Revelations - Narrative

14th of The Scales of Judgment, 5152

The Intersecting Paths Must Be Realligned

Simon's Cottage

The boy standing before Charlotte practically oozed defiance out of every pore. Common sense should have dictated to Endless that he was, in no way, in the right at the moment. He had pursued an objectively selfish and irresponsible course of action that resulted in him regaining memories he wasn't prepared for. And while these memories were surely important, he then took it upon himself to thrust his knowledge upon Tehodis, an unwilling recipient, and when it became evident just how much she was against the notion, he turned venomous upon her as well. Now he had even suggested he could just leave, as though it was such a simple thing, because he had upset Simon.

It was cowardly. Endless wanted to run away because the people he felt he was likely closest to didn't seem to appreciate the gravity of what he knew. Meanwhile, he was blind to their feelings and ignorant of his own faults. He was consumed by urgency, and his fight or flight was clearly keeping a hold on him. But that was not all.

Earlier, as he had recounted his regained memories to Charlotte, and told her why he was in such a panic, Charlotte had used her gifts to probe into him a bit. The words he spoke came to life in her mind as she utilized the extra power Specs offered her, allowing her to paint what was surely an accurate recreation of the events that Endless described. The slanting of the images was influenced by his own bias, but the story they told would ring no less true. And more importantly, every memory she looked upon, in tandem with every word Endless spoke, radiated with his feelings, his emotions, and a sense of his thoughts.

Charlotte was able to conclude that even with his memories restored, Endless possessed no awareness of what he was. He did not understand why he felt the way he did, why the sheer indignation over these events stung him so much more deeply than it might others. He felt lost and helpless, without purpose, and was ignorant to the power he was capable of if only he could learn to apply it. He was also much too frantic for his own good, and needed to have his feelings focused. As much as Simon's words may have been absolutely true, it was sadly not shouting or berating that was going to get Endless to calm down.

She had been quiet as she contemplated these things, several seconds of silence passing between her and Endless after Simon had excused himself, and Endless had apparently had enough of it.

"Well? What, you're not gonna chew me out too?" he muttered. She continued to stare back, and he grunted in annoyance. "Forget it. I'll go back inside. I'll leave Tehodis alone. And I'll be a good boy and bring her back to Submiere later."

He turned as though to march off, but Charlotte flicked her wrist.

Miss Diamond answered the signal and lifted a nearby tree root, catching Endless's foot and causing him to fall forward. He landed with a thud in the snow, then swiftly climbed to his hands and knees, shaking his head and then turning to look at Charlotte.

"Did you just...?" He sounded both shocked and angry at the idea.

Another flick of her wrist, and Diamond transmuted the snow around Endless's hands into ice, holding him still. Charlotte began to walk over. Endless, meanwhile, struggled, yanking at his bound hands and writhing like a panicked animal. Charlotte could see the ice cracking, being pushed upon by a force that wasn't just from Endless's hands, but she only needed him distracted for a moment.

She reached him before he could break free, and before he could divert his attention back to her to see what she was doing. She stooped in front of him, a tarot card pulled from her cloak, and as he lifted his gaze to meet her, to perhaps do something to her, she met the motion by pressing her card against his forehead. Specs was beside her then, and his influence strengthened her command.

"Sleep."



When next Endless and Charlotte met, the two were suspended in an empty space, looking upon one another across a distance.

"What did you do!?" Endless demanded, unsure of what to make of his situation. Nothing around him felt quite like it should, and his powers weren't responding. He was simply... floating.

"I wished to show you something," Charlotte replied. "And I desired a neutral space with which to do so, one where your volatile state of mind would not prove so much a hindrance."

Endless watched as a book appeared out of thin air (or was this more like thin nothing?), and fell into Charlotte's hand. "Neutral space? I don't know where you've sent us, but it seems like you have all the power here. Not exactly what I'd call neutral," he spat.

"Don't be absurd," she answered calmly, turning the pages of the book. "I possess no more power here than you do. I simply understand how to use this place. Behold."

Her desired page seemingly found, Charlotte flung the book out. It turned to face Endless and then grew, larger and larger, until the page was much taller than Endless. Adorning the vast parchment was a drawing, a drawing that clicked with Endless's fresh memories.

"That bird..." he said, his eyes drawn to the text on the page. Xinnra... Seven Myhtical Beasts... Three Celestial Birds... Cleansing, Purification, Bearer of Heavenly Virtues for Moann, Temos, Veira, Khades...

"This is the creature that facilitated you and Tehodis's exit from the Feywild. Do you know why it came for you?"

"Because Haelrin wanted me gone, so he called it," Endless answered, clearly hesitant. It didn't sound correct to him, either.

