Work Text:
Ephemer sighed.
He cast a tired eye at the papers and books piled around him and contemplated just putting his head down on the desk and ignoring it all. A nap would probably be about as productive as anything else he was doing at the moment. On the other hand, a nap wouldn’t solve my current problem, so there goes that idea… Ephemer rubbed at his face tiredly and pulled his well-creased copy of the rulebook back towards him, scanning over the page detailing Shift Pride.
“You’re still here?” asked a concerned voice. His Chirithy hopped up onto the table, looking over the scattered piles of books and files before turning to frown at Ephemer, paws on hips. “You’ve been in here for hours!”
“Yeah… just trying to check my idea will work before I bring it to the others,” Ephemer explained, leaning his chin on his hand. He flipped through a few pages absently with his other hand, not really taking in the words. “I don’t want to bother them for no reason.” Everyone was busy with their new duties; it’d be rude to take up their time like that.
“They’re there for you to bother, though,” Chirithy pointed out.
Ephemer laughed. “When you put it like that, it sounds so mean,” he teased, grinning at the Spirit. Chirithy huffed in response, crossing their arms.
“You know what I mean!” they complained, their cheeks puffing out in indignation. Unfortunately, the look bypassed ‘stern’ altogether and settled firmly on ‘cute’. Not that Ephemer would ever tell Chirithy this, not when the little Spirit was trying so hard. “There’s five Union leaders for a reason,” Chirithy continued when he said nothing. “I’m sure between the five of you, you’ll figure something out.”
You won’t be alone in this. The five of you can work together.
“Yeah, I know,” Ephemer sighed. When Master Ava had told him that there would be others there to help him, his first thought had been one of relief: it won’t just be me. It was part of the reason he’d been so insistent that the five of them remain equal in terms of authority, even when Brain had asked him directly if he was the leader, back in that desolated wasteland of Keyblades. Even now, after weeks of acting as a Union leader, Ephemer still felt like he didn’t know what he was doing, just floundering along in the hopes that what he was doing was right. And therein lay the rub – he didn’t want the responsibility of having the final say, of being the one everyone turned to figure things out; he’d rather they all work it out as equals, because who was to say that he knew what was best?
And yet, somehow, he’d become sort of the unofficial leader of the group anyway, no matter what he insisted. If he was feeling like he was floundering, Ven and Skuld seemed to be feeling even more adrift with their role as Union leaders. They looked to him for reassurance, and he tried his best to provide it, but…
Skuld at least would voice her opinions; Ephemer hoped that with enough encouragement, Ven would soon become comfortable enough to speak his thoughts without hesitation.
‘Grow a backbone’ indeed, although I wouldn’t have put it quite so harshly… he’s just a bit uncertain of his place here… Ephemer smiled wryly to himself. Aren’t we all, though?
As for the others, well… Lauriam was barely around, busy with his own search. He seemed to have already placed his trust in Ephemer to do the right thing, which was both gratifying and terrifying at the same time. And Brain? Well, the dark-haired Dandelion was more of an enigma. Ephemer hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk to him much beyond their group discussions, and when he did, Brain didn’t talk much – just read every book within reach. He was focused, although Ephemer couldn’t have said what the other boy was focused on. On the other hand, for all that he’d questioned Ephemer about leadership and rules, Brain seemed content enough to go along with the flow.
So in the end, it still felt like his responsibility to keep up everyone’s spirits; to be their reassurance that things would work out okay, and be the glue to hold them all together until they began working properly as a group. Until they all became friends, and not just almost-strangers thrown together.
Ephemer sighed. Everyone was counting on him to keep it together… he couldn’t help feeling the weight of it upon his shoulders.
You won’t be alone in this. The five of you can work together.
Chirithy, who had been watching him, took pity on him and changed the subject. “It’s kinda weird seeing you surrounded by all these books,” they commented, picking their way through the piles of paper towards Ephemer.
The words on the page about Shift Pride swum before his eyes. Ephemer gave up and dropped his head to the table with a groan. “Ughhh, this isn’t my kind of thing,” he complained to the grain of the wood. Chirithy patted his head in sympathy. “I like learning new things but talking to people is so much easier than studying!” He’d always been curious, and people tended to tell you things if you showed an interest. Researching through books like this seemed way more up Brain’s alley; Ephemer had yet to see him without a book in hand the entire time they’d been in the tower.
Maybe I should get him to look up all this stuff, he’d probably enjoy it… no, wait, this is my idea. I can’t just push it off onto Brain. Plus, he seems busy.
“You should take a break,” Chirithy advised sagely. The paw in his hair stilled for a moment. “Oh! Why don’t you go visit your friend? It’s been a while, I’m sure they’d love to hang out with you!”
Oof, that was a punch to the gut. “It really has been a while, hasn’t it…” Ephemer mumbled, doing hasty calculations in his head as to when he’d last his friend. Surely he’d met up with them since he and Skuld had brought them to this world from the battlefield, right…? But they’d needed time to adjust, and he hadn’t wanted to overwhelm them while their memories were still so fragile, and then he’d finally met the other Union leaders for the first time and since then he’d been running around frantically, trying to keep up with everything and he’d just kind of left them to their own devices, confident that at least their Chirithy was looking after them and… oh.
It really had been a while.
You’re late…
I know, I’m sorry.
Great, yet another thing to feel guilty about. He should go and visit them; it wasn’t fair to keep abandoning them like that. But with all his Union leader duties, and the others counting on him to pull his weight…
“There’s just been so much happening lately with the Dandelions that I haven’t really had the time…” Ephemer said, turning his head so that his cheek rested on the table. He looked up at Chirithy. “It’d be selfish just to drop everything for my own personal issues.”
Chirithy made a face. “Just ‘cause it’s selfish, doesn’t mean it’s bad,” they pointed out.
Well, maybe that was true. “I still feel like I’d be letting everyone down, though…” he said with a sigh.
“What’s wrong?” asked a voice from the doorway. Ephemer felt his hair ruffle with displaced air as his Chirithy disappeared at the arrival of another person. With an effort, he lifted his head and turned to see who had spoken.
“Oh, hey, Lauriam.”
Lauriam leant against the doorframe, arms crossed as he looked Ephemer over. When he saw he had Ephemer’s attention, he uncrossed his arms and came further into the room, continuing to speak. “You look even glummer than the last time I saw you.”
The words were said with a smile of good humour, but there was concern in Lauriam’s eyes when he stopped next to Ephemer. Well, I guess laying across a desk in defeat isn’t exactly an inspiring look, Ephemer thought wryly. With a sigh, he straightened up in his chair and leaned his arm on the table instead. “I have a problem and I don’t know what to do about it,” Ephemer admitted, a little glumly.
Lauriam’s gaze cut down to the Union leaders’ rulebook, still laying open on the table under Ephemer’s elbow, then returned to Ephemer’s face. He cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly. “Are you still thinking about Shift Pride?” he asked. Are you still stressing out over it, Ephemer interpreted.
He shook his head. “Nah, I’ve almost figured that one out.” That wasn’t a lie; he might still be checking things out, but his gut told him that it would work. No, without something central to focus on, it was everything else that was now beginning to weigh on him. He grinned at Lauriam. “Actually, you gave me an idea the last time we talked, so thanks for that.” Credit where credit was due!
Lauriam blinked. “Did I?” he said in surprise, leaning against the table. “Well, glad to have helped.”
“Did you find the person you were looking for?” Ephemer asked curiously. He hadn’t had much chance to talk to Lauriam since their previous conversation a few days ago, and the older boy hadn’t volunteered any more information about his search since then either.
“What?” asked Lauriam, frowning slightly.
“In the data,” Ephemer elaborated. “You said you were looking for someone…?” Maybe Lauriam didn’t want to talk about it? He wondered who this someone had been to Lauriam, how close they had been. How awful it must be, to know someone should be there with you and yet be unable to find them. Ephemer thought of his own broken promises and barely managed to hide a wince. That could be an all-too-apt description of him.
He could already hear his Chirithy scolding him for being too melancholy. Maybe Lauriam had been right; he needed to start taking it easier.
