Aquarionics

Worlds Apart 1 - 4

Worlds Apart

Prologue
From the Book of Bequestments
Year 18, Day 304
Bleak was the day he came to us. Beyond the Circle and Within the circle winter had taken hold of fair Dalsia and it’s choking grasp threatened to strangle many of us. From the Edge came a man, staggering against the wind and the snow. He was taken in by one of the Watchers on the Edge, but saw though the deception of the Dals and requested further entry. The man was being looked after by one of the Researchers whose skills in the arts of pharmacy were of considerable pride of that guild. The efforts of that man were in vain, for the traveller was fading fast.
On his dying day he requested an audience with the Bequestment Guild, and his gift was what seemed to be a stone, no bigger than any the Researchers have brought from there foray’s to the sea’s borders. His last words were instructions to guard it well, for it contains the secrets of new worlds. Research into the stone has been inconclusive, cleaning revealed the stone to be a Sapphire, slightly flawed in the centre. The flaw appears, from a certain angle, to be a closed door. The “Portal Stone” as it has been christened by those who researched it, “Door” being too unambiguous one supposes, has no inherent Magical property the guilds of either Researchers nor Bequestments are aware of, but under the charter it will remain here until claimed.

– Valisys.

Chapter 1, The Training of Thought
Jascain blinked.
Instantly disappointment registered, not from himself, but from the minds of his instructors.
Why do you blink? The thought came unbidden to his mind.
It was not a deliberate reaction he formed and sent in reply
Yet it was still done. Your external control is merely satisfactory.
The question that formed in his mind of why he was being given this instruction while his colleagues were not, was quickly shielded like a candle in a strong breeze. Shielding of thoughts was most certainly not standard teaching but was a trick he had learnt over the years. The ability to shield his thoughts from the Dalmind was not encouraged, in fact strongly discouraged, which was only an incentive to get better at it, in the hope that his instructors wouldn’t notice.
Your internal control, however, is excellent.
How could you tell?
The blankness of mind tells almost as much as it hides.
This was a problem, he knew. Shielding his mind seemed to produce a total blackout, a fact which was only noticeable in a One on One scan, but it meant his mind would go unnoticed if someone was, for example, scanning a class for who hadn’t read the book of the sky. As he had tried to do on many of these occasions, he attempted to “broadcast” one thing, whilst thinking another, and in doing so failed to notice the large plank of wood that stopped an inch from his nose.
Your external control is improving, you didn’t even blink. There was a hint of approval in the thought, you may yet be ready. Report to the Master after Reading.
Jascain snapped out of his reverie ready for what? He sent, but the presence was gone. Slowly he retuned his thoughts into the Dalmind, The hive mind of the Dalisan nation that only a few people outside it knew of. He suddenly knew that a Dal somewhere had died, there was a mental gap in his picture of the world, and a faint echo told him that someone was passing though the rite that would link them to the Dalmind whole.

Chapter 2, Superior Minds
The Master was not alone in his study.
He was sitting at his desk, the ancient Oak table that he spent his days reading at. The room was light and airy, courtesy of it’s glass ceiling – a direct result of the opening of trade between the Dals and the rest of the world – and it was, all in all, a nice place to study both books and sky. It took Jascain a couple of minutes to work out what it was that seemed out of place. The Master, who he never knew the name of, always looked calm and assured, a racial trait, except now when the twinges of worry were beginning to cross his ageless face. The cause of this was a young man dressed in blue, who was leaning against one wooden panelled wall. Jascain studied the man and trawled through the mind for a possibility of this person’s identity. He was fairly tall, with a baring remenisant of King Belgarion, who Jascain had seen at his ease when on his, Belgarion’s, last state visit. Jascain had been asked to deliver a message. Jascain looked into the eyes of the young man, and immediately felt both trustworthy and trusting, that everything in the world was going to be wonderful, and that nothing could stop it from being so, and it was this above all that identified the young man beyond all shadow of doubt.
Jascain bowed deeply.
“My God” he swore
“Not yet” said the young man with a smile
“My lord Erriond, I am truly your most humble servant” Obsequiated Jascain.
“Very good young Jascain” said the master, “But why did you speak at all? Why not the mental method?”
Jascain stood, and said, matter-of-factly:
“One of the developments of the Dalmind was that it was hidden from Torak, and by association from the other gods as well”
“Vinane, Now is not the time for lessons. We have more important problems.”
“Quite” said the master, “Don’t worry too much, more will be explained when the last member of this little get-together arrives”

