The room was elaborately decorated, its walls lined with inscriptions from a variety of languages both ancient and modern. The ceiling rose up through the spire and to the highest point of the Sanctum where the eerie light of the midspace passed through a series of sky lights. A large fountain sat in the center of the hall where Yirfir and Lady Naemi Soon stood in conversation illuminated by the large sphere which hovered above the center of the fountain. As they approached the fountain Barris spied a silvery multi-colored liquid undulating within the fountain. On the far side of the fountain Athandra sat on a small mat deep in meditation.
"I suspect this cost a bit to have installed? Who was your decorator, Salvatore Dali?" Barris asked in jest though once again the room remained quiet to his humor.
"Well that voice could only be one judging by the sarcasm. And just so you know I actually met Salvatore Dali. A splendid and eccentric man." Yirfir responded to Barris' attempt at levity.
"Be thankful that you didn't have to put up with him for a walk from the Archives..." Shaela said her voice carrying a little bit of a scathing sharpness.
"Oh that Night Wytch! She really admires him she does like a wart on her..." Xushu started from above Xenshi.
"We are here on a serious matter of grave importance." Xenshi expressed looking to Yirfir and Lady Soon.
"Xenshi speaks the truth. I apologize for my lack of regard but not for my humor. Mila..." Barris started.
"...and Nelony have been experiencing strange behavior. Nelony has been..." Shaela interrupted Barris who upon finding the moment returned her sentiment.
"...talking to the birds again. Wait. Correct that. She always talks to the birds. Well this time she claims that the birds have been kid... er bird-napped and are being..." Barris continued their story as Shaela cut in.
"...forced to work for food. Oh and Mila has been painting pictures..." Shaela glared at Barris.
"...of people in cages. Not bird cages mind you but they are trapped and lifeless. In fact..." Barris quickly jumped in again as he was cut off.
"...all of her pictures have been of people in cages. Her walls are covered in such paintings..." Shaela paused for a breath and lost her spot.
"...and she's locked herself in her studio for three days barely eating or sleeping. All she does is paint and I know that she's an artist, but this is strange even for an artist like her. Oh and the tears..." Barris' expression grew grim and weary.
"Yes, the tears. Xenshi said that the moon..." Shaela began as Xenshi jumped in on the madness.
"...she's crying. The moon. Her tears in the night sky. This is an important symbol..." Xenshi was interrupted.
"Baaahhh! The moon is crazy! She blathering about something painful but I think that she's up to something. One day we'll walk out and see her running away with the sun! We'll be all alone Bahahhhaaa!" Xushu spewed getting in on the excitement.
Yirfir looked to Lady Soon for a moment trying to decipher what they'd been told. It was Lady Soon who spoke.
"So we have strange behavior from Mila and Nelony..." Lady Soon started.
"Not to mention this bunch!" Yirfir scolded them.
"This is true. I've been noticing an abundance of strange behavior too from some within the Sanctum and beyond upon the Aerth. Perhaps this is all connecting in some way." Lady Soon suggested.
"That's what we're here to find out." Shaela and Barris both said simultaneously.
"When pressures such as these start to manifest in the membership of the Sanctum it can only mean one thing." Lady Soon said looking to Yirfir.
"The pressures are upon an imbalance within the Librum Universalis itself." Athandra said waking from her meditative state.
"The Codex." Yirfir responded to Lady Soon's suggestion.
"What is the Codex?" Barris asked.
"The Codex is the sum of all triumph and burden through the history of the Aerth. It is the success and failure of every person upon the face of the Aerth since the beginning of the people. Since Lorr and Lyra first discovered the weave. It is every wrong and every right ever done. It is the sum of all the pain of loss caused by ill intent and the joy and elation of every good deed or philanthropic act. It is the weight that we in the Sanctum bare for the Aerth. When the balance is off and something is amiss, the members of the Sanctum will begin to feel it." Lady Soon explained.
"So you're saying that Nelony's and Mila's behavior is resulting from something being off in the Codex?" Barris asked in amazement.
"And the moon's tears are coming from the Codex as well?" Xenshi asked.
"It seems that all of us are susceptible to this fallibility of behavior when there is an imbalance or a grave peril. Even us. The Moon's tears are likely a sign that Xenshi with her special gift can see better than others. It reflects the state of the Codex and more importantly the state of the Aerth in some way." Yirfir elaborated on Lady Soon's explanation of the Codex.
"So the clues are in Mila's paintings and Nelony's behavior. Mila's paintings depict mostly Women in these cages. Some are occupied by others and some aren't. Some of the cages are big but most are cramped and tiny." Barris described the paintings he'd seen her produce in the last.
"Nelony speaking of the birds. They're kidnapped and made to work for food. Maybe the birds are a metaphor for people. Like the people in Mila's paintings?" Shaela suggested.
"And the Moon, she cries seeing these people in the cages." Xenshi responded.
"Even our behavior a moment ago was unlike us. Except maybe for Barris." Shaela looked at her companions winking at Barris.
"Speak for yourself! I'm like this all of the time! Ahhhhahhhaa!" Xushu said to them in a slightly unsettling tone.
"We must scry the Codex itself which is a dangerous task even for the most experienced of us. After all, it is the sum or all pain and joy ever experienced. Lady Soon if you will help me? We will need a healer as well for this dangerous procedure." Yirfir turned to Lady Soon who was already readying herself for the link to the Codex.
"I sensed that you might need me. I came as quick as I could." Serene Feylashar walked into the Hall Of The Codex.
