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EIDOLON: Whispers of Eternity
Book I – Chapter 62 – Red Sun At Morning, Sailors Take Warning

Book I – Chapter 62 – Red Sun At Morning, Sailors Take Warning

Ren was the first to rouse that next morning, contented and comfortable in the tangle of blankets. It wasn’t too typical for her to be little spoon, but the warmth of her chosen-partner of the evening was welcome against her back. His left arm was stretched-out under her thin waist, the back of his knuckles resting on the table-top, while the right was draped across her other side. He breathed softly against the back of her neck and shoulder, and she savored every pass of warm air against her skin.

She could only doze for so long though. She carefully peeled out from the tangle, and gently set that arm down so the man wouldn’t be disturbed. That morning haze made her care-free and want for nothing, and she shuffled into the bathroom without a worry. Still, with every passing second – and once she was done with her business – looking at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands just reminded her of the last time she’d been there.

Her heart seemed to skip a few beats for it, and she pulled up her HUD, looking at the dreaded fact that she still had the black augment active on her hair; she closed her eyes and turned off the app for a moment. She cracked one eye open at a time, and to her horror, the white has spread from her roots to nearly eight inches of her total length. Her bangs were more ivory than ebony now, as if the black had been added to the tips like paint on a watercolor brush instead of being its original color.

What is happening to me…? She asked herself, and bowed her gaze into the sink as she reactivated the color again to hide it all from her sight, What does this even mean!? I killed that thing, didn’t I!? I crushed the orb and watched it fold…

“…The…hard way, then…” She heard the words echo in her head.

A hand went up over her mouth as she did whatever she could to stop from making a sound in her distress, What do I do…? If I say anything, Lord Rylen will probably have me locked-up… Am I a danger to everyone…? Should I tell Gabe…? No, think rationally about this… She drew in a deep breath, and looked at her reflection head-on, The fact that I can cover it means it’s not a Limitless-tell like Gabe’s red coloration… This really is a straight-up loss of pigmentation… And I don’t feel any different… Maybe it’s just an echo of what it did to Ianori…? Like what Tobias did to me before…? A cruel effect that lingers because I got too close, and let it touch me…

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, repeating until she felt her heart calm down again. When she came out again, she had her hair wrapped in a towel and a fuzzy robe around her shoulders. Gabriel still hadn’t woken up to that point, so she huffed a quiet laugh and went around to the corner-side. Securing the towel on her head, she leaned down and squished her hands to his face, and rubbed in opposing directions, “Hey. Heyyyy.”

That, he responded to, and both eyes cracked open, “Huh-wha…”

Ren smiled, “Time to get up. It’s nearly go-time.”

“What’s go-time?”

“When we gotta go.” She answered, “The lockdown will be over at noon. The Aegis will be emptied out, and everyone will be sent on their ways.”

“Oh…” Gabriel pushed himself up onto his hands, and reached up to rub his eyes. He paused a moment to stretch – Ren’s eyes looked him all up and down as he did so – but then grabbed a big cushion to hold against his front and slouched over it as he watched the Dame go back towards the bathroom, “Where are you going to go?”

“Apparently, I’m going to escort Seth home. After that, I’m not sure yet.” She answered, and rubbed the towel a bit before unwrapping it, and all that damp dark hair tumbled down her back, “Whatever I do, I’ve got to take my armor with me, since I’ll have to get it to wherever Lord Rylen sends me. We all do.”

“…Why wouldn’t he just send you altogether somewhere?”

“I don’t know his reasons for it, but…I imagine it’s probably got to with the fact that our Captain survived, and there can’t be two Captains on the same ship. So…it’s easier to give us something to do if we get split up, and we go do training exercises or something until we’re called back.”

“…What’ll that mean for the aforementioned Captain?”

Ren grabbed for a brush, and started moving it through those stringy black lengths, “…He’s going to be busy with the death notices. He’s going to be stuck doing all that alone.”

“Really? Wouldn’t it be prudent to send all of you out?”

