He did his best to shield her, but it still caused a general buzz among the crowds. He spotted Sunstorm quickly, who was, as usual, on his platform, talking to the enthralled crowds about the Kheldians. The crowd oohed and awed in the appropriate places, but Silos could already tell very few of those assembled would make good candidates for the melding. He caught the Peacebringer’s eye and motioned to Ariel as best he could; Sunstorm seemed to understand the need for haste as he quickly abbreviated his lecture.
“Thank you, thank you! Those who wish for more information should seek out one of our representatives…” Sunstorm tries to press through the crowds, but the eager new heroes press questions on him frantically. He feels the need to answer them, but he can see Silos growing impatient, and finally has to tell the young woman trying her best to catch his eye that he doesn’t fuck, sorry. She storms off in disgust, and Sunstorm sighs, but finally reaches Silos.
“Silos my friend, what is so great the need?”
“She needs your help, Sunstorm. Desperately.” Silos looks the Peacebringer directly in the eye as if to emphasize the gravity of the situation.
“Then let us go somewhere more quiet, Silos. She doesn’t need to be subject to these prying eyes.” The man moves off, and Silos silently follows, still clutching Ariel firmly against his chest.
They descend to the basement of City Hall to a well furnished office. Sunstorm closes the door behind them firmly, and indicates Silos to place Ariel on the couch. Silos nods, setting her down with infinite care and moves quickly to let the Peacebringer examine her.
“…You’re sure, Silos?” Sunstorm looks up after a moment, before idly picking up the charm around Ariel’s neck.
“As sure as I’ll ever be. You forget I walk through time, old friend.”
Sunstorm nods, then caresses Ariel’s face gently, brushing the hair from her face. “Ariel? Do you know what I am?”
She stirs a bit, still lost in the torrent of her nightmares. “You’re a Peacebringer, right?”
Sunstorm nods, then continues. “I was fused with a Kheldian long ago, yes. I would like you to meet my people.”
Ariel looks at him, blinking in confusion, but nods. She moves to rise from the couch, but Silos immediately helps her up, wrapping an arm around her waist securely to keep her upright. Sunstorm smiles softly at the two, before leading them out of the office, to a room further down the hallway. He opens it with a soft click, and motions them inside quickly.
The room is large, seemingly endless; the walls bear no distinguishable feature, lost in their shades of grey. Ariel shudders, the room suddenly feeling very, very familiar… Except she wasn’t alone this time.
A handful of Kheldians float about the room, watching them intently. The sight of them is dazzling, their iridescent forms glowing brightly like the moon against the dark night sky. She gasps, clutching at the phoenix and stumbles forward.
“Ariel!” Silos cries out, but Sunstorm quickly stops him from lunging forward.
The nightmare begins to clear as she moves towards them.
One tentatively approaches, but darts away quickly. Ariel frowns as this happens five more times, even with Sunstorm crooning, “They don’t think they would be a good fit, Ariel. It’s nothing personal.” By the final Kheldian, Ariel is about in tears as he too rejects her. Sunstorm looks at Silos for a moment before walking to the back of the room, talking quietly to shadows.
Ariel looks back at Silos, tears streaming down her face. He gives her a thumbs up and points in front of her. She snaps her attention back as Sunstorm approaches, followed by what appears to be shadows.
“This is Klashtar, Ariel. She has been without a host for almost ten years; she’s almost dead. She keeps claiming to be waiting for someone – ” Sunstorm breaks off as the Ariel darts forward.
Rora, there’s someone you need to meet. You will know her name, even if you don’t know her face. She will be your greatest ally and confidant, and the final catalyst for your change.
The Kheldian looks up at Ariel, and begins to tremble before speaking in a rich, lyrical voice. “I’ve waited for you, Aestas. I am greatly gladdened that you were not too late.”
Ariel nods at the Klashtar, smiling brightly at the Kheld. Klashtar reaches out a tentacle to touch the phoenix around Ariel’s neck, and the air around the two explodes in a strange, lilting tune. Silos watches wide eyed, and Sunstorm lets happy tears run down his face, as the two regard each other.
