She was quite tall, dangerously thin, oddly pale, with silver-blue hair, and very long, distinctly pointed ears.
This, Luna reasoned, had to be Mhaiera. But she paid little overt attention to her, instead continuing her chatter with Mia.
Mhaiera, on the other hand, openly stared at Luna through half-closed eyes like a vulture leaning against the wall.
Abruptly, though, she pushed away from the wall and very shortly said, "I have a project I need to attend to," and left.
"Who was that?" Luna asked.
Mia shrugged. "She says her name is Mhaiera, but that's all she's really said about herself... Not that she ever says very much anyways, unless she's going on about lies... Sometimes it seems like an obsession with her..."
Luna nodded. "Doesn't she look sort of like..."
"Like Ghaleon?" Mia said. After Luna's confirming nod, Mia returned it. "Yes... And not just the way she looks... Sometimes she says things that he might have said himself..."
The doorknob turned.
"But..." Mia shook her head. "She spends a lot of time in the ruins of the old Magic Guild, especially in what was Ghaleon's study-slash-library... And she acts a lot like what I remember him being like, before all of this happened. Not really the way he was at the end, when he died..."
The door was pushed open slightly by a trembling, barely-visible hand.
Mia stood up and opened the door the rest of the way, revealing Mhaiera standing there, one hand clamped over her mouth, the other resting in the air where the door had been, visibly trembling. Her eyes were quite wide and the earrings on the tips of her ears that poked through her hair were shaking slightly. The hand over her mouth slid down slowly and she opened and closer her mouth several times before saying in a positively terrified tone of voice, "Whaaat... did you say?"
Luna stood up then, and warningly said, "Mia..."
Mia shook her head at Luna before looking at Mhaiera and saying, "'Not really the way he was at the end, when he died...'"
Mhaiera closed her eyes as her hand dropped off her chin and fell limply by her side. Then the tears began to flow from beneath her closed lids, a few being caught in her eyelashes, but most running openly down her cheeks. "That's..." she paused, taking a deep breath, "what I thought you said..."
Then, she turned and ran, making only the sound of one who runs while wearing three-inch spike heels.
Mia looked at Luna, who didn't look overly surprised but shrugged anyways and said, "We should probably go find where she ran off to..."
Mia nodded. "She only usually ever goes to one place, but in case she didn't, we should probably split up."
Luna bit her lip, then said, "All right... let's go..."
"Well, thank you for your time anyways," she said with an odd not-quite smile.
"Sorry I couldn't be of any help."
She nodded pleasantly and turned away, eyes going up and down the street. Nodding slightly to herself, she made a beeline for a nearby bar.
Once inside, she ambled over to a dimly-lit corner (though the entire room wasn't exactly very bright) and slid into an occupied booth. "Sorry I took so long," she said.
The booth's other occupant merely shrugged dismissingly and asked, "Don't worry about it. You find anything?"
She shook her head. "Not a thing. You?"
He shook his head, as well. "Absolutely nothing. And the thing is, what we need to know is probably blindingly obvious and out in the open for all to see..."
"Yeah, probably," she said, running a hand through her hair. "And then we'll be kicking ourselves because of that..." She paused then, and reached across the table to take a glass from in front of him, which she very quickly raised to her lips and drained it of its contents. With a light smirk, she returned the glass to its original position.
He scowled at her. "Get your own damn gin."
She half-laughed. "I'd rather have yours, that way I don't have to get up."
He shook his head. "What are we ever going to do with you?"
She smirked dirtily. "I think I can come up with a few things..."
He reached out and took her hand. "I think this is neither the time nor the place for that..."
She pouted. "Oh, you're no fun..."
"Oh, now, now..." he said with a dirty grin, "you'll be denying that before too long..."
"Of course I will... but not as soon as I'd like to..."
It was Luna who found Mhaiera, and in a fairly unlooked-for place.
It was also unlikely that she would have found her if not for the odd, mournful, haunting melody that drew Luna like a magnet towards its source.
That source was in the six-years unused Cave of Trials and the song filled Luna with an almost singleminded need to seek out the player.
The player was Mhaiera, wandering around through the old Cave of Trials, with a very old-looking flute at her lips and tears flowing freely from her eyes. She stopped short and ceased playing the very instant she saw Luna. Her brilliant, but still tear-filled purple eyes bored into Luna like a drill.
"I... I heard your playing..." Luna said quickly. "I just had to see where it was coming from..." Spellbinding, she thought with an inward rueful laugh. There was at least one truth from him.
Mhaiera drew herself up to her full six foot one and tossed her head back, arrogantly staring at Luna even through her tears. "Well, you did that very thing indeed. Please leave now."
Luna shook her head. "That's some of the best playing I've ever heard..." she said softly. "I was told that you were good, but I had no idea..."
When Mhaiera spoke, her voice was almost inaudible. "Who told you that...? I've only ever..."
Luna decided that that was a question best left unanswered and said, "That's a very pretty song... Where did you learn it?"
Mhaiera blinked with surprise a few times, then wiped at her eyes. Almost shyly, she said, "I... didn't learn it anywhere... I... came up with it... is all... It's got words... too..."
"Really?" Luna asked, genuinely interested. "I'd love to hear them... if you don't mind, that is..."
Mhaiera actually blushed, then said, "I'd... have to sing, and I haven't done that... in a long, long time... and I'm not very good, either..."
Luna smiled softly. "Well, if you don't want to..."
Mhaiera shook her head and said, "No... I'll sing it... I need to think of something, anything right now..."
With that, she took a deep breath and began to sing, very hesitantly at first, but gradually growing stronger.
"Is this all there is...?
Is there nothing left to see...?
Is there even a dream left
Amidst this meaningless vanity?
Or is there no hope left for me,
With a single dream of nothing...
I have no more reality...
Please give me another dream...
Where is this path going?
I'm seeing two different sights...
But I'll take my chances as it stands...
I won't judge which is true...
But is this path the only one?
Or is that not for me to know?
Is this still one of those false dreams until I see it?
Will it not be real until I feel it?
All I want, all I need...
Is just another dream...
Another life, another hope, an end to it all...
Please give me another dream...
This path of illusions...
It's still a dream until you see it...
It's not real until you feel it...
Just please, please give me... another dream..."
She finished very softly, and with more tears in her eyes than when she started. Shaking her head, she said, "I shouldn't have..."
Luna put her hand on Mhaiera's arm. "I know this is probably one of the last things you're thinking of right now, but that was a... very pretty song... You're one of the best singers I've ever heard... And I'm sort of jealous, too, your voice is so low, you can hit notes I couldn't even dream of hitting..."
Mhaiera shook her head. "I... thank you, but... you're right, I'm not thinking... about that right now... He... He's really dead, isn't he?"
Luna, unlike Mia, had no trouble understanding who 'he' referred to. She said nothing, but merely nodded.
Mhaiera dropped to her knees as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing. After a while, she looked up at Luna and said, "How did-- no, no, nevermind, I... don't want that answer... yet... When did it happen?"
Luna shrugged. "Six years ago."
Mhaiera's head dropped back into her hands. "I see..." she whispered and returned to her crying. Finally, though, she whispered, "Why didn't he wait...?"
Luna dropped to her knees and took one of Mhaiera's hands in her own. "I'm sure he did..." she said. "As long as he could, anyways..."
"Thank you..." Mhaiera whispered. "I need to hear... anything right now... and that... counted..."
Luna very slowly stood up, not releasing Mhaiera's hand. Mhaiera stood up with her because of that. "Let's at least get out of this cave, though..." Luna said.
Mhaiera only nodded.