Date: March 31, 1999
Place: Infirmary - Delphic Citadel - Haven, The Astral Plane
Cast: Cepheus, Jana
Scene: Jana's clairvoyance has begun to exert itself more strongly than ever before, and it takes her centuries into the past, where she glimpses a vision that is eons old. Her teacher, Cepheus, is the one who finds her within the aetherial plane, and brings her back to the "real" one.

Infirmary - Delphic Citadel - Haven:
     Sharp smells immediately meet the nose inside the infirmary, mingled scents of crushed herbs and antiseptic solutions assailing the senses. One side is reserved as a work area, long tables with accompanying stools standing ready, with neat shelves ranging above holding various jars, bottles, and other assorted containers holding whatever the healers may find useful in their work. A set of windows are carefully positioned to allow bright sunlight to flood the work area by day while over toward the other side, curtains stand ready to hide a neat row of cots. The whole room is kept impeccably neat, likely the work of novices.

Lying in a cot, covered with blankets, sleeps Jana, as she has been sleeping for almost a week now. The Healers have left her alone, mainly because her slumber has been so peaceful. Like the dead. But those days without eating have begun to show. She looks more pale and ghastly than she usually does.

The hour is very late, yet all is not quiet on the Delphic grounds. Soft footsteps drift through the summer air, someone approaching from the direction of the Citadel. The steps are muffled by the walls that make up the infirmary, but the destination become clear as the handle to the door is disengaged. With a firm click, the door slowly opens, the head of the Archon looking around the Infirmary before he steps in.

There only seems to be one Healer on duty tonight, and the rest of the patients are at slumber. Seems the nurse is also pretty drowsy, as he lightly dozes with his head on his arms, leaning forward onto a tabletop. He doesn't seem to be roused by the simple click of the door. And in the Aether, the Archon's sensitive sight will be immediately drawn to the Healer's aura. An acolyte, he would guess. And there his student lies in the corner, her own aura weak and feeble. At a glance, a single, tangled strand runs off into the distance.

A man of quiet stealth at times, the Empyrean can't help but smile briefly at the sleeping healer. Cepheus may be a teacher, but his opinions are known to be... different. Quiet steps move the man across the floor of the Infirmary, his grey eyes now intent on the distant Jana. His face grows somewhat concerned as he stops at her side, eyes actually glancing up the distant thread. For his part, the man's aura is rather strong, the oracle continually reaching out to grasp different threads of the Aether. Like a musician plays his harp, the Archon caresses the strands of Aether around him in a continuous song. He extends a hand toward the thread to which his student clings, his own essence surrounding it. For a few breaths, however, he does not actually touch the thread.

The infirmary seems to melt away, stone and metal shifting to slag. A blur of motion slams against the Archon, feeling like the wind when he takes flight, and there is a feeling of being light-headed. Suddenly, the rope of Aether is alive with color and light. It seems real, whilst the infirmary itself is only a hollow reflection. Where the Healer dozes lingers a caduceus, golden threads suppressed and sleeping around him. Various other symbols hover about his head: a woman's face, a harp. The room seems to be filled with such objects, should Cepheus take a closer look at them.

No stranger to the realm, Cepheus does not seem to give the objects a whole lot of notice, the Empyrean's gaze fixed on the single thread that rises from Jana's body. The Empyrean's body takes on the aspects of a statue, the aura around him changing as the seconds tick by. The threads of Aether begin to tighten in apprehension around the man, they glow around him, starting to shift and grow in tension. A small flare flames from the Archon's body, the figure of a small child finding its place next to the large Empyrean. Not an Empyrean, the youth is of some odd descent, intonations of Sylvan showing in his face. With a faint smile on his lips, the youth reaches for Jana's thread. In a blink, the form is gone, the Archon's own threads entwining with Jana's and shooting into the sky above.

As swift as thought, the Tower falls away. A gleaming needle of purity and strength, its aura revealing its origin to be from Shapers' hands. Yet, spider-webs of darkness cover it, testimony that it, too, is not immune to the decay of Avatarati corruption. The thread extends further into the sky, away from this plane, deep into the astral. Past and present are laid before Cepheus like a cloth upon a loom, innumerable threads reaching out to him. Yet the one continues on.

