An Age of Mysterious Memories

Chapter 35: Rivers In June

“Reggie, can you maybe get up, please? And maybe send your new friend somewhere so they stop scaring the beavers?” Since Luni is making a request of me, I can’t really say no, she rarely ever asks me to do anything. There’s a bit of a problem with that though, Luna seems comfortable, and is very, very heavy.

I try replying, while attempting to stifle a bit of laughter at my own predicament, “I would like to comply my dear, I really would. It seems Luna however isn’t having any of it. I don’t want to make an enemy out of them.”

Luni taps her foot impatiently for a bit, then does something that scares me half to death. She marches up to Luna, leans her shoulder low, and just shoves with all her might. This of course doesn’t budge Luna even an inch, but I was terrified that the bear might attack Luni in retaliation. Luna probably realizes that while we are squishy enough to die, we’re also not worth the trouble of attacking, as we cause all sorts of inconveniences. Friends that breathe fire, me conjuring stone structures, and now this brazen lass shoving, backed up by dozens of beaverfolk. Compared to being given free fish, what seems like a better deal to you? Dealing with that nonsense, or accepting the fish?

“Okay, I give, we need her anyway.” Luni admits defeat after trying to shove Luna for a while.

“We do?” Now I’m curious what the plan is, if Luni already knows such a detail.

“Luna there is the only one that can enter the pyramid that you mentioned. At night it seems she can walk through walls, or at least those walls, and anyone riding her gets taken along through.”

“Does that mean one of the beavers somehow made friends with her before, or, or well, what does it mean?” I interrupt, expecting where this is going, slightly.

“Their best guess until now was that this one beaver who came back with a name like Lithick, Lithium, whatever the name was, jumped on the back of Luna here, and just happened to get taken into the pyramid. If you really have her tamed, or well, have her friendship, then one of us can go inside.” Luni continues to try to fill me in on the plan.

“Nah, Luna definitely isn’t tamed, she just tolerates us at the moment. Aint that right Luna? You think we’re a bunch of trespassing idiots, and just want fishes, don’cha?” I give Luna’s paw another hug, she responds with a huff and an eye roll. Curious, does she actually understand me? I peer at Luna as intently as I can, but she reveals no secrets to me. “Still, Teuila’s the one I sent to get inside the pyramid, if someone can figure out where she is, and fill her in on the plan, I’m sure she can get Luna to cooperate, even if accidentally.”

“That’s good, because this Lith-whatever, our new friends say they aren’t the beaver, they’re something inside the beaver. Their guess is that something in the pyramid would let them jump into anyone else under their sway if they were threatened or killed. At least, unless the pyramid is being dealt with at the same time.” Lu’s explanation has me slightly rattled. How could they possibly guess that? Unless they’ve already tried to kill Lith-whatever before. Oh, right, it has been months since Lil and I passed through, when we sent Luna packing with burns. They’ve probably tried all sorts of things.

I ponder aloud, “Well fudge, how are we supposed to time something like that simultaneously?”

“I’unno, got any magic for that?” Lu sidles up alongside me, and leans against my shoulder, as well as Luna’s paw. Luna doesn’t react, so we’re good there at least. Luni seeks out my hand and intertwines her fingers with mine. I spy the orangey ring on one of her fingers, and blush about the day I handed that over.

“Not really, we have a couple of mysterious potions, and this weird burner thing that I think you’re supposed to put incense in or something. I’ve got some serpent parts I never bothered to check out, from the time Teuila saved me, this weird book that seems to steal time as I try to read it. I guess we could figure out what the incense thing does. Would be easier if we had Lil here to light the stuff. Oh wait, I have a candle, but it’s a weird one, we’d have to fill the candle holder with water, and not spill it. How did Lao light a torch back in the swamp?” I ramble, unable to keep a train of thought, Lu giggles and squeezes my hand.

“For that last one I can answer, Lao said she lit a stick wrapped in some weeds on one of Lil’s snores.” Lu’s answer is perplexing though, because I’ve slept face first in Lil’s fiery snores, and never been ignited, or even slightly crisped. Heck, we’ve all cuddled around Lil dozens and dozens of times to sleep together. Even Lu should be suspicious of that answer, but she seems perfectly content as she shares it.

“Alright Luna, I really do need to get up now though, would you mind lifting your paw, please? We’ll cuddle some other time, if we all live through this.” Surprisingly enough, Luna lifts her paw and raises her head to gaze down at me. We aren’t in a party, and I know things at best have a difficult time understanding me when they’re sapient if I try to talk to them, when not in a party. Is Luna as intelligent as everyone else? Smarter maybe? I cautiously stand up, Luna huffs, swats me back into a seated position, and rests her head on me once more. As I’m about to complain in the next moment, she stands again, and backs away slightly. Luni and I exchange glances, both raising an eyebrow about how odd that interaction was.

