Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Coming up upon the summit, the first thing Callum heard was a scream. 

Rayla’s scream.

Their eyes locked for a moment, a single glance telling him everything he needed to know.

He shook his head, mouth open, prepared to yell, to say something, to stop her.

But it was already too late. With a struggling Viren clutched in her arms, Rayla fell off of the edge of the summit.

He sprinted over to the edge, peering over, hoping for the best but Rayla was already out of sight. Only a dragon could save her now. Or a bird.

He took a deep breath, ever thankful that he could breathe up here at all, and pulled off his blue jacket, his thin arms exposed.

And jumped off the cliff. 

He sucked in a breath. No room for fear now. 

“Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” He paused “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” Another deep breath. “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” 

Crimson red wings, glimmering with navy tips, replaced his arms. 

Callum flapped his newly acquired wings once, only once for he couldn’t risk anything else, and tucked them into a dive. 

The wings, thankfully, were sort of on autopilot. They flapped almost independently of himself. He could control them yet they weren’t his. He really didn’t want to learn how to fly while falling off a cliff, no matter how far he had till the ground.

Viren was far below Rayla, falling in a far less graceful manner than his girlfriend.

He swept up under her, a single wing wrapping around her waist and pulling her up from the fall.

Rayla’s arms wrapped around his neck.

He pulled her waist up so she would have a firm grip and let his other wing resume flapping, preventing the plummet.

They leveled out from the half fall they had been stuck in and he quickly swooped upwards. Within moments the pair were once again at the top of the summit. 

As he set Rayla down just beyond the edge, she smiled at him, “You saved me.”

He returned the grin, “Anytime.”

He shook his arms vigorously and the wings came off, becoming normal arms again.

A small cracking sound came from below them, barely noticeable. 

Rayla’s ears twitched ever so slightly, “Do you hear that?”

Callum shook his head. Rayla furrowed her brow and stumbled back a bit. 

A large crack appeared on the small ledge Callum was standing on.

He tried to take a step forward. The crack split again.

He froze.

Ezran ran up the stairs to the summit. 

Without warning the ledge gave out from beneath him.

A small rock hit the top of his head as he fell, forcing him into the quiet darkness of unconsciousness.

Lucky for him he was only unconscious for a few seconds. Or minutes. Or hours. 

He had no perception of time as he continued falling, only that he was doing so. He could be milliseconds from the bottom or still miles.

It was very disorienting. 

He tried to use his mage wings. “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” Nothing happened. “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” Still nothing.

He hit the edge of the cliff face, skin tearing and blood flowing heavily. Blood from his split lip flowed into his eyes, preventing him from seeing.

For a moment more, there was the wind whipping against his skin and the blood flowing up his skin.

Then, there was only darkness.

There was no feeling or sound.

Just an empty void of a world.

He wasn’t sure how long it lasted. His perception of time was truly messed up now.

Blinking, world distorted, Callum looked up at the stars above him, blocked by a glass dome so unfamiliar to anything he’d seen before. They didn’t look like the ones at home, he couldn’t recognize a single constellation.

Slowly, he sat up, looking all around the room. He seemed to be in a study, who’s he didn’t know. A large balcony covered one wall and the rest had books and a desk. Opposite the balcony, an intimidating wooden door sat.

After taking in the room for a moment more, he stood up. Where was he?

He didn’t have time to ponder though, because at that moment a tall elf with pale blue skin and shining white hair came into the room. “Good, you’re awake.”

He scrambled backwards, pressing his back against one of the bookshelves, “Who are you? Where am I?” he asked.

He might have his magic, but considering that he only knew a couple of spells that he’d been relying on for so long, he knew he couldn’t stand up in a fight against an actual magic user.

“I am Aaravos, child. You are quite lucky to be alive right now,” the elf crouched down, reaching forward to brush the hair off of Callum’s forehead as he flinched away.

“Are you the one that saved me?” He asked, glancing around the room again as subtly as he could for his escape exits.

“I am.”

He bit the bottom of his lip. “Why did you save me?” Callum asked carefully. Sure, Rayla cared, Ezran cared, but there weren’t really any other people in his life that would actually care if he died. He was just the step-prince. He didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

“Every life is valuable, little one. Yours especially,” Aaravos replied, pulling his hand down to Callum’s face and pulling Callum’s face up to look Aaravos in the eyes. “You are valuable in ways you do not yet know.”

“So what? You’re gonna use me for leverage?” Callum snapped at him. He didn’t want to be used as a puppet in some sick political game. Not again. He’d already dealt with enough politics for a lifetime, thank you very much.