Understanding dawned in Lauriam’s sharp gaze. “Ah, I did mention that, didn’t I…” he mused, almost to himself. “Unfortunately, no,” Lauriam continued, “but I have another lead to look into, so it’s not a dead end just yet.” He gave a hint of a shrug along with a crooked smile.
Ephemer perked up. “Oh, that’s good at least! Let us know if you need any help.”
Some of the stiffness went out of Lauriam’s shoulders; Ephemer hadn’t even noticed the slight tension in Lauriam’s frame until it was gone. He must be pretty worried about this person; Ephemer could sympathise. At least he knew for sure that everyone he cared about was here, in this Daybreak Town. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you,” Lauriam said, his smile more genuine than his usual polite one. “Anyway, I shouldn’t keep you, you look busy.” He patted Ephemer on the shoulder kindly. “Don’t stress too much about whatever it is though, you’ll give yourself wrinkles.”
Ephemer laughed and Lauriam’s smile grew wider. The other boy straightened and headed for the exit. At the doorway, however, he paused and half-turned back to Ephemer, as though a thought had just struck. “About whatever’s troubling you… why don’t you ask Brain? He seems to have good insight.”
Ephemer blinked, not expecting that of all things. “Yeah, that’s an idea,” he replied, nodding despite the uncertainty he felt at the thought. “Thanks, Lauriam.”
Lauriam nodded, and with a quick wave of goodbye, left the room.
Ephemer leaned back in his chair and sighed, letting his head fall back until he was staring at the ceiling. Talk to Brain, huh? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that – he didn’t feel like he knew the other boy very well – but talking to someone might help him sort out the anxiety he’d been feeling recently, over his duties as a leader and as a friend. He would have preferred to talk to Skuld, but she and Ven had gone out on a shopping trip and wouldn’t be back until the evening. Lauriam was already busy with his own problems; Ephemer didn’t want to burden him with more… and he already knew what his Chirithy had to say about the whole thing, so that really only left Brain.
There are only five of us, and we need to stick together.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea… surely it was better than sitting here endlessly worrying in circles, at least. And maybe, he might just get to know Brain a little better as well, which wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
If he’ll talk to me, Ephemer amended. He sighed again. He was doing that a lot, lately. He’d have to be careful, or else Chirithy would tease him about it.
Ephemer eyed his rulebook again, wondering if he even had the time to go and talk to anyone. Had Master Ava ever seemed this busy? She’d always had time to talk to anyone, even in those final few months before the war when everything was happening all at once. How had the Foretellers managed an entire town full of people? Ephemer was exhausted just from looking after a few hundred Dandelions. But then again, he thought ruefully, the Foretellers didn’t do such a great job of managing everyone in the end, anyway.
Well, there was no time like the present. Ephemer pushed himself to his feet, sparing only a glance for the books and papers spread across the table. They’d still be there when he came back later, and hopefully, he’d be in a better headspace to understand them by then.
For now though, he was off to search for his fellow Union leader.
+++
Finding Brain proved to be a harder task than Ephemer had been expecting.
He checked all of the rooms that held the highest chance of containing Brain – the main workroom was already out, seeing as Ephemer had been in there, but the control room, the main library and the second, smaller library were all empty. So too were the kitchens, the room Brain had claimed for his bedroom and the large room they had started to turn into a common area, one that was more comfortable than the upstairs meeting room with its couches and plush chairs stacked high with cushions. Once all the main areas were exhausted, Ephemer began to wander around the whole tower, hoping he didn’t get lost.
Just when Ephemer was starting to think that maybe Brain wasn’t even in the clocktower at all, a flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention as he passed an open door. With Ven, Skuld and presumably Lauriam out of the tower, it could really be only one other person. He perked up, backtracking to stand in the doorway and survey the room more closely. It was yet another room with bookshelves lining the walls – honestly, why did the Master of Masters have so many books, surely he didn’t read all of them?! – but unlike similar rooms that Ephemer had passed on his search, this one had a long workbench running along one side of the room, and storage cabinets at the far end. What would Brain be doing in here…?
He caught sight of a familiar hat amongst the shelves.
“Brain! There you are!” he said in relief, stepping forward before realising several things. One, Brain was somehow a foot shorter than he remembered; two, Brain definitely didn’t have a fuzzy grey-striped face like the one that turned towards him curiously; which meant that three, this wasn’t Brain. Though given the hat, it was highly likely that this was, in fact, Brain’s Chirithy. “Uh –”
They stared at each other for a moment before Ephemer belatedly remembered that four, Chirithies had a habit of disappearing around people who weren’t their wielder. “Wait!” he cried frantically, throwing up a beseeching hand. “Don’t go, I have a question –”
The hat-wearing Chirithy looked as bemused as only a Chirithy could as Ephemer hastily made his way over to the stepladder they stood upon. On the other hand, they also didn’t disappear like he had half-expected them to, so Ephemer counted it as a win.
“Thanks!” he said brightly, once he was within normal conversation range. If anyone has an idea of where Brain is right now, surely it’s his Chirithy! “Do you – wait, what are you doing?”
Now that he was closer, he could see there was a stack of books piled high next to the small Spirit. As he watched, confused, Chirithy carefully slotted the book they’d been holding into an empty space of the bookshelf. “What does it look like?” they asked patiently. “I’m shelving books.”
“Uh, yeah, but…” Ephemer managed, nonplussed. He leaned around the ladder and spied a box also piled high with books. “…Why?”
Brain’s Chirithy levelled him with a flat look. “Is that really what you came all the way over here to ask?” they asked, tone drier than Agrabah’s desert. They picked up another book.
“I – no,” Ephemer said blankly, already completely thrown off by this surreal conversation. He shook himself mentally. Focus! “I actually wanted to ask if you knew where Brain was,” he continued with a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.
Chirithy squinted at him from under the brim of their hat, looking so uncannily like Brain with his searching gaze that Ephemer had to quickly stifle a snort of laughter. Guess Chirithies really do reflect their wielders!
“Why do you think I’d know where Brain is?” Chirithy asked, suspicious.
“Well, you’re his Chirithy, aren’t you?” Ephemer pointed out. There was a long moment of silence. He tried again, feeling more awkward. Maybe this wasn’t Brain’s Chirithy after all? No, he was exactly as standoffish as Brain seemed. “You look like him, so I figured…”
This comment wrought an instant change in the little Spirit, as they straightened up proudly with an air of being incredibly pleased. “You’ve come to the right place, then!” they informed him, self-important. Then they faltered, deflating slightly. “Well… except you haven’t, if you’re looking for Brain. I am his Chirithy, but he’s not here right now.”
“Oh,” said Ephemer, shoulders slumping. So close, and yet so far! At least it explained why he hadn’t been able to find the other Union leader anywhere. Guess I should give up and get back to the books then…
“Why were you looking for him?” Chirithy asked curiously, peering up at him.
“I wanted to ask him something,” Ephemer explained. “Though if he’s not here then I guess it can’t be helped…”
Chirithy looked thoughtful, putting a paw to their chin. “Another question-asker, huh…?” they mused to themselves. Ephemer looked on in bemusement as Chirithy seemed to mull this over, wondering if he should go. Before he could make his excuses, however, Chirithy gave a single decisive nod like they’d made up their mind about something and looked back up at him. “Well, he’s down in Daybreak Town at the moment, but if you wanna talk to him, I can take you to him?”
Ephemer brightened. “That’d be great! Thanks, Chirithy.”
“No worries!” said Chirithy cheerfully, placing the book in their hands back on the stack and leaping lightly from the stepladder. “It gives me a break from shelving, anyway.”
Ephemer followed Chirithy as the little Spirit left the room and trundled down the hallway. “So why are you shelving books?” he asked, still curious.
“Oh!” Chirithy said. Their mood seemed much brighter now, and Ephemer wondered if it was from escaping shelving duties or if he had passed some kind of Chirithy-test. “Brain’s moving some of his books to the tower so he can reference them more easily while he’s devouring the rest of the tower’s library,” they informed him. “That room’s got a workspace for him too, and no-one else seemed like they wanted it, so…”
Ephemer filed away that bit of information – Brain needed a workspace? – as Chirithy trailed off. “Yeah, he, uh, sure does read a lot,” he offered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and unsure of what to say.
