Prompt # 260- Midsummer Madness - I‘ve Lost My Voice- Tekia - original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: I’ve Lost My Voice
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Midsummer Madness
Warnings: Even I don’t like this story.
Rating: PG
Summary: The immortal Ix’An was once a great emperor of a empire long gone. When time takes its toll, and everything is gone, Ix’An must find a new place for himself. He’ll travel the world from one side to the other to find that place.

Ix'An was proud of his penmanship. He loved writing, or, rather, painting the words on the soft parchment. The moist air of the seaside city kept everything soft, unless it was turned hard by the salt in the air. Everything here was always wet and caked with salt. It was a fact of life in coastal cities.
He didn't know how he felt about that.
Finishing his letter, he stood and walked to the window. There was a soft breeze coming from the ocean, strong enough to lift strands of his hair from his shoulder. He leaned heavily against the sill and let the cool air wash over him. Life here was so very different from life in the desert. While he did miss the desert, his native home, it was nice here.
He holed himself up in his seaside hut, and the people of the city let him be. When he first arrived from over the mountains, the people had thought him a god with his exotic looks and demon-gifted magic.
He had been severely injured when he arrived, near death's door, and didn't think he would live beyond the morning. But he did, and here he now was, fully recovered, as much as he was going to be.
His hand drifted up to his throat where his scar stood out with heavy scarring. He closed his eyes and let the wind brush against his face and tried not to let the memories overwhelm him.
He no longer had the ability to die, and that frightened him. The pain he suffered had taught him quickly that his body was now to be carefully cared for if he didn't want to experience that agony. He had been so close to death.
He had wanted to die. His life had been over, those he loved were gone, and his empire was nothing but a memory in the elders’ dreams. What did he have to live for?
So he left to explore the world, and found that the world was vast, but empty.
There were the Nine Desert Kingdoms that had once made up his empire, then the mountains to both the east and west. Nobody knew what was beyond, so Ix'An decided to find out.
He found that humans lived on the other side as well. They were so different, yet so very the same. Their skin was a different color, and their language was different, but they had the same worries and duties as the desert dwellers. There was just a lot more water.
There were screams from the beach and Ix’An leaned further out the window to see a group of children playing in the waves, diligent adults standing watch. As beautiful as the ocean was, it was massive and dangerous. Ix’An smiled to see the young running up and down the beach, kicking up sand and splashing water at each other. He missed his kingdom, the people.
He sighed and finally dropped his hand from around his neck. Once, the children would have looked up at the palace as they played in the gardens just outside the palace gates. Sometimes, he would luck out and be peering out a window while they were looking and they would wave at him. His people, his children.
They were gone now.
And time moves on.
He pulled his head back in the house and turned back to his writing desk.
There had been rumors of pirates in the area and the city was panicking. The elders asked him for words to calm the people, so he holed himself up in his little hut to put what once came from his lips so easily on paper. He read through the letter to the elders and made a few notes before giving it up for the moment and turning to stare blankly at the wall before him.
He had never dealt with pirates before, and could only go off what the elders had told him. He could easily liken them to marauders that traveled the sands, preying on weakly guarded caravans and poor villages. Only, instead of camels and mules, they used the waves as their transport.
Sailors. Men and women who sailed the sea, who braved the unknown, and who were the furthest from what Ix’An knew. He wondered if he could learn to sail.
His throat was beginning to hurt, so quit his quiet hut and walked the short distance to his kitchen, his bare feet easily sinking in the lush grass. The fire was near out, but the embers were warm enough to keep the kettle of water steaming. He wrapped the handle with a cloth before lifting it over a mug to seep the tea leaves. Once seeped, he added honey and grasped the mug in both his hands, inhaling the steam as he walked back to the house.
There was a time when there were savants to do this for him. He wouldn’t even have to think about it. He could just reach out and there would be the mug, ready and waiting for him to reach for it. He missed that too.
He chuckled, calling himself spoilt as he drank his warm tea. He resumed his seat at his desk and leaned back in the chair. Was there something he didn’t miss?
The politics for sure. The reminders of his father’s hatred and anger. The unspoken rules. Once again, he was drifting on his memories, remembering the rules that kept him from what he had wanted the most. The rules of life and death.
