The Court of Souls?

“The mapinguari or mapinguary (Spanish pronunciation: [mapiŋɡwaˈɾi]), also known as the Isnashi [isˈnaʃi], is a legendary cryptid said to resemble an ape–like creature with red fur living in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia. The name is usually translated as “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast”.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Nurien***

***Elona***

I walk back and forth through our private quarters. How dare he! Simply running off without saying so much as a simple goodbye. What if he is hurt and needs my help? What if Quianna is hurt and needs my help? “I can't wait here and do nothing.”

“But you have to. It's chaos out there and it is bad enough that two of our people are missing. Let the guards sort it out, for now. I want to find Quianna as badly as you. But without any hints on where to start, we could be at it for days. We are just seven people and this place is vibrating with the auras of so many higher immortals that it is hard to identify the energies of the persons right next to you.”

Doreen makes a gesture which encloses the whole room. My parents, Tisha, Aswang and Manti don't look happy either.

Tisha kneads her fingers with a mortified expression on her face. “I am afraid of what Shade might be capable of. He is out there, alone, surely hunting for clues on what all this is about. And he certainly isn't the stablest of minds.”

“I think he is more than able to defend himself,” Shawn reassures Tisha. “What's troubling me is that Quianna vanished a second time! When she returns, I will lock her up at home and that's it. She will never again leave the safety of the clan!”

Chloe cuffs him, but his expression stays determined.

“I am not afraid that Shade might get hurt. I am afraid of what he might do to others and what that may do to our clan's reputation.” Tisha places her hands firmly on the table which she is sitting at.

In that moment the door bursts open and Antonius enters with Quianna on his arms. “What happened!?” I hurry to my sister's side and check her for injuries, but it seems like she is just sleeping. “Thank the heavens, she is alive.”

The others join us while Antonius lays my sister on the big table in the middle of the room. Chloe is even going so far as to hold Antonius's hands while thanking him with all her heart.

“It's okay,” Antonius answers a little embarrassed. “I already asked, but since I am not an official member of the clan I figured that joining this meeting would be inappropriate. So I took off on my own to search for her.”

“Where did you find her?” I ask. I can't help myself, but all this is a little suspicious. “And what of the two who were with her when they disappeared?”

“First, let me break the spell,” Doreen places a hand on Quianna's forehead and concentrates.

Antonius spreads both hands in a helpless gesture. “That's the strange thing. At first I asked my friends if anyone saw her...” He launches a lengthy explanation of how he asked around and started a random search. “...and then I decided to check out the female refreshing rooms.”

He actually manages to blush. “That caused quite the uproar and I know that you already checked them, but I wanted to make sure. Upon looking out of the window I saw the garden outside and decided to check there as well. And so I found her, lying in a bush under the window. Apparently whoever attacked them wasn't interested in her.”

I wet my lips in thought. “I looked when I checked the refreshing rooms for her. I didn't see anything.”

Antonius nods. “Neither did I. I only found her because I went down to check from the ground. She was concealed by the leaves. Even from the ground I wouldn't have found her by merely walking by. I can show you the place to you if you want. It looks like someone placed her there, so that she doesn't get found immediately.”

Doreen starts shaking Quianna. Then she slaps her hard enough to hear it throughout the entire room. Finally my sister opens her eyes. “Wha... where-”

Doreen doesn't wait for Quianna to fully regain her senses. “What's the last thing you remember?”

A stupefied grin appears on my sister's face. “I was taking a little time off to refresh myself with Takea and Mio. A woman has to look pretty for her prince, or he might not consider courting her. I had hoped to lure Antonius into one of the private bedrooms and devour him whole. A week of sticking with each other and he didn't even try to initiate something. He is so shy. And to think that my big sister is suddenly ahead of me in all departments, when she was just a wallflower for all these years. Soulmates are cheating...”

Her eyes start flicking left and right. “Where am I? Why?” She looks up and surveys the room. Her eyes land on Antonius who studies her with a raised eyebrow.