“You noticed that, did you?” Chirithy asked dryly, startling a laugh out of Ephemer. He thought he might like this little Spirit. “He’s a fast reader,” Chirithy continued. “I’m sure he’ll make short work of what’s in the tower, if he hasn’t already.”
It didn’t sound like Chirithy was kidding. Ephemer’s eyebrows rose as he contemplated the sheer number of books he had walked by earlier in his search for Brain. Granted, he hadn’t ever Brain without a book in his hand since that first day when they had stepped into the Master’s workroom, but even so…! “Wow, that’s… pretty impressive, actually,” he said with an awed whistle.
“That’s Brain!” Chirithy agreed. Ephemer couldn’t help but smile at the obvious pride in the Spirit’s voice. “Anyway, that’s why I’m shelving,” Chirithy explained as they left the clocktower and emerged into the midday sunlight. Ephemer squinted, holding one hand up to shade his eyes until they adjusted to the brightness of the stone around them. Chirithy seemed to have no such problems, shaded by their hat as they were. Huh, wonder if that’s why Brain wears one all the time…
His attention was drawn back to Chirithy as they began to move off down the street, grumbling to themselves. “Although I don’t know why I’m bothering, because he’ll just re-shelve everything the way he wants it later anyway… or maybe they’ll just end up all over the floor again if I don’t…”
Ephemer chuckled quietly to himself and followed in Chirithy’s wake. The little Spirit kept up a steady stream of conversation as he led him down the sunlit streets, happily gossiping away. Being the middle of the day, the streets were bustling with people – especially the one that led to the marketplace – but not so crowded as to make the walk uncomfortable.
Seeing all the other Dandelions out and about on the street, going about their daily lives looking happy and content, raised Ephemer’s spirits enormously. The anxious voice inside him – the one that worried over how he was ever supposed to be a leader – quietened down, subdued by empirical proof that maybe he wasn’t doing such a bad job. Without their memories of the war, the Dandelions were able to live their lives out in peace, a far cry from the broiling anger in Daybreak Town that had built up in the months before the war. It was the right decision, Ephemer thought, watching a pair of Dandelions walk past, laughing over a joke one of them had told. I was sceptical when Master Ava mentioned it, but after hearing about my friend’s nightmares from their Chirithy, and this… it was the right decision. Hopefully all of the Chirithies are doing their best to take care of nightmares as well.
It wasn’t just the Chirithies anymore, either. Ephemer’s eyes were drawn over and over again to the bright flashes of colour at the heels of all the Dandelions: the Spirit pets that Brain had made for them with Lauriam’s help. Unlike the Chirithies, no two pets were the same – a veritable rainbow of colours and creatures. Maybe they weren’t as powerful as Chirithies, but unlike Chirithies they could fight alongside their partners on missions, and they could help the Chirithies devour nightmares as well. Brain’s idea to make them had been a good one. What better way to celebrate our promotion, indeed?
He turned his attention back to the Chirithy beside him. Ephemer had never really talked to another person’s Chirithy so much like this – only the Chirithy of Skuld and their mutual friend, and they both tended to stay quiet most of the time anyway. This Chirithy was downright chatty, almost the complete opposite of their wielder. Still, Chirithies did tend to reflect their wielders in odd ways… maybe Brain was secretly a chatterbox too? Ephemer tried to imagine it and snickered to himself quietly at the image it produced while Chirithy wasn’t looking.
Well, Brain might not be easy to talk to, but his Chirithy sure was! “I like your hat, by the way,” Ephemer told the little Spirit trundling alongside him as they turned off the main streets. “It looks cool.” It was the first time he’d seen a Chirithy wearing anything other than the standard cream cape and pink purse around their neck.
Chirithy lit up. “Oh, really? Thank you!” they said happily, reaching up to touch the brim of their hat with a paw. “Brain made it for me!”
“Really?” Ephemer asked in surprise, blinking. Well, that explained why it looked so similar to Brain’s own hat, at least. It seemed like his fellow Union leader had unexpected depths.
“Yup!” Chirithy replied proudly. “It really does look cool, huh!”
“It does,” Ephemer agreed with a smile at Chirithy’s obvious happiness. He wondered if his Chirithy would like something like that too… maybe a scarf or something? He’d have to ask.
“Oh, here we are!” Chirithy said a few minutes later, Ephemer still musing over Chirithy apparel. He blinked and looked up at the building they stood before. Whitewashed, purple roof tiles and window boxes spilling over with flowers, it looked like every other apartment block in Daybreak Town. “Come on, this way!” Chirithy called, beckoning him over to the front doors. Ephemer followed, shaking his head at himself. What had he been expecting, a house painted black or something?
He followed Chirithy up the stairs to the top of the apartment block. A little down the hallway, there was a door propped open with a stack of books, which Chirithy immediately made a beeline for. Ephemer wondered if he should be polite and knock, but Chirithy just waltzed right in with a cheerful cry of “Brain!”
Ephemer stopped in the doorway, both not wanting to intrude and also because – holy moly, that was a lot of books for one person! Every available surface was covered in piles of them: the bed, the floor, the table. Suddenly, Brain’s obsession with reading every book in the tower made a lot more sense. Across the room, a giant window bathed the room in warm sunlight.
Amid all this chaos, Brain stood next to a pile of boxes with hands on hips, surveying the sea of books with a frown on his face. He was in his shirtsleeves and vest; his coat and hat were abandoned on the desk behind him, and the sunlight highlighted his pale skin even as it sank into the darkness of his hair, glinting against the silver of his earring. Wow, it’s like seeing him without his armour on, Ephemer marvelled quietly. He didn’t seem quite so intimidating or mysterious like this, without his hat shadowing his eyes.
Brain’s frown quickly became a look of confusion as Chirithy bounded over to him, navigating the book piles with ease. “Chirithy!” he said in surprise. “What are you doing here? I thought you were staying at the tower?” To Ephemer’s shock, Brain immediately crouched down as Chirithy came to a stop in front of him and proceeded to lightly scratch fingers through the fur on Chirithy’s cheek.
“I was, but I brought someone to see you!” Chirithy said brightly, turning to point at Ephemer.
Brain looked up and spotted Ephemer hovering in the doorway, that grey gaze as unreadable as ever even without the hat. So Ephemer did the only thing that made sense to him in that moment, and awkwardly waved. Brain’s mouth twitched in a grin, and surprisingly, he waved back. “So I see,” he told Chirithy and looked back up at Ephemer. “Hi, Ephemer.”
“Hi, Brain,” Ephemer replied, shoving his traitorous hands in his pockets. “Chirithy didn’t tell me you were busy, I can come back…?” He freed one hand to motion back the way he had come.
Brain shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” He grinned wryly. “It looks messy but it’s organised chaos, I promise.”
“He always says that, but it’s just a mess,” Chirithy butted in with a conspiratorial stage-whisper. “It used to look like this all the time before I made him get more bookshelves.”
“Oh…?” Ephemer said, unsure what he was supposed to do with this information.
“Shush, you,” Brain said mildly, tipping Chirithy’s hat down over his face and ignoring the ‘hey!’ and pout it earned him. The Union leader raised his eyebrows at the Spirit. “If you’re done with your slander, you can take some of these back to the tower when you go,” he said, waving a hand at the box half-filled with books beside him.
Chirithy jumped up. “Uh oh! Gotta go, urgent shelving to do!” they declared, arms flailing. “Bye, Ephemer!” With a flip and a puff of smoke, Chirithy disappeared from view.