Aaravos’s face softened and he stood up, backing up in the process, “No. Child, Callum, no. I would never.”

Aaravos backed up further into a chair across from Callum and sat down.

“How do you know my name?” Callum asked him. At this point, Aaravos was just being creepy. Seriously, he barely introduced himself and then tried to intervene in Callum’s life like he knew him?

Aaravos sighed and quickly drew up a small spell which pulled a chair next to Callum.

“Sit,” the elf said bluntly.

Hesitantly, Callum sat down. It was better than looking like an idiot cowering against the wall, at least.

“I’ve been watching you for a very long time, Callum. Sarai was-” he paused “very important to me. So, when you were born, I promised her that I would take care of you and watch over you, even if I couldn’t be physically present in your life.

“She’s gone now,” Callum whispered quietly, “Why bother holding a promise to a dead person? Especially over someone like me… I’m just a freak that no one wants.”

“Who told you that?” Aaravos asked harshly, a strong breeze blowing through the room.

Callum looked up, “What?”

“Who told you that you were a freak?”

Callum stared into the distance, trying to avoid eye contact. “Everyone did. I’m a mage, I can’t fight with a sword, and I’m more booksmart than battleminded. I’m no real prince, just a step-prince half-rate imposter,” Callum said, first with a distant tone that slowly seeped into bitterness.

Aaravos stood back up and walked to Callum, bending down so as to be at the same eye level as him, “You’re no freak, Callum. You’re exactly where you should be.”

Aaravos stood back up and spread out his arms, “This is the Star Nexus, my home, and until it gets close enough to the planet to release you, it’s yours as well.”

Callum looked around the room once more, “Are you the Nexus guardian, then?”

Aaravos looked off into the distance as if reminiscing, “I don’t have any other choice than to be. I am the last of my kind.”

“Sorry… I didn’t know,” Callum replied, feeling awkward now.

Aaravos looked back up at Callum, patted his head gently, and said, “It’s okay, young one. It happened a long time ago. I’ve been the last of my kind for many years now.”

Callum nodded. “Can I-” he paused before reconsidering his words, “What happened to them? You don’t have to answer, but I’m just curious.”

“It’s okay to be curious, little one. The only way for a Startouch elf to die is for them to take their own life. It used to be uncommon, but there was a law that went in place nearly a millennium ago and the majority of my people took their own lives in an act of protest. The remaining did so in grief. I was a loner at the time, wandering the land by myself and didn’t find out about it until many years later when I was found by the current guardian of the Sky Nexus and brought back here to become the new Nexus guardian,” Aaravos told him with an air of sadness and regret. 

He took a moment to calm himself as Callum stared, he didn’t know what to say to that.

“Now, why don’t you tell me about yourself, Callum? What do you remember about your father?”

A little shocked at the sudden change in his conversation, Callum replied, “I don’t remember him at all, I only know what little my mother told me before her passing.”

“Then it seems we are both alone now,” Aaravos replied. “I pulled you in here so that you wouldn’t die from your fall, but we are both stuck in here until the pocket dimension we are in wanders close enough to be reattached to the physical plane and allow you to leave.”

“Why not both of us?” Callum asked, he’d missed that earlier when Aaravos had said it, but he was wondering.

“I am stuck here until my manifestation is freed from its cocoon in the physical plane. I will rejoin my body there in time. But for now, I am aware you are a mage, would you like to learn some magic?”

“You know the sky arcanum?” Callum’s face visibly lit up. He’d never met anyone who knew it before besides Ibis.

Aaravos gave him a gentle smile, “Startouch elves can use every arcanum, it’s a special talent of ours. I understand you only know a few spells, what would you like to learn first?”

“Everything,” Callum replied. He’d never been given the chance to choose what he learned before, only given scattered bits of information as he went along.

Aaravos chucked, “Let’s start with the basics then, yes?”

Callum nodded eagerly and Aaravos pulled up the chair from the other side of the room to be closer to Callum.

After a snap of his fingers, a book appeared in Aaravos’s hand and he began showing Callum the runes for the basics of the sky arcanum, “We’ll practice the spells themselves later, it’s easier to work off of theory first.”

Chapter Text

The schooling that Aaravos presented to Callum was certainly… different.

It wasn’t bad! He certainly wanted to emphasize that, but it was definitely different. He’d never had a system like this that really worked for him. He’d never been able to learn at his own breakneck pace, easily retaining and holding content on one specific topic until the next one came along. Even though he’d had private tutors from the time he was six until he left the kingdom, they’d never really understood how he wanted to learn.

