Echoes Through Eternity [SE]

Fate was never to be trifled with, not in Jigano’s experience. He preferred to believe that the future was fluid, changing with each choice – that it could be made better (or worse) by dint of will and action. That said, his own mother had been an augury of modest skill, and he had been raised to respect that some things did seem to be harder to change than others. That had been on a different world, though, a lifetime ago in many ways. A world with different gods and different forces at play in the lives of its people. Here…

Here was a very different story. It wasn’t until last year that he’d learned of the Wonder Puddles, when he’d found Loren staring into one, leading to a rocky first meeting between the two men who would eventually become friends. Of course, the Blight had distracted him from pursuing them then, but now? This year he finally had a moment to breathe and to sate his curiosity, and that curiosity had brought him to the Wildwood on this rainy day in early Leafchange. The rain was still warm, Longheat lingering into these first few days of autumn, and it was no hardship to hike through the steady shower as the earth greedily sucked down the sky’s bounty after a long, dry summer.

The trouble was that the puddles disappeared so fast. There was hardly time to seek one out before it dried up or lost its magic, which left Jigano with a bit of a conundrum. Then again, if he couldn’t guarantee finding one… maybe he could make one? Within the shifting trees of the Wildwood, now nearly as familiar as the Hollowed Grounds, even if they still treated him as an intruder, he found a small clearing where a forest giant had fallen in Flowerbirth’s rains, roots loosened from the soil until the wind could knock it over. The rain fell from the grey sky steady but beginning to lighten as the bard reached out with his earth magic, mixed with his creation magic, to pull a slender, elegant pillar from the ground, topped with a shallow bowl with a design of leaves and vines patterned around its edges and down its support. A twist of fire magic burned through the creation, hardening it so that it wouldn’t melt in the wet. A second application of that same magic created a seat resembling an old tree stump while the rain fell into the bowl. Settling himself down despite the damp – he’d been wet before and wouldn’t melt – he leaned eagerly over his slowly-filling scrying table and held his breath as he tried to make sense of the colors and patterns taking shape within.

There was something soothing about returning to old habits. Familiar patterns and traditions lent stability in a changing world, and right now, Maea desperately needed some of that. Even so, she stepped away from the usual habits when she chose to seek out the memory puddles in the Greatwood rather than in the Hollowed Ground. It was difficult for her to return there, for a number of reasons... and she kept postponing it, as long as she could.

Even so, she couldn't help but run into familiar figures. Wandering through the rain and the haze, following the bobbing blue light of a little will-o-wisp, she came upon the silver-haired man at his self made bird bath, staring deep into the water within. He looked so focused that Maea paused, standing quiet and patient off the side while he did... whatever it was. Content to wait with her greetings until he was done.

Dark rags had been pulled over her head, and the fair skinned face was somehow paler and more lackluster than usual. Yet there was something very fond in her gaze as she regarded the Provost. A little relieved, perhaps... she had wanted to talk to him for a while, but finding time that suited them both wasn't always easy.

Maea

this too shall pass

The rain continued to fall, a long and steady autumn shower, and after a few minutes Jigano sat back from his puddle-catcher. Though the water had filled it as he had hoped it now began to trickle a steady stream over the edges of some of the carved leaves, the drops from the sky sending so many ripples over the surface that there was nothing to be seen but dancing shadows for the moment.

As he raked long hair back from his face and reached to retie it into a neater (though soaking wet) tail of silver a familiar shadow caught the corner of his eye. A shadow and... a light? "Maea?" he called quietly, though the rainsong of the woodlands and the calls of damp birds hiding beneath leaves made the Wildwood anything but silent. "I didn't expect... well, anyone except perhaps one of the Fae," he admitted ruefully. "What brings you out here? And... how are you doing?" It had been a little while since he'd seen her last, and though his own life had been quiet of late he was sure she had several adventures to relate if the light bobbing along beside her was any indication. "Do you need an umbrella?"