He doesn’t know Jascain thought in the privacy of his head Because if he knew, then it would be in the Dalmind somewhere, and it isn’t, so he doesn’t. What have I been dumped into?
Chapter 3, A Meeting of Minds.
The final member of the gathering appeared to be female, She was dressed in a flowing cape that stopped inches of dragging on the floor behind her. When she turned to face him her face was perfectly calm and serene, but her eyes seemed to look directly into his soul. There was a kind of age-less quality, she seemed young but her age was not determinable, Jascain put all this together and then looked confused. He didn’t bother to hide his thoughts.
Correct, returned Valaine, she is a seer. And also correct, she isn’t blindfold. He continued, He didn’t explain, that information was enough on it’s own for Jascain to trawl through the Dalmind. She was a “special” like him, one of the Dal with abilities beyond those required by her station. Before he could pursue this any further, however, Erriond spoke:
“It may be time for some introductions, You both know who I am, And you know Valaine the Master of the Novices, Krydis? This is Jascain De’Blue of the Researcher Novices, and Jascain, this is Krydis of the Novice Seers”
Instantly both of them went into the mind, searching for the other.
Jascain discovered that Krydis was the same age as him, and also an orphan. It was now he started to get some suspicions. They were both specials and she was in training more than her peers, but there was nothing about her lack of blindfold. This either meant that someone was blocking information, and he was fairly sure nobody could block anything from him, or that nobody knew. Nobody. Not even Valaine could block from the Dalmind.
He looked at her eyes.
Y You know, dont you? The thought had a light and musical voice, tainted with confusion. It had no echoes, it was a One to One chat, nobody else could hear.
What is it? He asked
I’ll explain later. And the contact was broken.
“When you two have quite finished?” Asked Valaine.
“They have” said Erriond, and Jascain shot a glance in the young gods direction, and was returned with a knowing smile.
“Now the introductions are over, let me explain. Valaine? Now, I think, is the time for what I was talking about.”
Standing stiffly, and obviously not happy about this, Valaine stood up and left the office, muttering to himself.
“Do you know what the hardest part of this is? Your Dalmind. Valaine cannot do what either of you two can, he cannot shield his thoughts from the world, nor can he impose his thoughts on others” Erriond continued, and Krydis and Jascain glanced at each other. “So we have to limit what he knows.”
“Way back in the mists of time” began Erriond, Dramatically, “There was a man, and this man had managed to find a stone that allowed him to travel between worlds at will. An accident of fate stranded him on this world just as the stone ran out of power. It took 100 years of almost constant use for its power to drain, but it did. His dying act was to leave the stone here, at the guild of bequestments.
The gods have known about the existence of this stone, but decided that if nobody knew of it’s existence it couldn’t do anything, and besides it took several thousand years to recharge. By the time it had recharged, the gods had been forced to abandon the planet, and Torak couldn’t get at it because of the shield.”
“It’s charged then” Said Krydis
“Hmm?”
“That’s why you are telling us this, It’s charged”
“It’s not just charged. It’s been stolen”
“By who? And why are you telling us?”
“Answer one is that I don’t know. Answer two is linked to answer 1. You two are special, you can do things other Dals cannot. More importantly, other Dals cannot read your thoughts.”
Jascain did some more calculations. The fact that his training had been stopped early, the death he had felt when he stopped
“You think a Dal did it” he accused the man in blue
“I think so. So does everyone who knows about the theft.”
And that was everyone in Dalsia by now, He hadn’t had time to look at the details before, but he realised it must be an inside job. But it couldn’t be, because
“I don’t know who it is” he said aloud
“If we knew who it was, the Dals would have caught him by now” Replied Erriond
“No, if he could guard his thoughts he would be in my position, or be my tutor.”
“Not if he was able to hide his ability”
“It’s impossible.” Jascain decided.
“Nevertheless, it has happened. Your job, both of you, is to find it. Whoever has the stone knows how to use it, so you will need some extra tuition. Go down to the Training Room, there is someone I would like you to meet” And with that, Erriond left the room.

Chapter 4, Mind reading
So why are you not blindfolded? Asked Jascain as they made their way down the hill to the Training Room.
I can make people think things. I just have a general thing all the time where people think I’m blindfolded. It takes a lot of effort not to make people suspect, but I get to see what people do when they think I cannot see them. The mental idea of a grin floated across the ether. He was about to continue the conversation when they reached the Training room. In front was a short man in a black robe, tied at the waist with a dark blue cord.
“Good Afternoon” said the short man, “My name is Pug, Or Milamber, most people call me Pug, so you can too. And I have some things to teach you

