Chapter 166: Gratitude

Chapter 166: Gratitude

"Is it working yet?" Zyl asked.

"I dunno," Mercury answered.

"I don't feel anything."

"You shouldn't," the mopaaw said.

"It really feels like I should be feeling something by this point," Zyl replied, his eyes vaguely drifting across the ceiling.

"Just be patient."

"You've said that for the last half hour…"

"I'm trying to focus!"

"Right, sorry!" Zyl swiftly pressed his hands onto his mouth, letting Mercury work in blissful silence for a while.

And Mercury was working.

He'd found marks on himself before, the tiny traces left by Skills, then followed them back. He knew what those felt like. Well, each was different, but he knew roughly what they felt like.

Now, though, he was looking for something else entirely. Zyl's connection to his spark wasn't because of a Skill at all. It was just because it was part of him. Mercury felt like he was looking for a lost limb by looking at the wound. It just didn't seem to yield much effort.

"So what exactly are you doing, Mercury?" Zyl asked again, unable to endure the silence and boredom.

Mercury, shaken from his thoughts, looked at the dragon's face, and lightly smacked him with a paw. "Looking for a connection."

Zyl smiled through the smack, but at least had the decency to put on an embarrassed face. His silence lasted for all of five seconds before he asked again. "And how are you looking for it?"

"It's instinctual."

"Mmmh, what kinda instinct is it?"

"Zyl I'm gonna start to get a little upset if you keep asking," Mercury said with a sigh.

The dragon paused for a few moments. "Maybe walking me through it would help?"

Finally, Mercury simply threw his paws into the air, taking them off of Zyl's stomach. "Fine! Fine. I'll explain, then. Not like we're in a hurry or something."

At Mercury's clear enunciation of the last part, Zyl once again flushed with embarrassment, but still simply waited for an answer.

After a break that lasted for a couple minutes, during which Mercury drank some water and took some time to give Zyl mean looks, he put his paws back on the man's stomach. "What I do, Zyl, is close my eyes."

"Mhm."

"Then I focus." Mercury scrunched up his face for emphasis.

"Okay."

"Then I try to feel…" he paused, unsure of how to say it.

"Feel what?"

"I'm thinking."

"Right."

Mercury took a little while longer to answer. He was looking for the marks, the way he'd done it for himself, but he just couldn't quite figure out what that meant without breaking focus. So, he came up with the simplest solution he could imagine: splitting his mind. One half searched for the thing, the other double checked what the searching part was doing.

Turns out, it was a whole lot.

"According to my ground-breaking research, Zyl-"

"You're researching this right now?" The dragon raised an eyebrow.

Mercury groaned. "Uuuugh. Yes, I am. Now, be a good test dummy and stop squirming."

"Sorry," the dragon said with a grin that spoke volumes about just how sorry he was.

"Right. I'm checking for pretty much anything out of place on your body. Mana that doesn't match the stuff you produce yourself, little impurities on you, changes in stamina concentration in your body, and, somewhat surprisingly, checking the dreamweave around you."

Zyl was silent for a few moments. "All that?"

"A bit more, but those are the main things, yes."

"Okay, just one more question."

"Sure," Mercury said, his patience running somewhat thin again.

"The heck is a dreamweave? You wanna tell that to me?"

The mopaaw paused to take a breath. "You wouldn't get it," he said.

"Then please, explain away," Zyl said with a grin, sticking out his tongue.

Once more, Mercury let out a deep sigh. "Alright, frick it. Let's see just how long I can keep up this zeyjn before my mind gives out. Congrats Zyl, you now got a whole separate part of me, just for talking to you."

"Gasp!" the dragon said, distinctly not gasping. "It's what I always wanted!"

"... I'm glad you're happy, at least. So, the dreamweave is the stuff dreams are made from."

"Dreams are made from something?"

Mercury chuckled. "Haha, no, no. Dreams are made from nothing. You see, in between that nothing, that's where the dreamweave is."

Zyl's chuffed at that. "You're not making any sense."

Mercury looked at the dragon, his mouth agape. "My gosh! Truly?! If only someone could have seen this coming."

For a moment, Zyl grimaced, then burst out laughing, and Mercury joined in.

"Alright, fine, you got your point across already dummy. Care to actually explain it now?"

Mercury rolled his eyes in faux displeasure. "Alright, but what I said before is pretty much the gist of it."

"You do realize it makes no sense though, right?" Zyl asked, raising an eyebrow again.

"Yes," Mercury said, nodding sagely. "Entirely aware. It took me over a year to get it. Mind you, that's a year of dedicating hours to it each night. And even then, it only properly clicked once I almost died in a dream."

"I also got plenty of nightmares."

"Oh, no," Mercury said with a huff, "this one woulda really killed me. Dead dead. Not just waking up screaming dead."

"Aha."

"Yep. Then I finally fully saw the dreamweave, and tore it all apart."

"You broke a dream?"

"That's absolutely right." Mercury nodded once again.

Zyl groaned, then flashed him a smile. "Can I get that one more time, from the top."