She smiled when he looked up, though it was rather a pale thing, not quite as exuberant as usual. "I didn't expect to see you either. But I'm glad I did," she said, and came over, pale eyes roving from his soaked appearance to the bowl he must have made... There was no other explanation for its presence here in the woods.

"I'm... well, I suppose. Was looking for a puddle. For the tradition, you know. Just.. didn't want to go to the Grounds." A quiet admission, but she didn't seem to mind having found him instead.

Water was trickling over the edges of the elegant structure. He offered her an umbrella; with a slight shake, Maea tilted her head. The overflowing water was caught by invisible hands and began to rain upwards instead, to pool over both their heads, forming a shimmering shield. With a glance at Jigano's drenched clothes and hair, she made the water leave him as well, should he allow it, until they were both dry and snug under the makeshift shelter.

The wisp drifted closer, the firelike orb pulsing with approval at this new game. It bobbed over to the white haired man, its colors fading from blue to white and back again, cautious but curious.

"No, he's not kin. But he is a friend," the girl mumbled aloud, gazing at the wisp. "Jigano, this is Shii. Don't let it bully you, please. I'm trying to teach it manners."

Maea

this too shall pass

Maea was always a rather pale thing, and she hadn't been particularly exuberant in his presence since she had returned from her disappearance, so he didn't realize immediately that her smile was off. His own was a little tired and sad, but there was genuine welcome in it, and concern when he looked close enough to see her own tiredness in the hesitancy of her words and quiet admissions.

"Tradition?" he asked curiously. He knew many Fae, but none had mentioned a puddle tradition to him. Then again, the Greatwood - and no few humans and Fae - had been suffering under the Blight last year before the Fae had closed the borders. There hadn't been much mention of shared traditions then, not with everyone focused on investigating and trying to stem the death of the woods (and monstrous transformations of themselves). If it hadn't been for Loren he wouldn't even have known of the puddles's properties.

Before he could ask why she was avoiding the Grounds Maea had used her magic to create her own protection from the rain. He waved off her offer to do the same for him with a wry grin and a shake of his head. "I don't know how water magic will interact with the puddle I'm trying to coax," he admitted. "It might be silly, but I'll stick with the old-fashioned way for now. A little rain won't hurt me." Not like a boggart could.

The wisp wasn't an unknown sight, but to see Maea speaking to it raised both silver brows in surprise and a little quiet delight. "Shii? A new companion?" he checked with a smile for his fellow pale-haired friend. It's nice to meet you," he said politely to the little Will O Wisp, pretending solemnity. "How do you do?" He glanced back to Maea with a twinkle in his eyes, directing the next question to her. "And how did you meet?"

His curious reaction made her shake her head. "Well, maybe tradition was the wrong word for it... The Fae say that you can see fortunes in some of them, right? I was hoping I might see... how some things might pan out." Her gaze flickered away, touching on the structure he had built, the fey light of the wisp... Maea shrugged when Jigano declined the offer for shelter, and she decreased the span of the shield until it hovered only over Shii, who seemed inordinately pleased with the attention. She wasn't bothered by the wet either, and certainly wasn't cold.

"This... is your idea of a puddle?" she asked him, some amusement glinting in her eyes as she took in the 'birdbath' again. It was very elegant, very befitting of her usually so well groomed friend... but Maea wouldn't call it a puddle. "Did you see anything worth noting?"

His attention had strayed to her bratty follower however, and she nodded, shifting her weight between the legs. "Yes... Ludo tasked me with removing a Cat Sith from its Woods recently. When it was done, the will-o-wisp's seemed quite grateful. Apparently it had bothered them quite a lot... This one - " she pointed at Shii " - decided that I'm some kind of hero now, and apparently I need looking after." She made a face, clearly not agreeing with the sentiment.

"Mostly that consists of terrorising everyone I try to talk to... It wanted to lead Sunjata off a cliff for teasing me." She said it quite calmly, like it was somehow faintly amusing.

