The man who stood in the shadow of the door wasn't her father.
The calm wave of familial recognition became sharp and cloying with unfamiliarity the moment Nivara recognised the ominous, black attire of a necromancer. He was taller, his back arching below the densely packed sand of the Snake Pits, his well weathered hat scraping signature divots into each roof.
The glowing Trollians that had once followed the trail of sandstorms lit dimly in the moonlight, halted in darkness. The only light that trailed was from the man's cigarette, somehow igniting the room too brightly and not enough all at once. An easy mark to confirm his Fire Trait.
Nivara groaned wearily at the aggravating light, Aidari's deteriorating eyesight making her long for her usual body, the Surge draining her enough to barely move her head away from it.
"Fiora? Are you alright?" Nivara's words hung weakly in the deafening silence, waiting with bated breath for her response.
There was no reply.
The necromancer took a single step towards her.
The sheer terror struck Nivara more than any weapon ever could.
The Surge forced her to remain in her seat, its electric hold over her churning into a cloying mix of hot and cold chills that rendered her body so weak she could barely keep her eyes open. Her breath hitched, the miniscule, hypnotic flame startling her far more than any banned profession, her mind frozen in place just as much as her bones.
A single step. That's all it took to change the temperature.
"How dare he show up after all this time? Does he even know what you went through because of him and he better not dare tell me he knows because of his stupid, egotistical-"
Never had the sound of arguing made Nivara feel so relieved.
Fiora's words were cut off by the rushing winds of her Trait, the sand walls surrounding them instantly melting away an entrance. Aidari's home removed the Fiora sized hole with ease despite the scorching air emanating from the frustrated Air Traited all for the fact she didn't want to enter into the same hallway as that man.
The visceral fear Nivara felt was tempered by Aidari's sheer amusement the moment he ducked his head to avoid the height of the ceiling. The sudden uninvited visitor became a bumbling clown the second he crossed the threshold of her doorstep, his aloof nature slammed into the hanging light in a spray of sand.
A bubble of laughter washed over Nivara without her noticing, The Fire Trait that had been deadly precise outside in the elements now reacting like a puppy barrelling its way to a new friend. It singed through every appliance in a line of haphazard zigzags from the pie stand to the kitchen towel underneath it until it met with Aidari in an over-exuberant hug of warmth.
"Kirai."
The threat on her life evaporated along with what was left of Aidari's favourite drink, the tweak of a smile threatening to dampen her daughter's understandable disdain for the bumbling, awkward Traited. The moodily dressed Fire Traited removed his signature hat respectfully, far older than Nivara expected with his mostly greyed hair trying to overtake the rest of the flaking black.
"Lady Aidari. My apologies for the late hour and the unexpected visit. I understand your need for secrecy but I wouldn't have come here if I didn't need your guidance."
He gave a short bow, Kirai's conflicting personality irritated Fiora with every jerk of his head. She remained standing against the doorway he had entered in an attempt to block it, eyes fixed on him with every step he dared to take towards her mother.
"Guidance my ass. Shove that respect up your Trait and smoke it, Underwood. Siara deserved better than that and you know it. Sybil too, damnit."
Nivara's confusion was muddled by the wince of pain on Kirai's face, perturbed by the sudden verbal onslaught but seemingly resigned to his fate. Aidari's brief flashes of memories were too blurred to make sense but the familiar features of a certain Sunspell elf made Nivara think.
She hadn't seen many elves since Creed was attacked and none of them matched the hazy details of a Sunspell elf. She didn't know how long ago this was, so perhaps they didn't align themselves with the Taishin or hadn't done so yet. But the expression on Fiora's face was unmistakable, however long he had been in her life they hadn't parted on good terms.
"That's enough, Fiora. We can air his dirty laundry as much as we like but it's still the same shit he's probably used to hearing by now." Aidari conceded, returning his nod out of courtesy more than anything.
Her grandmother's Nocturian slang sounded so natural compared to her usual Caldorian tongue but Aidari's choice of crude humour certainly had the desired effect. Nivara couldn't help but enjoy the cat-like grin on her mother's face, Kirai's ears tipped red in embarrassment no matter how many times he tried to hide it with his hat.
"Why are you here, Timekeeper? I doubt it's anything to do with Kalaris unless she's somehow changed her demeanour in the last few years since the Green Seas war ended." Aidari asked evenly, alluding to so much history as if simply commenting on the weather.
