Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Ah! Morgan! Good! Glad you finally made it! Thanks for coming." Ruby offered the other Triarchon a dazzling grin and a small bow as she landed in front of him, folding her large, brown wings behind her. Her brown tail supported her, and his own insectoid wings buzzed in the faint breeze. His golden armor gleamed even in the darkness, catching the jewels on the chest plate like miniature suns in their own right, and his salmon tail reflected the color of his namesake.

"Of course." Morgan dipped her head politely. "Anything that threatens the Realm of the Golden Sun threatens the Realm of the Silver Moon, especially if it is also related to Silvanus…" Her earthy eyes flicked to the dark, twisted, mysterious forest that stood between the two Realms. In times of war, it was an excellent buffer, but blessedly, the Realms were presently in an Alliance Cycle. Though this then made Silvanus more of a hindrance than anything.

"Well, at least this means there's twice the number of people to protect it!" Ruby rested his hands on his hips, chest puffing out. And what could look better than THIS?! The Heirs of the two Realms! Fighting side by side!

In Morgan's mind, though, fighting was a last resort. This was just a Tracking mission, not a Trapping one. That was why each of them only brought along one other companion. They didn't need an entire army. Ruby brought his boyfriend and fellow Triarchon, Kane, who had the wings of a falcon and the tail of a seal.

And the attitude of a brat! Morgan's companion—her human girlfriend Lauren—thought with a smirk.

"Honestly, you guys can just leave the fun to me!" Kane grinned wickedly, gripping the curved blades that hung off his belt.

"No way, man! It's way more fun bonding with you!" Ruby insisted, nudging the smaller Triarchon's arm.

"Heh, ok, fair enough," Kane chuckled dryly, though his wing feathers fluffed, revealing his true, flustered feelings. Lauren scoffed under her breath. Kane heard it and whipped around. "You have a better plan, human?"

"Yeah," she said flatly. "Don't die."

Morgan gently touched her to calm her. "Kane's just eager," she said, voice even. Then she turned to Kane. "And Lauren's just concerned."

"I am not concerned!" Lauren pulled away from Morgan.

"I meant about me," Morgan replied, the barest of smiles flicking across her face. "I know you. You're always being my protector." Now it was Lauren's turn to feel the flusterment, and though she had no feathers to fluff, she prayed her face wasn't turning, well, ruby red. "Both of you have good focuses, and don't worry, I'll do whatever I can to help both of you in your endeavors!" That means keeping myself safe, and figuring out just what is threatening Silvanus… "This forest… it's unwell. Something's shifted."

Ruby shrugged, fiddling with a piece of his armor. "Then let's find whatever's making it weird, defeat it, and make sure I look fantastic in the victory portrait!" Kane scoffed, but then Ruby clapped his shoulder affectionately. "And you'll be my right-hand man rushing into battle right alongside me—I do love that about you—and posing in the portrait on my arm!" Despite himself, Kane raised his chin, the smugness increasing tenfold. This time, his feathers ruffled with pride. This time, Lauren managed to keep her thoughts to herself, but only just barely.

Then the quartet moved toward the dark, twisted tree line. It was as if the forest itself was opening up before them with a yawning sigh. The legends always said Silvanus was sentient, capable of communicating with those most in tune with it. It was time to put those legends to the test.

The dark forest was quiet in the wrong way. Not peaceful, but hollow. The trees didn't sway, even though wind curled through the twisted branches. Moss hung like curtains from skeletal limbs, and somewhere beneath the canopy, something cracked, but never fell. It was enchantment, but the forest still felt as if it was almost dead. But this was normal of Silvanus, so it was hard to tell if anomalies were springing up, or if the aura of the forest was just as grim and dark as it was supposed to be. The deeper they went, the dimmer the sunlight became.

"I feel like we're being watched," Lauren whispered, stepping closer to Morgan.

"You are being watched," Ruby muttered, scanning the trees. "They say even the trees have eyes, you know? Or maybe that's just all the creatures that live inside the trees." Lauren didn't bother replying, save to roll her eyes. Instead, she stayed close to Morgan's side.

I REALLY don't know why we had to do this, Morg! A moment later, though, she sighed. Yes. Yes she did. Morgan was just that kind of… person. Triarchon. Whatever. If someone—or something—needed help, she was there. And there was no way Lauren was letting her go alone. She didn't trust Ruby or Kane. Ruby struck her as too stupid and vain, and Kane struck her too impulsive and hostile. So that left Lauren no choice but to go after her girlfriend as they traversed the dark and scary forest. Cool. Just what I always wanted to do…

Morgan's eyes were half-lidded in concentration while Lauren kept watch for her. Her brown tail slid across the dirt with quiet grace, her fingers brushing bark and air, as if she was trying to draw in the very essence of the forest itself. Was it a form of a silent prayer to Silvanus? Was she imploring it for an answer? Even she was not in tune enough with Silvanus to fully communicate with it, but of the quartet, she did have the calmest and maturest mind. Of the four of them, she was the only one not distracted by other thoughts, motives, or desires.

In that moment, all she wanted was to know what was wrong with the dark forest…

Snap.