“It’s the Captain’s duty on a combat ship to notify next of kin. If any of us subordinates went in his stead – whatever the reason might be – it might be seen as a slight against the family.”

“You lost eight people, and one more has been taken into custody for desertion. It goes up to ten if you want to count Ianori in this round, since he was technically brought here alive, and died again with the others.”

Ren pulled her hair out over her right shoulder, and let is sit there as those words sank in, “…Yeah. Ten.”

Gabriel felt a cold shiver go down his spine, and he quickly got up from the couch, pulling a blanket with him so he’d be a little decent as he approached, “Ren, I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean it like that…”

She just tilted her head slightly as he came up into the doorway, but she set her brush down and glanced at their reflections instead, “…I envy the fact that you’re detached from the emotional toll this is taking. It’s part of why I wanted to spend time with you instead of the others… There’s nothing wrong with stating the facts. And the fact is, we lost ten people.”

He gave her a look anyway, “…I could’ve been gentler with my choice of words.”

Ren turned again and reached her right hand towards him, pressed her palm over the flat of his chest, and just felt for a moment, sensing the subtle thump of his heart beneath her fingers, “Don’t worry about painting a pretty picture with me. I’d rather hear it straight.”

“Maybe I can help with the notices; relieve some of the burden. I may not be from the Sixth but-”

“No…” She cut him off and pulled her hand back. Gabriel watched her rummage around in the supply-closet, came back with two rolled-up towels, and put them into his unexpecting arms, “Vice Eidolon or not, this isn’t your responsibility. You should get cleaned-up. I’ll put your things through the refresher.”

He stared in confusion at the abruptness of her comment, “…Then I can ask Rylen to offer the help. Surely the Aegis’ upper officers co-”

Ren put a finger over his lips, and shook her head. To reassure him, she then replaced her finger with a kiss, “You’re a good man, Gabriel Lugios. Very sweet. But you’re also very stinky.”

He wasn’t sure how to take that, but he relented, and shrugged his shoulders up, “Alright…”

.

Unlike when Gabriel first arrived, the Aegis’ halls were buzzing with activity in those final hours. People were boxing-up their bunks and offices, taking only what they could carry as they all started getting their dispersal orders. The first transfer-ships could already be seen nearing to them as the clock ticked-down to the lockdown being lifted.

Within the main hangar, Seth arrived with a meager bag and approached a thin blue skiff, cross-checking the assignment on his overlay with the ship’s ID, “…Well, this looks to be the one.” He turned back to his brother, who – despite it all – was trying his best not to look as bad as he still felt, “And you’re sure Lord Rylen’s going to let us take this for personal reasons?”

“As long as I get it back to Agartha later, yeah.” Furion answered, and set his hand onto the hull to open the door. It hissed as it popped-out and slid aside, and he threw his own ruck-sack within, then grabbed Seth’s from his hands to toss it in as well, “Guess there’s not much point saying no when it’ll be deboarded later anyway. Letting us borrow it just means one less thing to deal with.”

“…Would you mind if we went down to the caldera before we leave?” The teen wondered, “You guys keep leaving me behind when you do your wakes… I’d like to have at least one moment while I have a chance…”

“Oh… Damn, sorry, Seth.” Furion stepped back and pet his brother’s head, “Yeah, we can go down.”

“Go down where?” Ren’s voice suddenly asked, and both Rydells glanced over to see her come through the doors. Gabriel came through behind her – Furion leered slightly at the sight of him – whispered something, and then continued on towards Maeve. Ren had her own bag slung over a shoulder, “Fancy seeing you guys down here right now.”

“…I can’t very well carry Seth on my back all the way home.” Furion noted, looking vaguely unimpressed as she approached. He held out his hand anyway, and Ren tepidly offered her bag over to join the others, “He wants to go down to the crater and say goodbye.”

Ren wasn’t oblivious to the icy reception, but when it was Seth who spoke the words of dissent, she was a bit surprised.