Temptation abounds in a world of possibilities, dreams and thoughts rain down around Cepheus' weaving threads, but the Oracle reaches out for none. Moving with speed and determination, he continues undeterred to find his student. Mind clear and free, Cepheus has one purpose... one determination.

The thread of Aether that he follows is at times strong and pulsing, at others, barely existent. It twists and turns through strange weavings; apparently the student has journeyed far and deep into the astral. Yet, as he continues along, it steadily grows stronger. He is coming close to the journey's end. The cord finds its end in an aura around a crystalline figure shot through with circulatory vessels. It stares vacantly into space, watching a scene within Civitas Dei played out between various Empyreans. One of them, a bearded man, bears a striking resemblance to his pupil. Yet... the vision itself seems eons old.

For such speed, the form that represents the Oracle comes to a slow halt some distance from the watching figure. The threads that pursued this course for so many astral "miles" disengage noiselessly behind the observant form. Shifting and twisting, they quickly amass and reform into the images of an old Empyrean. The aging eyes of the man watch the scene play itself out, only slipping to the crystalline form when he has seen enough...

It is certainly Civitas Dei, yet within this ancient vision, there is a sense that something new has begun. It is an inception. Another bearded man has come into the scene, approaching the one who resembles Jana. He is a king, judging by his proud disposition, his fine robes, and the crown of laurels he wears. An argument seems to be breaking out, and in the distance, lightning flashes. A woman appears, bedecked in brilliant white armor. And around them all is rich imagery. The ancestor is haunted by a coin bearing two faces, the king's aura is ablaze with lightning, and the woman is flanked by the owl. And still... the crystalline figure watches it all in silence. Unaware. Absorbed.

The old form watches the scene with a distant sorrow, the majority of his attention on the crystalline form. A whisper drifts through the plain, "Jana..."

A shudder ripples through Jana's body, as if a pebble had been dropped into water. "Pater?" the reply comes, soft and scared. The grey eyes settle on Cepheus, and she sighs. Then, she begins to turn away, for she doesn't seem to recognize him.

He reaches out, his hand somewhat unsteady. "Jana..." The form moves closer to the crystal matrix in front it, Cepheus' grey eyes watching his student carefully. Every word is gentle, tones even and collected.

Again, Jana looks up to the sound of her name. No visible emotion crosses her smooth countenance, yet the fear is growing. Around her, darkness gathers and swirls, and she begins to back away. "What haunt are you now, old man... What vision are you?" Her eyes narrow a little as she studies him more closely.

A soft smile passes from the old man to the representation of Jana. "No haunt... unless your teacher is a haunt..." Soft whispers are all that come from the old man, pleasant intonations in his low voice.

Another shudder ripples through Jana's body, only this time, it stems from relief. She has caught sight of the cords that bind him to his body, and apparently, she has come to realize that he is, indeed, something more than a mere phantom. "Cepheus? Ye gods, is that you?" Her voice trembles at the hope of rescue.

Half-smiling, the old man extends a hand. "Yes," he smiles, "the Aether is not always kind." He shakes his head, smile still on his lips, "You have been gone too long, Jana... come back..."

The blunt feathers of Jana's wings chime softly as she beats at the air, a gesture of uncertainty. She hovers between flight towards him and away from him, and then, finally, a decision is made. With open arms, she dashes into Cepheus, breaking out into sobbing. She might as well trust him, though she is still not certain... Encountering death while lingering here is more likely than finding it if she follows.

Cepheus chuckles faintly, his old form somehow managing to stay upright. "Easy there..." His arms surround Jana, threads beginning to pull her back toward the plane below...

Jana does not even try to resist, allowing herself to be pulled back down. As they progress closer back to the infirmary, the pupil's thread of Aether grows stronger and thicker, collecting numerous stray strands.

The Oracle's threads draw back into the infirmary, the Empyrean disassociating into a faint aura once again. The form pauses, waiting for his pupil to be drawn back.

Once close enough, Jana finds her body on her own. She almost seems to leap from the Oracle's arms, and in a blur of motion too fast for the eye to track, she departs the Aether...

And in the infirmary, her eyes snap wide open, and she sits up like a bolt, gasping.

