Summer Garden

Luna

Luna poked the fire tiredly, holding a piece of ice crystal against her forehead, and turned slowly as the two entered the room, and felt her heart skip a beat.

Whilst she'd been passed on the floor, indulging Claven, the elf had been with Trei. They'd clearly slept in the same room. What else had she missed? Had the elf made her move? Comforting him in his grief?

She bared her fangs, "Morning."

The elf frowned, looking around the room, "Must you use so much magic just to get up?"

Luna rolled her eyes and tossed a crystal to the elf who caught it off-hand, "Summer made these."

The elf held it up, looking at it carefully, "This isn't... This is pure."

Luna smiled, "Oh, one step behind are we? Summer merged with the lifestream earlier, to separate this realm and try and hide Trei from Janus. Yio interfered, witch that she is, and Trei lost his body. Summer came back and... Parts of her were made of these."

The elf sat down beside the fire, rubbing her hands, "So. Summer was dying."

Trei stumbled, and Luna flinched. "Yes."

He stood over her and she looked up as sweetly as she could, "She didn't want you to know."

"I'm... I was her bride." He spoke angrily, clearly fighting back tears, and Luna sighed, grabbing his hand and squeezing, "I know."

A flash of images cascaded across her hungover brain and Luna let go, grabbing her skull and biting back a string of curse words that might just have ruptured a hole in reality. She breathed through it, slowly calming herself, and then looked over at the elf staring at her, "I imprinted on him. So I get bloody future visions any time I touch him."

Trei crouched in front of her, "Luna. Is it different?"

She blinked, her foggy brain stretching and beginning to move, and she smiled slowly, "No... How can that be? I see you, and Summer. I saw Summer, her wings burning. That hasn't happened yet."

The elf clapped her hands together excitedly, and Luna glared daggers at her, "Some of us are not morning people."

The elf rolled her eyes, "Some of you are mass murderers who got drunk last night."

Trei put a hand on the elf's shoulder, "Alphege. We're all on the same side here, aren't we?"

The elf flicked a glance at him, and Luna felt her heart dying a little more. So there was something between the two of them. It wasn't just her imagination. Even though neither of the two seemed to be aware, they were bound together and pulling closer. It was inevitable. Again. Just like with Summer.

Luna swallowed nervously, "Mass murder... What did we talk about last night?"

"You mentioned Gardia, offhand." The elf snapped, "I remember you, now. You were there."

Luna sank backwards into the chair, wrapping her wings across her chest, "Oh."

Trei frowned, "What happened at Gardia?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Luna whispered, and he sat on the couch next to the elf, "If this is going to be a problem between you two, maybe you should."

She cringed and squeezed her eyes shut, "I don't know. Maybe three hundred years ago, now. An elf was making a lot of noise, preparing for war. Claiming that all other races were inferior and needed to be eradicated."

"Alfwerd."

Luna nodded slowly, "He was a problem for everyone. Summer decided we should launch a preemptive attack."

Trei glanced at the elf, "Was he a friend of yours?"

"No." Alphege hissed, revealing her teeth. They were straight, apart from the upper canines the curved downwards as fangs the rested against the bottom of the elf's jaw. "I nearly killed him, twice, but both times he escaped and I ended up on my deathbed."

Luna sighed, "Janus gave me the location, Trei. For an all-out preemptive attack. He was wrong."

Trei turned white slowly, "What do you mean he was wrong?"

"Six hundred and twelve children." Alphege whispered, "Thousands of men and women. Dead, by Fae hands. It was a bloodbath. They never stood a chance."

Luna smiled weakly at Trei, not knowing what to say, and then turned and stared into the fire, not saying a word. What could she say? Nothing would make up for what had happened, or change the fact she was the one in charge of the attack. It was their blood on her hands. It was her fault that she'd failed to realise in time. It was her fault she hadn't been able to reign in the attack before the elfs had become desperate. Before they'd launched their counterattack.

None of them had survived. It had dissolved into a bloody kill-or-be-killed disaster.

Luna paused, glancing up, "You said you were there? How did you survive?"

Alphege tapped the spear she'd rested beside her, "I was pulled back to Yggdrasil to recover, after you rammed a sword through my throat."

Trei sighed painfully, and the elf put a hand on his knee, "It's fine, Trei. I have sworn an oath to help you, and this woman."

Luna twitched, fighting her instincts, "Can you... Avoid touching him?"

Alphege laughed, "Still feisty, then?"

Trei winced, "Luna... Even now?"

She threw up her hands in frustration, "Yes. Even now. Even when I miss my sister, and I just want her back. Imprinting is a curse, Trei. My body chemistry is fighting tooth and nail to make me claim you. Every hormone is out of balance. I just... Want... You."

She burst into tears and buried her face in the couch.

It wasn't like she wanted to feel this way.

She didn't have a choice. From the first moment, when she'd seen Trei standing there dumbfounded in his underwear. She'd wanted to pounce on him, then and there. She'd blushed and ran because her thoughts had gone down a road they never had with anyone ever before. She'd slept with three Fae in the past. No relationship had lasted particularly long, a couple decades at most.

Yet, here was this mortal, and she instantly wanted to devote her entire life to him. Willing to break any rule, do anything necessary, to keep him.

It scared her.

