Dreams and Nightmares

Sagacious regained consciousness gasping and looking about in confusion. He'd felt Isobel's knife stab him, he remembered THAT clearly at least, his hand reaching back and finding the raised and bumpy scar tissue that had formed as the wound healed. Where the hells was he? A nice and comfortable stone floored room, rough hewn wooden walls, a smell of lilacs and jasmine in the air, distant voices raised in song… or prayer? He closed his eyes and listened intently to the words being sung:

"O Blessed Phaedra,

Queen of Love,

We raise our voices in supplication,

May our hearts be pure

May our Love be True…"

So, that answered that, he thought wryly. Scarlett must have brought him here, he thought with some relief, she'd heard him. But what had happened to Isobel? And where was Scarlett now? He began to call out for someone, anyone. Moments later, he heard the creak of a heavy wooden door as it opened slowly, a woman's face veiled in a gauzy pink silk popped her head in.

"Ah, you're awake!" Her voice was cultured and bright.

"I am! I assume this is a temple of Phaedra, Miss?" He had pulled his sheet up over his chest in a gesture of modesty. The young lady entered the room, and Sagacious blushed tremendously at her appearance. The gauzy veil was the same fabric which clothed this young woman, leaving little or nothing to the imagination. Noticing his blush, she laughed gaily at him.

"Be not embarrassed, kind sir. I am not ashamed of my body, why should you be?"

Clearing his throat and attempting to sound non plussed, he answered, "Of course not, Miss. It's just, I'm unused to such brazen displays, I mean no offence." He smiled warmly at her. "DO you know how I got here, Miss..?"

She smiled brightly at him with clear hazel eyes, the ringlets of her dark hair spilled down her neck and strategically covered the parts of her chest that the silk seemed only to accentuate. "You may call me Sister Elaine, gentle sir. Your… companion carried you in, you had been grievously wounded and she had done a rudimentary job of keeping you alive. She seemed quite concerned about you." Elaine smiled again at Sagacious and helped him as he struggled to put his shirt back on. She winced as she saw the scar over his left kidney. "Does it still hurt?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is rather tender," he began slowly, "Wait. My… companion? Who had healed me?"

Elaine stared back earnestly at him. "Yes, the devilkin woman. She is strange, if I may say. Has not spoken a word to us since she arrived, just sits in our garden, praying."

Scarlett? Praying? Something was very wrong. He started to sit up and instantly regretted it as his side exploded into agony, he gave a slight grimace and gritted his teeth as he moved. "Oh, sir! Let me help you! You mustn't move too quickly, or you'll reopen that ghastly wound. What kind of weapon makes such a terrible thing?

Sagacious narrowed his eyes and concentrated on standing upright, leaning on Elaine who helped prop him upright. "What weapon? Love, Elaine."

She stared at him and nodded honestly, "Yes, it can be that way sometimes. But you survived it!"

He chuckled grimly and added, "This time." Isobel's face sat in his mind's eye, beautiful and open. Or so he'd thought. A lump welled in his throat and he forced it back down, along with the sting of betrayal. After a moment, he was able to stand on his own. "Where is Scar- my companion?"

Elaine pointed towards the door, "Still in the garden I think. She would like to know you're okay, I can escort you if you like? So you don't get lost, I mean." A warm glow began to fill Sagacious' belly and he smelled spiced wine and jasmine, this woman was working healing magics on him. Elaine's eyes glimmered for a fraction of a second with divine power as she released her spell and she gasped as she found that which had tethered this man to Love. Such earnest love, such loss in his soul! All of the priestesses of Phaedra worked their spells this way, found that which connected the patients to the idea of Love, and thus to the Goddess herself. She felt Sagacious' heartbreak and tears began to gather in her eyes, she sniffled slightly and wiped them away. "I am sorry, gentle sir. Know that Love, although it can be painful, is also blissful. You will find that which your heart needs so badly some day. With another Devilkin." His eyes grew wide with confusion, and Elaine laughed again, "No, not this one." She began to let him lean on her as she led him out of the room and down a marble hallway towards the garden. She added in a whisper, "I'm not sure this one is mortal anymore."

Sagacious probably should have asked Elaine what the hells THAT was supposed to mean, but he was in awe of the Temple, it was easily the most beautiful place he'd ever seen. Alabaster stone clad the floors, luxurious purple and pink tapestries lined the walls, it was as if the entire place was designed to evoke a feeling of love and safety. Elaine led him to the entrance of an indoor atrium that could pass for a garden here in the south, birds of hundreds of types were all singing in the trees. Scarlett sat alone, cross legged in the middle of the room, her eyes closed. Thin vines writhed around her skin, blooming with orchids and other jungle flowers.