Brain snorted, shaking his head in amusement. Ephemer blinked. “Uh…”
“Don’t mind him,” Brain advised, turning his attention back to his guest. “You can come in, you know,” he said with a wave, beckoning Ephemer inside. Ephemer stepped cautiously into the room, a little worried about knocking over some of the piles of books. “Sorry there’s not a lot of space at the moment,” Brain added as Ephemer made his way careful over to the other boy. “Chirithy may have told you, but I’m moving some of my books to the tower so I don’t have to come down here all the time whenever I want to check something in them.” He flashed a wide grin. “Plus, this way I can avoid Chirithy grumbling at me whenever I ask him to go fetch me one of them, never mind that he can teleport.” Brain rolled his eyes as he spoke, but it was clear from the affectionate way he spoke that there wasn’t any real bite to his words.
Ephemer chuckled. “That makes sense.” He finally made it over to Brain’s side – feeling triumphant, because he’d managed it without knocking over anything! – and stood beside the other boy, copying his hands-on-hips pose as he surveyed the sea of books on Brain’s floor. Ephemer let out a low whistle. “Wow, you sure have a lot of books though!”
Brain laughed; it was the first time Ephemer had ever heard him do so properly. “You’re not the first person to tell me this,” Brain told him, amused.
Ephemer shook himself out of his surprise and looked around again. “Do… you want some help?” he offered hesitantly. “Four hands are better than two, right?”
Brain’s eyebrows rose in surprise, like he wasn’t expecting the offer, and appeared to consider it. “Yeah, alright,” he said after a moment. “I’m still sorting them, but if you can pack the ones I’ve already decided to take, that’d save some time.” He motioned towards a box with a stack of books waiting beside it. “Thanks for the help.”
“No worries!” Ephemer said cheerily, and made his way over to the indicated box.
As he knelt to start packing and Brain returned to his sorting, it dawned on Ephemer that this was easily both the longest and smoothest conversation he’d ever managed to have with Brain. Maybe it was because Brain looked so much less intimidating, or that Brain felt more at ease in his own space and was thus less on guard, or even that Chirithy’s earlier appearance had put him in a good mood – the two of them seemed to get along well – but no matter what the cause was, Ephemer decided to use it to his advantage. Maybe he could find out a bit more about his fellow Union leader in the process.
He snuck a glance over his shoulder in between placing books carefully into the box before him. Brain was absorbed in his own task, chewing on his lip a little as he frowned thoughtfully between two books. Ephemer grinned a little at the sight. Trust Brain to look so serious over a bunch of books! They seemed a little too dry and boring for Ephemer to try and read himself – he’d peeked at some of the titles of the ones he was packing away, and all of them were about spell-work or synthesis or written in such flowery language that he couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were meant to be about – but there were others that looked pretty interesting. Maybe one day he could get Brain to explain them in a way that he could actually pay proper attention to…?
Ephemer let his gaze wander around the room. It was a handsome apartment, rich-coloured wood and pale walls. As expected, there were a lot of bookshelves – although they were mostly empty, their contents spread across the floor in Brain’s ‘organised chaos’. That huge window dominated one end of the apartment, leaving the apartment warm in the midday sun. He could see the clocktower in the distance, towering over the rest of Daybreak Town.
Near the window was a large desk – unsurprisingly, also piled high with books; though Ephemer was beginning to suspect that was just its natural state – and beside that was a long bench that ran along the side wall. Tidy racks of glassware sent rainbows skittering across the ceiling and the soot-stained wall behind; more importantly, there was a distinct lack of books. It wasn’t until Ephemer saw a set of scales and what he thought might be a burner stored carefully in the corner that he realised that it was remarkably similar to the Master’s workbench behind the giant table they held their meetings at. Oh yeah, that room that Chirithy was taking over had a similar kind of bench as well, didn’t it?
“Yeah, I use it when I’m synthesising things,” Brain said from behind him. Ephemer startled, belatedly realising that he’d said that last part aloud. Whoops! He twisted around sheepishly to find Brain looking at him, mouth quirked in amusement. “I know the main room has a setup already,” Brain continued, returning his attention to the books in his hand, “but since we’re using it as a meeting room now, I figured I’d spare everyone the fumes and smoke and find another place to work.” He weighed both books thoughtfully before adding one to the pile beside Ephemer and the other to his desk. “No use us all getting covered in soot if something blows up,” he added.
“Blows up?!” Ephemer repeated with alarm.
Brain glanced at him and grinned. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing enough these days that that very rarely happens anymore. Just ask Chirithy.” He paused for a moment, apparently giving this statement some thought. “Actually, don’t. He’ll just regale you with stories that will completely destroy my mysterious façade.”
Ephemer laughed and made a mental note to do just that if he ever saw the little Spirit around again. “So, synthesis is your hobby?” he asked curiously. You could always tell a lot about people from the things they liked to do in their spare time. Skuld was into jewellery-making; all of the accessories she wore had been made with her own hands. Ephemer had initially been surprised when he’d found out – it was an unusual hobby, after all – but it had made sense once he’d thought about it more. It was a solitary hobby, very meticulous and required a lot of focus and diligence, but it rewarded you with proof of your hard work at the end… rather like synthesis, actually. It suited what Ephemer already knew about the type of person Brain was.
“Well, sometimes I read a bit,” Brain said dryly, and grinned when Ephemer laughed. “Yeah, you could say it’s a hobby. Mostly I make potions and other recovery items, spell modifications, stuff like that.”
Spell modifications? That sounded interesting. “Huh,” Ephemer said thoughtfully, mulling over this new information. “Well, I guess that explains how you made all those Spirit pets so quickly!” It had been almost a solid week of work, even with Lauriam’s help, but considering they’d had to make one for every Dandelion… Ephemer hadn’t really realised at the time just how impressive that feat was.
Brain grinned, looking pleased. “Those were a little more complicated than what I usually make,” he allowed, “but yeah, basically. It’s one of the things I’m good at.” Brain surveyed the workbench, a wistful look on his face. “I haven’t really had time to make anything lately – besides those guys – and I kinda miss it. I used to…” Brain trailed off, mouth twisting down for a moment. He shook his head and turned away, back to the piles of books. “Well, it’s not like there’s as much demand for potions as there used to be, I guess,” was all he said.
Oh, right… because there’s only the Dandelions left, now, Ephemer thought glumly. Had Brain used to make potions for other people then? People who weren’t Dandelions? Wait, why does that ring a bell…?
Hey, Ephemer, did you know? There’s a guy all in black that’ll give you potions for free if you can find him, no matter what your Union is!
Ephemer’s eyes widened. “Oh my god,” he said in amazement, spinning around to point at his fellow Union leader. “You’re the Potions guy!”
Brain blinked at him. “I’m the what?” he asked blankly.
“The Potions guy,” Ephemer repeated, a grin rapidly growing across his face. It was obvious, now that he was thinking about it. “There’s been a rumour around town for ages about a mysterious guy in black who’ll give you free potions – if you know where to find him.”
Brain stared at him for a moment longer before groaning quietly, smacking a hand against his face. “Why am I plagued by this,” Ephemer heard him mutter to himself, sounding exasperated.
If anything, Ephemer’s grin grew impossibly wider. He marvelled at the revelation; he’d heard the rumour from several people but had never bothered to try and find the mysterious potion seller himself. To think, he might have met Brain sooner had he bothered to look! Did any of the others know? No, surely not, otherwise they would have recognised Brain from the moment they met him in the wastelands. Had Master Ava known? “The Moogle has quite the rivalry with you, you know,” Ephemer teased and was rewarded with a pained expression directed his way.
“So I’ve been told,” Brain replied in a long-suffering tone.
“I can’t believe I’m meeting a legend in the flesh,” Ephemer continued with delight. It was worth it just for the chance to tease Brain – something he might not have dared do before today – but it was equally worth it for finally having a face to put to this particular rumour. Ephemer carefully filed it away in his mental library of all the information he’d ever gathered from talking to other people.
“Shush, you,” Brain grumbled, but his words held no heat. In fact, from the way his fingers twitched towards his face, and the faint red staining his cheeks, Ephemer was willing to bet good munny that Brain was dearly wishing he were wearing his hat right about now to hide behind. “It wasn’t like that, I just – made potions.”
“And gave them away,” Ephemer pointed out.
