From the crystal behind him, he felt a thousand worlds be born and destroyed in a single instant. The screams, fears, hopes, and dreams hit him, further setting his skull to splitting.
.̢̩̮̯̓̒̀̚.̪̺̐̊.̝̻̀̊s͈̹̬̣͗̋́͝a̹̟͆͋͂͢y.̤͈͌͝.͎̭̈͗.̮͆m̩͉̩̃̂͘ý̭.̛̼͓̮͛̑̊͢.͙̠͂̔̚͜.ṇ̨̬̑͐̊͟͠a͓͓͘͝m̦̱̝͎̣̉̊͛̆̄e̪̮͒͠.̮̰̓̊.̰͊.͉̜͓̉̓͞
With a shuddering breath, he wrapped his arms around his thin frame, and remembered. Those eyes came again. They were sickly green, with pupils like a reptile, expressing hatred and malice, and there was not the least bit of comfort to them. His eyes. The real Adagium.
It commanded him again.
.̞̮̜̰̲̆́͒̕̚.͙̿.̖̃s͕͘ả̯̩̓y̧͔̘͌̋͐..̟̲̇͊͢͝.̯͛i̧̝͉̝͉̇͆͑̐͡t.̻̙̿͊́͢.̱͈͙̄̈́̚̚͜.̫͖͓͆͐̋s͚̾a̢̓y͎̺̽́ î̲̖͍͖͊̑͠t̲̣͋̌.̫̳̾̚.̢̫̇̔̅ͅ.S̫̈ā̢y̛͕̥͠ I̟̐̃̊͢ͅt͈͠!̢̝̲͊̅͠.̩̰͐̃͛͜..S̢͉̮̩̟̓̎͛͡͡Ả̙̤͊͢͠Y̗̽ I̠̳̞͋̃̇̀͟T̳͖̟̦̍͆͐͛!͙̪̭̘̀̆̄͠!͈̱̒̀
Unwilling to remain in Shimmerfall a moment longer, Reiem tore open the air and, with a great peal of thunder, fell onto the soft, warm grasses just beyond the rushing river and great stone bridge.
In the absence of pain came a welcomed rush of noise—wind, water, trees, and various woodland animals. And with it, too, a thankful, blissful lack of that…voice.
‡ † ‡
Reiem picked up his pace, pulling his hood up to keep his eyes shadowed from what little sunlight remained. The smallest amount burned his retinas like he was full-on staring at the sun, and it wasn’t good. Thankfully, he could smell the storm—that earthy, fresh scent of the ground around him moistening. He willed it to hurry. He narrowly avoided falling the moment he sped up and would have considered turning back for his tower were it not pertinent he get to Griff right away.
This sickness had come once before, he recalled—the night he splintered his soul in Death. Had that been the cause of his years-long slumber? It had completely drained him, and now he felt the tug of sleep. He wanted to give in but refused.
The routine he'd fallen into quickly became something he craved as a source of comfort, a change from the decades of servitude draped in madness, silence, and cruelty. Even sitting in silence as they both read or Charlie did her thing on the computer helped to calm his frayed nerves, and he truly looked forward to it when both were done with whatever tasks they’d set out to do on any given day. While initially grating on his nerves, he even enjoyed having Griff around, and knowing how near and dear he was to Charlie's heart, he vowed to defend him.
How long ago had he forgotten the feeling of home? Of belonging? Of family, and companionship, and warmth? Maybe it didn’t matter the amount of people, though. Maybe this was what people meant when they talked about home being a feeling, not a place or how many people you surrounded yourself with.
A dull pain slowly formed in his chest as he approached the house. He gripped his chest firmly, leaning against a nearby tree and squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to soothe the agony. The pain, however, steadily became sharper. When his breath hitched in his chest, he doubled over and began coughing violently. His chest throbbed with intense pain as the fit grew unbearable. He felt warm liquid spatter on the hand covering his mouth, the fit feeling as though it were squeezing the very life out of him.
After a minute of agonizing struggle, the coughing fit eased, and the pain quickly disappeared. Reiem, gasping for breath, rubbed the sweat from his pale face. He then noticed what he’d felt on his hand—blood. He stared at his hand curiously, then wiped the back of his hand against his mouth. As he suspected, there was more red liquid.
