[Quest] In Time We Trust (Aello)

[Paragon]

In Time We Trust Timestamp: 31st Day of Spring, 512 AV Kaledon sat in a corner of the World's End Grotto, hood cowling his face in shadow. A warm fire gently crackled, and the room was moderately busy -- though few eyes strayed to him. People didn't tend to notice him. He was nondescript; a robed figure in a sea of faces. Not many knew his name either, except this girl. He thumbed the letter in his hand, eyes flitting over her writing. Aello, she called herself. A girl interested in time. A girl... lost in time. When he had received the letter he had been unsure of how to react. She had asked around extensively, finding out his name through a convoluted web of contacts he used. She had tenacity, he'd give her that. There had to be something within her, but what had drawn her to Tanroa? He looked up to the door. She'd be with him soon -- but the wait was irrelevant. Time was fluid after all. As an Acolyte of the Lady of Time, he knew that more than most.

[Aello]

Aello slipped through the door to the grotto, and through the halls. They seemed like a maze to her, in her tired, and somewhat incoherent state. The storms of late, had made it difficult for her to sleep, and her pursuit of time had seemed endless. Like it'd take an eternity to get everything she wanted. To figure out all the secrets; have all the answers to the questions that seemed so pertinent, and at the forefront of her mind. And yet, here she was, knocking on time's door, awaiting any sort of answer, and indication that it was in session. Constant motion. "Hello?" she called, as she knocked again, to receive no answer. "Kaledon, are you there?" she asked, with a small shrug. Thinking she may have arrived early, she pulled her hand away from the dark wood, and onto the cool, golden knob. She turned it gently, and then pushed, allowing the door to swing open silently. Slowly. Within but a moment or two, she was slipping through the threshold, and closing the door behind her. Within a heartbeat, she was inside, and staring into his eyes. "Hello there," Aello called over to him, as she studied him. Each of his features. Wondering to herself all the more why he didn't answer; if it was simply the manner of those who knew Tanroa and her ways to simply wait to dive into things, or if it was only these two servants she had encountered in her travels that acted in that manner. She bowed her head slightly, to show a bit of respect to someone who had taken the time to see her. Especially after she had to work so diligently to hunt him down. As though he were a mere forest creature she intended to take down with her bow and arrows, or perhaps one of her sharpened daggers. Something to pin to the ground, until all of the answers bled out. After she felt she had shown a fair level of politeness, Aello pulled her head back up. "Strange place to be meeting," she commented rather absently, as her eyes darted around the room, taking everything in, as her hand passed idly over the surface of a small table, gathering a thin layer of dust upon the tips of her fingers. "But then again, any place should do when you have all the time in the world to talk, no?" she asked, before tilting her head slightly to the side, wondering to herself if he knew what she meant. Her hair cascaded downwards, the tips drizzling past the rounded knobs of her shoulders. "When your eternal soul, the shell of one's self, can linger for quite awhile after Dira comes to claim us." There was a slight pause, as her eyes danced over him. "But that is no matter, not for now Kaledon." Again, the aurist paused, "I have come for another reason," Aello explained. "Seeking other things..."

[Paragon]

Kaledon looked up as a girl almost burst into the foyer. She called, and moved in an almost delirious state. He had not predicted this -- not even in the shattered crystalline of her written words. The girl - Aello - approached the table he sat at. She seemed to calm as she neared, bowing slightly in reverence. He was slightly flustered by her formality. He did not deserve such gestures. He motioned for one of the empty chairs, willing her to sit. He would not talk upwards. He would speak at an even keel, eyes meeting and conducting knowledge. Her philosophy... her words... they were spoken with wisdom. He smiled at her, nodding slightly. "Aello," he broached, "I was impressed by your... tenacity in tracking me down. There are few of us. Very few indeed." He studied her for a moment. A civilised human, and yet the wild marked this girl. It was clear to anyone with open eyes. "Tell me. What is it you seek?"

[Aello]

Aello sat as soon as Kaledon indicated for her to do so, soon allowing the majority of her things to settle by her side. She was not afraid of him, a little wary perhaps, of how she should word her requests, lest he deny her the knowledge she so desperately sought. But not much else. "But there are enough of you," Aello whispered. "Well, enough to be found anyway, if only one bothers to take the time to look." There was a pause as she considered her words. She shrugged as her fingers circled the table. She looked down at them somewhat self-consciously a moment, before casting her gaze back up at him. "Can't say it's too much trouble when you've ventured into my line of work..." The girl's words trailed off, hanging heavily in the air between them. She could almost see them suspended in space. "Now," Aello began as her fingertips came to a halt, "as for what is sought... I suppose you could call it the culmination of time and death. That which delves into Dira's realm." Her lips curled into a delicate smile. "The end of time, in which a soul is reaped from this place, and brought into the folds of the world beyond; the open arms of death's keeper, and perhaps time itself." There was a pause. "There are those who have passed here, in this very place, which I seek, for they simply cannot be found. I would have summoned them myself, for simplicity's sake, if for no other. But the mists have been lost to the shrouds of time, rendering even my own skill, as one of Dira's servants, entirely useless." Aello paused for a moment, allowing her words to sink in before continuing. "Which, as you may already be wondering, is where you come in. As one of time's keepers, a friend to the lady Tanroa herself, perhaps you could be of assistance. Perhaps, together we can bring him back. Or if not that, perhaps you could show me... next to you, perhaps I shall be able to truly see."

