***
Master Sisyphus and Lernea were sharing some mead together, enjoying some cuts of smoked fish on the side. The smell was overpoweringly homely to Lernea. She felt the rough wooden table with her hands; it was almost alive to her touch. A few negligent rays of sun shafted down from what little cracks and holes lay in the roof, warming up the make-shift laboratory just the right amount to make it feel welcoming despite all the strange apparatus lying about, looking menacingly unfathomable and uncomfortably pointy.
“You’ve had some interesting times by the sound of it,” Sisyphus said and picked a hefty slice of fish. “More than I could hope for, I’m afraid,” she replied with half a smile.
“And you say your sister is probably a million miles away, out there, somewhere among the stars?” Sisyphus intoned, examining the slice of fish as if looking for some sort of defect.
“Along with the others, yes. Literally though, they’re really somewhere out there, plowing through the stars,” she said, her gaze reaching for a slither of sky visible through the patched, thatched roof.
“Must have been a wonderful surprise, traveling in space,” Sisyphus said and began nibbling on the morsel of smoked fish, treating it as a rare delicacy.
“At first it felt exciting, but then it became rather dull. And then it was exciting again, but only because I thought we were going to die,” Lernea replied in earnest and drank from her cup; the strong mead made her body shiver and her face twitch. Sisyphus swallowed his bite and offered Lernea an explanation: “Such is the way of riding the waves of life, Lernea. You’ve just embarked on the Dromos, life’s great boat, that’s why it can feel jarring at times. Might give you sea-sickness as well, somewhere along the journey.”
“It’s all happening so fast. I rarely have Svarna’s guiding light with me,” she said and looked up into his eyes, searching for an answer there as well. “It’s as if I’m shooting blind, Master,” she said and shook her head ever so slightly.
“Life is short, considering what we mortals wish to leave behind. But do not search for the Gods in vain when it is your own heart and mind that can find the way. Can you imagine what would happen if Svarna had to guide everyone? Gods, we wouldn’t be able to take a piss in the middle of the night without divine intervention!” Sisyphus said with a glowing face full of mirth. His words made Lernea smile genuinely; she nearly felt like a child once more. “And don’t call me Master; I’m not your Master anymore, my Queen,” Sisyphus said grinning before his face turned a bit sour: “Besides, I do have new apprentices.”
“Damon and Fidias?” Lernea asked, her hand reaching for her neck reflexively, where the darts had left a few barely noticeable marks, like large insect bites.
“Them. Orphans, naturally. Capable, eager and willing, skilled and showing great promise. But not the sharpest tools in the box,” Sisyphus replied, shaking an authoritative finger.
“I’m sure you’ll work on them,” Lernea said nodding.
“I’m afraid they’ll have to grow wits as well as a feet or so in height before long,” Sisyphus said and waved a dismissive hand.
“I still think this revolt is ill advised,” Lernea said and reached for her cup, shaking her head in a sombre fashion.
“There’s things you don’t know about the Jangdrivals. Things that only recently have come to my attention. Like this,” Sisyphus said and produced Theo’s crystal from a pocket in his robes. It looked every bit as perfect as the last time Lernea had laid eyes upon it; there was a faint cloud of lights dancing in its very heart, casting rays filled with an arcane glow, forming intricate geometrical patterns. Lernea was instantly awestruck and nearly drowned as her mouthful of mead had suddenly found an unseemly route out her nose.
“By Skrala’s might!” she sputtered while coughing and spitting the rest of the mouthful. “Where did you find that crystal?” she asked with terrible urgency in her voice, wiping her lips as she did so.
“Fished it out of the water. It was what guided me to you and that small island. I didn’t want your friends to see this,” Sisyphus said shaking his head slightly, a meditating look on his age-worn face. “I know you have bonded with them in the fires of battle, but they seem... Strange,” he added, the last word rolling in his mouth as if it had an entirely new meaning.
“I know the feeling, master, and it’s entirely understandable. In fact, strange doesn’t even begin to describe those two,” Lernea said with an involuntary smirk. Sisyphus put the crystal on the table and laid his hands on his knees, his gaze wandering at the door of his study, as if peering through it.
“I’m afraid I have perhaps become somewhat jaded when it comes to people now-days; I can’t speak for the bunny, but animals aren’t behaving like they used to either. Svarna’s light might still shine true and bright, but I can feel it on my skin and in my bones; this crystal here is much more than it looks like,” he said and furrowed his brow, taking a deep, pensive breath.
“I know it’s of great import, Master. The Ygg went to great lengths to get their...” Lernea’s mind clashed with her tongue before she could find the word. “Hands?” Sisyphus suggested and Lernea countered, “Hands, claws, tendrils...” and shrugged.
“These Ygg. They are evil beyond measure, you say?”
“Skrala would not rest until the last of their kind was but a memory; Svarna would not sleep and she would keep the light of day burning, if only to fend off the darkness of their ways,” Lernea said shyly, her face grim and demanding.
