Blushing furiously though she could not exactly say why, Jess hurriedly turned her head away, taking comfort in stroking her kitty’s rich, lustrous fur, finding the great rumble emanating from Twilight oddly soothing.
Even the queen’s gentle voice that nonetheless seemed to reverberate through the chamber perfectly was the epitome of impossible perfection. Never had a voice moved her so. Perhaps this was what Twilight had meant by harmony, Jess wondered. In that case, she could only agree with her beloved companion that this was one gift she lacked entirely. Blushing still, Jess forced herself to focus upon the queen's words.
"As to our accords having any adverse effect upon the worlds of Dawn and Faerie, I do not believe there is any risk of this. Indeed, no harm whatsoever has come to your realm during those times in history, ancient as they were, when your world had previously been conjoined with my own. Our connections will be small gates, as much craftings of dream and moonlight as more potent magics. Should stress or pressures flow through the fabric of our realities, I suspect those gateways will snap instantly with the flexing and swaying of our worlds in directions we can barely fathom, with no adverse consequence to either of our realms, save the parting of our accords by the natural order of things."
The queen smiled reassuringly. “As to benefits, there are many. Tales and legends to lend brightness and wonder to lives desperate to embrace adventure and live out their dreams, should they but have the courage to seek the path to our lands. Stories that will resonate and flow, enriching the cultures which embrace those tales with innovation and creativity, sparking insights perhaps long overlooked, as it awakens levels of the mind otherwise lost in the endless repetition of a monotonous existence. Indeed, many a land’s renaissances of art, architecture, culture, trade, even invention, all had roots to brave seekers of innovation and possibility, enriched by the wonder and adventures they had experienced within this very realm.
“There have been places and times wherein wizards and sages discovered branches of arcane arts previously unknown to them. Inspired, perhaps, by little more than observing the magic of Faerie, in witnessing the resonance of possibility, even as our realms operate under different Laws and Principles. Indeed, some wizards have gone so far as to apprentice themselves for years of their mortal lives to grateful fae whom they had rescued or performed services for in their adventures, doing their best to scratch the surface of our magics, to bring a deeper understanding of the Great Art as a whole to their own realms.”
Twilight nodded. "In other words, witnessing the possibilities of this realm, and being exposed to different operating laws of reality resulted in intense cognitive stimulation for many of the mortal travelers who had journeyed here before. Said intellectual synergism and resulting flashes of creative brilliance allowed for new ways of thinking about and seeing their own world, opening up new avenues of study and invention."
“Precisely,” Peliagorai affirmed.
Jess’s grin was sardonic. “In other words, the experience of embracing one's life to the fullest, exploring a new realm entire, to prosper by dint of their own choice and proficiency alone, served to awaken a number of people to all of life’s possibilities, breaking their minds free of the chains of monotony as they realized that there were new and different ways to walk life’s path, as opposed to simply the ones they were used to.”
“Precisely,” her familiar grinned. “All ways of saying the same thing, really. And though the benefit to our own plane of existence is something of an intangible, if it results in a technological or arcane renaissance, that would indeed be a very concrete boon to the realm of Dawn.”
Jess nodded in satisfaction. “I quite agree. The chance for anyone, of Delver stock or no, of humble origins or great, to taste the possibility of adventure, to be gifted with at least the chance to write their own story in life, and the possibility of genius or inspiration giving birth to a renaissance that could allow for the blossoming of an entire kingdom! A worthy boon indeed to my realm, noble and beautiful queen of Faerie. It is a sweet prize indeed you offer in return for an accord between our realms.”
Jess paused, a careful moment’s reflection. “How in turn will your kingdom benefit, my queen? To offer such a great boon, and receive no reward in turn? Or is it that the mortals themselves who traverse your land, in making the choices that shape their own destiny, in living their adventure with all their hopes and passions embraced to the fullest, perhaps their journey somehow serves to stimulate and inspire your own people in turn?”
