at least Seventh Son will suffer for his betrayal.

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age: Part Seven (self authored)

    *dream wibble*

You watch in awe, even though your face is held stoic and straight as Ruby-chan's sword is a whirl of gold and shattering black stone. She had been training since you last pulled Death of Obsidian Butterflies on her. You had expected her to block some of it, out well - she had this one down pat. You set your feet firm in the earth waiting to dodge or parry if necessary as she came charging towards you. Her sword came slicing in from the side, swooping down from above as she attempts to take a large chunk out of your middle, however you quickly pull your dirks in to hold off as much of the blade as possible. Her strength is too much and it is not quite enough as you feel the cold orichalcum bite into your flesh at your waist. With as much might as you can muster, you push her off, backing up while chanting. The air grows around you as your arms begin to pull the water out of a near by boulder. Ruby stops for a moment, perplexed. She hadn't seen this trick yet.

"Had enough and healing yourself already?" She calls out

You just smile wickedly as your mouth continues to mutter the necessary syllables. Slowly your anima flares as the water instantly turns into flame and you launch it across the divide. You laugh wickedly and think, at least she unlike yourself has decent armor.

Her eyes go wide as she attempts to dodge.... there is no real way to parry flame - at least that Ruby-chan is aware of.

"Hardly worn out, in-fact i've just begun."

You feel yourself lick your teeth as you smile widely, todays spar would prove a challenge indeed.

    *end dream wibble* 

Dreams of the First Age: Part 8 (self authored)

    *cue dream wibble*

You find yourself back in your laboratory, the walls charred and candles lit. It immediately reminds you of the last dream you had down here... the one with the the man, sitting in that chair as you chanted...You feel a hand brush against your shoulder as someone's lips caress your neck. Suddenly you realize you're dressed in nothing more than a sheer silk robe that's only purpose can be a decorative one. Slowly, you turn around and there he is. The man you stood and chanted over....and changed. His skin was soft and supple and his eyes were glimmering brightly with anticipation. As you roll over in the bed, he pulls himself on top of you again as he begins to kiss down your neck and your chest... his fingers making their way to the ties of the robe.

Just as he begins to unlace the robe, the door slams open and a rush of air makes the candle flames flicker violently.

"Get. Out." Comes the firm, resonant voice from the doorway. You wince, your eyes shutting as you lay flat against the bed, pulling the emerald green robe shut again. You do not get up, or even look over to the doorway. You know your mate, Nine Lives, is standing there, his cat claws retracting and releasing rhythmically with his anger. His face is most likely pulled taught as his nostrils flare. His golden mane of hair is no doubt flaring around him like a tangible version of his anima banner as his ears twitch. You know exactly what he looks like. You have seen him standing there, in that pose, many times before.

You hear small foot pads against the cold stone floor as he moves towards the bed.

"Was he another one of your...." his voice seems to growl as he spits the word "experiments?"

"What does it matter to you? You're never around anyway"

"Is that a yes then?"

"No!" You lift yourself up, kneeling on the satin sheets. "He wasn't"

"Oh?" He looks at you skeptically

"Well, I didn't do anything to him that he didn't already ask for..." Your voice trails, you know there's no way to justify this to him.

"What was he doing in your bed?"

"Exactly what it looked like" Your voice is steady. Nine Lives has never been monogamous although he has often held the double standard that you should. But with his long, unexplained absences as of late you no longer felt the need to uphold them. Any of them.

"You slept with a mortal in OUR bed?"

"It's not our bed anymore. It hasn't been OUR bed for months"

"A mortal??" His brow furrows

"What am I Supposed to do Nine-kun? Tell me that. Am I supposed to stay here and play your little house wife while you galavant off to who knows where with who knows what? Am I supposed to stop living my life because you don't understand what I do and it bothers you? Does it bother you that much that I have made such a difference in our world?"

"A difference? Well, yes, with some things - like the house of doors. But you have invited evil into this house! Into this room! Maelfias will have you in it's clutches if you're not careful."

