Aegis: Lost In Translation
Aegis took the woman’s hand and led her through the massive expansive rooms of his ‘home’ though it was more like a palace fit for a king. The woman wasn’t being rushed, taking time to crane her neck to see the rooms as they passed. Each one big, and seemed to be themed in some way, and she didn’t know why she could tell but they seemed a bit too big for the space between door ways. But she didn’t stop the man leading her to ask. Though she did stop when one room took her by surprise. The room was huge, at first when she looked inside it seemed dark, too dark for a room even one inside without windows, but looking for a moment it looked like a star filled sky. Flabbergasted, she let her hand slip out of his as she stood amazed. Had he or someone painted stars on the walls and ceiling of this room? For what purpose. Out here you could probably see almost every star in the sky.
Aegis stopped and back tracked a few steps to see what had stopped her. He stepped into view and got her attention. “That is my…” he paused while signing the words, not sure of the gesturing for the word so he had to spell it out one letter at a time “Observatory.”
The woman gestured out the word and Aegis took not to remember it, putting it away in his mind. And nodding. “It allows me to see the patterns in the stars even during the day to improve my magics.” he explained singing slowly enough she could understand but not slow enough to be condescending. He put his hand back out for her to continue following him. They eventually came to one of the few doors she’d seen since arriving. She watched him as he rapped his pointer and middle fingers knuckles against the door. The knock that came back was far louder than the taps of his fingers should have received. She didn’t so much hear it as feel it. A bassy note in her chest. A rumble like a single moment of an earthquake.
After a moment of nothing the door creaked open, on its own beyond it was a room seemingly open to the outside, a large half pool half fountain filled half the room the rest was scattered pillows and chairs. Lounging around were more women. All relaxing taking in the cool air that filled the room and the wonderfully perfect golden sunlight filtering in from the opening.
She watched Aegis raise a finger and beckon over one of the women laying on a large cushiony pillow. She watched the man speak to her, not fully able to read either's lips. The woman nodded and moved away in what almost seemed like she was floating just slightly off the floor and moving around the room stopping at small groups saying something and moving on until stopping at a tall woman with hair pulled into a high tight ponytail who followed the first woman over. The tall woman smiled and signed back to her. “Come with me, I will introduce you to the others.”
Aegis made his way out of the room, and down a long hall stopping at a blank spot between two arched doorways. Taking out the cube and whispering a few words it changed its shape into a rough approximation of a key. Pushing it against the wall it seemed to slip into the wall. Either phasing or vanishing as both touched. With a small twist a door appeared sliding down into some unseen space below the floor and revealing a staircase down. Once past the threshold of the door the doorway slid back up and the long staircase down illuminated itself in the same gold glow of the cube, leading down to a magic lab. Shelves with cubbyholes lined one of the walls, meticulously organized but some were nearly full to bursting. Aegis walked to a cubby and took from to two small river rocks polished smooth but the current and stone carving tools, and from another a small block of wood and a whittling knife. Perfection though ideal was not needed at the moment, not at least in this moment. All he needed was a proof of concept. He had a good idea on how to achieve it, it might just take some time. He placed the objects on his worktable and moved down the line of shelves again to a farther end, small bits of copper wire, a twin pair of small crescent moon gears and from a box of what looked to be simply junk and scraps he took the arms from a broken pair of glasses. “Should be enough to start.” He placed them with the rocks and wood, and went to fetch a silverpoint and paper.
When the concept had come to him, he’d not expected the complicated nature of it, some of the smallest rune crafting he’d ever done. Something that even in a prototype had to be perfect to function. But he finished it only slightly after nightfall. Returning to where he’d left the women. Motioning for the tall woman to bring the deaf woman back over to him.
“Come here,” he said, then signed. “Sit.” he repeated the ‘speak and sign’ once she was seated he loomed over her. Getting close, putting his hand on the top of her head he turned it left, and put something on her ear then repeated it to the right. “Can you hear me?” he said without signing. And she shook her head no, Aegis frowned and leaned back in, touching the cube to each ear. “Now?” he asked and another no was the reply. Taking them back out of her ear he stood. “I will keep working on them.” he signed, “You will hear, I promise you.” he turned to the dark haired woman again. “Make sure she is fed and find her a room.” Aegis instructed. “If you need me I will be in the lab.” he walked off hiding his annoyance of being back to square one.