Ethan drank deeply from the patera, cringing at the thickness of the liquid–what the HELL was it? It was like wine, but more viscous; he passed the golden plate to Eva. Moments later he leaned forward as if dizzy, and then simply vanished. She drank, perhaps a bit too eagerly, enjoying the strangeness of the liquid, suddenly feeling tipsy. Eva just had time to pass the patera to a startled Donna before she toppled backward into nothingness, disappearing from the room.
Eva fell almost instantly to the ground and paused, grunting as she rolled over onto her stomach. It was night, and nearby, a fire crackled. The air smelled of smoke. She stared at the dark earth beneath her, feeling as if she had been here before. Then she heard another grunt from nearby; Ethan was on his back several feet away, and rolled onto his side to face her. The two exchanged a glance before the taller man glanced over the ledge toward the fire.
The ceremony site. They were in the middle of the large clearing where the Kings' statues stood imposingly behind a large bonfire and seemingly, a ceremony. The black void of sky and the random drips of void around the scene signaled that they were deep within the stratums, far away from anything current. It was familiar; Ethan had witnessed several of these memories while trying to prepare for Eva's return. But this was different–they were not witnesses, watching a scene play out from afar. They were here . Inside a memory.
"You think Miranda's anywhere around here?" Ethan looked dubiously at the large crowd of very ornately-dressed people from another time, their horses, their open tabled feast along the edge of the mountain.
Eva listened, sensing. After a pause, she unsteadily clambered to her feet. "No. She is not here."
"Where, uh, is, here?"
"It would appear...." Eva sniffed the air, immediately recognizing the scents that traced through it. She closed her eyes, hearing the myriad night sounds around them–birds, animals, crackling fire, chatter in a long forgotten language. One very obvious scent, feeling, sound, snaked its way into her mind. "We are in Godric's memory. I wonder, what will he show us?"
"Does that mean we're...invisible?"
"We will probably not be noticed, unless by he."
Ethan stood, rubbing his palms on his pants, seeming eager to have something else to focus on besides his own pain. The pair carefully picked their way down the short hill and edged along the clearing's wall, hidden in shadows cast by tall, dancing flames. Eva was mesmerized by the earthly, extravagant colors of the clothing. Men and women danced, drank...it was a veritable party.
Ethan grabbed her by the shoulder and pointed. "Look!"
There were musicians on a strange little makeshift stage, standing and attempting to play instruments neither Eva or Ethan had ever seen, except in paintings or tapestries. In front of the musicians were dancers. Whether they danced for entertainment or pleasure was not clear; it was a strange sight. But behind the stage was seated a row of several very well-dressed people, most wearing exquisite headwear such as circlets or crowns. On one side of this row was a familiar, towering figure. His long hair was down, his eyes glimmered with mirth, and firelight danced across his smiling face.
He was beckoning to someone. Eva was busy scanning the rest of the people on the row, recognizing some of the historical figures from their poorly-painted likenesses in the castle. There was a raven-haired man clearly descended from Cesare, and the teenage girl who sat several chairs from Godric was a younger sibling of his; she would go on to carry their lineage through another few generations of monarchy. Godric himself had disappeared from all history documents save for those the Duke got his hands on.
Ethan spoke excitedly again as an unfamiliar figure weaved past the dancers and drinkers to sit beside Godric. "I know him! I've seen sketches. That's the nobleman. The one who–"
"--wrote about being trapped, after arrival?"
"He was infected," Ethan nodded, surveying the man as if he knew him intimately. Then again, he essentially did. "Back then...according to the documents, the spores were in the air, if anyone spent too much time in the village they were considered, uh....blessed..." he scoffed, "and unable to leave. He was supposed to talk to, well, Godric I guess, about a way to escape, but if he did he never wrote anything down about it."
"Where was he from?"
"I can't remember," Ethan admitted, "He traveled a lot, I do remember that."
