Looming Darkness

Aurelius stopped blushing, a melancholic frown settling on his rose-like lips. He stared out at the endless sea of yellow hills, but his mind was cast all the way back to a year ago.

'I said she was like a sister to me,' Rory said. 'Cecilia is important to me, and I love her, but not in the way she wanted.'

The young man sighed and leaned forward on Winter's antlers. The buck huffed at him but begrudgingly allowed it.

'I suppose her feelings for me were just holding her back anyway. Cecilia is just as talented at sorcery as I am. She always wanted to see more and do more. Without the hope of marrying me tying her down, she just suddenly left one day… I hope she's doing well. Her mother asked me to check in on her, but it's going to be uncomfortable. We haven't spoken since that day.'

'If you let your discomfort tie you down, you may never speak with her again.'

The spirit's poignant words gave Rory a sudden and cold jolt. The thought of never again speaking to Cecilia was horrible, especially because Rory was familiar with never being able to speak to certain people again, since the death of his parents. Fear of losing another person he cared about was a significant motivator and washed away much of his unease.

'Thank you, Jahre. You've helped me put my head on straight.'

'You don't need to thank me.' The spirit lingered for a bit before asking, 'If Cecilia didn't provoke your lust, what sort of human does? What are your tastes, Aurelius?'

The Druid's viridescent eyes widened at the same time as his pupils shrunk incredulously. His jaw dropped open at just how shamelessly forward a question he was suddenly asked. For half a heartbeat, he took the inquiry seriously, conjuring up various appealing images and ideas privately in his mind. Then he snapped out of it and his critical thinking caught up.

'Are you asking so you can possess the type of person I describe?'

'Yes.' The spirit replied without hesitation or guilt.

Aurelius's instinctive reaction was displeasure, but, thinking about it, he had some experience with being possessed now. It really wasn't so bad. And considering the other person would be conscious and consenting, it didn't actually seem so wrong. If anything, wouldn't the Jahre be the third wheel at that point? The least necessary?

'No cheap favors,' Rory reminded himself. 'He wouldn't want to be just a tagalong.'

In that case, it would be more like having a boyfriend who could shapeshift into whatever suited Rory better…

The young man blushed and shook his head to rid it of stray thoughts.

'I-I don't know,' he muttered. 'I don't think I have a type. Love is more about the emotional attachment, right?'

Jahre tilted Rory's head slightly, and a cool expression of mild confusion drifted briefly across his face. The human felt it on his face, even if he couldn't see it.

'I want to be the one you love, Aurelius. You only need to desire the flesh of whomever I possess. But if anyone will do, I suppose I'll simply choose the most willing.'

The young man took back control of his body, hiding his face behind his hands and shaking his head. 'No, please just don't do anything.'

He couldn't imagine how embarrassed he would be if Jahre suddenly possessed someone on the street and strolled over saying this total stranger wanted to sleep with him!

Jahreszeiten didn't quite understand why his Druid was upset, however. At least he could recognize that the idea didn't make Aurelius happy.

'I don't understand. Didn't you say you wouldn't mate with me unless I possessed a willing human? Why don't you want me to find someone suitable?'

There were countless ways for the bodiless spirit to lavish an animal with his affection, but Aurelius was picky. If he continued to reject one option after another, there would eventually be nothing left.

Was this perhaps… just a long and drawn out rejection? A terribly bitter thought.

'It's just—there's an order to things, Jahre. Humans are complicated. If… if there's someone you can possess, I'll tell you.'

As an ageless spirit, Jahreszeiten imagined he would be generally considered patient. It was harder to wait when there was a flower before him in perfect bloom right that this moment… But if he had to wait, then he would.

'Alright, Aurelius.'

Humans certainly weren't this complicated before he was put to sleep…

***

When Jahreszeiten saw the city of Pompeii, it was his turn to stare in disbelief at the alien world in front of him. It was a different kind of forest; one made of towering square monoliths hand-built from wood, metal, and stone. Branchless stone trunks towered loomed against the sky, spewing out canopy of clouds. Strange wooden contraptions spun lazily in the currents of the wind and river. People were crowded like ants into the countless webbing streets, all paved in stone. Sturdy beasts were chained to do manual labor, the wildness gone from their eyes.

There was filth everywhere. Soot clung to rooftops, waste littered the streets, and the river was fouler than any running water source should ever be. All the natural critters tht would normally tend to such waste had been chased out to fit more humans, who then made more waste.

Rory was shocked too, of course. The scale of the city was greater than he had ever pictured, and the smell was unpleasant, but he kept his humble caravan moving toward it.

'… What have these people done?' Jahre eventually asked.

'Well… this is a city,' Aurelius answered sheepishly. 'Most of the goods in my village came from here. This is what human industry looks like these days.' He hesitated, 'What do you think of it?'

Jahreszeiten felt terrible. There was a looming darkness in the core of his being that made his whole self tremble. The sheer disrespect on display here toward the natural world boggled the mind and easily surpassed anything he thought was possible.

'Vulkan is going to massacre all of those people,' he said in horror.