Nivara blinked as if attempting to hide something caught in her throat. He was the Timekeeper before... well she didn't know quite what to call him but this Kirai ...the name felt wrong but apparently, he was a Keeper of Trait. But to Aidari he was just another face in the crowd of people she associated with.
He wasn't a friend, clearly far from it but the relationship seemed close but strained at the same time. Almost like someone she desperately wanted to reach towards but lacked the words to do so. Nivara's stark realisation made her think of only one person to compare it to. Creed. She had been sent into this Memory Weave, this out of body experience to meet his predecessor.
"No, Stormkeeper. Kalaris and I...we have gone our separate ways. She is far more capable on her own without being tied to my...less than stellar reputation."
Aidari folded her arms, closing her eyes in a subdued expression but Nivara's head hurt with all the questions whirring around in her mind. The waves of emotions and memories Nivara caught were too many to comprehend, hidden beneath the surface of her impassive expression towards him.
Fiora's derisive scoff broke his melancholy tone.
"That's not how I saw it. That woman was obsessed with you and you know it. Almost as much as you are with these damn Keeper's, Underwood."
Kirai turned his head away so fast Nivara was almost sure she heard his neck crack, hiding his blush with the brim of his hat but the tell tale burning of his ears remained. Fiora's grin reminded her of a kid secretly snacking in the larder. The Air Traited mirrored her mother Aidari's crude nature and no bullshit tolerance she got from dealing with Neridian higher ups.
It was easy to piece together why Aidari and Fiora had made their new visitor angry; a natural way to veto a Fire Traited was to see how much control they had around others. But Kirai was clearly hiding something.
"Yet you were never named as one despite your lineage, Fiora. Perhaps those rumours about your lacklustre Trait weapon were true. Look how the mighty House of Caldor has fallen." He snapped back defensively, a cruel hint of a smile on his face.
Nivara stomach lurched, Aidari's dread overwhelming her for a moment even as her eyes remained fixated on her daughters. The look on Fiora's face almost broke Nivara's heart. The rose tinted lens she had for her mother shattered with every memory that passed Aidari's vision.
Fiora's vulnerability towards her Trait, her bad wrists due to lack of muscle and a weak constitution that would leave her bedridden for days. The Stormkeeper had tried everything but despite Fiora's insistence Aidari had refused to allow the experimental Sunspell treatments.
In her desperation, Fiora opted for the harsh training that eventually made her symptoms and her Trait worse. Within her bedridden state, alone and abandoned, she developed her own fencing style that relied on speed and technique rather than how much she could lift. But there was no changing the ache in her arms and with the times of war there was no time for new techniques from a scorned soldier.
It had been Kirai who had suggested her harsher training and it had been the prestigious Timekeeper who had refused Fiora's deployment. He had made the final decision in favour of abandoning Caldor for defending the Nocturian borders instead. With already broken trust from years of separation, Aidari had agreed.
"Enough both of you. I'd have more of a chance stopping two dragon's in a cage fight than listening to you insult each other. Unless you want to join Lakerton and crash next year's Debate?"
Aidari's stern voice snapped Nivara out of her thoughts, Kirai now leaning awkwardly against the armchair Fiora had vacated as if being allowed to walk around the room would trigger his clumsiness through thought alone. Nivara suppressed the urge to chuckle, his stance reminding him of a naughty child being disciplined by being sent to the corner.
"Sorry, Stormkeeper."
They both replied in surprising unison, Aidari's mouth tweaked upwards at their childish expressions but decided to say nothing and move on. A slight jerk of her head towards the vacant armchair had them both floundering in courtesy rules and right of way while Fiora gave her a look that would startle even the crotechiest of dragons.
"Then sit. Both of you."
With the practised grace of a drunken Sand Wraith Kirai attempted to navigate the narrow kitchen and head towards the tucked away table, almost knocking over not one but two of the chairs on the way to his own Aidari gently directed him towards, hat and all.
"I came alone. But if you insist, I'll stay." He admitted, avoiding Fiora's outraged expression and took his seat.
Fiora remained steadfast in her guard duty of the main exit, watching this catastrophe in full until she was satisfied Kirai couldn't escape without her knowing. But she still refused to move. Kirai's cold stare still unnerved her, rubbing her wrist absentmindedly until her guard duty over the door no longer outweighed the need to be at Aidari's side.