And then, out in the wilderness, he was learning on his own. On one hand, it was a unique and interesting experience to only find more spells and learn more through experiences, but it ultimately didn’t work for him. He was a book nerd at heart and the experiences could never really teach him at the same speed that the books could. There was certainly a reason as to why he was never amazing at practical or physical skills that weren’t based on knowledge or science. The concept of sword fighting on instinct still baffled him to this day. 

How did they simply understand how to swing the sword in the right way to get the perfect attack? How did they learn from the words and constant feedback of their tutor rather than the hard and fast rules of his books? It just didn’t really make a whole lot of sense to him.

Regardless of the past, this new system was certainly one that worked. 

They started every morning in Aaravos’s study, reading book after book, each on their own, Callum for new knowledge and Aaravos for review, and then discussed the books when they were both done. Considering both of their astronomical reading speeds, they both got through at least a book a day, usually starting another as well.

Then, they would have lunch together, a quiet affair where neither of them would talk, just eating in silence as the only quiet part of their day, and then they would go up to tower’s roof, which was arced around the skylight in the tower, and practice whatever spells they had researched in the books that day.

At first, it was only sky magic spells, but later on, he wasn’t sure how long it had been, time flowed differently here, Aaravos sat him down for a talk in his study.

“Would you like to know about your father, Callum?” Aaravos asked, almost out of the blue. It would normally be their practical time up on the roof, but Aaravos had insisted on having a talk with him first.

“I didn’t know you knew anything about him, I thought we were both just not going to bring up anything like that, to be honest.”

Aaravos chuckled and asked, “I was just trying to be careful of your own space, I wasn’t sure how much you wanted to talk about with me. I knew your mother personally, would you like to learn about her first?”

Slowly, Callum nodded, “No one will really tell me much about her and she never said much about my father either.”

Aaravos gave a gentle smile, “She was an amazing woman. Strong, beautiful, and a strong proficiency in both bow and sword. Most of all, she was kind. She understood the needs of the people and would always help whoever she could, no matter the cost. If there was an elf in trouble, it didn’t matter that it was an elf to her, she would help them anyways. It’s actually how we met. I was already stuck in here, at the time, and she fell in in a similar manner that you did. I didn’t pull her in directly, but the bound weavings of the fates pulled her strings towards mine and brought her here when she was near death from an accident while secretly crossing the border.”

The connections were beginning to form in Callum’s mind. He knew his mother had fallen in love with a mysterious man who had saved her life many years ago, who eventually became his father. That was one of the only things that he’d ever been able to get out of her about the man.

“And the two of us, stuck alone together for almost two years until she could get out and, well, needless to say our friendship progressed into something more. We fell deeply in love and I was ready to marry her. But, I still couldn’t get out of here, not with both of us. I gave up my last chance for another twenty some years to get out of this hellhole to get her and our son out of here before he was born stuck here with me.”

And there they were. All the dots were there, connected in an intricate web leading to the biggest picture and mystery of his life, “You’re my father,” Callum said slowly.

Aaravos just smiled.

Chapter Text

Their relationship was tense, to say the least, for the next few days even as they went through their normal routine.

Callum felt betrayed, in a way, that Aaravos hadn’t told him sooner. That his mother hadn’t told him. He’d been living with the man for who knows how long already.

It did make sense though. Knowing that he was half-startouched elf, little things about his childhood began to make more sense. Like how his mother always showed him the stars as a child, having them go up to the roof every night to watch them while she taught him the constellations. Or how she always had him sleep with the curtains open, in the full light of the moon, every night. Or the way that she would always run her fingers over his scalp as if she was searching for something. Or just the way that, even though everyone else hated them, his mother was insistent on him learning about everyone equally, regardless of whether they were elf or human.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Callum asked on the fourth day at lunch.

Aaravos sighed, clearly happy that Callum was speaking to him again but also not wanting to have this conversation right now, “Sarai died almost seven years ago, now. I wasn’t sure what they’d told you, what you’d think of me. Of us. I can only see you when the stars can, from up here. I- I really just wasn’t sure how to broach the topic.”

Callum gave a short laugh and a light smile, “My girlfriend is a moonshadow elf, I couldn’t care less. Though, she did try to kill me when we first met.”

“I- I’m just not even going to touch on that right now. Did she teach you about us?”

“Elves in general or just you?”

“Startouched elves.”

