Azure Dune

by BottledChaos

 

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It had been a couple of weeks since I regained my aspect of snow. In that time I’d re-read my entire diary from back then at least a dozen times. I hadn’t felt this excited and full of energy since my teenage years.

After all, I still remembered. Back when I had first returned to Earth, I’d written down everything I’d remembered into the diary and then had spent months trying to figure out how to go back, how to regain my powers over the snow, or at least, how to contact my friends… Before eventually giving up and deciding that the whole adventure had to have been just a very vivid dream.

Now, it almost felt like I was fresh back on Earth after my adventure. Except this time, I knew it hadn’t just been a dream. The gentle cloud of snow outside of my window dancing to my mind’s tune corroborated it.

But I still wasn’t sure how to go back to Alyzean, or even how to contact anyone there. Trevor had always been the expert on that kind of thing. I had only been the support, the one keeping everyone safe.

I wasn’t about to give up, however. Not again, not this time. I had no idea why I regained my aspect of snow now of all times, but it had to mean something. The connection between the two worlds had to be growing stronger again… or something. I’d also briefly considered my getting into danger being what had reactivated my aspect, but quickly dismissed it. If that had been it, it would have happened a long time ago.

But I still didn’t know what I could do. I controlled snow and ice, not the boundary between dimensions.

I sighed to myself, before banishing those thoughts and continuing to meditate as I made the snow around my house gently dance once again. I wasn’t sure if it would do anything, but–

‘... Azure…’

My eyes snapped open at the familiar raspy voice ringing in my head. I quickly looked around my room in panic.

Nothing.

I swallowed, realizing what this had to mean, took a deep breath to calm myself, and then closed my eyes again.

…

‘Azure,’ the voice greeted again, almost sounding… expectant.

‘Xeron,’ I thought back at him.

‘Mmm, you do still remember me then,’ Xeron replied with a hint of mirth in his voice. 

‘Of course, I do…’ I swallowed, deliberating my words for a second, before continuing. ‘Why are you talking to me again? And after all this time?’

The ancient being hummed. ‘I couldn’t before. This Earth of yours had no Aether to speak of.’

‘And now it does…?’

‘And now it does.’

My brows furrowed. I had half-expected this already, considering that my aspect of snow had come back, but… Something didn’t feel right here. This hadn’t been how I’d expected this conversation to go. In fact, the entire tone of it felt off.

Xeron just sounded so… tame, compared to what I remembered. Where had the crazed eldritch monster hellbent on destruction gone? Why did it feel like I was talking to an old friend rather than a mortal enemy of the past?

And as if he read my mind, he continued, ‘I suppose you’re wondering what happened to me?’

‘I am. You sound… a lot calmer than the apocalyptic menace we had fought to save the world…’

I wouldn’t go so far as to call him friendly, but it definitely felt odd.

‘Hmm, you’re right. I suppose that’s just what happens when I get to sit inside your mindscape for decades and watch the happenings of a peaceful world with no Aether.’

My frown deepened. I didn’t believe that was all there was to it. Xeron, the ancient being as old as Alyzean itself, the sentient corruption eating away at the foundation of the world, the very reason why I had been summoned to Alyzean, mollified by a couple of decades in the timeout corner? I wasn’t buying it.

‘You’ve been on quite the journey since returning to your home world, haven’t you, Azure?’ he suddenly said, knocking me out of my thoughts.

‘Adventure…?’ My brows furrowed for a moment before the realization came. ‘Oh… do you mean…?’

‘This concept of gender is a very fascinating thing.’ Xeron hummed. ‘Watching you unravel your own identity step by step taught me a surprising amount, all things considered.’

I barely stopped my jaw from hanging open in shock. Was he… err, were they saying what I thought they were?

‘Do you mean… you are also trans…?’

Xeron chuckled. ‘I’m pretty sure a human concept like gender doesn’t apply to me, Azure.’

My brows furrowed in confusion.

‘Then what did you mean…?’

‘Gender might not, but the concept of self-identity does,’ he said, mirth painting his tone again. ‘A couple of decades might not be much for me, but it was still enough for me to think about who I was and who I wasn’t.’ A hum. ‘And I don’t think being a blight upon the world is something I really wish to be.’

…

Huh.

Perhaps… Trevor had been wrong about Xeron in the end? Had they really just needed hugs and therapy like Ellen had joked about…?

‘I… see… So… What are you planning now? Who do you wish to be?’

‘Hmm, I’m not quite sure, to be honest. I had originally decided to simply follow along wherever you went while I remained stuck here, and try to figure out the answer to that question in the meantime. I didn’t expect to be able to act until your death, after all.’

And there it was. The mindset of an ancient being who easily outlived everything around them. For them, waiting for me to die of old age was probably the same as me waiting at a bus stop.

‘Right… Well, I’m guessing that you're not the reason I recovered my aspect of snow, then?’

‘No, not quite. The reason for both your aspect and me finally being able to communicate is, like I said before, because this world now has Aether. Albeit, only a small amount at the moment.’

‘And the reason for that…’

‘That is probably because a new connection has formed between the two worlds.’

I couldn’t help it. My lips quirked up into a smile. Hope welled up inside me.

‘That means it’s possible to go back to Alyzean, right?’

‘Possibly,’ Xeron agreed. ‘Unfortunately, much of the knowledge on interdimensional travel eludes me.’