Maea

this too shall pass

"Ah, fortunes?" He perked up, curiosity piqued. "I knew that they might show visions, but they sounded more like nightmares. I wonder what else might be seen in them?" It certainly opened up far more possibilities and caught his fancy as he smiled a little wryly at the thought.

He laughed at her teasing, shrugging lightly. "I hadn't had much luck just walking around trying to find one that showed anything other than the sky. I hoped that if I made a puddle-catcher and I watched it, I could catch the magic before it faded." His smile turned a little crooked as he shook his head, but tilted it back to let the raindrops hit his face for a moment. "Not yet, but the rain hasn't stopped yet, either. I'll keep watching until it does, and see if I can figure out if there's a time that's best for catching the magic."

He felt a pang as she mentioned Ludo, the god having been distant from his own prayers of late. He still went, dutiful in his devotions, but between Remi and Maea he was beginning to feel...

Nothing he was willing to admit to. Shoving the thoughts aside he smiled at Shii and Maea, his grin bright. "I'm glad you have a companion to travel with, even if it's the type that might try to lead you astray sometimes," he teased wryly. "I'll be sure not to follow it anywhere without you! Though Sunjata should have been fine... doesn't he have a winged form?" Actually, Jigano wasn't certain. He'd seen the panther and the orca, but nothing else came to mind when he paused to think it through. "How are things with him?" he asked more tentatively, blinking away a raindrop that tried to run into his eye and wiping it away ruefully. "The last time we spoke I remember you being torn about his disinterest in moving to Halo with you..."

"Perhaps it depends on the person. Like with the dreamfish, it could be that they ser what they need to see," she suggested. Her gaze lingered on the structure - was it clay? - as he explained his thinking, and nodded her understanding of waiting until the rain ceased. "Would you mind if I used it too?" she asked, a little tentative. Not wishing to intrude if he preferred to do this alone. "I could at least offer company until it starts pouring..."

Looking back at Shii, the girl nodded, agreeing. "For all that it's strange to have someone in my head... it's nice too. I don't need to explain anything, it's just... there. I'm glad I asked Ludo for something to do, I could not have been more content with the outcome."

Lowering herself down to sit crosslegged on the ground by Jigano's feet, she dragged a hand through her hair again. Sighed quietly when the bard inquired about Sunjata, her expression shifting... both softening and falling at the same time.

"He does... a beautiful blue bird, almost as big as I am tall," she said. "Sunjata is... I suppose you've heard about his quest from Safrin by now? To restore the Temple shine? It... did not go well. People died, and... he's taking it all on himself. Blames himself for all of it, on top of everything else that's gone wrong in his life lately. He doesn't let on when people in general are around but... It gets rough. Takes him to very dark places."

Fiddling with strands of grass poking up through the dirt, Maea shrugged. Helpless, frustration over not being able to do much to help showing through. "As for the moving to Halo... it wasn't really a plan. He... actually asked me to come with him, to Torchline. Even talked about finding a house, living together... just... it's probably not going to happen now."

And the pain in the quiet admission was quite plain, in both voice and expression. Her shoulders slumping, under the dark rags.

Maea

this too shall pass

"Of course," he agreed to her request with a smile. "Or I can make one for you beside it, so we each have our own? I don't really know what would happen if we both looked into it at the same time. If it's like the dreamfish, it might only show one person's nightmare... or fortune." He shrugged, still uncertain, but willing to try either way. It was certainly a project to pursue as the season wore on, testing different combinations - assuming they could catch a puddle in the act of being magical!

His smile softened as she spoke of her companion, knowing the feeling well. It seemed as if Ludo had parts for all of them to play, and at least the task it had given Maea was kinder than the one offered to Remi.

She answered his question about Sunjata's shift, but his expression shifted to a more guarded one when she mentioned the Temple quest, and he nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "Yes. One of those lost on that journey was a good friend of mine," he said quietly. Sunjata wasn't the only one casting blame upon his horned head, but the bard had not been there, not seen what had gone wrong.

