Okay I'm back. And I've reached part fifteen. Impressive. At least it is to me. Didn't think I'd get this far with this story. Got this one out a bit faster then I thought it would be. But I can't complain about that at all. Let me know what you guys think about this one, K? I love hearing from you guys, I'm an e-mail junkie and don't even try to hide that fact. You can reach me at either Mist_dark@yahoo.ca or Mist_dark@hotmail.com. Either one of them will work and I check both.
Thanks to everyone whose written me. Like I said I love hearing from you. And I do eventually get back to you all. Special thanks to Kenitra, Shade, Aeoros, Keif, Matt, Di and Aphrodite. You guys are great. If you want my opinion on some stories to read, try Millennium love, Brian and Me, Search and Rescue, Forever, Lance In Shining Armour, BSB and Nsync Chronicles, and so on. There are lots of great stories, can't list them all.
Legal parts. This story isn't suppose to imply anything about the members of Nsync. If they're gay it's none of my business. If you're too young or it's illegal in your area to read this, then don't. If you're offended by homosexual themes leave as well. Parts of this story are based of the RPG Rifts. All trademarks belong to Kevin Siembied and Palladium books.
That's enough of that. Anyway, hope you enjoy this installment.
Until next time, Rune
PART FIFTEEN
"Well we certainly wasted a lot of time didn't we?" Selvar asked. He absently played with Lance's hair as the two of them sat side by side on a small couch. Lance's head was resting on the elf's shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Lance asked quietly. He had a half smile on his lips while Selvar toyed with his hair.
"Just how long it took us to admit we liked each other." He leaned down and kissed Lance's forehead. "Apparently we were the only ones who couldn't see it. I'm glad that Maria lost her temper."
Lance leaned up and kissed Selvar gently on the lips. "So am I." He pulled his legs up and snuggled into Selvar's arms. "So what are we going to do now?"
"I don't know about you," Selvar whispered. "But I'm content to stay right here." He pulled Lance closer to him and swept his legs onto the couch so Lance was lying on his chest. "Of course I wouldn't mind staying like this forever."
"I'm in agreement with that."
They lay on the couch for almost half an hour just enjoying each other's company. The sun started to peak over the horizon as the first rays of dawn touched the day.
"What now?" Lance almost whispered. "Where do we go from here?"
"I don't know," Selvar said quietly. "I want to know what to do next, but I just don't."
"I guess we take this a day at a time then."
"Guess so."
A silence fell over the room again as each was lost in his own thoughts. It was broken abruptly when Lance started laughing. Selvar arched an eyebrow at him.
"Care to share your moment?" The elf asked, a slight grin touching his lips.
It took a few moments for Lance to calm down enough so he could speak. "It's just I was thinking about our relationship and how odd it is by normal standards." He fell into laughing again for a few minutes. "I mean I'm dating a necromancer that more or less kidnapped me the first day we met. My boyfriend's best friend is a vampire and we're all wrapped up in a giant prophecy. You have to admit that it's a tad odd."
The smile faded from Selvar's face. "Does Maria's nature bother you that much? Does mine?"
Lance abruptly stopped laughing. "No. Don't ever think that. If I was going to run I'd have done it already. The fact you're a necromancer doesn't bother me now. It unnerved me at first, but that's just because where I come from the dead stay dead and don't go waltzing off into the night. By the time I found out that Maria was a vampire I couldn't have carried less. I don't care what you are, I care who you are." He pushed himself up so that he was staring Selvar in the eye. "Understand?"
The smile returned to Selvar's face. "Yes. I guess this all seems a little too good to be true."
"Trust me." Lance said warmly. "It's true." He snuggled down into his love's arms and fell asleep.
Selvar stared down at the blonde sleeping in his arms. He just lay there, completely motionless, for a while. Just watching his love sleep. Dawn had fully arrived by the time the elf drifted off to sleep.
They sound of running water woke Lance. He sat up carefully to avoid waking Selvar. Judging by the light in the room it was early evening. They'd probably slept for ten hours. Glancing around the room Lance discovered what had woken him.
A ball of water about the size of a basketball hovered four feet of the floor. It spun lazily about, turning in on itself and shifting now and again. As it made these movements the sound of running water filled the room.
"Selvar," it whispered.
Lance nudged Selvar gently. The elf slowly roused from his sleep to stare Lance in the eyes. "We have a visitor." He motioned to the ball of water with his head.
"Selvar," the ball whispered again.
"That would be me," Selvar answered. "What is it that you need?"
"Not need," the ball said. "To inform. The Mistress is to arrive within the span of one hour. She brings the Siren."
"Who is your Mistress?"