The End
So far

Worlds Apart 5 - 7

Prologue

From “History of our Guild”
Back in the days when the world was recent, and the cracking of the world was an unimaginable disaster yet to occur, the question arose of how the Dal Nation should protect itself from the ever-expanding Angarak Empire, or Kaldom, as it was more properly called. (Incidentally, the usage of Kaldom fell out of use shortly after the Nadrak’s began trade, possibly the first influences of relationships with the kingdoms of the west. Cross-reference to “Alorns & Angaraks, Trade & Countertrade” (A.K.D’b 5-04))
The solution was to feign simplicity. The Murgo “scout” parties looking for potential converts saw only the farms on the outer edge, tended by us, and people who professed to no knowledge of anything but farms further in. The murgos seldom ventured further, and if they did were guided by further agents back to the border. The important thing to come out of this was the discovery of certain practices that allowed Dals to talk to each others minds directly, thus circumventing the murgos. The original discover of this is unrecorded. Books from that era suggest that he claimed (for we are told he was male) that “a voice told him” The disbelief others placed in this claim led to the disbelief in himself, and that in turn led to his suicide. A regrettable occurrence indeed, for recent works have indicated that he may have been correct (Cross-reference, “Conversations with King Belgarion”, A. K. D’b).
Tangents aside, the decision was eventually made that each and every Dal would go though this training. After this discovery, the discovery of the power of multiple minds was quick to follow, and the path to the Seers was set and followed.
The road of the Dals has never been straight, and at one point it forked completely. Soon after the Second age began – with Torak’s cracking of the world – some people realised that the concentration on the future had left few people researching the present and past. The nation had gone so ethereal that it’s original quest as the route of knowledge had somehow been lost. A group of Seven finally decided to do something about this and did something unprecedented, they broke themselves off from the Dalmind. These Seven formed the Guild of Researchers, also known as the Rainbow, for each was named after a colour.
Since then, down the millennia, 7 Dals over the age of 13 only have been disconnected from the Dalmind, Over the years they developed a different mental network, whereby they can talk to each other, yet are eternally inside each others thoughts.
This externalisation has led to much suspicion among the rest of the nation, the inability to read that particular groups thoughts as they read each others has lead to distrust. The researchers have never done anything to earn that distrust, but that and their quest has lead to the fact that most of them at any time are travelling around the world, keeping Dalsia up to date on current affairs. One is always in Dalsia, Always Red, who distributes the information gathered and places it in the library. – A. K. De’Blue, Researchers Guild, 5-02.

Chapter 5 – Zone of Allies

“I don’t trust them” Said Pug.
The training had lasted a couple of days. This morning Pug had announced that he had to go home, and so him, Jascain and Krydis were on the road for the nearest portal.
“Who?” Asked Jascain, bringing his mind back from wool-gathering
“None of them. There is something somebody isn’t saying” explained Pug
“But everybody who thinks anything in Dalsia has it recorded for ever” said Krydis as she poked the fire into life.
“Do it the other way” Said Pug, and Krydis’ eyes glazed over for a second. A breeze floated over and fanned the flames higher. “Good” Continued Pug, “And yes, so it has to have been someone who hasn’t been linked to your Dalmind, or else a Dal who can shade his or her thoughts, and has always been able to do so.”
“You mean, before they were initiated to the Dalmind?” asked Jascain
“Yes” replied the off-world magician
“Impossible.” Concluded Jascain “And yet, only a Dal would have the knowledge to get to the item in the first place”
“The Researchers?” asked Krydis
“Who?” replied Pug with confusion
“A group of 7 Dals not linked to the ‘mind” answered Jascain
“Why not?”
“They believe that the Dalmind gets in the way of keeping current events. The ‘mind makes a “sound” or feeling that anyone with Will and Word ability can hear, and the sound is irritating to them. It has something to do with ‘Objective Views’ I think. But the Researchers wouldn’t dare do anything. Most Dals distrust anyone whose thoughts they cannot read, trust me, I know. So they just wouldn’t do it.”
“Seven out of Ten, Must try harder”
The man who limped out of the bushes was of slightly above average height, with a Staff that was only a couple of feet shorter than he was. He was dressed in a light blue robe, the ethereal appearance of which was spoilt slightly by a pair of heavy Riven boots.
“Who the hell are you?” asked Pug and Jascain together.
“My name is Aquarion”
“The name is familiar” said Jascain “Who are you?”
“Aquarion Kael De’Blue?” asked that man
“You! What are you doing here?”
“Who is he, Jask?” asked Krydis.
“He is a Researcher, he wrote most of the stuff on Mental Blocking I read”
“Yes, that was one of my works. The reason I am here is different however, and as far as the guild is concerned, I’m not.”
“Not here?” asked Jascain in confusion.
Aquarion looked slightly uncomfortable “All your deductions are correct, The only group who could have stolen the Sapphire are the Researchers, which means that one of my 6 friends and colleagues has defected. It’s even worse that I can’t tell where he has defected to”
“Why are you here then?” asked Krydis
“To warn you that you are in danger”
“How so?” asked Krydis
“How can we trust you?” asked Jascain
“I’ll try to answer both questions, The Sapphire was in my room when it was stolen, It was a friend of mine who was killed trying to protect it, and whoever stole it has killed once and will do so again.”
“That still doesn’t explain why it wasn’t you”
Aquarion opened his cloak, revealing travelling clothes beneath, but the parties attention was immediately drawn to his leg, where a wet, dark red stain showed that the bandages beneath were no longer adequate.
“Because he tried to kill me too” said Aquarion.
Chapter 6 – Realm of Evil
A darkened hallway, two figures approach each other. A look of recognition passes, not of the person but of the mask.
“Visier?”
“What is it?”
“It is done, Visier”
“They have left?”
“Them and the fool outlander passed the gates early this morning, Visier”
“And nobody knows their mission?”
“Not a soul alive, Visier. A message came from the Novice Master this morning, they are apparently on a research mission”
“Good. I told you it would work”
“Yes, Visier”
“Take them while they are young. They believe that they will find the stone?”
“They do. And Erriond has been convinced, Visier”
“Stage two then. Are you ready for stage two?”
“Three more days, sire”
“Why isn’t ready?”
“It’s a large project Visier, and you just can’t get the wood.”
“Report back when it is finished. Reatina Foreus de Preondenit”
“Three days then, Visier. Fereus Feenixia”
Rituals completed, and neither happy with the others reactions, the conspirators turned backs on each other and left the hall. Never looking back for a second at what corridor the other took.
Chapter 7 – Terrors of Terra
The trip to the portal was only a few days, enough time for Pug to teach Aquarion how to use them, The decision was made that Aquarion could be trusted at the moment, although they didn’t teach him the Greater Path magic that Krydis and Jascain had learnt.
“This is it then” said Pug when they got to the portal. The portal turned out to be a large rock with a seem of gold that appeared to carry the flow of magic.
Pug handed Jascain and Krydis each a scroll.
“This is a spell, if you read it, I will know where you are and will see if I can help. That is a last resort , but if you succeed without using them, I would be interested in how you got on. Goodbye and Good Luck”
Pug seemed to shimmer in the air, and dissolve into thousands of small sparkles which stretched out along the rock and then were gone.
“Right” said Krydis to Aquarion “What can you tell us about this stone we have to find?”
“All I know is that it has the power to reach anywhere, even the past. The location is supposed to be discernible if you cast a certain spell. I will have to find the spell”
“Do you know where it is?” asked Jascain
“There is a library I have heard about where it may be” said Aquarion doubtfully
“You are going to say ‘but’, aren’t you?” asked Krydis
“But any dimension that has that sort of access to other dimensions will probably be fairly strange” said Aquarion.
“Do we have a choice here?” asked Krydis
“Not really”
“Right. Let’s go”

