NightFallsAroundUs[continued from Meeting of Minds] Raina looked up with interest from her ministrations of Cole. She seemed to have the nursing well in hand as she dabbed Malachite's Blood with a clean cloth onto Cole's injured palm. "A few questions, perhaps, if I make an imposition," Joao said. He glanced at Raina nursing of Cole, gave a smile of pride and then regarded Gillian. He pulled out a handwritten sheet and offered toward Gillian. "First, Mistress Isolde suggested these titles as..." Joao paused a moment, "...extracurricular reading. She thought that you might have already taken out one or more of them. I was hoping to find out if you had taken out or read any of these, and what your impressions of them were if you have already read them." Upon reading the article titles, Gillian recalled having previewed Rodion’s alchemic work during her first year at the library. Most of the articles cited had been co-authored with two professors, Maris of Slvolder and Marcus of Tauros. They included titles such as Voices of the Ocean: Overcoming the Underwater Difficulties for Vocal Casting Requirements and the much-maligned Kiss of the Enigma: Experimental Use of Warping. Maris – a shadow-dweller – specialized in ocean-based magic; his spiritual beliefs in the Great Conflict focusing on man versus nature. Marcus – a Chaosian half-breed – specialized in hermetic metamorphosis; the grafting/transference of organs and limbs between animals and humans. Rodion’s Rebman perspective benefited the research projects of both professors, including the design of the Eyeglass of Nereus – an eyeglass that remained clear of moisture during even the worst storms. His first published article featured his new spell – Skin of the Hag (Weave Animal/Body) – which provides the user with a slimy, repulsive skin of a hag-eel (thus making them nearly impossible to grapple). Gillian could surmise from the articles and spell-work within them that Rodion’s true goal was to imbue a humanoid with aquatic characteristics, even going beyond – as he wrote – the ‘limited’ capabilities of the Rebman physiology. He appeared to have possessed a deep wanderlust, most of his personal entries showing his interest in exploring the ‘the Great Blackness.’ "Yes, I've read them," Gillian replied. "I went through Rodion's alchemical work last winter toward the end of the term, during the week before the King's Birthday. I remember one night while I was reading Ginger was...um...never mind what Ginger was doing. Anyway..." Joao nodded. Gillian handed the list back to Joao and adjusted her glasses. "A strange collection of writings for a professor to suggest to a student," she continued. "Did you know that Rodion was dismissed from the University for his work on the Kiss of Enigma paper? He was experimenting with Warping on animals." Joao blinked. It was clearly news to him. She thought of what it would be like to no longer have access to the University library and shuddered. "I had the impression that Rodion's ultimate goal involved giving land-dwelling humans underwater capabilities, even beyond that of Rebmans. He described your physiology and capabilities as 'limited'. "The library has none of his writings past the time he was dismissed from the University, over twenty years ago, so I've read nothing current from him. I don't know what happened to him. He kept mentioning wanting to explore 'the Great Blackness,' whatever that is. Perhaps he's referring to the Bottom of the Sea, taking into account his interests. I don't know—could mean the vast reaches of space or even the darkness of his own mind. Who knows? "But back to the present. I still think it quite strange Professor Isolde wanted you to read these. I mean, well, she's a professor of symbology and harmonics, and Rodion's ethically questionable work centered on Warping. Granted, she's from Rebma, and he had aquatic interests, but..." Gillian shrugged. "So what's your take on it?" she asked Joao. "I haven't read any of the titles." Joao paused. "Yet," he amended. "Mistress Isolde thought that you might have already read some of the volumes, or have them in your possession, and so I wanted your perspective before I seek them out. "There is good reason that she assigned me to read these," Joao said. "Something I didn't know until today, in fact. Mother never spoke of it." Joao briefly glanced over at Raina before returning his attention fully on Gillian. "Rodion was my father." Gillian let out a small breath of surprise and stared at Joao for a moment. "You said 'was'? Is he dead?" "Da," Joao said, with a clear reluctance. He looked at the floor for a few minutes. "My father died