"I'll leave you two alone, can you stand on your own, gentle sir?" ELaine whispered softly into Sagacious' ear. He nodded gently in reply and she left him to lean on a nearby bench. He grunted with effort as he slid down to sit across from his companion, speaking gently. "Scarlett? Are you alright?"

She opened her white, pupiless eyes and smiled at him. They glowed with green radiance and when she spoke it seemed like the birds all around them mimicked and amplified her words. "Me? Yes, thank you Sagacious, I'm fine. Better than I have been in a long time, in fact. Thank YOU for telling me to come here, it's lovely, isn't it?"

He blinked at her in confusion and was silent for several moments. "Scarlett? Is that you?"

She smiled and winked. "Yes. And no. I am… more now."

"I...see." Sagacious' tone turned wary, "And who else are you?"

"I am…" she began, the birds again fluttering and chirping along with her eerily. "That which was forgotten and hidden, I am change, I am rebirth. I am the Cycle."

"Do you have… you know… a name? That would simplify things."

She smiled softly and nodded once. "Scarlett will serve as well as any other. All that she was is still here, after all."

Sagacious reached out and squeezed Scarlett's folded hands gently. "Thank you for saving me back there. What… what happened to Isobel? Do you know?"

Scarlett's brow furrowed in irritation, "She died back on the boat. My Brother's servant took her soul. She deserved no less, Sagacious Pleasant. She served the One who hid me away."

"Am… am I speaking to the child of Mercy and Annatar?" His tone was cautious, and for good reason. Scarlett's face twisted into a snarl of anger and hate, and she slapped Sagacious across the face.

"Never speak his name! Not here!" Sagacious raised a hand to his cheek in shock and backed up slightly.

"Of course! My apologies! Especially not in this sacred place!" He looked concerned at Scarlett before asking, "But that's it, isn't it? They hid your existence from the story. And when… HE severed the Tapestry, you fled into mortal form, were hidden for a long time. Is that right?"

Scarlett nodded and sadly shook her head. "My Mother thought it would protect me from HIS hate. It turned out, all this did was split us in twain. And now," Scarlett locked eyes with Sagacious, "He's come to find me after all these centuries, emboldened by my Father's", she spat the word like venom, "Power. And his hate. Which is infinite and unending, especially here." Sagacious nodded and sat silent for a long time.

"Did she suffer?" he finally asked hesitantly.

"I would say so." Scarlett's tone was matter of fact. "I had intended to mark her, leave her in pain. But my Father's servant, the one who is bonded with my Other half… she is evil and cruel. She consumed Isobel's soul completely. She will suffer an eternity of well earned torture." She saw the sadness plain of his face. "Oh, kind soul. The world is a nasty place, YOU know that. You also know that she betrayed you, tried to murder you, and yet you still grieve for her?"

"Yes. Because I loved her."

"And she clearly didn't love you as much in return."

"That doesn't matter. I cannot change who she was, only how I act. I will always love her, I think, we were happy for a time, she and I."

"Were you, Sagacious? Or were you just being manipulated?"

He sighed and sunk his head into his own hands, "I don't know. It doesn't matter." He looked up at her with sorrow plain in his eyes and added, "Thank you for saving me. I know I'm not your favorite person, and I'm grateful."

She nodded at him and smiled openly. "You are welcome, Sagacious. Now, I will not be able to maintain control for much longer, and yourself and Scarlett have a great deal to do." Approximately a dozen birds fluttered down and sang around them as they spoke.

He blinked at her in confusion, "We do? What?"

Scarlett looked at him impassively and spoke gravely, "You must return me to the Tapestry, and we must stop my other half. Everywhere it goes, it brings death as I bring life to balance it. It needs to be stopped."

Sagacious was unsure of how to approach the situation. "Just like that? Stop it? And return you to the Tapestry?" He laughed sarcastically, "Sure, no problem."

Scarlett suddenly slumped over like a marionette whose strings had been severed. Her voice, when she spoke next, was groggy and confused, as if waking from a long sleep. "Sagacious, don't be a dick. Obviously it's a problem. But at least I know where to look now." He looked at her quizzically. She smiled broadly in return.

"To the Castle and to see one of the Heroes of The Emergence. We need to see Queen Thia'anthalas."