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Amities, RogueStar
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Jahf regarded the young man standing in front of him with eternal patience. He had seen many Avatars come and go, given them the trappings of their station and blessed their quests. This one, though, was different. Lean and tall, like a rangy fox, he had an aura of incredible power. More than any former Avatar. Even the first one created by the gods to combat their wayward brother.
"You seek the M'Kraan?"
"Oui."
"Then be welcome, true Avatar," he lifted his staff in benediction, "Avatar blessed by the lady of power and beloved of the Great Sorceress."
"I need t'find de Aegis Armor an' de Spirit Sword."
"Impatient mortal, just like all the rest," Jahf smiled, "Follow me."
The Avatar followed the small, gray man who, despite his size, moved with incredible speed.
"Where does dis M'Kraan lead?"
"Another world. A pocket dimension contained within the fabric of reality where the laws of nature are subverted."
"Bien. Any dangers in dere?"
"No. Only for one who is not the true Avatar."
"Am I . . . .?"
"Yes," Jahf replied simply, "I have no time for doubts. You have no time for doubts. The Great Sorceress needs you if she is to be saved from the god of Earth\Sky."
"Is dis de crystal?"
Remy leBeau pointed at a huge glittering mass that flooded the chamber with light. Colors danced through the various mineral traces in this pure, transparent stone.
"This is the M'Kraan."
"How do I get in?"
"Alice through the Looking Glass."
Remy looked confused, "Who is Alice?"
Jahf smiled gently, "A denizen of another reality. She slips through a looking glass as well as the eye of a needle, I believe."
"Ya mean . . . I should touch it?"
"Yes," Jahf lifted his staff imperiously and tiny sparks flew out in a dazzling display, "The Gatekeeper asks the M'Kraan Nexus to open. The door between worlds to allow admittance to the one who is beloved of the gods"
The Avatar stepped closer to the crystal and touched it. There was a whispered flash of energy and then he was gone.

~~~

"Where has he gone?" Ororo asked, fury rising within her, "What have you done with him?"
"Sent him to the M'Kraan,"Phoenix replied casually.
"And left me here."
"The Avatar must face this alone if he is to succeed in defeating the god of Earth\Sky. Where he goes, you cannot follow."
"Then send me to Sabrina - to the Great Sorceress - that I might help her discover the power locked inside her."
"No. That would alter the course of the future and I cannot permit that," the slender, flame-haired woman sunk back into her twisted throne.
"So I am meant to wait here until the Avatar returns?"
"No. There is another task for you."
"What is it?"
"You must procure the Horse of Another Color. Take it from your enthralled apprentice."
"How will I get there?"
"I shall transport you," Phoenix looked annoyed, "But I can only keep you in the other locus for a short while before I have to bring you back. I am expending most of my magic keeping the Avatar in the Nexus so I only have a little remaining to transport you."
"How long?"
Phoenix conjured a golden timer, appearing out of thin air and landing in her outstretched hand. Silver sands hovered in suspension - there were not many of them.
"Take this," Phoenix gave the timer to Ororo, "When the sands run out, you must return."
With that Parthian shot, Phoenix lifted her hands and cast Ororo into darkness.

