"Ian. Ian!" Yeon called twice before realizing what she was doing wrong and releasing the seal. "Ian!"

"Yes?" The man who was reading the book before, Ian, peeked in through the door and glanced at Jay.

"Are they feeling better?" He asked.

Jay shook their head.

"It’s something else." Yeon said. "Go find Amber. I sent them to fetch Jay’s camp things because they knew the way. It’s somewhere to the southwest, that’s all I know. Bring them here and don’t let them get distracted, this is important." Bribe them with sweets if you have to."

Ian nodded and promptly left.

Yeon leaned back against the pillows and let out a soft groan of pain.

"’Diabolist,’ hmph. Like feeding evil to demons is an art and not an abomination." She said, venting her frustrations aloud. "Any just society would outlaw the practice and exterminate demons to a being, cutting them apart if they dared reform outside the hells.

But Jebzel uses demons, and so Varmyr must use demons, and Varmyr uses demons so Juvelin must use demons. A neverending cycle of misery."

She picked at the destroyed doll by her side and picked at it.

"Jay, do you feel up to fetching my sowing kit? It’s in that dresser."

Jay nodded slowly and fetched the requested item, tossing it onto the bed before returning to their seat. Yeon started repairing the doll, a wolf-spider hybrid abomination Jay fervently wished to never witness in person. Yeon was remarkably dexterous with her left hand, though she was obviously right handed.

Jay sat in silence as Yeon worked, hugging Eyelegs and leaning back on the chair. They were exhausted and thought to catch a few winks of sleep, so they leaned their head against the back of the chair and closed their eyes. Sleep didn’t come before they got frightfully bored, so polite inquiry it was.

"So..." Jay said, head still resting against the back of the chair. "You and Ian? How did that happen?"

Yeon chuckled.

"It didn’t. We aren’t together," She said, "He has a lovely wife, Hyo, and I don’t care for romance. They have two teens together.

Ian and Hyo met a couple of years after our adventuring group teamed up, and Hyo traveled with us for about a decade doing odd jobs and handling logistics before settling down back home when the kids started school.

Ian tried to continue adventuring after that, but his heart wasn’t in it and we already had enough money to make a prince raise an eyebrow. So after three years of us growing increasingly annoyed at his piteous, heartbroken whining we disbanded after a close call and he joined Hyo here in Pleurian.

I followed along because I enjoy his company and didn’t have my own family to return to."

She finished repairing and reattaching a leg-claw thing and moved onto the next one.

"He did express interest in me before he met Hyo," She conceded, "I turned him down so brutally he thought I hated him for two months. I hadn’t even known he had asked, I was completely oblivious to romance as a concept at the time. Athke used to amuse himself by tricking me into saying the most embarrassing innuendos with a straight face."

"They sound like they were some great friends." Jay offered.

Yeon nodded. "That they are. We still keep in touch. Stuko roams around fighting for this cause or that and spending their gold as fast as they make it. Athke lives in a mansion in Jura and tries his best to keep both me and the local House ignorant about his harem of four boyfriends. And..."

She trailed off.

"And Zap?" Jay prodded without thinking.

Yeon took a deep, shuddering breath, but answered.

"And Zap stays in an asylum in Juvelin. She has some good days, where she can see past her waking nightmares. Where she can talk, and recognize faces, and remember something other than the curse. She reads my letters on those days, and sometimes writes me back."

Yeon smiled, but it looked like someone had painted the expression onto her face with a mismatched pallet.

"Two months ago she was aware enough to go out and see ’Neros’. She described it as quote ’The most ignorant, horrendously produced garbage play I have ever seen.’"

Jay scrambled for the right words to react to that. They settled on a platitude.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories." They said, stiffly.

Jay was sure they came off as insincere, but they did genuinely mean it.

Yeon gave a dismissive wave.

"Don’t be sorry," She said, "We were luckier than most adventurers, and Zap knew the risks. I’m just glad she’s still with us sometimes."

She returned to repairing the doll. Jay hadn’t even noticed she had stopped.

"But enough about me. Talk about your friends, Jay." She said.

Oh no. The whole point about asking about others lives was to avoid this very situation where they asked about yours instead. Jay’s was so very boring. But perhaps Yeon needed boring right now.

"I don’t have any friends, not really." They said. "No one close, at least. I talk with some colleagues at the office sometimes, grab lunch together to discuss a difficult account. Sometimes a stranger asks me for a portrait when I’m out drawing."

Jay cast their thoughts about frantically for anything more they could add.

"I feed the fish in the park every third day. There’s a rotation." They concluded, lamely.

