“We are the advisers, my child. We see and understand the weaving of all things.” He waves a hand in front of his face as if he is seeing and feeling the very same threads he speaks of.
“The Divine Mother bestowed upon us the charge to guide the other fae and creatures in their actions of creation and destruction. She cultivated within us a deep longing to serve others and to act with unwavering justice!” He clenches his fist in the air, “otherwise our abilities would have been far too powerful. Although, there have been a few dark wielders in our land’s history but they burn themselves out rather quickly.” He seems to be lost in thought as he looks to the crystals and chews on his moustache again.
Is this why I am the way I am? Why I felt so at odds with those I grew up around?
“What are yourtalents?Why could you not be of use?” He seems to remember I am beside him with a little start.
“Oh, I get a bit lost deary. The animals draw me back to myself but if I tarry too long in the labyrinth of human and fae thought… well I am utterly lost. I served as an adviser in the Palace when Edmund, The Owl, was but a lad and… well suffice to say that I was not the most comforting fae to have in company. I could not direct my mind-walking and would find myself in the head of some far away creature and would forget who I was entirely. I was told I would be found walking the halls of the Palace talking to myself quite often. Not all of those from the House of Ether have the same abilities or control. We are quite a diverse bunch. Or…wereI suppose.” He frowns as helooks down to his lap, which now houses three bunnies and one chipmunk.
I am relieved that not all Etherealists turn out like Gaius but I wonder what that means about my own abilities. I know I can occasionally read and transfer thoughts and the visions ormind walking,seem to have been limited to just Embrys until last night. It doesn’t feel like what I am able to do is of much use at this point.What was my mother able to do?
“I know you left far before her time but… would you know of my mother, Inanna?” A sliver of hope shines through my eyes but his small shrug and shake of the head quickly douses it. His face does a strange scrunched up thing, his expression slowly changes as he widens his eyes.
“Wait, I do recall in my wanderings The Owl lamenting for one he called Ina.HisIna. She had been stolen from him.”
Did he sayhis Ina? Could it be the same person?He reaches out to touch me and I have an initial instinct to pull away but something deeper within yells at me to let him. As his old calloused hand brushes my cheek he gasps and his eyes roll back in his head.
“What? What do you see?” I grab his hand in mine and give it a squeeze.Oh shit, is he getting lost?I look around the room to the animals that are quickly gathering and make eye contact with the wolf as she pushes her way through.
He is traveling, we must wait,she reassures me and I look back to Gaius, seeing his eyes slowly roll back down and blink at me in confusion.
“Gaius, are you all right? What did you see?”
“Oh Ina, hello.” He smiles and pats my hand.
“I’m not Ina, I’m Nuria. Gaius, did you see my mother? Are you able to see into the past?”
“The past… Was I in the past?” He looks around at the animals surrounding us and nods his head as if he is listening tothem speak. “Yes, I must go back into the crystals. Forgive me deary, I lost myself for a moment. Now I must go find what I lost.” He gives me a blank stare and a little, dopey smile as he slowly gets up and shuffles back into the crystal cave.
Great, he really is a nutter. Was he talking to my mother?I wash my face in my hands. These past few days have been too much. This massive question mark that has been looming over my head for my whole childhood is being dissolved too rapidly and yet, not rapidly enough. My brain needs a moment to catch up, to understand. It feels as though there is a missing piece to my past that is so close to being slotted into place but I still feel lost and confused.
The connection I have with Embrys feels old and right, which confuses the crap out of me. He said he had been waiting for me, as if he knew I would come. I should have asked him more about his time with my mother and what could have possibly created this mental bond between us. We very well may have been tethered together against our wills.
Is that an ability of the House of Ether?Did she have unique gifts?Gaius mentioned not all Etherealists… or Mind Walkers, have the same abilities. Perhaps my mother was stronger at creating ties between people. I both want more answers, and for all the answers to stop to allow my head to stop spinning.
I guess my expression has my inner turmoil written all over it because when I look back around, the animals have inched closer to me. A fox has settled over my feet and the doe from earlier is resting her chin on the back of the sofa, near my shoulder. Several birds line the sofa’s back and I can see the three ducks from last night waddling towards me from the kitchen, followed by a raccoon that appears to be holding a steaming cup of tea.
“For me? Why, thank you,” I laugh, reaching out to grab the mug. The sweet and caring nature of these creatures brings tearsto my eyes, tears that have been readily falling more and more these past few days.
“I’m all right, I swear. I haven’t lost the plot, like a certain someone.” I point my thumb towards where Gaius is now napping in the crystal cave and give the animals a wink. His snores rumble through the space and seem to accentuate my claim. The creatures chitter in response;At least someone appreciates my jokes.It may be possible that I am lying to myself.Am I actually all right?
With not much else to do but ponder the meaning of my life, I decide instead to enjoy my cup of tea and thoughtlessly stroke the bunny that is still nestled in my lap.I am stuck here until Embrys returns. I need to do something… something…I shake my head feeling lost once again but the rumbling of my stomach takes over my thoughts and I remember I haven’t eaten in probably twenty-four hours. I gently plop the bunny off my lap and head to the kitchen, noticing some fresh duck eggs calling my name.Breakfast is something I can do.
Chapter Seventeen
Iam lounging on the sofa, scarfing down my eggs and flipping through a book I found on some lore about The Divine Mother as I wait for Gaius, who is still snoring loudly in the crystal cave. It’s a beautiful ancient looking tome bound in dark leather with golden embossed lettering. It feels like perhaps I should not be holding it with my grubby hands but I cannot resist, the curiosity pulls me in.
The book is written in English from a long forgotten time but I had a course in linguistics that I took last semester to help with my grasp of the ancient naming system for flora and fauna in the human realm. From what I can recall from the course I am able to grasp the general gist of this text, albeit very slowly. It is a fun puzzle to untangle and I feel the need to satiate my hunger for any sort of knowledge about this realm, the home of my parents. Possibly my home now if I can’t pass back through The Gates.
From what Icanunderstand, the text depicts a world in which the humans had just come into being at the hands of The Mother, shaped from the red clay of an abundant valley. The world was one big paradise, with a large land mass surrounded by many smaller chains of islands, much the same to what it is now. The humans seem to be the last creatures The Mothercreated and her reasoning was to have a creature with the power of the mind, rather than magic, to create beauty and wonders upon her.
The Mother loved all of the simpler animals that had not been gifted with the greater magics but felt she needed a companion that had the power of invention, a companion who could create like she could.
The fae seemed to be quite content using magic as their tools, which makes sense considering they seem to be stuck in some by-gone era rather than in the modern world of humans. They have all the comforts one could need at their fingertips, quite often at the snap of their fingers. They clearly had no reason to innovate and keep building new technology, no need for dreaming of what could be invented.
The tale goes on to describe the jealousy that the fae had of the humans’ ability to create without magic and the love and guidance they had from The Mother. They felt, as The Mother’s first born race, they should have been favoured by her. So the fae retaliated and began syphoning magic off of the Earth to strengthen themselves until they reached a breaking point, unable to contain what they had taken. Originally their magic was more subtle, as if they were attuned to the fabric of the Earth but they greedily desired more.
They attempted to embody the magic of all the elements and the gifts of the animal kingdom as well, but instead they shattered themselves into Elementals and Metamorphs, only maintaining a fraction of what they were seeking. Rather than being able to access the Earth’s magic, they retained power in much more specified ways, creating The Houses. In The Mother’s fury, she split the world and ripped the magic from one side, creating the realms and The Gates. The Mist was born from her tears of rage and regret, for allowing her children to grow so greedy.