“Dammit,” he whispered to himself. “Not again.”
He glanced to the house. Hearing nothing coming from inside, he concentrated…well, as best he could. The world around him blurred and only what he focused his gaze on held a sort of enhanced clarity. From the porch and down the steps, across the trees and up the length of the western path, over the water to…
The barn.
Unwilling to acknowledge the tingle growing anew within his chest, he pushed away from the tree and headed down the path for the ivy-covered structure.
V
Charlie stirred and lifted her head just a faint rumble of thunder echoed through the air. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and froze after seeming to realize just where she was. She was afraid to look Griff in the eye after her prior outburst of emotion.
After what seemed like forever, she finally spoke.
"Are you happy, Griff?"
The question hit him hard. Despite everything he had told her, everything that he'd failed at, succeeded at, all the pain and lies and frustrations and loss, that was what she came at him with—asking if he was happy. No exaggerated sympathy, or judgment for all the mistakes he had made. Just simple, straightforward concern.
Griff hugged her close, resting his chin atop Charlie's head. After a brief hesitation, he smiled contentedly.
"Yeah, Charlie. I think I finally am."
"Good."
With a hum of resolve, she pushed herself away and sat cross-legged on the ground before him. She took a moment to look around the barn, like it was the first time she'd been in there. The way she dropped her head when her gaze settled back on Griff made his insides twist up.
"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "For everything. I really let everything get to me instead of focusing on what was important. You've done so much for us, a lot none of us would have ever known unless we were told, and instead of trying to work towards a better outcome…we both let our emotions get the better of us. Ignis…and me."
Griff was speechless for a moment, but he quickly recovered.
"So," he said, looking at her. "Anything else you wanna know?"
"Yeah, a whole bunch. But, where to start?"
"Uh, well…"
"I know," she said quickly. She pointed a finger to his chest. "You."
"M-me? What?"
"You really aren't going to leave me…are you?"
"Uh? What? No! Charlie…"
With a deep breath, he explained how his power to jump back to a certain point in an upcoming timeline worked—more importantly, how it was triggered. As messed up as it seemed, he figured it was the only way that made some sort of sense since he couldn't exactly go back in time and deal with multiple copies of himself. And better yet, Charlie seemed to understand without throwing any crazy questions at him. Which he was more than thankful for. He didn't know if he could stand that Q&A again…
"So," she said, looking at him. "My brother. What's he like? How did you meet him?"
"You really wanna know?" Griff teased her. "You think you're ready for that kind of secret information?"
"Huh? Why, he your secret boyfriend or something?" she laughed. The laughter died when she saw the faint flush creep onto his cheeks. "Are you serious?"
"Uh, yeah? Nothing I was trying to hide or anything." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "So much has happened. To me, and to him. He—"
"He's kept his memories, you said, right?" Griff nodded.
"You wanna see a pic?"
Charlie nodded and scooted closer, looking at the photo pulled up on the screen. Her eyes widened and her lips uttered a silent, 'No way'. It showed the same man from before, from the shoulders up, his eyes closed as he sang into a microphone.
"Ren Lee Young?" she breathed. "He's my brother?"
"Well, that's his singer's name. But yeah. His actual name is Warren Lee Renata."
"I've been listening to his songs for years. I…had no idea. This is bizarre."
Griff smiled to himself. "'Fate works in mysterious ways,'" he said in a low, spooky tone. They shared a chuckle. He swiped to another picture of Ren. This time he was in the snow, a cloud of ice in the air before him as he belted out another set of lyrics. Griff gave a little chuckle.
Griff swiped to another picture of Ren. This time he was in the s
now, a cloud of ice in the air before him as he belted out another set of lyrics. Griff gave a little chuckle.
"That song's actually how we met. Uh, in the OG timeline, I mean."
"That's from 'Misty Mountains', isn't it?"
"Mm-hm. I kept commenting on his videos for him to cover it, over and over and he just never seemed interested. But he finally gave in…and I trash-talked him in the comments the same day he released it."
"Griff!"