many years ago. Men in Rebma, besides being responsible for breeding the next generation, are considered to be good for one other thing, Gillian." Joao paused a beat before continuing. "War. "Even the husband of a powerful Baroness is not immune to that. Rebma is a growing colonial power and my father died in battle, Gillian. Not too many years after my birth. "Raina is about the only other person whom I've told the story here at the University," Joao added. Gillian touched his arm briefly, almost shyly, then drew her hand back. "This must be quite a different world to you, up here on land. I can't imagine how I would adjust, were I in your shoes. Regardless of the differences, some things—like men dying in war—don't change. "I can find the titles for you, if you like." Joao nodded. It was small little nods of the head, but the slightest bit of a smile. "As I said, Mistress Isolde thought that you might have already checked one or more of them out already and I would have to collect them from you, Gillian." "I suspect, though, you are far more able to find these in the library than I ever could." Joao continued. "I'm still not really used to how libraries work up here. Very different in Rebma." "How—?" Gillian started. Across the room, Raina shouted Cole’s name. There was enough fear in her voice to even wake Ginger – an ill sign, indeed. They could see her shaking him from his slumber. Joao turned and sped after Gillian. Only the deference in allowing her first place kept him from trying to outpace here to where Raina was shouting. Raina felt a natural affinity for her mending work, ghost images of wounded soldiers long past haunting her thoughts. The application of Blood sealed Cole's wounds and erased his numerous contusions. It did little - however - to cure his drunken snoring. Cole's slumber began somewhat peacefully - dreamy women with tight-fitting corsets offering to put 'steel into his sword' warming his unconscious mind. But despite their when he tried to take advantage of their wicked promises, his harem dissolved into a yellowed fog, their once beautiful faces hovering like anguished holes in the mist. Tendrils of smog began to prod and test his nostrils and mouth, as if seeking entrance. No matter how he fought, the choking cloud pressed down on him, smothering him it is musty grasp. As he struggled, Cole could see something corpulent and rank fumbled through the fog. Its rolls of belly flesh hid its femininity, but the heavy breasts were unmistakable. A pinkish mass of scar-tissue marked where its head and neck had once been. And yet – without a mouth or throat – it spoke to him. ~Is that you, my love? I can’t see you. Where are you? I miss you so much.~ Unable to effectively fight or speak or even breathe, Cole thought desperately at the creature, ~Milady, I can't see you through this fog. If only it were cleared away we might recognize each other!~ The ‘woman’ reached out for him, turning her palms in his direction. Even from this distance, Cole could see toothy maws that split her palms. The wet lips moved, emitting her desperate voice. ~The fog? I can’t see, my love. I don’t know what you mean. Where are you? You sound so close, . Why aren’t you holding me?~ The sulfurous fog grew thicker still. Cole struggled to back away, to go anywhere, to do anything that might let him breathe again. ~Hey!~ he thought, furiously, ~Voice in my head! I expect you don't need to breathe. Do something, will ya?~ The Voice remained oddly silent, distant. Cole felt horribly alone in this strange realm. Alone – of course – apart from the corpulent monstrosity shambling in his direction. His limbs betrayed him as he tried to back away, feeling leaden and unresponsive. Like a beached fish, he flopped on the cold, tiled floor as the woman’s bulk cast a shadow over him. She reached for his face, as if to embrace him; the drooling mouths smacking and sucking obscenely. Before they could touch him, however, an unexpected voice reached his ears. From somewhere, Raina was calling to him. “Cole!” Raina felt Cole’s body stiffen in her arms. His chest began to jerkily rise and fall, revealing his distress. It appeared as if he were choking on something, as his face began to assume a bluish hue. And there was something else… She could ‘see’ a faint, yellowish aura around him. ~Desparytide~ The whispered word meant nothing… and everything. She needed to wake him up. NOW. "Cole!" Raina shouted, shaking him sharply. She paused then and ran her hands lightly over his shoulders and chest, murmuring words under her breath. To Raina, Cole’s body lit up with a Kirlian glow. Oddly, despite his obvious distress, most