[fic] [Tales of Arcadia] Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet 148/?
Your Future Hasn’t Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
released 28th July, 2023
Douxie was expecting... well, he didn't know what he was expecting, as he watched a flurry of expressions flicker across Krel's face. Anger, probably. Rebuttal and refusal, the Akiridion prince denying a gift he'd never asked for, never wanted, and had been given regardless.
Funny, how so many people always claimed they wanted magic, but so many of those who'd had the privilege to discover they had it... didn't react well. Justified fear and social conditioning overcoming their desire for wonder.
Douxie did not envy Jim his task of calming the world's panic when (if; when; if-when) they managed to return magic to humanity.
But what Douxie didn't expect was for Krel to ignore the possibility entirely.
The prince drew a deep breath and refocused. "That theory is all well and good," Krel said, his expression calm and neutral, like Douxie had made a pronouncement about something so commonplace as the weather or the color of the sky. "But it does not help us with the problem of what to do about Morando."
Jim, his mouth agape, turned to look at Douxie.
Douxie shook his head, burying his own reaction. Krel's magic, Krel's choice. The Akiridion was too intelligent to not have realized the implications. Choosing to deal with them later was a perfectly valid reaction.
Just one that... hurt.
Because later all too often meant never.
Douxie shoved that, and Krel's implied criticism, down. This wasn't about him wanting someone as talented as Krel to be... well, a colleague. This was about Krel, and something arguably more important.
The big picture.
"Akiridion-5 having been Atlantis could help us beat Morando, though," Douxie said softly. "There's... I think there's a way for us to win it all." He ticked off points on his fingers, well aware he was the recipient of several wide-eyed stares. "Give magic back to humanity. Subvert the Arcane Order's wishes. Take a vital playing piece out of General Morando's hands."
He looked back around their group. They were all silent, looking at him.
"We have to destroy Gaylen's Core," Douxie said softly.
There was a beat of silence.
Then Varvatos erupted out of his recliner. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" he roared. "We will NOT risk any of the royal cores to defeat Morando this time!"
The wizard blinked. "Wait. What?"
"What do you mean, 'risk the royal cores'?" Jim of the Lakes asked, his blue eyes wide, his expression taken aback.
"In the last timeline," Krel explained, "we, meaning I, recreated Seklos' Cannon in order to destroy Morando after he had absorbed Gaylen's Core."
Most of the human teenagers looked blank. Toby, though, was wincing.
"Seklos' Cannon," Aja said softly, "can only be powered by the life cores of the Akiridion royal family. Mama and Papa... sacrificed themselves, to save everyone."
Silence again.
"Well, that's bullshit," Eli said unexpectedly.
"Pepperjack!" chided Steve, wide-eyed at the profanity.
Toby rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a nancing Nellie, Steve."
"What does that even mean?" Jim asked him.
Toby shrugged. "I dunno. It's something Nana says."
"Pure poetry," Varvatos grudgingly admitted, even as he sat back down in the chair. His hooman bones were feeling creaky today. "As to be expected of the magnificent Nancy."
"In any case, one, that's horrifying," said the wizard, presumably about the cannon's power source, "and, two, that's not exactly what I had in mind."
"Your parents killed themselves to save Earth?" Darci asked Aja.
Aja shrugged, her face sad. "It was their duty. And if it is to be my and Krel's--"
"It's not," Jim interrupted her. "That's why we're doing this over again, isn't it?" he asked the room at large. His expression, Varvatos thought approvingly, was most kingly. "We're winning this time, without losing anyone."
"How," Varvatos addressed Douxie, "were you planning on destroying Gaylen's Core without sacrificing the Royals?"
Douxie faltered, suddenly looking unsure. "This is theory," he said. "But I think it's workable theory." He drew a deep breath, as if to steady himself. "In our first timeline, Morgana used her skills in geomantic manipulation to draw the energy out of Trollmarket's heartstone, and then used that to power the Eternal Night."
Heads were nodding - Blinky's and Toby's especially.
"If she could do that," Douxie continued, "there must be a way to draw the stolen magic out of Gaylen's Core and redistribute it, giving it back to humanity."