I frowned again. Of course, it made sense. If they were capable of traveling to other worlds, Earth might have been destroyed way before I even had a chance to be summoned. It still felt odd that there were topics an ancient being like Xeron didn’t know much about.

‘What I’m concerned about is the reason why a new connection has formed in the first place.’

My lips pressed into a tight line.

If I recalled correctly, the only reason why a connection was able to have been established last time was because of Alyzean’s weakening core due to Xeron’s influence. It had been so bad that the flow of time in the two worlds desynced and the cause and effect on Earth became questionable. Hence why, when I had returned after my adventure, no time had passed and I was wearing everything I had been wearing before the adventure.

At least, that was the explanation Trevor had given me.

Either way, a connection forming had been bad news then, and was probably bad news now too.

‘Do you know what is happening then?’ I tentatively asked.

‘I suspect… it may be my daughter’s fault.’

My jaw did drop this time.

‘Y-you have a daughter?!’ I managed to choke out through my mind, despite there being no physical need for stuttering inside my own mind.

‘Mmm. She was naught but a brief echo back then. I wasn’t sure what happened to her. I suspected she must have either turned into a simple spirit or died… but now I think I was wrong.’

I winced at the mention of anyone’s daughter dying. Even if she wasn’t human, even if we’d had to seal Xeron to save the world, it still made me feel guilty.

‘I fear she now may be trying to follow in my footsteps,’ Xeron said with sadness in his voice.

‘That… is not good.’ I gulped as my thoughts churned. As nice as it was to have my aspect of snow back, it wasn’t actually a good sign. Worst case scenario, Xeron’s daughter might destroy Alyzean, then spill over to Earth and do the same here.

‘Indeed, it is not. We may need to find a way through the dimensional barrier if the natives of Alyzean don’t try to summon you themselves again.’

I sighed to myself.

‘So either way, I’m probably in for another adventure to save the world, huh? I hope I can still handle it. I’m getting too old for this.’

The eldritch entity had the gall to guffaw at me. ‘Old? Kid, I’m about ten thousand times older than you. Are you telling me the legendary hero Azure Dune has been defeated by a few years passing by?’

My first thought was ‘Ah, so that’s how old the other world is’ but I pushed it aside in favor of giving an awkward chuckle.

‘I suppose you’re right. Alright then, one more time, for old time’s sake,’ I agreed, with a lot less reluctance than I expected. Perhaps my excitement about magic and adventuring in other worlds had never abated. ‘So… how should we start, exactly?’

‘Mmm, I have a few ideas. But a lot of them involve me having a physical presence of some sort in the world.’

My brows furrowed. ‘Physical… presence…?’

‘An avatar, I mean. With your aspect, it should be easy to create one. I will show you how.’

I went silent for a second as I contemplated that. Part of me felt reluctant to even think about letting them out in any capacity. They could be lying, trying to trick me. But at the same time, I didn’t think that was it.

They sounded genuine. Their words felt honest.

Maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision, but my gut told me to trust them. And ever since I’d realized I wasn’t really a boy, I learned to trust my gut over pure logic. It had served me well up till now, so… Would I risk the fate of the world on it?

…

Yes, I would.

‘Right then… Let’s try it. What do I do?’

‘Mmm. First, I will need a physical vessel filled with Aether. The easiest way to do that is to grab a bit of matter with your aspect and clump it together as much as you can.’

I did as instructed and pulled together a mass of snow outside my house before clumping it tightly into a ball.

‘Good. Next, we will need to make a connection between the vessel and me.’

‘And how do I do that?’

‘Go outside and touch the vessel, I’ll guide you through the process.’

As instructed, I finally left my meditating position, exited my room, put on my coat and boots, and went outside before laying my hands on the floating ball of snow.

From then on, it got pretty technical and complicated. I messed up a few times, blowing up the snowball in my face, but I kept trying.

Eventually, after over an hour, something inside the ball of snow changed. It began to glow as its color changed from pure white to pink, to magenta, to violet, and finally turning purple. As the colors shifted, so did the shape of the snowball. First, it stretched out vertically, then it grew five lumps, and those gradually transformed into arms, legs, and a head.

I watched the magical process in awe and before I knew it, there was a tall woman with pinkish red skin and purple hair standing in front of me. Her eyes were pitch black, giving her an unnerving look. She held an aura of purple Aether around her and I could feel somewhat of a connection to her.

She was also naked, I belatedly realized.

Luckily, it had been decades since my time as an easily-embarrassed teenager.

Still, I kept my eyes on her face.

“Mmm…” a low rumbling hum came from her as she stared at her flexing hand. “Is this what it’s like to be a human?”

“Xeron…?” I mumbled.

The woman looked at me, their expression still thoughtful.

“Azure.” They gave a nod. “Thank you for this opportunity. Even if I’m still tied to you, it’s nice to have a form of autonomy again.”

I gave a nod back.

“I’m glad to be of help… although, you probably shouldn’t stand out here in the snow naked.” I gave her a wry smile.

They tilted their head. “Ah, that’s right. Humans like to cover their bodies with cloth, do they not?”

“That’s right,” I chuckled in amusement. “Let’s go inside, I should have some clothes that will fit you.”

As we shuffled inside I couldn’t help but remember Xeron telling me that gender didn’t apply to them.

Even ancient cosmic beings could be in denial, huh?