“And gave them away,” Brain agreed. Ephemer decided to take pity on the guy, even when Brain dropped a new stack of books next to the pile he’d almost finished packing. “So, what about you then?” Brain asked, leaning back against his book-strewn desk, arms folded.
“Me?” Ephemer asked. “Oh, nothing grand like that,” he said with a laugh, waving a dismissive hand. “I guess I like talking to people and hearing about their lives… I knew most of the Dandelions before we all came here. Well, vaguely, at least,” he amended, folding the flaps of the box closed.
“Really?” Brain said in surprise, reaching over to pass him another box; Ephemer took it with thanks. He wasn’t quite sure why Brain was so surprised. It wasn’t like there were that many Dandelions… okay, no, there were a lot of Dandelions, but it still wasn’t an impressive number of people to have chatted to at one time or another.
Still, it wasn’t worth protesting. “Yeah,” he said with a nod, then smiled. “That’s how I heard all those rumours about you, actually… not that I would have ever guessed it was you.”
Brain hummed in acknowledgment, but didn’t say anything else. Ephemer shrugged. “I’m a curious person by nature,” he said by way of explanation, “and everyone has something they like to talk about, so it’s nice to just listen, you know? You find out a lot that way. I’m not great with absorbing information from books – like some people – but if you tell me something, I’ll remember it.”
The other boy looked thoughtful, tapping his arm. “I get it. You’re more of a people person, not a bookworm like me, huh?”
Ephemer laughed sheepishly. “That’s one way to put it, I suppose.”
Brain snorted. “You say it like it’s nothing special, but being able to talk to people and connect with them like that – that’s a skill in and out of itself,” he offered, gesturing with one arm. “It’s a good quality for a leader to have.”
“Oh… yeah.” Ephemer knew Brain meant it as a compliment but there it was again, the weight of being the ‘leader’.
Brain raised his eyebrows questioningly, taking note of his hesitation. “Ah, not comfortable with the whole leader thing, are you?”
Ephemer sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Well, this is part of why I came here. “To be honest… no,” he admitted. “It’s not the kind of authority I want to deal with. Making decisions for myself is one thing, but making them for other people who trust in me? I’ve been reckless with that before, and it’s hurt people I care about.”
He thought about his friend, how he’d left them behind to explore the secret entrance to the clocktower. He’d had his reasons – they hadn’t been ready to take that final step, and forcing them wouldn’t have been the actions of a friend – but he had left them behind, he had broken a promise, and he had caused a hurt that lingered across dreams and reality alike. He was forgiven – at least, he thought he was forgiven – but that hurt was still in his friend’s heart, and it would take a while to fade. He’d left Skuld behind too, because she needed to realise that her heart was stronger than she thought, that she could stand on her own without him, and the only way to prove that had been to leave. Skuld had long since forgiven him, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t hurt her as well. He was lucky to be blessed with them both as his friends. “I’d rather us all work as a team. If we can share our weaknesses and our strengths, we’ll be stronger for it,” he finished firmly. No more leaving people behind.
Brain’s arms were folded again as he studied Ephemer for long moments, his eyes a stormy grey. It was the same considering stare that his Chirithy had levelled at Ephemer earlier; there was no doubt in Ephemer’s mind as to who the little Spirit had learnt it from. Brain’s stare was a lot more piercing than his Chirithy’s, though. Ephemer swallowed nervously, feeling like he was being measured, but Brain’s next words were surprising enough that they wiped away all apprehension:
“For what it’s worth, I don’t feel particularly suited to this role either.”
“Really?” Ephemer asked, startled. He’d never have guessed it from the confident demeanour Brain had been putting forward.
Brain snorted. “Do I look like a leader to you?” he asked, waving an arm at himself. “Don’t answer that,” he added when Ephemer opened his mouth to say, actually, yes? Brain shook his head, as though he knew what Ephemer had been about to say. “My role’s always been to support others, not be at the head of things. And yet,” he spread his arms out, “here I am.”
Ephemer smiled. “Guess that makes two of us, then.” Comfort sure did come from strange places… but there was a strange sense of comfort in knowing that even the most self-assured member of their group felt out of place.
Brain smiled at the ground, eyes faraway like he was recalling a fond memory. It made his usual sharp edges seem softer, somehow. “Still, Master Ava believed in us – chose us – and that has to count for something, right?” he asked, looking up to meet Ephemer’s eyes.
That was an even more heartening thought. Ephemer brightened. “Yeah, you’re right,” he answered. “If we can’t have faith in ourselves, we can at least have faith in Master Ava’s faith in us.”
Brain grinned. “Exactly.”
The companionable silence stretched, each of them absorbed in their own thoughts, until Ephemer’s stomach broke it with a rumbling growl. They both jumped at the noise, looked at each other and broke into laughter. Ephemer wrapped an arm around his middle. “Sorry, guess it’s been longer since breakfast than I thought,” he apologised sheepishly.
Brain pushed away from the desk. His hand brushed over his hat, but he didn’t pick it up, instead shoving his hands into his pockets. “Come on, I’ve probably still got some food around here.”
He led Ephemer through the doorway that lead to the other half of the apartment. To the left was a kitchen, windows above the counters streaming light into this room as well. Brain made a beeline for the fridge and the cupboards beside them, waving Ephemer towards the round table on the other side of the room. Beyond the table, there was another doorway that presumably led to a bathroom, though the door was closed. Ephemer took a seat at the table, still looking around curiously. There were a few plants here and there – come to think of it, there’d been one or two in the other room, beside the desk – but not much otherwise in the way of decoration. Well, unless you count more books, Ephemer thought wryly, pushing a small stack of them out of the way as Brain rummaged through the cupboards.
“This is all I’ve got left, sorry,” Brain apologised, coming back with a loaf of bread. He placed it and a couple of jars of different spreads in the middle of the table and handed a plate to Ephemer. “Haven’t been here much lately.”
Right, of course, since they’d all basically moved into the tower now. It was kind of a shame though, seeing Brain’s sunny little apartment. The clocktower was cold and gloomy by contrast. “Nah, this is good, thanks!” Ephemer said cheerfully, ditching his gloves as Brain cut some slices of bread for him and passed them over. Ephemer drizzled some honey over his slices of bread and made them into a sandwich; Brain opted for blackberry jam.
They ate in silence for a while. It might not have been the most nutritious of meals, but it was good enough to satisfy the rumblings of his stomach. Ephemer had finished his first sandwich and was starting on a second when Brain finally spoke up. “So why did you actually come down here, anyway?” he asked curiously. “I’ll admit I was expecting you to ask ages ago, not just help me pack.”
Ephemer chuckled sheepishly. “Ah, well, I meant to, but helping you was important too, you know?”
Brain snorted at this admission, but seemed pleased as he waved for Ephemer to go ahead and explain. Ephemer scratched his temple, wondering where to start. “Um. To be honest, I don’t really know why I came,” he confessed. “But everyone was busy,” including Brain, apparently, “and Lauriam suggested that you might be able to help me with a problem I’m having.”
The other boy raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed. “Oh, he did, did he,” he muttered, and sighed. “Well, I make no promises, but I’ll see what I can do. What’s your problem?”
Ephemer looked down at his sandwich, fiddling with it as he searched for the right words to explain. “Well… I’ve got this friend here,” he started. Brain nodded in encouragement, continuing to eat. “They’re not actually a Dandelion though, and they weren’t from my Union originally either.” Brain straightened a bit in surprise, gaze sharpening. However, he didn’t interrupt, so Ephemer continued on. “Master Ava invited them to join the Dandelions at the same time as Skuld, but they had their reasons not to… then the war happened, and they got swept up in it. Skuld and I went to the battlefield when the fighting was done, to see if we could find them. It was…”
He trailed off into silence, memories flooding back. The wasteland where the battle had taken place had been cold and miserable, rain pouring down to soak into the bloodstained dirt. There hadn’t been any bodies – that had been one small mercy – but in a way that had almost been worse, as he and Skuld had searched through a sea of abandoned Keyblades, each one the only thing remaining of people they might have known. He thought he’d recognised some of them, but he hadn’t wanted to stop and check, too heart-sore and frantic to find the friend he’d tried to save, too apprehensive over the presence of the giant heart-shaped moon starting to shine down from the sky. The relief he’d felt when he and Skuld had finally found them had been staggering; that their friend wasn’t just another Keyblade left abandoned in the mud.