Cepheus' reacquisition goes a little more smoothly, the Archon's extended arm falling slowly to his side. He draws in a few deep inhalations, grey pupils becoming visible behind his lids. They find their gaze on Jana, a faint smile registering on his lips.

After a few seconds of readjusting to this plane, Jana settles back against her pillow, but still in an upright position. "Cepheus...? Gods, it was horrible. The vision would not end. I just... I could not wake up." She seems to be on the verge of tears again.

For an understanding teacher, the Empyrean seems to settle for a faint shrug. "You were not as lost as you thought," his voice fills the room as he takes a step back. He winks toward you, "I have done worse..." His demeanor is now relaxed, the Oracle more then likely just being glad to have been successful.

Jana roughly brushes at her eyes with a shaky hand, "What happened? There were times when it was so real. And so strange. There was one time I was watching you sleep, and Medea... she was screaming as she was watching a vision with me. I had never seen anything like that before... a vision of someone having a vision."

Cepheus seemed to be slowly making his escape, but as Jana's words ring across the Infirmary, he pauses. "Then that was you... there..." He swallows hard, but a smile forms on his lips, certainty growing in his voice, "It was you..."

Jana is sitting up in her cot now, looking pale and shaken as she quietly converses with Cepheus. She glances away from the Empyrean to the entering elder, but her mentor's words catch her a little off-guard. "Where? Cepheus, I do not understand any of this!"

Cepheus smiles proudly at his student, shaking his head. "It seems there is actually a lot you are beginning to understand, Jana." His eyes watch the young Empyrean woman closely, "You... saw a nightmare... a vision of mine..."

Jana stares blankly at Cepheus for a few seconds, trying to put one piece of the puzzle together at a time. She slowly swings her feet off of the edge of the bed, and quietly, she murmurs, "I could see any vision I wished. I saw my mother, I chased after her... I could go anywhere, see anything. And then, one time, I saw something that reminded me of you. That night on the docks... But when I grew closer to it, it pulled me in. The last I saw of that was when you sat up, and I was floating again."

Cepheus nods a few times to Jana, the mentor in him pleased. "A horrible vision... a vision you shared..." His eyes shift for a moment to the Sylvan who stirs, grey eyes looking back to his pupil.

Bracing her weight on the bed, Jana stiffly pads a few steps closer to her mentor. She peers up at him now, the glassiness in her eyes dissipating as she forces herself to reason through the mental muck. "I recall now. In the library I had read of Clairvoyants describing visions such as these." She pauses as she looks about, then asks, "How long have I been asleep?"

Cepheus smiles faintly, nodding at Jana, "A week..."

Jana's knees tremble violently, and she sits back down hard on the cot. "A week?!" she whispers, amazed. "I... This was no mundane vision, was it, Cepheus? A week... Did I do what I had read about? Did I leave my body?"

Cepheus nods slowly, taking a few steps back toward Jana. "You did... far from it, in fact." He raises a finger, right eyebrow raising at the same time, "Although... I'd suggest allowing me to teach you how to come back before you try that again..." His smile is honest, pride hiding behind his eyes.

Jana wrings a fold of her chimere in her hands, and she looks away from Cepheus to glance about the infirmary. "A week," she whispers, unable to truly believe it has been so long. A grin tugs at her lips, then she looks back up at the large Empyrean. "Then you must promise to teach me soon, Archon. And... show me how to avoid things I do not wish to see?"

Cepheus coughs faintly, shaking his head. "Avoidance, perhaps, is something we can learn together..." He extends a hand, "If you like?" The teacher seems to reach out to his student, almost acting now as if she was a peer.

Jana's eyes widen slightly in disbelief. There is something Cepheus doesn't know? This seems to rock her world again, but she extends her own hand towards him after a moment. "Yes... Please."

Cepheus nods, becoming the teacher again. "Now come... I think you need to find rest, for it sounds like you have had little."

Jana takes Cepheus' hand with a surprisingly tight grip, almost clinging to him. She sighs, "I have slept for a week... I would rather eat." And as she takes a few more steps, she says, "Cepheus... will you teach me to defend myself? The docks... I would rather something like that did not happen again."

Cepheus nods, leading Jana out, "Food... good plan..." He smiles, "Of course I will teach you, if you wish..." Their voices vanish as the door closes behind them.

FIN  

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