Callum shrugged, “Not really. She taught me some general stuff, as much as was appropriate for a nine year old to know, but didn’t really delve into any specifics. People were always around when we were together after we moved into the palace, so it was tough for us to get alone time for her to teach me.”

Aaravos sighed, “I suppose we should start from the beginning, then. To the study after?”

Callum nodded.

They finished their meal in peace and went to their individual lecture spots in the study, opting to wait to continue the conversation until they were done.

Aaravos pulled a large stack of books from one of the higher shelves and set them next to Callum, “Compared to any other elves, the history of startouched elves are much longer timeline wise, but far shorter with the amount of events. We were never associated with the elf wars, other than to moderate as a neutral party, and generally lived our lives as loners or with our partner. We don’t have large families or communities and only come together when the sky is perfectly clear on the winter solstice.”

Callum nodded along silently, it was easier just not to speak while Aaravos… his father… was lecturing

His father set the book in his lap, spread so that he could see it. “Our people were the very first elves, but as more and more of us began to focus on things other than magic, our power dwindled and separated over the years. Several thousand years later and quite a few generations later, we came upon more or less the society we have now.”

His father took a step back to sit in his own chair once again, “Humans were a less recent development, I’m not really sure when they came about but it was at some point during those thousand years when we were more focused on our own internal changes than the rest of the world.”

He paused and sighed, staring off into the distance. “I lost a lot of good friends when the magic focus shifted away. Our theoretical immortality has only remained thus far due to our own heavy use of magic and ability to tap into all of the arcanums with practice, the arcanums all around us healing our wounds and protecting us in our times of need. So when they shifted away, focusing on one arcanum in an effort of true mastery without the others, or worse yet not focusing on any arcanum all together, they lost their immortality. By the time they noticed the changes, not much questioned us back then, it was already too late and the art of multiple arcanums was left to a select few of us elders.”

“Why not just teach it to them again?” Callum asked in a moment of silence.

“We tried, we really did. But they weren’t really interested in immortality anymore, instead favoring the fleeting desires and heartbreak that true life brought. After so long has already passed beneath our watchful gaze, it was an accepted way of life. The arcanum clans that had formed were already separating into what we know today and over the next few thousand years, they diverged more and more from what they used to be. Theoretically, all different elf types are now technically different species.”

“Do you ever want to join them? In mortality?” 

His father’s eyes unfocused, staring off into the void of the stars beyond their little tower, “Sometimes. Sometimes I wish I joined your mother then, that I could have stayed with her, died with her. But my choice was made long long ago when I, so full of desire and hope and a yearning for power, learned them all. There’s no losing my mortality now, not anymore.”

“But what if your memory was erased?” he asked, infinitely curious for a solution to his father’s moral dilemma.

“Arcanums are not lost once they are found, Callum. They will always be a part of you, whether you want them to or not,” his father explained with a wistful look in his eyes. “I’m used to it now, though. Don’t you go worrying about me.”

“Anyways, I ought to finish the lecture, yeah? I’ve been preparing for this, to meet you and to tell you about  your heritage for years now, but nothing’s going quite according to plan.”

Callum gave a small laugh and smiled at his father, squeezing his arm gently, “It’s everything and a lot, don’t worry about it too much. I’m listening and I’m learning, that’s all that matters.”

It was certainly a difference, being the one comforting his father instead of the other way around. But then again, his life had never really been simple in the first place.

Aaravos took another breath and nodded, jumping right back into his lecture, “Even though the clans split, there are obviously still people who mix and mingle that aren’t of the same arcanum, the resulting children then caused another problem in the clans since the children were biologically weaker without one preferred arcanum and their parental traits often were mixed awkwardly. During that time, hoping to save their children and increase the numbers of startouch children, a few of the startouched that were left spent their lives looking for a way to merge the children to one arcanum or the other.”

Aaravos took a sip of his water as Callum waited impatiently on the edge of his seat, “They found a way eventually, of course, but it required effectively forcing one parent out of the child’s blood, making them the sole child of the other. It took a while to be popularized, but as far as I know, it’s now the standard for them to do so to protect their children.”

He paused as if considering something, “You, in theory, won’t need to do the ritual since you’ve already facilitated a strong connection with the sky arcanum, don’t have a secondary arcanum you’ve latched to, and haven’t yet tried to learn another, excluding your expades in effort to learn the moon. But if you ever wanted to learn more of them, I would strongly recommend it lest you end up like them.”

