open post: further up and further in

[magicianking]

Eliot hasn't been depressed, per se, because it's sort of impossible to be depressed in Fillory. There's too much to do, these days: rebuilding Castle Whitespire, helping Josh and Poppy with the baby, and generally trying to run a post-apocalyptic-but-now-pretty-much-fine magical kingdom. Being High King of Fillory is, not to be totally cliche, Eliot's calling, and he's found a peace that he never had before. But it still sucks absolute balls that both Quentin and Janet are gone.

When Janet had first disappeared, Eliot had devoted all of his kingly resources to trying to find her. None of their world-jumping buttons had been missing, so he'd promised a knighthood and a castle to anyone in Fillory who found the missing Queen Janet.

"She won't love being treated like a damsel in distress like this," Poppy had told him.

"Well, if you have a better idea," he'd snapped, and that had been that, until a letter had arrived in the gazing pool. It had been frustratingly contextless, but obviously from Janet.

"Where is she?" Josh asked at the next meeting of the monarchs.

"I don't know. She's trapped, but she seems more annoyed than in danger."

"So she's in another universe? Since she had to use your telegram thing?" Poppy asked.

"Seems likely."

All of them had lapsed into silence.

"Should we call off the Queen hunt? Some of them are getting a little Don Quixote out there," said Poppy.

"No," Eliot had decided. "Just in case." Damsel in distress, Janet was not; but hell if he would ever be the one to give up on finding her.

--

Eliot's on his way to check on the progress of Castle Whitespire, wandering up the path from the comfortable townhouse he's been staying in, when the ground changes abruptly beneath his feet. He stumbles, and when he looks up--Dorothy, he is not in magical Kansas any more. Not in Oz any more? Whatever. The energy of wherever he is is totally different. He doesn't think it's Earth, either, despite the fact that he's in front of a huge Earth-style mansion.

"What the fuck," he mutters, and opens the door.

Comments

[temnota]

Aleksander tilted his head curiously. "You sound as though that has happened to you before."

[magicianking]

"Sure has. I was born on Earth, and got whisked off to Fillory." Eliot makes a face. "Well, we sort of forced it to whisk us, the first time, but still."

[temnota]

"I see," Aleksander said thoughtfully, interpreting Eliot's use of the word 'forced' to mean that Eliot had some sort of power. "I do not know of Fillory thought I have heard other people say they are from Earth. I am from Ravka, myself. Whatever power that allows this place to bring so many different people from so many different worlds is beyond me."

[magicianking]

"You haven't met Queen Janet?" Eliot asks in surprise. "Fillory's a world that summons people from Earth to rule it. God knows why. Well, honestly, I don't think Ember and Umber did know why."

[temnota]

Janet... the name was vaguely familiar and it took Aleksander a moment to remember that being the name of the brown-haired woman he met that first terrible day. He had seen her on and off since then, of course, but they had never really talked since then.

"I did meet her thought I had no idea she was a queen. I was... not myself that first day," he answered. "I was so angry and all I wanted was to get back. I can't imagine I made a good impression at all."

[magicianking]

"The bad news is she's definitely one to hold a grudge," Eliot says, apologetically. "But if she hasn't tried to kill you, you haven't pissed her off that bad."

[temnota]

Aleksander, who held onto grudges as though they were precious jewels, could understand that sentiment. He knew he had been barely holding on to his civility and truthfully, his sanity, and he could not blame her if she had taken offense.

"She has not for which I am grateful," Aleksander answered. "It gets old after awhile, people trying to kill you. Sometimes they don't even make a token effort."

[magicianking]

"You know, I've very rarely faced assassination, for being a king. I guess I'm just that beloved."

[temnota]

Aleksander raised an eyebrow and his lips twitched but he only said, "A rare quality in a king, I've found. My own tsar is a disgrace to his whole line. Still, he is no longer my problem so I suppose I should be grateful."

[magicianking]

"I guess coming to a pocket dimension has its perks. International waters, sort of."

[temnota]

"You are not wrong about that," Aleksander said thoughtfully. "It has certainly forced me to stop and reexamine things. I've had a... fraught past and have come to realize I did not want to be what I was in Ravka. Two of my fellow Ravkans were brought here as well. We are not - I am not sure that we can be friends but at least this place gives us the space to get along."

For the moment, at least. He and Nina had kept things cordial by staying out of each other's way. He knew she had witnessed one of the terrible acts of his future self but she had been a child. Zoya, on the other hand, had known him from the time she came to the Little Palace and would have seen everything and he knew she did not believe him when he had said he was trying to change.

[magicianking]

This guy is completely giving dark tortured antihero romance novel protagonist, and Eliot's digging it.

"On a redemption arc, eh?"

[temnota]

"Is that what they call it?" Aleksander asked, amusement in his voice. It sounded like something Shen Yuan would say. "I suppose that's not inaccurate."

