Avery- 15
Everything moves too fast around here.
The second meeting passes, then the third, and the halls become crowded and buzz with the furor of a world on the edge of war. I'm glad to see the Dog Days go, and the swell of magic and anxiety that accompany them, but that subsides not to the usual calm of encroaching Harvest but instead to a deep sense of dread that comes with the end of the world.
I spend my late mornings at the library, so called because these are the mornings where no one wakes me up at an ungodly hour to drag me by the tail to all-day strategy meetings. Most of the time, the library is near empty, save for essential personnel. Bells is arranging books or reading on the floor, although she has to get up to turn pages on the larger volumes, and Maple is idly levitating dozens of books without blinking an eye. Even Aidan is gone most of the time, out on field work or slinking about hearing about things that don't concern him, and no matter where our relationship might be going, I miss having him around.
Today, there's also Quill, front and center, working on a long, messy scroll that extends across half the lobby. Something of this magnitude can only be one of her personal manuscripts. "Long time no see," I say, beneath my breath. "Where've you been?"
"Writing historical fanfiction!" Quill chirrups, jolting straight up and into my face. "It's been almost a year now? You never finished my book."
"I've been-" I start.
"Busy, I know. No need to feel bad about it. No sarcasm here: you are my inspiration. A librarian turned genius tactician and the Auspicia's protege! I don't think there's one Sentient I haven't talked to who isn't on about you." Quill adds, "I'm so working that into my fics sometime. You, I mean. Wait, wait. You've spoken to the Auspicia, right? Can you confirm if there's a house in thiiiis location in Lira City (still known as the Glade at this juncture, I know) at the time of the Sixteenth Auspicia? I know it's specific but she used to visit the area often."
I blink. "I don't think she'd remember that."
"Dangit."
I continue, "You've heard about Sweep, haven't you?"
Quill tilts her head. "Sure, sure. We don't get to hang out as much, but I know she's thinking about me. I hope." she sighs as she sinks back towards her manuscript, feather clutched reflectively in one claw. "Truthfully? I might be heading to Evelsca after all this is over. I know the castle is safe as you can get, but after that? I miss home. I know that's kind of boring, especially with all you're doing, but some of us just aren't heroes, I s'pose. You'll make us proud, won't you, Avery? All us underdogs."
I can't help but feel a smile flicker across my features. I nudge her, a canine gesture, which she responds to with a very avian chirrup. It's strange to know this alien species makes almost the same noise of happiness as we do. Did the worlds conspire at some point, or is it some infinitesimal sign that crosses universal barriers? Who knows.
"I'm here to retrieve your underdog," Natrina says, entering the library. Quill rolls her scroll up at once, flicking the bottom towards the top so that it goes flying across the room, and then she ducks into a hasty bow. Maple ducks her head, although she might be trying to get under the desk, and who knows where Bells is right now. I start to lower my head when Natrina mutters, "That won't be necessary."
"Oh," I say, helpfully. "Sorry."
Natrina laughs in the back of her throat, a sound that barely passes her mouth, which is far more unnerving than I believe she intends to be. "We should go. It's an afternoon meeting, but you'll want to be there early."
"Isn't the next major run-over tomorrow? You know, uh, fifth to last?"
Natrina nods. "Fifth to last."
She watches the ornate wooden carvings on the way back. They only follow certain hallways, and I get the feeling she knows them, but it takes me a second to remember she doesn't live here. I get a sense of melancholy from her, the kind that would usually prompt concern, but I'm not sure if it's normal Natrina sadness or today in particular sadness.
"Are you doing alright?" I ask as we turn into an empty hall, towards the stairs (i'm dreading them already) that lead to Heilin's study. It's such a comical thing to ask a living piece of myth. I might as well ask the mountains if they're doing okay, or suggest that the rivers divulge their feelings.
"No one has asked me for a thousand years how I'm doing," Natrina says.
"I was thinking about how stupid that was, and I'm going to attempt to apologize. Retroactively." I say, trying to cover as much of myself as possible with my wings without opening them and hitting her.
"Sincerity is never 'stupid'. You speak out of a great place of empathy, rather than a profound lack of respect, and it is a trait that I wish more of you mortals possessed. Not," she says, beginning the ascent up the stairs, "that I plan to be above such a position for much longer."
"What do you mean?" I ask. Great job, Avery. I sound like I'm three.
"I do not know the cause of my own immortality. It is a lonely road I've walked, one seemingly without purpose or end, which is why I've decided to join the front lines of the battle at the Factory." She passes murals of the Obsidians, the same ones I remember from my last journey up here, near a year ago. The light-deprived shapes are even more threatening now than they were then.