"I only do what I have to do for my people!" You snap. No one ever understood. Evil was relative. If the ends justified the means.

"Do you even still care about your people?" His accusation strikes you to the core, as small tear runs down your cheek. How could he think that? All you have ever done has been in the name of progress to save the world from the destruction of the Primordial wars and bring it back to its former glory. And well, admittedly, to surpass its former glory.

"Yes, all I do is for them.... is for us...and once was even for you" You collapse onto your knees, hugging them close as your eyes tear up. Nine Lives is the only other being that has ever made you cry, and seen you cry for that matter.

He walks slowly across the room, his steps light and careful as if he's afraid of what he might step on. His soft, broad hand reaches down, hooking a finger under your chin as he rests his thumb on your lower lip.

"Shining-chan, if i stay here, will you promise me never to do that again?"

You nod swiftly, your cheeks flushed as you pull your self back up onto your knees. "Please stay... I... I love you Nine-kun, and I always will... I just can't take you leaving me like that. No word, no warning. Disappearing for seven months."

He pulls you close against his chest, kissing you on top of your head before resting his chin on it.

"We're each-other's greatest challenge Shining-chan. Without one another we cannot function. I always come running back to you and you lose your way without me. And yet, we both know that we'll have to go our separate ways again"

You let out a rather loud, uncharacteristic sob as you pull him closer. "Don't push me away, please don't push me away again..."

    *end dream wibble*

Dreams of the First Age: Part Nine (self authored)

    *cue dream wibble*

Nine Lives walks in the doorway to the sound of breaking glass. Immediately he stops short, looking at his shoe-less clawed feet. Sure enough, from the doorway to the kitchen lay a trail of broken shards of violet glass. From the other room he hears you mutter "violet beer my ass!"

As he tiptoes around the corner, he finds you standing in the kitchen pulling off every dish, glass and bowl and hurling them wildly around the room allowing them to violently crash to their demise. Your hands are cut, and bleeding lightly but you don't notice. In fact you haven't even noticed his presence yet. At your feet there is a pile of broken glass about six inches deep.

Earlier that afternoon Sun Setting had paid a visit. He had...criticized... you choice of interior decoration. As if that boorish oaf knew anything at all. Your anima flares as you let it whip out around you, pushing back the shards.

"Shining-chan?" The familiar soft purring voice calls

"YOU!" You turn, hair flailing behind you as the long braid whips around. "You put him up to this didn't you!"

"Put who up to what?" you can tell by the way he says it that he already has some idea of what you're talking about.

"Sun Setting!"

"Oh, Sweet Noonday Sun, I did not put him up to that" His hands reach him to hold his head in them as he shakes it lightly.

"But you KNEW about it?" you voice screeches as you throw one of the few remaining dishes at his head. it was a poor effort and Nine Lives dodges easily, but he lets it graze his shoulder as to not incite you to start throwing the two sharper objects at your side or any other manner of things.

"I told him not to come. I told him it was fine"

"But you let HER make jokes about me? Behind my back? And you never said anything?!"

"It was a harmless..."

You frown as your brow creases. "With her NOTHING is harmless. NOTHING."

"Now you're being unreasonable..."

"WAS I BEING UNREASONABLE WHEN I FOUND HAYAKO IN YOUR BED AND SAID NOTHING NINE LIVES?" Your voice resonates like thunder through the modest sized kitchen.

He lowers his glance. You had been saving that one for a good five months. He never knew you saw him. But she did. She knew it and she had silently held it over you ever since. That would be the last time a Chosen of the Maidens would EVER have the advantage over you, a Chosen of the Sun. She would learn her place. And so would he. If he was going to let you be humiliated then he deserved this.

"Where is your Love for me now?!?" You scream as a small tear runs down your face, you harden your expression and your heart as you chant, lifting up the pieces of glass and letting them swirl around you before you throw them full force at your shunned, unsuspecting mate.

    *end dream wibble* 

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