"I was sure you weren't the type to share your grievances to me Kirai. Yet here you are begging on my daughter's doorstep. Either eat or leave and take this unknown apprentice of yours with you. Honestly, leaving them out in the cold isn't like you at all." Aidari berated him, one eye on the fidgety Fire Traited and the other on her less than pleased daughter.
The Stormkeeper settled back into her armchair, Kirai's resolute silence doing nothing to stop his hands continuing to tap against the Ironwood table in an attempt to distract himself. Fiora let out a loud sigh, unable to watch anymore and began busying herself in the kitchen exactly as Aidari had asked. Albeit it was a little less verbal than normal but Fiora got the picture, begrudgingly or not.
The insistent racket from the kitchen, Kirai's awkward shuffling and the pain from the Surge was certainly some interesting pre-dinner entertainment. The two avoided each other's gaze like the plague, Kirai occupying himself by individually counting
the sand grains in the wall while Fiora performed some kind of secret witchcraft on her beautiful greevy pie. Either that or poisoning.
Aidari's eyes went wide as Fiora worked her magic and produced a second, hot, steam covered package and unravelled it from the intricately tied snitchweed package. That little thief lied. She craned her neck to watch Fiora carve her way through a second, secret greevy pie and the innocently pious look on her face almost made her burst out laughing. It was worth the ache in Aidari's back to see her smile like that.
With dexterous hands Fiora placed the glistening slices of greevy pie onto two separate plates and to Aidari's confusion unravelled the piece meant for Cardin and wrapped a much nicer one she had just cut for later. It seemed Fiora's pettiness knew no end.
"What about..." Aidari began, but Kirai's sullen expression deterred her from finishing her sentence.
"My apprentice isn't here. She isn't well enough to-"
The resounding clatter of a clay plate set in front of him kept them both quiet. The once mouth watering greevy pie had sunk more than she expected, the pale green flecks of intricately sliced greevy had begun to brown, falling out of its ornate pattern into a soggy mess but Fiora presented it with a proud flourish.
"You're a Fire Traited. Heat it up yourself."
"Thank you."
In a wordless agreement, Kirai tapped the stone cold snack, testing to see whether the plate would crumble underneath his touch and produced a small flame on the edge of his finger nail. Almost like an added garnish, the small glowing orb was no bigger than an egg and bit by bit with a little coaxing it grew a tail and then its bulbous body stretched out into a teeny, sleepy, salamander.
Aidari gently set her cup down beside her with a smile.
Internally, Nivara was freaking out at the sheer adorableness of the creature he had created from mere Trait alone. It took every ounce of self control not to have her grandmother squeal like a five year old but damnit she couldn't help it. Instead she snorted in amusement at its sassiness towards Fiora. Trait would always betray its users emotions, especially Creatist Traited.
The salamander snuggled up to Kirai's finger, a ghost of a smile on his lips before he became strict and focused, the salamander opening and closing his eyes just enough to stick its tongue at Fiora. The living lizard of Kirai's Fire Trait surrounded his food in a surge of smoke before dissipating into smoke.
"I haven't seen you since the Ashes of the Fallen, Kirai. I remember how many times we insisted you take that damn hat of hers. It's tradition. Yet now, you won't leave it out of your sight. How times have changed." Aidari said wistfully, the tinge of a warning creeping into her voice.
Not every Keeper before Kirai had been a Creatist type. But those who did tended to lose sight of their familiars as being sentient creatures separate from them but mere tools they could shape and create into whatever he needed. Aidari knew the very salamander he had summoned had once been given a name, a sign of individuality dependent on his own unique humour. But if he never spoke it aloud, Aidari herself could not change that and it was lost to time.
Kirai's own predecessor had been a Sunspell elf who had insisted on calling his creations after the food he liked. The Spiritwalker kitsune hadn't exactly been keen on the name Mushroom but it was better than sprigwicket. Nivara struggled to suppress a snort at the thought of naming Kaldra after a recreational drug but preoccupied herself with taking a sip from her drink.
"Only the Night Rider can inherit it. I abandoned that duty for...well, you said it yourself already. I don't deserve it. But it returns all the same. Guess it's her way of putting her faith in me." Kirai admitted, a hint of a smile on his face before it was quickly wiped away in favour of food.
Fiora returned to her armchair and clutched Aidari's hand, nervously attempting to channel what calming energy she could from her mother. Nivara jumped a little, startled by the sudden interaction but Aidari herself remained solid as a rock and rubbed her thumb against Fiora's palm comfortingly.