“Did you hear what...” Her voice trails off as he nods enthusiastically. Then she curls up into a ball. “I want to die!”

Antonius sighs. “I didn't search for you all over the place just to let that to happen...”

“Searched for me?” Quianna asks dumbfounded.

So we let her in on what we pieced together, but there is nothing she can add to it. She was just trying to get her hair in order when she suddenly blacked out. The next thing she knows is, that she wakes up in this room.

It's infuriating that we don't know what's going on. And most important of all, where is Shade? I reach into the pocket of my dress and finger the two items which I begged Doreen to organize for me.

“Antonius, have you seen Shade?” I ask.

“No, why isn't he here?” He answers and surveys the room with a worried expression.

“He disappeared while we were organizing a search,” I inform him.

At first I intended to give Shade his present at the end of the festivities, but maybe putting it off for that long wasn't a good idea. Nervously, I run a hand through my hair to get rid of the itching sensation. Something about Antonius's story doesn't sit well with me, but I can't put my finger on it.

I already intend on running out there to search for Shade, when the shadows move in the doorframe. They stretch and grow to turn into a dark mist. It is disconcerting to watch, but I still sigh in relief.

A moment later a figure takes form and Shade steps out of the unreal distortion in reality. He spreads his hands and grins. “I am so glad that you made it back, Antonius!”

The whole room freezes upon taking in Shade's appearance. His clothes are sullied with blood from chest to foot. “What happened!?” I call out.

“Nothing worth mentioning. I was just spying around when I stumbled upon Antonius. He looked very desperate as he searched for Quianna. With no other lead at hand, I decided to follow him.” Shade walks forward to Antonius's side and places a hand around his shoulders, pulling him in and smothering him with blood.

I notice that Antonius lost a little of his colour.

Shade doesn't take notice of it. “Guess how surprised and relieved I was when he actually found her! He is a true man who takes care of his girl. There must be some kind of bond between him and Quianna. The garden was it?”

Antonius nods.

“Right! I already intended on coming out of hiding to join them, when I noticed two very suspicious people following him. When he reached the crowded areas with Quianna, they broke off their pursuit. I followed them back to their private quarters. Guess how surprised I was to find Takea on a bed and them talking about killing her to frame the master of Equilibrium. They had a very nasty script prepared to add fire to the blood feud between Equilibrium and Soistaat.

“The fact that Morello, Feiran, Mio and Rhia were the orchestrators behind the events miffed me a bit, so I decided to rewrite the script...”

He continues to fill us in on how he turned the torture scenario into a 'barely escaped from her captors' clutches' one.

During the entire time Quianna held both hands above her mouth. But now she decides to speak. “I can't believe that Mio would do this! She was so nice. And what did you do to Takea! Is all of that her blood!?”

“Most of it. Don't worry. I did nothing permanent to her. She is surely up and running around by now,” Shade answers. Then he returns his attention to Antonius.

“My friend. It's so nice to meet you. I doubted you, but since I saw your determination first hand I guess we have to get to know each other. We are the partners of two sisters. That means that we have to deal a lot with each other.”

Antonius shrunk and paled during the entire discussion. By now he looks very meek next to Shade. His sole response is a nod.

“And I heard a lot of things about your history with various clans. You must have a lot of connections and intelligence to share with us?”

Nod.

“I am sure a man with your skills and resources knows of a way to inform Takea of Rhia's betrayal? Preferably one which doesn't place us in the line of fire?”

Nod.

“And... yes. Now that I get to sense your aura from that close, you are quite strong. Could it be that we've already met? I didn't see your face back then, but were you with the alliance's forces when we had a stand-off at Parle?”

Nod. “Though I don't think it was me whom you sensed back then.”

“It doesn't matter, I'll find that person at one point or the other. I will make sure to challenge you to a few duels once we are back. There is nothing more important than men getting to know each other with their fists.”

Nod.

Quianna gets up from the table and pushes the two of them apart. “Stop sullying him with blood. I don't know what's going on, but stop intimidating him with your threats! What's really going on?”