"That is quite a tall order, Master Douxie," said Blinkous. Aaarrrgghh, next to him, nodded silently.
"I know," said the wizard, spreading his hands wide. "And I was expecting to have a lot more time to figure this out. But if Morando is arriving in three days...." His voice trailed off. His gaze dropped to the floor. "It's all I've got," he as much as mumbled, one hand digging into the hair on his head.
Shit. If Douxie, who was totally still a master wizard even if he didn't have his staff right now, didn't know how to do what they needed to do....
I mean, the dude reads a lot, Toby thought, but I'm not betting on the odds of finding the exact info we need in the next two and a half days.
"What about you, Tobes?" asked Jim. "I know you've been going through the Gems and Geodes books too."
Toby shook his head. "I have, yeah, but I don't know all the mystic mumbo-jumbo that tells a wizard how to suck power out of magic rocks like some kind of feldspar vampire."
"Blinky?" Claire asked hopefully.
Blinky also shook his head. "Alas, if there is any such knowledge in my library, I have not yet encountered it. Wizards often kept their secrets, and where Lady Morgana may have encountered such information, I do not know."
"Great." Jim groaned. "That means it's probably somewhere in Merlin's library, and we don't even know where Camelot is right now."
"I could try to portal us there...?" Claire offered hesitantly.
But Douxie shook his head. "Merlin's firmly of the opinion that I'm orchestrating a world-ending disaster. He won't give me access to his books. Nor, I'm afraid, you, Fair Claire." A wan smile. "You're too firmly associated with me."
Toby huffed out a breath, thinking furiously. There was some loose end to this tangle that none of them were seeing yet, he knew it. He pulled his amulet out of his pocket and fiddled with it, trying to think. His fingers traced the smooth back of it, barely feeling the lines where it opened to allow gems to be put in.
His mind caught on that.
Gems. In the amulet. Cutting gems.
"Vendel," he said, raising his head.
"What do you mean, Toby?" Eli asked.
"I mean," Toby said, gaining confidence because this felt right to him, "what do we do when there's something we can't do ourselves?"
He looked around, but faces were blank.
"We go to an expert," said Toby. "Like we went to Hiccup to make armor for Claire and Douxie. And who's the most expert person on gems anywhere around Arcadia Oaks? Vendel."
"Huh." Jim and the others all exchanged looks. "It's worth a shot," the king said.
India, as expected, was stifling. It's not the heat, it's the humidity, Waltolomew thought grimly. Also, there's that saying about mad dogs and Englishmen. Of which he was purportedly one.
In some ways, the country had changed a great deal since he'd last been here: vehicles everywhere, the drone of air conditioning units, buildings shining with modern glass and sleek lines tucked in between their older brethren.
Yet in other ways, things hadn't changed at all. He inhaled a deep lungful of mouthwatering (and potentially tongue-blistering) spices, rich and redolent in the air, as he passed a restaurant. Saliva flooded his mouth at the remembrance of flavor. Flavor that had been, oddly, palatable in both his human and troll forms.
I'll have to remember to bring some seasonings back for Young Atlas, he thought. Perhaps a cookbook. Encourage him to expand his culinary repertoire.
He resolutely passed by the restaurant (alas), and turned the corner.
Ducking into a niche which, pleasingly, still existed a century later, he waited.
As expected, after a few moments, the man who had been tailing him since Los Angeles passed, looking for him.
Waltolomew's eyes narrowed, flashing yellow for an instant.
No one I know, he thought. Then, Well, let's let this play out, shall we? Give him enough rope to hang himself with.
Slipping out of the niche, the Inferna Copula glinting on his finger, he turned back, to go get a meal in that enticing little restaurant. Fortification before heading to Rathambore, and what lay there.
And if a few minutes later, as he was ordering, the bulky dark-haired figure came in the restaurant as well, taking a table where he would have a view of Waltolomew... well, there was something to be said about bait.
He hid a smile, and waited.
"So why didn't Nomura come?" Jim asked Draal, as they walked out of Claire's portal and into Trollmarket.
