"The Banishing of the Names?"
Arya started writing in the earth again. "It is one of the most significant events that happened during the fighting between the Riders and the Forsworn. When the dragons realized that thirteen of their own had betrayed them- that those thirteen were helping Galbatorix to eradicate the rest of their race and that it was unlikely anyone could stop their rampage- the dragons grew so angry, every dragon not of the Forsworn combined their strength and wrought one of their inexplicable pieces of magic. Together, they stripped the thirteen of their names."

"How?" Bird suddenly blurted. Eragon gestured to him. "Yes, how?"
Arya regarded them both. "Did I not just say it was inexplicable? All we know is that after the dragons cast their spell, no one could utter the names of the thirteen; those who remembered the named soon forgot them; and while you can read the names in scrolls and letters where they are recorded and even copy them if you look at only one glyph at a time, they are as gibberish. The dragons spared Jarnunvösk, Galbatorix's first dragon, for it was not his fault he was killed by Urgals, and also Shruikan, for he did not choose to serve Galbatorix but was forced to by Galbatorix and Morzan."

"What about their true names? Did they erase those as well?"
She nodded. "True names, birth names, nicknames, family names, titles. Everything. And as a result, the thirteen were reduced to little more than animals. No longer could they say, 'I like this' or 'I dislike that' or 'I have green scales', for to say that would be to name themselves. They could not even call themselves dragons. Word by word, the spell obliterated everything that defined them as thinking creatures, and the Forsworn had no choice but to watch in silent misery as their dragons descended into complete ignorance. The experience was so disturbing, at least five of the thirteen, and several of the Forsworn, went mad as a result."

She hovered over one of her glyphs before rewriting it.
"The Banishing of the Names is the main reason so many people now believe that dragons were nothing more than animals to ride from one place to another."
"They wouldn't believe that if they had met Saphira. Or Draco and GB."

She smiled. "No." Then flourished her last line on her new poem. This time Bird leaned closer with Eragon to study the words.
The trickster, the riddler, the keeper of the balance, he of the many faces who finds life in death and who fears no evil; he who walks through doors.

"What prompted you to write this?" Eragon asked.
"The thought that many things are not what they appear." She explained while wiping it away.

"Has anyone tried to guess Galbatorix's true name?" Eragon then quested. "It seems as if that would be the fastest way to end this war. To be honest, I think it might be the only hope we have of vanquishing him in battle."

Her eyes narrowed at Eragon. "Were you not being honest with me before?"
He blinked, then chuckled. "Of course not. It's just a figure of speech."
"And a poor one at that. Unless you happen to be in the habit of lying."

Eragon paused, remembering what he was trying to ask.
"I know it would be hard to find Galbatorix's true name, but if all the elves and all the Wyrdaí Islingrya and members of the Varden who know the ancient language searched for it, we could not help but succeed."

Arya considered her response, holding the dry strip of grass limply before starting to strip it into sections, plaiting them.
"Galbatorix's true name is no great secret. Three different elves- one a Rider, and two ordinary spellcasters- discovered it on their own and many years apart."
"They did!"

She merely continued plaiting, taking up another blade and stripping it as well.
"We can only speculate whether Galbatorix himself knows his true name. I am of the opinion that he does not, for whatever it is, his true name must be so terrible, he could not go on living if he heard it."
"Unless he is so evil or so demented, the truth about his actions has no power to disturb him."
"Perhaps."

She kept weaving, plucking more blades of grass to add to her creation as she continued. "Either way, Galbatorix is certainly aware that he has a true name, like all creatures and things, and that it is a potential weakness. At some point before he embarked upon his campaign against the Riders, he cast a spell that kills whoever uses his true name. And since we do not know exactly how this spell kills, we cannot shield ourselves from it. You see, then, why we have all but abandoned that line of inquiry. Oromis is one of the few who are brave enough to continue seeking out Galbatorix's name, albeit in a roundabout manner."

Satisfied with herself, Arya held her hands, revealing a gorgeous, delicate made of grass and only four inches long. There were rowing benches, miniscule railings, and even portholes in its sides. It carried a single mast and a dragon head prow.
"It's beautiful." Eragon marveled.
"How did you even.." Bird trailed, sockets wide.