[magicianking]

"Yeah. Redeemed from your dark, evil deeds by hard work and/or the attention of some more virtuous person." Eliot smiles. "A handsome king, perhaps."

[temnota]

Aleksander gave Eliot a considering glance, reminded for a moment of Nikolai Lantsov. They shared good looks, confident charm - and were certainly trouble with a capital T. "Is that an offer?"

[magicianking]

"If you want it to be." Eliot shifts closer to him. "I mean, I'm only here for a day, so I can't promise that much redemption, but I'd try my best."

[temnota]

Aleksander tilted his head and appraised Eliot thoughtfully. Undoubtedly, it would be reckless of him to indulge in a liaison with someone who had some sort of power, no matter how short a time he was here. While he felt safer here then he ever had anywhere else, it had been a fanatical sense of caution that had let him survive the centuries he had. The wise thing to do would be to smile and politely decline.

But Eliot fascinated him and it was still a delightful thrill to know that there was nothing constraining him from choosing a partner, no capricious tsar or gossip-mongering court. He had lovers, yes, but there was an understanding and freedom for all to pursue who they will. He was allowed to feel and act on his desires.

"There is something you should know first," Aleksander said, extending his hand out. "I am what's known among my people, the Grisha, a living amplifier. If I touch someone with power or they touch me, their power grows stronger. Some have found this... off-putting."

[magicianking]

"Really," Eliot says, fascinated. He'd expected disclosure of an STD, or something. This is so much more interesting that it breaks Eliot partway out of his playful mood and back into the seriousness of the situation. This may not be his world, but it is a real world, with real consequences.

"Off-putting? No way. I have to try it." Recklessly, he takes Aleksander's hand, and with the other, begins shaping a light spell.

[temnota]

As Eliot took his hand, Aleksander braced himself for the rush of power. And when it came, he was fascinated all over again about the difference between Grisha and non Grisha power. With his fellow Grisha, there was always a sense of familiarity. He and the person he was amplifying might have different affinities but they all practiced the Small Science and through it were all connected to the making of the world. 'Are we not all things' his grandfather had written and in these moments, it was easy to believe that if he just focused hard enough, he too could call on a different element then his own shadows.

Non Grisha power was different. He could feel some tantalizing similarities but most of it was unfamiliar, like something put just out of reach. He was the conduit for the power but that was all he was. He had no understanding of what he was enhancing and he was self-aware enough to admit that it was intensely frustrating to have a mystery he had no hope of solving.

He glanced at Eliot's other hand and had to bite back a laugh. Who would have thought that the answer to his search for someone who could bring light should have been done in a different world then his own. He half-suspected the Mansion was trying to tell him something.

[magicianking]

The flash of light that Eliot produces is blinding. He's reminded of the way Quentin described Mayakovsky's coins, so much power packed into something so small. The last thing he sees before he has to close his eyes against the light is Aleks trying to suppress a smile, and he's so handsome it makes Eliot's stomach flip. The power and the smile are both intoxicating. Greed rises up in him: what if he really could take Aleks home, and work magic that would impress anyone, even Alice and Quentin with their land? Even Julia in all her demigod power?

He banishes the light spell with his eyes still closed. Maybe he's the villain in this situation, wanting to take home this handsome man and use him for his powers.

When he's sure the light's gone, he opens his eyes and blinks the after-image away. "You weren't kidding," he says weakly.

[temnota]

There was a period of time that Aleksander would have been happy to travel back with Eliot if there had been a way - after Nina had brought home to him the fact that he had lost but before he'd grappled with the incredible harm he had to Ravka. A new world with a partner beside him who not only wanted him but was not afraid to use his power? Such a thing would have been irresistible and all things considered, it was surely for the best that this never happened.

"It is only one way," Aleksander said softly, resolutely not thinking about Alina and the stag. "The amplification, that is. I can't take any of your power, just strengthen it. I've had time to get used to this feeling when I touch someone with power but as you've discovered, it's not something one can tune out easily."

[magicianking]

"Doesn't seem entirely fair to you, to be, like, a living conduit."

[temnota]

"Being a living amplifier is not my only talent," Aleksander said, giving Eliot a slow, promising smile. He lifted his hands and turned his palms outwards. From the corners of the wall, the shadows flowed to him, sinuous as snakes. He lifted a finger and the shadows rose up around the two of them, blotting out everything but the space they inhabited. "I am the Shadow Summoner."

[magicianking]

"Whoa," Eliot breathes. He's never seen magic exactly like this, and Aleksander is totally making it look epic. "You're, like, a superhero." Now, why has he gone and said that? He sounds like a Comic-Con nerd. This guy is making all the sense leave his brain. "I mean, um, impressive."

[temnota]

Aleksander had never heard the word 'superhero' before but he thought he understand the meaning based on the context. He smiled wryly and made a small gesture, banishing his shadows back to their corners. "I am glad you think so. Not many in Ravka do. Much of that is my fault but they were afraid even before then."