He set his mug aside and covered his mouth with his hand. His makeshift family was all gone now, lost to death.
He supposed if he looked hard enough he could find his demon and the demon’s pet, but the three of them were not allowed to be together for long. Their magic was too powerful, it could break the three worlds. Outside of those two, who else did he have? Sure, he made friends wherever he went, but there was never anybody that was close.
Was it fear that kept him so alone?
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm his pounding heart. It seemed that he was always running away from his fate, but where was he supposed to run now? He’d reached the end of the world, and there was nothing beyond save for the ocean.
And sailors.
Ix’An quickly sat up and finished his tea. There was no time to dwell on his sad thoughts. There were things to be done before the day was to end and he had already wasted so much of the day merely staring at the wall.

Ix’An was awake and walking toward the city before the sun first peeked over the horizon. He carried with him the letter the elders had requested of him. He left the letter with a servant at the gate, and declined invite to break his fast.
Today was the longest day of the year, the center of time. He made his way to the foothills, the wind picking up the closer he got. He shivered in the cold, crisp air, thinking that maybe he should have dressed a bit warmer. He didn’t think he would ever get used to the cold that came from the ocean and the mountains.
He finally found the perfect place, deep in the jungle and away from the city. He knelt in the grass under an old tree and closed his eyes. He let his magic form a globe of teal around him. The city folk had asked once why he was so unafraid of going out to the jungle on his own, but he dared not tell them of his demon gifted magic. He folded his hands in front of him and le his magic flow around him, through him. He touched all three worlds with his magic and connected them once more.
Somewhere out there, the young Safed was doing the same thing. Perhaps his demon was as well. Perhaps not. That demon was stubborn and selfish. And far more connected to the three worlds than any human could ever be.
After a few silent moments, he felt the brush of the world of angels and shivered. Their touch was always like that of being touched by feathers. Ticklish. It never failed to make him smile. The magic of the world of the angels flowed over him like a breath of fresh air.
He had always wanted to be an angel.
Then he felt the other world’s touch, seeping into his magic like a shadow. This too brought a shiver. Their magic was so different than the angels’. Stronger, more there. They were something tangible and solid. He liked that about them. They were closer to humans after all.
When the two magicks tangled through his, he let them combine and mix and become one blended magic for several minutes.
Then they left him, and he felt lighter with the absence. With them, they took a bit of his own magic, freeing him of its burden.
If he didn’t use his magic, it overflowed and it caused harm, but there was nothing for him to use his magic here. He was an emperor once, and he had been gifted the magic to created his empire. Without his empire, his magic just festered inside him.
As he withdrew his magic, he felt another’s seeking him. Ix’An smiled at Safed’s touch. He let his aura free, touching Safed’s magic. They mingled, touched, then retreated.
The boy and his demon were safe.
A sudden scream from far away echoing through the forest startled him. He snapped around to look toward the city and leapt to his feet. His magic was still flowing around him, untamable during this midsummer madness, and he hesitated before rushing back to the city.
His bare feet slapped against the leaves on the forest ground with loud slaps before he reached the flattened dirt tracks of the city. He stumbled to a stop and his eyes widened at the sight before him.
People were running about as if they were all mad, screaming and shouting with fear. Ix’An ducked into a doorway, out of the way as filthy men with weapons chased the city folk, broke into houses, and set fire to huts.
His heart pounded with fear. Their weapons could cause him great harm! He pressed his back to the door, fighting with his magic to keep it under control and to keep it out of sight. It was dangerous.
When the opportunity arrived, Ix’An raced through the city and toward his hut, away from the chaos. He paused on the front walk to stare at the ship in the harbor. It was massive and hulking and gave him a sense of fear. Also of adventure.
He forced himself to leave the sight and entered his hut. Just inside the door, he paused, the fine hair on the back of his neck standing on edge. He carefully searched the dark room with his eyes before he walked further in. Somebody had been there. Perhaps they were still there?
He took a few more steps in when pain exploded from the back of his head. He collapsed to the floor with a groan. Distantly, he wondered when he had become so lax in his own defenses.