Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 23:49:33 EDT
From: Rune Therin <mist_dark@hotmail.com>
Subject: Nysnc Saga, part 3

I'm back.  Anyone miss me?  Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me.  Glad to
hear from you.  My address is Mist_dark@hotmail.com So if you feel the
need, drop me a line.  Let me know what you think about the story.  Likes,
dislikes, etc.

Usual disclaimer here.  This story isn't supposed to imply anything about
the sexuality of the members of Nsync.  They're talented young men, and if
they're gay, that's their business, not mine.  Parts of this story are
based of the RPG Rifts.  All trademarks belong to Palladium books and Kevin
Siembieda.  If you're too young in your area, or it's illegal in you're
area, you should leave.  Also this story will contain homosexuality.  If
that offends you, please leave as well.

Enjoy,
Rune


PART THREE

	"No Lance," Selvar stormed into his study with the young blonde in
tow.  "I will not teach you my magic."  Selvar had been arguing with Lance
all morning and he was starting to get irritated.

	"Why not?"  Lance demanded.  "You said you wanted me to be able to
survive in this world and what better way to do it then to teach me magic?"

	"My magic carries a terrible price," Selvar countered.  "And I will
not be responsible for destroying your innocence."

	"What could be so bad that you won't even consider the idea of
teach me magic?"  Lance asked.

	"I am not opposed to you learning magic Lance," Selvar sighed.
"I'm opposed to you learning my magic.  There are things I've done that I'm
not proud of.  I was forced into learning my art.  I was foolish in my
youth and took a path that could destroy me."

	"Youth?"  Lance asked.  "You aren't that old."

	Selvar laughed.  "I am hardly young any more Lance.  I am three
hundred and forty years old."

	"You're what?  How?"

	Laughing Selvar swept back the hair to expose his ears.  Each one
came to a gentle point.  "I'm an elf, or more accurately a dark elf.
Though I'm sort of a throw back.  My skin isn't dark like my parents, but
other then that I'm a dark elf."

	Lance's face fell for a moment.  "I see.  You're avoiding my
question though.  What did you do that's so bad that won't let you teach me
your magic?"

	"If I show you, you must promise to see it all the way through."
Selvar looked Lance directly in the eye.  "Once I begin I won't stop until
you've seen everything.  Then you'll understand why I refuse to teach you."

	Lance paled slightly before nodding.  "Show me."

	"Very well, follow me."

Selvar led Lance out of his study and down several floors in the castle.
Though Lance had done a little exploring in his week with Selvar, he hadn't
gotten this far down before.  There were no tapestries in this part of the
castle.  Instead skeletal looking suits of armour lined the walls like
sentinels.  Oddly enough, for a castle as large as this one, there wasn't
any dust.  Apparently the servants did their job well, though Lance had
never seen any servant, other then Maria.

"This is your last chance to back out."  Selvar had stopped them in front
of a giant stone door.  "Once we enter my laboratory I begin showing you my
reasons for not teaching you."

"I want to know Selvar," Lance said.

Selvar only nodded and pushed open the door and stepped into the darkness
beyond.  He muttered something and the torches on either side of the door
ignited.  He took one down and began lighting others.  Soon the entire room
was lit.  Hundreds of bottles lined the shelves around the room.  A large
stone table sat in the middle of the room with an intricate runic circle
around it.  The table was covered by a black cloth.  Books filled the three
bookcases that sat against the far wall.

"Lance would you please close the door?"  Selvar asked quietly.  "I'm
afraid you will not like what you're about to see."

"I'm an adult Selvar," Lance said as he closed the door.  It was
surprisingly light, and from this side Lance could see that it was covered
in a number of archaic symbols.  "I can make my own decisions."

Selvar busied himself for a few moments pulling various bottles of the
shelves and setting them on a smaller table.  Once he was satisfied with
everything he walked over to the door and placed his hand on it.  The
symbols began to glow at his touch.  After a moment he pulled his hand away
and faced Lance.  "The door is locked now.  It will only open to my hand.
I don't want to do this Lance, but you're insisting.  You will have to
watch what you wanted to see.  There will be no hiding from it."

He didn't wait for Lance to respond.  He walked over to the table and
pulled the cloth off.  Underneath was a complete human skeleton.  Selvar
heard Lance stiffen behind him.

