Aetheral Space-Chapter 542 - 17.14: The Sound of Leaves

As time went on, secrecy became less of a concern for Nigen Rush.

Zephyr Pandershi already knew he was here. The Seelie Rangers watched from a distance, but did nothing. The people of Ward 8 had already come to know his face and his name. His hope that his quarry would come out from Auberon and face him like a man was growing more and more distant, but he wasn't prepared to spill undue blood just yet.

When he'd first arrived on Zepan, Nigen had done his best to hide his nature as an Aether-user, but clearly there was no point in doing so. Soon enough, he was displaying the light of the mind openly, showing off techniques and mindboggling gymnastics for the amusement of the masses.

In a world where every need was met, the only profession still available was 'clown'.

Children gathered and watched in awe as Nigen sculpted the sparks in his hand into the shapes of dragons and knights. They cheered as he juggled knives and forks and pens and pencils, lightning fast, without ever dropping a single one. They listened intently as he let slip just the slightest details of the outside world, vague as could be -- for the time being, he was not here for revolution, after all.

And all the while, from a distance, Puck watched. Haisley had told Nigen about that onion-headed thing. She'd called it a mascot, but it seemed to Nigen that it was definitely some kind of automatic -- and he had no doubt that Zephyr Pandershi was watching through its eyes.

It seemed to Nigen that, while he lived life brazenly, that lifeless thing was seething.

Come on, he thought.

Come on. Come out here.

What are you waiting for?

"You are a thoughtless man," said Puck.

Nigen Rush turned his head. He'd been messing with the back door of Haisley's house, trying to see if there was any getting around the gratitude lock that had appeared there today. More specifically, he was trying to see if he could use it to communicate directly with Auberon. From what he understood of Zephyr Pandershi, he didn't seem like the kind of man who could deny a direct challenge to his authority.

Haisley's mother had been reluctant to let such a suspicious stranger into her home, but Haisley had managed to distract her and get her somewhere else for the time being. Nigen had expected to be able to work in peace, but had prepared himself for interruption all the same. He hadn't expected that interruption to come from an onion-headed mascot of all things.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, frowning.

Puck stood stock-still in the door, silhouetted against the artificial light outside. Its binocular eyes seemed to stare right into Nigen's soul, it's painted-on smile like a dark wound.

"You act without the slightest consideration of the consequences," Puck said. "Truly a foolish individual."

When Nigen had heard Puck speak before, it had been high-pitched and cheery like an exaggeration of a child -- but not right now. Now it was speaking with a voice full of contempt, the borders of a character formed from audio artifacts. Nigen frowned as he turned around fully, abandoning his work.

It seemed perhaps it wasn't necessary anymore, anyway.

"I take it I'm speaking with Zephyr Pandershi?" he asked, voice low.

Puck stepped fully into the room, the door sliding shut behind it and extinguishing the false sunlight from outside.

"You take it wrong," it said. "I am everyone's favourite -- 'Puck'."

"I see. So you're an automatic that works for Pandershi, then."

"Broadly speaking, that is correct."

"Did he send you here to dissuade me?"

"No," Puck's head stiffly shook from side to side. "This was my own prerogative."

Nigen's frown deepened as he stood up fully, his hand already resting on the sheath of his blade. They said that Nigen Rush was the best swordsman there was. Nigen himself wasn't so sure about that, but he was confident in his ability to slice this machine into cubes the second it tried anything.

"I see," he said quietly. "And what is it you intend to do by your own prerogative?"

"It is as you said. I must dissuade you. Your presence here is an unacceptable danger to the people of this Ward."

"How so?" Nigen raised a pale eyebrow.

"'Curiosity killed the cat'. You have heard this. This is a world of cats. Your presence -- a source of knowledge about the outside world -- inspires curiosity like nothing else. Surely you follow."

"You're worried people will try to leave? That they'll get themselves hurt?" Nigen asked. "That's the price of being free. It's far better than living in this comfortable cage you people have constructed for them."

"The perils of the outside are not my concern. The danger comes from inside. The Director is a jealous man, and you are a man that inspires admiration. Events will follow naturally from there, with disaster at the end."

Nigen ran a hand through his hair. "There would be no need for me to stay here if that man would face me," he said coldly. "If you must tell your master anything, then tell him that."

"You must leave now," Puck insisted urgently, taking a heavy step forward. "Without farewells or promises for reunion. Do you understand?"

Nigen took a step forward as well, looking down at the automatic with grey eyes so sharp they were like blades themselves. His hand was now not just resting on the sheath, but holding it ready. This was a man who would not be denied.