Since I can stand, I’m about to pull a few things out of my inventory when I realize I’m still holding Lu’s hand, fingers interlocked. Blushing, I clear my throat a bit as I look at our hands. Lu can read what I’m thinking, so she drops my hand, but then she leaps sideways at me. Luni ends up wrapping me up in a hug while I’m trying to summon things from my inventory, and I can’t help but to laugh. “Lu, are you purposely making this difficult?”

“Yup!” The innocent audacity of her reply is almost flabbergasting, almost. Lil and Luni are so similar. I burst into laughter. Luna makes a huffing sound, so I gaze over at the birdlike bear. Was that jealousy? Ah, right, anyway, I should experiment quickly, our family still isn’t safe.

I frequently let myself get distracted. It’s a really bad habit of mine. How can I be sitting here, enjoying my time with Luni, and Luna, when Lil might be being harassed by someone with Gae Buidhe, or Teuila might be lost somewhere? Ugh, welp, that certainly puts a downer on my mood. Luni, sensing my thoughts darken, flicks me on the nose and smooches my cheek, before backing off to let me act. “Heh, alright, alright, yeah, it’s still fun being with you, I guess I can’t deny that, even if I’m worried about everyone else.”

I place the items on the ground that I’m thinking about using. I’ve got the candle that lights in water, and the weird thing that I think is called a censer. I’ve filled the little candle holder that hangs below it with water. There’s no incense in the top container though, and I don’t have any, or know how to make any. What if I just shove some flowers in the top? Curious about the effects of this item, in case it might be magical, I decide to place some flower petals in the top. It’s slightly unsettling having the giant bear that is Luna, just watching me proceed. But if we really are at peace, then I guess it’s no different than hanging out with Lil while Lil is evolved. Or at least it’s not too different, though Lil is still smaller by far.

I place the candle in the water I’ve got sitting in the bottom receptacle, pick up this device, and wait. Some smoke eventually begins to trail out of this censer, but I can’t tell if anything magical is happening. Eventually the smoke dies down, and I figure the few petals I put in have burned out. Maybe if I place an entire bulb in, of certain kinds of flowers. That might do something, maybe. I pull the candle out of the water, and like the magic suggested, it loses its flame. Also, this would be a pain to hold for long periods, so I gather some twigs to make kind of a spit. Once I’ve got the twigs staked into the ground, and the censer hanging from them, I’m about to place the candle back in when I get another idea. Luni is more magical than me, like she seems to actually have spells.

“Lu, would you care to do the honors?” I ask as I hold out the candle and some flower bulbs. She gives me an expression that’s quizzical, but hops closer again, taking the objects.

Luni sets the candle in the water after placing flower bulbs inside of the censer, and sits on her heels next to it, awaiting the ignition point. The beavers look perplexed, and are probably assuming we’re buffoons that are wasting time. Once smoke begins to pour out of the bowl however, Luni begins whispering. I can’t make it out, but it seems like she’s talking to the censer. Luni stands up, claps her hands as if to dust them off, and says, “I see, thank you.” She says it directed at the censer though, not me.

I’m about to question if Lu is messing with me when I feel a strong breeze enveloping me. Lu claps her hands excitedly as she turns towards me, grinning. “Reggie, meet Sylphie, our newest friend!” I’m about to ask if Lu inhaled too many fumes when sitting close to the censer, when the breeze around me coalesces, forcing me to take a step back.

If I focus my gaze just right, staring at the dust floating in the air, it seems to be tracing a vaguely humanoid shape. There’s apparently an anthropomorphic breeze floating in front of me. “Uh, hi Sylphie? Pleased to make your acquaintance, I think?” I’m enveloped by the breeze again, it feels like a comforting hug, and the welcoming kiss one would give in greeting. There’s an intimacy in such a warm breeze surrounding oneself that I can’t even describe.

The breeze seems to be speaking, but to me it just sounds like the rustle of leaves on a summer’s day. I frown, somewhat sadly. I’m sure Luni can speak with Sylphie, but I won’t be able to, and that’s probably why nothing happened when I used the censer. It does give me an idea though.

“Lu, will Sylphie always answer the call of the censer? How fast can she travel? Is she any good with directions?” I turn to gaze at Lu who is mini-clapping her hands together with glee. Luni is grinning so hard that I’m forced to smile wide yet again. “I’m guessing you already know the answers, and have a plan?”

