//------------------------------// // Legends for a legend // Story: Aether, Heir of Chaos // by Arcane Anonymity //------------------------------// That was some good lunch... I particularly like the way I can share this recipe with pretty much anyone, pony or Griffon. Sure, sure, it's usually left for breakfast or brunch, but I can't get enough of the stuff! And it's funny to see those totally unaccustomed to spicy things sweat like pigs while I am fresh as a daisy - not that it was all that spicy to begin with, it was just that their tolerance was that low. Ah... reminds me of those who said that if you see the Void, you can't put it behind you... I just stepped on it and let it fall there. I don't know why they try to make everything so complicated. In any case my next visitor was... drum roll please... A Griffon! She is the ambassador's niece, Gerardine! If you find it odd some Griffon names are more or less normal human names, don't. There are some that get a little changed when going through the language change's spin cycle, like the ambassador's - Gildebeak, if you're wondering. (He dislikes being called Gilded Beak, even if he does have a silver tongue) But enough about that... why don't I let Gerardine introduce herself? ***** A-are you sure? "Look, you are basically what we call an anthropologist back on Earth, but for this world. You loved every minute of it. You are the best suited to do this." So... my looks? "Mhmm." I am average height and build... my fur is light brown, my feathers are white in the most part but some are- "The color of honey at the tips. You know, you have to sound a little happier when you talk about yourself. Talk about your eyes! That shade of green goes well with your feathers-" Ah! You're the same as him! "Tsk, he's going to get jealous if he hears you saying that kind of things." Well, my talons... "I... understand if you don't want to talk about those." No. I cannot let it have control over my life. Just as you say - I am the one in control; if I want to, I am going to get the bull by the horns, and I'm making dang sure I drive him into the ground and make him stay there! "Atta girl." I remember your face, though, when you saw me for the first time; when I told you about it. "Hello- whoa!" I opened the door and you went from welcoming to surprised in an instant. I had a black eye, half of the feathers on my face sticking out every which way, many bruises, and my claws... "Talk as if I'm not here, or the narrative is going to get confusing." "What happened to you?" You- I mean, Aether walked over to me, looking over my eye, and snapped his fingers to make a bit of ice wrapped in a towel. "We had to decide who got to talk to you. I won." I said more or less neutrally; numb half from exhaustion, half from a combination of awe and embarrassment at having a human tend to my eye. "As soon as Uncle said that that only one would visit the human for the day... I... I tossed away my dress and punched him in the face to get a head start." Aether looked at me with wide eyes, before he started chuckling. "You mean, you sucker-punched your uncle, and a bunch of Griffons beat up themselves... just to talk to me?" I absent-mindedly rubbed one talon with the other... and noticed that the cloth fingerless gauntlet I wore over it was missing. He noticed, and knelt down to take my claw on his hand... I wore something else underneath, he compared it to leggings, but it was riddled with holes from the fight. The white skin was showing. He was surprisingly delicate, as if he was afraid he would hurt me more. His eyes went to my other claw and took it as well, switching hands for the ice. I was... well, a little bit scared, mostly ashamed. I took off the other gauntlet - white, thick cloth covering the front and back, all the way to the part my feathers start- the other... black glove had a few holes too. They can only be worn or taken off with magic to change their size so that I don't tear them with my talons, so I need a mage just to put them on, as such, I rarely use them unless something irritated my skin beyond my ability to tune it out. "You don't have to do it if you are uncomfortable." Dude, I said it's alright. The scales there don't grow any more. Uncle Gil has many enemies... only the scales on my fingers and half of each back are left, I was rescued before they finished the back of the claw. It's the reason I had those cloth gloves made, thick enough to be called gauntlets - to walk properly and hide the scars. Y- I mean, Aether was upset. "Is there anything I can do for you?" He said. It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up, though. "I wanted to talk to you." I recomposed myself, following his invitation to the nearest couch. "What about?" Now, here I admit I lost my composure again. "EVERYTHING." "That's putting it mildly - you grabbed the collar of my shirt!" I had the decency to realize it and blush! "Sheesh, you're worse than Lyra." "'Everything' may be a bit of a big