"I was joking!" he sputtered in his defense. "Honest!"
Charlie eyed him dubiously, grabbing his phone and swiping through more pictures. Another from the snowy set, one on the beach, then another, more professional photo of him sitting at a desk in what looked like a laboratory. In the background the logo 'Jaeger Corporation' sat in brilliant, colored relief to the predominantly white office interior. Griff talked on while she scrolled.
"We started talking in private messages and before we knew it, boom: friends," he added with a small laugh. "Eventually we wanted to meet up and picked a concert in Lindow. Everything went great from there…and then we got wrapped up in the shitshow that was Airdeis."
At this, Charlie handed the phone back and looked up.
"What happened?"
He took a breath then made a face—one that was part disgust, and part fear. "I really don't wanna say. A lot of people died, and everything just went downhill from there. But, after that, and after I started the whole reset thing, Ren just kinda…started keeping his memories."
He gave a self-depreciating little chuckle, and Charlie swore she saw a hint of color rise to his cheeks.
"That kinda led to us developing feelings for each other," he admitted, glancing down. "After each reset, I was always alone. But then…he was there. Someone who remembered, who understood. Someone who could pull me back and help me clear my head and just think."
The building fell silent. Charlie's inquisitive expression softened into understanding.
"Does anyone else remember?"
"I'm not really sure. I never gave that possibility any thought. Maybe?"
"What about…him?" To the confused look she got, Charlie uttered, "Ignis. You kept looking at him as you were explaining everything. Was he one of those soldiers that night?"
"Ignis was there, yeah," he admitted quietly. "But it was the original Ignis. He's the guy I called Ghost. It's what he calls himself after…everything happened." It was his turn to get a confused look. Looking to the time on his phone, he heaved out, "Hoo boy, this is gonna be a doozy. It's better to just show you. Come on."
Griff got to his feet and helped Charlie to hers. She stayed in place even after he'd taken a few excited steps towards the barn door.
"Don't you wanna see him?"
"Well, yeah, but… How? He's in another timeline, isn't he?"
"Yeah, but ya boy's got his ways. Come on, Charlie! I'm pretty sure he'd love to see you."
"Okay. But…just us two?"
Instead of responding verbally, Griff made some sort of conflicted noise towards and glanced down to the floor.
"Would it be better if…" he muttered to himself. "Yeah, we should definitely get Reiem first."
No sooner had the words left his mouth did the barn door open. Like deer trapped in headlights, the pair stared—wide eyed—at Reiem's pale, almost sickly countenance wreathed in long silver-blonde hair.
"Then perhaps it is fate after all that I would like to speak to you."
‡ † ‡
They didn’t talk much on the walk up the mountain path. The black skies and heavy rain seemed to drain them all of the need. Reiem was still fighting the urge to cough, and the weather wasn’t helping him any. He was deadly serious as well, which was having the unfortunate side effect of making Griff abnormally quiet. Charlie had learned so much in such a short span of time, but there seemed to always be more questions, more uncertainties.
When they crossed the wooden bridge just before the quarry, Griff hung a sharp left and took them towards a towering rocky wall.
"I'd forgotten about this place," Reiem managed between claps of thunder. "Not at all surprising you know its true purpose."
"Still haven’t figured out how to actually use it use it," Griff replied, a bit sheepish. "But it's served us well."
Charlie looked to him. "You and Ghost?"
"Yeah."
Past the bushes and hidden away behind a pointed outcrop was a narrow opening just big enough for Griff to squeeze his large frame through. Bizarre stones dotted the earth around the entrance, and even in the waning daylight Charlie couldn't believe her eyes. They looked almost pure silver from a distance, but the closer she got they turned all colors at once and yet were none at the same time as she passed them by.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins as that tingling sensation blossomed in the base of her spine. Worried for the pair she could no longer see, she pushed herself quickly into the entrance. More of those bizarre stones cropped up along the narrow tunnel she found herself in. It quickly opened into a spacious room that seemed to glow with a light all its own. Griff's eyes fell on her, concern glimmering within them.
"You okay?"
"Uh, I think so. Are there shadows in here?"