"I shall not leave without fulfilling my goal here," he began, before sighing. "But you're right that I've remained here too long. I'm done waiting. Come tomorrow, I am doing what I came here to do, whether that man is brave enough to face me or not. Then I will leave you to your false paradise."

"Tomorrow will be too late!" Puck's voice distorted as it shouted, but Nigen paid it no heed.

"Tomorrow will be fine," he said in a tone that permitted no argument. "I shall raise my blade against the one that betrayed me…"

He stepped past Puck, into the doorway -- and as the doors slid open, allowing the light in once again, he turned his head to look back at the automatic.

"...and if anything ill should come for the people I have met here, then I will simply raise my blade against that calamity as well."

He stepped over the threshold, and the doors slid back shut, plunging Puck into darkness. The automatic stared motionless at the sealed doors. If it had lungs, it surely would have sighed in that moment as well.

"A truly naive… and arrogant man."

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"You're leaving?" Haisley asked, aghast as she chased after Nigen. "You're really leaving?"

Nigen Rush's face was set as he strode through the forest. This would be his route -- he'd circle around to the tram station, break through, and make his way into Ward 7. Then he'd force his way into the next Ward along, and the next, until he got to Ward 1 and could enter Auberon proper. Then he'd put an end to this.

With those plans in his mind, he replied without hesitation. "I am," he said. "I've been away too long already. The Supreme Heir is waiting for me."

"Who?"

"The person I'm promised to," Nigen replied, his gaze straight forward. "The person whose oath that bastard betrayed. I need to get back and continue her training."

"What about my training?" Haisley frowned. "You said you'd train me up to your level!"

For the first time, his eyes flicked down to glance at her, and there was a gleam of guilt in them. "I never said that… but, depending on how things go from here, you might get that opportunity."

"What do you mean?"

He took a deep breath. "Well… perhaps the cats will be running free by the end of today."

"Oh. Huh. What?"

Despite the gravity of the situation to come, Nigen couldn't help but smirk. That really would sound like nonsense to anyone else, wouldn't it? Finally, he stopped in the middle of the clearing, turning to Haisley.

"Listen," he said. "I've seen the prison that is your world, and I've walked among the people that are its prisoners. I will be leaving, yes… but when I do, it will only be after I've opened the cell doors, and everyone can leave with me. Understand?"

Haisley looked at him, eyes wide, as if he'd just revealed some insanity to her. Hesitantly, she leaned in.

"You're… you're going to take down the Director?" she whispered, knowing it was useless to lower her voice, knowing countless ears were no doubt listening to those words.

Nigen hesitated, just for a moment. Then, he gave her a firm nod.

"Yes," he said.

That word was the starting bell. All at once, the atmosphere around them seemed to change. The greenery didn't fade. The sunlight didn't darken. The pleasant breeze didn't become any less pleasant.

And yet… Haisley could feel a sensation like a serpent slithering down her spine. Her skin felt cold and clammy. It was like she was suddenly a drowned corpse, just crawled out of the ocean. An awful, awful feeling.

Haisley shuddered. Nigen did not. His gaze was fixed, all softness abandoned, on something over her shoulder.

She turned to look…

…and his voice cut through the tension as the sharpest, cruelest blade.

"Revolution, huh…? Ah, that's no good, Rush-man. You can't go talking about stuff like that without checking who's around first."

A man was lounging beneath a tree atop the hill -- and he was making such little effort to conceal himself it was a wonder they hadn't noticed him ages ago. Over his black leather jacket, he had a pale fur collar littered with tiny golden bells, tinkling lightly with every movement he made. His hair and pupils were black as night -- the unmistakable sign of his ancestry -- with a single green lock hanging down the middle of his face like a line of symmetry. He grinned mischievously as the two looked up at him, a sly look in his dark eyes.

Haisley's face was filled with confusion -- this man was a stranger to her -- but Nigen just narrowed his eyes. His sword sang as he pulled it from its sheath. He knew perfectly well who this blackguard was.

This was the man he'd come here to see.

NEBULA FOUR

Lusifer Westmore

The Changeling

Nebula of the Pandershi Foundation

"That's a good look you've got there, Rush-man," Lusifer giggled, utterly relaxed -- even as murderous intent practically radiated from Nigen's body. Perhaps because of that. "Seems like you're kinda mad at me, huh? No sweat! I'll hear you out. What's on your mind, bro?"

In stark contrast to Lusifer Westmore's relaxed lounging, Nigen Rush was completely, utterly still. His sword didn't so much as move an inch. Nigen didn't respond to his former colleague's provocations right away. Instead, he looked down at Haisley.

