by Leo Varniak on October 4th, 2009, 3:38 pm
'Baltio. Rugs. That which is woven together, like destinies. Legacy. MIssion. Zai. Death. Baltio. And we come full circle.' Leo was digesting the information Kasav'ii gave him, hopping from one concept to the next in a circular fashion that was actually more like a spiral winding off towards the unknown. Her words added little in the way of how to locate the Circle of Zai, however they fell on him like an anvil, making him feel like a pawn in a cosmic game that was being played as they spoke. A game he would be playing without even knowing its rules.
Kasav'ii believed Baltio to be dead, and Leo also suspected that was the truth, though he wondered about the disappearance. Kaja had also been very clear about that, not speaking of deaths but of vanishings. But how? Why? There was always a chance of someone witnessing the act, and people could leave behind all kinds of dangling threads. Making someone disappear without a trace was a harder task than most people could ever imagine. Doing so repeatedly and at different times, places, not to mention circumstances, was definitely something out of the ordinary.
But then again, was there anything ordinary in all of this? The more Leo inquired, the more he found himself at a loss. In a way, strangely, that did not feel as bad as he had originally thought. Any purpose, he knew, was better than no purpose at all - which was more or less his life so far. Sure, he had killed a few people and made lists of others who would likely deserve a similar fate, but other than that? He'd been a headless chicken flapping its wings around the yard. He was tired of the usual pettiness life had long since exposed to him - fed up with witnessing such bleak vices and individual crimes. He wanted something grand, something that would burn magnificiently. Perhaps that time had come after all.
He tilted his head slightly as Kasav'ii mentioned trusting two others to form a new Circle. That would require him to find two more Zai's and share his justice with them. He could not see himself doing that, frankly. On the other hand, Leo did not doubt that he would be able to bait their unknown nemesis to himself even without a Circle. His mind wandered off briefly as he considered the reason behind choosing Triads. Leo suspected the three members were to look after one another, helping each other "release" just like they helped the entire community to "release" their pent-up feelings. Either that or it was just some old tradition or an order from Ivak himself.
The swirling of the vision water brought Leo back to reality, and to a sight he had not expected to behold ever again. He bent over in his seat, slightly incredulous, as Lina took form before his eyes, just like he remembered her, yet different in a sense. It had been years since he'd last seen her go down in the fire, and his childhood image had been biased, as it always is. Now he could see his mother in a better, fuller light. She was way grander than everyone, Leo included, had ever given her credit for.
Leo opened his mouth as if to speak, to protest, but no voice came out. The implications of Kasav'ii's words were tremendous - Lina, alive? A cold shiver suppressed his overheated state for a moment. Leo knew Lina had loved him, and he had loved her, but what else did he really know about her? Not native to Syliras, Lina had been a Benshira employee of Allistir Varniak... his best employee. Her life prior to the Varniak workshop was a mystery. He had never asked her, not thinking there was anything special to ask about.
He closed his eyes, and the fire flashed behind his eyelids, the scene of her death, Allistir strangling her... Leo judging him and belching a cloud of fire on him. Then he had left the house to the voracious blaze of the flames, never turning back. News of the tragedy had been on everyone's lips for a while, but as with everything else, life went on. Leo learned to live on the fringe of society, surviving off the odd job and spending all his time and effort into his dark philosophy of justice.
Six months later, he had killed again, for the first time since the fire. He had noticed a woman sporting new bruises every few days as she hung her clothes to dry. Overhearing conversations with the neighbors, she always claimed to have bumped into furniture or fallen off the stairs. Nobody in their right minds could have believed the story, but everyone just minded their own business and allowed the beatings to continue. Leo had collected proof, then had lured the man out of the Syliran gates with a stratagem, and burned him down.
He remembered being very satisfied with himself, even though the woman cried at the funeral for some reason. Then, of course, there had been other times. He could not act too often, as the modus operandi would eventually give him away, but outside Syliras everyone was fair game. Once, he had been wounded pretty badly for overestimating his ability to ignite things on a rainy day. He still carried the scar on his left shoulder - it had been a useful lesson to remember.
All of Leo's memories of his life after the fire were like this. Hide, think, burn, live another day. Would it have been different if Lina had been by his side?
He breathed out and relaxed a little. No use thinking about things that could have been. They had not. If Lina was still alive, though, Leo was certain that she had left him for a valid reason. To think less of her would not do justice to the dedication and love she'd always lavished on her family, even when it had been undeserved.
"My mother alive... stranger things have happened," he commented, slowly. "I will consider that as a working hypothesis." He found himself wondering if Lina would be proud of what he had become, or at least show understanding of his reasons.
He said nothing more, just listening as Kasav'ii shed more light on the demise of the Circle of Zai in Syliras. She also said things about him, a burden, a legacy that seemed entirely serious. He would have been skeptical, but her skill until now had been so overwhelming that Leo did not doubt her words for a second. He was about to reassure the Seer that, unlike the Circle of Zai, he was not going to get lax anytime soon, but Kasav'ii had yet another vision in store for him.
And this one completely electrified him. The Konti herself took the role of the unknown character, as the vision water could not convey spoken words by itself. A serpent, a dark hand, a laughing mouth. A promise of vengeance, and deadly threats on the basis of Leo's lineage alone. Kasav'ii was left drained by this particular form of possession, assuming it could be called that. He blinked a couple times, taking in the significance of what had just transpired while the old woman recovered.
Then he could not fight it back anymore, and it was his turn to laugh.
"That was magnificent!" he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. Flames were dancing in his eyes, but it was not clear whether they were reflections from the hearth or something blazing in Leo's inner furnace and showing through. "I do not know what that presence right now was, but at long last I am happy to be here, alive in this world that is too small for the both of us. Fire needs to be rekindled, or it will die out eventually. So do I." He willed himself to calm down from his childishly excited state, lest he start a fire in Kasav'ii's shop, which she certainly did not deserve.
"Anyway," his voice suddenly reverted to normal, as if the outburst had never taken place. "you should not exert yourself for a while. Those were pretty destructive emotions you just channeled, if I say so myself. But... I have always wanted an enemy like that. Finally, after a lifetime of waiting, I am at war."