The nobleman from Ethan's documents was only sketches, pencil and paper, until now. In the flesh, he was so colorful, so full of life. He was medium height and built rather thick, more like a knight than a scrawny nobleman Ethan had always envisioned. Like most of the other men he had a beard, but his was shockingly red, and rust hair peeked out dramatically from his woolen hood. His hair was nowhere near as long as Godric's, but the man's cinnamon strands fell into his brow as he took his seat. He had a heart shaped face; a line of worry seemed permanently etched between his sparse brows.
He was very handsome. Ethan realized that the self-portraits were accurate, but did not convey either the handsomeness, or the very intense look of anxiety that the man actually displayed. He looked upset, and as if he wanted to stay hidden. Ethan knew from the writings that the group had been rather forcibly welcomed into the village, but since this outsider was a scholar, he was given very esteemed tasks and even a home–hardly a beggar. Then again, being forced into the village wasn't something to take pride in, as Ethan knew.
After Godric welcomed him with a very hard clap on the back, ("Those hurt," noted Ethan to Eva,) the nobleman attempted to right himself. With a smile, Godric yanked back on the woolen hood, exposing the man's face. This obviously embarrassed the other, and his brows lowered dramatically. The pair began speaking in low tones. The eyes of the nobleman danced around the crowd as if suspicious. Godric simply stared at the other, unwaveringly.
Ethan glanced at Eva expectantly, and she tiptoed closer. Not only was she focusing on the language and trying to piece together everything said, but she had to filter through the other noises. At first she listened silently with eyes closed, but then she began translating.
"He says...something about the...Council not allowing the exception..? Oh, for this man to leave. Godric tried to tell them to let him go back home. Now he is saying," she paused, then smiled knowingly. "He tells him not to despair, he will keep trying. He will...defy them if he must? Oh!"
Her voice became loud; she shushed herself, and Ethan raised an eyebrow. Eva's cheeks turned pink. "They are lovers! No one knows. They are speaking in a code of some kind."
"No way." Ethan's usually very serious expression blossomed into a stupid grin.
"Way," Eva responded with excitement. She put her hair behind her ear, hoping to listen for more, but the scene suddenly flickered out of view, as if the fire had died completely.
In front of them stood the familiar door, the door of the ancient church.
They exchanged another glance before Ethan stepped in front, pushing the double doors apart.
Godric was lounging on his seat as usual, stroking his beard. His cheerful face brightened upon seeing the two, and his smile was full of the newly shared secret. Ethan realized how relieved he was to see the strangely charismatic, powerful man, and this time his legs carried him swiftly across the stone floor. Godric stood to meet him, and this time the crushing hug could not be tight enough. Ethan again felt like a teddy bear as he was lifted, but he took a strange kind of solace when all of the air was crushed from his lungs and his face was forced against the other's chest.
Godric set him down and put a heavy, large hand on Ethan's cheek; it was so large it nearly enveloped the whole side of the blond's face. His eye contact was intense, and would have been terrifying if he was not so concerned and genuinely sad as he gazed into the hazel eyes. "I am sorry."
"Th-thank you," Ethan choked, unsure why he was tearing up again. He'd just been distracted from his sorrows a moment ago, but now they threatened to implode while being shown simple warmth and kindness from this man. He wasn't sure if Godric actually spoke, or if he only heard his former words in his head.
Sorrow will find you.
Godric seemed to realize the very thin thread that held Ethan at this moment, and he pulled him into another hug. Ethan did cry this time, and as he sobbed into the impossibly large torso he said regretfully, "I...I wasn't supposed to come here just to cry."
Godric chuckled at this and rocked the blond effortlessly. "You may cry."
So he did, for several minutes. Godric's chin was on the blond's head and he continued the quiet, gentle rocking as he met Eva's eyes. She was staring at Ethan with a saddened look, but Godric winked at her, and she managed a smirk. Finally Ethan caught his breath, enough to pull away from the tree of a man, and he allowed Godric to steer him to the familiar seat.
After Godric forced him down to sit, he did the same to Eva, steering her onto the bench–she issued a light, "Oh!" when he pushed her to a sitting position. Then the King who seemed so eager to neglect his throne sat in between the two blonds, draping his long, heavy arms over their shoulders.
Ethan exhaled. "So tell me about–what the hell is that?"