Arya smiled, leaning closer to her ship and whispering. "Flauga." Blowing on it, it rose up, drifting around the fire and then floating off into the night.
"How far will it go?" Eragon breathed, Bird raising his wings slightly as if longing to follow.

"Forever." Answered Arya. "It takes the energy to stay aloft from the plants below. Wherever there are plants, it can fly."
They gazed into the twinkling stars where it had vanished.
"Imagine the stories people will tell about it in years to come."

Arya only laced her fingers together. "Many such oddities exist in the world. The longer you live and the farther you travel, the more of them you will see."

Bird continued gazing off into the stars, enthralled by the idea as Abyss slowly rubbed his skull. Eragon chose to stare into the flickering flames, Endogeny asleep already while Arya stared into the night like Bird.

"If it's so important to protect your true name, should I cast a spell to keep Galbatorix from using my true name against me?"

"You can if you wish to, but I doubt it's necessary. True names are not so easy to find as you think. Galbatorix does not know you well enough to guess your name, and if he were inside your mind and able to examine your every thought and memory, you would be already lost to him, true name or no. If it is any comfort, I doubt that even I could divine your true name."

"Couldn't you?" Eragon queried, seeming perplexed by this. She looked at him, then away. "No, I do not think so. Could you guess mine?"
"No."

They quieted again. The stars above flickered like cold sparks from a great fire, frozen in place. A cold wind erupted from eastward, letting out a long cry of a lost voice in the night. It blew into the camp, icy and blowing the warmth of the flames away as they sent an explosion of sparks to the west, coals bursting with vivid red-orange light as it burned.

Abyss stiffened and stared off in the direction of the wind, sockets squinting as it blew into his face. Bird shuddered slightly before moving in front of the camp and spreading out his wings, trying to block the wind from the others and their camp, bracing as it threatened to blow him away.

When it started dragging him closer to the others with it's force, Arya put out the flames with dirt, scooping more over the coals. Eragon moved to help her bury the blaze and fuel, Bird chuckling nervously as he skidded closer, digging his phalanges into the dirt in mild panic, forgetting the smarter option of simply drawing them close instead.

"Keep your wings in, you'll be thrown by the wind." Eragon ordered him.
"Okay." He mumbled, tugging the feathered appendages in just as a tremendous gust knocked him flat on his face, skidding almost into the still hot and buried coals. "Ow."
Arya rose to a half crouch, tense as she looked around.

"A little help." Abyss spluttered, drawing their attention towards him. He was struggling to avoid getting blown away, clinging to a bone attack sticking out of the ground as his feet barely stayed down. His small, light, airy form was unable to resist the tug of wind, scarves and cloak pulled back and flapping chaotically.

Eragon started to head over, only for Bird to yelp as the wind made it harder to keep his wings closed and stand upright. The human and elf had to grab onto him so he wouldn't be blown away.

Thankfully for Abyss, Endogeny had woken up, the amalgam standing up as they grabbed him with their forelimbs, hugging him close and laying down in between the others and the wind. Their large form provided enough of a block from the wind that Bird was able to stand safely, the feathered one sitting close to their underside in fear of the violent winds as Abyss sat up, blinking.

Eragon checked them before facing Arya. "What is it?"
"We are being watched. Whatever happens, don't use magic or you may get us killed."
"Who-" "Shh."

Eragon stopped, glancing at the others before searching for a rock. Abyss simply moved to peer over Endogeny's side, Bird grabbing his cloak in fear of him getting blown away. The amalgamate simply whuffed, confused and worried as they started searching for possible threats without getting up.

It was when Eragon returned that a familiar dog teleported in across from Endogeny, lights appearing in the distance in the direction of the wind as it did.

The strange orbs flew over towards them, close to the ground as they did so, shining in all kinds of colors that changed constantly, as did their sizes. One could be only a pearl one second, and the next it would be several feet wide. Each was surrounded in a crackling aura of electricity, sparking and twisting around chaotically. They moved so quickly, it was impossible to count their number.

They surrounded their meager group, spinning wildly with a hum so tremendously loud and powerful it shook the ground. Anyone with any amount of hair or fur on them had it standing straight up. Endogeny's hairlessness worked in their favor in this case, but the fur in Bird's jacket was fluffed out to the max, Abyss nearly disappearing in the depths of his scarves.

