Title: The Ordinary Madness
Authors:Stana and Kit
Date: 11/30/01 

************** 
The silence he was accustomed to, but the tension of not knowing exactly
what he should be doing was not. Audion was used to being in a position of
power, to controlling things around him, and to predicting exactly how he
should act and react to those around him to acheive his goals. This
desolation in the temple and the Chosen by his side seemed more then less
condusive to his habits.

The girl hadnât moved, diligently keeping watch over the other boyâs prone
form, keeping her attention occupied by the myriad of harsh wounds and burns
that must have been incurred in some other recent fray. Audion watched her
languidly, switching his site sporadically from conscious to the unconscious
gaze through the mirror-void, trying to understand her apparent caring and
tenderness after all the negative events. His voice broke the silence with
its consonant tones, but lacked the strong cynicism of usual, "Where do you
plan to go once this is all over?"

The sudden intrusion of sound into her own musings startled Stana, but she
looked over her shoulder with the most calm, energetic expression she could
muster. Her voice still hinted at the strain of the current happenings, "
I'm not sure really. When we find Teri...*if* we find her, I wanted to talk
it over together. There...is actually allot we need to discuss...." She
hesitated a moment, too aware of the results of past interrogations harsh or
otherwise, but decided to press on, "Why do you ask?"

Audion hesitated, as she predicted, so she returned ger attention to Shinj.
Still, she was startled again by an answer. "Normally I would say that I
should continue to travel with you and the other chosen as I had indicated
to Lyr, but I seem to be of little use in your service. I have to find the
shoreline as well....and I figured you and yours would not desire to be
detouring there. Otherwise, though I doubt I will do much good for it at
this point, I should return home soon to deal with the ramifictaion sof the
second vision we saw in the Nachtmer. It was not, as you thought, the earth
element gone wild. That was one of the artifacts of Chaos manifested."
 There were three separate thoughts that collided for dominance. The first
was an automatic protest at his self claimed uselessness. Who else had been
with her in the Nachtmer? Who else was with her now? She didn't...completely
trust him yet...but her perspective had altered significantly.

The second was her own desire to see the ocean. It had been so long since
she had been to the sea..and she missed it terribly. After all that the
group of them had gone through-did they not deserve at least a brief respite
before rejoining this twisted road they were being forced down? But...would
they be able to....

But as fast as those thoughts came to her tongue, the mention of the vision
they had shared brought all others shattering to a halt of crystalline pain..
For a moment she was back in the dark night, Clip still alive and at her
side- ... 

****the image changed, and depicted the frail form of young girl entangled
within giant vines and surrounded by black-crimson blooms.

"What-" Stana couldn't finish her thought, the terror on the girl's
countenance too raw and unbridled. She felt a shadow of that horror on her
own face as she stepped back hastily, memories of vines like that too close
to the surface. They-they almost looked like what she had- no what the
amulet had conjured in S'kae; her mind didn't want her to finish the
thought. Her stomach turned warningly, and she lifted her fingers to her
mouth in remberance of blood soaked earth and a gore-smattered dress. She
heard Audion's voice, laced with pain and true fear, but his words were
incomprehensible. The distraction was blessed, if increasingly
troubling.**** 


She had almost forgotten that...with everything else that had happened, but
now the terror she had felt came slamming back in with the force of a
physical blow. The fact that Audion had shown anxiety over that image...when
he had not flinched in the face of Chaos itself...only added to the
darkness. 

"...artifact of Chaos?" she asked, voice sounding weak to her ears. She bit
on her lip, hating the chill in her tone. She caught the shake in her hands
and quickly placed them to work, not looking up, hoping he would answer
again. 

Audion sighed heavily, watching the girl try to distract her hands and
emotions.  His countenance softened some, and the harshness of his eyes
lessened in the lack of attention to him.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Stana's change from what he had met of
a snobbish, suspiscious, hate-ridden shrew to a girl of feelings and
complexities had affected him.  It certainly made him more inclined to talk
then he had been since the Void.

"In the lore of elementalists there are three artifacts that were created of
and used by chaos to subdue the Child of all the Elements.  What we saw was
a ribbon of pain.  It secures around a persons neck like a choker, or a
dragons like a harness, and gives some power over them. One of the other
artifacts, a crown, is necessary for total influence.  Regardless, its
discovery unnerves me.....I am the only existing elementalist with affinity
to all of the elements, which makes me a prime target for whoever has that
wretched thing..." 

Stana looked up tentativly, the weight of his concern playing both in his
voice and as she could see, in his eyes.  She looked back down, not wanting
to break the spell. "A crown?"

Audion nodded, "Yes, though documents are more vague on its exact powers.
Lastly is a scourge.  Of the three, it is the most obscurely described.
They could just as easily be used against the Chosen...I give myself too
much importance.  Chaos seemed to care little for me, so I doubt its minions
will."

"I think..." she said with a tight smile "you give yourself too little
credit. Did you just say that you were unique amongst your peers in having
multiple affinities? I think the rest of this crazy world gives too much
importance to the titles of "Chosen" and don't think there are people and
not icons standing there." she hadn't meant to sound so bitter so she shook
her head "if anything, you've been sighted with us--if being a "Chosen" is
as big of a target elsewhere as here...then you are more than surely a
marked man. " she appraised him for a moment, thinking. "You're really
worried about those things, aren't you then? ...Chaos seemed to want to pull
the things out from our subconscious that he felt would rattle us the most.
I'm not familiar with all these legends...but it's natural that there are
more than one story about the elementals- their roles in this whole topsy -
turvy world... so then, you want to track these artifacts down before they
are used again? But... if the choker has been discovered, what makes you
believe the others haven't been? And what makes you think that you could get
hem away from whoever has them? " her voice trailed off again.  "that...girl
was most certainly in complete submission. If they had no knowledge of what
that thing did before, they must certainly know now..."
 "Yes, the ribbon worries me. "  His voice changed violently, and his eyes
darkened with the realization of admitting a weakness.  He quelled the ire,
not wanting to reveal his emotions further.  "The other artifacts...I don't
beleive they've been discovered because I have felt no such violent
fluctuations in the patterns if the elements.  It would send shock waves
along the fabric of the plane.  I don't know how I would do any good against
whoever now has the ribbon, because I do not know precisely who it is....and
I won't as long as I'm here on the continent.  It isn't pressing for exactly
that matter.  Returning to my homeland would be difficult and dangerous.
You speak truth in the uselessness of it."

Audion removed himself from leaning against the wall and paced to one of the
faded reliefs, tracing it with his ringed hand.  It was a childhood rhyme
that churned through his mind and in his words, "*From sea to air, from
earth to flame / behold the dragons locked in shame / in chaos wake the
ribbon's chill / search out the One for tamings ill*"

Stana listened, the sound of the language familiar to her fae-born spirit,
but the lilting tones of the sing-song foreign words iced her blood.

"...earth and flame...and...dragons?" she said, reaching for the words,
frustrated at how close she felt to the tongue spoken... and still not able
to really understand it.  She had given up all pretenses of subtlety, and
was staring in open curiosity and frankness. She couldn't tell his reaction
to her words, but he didn't answer.

"...should you decide to search for these artifacts." she finally said "I
would like to go with you. And...I think I would like to go and see the
ocean." 
Audion turned swiftly on his heel, his eyes widened with shock, then calmed
with quiet pleasantness, "I would be honored for your company."