“But you want me to, right? You want me to become like you and know them all, despite the side effects,” Callum said, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

“Only if you want to- I wouldn’t force you to-”

Callum interrupted him straight away, “That doesn’t answer my question. Do you want me to or not?”

His father’s proud shoulders fell, “To put it bluntly then, yes. You have a lot of potential, I mean- you connected to an arcanum on your own without help even, I want to see you flourish and grow without the confines of one source of magic.”

“Without Mom’s influence.”

His father pinched the bridge of his nose, “Your mother will always be with you, regardless of what happens or what you do. We both knew this would happen someday and you’d be forced to make this decision. Just consider it, please, for my sake if nothing else.”

He was silent for a moment, considering his options, “Okay. I’ll think about it, okay? And… I’ll get back to you.”

“That’s all I ever ask of you, Callum. This is your own life, nobody else’s.”

And oh. How that hurt. His whole life he’d been expected to play into everyone else around him’s games. There was no life for him as long as he was tied into the expectations of the past. 

But now? With his father the only thing that was expected of him was to keep learning and be happy. It was more than he could’ve ever asked for.

He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to join his father as a full-blooded startouch, but what choice did he really have? All he’d ever wanted to do was learn and help people and forever to that sounded better than anything. But there was always a cost and losing his real connection to his mother was a big one. She’d always been there for him, even though she hadn’t been in his life since he was little, physically or mentally.

But then again… as his father had pointed out, he still wouldn’t really be losing her. His mother was dead. Had been for years.

Whatever remained of her was in his heart and his apparel, not anything physical beyond blood.

Yet he was still so hesitant, so seemingly no discernible reason. It could’ve been the prospect of immortality or just the sheer change that would amount, far beyond all else.

He had been a human magic user connected to an arcanum. That had been an accomplishment. Then he was a half-human magic user connected to an arcanum. Something interesting, but not as unique.

Then he would be a startouched elf, connected to all the arcanums. Something rare, carefully locked away and guarded but not unique. Never unique. Even though there were really only the two of them left, there used to be more. A giant legacy beholden above their heads, waiting and watching.

At some point while he was lost in thought his father had left the study, but Callum didn’t particularly care at the moment. He respected his father’s decision to just leave him alone right now, it was perhaps for the best.

Immortality, above all else, was a fickle thing. 

For as much as he knew he would grow to love his father, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to live forever. To slowly lose everyone he ever loved or cared about would be difficult, more than he wanted to admit, but such was the way of all of their kind.

Ezran, Rayla, Zym, Aunt Amaya. He’d lose all of them to the whims of fate and time, leaving him alone to bear the world with just his father by his side. Zym would probably last the longest, dragons had impressively long lifespans unless killed but eventually even he would leave Callum. And they would be alone once more.

That shouldn’t have really bothered him as much as it did, he was used to losing people he cared about and he’d been alone most of his life anyways, but it still stung. For the first time in his life he was actually loved and respected, how long would that last if he transitioned?

But the power… the knowledge. The opportunity to help people. It was just too good to pass up.

All good things came to an end eventually. It was all too clear now, this was his end of what he was before. Regardless of what he chose, things would be different.

So why not commit to it?

He couldn’t come up with a real reason for that one.

Perhaps it was meant to be.

Chapter Text

He pulled himself out of the study’s chair with a deep breath and wandered out into the hall to find his father.

There was no going back now, not when he’d already made up his mind.

It wasn’t long until he found his father among the rows and rows of library shelves. How much forgotten knowledge was just idly waiting there, he didn’t know, but he supposed he did have an eternity to find out.

Gathering himself back in, he took a deep breath and approached his father, who turned to him as he walked up.

“Yes.”

His father’s face shifted through more emotions than he could count, much less identify in that moment, but ended with something mixed between joy and caution, “Are you sure? There is no going back after this.”

“I think I’m as sure as I’m going to get. I’m not going to pause everything else and deliberate for days because I think I’ll just get back here either way,” he wrung his hands as he spoke, nervous for his father’s reaction but confident in the knowledge that this is how it was always going to end up.

“Good a reason as any I suppose,” his father replied with a kind smile, erasing Callum’s worries. He took a thin blue book off the shelf in front of him and set it into Callum’s hands. “This book is the foremost reference on the subject, including the ritual and the science behind it. It’s not a particularly dense read, but I do want you to read it before you commit and we do the ritual.”

Callum nodded and flipped open the book, scanning the first page, “I will.”

He looked back up at his father, “Do you need anything else from me?”

A simple shake of the head and Callum went to curl up in one of the chairs in the study.