No longer was Kirai the young man she had helped teach but a man burdened by grief and responsibility. His once mischievous gaze had become hard, indifferent and cold from sheer stubbornness to his resolve but the dwindling spark of his old self still remained in his Trait. Aidari didn't know how long that would last.
"Or she's haunting you for leaving Nocturus in the state that you did." Fiora interrupted, unable to let history go so easily.
Kirai gulped down a large chunk of greevy pie a little too quickly, wincing as if his meal was filled with glass. Rubbing his neck, the knot in Aidari's stomach tightened with every flash of memory to the vast forests and hidden waterfalls within. There were only two words that Nivara could latch onto as feeling familiar: Green Seas.
Aidari's eyes clenched shut, not wanting to recall the field of ashes that ended her reputation, her family and her last act as the Stormkeeper. She could feel Aidari's thoughts become sluggish to keep up, like a separate section of gears needing a little more effort to work. The war between Neridia and Tarragon was a source of immense guilt and pain for the much older Stormkeeper so Nivara focused on something else. Fiora.
Aidari's emotions became a little clearer at the thought of her daughter, the remembrance of her past duty and responsibility clouding her history towards her noble house and the collapsing influence around it. The House of Caldor had been responsible for defending the Nivarian capital city but Kirai's teachings of how Trait 'should be' had thrown the court into disarray instead of uniting them in a common goal.
When decisive action towards the Green Sees war was being decided upon the House of Caldor was asked to act. A sickly Fiora had been cast over for the Timekeeper's timely arrival and thanks to his Master's influence Kirai had inadvertently caused Fiora's family to be disgraced, exiled and shunned from society. Until the House of Caldor fell to disarray. All because of his Trait.
"You knew how close your Master Nemera and I were, Kirai. I have tried to extend the same aid to you, her only Traited apprentice. But you are playing with fire by being here, despite your Trait. You know we're in hiding yet here you are without the apprentice you wish to discuss. Why?"
Nivara could feel her rising anxiety being pulled down into Aidari's stoic calm of a diplomat forced to keep her intentions secretive. Despite Kirai being an old friend, she knew how his allegiances had been warped by grief. Aidari had arrived too late to save his Master Nemera and Kirai had blamed her ever since. Being the only Traited who had shared the same Eternal Death as Master Nemera had made him biassed, barely able to acknowledge the two other apprentices that had come after him.
After all, they were not Traited and that combined with his overwhelming guilt for abandoning his role as the Night Rider forced Nemera to choose someone else he had never truly seen eye to eye with. In his ideal role their succession of being Keepers never existed. They had taken the same title as him but Kirai had made sure to erase them from history. Not even Aidari could recall who they were.
"You shouldn't have to hide. But I assure you it's worth the risk."
Kirai deflected the question with ease, the lack of a truth detecting dragon irritating Aidari far more than she expected but she wasn't about to force a newly bonded Agar to play polygraph for her. She might not have agreed with her granddaughter's choice but she had at least the common sense not to awaken a sleeping dragon. She had enough on her hands dealing with a certain dragonic temper beside her.
"I've heard that lie before." Aidari chuckled, smiling evenly as not to unnerve the uneasy Fire Traited.
Kirai's hand hovered over his treasured hat, protectively placing it on his head and gave her a subdued nod, his half hidden expression remaining impassive as ever. Nivara's eyes traced the faint outline of a scar across his temple before the brim of his hat obscured it but not before revealing a few more beneath his collar. Trait made or not he had clearly been through the wringer and recently. He had lost far more in the war.
Kirai had lost his Master. Aidari had lost her mentor. Neridia had lost their freedom.
Nemera had been the cornerstone of what the Night Rider encompassed as a person, as a history and was one of the only successors of the mantle who had been respected by all of the leaders regardless of her standing. Her Shadow Trait had been exemplary and had been one of the last Shadow Traited to freely walk as a necromancer, demonologist and Deathkeeper. Before Hellgrind came into fruition.
The growing rift between the countless demon attacks, the rising border tensions and the eventual war ended with two pivotal events. The creation of Hellgrind. The death of Nemera the Selfless. Now only remembered as Nemera the Scorned. History had warped her sacrifice into a self centred act to strengthen her hold over the people and usurp those who had started the war for a position of power. Kirai had inherited it all. But he had also tarnished it beyond recognition.