“He told me about you. That I would know you, know your name, even if I didn’t know your face.” Ariel glances around at the rest of the Kheldians, a sad look in her eyes. “I wish I could save you all, I really do.”
Klashtar chortles in glee at those words, and the others take their cue from her. “Little one, one day we will save them all.”
“Yes, yes we will.” Ariel smiles a bit as she looks back at the two men. “So, how does this work?” she asks Sunstorm after a moment.
The Peacebringer regards her for a moment before answering. “We should go upstair-“
“No, we’ll do it here. She’s weak, she needs me now.”
Sunstorm sighs. “All right… I will guide you through the blending, but ‘ware, Ariel. Klashtar will be in control for a little while, to ease the melding of your souls and to give you time to mend yourself.”
“That’s fine…I trust her implicitly.”
Silos regards the company with mixed emotions; ecstatic that Ariel is walking the path he knows she’s meant to do, but saddened also that it means the end is so near.
Sunstorm nods at the two. “Strip then, Ariel, it will make it easier for Klashtar to blend with you.” Neither man adverts their eyes as she hurriedly tosses her clothing away, her flesh glowing with a soft, but bright, light.
The other Kheldians begins to form a circle around the two, swirling and humming. The tune is eerie and alien to Ariel’s ears, but oddly peaceful in its own right. Her body begins to sway in time to the tune, and Klashtar begins to slowly rise up, her form shedding as she becomes pure light. Ariel watches and wonder, rising up as well, reaching out a hand to touch her…
The room seemingly explodes in light, and the two men stagger back from the sheer force, covering their eyes. The Kheldians bring their song to match the intensity… The room is pure light, pure music…
The light dies away abruptly, as does the song.
Silos is the first to his feet, staggering toward the glowing figure in the middle of the room. “Ariel!” He tries to rouse her, pulling her firmly into his arms and cradling her like a small child.
Sunstorm places a hand on his shoulder. “Give it time, Silos. Give it time –” He stops, watching in wonder as the woman opens her eyes…eyes that glow brightly in the faint room.
“Ye of little faith, Sunstorm.”
“Oh, K, I was worried…” Sunstorm reaches out a hand and lays it on the woman’s cheek, smiling gently.
“Pfft. I’m fine, so is she, physically…But Sunstorm…She is…awesomely powerful. Just…terrorized by nightmares.”
Silos helps the woman to her feet, his eyes sliding closed as tears leak out. “Can she recover?” he asks quietly.
“Between the two of us, we can recover from anything…Don’t worry, she’ll wake soon, Silos.” Klashtar bends over and grabs the discarded clothing. “But she has bad fashion sense. Pur-leaze, this is so last century.” She hurriedly dresses, noting how neither man even pretend to look away. That could be a problem…especially if
Silos looks rather stricken as she turns around again, but hurriedly hides it.
“What now, K?” Sunstorm asks quietly, eyeing her.
“Now…we achieve the dream.”
“The dream?” Silos looks at her, confused.
Klashtar smiles quietly. “Listen to much music, Silos?”
“Not really.”
“Your loss then,” Klashtar chuckles, then begins to sing softly:
“A dream we should all count on, a vision I believe:
Where confidence is found attached to wires on our sleeves;
And where loneliness is history, told to pack its shit to leave;
And where guidance is a fortune, told to help in time of need;
And where crying isn’t secret, it’s the art of how we grieve;
And lessons are the key to every goal we will achieve.
“Call it a good start. Ariel’s vision is much deeper, much more…loving.”
“What do you mean?”
“We walk the path of love, Silos. And we will spread it.”
A little boy, no more than ten, stands beside a pillar of ice shrouded flame. He laughs gleefully, clasping his hands together in merriment.
“And so…the first step is taken! The Guardian has risen; ‘ware be to all that threaten her city…her city of heroes.”
((Lyrics © Drill a Wire Through My Cheek – Blue October))
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