of his colors appeared the healthy green and oranges. However, a halo of grey and mustard circled his heart and head. Tendrils of these polluted colors thickened and drifted in the air like spider silk, stretching away from his body toward the other side of the room. Cole snapped to attention, much needed air filling his lungs as he returned to the world of consciousness. Raina held him had him in her arms, shaking him and whispering something inaudible. His aura instantly returned to normal, as if a thread had been snapped. Cole gasped for breath, looking around as if unsure of where he was. He began to struggle in Raina's hold, but upon establishing that she had the usual quantity of heads and mouths, he caught her in a hug instead. "I don't know what you did," he said, "but thank you. Thank you so much." He shuddered. "Cole? Raina?" What happened?" Gillian asked after running over from the other side of the room. "Raina?" Joao called, pulling up so that he didn't barrel into Gillian, Cole or Raina. The tiny dancer disentangled herself from Cole's long limbs, giggling with relief that he appeared to have recovered completely. With one final apprising glance, she turned to the others. "He seemed peaceful enough at first. I fixed his hand with the Blood and it seemed to be working perfectly. But then he jerked, like he was having a seizure. His face started to turn blue and... and there was a... an aura, sort of... around his body. It was nothing I've ever seen, but my Voice... um." She paused and glanced at Gillian, knowing her friend's discomfort about the voices. She pressed on. "My Voice said 'Desparytide.' Does that mean anything to anyone?" Gillian bit her lip and shook her head in the negative. Lying supine and exhausted on the floor, Cole quipped, "A new name for Terror?" "Desparytide" Joao said softly, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. He then thought, hard. <Delwin> he said, inwardly. <What does it mean? What happened?> The Voice stirred in his mind, summoned by its name. Joao could feel spectral fingers worming through his mind, plucking at his thoughts as if they were lint on a suit jacket. The oppressive sensation ebbed to a dull uneasiness. <Ask our sister. She walks in Limbo. She should know its inhabitants well enough.> <Thank you. We need to have a long chat in the Mirror. Perhaps tonight> Joao replied to his Voice. Joao nodded to himself and eased over, with the fluid motion of a Rebman knife-fighter to Raina's side. Although Gillian and Cole could hear his voice, his words were directed toward Raina. "Sand's brother thinks that Sand knows best about the Desparytide. It has something to do with the inhabitants of Limbo. Whatever that means." "All right," Raina said softly with a nod. "I'll ask her." "What do you remember, Cole?" Gillian asked. Ginger padded over and brushed against Gillian's legs, curious and frightened. Gillian picked her up and held her tight, sending thoughts of reassurance to her familiar through their link. Ginger snaked into the warm nook of Gillian’s arm, “Don’t be afraid, kitten. I’ll protect you and it’ll be okay. So, no need to be upset. Nothing to worry about.” She ‘bravely’ protected Gillian by scanning the lab’s shadowy corners for the nothing-to-worry-abouts from her ‘not-a-hiding-place.’ Apparently sobered somewhat by his experience, Cole said, "First there were these women, all these beautiful... um, never mind. This yellow fog came, and I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't get away. I heard another woman's voice, calling for her lost love, asking where he'd gone. Well, she couldn't find him because when she came into view she was this huge grotesque fat thing with no freaking head. The only reason she could talk was she had mouths with fangs in the palms of her hands, and she was coming for me. Gosh, I wonder why her true love went away?" He shuddered. Joao opened his mouth briefly at Cole's description. Only training as a noble, and his own experiences in the Darkest Hour kept him from having his mouth remain open like a fish's at Cole's evocation of what he had seen. Raina had drawn away quietly to prepare to speak with her Voice, but she paused to listen to Cole's description. "Yes. He did look yellow, like there was a haze around him for a moment," she explained to the group. "I tried doing an Egeria’s Gaze to see what was wrong. Strangely, everything looked normal, but his head and heart were cloaked in an ugly mustard-grey haze, with a trail that led away... over there." She pointed vaguely toward the other side of the room. A queer expression came over Gillian's face as she gazed over in the