topic, mind reducing it a little?" He said, taking me by the wrists and setting me back on the couch, getting rid of the ice for now. "Uh... the goggles?" A credit to my brain; the words were out before I could be dazzled by the amount of questions I had. He laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, those are from a show... a story kind of like a movie, but broken down into 'episodes' like chapters on a book." "What type of story? What kind of hero was that man? What legends do humans-?" He had to put a hand to my face to stop me, making me blush again. "Mind trying again?" He was very understanding. "Tell me about human heroes." I mean, humans are legends here; I was dying to know what kind of heroes they have! "Modern or legendary?" He made popcorn and chips, likely as a distraction to his chaos magic. Yes, I do know the truth about him; after all, uncle Gil is his best friend. "Like the owner of the original goggles. I want to know all about the heroics of humans." "Just humans? We've made up a lot of things besides humans." He said, then reached over to pick my jaw off the floor. "My kind doesn't have magic, or any special abilities, so there was a pressing need to make up superpowers." He tossed some popcorn into my recently re-opened beak, managing to get it to the very back and making me cough up a storm to get it out. "It's not like you made it a difficult target." "I do have magic now, thanks to Discord." He said, patting my back as I tried to regain my breath. He tapped his chin, then snapped his fingers once an idea came to him. "Let me tell you about Superman. An excellent example of humans affecting others." Ah... a being from the stars, the last of his kind! ("Hey, he's not the last the last, you know?") Sent to learn what it means to be human! Defending the ideals of justice and protecting the weak from those who would seek to cause them harm! "Let me reiterate; you are worse than Lyra." And that Green Lantern fellow; that oath! 'In brightest day, in blackest night...' "Your feathers are doing that thing again." Eep! ... Alright, I'm... better now. I can't believe that talking about talking about comic books made me lose it like that. I mean, it only validated my fascination with old stories and was the realization of a dream of mine from before I have memory, my neck feathers have no business poofing out like that. "And what kind of hero was the man of the goggles?" "He digs holes." Aether said matter-of-factly. "I'd make a comment that that doesn't sound too heroic, but the current king's ancestor spent his pre-war days hunting frogs, so..." "Hehe, I have to hear that story. In any case, the story starts with a kid using a small, crank-operated drill to dig a tunnel for his colony..." I was... enthralled. As a sky-faring species, the idea of never seeing anything other than a ceiling of rock made me shudder. "... And this complete idiot decides that he's man enough to fight the giant machine with teeth larger than he is with no more equipment than his sword, shades, pants and tattoos - he wasn't even wearing shoes, just sandals... the funny thing - he might have won anyways..." I don't think he noticed, but he somehow lost his own shirt and gained tattoos. ("You're right, I didn't.") "... then straight through! Right to the surface, continuing into the heavens!" He jumped onto the table, pointing upwards as a light mysteriously shone above him like a spotlight. I was awed, though, and wasn't being very responsive at all. Other than my stomach announcing she's feeling neglected. "Wow, we've been talking for a while now." He said, hopping down and donning his previous attire. "Should we keep going over lunch? Even though I already had my fill..." My modesty and dignity finally made me remember they exist, and I bolted upright. "Oh no! I'd never ask that of somepo-someone else!" "Really? It's no trouble - heck, even without magic, we only have to ask a servant." "No, no! We can continue some other time!" I made for the door, walking backwards, hastily replacing the gauntlet I took off. "I have to talk to the others anyways! We can continue some other time! Maybe even see all of those things!" We said our goodbyes, while I backed into the door and, blushing harder than ever that day, awkwardly managed to open it while not taking my eyes off him. "One last thing." He said, and I froze. "They are pretty." He smiled warmly and waved. "I like your polka-dotted gloves." I blushed again and just nodded, not quite understanding him. By the time I managed to find my other thick glove, I finally noticed that he turned my torn, holey black gloves into pretty polka dotted gloves. I wouldn't have to get new ones, even though... well, they might be made to order, but nothing I couldn't afford to replace. My uncle wasn't terribly upset, even though he looked like a raccoon for a while. He was rather proud, actually, of the way I fought to see the human face to face. And he just loved the concept of Superman.