Yeon nodded, keeping her eyes on her work.

"Tell me about the fish," She said.

Jay blinked. They certainly could talk about the fish, but no one was ever interested in the fish. Yeon was an adventurer. Her exploits were declaimed by bards throughout Loerma. She had slain monsters, rescued princesses, explored ancient ruins, and trekked through strange lands and dangerous wilds, all the stuff of a storyteller’s wildest dreams. And here she was asking about fish. No bard would ever tell the tale of brave Jay, who talked about the fish just to make a holy feel better.

But my life isn’t a story Jay thought. And Yeon wants this.

"So they are Koi fish, obviously." Jay started. "And my favorite is Biter, she..."

PIC [https://scythiamarrow.org/archive/SplinterGuard/Art/SectionMarkerJay.png]

Jay was still talking about fish when Ian returned with Amber in tow, having exhausted their thoughts about the park fish and moved onto their experiences with ocean fish. Yeon listened, left hand idly clutching the fully repaired "Arachnowoof". Her head nodded occasionally in what Jay thought was polite attention.

"Wake up, Yeon" Ian scolded.

Yeon started.

"Huh? I was awake!" She replied automatically, "Who needs healing?"

Ian sighed. "Then what was Jay just saying about tuna?"

Yeon glowered at the man. Her eyes flashed gold as she cast a spell, but then she frowned.

"I... Don’t actually know. Gula won’t tell," She said.

"Jay was talking about how the sheen of a tuna’s scales is hard to get right when drawing with charcoal." Amber piped up helpfully. They placed Jay’s camp supplies, neatly packed, in the chair next to them.

"Thank you, Amber." Yeon said with glee then turned to Ian. "Jay was talking about how to draw tuna scales."

"That doesn’t count." Ian insisted. "Amber helped."

"Of course it does." Yeon countered. "Gula answered my prayer using my magic, she just used Amber as her instrument."

"I’m not Gula’s instrument, you know I align with Nanaya," Amber clarified.

Nanaya. Goddess of festivals, happiness, joy, love, lust, and sex. Especially the sex. Jay’s brain helpfully supplied.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

That definitely fits Amber, Jay thought, though not in a complimentary manner. They were still a bit bitter about the theft of their fruit packet.

Yeon nodded, then centered herself with a circular gesture. When she next began speaking her tone was businesslike, levity replaced by the command of a seasoned adventurer. Jay wondered if they should leave. Yeon was obviously about to talk about something important, something probably not meant for Jay to hear, but no one told them to and they were curious. They decided to stay.

"I did know that. And then you resurrected Brig, without warning me or consulting the gods. Trampling over both Gula’s domain of healing and Ereshkigal’s of the afterlife in the process, and leaving the door open for demonic retaliation." She said. "Which was unerringly swift and devastating."

"As a direct consequence of your actions," She continued, "A demon of amputation was empowered, a diabolist openly and publicly defied both Gula and Ishkur, a young man was swayed into killing for coin, and an exiled woman was driven further into desperation."

"You know that whenever an aether intervenes in mortal affairs demons strike thrice and call it fair." Yeon continued. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

Wait. Amber was actually an aether? Jay had suspected, but their suspicions were wrong more often than not. And what was this about retribution? Jay knew that aether didn’t often intervene in mortal affairs, but they never really thought about why. They just assumed that the beings had better things to do, like fighting demons in the hells or shepherding lost souls.

But this? Aether, with their absolute knowledge and power, had the ability and freedom to make the world a better place, but they didn’t? Just because they feared demons would retaliate if they did? That seemed cruel.

"Yeon," Ian cautioned, "Not everyone believes in the balance they way you do. I know you are frustrated by what happened, but sometimes bad things just happen without demonic intervention at work."

"Uhhh," Amber said at last, "Please don’t argue about theology where I can hear. Mortals suck at it so much it hurts my brain, even those who dedicate their lives to the divine. No offense meant, Yeon."

Yeon bowed her head. None taken apparently, although she still looked at Amber like they had just tracked mud on newly cleaned floors and she expected an explanation that didn’t involve being too excited they forgot take off their shoes. Jay knew from deep experience.

"In this particular case," Amber continued, "if I did resurrect Brig it would break the balance and result in retribution by evil. Which is why I did not. I spent the aftermath of the crisis comforting those shaken by the explosion, Then spent the rest of the night and early morning in sacred ritual."

Ian looked upset at that last sentence. Jay wondered why for a moment before realizing what an aether of Nanaya would consider "sacred ritual".