direction Raina pointed. "Pamela Ibis? Are you responsible for this?" Raina had indicated the side of the room where Joao and Gillian had been talking in front of the mirror. After a moment, a warm, perfumed breeze ruffled Gillian’s hair. A quill near by scratched the words, ‘NOT CUTE,’ in her open notebook. Cole felt something lightly press into his side. Somehow the Rusalka-pink teddy bear had found its way beneath his arm, easing the discomfort from the cold tiles. Gillian smiled. "All right, doesn't exactly seem her style, from what we've seen... Oh, I forgot to tell you two," she continued, indicating her labmates, "Seabhac told me that our lab was haunted by a former student, Pamela Ibis. Not sure of the details, but I can find them out. Seabhac said Pamela was a Flower and she likes things...cute. Which we've already seen. Pink isn't exactly my favorite color, but she appears to have done some very nice things, like keeping the lab tidied, and suffocating Cole doesn't seem to match her m.o." The fire beneath the cauldron flared slightly, as if to accentuate the point. "Sorry," Gillian said to the room at-large. Gillian's gaze traveled back the way Raina had indicated and settled on Joao's mirror. She frowned. "A haunted lab," Joao repeated. "Da, now I see why they gifted the lab so readily." Gillian snorted in a very unladylike fashion. He looked back at the mirror he had brought and then at Cole, Gillian and Raina. Then he straightened his shoulders and walked in the direction that Raina had pointed. Gillian put Ginger back down on the floor and followed him. Disgruntled, Ginger padded over to Cole and uncermoniously climbed up into his lap. She offered a feline smile, “I hear you’re into girls with tails. Maybe you and I can go somewhere private and… I’ll help bring you back to life, huh?” She regarded the mirror suspiciously and with arms crossed over her chest spent a moment examining the frame and back for runes, writing...any sort of interesting or informative marking. "This probably isn't going to give us much information...it's not really the right spell...but it has the advantage of being one I have memorized," she told Joao. Gillian touched the mirror and invoked Gaia's Voice. The silvered surface felt cool under Gillian’s fingers. At first, the spell detected nothing but its substrate and coatings: silver, tin, copper, and silicas. Momentarily, she notices small ‘imperfections’ behind the mirror’s surface; tiny slivers of quartz. She realized from their symmetrical pattern that they’d been placed to form a scrying lattice. The mirror was likely a scrying tool of some sort. Gillian drew her hand back and curled it against her chest. "I think this mirror can be used for scrying," she ventured. "Perhaps there's another mirror or set of mirrors that it's attuned to, or perhaps there's a way magically to control it to look through mundane mirrors. I really don't have any experience with this sort of thing. Do you know anything about scrying mirrors, Joao? Raina? Ginger, quit propositioning Cole. Cole?" "Sorry, Queen Ginger," Cole was saying, "I'm seeing someone." He showed the fluorescent bear to the cat. "But please thank whoever gave me this. It was very, um, comforting." “Thank her yourself, beanpole,” Ginger grimaced, blinded by the fuchsia nightmare. “Gah. It’s like one of Gillian’s nightgowns. Something that should not be seen nor touched by man.” "No fish heads for you tonight," Gillian replied. Cole looked across the room at Gillian and the mirror. "I did date a girl once who always turned her mirror to the wall when I came to visit. I guess now I know why." "Da. Mirrors are extremely common in Rebma," Joao said. "It's not a form of magic that any man is allowed to learn anything about. Rebman Mirror magic is only done by Women." Joao continued to approach the corner of the mirror. "It's hard to tell exactly where the source of the... um... 'thing' was," Raina clarified, at a loss for what to actually call the mysterious haze. "It might not have been the mirror itself. It just sort of faded off in that direction." She rose and moved off to a chair at the side of the room. "Pardon me," she said to the others. "I'm going to try to ask the Princess about Desparytide." Raina’s face paled slightly, as if a thin layer of fog had passed over it. She was not ‘alone’ anymore, her silent companion settling over her like a second skin. Joao stopped his progress and regarded Raina. "Be careful," he said. And then he returned to his path to the mirror. Once he reached it, he briefly ran his fingers along the ornate edge. The cool surface welcomed his touch. He felt spectral threads