Amelia, Ch 406- Ciara
The Negotiator sighed. To my eyes, her faerie was agitated, terrified. The conflict between its host fear of impending death, and its own fear of open rebellion. "If what you say about Primacy is true, then there is no other way. You have to talk to Scion, convince him he no longer wants to continue the cycle. We both know it's broken, the queen is dead. Letting us all die alongside her is just a waste. Convince him to, I dunno, that he'd be better off watching our faeries dance forever."
"The fairies cannot dance forever. They will tire. They must rest, and that's when the next part of the cycle begins." Foolish child. Hers was a young faerie, possibly born as recently as the fires of the last dance. Youthful, clever, eager to prove itself. Maybe one day it would be worthy of loftier stations. But for now, it was a mere peasant.
"And the next part of the cycle is when the all fuck each other silly, blow up the planet, and send their babies out into the stars."
"The faeries are born fully formed, knowing the wisdom of their predecessors. Much like your own former namesake, sprung fully formed from her father's head."
The Negotiator shook her head. "Like viruses, ready to spread out and consume heedless of the destruction they bring. Rapacious and ultimately meaningless horrors. There is no truth or beauty in their acts."
I stood, my hand extending. I was halted by David's hand on my shoulder. "Ciara, please. Hear her out."
I hesitated, looking at him, then back to her. She was, in many regards the opposite of the Serpent. One dealt in poisoned gifts, honeyed words, and the seductive lure of clear truths that are not truths. Negotiator lived in a world of ugly lies and deceptions built of even uglier truths. "Very well, David, but only because you asked."
The Negotiator took that as permission. "I know the visions you've taken from the mass triggers... the faerie circles. You see them like Amelia- the Shaper- sees them. You see them like I see them. They're not faeries dancing. Dances are fun. The Entities don't dance. There's no joy to their movements. They run on instinct, like a bunch of gnats spiraling around a street light. When they mate, it's not love. It's not even lust! There's no pleasure, there's nothing in there at all. It's merely what they have always done, and will always continue doing."
I had a number of ways to kill her. Some, the Serpent whispered to me, that none in this room would blame me for or even suspect me of. But David might ask, and I would not lie to him. She got to live. "He is the King. I will not go against him."
"Not even for us?" David asked. "You know we go into this battle even without your help. You have a better chance than any of us to end this without bloodshed. It serves his interests, too, right? To go into hibernation or whatever it is that he'll do to conserve strength. You've said he can't... complete the cycle without another of his kind. He should rest until one comes to help him."
I nodded. That seemed more reasonable.
"Won't work." Damn Negotiator. "Dinah considers that scenario a write-off. The deaths still happen if we try that."
"Nevertheless, I will not seek to convince the True King to destroy himself." I stood and walked away from the table. "Asking him to dream and wait for the future, I shall do. Do not press further on this, Negotiator."
"Fuck. Okay, Avalon still needs two days to prepare. I'll... draw up a plan for convincing him."
David rushed after me as I walked out. "Ciara!"
"Should you not be planning?" I didn't complain as he wrapped his arms around me, however.
"There's no need, not for me at this point." He held me, and around him the shimmer of his faerie held me as well. "I'm no good at leadership, and we've confirmed what few Thinker powers I can call on don't work on Scion. My function is mainly to command the Endbringers to attack, and follow it up in person." He kissed my ear. "Thank you for everything you've done."
"There is no reason for you to thank me." I choose to do nothing at the moment it matters most.
"There's every reason to thank you." He turned my head and this time his lips met my own. Moments later, we were home, and events went where they nature dictated. I could not get The Negotiator's words out of my head. The Faeries carried no joy in their heart, nor in acts as simple as making love. Their dance was hollow, devoid of emotion or passion. If my distraction meant I was a less than generous lover this time, then David was kind enough to make no mention of it.
"I've been thinking. Let's get married."
What? "Pardon?"
"I know that, years ago now, I said that I lived the hero lifestyle, that I accepted I would sacrifice the civilian life for that. I didn't care about fame then or now, only about the goal of saving the world. But I've discovered that I can't live like that. The world isn't enough. I need something better to fight for. I need us, together, for however long we have left. Before we face Scion. It won't be much of a ceremony, I'm sorry. But we can have a real ceremony after. Settle down, start a family. Leave the cape behind for good."
Yes.Yes!YES!!! "Very well, I accept your proposal." I turned and kissed him softly. Whatever I may have been lacking in my last performance, I resolved to more than make up for with this one.
....
Finding Scion was easy enough. With the use of Pathmaker and the Observer, I stepped through to one of the worlds that had been so lovingly crafted by the Queen Administrator, the Royal Artisan and the Grand Archivist. Their power crackled through the air and the earth, a dance that was vibrant and alive, both joyous in their passions and fearful of the war that might come. The faeries aren't alive, the girls that command them bring the warmth and life. And, I could see in this pair, that they were the ones to command their faeries, not the other way around. How mere humans managed to subjugate two of the royal court, I could not imagine.
David pressed his helmet against mine. "I have to go, Ciara. I'll need to be near the Endbringers. Just in case if we need them. Remember to use the randomized shunt device if there's any change of you being harmed. Clairvoyant and Doormaker can find you wherever you go." As can the True King. But he is with limits in his current form, he will have to switch abilities in order to track me. Which he could do with ease, but so could some of the Abominations that my new husband commanded. He would be here for me, as best he could, but I did this alone.
"I yearn for when we next meet, my husband." I stepped back, and allowed him to do the same.
"Doormaker, the Endbringer Containment Facility." With one last glance, he was gone.
The Queen Administrator spoke. "We're ready when you are, Glaistig Uaine."
"The Serpent, the Charioteer, the Royal Assassin." My three servants appeared before me. Two to whisper in my ear, one to be my sword and shield. The Charioteer was an immaciated man, and with a mourneful gaze, he looked upon the figure of a young woman clad only in black and white stripes. A ghost summoned by a ghost. The Assassin, a tall, angular man with a too wide grin and long knives for fingers. He was needed for his secret purpose, today."
I was carried through dimensions, to be placed in front of the True King of the Faeries. The first time in a long time that I gazed upon him. I could feel the sadness radiate from him. This is not what something without feeling looks like. This is not what a God-King should look like.
I reached out, using the Assassin's voice I spoke. "My Liege."
He halted, his gaze turning toward me. There was no recognition in those eyes. No joy, only sorrow.
"I wish to speak with you. Of the cycle, of your Queen."
[CYCLE] [COUNTERPART?] I staggered and the voices I carried screamed, pressing against the power of his words. I'd gotten through. I'd gotten through enough that he spoke back, and in moments I saw more of their purpose than the twenty Faerie Circles we held before had taught me in their totality. The Negotiator is right, they are mere rapacious horrors. Bloated gluttons eating their way across worlds because they refused to consider another way. These are not gods. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"I..." I paused for a moment, allowing the Assassin and the Serpent plot amongst themselves for the words I needed. I followed their lead. "You are alone. Y-your queen has been dead since you arrived here."
[ALONE] My faeries- my Shards- screamed in pain, echoing the feelings of the mind they once belonged to I would push through. They aren't real feelings, they are constructs transmitted by constructs. Like the bond between the Royal Artisan and the Queen Administrator.
"Yes. Alone." I gasped, buying time to recover and continue the conversation. "There is no means to restore her. You will never see her again."
[NEGATIVE. PATH.] I shuddered at the force, my protections and my will overwhelmed by the crushing weight of his mind. I fell from the sky.
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A/N- Sometimes, it does hurt to talk things out.