"Your timing is impeccable my dear. We need you to assist us as we attempt to connect to the Codex. The last time we did so was over seventy years ago before the fall of the Sanctum. Jasmer and I had to lest the contents of the Librum Universalis Codex fall into the hands of Lorr and the Power Lords. Trust me. We can do this. We will need you to stabilize our life energy. Should the peril or imbalance be too much, it could devour our life force to fill in that void. Our bodies would be unconscious but functioning and our life force would be trapped in the Codex forever." Yirfir said as she began to cast a series of protective enchantments.
"I'm already on it." Feylashar said as she stood behind Lady Soon and Yirfir creating a protective barrier around the two of them.
"Shaela, I'll need you to stabilize Feylashar just in case it is too much for her." Yirfir commanded Shaela.
"Don't worry. I've got your back." Shaela said to her friend Feylashar.
"Now Xenshi and Xushu. We'll need you two to act to protect us from changes in the weave. Prevent dark from becoming light and so on. Do as you will to protect us as we venture in." Lady Soon asked Xenshi and Xushu.
"You can count upon us." Xenshi replied standing to one side of Lady Soon and Yirfir around the fountain.
"You'll die before you get my help!" Xushu responded taking up the other side.
Lady Soon and Yirfir joined hands as the energy field grew around them. The Hall Of The Codex disappeared from view and was replaced with the blackness of the void which was pocked with points of light throughout it's space. There was a quiet noise much like static but much more rhythmic. It would grow and decline in succession leaving only silence between such arcs.
"It's breath. Like its breathing..." Lady Soon spoke through her mind to Yirfir.
"So it is." Yirfir observed as the out breath passed the void suddenly became very bright as the in breath started.
The bright points were replaced with specs of blackness which stretched in time with the breath. They proceeded forward into this void though they had absolutely no reference for time and space. As they proceeded through and into the void the cycle once again sloped towards the darkness of the void. The breath became raspy and overwhelmingly loud. Within it Yirfir could hear the screams and pain of billions of people, their suffering etched within the annals of time and the Codex.
"The cages... Like life and bars without steel... No choice... They took my daughter from me..." Yirfir heard the voice.
Lady Soon squeezed her hand in acknowledgement that she'd heard it too.
"She breathes. It is like polishing the diamond with each breath." Lady Soon remarked.
"Life is breath as is breath life. It is in with the light, out with the dark." Xenshi whispered to them.
"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary whispers to me. Singing words of wisdom, let it be, let it breath." Yirfir sang the Beatles quietly to herself as she watched the Goddess.
"Your tears are like the Moon's" Xenshi said to Yirfir.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Yirfir replied.
"You should." Xenshi returned.
Another breath came and as the void became light so did the stars become dark. The Aerth itself was alight with life, the dark patches denoting the absence thereof, markers for pain, suffering and death. Yirfir and Lady Soon spied a few dark lines etching their way to various points through the oceans and into coastal points on the continents. As they drew in closer to the Aerth the cages themselves became apparent within, each housing a person as they made their way from afar. Perhaps looking for that buxom themselves only to find despair.
They saw in some cases those who'd fled looking for a better life on different shores in many points of the world. Many of them seemed to find a common and misleading destination where their cages would slowly begin to manifest. A moment later as the void became even darker within this breath, they were plunged into the horror of war. It might have been one of the recent wars. It might have been in Europe and the World Wars. They saw horror and violence. Everywhere this violence found itself there were people who fled and the pain and suffering grew to intolerable proportions. Even the memories of the pain of the deceased had a weight in the Codex and they both felt in now.
In the Hall Of The Codex Barris watched as the protective barrier slowly started to turn black, losing its bright and protective energy.
"Shaela! Xenshi! Feylashar! Do something! You're losing them!" Barris yelled feeling so helpless, unable to do anything for them.
It was then that Xenshi brightness started to grow immensely while Xushu's blackness deepened. The darkness seeped from Lady Soon and Yirfir's protective barrier and onto Xushu while the light from Xenshi filled their protective barrier one again. Feylashar's steady flow of healing magic reinforced the energy and once again they were bathed in protective light. An arc of blackness suddenly jumped from Xushu finding its way towards Feylashar in her vulnerable state. Shaela immediately shouted as a tendril caught hold of the darkness and siphoned it into her dress.
"Told you I have your back." Shaela said to Feylashar.
"Who has yours?" Feylashar responded.
"I guess that would be me. The magic impaired jester at your service." Barris responded.
His comment drew a bit of laughter from them as they concentrated. Barris noticed that the laughter actually generated light and energy from the ladies and men in the room maintaining this protective shield. Upon noticing this he felt a bit more needed than he'd previously thought.
"I think we have it..." Yirfir said aloud.
"Careful! We're losing them..." Feylashar exclaimed.
"Xushu! I am so full of love for you my brother!" Xenshi exclaimed.
"Xenshi! I despise and hate you so fully that I am sickened by the very sight of you my sister!" Xushu responded.
A wall of energy emanated from them converging upon Lady Soon and Yirfir.
"We've got it! Just a little closer..." Lady Soon exlaimed.
"Wait!" Yirfir yelled.
"Bring us back! Now!" Lady Soon yelled.
"Yes! Do it!" Yirfir screamed.
There was a loud thunderous clap as the room reappeared and the void was closed. The sphere glowed brightly and then darkened once again as it stabilized. Lady Soon and Yirfir fell to the floor exhausted as Feylashar ran to tend to them.
"They're alright. Just minor wounds. They might need some rest. Their minds will take a bit to heal." Feylashar advised.
"Do we know what we're looking for?" Barris asked.
"What is the cause of this madness?" Shaela asked.
"It appears to be cages... psychological cages... trafficking... they're trading in people... Mostly Women..." Yirfir said as she collapsed.
To be continued...
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