Five minutes later, the bandits who had been trailing the party for the past few days reached the rock, and were fairly surprised to find only four shocked looking horses, and a faint glittering in the air around them.

Worlds Apart 8

Chapter 8 Honest Johns

What in the Guilds do you mean You Don't trust him? Jascain demanded
I... Don't know . Maybe it's that I can't tell what he is thinking. replied Krydis
Do you trust me?
Yes. That's why I don't think it's that.

The Gate had led to what seemed to be a long corridor. Aquarion had talked to a couple of people, and then they had stepped into a void between two of the millions of Doorways that surronded them. They were now sitting in what appeared to be some kind of resurant. Although whatever they were selling seemed bad for the people who were drinking it, many of whom were slumped over the huge wooden bar that ran the length of one wall. Another wall was encumbered with a long time-line type map which Aquarion was studying in depth, which had led to Jascain and Krydis sitting at a table discussing their collective lot.

Who is he anyway? asked the seeress
One of the researchers. Basically, some Dals who broke off from the Dalmind thousands of years ago becauase they thought it interferred with research. I'm inclined to agree with them. replied Jascain
But didn't Vilane introduce you as a Researcher Novice?
Yes, I study under that guild. We are seperated under several guilds, for some reason the researchers took an interest in me. Reasearcher of the Blue is what I become if they let me.
Doesn't that mean you get disconnected from the Dalmind? Krydis asked
More than now you mean? No. Only the Rainbow - the seven Researcher Masters - take that step, and they are never connected in the first place. I was noticed when I was 14, and therefore to late to have the decision made for me.
What does it mean though?
Each of the researchers colours specialise, Red stays behind and collates what everyone else does, Yellow makes a study of Extrapersonal development Jascain was rapidly heading into Lecture mode and he knew it. He made a consious effort to stop
What?
Stuff like sourcery, things that most people can't do
Like Belgarion? asked Krys
No, he came under another catagory, but like me and you.
I've never heard of it said the seeress
She tends to study from afar I gather
And blue?
Blue is extradimentional, stuff that is not only of this universe, but others. That's what Belgarion falls under, what he did was for the sake of the multiverse. These catagories tend to merge. He wrote most of the stuff on the recent Event, but has a tendancy to do lots of things
like?
he likes to travel, and write histories of the places he's been based on what people tell him, but history is more strictly Orange, if you see what I mean. Jascain was rapidly getting bored with his own explainations, and attempted to change the subject
What about you? he asked artlessly
Me?
Well, you should know most of this really
Seeresses arn't suposed to know about that type of thing. We are supposed to remain aloof from normality. I'm slightly differant. replied the blindfoldless seeress
What is it with the blindfold thing?
I might well ask you what is it with the mind-protection?
I asked first pointed out Jasc.
So you did. I can impress things onto people, like I can make the world see me with a blindfold. It doesn't work with you though.
Sort of, it looks as though you could be wearing one. It's difficult to describe.
Your turn noted Krys
I can control what people see when they look into my mind. And I can see what other people are thinking
A Mind Reader? the thought had a taint of disbelief to it
Sort of, yes.