“Yup! Yes, as fast as the wind, as sound, as thought, according to her. She says once she’s tasted a soul, she can always find it.” As Luni explains the last bit, I’m a bit worried. Presumably it means Sylphie just tasted my soul. I shudder at the implication, but Lu is chuckling at my mental response across our shared wavelength.

Trying to distract myself from the implications of soul tasting, I ask, “So, are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

“Totes! I’ll take this thingy, and Luna to find Te. I’ll catch her up on the plan while you sneak back into the dam to find the big boss for a showdown. You hold off on throwing down until Sylphie gives the signal, Easy!” I wish Lu hadn’t added that last bit, but her innocent exuberance is adorable. Her excitement might be contagious too, the breeze swirling about seems almost gleeful, if I could describe it. Even Luna perks up from her slumped position. I really need to reunite Luni with Lil as soon as possible. The more time I spend alone with her, the more I appreciate the bond they have, and how much Luni must mean to Lil.

“So you’re sure you can just get Luna to follow you? What are these guys and gals going to do?”

“Well, they’ve kind of given up, when they saw all of us get captured, and then you escaping, they figured they lost any opportunity to end things in the dam. They’re giving us the chance to save the fam, but then they’re going to flood it, whether we’re out or not.” Luni’s answer causes my eyes to shoot wide with terror. That got dark, fast. I can’t let my family be caught up in a flood type situation yet again, I can’t let that happen, it just can’t happen. My pulse races and I have trouble breathing as I pant, gasping for air. The tunnels below are so long, and labyrinthine, not even my beloved aquatic family could hold their breath long enough to escape.

“How,” I gulp, unable to get my question across. “How long do we have?”

Luni’s expression sobers up, she even looks slightly guilty, as if she’s ashamed for having been happy over the last bit of time. “Mid day tomorrow Reggie. Unless we can fix the whole situation, it’s happening then.” My heart sinks. I think we’ve been dealing with this whole dam situation for nearly a day at this point, with all the hours spent, it feels like midmorning right now. I haven’t slept a full sleep in at least a day, if not two or three at this point, since we marched out of the swamp under Luni’s spell.

I’m definitely not in the best condition for espionage or ninja or spy or assassin work. What was that dream I had? I was an assassin, taking down a tyrant, facing some sort of magic? Well, that was vaguely prophetic, wasn’t it?

Looking at Lu, water wells in my eyes as I start to tear up. I don’t want to be alone again, and I don’t want to let her, or any of my family out of my sight, ever again. Luni hasn’t stuttered or mumbled once today, which she usually does around anyone other than Lil. I guess she’s mustering all her courage. I’m scared, and I don’t want to risk losing her by seeing her head off on an adventure with a bear and some air. Shakily I try to say, “I guess, I guess this is goodbye then, for now Lu.”

Lu can sense my sadness, and fear, she doesn’t console me quite the way Teuila would though. Instead Luni says, “I guess so Reggie, just for now though, okay? You got this. You’re my hero.” Most of the time she’s generally pretty shy about sharing her thoughts to anyone other than Lil. Right now though, she has been really brave today, and outgoing.

I can also tell Luni has been hiding something. I mean, obviously she has more powers than she shared earlier. How much magic does Luni have? Is it changing her somehow? Still, Lil, Teuila, and I love our Luni, that won’t change, even if she does.

What’s that phrase, April showers bring May flowers, but should no May flowers bloom, rivers flood in June? Some pithy epithet warning about topsoil erosion if there’s no plant life, or something like that. I think Luni means June, in some other language, or river in another, now that I’m thinking hard on it. More oddly prophetic things, that stopping a river flood from hurting our family basically falls to Luni. I guess I play a part too, an ugly, grisly part, but I’m glad to not have to lay this job in Luni’s lap. What was that phrase that Lil said I used? Death is an ugly business, but it’s my business? Something like that. Lu trots over to speak with the beavers a bit, and she slings the censer onto her shoulder strap that holds her harp. I guess I should get going too.

How the heck am I going to find my way back? Let alone find my family, get them out, find this leader, and wait to put a stop to them until I get a mysterious breezy signal? All before tomorrow, so I can’t afford to sleep. Sighing, I set off in the direction of the hatch that leads below, through the locks, back into the dam’s tunnel system. As I wend my way back in, occasionally swimming, I realize this is probably one of many series of locks like this, and probably what they’re going to use to flood the dam. This could send the whole river down here.