“Miss Ren, should you really be-”

She pinched his cheeks and moved them up and down, “Stay. In. Your. Lane.” She said, trying to make it a tease, but saw those brows wrinkle anyway, and she let go, “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t need your approval then, isn’t it.”

“That’s not fair…” The teen complained, and rubbed the soreness from his face.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“When you’re my age - and in a relationship - and a 17-year-old virgin tries to judge you, then you’ll understand why I’m not concerned.”

“That’s plenty, Ren.” Furion interrupted, “You don’t have to put salt in the wound.”

She just crossed her arms and stared, “He wouldn’t even have opinions if my night wasn’t being spoken about behind my back.”

Furion couldn’t understand her attitude, “Can we do this later? I hadn’t even called you down yet.”

“Then I’ll just go to where I’m already welcome.” She huffed and turned to head for Maeve instead.

Seth was utterly baffled, hands still on his cheeks as he watched her go. He looked back at his brother, “…She’s never acted that way before. What’s going on…? Was what I said really so bad? I’m just worried.”

Furion stared in disbelief, but drew in a breath and put his hands together like a prayer, “I’m going to let it slide for now. It’s stressful times and everyone’s acting out of their norm. We all find peace where we can.”

“…Sounds like a coping strategy to avoid confronting the problem.” Seth grumbled, “Miss Ren can be sassy but she’s never been mean like that before.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

“…Maybe tell her you’d rather she not sleep with other guys? I mean, maybe she’s atypical in how she views this kind of thing, but I don’t think that means she’s oblivious or uncaring towards how most people expect partnerships to be like. Does Mr. Gabriel even know you and her are together? I didn’t, and I’ve known her for practically my whole life!”

“Just get on the damn ship.” Furion instructed, “I’ll go get my armor and come around to set the auto-follow.” The teen sighed loudly in annoyance as he did as bid, and Furion pushed the door closed again behind him. He took one last look towards Ren and Gabriel – noting the particularly public fondness the duo showed to one another – and snarled to himself as he turned to head for a lift to the upper level, You said you wouldn’t rub it in my face.

“So, down to the crater, huh?” The Vice echoed, “I guess I should probably pay my respects as well before I head out.”

“Meet you down there, then? I can give you a proper send-off when I’m all suited-up.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” He agreed easily, and pulled her into a tight, swaying hug. She returned it in kind, and – in spite of the shocked looks from crew nearby – rather nonchalantly gave their semi-parting kiss. The clueless and attention-starved semi-Eidolon could hardly keep his happiness to himself though, and soaked-up the affection like a sponge, “Okay, go on…get your stuff. I’ll see you down below.”

Ren nodded and gave one last squeeze into that hug before peeling off, and quickly skipped to get to the lift. Gabriel boarded into Maeve and got the skiff off the ground in short-order, piloting it carefully up and out the hangar doors. Ren made it up to the Fafnir launch-bay just as Furion’s docking-pod opened, and the enthusiasm she had as she skipped by to get to her own was an odd thing to see. She quickly dissolved the visible parts of her uniform – jacket, coat, and boots in all – revealing her flight-suit beneath, and slipped into the open back of her waiting armor.

As she stepped out though, and turned around – helmet in her hands, about to put it on – she caught-sight of Furion’s perplexed expression, and paused, “…What?”

He twitched slightly, and stood upright, “You are acting very strangely.”

“I don’t think I am.”

The Captain was mystified, and the baffled look on his face was the clearest window into him that Ren had seen in quite some time, “Your entire team – save Ravan – has been obliterated. The Aegis – your home for the last near-decade – is crippled. Your family – as you know it – is being torn apart. …And you think it’s totally normal to be as giddy as a school-girl over a guy you had a one-night-stand with.” He said sternly, a hand on the open door to the pod as he stood ready to get in. He could see that his words had been received with confusion though, and he let the metal go, “…Even if you’ve gotten a bit too zealous with your little crush on him, it’s crazy that you’re being so public about it. In front of the crew? In front of me? What if Lord Rylen had appeared right then? I thought you had more sense than that…”

“Why are you being so judgmental? He’s the Vice Eidolon of the Fourth. If I don’t get everything out of it while I can, he’ll get put into the Eidolon System and I’ll never get the chance again.”