"A few," he admitted. The corner of his mouth ticked only slightly upwards as he extended his hand and birthed a ball of flames from his palm. "I got this. Don't you worry."
They wasted no time in descending the ladder, coming to yet another narrow tunnel that snaked for what seemed forever into a series of overlapping passages. Griff led them without so much as a backwards glance. Strangely, there were no monsters at all, serving to deepen that tingle in Charlie's core. There was something here, but she didn’t know what. And stranger still, she seemed to be the only one with the feeling.
After moments that seemed like hours, the back of the winding labyrinth came into view and like the room above, it, too, shown with a soft, iridescent glow. Still more twisted stones lined the curves of the inner walls, leading to sheer wall of smooth, solid, black crystal at the back. A silvery haze clouded its surface. As Griff walked up to it, the haze shifted and distorted, mimicking his every move like some peculiar reflection.
"Hey, Ghost! You there? We gotta talk, man." He tap-tap-tapped on the wall, sending little ripples through the haze. Over his shoulder, to the bizarre looks he received, he explained, "It might be a bit. It's kinda like a pager, I guess?"
Reiem slowly nodded, silent as he eased himself down next to one of the large statues standing on either side of the wall. His shoulders trembled but whether it was from another bought of coughing or being drenched from the storm no one knew.
An odd tempest of sorts swirled across the black wall. Faint sounds of thunder and rain accompanied it, almost turning it into a speaker for the world just outside. A jumble of voices could be heard, but upon seeing the blatant confusion on Griff's face, Charlie figured he didn’t know either. Figuring it would be best to just keep silent and wait, she turned her gaze up to the statue nearby. If not for the missing chunks of stone across parts of its face and lower body, she would have thought it a monster lying in wait.
"What…" She shuddered. The tingling shot through her spine. "What is that?"
It had the body of a large horse, with the torso of a very muscular man, and the head of a red-maned lion. Dark grey fur covered most of its body, with the exception of a few red patches on its hands and arms, its tail, and its mane. Its body was also scarred in multiple places—patches of white skin where the grey fur did not grow were visible all over its torso, flanks, and arms. A pair of curved horns sprouted from its forehead. Roughly-hewn leather armor covered parts of its body—its chest and flanks—and its long mane had been tied up behind its head in a tail.
"A leune."
Reiem's gaze shot to him at the mention. Neither took notice, but Charlie's face scrunched in confusion.
"I have no idea what means."
Griff's eyes went wide before he laughed to himself.
"Ohhhhhh, I get it. I guess these guys are just something in the original timeline. Okay, so, there's some virus that fucks everything, and in Ghost's time, these things are the baddest motherfuckers anyone's ever seen."
"Virus?"
"Yeah. Kinda like the blight, but…not? From what we saw, those infected with it get really weak and develop open sores that this nasty, black ooze seeps out of. Some people had hallucinations and seizures." He sighed, shaking his head. "I really have no idea. That's something you gotta ask Ghost. All I know is these things…like to eat people."
"It's no virus," Reiem stated.
"Huh? You know something about it?"
Reiem nodded. "It's a stigma. A symptom of alien matter infesting the body. And when the body tries to eliminate it, it overcompensates, and the latent mystical potential that lies dormant in every living, breathing body out there awakens too soon and causes the disease."
Griff shuddered. "You're telling me that this shit's always been here? For real? How do you know about it?"
Another nod. "It's been around since time immemorial. The first Crowned One sought a cure to save her lover, and during her reign came a pandemic that sparked the decline of the Ancients. This was…much longer ago than I can recall. Thirteen thousand years have passed since her time."
Griff took a shuddering breath as he unconsciously ran his right hand up and down his left arm. "Then…I guess we gotta watch out for whatever it kicked it off. Not facing those things again," he trailed off into a meek whisper.
"These are just statues…right?"
The feeling wouldn’t go away. Even as Griff nodded, and even as she reached out to brush her fingertips across what she knew was solid stone, she couldn’t help but feel something just wasn’t right. Circling the beast, Charlie took in every detail. She was about to reach out and touch the petrified bandages wrapped around the thing's hind leg when a sudden shifting of light made her startle. She whirled to face the crystal wall.
The Silence Between Page 24