He could hear the little girl sobbing, which was good. If her voice had gone silent in the Beyond, it would take much more than a few words and ashen marks to return her spirit whole. And even then, there was no guarantee she wouldn't break. But she couldn't break—he refused to let her. He had to save her. Should he fail, then Master would…

The starlit river full of souls held a strong current, but Adagium remained untouched by its pull and waded with ease past the countless pools and tiny whirls that would drag any other under. He could feel the waters sapping his spirit, but his ancient form was strong, so the attempt remained a mere tickle instead of the withering, all-consuming shiver.

He paused to listen, and hearing the cry turn to a scream, rushed forward. There should be nothing in this area to cause such a fright, and he doubted the child's soul was coherent enough to realize where it was.

Somnus' Gate was the first of nine, comprised of a veil of mist with a single dark opening, where the waters poured into the silence between it and the second gate. Adagium hurried towards it, and then stopped. The child screamed not because she saw where she was, but because something had grabbed her. Standing there, looming up out of the glimmering waters was a shadow darker than night, its mass glittering with countless stars.

It stood at relatively the same height as Adagium, and there were glowing green flames where he would expect to see eyes. The scent of moss and fresh earth rolled off the being, reminding one of the fresh scent of the grave.

The immortal advanced on the thing slowly, keeping his eyes on the girl it held in the grip of its shadowed hands. She now seemed asleep on her feet, but restless, and she blindly grabbed at the hands at her mouth and around her waist.

From the waters before the shadow beast rose a new figure: a man, lithe and limber, with silver hair and a cruel smirk, his body swathed in a cloak of starlight. Aside from the jagged scar that crossed his left eye, the man was the mirror image of Adagium. He stood still, his gaze locked on the man before him.

Slowly, Adagium reached into his cloak and withdrew a long, slender black crystal. It glowed with a dark light, and generated a small field of void energy, throbbing with a pulse reminiscent of a heartbeat. He held it before him and parted his lips to speak. The other man chuckled and raised his hand, prompting the shadow beast to increase its grip on the girl. He spoke, his tone like a song, with a subtle condescending lilt.

"How long are you going to avoid this?" He moved his eyes to the girl. "We finally have what we need! No one can cross to reach her now."

Adagium sighed as he held the crystal. "Be silent and fade into memory. It's pointless to keep trying."

"Oh, no, I'll try forevermore if need be. As many times as breaths you take, there, too, shall I come to reap what should have been mine a thousandfold. Spirits are eternal. And therefore, I am eternal."

"…we are eternal," Adagium muttered. "And eternity apart is how we shall remain."

The copy seemed to hear the unspoken words lingering just beyond. He smiled widely, a purplish glow in his dark eyes.

"No. We were made to need each other," he cooed. "As rain meets the river and trees touch the sky."

Adagium's eyes hardened. Yet at his silence, the copy waved his arm. The shadowbeast moved as though to break its captive's slender neck. With the sudden movement, Charlie awoke. Immediately, she cried and reached out her small hands, grabbing up fistfuls of the man's hair and tugging with all her might. The man's own cry mingled with hers, genuine in its shock as he didn't expect her to have so much energy left. He struggled to free himself, but the light pouring from the girl's hands ensnared him like so many vines.

The shadow beast dissolved into glowing dust and the man threw the girl from him. Charlie landed on her backside in the water, screaming as the chill waters instantly rushed to swallow her up and drag her deeper beyond the gate. But Adagium lunged for her, snatching her away from the hungry river as the shadow beast newly reformed.

He drew the crystal once more and held it out, squeezing it tightly so the dark surface cracked, revealing a pulsating purple inner core. With each throb, the waters and stars pulsated in time. The copy flinched at the sensation, gripping his head tightly. Writhing bands of purest black shot from the crystal's core, wrapping his frame alongside the light. His cry was curiously muffled, but still clear and cutting, as the crystal was pulled towards and then into his chest. He fell to his knees, the waters washing him over and dragging him back towards the gate.

"You can't keep me hidden forever!" he screamed. "You'll say my name one day!"

His words sputtered out as the waters took him under. They swirled and gurgled and then resumed their smooth and steady flow.

Adagium stared at the gate for a moment, then sighed, looking to the girl in his arms. She was awake and stared back at him, the soft, warm green steadily returning to her eyes. Weakly, Adagium laid a hand upon her forehead and felt the pulse of the earth contained within.

Loire had accepted his plea.

The girl smiled at him, hugging his neck, and Adagium felt a small smile tugging at the corner of his own mouth. Even after she pulled away, Adagium felt her warmth lingering…almost like a burning. He turned, and began the long wade back through the river, to the gate that would bring them back to the living world.