The queen nodded and smiled her approval. “Again, you come to the heart of it, dear Jessica. The adventures experienced by those who visit our realm, the power of the choices they make in shaping the events of their lives, and indeed, in shaping the course of their tale within the land of Faerie, all of it has a profound effect upon this realm. For their vitality and vigor serves to nourish my people, even as the life-changing choices made by mortal souls in forging their own destiny through the auspices of Faerie serves to strengthen the bonds that tie us close to the great multiverse from which this plane of existence had parted ways, ages ago.”
Jess shivered as the full weight of the Faerie Queens's words resonated through her. "You are saying that this entire world was somehow torn free of the multiverse? The continuum of all the planes, the entire progression of realities from the darkest realms to the most divine, that this realm of Faerie was once a part of it?”
The queen’s smile was gentle, yet filled with such a bittersweet sorrow it left Jess breathless, her heart hammering at an unspeakable loss, a terrible triumph she could barely conceive of. Yet knowing, somehow, that she did understand, felt an understanding so profound that it left her shaken, for all that it transcended conscious awareness. What she and the exquisite queen before her shared, somehow, was a kinship of the soul.
“Yes, dear Jessica de Calenbry, champion of my realm. There was once a time when the original queen of this realm, inspired by one who had found nobility and courage in a place of darkest despair, cruelty, and horror, chose to free her realm from the dark chains that had bound it for an eternity.” Queen Aurelia turned her gaze away, haunted by sights only she could see. “It was not an easy choice to make. Countless years and events transpired before that queen had the courage to do what had to be done. And when, at last, she had found the secret, through endless trials and folly, all the while maintaining a façade that had grown increasingly repugnant as the endless years wore on, she found the secret to freeing her realm at last.”
The Queen of Faerie took a deep, shuddering breath. “The path lay not through infinite power, terrible burden that was found to be, nor through pacts with higher realms, the sacrifice too great for our queen to bear, no matter the nobility her enlightenment had set to blossom within her spirit. No, dear Jessica. The path to freedom, for her and the denizens of her realm, was through the power of Dream.”
Jess shuddered, struck dumb as she fell into Queen Aurelia’s haunted gaze, losing herself in ancient memories of a vast, endless realm. A land of bloodred sands, cratered and burning under a diseased sun, creatures of horror roaring and battling above, even as vast fortresses the size of moons soared in hideous skies of sulfur and death, peering upon all below with cold, deadly avarice. Yet buried within the devastated land, deep within the fiery bowels of that horrid plane, lay groves of shimmering mushrooms and fungi in hidden caves and grottoes; lit by eerily beautiful luminescent lights, lost in a sleep so profound it was a rest like death, lay countless souls tucked away from the horrors above. And though the sight entire left Jess shaken and sickened, knowing in that instant all that was left unsaid, so too she sensed a quiet beauty, sensing a magic unlike any she had ever known emanating from those one time shattered spirits now free of pain, and in some odd way it reminded Jess of an impossibly beautiful garden, sheltered within a realm most hideous and foul, filled with gentle souls resting in fields of poppy and wildflowers, a scene she was certain she had beheld once, long ago.
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Lost in Aurelia's vision, she heard the terrible clarion call of legions of unholy minions marching, abyssal calls to battle and conquest, even as she felt the dark summoning of impossibly foul hellish magics from the great fortresses of bone and sorrow burning through the skies above, preparing to bury all the lands below in a storm of hideous destruction. All Aurelia's enemies, come at last to bring low the one who had thought to betray their most vile cause. Yet at that moment Jess felt the sudden pull of endless minds dreaming in unison, performing a fantastic ritual years in the making, as impossibly ephemeral yet near indestructible chords of power, comprised of willing souls and dream, all fused into one great weave of world-forging possibility. The incredible summation of hope, magic, and desire channeled through the magic of fantasy given life and form, a reality all its own.
In that triumphant, terrible moment, the destiny of an entire realm broke free of the chains of fate that bound it. An impossible vision that became a reality of majesty and wonder, an entire plane of existence tearing itself free of damnation, soaring upon wings of possibility and dream.
