135, 1/2

Erick stepped out of the light, down onto the stone courtyard of Tenebrae’s Castle, along with Jane, Poi, and Teressa.

The door to Tenebrae’s tower, on the other side of the courtyard, closed. Tenebrae had just vanished inside, along with a Rocky.

Ophelia was nowhere to be seen. Erick did not expect to see her here after what she had said, but newly sapient [Familiar]s were not something he had ever dealt with before. She could have been here. Jane was certainly a handful sometimes when she was younger, and though harsh words went back and forth sometimes, he would still have wanted to see her. Whatever the case, Ophelia was not there in the courtyard and Erick had no idea where she had gone, but news of what Ophelia had done was here, for sure.

Rockys stepped outside of their houses, concern in their posture, if not their stone-solid faces. And then the cafeteria door slammed open. Palodia rushed out, straight for Tenebrae’s tower— She stopped as she saw Erick and everyone else.

“What happened!” she demanded, her voice frail.

Rockys, who had been avoiding Erick and his people since they moved into the guest house, all turned toward Erick, with more coming out of their houses as stressful moments piled onto each other. Some went right for Tenebrae’s tower, completely avoiding whatever talk was happening in the courtyard.

Erick spoke, “A Rocky interrupted the expedition with a bit of trickery which indicates a conspiracy of some sort that involved multiple Rockys, but after she transformed into a fully unique soul and took the name Ophelia, she denounced Tenebrae because she couldn’t stand to watch him die. She left. Tenebrae is not taking it well.”

Gasps echoed around the courtyard. Immediately, several Rockys turned toward two Rockys in particular, their near-expressionless faces gaining hateful accents. Palodia went blank for a long moment, looking out past Erick at nothing in particular.

Palodia spat, “Shit! Dammit.” She scowled. She turned and eyed one of the Rockys who everyone else was looking at; the one on the staircase leading to the walls. “Volcanus. Who did this? Was it Igma?”

Most every Rocky looked more or less the same. There was variation on a theme, for sure, but picking out one Rocky from another would be like picking out an Ophiel from another; impossible. The Rocky that Palodia and everyone else looked at, however, had dark stone eyes that were almost black. It was the barest nod to individuality.

Oh. And this had been the Rocky who Erick first saw when he intruded upon the Castle, days ago, back when it was flying near the Firemaw. This was the one who had overheard Erick talk about Redarrow’s prediction.

Volcanus said, “Igma apparently made her choice of name and residence. Ophelia is cut off from the Estate.”

Palodia said, “Dammit! Ig— Ophelia— That bitch really had to pick that name, huh? She just had to be as much of a cunt as she could have—” She stopped herself. “Fine. Ophelia can deal with the loss of her ability to see her father on her own.” She ignored everyone and went straight for Tenebrae’s tower, muttering, “I can’t believe she did that. Of all the fool—” She tried the latch.

It was locked.

She scowled, flickered with red light, and the door swung open. She rushed inside. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving the courtyard in silence once again.

Volcanus drew everyone’s attention as he spoke to all, “Master Tenebrae is now indisposed. It is our duty to prepare to receive our Seniors. They will likely show in the next few hours.” He stepped down the staircase and into the courtyard, moving toward Erick.

Other Rockys began moving in a quick rush throughout the Estate, toward destinations and purposes that Erick could only guess at. Events seemed to be happening rather fast, and Erick felt something like an outsider.

Volcanus walked up to Erick. He said, “We of Tenebrae’s Estate apologize on our Master’s behalf, Archmage Flatt. He will likely not be able to receive you or venture into the Green Labyrinth for the foreseeable future. At least a week. We will gratefully host you during this time, or, you can leave, and venture forth on your own. Or… Master Tenebrae has authorized me to hand over copies of his own [Gate] research. He authorized this yesterday, in case the worst should happen. Thankfully, all that happened was a major fright. Do you wish for this option?”