"What was th—?" They all whipped around. Lauren didn't even get to finish her question before they saw something skitter out of the corners of their eyes, through the tree line. Tall and spindly, its limbs were jointed like branches. Bark for skin, glowing sap for eyes…

"Xylomorph!" Morgan gasped, the first to identify it. "Tree-body!" Lauren was quick to leap in front of her, raising the fire poker that previously hung at her side. It was the closest she had to a weapon, won in a misunderstanding. As a human, she had no magical control whatsoever, but when a shadowy assassin tried to harm Morgan—Heir of Silver Moon—Lauren had lunged without thinking, using a fire poker as a sword. Her legend was cemented from that day forth! The only downside…

This is still just a powerless fire poker… But the moment she saw the spidery creature go skittering by again—as soon as she heard those accursed legs scuttling—her mind went blank again, and she shielded Morgan.

Kane summoned a swirling vortex at his side, wind sharpening to a slicing whistle. "I've got this."

Ruby stepped forward with an outstretched hand, flame coiling up his arm. "Finally! Foul beast, prepare to die!"

"F-f-foul beast?! Where?!" A childish voice whimpered, and for a second time, the quartet looked around wildly.

Wait a minute. Don't tell me—Lauren thought.

"Wait! I think that was the Xylomorph!" Morgan cried, but Ruby and Kane were already chasing the poor creature, fire and wind flying.

"Monster?! Where?!" The Xylomorph shrieked again. "Please don't let it eat me! I don't wanna die like that!"

"Wait, Ruby, wait! Stop! Kane! STOP!" Morgan, once summoning shields of earth to protect herself and her companions, swiftly sent the stones flying to surround the Xylomorph.

"What the—?! MORGAN!" Kane whipped around with murder in his eyes, the wind blades dancing around his wrists, wings, and head.

"I think that's a FRIEND!" It was uncharacteristic for her to shout, and she even had to draw in a deep breath first, but finally, even Ruby managed to hear her over his own vainglorious and airheaded thoughts.

Man, I am going to look so cool once this is all ov—wait, what is she shouting about now? He looked over his shoulder to see Morgan holding up her hands. A second later, he slammed into the shield of earth that she summoned around the Xylomorph. "Ouch. What was that for?"

"I think," Morgan repeated with a sigh, "that's a friend."

"Pfft, ugliest friend I've ever seen," Kane muttered under his breath.

Looked in a mirror lately? Lauren scoffed, but before she could speak, someone else answered Morgan.

"Yes, indeed, a friend. This little fellow was simply trying to show me around Silvanus…"

For a third time, the quartet was taken by violent surprise. Ruby gawked, "And just who are you?"

"I…" The voice sounded amused, then the dark tree line rippled, and something melted out of the shadow, like liquid night. It was a long, dark robe, and within the hood of that long, dark robe was a pale, bony face. "Am Silas Gray."

Silas…! Morgan knew that name was a derivative of Silvanus. Is this entity, this reaper?, perhaps a… manifestation of the forest itself?

As if reading her mind, Silas Gray chuckled softly and shook his dark, hooded head. "I am just… a traveler from another world."

"What?" Kane scoffed skeptically.

"Woah, no way…" Ruby was still gawking.

Morgan and Lauren, meanwhile, exchanged silent glances. Another world? Just how "other" was Silas talking? Because in some way, Lauren fit the bill. She was not from Gaia, not from that "part" of the world. The Realms of the Silver Moon and Golden Sun—and Silvanus between them—were places of magic. Where Lauren was from, magic did not exist. Or it wasn't supposed to.

"I am already on my way out," said Silas languidly, conversationally. "Your world has patterns I needed to observe."

"Patterns?" Morgan tilted her head.

"The cycles. How your Realms—Sun and Moon—shift between peace and war." His eyes glittered toward Ruby and Morgan. "You two. Once divided. Now allies. In some universes one way, in other universes another way…"

Ruby frowned. "You came across dimensions to watch us team up?"

Silas gave a small bow. "I find these alliances… fascinating. My own world is unraveling. I sought answers elsewhere."

"Can we help?" Morgan asked quickly.

"No," Silas said simply. "You can't. This is for my world and my world alone to solve. As I said before, I merely passing through… Consider me a humble student of magic, monsters, and multiverses."

Lauren stepped forward now, voice sharp. "Then why tell us anything? Why not disappear quietly?"

Silas turned his hollow gaze on her, smiling just slightly. "Maybe it has been too long since I've had someone to confide in, someone to share even a fraction of my story with… And perhaps the reason I chose you all in particular is precisely that you would find it hard to believe me. Maybe none of you ever will. And maybe that is for the best…" The pale, bony, old man managed to somehow recede even further into his long, dark robe, but under the pitch black hood Lauren thought she saw a flash of two, bright, scarlet eyes. He was bowing farewell.

"In any case, I apologize for the disturbances I caused. And yes, that was I. Your guardian forest simply did not know what to make of my presence, my sudden arrival within its territory. But I shall be going now."

It was then that Morgan and the others realized that in the time Silas had spoken to them, the little Xylomorph had since wandered off again. Then just like a movie being rewound, the shadows seemed to bleed from the trees again like ink, wrapping around Silas and his long, dark robe, enveloping him until there was nothing left. It was like he'd never even been there at all. But the forest felt a little bit lighter after his departure. A wind rustled through Morgan's hair, and she breathed a soft sigh. Whoever that old man was, she could only hope he'd learned whatever it was he needed to learn in order to save his world.