"You need to get away from here," he said simply.

Haisley shook her head with undue confidence. She knew this would be a battle between legends, even if she didn't fully appreciate what that meant. "I'll stay! I'll watch from where it's safe!"

Nigen's answer banished that flimsy confidence immediately. "Nowhere will be safe."

The eyes that looked down at her no longer belonged to a patient teacher or a gentle confidant. They were hard things of stone now. These were the eyes of a man more skilled with the sword -- an implement only good for killing -- than anyone else.

She obeyed them without question.

Once she'd vanished into the trees, running as fast as her legs could take her, Nigen finally turned to look at Lusifer.

"Get up," he said seriously.

Lusifer frowned, still lounging. "What for?"

"What for?" Nigen hissed. "You swore an oath. To the Supreme Heir, to the Seven Blades -- you promised to nurture and serve her… and you betrayed that promise like it was nothing."

"Ah, right, right," Lusifer slowly picked himself up, brushing the grass from his jeans. He raised a hand. "Yeah, I did do that. You got me. My bad, man."

Nigen gave him a withering look. "You can't honestly believe that's sufficient."

"Eh, well, you know?" Lusifer wiggled his hand vaguely as he descended the hill. "I thought it would be interesting to be a kingmaker, y'know, but it just wasn't for me. What Pandershi-man was capable of seemed way more interesting, so I had to do what I had to do. Listen, though, I do feel bad. It wasn't anything personal."

Even if Nigen hadn't been holding a sword designed for absolute sharpness by the Maker-Guild's Swordsmith, his glare alone would have been sufficient to cut Westmore in half right then and there. When he spoke next, it was through gritted teeth.

"You wrecked the Child Garden on the way out," he said slowly. "It felt personal."

"Oh, no!" Lusifer stopped a few meters away from Nigen, hands on his hips. "You're misunderstanding things, bro. That wasn't anything to do with you guys in particular or anything. That was just a matter of principle."

Nigen narrowed his eyes. "You don't have any principles."

"Huh? What are you even saying, man?" Lusifer frowned as if genuinely offended. "Of course I've got principles! I've got nothing but principles. I promised myself back when I was a kid that I wouldn't compromise on the things I want… so I gotta go after little whims with the same sorta ferocity as lifelong dreams. That's my honour, you know?"

"You've got some nerve talking about honour."

Lusifer sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Well, I wasn't gonna mention it, but Aclima-girl's looking pretty different, huh? What, that was a different kid just now? Oh, that's weird. Didn't you swear an oath or whatever to her too? Is she hiding behind a bush or something?"

"A leave of absence is hardly the same thing as an abandonment."

"Well, all I'm saying is that it seems like a pretty long vacation to me, but what do I know?" Lusifer smirked, shrugging lightly. "My point is… what was my point? My point is that I'm not going with you, I guess. Nah, I'm not interested in that at all." He snickered. "Mind you, Pandershi-man's sorta starting to lose my interest too, but I don't wanna go back to skin I've already shed. Hey -- that's another principle right there!"

Nigen lifted his sword, bright as a beam of sunlight, and pointed it at Lusifer's face. With each mocking word Lusifer had thrown out, his resolve had hardened even further. He and the Changeling had never been friends, but at this point he was more than happy to become enemies.

"Draw your weapon," he said.

Unlike Nigen, Lusifer did not wield a sword. Instead, he had two tonfa batons strapped to his hips, and with an exaggerated sigh he flipped them into his grip. One he dangled carelessly from a finger, the other he just kept spinning -- again and again and again.

"Are we seriously doing this, Rush-man?" he cocked his head. "C'mon. Ah, c'mon. Can't you just give me my severance package and head on home?"

"Ready yourself," Nigen replied with finality. The time for negotiations had long since passed.

With strength and speed far beyond the common man, Nigen Rush kicked off, leaving the ground unharmed behind him. His sword swung as cleanly as if it were part of the air itself. He was no different to any of the trees or leaves in this clearing -- he was part of the world and nothing more. To him, any self-image above that would be mere arrogance.

Pale Aether sang around his humility.

His opponent, on the other hand, was the very embodiment of selfishness and self-determination. He imposed himself upon the world, regardless of any other will. As a cursed child, he had been given no choice but to live that way, but it didn't make it any less vulgar. With a violent rush that tore through the air, he swung both his batons with all his might.

Olo Aether cackled around his greed.

Selflessness and selfishness… their clash producing a geyser of debris so tall it tore through the sky.