I stumble for words. "I- er- well-"
"I look forwards to seeing Vivian again. It's strange to think it's only been a few years for her, while it's been close to an eternity for me. Such are the whims of fate." Natrina looks to the double doors, behind which lie the Auspicia and who knows who else. "We're tired, Avery. Both of us. She won't admit it, and her incarnations help, but we're both wearing thin. At one point, we were bastions of power for this world, but now we're falling into the background, as myths are supposed to. This world doesn't need us, nor should it. Our very existence is destabilizing to a world trying to gain its footing."
"The Auspicia's not going anywhere," I say.
"No," Natrina agrees. "She's not."
She presses open the doors, and I breathe in the thick incense-and-plant scent of the room. It has not changed since I last came, lending the area an almost eerie familiarity. The windows are shut behind a shimmering layer of fabric, and the candles glow in their stead. The Auspicia stands in the corner, by the tables, with a pensive Torch and Iris in front of her.
"It's... just us." I say.
"They wanted you to be here. It seemed reasonable enough, so I obliged." The Auspicia said. "We're finalizing the list tomorrow. They wanted to go over it."
Strewn over the paper is a single paper, half-rolled and written in font so small I can hardly make out the words. At first I think it's all the names of those going to the Factory, but as I look closer, I see that they're Defender group numbers. This isn't a list of individuals, but rather larger factions, and it still seems to go on forever. I try not to let my jaw drop. "We'll still have Defenders to fight the home front after this?"
"Close to a hundred thousand." The Auspicia confirms. "The forces are almost split in half, although the half heere might be larger- most of the younger Defenders are being kept on the homefront, as casualties are expected to be lower and we know what we'll be facing there. These two are adamant about it."
They were in strategy? Iris. Iris's strategy. "Can I pull up a simulation?"
"Do you have some intel for the Obsidian Factory you'd like to offer?" Heilin asks.
"In a sense." I say. "I was going to ask if Iris could be moved to our department. She almost pulled up a zero when I let her control the left flank at the sixth drop zone, in the desert. If we could have her on board during the invasion..."
"Out of the question. We need them on the front lines."
"They're not just weapons." I say. "They're young. They didn't ask for this. They came to this world to get help, and now we're pushing them back into this battle-"
"I'm aware." the Auspicia says. "It's their fight as well. Fate or otherwise..."
"We agreed to this." Iris clarifies. "But thank you, Avery."
"You agreed to it." I repeat.
"Yes." Torch says. "It's... destiny." His tail brushes Iris's, and her eyes narrow.
"I'll be able to offer support. I'm going too." Natrina says.
Heilin raises her eyes to meet Natrina's, concerned and almost shocked. My heart freezes. Did she not tell her? "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Is there some issue I should be aware of?" Natrina asks. "It's our war. If you have any objection, anything I should know, I'd love to hear about it."
The Auspicia grits her teeth. "Iris, if you could run more simulations, your expertise would be greatly appreciated. We thank you both for your service. However, if Avery could show you two out... I'd like to have a discussion with Nat. In private."
We step out and the door slams behind us. I jolt my tail up, certain I pulled a few hairs. Iris, who is already on the steps, looks back. "Apologies. It was a bad time to break it to you."
We lope down the stairs together. "You two are really ready to do this?"
"We made a deal with the Auspicia. Iris went ballistic one night and almost attacked her, and then we figured there was no backing down anyways if we ever want to live here again, without everyone knowing that we're a little bit more 'experiment' than we let on. It's all we can do."
My blood runs cold. "Verhamera's tails. You..." I mouth the words, but no sound comes out. I half want to chuck myself out of one of the stained glass windows. "You..." I had befriended them. This. It's still them. Calm down.
"I appreciate your concern." Iris says. "In fact, I appreciate greatly that you even thought to be concerned over the likes of us, but we're agents of fate. If this is how we're destined to go out, we go down burning. After everything you've done for us, all the kindness we've been shown here? That's all we, two broken pieces of a plan we're trying not to complete, can do."
I mutter, "I was part of this. I scared you two with all those stories... did I drive you to that?"
They pause, watching each other for their next move, and I'm amazed not for the first time at how much they can convey in one look.
"No, Avery. You were honest with us. It's nice to have had a friend, in all this." Torch taps my nose. He's warm, but not in a romantic or fierce way. It's like touching a warm blanket, or a mug of spiced milk cooled down enough to drink. "We're all going to save the world, in our own way, and we'll see you at strategy."
"What do I do?" I ask. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Be glad your destiny is in your own paws." Torch says. "Not everyone gets that privilege." Blood flashes across my mind, mingled with familiar stories. They're forfeiting more than freedom in all this.
We finish our descent down the stairs. I look back up, hearing nothing but still wondering what Heilin and Nat must be talking about, my heart pacing. When I turn back, they are already gone down the corridors, ephemeral and disappearing. Broken. Trying not to bring a plan to completion.
I still worry about them when I watch them go, even though I know they're concerned about me in turn, as if I'm anything to be concerned about.
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