May the Stars Align -- Viravos & Rayllum

chapter 2

"The castle??" Terry exclaimed. "Sir, they will lock us up. They will not care whether we live or die." 

"On the contrary. They will most definitely lock us up, but they will tend to us. If King Ezran is anything he is compassionate. It is his greatest strength but also his greatest weakness." 

"I see. Well, we've got quite the journey ahead of us, so we've better get going." Terry and Viren took Claudia, each holding one of her arms, trudging forward. 

Meanwhile, Aaravos peered down at them from the trees, through his looking glass. He did not know why he continued to stare, where he derived this curiosity, but he did. Little things never mattered to Star-touch elves. When you look down from the stars, everything of significance seems oh so small. Pleasure was to come from the crumbling of governments, the waging of war, from fire and blood and doom. It was foreign to him that people could find happiness anywhere else. Things such as smiles and jelly tarts and glow toads. That is why he looked on, flummoxed, as he adjusted his vantage point so as to see his new captors.

They seemed to be on a boat. He observed as Callum, the new high mage of Katolis, practiced his new-found skills with the ocean arcanum. A look of excitement in his eyes as water spiralled around him only to collapse on his head– he had gotten distracted by the three baby glow toads. Aaravos watched keenly as King Ezran pet their heads, a soft smile adorning his face, yet dark circles loomed beneath his eyes like dark holes sucking away every morsel of innocence and childhood from him. Azymondias appeared to be playing some form of footsie with Bait except with their snouts– Azymondias was winning. Rayla the Moonshadow Elf appeared to be tightly hugging her pet Stella, trying her best not to pay attention to the water around her. And, Soren gazed at the horizon, a grim look on his face, wrinkles on his forehead. Aaravos wanted to reach out and tell Soren. Tell Soren that his father lived. That his father wanted nothing to do with dark magic, nothing to do with Aaravos. That his father loved him. But even if he were presented with the opportunity to do so, Aaravos would not say anything. After all, Viren passed by his life like a ship in the night. That's all he was, a ship in the night. You don't chase after a ship in the night. You let it go, sail into the darkness. The stars may be bright, but don't let it fool you: he's a ship in the night. 

Callum stopped practicing and sat down on the wooden floors of the boat, the small glowing ball in his hand. 

"So, this is where Aaravos is." Yes it is. "What do we...do with it?" 

"We need to hide it," Ezran said, his voice brimming with duty. 

"But where," Rayla exclaimed, "you heard Tidebound Tina or whatever her name was. She found out where Aaravos' prison was ON ACCIDENT and it was still a piece of knowledge she would have died for having." 

"Well," Soren began, "to hypothetically free Aaravos, one would need a key. As long as nobody has the key, can't we just dump this stupid glowy ball anywhere?" 

"Soren, every dragon of nobility or importance knows something about this prison. There is a dragon out there that knows where or what the key is. As long as that knowlege is out there, leaving the ball 'anywhere' just isn't a safe option," Ezran said in his calm diplomatic king voice, though it was quite obvious he was a bit frustrated. 

"I may have an idea," Callum muttered. Everyone's heads piqued and so did their interests at Callum's words. "The moonshadow arcanum," he murmured, his nose in his books as he frantically flipped the pages. 

"What about it, Callum?" Rayla asked. 

"Moonshadow elves and the moonshadow arcanum has a focus on illusion. Concealing what is already there. Manipulating the mind to believe something. In one of my books about the moonshadow arcanum, I'm pretty sure I encountered something about manipulating memory and inducing amnesia. Creating the illusion that nothing has occured when something actually has. What if we get someone we trust, maybe Zubeia, to hide the ball somewhere prudent, and then I could work to erase their memory." 

"Thats-" Ezran began. 

"Genius," Rayla finished. Her eyes regained a sort of luster that they had lost over the past couple of years. "But Callum, that means you need to gain a connection with the moon arcanum." 

"Yes I will. I will need to go to visit Lujanne," Callum said to Rayla, but something about his tone seemed cold and distant. [author's note: this is a clear diversion from the canon and that is because i really don't like the way they make callum so trusting and forgiving towards rayla after she left him for two years like that is not okay. rayla's gonna have to apologize fr]

"Callum, I am coming with you," Rayla insisted. 

"No." 

"I am a Moonshadow elf, I can help you." 

"Fine, tag along. But don't expect me to be sad when you eventually leave me to take the mission into your own hands while I'm asleep." A pained look overcame Rayla before she resigned to silence, defeated. Aaravos watched her with intrigue. What was that feeling? Was that the same feeling he felt before? It appeared to be so. He didn't expect the mirror to truly reflect himself back. 

Ezran cleared his throat. "Soren and I will take the ball to Zubeia. Then, she can hide it." 

"It's a plan," Soren exclaimed. The four of them retreated to prepare themselves for their respective journeys to come. And Aaravos was left to stew in his prison, a fireplace, and the blood of his child smattered about, painting the room in red.