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Side A – Nia

One part of Nia hated the idea of running back to her mother for help. Naosha M’Kellin had always been reliable. Had always encouraged her daughters to call on her for any issues they’d encountered. Had always been perfectly adept at sorting out any sort of situation laid before her. It was only in hindsight that Nia saw how much that had prevented her from ever feeling like there were problems she could handle on her own. 

“Are you ready?” Margrada asked after they’d taken their seats at the Shatter Drums Horgi and Grash had procured for them.

“Not yet,” Nia said. The temptation to lie was vast, but a lie could do more than hurt Margrada’s feelings. For Nia’s idea to work, there needed to be openness between them that was, in some senses, more intimate that their lovemaking. 

A groan went up from the crowd that had assembled around them. At least half of the drummers and most of the Roadies didn’t believe Nia would be able to pull off the feat she claimed they were attempting.

Using Shatter Drums for long distance communication wasn’t a new idea. It was common practice between neighboring communities. The key there though was ‘neighboring’. A Shatter Drum song capable of reaching as far as the ocean from Gray Rift was assumed to be so powerful that the drummer would be vaporized by the magic they’d summoned before they could shape it in the slightest.

Nia wasn’t concerned about that. Her method of reaching beyond the edges of the world was built around the connections she had to people. Osdora was easy since she was Yasgrid’s mother and Yasgrid was close to her. Naosha should, in theory, be easy as well, but the last time Nia had connected with her mother via drumming Yasgrid had been there as an anchor.

Which left open the question of how close Nia and Naosha’s relationship was? And how much Nia really wanted in her heart of hearts to call on Naosha’s aid.

Intellectually Nia knew it was the right call. The situation with Gray Rift was far more concerning that anyone except Margrada really knew. Nia couldn’t afford to hold back or allow her childhood insecurities prevent her from stopping the calamity she saw unfolding before her.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and asked herself if that was what she really felt. The Shatter Drum’s magic was going to respond to her desires as much as to her will. 

Did she really want to turn this over to her mother?

Wouldn’t it have been nice if even just this once to fix something on her own, to show the world and her mother and herself that she was capable of standing on her own?

The fantasy was seductive. 

But it was only a fantasy. 

And it was founded on a false assumption.

Nia wouldn’t be turning the problem over for Naosha to resolve on her own. What was happening with Gray Rift wasn’t something anyone could fix on their own. It was going to take Stonelings and Elves working together, and Nia knew that she wouldn’t be of any use in helping find a balance between the two peoples if she couldn’t first find a balance between herself and her mother. 

Side B – Yasgrid

Darkness returned. Blessed, restful darkness. The shelter of Yasgrid’s closed eyes once more blocked out the glory and awe of the world around her. For a moment there was silence too even though she hadn’t covered her ears and Yasgrid was grateful beyond words.

“I think she’s starting to come around,” an unfamiliar voice said. It was…had she heard it screaming before?

“Give her a bit and when she’s alert enough give her this,” a young woman’s voice said.

Who was taking care of her? And where was she? The last thing she could remember was…her mind was struggling to make mortal connections between things again.

Yasgrid caught a glimpse of a fading memory. A peek at the reality of creation, at the interconnectedness of all things, all people, all dreams. 

With a jolt, she recoiled and sat up on the bed she’d been laying in, her eyes snapping open to let fresh mortal sights chase away the memory of divinity which had almost dissolved her spirit.

“She’s definitely awake now,” observed the Fate Dancer who’d chased her into Ilia’s traps. He was holding a tall mug of water which he offered to Yasgrid without any further explanation.

“Let’s see if she’s still herself,” a young woman who was definitely not a goddess but was also definitely Ilia said.

“What happened?” Yasgrid asked, feeling like the answer to Ilia’s question was ‘uncertain, ask again later.’ 

“We’ve both been rather foolish,” Ilia said. “In my case, I’ve chosen a mortal life in place of the divinity I once held, and in your case you decided to collect said divinity when I was no longer making use of it.”

“That doesn’t sound like something I’m capable of,” Yasgrid said, her memories tumbling together in a loose pattern which was slowly filling in the picture of what had happened, minus the divine revelations which her mind was not built to process or store.

“It’s not,” Ilia said. “You had some help.”

The Hearts.

Yasgrid’s panic resonated off the sleeping hearts which remained with her.

Which was all of them.

Save a single one.

“What happened?” she asked again.

“You were overwhelmed by what you experienced,” Ilia said. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t shatter instantly, even with sharing the burden as you were.”

“We carried you back to her home,” the Fate Dancer said.

Except he wasn’t anymore.

Yasgrid wasn’t sure how she knew that. Some residual touch of divine clarity? 

“My old home,” Ilia said. “As a proper mortal, I won’t be able to living quite so disconnected from everyone else. Or perhaps I could, but I don’t want to. That was the whole point of becoming mortal.”

“What happened to my friend?” Yasgrid asked, not sure how else to refer to the formerly Troubled Heart who’d saved her from divine retribution.

“You can ask him yourself,” Ilia said and gestured for Yasgrid to look out the nearest window.

Outside Ilia’s small home, a newborn divinity was tending a small garden by hand, his skin shining in the midday sun.

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