He shuddered and shook his head to clear it of the memories, suddenly aware he’d fallen silent. He didn’t look up at Brain, but he could feel the other boy’s eyes on him. “It was awful,” he said simply. An inadequate word to try and sum up the horror he’d felt, but there were no words that could describe it accurately anyway. Brain made a noise of understanding; well, he’d seen the graveyard of Keyblades too, and it wouldn’t take much imagination to extrapolate from that. “We found them, though,” he said quietly. “We found them in time and brought them here, and now they don’t remember the war at all, like the other Dandelions. I was trying to let them adjust – I wasn’t sure if seeing me would trigger memories of the battlefield, since that’s where I saw them last. Their Chirithy says they’re doing okay, though. But then all the Union leader stuff started and since then…” Ephemer sighed and spread his hands helplessly. “Well, I feel like I’m neglecting them a bit.”
Brain patiently waited a few more moments, as though he expected there to be more to the story. When nothing else was forthcoming, he furrowed his eyebrows slightly. “So just… go hang out with them?” he said, sounding confused.
“It’s not that easy,” Ephemer replied, making a face.
The furrow between Brain’s brows grew deeper. “Why not? Seems pretty simple to me.”
“Well…”
“Are you worried they’re gonna be mad at you?” Brain asked, starting to eat his jam sandwich again.
“No!” Ephemer protested, then paused. Had his apology at the battlefield even made it into their memories? “Well, maybe…”
“They’re your friend,” Brain pointed out. “You obviously cared enough about them to find them on a battlefield, and they cared enough about you to follow you to a place they’d refused to go before and that they knew nothing about. If it’s truly been so long since you’ve seen them, then I think they’d just be happy to see you, angry or not.” He finished off the last piece of his sandwich.
The worry that had been coiling tight inside him for the past few weeks eased the tiniest amount at that. Still, that wasn’t the main reason he’d been dithering over it all this time. “It’s not that, though. I’ve got Union leader duties…”
Brain huffed a laugh. “Don’t we all?” he asked rhetorically. Ephemer opened his mouth, ready to argue his point further, but Brain held up a hand to stop him. “Hear me out. Just because we’re Union leaders now, doesn’t mean our regular lives have to just stop,” he said seriously, grey eyes sharp. “We’ve all got things of our own that need doing – look at me, I’m out here cataloguing my personal library today. Ven and Skuld are out shopping; that’s got nothing to do with running the Unions. Everyone needs a break now and then, or you’ll burn out.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ephemer said with a sigh. He did know, but… “It just feels unfair to put my personal issues above the rest of the group when we’re all so busy.” He absently noted that he’d worried half his sandwich into crumbs and made up for it by shoving what remained into his mouth.
Brain snorted. “Why not? Lauriam’s doing exactly that.”
“That’s different,” Ephemer said around a mouthful of bread.
“How so?”
“Well, his friend – or whoever he’s looking for – might have actually disappeared,” he pointed out.
“And yours almost did disappear,” Brain pointed out, spreading jam across a new slice of bread. “Both of you have perfectly valid reasons for taking time for yourself. And again – even if you didn’t, you’re allowed to have a life outside of being a Union leader.”
Ephemer chuckled, a little self-depreciatingly. “Yeah… guess I just feel like now’s not the time to think about stuff like this, you know?” he said, accepting the slices of bread that Brain slid towards him. “There’s too much else going on.”
Brain straightened. “Now is exactly the kind of time to think about stuff like this,” he said, so serious and solemn all of a sudden that Ephemer could only blink. “If you leave it, it might end up too late.” There was a faraway look in his eyes. Ephemer wondered what could have happened to make Brain look so sad.
Before he could say anything though, Brain lost the faraway look and turned his attention back to Ephemer, pinning him with a sharp grey gaze. “Why are you so hung up on your leader duties, anyway?”
That was the real question, wasn’t it? Ephemer sighed, slumping in his seat. “Everyone’s counting on me,” he said simply, staring at his sandwich so that he didn’t have to keep meeting that sharp gaze. He hitched his shoulders up awkwardly in a half-shrug. “I don’t think any of you do it consciously, but you guys – especially Ven and Lauriam – you all keep deferring to me, and while I appreciate the vote of confidence…” he trailed off with an awkward laugh. Brain said nothing, merely watched him with those unreadable eyes. “When Master Ava asked me to become a Dandelion and explore a new world for her… she didn’t mention leadership. That came later – but only that I was going to be a Union leader, one of five.”
You won’t be alone in this. The five of you can work together.
“But…” he continued, fiddling with his sandwich again, filled with nervous energy. “Skuld told me when we met up again that Master Ava had told her that I was supposed to take her place as leader of the Dandelions, which I guess might explain things, but it’s not what I was told.” He grimaced. “Finding out I’m meant to have that level of responsibility is freaking me out a bit.”
When he finally looked back up at Brain, the other Union leader looked thoughtful, leaning on one hand. “Huh,” Brain said finally. “Well, if it makes you feel better, Master Ava didn’t say anything about that to me. You just seemed the most leader-type person in the group when we met.” He shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. “I can’t speak for the others, but they probably just picked up on that same feeling.”
“Oh…”
Brain eyed him as he chewed. “I can see how I’ve been giving you the impression that I expected you to lead, though,” he agreed, looking apologetic. “Even though you’ve been protesting it at every turn. That’s my bad; I’m sorry.”
“Oh!” Ephemer blurted, surprised. “I didn’t mean…”
Brain shook his head. “Maybe not, but if it’s been bothering you, then it’s worth addressing plainly,” he said firmly. “Alright. Again, I can’t speak for the others, but for the record – I don’t expect you to be the ‘leader’ of our group. If you just want to be one of five and give everyone an equal voice – well, that’s an admirable stance and I’m happy to stick with that. Like I said, I don’t particularly want to lead either.” He grinned; Ephemer laughed. Brain pointed at him with his sandwich. “Still, I meant what I said in the graveyard. Leader or not, I trust you to guide us down the right path.” He grinned again, amused. “What a group you’ve got with you though! Ven’s too shy, I’m too blunt, Skuld’s too serious and Lauriam’s just completely absent…”
Ephemer laughed. “Hey, what does that make me?”
The other boy studied him for a moment. “Too cheerful,” he announced, blithely taking a mouthful of sandwich as Ephemer spluttered.
“Hey! Too mean!” Ephemer protested, laughing. Brain snickered.
Laughing felt good after weeks of anxiety; maybe Lauriam had been onto something when he’d scolded Ephemer for being too serious all of the time. Still, though, some things you need to be serious about. “It’s not just you guys though,” Ephemer said, sobering. “It’s all the Dandelions – we’re responsible for making sure they live a good life here until we can return them to the other world safely. That’s a lot of responsibility, and I don’t want to let any of them down. They’ve already had to live through so much… I want them all to live good lives. I’m worried that if I don’t give this my full attention, something might go wrong.”
Brain considered this. “Well, now that we’ve established that no-one expects you to be the sole leader…” he said, grinning when Ephemer made a face at him. “There’s five of us, along with our Chirithies – well, four if we’re not counting Lauriam for the moment – here to help you, so don’t feel like you have to take everything on alone,” he continued reasonably. “If you want us all to work as equal partners, then you gotta trust us to do our share of the work as well – and ask for help when you need it. We aren’t Foretellers, none of our Dandelion training was for this and running yourself ragged won’t solve anything. We might be leaning on you, but you can lean back on us too, you know?” He met Ephemer’s gaze, smiling crookedly.
Surprisingly, that actually did make Ephemer feel a lot better. It wasn’t anything more than what Chirithy and Lauriam had already told him before, but Brain’s blunt manner managed to drive the point home a little more. Or maybe it was just a relief to finally know what Brain actually thought about all of this, after all of his pointed questions that day in the graveyard.
