Summer Garden

Astrian

Astrian caught her breath, nearly losing control of the magic she was pushing gently against Luna's skin. The other jerked, dropping her dress, and knocking Astrian's hands aside. "She didn't."

The humble butler looked towards the doorway, "It appears the Lady Summer is doing something unwise."

"Forget that." Luna growled, "She kissed Trei!"

Astrian shrugged, "She may die. Maybe she deserved just a moment of happiness."

The princess glared at her, "Really? You're okay with this?"

Astrian didn't say anything, keeping her face straight. She'd been thinking about it, and had found herself coming to an inevitable conclusion. It was easier to ignore Trei, knowing what she did. He may have been an unimportant mortal in his last life, but none of that mattered anymore. He now held the power of a Fate, and was the paramour of two of the most important Fae in the realm. He was out of her reach. She was just a Fae. A friend to the Lady Summer, but still nothing more than her servant. Astrian's dreams of the two of them were nothing but fantasy, and the faster she learned to accept that she would never be whole, the better.

Luna sighed and sat down, an arm wrapping around her, "You know, I can hear your thoughts."

Astrian nodded politely. She couldn't speak. She'd cry if she did. It wouldn't be befitting someone with her role.

"Not that I'm complaining." Luna smiled weakly, "I didn't want the competition... But you know, I don't think Trei cares about stuff like that. He thinks you're cute. Otherwise you'd never have imprinted."

Astrian shook her head silently. She could never possess him. He belonged to the Queen, or to a Fate. She was unimportant compared to them, it was her duty to pull away from Trei and ensure that he took on one more important than herself. If he chose the Queen, then the future of the Fae might become brighter. The child. That was the future, not her.

Luna winced, "So you saw he had a kid with Summer, then?"

Astrian looked over at her, "My lady?"

Luna smiled, and shrugged, "I see every future. I was kind of hoping that one wasn't set in stone."

"What's Summer doing?" A haggard voice asked from the doorway, and two looked up at the ghoul. Not a ghoul. Astrian had to admit, he looked different now. He had taken his lessons to heart, and he almost looked healed now. If it weren't for his soulless eyes, he would seem human. He wasn't a ghoul, a monster of shadows, now. He was something more. Something unique. It didn't have a name. He was just... Trei.

Astrian swallowed, trying to regain control of her emotions, "The Queen has sealed the realm."

Trei shook his head, "So why does that mean she had to run away? Why did it make her think she might die?"

"Because she might, idiot." Luna replied, "All the Fae realms, they're connected. We move between them easy... Separating them isn't easy. It's downright dangerous, Trei. Summer might die. In fact, she probably will. She's cutting herself off from everyone else and most of magic."

"Where is she?"

Astrian sighed, hearing that timid desperation in his voice. It seemed the queen had already won. "No where, sir. She has exited what you understand to be reality, and entered a state of existence that no Fae has successfully described. A state of being shared by creatures such as the Fates and gods."

Trei stared at her, "Summer... Ascended?"

Luna sighed at his hopeful expression, "Not like that. She'll hold on for a bit... But she'll die. No one can hold onto that kind of magic for long. It burns you out... Magic is like holding onto a thread, and it fills you and lets you pull a thread of reality, unravelling things a bit... But even that ends up killing you before long. Most people can barely touch magic. Hold it too long, or try and grab too much, and you die... What my sister is doing... Is grabbing every thread. She's holding a piece of the power that created the universe, every realm. She's Fae, she was never meant to do that. She's holding a fragment of the power of creation itself. It'll burn through her like nothing else."

He sat down slowly in the doorway, "She was saying goodbye."

"Yes." Astrian asserted sadly. She didn't know why Summer thought it was necessary, but it was tantamount to suicide. The only Fae to ever successfully hold that power was Sumner, and she wasn't technically Fae.

The three sat there silently, and then a low growl emerged from the man, his hands bunched into fists, "This all comes back to Janus, doesn't it."

Luna looked at him in surprise, "And? There's nothing any of us can do to stop him. Buying us time whilst the other realms hunt him is the best Summer can do."

"No, that's not true." Trei growled, "We can do something about him. Things are different now."

Astrian raised an eyebrow, "I assure you, an undead creature is not much of a threat to the Arbiter."

"Not just me." Trei smiled grimly, "I'm more than ghoul. I'm part Fate. And I have a Fate who might be willing to do us a favour. And I have the most powerful human mage in history, who might be willing to help. And the two of you."

Luna sighed, "We can't, Trei. Summer just sacrificed herself to keep us safe. It'll mean nothing if you somehow think you can make a handful of people into a war machine."

Astrian considered the options slowly, carefully, "I do have an alternate suggestion."

Both looked at her and she spread her hands, "There are two connected with this who are not being kept safe. They can act without endangering the sacrifice of my mistress. The Fate, who is unlikely to intervene in any event, and the human, who is likely to die the moment she meets resistance."

Luna rolled her eyes, "Great. That'll sure help."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing." Trei growled angrily, and Luna sighed, "Sometimes, Trei, that's all you can do."

Astrian looked at the man who did not belong to her, "I can communicate with the others, if you wish."

"I do. Let them know the stakes." He said quietly and then he stood, "I'll be outside. Regenerating."

Astrian was silent for a time after he left, and turned to the princess, "Shall I continue?"

Luna shook her head quietly. All the fire had gone out from her. She hugged her knees to her chest and wrapped her wings around them, "I need some time alone."

The butler nodded, standing. She walked to the door confidently and then turned, "He is right about one thing, princess. We cannot simply do nothing and expect this problem to solve itself. My mistress is not more than equal to the Arbiter."

Luna didn't respond, her face hidden in her knees.