"The Guardian of Water."
"Do you know where your Mistress will arrive?"
"She arrives in the courtyard of this castle."
"Thank you for your message," Selvar said as he and Lance pulled themselves from the couch. "Is there anything else that you needed to tell me?"
"That is all," the ball whispered. It floated over to a jug of water and dived into it, dispersing itself.
"I guess we have guests to prepare for," Lance said.
"Apparently," Selvar said. "You take one room, I'll prepare the other?"
"Sounds like a plan."
One hour later Lance and Selvar were standing in the courtyard. The sun was starting to make it's descent toward the horizon. They stood in front of the large pool of water that lay in the middle of the courtyard.
"Think she'll be late?" Lance asked. He laced his fingers into Selvar's and stood closer to him.
"I doubt it," Selvar said. "I just can't see a Guardian being fashionably late."
"True," Lance laughed. He turned back to the pool as a small sigil of light appeared on it.
The sigil grew outward and brightened until it was almost blinding. The water started to ripple away from the sigil as if someone had dropped a rock into the water. The light reduced itself slightly and the sigil began to sink into the water. As it did so it pulled the water that it rested on down with it. The ring of water that surrounded the sigil rippled upward and started to swirl in exotic patterns. It appeared like someone had transformed the water into a piece of cloth and was pulling it along by one edge. It shot upward before it curled around to almost met itself and then continued to curl upward. It rose about ten feet into the air before it dropped back into the water.
When the water sheet and dropped back into the pool JC and a stunning woman were floating in the middle of the water. They were both sunk to their ankles in water, but didn't sink any further.
"Josh," Lance shouted. He let go of Selvar's hand and raced into the pool to embrace his friend.
JC looked slightly stunned at his sudden appearance and didn't notice Lance until his friend was waist deep in water. He laughed and stepped of the sigil and promptly disappeared beneath the water. He reappeared ten feet from Lance and swam over to the blonde. When he was close enough he pulled Lance into a hug.
"It's been so long since I've seen you," JC said. "How've ya been?"
"Forgive me," the woman said. "But I have many other matters to attend. Take care, for time grows short." She took one last glance at JC before becoming translucent. She appeared to become solid water. Abruptly her form let go and she disappeared into the pool with a slight splash.
"Lance?" Selvar asked. "Not that I mind, but perhaps you should come out of the pool to finish your reunion." Lance flushed deeply before nodding. He stepped away from JC and made his way out of the water. JC followed.
"Judging by Lance's reaction you would be Josh," Selvar said. "I'm Selvar."
JC accepted the elf's offered hand and shook it. "It's about time he found someone."
"Pardon?" Selvar asked.
"You are dating aren't you?" JC asked. "You seem to make a cute couple. Or is he still beating around the bush?"
"Josh," Lance cried. "Stop that. Yes, Selvar and I are dating."
"Good," JC nodded. "Glad to hear it. Now as much as I enjoy being in the water. It's a lot colder out of the water. So could I get changed?"
Selvar laughed warmly. "Of course. I believe Lance should change as well." His eyes glanced over JC before he continued. "Though I believe I'm fresh out of gray body suits."
It was JC's turn to blush. "Ivar insisted I wear this style of clothing. Gray was all we had at the time. It makes swimming easier."
"Of course," Selvar smiled. "Maria will be up shortly and then we'll have breakfast."
"Breakfast?" JC asked. "This late?"
Lance moved over to take Selvar's hand. "We're mostly nocturnal now. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's easier on the three of us. We've got a lot of catch up to do."
"What's it like?" Joey asked. "To be able to sense the weather I mean."
Selena dropped her head and smiled. "It's hard to explain. It's like being able to sense life itself. It's just amazing. You can feel the thunder and lightning. You just know what the sky is going to do before it does it."
"That's gotta be cool," he said.
"I bet it's like the feeling you get from lifting things with your mind," Selena said. "So hard to explain and yet so profound to the person able to do it."
"That's true. How long did it take you to learn to control your power?"
"About a year," she said. "The first few months were spent learning how not to send a tornado to visit the neighbours. It took some practice, but I got that lesson down. After that it wasn't a problem. By the time I'd reached a full year of being able to manipulate the weather I was pretty good at it. That was almost ten years ago. I've gotten a lot better since then."
"Wow. I'm still learning to control all of my powers. Evelyn thinks that I might never find the end of what I can do." Joey sighed and rested his head in his arms on the railing. "It'd be nice to know exactly what I can do. I'm always trying to keep my powers under control. I just have to think that I'd like to throw some guy across the room and I do it."