And of the invading legions of endless horrors, the demon princes that would stride upon the land as conquerors, and the hideous fortresses soaring overhead, all were sent spinning endlessly into the Void, as the plane of existence upon which they strode vanished beneath them, pulled at right angles to all known directions to drift, alone in the endless nul, perpendicular to all known planes of reality. Only occasionally intersecting the realms of mundus when the moon was vast and bright against the nighttime sky. A realm of infinite dreams, given flesh and form, from which Faerie was born.
An instant that seemed an eternity, it was the queen before Jess that broke eye contact and looked away, Jess dumbstruck by the vision of terror and wonder she had seen.
“Jess, are you all right? Jess!” Twilight’s silent words held a note of urgency.
“I’m fine,” Jess said softly, stroking her anxious companion’s fur soothingly, her mind still reeling from the vision she had glimpsed, struggling to hold tight to the memory, even as it sought to slip away. Her searching gaze locked hold of the queen’s own, and for all her majesty and power, the great lady of Faerie could not look away. “It was you,” Jess declared softly. “You were the one to forge that impossible spell. You were the one to set your people free.”
The queen looked shocked, and to Jess’s utter surprise, her gaze was one of shame. “I am not what I once was.” Her gentle voice was heavy with the weight of terrible regret. Of this Jess had no doubt. “I am not proud of she who originally wore the body you see before you. I can only say that the being I am today is one I can take pride in embracing fully. A woman who embraces the power of Truth, anathema as it is to my place of origin. A woman who learned what it means to savor the passion of music, art, dance, all the wondrous pursuits that raise the soul to a higher state, giving one a glimpse of transcendent beauty.”
The shaken queen shook her head wonderingly. "Indeed, dear Jessica, I have become that which in my secret heart of hearts I had always wished I could, when I first heard a dying bard's final prose, not even understanding why my heart ached so." Her smile was bittersweet, touching Jess's heart with its tender vulnerability. "After all, how else could one of my kind ever hope to be a queen of a realm of love and beauty, of laughter and song, save in her wildest dreams?"
Jess's smile was one of gentle acceptance. "I have nothing but the greatest esteem for one such as yourself, Queen Aurelia. For you found the means, and the courage, to free an entire plane of existence from a place of foulness and corruption. And if the only way to free your people was through a dream so powerful it became your reality, why, that is a wondrous way to escape soul-crushing horror, is it not?"
The gentle lady of Faerie looked away, eyes still heavy with unspoken sorrow. “They were not always my people, Jess. I once saw them as something else. You must understand that, before you grant me such honor, knowing my deepest truths.”
Jess slowly reached out to clasp hands with the woman before her, their gazes locked in a sudden communion as fierce and intense as any she had forged with companions who had fought in the crucible of battle by her side. “The moment you pulled your realm free of the abyssal chains that bound it, the moment you loved those souls enough to risk your own spirit to save them, they became your people. You became the queen that would give her life to save her land. There is no more noble or pure a ruler than one who has such courage, my queen. Gaze upon your Mirror of Truth, as I know you have, and look fiercely upon your own reflection, should you doubt the truth of my words. Love that queen of Faerie, and forgive her the sins of long ago, for she has saved an entire realm.”
Twilight's eyes alighted in a sudden fierce understanding. "Of course. It all makes sense now! I knew I had felt shudders in the ether, eons ago." The great cat looked a bit miffed. "And I couldn't get a peep out of anyone about it. Rare is the secret that I can't ferret out, one way or another."
Peliagorai gave the peeved looking cat a sympathetic chuckle. "Really, Endless Night. However clever a master player of the Dark Council you once were, do you truly think one of that ilk would confess to the ancient god that had helped to facilitate the escape of one rogue plane that yet another has managed to tear itself free of the Netherhells? Particularly if they had no recollection that there had ever been a realm of Faerie at all. For we were buried far deeper than was Dawn, I assure you. Dream was the only direction we had to escape in, and that direction was all too easy to compel the various lesser lords of Hell to forget even the existence of. For if word got around, any Fallen with the slightest glimmerings of a conscience might actually start to wonder if redemption was possible! And where would the grand puppetmaster be then, if all his underlings tried to lift themselves and their realms out of the sphere of the great and terrible Void?”
