Nearly There Nicely 34

On the other side of the wall of clouds swirling around, Will was inside a giant hollow sphere. The glistening pathway he was on continued to the center just above him. There was a stone stairway that spiraled around for about thirty feet before ending at the top of a large circle platform that was just floating out in midair.

Will frowned, looking around at the clouds in the area. It didn’t look like anyone or anything was here. A floating platform in the middle of the sky doesn’t seem extremely safe. He thought to himself.

Will took a few steps forward, expected Matéas to say something to reassure him. Nothing came though, so Will continued walking carefully down the path to the stairs. At the base of the staircase, Will looked around nervously. There were no guardrails or anything to protect him if he fell off, and the clouds below him were so thick he couldn’t even tell how high up he was now.

After a few minutes of nervously walking up the stairs, Will stepped onto the stone circle platform. He looked around a bit, expecting something to happen. He raised a brow, putting a hand on his hip. “Is that it? No one’s here?” he asked the quiet winds.

Just then, a long swirling line of something shimmering above him caught Will’s eye. He looked up to see a thin dragon with no wings swirling around. It had a white body and golden hair running down its back, but it was long and thin like a snake- not at all a hardy build like Matéas was. As the dragon came closer, Will could guess it was easily sixty feet long, and he noticed that it was practically see-through. Not that he could see the insides of the spine, but that he could see the clouds of the sphere right through him.

Will yelped and ducked when the dragon swooped over the platform. He stood up, regaining his balance to see the dragon circling the platform from the stairs up, and then circling Will, coming in close. The head of the dragon stopped in front of Will’s face, only a few feet away, and his body circled the entire platform so as to trap Will.

Will let out a gasp at the dragon’s majesty. The dragon himself, though white and glistening scales, was not just translucent and glowing white, but his image seemed to flicker in and out. He’d appear, and then fade into a mist and reappear an inch or so off in either direction, before misting back to his original position.

“Are…you Aether?” Will asked meekly. He wasn’t too sure how to just go about addressing gods. He was starting to get the feeling though that all of the gods’ true forms were dragons.

“I am.” The dragon answered, though his jaw didn’t move. It was a thunderous deep voice that seemed to come from nowhere in particular. “And you, little human?”

“Oh!” Will bowed his head quickly, “My name’s Will, and—”

The god cut Will off immediately, “You are under the protection of Matéas.” He paused, “Tell me, what is it that he needs now?”

Will straightened up, tilting his head to the side. Apparently, this wasn’t Aether’s first time meeting someone from Matéas’s protection. “Uh… Well, uh… I’m not sure, but I’m here because—”

Again, Aether cut Will off, “You should know before coming to speak to a god.”

“R-right.” Will answered slowly, feeling like he’d somehow offended Aether already. He looked at the god’s eyes tentatively. They were gold and piercing, staring intently at Will. Cautiously, Will started to speak again, “Uhm… I need a Piece of Cirrus. A friend asked me to get it for him.”

“Oh?” Aether’s voice, though deep, sounded amused. “And who is this ‘friend’ of yours? Can you manifest him before me?”

A bit confused, Will shook his head, “N-no. He’s uh… His Seal is a Bind, so I… I don’t think he can.”

“Ah…” Aether paused. Will’s heart sank. It sounded like the god was finished talking and would fly away.

“He wants to break from his Bind!” Will said quickly.

That made Aether laugh, so much that his dragon eyes closed briefly. Will watched the god for a moment, irritated. His jaw was loose and his mouth open, surprised that Aether was laughing at first. But as the laughter continued, Will’s mouth closed and his jaw became tense and he glared at the dragon.

When the dragon opened his eyes, Aether saw the glare. “Oooh, you sure have got the angry look down. It’s not ever day I see that from a human.” Will’s expression didn’t change. Aether sighed, “You must really want to help him?”

Will nodded. “Of course I do! He’s my friend.”

“Ahh..” Aether nodded, musing aloud. “But is he a friend for convenience’s sake? Or, is he truly a friend in need?”

Will blinked, feeling like he needed to take a step back. “I uh… I don’t… know.”

Aether waited a moment to see if Will would say anything else before speaking himself. “Regarding your request, I’m afraid I must decline.”

“Wha—Why!” Will asked, his voice hurt. Even inside his own mind, Will was baffled at his behavior. Why am I reacting like this? Does…Crow’s fate really matter that much to me? Will shook his head in his mind, shaking off that thought. No. I just need some sleep. I’ll be better after I get some rest.

“Simple.” Aether answered. “A Piece of Cirrus is an expensive item. Not even the gods get it for free.”

Will tilted his head to the side, watching the dragon. I really want it. If I can do this, then I can get my father’s memories back—I can get my life back. “What do you want?”

The dragon shot up, swirling into the sky, laughing. Will watched as the god spun around the platform, rolling and writhing in different ways and then, after his fill, he swirled back and returned to how he was positioned before.

“You asked that,” Aether said to Will, “As if you have something to trade. Do you?”

“That’s why I asked, what do you want?” Will answered firmly. He didn’t sound rude, but collected. I have to drive this conversation the way I need it to go.

Aether made a humming noise as he thought. “You must give me something of great value to you- something that symbolizes a connection to those dearest to your heart.”

“Like what?” Will asked again.