‡ † ‡

"Dude, this place is wicked…"

The voice pierced his mind like a silver arrow. Where there had once been nothing but darkness fragmented by splinters of memory, suddenly there was light. Sound. Awareness.

"I get the feeling we're really not supposed to be in here…"

"Same, but I can't just leave him… Look for a stone that's different than the others."

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The darkness gave way to a soft, blurry, green light. The light coalesced. Focused. He saw. What he saw, he was not sure, but he saw…something. A room of strange stone and white-green lights. Unfamiliar. Foreign.

His awareness expanded. His awareness expanded. There was more than a room. He was on his back, within a pool of softly glowing green liquid. His back rested on a hard surface, leaving his face above the surface of the fluid. The strangely ethereal liquid began to drain, drawing away from his body and leaving him feeling cool. Somewhat cold.

His eyes moved slowly, taking in the glowing dome, and then the larger chamber he was in. The ceiling and walls were some kind of stone or metal. They weren't smooth. Instead, they were covered with swirling patterns. Ripples and wrinkles in the walls that formed circular shapes and maze-like designs. Small lights interspersed around the chamber emanated a soft, orange light. They looked like constellations.

"Hey, I think I found it!"

He sat up. As he did, his body protested. He felt stiff. Heavy. He looked down at himself. Glancing over the countless scars and runic markings and seals, he absently noted that his body was unclothed. Frowning, he considered this as he looked down at himself. Why was he naked? He should be wearing clothes, shouldn't he?

Not just that, but why was he in here? What was this place?

More fragmented memories stabbed viciously at his mind, full of fuzzy shapes and fractured words. Releasing his head, he took one more look around.

"Charlie, this…damn thing…won't budge!"

"Let's both try."

Charlie…?

More memories, their shattered pieces glittering, fusing once more to form a full, cohesive recollection.

He swung his legs over the lip of the now-empty pool he had been lying in and eased himself out. His feet touched the ground. Stone. Cold. His feet felt tender. He eased himself up to stand, and his spine popped audibly as he straightened. He took stock of himself at that moment. Two arms, two legs. Tall. Thin, yet muscular. He reached up, feeling at his head; silver-blonde hair fell down his back. He pulled it over his shoulder. Why was it so long?

He released his hair and looked around again, narrowing his eyes. A small pedestal sat nearby, glowing with a light similar to that of the pool he had been lying in. He walked toward this pedestal and, as he approached, he found neatly folded clothes. He grabbed the all-black garments and began to dress.

The room vibrated and the wall before him began to slide down into the floor. Thoughts and dreams and memories all flowed together as one continuous stream. Time became meaningless as light from the room without spilled over the top of the slowly descending wall. There was no way to stop the memories, the emotions—he knew the meaning behind them, and as he closed his eyes, it repeated.

He opened his eyes to see a woman before him.

"Who's there?"

It took a while before he realized he'd spoken. Before he remembered his own voice; low, ancient, broken.

He blinked, but his sight refused to adjust. All he saw was faint light, black shapes, and a pair of eyes that burst with a force of life he'd never before seen. Familiar eyes. Not the fierce, brown eyes of his Master, but a deep green, humming something just out of earshot—no, it wasn't the eyes that were humming, it was something inside his head. He leaned against the wall, grabbing his head roughly against the song.

"Who's there?" he repeated, while green-eyes stood almost frozen. He decided then that it didn't matter, one way or the other.

He remembered everything. His dream…was not that. He'd saved the young Master from the clutches of death, then retreated in sheer exhaustion to regain his spent power. He was underneath his home…a secret place these strangers were not welcome.

"You don't belong here."

Another voice answered, energetic and not very pleasant to him. "Wait, what? Whaddaya mean we don't belong?"

He frowned; the voice was much too loud. Sound had been absent for too long, save for the almost mute whispers and their strange earthsong inside his head.

"Not so loud, Griff." This voice was soft and gentle. He looked to the woman as she spoke. "I'm glad you're actually still here."

He turned his head to the tall man, who was half-hidden by shadows. He had mellow brown eyes.

"Man, do you look rough. Baby girl, are you sure this was a good idea?"

All he could notice was their eyes. He wondered, looking between them, who they were and, more importantly, how they'd come to learn of his slumber.

He wavered on his feet, touching a hand to his head to try and grasp the swirling thoughts within. "You must leave. I must apologize…explain…to Master…"

Brown eyes shifted. "Dude, what are you saying?"