Erick’s eyebrows rose. He said, “No— I mean. Yeah. I’ll look at notes, but if he’s not there to help me with them, then I know I won’t get far— Is he going to be okay? He did not look good.”

Other Rockys paused in the courtyard as Volcanus and Erick spoke. Volcanus noticed, and swished a hand at them. They took off again, headed toward wherever it was they were going, to do whatever it was they were doing.

Some Rocky came out of a house with a white carpet, and laid it out on the ground outside of the door to a house across the courtyard from Erick’s guesthouse. A hole opened up in the courtyard, and a pair of Rockys came up the unseen-until-now staircase, carrying a mattress made of white stone.

They were… decorating?

Volcanus continued, “Master Tenebrae has occasionally had bouts like this over his long life, but he has come back from them before, and he will again. He is not that old, yet. But if you do not wish to wait, then we will wish you good luck. As for now, we will be moving the Estate into safer territory while he convalesces.”

“You all want to leave the Green Labyrinth?” Erick said, “No. Can we not do that? I’m not ready to move on and I don’t think Tenebrae would either. Is protection a problem? I can have Ophiel patrol if needed.”

Volcanus smiled, a little. “I am in charge of defense when problems arise, and Master falling ill is one of them. I am attempting to solve possible problems as fast as I am able. I apologize for the quick pace.”

“That’s not a problem.” Erick was keeping up, just fine.

Volcanus nodded. “Then, I will accept your offer of the protection of the Estate on my Master’s behalf. I know he would not want us to move you from your Path unless absolutely necessary, and so your offer will likely bring him comfort while he recovers. Thank you. We will merely move the Estate higher into the sky, then, after—”

A thrum vibrated the courtyard, right before the air in front of the tree shimmered with purple light.

Volcanus turned toward the shimmer, saying, “Right after the Seniors show, for you can’t [Gate] into a moving location.”

The purple shimmer in the air opened, like mist separating. A [Gate] appeared, leading to another courtyard, in another place, where the stars shone in the sky and wardlights illuminated a small gathering of stone people. Seven stood out in the open, but more watched from behind pillars, or from elsewhere in the illuminated space.

Three of the stone people stepped forward, through the purple portal. The magic shut behind them.

The first was a woman of black stone, and thick like she had eaten well her whole life. The second was a man of grey, thin to the point of appearing breakable. Both of them wore their own stone flesh like it was thin clothes; pants and shirts and shoes, but nothing too fancy. The last person out of the [Gate] was a Rocky who wore clothes, with flesh fully animated, unlike the other Rockys all around who looked more like broken stone statues.

None of them wore happy expressions.

‘Rocky’ stepped down into the courtyard, saw Volcanus, and asked, “Where is he?”

“Tower,” Volcanus said, not wasting time.

Two of the newcomers rushed toward the tower. ‘Rocky’ flickered with white light as the grey one reached the handle. The grey one opened the door both he and ‘Rocky’ vanished into the tower.

The black one remained behind. She asked Volcanus, but eyed Erick, “How bad was it?”

Volcanus said to Erick, “I apologize for asking this rude question, but could you please make yourself scarce? I must deal with family matters, now.”

Erick said, “I will, if there is nothing I can do for him, or for the Estate, or anything else.”

The black one asked, “Do you know immortality magics? Full body restorations? Any of that? [True Restoration].”

Erick would have taken those words as sarcasm from anyone else, but the black rock woman sounded completely sincere. Erick said, “I do not. Sorry.”

The woman nodded. She turned to Volcanus. “Do we need to find a lawbreaker for [Polymorph] extensions? I can get one, tonight. Eidolon has jailfulls.”

Volcanus said, “No.”

Erick walked away, into the guesthouse, feeling like someone who was escaping from a series of unfortunate events.

Jane was already inside the house, waiting for him, but Teressa and Poi had only abandoned the courtyard when Erick did. He shut the door behind him, while Volcanus and the black rock woman argued about bodies and magics. ‘Messalina, the Life Binder,’ got rapidly offered; the black rock woman would search for and find the woman if it was necessary. Volcanus denied the necessity of such a drastic action.