The empty bench across from them was covered in dark char marks and tiny little handprints. They were mostly scribbles, childish. Godric chuckled, "Your girl. Some hours ago. She decorated for me."
"Rose came here? Alone?"
Godric shrugged. "She is strong."
"Oh my god." Ethan massaged his temple, and he felt the large hand of Godric squeezing the top of his head playfully, as if teasing him. Ethan shot him a faux-aggravated look, and got a head pat instead. The blond didn't even try to argue anymore. Godric was staring intensely at him, and Ethan felt compelled to ask his original question.
"Tell us about–"
"My dove," he heaved a sigh, his usually jovial expression dimming a bit. Ethan thought back to the redheaded man and his very expressive eyebrows.
"Dove?"
"Colm," Godric nodded, staring past the darkness that enveloped his small space. "My dove." Now he exhaled, as if he'd been waiting to get that name off his chest. Eva and Ethan both looked expectantly at him, and Eva finally reached out and petted the long chestnut hair.
Ethan knew the look on Godric's face. "What happened?"
Godric tsked and shook his head. "He wanted to leave. Was not his home."
"And you didn't try to..." Ethan fumbled his words, thinking of Karl. "...make him stay?"
The black brows rose and the humored glare was focused directly on Ethan. "No."
"But where did he go, if he left?" Eva questioned, "He has no records elsewhere."
Godric shrugged. "I was gone, after." He gestured, very much like Karl, almost knocking Ethan in the face with his elbow. Godric seemed agitated, and he consoled himself with petting the hair of both of the blonds. They stared at him, equally mesmerized and confused.
"Gone?" Eva's tone was sad, compassionate. "You mean..."
"You were put here, weren't you," Ethan said, his eyes lighting up in a sort of disbelief. "You were imprisoned, or, or something?"
Godric made a chopping motion at his own neck, miming the gesture comically. Ethan's jaw dropped. "Could not die. Could only be banished. Destroyed my body anyway."
"Oh!" from Eva. "You found the Purifying Crystal, didn't you?"
He grinned mischievously, and she tossed an explanation to Ethan, her braids now frizzy and loose from the top of her head thanks to the petting. Ethan's hair was similarly standing on end. "There were many crystals that this...er...religion, used in their rituals, but the most powerful, they kept hidden, did they not?"
"Yes."
"I'm guessing one of them is the one Miranda is trying to get back after using it to make Rose...how she is," Ethan said, not liking where this was going.
"Yes."
"But one crystal was called the Purifying Crystal," Eva went on excitedly. "It became a bit of a Holy Grail. Firstly because it could, well, purify...it could remove any unwanted side effects from being...well...what we are, Ethan. It made beings more human."
He raised an eyebrow, thinking of the mirror image. Unwanted side effects, huh.
"But it was used in the resurrection ceremonies, which were rare. The reason I say Holy Grail is that, like the Grail, this...disappeared at some point in far away history. It has never been seen since, and fell into legend. My mother tested out many artifacts, thinking it disguised, but she never found it. She would even now give anything to have it, yes."
Eva looked skeptically at the grinning man next to her. " You took it?"
"I tried asking, they said no," he shrugged. They all laughed at this, but then Ethan's smile was replaced by a rather sorrowful expression.
"They punished you for stealing it, to help someone you loved?"
"That...yes.... and punished for a man's love," Godric said with a frown. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. "Was told my life, you are strong! Big! Get a family. Get a Queen. Heirs. Baaahhh."
"Not the queen-having type," Ethan quipped, but Eva raised an eyebrow.
"More than that, if the texts are correct." She looked at Godric with a new curiosity. "You were...?"
"No one," Godric said with a wave of his hand. Ethan pondered on this, wondering if it meant that the King was asexual, and the other man seemed to agree with this silent question, nodding his head. "I had feelings for no one. Only friends! My whole life. Teachers, doctors, priests, called to help." He laughed uproariously. "Trainings! For how to..." he gestured with a displeased face.
"Ew," Ethan said, which made Godric laugh loudly again. The merry sound was short-lived. Large patches of black were slinking past their vision, appearing over the stained glass windows. All three turned to survey the room. Soon the black strands would cover the door.