"Of course, Zyl, I created this facet of my being just to explain this to you!" Mercury smiled.

"I truly do appreciate it, Mertwo."

"We're not making that a nickname."

"We so are."

"Zyl watch out or I'm gonna make Merthree just to harass you while you sleep," the cat threatened.

"You can do that?!" A look of horror placed itself on Zyl's face.

"Even while you're dreaming. 'Cause I can get into there through the dreamweave."

"You're already my dream bodyfriend, silly!"

"Ugh!" Mercury said, holding his chest. "Right into my heart!" He did, indeed, blush a little.

Zyl giggled, taking a few more moments to just look at Mercury. Eventually, though, he brought his eyes back to the ceiling, leaning against the pillow underneath his head.

"Alright, alright. Tell me more about the dreamweave Mertwo."

"You're really not letting that go?"

"Nope."

Mercury let out a long sigh. "Alright. Fine, then. Essentially, since dreams aren't exactly real the way you and I perceive things, they're made from nothing. But clearly, they still exist, so where do they come from? Somewhere in between the nothingness."

"You're losing me again."

"Told you it's hard to make sense of. I guess, if it helps, think of the dreamweave as the thoughts a dream is made from. They're not exactly actively happening in someone's head, so it's possible to manipulate them from inside the dream. String them together to change things."

"I see. How does this have to do with the marks at all, though?"

"Well, to me, the marks are like little bits of thread, wrapped around you. Woven into your existence if you will. So, they look somewhat similar to the weave, and also, the way I perceive the dreamweave is using a special meditation method, which lets me see things in a different light."

"A different light?"

"I get closer to the abject truth describing an object. It's kind of like- Found it!"

"Huh?"

Mercury took his paws off Zyl, leaping onto the man's face instead. "You heard me!" he said, grabbing his boyfriend's cheek with his soft paws. "I found it. The connection."

"... you did?"

The incredulous look on Zyl's face was priceless to Mercury. "Sure did. Well, not me, Merone found it, really. In fact, let me just merge back… heya Zyl! I've sure been busy."

"... you have?"

Mercury rolled his eyes. "You gotta believe me more. Just because I do things weirdly doesn't mean it won't work. And yes, I have. So busy I checked most of your body. The connection to the spark was in your chest, right around your heart, except not in the same place as your heart, but like, deeper."

"What do you mean, deeper? There's only so much room in my chest, Mercury," Zyl said with a small huff.

"Deeper as in placed in a whole different direction. Where do you keep all your muscles when you aren't using them?"

"Ah. Yes. I see. So my flame is in my chest in the same way I can access all that extra muscle density?" Zyl asked.

"Yes. It's all kind of folded in on each other, or like, moving out in a different direction. It's a conceptual space ready to be realized."

Zyl smirked. "You're losing me again, Mer."

"Then get a frigging map already, jeez!" the mopaaw replied, sticking out his tongue.

The two of them fooled around some more. Mercury eventually explained to Zyl that the mark only really pointed him in a direction, rather than telling him how far he needed to go. Which usually meant the target was far away.

They wouldn't head out that day anyway, so instead, since that bit of work was done, Zyl headed back to sleep. While he felt mostly normal, there were still lingering effects from losing his spark and then going all out. He got tired easily these days, and slept often.

Mercury spent some time cuddling up to his boyfriend in bed, rolled into a small ball of white fur with stripes of cosmic expanse and glittering stars across his body. He spent a lot of that time thinking.

Mostly about how grateful he was to be able to be with Zyl. Just having him around made every day a bit brighter.

Being able to lay next to one another like this was a luxury Mercury wasn't exactly used to anymore. He made sure to appreciate it every day it happened. Just listening to Zyl breathe.

Sometimes, his chest would hitch, and he would jerk in his sleep, then Mercury pressed his snout into the dragon's arm, and he slowly calmed down again. It made him smile. Being able to help in the small ways was nice.

Not that he didn't want to help in the big ways. Mercury was more than sure he'd get Zyl's spark back. If it helped him heal faster, he would do almost anything to get it done.

Like confronting a bunch of dragons.

He shook his head at that with a smirk.

Sometimes, when he thought a little more about the things he did, they really were silly. He was a very fancy cat, yes, but at the end of the day, he was just a four-legged furball, who looked totally cute. And he was up against dragons.

"Stop moving so muchhhh," Zyl muttered sleepily, wrapping an arm around Mercury and running his fingers through his fur.

"Okay, okay, I gotcha."

In the end, he simply cuddled up against the dragon even more, closed his eyes, and tried to stop thinking.

- - -

Eventually, Irrithuriel returned.

What woke Mercury up wasn't the old lady's groans, nor the sound of the door opening or her footsteps, but the smell of soot she carried. When he opened his eyes, he saw that her clothes seemed to be singed almost everywhere, and her hair was covered with ash.

Zyl, for his part, seemed entirely unbothered by the smell. With a quick duck and an activation of <Veil >, Mercury moved out under the dragon's arm unnoticed and hopped off the bed, his paws landing softly and soundlessly on the floor.

