Post by Harry on Aug 27, 2024 15:19:39 GMT
Following A Talk in the Garden with Keros and Rae
Co-written with Father Jaezred Vandree
Co-written with Father Jaezred Vandree
At noon, a cheery knock arrives on Rae’s door. After a couple quiet moments, Rae answers, first opening it a little to check who’s outside, then opening it wide enough for them to slide out and stand in front of the doorway. “Jaezred! Is everything okay?”
“Quite alright. I brought you food.” Smiling, the drow gentleman holds up a wicker basket and Rae can smell the aroma of meat and pastries.
Their eyes widen and they nod, almost hurriedly. “Perfect. I could do with refuelling. Where are we going?”
“Well, I was just going to drop them off…” Jaezred knits his brows together, looking between Rae and the door behind them. “Is everything alright, Rae? Have you done your remove curse for the month?”
Rae tenses up a little, instinctively pressing their hands behind their back against the door. “Not yet.. It’s been making my head fuzzy and I haven’t been able to focus.. I will soon, just need to.. Crack something.”
“What? What are you working on, exactly?”
“I think I can fix Keros’ problem. The situation is much less complicated than we originally thought and we can potentially turn The Thousand Words against each other. We just need to show them that Purpose, the supposed leader, is not so invincible as they seem. And for that I need.. A little more power.” Rae’s tone becomes a little more dismissive and off handed as they carry on talking, attempting to downplay what they are stating but still wincing in anticipation of what’s to come.
Jaezred falls silent. The cheerfulness is gone from his face, overshadowed by anger. He points a finger at the door. “Inside. Now.”
They move instinctively to spread their arms across the doorframe. “No! Not-“ Their panic quickly turns to anger to match Jaezred’s. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a child, Jaezred.”
“If you do not want to be treated as one, then stop behaving like one. But fine, if you wish to be told off here then so be it.” He drops the basket on the floor and folds his arms. “Allow me to be clear: this diary of yours has done nothing to help Keros. I’ve seen your research notes, Rae, those wild ramblings about the Weave. What exactly has this madness done to help him out of his situation?”
Rae does not back down, folding their own arms now and glaring back at him. “The first theory did not prove to be fruitful, so I pushed forward, looked for more evidence of a solution elsewhere. That’s been found, and my prior research has value here. I would thank you to not call it madness, Keros is on the same page as me, this is our plan.”
“Oh, well done on manipulating him into getting on board with this shit again,” Jaezred scoffs. “Enough. I will entertain this no further. The truth is, Rae, none of this was ever for Keros; it was to feed your intellectual vanity. The curse has only exacerbated what is already there.”
Rae's face turns a shade darker in embarrassment and greater rage. "I'm sorry that I could not leave aside what will be noted as one of the greatest magical workings of the modern age. I am this close to saving everyone. Being a wizard means understanding the world greater than people who cannot, and using that knowledge to make the world better. There is so much in the multiverse that could threaten or harm me and the people I care about. So much. And I am this close to finding the answer to protect all of them. I have to do this, Jaezred. I'm the only one who can. It is not ego, it is duty which drives me."
“Duty?” Jaezred spits the word out with such disgust in his voice. “The thousands dead under the rubble in Kundar because of you — was that duty, Rae?” He bends down to be at face level with them and there is venom in his eyes. “You know what? Your pride isn’t even the worst thing about this. No, the thing I find deplorable is that you’re too much of a coward to admit it. So you hide behind your bullshit excuses, you tell people that you’re helping. You make an innocent bear the burden of your guilt. You’re hurting him and you don’t even care.”
Rae’s eyes form tears in their corners, and as Jaezred stares deep into them, he can see a glimpse of pleading and sadness hidden deep within. Rae blinks, and the weakness is gone. “I really thought you were the one who could see the greater vision. The idea that our goals cannot always be reached without bloodshed and harm. You were pragmatic. But you’ve gotten soft. You know you speak as if you’ve known this all along, that I was going down a path you wished not to follow. But you let me walk it. I had hoped it might be because you understood me. But it was because you can’t stop me.” The light in Rae’s eyes becomes dark, unfamiliar. The more of the truth they tell the more of themselves they lose in their face, losing their soft innocent features for cruel harsh ones. “I’m the coward? You have been hiding behind how much you care for me.”
Jaezred laughs derisively. “Can’t stop you? Please. A child without any sense of responsibility, with no fear or respect for the power of the Weave is unfit to wield it! You will fail. You’re too pathetic to achieve anything other than random destruction. No, Rae, I ‘let’ you do as you please because I’m not your bloody father.”
Rae stumbles on their words for a moment before looking up at him with nothing but seething rage. “Then leave. Let me fail. We will see who is right.”
“Yes, I wouldn’t want to see you disappoint me yet again.”
Jaezred spins around and stamps down the stairs, abandoning the basket on the floor in front of Rae. Further down the hallway, a few doors have been cracked open as the tenants of the Rabbit watched the commotion, and the slivers of faces now stare at Rae.
Rae stands quiet, ignoring the staring faces. Insignificant. Plans are escalating faster than expected. No matter. Just before they step back into their room, they catch a whiff of the scent rising from the basket. Fresh pork pies, lovingly baked. They wipe their nose before leaving the basket behind. Their room is plastered with scrawlings and ravings and theories and diagrams and calculations and every thought pouring from their cursed brain into reality. They gather what is necessary for the ritual silently, filling a bag. The last thing to go in, The Diary of Kyra Stuurm. The book that truly changed their life. They pick it up, hold it close, and breathe. Soon. They think. It will all be over soon. And with that thought, Rae flicks a hand out without looking, conjuring a dimension door to their left which they leave through promptly. It takes them out of the building and a few streets down. They do not stop, they know where they need to be. The Feythorn beckons. And they will answer.