Perhaps if things had been different she could've helped Kirai process his grief in a healthier manner than being fixated by the Keepers of Trait. If Nemera's legacy hadn't been tarnished then maybe Kirai would've gotten more time to learn about his role as the next Night Rider. If Nemera hadn't died then they'd have more information about her role as Deathkeeper and maybe...the other Keeper's might not have lost their fellow apprentices so soon.
Aidari flinched at the memory of a half drowned girl, no older than her granddaughter desperately shivering as she clung to life. Her blonde hair was stained with oily blood and ash, the rise and fall of her chest barely noticeable against her waterlogged clothes. Another apprentice lay still, an emerald Sand Wraith crying out in pain as the child faded to ash into the burned soil beneath her. Without Nemera, they were just another clueless Traited. They weren't Keeper's. They were kids. Just like Creed.
"So, what in the Seven Hells is worth risking my entire family and our location over a poxy Timekeeper who hasn't shown his face in years? We've already been burned twice by his antics, mother."
Fiora met his gaze evenly, attempting to mimic his false use of formality and greeted him in the same way. The tilt of his head, the clench of his jaw all of it was made a mockery of with her over exaggeration. Nivara winced a little, her hand still a little sore from being used as a stress ball but she distracted herself from the two idiots by enjoying the second serving in front of her.
"My apprentice. She's a potential Keeper, Aida. That would make four of us. The furthest we've gotten to freeing the Laia's curse in decades. We're close, I can feel it. Her Trait...it's like nothing I've ever seen. She's just like Nemera..."
The manic look in his eyes barely lasted a second but it was enough to turn the room ice cold, what little heat that flickered in Kirai's desperate gaze. Aidari had barely noticed how thin he was beneath his dark clothes, assuming his ravenous appetite was from the long journey not from starving himself for whatever goal he was searching for.
"That's not the first time you've come to me about that. Are you absolutely sure?" Aidari said evenly, trying to hide the fear in her voice.
No matter how far Kirai pulled down his hat, there was no mistaking his bloodshot eyes, trembling hands and erratic bursts of anger. He was more animal than human, hungry for the praise he so righteously deserved and could no longer receive from his long dead Master. So he came to her. The Stormkeeper of Caldor.
"Oh for Laia's sake. He isn't even sure if Kalaris is a Keeper yet here he is without her and about to drag another innocent Traited into his mess. What are you even gonna do if you somehow find all of them? Fix everything?"
Aidari could feel Fiora's anxiety emanating off her in waves, the winds winding their way around the Sand Pits protectively, trying to direct her anger away from Aidari the only way she could. Kirai hadn't noticed her summon her Trait weapon, the thin blade of her saber resting away from him, hidden beneath the crook of the armchair. Aidari wasn't sure it would be enough.
"You've no idea about anything, Fiora. You're just an aimless Traited trying to make sense of all this chaos. At least I'm actively trying to do something about this."
"Too little, too late."
Fiora flicked her sword into her awaiting palm.
Nivara clamped her hand over the blade, gripping Fiora's hand tightly. Obscuring it from view, Aidari held the gasp of pain between her teeth, struggling to ignore the burning slice of her palm. Fuck that was stupid. But she couldn't, she wouldn't watch her mother sacrifice herself for some dream chasing madman. Not again. Aidari's thoughts were a flood of confusion but Nivara broke through with one single command.
No. Not yet.
This was what she was here for.
Nivara knew the pain of being told you were destined for something greater only to be denied at every turn. She had been moulded into a weapon by so many people, some just as desperate as Kirai was right now. Heck, for all she knew this unhinged Fire Traited could be the catalyst to everything but she wasn't against the Mist Maiden's or an entire mob. All she had to do was persuade one, single person.
"I know you went to Siara after I told you not to. I know you abandoned your daughter because you think the child you brought her instead is Nemera's. Whether that is this apprentice you speak of I highly advise against it."
Nivara blinked unflinchingly at Aidari's resurfacing memories, the already half ashen face of a dark haired woman struggling to hold an already stillborn child no bigger than her arm. Covered in ash, soil and the scars of so many, the fires dimmed and the sunlight brought forth new life and a new day. Until Kirai plucked the sleeping child from her hands.
"More importantly you forget that I was there the moment your predecessor betrayed us all. I was there to pick up your slack when you refused the Night Rider name. I was there to give her child and your own a home when not even you could, Timekeeper."
