Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 139: A Message

Toren Daen

I tossed a small ball of solid sound up, watching how the surrounding firelight twisted and warped within the oil-like shine of vibrations. It hummed with an oscillating tone as I caught it, then tossed it up again.

I was in an inn on the outskirts of the second layer of the Relictombs, having paid for a single night. I was lying on the bed, unable to sleep. A few hours had passed since I'd left the ball following my moonlit meeting with Renea Shorn, and the experiences continued to flash through my mind.

I caught the ball of solid sound once more. I called it solid sound, but in truth, it was a loose collection of churning sound mana held together by motes of pure mana interlaced within. In this state, it vibrated noticeably. I peered at the center of the construction.

"Did you expect this outcome?" I asked aloud, tossing the solid ball of sound back up after a brief pause. I wasn't angry as I asked the question. Just curious. "Considering how you withheld your reservations that one time, it seems like you might have."

Aurora's shade sat solemnly in a nearby chair, a darker cast to her dusky purple skin. "I did not have any expectations for what would happen after I distanced myself," she said. "I recognized the stressors that had acted on you all throughout the night. I simply thought..." she shook her head. "I simply thought that perhaps the affections you held for this Renea Shorn may have soothed your soul. I should have seen further ahead. Unfortunately, it is only my brother who bears that power." She looked up at me. "Why do you think you can not find a woman to truly love you?"

The ball of sound thwacked against my palm as I caught it again. "No relationship can support itself on a foundation of lies," I said after a moment. "And the more Renea and I spoke, the more our protective masks wore away. The ones I think we both needed. They keep us safe. From the world." I furrowed my brow. "From each other."

I'd found a rare understanding with the austere owner of Bloodstone Elixirs the more we interacted. Another person who cared for those beneath her, who desperately tried to make things better within a world that wanted anything but. A common struggle bound our hearts. Yet I'd also been told by more than one person that she was dangerous in a way I didn't understand. She was a schemer and a political mind, one that uncomfortably reminded my bond of Agrona. Could I, in good conscience, proceed with something so untenable?

Aurora had told me Renea was dangerous. Sevren had told me Renea was dangerous. Renea herself had told me she was dangerous. Yet I discounted the real dangers she presented from a perspective clouded by loneliness and a desire to find someone like me.

Foolish, stupid man, I berated myself sourly. I thought myself above the whims of naivety, but clearly not. Thinking with your heart instead of your mind.

If Renea herself hadn't borne the forethought and maturity to break things off before they progressed too far, where would I have found myself?

Aurora remained silent for a moment as she allowed me to process this, but when she spoke, it was far from what I expected.

"At the start, I never believed I could love Andravhor," Aurora said solemnly. I caught the ball of solid sound, turning to look at the phoenix. I let the mana dissipate as I felt her prepare her words. "I was an asura of the phoenix race, nearly immortal. He was bound to his finite lifespan. And furthermore, my understanding and view of the world was as limited as the heartfire in his chest, while his wisdom stretched past my own years. For all intents and purposes, we should have been utterly incompatible. Yet we wore our reservations away." The phoenix ran a hand over the hole in her chest, her burning eyes closed in memory. "I mean to say that these things are not as impossible as you may think them, Toren. You are young and inexperienced in love, as was I. But you shall find someone who can fulfill you. There will be a time after your mission is done."