Both human and elf had their hair on end, Arya looking positively ridiculous with her hair surrounding her face the way it did.
Somehow unsurprisingly, the Dog was entirely unaffected, only hovering just off the ground.

"What do they want?" Eragon yelled as loud as he could. Arya never answered, instead watching as one orb emerged from the rest and floated before her at eye level, growing and shrinking like a beating heart as it flashed between colors at random, royal blue, earthy brown, yellow-gold, turquoise, aquamarine, red and pale blue gleaming between the changes.

A bolt of electricity caught one of her hairs, popping loudly as the single strand glowed like a hot wire and disappeared. Arya stared calmly at it, then reached out, resting her hand on its surface.

The others watched, most mute at the scene as the elf tilted her head back with an expression of pure ecstasy.
"They're curious about us." Abyss spoke, daring to stand as a look of recognition passed over him.

After he finished, the orb flashed a blood red, then rapidly went through that, green, purple, then a black so absolute it was like gazing into a black hole, white surrounding it as it floated to Eragon, pausing in front of Abyss as if to look at him. It did a single circle around him before moving off to Eragon.

The human stared at it in trepidation before glancing at Arya. She gestured for him to go on- so Eragon reached out cautiously with his right hand. He seemed surprised that it wasn't entirely airy. When his hand met its surface, it exploded in blue light, outshining everything else with its intensity.

There was a moment of utter joy on his face before he seemed paralyzed. He was frozen like this for nearly a minute, then it pulled back, blue rays of light fading as it shrank to apple size and darting in front of Bird.
"Do I have to touch this?" He asked, leaning away.
Arya nodded as Eragon reached out to the orb longingly.

Bird huffed, then looked away and pushed his hand toward it.
He only had the chance to gasp loudly, wings opening up, left eyelight flaring violently before getting paralyzed himself, the orb glowing shades of brown and near bronze.

It left him soon enough, circling him before stopping in front of Endogeny and expanding, glowing bronze. The amalgam sniffed it hesitantly, started to reach with a paw, then thought otherwise and dropped it's face over the orb.

The light was enveloped by the hole as it turned greyish white, then it closed, like an eye blinking.

The lights around them started spinning faster, flashing more rapidly as though turning more hostile. The amalgam tensed up, shaking their head and whining. After a few moments longer than the others, the orb seemed to burst out of their head, vibrating chaotically as it rejoined the wall of light. Endogeny leapt up, lowing as they dripped, looking around frantically in distress.

A new orb detached from the rest and stopped in front of Abyss, who glanced at Endogeny in concern before reaching. The amalgamate howled, shoving their face into the wall as though searching for the orb that had left them. The swirling lights parted around them effortlessly. The dog amalgam ignored them in favor of lunging through, disappearing outside.

The sphere before Abyss was currently shining a vivid aquamarine and bluish white. He stared at it with huge eyelights, strange tentacles that almost resembled a more alien version of Nightmare's but white with a faint aqua hue emerging from his backside, generating electricity as well in brief sparks of high energy blue and white.

It darted backwards, merging with the rest of them as they all suddenly burst outward, scattering in every direction and swirling back in two groups, one several dozen feet above their camp and another a about fifty feet southward. Both groups danced around each other, tumbling and darting this way and that, yet remaining in their set locations.

After only a few seconds, the group above them dropped back down, swarming Abyss as the other group started shining more brilliantly than before in four familiar colors.

Everyone in the camp dove aside as the lights shoved them away, Abyss hidden by the orbs as they displayed colors associated with him. White, bleached blue, aqua, light blue, aquamarine, and more.

After a few seconds, they all vanished, revealing Abyss.. who was not the same. He shivered, strange crystals seemingly within his eyelights as white threads like angel hair emerged from his strange hooded shirt beneath his cloak, practically hiding his normal pants. His scarves twitched like cat tails, a faint aquamarine tint gleaming from their depths, the ends glowing silvery white.

"Abyss?" Bird asked cautiously, reaching out to him uneasily.
The skeleton turned towards him, wide, crystalline and aquamarine eyelights seeming to look through him.
His voice sounded hollow and echoey, as though spoken from down a long hallway.
"I don't remember who I am anymore."

He then fell, almost hitting the ground before Bird managed to catch his limp form with a wing, holding him close. "What the hell is even going on anymore?" He asked of no one in particular.