… And Erick sent out some Ophiels to patrol the air outside of the Castle, while everything changed inside the Castle walls, and Erick tried not to listen in on the various conversations happening right outside his temporary residence.

Erick went to his stacks of books and picked one out, trying to take his mind off of what he was hearing outside, through his patrolling Ophiels who were both on the Castle walls, and in the air beyond. He felt his stomach sink as he could not help but listen.

Jane came right up to him, asking, “Is that Rocky out there the original, you think?”

“Yes. He is.” Erick said, “I can hear some of them speaking of a few things, and that is what someone said out there. He calls himself Rock, now. The black one is Obsidia. The grey one is Slate. They’re the Seniors; some of the first Rockys to become their own person over the years. There’s a lot of them living in Eidolon, down in continental Nergal.” He said, “Volcanus lied about Tenebrae being okay. He might not make it.”

Jane paled.

Erick continued, “Heart failure. Stress. Circumstances. Rock gated in some doctors from somewhere not a minute ago. Imperial doctors.”

Wide-eyed, Jane sat down on a conjured chair next to her father. She picked up a book, and read next to him for a while, also trying to take her mind off of what was happening outside.

– – – –

There was a knock on the door.

Erick briefly panicked, assuming the worst possible news.

He rushed the door, answering it quickly.

A normal, mostly-put-together Rocky handed him a delivery of tomes and wardlights. Erick asked after Tenebrae. Tenebrae was okay. Tenebrae was stable. Tenebrae was okay. The Rocky repeated himself. Erick knew he was lying.

But what could Erick do? Nothing. And so, he read, while the Rockys of the Estate and the Seniors who had come before all walked around the courtyard, or stared at the door to Tenebrae’s tower, or sat in the shadows to the side, waiting for news. Erick could not help but overhear their small, deep conversations, or their names, or what they thought of Ophelia, while a part of him oversaw the whole event through Ophiel’s eyes.

Erick focused on the books before him.

The tomes were the work of decades of attempts at [Gate], and only a small portion of those notes were from the Gates of the Green Labyrinth. Everything else came from the demon and the angel of Oceanside, and various immortals around the world, and other archmages, and everyone who he could ever track down who had completed the Worldly Path.

That last one sunk Erick’s heart; Tenebrae had never found anyone who had managed to complete the Path in the correct way. Everyone either paid the 10 points, or gave up. Apparently, people in ages past had completed the Worldly Path, but no one had completed it in recent memory.

– – – –

Another knock came from the front door. Hours had passed. Erick rapidly answered the caller as Jane came up right behind him, eager to see who was on the other side.

Rock stood on the other side, looking well-put-together, but that could mean anything. Erick felt a twist in his chest.

Erick asked, “Is Tenebrae…?”

Rock said, “He’s not okay, but he will live for at least 20 more years—”

Erick felt a tension leave his gut, and his shoulders. He sighed.

“—if he never has another scare like that.” Rock looked at Erick, as though waiting for confirmation of an unsaid understanding.

Erick said, “And you don’t want him to continue, but he wants to continue.”

Rock nodded. “That is correct.”

Erick’s curiosity got the better of him. He asked, “Why was what happened so traumatic, if you don’t mind me asking? Was it something I did? Was it something Ophelia did? Feel free to tell me off; that I have overstepped.”

Moments passed, as Rock seemed to weigh some ineffable thing, then he said, “I will answer, because he will answer this without you asking, and he will lie, and more problems may arise from his lies, as they usually do.” He paused. He said, “The only variety Tenebrae likes is in his food. Everything else reminds him of what he has lost. So when Ophelia did what she did…” Rage. And then, not so much rage. Rock calmed himself, then continued, “Tenebrae summons as many ‘Rockys’ as he needs, all the time, and while we all originally belong to the same hive mind, that same hive mind crystallizes all the time into new, individualized lives. When we do differentiate, we try to do so out of sight. Ophelia did not. Thus… Today’s issue. Tenebrae’s issues. It came together to give him several heart strikes.” He added, “In case you haven’t noticed, Tenebrae is a rather emotionally stunted, angry man. It is… a problem.”