"Remember Lance, you wanted to know why."

He walked around to the other side of the table so that Lance could see
what he was doing.  Selvar closed his eyes and held his right hand out over
the skeleton.  He began chanting in a strange language while he made sharp
gestures in the air with his left hand.  A large spot of light formed in
his hand and solidified into a black crystal.  Lance gasped at the beauty
of the crystal.  He watched in awe as small red lines appeared along the
surface of the crystal and light shone from within.  The crystal exploded
outward sending shards in all directions.  Lance instinctively moved his
arms to protect his face, but the shards never touched his skin.

Through this Selvar never stopped chanting or gesturing.  When the light
had cleared a small misty creature floated above the elf's open palm.  Its
human face was locked in torment and its movements hinted at the pain it
was in.  Selvar raised his arm and flung the creature toward the skeleton.
With an inhuman shriek the creature dove into the remains.  The skeleton
glowed and then shook.  The bones realigned themselves to join together
properly.  The empty sockets stared vacantly at the ceiling as the thing
sat up.  It pulled itself of the table and stood next to it.

Selvar stopped chanting and lowered his arms.  His eyes were locked on
Lance's reaction.  The blonde had paled, but hadn't made a move to leave.
He seemed caught between terror and wonder.  `Please,' Selvar prayed.
`Don't let him want this.'

	"You said there was more," Lance said, pulling himself out of his
trance-like state.  "This can't be what you mean by horrible.  This is
disturbing, but not horrifying."

	"There is more, though I had hoped that this first example would
cause you realize my fears."  Selvar gestured toward the skeleton, which
lumbered across the room and pulled a rune-covered bowl down from a shelf.
It carried the bowl over to the stone table and set it down.  Then it moved
the bottles Selvar had pulled down earlier over to the table as well.

	"At least that thing appears useful," Lance joked.

	"The dead do have their uses," Selvar told him without a trace of
humor in his voice.  He pointed toward a corner and the skeleton moved to
where he was pointing.  "They also have their dangers."

	Lance watched with interest as the elf filled the bowl with the
contents of the bottles.  Most of the liquids being mixed were fine, but
the last one added caused a vile smelling mist to fill the air.  It caused
his eyes to water and he wanted to vomit.

	"This mist will clear shortly," Selvar told him.  "When it does the
bowl will show you several things.  I feel I must tell you that once you
start, you won't be able to stop.  I meant what I said, once I begin you
will have to watch all the way through.  Look in and you will see why I
refuse to teach you."

	"Thank you," Lance said as he calmly stepped toward the bowl and
glanced down.  After a moment the mist dissipated.  The liquid in the bowl
shimmered and cleared.  An image appeared in the bowl.  It was blurry at
first, but quickly became clear.  Lance recognized it as Selvar.

	The image widened and Lance saw that Selvar was standing in a
graveyard over a freshly dug grave.  A body was lying next to the grave
with three candles on its chest and forehead.  Selvar knelt next to the
body and appeared to be conducting some sort of ritual.  Part way through a
group of people appeared baring a variety of weapons.  The newcomers made
threatening motions toward the elf.  One of the group charged him and swung
a club at the elf's head.  The elf dove out of the way and rolled to his
feet, waving his arms at the surrounding graveyard.

	The resulting scene reminded Lance of his experience in the forest.
Hands and arms popped out of the ground and flailed wildly.  Some of the
people screamed and tried to leave as the ground erupted completely in some
areas.  The dead were climbing out of their graves to defend Selvar.  The
corpses moved toward the mob and attacked them.  While the corpses
slaughtered the mob Selvar stood to one side and laughed.  As the last
person died the image faded.  Another took its place.

	The bowl cleared to reveal a throne room.  A regal looking woman
sat on the throne.  She looked worn, but refused to yield to her
exhaustion.  Selvar was the only other living occupant of the room.  The
two were having a heated conversation of some kind.  Neither seemed willing
to allow the other to win.  Selvar wove his arms in a pattern directed at
the woman.  His hand glowed white.  The woman shrieked in pain as a white
mist oozed out of her body.  He brought his hand back sharply and the mist
flew from her body into his closed fist.  Laughing Selvar opened his hand
and released the mist.  It floated toward the ceiling and dissipated.  The
woman's body fell forward out of the throne as the image faded.