"You can't truly believe that. Why then would it have spoken to you, halted the flow of time for you, if it had only appeared to follow Halerin's order? Why would it have allowed you to wrest Tehodis away from him?"

"...I don't know."

"Yes. There is much you don't know," she replied simply. "But I can tell you all you need to know, if only you'll permit me to look." At this Charlotte willed herself to drift closer to Endless, pushing their subconscious minds closer together. She offered her hand, letting it hang in the empty space. "I realize you may find this difficult to believe, but I do wish to help you."

Endless stared at her hand for a long moment, but she could see how curiosity danced in his eyes. He wanted more answers, more than just what his memory was supplying. Slowly, he took her hand. Charlotte nodded at him, and closed her eyes. Here, in the subconscious space suspended in The Elsewhere, with Endless's consent freely given, she could see more about him, more easily, than she could have managed otherwise. Her visions took her to that day in his memories, showing her in stunning clarity the interior of Haelrin's palace. She'd never seen it herself, as she had always avoided Haelrin when visiting that realm, but now it was as though she stood there in person.

She looked around, taking in the scene as it played itself out in front of her. And when the Xinnra appeared, its mighty gales shattering the windows of the throne room and stirring up a great whirlwind, Charlotte met its gaze and then extended her power further.

Specs, help me. Reach across history with me, she asked.

'Hmhm... Ask and you shall receive,' he answered, surprisingly amenable.

Charlotte's vision had a new target now, no longer focused on Endless and instead focused on the Xinrra itself. Her vision took her back further, and she saw the bird flying through the lanes between realms, screeching a cry that was both beautiful and indignant. It flew along the borders that separated the Feywild from other realities, trying in vain to find entry. It clawed and beat its wings against the place, but even its vast power seemed incapable of breaking the barrier that had been purposefully erected against it. Charlotte could see, for just a moment, through its eyes. She saw Endless consuming the Fey food, this time from the bird's point of view. For another moment, Charlotte felt what might have been the presence of another figure, watching the scene, but this presence was one of intense power. She felt it for only an instant, but she dared not to look at it. She had an idea of what sight might await her if she did, and it was not for her eyes to behold. She excused herself from that vision before she could intrude any further on Endless's divine mother, and she found herself falling back into Haelrin's palace, once again seeing things from Endless's point of view.

I need to go back further still, she urged, though now she could feel her power waning. Even with Specs's assistance, connecting with the Xinnra's memories demanded much of her energy. There wasn't much left. Still Specs assented, offering her one last jump.

She traced the path of Endless's life much further back now, taking shortcuts through the lanes of memory, until she arrived at the point she hoped to find. She saw him now, a toddler, small and rife with baby fat, cradled in the arms of a human mother. She smiled down at him, cooing at him, and beside her was the father, looking on fondly.

"He can't know, Roark," the woman said, her expression sombering. Endless recalled this moment through a child's eye, but Charlotte was not a child. "I just want him to be happy."

"I'm happy!" Endless's small voice chimed. He didn't understand what was bothering his mother. He was perfectly happy! His mother smiled again, bringing her face close, and the sad moment was over.



When Charlotte finally left the vision behind, she did not return to the subconscious realm. She no longer had the energy to keep her and Endless connected in that space. Instead, she found herself back in reality, kneeling in the snow, winded. Endless was staring at her with confusion... no, not confusion. Sympathy?

"...Why did you show me that?" he asked. Charlotte found her brows knitting together. Show him? Had he also seen what she was seeing? "I'm... sorry..." he said then, lowering his gaze.

This was... perplexing. "Why do you apologize? What did you see?"

He met her eyes again, and at the very least, Charlotte noted he didn't seem to be angry any longer. "Your parents... you had to leave them. You saw... something terrible happening to them, if you stayed."

...what?

'The connection can go both ways, Charlotte,' Specs spoke up then. 'You were careless in controlling the flow of visions.'

She blinked. Endless had seen a fragment of her past.

"...I apologize. You were not meant to see that," she said to him, slowly getting to her feet. Endless joined her, his hands no longer bound by the ice she had formed earlier. "It was an... unexpected side-effect. What I saw, however, should indeed clear the air for you."

"Side effect...?" he asked, though seemingly to himself, as his voice was low and his eyes were dropped. What all exactly had he seen, she wondered? Endless shook his head. "Alright, what then? What did the bird want with me?"

"The Xinrra had been watching you ever since you crossed into the Feywild. In fact, it even tried desperately to reach you as you were preparing to eat the Fey food, to retrieve you before you could do so. Alas, it was held back. Haelrin had erected a barrier barring its entry. I cannot say whether this was done proactively to keep it from reaching you specifically, or if he had simply done so at some point in the past for his own reasons. Either way, reaching you was impossible for the creature until such a point as Haelrin allowed it to appear."