The troll snorted and brandished his cellphone. "She said, and I quote, 'Some of us have day jobs, idiot'."
"Oh."
"She also told me to keep her apprised."
Claire laughed, her shadow portal closing behind her. "Smart woman."
"I don't think anyone could accuse Nomura of not being smart," Douxie chimed in.
Aja glanced at Claire, checking for any hint of strain; Douxie, she noticed, did likewise. But the shadowmancer just rolled her eyes and patted the other wizard on the arm. "Don't mother-hen, Teach. I'm fine."
"And you're still not as strong as you were toward the end," he cheerfully rejoined, "so don't fault me for worrying. Teacher's privilege."
Draal snorted. "Teachers always worry," he agreed. "I will find Vendel, if he is not in his workshop, and bring him there." The troll lumbered off, vanishing into the crowds of Trollmarket quicker than Aja would have thought possible.
Toby clambered up onto Aaarrrgghh's mane; Jim walked beside the pair, Blinky on his other side, hovering close to his protege-slash-son. It was core-warming, Aja thought, how much the pair had clearly missed each other. Douxie, meanwhile, was on the periphery of the Claire-Mary-Darcy trio, who were talking about their band practices for the upcoming Battle of the Bands. Whatever, Aja dismissed. They were good, but Krel will win this time. The Akiridions followed, with Steve and Eli acting as rear guard.
"Zadra should be here for this," Krel said lowly to Aja as they moved through the underground city.
"She should," Aja agreed. "But I do not think she is ready to listen to reason yet."
Krel nodded. "I have finished her transduction. Do you think a present would shift her focus?"
Varvatos snorted. "Lieutenant Zadra? Shift? No. She is as stubborn as a larvox." By his tone, it was a quality he approved of.
"Ah well." Krel made a gesture with his hands. "I will give it to her anyway. I think she will like the human form Mother and I came up with."
"I look forward to seeing it," Aja assured her brother. She was silent for a moment, then quietly asked, "Do you think it is the right thing? To let Douxie extract the magic he says Gaylen stole from Earth's people?"
Krel glanced sharply at her. "You think he is lying?"
"Not about that." A year of dealing with cutthroat intergalactic politics had taught Aja well how to spot a subterfuge or lie. Douxie was lying about something, she was sure. But it was not about Gaylen and Atlantis. And whatever the falsehood concealed, it was also clearly something that Jim and Archie were both in on. Archie, she would not dare guess about. But Jim, Aja trusted implicitly. If he was letting Douxie lie about something, it was something both irrelevant to the matter at hand, and probably highly personal.
"I think," Krel said, "that our options are limited. Especially with Morando already on his way, with his battleship some level of operational. Earth cannot withstand his assault."
"Yes," agreed Aja. "We cannot let him get his hands on Gaylen's Core again. Or on Mama and Papa."
"Or on us!" her brother chided, a note of laughter in his voice. But that quickly died away and he looked at his shoes as he walked.
Aja, who knew her little brother better than probably any other person in the galaxy, guessed what was on his mind. Her voice was soft as she asked, "Krel, do you not want to be a wizard?"
Krel snorted. "I am not a wizard. I am a scientist. An engineer! A genius."
She looked ahead of them, where Douxie walked beside Claire. "And you think Douxie is not."
Another snort. "He can't even do algebra."
"Perhaps not," Varvatos said, stepping up by Krel's other side. "But the wizard bends the laws of the universe to the breaking point. Much like the king-in-waiting does."
Krel looked offended.
"Varvatos had thought you had gotten past this intellectual classism," their bodyguard said quietly. "That you respected the wizard as an equal."
"Just because I respect his abilities does not mean I hold him to be my cognitive counterpart!" snapped Krel. "We are completely different individuals, with completely different fields of competence! And now he wants me to be part of his? No thank you! I will stick to my math and science and steer clear of mystical things, thank you very much!"
Ahead of them, Douxie's shoulders had tightened, as had Jim's. The wizard was looking at the king and shaking his head.
Aja frowned. "I think they heard you."
"I don't care."
