Eukara Vox
Legendary AdventureGuide!
|
Intermission: Reprimand and Recovery
by Eukara Vox and Alex Shiveran
Eukara looked at the stories that each of her beloved assistants had brought in. Each brought with it the potential of lifting her spirit, but the lingering thought that it was her fault Diocletio was in the condition he was... She felt the tears well up, threatening to fall.
She sighed, and looked at her false window. Instead of sunshine, it was stormy. Still stormy. She knew if her assistants saw it, they would be worried. She picked up one of the stories and tried to read it, hoping it would help her.
* * * * *
Xor paced the main area of the library. He paused and looked at Eukara’s doors and resumed. Fleur watched him pace and sighed. She would have said something, but knew that nothing they could say would make things better. Gianna sat upon the shelf that they had begun to rebuild for the Books that belonged under Joy.
Kastio watched the main doors like a hawk. It was as if he was expecting something. “Kastio?” Gianna whispered. “Just what is supposed to come through there that you are waiting for?”
“I...” Kastio turned to his fellows. “Well, I sort of, well, I sent a letter to Alex, her friend. And, well, I made it... I made it sound very, very dire.”
“You what?” Xor stopped in his tracks and stared at Kastio. “Just how dire did you make this letter sound?”
“Well, I,” Kastio glanced at Xor briefly before looking back at the door. “I may have said that she was in a depression none of us could pull her out of. I may have intimated that I thought he could help us, since what we’ve done hasn’t exactly helped.”
Shreder flapped his wings, stretching them out as far as he could.
"Though it is true she has overlong wept,
Do you not think you might have overstepped?"
“Oh come on, guys! Like none of you thought about reaching out beyond ourselves? You, Gianna, you probably thought of calling upon your communal spirits and powers. Xor, you have resources that most of us cannot see. You cannot tell me you didn’t think of it either. And Shreder, you have other poets that could have written sonnets and epics for her.” He turned and looked at Fleur. “Even as mysterious as you are, you also thought of delving into that place where you stay to pull something out for her. I did what I thought was right!”
“I rather hope that we aren’t interrupting something.” Alex stood in the doorway to the Library, one hand resting easily on the satchel hanging around his shoulder, his other hand bearing a well-worn wooden staff. There was a rustling sound, and suddenly the satchel popped open slightly, a feline head poking out from beneath the flap of the leather bag. He glanced down at his familiar, and frowned slightly. “Oh, now you’re awake, very helpful, as usual.” Slash’s reply was a mere feline yawn as she glanced around curiously. “Typical,” he glanced up, looking around as well, “yes, well, as I said, I hope this isn’t a bad time, but I’m in something of a hurry, I received a, rather urgent message recently from a Kaisto, Kayso... Something like that, could you point him out to me?”
All five of Eukara’s assistants turned and looked at the newcomer, stunned, and slightly embarrassed, wondering how much of the argument he had heard. None of them moved for several moments, until as if in a telepathic unity, four turned and looked at Kastio. He stood slowly and walked towards Alex.
“I am Kastio. You have to be...” he looked at Slash and nodded, “Alex!”
The others looked at Alex, Kastio, and Slash in silence. Eventually, Xor spoke up. “Well, it seems Kastio was successful. Perhaps, being her friend and confidante, you can get her to snap out of this depression she seems to have sunk into. Gods only know we’ve tried everything we can think of.” The others nodded, looking at Alex with expectation.
Alex was silent for a long moment before turning slowly and opening his satchel. He drew Slash out from the pouch and folded her into his arms gently, one hand stroking her head as his staff simply vanished into thin air. He ignored Eukara’s assistants for a moment, focusing on his familiar, something unspoken passing between them, until at last he knelt and set Slash down gently. Alex removed the satchel, the leather bag following the wood staff into airy nothingness as he stood and finally met Kastio’s gaze before looking at each of the others in turn. “You are placing a great deal of faith in me. I hope that I am equal to the task... Where is she?”