Though Deimos and he would have a talk soon enough, one that would shed more light on the missteps and mistakes that had plagued the whole business from start to deadly finish.

Whatever his misgivings over the Flood, Maea's forlorn appearance stirred him. For all their differences she was still a friend, and he rose from his crafted stump to step over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, searching her face for the source of that pain. "What's happened?"

"That might be better, if it's not too taxing?" She smiled at him, grateful to be allowed to linger. He had always been a reassuring figure in her mind, for all their disagreements... And Maea was starting to agree it was all because of her own actions. Her lack of afterthought before leaping into things.

"I knew both of them," she sighed, rubbing the rain from her face with a small hand. "I was their first contact when they arrived, and Peter stayed on my farm for a while... Adam... was the first to greet me welcome home when I came back. And they were both like brothers to Sunjata." The loss was immense, unspeakable, and for more people than just those who participated in the quest. Maea thought she sensed held back words in the bard, but was glad he withheld them. Didn't lay them on her.

She was even more grateful at the concern, the simple touch of his hand om her shoulder. Maea leaned into it, and bit her lip, tried to figure out where to even start.

"He... lost his lover, some years ago, before he came here," she began. "Quite horrifically. And just when he had begun to start over here, she appeared here on Caido. Lusea?" Maea glanced at Jigano, to see if he recognized the name. "And just as quickly, she was taken from him again. And... he has not been dealing with it. Not really. And now..." She sucked in a breath, throat tightening. The pain and confusion all coming back to the surface. "I love him, Jigano. And.. he says he loves me too. Only, he also said he still loves her too, and just waits for her to appear again, like last time. Says he needs time, to figure out what he wants. What to do with himself. And distance. So... I don't know where it leaves us. Together or not? Friends, or more? I... have no idea what to do."

It was a rather hopeless situation. Maea left to wait for however long, for something that may or might never happen. Unable to give up, or let go, because what if he decided he wanted her? Them?

"It's a mess." A rather painful one. Definitely not a situation fit for building houses or dreams.

Maea

this too shall pass

"Not at all," he assured her with a smile. There was plenty of space within the small clearing for two humans to sit beneath the crying sky, and after a moment's consideration he reached for his magic, combining creation, earth, and fire again to draw another fancy bird bath from the damp loam, this one adorned with bas relief lilies. A second tree stump chair - organic enough to fit into the Wildwood but comfortable to sit in for a little while - rose higher than his own to compensate for Maea's shorter height.

As the second scrying pool began to collect the rain he closed his eyes against the memories of quiet Peter helping him protect the Atheneum from the memory mud of early Flowerbirth, and nights spent drinking in the Guildhall with Adam, laughing and toasting and trading tales of their pasts. "I didn't know Peter well. I thought he might join the Loreseekers, but Zariah..." he shrugged, looking down at the ripples the raindrops made in his own small pool with a sigh. "Well. She got to him first. But Adam was... we were an unlikely pair, but he made me laugh and he listened. Had a knack for knowing when I needed comfort and when I needed cheering up. And Coffee and Isuma were good friends, too." Adam hadn't seemed that close to Sunjata from their talks, but perhaps Sunjata had felt more strongly about it.

And then he'd led both Adam and his boyfriend to their deaths.

It was the season to remember such things, though. He nodded at Lusea's name. "Yes, he told me," he murmured quietly in confirmation, though he didn't try to interrupt beyond that. He watched his young friend thoughtfully as she continued, and he tilted his head in acknowledgment at the mess it had all become. "He does seem to be... using people, right now," he agreed judiciously, reaching up to rub the back of his neck with a faint grimace. "Phoebe. Whoever he cheated on her with while they were married. And most recently..." He shrugged, looking across at the pale-haired woman soberly. "I don't think he means any harm in it. He doesn't seem malicious, not consciously. But... it's a pattern that he's making."