“Then we need to know what this crystal is exactly. It certainly made me go out there and search for it once my tatar device spotted it. And it did lead me to you.”
“The what?” Lernea asked, vaguely reminiscent of some cryptic devices that were always off-limits to her and her sister as children.
“The thaumaturgic attunement and radiance device. I thought we had covered its use extensively when I was tutoring you, my queen,” Sisyphus said with a rather friendly smile that looked like it could still turn into teacher-gone-mad in a second.
“Ah, yes. Well, naturally, of course,” Lernea said, feigning that she’d come to remember every little bit about it.
“Never mind, learning is a on-going process in any case,” Sisyphus said before shouting, “Damon! Fidias!”
A few moments of silence ensued; nothing but the sounds of birds chirping outside could be heard. Then the door to Sisyphus study swung open wildly, the two boys breaking a sweat and panting, very nearly standing on top of one another.
“You called us, master?” Damon said, wearing a worried frown that looked like it was regularly worn.
“Do I need to dignify that with an answer? Had I not called you, would you be standing here, asking stupid questions?” Sisyphus said sternly.
“One stupid question, then,” Fidias said as if to correct his master, his eyes searching for a place to hide, awaiting the impending scolding. Sisyphus said nothing for an awkward moment and then flung his cup against Fidias with a flick of his wrist. Fidias dodged the cup expertly and remarked in a quizzical, rather than an impertinent manner:
“What was that for?”
“That was for testing your reflexes, as well as making you ask another stupid question, thus proving me right and you wrong. Again. You have to think smart, not just sound like it. Now, start up the Tellerator machine,” Sisyphus said with a sigh.
“The Tellerator?” Damon asked hesitantly, looking exactly like someone who wished he had misheard. Much to the boys disappointment, evident in their miserable faces, Sisyphus remained adamant.
“The Tellerator machine. And hop to it,” he insisted while the boys sprang into action, raising the lid of a hatch on the wooden floor and lowering a small ladder. Soon, they disappeared down in the basement, sounding busy. Lernea offered quietly: “Don’t you think you’re running the boys a bit too harshly, master? They’re so... Young,” she finally said after searching for the word and it sounded a bit peculiar to her as her last word rang back to
her ears. It felt so long ago that she and Parcifal were in their place, yet it now seemed to her like another life entirely.
“They’re brimming with vigor and energy, their minds are like a sponge - somewhat dry though, I’ll admit - and their heart is still pure. It’s the best time to run them hard and harsh. From then on, living through life will seem to them like riding a horse; it will feel only natural. Hasn’t it been that way with you?”
Lernea considered that for a bit. She raised a brow and replied earnestly:
“I can’t really tell. I mean, I’m still learning and I’ve seen thing I can’t even recall I had ever dreamt off. I sometimes shudder to think that I was the Queen of Nomos, even for just one day, and knew so little about everything. It makes me doubtful, uneasy,” she said looking troubled. “But I plow on, nonetheless. With a little help from Parcifal, and my friends,” she said and shrugged, suddenly aware that she hadn’t heard or seen Theo and Bo ever since she’d woken up.
“Doubtful and uneasy; that’s what keeps us on our feet!” Sisyphus said enthusiastically. “I’ve done a great job, don’t mind me saying,” he said with bright, smiling eyes and added, “I’m sure Parcifal’s turned out just as fine a woman as you have in the past few weeks.”
“She sure can handle her sword well,” Lernea said smiling warmly.
“And who can argue with a blade of steel such as Encelados, eh?” Sisyphus said laughing, only to be interrupted by the voice of Damon, his head barely popping out of the hatch: “Master, the Tellerator machine is working,” the boy said.
The disgruntled voice of Fidias was heard as well, muffled as it came from further inside the basement: “Easy for you to say, you don’t have to keep pedaling now, do you?”
“Well it was your turn, wasn’t it?” Damon yelled turning his head around.
“I told you, I don’t remember!” came the muffled answer.
“Idiots! Work the extra pedals Damon! I’m going to need as much power as possible!” Sisyphus said decisively and picked up the crystal before he himself stood up briskly and walked over to the hatch.
“Aren’t you coming, my lady? There’s a great deal of findings to be made,” Sisyphus said but Lernea was already heading for the door.
“I think I need to catch up with Theo and Bo. They tend to get lost a lot. After all, I’m typically their host here, aren’t I?” Lernea said with a half-hearted smile, thinking of how many ways there were for things to go wrong with Theo and a magical bunny capable of burning the whole village down.
“As you wish my lady. I’ll send word when I’m done,” Sisyphus said and bowed slightly.
“I’ll volunteer!” said Fidias, his voice echoing faintly, before Sisyphus began his descent to the basement, closing the hatch behind him and making sure he was heard.
“Oh, you’ll wish you hadn’t. Pedals! Pedals!” he demanded while Lernea closed the door behind her and headed outside, where a cold, sunny afternoon so much like the ones from her childhood seemed to beckon her.