Kastio swallowed. “I didn’t know where else to turn, Alex. I know you are busy, but the two of you exchange letters all the time. I just thought that, well, maybe your connection would be a greater weapon.” Kastio looked down, humbled. “We need her back to her old self. We’ve tried everything in our powers. She’s in her quarters. She has gotten to where she doesn’t even care if we walk in.”
Alex nodded, glancing down at Slash. “Right, you’re in charge out here, make sure they all get to work um, doing library-type stuff. I’ll go see Miss Sour-face and see what’s to be done.” With that, he turned and headed in the direction indicated by Kastio.
Xor balked at Alex’s casual name calling of his head librarian. He opened his mouth to rebuke the man, but grumbled under his breath and looked at Kastio with a warning. Kastio turned to Slash, trying to ignore the daggers being thrown his way by Xor’s look. “You are looking well, Slash.”
Gianna lifted and hovered over the group. “I will go back to organizing the incoming stuff.” She nodded at Slash and took off.
Fleur eyed the feline familiar. “Mind if I went back to setting up the Joy shelves?”
“That would be most acceptable, Miss Fleur.” The familiar glanced up at Kastio from where she sat on the ground, wrapping her tail around her front paws primly, the tip of her tail twitching slightly. “I am well. Your friend is radiating quite the aura of displeasure.”
Fleur, surprised, merely nodded at the familiar and left for her duties. Kastio sighed, his eyes flicking to Xor. “Glad to hear that you are well. Xor... He is just worried. He doesn’t take well to such things as this.”
“Calling our mistress such names is not something to just dismiss. Where is his propriety and respect?!” Xor stomped out of the library and headed downstairs to his area of expertise.
Kastio sighed. “Xor is... one of a kind?”
“We all are, in our own respects. Tell me about what happened.”
Kastio sunk down to the floor next to Slash. “I don’t know where to begin. We were sent on this crazy chase after her. Her magic went wild, taking her from her room into a book she was reading. The portal, stupid sentient thing that it is, messed with her. But somehow, along the way, it lost its ability to be independent and another was able to wrest control of it.”
He sighed. “Slowly, we traveled through several universes, always one step behind her until we were all sent to a very, very dark place. Master Samak, who is recovering, was able to rescue us, but at a cost. The last teleportation sent us to a place of death and decay, where someone from her past confronted her. She thought he was dead, but he was worse... And she blames herself for his current condition.”
“And now she is trapped within her past. Alex will help her.”
“I hope so, Slash. You were the only people I thought could help her.” Kastio folded his hands and looked towards Eukara’s doors.
* * * * *
Alex stood before the door to Eukara’s private rooms, contemplating them in silence for a long moment. Sighing softly and shaking his head he opened the door softly and entered, looking around and noting the rain lashing sullenly against the panes of the window-that-wasn’t-a-window.
Eukara continued to stare at the window. “Is something the matter with the library?” Her voice sounded far away and quiet.
He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the closed door and watching Eukara in silence for a moment. Rather than answering her question, Alex glanced towards the window again, his voice light. “You know, when I was very young, I never liked the rain.”
“The rain...” She stopped, then turned, realizing this wasn’t one of her assistants. “Alex?”
“It always ruined our fun you see. My brother and I would be playing, and the sky would get dark, clouds would hide the sun, and then the rain would start. It seemed like the whole world just went gray and sad when it rained.” Alex smiled gently, nodding as he met her gaze. “Hello, Eukara.”
“Yes, grey and dark...” She closed her eyes, a tear falling. “Why are you here? I haven’t received any letters nor sent any. And you are so busy.”
“I know you haven’t sent any. I was worried, but thought you were alright. Slash disagreed and was, insistent.”
“Slash... she is such a wonderful individual. You are lucky to have her. I can’t imagine her ever hurting you, nor leaving you behind.” She wiped her face, then looked back at the rain.
Alex straightened, crossing the room slowly and moving deliberately between Eukara and the window. He knelt in front of her, his voice soft as he searched her face. “I know the basics, Kastio told Slash. Will you tell me about what happened?”