His uncaring smile broke through her memories. Churning them into a mess of intangible thoughts and emotions no Memory Weave could ever untangle. A woman Nivara had never seen before, pale green light that lit the Sand Wraith like a beacon until she fell to ashes. The fury of every strike her grandmother took to stop them. The cracking of the sky that would soon be known as the floating demon realm of Hellgrind.
"Of course, Stormkeeper. But we both know how that turned out."
With just a few words, Aidari had lost the will to fight. But Nivara hadn't. She had barely scratched the surface of what had happened that night but the resounding footsteps of war still remained a sore subject to process. As Stormkeeper she had failed to recognise the growing elven insurgence that became the Taishin. She had hesitated to punish the Caster's hurt by the False Prophet who claimed her title for themselves. She wouldn't hesitate anymore.
"I've fixed your mistakes once, Kirai. Don't expect me to do so again."
Aidari's words echoed in Nivara's mind, the irony of her and Kirai's situation making her want to laugh out of sheer hysteria. She hadn't expected to say the same words her grandmother did but they had felt right at the time. She was stuck in her grandmother's body only to find out Aidari had done exactly the same thing to save someone she loved. The thought of Creed being in a completely unfamiliar place after being mistreated for so long filled her with regret but it was no doubt the same regret Aidari felt now about Nemera. She wasn't there when she needed her the most.
"She could be a Keeper of Trait, Aidari. Just like my...our Master. If we find all of them....we have a chance to fix this curse. You know how important that is."
"More important than your own daughter?" Aidari snapped, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.
The weight of Aidari's words seemed to burn him, Kirai recoiled at the mere thought only to confirm what he already knew was true on his face. Nivara could tell the old Stormkeeper was only standing out of pure stubbornness, her arms screaming to be rid of this weight. No matter how frail she was, Aidari would not falter.
"Did you even know about Sybil? You insisted when you came to me with Kalaris that I put the same faith in you. Yet she's no longer still with you riding your coattails. Were you wrong about her too? Is that why you abandoned her?"
Nivara hadn't realised she had stood up. Her knees aching with every sway of movement, wanting to laugh at the words burning her throat. Gripping the edge of the armrest she wiped away the ash between her fingers, the stinging ice from the Surge cleaning the wound to leave little trace behind.
Aidari took in several deep breaths and tried to hide her fatigue as best she could, trying not to doubt in her words despite knowing what would happen if she was wrong. She had seen firsthand the pain of being a necromancer, their names already being dragged through the mud despite everything they had given to save their country.
All they had done was try to lay their comrades to rest without the interference of demons taking their grimoires for themselves but now...Nemera and the other Shadow Traited were banned from Opalis due to her actions and the actions of the Keeper's. Yet Kirai still wanted to dig up the past.
Kalaris' past.
The familiar name snagged in Nivara's mind, the haughty golden dragon paired with a very familiar aloof woman dressed almost impeccably similar to the man before her. She had seemed permanently troubled by something, much like how the squirming Kirai was now without Nemera to guide him. Abandoned by his mentor far too soon.
"Yet your current apprentice isn't using your reputation? You chose a Singfall siren instead of a Water Traited to inherit Retribution. Was your daughter's Trait that much of an insult to you, Stormkeeper?" Kirai reprimanded her, far more brazen now all pretences had been dropped.
Aidari struggled to hide the hurt on her face, stumbling back a little at the sheer audacity she felt towards the Fire Traited and the spider's web of conversations he insisted to focus on. Aidari had not mentioned her apprentice. Not once. She had refused to take even one apprentice after watching so many of the other Keeper's fall to the same grief. But she believed in Reina.
"Water Traited or not she can still cut you down just the same, Timekeeper." Fiora defended her mother, her hollow laugh echoing throughout the open room.
Nivara felt the ache of regret in her grandmother's chest, the earlier conversation still doing very little to convince her of her choice not to force Fiora into inheritance of Retribution. All Aidari wanted was to keep her family out of her grimoire's business and any other Traited free from the burden of carrying the Stormkeeper's grimoire.
Her people had suffered enough and trusting Reina despite every seed of doubt Kirai continued to fester against the exiled Singfall siren she knew how manipulative he could be. Despite being far more brazen than any Taishin member had ever dared to be.
