066 - The Sleeping Forest

The instant Magnus lit the candle the space within the cave was filled with a warm orange glow. The candle was far brighter than it had any right to be, a yellow-red flame flickering, casting deep shadows.

"Ah. Took you a while." Kujata's voice echoed in the cave. "Send a strand of Vigour into the flame."

Magnus touched the flame with a red thread, feeling a great heat flow up into his arm. With it came an irresistible suction drawing into the flames.

He blinked, opened his eyes wide and stared around incredulous; no longer within the cave, Magnus found himself in a small garden within an inner courtyard. Sat before in a light blue dress Kujata, her dark eyes examining him intently.

"This place . . is this an Ether construct?" Magnus peered around the garden, there was a certain unreality emanating from the many plants and flowers, even the stone walls seemed to be made of ghostly bricks.

"You knew?" Kujata exclaimed, her eyes turning wide.

"Of course, I've been to a few in the palace . . though not as shoddily constructed."

"!" Kujata leapt to her feet. "Magnus?"

"Magnus? . . who else?" Magnus replied.

"Who else? Who else! What palace?"

"Why, the Endless Palace of course, the Imperial Court on Segye. Min and I were . . ah . . . master! Big sis! My head!"

"You . . you . . you ate someone. Ah . . oh . . oh no. You ate someone. But for it to have such a profound effect . ." Kujata paced back and forth in the courtyard.

Magnus clenched his teeth, an increasingly sharp pain, like a storm raging behind his eyes.

"You must have awoken, must have . . that feeling four days ago, it was you! Magnus, listen, what aspect did it take? What creature did you see?"

"Creature? I saw a Griffon . . the Griffon I devoured, I saw it in a strange place . . I'm a Celestial, right? You're a Celestial too, right Kujata? Kujata . . that name . . the Heavenly Bull!"

"What else did you see?" Kujata insisted. "The Griffon you saw, it got eaten by something, right? What creature? Was it a bull? A lion? A snake? It must have been big."

"I saw nothing like that big sis! I saw . . the Griffon, and the black broke apart, and there was a hand. Yeah, a really big hand . . it ate the Griffon!"

"A hand? What?" Kujata stopped in front of Magnus. "A . . human hand?"

"Well, it was really big. What is happening to me sis? Is a hand my aspect? I'm a Celestial . . I am . ."

Kujata sat back down in silence staring at him. A hand. That isn't right . . not an aspect? No. Everything else, the profound confusion at his self of sense, it wouldn't happen if he hadn't awakened an aspect. But from just one measly Griffon? She hadn't thought that all the Griffons in the world would form an aspect.

A hand . . a giant hand . .

"Big sis! What is gonna happen to me? I can't remember my pa or ma! I mean . . I know they were there . . I can remember Rolf, but my home . . what is happening to me?"

"Don't panic. Sit still."

If she left it as is he would continue to lose his memories . . from now on Magnus' sense of self would continue to deteriorate. Maybe . . maybe she should let it happen? Maybe it was for the best? An aspect that profoundly devoured would be inevitably coloured by the process if not centered, the Celestial degenerates into . . into . .

“What happened to Sif? How did he die?”

“Killed by Min.” Magnus replied.

Kujata’s expression didn’t change. “Tell me everything that's happened to you.”

Magnus spoke, telling her of the hunters and heroes and of the brother and sister, not missing out a single detail, ending with the curse of the Heart Sword.

“. . . and my sister, uh, Min, the girl . . she . . not my sister . .”

“Take it easy Magnus, relax your mind.”

“What is happening big sis? My head . . it doens’t feel my own. My memories are of here, but at the same time I see . . I can’t see what is me, what is Soo.”

Kujata sighed, meeting Magnus worried gaze.

"Alright. It's not too late Magnus, I feared this might happen, but it's alright. You devoured someone strong after awakening your aspect, yes? It'sIt's my fault, my fault. I should have . . nevermind. Ok."

Kujata waved her hand and the garden and the house vanished. In their place was a river of black water running through an endless expanse of ash-grey grass.

"You need to gain control of your aspect, center your self in the inner world. Here in the Ether it is easier to make a connection to the self, you follow?"

"So . . this place is inside myself? The Ether . . it is a spiritual plane, outside of space and time, connected to the inner and outer world. I understand big sis."

"Ah. Ah aha ha!" Kujata grinned at him. "So you do! But Magnus, what does it mean? What is the inner and outer world?"

"Uh . . yeah . . I said that, didn't I? It is . ." Magnus floundered.

"Half remembered knowledge. Better than nothing at all, just follow my instructions. This is your ethereal body, a spirit form, you've been in spirit form before, when near death, right? Right. Well, the spirit form is very similar to your physical body, all the bits and bobs are more or less in the same place."

She looked just like she had at the shrine, a little cleaner maybe, less messy hair. Looking down Magnus saw he was almost translucent, his clothes and limbs ghostly and pale.

"Think of it like a reflection of your body and mind, but a little more malleable. This world, the Ether, is like a waking dream, see?"

As she spoke she raised an open palm, on it was an apple. The apple deformed, collapsing in on itself and shrunk down to a golden coin with the image of an apple on one side and a sword on the reverse. The coin hovered above Kujata's palm, spinning slow. Without quite seeing how, suddenly there were two coins, then four, then eight, slowly turning in the air between them.

Kujata clapped her hands together and the coins merged into one overlapping gold coin, growing and growing, in the space of a breath becoming as large as the whole space from horizon to horizon, everything in the world now in a gap below the coin.

"Anything is possible here, for the mind that is in possession of the self."

The coin became the sun, the world shook and from the grey grass grew countless buildings, every blade of ash coloured grass became an ash coloured house, growing windows and doors, floors blossoming up like opening flowers.

"Illusions, pale imitations. It is easy to form countless things . . but to create a single real thing here?"

Kujata pressed her palms together, slowly peeling them apart to reveal a small gold coin. Holding it out for Magnus to see, she gently blew on the coin and it crumbled.

"As Celestials we need to be properly grounded, ah hells, I'd wished it wouldn't come so soon! There are a thousand things more that you ought to know before . . hells. Right, right, listen Magnus, what you have to do is put a part of yourself down here and make it grow, set yourself in it and force it to take form, whatever form that might be. The city, the buildings - this is all a part of me, I guess in a way a reflection of my self. You need to find a reflection of yourself."