"You couldn’t abstain from your own pleasure for one day?" Ian asked, venom in his voice. "When you had just witnessed a brutal death?"

Amber’s eyes cooled. "I didn’t witness just one death yesterday, Ian." They said. Jay was startled to hear a ragged edge to Amber’s voice, an edge that was weirdly familiar. But they had not heard it before. Had they?

"I witnessed nearly ten thousand," Amber continued, "Qiyui, a wonderful old woman who just wanted to reach her birthday on the new year, to celebrate both with her family, failed and died in her home in Trehof. Rho, a bee from Joinder, fell from a balcony after betting xer friends xey could balance on one leg of a chair while drunk. Hilo, a man from Oinspring just west of here, drowned in the river while swimming at night. Almost three times the deaths of an average day. Pretty normal for a new year’s festival."

The shadows around Amber twisted and lengthened, stretching into a pair of wings specked with golden eyes that pinned Ian in place under their stare.

"Want to see?" Amber asked pleasantly. "Just one day won’t break a mortal mind."

"Enough, Amber" Yeon interjected. The shadows retreated. "Ian made a mistake, yes, but there is no need to correct it with threats. Especially not that particular kind. Not to us."

Amber looked away, ashamed.

"I’m sorry. I forgot, I..." They started, and bowed deeply to Ian. "I have been away from Elysium for much too long and am hurting for it. I heard what you said as an attack instead of a request for explanation, and lashed out instead of seeking common ground. I will do better, and I owe you a boon if you wish to take it."

A boon? Jay had only heard of such things in stories before. Ian could ask for basically anything within Amber’s power, and the powers of an aether were fearsome indeed. They had a direct connection to their god, so knew magics mortals could not even hope to emulate. They did not get fatigued by spells as mortal minds did, and they could even grasp more mana at once than mortals.

According to the stories such a boon was even more powerful than a djin’s wish. The implications of such a thing... And Amber had given it away just because they misspoke slightly? Jay’s head spun. They felt out of their depth, but their strategy of polite inquiry had not been successful as of late. They decided on a strategic retreat.

"Want me to go?" They asked. "I can just go."

Yeon glanced at Jay and shook her head. "No. Please stay. We still need to figure out what is going on, and you can help."

Strategic retreat defeated. Sitting in uncomfortable silence it was. Amber kept their position of supplication, unmoving, for an uncanny amount of time. They looked like a statue carved from marble, solid and lifeless. Not even a single twitch of a muscle betrayed the stillness, and no flutter of breath escaped them.

Jay idly wondered what boon Ian would ask for. Food for all the world? World peace and an end to all wars? Eternal life? Jay supposed all of those were actually the same boon. If no one starved no one would go to war, and if you had eternal life you could become rich, conquer the world, and organize it better so that everyone was cared for.

Ian didn’t ask for one. Eventually he just grunted in forgiveness and Amber straightened, returning to personhood with all its life and movement.

"That’s it?" Jay blurted out. They couldn’t help it. "You are just throwing away a wish?

But you could help people. Save lives, cure diseases, fix things. Even if Amber isn’t powerful enough to fix all the world’s problems, they are certainly powerful enough for you to become a Doge, or a Prince! You could lower taxes, eliminate corruption, help the people. You wouldn’t even need to raise levies or entitle nobles, no one would dare attack someone blessed by an aether! Having that, and not using it is more than evil, it’s... it’s..."

They struggled for words with which to define just how callously evil that was. That one decision, one careless waste of infinite potential, made Ian worse than a thousand Archons could ever achieve.

"Trust me Jay," Amber said with a sad smile, "Power isn’t nearly as nice as you think it is."

No. Jay was not falling for such a platitude. Power wasn’t some mystical force that corrupted those who touched it. Aether themselves were proof of that. It was just a dangerous tool, like a kiln that could burn the hand, or a knife that cut both food and flesh.

Jay knew that they didn’t know a minute fraction of what Amber did. They didn’t have Amber’s age, or experience, or wisdom. They knew that they knew nothing of politics, or theology, or arcana. If they wished to be a Doge, or for divine knowledge, or arcane mastery, they wouldn’t even know how to use it.

But some things transcended time and space, culture and ignorance. No person should ever go hungry, or suffer through the cold without shelter, or live without a home. Or be cast out and alone.

"If power is so unimportant then give me the boon instead." They demanded.

"Sure!" Amber replied instantly.

"Amber!" Yeon exclaimed. "Don’t give the young adult the power to destroy cities."

"Too late," Amber cackled, "We can’t lie, and I already promised." They poked Jay on the cheek. "When do you think they’ll regain facial function? I bet it takes them minutes at least. It’s kind of cute."