"Reina is far more selfless than you or I, Kirai Underwood. Saving a Traited is no easy task for a Singfall siren and the risk of taking her in as an Agar is far more of a punishment than simply being exiled from her clan. Your own Agar should know that better than anyone."
Aidari could feel the power of all of her ancestors rush through her in a matter of seconds, from Stormkeeper Telari all the way back to Lady Sarik the first to hold the title of both Stormkeeper and Night Rider. She had been a Singfall siren just like Reina. Which meant Kirai was wrong. But he would never accept it.
"That's different. She's-"
"Yet here you are with another apprentice expecting me to drop everything and help her the same way your wife did. The same way Hack and Anirri did. The same way the Council of Names did. The same cause your Master and every other Night Rider died for. When is it enough?"
Aidari's righteous fury towards Kirai's constant focus on what he thought was important was nothing compared to Nivara's conflicting feelings on the Reina she knew from the brief time in the meeting room. Her mind spun with questions, trying to focus on Kirai's flip flopping motives instead of an aggravating Singfall siren who insulted her Oathed.
"You're right." Kirai said, with humourless laughter and set his hat down against his folded hands.
His shaking hands did nothing to clear Aidari's mind of grief, clearly seeing him for the Timekeeper he finally was. Kirai wasn't looking for sympathy. He was looking for a redo, a reset exactly the way he had provided for so many. He had tried to rectify his mistakes but had doubled down on his insistence. Kirai had been much older than most when he became Timekeeper, curious but worldly travelled despite being in his mid thirties.
Perhaps it was why he thought he knew everything even after so many other potential Timekeeper's had perished before Kirai had taken on the mantle. He had to have been harder to target for the Taishin, the usual signature power spikes in children's Trait far harder to distinguish in adults. Aidari's mind drifted to darker rumours suggesting he had struck a deal with his assassins.
"What happened to Siara was my fault. I should've been honest with her, with you, with my Master, with everyone. If I had then maybe she'd still be here. But I never asked for this-"
Aidari's motherly nature changed the moment Kirai put his fork down.
"You think every other Stormkeeper before me did too? You lied, Kirai. To me, to Fiora, to your Master, to your apprentice and to your Agar. You left to go to Neridia with the promise of aid and what did we find? Nothing but innocent Traited imprisoned by a false prophet, my name and a brewing war you started! Hell's teeth, even your Agar was tortured from your own negligence!"
"Mother..."
Fiora didn't have the words.
Aidari's breathing became unsteady as she forced herself to sit down and leaned back in her chair. Her grimoire that had been tucked away out of sight had now bridged the gap between them in blazing glory, daring to challenge Kirai's own power. But the deep, blood red grimoire never materialised. Kirai would not wield his Defiance against her.
Aidari gritted her teeth in frustration as the Surge wracked through her system. Nivara had lost that feeling, that addictive, resentful, righteous anger that had sat dormant in her grandmother in favour of compliance and preservation. She had tucked it away like one of her many dusty tomes on her bookshelf, keeping it out of necessity for the time when she was ready to pass it on to her apprentice.
"What happened to Odi wasn't-"
"Your Agar might be blinded by your Trait, Kirai but I am not." Aidari said quietly, breathlessly ending the argument after so long of a back and forth.
Nivara blinked, her eyes watering for some reason but she brushed them aside with a wrinkled hand. The quiet hung in the room much like Aidari's exhaustion, the sheer brain power of trying to combat this stubborn idiot tiring even Nivara herself. She could empathise with parts of the story Kirai had concocted, his vision of having the Eternal Death curse be completely erased was incredibly convincing.
But deep within Aidari's self consciousness, away from all her fear towards being wrong, towards the unknown of change or sacrifice was the staunch belief that most necromancers grabbed hold of. That the Eternal Death was not a curse but the natural way of life for a Traited. Yet the two radical approaches for peace could not coincide in her mind no matter how hard Nivara tried to unite them.
"My Trait isn't your concern anymore."
Aidari gave him a wan smile, his sullen teenager act doing nothing to quell Nivara's suspicions towards his earlier outburst albeit due to his hunger or exhaustion. His subdued body language compared to the raging heat his aura gave out made her sweat, the twitch of his hand reaching for a cigarette or a concealed weapon.
"Yet here I am, still worrying about you."
Nivara could sympathise with Aidari's plight to try and calmly reason with him after everything they had been through, much like the dragon and dumpling approach when it came to young kids.