"Leave this place," he repeated. "Before Master finds out."

"If you mean Grandma," green eyes started, carefully, sounding broken. Just like him. "She's not here anymore. She died three months ago."

He stared. Thoughts were going madly around in his head. "Died?" he repeated. "That…is a lie."

Green-eyes shook her head. "Don't you recognize me? It's me…Charlie."

"…Lie," he croaked. Miss Charlotte is… The swirling wouldn't stop.

"I-I promise I'm not lying… It's been nine years. You've been asleep all this time."

Nine years…?

He sprang forward a single step and collapsed.

I have slept…for nine years?

Charlie caught him in one fluid motion before his skull connected with the floor. His breath caught at the warmth enveloping him. He didn't want it to retreat, to leave him with that same absent chill from earlier. He looked toward Charlie, where he thought that her face must be, and his lips parted wordlessly again.

"I got you," she said gently.

"Are you Charlotte? Truly?" he asked, voice laying low inside the room.

"I am. I'm here. Don't worry, okay?" The light refused still to allow him sight beyond the color of the woman's eyes, but in her words, he could almost hear her soft smile.

I can't believe it…

Damn his sight. He needed to know. He needed it even more, now that he'd awakened from visions and nightmares … This could very well be another, a waking horror he'd never escape, but then… He needed to know.

"Nine years… Charlotte, my sight is… M-may I?" Adagium murmured, already reaching out, as if drawn to Charlotte by a magnetic force. He couldn't hold back.

Instead of replying, she took his hands, fingers smoothing over ancient tattoos and binding runes, and countless centuries' worth of scars. She let him feel her hands for a moment—hands he had once held as the toddler learned to walk, then pulled as the lively preteen pushed herself to climb high up in the trees…then trembled to hold tight as he pulled them both free from Death.

They're…so different, Adagium noted. Expecting them to be cold and rough, he felt almost blessed at their warmth, their gentleness.

Lovely as it was, he was impatient to shift his attention elsewhere. He couldn't wait for sight that might never fully return. He needed to know how Charlotte looked. How nine years had changed the face that shared his soul, filled his dreams and memories. He knew the child's features by heart. But if his Master was truly… If Marianne was truly dead, then he needed to know what this woman—his new Master—looked like.

As if sensing exactly what he needed, Charlotte gently guided Adagium's hands upward, resting them tenderly against her cheeks. And then, she moved her own away entirely, giving him free reign with a small smile he could feel against his palms.

Adagium shivered, his heart rate picking up. He was frightened, but it was a different sort of fear, one that lingered in not knowing. He never knew just what to expect when he woke from the healing waters. But to have lost nine years…?

He swallowed, forcing his shaking hands to move slowly, tracing up along the fine contours of cheekbones, her brow, reading every line on Charlie's face as if it held the secrets of the world. Bigger, grown, some of the youthful softness replaced in favor of defined angles. Up around her eyes, all the small, tired lines etched by toil and time.

He currently had no way of knowing, but he hoped her eyes hadn't faded from the misty, emerald brilliance of his memory. So full of light and life. Like the rolling hills and patches of clover in the early morning dew. Like acceptance and comfort, patience and familiarity. He could only hope that they hadn't hardened into fear and loathing.

Astrals help me should this kindness be a lie of yet another monster hiding behind a human face.

Warmth gathered behind his own eyes, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat as he trailed his fingers back down. And dear Erde, their bond mark. A delicate tree on the very back of her neck, pulsing with the same life and warmth as her hands.

A shocked, wet little laugh escaped him as a tingle raced through his fingertips as he traced the swirls and swoops of the design. He shouldn't be surprised; he'd called upon the Great Tree to save them both from Death that night. It was just… He had never broken a bond with a Master before to attach himself to another. He ran his fingers back over the woman's face in fascination, the warmth finally spilling from his eyes. Charlotte looked so different.

"Please tell me what happened."

He listened in silence as she told him what little she knew, her thumbs gently rubbing over his knuckles. Whatever gaps her absence left could surely be filled by Lori or Tal, the only other two in town he knew well enough to trust. But…nine years. Secrets. Lies. Murder. A stranger in town? He supposed the blame fell upon his shoulders; had he not slept so long, then perhaps…

The revelation wasn't unexpected, but it did strike him with a cold sort of sorrow. Empty. A lot of time had passed since he'd first served Marianne; but time had been meaningless to him, cursed with eternity.

"Hey," Charlie suddenly said. "Everything okay in there?"

He shook his head. "Forgive me, Master."

"Don't call me that," she said quickly, bitterly. "I'm no one's master. I'm just Charlie, okay?"