Erick was polite, “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Haaa.” Rock sighed, then he asked, “Will you please leave him behind while you journey into the Labyrinth?”

“I will have to talk to him about that.” Erick said, “But Redarrow didn’t say that it was a sure thing that Tenebrae would die if he came along.”

Rock glared, but then softened. “If Redarrow even hinted at the possibility that my father could die, then I must ask you again to please take the old man’s wellbeing into consideration, even when he will not, and leave him behind. He is too old to go chasing fantasies anymore. He had four children who could cast [Gate]. Any of us will be here for him and be personal [Gate] mages, if he wants. But please. I ask you: Leave our father out of this fantasy.”

Their father. Ah. It’s like that.

Erick felt warmth in his chest.

“Can I see him?” Erick asked.

“Yes.” Rock said, “That is why I came down. To talk to you and tell you what everyone else wants, what father wants, and to ask you to do the right thing. Will you see him, now?”

Erick agreed, leaving behind Jane and Teressa, but took along Poi.

The courtyard had changed while Erick had been holed up in his rooms. Carpets of all colors and wardpaints of all kinds had dressed up the courtyard into something that Erick did not recognize, but the main colors were tans and whites. Reds, yellow, blues; these were accents here and there, except for on the roofs, where they had been fully wardpainted into pastel colors.

From inside, the place looked a lot nicer. From above, the place looked like a rainbow village on an Italian coast. The castle looked wonderful.

Erick instantly knew that Tenebrae would hate it, for sure, otherwise it would have looked like this all the time.

They followed Rock through the door into Tenebrae’s tower, into a place full of trinkets and paintings and books and carpets and lush wood. A staircase wound upward, and the three of them took it, passing reading rooms and drawing rooms and libraries. One floor had closed doors, each of which had a space for a nameplate on them, but each nameplate was empty, except for one, labeled ‘Rocky’; it was the only one open. Obsidia sat on a stone bed inside. She looked up as Erick passed by.

The next floor was a living space with a kitchenette and assorted furniture. The next floor held one room, with a door between it and the staircase. The door was open. Slate was inside, next to Palodia. Both of them stood on one side of a large bed. A dragonkin stood on the other side, speaking of medicine and gesturing toward bottles, laid out on a dresser.

Tenebrae laid in his bed, surrounded and buoyed by pillows and under the covers, looking sickly, with bags under his closed eyes and sweat upon his forehead.

Rock moved into the room and was acknowledged by everyone, but the doctor kept talking of medicine regimes to Palodia and Slate. Erick stepped in, but remained to the side, exactly like Poi usually did. Poi stepped in and stood beside Erick.

The doctor finished his instructions, and asked, “Any questions?”

Palodia said, “No sir. Everything is understood and we even have the notes. Thank you for responding so fast.”

The dragonkin said, “I’m glad I could help. If not for Archmage Tenebrae… It would have been bad. We would have lost an entire city to those Rivergrieves. He’s a great man. I hope he gets better.” He looked toward Rock. “Now I’d hate to be pushy, but we are in the middle of a battle and Tenebrae is fine. Can I get that [Gate] back, now?”

Rock lifted his hand. A purple-rimmed [Gate] appeared. A throne room appeared on the other side. A man on the throne threw his hands up in relief, shouting about how it took them long enough. Rock said, “Thank you for your assistance, Grand Alchemist Irikilo.”

Tenebrae opened his eyes.

Irikilo looked down on Tenebrae, and said, “You’re in good hands, Archmage. Get better! Bed rest for a while. Doctor’s orders!”

Tenebrae grumbled in annoyance, then closed his eyes again.

Irikilo nodded, then walked through the [Gate]. It closed behind him.

Tenebrae’s voice was weak, as he asked, “All clear?”