guiding his hand like a puppeteer, much as he’d witnessed with Raina and the Amethyst gate not long ago. The enchantment’s triggers were relatively simplistic, created by a will-worker of adequate skill – and certainly not someone skilled in High Magick. As his hand moved of its own accord, Joao was struck with the realization that the enchantment had likely prevented the mirror from being consumed in whatever conflagration had befallen the other lab. "Delwin?" Joao murmured as he gave it and let his hands work where they would. An azure light flickered over the mirror and the room’s image disappeared into swirling mist. The mist faded just as quickly, revealing a new image. The room – seen from above – was familiar to Joao and Raina. It had been where much of their current troubles had begun. To Cole, it appeared like a simple room with a few rugs, a coal stove, and a table stacked with books. Gillian knew the image all too well – after all, she’d lived in the room for just over a year now. Joao blinked as he drew his hand away from the completed image. She inhaled sharply. "Oh my god. THAT'S MY BEDROOM! What...!?" She clapped hands over her mouth. "Joao, did you...control that somehow?" Cole came over to look at the mirror more closely. He squinted, pointed at something lying on Gillian's floor, and turned to Ginger. "Ginger, is that one of them? You may well be right." Gillian punched Cole in the shoulder. (It didn't move him at all.) "Delwin did the work," Joao said modestly, looking at the image with fresh eyes. "I really didn't consciously know what I was doing. But it seems to have worked." "Thank you Delwin," he murmured and then spoke, louder. "My Mother's younger sister Rebeca would be highly surprised I did this. If I dared to tell her," Joao added. Raina remained in the corner, deep in concentration. Finally, she shuddered. "How horrible!" she said out loud. "To think if I had not awakened him." She paused, then finished, "Thank you, Your Highness." The dancer rose lithely to her feet, the haze dispersed. "Well, she knew," Raina reported with a grimace. "She said that Desparytides are humans that have somehow slipped into this realm from Limbo. They devolve into dream-stuff, their physical shape mutated by thought and emotion. This makes them extremely dangerous because should they interact with a Dreamer, they can rend that person’s mind to shreds - and typically do in the desperate need to interact with something of substance." She glanced uneasily at Cole as she finished. Cole was still looking in the mirror. "Man, look at all the books. I don't think I've read that many in my whole life." Ginger laughed, “That’s her light reading!” "Gillian would be a menace to the Rebman Chroniclers," Joao said, amused. Gillian flushed and sputtered briefly, feeling rather embarrassed to have anyone gaze at her bedroom like Cole was presently doing. She looked from Raina to the mirror and back again, trying to decide which topic to pursue. Raina won out. "Does this mean that Cole shouldn't go to sleep in our lab? Or that he shouldn't go to sleep ever again? Will it follow him or stay here? How did it find Cole? Was it random? Do we need to do an exorcism?" "I wonder...," Raina began, tentatively glancing at Gillian, then looking to Joao for support. Joao turned and gave Raina a supportive smile and a nod to continue her thought. "I wonder if perhaps we... need... to join with them. Our Voices. If we can tap into their abilities or... if having them... with us... all the time instead of just when we call upon them... would help protect us from... the Other Things." Gillian pressed her lips together and looked away. Once she got the hard part out, she continued more quickly. "If we are together, to support one another, when we name them, perhaps it won't be so hard." "I don't think I could do this alone," Joao said. "If it were I and Delwin, I don't think it would work. Could work," he amended. "Da, Raina, if we work together, we may be able to harness the Voices rather than they putting us in thrall." "Work together?" Gillian asked. "How?" Ginger coughed. “Just for the record. The last time Kitten summoned her Voice, she leveled a city block.” She begins to casually lick her paw. “Juuuuust puttin’ that out there.” Gillian adjusted her glasses nervously. "I do not quite know, Gillian," Joao said, spreading his hands. "But these Voices are the spirits of people with agendas and desires of their own, but as long as we are afraid of them, we will be completely at the mercy of the dark forces that threaten us every single night. Perhaps companionship, positive reinforcement and comradeship will allow