	More and more images flashed through the bowl.  Each came faster
then the last and each showed Selvar committing an atrocity.  Some were
worse then others.  A few showed murders or slaughtering of defenseless
people.  Others showed Selvar summoning creatures that could only be
described as demons.

The more Lance watched, the more he agreed with Selvar. He couldn't learn
this magic.  It was evil.  Finally his mind couldn't take it any more.  He
wrenched his gaze away from the bowl and it shattered.  The liquids hissing
as they hit the table and the floor below.  Selvar stared at him in wonder.
Breathing heavily Lance sprinted for the door.  His open palm smacked it
and the runes flared momentarily before exploding in a shower of sparks.
He yanked the door open and ran down the hallway.  He didn't care where he
was going.  He just had to get away from the evil he had seen.


	"Fayth, you can leave now."  Ivar told his daughter.  "You're
lessons are over for the day.  Josh, I want to speak with you before you
go."

	Fayth swam by JC on her way to the door and smirked at him.  She
obviously thought he was going to get in trouble again.  It'd only been two
days since his lessons had started, but he'd managed to screw up a number
of them already.

	"Josh," Ivar began.  "I'm not angry about your accidents over the
last few days.  They're normal in the first few stages of learning."  He
sighed.  "But I can't help but wonder why you keep making similar mistakes.
You seem to grasp the concept of a song and then you just lose it.  What's
distracting you?"

	"I guess I keep forgetting the words," JC said sheepishly.

	"Wrong answer," Ivar told him.

	"What?"

	"We both know perfectly well that the words of a song don't matter.
It's the feeling you put behind them.  You take your emotion and force the
magic to take shape.  You could use any words you wanted so long as the
feelings were right."  Ivar stopped speaking to swim across the room.
"There's something else Josh.  I want to help you with it, but I can't
unless you let me know what's wrong."

	JC hung his head for a moment and then swam over to his teacher.
"It's everything.  I mean I don't know how I came to this place, let alone
why.  Your daughter hates me, I don't know where my friends are, or if
they're alive.  And to top it all off I'm homesick.  I like you a lot Ivar,
you're a great guy.  But right now I'd give anything to go home."

	"I wish I could help you with any of those things.  I'm not a seer.
You're a talented man and you'll go far."  Ivar swam back over to his desk
and picked up a small book that had been magically protected against water.
He flipped through it and then set it back on the desk.  "Like I said, I
can't help you with the things that are bothering you, but I can help you
with your songs.  I'm free for the next few hours.  I think some one on one
learning would be good for you."

	"Think it would help?"  JC asked.

	"Yes," Ivar said firmly.  "You don't seem to have trouble with
individual songs, but just keeping the song consistent.  You start it off
fine, but then it goes astray.  Start with the basic armour song."

	"Okay," JC said.  He closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a
moment.  Breathing underwater was something he was still getting used to.
It was an odd feeling.  He began his song quietly.  This one didn't need
volume to be more effective, just concentration.  Slowly the water around
him began to harden and create a form-fitting body suit.  The strain of the
song became too much and his concentration broke.  The water around him
softened.

	"Stop," Ivar said gently.  "I think I've found one of your basic
problems.  You're still concentrating on the words.  They're not important.
I know it's difficult to remember that, but it's true.  You just need the
words as a focus.  I want you to try the same song, but use these words
instead.  `The sun is yellow, the ocean blue, the grass is green, what
lovely hues.'"

	"You're joking right?"  JC laughed.

	"Serious.  They're easy to remember so you won't have to focus on
them.  Just concentrate on the feeling the song is creating.  Try it
again."

	"If you insist."  JC closed his eyes and began singing.  Ivar was
right, the words were easy to remember so he didn't concentrate on them.
He formed the feeling of protectiveness and forced that onto the water
around him.  It hardened like last time, but stayed this way.  He finished
the song and opened his eyes.  "It worked," he said with some amazement.

	"Of course it worked," Ivar said.  "Now let the song go and do it
again."

	"Why didn't it go away when I stopped singing?"

	"The songs we use are magic.  Similar to normal magic, but
different in the way things are achieved.  What good would a protection
spell be if it faded the second you stopped chanting?  The same concept
applies to our songs.  They will fade, but not for a while.  Your mind will
hold onto the feeling as long as possible.  The better you are, the longer
the effects will last."