“Friendship’s important,” Brain continued. “Just as important as anything we’ll do as Union leaders. Your hearts may be connected, but that’s still a connection you have to maintain, and it’s no substitute for actually spending time with them.” He waved a hand. “Go see your friend, have a day off, relax. We’ll be fine. I’ll look after your end of things personally if you’re really worried.”
That was… actually kinda touching, coming from Brain. Geez, I was kinda kidding about his hat being armour, but this is the first time he’s been this open… maybe I wasn’t too far off the mark!
“Yeah, I got it,” he said aloud. He smiled at the other boy. “Thanks, Brain.”
Brain waved off his thanks. “No worries. That’s what friends are for, right?”
Ephemer paused, the word ‘friend’ echoing in his head. Brain… thinks we’re friends?
As the silence continued to lengthen, Brain glanced up in confusion and met Ephemer’s wide-eyed gaze. The faintest tinge of panic appeared on the other boy’s face. “Uh, wait –”
“You said friends,” Ephemer said, a delighted grin slowly growing across his face. He does!
Brain groaned, a hand across his face. “I regret this already.”
“No, this is great!” Ephemer said happily, still grinning like a maniac. “We’re friends!”
“I take it back,” Brain said flatly. Ephemer wasn’t fooled; he could see the corner of Brain’s mouth twitching as he fought off a grin.
“You can’t take it back,” Ephemer declared, jabbing a finger at him. “I heard you.”
“If you’re going to be insufferable about it, I’m going back to my books,” Brain threatened, putting the last of his sandwich down and starting to rise from his seat. His voice was stern, but he’d lost the battle with his grin.
“No, no, wait,” Ephemer laughed, waving him back. He offered his hand to Brain, leaning across the table. “Let’s be friends.”
Brain grinned. “Alright. Friends it is, then.” He reached out and shook Ephemer’s hand… then made a face and released it. “Ugh, you have honey all over your fingers!” he complained, looking down at his hand, now smeared with honey.
“Oh, god, sorry,” Ephemer said with a wince, checking his own hands. Brain was right; they were covered with honey. “I didn’t even notice.” Probably from when I was playing with my sandwich...
Brain just grinned and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, heading over to the kitchen to wash his hands under the tap. “But come over here and wash your hands too; you aren’t touching any of my books like that!”
Ephemer laughed, getting up from the table. “That’s fair.”
Brain leaned against the counter beside the sink, arms folded, as Ephemer obediently washed his hands clean of honey. “Wow, I gotta say though,” Ephemer commented as he scrubbed, “you’re surprisingly good at pep-talks.”
That earned him an amused grin. “Let’s just say that I’ve got some experience in being told the same thing,” Brain said wryly. “Both in overworking and in letting other people support me. We’re not as different as you might think, in that regard.”
“Huh,” Ephemer said thoughtfully. Brain had always claimed to be the lazy one, but if he was, Ephemer had honestly never seen any sign of it. Maybe we aren’t actually that different, after all. What did Chirithy call me? A ‘question-asker’? If there was one thing he and Brain definitely had in common, it was their burning curiosity to learn about the world and everything in it. The only difference was that Brain turned to books for his questions; Ephemer, to other people.
Maybe that’s why he doesn’t talk much to us, Ephemer mused, eyeing Brain. He’s not shy like Ven, but I feel like he’s been on his own a lot. Actually, come to think of it, Brain and his Chirithy clearly got on well, but… did Brain actually have any other friends?
Huh. Friends. Cool.
Maybe not. First Skuld and their friend, then Ven, and now Brain – he seemed to have a knack for finding lonely people. Or maybe they find me. Either way, maybe he could help all of his new friends out a little by helping them make connections with each other too. Skuld and Ven seemed like they already got on well, which just left…
“Well, in that case… this friend has some advice for you, too,” Ephemer said, catching Brain’s attention. What was the best way to say it? Brain was pretty blunt in his own speech, so maybe just being straightforward was the way to go.
Brain raised his eyebrows, looking curious. “Go ahead.”
“There’s no reason you have to be alone either,” Ephemer told him, ignoring the bewildered ‘Huh?’ he got in reply. “I don’t mean just in letting other people support you, I mean friends. Like you said, there’s five of us, along with our Chirithies – we’re all going to be working pretty closely together, so I think it would be good for us all to be friendly with each other.”
“Uh-huh…?” Brain agreed slowly, brows furrowed in confusion.
Well, blunt it was, then. “You could stand to open up to the rest of us a little more,” Ephemer said firmly. “I think this is the smoothest – certainly the longest! – conversation that we’ve ever had. You’re not an easy person to talk to, you know?” He faltered. “Well, no, that’s not quite right – this,” he gestured between the two of them, “you’re easy to talk to now, but – usually –”
Confusion was fading into amusement as Brain watched him continue to flounder. Ephemer gave up on his sentence and ploughed on. “I get that you’re trying to read your way through the entire tower,” he joked, “but don’t forget the rest of us are there, you know? Friendship’s a connection you have to maintain, isn’t that what you said? I’m sure the others would love to be your friends too, if they ever got to talk to you.” Ephemer paused thoughtfully, folding his arms. “I think Ven’s worried you’re gonna eat him, or something, actually.” Brain snorted at the ridiculous image; Ephemer grinned. “Look, I’m not saying you have to be friends,” he said earnestly, splaying his hands. “But… it’d be nice, right?”
Brain blinked, before his face softened into a smile. “Yeah, it would,” he agreed. The other boy sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Sorry, I’ll, uh, work on that.” He grinned wryly. “You might have guessed that I’m not a people person.”
Ephemer laughed. “Oh, I dunno, you did a good job as the Potions guy,” he teased, nudging Brain lightly in the side with an elbow.
“Don’t start,” Brain groaned, looking pained. Ephemer just snickered into his hand.
+++
He waited patiently in the hallway as Brain finished locking up his apartment and grabbed one of the boxes from the neat stack beside the door. “Thanks for helping me carry these up to the tower,” Brain said gratefully, grabbing his own box.
“No worries,” Ephemer said with a smile. “That’s what friends are for, right?” Brain flashed him a grin.
Besides, it wasn’t as though the boxes were heavy, as he’d expected when he’d made the offer. Brain had cast a spell on them to make them lighter; it was the first time Ephemer had actually ever seen the other boy wield a Keyblade. The spell he used was fairly impressive too: Zero Gravity tended to grab everything within a certain radius, so for Brain to be able to cast it only on the objects he wanted to lighten spoke to a great sense of control over his magic. Well, he did mention spell modification was one of his hobbies, and half of his books are spell-related… I really shouldn’t be surprised. “Are you sure it’s ok to just leave the rest there?” he asked uncertainly, eyeing the rest of the boxes.
“What? Oh, yeah, I’ll just ask – Chirithy!” Brain replied, raising his voice on the last word.
True to form, the little Spirit popped into view with a puff of smoke and a flip, the black hat marking him as Brain’s Chirithy and no other. “Long time no see!” Chirithy announced, landing on top of the remaining boxes. They spotted Ephemer and waved with enthusiasm. “Oh, hi again Ephemer! You’re still here?”
Ephemer couldn’t help laughing at the little Spirit’s antics. “Hi Chirithy,” he replied with a smile, returning the wave. “I was helping Brain.”
“Unlike some people,” Brain commented dryly, poking Chirithy gently in the cheek. Chirithy swatted at his hand, cheeks puffing out in the same disgruntled look Ephemer was used to seeing on his own Chirithy.
“Hey! I was helping!” they protested indignantly. Chirithy crossed their arms, peering up at Brain from under the brim of their hat. “I shelved all your books!”
“Great, because I’m bringing more over,” Brain replied, white teeth flashing in a grin.
“Whaaaaaaat?!” Chirithy cried, reeling back slightly. Brain reached out a quick hand to steady them – he was clearly used to the melodramatics of his partner – but Chirithy luckily regained their balance. “Geez, making more work for me…” they grumbled with a heavy sigh, body drooping with the force of it.
