Chapter Text
The halls of Akademia Anyder stood in near perfect silence, though that was far from out of the ordinary. The real work began in the offshoot rooms, and it was in those rooms that the pristine neatness of the corridors was exposed for a fraud. Hundreds of rooms, thousands of Amaurotians, uncountable works-in-progress laid strewn across every available surface. One such Amaurotian glided past rows of doors, some open, others closed, but all of them bearing one commonality; the din of rambunctious life. Debate and discussion.
All of them, but not the room the Amaurotine was headed for. Up a small set of stairs, these doors were distinct from the others in that they were of a hue slightly more radiant than the rest, and that the door was always open— but just a crack. Just enough to announce that visitors were welcome, but there was work to be done on the other side.
With hesitant hand the Amaurotine took the doorknob in hand to peer inside. It was an expansive room, albeit with far less furniture than the standard laboratories. Most of the table space was pushed to the extremities of the room, and even then, only the surfaces at the back were ever in use. Tables lined up against a series of windows that spanned ceiling to floor, with baubles and bits mainly congregated in the middle where a figure stood hunched over in thought.
“Speaker?”
Quiet, they watched the robed academian straighten up at their desk, a subtle perk at the interruption. An unspoken invitation to enter the room, though of course, the Amaurotine closed the door behind them as not to spoil the world to the Speaker’s newest creations before they were truly ready to marvelled at.
They were made aware of a sound, new and novel, unlike anything their ears had heard before. Like a soft chime, but more organic— singsong, but elegant. Muffled, kept hidden beneath Speaker Lahabrea’s cupped hands.
“Your students were asking for you, Speaker. Forgive me… I am not fond of forcing you to abandon your studies, but it has been quite some time since they last saw you…”
“You needn’t apologize so,” Lahabrea replied, voice warm, aglow with the same sort of kindled flame that flickered to life whenever he was truly proud of his work. The Amaurotine stepped forward, curious, eager to know what the Speaker cradled in his palms. “I do have a tendency to fixate on my projects, do I not? You’ve every reason to check in.”
A quick visit. They vowed that would be all; that they would return to their studies and leave their busy mentor be. But questions hung on the tip of their tongue. Curiosity had brought them to Akademia Anyder in the first place. It would be against their very nature to turn back now. “Speaker,” they said, “If I may— what is that noise? It’s… quite ethereal. I think I like it.”
“Ah, yes. This is what I’ve spent so long perfecting. It is a simple task to birth a creature of flesh and bone, and yet… how I have desired to see if I could create a kindred spirit to you and I. A creature imbued with the desire to play and to experiment. With the ability to create miraculous works of its very own. I believe I have accomplished my goal at last.” Lahabrea glanced downward at his hands, head askew in thought. “Come. I will have you see it; I’ve yet to have anyone else offer proper critique.”
“S-Speaker! You want me to be the first?” An honor— an honor beyond anything they had ever anticipated! The first, the very first to offer their thoughts toward a virgin project. They braced a hand against their chest, struck visibly by the proposal. “I would be most pleased, but—”
“No, there is no ‘but’ about it. A masterpiece cannot be made but with the aid of one’s peers. Alone, I cannot see the flaws my eyes are blind to.”
Lahabrea approached, and at once, the Amaurotine felt a need to bow their head respectfully. “I cannot argue with that, Speaker. Thank you for this privilege.”
The Amaurotine tucked their hands behind their back, shuffled closer, then looked to Lahabrea’s enclosed hands with baited breath. Already, mind spun with educated guesses. A creature of flesh and bone, with a voice both foreign but beautiful…
Whatever the Amaurotine had envisioned melted away at once at the unveiled creation. Seated in Lahabrea’s palm sat a small, delicate, feathered sphere of white. The creature glanced around with a peculiar fervor. Not frenzied fear, but a desire to drink in its surroundings. It stood on thin legs— a platform of gossamer that made the Amaurotine wonder how it could support itself.
The creature’s feathers grew, expanding to a show of fully fledged wing before it took off from Lahabrea’s hand. With a flinch, the Amaurotine stepped back both to give it space, and crane their head towards the ceiling as their feathered friend took perch in the rafters to deliver its song in unbridled peace.
“Your thoughts?” Lahabrea prompted, and for the brief instant the Amaurotine looked away, realized that the Speaker too was fixated on the ceiling. His calm smile brought a match to the Amaurotine’s face.
“Respectfully, Speaker, I must confess that I do not know what information it is trying to convey,” they replied, “But its voice is holding me captive. I feel… as though I cannot look away.”
“I wouldn’t say it was designed with practicality in mind,” Lahabrea said, voice both gentle and distant, as though his thoughts were with the feathered creature and not grounded. “So long as both listener and my little creator are pleased with its song, I will have accomplished my goal.”
“A musical soul,” the Amaurotine mulled over the concept as they spoke aloud. “It looks pleased to me, Speaker. Free to create melody as it so desires…”
“And you?” Lahabrea asked.
“And I am free to listen. I could not be happier, Speaker.” The Amaurotine gave a laugh, and their feathered friend descended from the rafters once more to glide through the chamber. It landed on Lahabrea’s desk amidst the organized chaos, threw up its head, and trilled. “I could not be happier,” they repeated.
“The moments like this,” Lahabrea replied, “I wish could last forever.”
As do I, Speaker. The Amaurotine thought, with no care or worry in the world.
As do I.