"But why?" Endless asked. "Why did it want to save me so badly?"

"Because it is a servant of Khades, Endless. And you are Khades's child."

Endless took a step back. "...No, no I'm not. I'm Alexandria Laeretti's child. Khades is--"

"Your divine mother. Endless, you are what is called a Moonborn. You have heard of Lightborn, have you not? Moonborn are one among this unique strand of mortal. Alexandria Laeretti was your mortal mother, yes - but from the moment of your inception, Khades touched you with her divine light. You are as much connected to her as to your mortal family."

He took another step back. And another, now waving his hands. "What- What are you talking about!? Khades isn't even..."

Charlotte matched him by taking a step forward. "Do you mean to tell me you have crossed paths with the Divine once already, and yet still doubt the nature of their existence? Have you never wondered at the tone of your skin, or the silver moons of your eyes? Have you never questioned your connection to the moon, your pangs of longing for it whilst you were stranded in the Feywild?"

"My skin and eyes are because of a birth defect," he defended, a panicked look beginning to overtake him.

"A lie. Your mother's wish was that you might never be privileged with this information. I saw it myself, in your very own memories. She wished for you to live in blissful ignorance."

"Why! Why would she ever do that? You don't even know her!"

"I don't know most mothers in this world, but I imagine any one of them would do the same," Charlotte replied. "If you know what a Lightborn is, then I'm sure you've heard what is often associated with them."

He stopped and thought about that for a moment. Lightborn, Lightborn... he'd heard of them, read about them in passing, some years back... The memory clicked after just a few moments. Lightborn were supposedly chosen by the gods for some grand purpose, and most of them were destined to die for those causes.

"No... no, that's just superstition," he said, his voice quiet.

Charlotte shrugged. "One might say that the Xinrra is also mere superstition. And yet did this servant of the gods try fervently to reach you, admonished you for failing in the path that Khades hoped you would walk, and whisked you back to the mortal world. And we both know you cannot deny your own feelings. When you consumed the Fey food, you were overcome with pain. Your connection to your Divine Mother had been severed. You felt lost, and purposeless. And even now, you still do. Or did, until the moment your memories reminded you of your friend Rill. Did his predicament not light a fire in you? One so red-hot that it caused you to lash out even at your dearest friends?"

Endless didn't seem to have an answer for Charlotte. His eyes were cast down, and he was breathing deeply. The knit of his brows and width of his eyes painted an image of shocked confusion.

Charlotte stepped up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Khades stands for values of fairness and justice. Her children are said to revile acts of injustice, inequality, and oppression. Rare though they may be, it is said that when they appear in the world, Tyrants must fear. For the Moonborn have the power and destiny to topple empires." She removed her hand and turned back towards the cottage. "Your feelings regarding your situation are natural. But they are also the results of freshly wakened memories which, upon intersecting with your natural inclinations, have blinded you to reason. Your friend is deeply hurt. She has survived an ordeal that should have killed her, and the gravity of that averted fate shall weigh heavily upon her future. She is not prepared to handle another challenge."

And with that, Charlotte stepped away.

Her goal had been to leave Endless grounded, and... well, he wasn't sure he could say she succeeded. But he was more calm now, at any rate. Or perhaps calm was not the correct expression. Rather, he was now so consumed with confusing thoughts and surprise, that he didn't feel angry anymore. He still felt a sense of urgency about Rill, and he still felt it was important that Tehodis know that Haelrin would probably be coming after her. But... in the wake of his dying anger, he also knew that Simon and Lila had both been right. He had been out of line. Insensitive. Too keen on making everyone forget their own concerns in favor of his own. It was selfish. And he needed to apologize.

He looked back up at where Lila had been, and felt another pang of sympathy as well. It was clear she hadn't meant for him to see it, but he had. He saw her as a little girl. A scared little girl who was seeing terrible things. He couldn't quite make sense, himself, of what those things were. It had all flown by in a flash, a blur of images, but he knew it was terrifying. It scared her to death and left her feeling helpless. He could understand those emotions. And then she saw a disaster befalling her parents, and the premonition of calamity only changed when she thought about running away from it all. She'd been forced to leave her family behind to save them, and the things she saw had turned her into the unfeeling woman she was now.

He couldn't say he knew very much about her now, even still. The person she was now was still an unknown. But he knew at least that 'Lila' wasn't her real name. It was all he had, though. He hadn't caught her real name in the visions he saw. But it certainly wasn't what she'd told them.

"She has her reasons, I guess..." he murmured.

It was cold. His anger wasn't warming him any longer. And he needed to fix what he'd done.