He was utterly taken aback by the comment, “You’re not in your right head. Something is very wrong. You would never think to do something like this.”

“Maybe you’re just being overly sensitive. If you would show a little heart now and then, instead of canning it like a jar of preserves that you can put on a shelf for later, maybe it wouldn’t seem like such a foreign concept to openly enjoy someone else’s company.” She countered, and put her helmet on, “You used to be a lot more fun. I guess the thrill is gone now that we aren’t keeping it secret anymore.”

Furion had no clue what to say to that, so he just watched in bewildered silence as she activated the wing-optics on her armor and took off. Once she was out of sight, he turned towards his waiting armor, left eye twitching in frustration, Don’t take it personally. Don’t take it personally. …This isn’t normal. We’re all still in shock. Nerves are high. …This will pass… She’ll realize she’s being malicious and take it back… …Right…?

Ren dove quickly, spinning for the fun of it as she sought-out that red speck on the ground. It was easy to see against the backdrop of the natural – even if destroyed – landscape. She spotted Gabriel soon after, and glided right for him, playfully tapping on his shoulders as she went down to land.

Standing nearby were the three other Captains, as well as Rylen, surveying the damage in the full light of the noon-day sun. They were all a bit stunned to see either of them at that moment, but the manner in which they interacted was both professionally awkward, and situationally wildly inappropriate. At least Gabriel had some sense, and encouraged Ren to settle down a little as she set her feet on the ground, before approaching the ruined edge of the melted crater.

“Don’t you have something better to do?” Rylen wondered crassly, stepping through the trio of Captains so he’d have a clear line of sight to the Vice, “Why are you here?”

Gabriel bowed his head and kept his silence for a few seconds, but when he looked up again, he turned towards the First, “I’m heading back to Agartha. I just wanted to pay my respects before I left.”

Those piercing orange eyes scanned him with thinly-veiled rage, and while the blonde’s excuse seemed at least somewhat valid, when he saw Ren pull her helmet off, he was really confused. She wasn’t even looking into the ruin; she had her eyes only on Gabriel, “Dame Ren…why in the high-holy fuck do you look so satisfied right now?”

The way everyone present, save for her, acted like they’d just been shot in the chest conformed to a uniform shock at the Eidolon’s choice of words. Their ears were ringing, and their attention went straight to Ren.

For a change, the Dame’s reaction seemed somewhat appropriate, and she backed off to quickly take a knee and bow her head, “S-sir…sorry, I-”

Gabriel came to her defense, “Rylen, please go easy on her, she’s-”

“Know your place, Lugios.” The First ordered sternly, “I am still Lord Rylen to you. Or perhaps you don’t quite understand what Vice means?” Rylen took a step forward, hands clasped loosely behind his back as the Captains behind him waited and watched in horrified silence, “Let me elucidate it for you; it means you’re second to the Eidolon. Even if Xanarken likes to play at the idea that you’ve got equal authority to us because he dumped Sargon and Kitez onto you, that doesn’t mean we’re the same. You’re the minor lord of a problematic fiefdom that’s beneath our notice. …Too long have I tolerated the impudence of allowing you to disregard my authority. No longer. Get out of my way.”

He knew not to argue in that moment, and stepped aside.

The First paused his advance and glared down at the Fafnir, “You have a lot of nerve coming down here like you’re excited to go on a field trip, Dame. Eight of your fellows and more than a dozen other soldiers lost their lives here just the other day. This is hallowed ground. How dare you just drop in with such a smug look on your face.”

Ren’s heart pounded in her chest, What’s going on right now…?