The blond stared at this in silence, and then turned back to the King. "So you helped your lover, the first, ONLY, lover you ever had, escape this place, and you got put in some kind of...mold, prison? For it? That's why you can manifest after so many years, your mind is protected by being here? But you can't go anywhere else. You're stuck in here."
Godric had been nodding at first, but he frowned and said thoughtfully, "My mind is protected because I remember."
"Remember what?"
"To grieve. Remember what I told you?"
Ethan, for once, was spellbound by the eye contact and couldn't look away. In a small, meek voice, he recited, "Anger and...and love."
Godric nodded approvingly. "Keep feeling it." He twirled Ethan's hair. "You need it too."
"How cruel of them," Eva said in an unusually unhappy tone; she looked rather distraught. Godric was still petting her hair, but now he pulled her in more closely for a hug, planting a kiss on her disheveled head. "Thank you."
"Is there something we can do?" she began, "Some way to....to..."
"Need a Queen," he said sadly, and her face fell. "And then, only maybe . It would be difficult."
Ethan was frowning deeply, and he barely registered any of this conversation. Godric caught onto this and pulled the blond's gaze away from the doors. "What is it?"
"I just." Ethan chuffed. "I don't understand why he would leave you, or let you do something that would get you in so much trouble...I get that he was forced to be here, but if he loved you–"
"He did not know." Godric shrugged. "I did not say. He was to send letters, maybe come back. He sent one letter, and our secret was found. Maybe he sent other letters, I was not there to see them. But." He sighed, hugging the pair close. "Now you know."
"This is awful, I'm so sorry," Ethan blurted out, and when he met the intense gaze this time his eyes were brimming with tears. "I wanted to learn about you, but this...You're here, all alone, punished for–how many centuries?--and we can't do anything about it? Just because of another stupid crystal, and the stupid village? I can't. I can't–"
Godric was almost giggling at watching Ethan get riled up. He poked him in the shoulder. "I thought you are to learn to let go."
"Yeah but....not about this!---About–I...."
"You make me more real," the other man commented, finally pulling his arms in and staring at his hands. He no longer looked translucent, as he had at their first meeting. He turned the hands over as if showing them off. "You come, speak, I feel you, I remember more." His smile was lopsided. "It is not so bad. I remember good things."
Ethan was still staring skeptically, and Godric tipped his head back again. His oddly colored eyes closed. "I remember old things now. How he could sing. He could play. And he wrote always, always made art. He was very gentle. Curious. Always learning. Reading. Taught me to read. So good to touch, so soft."
Godric opened one eye and nudged Ethan.
"Sharing sorrows helps with healing."
Abruptly he put his palms on their backs, pushing them up and away from the bench.
"Go, my friends."
"Thank you," Eva said in a still-somber tone, "So much, for sharing this with us. You are an extraordinary being. I promise; we will right the wrongs of my mother, and of everyone who hurt you."
He lifted her up as if she were a houseplant in a vase, pinning her arms, and planted a kiss on her forehead. Then Godric hugged Eva tenderly, whispering something to her in her own language. She reluctantly moved toward the door, waiting for Ethan.
Godric's smile was different when he turned to Ethan; he had shared the source of his deepest wound, the blond realized as his lungs were forcibly collapsed again in a hug. They felt closer. The crushing feelings of loneliness that Ethan felt while 'reading' the other's memories made sense now. That feeling permeated the air as they prepared to leave. Ethan squeezed Godric's hand one last time before stepping toward the door.
"Thank you," he repeated Eva's statement.
"Remember, awaken–"
"I know, I know, I will...Moreau," Ethan said in the irritated tone that made Karl chuckle and Godric roar with laughter. This time, Ethan didn't even flinch when Godric's lips moved to his cheek, pressing into the soft flesh. And this time, Godric very gently held Ethan's other cheek while doing so. He patted the blond's cheek after, his good-humored expression returning. When he plopped into the throne lazily, Godric held up a hand. "Oh! The drink..." he spun a finger around his head.
"Lie down."
"Great," Ethan commented sarcastically as they tipped into the blackness beyond what Ethan now knew was a prison.