"Krel!" She stopped, and forced him to stop too. The others continued on. Aja drew a seething breath, trying to order her thoughts, her emotions. "We are trying to be better than Mama and Papa," she reminded her brother. "So why are you rejecting and deliberately offending the one who I thought was your closest cohort on this world?"
"Yeah," said Eli. "Who wouldn't want to be a wizard?"
Her brother's eyes, big and brown in his transduction, were wet. Humans in general were so wet. But tears meant some sort of emotional upset. Well, that was obvious enough, Aja thought.
"Aja, I can't be a wizard," Krel said. "I can combine magic and technology, that's easy enough. But using it, the way Douxie or Mary do?" He barked a laugh. "Douxie starves whenever he does a major feat of magic. And I am an Akiridion; we do not regain our energy through eating the way humans do. What do you think would happen when I used up my energy?" He shook his head. "When Gaylen turned our ancestors into Akiridions, I think we lost our magic because we could no longer replenish it the way humans do. So in a way, he stole magic from us too."
"Krel." Aja was astonished.
"Whoa. Seriously?" Steve whispered, his eyes very wide. Eli, beside him, looked similarly shocked.
"He wants me to be something that will kill me." Krel shook his head. "I refuse to die for that, Aja."
"Doux..." said Jim.
His brother shook his head. "It's fine, Jim," Douxie said, even though it obviously wasn't. "Krel's not the first person who's ever reacted badly to being told he might have magic. In fact," he tried for a smile, "he hasn't even attempted to murder me over the information, so that puts him above well over half the people I've ever told."
"You are smart," Claire insisted.
Douxie's smile tightened. "Doesn't change the fact I'd fail algebra," he said, and looked away.
Jim glanced at Claire; neither of them, it seemed, knew what to say.
Douxie sighed, his shoulders lowering. "It doesn't matter," he said quietly, even as Archie jumped up on his shoulder. "Krel will get over it, one way or another. If he doesn't want to learn more, I can hardly force him, now can I? His magic, his choice."
"Indeed, you could not. Not without being like Morgana Le Fay," agreed Blinky. His hand came to rest on Douxie's free shoulder. "And you, Master Hisirdoux, could scarcely be a further cry from her."
Douxie's smile at Blinky was small, but genuine. "Thanks," he said, even as Archie rubbed against his cheek, purring.
Vendel's expression was scathing.
"You are asking me," he said dryly, "to ascertain whether it would be possible to extract magic from a crystal that I have only seen once - and that, several hundred years ago?"
"Yes," said Douxie simply.
The Elder of Heartstone Trollmarket stared at the wizard for a long minute before he spoke. "Your master warned me you were reckless and driven by impulse," he said. "He did not sufficiently cover your foolishness."
That earned several flinches, indrawn breaths--
Douxie's mouth only tightened. "Regardless of your or Merlin's opinions of me," he said, "this is something which must be done."
Vendel's rheumy eyes narrowed. "Must?"
Aja stepped forward. "General Val Morando, who led the coup on Akiridion-5, is heading toward Earth. He will be here in mere days. And one of his primary objectives is obtaining Gaylen's Core, which will give him near limitless power. We cannot allow this."
And where Vendel clearly did not respect Douxie much, he was much more willing to bend for the young future queen of Akiridion-5. He regarded Aja for a moment before his head dipped in a nod. "I will be willing to inspect the crystal," he said, "and render what of an expert opinion I can. But," Vendel cautioned, "it is hidden, and protected." His gaze flitted from face to face. "I assume you know where."
"Oh yes," said Krel. He didn't look entirely happy about it. "In The Deep."
Jim clearly bit down on a word he wouldn't want his mother to hear him saying.
"Ugh," Toby complained. "We have to go down there again?"
"Wingman should have expected that," said Aaarrrgghh.
"Expected, yes," Toby told him. "Being happy about it? Sorry, no way."
"You mean we have to go down there?" Mary demanded, standing at the very edge of the Hero's Forge and staring down into the chasm.
Next to her, Darci was holding her own arms, looking nervous. "Uh. I'm not afraid of the dark, but...."