"Arya? What do you know of this?" Eragon questioned, watching Abyss carefully.
"I do not know, I have never seen nor heard of any event resembling this to draw knowledge from. Spirits have never done anything of this sort before. It was entirely unexpected."
"We expected it." A quiet, familiar voice spoke.

They all glanced over, realizing that the merged god of emotion was present, standing passively before them in the darkness, illuminated by the faint yellow-gold glow of their leaves. They strode nearer, taking Abyss from Bird's hold and curling their branches around him. A strange, purple-yellow glow shone from their hand as it hovered over the side of his skull.

A few tense, silent seconds passed before Abyss seemed to regain consciousness, blinking blearily with confused, unfocused eyelights that no longer held crystals or shone aquamarine, but were light blue slits instead. "Wha..?"

They sat down, setting him to the side. "You're currently too weak to handle your own memories." Cicállaé explained softly.
Everyone stared at them for more, including Abyss.
"How..?"

"You're quite literally a broken god who is returning to a former position left vacant for eons, in a place where everything is in chaos. We don't have as much information as we like either, we are just doing what we can to help."

"If you don't know, who's even telling you what to fix?" Abyss questioned. They smirked for a moment, then turned serious again.
"You did."
"What.. What do you mean I did? I don't know anything about what's-" His hands flew to his skull in pain, doubling over with a grunt.

"Everyone says he's a god." Bird fretted, watching Abyss anxiously. "Does anyone even know what kind of god he's even supposed to be?"
Cicállaé shrugged, glancing at Abyss in light concern. "According to Life, Limbo, and Reaper, especially Reaper and Limbo, he used to be the god of memory, Souls, and the cores of AU's. We had never even heard of these cores beforehand."

"Limbo?" Bird asked, still shocked that the gods of life and death were involved.
"Limbo is a little mysterious god stuck in the higher realm who was close friends with who this one used to be." They pointed at Abyss as he started slowly sitting up, looking utterly bewildered.

"How do you feel?" They asked kindly.
"I want to go back to normal." He replied bluntly, staring straight ahead with a frustrated glare. "I'm tired of feeling out of it or just.. wrong." He rubbed his face. "Is that really so hard to ask for? Normalcy?"

Cicállaé deadpanned at him. "At least you're not sharing your body with your brother."
He turned in surprise. "Wait, you acted like you didn't care about that."
"Sometimes it's annoying." They sighed, standing up.
"And we suggest putting those away." A branch waved at a pale fleshy branching tendril tipped in a few turquoise spheres.

Abyss blinked, staring at the two limbs emerging from under his scarves. "I… I've only used these three times." He explained in disbelief. "I never could sustain them outside of…" Abyss trailed, poking the limbs curiously.

Bird cautiously leaned down, helping Abyss up as Eragon shared a look with Arya.
"Okay, you're some kind of weird god, but I don't think you're really a skeleton either." Bird stated awkwardly. Abyss went silent, looking down.

"I've known that." He said quietly.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine." Abyss sighed explosively, the limbs curling in on themselves and fading to nothing with a fizzy glow and a couple sparks.

"Why am I wearing a skirt?" He asked no one in particular, looking down at the filaments hanging from the thick undershirt he didn't have before.
"It doesn't appear to be a skirt to me." Eragon observed, peering at it curiously. "Although I am wondering that myself." They glanced at Cicállaé, who was looking up from staring at Toby.

"We don't know, either. Perhaps a bit of Memory returned to him?"
"Gee, I thought I wasn't supposed to handle memories."
"That wasn't what we meant."
"Then could you explain, then?" Arya asked before Abyss could retort back.

They stared at the sky for a long moment, having some sort of internal debate before sighing and facing the others.

"Memory was what the other one had decided to call himself. He is somehow a split half of the god Abyss used to be. As the name suggests, he is the one that remembers what they had been and is aware of the situation unlike Abyss, who is basically the mortal half, and as you know, gods aren't supposed to be mortal."

"So.. where's Memory, then?" Bird asked.
"He isn't in this realm. Otherwise, he would have found Abyss immediately. He's locked away in their realm, the Abyss. He's only capable of traveling to the dreamscape. It's a very complicated situation that is difficult to explain." They sighed, studying Abyss as he rubbed his skull tiredly.
"I named that weirdo." He mumbled.