[Paragon]

Kaledon nodded at the girl's words with a smile. She was wise for one so young. He found himself shaking his head -- he wasn't so old himself. At first, he pondered on who this man she spoke of was. He clearly held importance. He could see it in her visage, in her smoky eyes. There was a determination here, virulent in the air. Aello would tear down the barrier between worlds to get to this person. But why? "I am certainly an associate with our Lady Time, as you well know. A friend -- I doubt it. An acolyte -- certainly." The plot thickened. He looked up to her, eyes betraying his shadowed cowl. "But do you want to see, Aello? The mists of time lay thick for a multitude of reasons, covering our mistakes, shielding our secrets. Do you truly want to see?"

[Aello]

"It is of no consequence, for at the end of the day when we come to see the sum of our parts, we'll still find that you are far more to your lady than I am to mine," Aello commented rather absently, her tone rather neutral considering the sheer amount of pain hidden behind her words. There was a long pause as the girl's fingertips continued to drum on the table. She was gathering herself, gathering her thoughts. When she had shepherded each to the forefront of her mind, she leaned forward, her hand sliding across the table, nails lazily scratching Kaledon's flesh. "If it was never my intention to truly see, then I would not have bothered to come, or delve into aspects of the craft now mastered." Her fingers traced crescents on his skin, before sliding away, closer to herself, the end of the table. They drummed a solemn tune for a moment, before coming to a halt. "If it were not within my heart to know of life's secrets and obscurities, the colors wouldn't come to help me uncover them." There was a slight pause, "not that there is a need, within this fleeting moment to call to them, and bid they come. Your apprehension hangs thickly enough within the very air we breath for me to know." Again, the aurist paused for quite some time. "Kaledon, one wouldn't ask unless they truly wished to see... There is no reason to hide the knowledge lost within the folds of time. It can be shown to a servant of the lady death, for we each understand how easily all is lost. How fleeting this life and all it holds truly is. And how time is the one that causes all to come to pass, do we not?

[Paragon]

Kaledon thought on her words. "Perhaps that is true," he mused, before smiling at her, "perhaps not." He looked to her hands, fingers drumming absently on the wooden table. It was the sign of the impatient -- the sign of someone who did not truly yet understand the nature of time and all its constructs. Her fingers explored, coming to his arm, tracing shapes on his skin. He did not recoil. He merely watched unmoving, like the stone in the wind. "Yes... I agree. Time is the source of all transformation. It is the creator; it is the destroyer." He looked up again, moving his hand so that he placed it over Aello's, stilling her fervent gestures. "Then what is it you ask of me? What do you need? What is within my power?"

[Aello]

Aello's lips curled into a knowing grin just as his fingers came to rest on hers, his palm on the back of her hand. His skin was far softer than her own, she supposed it had to do with the fact that she was a woman of the wild, and he a man sheltered by society. Slave to it. Her eyes sparkled as her fingers fell into the wood. "Considering the fact that the full extent of your power remains a mystery, it is a bit difficult to say," she finally responded. "Although, there is only one thing being sought: the truth, so that closure may come." The girl paused for a moment as she considered her words. "It is well within my ability to bring the lost back, if only I have the proper tools. But this one is too far gone... Perhaps you can find him, by looking into the flow of time. And once his location is known, I can do what it is I need to to call him here. To pull him out of the river." Again the girl paused, allowing her words to sink in. "Do not fear timekeeper, for pulling this one should not alter the flow. Cause any sort of rippling sensation, for he is already outside the undulations of that river. His time has already come to an end. It is already up." For a long time, Aello fell silent, allowing the deathly still to settle into the air. "We are looking for the man who sired me, the only ghost who has not returned... Something is different about his loss. The dust simply hasn't settled in a discernible pattern. It all seems wrong, and... I want some answers. I need them." There was a pause, for him to consider her proposition. "Will you lend a hand Kaledon? Will you help?" she asked.

[Paragon]

"I will help," Kaledon said softly, nodding, "I will give my aid to anything, with time." He moved his hand back, pulling the sleeve of his robe over it once again. Concealing his flesh -- the shell that concealed the fluid spirit beneath. "You must get to know my Lady first. I will pull nothing from the great flow without total understanding." Suddenly, something caught Kaledon's eye outside the building. He glanced to the window, catching sight of something recognisable, then pulled his hood further over his face. He shot up from the chair abruptly, shattering any reverie Aello had lulled into. "I'll be back," he said hurriedly. Something had panicked him -- whatever he had seen outside, "I'll be back soon." With that he fled the World's End Grotto, leaving the essence of dumbfoundedness in the air behind him.

[Aello]

Aello simply nodded. "That's understandable enough," she whispered as his hand drew away, sliding silently across the table. She watched it trail across the hard wood, soon to be lost within the folds. Her gaze flickered, following his which glanced in and out of the room. Before it returned momentarily, she knew he was already gone. It unnerved her somewhat that he was as flighty as her birds. That such feelings could escalate so swiftly within his soul. As Kaledon pulled away from the table, her magic flared. Every edge of the room was instantly illuminated by a burst of vibrant color, covering several shades of the rainbow. His aura wavered. A flickering flame, whose wick seemed to sweat before her very eyes. Now what's got him like this? Aello wondered as he slipped out of the door, and down the hall. Her magic traced him out of the building, spurring the girl's own anxiety. She didn't suppose he would leave her company without good reason. Feeling the need to protect her investments, and her time, she soon grabbed her things. A heated drumming within the confines of her chest spurred her to push her seat back haphazardly and jump to her feet. Within but a moment, Aello was running across the room, and past the threshold. Sinking into the shadows as Kaledon continued on his way. We can't let time slip through our fingers, she thought, as her grip tightened around her bow, and she made her way outside. Following the string of colors, the prints he left behind. Stepping in each slowly, in an effort to follow and perhaps, catch up to him a bit, and yet remain far enough away from him that he didn't know she was there. She couldn't let him know she was there...