Slate said, “Clear. All medicines are what they appear to be. He was truthful. No soul problems, either.” He spoke down to Tenebrae. “You should get better, if you follow his orders.”

“I will make him follow the doctor’s orders,” Palodia declared.

Tenebrae scowled, his eyes still closed, and said, “Bastard has the gall to charge me that much money, I should damned well get better, or I should go and destroy those towns that I saved.”

Rock said, “None of that, please. Besides: Erick is here.”

Tenebrae breathed deep. He opened one eye, lifted up his head, and peered at Erick.

Erick waved. “Hello.”

Tenebrae’s eye snapped shut as he laid back onto his pillows. “Bah. Stupid. I swear, I am not this feeble! Ophelia just surprised me, because…” His voice trailed off, then came back as he asked, “Did you understand all my notes yet? I’m not going to die without learning [Gate]! So if you have learned it already, maybe don’t break this old man’s psyche until next week!”

Erick tried to lighten the sudden dark mood by saying, “I’ve got some better theories than I had before, but nothing too solid; I’ve only had them for a few hours, after all. You’re still necessary, Tenebrae, for who else would I astound with my ability at magic if you die? Everyone else is already accustomed.”

While everyone else in the room winced, Tenebrae laughed.

“Ha!” Tenebrae smiled, and said, “Idiot-savant planar-archmage. Can’t enchant a gods-damned Grand [Prestidigitation] Stove, yet expecting to make a Gate in his first year on this planet! Ha.” He sighed, then said, “I feel better now—”

He tried to get up, but Palodia and Slate were right there, gently nudging him back to horizontal, saying that the doctor ordered bed rest.

Tenebrae said, “Well I gotta shit! You want me to shit the bed?”

“That’s why the gods made [Cleanse].” Palodia glared, and without a single hint of amusement in her voice, said, “Shit the bed.”

“Dammit.” Tenebrae said, “At least help me put the pillows behind my head. I need to talk to Erick.”

Rock said, “Erick cannot stay long because you need to sleep.”

Slate helped to put a small pillow behind Tenebrae’s head.

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Erick stood at the foot of his bed.

“This is a minor setback. I am not this old. 90 is not that old. I am fine. But my Rockys are overprotective.” Tenebrae eyed Erick, saying, “We are still going into that Labyrinth, you hear me?”

“I hear you.”

“Read my notes if you have to do something. Or whatever. You’re not leaving me behind when you go in there, understood? I don’t trust you in that place yet! It’s dangerous.”

Rock, Slate, and Palodia frowned.

Erick said, “I understand.”

Tenebrae’s voice turned harder, “This is my life’s dream. I don’t have many of them left, and you’re not going to take this from me without my direct consent. Don’t fuck with the dragons. Don’t explore there. Wait for me to get better.”

Erick said, “I’m on vacation, Tenebrae. Relaxing with magic books seems wonderful.”

Tenebrae sighed out as he smiled wide. He closed his eyes, saying, “Good. Now someone take this pillow out from behind my neck—” Slate removed the pillow. Tenebrae muttered, “I’m not going to be comfortable for days, am I.”

“Nope.” Palodia said, “Ready for sleep? It’s time for sleep. Slate is going to watch over you. Then it’s Obsidia’s shift. Rock and Volcanus have the night shift.”

Tenebrae muttered, “Stupid rock names. Why did you idiots all pick rock names. I swear, it’s to torture me because I was so unoriginal…” His voice trailed off.

Rock gestured Erick toward the door, then walked that way. Erick and Poi followed Rock down the stairs. A sudden argument exploded back in Tenebrae’s room as the old archmage quarreled with Palodia and Slate about his healthcare needs. Erick heard something about Shaped [Cleanse].

Tenebrae’s voice carried far, “You want me to get rads, woman? I oughta write you out of my will! I will not shit my bed!”

“You will if you have to! If it weren’t for the potions you couldn’t even talk!” Palodia declared, “We’ll just have to deny you those potions then, won’t we? I’ll get much better compliance out of you if you’re weaker than a mouse!”