"Amber!" Yeon growled.

Amber continued cackling, doubling over and collapsing sideways onto the foot of the bed. Some dolls bounced off the side, tumbling to their doom on the floor.

"Jay!" Yeon snapped.

Jay broke out of their stunned trance and turned towards Amber to ask for their boon. They hardly believed they were awake. "I want..."

"Slow down and think, Jay." Yeon interrupted. "You can use your boon whenever you want. Think about it later. Right now we still need to figure out who resurrected Brig."

She turned to Amber.

"Are there any other aether in the area?"

"No. Ha!" Amber answered between fits of giggling. "There are only eight of us. Hah, sorry. Eight of us. Heh. On the continent, and, and the nearest. Ha! The nearest is in Cantal"

"I would have been informed if another holy was nearby." Yeon said. "But I suppose it’s possible a mystic stepped in."

Her eyes flashed gold again, and she frowned.

"Gula’s not answering. That’s strange."

"It could be someone from the Ufriq" Ian hazarded a guess. "They have the ability, and the motivation. The Crimson Throats kept throwing suspicion their way, and the even the flimsiest of allegations have a tendency to smear. No matter how carefully you remove them."

Jay shook their head and focused. Yeon was right, they had time to think of their boon later. They had a boon. Focus.

"Are you sure it wasn’t necromancy after all?" Jay guessed. "If someone else didn’t do it, Archon must have. Right?"

Yeon shook her head.

"No. I checked Brig over," She said, "No signs of necromancy, and if there were I would have spotted them."

She went to clap her hands together, realized why that wouldn’t work, then slapped her knee instead.

"Alright here is what we will do," She commanded, "Ian, go talk to the Ufriq. Use my position as holy if you have to, but don’t inflame tensions further."

Ian nodded and promptly left again.

They trust each other a lot. Jay thought. I wish I was that close with someone.

"Amber?" Yeon continued, "Amber, stop that demented giggling. Thank you."

She took a deep breath.

"Can you tell if a mystic was around here recently? Gula isn’t answering my prayers."

"Sure, sure," Amber said with perfect composure, as if they had not just been giggling like a gremlin in a gunpowder manufactory, "I’ll ask Nanaya."

Their eyes flashed a deep gold, and Jay felt a chill run through the air. Whatever magic this was, it made Yeon’s prayer look like a drop of water next to a forest lake. Well maybe not that big of a difference, but it was still sizeable. A hundred, a thousand times more mana? Maybe? Certainly more than most circles of mages could grasp at once.

Amber gasped and stumbled back from where they had laid down on the foot of the bed. Their hair blazed with fiery light, the very air trembled at their distress. Wings, white wings like a doves yet shimmering with traces of gold and rainbow iridescence shot out of their back, stretching past the ceiling without piercing or overlapping. Jay could see the wings in their full glory and the ceiling, both above and below them, yet occupying the exact same space. It was like Jay’s very perception of reality had broken. They looked away.

Amber snapped their fingers. Nothing happened. They tried again, this time whispering a prayer to their goddess.

"Nanaya, please, guide me back to you."

Nothing happened. Then Amber got desperate.

The very building flexed in on itself, as if space itself was contracting. So much so that Jay could have reached out and touched Yeon.

Jay did reach out for Yeon, and they clutched at each other in terror across a room that was too small, yet still contained everything it once had, just jumbled up and existing in the same space yet not. Jay learned what it felt like to have a velvet doll bounce bodily off their intestines. It was not fun.

And those wings.

As soon as the terrifying scene started it stopped. Amber collapsed to the floor, spent, wings no longer massive things breaking the world but proportionately sized ones tucked behind their back and pressed awkwardly against the wall. Jay and Yeon clutched each other still, both lying on the bed in what had been the exact center point between them before the world broke.

Amber sobbed into their knees. Loudly, and in obvious pain.

Yeon stared in shocked silence.

I guess it’s up to me then, Jay thought. They hesitantly stood from the bed and approached the aether.

"Amber? What happened? Can I help?" Jay said.

Amber looked up at Jay, tears in their eyes, and Jay came face to face with the most wretched, piteous expression they had ever seen.

This is the face of a person doomed. Jay thought. Someone beyond all possible help.

"The gods are gone." Amber said. "I can’t find any of them. I can’t hear their voices on the wind or hear their hands at work in the earth. I can’t feel their love for me and all they wrought. I can’t. I can’t go back to Elysium."

They let out a piteous, mewling sound that was more death gasp than sob.

"I don’t think anyone can anymore."