Cicállaé leaned forward quickly, sockets wide. "You remember?"
"No. Yes? I was dreaming!" He explained quickly, anxious.
"You weren't. How much do you remember?"

Abyss's eyelights flitted nervously to them and away again. "I don't know.. it hurt. Everything was fuzzy..I was just dreaming. It's not what you seem to think."

"Are you really so sure?" Cicállaé queried mysteriously, tilting their skull to the side as they stared at him. Abyss groaned quietly. "You're making me feel confused all over again."
"It's important, Abyss."

He slowly moved to a position laying flat on the ground, sighing as he stared into the stars high above them.
"I don't know… it was like being in the Abyss, but not, like some false version or something. And he was there, but I couldn't.. feel him? He didn't feel like a person. It was like a personification of the Abyss, except parts of it I don't remember anything of. And then he was me?" He hesitated, eyelights blurred as he concentrated.

"He said it was a part of the Abyss, and it had to be moved, but how do you move a place? A realm, or whatever. You can move a building, given the right circumstances, but.." Abyss trailed, thinking.

"It's not just something you can move. It's like it's own entity, parallel to the Void like an opposite. Not like the Anti-Void is parallel, but.. I don't know. It shouldn't move in the first place. It's a part of the Multiverse, it carries what's more or less the Souls of the AU's. They're not Souls really, but sort of like them. You know what I mean, they're called the Cores." He waved at Cicállaé lazily, not bothering to glance over.

His hand moved to rub his skull again.
"I remember leaving that place, with that Memory guy.. in me? I guess? I don't remember how it happened, I just remember feeling like I was just sinking, and everything changed to this.. region that kinda freaked me out a little. It even felt different, it's echoes were.. not necessarily louder, but more present. It wasn't as quiet. It was like deja vu. There were these lights everywhere… like those spirits. Just.. fuzzier."

"They were spirits. That place was their home."
Abyss fell silent, staring blankly at Cicállaé. They blinked, staring at him. Bird seemed ready to stay something, but chose silence as well, moving to stand closer to Eragon and Arya, Endogeny following.

"So that really did happen." Abyss murmured.
"Yes. What else do you remember?"
He sighed, rubbing his face again as he grumbled. "You were there. There was a.. door, Life was there, talking.. about stuff. Error was there too? And.." He paused, face twisting into something unreadable, sitting up slowly.
"Limbo.."

"What of him?"
He glanced at Cicállaé, looking almost afraid, afraid and concerned.
"I don't know. I know him, but I don't. He knew me. As a friend?? I don't-" He grumbled. "Niótho móno sýnchysi."
"Was that greek??" Bird questioned in surprise. Abyss glanced up. "What?"

"That sounded like greek or something. Or latin!" He waved a hand erratically at Abyss, who just stared at him. "I don't know any latin."
"So it was greek?"
"No, I.. I spoke english?"

"You didn't." Everyone faced Cicállaé, who shook their skull.
"You said you were confused in greek." They explained, branches drifting behind them.
"I don't remember? I don't.. know greek." Abyss seemed to give up. "I don't know."

He glanced to the side, into the darkness of the hills. "I keep getting strange feelings and hearing.. stuff. I'm trying not to, but sometimes I can sense what someone else is feeling- and I swear, normally I can control that, I don't want to hear your thoughts, but I just.. it's out of my control now." He peered at Arya, afraid. "It's like I'm a kid all over again, forced to hear what everyone's thinking and feeling, the only difference is no one seems to hate me this time.. or at least, hate me as much." His scarves wrapped around him as he hugged himself.

"You were hated?" Eragon asked quietly.
"Yeah." Abyss responded, voice slightly hoarse.
"Cause I was a freak. I was weird, did weird things, had abilities monsters shouldn't have.. even my dad was scared of me sometimes."
"Your dad? Why?" Bird questioned, perturbed.

Abyss shrugged. "The weird things scared him. I was never a normal kid, and I.. really, really wanted to be." He shivered, wiping his sockets.

"I don't want to be like this. I don't want people to look at me and think, 'oh, it's that freak with the wings and crystals.' 'Oh, it's that guy.' 'Oh, stay away from him, he might read your mind.' 'Oh, he's trying to bring back his AU! What a joke!' 'Oh look, he glows like an echo flower! What's up with him?' 'Oh wow, he's short! Clearly can't do anything with his life, right?'!"
He stopped yelling, shrinking into himself as he lost his anger as quickly as it had come.