He really did appreciate being left alone to read and learn, so unlike the environment he’d grown up in with everything attempting to be taught verbally.

A few hours later, he snapped the book shut with a satisfying thunk and his father looked up at him, “Any questions?”

Callum shook his head, it was more or less how his father had explained it earlier so the book was really just rehashing the old topics and giving details into the ritual itself.

“Still want to go through with it?”

“Yeah, don’t see no reason not to,” Callum shrugged. He’d already made up his mind, this didn’t change anything.

His father nodded with a small smile on his face, “Okay, then. We’ll do the ceremony at the next full eclipse. In the meantime, we can start your learning of the stars. While the stars aren’t actually an arcanum by themselves, it’s the interaction of one arcanum with another that creates the basis behind what we consider a star spell or ritual. So, what arcanum do you want to learn first?”

That might as well have not even been a question for him, considering how easily he answered, “The moon.”

Aaravos snorted slightly, “I feel like I should have expected that. Your girlfriend is a Moonshadow elf, correct?”

Callum nodded.

“Very well, what do you know of the moon arcanum already?”

As Callum explained, his father placed his head in his palm, looking at Callum intently.

All things considered, it was almost laughably easy for them to fall back into the same routine they’d consistently had since Callum had arrived, just with the addition of other arcanums.

The day of the ritual came sooner than either of them had expected. Given that the tower was disconnected from any physical plane of space, it was rather difficult to actually place where they were at any given point of time or keep track of the days. Not to mention that Aaravos had told him that time worked differently here, faster than the rest of the world. So while a year in here might’ve been a lot of time to anyone else, for the rest of the world it was closer to 4 months.

 This event was really the first sign of any passage of time at all here in the tower he called home. Sure, the stars may have been able to provide some sense of time passing but with the altered calendar and the amount that the tower wandered it was hard to tell that it really was passing at all.

Now that Callum wasn’t out in the main physical plane, neither him nor Aaravos had anything to latch onto to scry through the mirror either.

Regardless of the time, they had to do the ritual tonight.

“I’ve never done one of these myself,” his father explained as he drew intricate patterns on the stone floor of the ritual room in moon opal dust, “you’re my first and only child. But I’ve set up my fair share in my time.”

Aaravos glanced up at him, “You know why we’re using moon opal dust?”

“Because the moon is the second arcanum I wish to learn and it’s the medium between the sky and the sun which would allow me easier access to it?” Callum answered hesitantly, he wasn’t completely sure of the answer as they hadn’t gone very in depth on the theory behind ritual creation as of yet. He was sure they would at some point, Aaravos was nothing if not eager as a teacher but it did make sense to understand spell theory before ritual theory.

“Close, what you’re missing is that this moon opal dust will also be doused in salt water. The moon and the sea are your either side mediums between the sky. Technically so is the earth but we don’t have any proper ingredients here to do that. We’re actually that I had a few moon opals in storage at all, I was tempted to use them for a different ritual about a decade ago,” his father explained as he laid down the last line and pulled out a thin vial of water from within his cloak, sprinkling the circle with it.

He nodded and Aaravos came to stand next to him just outside of the circle, “Now we wait, we can’t begin until the moon is almost at its peak.”

Callum sat down in one of the ritual room chairs, Aaravos sitting next to him, picking up a book. They were far enough away from the main ritual room that they were fine to chill in but they couldn’t risk casting any magic in here without having to do a full cleansing again. Rituals were finicky enough as they were, he didn’t need to potentially risk one as important as this one. Especially since it was a star ritual with every arcanum making an appearance plus dark magic. The more arcanums one added to any individual ritual or spell the more violate it became. Not to mention the fact that they’d be adding in a stand for dark magic, he already had his connection to it and it wasn’t difficult to work in but still added to the volatility.

It was peaceful in here, even as the weight of his decisions came down upon his shoulders. There was no going back now. He’d made his decision and he’d be following through with it even though it meant that he’d lose them all eventually. He’d already almost lost them so many times, he could handle one more.

The pair of them just sat in silence, content to read, until the moon was just a sliver in the sky and the circle began to faintly glow wherever the moonlight struck. His father stood up next to him, Callum joining him quickly.

“Any last minute regrets or thoughts before we do this?” his father asked.

Callum shook his head. He’d thought enough, now was the time for doing.

While there were no open windows, they were magically closed in every room with the exception of the roof, it almost seemed like there was a current of air pushing down upon his shoulders as he walked to the northernmost edge of the circle.