Aquarion finished his in depth study of the map and strode over to them
"We leave. Now"
"Why so soon?" asked Krydis
"Because someone is following us."

As the stepped out of the door the reemerged in the Corridor of Doors.
"This" declaimed Aquarion with drama "Is the Hall of Worlds. This is Phase Space, or half of phase space, as I understand it. Every world is represented here, every possibility of every world, every universe is here."
"Why half?" asked Jascain
"Because for every universe here, there must be a universe where one of the paths chosen was notto have a door into here. Or something very similer, as I understand it. I never dreamed I would actually be here" Aquarion looked like a kid in a candy store, never knowing what to try first, gazing at the vistas presented at every turn, of new people, for the "doors" were mearly rectangles of grey on a black background, with symbols beside that assumably told people who knew the lanuguage what the world within was.
"Every door we pass" said Aquarion quietly "creates a new door, a possibility that we would have stepped though. The universe divides into the version where we passed the door, and the version we didn't. And more, for there are versions where only you, Jascain, or only Me, or even Krys, stepped though alone, and versions where we didn't"
Krys? Jascain's mental word came soon after Aquarion's sentance.
Yes?
We are going to have problems with my Tutor
Why? queried the Seeress
He doesn't want to leave. I don't think he is going to.
What? an element of panic had entered
He has studied extradimentional worlds for all of his life, this is his dream. I think we are going to have difficulty bringing him home
Why is he doing this then?
There is something he has to do, I think
You think?
It's indistinct. He has a mission. I think I'm involved.
Why?
I can't read things about me. I don't know why, I think it's part of the "One man cannot know his own future" thing. relied Jascain crypically
What?
Will you please stop it with the one word questions?
Sorry, it's just that he is the only guide we have. If we lose him...
...we're lost. I know. Jascain broke off the conversation

By Aquarion

Worlds Apart 9

Okay, here's where it gets odd. Chapter six was where I lost the plot, because I tried to write stuff set in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. This didn't work, so I gave up on chapter nine before anything really happened, and tried to write the ending (Put in the archive as Chapter 10) h3. Prologue

And so it was that the Portal Stone lay within the Guild of Bequestments not inconsiderable archives for millenia, carefully recharging from the very air itself, and beyond the circle and within the circle generations were born, studied, propergated and died without giving a single glance that this most magificant piece of craftwork.

It came to pass in the Guild of Researchers that it's latest member for the blue, studier of all items not of this world, took an interest in this Stone, and removed it from the archives for further study. His observations were never documented, for events overtook before he began the essay, but he was heard to say to his fellow researchers that the observations of the Guild long ago were inaccurate, for the flaw in the center did not resemble the closed portal it was named for, but a door that seemed to be open. This had to be an inaccuracy in the anchient text because the alternive was that the flaw in a stone had changed - albit in several thousand years - which was unlikly.

And thus did the Researcher for the Blue study the gemstone for many years, noting that the flaw changed subtly very slowly, and that the "doorway" appeared to be opening wider.

One night, while the researcher was late to bed, studying a work on an unrelated object, the Portal-stone sudernly let out a high pitched noise and started glowing as white as the sun. After a few minutes this glow faded, but the stone was no longer the saphirre it had been for countless centuries, but a grass-green emerald, glowing softly, which pulsated and swirled seemingly just under the surface. The stone was cool to the touch and the image of the now fully open door clearly visible within the stone.

The portal stone was immediatly placed in a room of observation, where a Guild Member stood watching at every moment. It was an early morning when a novice arrived to relive the night's watch and found the observer dead his post, The researcher on the floor of the room with a leg-wound and the Portal-stone gone.

For reasons unknown, Eriond himself took a and in the matter and summond two Dalsians, both still in training, to recover the stone. A few days after they had left (under the cover of a Research Mission) the Researcher, Aquarion De'Blue, who had been studying the stone also dissappeared. It is assumed that he followed the recovery party. Meanwhile, Dalsia was having problems of a spiritual nature.

h3. Chapter 9 A Whole New World

Jascain, Aquarion and Krydis stepped through the door.

Inky blackness surrounded them. Most doors led where they were supposed to, but this was a door with a sense of drama. Pinpricks of white light surrounded them, the darkness was almost opressive until Jascain noticed something
Khrys? The word floated soundlessly across the mind link, echoing within the junior Seeress' head like a hail in a cave. Since they had left there own home world the background murmmer of thoughts and history had vanished, like the ticking clock you only notice when it stops. The silence was maddening.
Yes Jasc? If he was going to start shortening names, he wasn't going to be alone. Look down, can you see something? They were formless, bodyless, just strands of consiousness drifting though the space. There was no Up, No Down, nor even a Sex Appeal or a Peppermint. Where did that thought come from? she asked herself. And even if there was a down to look at, it wasn't special, just more stars, more inky blackness it was...