"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You have every right to feel that way. Most people are idiotic and illogical, looking for something to direct their fear and rage towards that which they do not know. Relax, Abyss, for they are gone. They are not here. Now is the time to live in the moment and think of the future, not dwell in the past." Cicállaé advised softly, a leafy branch curling around one of his scarves.

Abyss let out a trembling sigh. "This stuff is just getting to me, is all. It's been so long since I've even been.. home. I don't even know what home is supposed to be anymore. It's lonely." He admitted, absentmindedly squeezing one of his scarves between his hands as he gazed upward once again.

"You feel lost." Cicállaé noted, sitting down beside Abyss.
"Yeah." He agreed, unmoving.
"You've been confused about your personal identity, and fear what you may be beyond what you are already familiar with. You struggle to accept it because of said fear."
"...I guess."

A muted silence overtook the group, filled with silent reflection as they all mulled over what they had recently learned.

"A part of me wants to know." Abyss explained quietly, a whisper spoken beneath a soft sigh.
"Know what?"

"The... memory.. stuff. I'm just.. normally afraid to know what I used to be. I remember I wasn't always a Sans. I remember being something else in another AU, and before that I was just.. lost and alone in a cold and dark region of the Abyss." He explained haltingly.

"I used to remember only bits and pieces of being in there before I suddenly remembered.. a lot more."

Cicállaé faced him seriously, speaking in low tones so the others struggled to make out their words.
"Would you rather your memory be returned slowly?"
Abyss hesitated, considering this.
"I.. guess? Will it hurt?"
"It shouldn't. We can manipulate it to return like how amnesia can heal over time, albeit much faster than true amnesia."

He studied a patch of earth between them in thought.
"You can always stop it if I don't like what I find out?"
"...Yes."

"That response doesn't sound all too convincing."
"Because it would be less effective the further along you are. There's a point where we doubt we can stop the process. By then, however, if you are that far along, it seems highly unlikely you would want it to cease."

Abyss blinked, thinking.
Then he sighed, looking back up at the treeskeleton. "Alright. I.. I want to know."

Cicállaé nodded, reaching up and resting a hand on his skull. Abyss stared at it cautiously, before a purple and yellow glow seeped out from between it and his skull. His sockets fluttered, eyelights flickering and unfocused as he slumped, breath shuddering. A faint, watery glow seemed to emanate from him, sparks flying from his scarves and tendrils with a fizzling buzz before calming down.

A faint, aquamarine glow illuminated his shirt in oceanic waves when he came out of his trance, blinking rapidly with wide eyelights.
"R-Reaper!" He stuttered in surprise.
"What about him..?" Bird dared ask.
"I… remember seeing him?" He hesitated, confused.
"But I wasn't.. myself."

Cicállaé moved away, giving him space. "It will likely take some time before you can make sense of it."
Abyss glanced at them, then sighed, shifting in place. "Fine. I can handle that much."

It was silent for awhile, a few minutes passing by as they all glanced around to continue the conversation.

"Do spirits always feel so happy?" Bird asked out of the blue.
Arya answered. "Spirits always induce a sense of rapture when they choose to communicate with who we are made of matter, but do not allow them to deceive you. They are not as benevolent, content, or cheerful as they would have you believe. Pleasing those they interact with is their way of defending themselves. They hate to be bound in one place, and they have realized long ago that if the person they are dealing with is happy, then he or she will be less likely to detain the spirits and keep them as servants."

"I don't know." Eragon spoke up, smiling faintly at the memory. "They make you feel so good, I can understand why someone would want to keep them nearby, instead of releasing them."

Arya shrugged lightly. "Spirits have as much difficulty predicting our behavior as we do theirs. They share so little in common with the other races of Alagaësia, conversing with them in even the simplest terms is a challenging prospect, and any meeting is fraught with peril, for one never knows how they will react."

"That doesn't tell me Trianna is excused for being a sorceress. Gah, she even brags of being one. I should order her to cease immediately."
They all regarded Eragon, Arya offering a question.
"Have you ever seen her summon spirits to do her bidding?"
"No."