"Yet you won't trust me on this."
Fiora scoffed loudly, Kirai's pouty child act doing nothing to empathise with the Fire Traited who had already overstayed his welcome. She kept looking towards the door nervously, expecting Cardin to walk through the door and save her from this entire visit. But his food remained on the counter, stone cold and nothing would change that.
"You think the Timekeeper can never be trusted because of the Lazarus curse placed upon you? Then give us something to trust. Something other than just your words, Kirai. Find something new to place your trust in. Perhaps this new apprentice might help with providing a bit of perspective?" Fiora said, far calmer than she had ever been all night.
Nivara desperately wanted to take notes over every little nuance her mother and Aidari said or did hinting at anything about the past, half wishing for a photographic memory to relay everything back to the Council of Names or at least for her own personal archives. For some reason, she had this nagging feeling in the back of her brain that Anirii already knew a lot of this from her time as Fatekeeper. But who knew with the arrival of this eccentric Timekeeper.
"Alright. I see your point. I guess convincing you is far harder than it used to be huh, Stormkeeper." Kirai joked awkwardly, finally admitting defeat despite the lacklustre response to his humour.
Aidari could tell from the way his shoulders relaxed, his chin no longer raised after keeping his posture formal and remaining on guard until he couldn't outlast the tension in the room. Kirai rubbed his hands across his eyes, visibly exhausted despite his hat never tilting off his head he wearily rested against the table he was sitting at, crumpling like paper caught in a windstorm. But Nivara didn't buy it.
Kirai's Trait was extending its reach around the deserts in an attempt to restore what had been changed to heal the Golden Plains. She smiled evenly, remembering the pain of having a constantly busy Trait desperate to do something, anything except remain stagnant. But Nivara knew it was an act.
"Far less freak thunderstorms, anyways."
Like a trigger word awakening a sleeper agent, the awkward joke about Aidari's Trait warped into an uneasy feeling that slammed into her like a gut punch.The familiar woozy feeling of a sand crusted memory made Nivara clench over the cup, the slowly churning liquid sending her into a memory quite unlike anything Nivara had ever felt before. This was one of the oldest Memory Weaves she had ever been plunged into.
"Apologies but I'd better get going."
His even voice grated against her mind, Aidari's head pounding with every word, with every lie that refused to be said. The irritation in his voice couldn't be hidden for much longer, the twitch in his eye an easy tell with every put down Aidari gave him. But the moment he placed his hat back onto his head, his eyes glazed over.
"Of course, of course. I'm sure you're tired, mother. Why don't you head off to bed, Aidari? I'll see Kirai out and make sure that Cardin knows too." Fiora said falsely, as if reading off a script rather than having a genuine conversation.
The cloying feeling of being suffocated by a bubble of heat returned in full force, Kirai's gaze now tinged with an amber gaze that would not let go. Nivara's breath hitched the moment his eyes locked her own, like a mirage being broken over a calm pool of water she finally recognised what was happening. He was a Tarragon.
The green eyed monsters that plagued the Continent of Storms: Tarragon had been hunted to almost extinction but Kirai had clearly slipped through their radar with every activation of his Timekeeper Fire Trait. No one would question him and no one would ever suspect the amber eyed gaze was anything more than a Traited.
Kirai's look of shame towards his old mentor warped into anger, Fiora's distracted nature now making complete sense with every increment of time that passed. Nivara could see every step the Air Traited took, the ripples of air around her a lazy cloud of dust despite the sheer dread lingering in the room.
"Sure. I'll go check on Nessie." Aidari replied evenly, attempting to sound natural.
Kirai raised his eyebrows curiously, furrowing at the unfamiliar name and Nivara's lurch of fear at being found out made her want to vomit. Cursing her slip of the tongue, she attempted to hide her expression even as she tried to rise from her armchair. Just to add salt to the wound the Surge provided, it forced her from standing and locked her legs together, unable to withstand the sheer pain of it.
"Hang on, Kirai. You never said the name of your apprentice. If she is a Keeper, we'd better know now before the Lockbind..."
Nivara tried to fight against the Stormkeeper's will but it was too late. The question had already been asked. Like a deadly arrow piercing her throat her anxiety burned in her chest but the much older Aidari placed a hand over her chest as if to try and soothe her nerves. She knew what Nivara was afraid of. Tonight was the night they died.
"Aria. Her name is Aria."