Shade raises both hands. “We just had a conversation from man to man. I respect his devotion towards you. Maybe you two should retreat and have a talk?”

My sister snorts and pulls her boyfriend towards the door which leads to the baths and sleeping rooms. “Come.”

When they are gone, Doreen tilts her head and focuses her glare on Shade. “That was strange. What's going on between you and Antonius?”

Shade nods. Then he fills us in on a slightly different version of events. “...and so I thought that keeping Quianna in the dark may be a good idea. Young love is such a fleeting thing and I would hate it to lose such an important source of information as Antonius. Since, whoever is pulling the strings wants him to stay with Draconis, I wanted to assist him with Quianna. All he did so far was telling a slightly altered lie to keep Quianna safe.

“I can't let a snake like that be with my daughter!” Shawn calls out. “I already lost one of my jewels this week! Loosing both of them is out of the question.”

“Oh, shut up about jewels. Giving them such a nickname is so wrong,” Chloe groans.

Shawn says nothing, instead he gapes at his wife, utterly dismayed.

I massage my forehead and try to make sense of this web of half truths. “I guess that means we have to keep a close eye on Antonius.”

“A very close eye,” Doreen adds solemnly. “I just hope that your desire to give Antonius a chance won't get anyone killed, or break Quianna's heart. When we have a quiet minute, we should have a very long talk with him.”

Shade only nods since he doesn't have anything more to add. After a few moments of silence he follows Quianna and Antonius. “I need a bath.”

Half an hour later we all are back together, cleaned up and ready to depart this unholy place. All of us are waiting at the big dining table in the conference room. We have already announced our intentions, all that's left to do is to wait for the bill.

Again, I touch the present which I got for Shade. Well, this moment may be as good as any other. The others seem to be busy with each other. So I move closer to him and nestle myself at his side. “Shade? I have something for you.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” He asks.

I take his hand and smile. “Close your eyes. It's a surprise! To celebrate our reunion. I had it made according to my memories.”

He complies and I take out the ring and put it on his finger. Then I put on my own. “You can open them again!”

Shade opens his eyes and studies the piece of jewellery. “It's a fine piece of work. And it really looks like the ones Angrod and Celes had.”

I nod. “It took a while to describe all the details to the smith. But that's not all! Channel your mana into the ring!” He follows my instruction and I do so myself. The rings glow up in a golden light which fades away soon afterwards.

Shade frowns. “That's strange. I felt it tugging at my soul. As if to take an imprint. What does the ring do?”

I hug him from the side and press my face against his chest. Oh, I am so glad it worked. You really are my soulpartner. “The smith said that marriage bonds work only between people who are highly compatible.”

“Marriage bond?” Shade asks dumbfounded.

“Yes! If we infuse mana into the ring, we can communicate with each other and share our feelings. In addition we always know where our significant other is.” I rub my face against him.

“Always?” He tries to take off the ring. “It doesn't come off.”

I purse my lips, puzzled. “Of course not. You would have to cut off your finger. What's the point in installing a hotline if the other end can throw away the phone?”

He takes my hand and tries to take off the ring. Of course it doesn't come off. I feel the annoyance welling up in him, so I decide to show him the advantages of a magical marriage.

I swing my leg over him, entangling myself with him. Then I start nibbling at his neck. “Do you remember our lives as Gideon and Cyla? They were natural telepaths, remember? Sharing minds, feelings and thoughts was second nature to them. There were some amazing things they could do with each other...”

“Maybe.”

I whisper into his ear. “These rings fulfil the same purpose!”

“Oohh...” he produces an approving grunt and closes his arms around me.

“Ahem.”

I move my lips to his mouth and seek his tongue.

“Ahem!”

I sigh and pull away, glaring at my grandmother. She is waving a sheet of paper between her fingers. “Six rooms! You completely wrecked six rooms while you were here! Who do you think is gonna pay for that! What the heck are the two of you doing during the night.”

Oops! “Well... we have sex?”

Doreen glares at me.

“Just be glad that they didn't find all our love nests.” That's why I bought the rings. Mind sex is much safer for the enviroment.

.