Eukara bit her lip. “He was my friend, Alex. My best friend. And when he needed me, I wasn’t there for him. I could have helped him, I could have prevented what he is now. He has lived for years thinking I abandoned him, that I left him to be half-alive, half-a-man. I...I thought he was dead! They told me he died to keep me on my assignment.
“So...he finally caught up to me and tried to punish me for leaving him to the fate he has. There was so much pain, so much heartbreak... Oh Alex...” She sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
Alex was silent for a moment, laying a tentative hand on Eukara’s knee. “Eukara, how could you have known?”
“That’s just it, Alex. I should have. There are some things I can sense. I am not empathic, nor telepathic, but I can...sense when something needs fixing, especially if it is someone I am close to. I can fix the things that cause nightmares, things that rob you of happiness. I can help bring back what is robbed from the mind.” Eukara sighed and looked at Alex. “But I didn’t feel his despair when I should have. And they knowingly kept me from it.”
“Have you heard the story of Cassandra the Prophet?”
“That sounds familiar, but right now I can’t recall it.”
“She was the daughter of the ruler of a city called Troy, and when she was born, she was cursed with the gift of prophecy.” Alex smiled faintly. “And it was a curse, because, you see, whensoever Cassandra had a vision, and told someone of it, they never believed her. As she grew older, this continued, and even though time and time again her visions turned out to be true, her predictions correct, no one believed she was a prophet.”
He shifted, sitting back and pressing his hands together before him before slowly drawing them apart. A net of glowing lines formed between them, shifting and coalescing into pictures that accompanied his words. “Now one day, Cassandra had a horrible vision, a vision of Troy in ruins, its great houses burned, its people killed. What’s more, she saw how it would be done, the Greeks, the great enemies of Troy would infiltrate the city with spies and open it to the Greek armies.”
Alex continued, phantoms of light clashing around a cityscape painted in shades of blue. “The Greeks arrived, and for many, many years the Trojans and Greeks fought. The Greeks could not breech the city, but the Trojans could not drive the invaders away. All that time, Cassandra warned of danger, of the doom she saw closing in, and all that time she was dismissed.” The city faded, replaced by the outlines of a great horse. “And then came the day when the Greek armies vanished, leaving behind them a great wooden horse, as if some trophy in honor of the might of the Trojans. And Cassandra wept, begging her father not to bring the horse into the city, to burn it where it stood, but her father would not hear of it. His daughter was no prophet. So the Trojans wheeled the great wood horse into the city, and then feasted in victory.”
The horse vanished, replaced by a multitude of ships and men. “By cover of night, the Greeks returned, and just as Cassandra had predicted, the horse was the downfall of Troy. For it was a hollow thing, and Greek spies slipped out of it that night, and slew the few sentries not weary and asleep from the feast, and opened the gates. Troy was razed to the ground.” Alex smiled gently, folding his hands together, the light-figures dispersing. “Now, I am not your Master, Eukara, but tell me, why have I told you this?”
“I... do know that story. It’s a Terran story from a long time ago. But... I don’t know why you have told me this.” She furrowed her brow and frowned.
Alex placed a gentle hand on Eukara’s knee, looking up at her with a soft smile. “What did Cassandra do wrong?”
“She didn’t do anything wrong, Alex. She had a gift, she used it even if no one believed her. She persisted, even though no one regarded her.” Eukara blinked. “Why would she be considered in the wrong?”
“Does it matter that no one believed her? Does that excuse her from sitting by and doing nothing when no one would listen?”
“But.. she did do stuff, didn’t she? She begged them to act, she tried to warn them! She got in their faces!” She wiped her face again and looked at Alex. “..Right?”
“Aye, she did.” He held up one hand, snapping his fingers and causing an image of flames to rise up in his hand. “But why did she not burn the horse herself?”
“Well, in that time period, if I recall correctly, women didn’t do such things...”
