Pieces of What Used to be You

Elias descended the cliff face, one careful step after another. Leon produced a mote of flame that lit the way down, at least, but descending a steep cliff under the cover of darkness kept his heart in his throat.

He didn’t dare try to make conversation, in case the lost focus meant he would lose his footing and plummet. Cats landed on their feet, but Elias wasn’t about to take that risk. But he thought of Serena, and what she could be suffering. There was someone else that would’ve risen to the occasion if she were in his place right now, which helped motivate him, but a mental fog kept the name and face of this woman from occurring to him.

Fortunately Leon didn’t make conversation either, and they descended in silence. The footholds and handholds were all within reach all the way down the cliff. The ease of reaching them led Elias to wonder if someone had placed them beforehand.

As the sound of the ink against the shoreline grew loud in their ears, Elias dared to ask one question.

“Did you and Serena ever come down to the water…err, ink?”

“Nope,” said Leon. “We always watched the horizon together, but never went further down than that.”

“I see.” For the briefest of moments, a thought occurred to Elias. Serena and Leon had clearly been fond of each other before Elias had come along, only for her to no longer feel that way about him. If it had happened once, then why not another time before then? Maybe someone had come along before Leon, and…Elias shook his head. That line of thinking would do him no good, and just lead his mind in an endless spiral.

They reached the bottom, and clambered into the rowboat. It seated two, much like the one that Bill had brought Elias to the island in. They unmoored it from the land, and ventured out into the water. Leon kept up a flame that floated above their heads and lit the way ahead. The calm water was a blessing. Their oars sliced through the water, and the pair made their way to the distant tower where Merloine lived.

“So what was Serena like?” said Elias, looking over his shoulder at Leon. “When you two were…you know.”

“She liked sculpting,” Leon said. “I could do some interesting things with fire magic and sand. Turn it into a glass, and then she sculpted the glass into shapes.” A long sigh escaped him. “She used to shape them into birds. Liked owls the most.”

“Huh.” Serena had never mentioned anything about glass shaping or owls.

“I’m guessing she doesn’t like that anymore,” said Leon. It wasn’t a question, and his tone carried an air of finality to it, as though he already knew what Elias would say.

“Yeah.”

A long quiet followed that Elias wasn’t sure how to break. Bringing up what Serena was into now would only cause Leon pain, but at the same time, the Serena that Leon knew seemed to have a broader range of interests. Serena now only seemed interested in learning magic.

“Before she was…different,” Elias eventually said. “Was there anything odd that came up?”

That question earned a long silence from Leon, and then a thoughtful hum.

“Kuchisake tried to teach her magic, but she didn’t want to learn,” he said. “She preferred glass shaping, and didn’t see any point to magic. Kuchisake even asked me to teach her, but I didn’t want to force her.” He sighed. “After she came back and didn’t care about me, I wondered if that’s what I did wrong. I thought she’d come back to me if I tried to teach her my magic, or learned with her.” His shoulders slumped. “You’ve seen how well that worked out.”

“You saw that she didn’t want to learn something,” Elias said. “Forcing her would’ve just driven her away, I figure.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

Elias’ arms burned from exertion by the time they reached the shore of the island, and he envied the way Leon could move his arms without issue. This momentary envy turned to gratitude when Leon offered a hand to help Elias out of the boat, which Elias took.

“Thanks,” he said, and stepped onto the beach.

“Don’t mention it.”

The pair of men stepped into the thicket, and began their way through the path to the mage’s tower. Along the way, Elias could’ve sworn that he heard Serena’s voice calling out to him.

“Elias, come save me! It’s a trap!”

“I think I finally figured out the trick to casting, Elias! Come here and let me show you!”

The voice sounded so much like her that his feet half stepped toward the source of the sounds. But then Elias remembered a silhouette of a naked half-woman emerging like some monster from a hole. He shuddered and pressed on despite the voices.

Leon looked around as well. “I think that was…”

“That’s not Serena,” said Elias. “Keep moving.” They walked on the trail deeper into the island. It wound and wound, but the sheer height of the mage’s tower, its stone shining in the light of Leon’s floating flame, served as a guidepost.

Eventually, just when fatigue had begun to settle upon Elias’ eyelids, they arrived at the tower’s entrance. A familiar faintly glowing blue crown symbol shone on the door. Leon walked up to it.

“Wait,” Elias said. His eyes closed as he racked his brain. “I think there was something we needed to–”

“This looks like it’s made of wood.” Leon conjured up a flame in his hand. “Stand back.”

“What’re you doing?” cried Elias. “If we want to save Serena, we need to be discreet.”

“Or we can wait outside, I burn the door a little, and we attack whoever comes outside to investigate the smell,” countered Leon. “And then we get inside.”

“And if it’s a bunch of people and we end up outnumbered?” said Elias. “We can’t afford to be hasty.”

Leon rolled his eyes and stood off to the side. “You have three minutes before I try my plan.”