"But there's something down there that eats people," Claire agreed.
"The question is," Douxie said, contemplative, "why, of everyone who's ever been down there, have only Jim and Krel survived? And how can we use that?"
"The only individuals known to have confronted The Deep and survived are Master Jim and Master Krel," mused Blinky, pacing behind them. "Neither of whom," he said, brightening, smacking hand into fist, "were trolls!"
"A possible point of commonality," Archie allowed. "What do we know about what's down there?"
Seated cross-legged on the floor of the Forge, Aja raised her hand. "It attacked only Krel, who went in first. Toby, Varvatos, Aaarrrgghh, and myself were unaffected."
The dragon exchanged a look with his wizard. "That would argue for a singular individual or entity," Archie mused. "With a certain recovery period."
"It makes you live your worst nightmare," Krel murmured, his gaze catching on his sister.
Jim's expression spasmed, as did his hands. "It makes you fight it."
Douxie hummed tonelessly, considering any number of magical creatures or spells that might cast illusions. "A singular entity rules out pixies, as they don't survive without their hive. Were there bodies down there? Of the trolls the tribunal had sentenced in the past?"
Jim and Krel blinked, looking at each other. "I don't... think so?" Jim asked aloud.
Aaarrrgghh shook his head. "No bodies."
"Eww!" Mary made a face. "Do you mean there's one of those creepy goo guys down there?"
"A gruesome wouldn't cast illusions," Claire pointed out.
"Nor," agreed Blinky, "would it survive so long as has typically been between criminal sentencings."
"So, one creature," Eli summed up, pushing his glasses higher on his nose, "that traps people in nightmares, then eats them."
Douxie and Archie looked at one another again. The wizard crouched down at the edge of the chasm, gazing into the abyss. "An antramonstrum, you think?" he asked his familiar.
"It would seem to fit the known details," the dragon concurred.
"What's an anti-monstrum?" asked Eli, overlapping with Steve's jocular "I could take it!"
Archie snorted. "It's an antramonstrum," he corrected Eli. "And, no, you definitely couldn't, Steve."
Steve wilted.
"Strickler has one in his office," Douxie said, standing, dusting his fingers off on his jeans.
"What?" Darci whispered, eyes wide.
"It looks like a crystal sculpture," Douxie said. "His is inert until triggered. Don't worry about it."
"Kanjigar must have placed one in The Deep, as a security measure to protect Gaylen's Core," mused Blinky.
"Thing is, they devour humans whole too, not just trolls," said Douxie. His eyes came to rest on Jim's face. "Which still raises the question of your and Krel's survival."
Claire pursed her lips. "Jim's armor...?" she guessed.
Jim shrugged. "Maybe? Anyhow, we don't all need to go down there."
"There is a language lock on the vault where the core is," Krel told him. "It requires someone who speaks Akiridion, and someone who speaks Trollish, to read it."
Jim's smile was wan. "Looks like it's you and me, then."
"Ugh." Krel glanced down into the abyss. His eyes were wide, his expression tight. Almost mirroring Jim's. "I am not looking forward to that."
"Yeah, me neither."
"Tomorrow," Blinky said firmly. "You all require a good night's sleep and sufficient nutrition before engaging in such an endeavor."
"But Morando--" Aja protested, rising to her feet.
"Is not here yet, and will not be here tomorrow either," Varvatos agreed with Blinky. "And for the young king and king-in-waiting to face such a foe as they have described, they will need to be at their best."
"Agreed," Draal rumbled. "I have heard the screams of those The Deep took." His expression was troubled. "Such an adversary must be faced with a clear mind and strong body."
As the others nodded and began drifting away, Douxie lingered a moment longer, looking down into the dark. His hand clenched at his side, then relaxed.
"Douxie...?" his familiar asked softly.
"I don't like it," he replied. "Come on, Arch."
The dragon followed him as they left, casting a nervous glance behind at the dark ribbon of the chasm at Forge's edge.
Douxie shoved off almost as soon as they exited Trollmarket via the canal. "I need to do some research," he said, levitating the broom that he'd brought with him. "I'll be at GDT, and maybe picking Zoe's brain."
