The Clan of Outcasts [Season 3]

Part 34: "The Crow Prince"

The White Castle (North)

Kaidan winced as the straps fastening his hands to the sides of Trev's head chafed against his skin. It was one thing to pull up memories which the person or object had recently or frequently experienced--it was quite another to try and dredge up memories that a person didn't even know they had. He could feel his Gift like a pulling sensation, dragging him deeper and deeper into the giant's psyche--but as he mentally drifted through the darkness, a glimmer of something emerged, and Kaidan focused on it, willing it back to the surface. It carried the same sensation of trying to haul a stone from the bottom of a well, but once he had enough of a feeling to cling to, Kaidan found himself plunged into a hazy scene.

The old man had grey streaks in his hair now, and more wrinkles on his face. He wagged his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Trevon," his voice was barely audible. "It pains me... been such a joy to have you for these last years... Can't have you..."

Kaidan winced and caught himself straining to hear the words, but the memory was already so faint that the missing bits just didn't come through. Besides, he was already feeling lightheaded at the strain, and he couldn't afford to pass out and risk being buried in someone else's psyche. He held his stance and watched the memory unfold.

The old man was joined by his wife. Her hand rested upon her swollen belly. She smiled at her husband, then gazed at Kaidan--or, Trevon, as the old man had addressed him--with a sad nod. "You understand, don't you?" she asked.

Somewhere beside Kaidan, a voice said, "You fear... baby... danger... don't want..."

The man coughed, and gestured to something behind Trevon. "It is time," he said. "Juros guide you on your way."

Now they were walking, out across the empty Wilderness. Kaidan could see the couple, first in front of him, then beside him... hanging back further and further... until he was alone. On he walked, for how long, Kaidan couldn't tell, but then, through Trevon's eyes, he spotted a cluster of aspen trees he recognized. Far ahead, he could see the foundations of stone that could only be the base of the outermost defenses of this very White Castle--

A surge pulled Kaidan out of the memory, but not completely. He was aware, both of what he was witnessing inside Trev's head, and also what was happening in his physical surroundings, although he had no volition in either scenario. Mallory was standing very close to him, with a thick mass of shadows on her palm. She grabbed Kaidan's shoulder, and instead of a pulling sensation, Kaidan felt something pushing him behind, forcing itself into him at a rate that made his heart race. His skin felt numb, and Kaidan knew he was being Jacked--but how? Nothing in the records ever mentioned Mallory secretly being Abnormal. She was supposed to be Gifted--and Gifts had no effect on Abnormals. He could not resist, he could not stop her or let go of Trev's memories, as he witnessed them changing and shifting...

The scene wound backward at a great rate, all the way back to the moment Trevon set off across the wilderness. This time, the old couple weren't with him, he was all by himself. He never traveled northwest, to the White Castle. Instead, he detoured south, toward a small tower in a secluded corner of the Wilderness. A pair of knights opened the doors, and a smiling redhead in regal black robes was there to welcome him. She was Mallory; he recognized her at once.

"Brother!" she said. "You've come back to me! I've been waiting so long for you! Come in, and sit with me!" She led him into a room full of strange boxes. 

Kaidan saw odd colors in strange designs over the faces of the boxes, and when Trevon's eyes glanced to the corner, Kaidan saw a pair of large cages attached to the boxes with string. Judging by the configuration, and based on the research he had done, Kaidan guessed that these boxes were actually machines, which meant that this tower was Mallory's old laboratory, The Rook.