...the gulf between universes, the chill deeps of space that contain nothing but the occasionall random molecule, a few lost comets and...

...but a circle of blackness shifts slightly, the eye reconsiders perspective, and what was apparently the awesome distance of intersteller wossname becomes a world under darkness, it's stars the lights of what will chartitably be called civilization.

For, as the world tumbles lazily, it is reveals as the Discworld - flat, circular, and carried though space on the back of four giant elephants who stand on the back of the Great A'tuin, the only turtle ever to feature on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a turtle ten thousand miles long, dusted with the frost of dead comets, meteor-pocked, albedo eyed...

There was a mountian in the centre, and they seemed to be heading towards it, as the disc spun slowly beneath them

Worlds Apart 10 - The End

At the end of nine, I gave up, and tried to write the end and death of the character Aquarion. I never went back to it, and the story died.

"Give me the stone" asked Jascain calmly
"No! It's Mine. I found it" shreiked the Researcher
"You stole it" observed Jascain
"I FOUND it!" protested Aquarion
"You won't give it to me?"
"Not while I have breath. Theif"
Jascain sighed.
"If it must be. I didn't want to do this"
Your not going to..? Krys' voice floated though his mind
Not yet
Jascain concenrtrated on the stone, muttering under his breath with the words of a scroll that had never entered his world. The words had been taught by Milamber all those months ago, and in responce the stone rose haltingly out of the hands of the Researcher of Kell. He floundered to get it, but Jascain moved the stone out of his reach. Once his will faltered and the stone dropped to the floor
"Mine" shouted Aquarion as he launched himself at it.
Jascain always remembered the next moment in slow motion. The power he focused to raise the stone out of the way of his tutors grasp. Aquarion's scream as he realised that he couldn't stop his relentless slide across the smooth floor of the Hall of Worlds.
The way the scream faded as he entered the dull grey gap between the swirling mists of the portals and Aquarion Kael Da'Blue of the Researcher's Guild was lost forever in the void between universes.

A number of gold coins saw the pair guided back to Honest Johns, and they sat at a table gazing at the scroll Aquarion had gave them. Jascain cracked the seal, inside were three letters and an object. The first was addressed to the Dalsian Council:

"If this document is opened, it means that misadventure has caused my departure or death on a permenant level. By this doucment I, as dictated by Code, name my sucessor. The sucessor I name is Jascain of the Blue. Thus I complete my service to the universe.
Aquarion Kael De'Blue"

The document was signed and sealed. The second was for Jascain himself:

"You have probably read the other notes, and may be suprised. The document is a copy of the one in the Library back home, filed an hour before we met. The Guild needs a new style of member, and I think you are it, and if you still have the Portal Gem, you can do my job better than I could ever do. Even if you don't, you have the experiance to write essays the world probably isn't ready for.
Secondly, The other note is the entire reason for your quest. There is a sect in The Circle who are against history, Beliving that Cyradis decided was the exact opposite of the Right. I don't know what they plan to do, but it involves the stone somehow.

I can't keep writing this. I have to find the stone soon. You don't, can't understand. I've got to find it soon, I can hear it calling me. I think that last sentance means that my medication is fading again. Before I end, I say this: talk to Krydis. Something bothers me about her story.

Toth.

Don't know what that means. I just hope that I have a moment lucid enough to give this to you. I can't last long, I fear.

Find the sect. Find the Feenixa. Find the Gods Crossing."

Aquarion's signiture was decidely scratchy at the end of the letter.

The third note was a message: "The brats have gone. Begin stage two"

as Jascain and Krydis reached the end of the three pages, Jascain picked up the object, it was a broach, a blue seven sided polygon with a stylized rainbow in the centre. Aquarion's seal.

Jascain pinned the broach to his doublet, and they sat in silence for a few moments, wondering what in the name of anything they had been dumped into, out of their depth, out of their world, and with no god to pray to.

Vermin

Today

Cenedra wasnt happy.
The entire room had been oak panelled at some point in its life. Cenedras heritage meant that she had an objection to oak panelling, but this was not the centre of her displeasure.
“All Rise” said a small man in glasses.
The entire room rose to their feet as a man in flowing red robes swept into the room. The Tolnedran climbed a dais and sat behind a desk Cenedra couldnt help but notice was also made of polished oak. Beside the Rivan Queen a figure sat watching the proceedings. The green cloak coupled with the heptagon that fastened it together marked the man as one seventh of the Dalisan Researchers Guild, The man was at most Tolnedran events, being the guilds reporter for that district. Nobody was quite sure how he knew where things were going to happen in time to be there for them, and he didnt mention it. At the top of the notepad in front of him were written the words:
“Day 2 of the trial, and the Accusing Council has its turn to speak. The idea of the most recent Tolnedran Empire to delegate some of the more trivial of the courts business to other parties was a controversial one, although it seems to be working. But not as controversial as his Imperial Majastys permission not to preside over this particular problem, citing “Personal Involvement.” The system as”
Cenedra was forced to stop reading because the Accusing Council started to speak “For my first opinion I call Belgarion, King of Riva, Overlord of the West and Godslayer” he said.
There was a murmur of awe as Garion entered in full regal splendour. As much as he hated it, Cenedra considered, it did make him look very impressive.
As he stood in front of the court, the judge asked him: “Do you swear on the sprits of the gods to tell the truth”
“Yes” said the King
“King Belgarion,” Asked the accusing council “will you describe the events leading upto your appearance today please”
“Of course” began the king