"I'll try to have him home by supper," Archie told Jim. He cast a look at his wizard and sighed. "Try being the operative word."
"Anyone need a lift? Right, I'm off, then," said Douxie when he got no takers, and was out of sight in seconds, his broom taking the side of the canal far faster than Jim could have managed with a bike.
The minute Douxie was out of sight, Jim turned to Krel. The expression on his face must've not been great, because Krel cringed. "Why were you being a butt?" Jim asked, not letting himself dip down into the seductive ease of anger. Douxie was his brother, but Krel was his friend too. No matter how much Jim wanted to be angry, Krel deserved more consideration than that.
Krel looked away. "It is complicated."
"So, un-complicate it, dude," said Steve.
Aja sighed and looked skyward. "Krel believes that an Akiridion using wizardry would use up their life force, as we do not refuel ourselves the way humans do."
"Oh." Claire's eyes were wide. "Oh, that makes sense." They'd all seen the waxing and waning of Douxie's collarbone and wrists, even if Jim's brother did dress to conceal himself.
"Wait," Eli broke in. "You think using magic might kill you?"
Krel nodded, not looking happy.
"That bites!" Eli wailed. "You get to be a wizard, but you can't! Oh, that's not fair...."
"Life is not fair, Eli," Aja soothed. "If it was, none of this would be happening."
Krel drew a long, shuddering breath, looking around the canals. Anywhere but at the others. "You are right," he said, not looking at Jim. "I will apologize, and explain."
"Krel...." Jim felt like a heel.
Krel gave a half smile, one of the kind that didn't look like happiness at all. "Once he knows the source of my reaction, I am sure Douxie will forgive me." His shoulders slumped. He started heading up the side of the canal, never looking back.
"Krel! Wait up," called Aja. She, at least, gave a wave to the others. "See you tomorrow in school?" she asked, before running off after her brother. Varvatos harrumphed and stumped after them.
"It never gets easier, does it?" Darci asked quietly, as the rest of them watched the Akiridions leave, going up the opposite side of the canal from where Douxie had.
"Um, Jim?" Jim looked at Eli. "Do you... do you think Douxie would take it badly if I offered to tutor him in algebra?" A shy smile. "I'm pretty good at it."
Jim laughed. Finally, a small nugget of humor. "I dunno, Eli. It's worth asking."
Douxie banged into GDT in the middle of an apparent lull. Jamie looked up from the novel he was reading behind the counter. "Hey, Doux. Wasn't expecting to see you until next week. You're not on the schedule, you know."
"Yeah, I know." Douxie headed directly for the door that would lead to the special reading room. "Need to do some research, though. What've we got in that touches on antramonstrums?"
"Antramonstrums?" Jamie slipped a receipt in his book, tucked it under the counter, and followed. "Uh, lemme see."
Douxie focused on pulling books off the shelves and stacking them on the center table. Archie did likewise. Jamie, whose language set mostly overlapped with Douxie's but also held a couple tongues he wasn't as familiar with, made his own draws.
When the three of them were done, there were fewer than a dozen books. Most of which, Douxie thought, would have only glancing descriptions of the crystal monsters. But anything he could review was a step in the right direction. Who knew where there might be a hint at how to defeat, or at least survive, an antramonstrum's attack.
"You gonna stay back here and read these?" Jamie asked as Douxie took the largest and seated himself in the worn armchair in the corner. Archie perched on its back.
"Mm." Douxie nodded, already flipping through pages.
"Cool. I'll be up front if you need anything. Call me when you're ready to hit the Orcish books."
Douxie nodded, looking up enough to give his coworker a brief wave before falling headfirst into monsterology research.
Author's Note: One thing that I feel is important to point out is that there are certain things our heroes are not aware of. For instance, they think that Morando is coming to Earth in search of Gaylen's Core. Given the information they have from their original timeline and this one, that is a reasonable assumption. But it's not a correct one. This time, Morando did not get that information from Loth Saborian. He left Akiridion-5 before Loth Saborian had that information. But they have no way of knowing that.