Rylen snarled, those vampiric teeth looking rather sinister for it, “You once genuinely worried I would strip you of your wings and rank for the fact that you were caught being involved with your Captain. How can you possibly show up now, having no shame whatsoever as you cavort with yet another superior officer, right in front of my face?”

Gabriel’s brow furrowed, Rylen knew they’d slept together…? For how long…?

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt - this one time - that you’ve lost your way in light of the tragedy. That you’re still in shock, and your judgment is impaired.” The First continued, and bent forward angrily, “But if you ever take advantage of my acknowledgement of your combat prowess again…I’ll not only clip your wings; I’ll burn them in effigy for all the world to see, and make an example of you. Am I crystal clear?”

“Y-yessir…” She answered, trembling where she knelt.

“Get out of my sight.”

She didn’t even look as she took off, vaulting into the air and over the edge of the cliff without a word.

Gabriel was stunned at the whole thing, and looked back to the First, “…That wasn’t necessary, Rylen.”

Rylen turned on a heel, and cast his gaze into the newest of the two gaping pits, “I thought I heard a voice just now. Must’ve been a trick of the wind.”

“Lord Rylen-” Gabriel corrected.

“Ah! So, someone was trying to speak to me.” The angry drow answered bitterly, and looked back at the blonde. Unusually, he lifted a hand and pointed one threatening finger at him, “You have a grand total of 17 seconds left before you realize what an absolute shit-storm you’ve unleashed.”

“…A what…?”

Hearts beat in time with the count-down, and at the end of it…it was exactly noon, and the scheduled release of the lockdown took effect. Gabriel’s HUD reconnected to the World Cloud, and he was bombarded by alerts.

[Leadership of Kitez announces assassination attempt on the Duchess by the Luminary Council]

[Breaking! Duchess Far’nah accuses Eidolon of the Fourth of attempted murder!]

[Corrupt or Conceited? Maybe both!? Lord Xanarken Tellan mired in controversy as Kitez lobs blame for flagship crash at his feet!]

“…Wh-what…in the world…?”

Rylen sneered at him, “Maybe, just maybe, the next time you decide to ignore your actual duty in favor of flirting with the lower ranks, you’ll think better of it.”

Gabriel sneered right back, “You knew about this and didn’t think to tell me!? You knew I was under the effect of your lockdown.”

“And you were the one who voluntarily walked right into it.” The First countered, “Lucky for you, there’s a real Eidolon managing the crisis right now. If you took your duty half as seriously as you think you do, you would’ve stayed in Agartha after you watched the crash happen and did nothing. Where’s your sense of accountability, Lugios? Far’nah may be trying to drive a stake through Xanarken’s heart, but Kitez is your responsibility. It’s your charge to explain what happened out there.”

Captain Gallifey glowered at the accused blonde, “…You’d only been a pseudo-Eidolon for less than a day when the crash took place, right under your nose. Who’s to say it wasn’t you who tried to kill her? That’s just like you afflicted freaks. You’re completely beyond control.”

Gabriel was stunned, and looked to Rylen, “You’re just going to let him talk like that?”

The First stared blankly, “Let who talk like what? I didn’t hear a thing.”

Tarrock smirked. The other two Captains kept very quiet.

“This is why the Eidolon don’t stick their noses in each other’s business.” Rylen added, “If you want to pretend to be one, you’d do well to learn this lesson now.”

Overwhelmed still by the alerts on his overlay, Gabriel struggled to pay attention. It was absolutely mortifying how many messages had been sent to him that morning – hours ago – that he didn’t know were there. He quickly turned to get back to Maeve…only to hear Rylen clear his throat behind him.

“Forgetting something?”

Gabriel felt his whole body tense, but he turned to face the Eidolon again and grudgingly gave that little bow, “Lord Rylen.”

Tarrock just laughed as the Vice finally got to leave, and Rylen turned back towards them as Maeve lifted-off into the sky in a hurry. Those calm eyes stared at all three Captains, “Keep an ear to the ground. If he keeps fucking this up, it may fall to us to clean up the mess after all.”