"I know that feeling," Selena said. "The weather responds to my moods. If I'm angry the weather reflects it. I have to keep a careful hold on my emotions. If I don't I've no idea what would happen, but I don't want to find out. We're a lot a like in that manner."
"Guess we are," Joey sighed again. "I'd also like to know what's going to happen to us all. We're brought to this world and then we find out we have these powers and then people start trying to kill us. It's just so unreal."
"But Joey, that's the way this world works," Selena told him. "Survival of the fittest at it's best. If you can't protect yourself you have to find someone who can. And if you can't find someone you're going to die. It's a simple as that. It's horrible to think like that, but it's the truth. Each race has their own way of surviving. Humans have their resourcefulness, dragons have their magic, and changelings have their shape-shifting. Everyone has their own way of surviving and each has to hope that it's good enough. If it isn't they die."
"I guess so. But why is it like that? Why can't everyone just live in peace? Not have to hunt each other?"
"The hunters aren't they only ways to die in this world. Diseases, accidents, natural disasters. There are countless ways to die and hundreds of things worse then death. And not everyone cares like you do. Some people just are out for themselves."
"I don't have to like it though," Joey said firmly.
"Didn't say you had to, but it's the truth." They sat there in silence, looking over the water. "Let's go for a flight."
"What?" Joey asked as he was pulled from his musings.
"Fly," Selena said. "You know, moving through the air." She flapped her wings slowly to make her point.
"I won't be able to keep up with you though," Joey said. "I'm not that good at telekinetics yet. I can move, just not really fast."
A breeze flowed across the deck. It wrapped itself around Joey and lifted him into the air. "I was planning on carrying you. Come on, let's go." Selena jumped into the air and flapped her wings. She soared upward and a moment later the winds pushed Joey higher to follow her.
Chris watched Joey and Selena leave the deck and sighed. He turned and walked to the end of the boat and propped himself up against the cabin. His eyes flashed red and four balls of flame burst into existence. He started juggling them absently while staring out over the water.
"Starting to feel left out?" Evelyn's voice invaded the silence.
"Sort of," Chris said. He kept staring out over the water while juggling the balls. He sensed Evelyn sit down next to him.
"You'll find someone Christopher. Just be patient."
The flaming balls flickered out as Chris turned to look at Evelyn. "Oh I know that, I'm just feeling a bit lonely. I'm not begrudging Joey and Justin their love lives, but I can't help but feel a bit lonely. I know I'm going to find someone eventually, I just don't really want to wait."
Evelyn laughed warmly. "Few of us do. But we don't have any choice in the matter. Love comes to us when we aren't looking for it. And remember that you always have those that love you."
"I know, but it's hard sometimes to remember that."
"I know that Christopher. Anyone who has ever loved another knows that. Just don't get jaded. Let Joseph and Justin have their love and they'll come to you too. They need you as a friend."
Chris laughed. "That they do. They're boring without me."
"I had begun to notice that. You always were playing practical jokes around the cabin. I felt like I've raised you because of all the stuff you did."
"Well we've only known you two or three months. I had a lot of time to make up for." He grinned. "Besides you have to admit starching Joey's pants was funny."
Evelyn chuckled. "You weren't the one who had to wash them. But it was funny watching him try to get them off the line. I don't think I've ever seen pants that stiff. They were flapping in the wind like a board."
"Yep, I've done better too." Chris smiled like he was very pleased with himself. "I got Justin once with the shower. It was a stall style shower and I'd rigged the door so that it'd lock when it was closed. He started his shower none the wiser. I'd shut off all the hot water. All he got was a blast of cold water that he couldn't get away from. His screams were hilarious."
"Why didn't he just shut the water off?" Evelyn asked between gasps of laughter.
"I'd set it up so that when he turned the knob it came off in his hands. He couldn't shut the water off." Chris started laughing really hard. He fell into Evelyn and held onto her to support himself.
"I have a feeling he got you back for that, didn't he?" Evelyn asked after a few minutes of pure laughter.
"Oh he did. He got me back and then some."
"Justin for the last time I need some space to work with," Pierre snapped. "I know you're worried about Pyre, but if you don't stay off to one side I'm going to put you to sleep."
Justin looked at Pierre to make sure he was serious. He was. The blonde moved across the room and out of the healer's way. "I'm just worried about him."
"I know that, but I can do my job a lot easier if you stay of the way." The healer moved around the bed that Pyre was sleeping on. "You can fawn over him in a few minutes. Until then please let me do my job."
"Okay," Justin said. "I won't bother you until you're finished."