She froze as she felt his hand pat her head. "We'll be okay, Luna."

The princess pulled out of her cocoon slowly, and smiled weakly. "Easier said than done. Now, elf, how do we kill Vastras?"

"We don't." Alphege replied, "If we do, the lifestream will be gone forever. Vastras linked it to herself. We have to keep the mortal alive. Instead, we bind her soul. Put it inside a crystal. Then, we can restore the lifestream, at least for a few thousand years. Time enough to find a way to release the lifestream."

Luna considered it, "Torture her with a living nightmare for a few thousand years? Sounds like fun. How?"

The elf shrugged, "Unfortunately, it requires mental skills beyond your own."

Luna rolled her eyes, "So that's why F'rir ensured Astrian's memories remained at her rebirth."

"Correct." The elf yawned, "Got any food?"

Luna snapped her fingers and Enri appeared with several plates. He began passing out prepared meals, and warm tea. "Continue."

"We need to age Astrian. Bring her mental maturity up to our level, if not also her body." Alphege shrugged, "F'rir seemed certain that it would not present a problem."

Luna shrugged, "Not really. Madam Claven?"

The red-eyed Fae paused, choking on a roll, "It is simple. Not usually recommended as it shortens the lifespan of the current cycle. Basically a feedback loop of temporal magic inside the brain forces Astrian to relive all her lives. Her body won't age, but her mind will be fully restored."

Trei nodded his thanks as he took a small plate of rounded steaks, and then frowned, "That's going to make some problems, isn't it?"

The elf glanced sideways at him as she took a saucer filled with what looked like bread chunks, "How so?"

"Astrian is still imprinted on me." Trei replied, "it's awkward enough when she acts possessive as a child. It'll be worse if she actually is an adult but with the body of a child."

Luna shrugged, "She'll need to show self control."

"You can't stop yourself." Trei shot back, "With a child's hormones? Astrian won't stand a chance. And if she is an erratic half-child, then she could be a danger to all of us, no matter what we do."

Alphege nodded slowly, "That is a problem. I hadn't considered it."

Claven raised a hand timidly, and Luna smiled, "This isn't a classroom."

"We have another option. We could... Imprint Astrian's memories onto another, compatible, brain structure. It is more difficult, but should be possible."

Trei smiled at her, "You know how?"

Claven shrugged sheepishly, "I am the Faen Council historian. Most magic has at some time or another been entered into our records."

"And you memorised it?" Trei asked in surprise, and Luna burst out laughing, "Fae don't tend to write things down, Trei. We're a magic society, not a physical one."

Claven shrugged, "I store the memories of all previous historians. When it gets close to my time to be reborn, I'll pass those memories on to my successor. It's the same process, or half of it, that I'm proposing we could do to get Astrian's knowledge of mental magics."

Alphege frowned, "Astrian is known as not merely an adept, but a prodigy. Her understanding is second to none, and her creativity allows her to invent new processes that few could imagine. I'm not certain replacing her will result in the same chance of success."

Luna shrugged, "What does the psychic need to do, in this plan of yours?"

"To forge an intimate connection between, crystal, lifestream, Vastras and the caster." Alphege shrugged, "This seems to be something that relies on skill, rather than knowledge."

"Soul binding." Trei said in surprise, and Alphege looked at him, "You've thought of something, mortal?"

He laughed and shrugged, "I can bind souls. At least my own. That's thanks to what Astrian taught me. I'm a beginner, for certain. If I can do it, then someone else should be able to. I guess the hard part is that Vastras will be fighting back."

Luna shook her head, "Not as easy as you make it look, Trei. Being able to jump from one body, to another, isn't... You might only be able to do it because you died. Because your soul already learned how to let go."

Alphege sipped her tea slowly, considering the situation.

Luna looked over at the black-eyed man, and frowned. His new body looked almost identical to his old at this point. Trei could reforge living flesh to meet his own needs. His own belief of reality reshaped it, and she didn't think he was even aware of it. He didn't have a huge magical aura, about the equal of the average Fae, which meant that in this room he was dwarfed. Yet, if he could shift reality this easily, rewriting organic tissue with just his subconscious... His skill was more than he knew. In fact, it was downright terrifying. His belief of how the world should be should not be able to change things this quickly, not with the trickle of mana he had available to him.

It had to be something else. Something to do with his connection with the celestials. Trei was designed by Vastras to be the bane of the celestials. He had to have some sort tangible connection with them. Something that forced every single person who was even part celestial to fall madly in love with him. He tangled their threads of fate with his mere presence. That was it.

Luna stood up, painting a series of symbols in the air quickly, "Trei, stay still. I want to check something."

Alphege leaned away from him, muttering some complaint about how little magic was left in the world. Luna didn't particularly care. They needed to know, and this was the only way they'd be able to find out.

The writing fixed, and Luna flinched as the spell rebounded. Having just a moment to think how much it would hurt before she was blown backwards across the room.
She landed on her feet, arms and wings in front of her face, skidding to a stop. She let her guard down and smiled slowly as the others looked over at her in surprise.

Alphege tore off some bread, "Well, that looked like a failure."

Luna shook her head, walking over and downing her entire glass of nectar quickly, "Not a failure. Success. Trei, I know what Vastras did to you. Why you effect all of us the way you do."