"I thought not. Trianna has been with the Varden for nigh on 6 years, and in that time she has demonstrated her mastery of sorcery exactly once, and that after much coaxing on Ajihad's part and much consternation and preparation on Trianna's. She has the necessary skills- she is no charlatan- but summoning spirits is exceedingly dangerous, and one does not embark upon it lightly."

There was a pause, Cicállaé seeming to consider saying something as Eragon messed with his still glowing palm.
"They aren't some form of human spirits, are they? Nor elf, nor dwarf, nor monster, nor those of any other creature. That is, they aren't ghosts. We don't become them after we die."
"Definitely not." Abyss declared, losing confidence moments after he spoke.

"No, they are not." Arya agreed. "And please do not ask me, as I know you are about to, what, then, they really are. It is a question for Oromis to answer, not me. The study of sorcery, if properly conducted, is long and arduous and should be approached with care. I do not want to say anything that may interfere with the lessons Oromis has planned for you, and I certainly don't want you to hurt yourself trying something I mentioned when you lack the proper instruction."

"And when am I supposed to return to Ellesméra?" Eragon countered. "I can't leave the Varden again, not like this, not while Thorn and Murtagh are still alive. Until we defeat the Empire, or the Empire defeats us, Saphira and I have to support Nasuada. If Oromis and Glaedr really want to finish our training, they should join us, and Galbatorix be blasted!"

"Please, Eragon. This war shall not end as quickly as you think. The Empire is large, and we have but pricked it's hide. As long as Galbatorix does not know about Oromis and Glaedr, we have an advantage."
"Is it an advantage if they never make full use of themselves?"
Arya didn't respond.

After a minute or so, he changed the subject.
"What was it you said to the spirit?"
"It was curious why we had been using magic; that was what brought us to their attention. I explained, and I also explained that you were the one who freed the spirits trapped inside of Durza. That seemed to please them a great deal."

"It did. They care for their kind immensely, despite how dark some of them may be." Cicállaé explained with a fond expression. Arya nodded, shuffling over to the lily Eragon had gifted her, gasping as she touched it.
"They were indeed grateful. Naina!"

Light flooded the camp, revealing the flower beside her. Endogeny blinked their face hole a few times as everyone else stared at the now metallic plant.

It's stem and leaf were gold, petals white with a different metal. As she moved it, she revealed that within the flower, it was made of diamond and rubies.

"How in the…" Bird leaned over, Eragon brushing his fingers over it's leaf. "It's a perfect copy!"
"And it's still alive."
"No!" He went to investigate with his mind, Bird just staring in amazement as he touched it.
"I've heard of plants made of strange things like metal in some rare AU's, but.. never being turned into that!"

Eragon shook his head. "This is beyond everything I know of magic. By all rights, this lily ought to be dead. Instead, it is thriving. I cannot even imagine what would be involved in turning a plant into living metal. Perhaps Saphira could do it, but she would never be able to teach the spell to anyone else."
"The real question is whether this flower will produce seeds that are fertile."
"It could spread?"

"I would not be surprised if it does. Numerous examples of self-perpetuating magic exist throughout Alagaësia, such as the floating crystal on the island of Eoam and the dream well in Mani's Caves, not to mention monsters themselves, you being living and breathing proof of such magic. This would be no more improbable than either of those phenomena."

The skeletons nodded at her before Eragon responded.
"Unfortunately, if anyone discovers this flower or the offspring it may have, they will dig them all up. Every fortune hunter in the land would come here to pick the golden lilies."
"They will not be so easy to destroy, I think, but only time will tell for sure."

The human suddenly burst out laughing.
"I've heard the expression 'to gild the lily' before, but the spirits actually did it! They gilded the lily!" He kept laughing, his voice echoing across the vast plains.

"Well, their intentions were noble. We cannot fault them for being ignorant of human sayings."
"No, but…" He gave up, cackling. Bird started giggling himself, Abyss snickering as well, caught up in the infectious laughter.

Arya snapped her fingers, the light disappearing as she did so.
"We have talked away most of the night. It is time we rested. Dawn is fast approaching, and we must depart soon thereafter."

Cicállaé breathed a sigh, nodding in agreement. Abyss scooted over to Endogeny's side, the amalgam stretching out with a soft whine as Bird followed.

The merged god merely stood up and walked a few places away, branches spreading around them as they relaxed.
With that, they all settled down for the night.