"Good." Pierre moved to the bedside and moved the blanket to expose Pyre's naked thigh. The burn mark had mostly healed thanks to his work and Evelyn's. It had taken a lot of effort on both their behalves, but they'd done it. The body was slowly healing itself, but was doing so at a normal human's rate. Which was odd since the rest of his body healed at an incredible rate. The healer pushed gently around the burn to see how the tissue was knitting together. His finger met firm flesh. He gently touched the pink tissue forming around the few blisters that had formed. The skin was smooth and certainly healing. Most of the blackness had flaked off after he and Evelyn had finished with their first healing session. There were just a few spots of it left.
Pierre pulled a small bottle from his robes and uncorked it. He spread the lotion on his hands and rubbed it gently around the burn on Pyre's thigh. When he'd finished rubbing the lotion around the burn he very carefully applied small amounts to the burn itself. Pyre winced slightly in his sleep as the cool lotion touched his skin.
"There," he said as he replaced the cork in the bottle and returned the bottle to his robes. "I'm going to bring him around, but only for a little while. He needs his rest Justin. So you've got less then half an hour." He looked over at Justin. "And don't even think about trying to lay in the bed with him. The burn will heal much more quickly if it isn't jostled around. Understand?"
Justin nodded. "Yes. He's going to be alright, right?"
"He's going to be fine. The worst he's going to have is a nasty scar, but he should be able to heal that." Pierre covered Pyre's thigh again and moved to the head of the bed. He placed two fingers on Pyre's forehead and closed his eyes. He opened them and removed his hand. "He'll come around in a minute or so. Don't let him get out of bed."
"I won't," Justin assured him. Pierre nodded and left the room. Justin didn't even notice him leaving. His eyes were glued to Pyre's face, watching for signs of awareness. He didn't have to wait long. Pyre came around almost immediately after Pierre left. He moved to the bedside to be closer to Pyre as he fully woke.
"Justin?" Pyre asked groggily. "Where are we?"
"On a ship," Justin told him as he took Pyre's hand in his own. "We're safe, but you've been out for a few days."
"What happened?" Pyre was becoming more alert now. He tried to get out of bed, but Justin pushed him back down.
"Oh no you don't. The doctor said you aren't going anywhere. You aren't suppose to get out of this bed until he says you can." Justin sat back down when he was sure Pyre wasn't going to leap out of the bed. "I don't really know what happened. We were flying through that storm and then you were struck by a red light. You fell out of the sky and landed on this ship. We've been here ever since."
Pyre pulled back the blanket to look at his thigh. "That should have healed by now."
"I know, the healers don't understand it either. They think it had something to do with the nature of the light, but they aren't sure. Pierre says it will heal, but will take longer."
"So how long have you been sitting there?"
"Not long, just sat here when you came around," Justin admitted. "But I've been here with you whenever Pierre didn't throw me out of the cabin." He grinned. "He apparently didn't like me under foot all the time."
"That's probably why midwives created the idea of having men boil water," Pyre said.
"What?"
"It was a way to get men out of the way when the women were delivering a baby. Otherwise they were underfoot the entire time. He'd probably have had you boiling water to get you out of the way if we weren't on a ship."
"Did they really do that?" Justin asked. "Boiling the water I mean."
"Yep did it for centuries," Pyre told him. "Worked wonders to. Kept everyone involved happy." He gave Justin an sly look. "Want to keep my warm?"
"I'd love to, but Pierre would skin me alive if I even thought about doing that." He pulled Pyre's hand up and kissed the back of it. "But when you're allowed to get out of that bed I'm sure we can arrange something."
"What if I don't want to get out of bed?" Pyre smirked.
"Guess we'll just have to work around that problem if it comes up," Justin grinned.
"I look forward to our problem solving session."
Pierre slipped back into the room quietly. "Okay gentlemen, it's time for you to go back to sleep Pyre. You need your rest. Justin you're going to have to leave for a bit. You look like you could use some rest yourself." He pulled Justin up and ushered him from the room. "I'm just going to put you into a normal sleep, you don't need a really deep sleep anymore. You'll be on a regular sleeping schedule, but you won't be getting out of bed until I tell you that you can."
"How long do you think it will take for the burn to heal completely?" Pyre asked.
"Normally you should have healed that in a matter of minutes," Pierre told him. "But I would say a week at most. From this point at any rate. I'll speed up the recovery rate of course, but I'm not going to rush the regeneration process. Though I'd certainly like to know why you aren't healing as fast as you normally do."
"You know what I am don't you?"
"Yes. It's very difficult to hide these things from me."
"Don't tell Justin. I will, but just not yet."
Pierre placed two fingers on Pyre's forehead. "I won't say anything Ancient one."
TBC.
So how was that? Let me know what you think. Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca
Rune