He paused, searched his mind. "Please allow me to at least call you Charlotte," he said, feeling the weight of such a familiar name on his tongue.

"That's fine. What's your name?"

"…Adagium."

She shook her head. "No," she said, something melodic, almost like a small laugh dancing on the tip of her tongue. "Your real name. I don't care what my grandma or any of the others called you."

Strength flooded his body and he gently removed his hands from hers. He remained seated, still too dizzy to stand up. He hadn't thought of his name in so long. He cleared his throat, attempting to find his voice again.

"Ah, my name…is Reiem."

Brown-eyes gave a short, snort-like laugh. "Not sure if you remember me, but I'm—"

"Griffith Bryn Alavai, son of Talus," Reiem said. The boy shared his father's honey eyes in the light; he didn't know why he hadn't felt the familiarity they both exuded until now. Their kindness, even as children, had touched him. It was not something he expected to forget in his dark world.

"Ha, he remembered me."

"Miss Charlotte? A question if I may," Reiem heard himself say, though he hadn't planned to. Words fell so freely from his lips, it almost terrified him. "Before her passing, did Mas—did Marianne teach you how to Speak?"

Charlie seemed a little surprised. She shook her head. "Speak? Is that, like, something only Guardians can do? Like magic?"

Reiem blinked through his darkness. He had to show her…everything?

"It's the language of the world. The song of the earth and the trees. The sigh of the wind and the waves."

Through his words, Charlie's gaze slowly lowered to the floor. She shook her head again, this time much slower.

"She never taught me," she admitted quietly. "I never saw her again after Mom and I moved away. And they never let me learn anything."

"What is the date?"

"April 16th."

"I believe we have time."

He was tired. Cold. Starving. Yet still he existed to serve, and she was just another in his eternity. If what she said was true, and some stranger truly had killed Marianne—which would have been avoided if only he hadn't been sleeping—Master would still be…

"At summer's end is when your trials begin."

"After the moonlight jellies, right?"

He nodded.

She sighed. "Four months, huh? I hope I can do this."

"You got this," Griff said. Reiem could hear the tenderness in his voice.

"I better. You'll be with me all the way, right?"

Charlie had asked not Griff, but Reiem himself. Her tone surprised him, as did the light in her eyes, and he muttered a quiet affirmative. He thought himself out of words to say, but he received another surprise as he asked, "Would you really want something like me by your side?"

"Why wouldn't I? For better or worse, we're kinda stuck with each other." She added, almost inaudibly, "You're all I have left."

Then…that was good enough. He thought he had woken to a nightmare, yet another sliver shoved into his skin, but couldn't remember why he'd thought that. Perhaps sleeping was his nightmare, and this was a simple but temporary escape. If it was his punishment to be awake then he would gladly suffer, but not before he fulfilled his sentence. For them.

A shrill singing filled the room, piercing through whatever semblance of peace had settled into Reiem's mind.

"Shit. Sorry. Dad's calling me." Griff stepped out of the room.

"You alright to stand?"

Reiem nodded. His body protested yet again as he attempted. Pain flared through him. However, the gentle warmth of Charlie's hands on his arm pushed it all away, and he rose. He looked down at her and, for a moment, they took in each other's gaze. Shadow and light began to give way to shape and texture. A gentle smile. A worried look. Something fluttered deep inside.

"Yo, Dad's making dinner," Griff said. He poked his head in, phone still to his ear. "You coming, Charlie?"

"I'd like to, but…" She shook her head, long brown hair shaking with it. Looking back to Reiem, she said, "I don't think it would be fair to leave you alone. All cramped up in this little room for the past decade…"

"Oh," Griff said slowly. Back out into the hall he went, voice hushed.

"Hey, listen. Do you mind…" She cleared her throat. "Do you want to come with me for a while? You know, just to talk? Maybe catch up? It has been quite a while."

"Talk?" Reiem asked, feeling foreign to the concept. His voice dropped almost to a whisper. "What could the topic possibly be that you'd desire my company?"

She pursed her lips and inhaled quickly. It seemed to have pushed aside her hesitation. He found his hand grabbed in her own and himself being tugged along. Finding the entire situation purely bizarre, Reiem walked with her.

"There's a lot on my mind," she finally said, low so only he could hear.

"What're you gonna do?" Griff asked, a muted gloom in his voice. "Just hang at the house and chill?"

"Something like that."

"Oh… Uh, okay. I'll let Dad know. I'm down for whatever. Cal's got a special on pizza tonight if you want something bad."

"Man, he makes the best food. I might need new pants soon…"