“More pressure, that’s precisely what I need right now, thank you.” Sarcasm dripped from Elias’ voice as his ears flattened against his hair. “I think Bill knocked a certain number of times. But it wasn’t just that.” He tapped his foot against the ground as he struggled to recall the rhythm. Eventually he deflated. “It’s been too long, I don’t remember exactly.” He stared at the door. “I could keep knocking against the door till I remembered, but I wouldn’t want to alert whatever guards are outside.”

“So my plan then.” Leon smirked.

“You don’t have to look so smug about it,” remarked Elias. He kept to the right side of the door, ready to strike the moment it opened.

Leon set a flame to the wood and waited beside Elias. The smell of burning wood soon made Elias’ cough and splutter. And eventually someone came to investigate. Elias did not wait to see who it was, and struck them in the side of the head with both hands.

They fell to the ground, and Elias darted inside. But Leon didn’t follow.

“What is this?” the man breathed. “Why are you wearing this?” His voice rose. The guard rose to her feet, and Elias vaguely recognized them as one of the pair that had guarded the steps leading to Merloine’s room. Bill had called them a particular name, but he could no longer recall it. But the guard turned around, and he saw a glass jewelry necklace around its neck. The seashells knocked against her breastplate.

She turned on their heel and ran back into the tower, as though fleeing from Leon’s words. She strode past Elias, not even bothering to sneak in an attack from the side with her fencing sword. Leon charged after the guard, and Elias followed after. They climbed the stairs, and Leon yelled up to the retreating guard.

“Serena, wait!” Leon called. “Please wait. We can talk about this. We will talk about this.” Desperation made his voice brittle, and noises of anguish slipped out between his words. His breaths came hard and fast. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll work through it. Just please don’t leave me again.”

The fleeing guard did not respond. Her shoulders faintly trembled. Her breathing sounded odd, as though she was sobbing under her helmet. Eventually a second guard with an immense axe came into view. Beyond them lay the door leading to Merloine’s room. The first guard finally turned to face them, and drew her rapier. It trembled in her grasp.

“I’ll make you an opening,” Leon said. “You get into that room and figure out what’s happening here.”

“Huh?” But Elias didn’t have time to question it any further. Leon produced a curtain of fire in front of them. The guards shied away from it, and then he abruptly vanished the fire away.

“Now go!” Leon said.

Elias charged forward without delay. The guard with the fencing guard seemed too distracted by the fire and Leon’s presence to stop him, and the second guard couldn’t recover from that lapse and swing their axe fast enough. Elias opened the door to Merloine’s room and stepped inside. A rush of wind from the falling axe sent a chill through his tail, but it remained unharmed. He closed the door behind him and locked it.

The guards did not pursue him into the room. Leon was probably keeping them occupied. He couldn’t afford to lollygag while the man was fighting them.

Elias scrambled inside, peeking around for any sign of Serena. His Serena, not the one outside. Anything that could explain why there were two would also be good, but he prioritized the woman herself first. Then he came upon Merloine’s desk. The sight there made his stomach churn. Bile surged, and he pressed a hand to his lips.

The Azure Mage sat in a plush chair on the other side of the desk, his eyes closed. A strange yet vaguely familiar helmet made of wood and animal bone rested upon his head. A long red tentacle connected it to a sirentree. A pair of blue eyes peered at him from within the gap within that tree. He knew those eyes. He’d seen those eyes gazing back at him whenever he looked at Serena.

Elias stumbled away as thoughts careened through his mind. His body bumped against a wall, knocking over some baubles. They landed with a clang, and Merloine’s eyes opened. He stared at Elias and smiled.

“Well isn’t this a surprise.” He removed the helmet and summoned his staff to his hand. The sapphire gem in the center shone in the light. “Good to see you again, Elias. How’re you doing?”

“Where is Serena?” spat Elias.

“My dear daughter is taking shape right here.” Merloine pointed toward the pair of eyes peering out from within the blackness of the sirentree. “If you’re patient, she’ll be with you again shortly. It’s taken me less time with each attempt, but hopefully I can get things right this time.”

Elias didn’t care about attempts or getting things right. He stepped closer. He bared his teeth at the wizened mage.

“Where is my Serena?” he snarled.

“This latest one didn’t meet my expectations either, and she didn’t have much to offer like the leftovers outside, so I opted to feed her to my…other long-term project.” Merloine shook his head. “Sorry, I was rambling. But to answer your question, she is probably dead by now. But I will get the method right this–”

Elias roared at this man that would send his daughter to her death, and charged toward Merloine’s desk. His arms sought the man’s neck, fingers twitching with the urge to strangle him. The grandfatherly smile on Merloine’s face didn’t shift in the slightest, and he tapped the bottom of his staff on the ground. The floor opened up beneath Elias, and he began to fall. His roar turned into a scream as he fell into blackness.

Merloine leaned over the hole in the floor. Elias watched as the man grew smaller and smaller. “You’ll make for a good dessert, I suppose.”