He blew out a heavy sigh, wincing. "Sorry. I know that's not the most generous observation. He's... pissed off a lot of people recently. But I've been in similar situations, so I'm trying to give him more benefit of the doubt. That he can love two people at once is the sign of a good heart. But it does sound like he needs to get his own head sorted out so that he can give you the focus you deserve, instead of using you to avoid working through his mourning for Lusea." He smiled a little wryly at Maea, though there was more sadness than humor in it. "More importantly, though... what do you want? How long are you willing to wait for him? And how much distance can you handle before it hurts you?"

Listening to his reminiscence about Adam, she rubbed a palm with her thumb. Watched the second scrying table take form, and envied his easy mastery over the elements. Why was it that he could learn it so easily, while she trudged around Halo without seeming to get anywhere? It rankled to think he would be better than her at something she'd been born with...

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said softly.

Maea wished she could say Jigano was wrong about his merciless observations on Sunjata. But as always, they were clear and to the point, cutting away all the illusions and excuses. The Flood was a wreck, and getting close to him was like boarding a sinking ship, hoping it might take you where you wanted... but inevitably your feet would get wet and there was always a risk of drowning.

"You're not wrong," she admitted quietly. "About any of it. I know what I would wish for... but those dreams aren't very realistic. He probably can't give me any happy ever afters. It's just... not him, I think." She rubbed at her eyes, smoothing away tears before they could form or fall. "But even so... I'm still happy when I'm with him. He makes me feel so alive, like nothing I've felt before. And when he's not there... everything becomes that much grayer. Less vibrant, less... everything.

"I keep thinking... that maybe it's not such a bad thing to be used, if I get to live those few moments of color." In a way, it would mean she'd be using Sunjata in turn. Taking what she could, when she could... And the rest of the time?

Ah, she'd just have to endure, like she always had.

Maea

this too shall pass

Maea was not the only one who had been born with magic. Jigano had spent a year studying how others used it on Caido before he had his own chance to put theory into practice, though, and even still he hadn’t been able to create the delicate and fanciful shapes in his own elements that Maea had displayed in ice and water, until recently. And still he would have traded it all to regain the lives of his friends who had been killed on Sunjata’s quest to be a dragonslayer. He nodded gratefully at Maea’s support and condolences, appreciating the compassion behind them. ”Yours as well,” he murmured, for she had known Peter better than he had.

There were no happily ever afters on Caido, not that Jigano had found. That didn’t mean Maea couldn’t dream of one though, even if she was pragmatic enough to realize that it was as unlikely as a warm day in Halo. He glanced away to give her a moment to compose herself when he realized how close she was to tears over the Flood, and something in him darkened at the thought of how many crying women the tall man was leaving in his wake of late. Even so, as Maea described her feelings for the shipwreck of a man the bard nodded in recognition. He turned back to study her face thoughtfully, setting aside his own plummeting opinion of a certain bar owner for the time being to focus on someone far more important.

”Is it your first time being in love?” he asked gently instead, while the rain fell softly around them.

The girl nodded as he returned the condolences, swallowing down a clump in her throat. Shii came drifting over again, to flicker and bob about her hands as it sensed the fluctuations in her mood, and Maea held out a palm for it to sit on. It did, for a few moments, and their senses entwined, pulsing images back and forth in quiet communication... then it floated off again. Like so much fey-light.

He would have to wait a long time if he wanted her truly composed. But at the very least, her eyes were free of tears by the time Maea lowered her hand, and she turned slightly towards him where she sat, to meet his gaze. His question surprised her, though perhaps it shouldn't.

"Yes," she simply answered. "I never... let anyone in that far. Or rather, no one else ever tried to get close enough for anything but friendship. If even that." Jigano was no exception, really. Their relation had been defined by work and common acquaintances, and while she did think of him as a friend... there were moments when she felt like she didn't really know him at all. Large portions of his life was a mystery to her, not freely offered - and she was too shy to ask. Didn't wish to intrude.

"Is it... that obvious?" She tried to smile, and it came out weakly. Not quite reaching her eyes.

Maea

this too shall pass