"Everything alright?" he asked Irrithuriel.

"Ah, you're awake," the old lady said, turning to face him. "Yes, I'm fine. This was hardly enough to even warm me up." She uncorked a bottle and poured the contents over her head, quickly having all the ash and burnt cloth disappear.

A moment later, she looked into a mirror with a grimace. "So much sewing," she muttered.

"I'm guessing you didn't find anything out?"

Irrithuriel turned towards the mopaaw like she'd forgotten he existed for a moment before. "No, nothing. Trinya said she had no idea where the spark was, denying she even had any idea what I was talking about."

"That went about as well as expected, then."

"Did your attempt go any better?" Irrithuriel asked.

Mercury hopped up on a chair so he was on eye-height with her. "Yes, actually. I found something that I think is probably his spark."

"Really now? You keep surprising me, Starlight," Irrithuriel said, shaking her head with a smile. "That's good, though. Where is it, exactly?"

"I've only got the rough direction, but it should be roughly west from here."

"Huh. And there aren't any workshops that way?" Irrithuriel took another look at the map of the facilities Mercury had 'acquired'. "None, truly. Why not keep the spark at the place it would be used?"

"Maybe she's storing it until the final step?"

The ice dragon rubbed her chin. "It seems like something she would do. Then we should expect a lot more security."

"Even more? The last couple searches on the workshops were already a pain," Mercury grumbled.

"Well, perhaps not, actually," Irrithuriel said while leaning back in her chair. "Maybe the place is entirely unguarded, since Trinya wouldn't want anyone to know about it. She could simply be making multiple versions of the weapon which only need the spark inserted, so she could take those and do the last step herself."

"But would she really leave the spark without anyone looking after it?"

"Hmm. One of her close aides, maybe," Irrithuriel suggested.

"That might be why getting into the mansion was relatively easy?"

"It may very well be related," the ice dragon said with a nod. "In any case. I shall get myself a much needed change of clothing. Meanwhile, I would love it if you could wake young Friaminth. He may want to partake in the discussion."

With that, the old lady got up and headed to another room, and Mercury hopped back onto the bed, tapping Zyl's face.

"Hey," he said, lightly smacking the other man's nose. "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead."

"Hrrmmm," Zyl grumbled, turning onto his head. "Give me a couple more minutes."

"Zyl, you gotta get up," he said, shaking his shoulder.

"Not yetttt…"

With a soft sigh, Mercury began to cast a spell. "You asked for it. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me."

Then, he summoned an ice cube above Zyl's cheek, which harmlessly fell onto the man's face.

The speed at which Zyl rose up from the bed was almost imperceptible to Mercury. He launched the ice cube entirely across the room, having it sail into the wall on the opposite end, while squealing.

"AH! Why did you do that?!" he said, looking at Mercury accusatorily.

The mopaaw only shrugged. "Shoulda gotten up when I told you to."

"Coulda been more patient with me!" Zyl mimicked his tone, sticking out his tongue at Mercury, who swiftly returned the gesture.

Irrithuriel came back when the two of them were still locked in that pose, sticking out their tongues at each other. "You're aware that is not how you kiss, right?" she asked, her expression entirely deadpan.

The two quickly turned to face her, blushed, then headed to take seats at the table.

"You haven*t answered me."

"We're not going to," Mercury assured her. The lady had swapped her once blue now blackened dress for much simpler clothing, a tunic and pants in earthy colours. "Can we please get back on topic?"

"Hm, fine then. Friaminth, for your information, we were talking about your shard. It's not at any of the workshops. Instead, there seems to be a special location holding it. Is there anyone your mother may trust in guarding such a place?"

"I could imagine someone. Her closest aide is a scrying mage, though, so not necessarily a great guard. Maybe she simply hired someone and has them supervised constantly?" Zyl suggested, the vestige of a blush still visible on his cheeks.

"Great, so we'd be found out the moment we try to get there?"

"Most likely, yes," Zyl said.

"Do we really need to stay hidden?" Irrithuriel interjected. "If we are quick about it, we may be gone before anyone can intervene."

"We could also try to find our mage and take them out before getting the spark?" Mercury suggested.

"How would we find the mage?" Zyl asked.

"Fair point. So what, we just risk it?"

"The goal is close at hand, I would prefer not to mess it up so close to the finish line," Irrithuriel said, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"Me neither." Mercury nodded. "So, once again, we need a plan."

Zyl thought it over. "Well. The scrying mage has to be somewhere protected as well. Trinyakorie wouldn't let her simply sit around. She's most likely near the mansion, since she needs to be able to communicate with Trinya easily."

"So we should scout the areas around the mansion and look for our mystery mage?" Irrithuriel asked.

The other dragon shrugged. "It seems like our best option."

"But would that not be like simply announcing we would try and take the shard?" Irrithuriel asked.

"Guys. I don't think we need to worry about that anymore," Mercury interrupted.

"Why not?"

"The shard is moving," he said.

"Fuck."