Peliagorai gave a solemn shake of his noble head. "Sadly, your own realm bears the full brunt of Hell's ire, with its queen choosing to align with the very forces she was forged to destroy, with its wingless angels walking upon its surface, forswearing Heaven's destiny, yet so arrogant as to think they can choose to Fall no farther than Dawn, seeking to feast upon that which is far more vile than they, hunting down the Fallen that seek to enter your realm with such savage glee. I assure you there are many foul lords who despise your Risen Queen for harboring such vigilantes, every bit as much as they despise Dawn for forming a bulwark against further demonic campaigns against the mortal worlds above, a situation far more pressing to them than a plane of Hell damned no more, lost to dreams unfathomable to such as they."
“How absolutely tragic for those poor Fallen. That much, at least, I already know.” Twilight's smile was fierce and cold. “The question is, how do you?”
Peliagorai sighed. "All dreams, to some extent, skirt the periphery of Faerie, for all that they twist deeply into Shadow as well, particularly in realms so close to purgatory as your own. And few souls have dreams so vile as bitter lords thwarted in their games of corruption, nor so bittersweet as a daughter once born of the noblest of paladins and the vilest of succubi, tormented by love and savagery in equal measure, the power to destroy all of creation locked deep within. Her dreams I could never escape, dear Twilight, potent as they are. Much like the dreams of an angel who rips off his wings of his own accord; too bitter for Heaven, too honorable for Hell. Trapped in the perpetual struggles of mundus, where all he learns to love and treasure must eventually fade with time. Dreams, for one such as that, are the only escape to be found.”
"Dreams and Delving both," Twilight nodded. "He is a bloodthirsty savage who has always kept his word, his dark hunts rendering him far more potent than any angel has a right to be, so of course I found him to be a quite acceptable addition to our realm. He and I came to an accord, long ago."
Jess gazed curiously at her familiar even as he continued to converse with his counterpart, yet the graceful touch of Aurelia left her speechless, Twilight's words like the
soft susurrations of the sea she had glimpsed so briefly, even as she was captivated by the magnificent woman before her.
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The queen's hug was both fierce and tender, and Jess found herself fighting desperately to keep from falling in love with this woman who was such a potent mixture of beauty, majesty, fallen grace, and redemption. She who held the deepest love for her people, who had risked everything, redeeming herself from the dark nightmare of her past. Strangely, that very mixture of dark and light made her all the more beautiful to Jess's eyes, and to her heart. Tears flowing freely, Jess ached for all that she had lost, relieved to have come to this majestic woman's aid. For all that she had lost her heart's love, tormented and twisted as her Talvi had become, he had managed to redeem himself, in the end, helping Jess to save his kingdom entire. Jess took simple comfort in Queen Aurelia's tender embrace, easing her endless tears upon the lady’s graceful shoulder, bitter sorrows shimmering like diamonds as they fell from her cheeks to tinkle forlornly upon the great jewel of a table they forged their Accords upon.
“Thank you, brave and noble Jezabelle, for your gentle words. You alone could fathom the depth of my sins, the extent of my sacrifice. From you I can take solace, to be so understood, my past forgiven, by the very one who had inspired me so long ago to dream a terrible dream so alien to all of our kind. Thank you, Champion of Faerie. With all my heart, I thank you.”
Heart racing, holding tight to her sense of self, lest she be blown away by a dizzying storm of confusion, Jess nonetheless held the queen close, delighting with all her heart in the bond she felt growing between them. "I know how much I resemble a queen who ruled once before," she admitted softly. "And I get the growing sense her past was far more terrible than I had realized. But if anything I have said has given solace to one who saved an entire realm from darkness, it is I who thank you for that honor."
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