With an amused huff, Brain set his box down and knelt down so that he was eye-level with the little Spirit. “Thanks for all your hard work,” he said with a soft, sincere smile, rubbing the side of Chirithy’s head. “I appreciate it.”
“O-oh…” Ephemer hid his grin as Chirithy’s disgruntlement melted away into bashfulness. Chirithy straightened his hat, clearly trying to cover their embarrassment. “Well, that’s what I’m here for, I guess.”
Brain smiled and got to his feet. Chirithy looked up at him. “So you’ve finished packing then?”
“Yeah,” Brain confirmed with a nod. “I’ll come back later for some other stuff, but I’ve got all the books I wanted.” He tucked his hands in his coat pockets. “Ephemer’s gonna help me carry these back to the tower, reckon you could stay here and keep an eye on things ‘til we get back?”
“Leave it to me!” Chirithy declared, holding up a fist in determination. “It’s better than shelving, anyway.”
Brain grinned. “Thanks, Chirithy.” He bumped a gentle fist against the little Spirit’s and hefted his box. “Ready?” he asked Ephemer. At Ephemer’s nod, he started off down the hallway. Ephemer started to follow him but stopped short at a tug on the bottom of his shirt. He looked back and found Chirithy looking up at him.
“Thanks for helping him!” the little Spirit said, releasing his shirt. Their voice was hushed, like they didn’t want Brain to overhear. Given that Brain was still only a few feet away, it was highly unlikely that made a difference, but Brain didn’t stop or turn around. “It would have taken ages if it was just him on his own.”
“It’s no trouble,” Ephemer told them truthfully. After all, Brain had helped him sort things out in his own mind; the least he could do was return the favour. Besides… “Us Union leaders gotta look out for each other, after all!”
“Yeah!” Chirithy nodded. They fidgeted for a moment. “…Did you get your question answered?” they asked eventually, peering up at him.
“Yeah, I did,” Ephemer said. He smiled down at this little Spirit, who seemed so proud of their partner and who, for all of their grumbling, really seemed to care about Brain. If Chirithy hadn’t brought him down here, he’d never have gotten the chance to understand his fellow Union leader more, let alone Brain’s blunt analysis to quieten his worries.
“That’s good, I’m glad,” Chirithy replied, looking relieved enough that Ephemer wondered if there hadn’t been a hidden question of Chirithy’s that he’d managed to answer just now as well.
A thought occurred to Ephemer. As Brain’s Chirithy, they have to know whether or not their partner’s lonely… and so maybe is doing their best to help cultivate friendships for him?
Well, maybe, or maybe not. That was a thought for another time; it didn’t really matter now, anyway. “I’d better get going,” Ephemer told Chirithy, hoping that Brain hadn’t gone too far without him.
“Okay!” Chirithy chirped, taking a seat on the top of the box stack. “Take care of him for me, okay?” they asked, looking up at Ephemer seriously. “He works too hard lately.”
Ephemer grinned. “Will do. See ya, Chirithy!”
“See ya!” Chirithy called after him.
Brain was waiting patiently at the top of the stairs for him as Ephemer caught up. Surprisingly, he said nothing about the conversation Ephemer had just had with his Chirithy, just fell into step beside Ephemer as they descended the stairs together.
They’d gone down a couple of flights when Brain finally did speak up, but the topic wasn’t what Ephemer had expected. “I know you said you’re not great with books,” Brain said diffidently as they rounded the stairwell, “but if you want to know anything that’s in these, just ask me. I’d be happy to tell you.” He grinned, glancing at Ephemer out of the corner of his eye. “I’m sure Chirithy would be glad for the reprieve as well, since normally it’s him I’m dumping information on.”
Ephemer was surprised enough that he almost missed a step, catching himself with a quick shuffle. Brain, actually suggesting they hang out? Well, the Brain equivalent, anyway. On the other hand, I did just finish scolding him back about maintaining connections, Ephemer thought with a quiet chuckle. Well, I was intending to ask him about some of those books anyway. “Thanks, that sounds good,” Ephemer told him cheerfully. Brain nodded in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything else. That was okay; Ephemer continued on. “I dunno though, I think your Chirithy likes listening to you. They talked my ear off about you on the way here.”
Brain huffed a laugh. “Sorry about that.” His hat was tipped forward over his eyes again – it was a wonder he could see where he was going – so Ephemer couldn’t really make out his expression, but he thought he caught sight of a pleased smile nonetheless.
“It was kinda cute, actually,” Ephemer commented, grinning. “Maybe I should ask them about all those embarrassing stories of yours…”
“I can un-magic that box any time I want to,” Brain threatened.
Ephemer just laughed. Chirithy would probably tell him if he asked nicely enough, right?
.
.
.
Unlike his Chirithy, Brain did not keep up a steady stream of chatter, but that was alright. There was a companionable silence between them as they walked along the streets, heading for the ever-looming clocktower that had become their home. The sun was still shining brightly overhead and Ephemer spared an envious thought for the cool shade provided by Brain’s hat. The other boy seemed lost in his own thoughts, so Ephemer let him be and took up people-watching again as they passed by.
This wasn’t really how he had expected his day to go, but for once, the worried voice in the back of his mind fretting over everything else he still had to do was quiet. It wasn’t like the amount of work was any less than before, but now he felt confident that the others would be there to support him if he needed them. That was a load off his shoulders that he hadn’t realised just how heavy it had been until it was gone.
He eyed Brain sidelong. Besides, it’s not like I wasted the day away either, he thought with a small amount of satisfaction. Maybe he hadn’t gotten any of his actual Union leader work done, and okay, the whole Shift Pride thing was still in the works, but he’d managed to learn a few new things about their most mysterious member – and made a new friend! Maybe two, if he could count Brain’s Chirithy as well. Those were both pretty good achievements in his book.
Ephemer looked away, just in case Brain looked up and caught sight of his smile. Just like this morning, his eye was caught by the jewel-bright Spirits that filled the streets, trailing after their Dandelions. He thought about Brain spending an entire week working non-stop to create them, with the synthesis he loved so much; how his first project as a Union leader had been, of all things, to ensure that every Dandelion had extra protections against darkness and nightmares, that they weren’t alone. Whether they had turned out bright and cute by his own design or not, only Brain could say; Ephemer didn’t understand enough about synthesis to know one way or the other… but seeing how much the other boy clearly valued his Chirithy made him wonder.
He thought about a hat and an outfit made especially for a friend, that brought so much joy; he thought about potions and other healing items, made in spare moments and given away for free to anyone who needed them. He thought about books, and days upon days upon days of reading in the hopes of finding answers, or even just useful information. He thought about friendship, and about support roles, and about maintaining connections before it became too late.
“You’re always looking after us, huh,” Ephemer said thoughtfully, eyes on the deep blue sky above. Maybe Brain hadn’t spent a lot of time getting to know any of them very well, but it was easy to see that he cared once you knew how to look.
“Huh?” Brain blinked at him, broken out of his thoughts.
Ephemer’s smile was fond. “Ah, nothing.” He shifted closer to Brain, bumping their arms together. “You’re a good guy, you know that?”
This didn’t appear any more enlightening to Brain, who raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Thanks, but what prompted that?” was the blunt reply.
“It’s nothing.” His smile grew to a grin, and Ephemer returned his gaze to the clear sky. “Just thinking aloud.” Brain made a noise of doubtful acquiescence, but didn’t push further.
He thought he might understand Brain a little better now. For all his bluntness and strong persona, it was kindness that lived in his new friend’s heart. Brain, Skuld, Ven, Lauriam – it was with all of their forms of kindness that the world would be renewed. Maybe that was the true reason Master Ava had chosen them.
You won’t be alone in this. The five of you can work together.
Tomorrow, he decided. Tomorrow he’d go and see his friend and spend a long-overdue day catching up with them; ask their forgiveness once again if need be. As for everything else… well, he had four people to help him deal with whatever the future would throw at them; together, they’d figure it out. He wasn’t alone, because he had all of them with him.
Just you wait and see, Master Ava, he thought to the sky. Your faith in us won’t be misplaced.