us all to keep the worst of what the Voices desire from occurring." "Even to avoiding major damage to the city," Joao said, glancing at Gillian's familiar. "I...couldn't control her," Gillian replied, her eyes locking with Ginger's. She looked up. "I know, Cole, you flatly said no, they can't control us...and Seabhac agrees with you...but..." Gillian shrugged helplessly. "If you all want to join with your Voice, then that's your decision, and I will support and help in any way I can." Cole's gaze dropped away from the mirror to the floor. "Yeah, well, that may have been wishful thinking on my part. And it's based on experiences before joining with my Voice, which I haven't done yet. I've felt his hand on the tiller a couple of times, but I don't know that I'm crazy about sharing it all the time. I'd be afraid that my hand might slip and I'd never get it back." He looked up and grinned wryly. "And you all might not like that either. He doesn't have my charming personality. But if we don't start making progress toward getting this Dark Hour crap under control, none of that will matter. We need their help. We'd better put them in a position to help as much as they can." Raina quietly listened to the discussion, nodding at points that she agreed with. Finally, she spoke up, softly but with a certain determination. "I can go first. I've conversed with my Voice. I wouldn't say we're... friends... but we were at least polite with one another. Usually." "All right...if you're sure..." Gillian replied, resigned. "What do you want us to do?" "You lead us, Raina," Joao said, with a nod and a clear tone of pride. "Do we begin now, or wait for the Dark Hour itself?" "I'm not certain," Raina replied, frowning in thought. "Joao, what about Rusalka? Did her joining happen during the Dark Hour or at some other time?" Joao looked thoughtful for a moment. "It was during the Darkest Hour, Da. We were both at Lady Karm's exhibition—I had participated, of course, and she had," he looked at Raina with a bright red face, "put us together in an attempt at matchmaking. It is her way, after all." "We went outside when the Hour was about to strike. Although neither of us had confessed until that moment that that we knew what was going to happen, we both acted to get out of the way of those not engaged in the struggl," Joao said. "It was there in the Courtyard that we peered into a mirror, and we learned who she was bound to. Delwin told me to look at her eye, it was the first clue that led me to eventually name her Voice as Coral." Gillian turned to Raina. "We can experiment, but if your interest lies less with methods and more with results, we should try to reproduce as many elements of Rusalka's joining as we can to better ensure success. That would mean Joao present with you, you both looking into the mirror during the Dark Hour, and Joao naming your Voice as he did for Rusalka." Her gaze left Raina and traveled back to the enchanted mirror. "Though perhaps this isn't the best mirror for you to use." Raina nodded in agreement. "I would want one thing different though." She looked to Cole. "I want someone strong between myself and Joao. My Voice despises his. She tried to make me kill him the first time we experienced the Hour. I was strong enough then to keep from doing it, and I've defended Joao in the few times I've spoken with Her. I think I can stay her hand. But in case I can't..." She trailed off and looked upwards at Cole plaintively. Cole grinned. "Sure. I've never been asked to chaperon before. But tell me, is your Voice the magic-using building-flattening kind like Gillian's here? I'm not sure what's the best way to stop that sort of thing, short of knocking the person out, and that's a terribly imprecise business. Do you need to speak to do magic, or wave your hands, or anything like that?" He looked to Joao and Gillian as well for reply. "Miss Talbot would be better suited to answering questions about Magic," Joao said modestly. "However it is my experience that Ritual magic, that is to say, magic that is not prepared in advance and known, requires much time, concentration, and energy. It is not a matter, Cole, of snapping my fingers and casting a spell." "That said," Joao continued, "I managed to, with the help of Delwin, briefly create a stiletto during one of the Darkest Hours. That was his doing, not mine, and I have not been able to repeat the experience." "I thought you were going to call me by my first name," Gillian said sternly to Joao before addressing everyone present. "Perhaps Joao was tapping into Delwin's High Magic to make the stiletto, not the Thaumaturgy that we use. Joao's right about