A few days ago

High summer was not a regular occurrence in Riva. Even less than in other places. The only time it ever got hot and sunny was on average once every decade, and then only for a few weeks. The hot weather was bringing whole new problems for King Belgarion as he held court.
“You have to do something your Majesty” his cook said “The entire kitchen is being overrun by them, the little vermin are eating everything they can. Nothing with suger in it is safe! Every night they swarm out over the food. In a couple more weeks of this and there will hardly be any food left!” continued the hot, cross cook.
“I will see what I can do” said the young king.
The next day a tall Drasnian walked into the room, an odd occurrence by itself for they were not the tallest of races, but this one announced himself as
“Khamlin, Pest Remover, Your kingdoms plight reached words to my bosses in Tolnedra and I have come to assist” he said, bowing low.
Garion was impressed.
“Your fees?” he asked
Khamlin named a sum
Garion named half that sum
Khamlin expressed his shock at this, and Garions lack of respect for his wife and children, and named a second sum, slightly below the first.
Garion pointed out his own abilities as a sorcerer and named his second sum, slightly above the first.
After that it descended into finger waggling, and soon after Garion emerged with his purse lighter but still triumphant. Khamlin looked slightly shocked as they shook on the deal.
“Youre good. Where did you learn to work like that?” he asked
“Your not so bad yourself, and I had a good teacher”
“Anyone Im likely to have heard of?” asked the Pest remover
“Prince Kheldar” replied Garion. Khamlin balked
“That would explain it. My card” Khamlin handed Belgarion a piece of paper with an address in Tol Borune on it.
“When will you be finished” asked Belgarion
“I will do the extermination tomorrow morning”
“Do you need any assistance?”
“No, Thank you, your Majesty”
“I will set up some quarters for you for tonight in the guest wing”
“Thank you again, your Majesty. There is one thing though. I will need free run of the place”
“It is done” Belgarion spoke to one of the guards in the throne room.
They shook ands and Khamlin went to his quarters.
The next morning the palace was in uproar. The Ants had devoured more food, and Khamlin was nowhere to be found.
Belgarion went bird down to Tol Borune to discuss this with his employers and a few days later they were all in the court room for the start of the case, Belgarion having agreed to abide by the ruling of the judge.
“All Rise” said the man in glasses as the judge entered on the first day.
“Case number 24, Garion verses the Ant People. Defence to begin”

Did You Hear Something? (One)

Part I of an as-yet-unnamed sequence. Unless I give up again :)

“Did you hear something?”
“Don’t think so, Maybe it was one of the horses”
“Could be. Personally I’ve never heard a horse make a sound like an explosion up in the mountains, But that would be why you are the Horseman and I am only the apprentice”
“Look son, There is no benefit in being smart with me”
“No. I can see that”
“Silence. Now, just get back to feeding the herd, and stop imagining things”
“Right then. If you want to leave the possibility of someone being dead in the mountains, it’s up to you”
“Yes. It is. People in the mountains at this time of year know the risks…”
“So large explosions are a natural occurrence in mountains, yes?”
“Just feed the horses.”
“If you say so.”
“I do”

It wasn’t an explosion in the mountains. Although it is true that a sufficiently large explosion in the mountains would cause the bang to be heard by the Algar herds, that wasn’t it. It would take a /very large bang indeed/ for it to have come from beyond the mountains, from, for example, a valley.
—-

It would have had to be sudden for something to surprise a group of
sorcerers.
Or very, very slow indeed.
It would have to have been summoned over many, many decades by someone
who had nothing to do.

As slow, as patient, and as unstoppable as stone.
—-

Stone. Stone was everything. Feeling the stone, the rock, the granite, the quartz, the bedrock below you, the chalk around, every pebble on every beach of every continent (which were themselves just rock) on an entire planet. Not just the solid rock. The liquid rock below, the ebbing, flowing mass of lava which lies, with unimaginable /potentiality/ beneath the foundations of every house, garden, palace, country, field, hill and mountain. Be kind to the rocks, they out mass you. And to one who knows rocks, can feel them sliding with painstaking slowness though every molecule of his body, you must be afraid. For if he manages to bring himself to understand the rocks, or for the rocks to understand him, the power of rocks, and the unimaginable power of the masses of land themselves, may be in his grasp.
And this is a world where a rock can also not be “just” a rock, may be a symbol, may be worth money if worked on.
/May Have Power/
But in the gazing at the rocks whose power is known, the potential power of other rocks is missed.