Once clockwise around the circle for balance.

He continued around the edge of the circle, moving slowly but with purpose, all the way around until he arrived once again at the northernmost edge, now complete with a lit candle courtesy of his father.

He took a deep breath.

In. Out. It would be fine.

One mark for each significant arcanum.

He dipped his fingers in the pooled candle wax, trying his best to ignore the way it burnt his fingers, and drew the signature center star of startouch magic on his arms. Three per arm plus one on the back of each hand and one on the forehead. Then one final larger star overtop of his shirt in the center of his chest, the same place his father had his star mark. The clothing underneath wouldn’t matter, not for something as powerful as this.

Besides, he didn’t really feel like freezing in the tower without a shirt on.

Six stops for six arcanums. 

He started walking around the circle once again, this time stopping every few feet at the arcanum markings of moon opal dust to gently pry one of the quickly cooling wax stars off of his arms and place it in one of the mini circles of the ritual.

A seventh stop for the dark.

His father had added that part of the ritual, but it fit.

He paused back at the start of the circle and laid down the star from his forehead.

Hands of the parent, forever left in the marks of the people.

The heavy pressure of the air in the room lifted as his father came up behind him, placing his hands on Callum’s shoulder blades. His touch burned like fire, but the marks and injuries would be gone by the end anyways so Callum did his best not to flinch away.

In front of them, the wax stars he had laid glowed for a moment before melting down and seeping into the damp moon opal dust.

Once each, counterclockwise from the home.

His father hesitated only a moment after the last of the light died down, “Go.” He took his hands off of Callum’s shoulder blades and walked counterclockwise into the circle from the point of the Star arcanum.

And so Callum did, going around the circle another time and a half before ending in his father’s footsteps. The eclipse was reaching its peak, it was really now or never.

He entered the circle with carefully placed steps going counterclockwise, careful not to disturb the moon opal dust.

Once he was inside the inner circle, he stopped directly across from his father, his back to the point of the dark.

“Callum,” his father started now that they were in the proper hold of the magic. The worst part was out of the way, now it was really just them.

Tie, willingly given, of the parent.

His father touched the shining star on his own chest with closed eyes, breathing slowly. Callum only watched in interest.

Slowly, light began to gather at the tips of his father’s fingers, twisting around until it formed a ball of light in his father’s palm. Aaravos opened his eyes, half of his very own star heart held in his palm.

"Per manus aequa fati posco filium meum meque solum esse," his father whispered and placed the hand with the ball of light on Callum’s chest, directly over the star of wax.

A quick push of the hand onto his chest later, Callum burned . He had known that the ritual would hurt, burn out half of his very being, but he’d never really expected this. Eyes widened, he gasped for air.

Darkness gathered at the edges of his vision, blocking out the faint glow in the room from the peak of the eclipse.

It would be fine. 

It had to be fine.

Aaravos wouldn’t hurt him, not now.

From the pain already, the darkness certainly didn’t come as a surprise. He’d known that he might pass out, the rest of the ritual was designed without him in mind for that very reason.

But nonetheless he had hoped to make it through. It seemed now he wouldn’t be. He didn’t have that kind of pain tolerance.

He took a shuttered breath, the darkness would be better at least, cold.

He let himself go.

Chapter Text

Callum woke up in his room in the tower. He really wasn’t in here much, preferring to stay in the study or the library most hours of the day but it was certainly more comfortable than sleeping in one of the study’s chairs. 

The first thing he took note of was his horns, how could he not, they were making laying on his back uncomfortable. Why in the world did they need to go far back enough to touch his pillow? He’d been hoping that they wouldn’t grow in as long as his father’s.

With a yawn, he got up, taking note of his appearance in the mirror on the back of his bedroom door.

And, as it seemed, he does look a rather lot like his father. That did make sense, after all, the whole point of the ritual was so that he could become a full elf, but still.

Carefully, he traced the edge of his slightly sharper jaw, the skin of which was now a light purple. It was darker than his father’s, but he also used to have a light tan, so he wouldn't be surprised if it was from that.

His hair, meanwhile, was a bright shock of white.

But he still looked like himself. His face was largely the same and his eyes had stayed green.

He took a deep breath, everything was fine. He’s made it through.

Slowly and carefully, he felt for where he knew the sky arcanum rested, nestled in close to his lungs. He smiled, taking another deep breath as he felt the arcanum in his chest activate ever so slightly. He really wasn’t used to it being quite so present, but it felt nice. Normally, it took a reason to call upon the arcanum, it wasn’t always quite so eager in him, ready to get out and be used.