~~~

Sabrina paced the length of her small room, counting her steps to keep her mind off Remy's plight. Anything was better than thinking of how . . . how she had betrayed him by sending him the ring. She had not known, but ignorance was no excuse. It never was.
"Think o' somethin' else," she commanded herself, knowing full well that it was impossible.
"Tell me a story," The faerie asked from its position on the windowsill. Its legs were dangling down and swung like tiny sparks of fire back and forth. It was fanning itself with its wings, sending showers of glittering dust which settled on the windowsill.
"What do y'all want ta hear?"
"Anything."
"Fine. Ah'll tell you one that mah grandmother told me when Ah was just a kid."
"What?"
"It's the story of the Avatar an' his quest for th' Spirit Sword an' Aegis Armor."
"Ohhh . . . can I have a sweetmeat while I listen?"
Sabrina nodded absently, the story already forming in her mind, blossoming out in whorls of brilliance.
"There once was an Avatar who travelled between worlds. Who went to the gateway of all realities. This was housed in a huge crystal, taller'n' th' tallest mountains, wider'n'the King's Highway. It was said that if'n an ordinary mortal looked into this crystal, he would lose his soul to the sprites who live beyond the laws. The Avatar was no ordinary mortal - he was marked with th' Celestial Cicatrix."
"What's a sick. . .a . . .tricks?"
"A scar, sugah. Cicatrix jus' sounds fancier, Ah guess. Th' Star Scar don't have quite th' same ring ta it."
"I see. Carry on . . . ."
"This Avatar walked many miles through a flat, featureless landscape. His feet ached an' his lungs were choked with pale dust, but he carried on goin', foh th' love o' th' beautiful woman who was ta be his wife."
"You?"
Sabrina laughed, "It's a story, sugah. Ah'm sure Remy isn't doin' anything quite so strenuous foh mah sake, even if'n he is th' Avatar. Man's a born eel - anythin' ta slip out o' a honest day's work. He probably paid someone ta get th' Sword an' Armor foh him. . . ."

~~~

"She couldn' have put a simple protective spell on it, could she?" Remy leBeau grumbled as he pulled his feet out of the sand which sucked around his ankles, "Couldn' have borrowed de big dogs of de goddess of Sport\Crafts. Non. Dat would have been too easy. ‘Stead de Avatar has t'trudge over desert land t'find it."
He stopped, exhausted from the combined stress of walking and tugging his feet free.
"Got sand in m'hair, sand in m'boots, sand in m'shirt. Not a place where I don' have sand."
The Avatar felt in his pocket for a handkerchief to tie around his face to keep the sand out of his mouth and lungs. A ring, gold and lucent, fell into his hands as he pulled a white handkerchief out of his trousers. He smiled slightly as he looked at it, at the delicate engraving of his family crest into the burnished metal, remembering Sabrina's face when he had proposed to her. Her eyes had been so surprised, green pools of light in her lovely face. He had doubted whether she would accept and had made, what would
kindly be called, a complete fool of himself. When she had - and had kissed him - he knew that he loved her more than anyone in the world, that he would go anywhere and do anything for her.
"Like dis," he sighed, carrying on slowly, "Like dis."

~~~

Sabrina paused, "Where was Ah, sugah?"
"For the love of the beautiful woman who was to be his wife?"
"Oh yeah - soon he came to a crumblin' temple, more sand than stone, indistinguishable from the monotony of th' desert. He climbed the steps, carefully, slowly, watchin' th' whole time for traps. . . ."

~~~

Remy pushed the decaying velvet curtain of the temple open and stepped into the cool darkness. The air glowed with an eerie phosphorescence and luminous fungus encrusted the damp walls. Remy could smell the dank, metallic fetor of a stale well. No-one had been here for a very long time. Along the walls were hollows with shelves on which ivory bones had been placed, long since picked and bare. Tarnished plaques gave some clue as to their identities - Avatar Captame, Avatar Xavier, Avatar Marko, all Avatars . . . . Then on the other side, slighter, more delicate bones with plaques that read Great Sorceress Crystal, Great Sorceress Lilandra, but most ominously an empty bier with two blank plaques and an inscription: "As they were in life, let them be in death".
Remy ran, disgusted and suddenly afraid of this dark room. The temple led inwards, becoming cooler and more noisome as it did so. A gentle glow pulsated from the end of the passageway and the latest Avatar in a long line of Avatars entered the room. A simple altar of wood and stone was built at the front, covered with a rotting red cloth. The pink glow emanated from the objects placed on it - a sword and a set of armor. All were in immaculate condition, looking as if that had just come from the forge of the goddess of Sport\Crafts herself. Slowly, the Avatar walked forward and touched the sword. Instantly the brilliant glow intensified, blinding Remy and causing him to stumble.
Male voices, whispery and indistinct, repeated a phrase over and over again:
He is reborn. He is reborn.
An old female voice asked sharply: But what of the Great Sorceress? What of the Anima?
The voices replied: she was not yet ready.
The same old voice laughed: I will believe that when I see it.
The voices chorused again: Go forth into the world, Remy leBeau, son of Jean-Luc, now known only as the Avatar.
Remy woke in the cave of the Phoenix, sword in his hand, armor clutched tightly to his chest.

To be continued . . . .

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