“Quite alright. I brought you food.” Smiling, the drow gentleman holds up a wicker basket and Rae can smell the aroma of meat and pastries.
Their eyes widen and they nod, almost hurriedly. “Perfect. I could do with refuelling. Where are we going?”
“Well, I was just going to drop them off…” Jaezred knits his brows together, looking between Rae and the door behind them. “Is everything alright, Rae? Have you done your remove curse for the month?”
Rae tenses up a little, instinctively pressing their hands behind their back against the door. “Not yet.. It’s been making my head fuzzy and I haven’t been able to focus.. I will soon, just need to.. Crack something.”
“What? What are you working on, exactly?”
“I think I can fix Keros’ problem. The situation is much less complicated than we originally thought and we can potentially turn The Thousand Words against each other. We just need to show them that Purpose, the supposed leader, is not so invincible as they seem. And for that I need.. A little more power.” Rae’s tone becomes a little more dismissive and off handed as they carry on talking, attempting to downplay what they are stating but still wincing in anticipation of what’s to come.
Jaezred falls silent. The cheerfulness is gone from his face, overshadowed by anger. He points a finger at the door. “Inside. Now.”
They move instinctively to spread their arms across the doorframe. “No! Not-“ Their panic quickly turns to anger to match Jaezred’s. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a child, Jaezred.”
“If you do not want to be treated as one, then stop behaving like one. But fine, if you wish to be told off here then so be it.” He drops the basket on the floor and folds his arms. “Allow me to be clear: this diary of yours has done nothing to help Keros. I’ve seen your research notes, Rae, those wild ramblings about the Weave. What exactly has this madness done to help him out of his situation?”
Rae does not back down, folding their own arms now and glaring back at him. “The first theory did not prove to be fruitful, so I pushed forward, looked for more evidence of a solution elsewhere. That’s been found, and my prior research has value here. I would thank you to not call it madness, Keros is on the same page as me, this is our plan.”
“Oh, well done on manipulating him into getting on board with this shit again,” Jaezred scoffs. “Enough. I will entertain this no further. The truth is, Rae, none of this was ever for Keros; it was to feed your intellectual vanity. The curse has only exacerbated what is already there.”
Rae's face turns a shade darker in embarrassment and greater rage. "I'm sorry that I could not leave aside what will be noted as one of the greatest magical workings of the modern age. I am this close to saving everyone. Being a wizard means understanding the world greater than people who cannot, and using that knowledge to make the world better. There is so much in the multiverse that could threaten or harm me and the people I care about. So much. And I am this close to finding the answer to protect all of them. I have to do this, Jaezred. I'm the only one who can. It is not ego, it is duty which drives me."
“Duty?” Jaezred spits the word out with such disgust in his voice. “The thousands dead under the rubble in Kundar because of you — was that duty, Rae?” He bends down to be at face level with them and there is venom in his eyes. “You know what? Your pride isn’t even the worst thing about this. No, the thing I find deplorable is that you’re too much of a coward to admit it. So you hide behind your bullshit excuses, you tell people that you’re helping. You make an innocent bear the burden of your guilt. You’re hurting him and you don’t even care.”
Rae’s eyes form tears in their corners, and as Jaezred stares deep into them, he can see a glimpse of pleading and sadness hidden deep within. Rae blinks, and the weakness is gone. “I really thought you were the one who could see the greater vision. The idea that our goals cannot always be reached without bloodshed and harm. You were pragmatic. But you’ve gotten soft. You know you speak as if you’ve known this all along, that I was going down a path you wished not to follow. But you let me walk it. I had hoped it might be because you understood me. But it was because you can’t stop me.” The light in Rae’s eyes becomes dark, unfamiliar. The more of the truth they tell the more of themselves they lose in their face, losing their soft innocent features for cruel harsh ones. “I’m the coward? You have been hiding behind how much you care for me.”
Jaezred laughs derisively. “Can’t stop you? Please. A child without any sense of responsibility, with no fear or respect for the power of the Weave is unfit to wield it! You will fail. You’re too pathetic to achieve anything other than random destruction. No, Rae, I ‘let’ you do as you please because I’m not your bloody father.”
Rae stumbles on their words for a moment before looking up at him with nothing but seething rage. “Then leave. Let me fail. We will see who is right.”
“Yes, I wouldn’t want to see you disappoint me yet again.”
Jaezred spins around and stamps down the stairs, abandoning the basket on the floor in front of Rae. Further down the hallway, a few doors have been cracked open as the tenants of the Rabbit watched the commotion, and the slivers of faces now stare at Rae.
Rae stands quiet, ignoring the staring faces. Insignificant. Plans are escalating faster than expected. No matter. Just before they step back into their room, they catch a whiff of the scent rising from the basket. Fresh pork pies, lovingly baked. They wipe their nose before leaving the basket behind. Their room is plastered with scrawlings and ravings and theories and diagrams and calculations and every thought pouring from their cursed brain into reality. They gather what is necessary for the ritual silently, filling a bag. The last thing to go in, The Diary of Kyra Stuurm. The book that truly changed their life. They pick it up, hold it close, and breathe. Soon. They think. It will all be over soon. And with that thought, Rae flicks a hand out without looking, conjuring a dimension door to their left which they leave through promptly. It takes them out of the building and a few streets down. They do not stop, they know where they need to be. The Feythorn beckons. And they will answer.