Not always.
—-

The flames licking at the oak-beams, plaster work falling in great flaming chunks. All is flame, all is heat, all is smoke. The draperies on fire, the candle remains bubbling on the surface of the table. The small man, pointed nose, hiding beneath a table. Hoping against hope someone will save him. His young wife, in the cellar below, in rivers of tears since the man who she loves is too afraid of stone to get to safety.
The bed in the room of the townhouse, above the table. Cast iron. Not stone, but for the present that doesn’t matter, it only matters that the floor below it is burning from the fire beneath /it/ and that within minutes it will fall though, crushing both the table and the pointy-nosed spy beneath it.
—-

When the remains, the blackened and burnt shell of what was once the pulsing heart of a commercial empire, are looked over for clues to the cause, there is something that will be missed. A small hole, inches in diameter, under where the horses stables once were, where the hay was stored, in fact. The hole is small in diameter, but /deep/. Though the mud, the rock, the remains of past civilizations. A small tube that goes straight to the ebbing, flowing lava upon which we float. And it’s sides are bubbling —-

And to the explosion in the mountains. Except not within the mountains, except beyond the mountains, except in the fertile valley beyond.
—-

And a fortress. An impregnable island, safe within it’s walls. Believed safe within it’s walls. The ebbing, swirling mass of the magma below, with a feeling, a memory of the forming of the island, of heat, explosion.

of rock.

And the thoughts, the feelings, the hopes, the dreams, the desires…

...the desires…

...and of reviving the forces that have been dormant for so long, so very long, of heat, of flowing, swirling rivers of molten lava, of the river , which began with the smashing of a rock, being evaporated, exterminated by the streaming, roaring force of the awaking giant that has lived below for eons.

One push is all it would take. One reinstatement of the memory of all that it once was, one thought could force magma though the tunnel though which it once erupted, and take the life of the one who was enemy. The one person who was responsible for what is only known as the ever-moving /now/.

One?

Doubt. An itch in the thought, The single thread of the garment that must not be pulled, lest the whole world collapse. And in that instant the energies and the focus shift away from that of the dormant volcano, across to the endless wastes of Algar, and beyond, though the mountains (The mountains, the rocks, the stone, the snow, the treachery, the death, Oh! the deaths in those mountains) though into the last expected thing, shielded by the mountains, a valley. The Valley.

Home.

To a cottage, to an explosion which happened only seconds ago in real time (...and across the valley, a voice asks it’s fellow man “Did you hear something?...) yet seemed so long ago, yet only an instant away (Time was the first thing to go, the loss of time, the inability to see the time pass in the sun. Here, where your only clock is the shifting sands of a beach, of the rocks, and the time of the rocks, which is slow and is patient and is imperceptible to those who are not trained, but for one who has literally nothing but rock, the training is easy, although the time it takes to learn the rock is as hard as the stone itself)

To the origin. The start. The cause, the instigator, the reason, the excuse, the one single object that executed the action that placed him here.

And nothing can now stop the ecstasy, the exultation, the unknowable conclusion of the one reason for existence that he has left.

Revenge.

DYHS 2: Flashes

Part two of an as-yet-unnamed sequence

In a castle somewhere in Arendia, a knight looks deeply into the eyes of the one person he has always desired. Finally, after so many years of waiting, he may act upon his desires. They have been married for almost two years now, but every time they look at each other they see the ghost of what separated them for so long standing before them. The marriage for two years has remained unconsummated, and while the couple are no longer the best loved tragic-tale in the land, they are still the talk of the town for another reason…

...To a fortress on a rock in the middle of a churning sea, where a tall, sandy haired king is attempting to preside over yet another dispute over land. In the back of his mind he wishes for excitement, for a brief return to danger. But then his mind turns to his beloved wife, fiery in both hair and temper, and his children, and his kingdom. With that last thought he allowed himself an internal sigh, and attempted to concentrate on what this farmer’s wife’s sister’s daughter would gain by marrying her beau, and why the King should intervene…

...Into a Drasnian cellar, where a young woman hugs her children tight and cries as she hears the ceiling of the room above go, crushing the room above the cellar, and showering her and her children with a fine layer of dust…

...To a cottage somewhere else entirely, where an old man withdraws a foaming mug of ale from a barrel that hadn’t been there a few seconds ago, to the backdrop of a hardworking blacksmith outside, maintaining his tools…

...To a tree, close to the cottage, where a mother and a daughter sit in the branches watching the wind sweep over the long grass of the valley…

...To a decrepit palace, where an ex-religious zealot and his wife are looking after their brood…

...To the absolute total darkness of miles under the rock, where a fossil… no… a figure lies imbedded in the stone. Immovable, Immortal, Imprisoned, and totally insane.

And while he can’t move, there is the faintest suggestion of a smile on his deathly pale face…

(Last part written. Story was Never completed)