	"Gottcha," JC stopped holding the feeling the song created and let
it go.  The water softened as the feeling left.  "Let's see if I can do
this right."


	Justin's head brushed something in the dark.  "Pyre?"  He felt
around in the dark to find the edge of the bed.  He couldn't find it.
"Turn the lights on."

	"Relax Justin," Pyre said as a small globe of light appeared.  "I
think you should get down from there."

	"Wha?"  Justin asked.  He looked over at Pyre and then looked to
see what had brushed his head.  It was the lamp.  Normally this would be
fine, but this lamp was attached to the ceiling.  "How the hell did I get
up."  Justin didn't get to finish his statement.  He abruptly fell to the
five feet to the floor.  "What the hell was that?  And how did you get up
there?"

	Pyre floated to the floor smirking.  "Unlike some people in this
room, I can control my flight.  I'm going to assume the ring has given you
another power."

	"I guess," Justin stood up carefully and realized that he was
unhurt.  He hadn't taken any damage in the fall.  "That's odd," he
muttered.

	"Hmm?" Pyre asked.

	"I'm not hurt."

	"And you're upset about this?"

	"Not really.  It's just odd."

	"Let's try something," Pyre said with a grin.  "Come here."  Pyre
walked over to his pack and pulled out a small dagger.  He grabbed Justin's
arm and before he could be stopped stabbed Justin.

	"Hey," Justin cried as the blade hit his arm.  He started pulling
back.  "What are you doing?"

	"Just testing something," Pyre said.  He let go of Justin's arm and
picked the blade of the dagger off the floor.  "It seems you're immune to
normal weapons."  He offered the broken dagger to Justin.

	"How'd that happen?"

	"It snapped when I tried to drive it in your arm."

	"Please tell me that you knew that would happen."  Justin said
flipping the dagger over in his hands.  "I don't like the concept of you
just hoping I wouldn't get hurt."

	"Didn't know for sure," Pyre shrugged.  "Had a hunch that you'd be
fine."

	"A HUNCH?"  Justin cried.

	"Relax, I could have fixed any damage I might have done.  All you
would have experienced in the long term was a little bit of pain.  Nothing
major."

	"You've got to be joking.  First I float to the ceiling.." Justin
was cut off as his feet started to leave the ground.  He grabbed onto a
table to stop himself.  He succeeded in pulling the table with him.

	Pyre started laughing.  "Maybe you should put that back where you
found it.  I don't think the owners would like you rearranging their
furniture."

	"Oh shut up and get me down," Justin snapped.


	"Just concentrate Christopher," Evelyn calmly told him.  "Close
your eyes and focus your mind on the candle."

	Sighing Chris closed his eyes an imagined the candle sitting in the
middle of the table.  He pictured it lighting and tried to make it do just
that.  He felt his mind reach out and touch the candle and for an instant
felt the flame start to kindle.  A mental door slammed shut and he lost the
image of the burning candle.

	"Perhaps we should set this lesson aside for a little bit," Evelyn
said with a touch of humor in her voice.  Chris opened his eyes and looked
at the candle.  The thing had melted all over the table.  Not even a stub
was left.  Evelyn wore and amused look.

	"I see what you mean."  Chris stood and got himself a glass of
water.  "Am I ever going to get this?  I mean I know it's only been two
days since you started teaching me, but it feels like I'm never going to
learn this stuff."

	"Come here Christopher," Evelyn told him.  He set his glass down
and sat down on the chair she was patting.  "You will be able to control
your powers.  It's difficult because of how old you are.  You would have
usually mastered your powers by the time you hit twenty.  You haven't yet,
but you will.  It'll just take some time.  And I'm not the best teacher for
you either."

	"What do you mean?"  Chris asked.  "You've been a great teacher.
You've already helped Joey stop reading our minds accidentally.  That was a
challenge in itself."

	"That's not what I mean.  There are different types of psychics.
I'm best suited to training Joey.  He seems to be similar to myself in
range of power."  She paused and looked at the candle.  "When you're fully
trained you'll be a master of fire.  But I'm not a very strong pyrokinetic,
you will be."

	"Oh," Chris said.  "You mean you can't help me?"