Ritual Magic requiring a lot of prep time, so if Sand decides to attack Delwin magically, she's probably going to use High Magic." She turned and appraised Cole. "Um...maybe it's better if Joao's not in the room at all when you do this, Raina." Joao winced but nodded. Behind them, the mirror’s image shimmered like heat-haze and then resumed its normal, reflective appearance. "Umm..." Raina pointed at the mirror. "Perhaps we should cover that? It just did... something. Like a shimmering, then it stopped." "I think, Raina," Joao said, "that the shimmering was merely the mirror dispelling its view of Gillian's rooms and returning to an ordinary mirror." He paused a moment. "Even if no one else wants to use this mirror for matters tonight, I certainly do want to use it for Delwin. I seem to have a resonance with it." Gillian pulled at her skirts anxiously. "Would you ask Delwin why, when there's the whole mutiverse to look at, he chose my bedroom?" she asked. Joao could hear Delwin’s sardonic laugh. <She can fear not. I have no interest in viewing her unmentionables. Besides, the flighty bird is a tad scrawny for my tastes. The mirror is linked to that room and thus it showed it. Nothing more.> Joao blushed and regarded Gillian. "Delwin heard and has an answer for us," he said to Gillian. "According to Delwin, the mirror is linked to your room and that's why it showed it. I have heard rumors of such things in Rebma, where a mirror, in the process of creating the glass, is tuned to another mirror or a place, but I know not further details." "In addition, Delwin has no prurient interests in you," Joao added, clearly red-faced. Gillian's face flushed darkly both with horror that there was a magical mirror linked to her room and discomfiture that Delwin was holding a private conversation with Joao about her lack of womanly attributes. The evening had finally been Too Much. She blinked back sudden tears. "I'm...um...going to go look at my ceiling. I'll be back later. I guess." She turned and fled the lab. "Ohhhh!" Raina cried, wincing in sympathy with Gillian. She dashed to the door, but whirled back. "You boys work out the mirror. We have time before the Hour. I'll be back," she said hurriedly, then added, "I hope" as she sprinted out after Gillian. Joao opened his mouth in surprise but said nothing. He let the look of shock on his face speak instead of words. Ginger glanced at the door, at the men, and then the door again. “Thanks a boatload, Flounder,” she muttered and tried to catch up with the fleeing girls. [Raina and Gillian continued in The Keres Night Out] <Was it something I said?> The Voice laughed. Cole looked with narrowed eyes at Joao. "Please ask Delwin if he knows who made the mirror, or who lived in the room at the time they were linked. I assume that creating such a link is a serious enough endeavor that it's not done on a whim." Cole brushed the surface of the mirror with his hand, half expecting it to pass through. The surface remained cold and lifeless, just as silvered glass should. The previous image and effects did not return. "Da," Joao said. "I know not how much he knows of it." Joao spoke aloud even as he thought at his voice. "Do you know more about this mirror, Delwin? Why it might have been made to link to that particular room? Or can you divine it with my aid?" <Your guess is as valid as mine, boy> the Voice replied <The sympathetic link is old though. Some ten or fifteen years most likely. The design is crude, but effective for allowing for discreet observation only.> The Voice paused for a moment, then resumed – sounded increasingly tired. <My brother is correct, however. This took time to construct. But I would think the creator could not have been higher than the Third Circle.> "My Voice and friend has distinct opinions, Cole," Joao said. He still felt slightly clammy from the result of driving Gillian away with his bluntness. There was still so much to learn about women above the waves. And everything else. "He doesn't think this was the highest of magic. Third Circle at mos,." Joao explained to Cole. "And it's crude, and old. 10, 15 years, maybe. This mirror was not constructed for the benefit of spying on Gillian, or anyone currently studying at Faiella University." "Third Circle, hmmm," Cole said, looking seriously at the mirror, in a tone that conveyed pretty clearly that the words meant nothing to him at all but he didn't want to advertise the fact. "Fascinating, but apparently not an immediate threat. Unlike my need for food. Let's go get something." He went out the door and strode decisively down the hall. [Cole and Joao continued in The Kings in Yellow] |