“That is a captivating pink.” Aether said. Will blinked, his eyes going wide as Aether continued to speak. “It is neither bright, nor washed out. It is not too orange or red, or yellow. It is a dusty and collected medium, as if from the very petals of a rose.” He paused. Will could swear that Aether was smirking at him now. “Trade to me that color of your hair, and I will grant you the Piece of Cirrus that you seek.”

Will’s face looked only half as sick as he felt. His eyes were wide and his jaw loose with his brows furrowed. After a second, Will looked down to his feet to think it over. My hair color? That’s all he wants? Will tried to make his decision emotionless. I never liked it much anyway—it’s pink, and my father’s got a rich red. So… Really, I’d be happy to get rid of it. Ecstatic. Elated. Uncontrollable happiness and glee. But, he could feel a heavy sinking emotion under his thoughts. That hair color, for as much as he disliked it, it was part of Will. He had accepted it at a young age that his hair would always grow in that pink and he had learned to embrace it, instead of casting constant disdain on it. Would getting rid of it really make me happy?

Will looked back up to the god, and nodded his head. “Yeah, all right. You can have it.” Will even smiled a bit, waving his hand with a small gesture. “If it’ll get me the Piece of Cirrus.”

“Agreed.”

At that, Aether opened his mouth, and inside Will could see the pink tongue and sharp white glistening teeth. A fierce gust blew out from the dragon’s maw, making Will fall to his knees and cover his face with his arms. It only lasted a moment, and then the wind stopped.

Slowly, Will peeked open his blue eyes. He saw in front of him two small glass bottles, not much bigger then a thumb. Inside the furthest bottle from him, Will could see a familiar pink color swirling around as a sphere. In the bottle closer to him, Will could make out a white airy cloud, wistfully fluttering around the inside.

As he straightened up, the bottle with the pink flew up and away from him, and the other came toward Will, and then rested at his feet. Aether, still in his dragon form, was watching Will with interest. Will watched the bottle fly away, and then knelt down and picked up the one with the cloud in it. When he bent over, Will noticed something dark framing his face. He gasped as he got up and pulled some of the darkness around his face. His hair was black now.

“You are very interesting, little Will.” Aether said, as Will was staring at the black locks around his eyes now.

Will looked to him, feeling like it was an insult. “Oh? How so?”

Aether tilted his head to the side a bit before answering, “Your eyes seem to have stars within them.”

“Huh?” Will raised a brow.

“Perhaps… One day, you will understand and see them, too.” Aether nodded a bit. “Your color will make a find addition to the sunrises and sets in the skies.”

Will nodded a bit. The conversation is over. He thought, a bit bitterly. With a sweet smile to the god, Will held up the bottle with the cloud in it as he turned to walk away. Even his eyes seemed to smile, and if it were true, glints of little lights- stars- sparkled in the blue. “Thank you.”

Aether watched as Will walked back down the stairs and returned to the glistening path, on his way out of the swirling sphere of clouds. “Fare thee well, little Will to live.”

Will stopped at the wall of swirling clouds as he heard that and turned to look at the dragon once more. But Aether was already up and flying away, a glistening line vanishing into a mist again. When Will was outside of the clouds and walking on the path, he let out a heavy sigh. Matéas. Is there somewhere I could rest? I just feel… tired all of a sudden.

The familiar presence of Matéas returned inside Will’s being and he heard his voice once more, Certainly. A boy with an injured head needs his sleep.

Will stopped walking, looking ahead on the path to see another door had appeared. This door was rather plain and dull compared to the first one Matéas had materialized. It had a few strange engravings on it, swirls and what not, but nothing that kept Will’s interest. He just opened the door, feeling sleepy, and went through.

On the other side, Will was greeted with a dark room. There was a large window on his far right that looked out to the navy sky and the white lights of the Threshold. There were some rich navy, purple and magenta curtains and colors swirling around the room. In front of Will, parallel to the window was a simple bed with lighter purple bedding, with a pattern on it that looked like vines and leaves in a dark maroon.

Will walked over to the bedside, and then looked out the window. “Where am I now?”

A voice behind Will answered. “My place.”

Will turned to see Matéas standing there. He was tall, with his dark black hair falling like silk around his robes. He had a sort of smile on his face, but it didn’t appear to be welcoming.

“Should I go?” Will asked, frowning a bit.

Matéas shook his head, holding out his hand toward the bed. “Please, rest.” He paused, and his smile grew. “I have no reason to harm or hurt you, Will. If I did, nothing I want could be accomplished.”

Will grew a glare, his blue eyes flickering his anger straight at the god of poisons and toxins. “What, you mean like wanting to kill Phyte?”

“Ha, as if simply killing him would solve my problems.” Matéas chuckled a bit. He turned away from the window, the white light making his hair shine. Will saw that he was headed outside an open doorway that had no door on it. “You shouldn’t sleep with that angry look on your face.”

And he was gone. Will looked to the bed, and then out the window again. He sighed, and settled for sitting on the bed after a moment of silence. While staring at the black hair that now framed his face, Will hung his head, fell over and shifted to get somewhat comfortable on the soft bed. He sighed, letting the heavy emotions grab and yank at his heart. Will closed his eyes, pushing his face into the blankets.

Black hair. The absence of all color- black. That is… what my hair is now.

Inside his mind, Will groaned at himself and his decision to trade something like that away. I didn’t even think you could trade hair color away. He thought to himself, but recollected his thoughts on it. Then again, Crow’s eyes were replaced with actual gold metal, so I guess gods can do pretty strange things to you.