He wondered how it would affect his use of the arcanum to actually cast. Would it be stronger? Weaker until he built it up again? 

And what about the other arcanums? This was a ritual traditionally done not long after birth, before he would have connected to any arcanums at all. Would he get them faster? Slower? He was already close with the moon, he could feel it, but he hadn’t quite hit the realization point.

He should still have his connection to the Dark, not that he particularly wanted it, from the addition of it in the ritual. All for completion, he supposed, regardless of his use.

New changes certainly weren’t something that he wanted to test out in his room though, so he got changed into some clothing after rummaging around in his closet for something that fit him. He had, admittedly, not been keeping up with telling his father when he grew out of things, so he only had a few things left that actually fit. Regardless though, he threw on what he could find and left his room.

Much as he should have expected, his father was waiting for him in the dining room.

“Callum,” Aaravos greeted him when he entered. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” he acknowledged. “Otherwise fine, though.”

His father nodded, “That’s to be expected, let me know if you have any negative changes in the following days as you adjust.”

“I will.” He sat down across from his father and started eating the dish which was already laid out for him, trying to ignore the weight of his father’s stare upon him.

He knew, reasonably, his father was just adjusting to his new look, but it didn’t make the stare any less eerie. His father’s eyes, and by association, gaze, had never been warm.

Had it been kind? Caring? Yes. There was no denying that his father cared for him, he showed it in both action and word regularly.

But having a warm gaze was not something he ever expected from his father, nor did he think he would ever get it. At times, Aaravos could be cold, uncaring, in his analysis, no matter if it was of skill or life. If nothing else, he could certainly say Aaravos was intelligent, just perhaps not the most moral, which is what caused his mild shiver under the stare.

They ate in silence for a little while, content in company. Especially as Aaravos’s gaze lifted later on into the meal.

Eventually, though, Callum broke the silence, “I’d like to see how this affects my use of the Sky arcanum, if you don’t mind heading upstairs with me instead of heading to the study?”

Aaravos looked up from his food, “Oh? Yes, that's fine. Sky, as you know, is the opposite of the Stars by nature and principle, so it may take your connection to the Sky longer to adjust.”

Callum just nodded and got up from the table, “Is there anything in particular I shouldn’t do in the meantime? I’m going to do warmups while you finish up.”

“As long as you don’t use anything especially self-heavy, like Mage Wings, you should be fine. I’d recommend just starting with Aspiro. We’ll test the heavy stuff once I get up there.”

“Okay,” he walked out of the room, doing arm stretches on the way up. He wasn’t initially planning to do magic at all without his father present, but given the go-ahead he was certainly going to try.

He didn’t really feel like making a fool of himself if he couldn’t properly access the sky arcanum. Sure, he could feel it, it was always there in his chest, but that didn’t necessarily guarantee use. If he really thought about it, he’d had the feeling of the arcanum deep in his lungs, varying in position, ever single he’d first used the Sky, albeit with a primal stone at the time. He needed to be able to do this, to hold his own and have control, more now than ever. He didn’t know when he would possibly be getting out of here, the likelihood that the Nexus strayed anywhere close to their planet amongst the void of space was little to none to even happen in the next year, much less the next decade, and yet it could also be far sooner than that.

His father was to be let out of his cocoon on earth soonish, anyways. Worst come to worst, he could just be let out when his father re-tied the Nexus to the physical plane.

Deciding to start small with a minimal chance for damage, he quickly drew the sign for Aspiro in the air upon reaching the top of the stairs.

And there it was, gently pulsing through the tips of his fingers like it’d always been there. He took a deep breath and let the Aspiro blow out of his lungs, strong and fast, but not of an unusual speed or ability.

Normal.

Honestly, he was happy that it hadn’t gotten any stronger. Sometimes he had a challenge enough managing it already, it’d only be more difficult if the spells became stronger without warning.

He relaxed from his tense position and prepared a few other small spells, whipping through them as usual.

From there, he just continued to cycle through his spells that didn’t affect himself until his father came up the stairs.

Much as he had hoped, the self centric spells weren’t affected either and Mage Wings didn’t call any differently, although there were noticeably no feathers where he had the stars scattered on his skin.

For once, just this once, everything was fine and nothing was really new. Sure, he looked different and now he only had years ahead of him instead of The After, but he was still the same person. His arcanums were still the same.

He was still Callum and soon, hopefully, he’d be going home to the rest of his family.

That was the goal anyways. 

Only time would tell.