	Evelyn pulled Chris into a hug.  "Oh no dear.  I can help, but it
will just take longer.  Though there is an upside to it.  Once you've
learned to control your pyrokinetics you'll be fine.  You won't develop too
many other powers."  She laughed.  "Joseph on the other hand will be
learning all his life.  Our kind continue to develop powers until the day
we die."

	Chris grinned.  "You mean once I get this fire thing controlled,
I'll be in the clear?"

	"More or less," Evelyn smiled.  "Yes."

	"Cool!" Chris stood and danced across the floor.  "I think I'll
enjoy rubbing that one in."

	Evelyn laughed at his antics.  "Be nice Christopher.  Joseph
managed to drive off the pesky hawk that's been bothering us for a few days
now.  I'm glad it's gone.  I couldn't sleep with it out there.  It was like
it was staring at me."  She shuddered at the memory.

	"Know the feeling," Chris stopped dancing and hopped up to sit on
the counter.  "That thing was just creepy."

	"Off!"  Evelyn said firmly.  "You know I don't allow that."

	"Really?"  Chris said with a grin.  "Whattcha gonna do about it?"

	"Oh, I thought this would do."  Chris floated of the counter and
hung upside down in front of Evelyn's face.  He shook up and down a few
times.  "Think you'll listen to the house rules now?"

	"Maybe."  Chris grinned again.  "Maybe I like it like this."

	"Really?  What about this?"  Evelyn asked as Chris burst out
laughing.  He squirmed around as if he were being tickled.  "Do you like
that too?"

	"UNCLE," Chris got out between gasps.  "GIVE.  I give."

	"I thought as much," Evelyn smiled sweetly.  Chris righted and
gently dropped to the floor.  "Now please clean up your mess on the table."

	"Man, you're going to have to show me how you do that."

	"Christopher.  Don't think about using that on Joseph," Evelyn
warned.  "He'll be better at it then you will."

	"You're absolutely no fun," Chris pouted as he began picking up the
candle wax.  "Did you know that?"

	"I'm a mother Christopher.  We're not supposed to be fun."


	Karr stood in a clearing watching the sky.  A hawk began to spiral
downward, toward the clearing.  In a minute the hawk had come low enough to
begin landing in front of Karr.  The hawk shimmered and Damek stood before
him.

	"Any news brother?"

	"Karr, I am not your errand boy."  Damek said with an edge in his
voice.  "However, I do have some news.  I picked up on a psychic eruption
two days ago.  The kind that happens when a powerful psychic touches their
powers for the first time.  I zeroed in on it and discovered where Joey and
Chris are.  Apparently Joey is developing some pretty impressive powers.
Chris won't be anything to worry about.  I am disturbed about the woman
they're with though."

	"Who is she?"

	"I don't remember her name, and I didn't catch it when I was
watching them.  I couldn't stay in one place for too long or they would
have really noticed me.  She is familiar though, and she does have a great
deal of power.  I'm sure I could take her out if I needed too, but she'd do
some serious harm to me."

	Karr nodded.  "Don't risk a confrontation at this point in time.
We still don't know where the others are, except for Justin.  Nydia is
keeping an eye on him.  I'm working on finding Josh, but haven't had any
luck yet.  I haven't even tried to locate Lance.  What did the seer say?"

	"I haven't found on yet," Damek informed him.  "Seers are
remarkably difficult to find.  And even more difficult to get straight
answers out of.  It's also hard to find real seers, and not just some idiot
that's bound their eyes and spouts nonsense."

	"Well keep trying," Karr told him.  "These five are too important
for us to lose them.  We'll just have to take things slowly.  I don't care
if it takes years, we're going to finish this."

	"Brother," Damek snapped.  "You aren't the only one that knows the
stakes.  So stop acting like you are.  We're in this together and we will
finish it.  I'll do my part, you do yours."  He shimmered into the hawk
again and flew off.

	"True, brother," Karr whispered.  "We are in this together.  Just
don't mess this up.  I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth if any of those
boys gets hurt."  His form shimmered like Damek's had a moment before.
When his form became clear again it had become a large wolf.  The wolf
looked at the sky and bound into the forest.



TBC.

That's all for now.  I'm toying with the ideas for part four.  None of them
have hit the paper yet.  E-mail me with your comments.  I'm begging now,
but I imagine we'll all recover.  Mist_dark@hotmail.com

Rune