“Then why did she not try to find a way to open the horse? Surely the fate of her family, the fate of an entire city of people was worth that, or even the censure she might face for acting in a way women didn’t act by burning the horse.”
Eukara looked at Alex in consternation. “Perhaps she felt that if they were going to be that daft by not heeding her advice they deserved to die...” She shook her head, dispelling such thoughts. “She gave up...”
“True. Now, tell me, what are you doing here?”
“Mourning for Diocletio, mourning for what I couldn’t do... what I was prevented from doing, but just that.” She looked at the floor.
“What happened was a tragedy, but it was not one of your making. You are not the Elemental Lords, you cannot see everything that happens, you cannot know all that goes on everywhere. Diocletio is dead. If whatever you saw was truly your friend, would he not have understood this? Why should you be held accountable for the actions of others, when all you can change is the present?”
“Because he was my best friend, and I feel that I should have been there. Maybe I just wish I could take it all away.” She crossed her hands over her heart. “No one deserves to be half-dead and still able to feel everything. It hurts my heart, Alex.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I am afraid... Afraid that one day the people I have grown to love, the people who assist me, will need me the same way and I will fail them too.”
“Then you already have.”
Eukara looked up abruptly. “What?”
“Then you already have, and you continue to do so every second you spend in here.” He motioned to the false window behind him. “Every second you spend cursing this rain, but doing nothing about it. You are failing them.”
“I... I don’t want to fail them, Alex! But what if...” She swallowed but couldn’t continue.
“It doesn’t matter what you want Eukara Vox, it matters what is happening now, it matters what you are doing, and believe me. You. Are. Failing.”
Eukara’s eyes widened at Alex’s declaration. No one had ever spoken to her like this aside from Archanius, and even he never used that F word. “Failing?!”
“Your assistants are out there now, working. They are waiting for you to come back to them. Kastio asked me to come because they are running out of hope. You can remain here in your room and mourn the past, and let this Library crumble around you. Or you can go out there and change things.”
“I...” She looked at the door, her face ashen. “They’ve been trying so hard, so very hard to make me feel better. And I wouldn’t let them in. You are right, Alex.” Eukara turned back to Alex. “Each has made an attempt to make me smile, to make me proud, to... remind me of what I have. Each one is cherished beyond compare and I have neglected them. I won’t any longer.”
Alex smiled. “Good. You know, when I grew older, I realized something.”
“Oh, and what is that?”
“Even if the rain makes the world dark and gray, you can still dance in it.”
Eukara smiled. “Dancing is good, Alex. I need to remember that.” The rain that was pounding on the “window” began to let up, slowly lessening in force until the clouds thinned and the sun began to peek through. Reaching over to the side table next to her pillow, she picked up a stack of parchments and thumbed through them. “I... I have some reading to do. And, I need to make this up to them, Alex.”
“You will.”
“Thank you, Alex. I don’t know how I am going to repay you.”
Alex laughed lightly. “You don’t have to, it’s what friends do.”
“But, you are so busy, to take time out of all of that to come here...” She looked at her hands. “Surely, there is something I can do.”
“Actually, now that I consider the matter, there is something.”
“Of course!” Smiling, Eukara reached out and patted Alex’s hand. “What can I do for you?”
“You can keep smiling, I will feel better knowing you aren’t locked in here and brooding.”
“Is... that all?” She looked at him slightly confused. “There isn’t anything else?”
Alex smiled and shook his head. “No, that’s it. What, were you expecting me to ask you to paint a masterpiece?”
“Well, I kinda did. I was thinking that there would be something more you would need. But, if this is all you want, I am sure I can grant it.”
Alex nodded. “Good, now, before you get to work, come, your assistants are anxious, and I wouldn’t doubt Slash has at least one of them at wits' end by now.”
Eukara laughed. “I bet I can tell you exactly who she may have done that too. Poor Xor.” She stood and looked out the window again, the sun now shining brightly.
|
Printable Version
Icon Legend
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread
